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The Loves of Angela Carlyle #1
Into Passion's Dawn
Across a continent, she followed her one Passion...
An unselfish motive led lovely fifteen-year-old Angela Carlyle to consummate a brazen bargain in Lord Harrington's bedchamber. But the wedding night unleashed anothers conniving lust, planting the seeds of passion in Angela's breast. And thus her new life began, a tumultuous story of lost innocence and restless desire, sweeping the beautiful Angela into a world of flesh and fear. For the fire, which consumed her, could be quenched by one man alone-the man she both detested and desired.
An unselfish motive led lovely fifteen-year-old Angela Carlyle to consummate a brazen bargain in Lord Harrington's bedchamber. But the wedding night unleashed anothers conniving lust, planting the seeds of passion in Angela's breast. And thus her new life began, a tumultuous story of lost innocence and restless desire, sweeping the beautiful Angela into a world of flesh and fear. For the fire, which consumed her, could be quenched by one man alone-the man she both detested and desired.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 15, 2023
easily the most brutal bodice-ripper I've read yet, due to a couple insane scenes. but also, somehow, not the most intense? I think that's because its heroine is a figment of a character and the same goes for the rest of the cast - outside of the novel's berserk, schizophrenically-depicted so-called hero. ("so-called hero" is probably the correct description for most Bodice Ripper Heroes.) The Silver Devil takes the prize for most intense; A Pirate's Love would have taken the prize for most rapes in one book, until Passion's Dawn entered the competition. similar to the weird lack of affect in Pirate's Love, there's a gormless quality to the writing that gives the impression of an author blandly detailing her most secret rape fantasies while forgetting things like narrative, characterization, tone, consistent writing style, etc.
the good or at least um eyebrow-raising:
(1) occasionally the writing actually does deliver that supercharged purple prose that I have come to rely on when reading this genre. for example, "Rain slashed the night and silver daggers of lightning pierced the darkness, sending the wind howling in protest and pain. It rattled the shutters seeking refuge but there was no escape from the jagged fingers of fire that sizzled and ravaged the storm."
even the wind gets assaulted in this book, wow.
(2) the incredibly over the top rape-antics (rantics?) of the so-called hero were like nothing I've read in mainstream, non-horror fiction for many years. like since I read de Sade in college! good grief, our so-called hero rapes our virginal heroine bloody on her wedding night, right next to her passed-out husband, who he has drugged, and oh who is also his father. in an effort to plant his seed, he proceeds to rape her nearly every night over the course of who knows how many weeks, because revenge on an unloving father is a dish best served by an illegitimate child. of course he is secretly in love with her, which naturally explains why at one point he goes berserk with annoyance and attempts to drown her, and at another point is so upset that he ties her up and systematically delivers both bruises and BITES over her entire body, following up by branding her ass with his own signet ring, all in front of her tied-up lover who he has just kicked senseless. I'm very used to the rape-aholic so-called heroes of BR, but this guy is another level. despite his brutality, Scott Harrington is mainly characterized as a cheeky fellow with knowing brown eyes, a boyish grin, and a love of children. I mean, he's the whole package.
(3) after Scott allows himself to get shot in a duel by the lover he had previously beaten and forced to watch his rantics, he makes sure to put off medical care long enough for his extremely painful wound to get infected and therefore cause days and days of more excruciating pain. I guess this is his way of saying sorry to Angela Carlyle, his rape/bruise/bite/brand victim and the love of his life. Angela spends all of her time in his sick room as he feverishly writhes in pain, fighting death. she's not there to administer to him though. she's there because she really enjoys witnessing his agonies and doesn't want to miss a single moment of that good stuff. the attending physician understandably side-eyes her and her gloating smiles during his own visits. all of this was laugh-out-loud funny to me.
