The Crusader's Bride

The Crusader’s Bride The Champions of Saint Euphemia Book 1 by Claire Delacroix

Publisher: Deborah A. Cooke

July 2015

Pages: 351


Historical Romance


Jerusalem & France



A company of knights have been chosen to deliver a sealed trunk that is part of the Templar treasury in Jerusalem to Paris for safekeeping. A group of pilgrims are seeking the protection of the Templars so that they can return home as the Saracens are getting ready to besiege the city. Someone is willing to kill to possess a mysterious treasure.

Gaston is a Templar knight when he learns he has inherited his father’s estate in France. He agrees to deliver a package to Paris on his way home as one last quest for the order. Gaston is a practical man and he knows that he now has need of both a wife and an heir. As soon as a lovely widowed noblewoman, who is on a pilgrimage, catches his eye he feels that he can solve matters to their mutual convenience.

Yasmaine is not just a pilgrim that has been enduring bad luck. With rapid succession, she has buried two husbands, that both died on her nuptial night. So now she sees herself as cursed. She is sure that by accepting the gruff knight she is dooming him to his demise. Gaston dismisses her warnings and Yasmaine soon finds herself quickly wed yet again. Wed to a man that is determined to survive and is also very vital.

What neither of them realized is that some soul, either in their party or pursing it is determined to claim the prize package that contains the treasure of the Templars and that it is making Gaston’s errand one of peril. Now Gaston and Yasmaine must figure out if they dare trust each other and the love that is dawning between them when they are in a company of strangers with secrets.


This takes the reader into another world and brings that period of time to life for the reader with each word that is read. It has plenty of action to make the story come to life. While it is part of series and interconnected with the other books it can easily still be read by itself. The characters are complex and make for an engrossing story that is hard to put down once the reader starts it. The reader will want to see just how things turn out for Gaston and Yasmaine. It also has some wonderful secondary characters that really enrich the whole story overall.


I give this one 4-1/2 red roses


LRH