The Last Knight is an interesting medieval romance. The heroine, Attica d'Alerion, is strong and intelligent. She finds out about a plot against the king, which distresses her as her brother is one of the king's knights, and she wants to save them both. Trouble is, she's staying with the family of her betrothed, a thirteen year old brat called Fulk the Fat. His name tells you everything, and I wouldn't want to marry him either. The loyalty of his family is highly suspect, so Attica, sneaking away dressed as a boy, is the only one who can warn her brother and the king. En route, she's beset by bandits, but a dark, handsome knight, Damion de Jarnac, comes to her rescue. He looks scary, but her servant was killed in the attack, so she's in need of an escort and begs Damion for his protection. He's a very busy knight - on his way to help the king, because he too knows of some pieces of the puzzle in which Attica finds herself embroiled - but, fooled by her disguise, he agrees to help.

So begins a road romance that is an unusual mix of the dark and violent (Proctor in this sense seems to try to be true to the times, the shifting loyalties and harsh actions demanded of fighters whose armor is more often battle scarred and tarnished than pristinely white and shining), passion and romance, and occasional lighter moments as well. Attica and Damion brave many dangers on the road, are betrayed and captured, only to escape and be pursued, growing closer all the while. They have chemistry and share a nice rapport that is equal parts light bantering and dark, tormented passions, because their love is of the forbidden kind. I was pleased to find both their love and their friendship believable. I particularly liked Damion – he manages to be dark and dangerous, with a tumultuous, tortured past, but he still possesses a sense of humor that is as endearing as it is unexpected and refreshing. And even though he professes to scorn chivalric codes and romantic ideals, even though he's committed some grave sins in the past, and even though he engages in bloody, brutal acts throughout the story, he manages to emerge from these trials an honorable and noble knight.

The last few chapters start to drag however, when Attica begins to waver between and angst over her divided loyalties. I can understand the higher powers that be, the capricious political developments that keep these two apart for most of the book, but when Attica starts acting stupidly and pushes Damion away in her blindness and gross lack of understanding for the actions Damion ultimately takes, I get really annoyed. Lucky for her, she doesn’t have to suffer too long for her stupidity, because, without her having to do anything at all, her happily ever after is literally dumped in her lap as a reward and everything works out perfectly for her. I can’t help thinking, at the end, that she doesn’t deserve it or Damion. For rest of the book Attica is perfectly fine, but she ruins the ending. ( )