the very, very bad:
I'm not going to harshly judge a book within the notoriously rape-heavy genre literally called "Bodice Rippers" simply because it has rape(s) in it. I did that with my first one, A Pirate's Love, but now I'm older &wiser jaded. plus that would be like judging a science fiction novel because it is set in the future. (and the very rapey Silver Devil and Lemonade were both fantastic books.) but I will judge a book harshly if it features a heroine who:
(1) has no life, internal or external, outside of her experience of being raped and/or loved. I'm not sure I've read another BR that has a heroine this flat. admittedly, my sample size is small. but still. Angela Carlyle is characterized as *sigh* feisty, but that's about it. other BR heroines have at least some other things going on in their lives and in their minds. not this one. the only thing going on with Angela is how:
(2) her repeated rapes have made her increasingly dick-hungry. that's crass, but I'm not sure there's a better way to describe what Michele DuBarry does with her heroine. passion has indeed dawned: these rapes make Angela come alive. enough so that she eventually realizes that she prefers Scott when he is in a more rambunctious rape mood, not a cold mood when he doesn't even fully undress. (Scott in turns realizes that he prefers this girl who he can hurt so good to his affectionate but boring regular sex partner.) Angela gets annoyed when he occasionally skips one of his nightly rape-visits and is practically distraught over her lack of dick after he decides to temporarily move to Jamaica to manage his slave plantation (we can add "he's also a slaver" to the list of Scott's charms).
there's a brief - and awful - middle section where Angela is kidnapped while Scott is away by "Gentleman Jack" who she eventually forces to become her lover because she's getting so horny being around him. later, after her rescue, her sweet & kindly rescuer/lover #3 just up and rapes her out of exasperation, and this is about the only time she is turned on by him during their years-long relationship. all of this was not just extremely gross to read, it was... embarrassing? I think it's okay to have really pervy sadistic/masochistic rape fantasies, you do you in the privacy of your own head and/or bedroom... but it is a little mortifying when an author is basically just trotting out her weird sex fantasies and not bothering to do anything to attach those fantasies to an actual story with actual characters. I really don't think that being raped is something that will make a girl horny for more. even the doltish A Pirate's Love appeared to understand that. you deserve 1 star for thinking that, book!
the good or at least um eyebrow-raising:
(1) occasionally the writing actually does deliver that supercharged purple prose that I have come to rely on when reading this genre. for example, "Rain slashed the night and silver daggers of lightning pierced the darkness, sending the wind howling in protest and pain. It rattled the shutters seeking refuge but there was no escape from the jagged fingers of fire that sizzled and ravaged the storm."
even the wind gets assaulted in this book, wow.
(2) the incredibly over the top rape-antics (rantics?) of the so-called hero were like nothing I've read in mainstream, non-horror fiction for many years. like since I read de Sade in college! good grief, our so-called hero rapes our virginal heroine bloody on her wedding night, right next to her passed-out husband, who he has drugged, and oh who is also his father. in an effort to plant his seed, he proceeds to rape her nearly every night over the course of who knows how many weeks, because revenge on an unloving father is a dish best served by an illegitimate child. of course he is secretly in love with her, which naturally explains why at one point he goes berserk with annoyance and attempts to drown her, and at another point is so upset that he ties her up and systematically delivers both bruises and BITES over her entire body, following up by branding her ass with his own signet ring, all in front of her tied-up lover who he has just kicked senseless. I'm very used to the rape-aholic so-called heroes of BR, but this guy is another level. despite his brutality, Scott Harrington is mainly characterized as a cheeky fellow with knowing brown eyes, a boyish grin, and a love of children. I mean, he's the whole package.
(3) after Scott allows himself to get shot in a duel by the lover he had previously beaten and forced to watch his rantics, he makes sure to put off medical care long enough for his extremely painful wound to get infected and therefore cause days and days of more excruciating pain. I guess this is his way of saying sorry to Angela Carlyle, his rape/bruise/bite/brand victim and the love of his life. Angela spends all of her time in his sick room as he feverishly writhes in pain, fighting death. she's not there to administer to him though. she's there because she really enjoys witnessing his agonies and doesn't want to miss a single moment of that good stuff. the attending physician understandably side-eyes her and her gloating smiles during his own visits. all of this was laugh-out-loud funny to me.
the very, very bad:
I'm not going to harshly judge a book within the notoriously rape-heavy genre literally called "Bodice Rippers" simply because it has rape(s) in it. I did that with my first one, A Pirate's Love, but now I'm older &
(1) has no life, internal or external, outside of her experience of being raped and/or loved. I'm not sure I've read another BR that has a heroine this flat. admittedly, my sample size is small. but still. Angela Carlyle is characterized as *sigh* feisty, but that's about it. other BR heroines have at least some other things going on in their lives and in their minds. not this one. the only thing going on with Angela is how:
(2) her repeated rapes have made her increasingly dick-hungry. that's crass, but I'm not sure there's a better way to describe what Michele DuBarry does with her heroine. passion has indeed dawned: these rapes make Angela come alive. enough so that she eventually realizes that she prefers Scott when he is in a more rambunctious rape mood, not a cold mood when he doesn't even fully undress. (Scott in turns realizes that he prefers this girl who he can hurt so good to his affectionate but boring regular sex partner.) Angela gets annoyed when he occasionally skips one of his nightly rape-visits and is practically distraught over her lack of dick after he decides to temporarily move to Jamaica to manage his slave plantation (we can add "he's also a slaver" to the list of Scott's charms).
there's a brief - and awful - middle section where Angela is kidnapped while Scott is away by "Gentleman Jack" who she eventually forces to become her lover because she's getting so horny being around him. later, after her rescue, her sweet & kindly rescuer/lover #3 just up and rapes her out of exasperation, and this is about the only time she is turned on by him during their years-long relationship. all of this was not just extremely gross to read, it was... embarrassing? I think it's okay to have really pervy sadistic/masochistic rape fantasies, you do you in the privacy of your own head and/or bedroom... but it is a little mortifying when an author is basically just trotting out her weird sex fantasies and not bothering to do anything to attach those fantasies to an actual story with actual characters. I really don't think that being raped is something that will make a girl horny for more. even the doltish A Pirate's Love appeared to understand that. you deserve 1 star for thinking that, book!
January 25, 2014
Approximately half way through this benumbing experience I decided to stop recognizing the overabundance of exclamation points and chalked it up to editorial errors and author's false enthusiasm. It was a bodice ripper but the exclamation points strives to achieve lightness of tone or dramatic significance that which put a damper on my ability to critically analyze the extreme content, so I simply pretended I wielded a red mark of doom to slog through this.
BEHOLD! SPOILERS GALORE!
Into Passion's Dawn felt much like a small cage, with a handful of feral creatures fighting for territory or one breeding female. The prose was too rich and saccharine, whereas the characterization on all parts suffered greatly, because you're constantly shown this great internal mirror and quite frankly, there wasn't much of anything there to actually view. The dialogue cannot seem to navigate the storyline to any emotional merits and we're left with, "HISS...HISS...I HATE YOU...I LOVE YOU...SING TO ME SWEET LIPS!" schizophrenic regurgitation.
I don't quite think any of the character's graduated to any level of maturity, but I will say that this endless trope mire and the constant, unrelenting WTFery kept me intuned. Hey, I likez what I likez. If something has the capacity to create hilarity from its own ruination, I'll still read on. I'll still give it a chance. I'm still giving it some freakin' stars...even if the story was held together with the sort of sticky sweat of lust and shame.
Angela, our beloved heroine & squalid fleshpot, marries an elderly Duke to be able to afford her mother's medication and relocation to warmer climates, at the tender age of fifteen. Her wedding night consisted of sheer rapeage by the Duke's only heir and estranged son, Scott, our erratic hero, who makes her nightlife a living hell for quite some time in attempts to impregnate her and complete his revenge plot against his supposedly abusive father. The Duke is an afterthought, a backdrop; their neighbors and friends, Jane and Keith, were moppets ready to serve as agreeable character sacrifices for the hero & the heroine to use and abuse and dispose of, without establishing their own impression within the story itself. Much as Stormfire's Cat vs. Liam, I believe Angela's catatonic and bipolar tendencies with that one, spurned a true gentleman's heart and bent their will to some demented degree in pursuit of their happiness and sense of honor. Keith actually fell in love with Angela, attempted to rescue her from a highwayman, the ever Cliche and Honorable, Gentleman Jack, who was holding her for ransom(and became her new lover), but he shows up after the terrifying demands were sent, and Angela tries to kill HIM, instead. YE UNGRATEFUL DOUCHEBURGLAR! >:| Even when Angela REALIZES how she has used and abused every dangly-bit in her radius, it doesn't quite change her methods at all; she continues on with aplomb, but that's OK because the hero is no different. He plies his charms on Jane too. They both get their fixes anywhere when it suits the moment.
So, the very pregnant heroine is in a pregnancy hormonal rage and stalks off for the conveniently absent hero who is off dillydallying with the heroine's best friend Jane, who he not only raped, but is engaged to; heroine finds them in bed and they start fighting; he slaps his pregnant heroine and the best friend runs off downstairs. The hero/heroine start having sex INSTEAD after he slaps her around and crawled off of Jane and says: YOU'RE A BITCH IN HEAT AND NEED STUD SERVICING..MY LIL' WHORE..you like that? HAHAHAHAHA.... >:D Oh, he's so romantical--was his willy EVER dry in this novel? Hero finally naps off the sex0rz euphoria and confronts Jane downstairs and in her dismay: "How could you make love to her?" And the hero said.."It's the only thing that would calm her down." LOL
Scott's shenanigans is what both prompted me to both LIKE the book and criticize it too. He was so frackin' wishy washy, woe-begotten, self-reflective and blindingly emoz in his rationale, I couldn't believe a hero in a BR was that pitiful...so I read on.... I didn't want him to redeem himself at that point because I was enjoying his can't win for losing machinations. He was the WOOOORST kind of hero, but not on a serious level. He has about the same amount of brain frequency of a crystal-meth rager. Dubarry revolutionized and pioneered this state of feck-tarded patheticness to a whole new level for me. Pregnant backhands, crop beatings and brandings? Full-bodied biting(till she bled and was bruised from it) endless rapings infront of Keith..... Nothing surprised me with Scott. Not even when he literally tried to drown Angela moments before she told him she was pregnant.
Scott's threats were every other WORD...and her responses were usually I HATE YOUs to combat him. They tried desperately to kill each other. I mean, several times -- she shot him, he tried to drown her; crashed her wedding to Keith, threatening to blow her head off if anyone made a move and kidnapped her then and there: "I don't care if you hate or love me, as long as you're mine!" --and they sailed off to Scotland where they all met up, he begins wooing her with some type of new-leaf of refrained aggression; having already kidnapped their child & maid.... where it was simply laughed off. HAHA..aww, dayyum that thoughtful papa for bringing us all together ...in a foreign land... in an abduction scandal, in broad daylight---but as long as he's happy they all are. Eh? Scott's propensity to bullshit a little longer, holding the demons at bay, was the whole claim to a HEA this train-wreck, in the midst of hurricane and alien invasion, could hope to muster. Do I think the hero was sincere or changed by the ending? Hell no. A resounding NO. In book #2 he'll be back after he soul searches new ways to inflict pain on the heroine whilst she's pregnant. Maybe a pregnancy condition that requires lots of bed-rest that keeps her on her back(where he wants her)popping bedsores.
Giving it a solid 4-stars. I was seriously conflicted about this one, but I stopped wondering how I'd review it; what star rating I could live with, and just enjoyed myself. It was so terrible that I had to see it to believe it.
BEHOLD! SPOILERS GALORE!
Into Passion's Dawn felt much like a small cage, with a handful of feral creatures fighting for territory or one breeding female. The prose was too rich and saccharine, whereas the characterization on all parts suffered greatly, because you're constantly shown this great internal mirror and quite frankly, there wasn't much of anything there to actually view. The dialogue cannot seem to navigate the storyline to any emotional merits and we're left with, "HISS...HISS...I HATE YOU...I LOVE YOU...SING TO ME SWEET LIPS!" schizophrenic regurgitation.
I don't quite think any of the character's graduated to any level of maturity, but I will say that this endless trope mire and the constant, unrelenting WTFery kept me intuned. Hey, I likez what I likez. If something has the capacity to create hilarity from its own ruination, I'll still read on. I'll still give it a chance. I'm still giving it some freakin' stars...even if the story was held together with the sort of sticky sweat of lust and shame.
Angela, our beloved heroine & squalid fleshpot, marries an elderly Duke to be able to afford her mother's medication and relocation to warmer climates, at the tender age of fifteen. Her wedding night consisted of sheer rapeage by the Duke's only heir and estranged son, Scott, our erratic hero, who makes her nightlife a living hell for quite some time in attempts to impregnate her and complete his revenge plot against his supposedly abusive father. The Duke is an afterthought, a backdrop; their neighbors and friends, Jane and Keith, were moppets ready to serve as agreeable character sacrifices for the hero & the heroine to use and abuse and dispose of, without establishing their own impression within the story itself. Much as Stormfire's Cat vs. Liam, I believe Angela's catatonic and bipolar tendencies with that one, spurned a true gentleman's heart and bent their will to some demented degree in pursuit of their happiness and sense of honor. Keith actually fell in love with Angela, attempted to rescue her from a highwayman, the ever Cliche and Honorable, Gentleman Jack, who was holding her for ransom(and became her new lover), but he shows up after the terrifying demands were sent, and Angela tries to kill HIM, instead. YE UNGRATEFUL DOUCHEBURGLAR! >:| Even when Angela REALIZES how she has used and abused every dangly-bit in her radius, it doesn't quite change her methods at all; she continues on with aplomb, but that's OK because the hero is no different. He plies his charms on Jane too. They both get their fixes anywhere when it suits the moment.
So, the very pregnant heroine is in a pregnancy hormonal rage and stalks off for the conveniently absent hero who is off dillydallying with the heroine's best friend Jane, who he not only raped, but is engaged to; heroine finds them in bed and they start fighting; he slaps his pregnant heroine and the best friend runs off downstairs. The hero/heroine start having sex INSTEAD after he slaps her around and crawled off of Jane and says: YOU'RE A BITCH IN HEAT AND NEED STUD SERVICING..MY LIL' WHORE..you like that? HAHAHAHAHA.... >:D Oh, he's so romantical--was his willy EVER dry in this novel? Hero finally naps off the sex0rz euphoria and confronts Jane downstairs and in her dismay: "How could you make love to her?" And the hero said.."It's the only thing that would calm her down." LOL
Scott's shenanigans is what both prompted me to both LIKE the book and criticize it too. He was so frackin' wishy washy, woe-begotten, self-reflective and blindingly emoz in his rationale, I couldn't believe a hero in a BR was that pitiful...so I read on.... I didn't want him to redeem himself at that point because I was enjoying his can't win for losing machinations. He was the WOOOORST kind of hero, but not on a serious level. He has about the same amount of brain frequency of a crystal-meth rager. Dubarry revolutionized and pioneered this state of feck-tarded patheticness to a whole new level for me. Pregnant backhands, crop beatings and brandings? Full-bodied biting(till she bled and was bruised from it) endless rapings infront of Keith..... Nothing surprised me with Scott. Not even when he literally tried to drown Angela moments before she told him she was pregnant.
Scott's threats were every other WORD...and her responses were usually I HATE YOUs to combat him. They tried desperately to kill each other. I mean, several times -- she shot him, he tried to drown her; crashed her wedding to Keith, threatening to blow her head off if anyone made a move and kidnapped her then and there: "I don't care if you hate or love me, as long as you're mine!" --and they sailed off to Scotland where they all met up, he begins wooing her with some type of new-leaf of refrained aggression; having already kidnapped their child & maid.... where it was simply laughed off. HAHA..aww, dayyum that thoughtful papa for bringing us all together ...in a foreign land... in an abduction scandal, in broad daylight---but as long as he's happy they all are. Eh? Scott's propensity to bullshit a little longer, holding the demons at bay, was the whole claim to a HEA this train-wreck, in the midst of hurricane and alien invasion, could hope to muster. Do I think the hero was sincere or changed by the ending? Hell no. A resounding NO. In book #2 he'll be back after he soul searches new ways to inflict pain on the heroine whilst she's pregnant. Maybe a pregnancy condition that requires lots of bed-rest that keeps her on her back(where he wants her)popping bedsores.
Giving it a solid 4-stars. I was seriously conflicted about this one, but I stopped wondering how I'd review it; what star rating I could live with, and just enjoyed myself. It was so terrible that I had to see it to believe it.
October 23, 2022
Read: 10/22/22
RTC
I'll have to think about this book. I'm a little confused on what my feelings are about this book. 😕
RTC
I'll have to think about this book. I'm a little confused on what my feelings are about this book. 😕
August 25, 2023
The main attraction here is the MMC's unbridled violence against the heroine, who is a spitting hellcat herself and takes no bullshit.
While the novel had moments, albeit very questionable ones, it lacked any real cohesion. Towards the end I am not sure what was the point of the nearly four year separation in which Angela got ransomed (and fell in love) with Gentleman Jack?
Anyway, the only thing I liked here was Jane. She was in love with Scott since early childhood and when she has the chance to marry him (but sees that he has an affair with Angela and how he treats her) she instead grows a spine and doubles down on her friendship with Angela.
That scene when Jane took a bridle and beat the shit out of Scott? Solid gold.
Why is this a trilogy? Because these two hate each other and the author needs some time to let grass grow over Scott's latest fuck up I guess ...
While the novel had moments, albeit very questionable ones, it lacked any real cohesion. Towards the end I am not sure what was the point of the nearly four year separation in which Angela got ransomed (and fell in love) with Gentleman Jack?
Anyway, the only thing I liked here was Jane. She was in love with Scott since early childhood and when she has the chance to marry him (but sees that he has an affair with Angela and how he treats her) she instead grows a spine and doubles down on her friendship with Angela.
That scene when Jane took a bridle and beat the shit out of Scott? Solid gold.
Why is this a trilogy? Because these two hate each other and the author needs some time to let grass grow over Scott's latest fuck up I guess ...
October 7, 2017
One of the craziest bodice-ripper I've ever read. An OTT violent H, and a nymphomaniac h.
You really need to be in BR mode to read this one (and I mean by that: put your brain on rest and forget all about logic and common sense!)
You really need to be in BR mode to read this one (and I mean by that: put your brain on rest and forget all about logic and common sense!)
March 4, 2025
Този уникално откачен бодис рипър ми припомни как навремето се пишеха неописуеми сюжети, за които нито една “дарк” романс съвременна авторка не би помислила с оглед за кариерата си, при това се пишеха без н и т о една вулгарна дума! 🤣 Ей затова такива като Шен са жалък смях в залата.
April 23, 2021
4 stars. April is Classic’s/ Bodice Ripper month on Regan Walker’s Historical Romance Review blog. I chose this roller coaster of a ride and boy was it! This book is not for the squimish. If the spanking seen in ‘Outlander’ really ticks you off better stay away from this book! MD writes well, and yes bodices were actually ripped, and WTFery abounds in this page turner. While not in the same league as such classic BR’s as Storm Fire it was diverting, despite some of the over the top plots and outrageous dark actions of the Hero. I don’t know if I were Angela if I could ever forgive him, but again one has to sometimes suspend belief when reading fiction books. The Hero, if you can call him that, is an alpha on steroids and I have to say it, a jerk of epic proportions. Again, it’s fiction, but I found him distasteful and he’s not going to end up on to many fav lists. Angela is a strong heroine who’s not afraid to seek her revenge. In the end it all comes right, though I really didn’t know how the hero was going to dig himself out of this, but the HEA was there. I would’ve like to have seen an epilogue placed a few years down the line perhaps rather than continue with the series? We will see.
January 26, 2014
A Bodice Ripper on Steroids
Published in 1981, this is a bodice ripper that likely won’t appeal to the average romance reader today though it is a well-written page-turner. It’s the first in a trilogy by DuBarry that tells the story of Angela Carlyle, beginning in the late 18th century when she is a child and then into the early 19th century.
A beautiful young woman, even at 15, Angela consents to wed an old lecherous duke with the idea of giving him a son in exchange for the funds to take care of her ailing mother. On her wedding night, the duke’s son, Scott, seeking vengeance for his father’s plan to disinherit him, drugs him and violently rapes Angela, telling her the only son she’ll ever have will be his. That Scott is also attracted to Angela is but a side note.
Angela is horrified by the experience, which left her bruised and aching. The next day she shoots Scott in the shoulder. (I was all for it.) In turn, Scott drugs and rapes her again. By night her new husband sleeps like the dead, never touching her, while she is swept off through secret passages to Scott’s bedroom for a night of passion. After an unsuccessful attempt to shoot him with a pistol, Angela apparently never found another gun. Eventually, she stops fighting him.
Rape is not the only abuse Scott inflicts on Angela. It’s a love-hate relationship, complicated by other characters who have feelings for both Scott and Angela, and Scott’s smuggling that takes him off to the Caribbean for a time. Despite Scott’s dabbling with other women, he remains obsessed with Angela. At first I saw Angela as a victim and felt sorry for her; eventually I thought her a slut.
The thing about this book that kept me reading (I knew you’d be asking) was the very good storytelling by DuBarry. She made the whole bizarre tale intriguing and compelling. Still, this is definitely NOT for everyone. Even fans of bodice rippers might find it a bit much. I contrast this novel with Christine Monson’s STORMFIRE, also a bodice ripper and at times violent, but it was so much more believable. The hero, who took vengeance for the deaths of innocent Irish villagers inflicted by the heroine’s father, was loved by his men and noble at heart, eventually coming to admire the heroine’s spirit and courage. I can’t say that for Scott in this story. He seemed bad to the bone and selfish to boot. His rare moments of kindness and his eventual “love” for Angela were unconvincing. And the whole Highwayman episode was just bizarre.
Because I’m a stickler for forms of address, I have to note that the author had the forms of address all wrong (the nobility didn’t use surnames but went by their titles, and very rarely used first names. A duke would be addressed “Your grace or “My lord.” And the oldest son of a duke who was given a courtesy title would likely be a marquess, not a viscount.
The trilogy (As far as I can determine, these are the only books she ever published):
Into Passion’s Dawn
Across Captive Seas
Toward Love’s Horizon
Published in 1981, this is a bodice ripper that likely won’t appeal to the average romance reader today though it is a well-written page-turner. It’s the first in a trilogy by DuBarry that tells the story of Angela Carlyle, beginning in the late 18th century when she is a child and then into the early 19th century.
A beautiful young woman, even at 15, Angela consents to wed an old lecherous duke with the idea of giving him a son in exchange for the funds to take care of her ailing mother. On her wedding night, the duke’s son, Scott, seeking vengeance for his father’s plan to disinherit him, drugs him and violently rapes Angela, telling her the only son she’ll ever have will be his. That Scott is also attracted to Angela is but a side note.
Angela is horrified by the experience, which left her bruised and aching. The next day she shoots Scott in the shoulder. (I was all for it.) In turn, Scott drugs and rapes her again. By night her new husband sleeps like the dead, never touching her, while she is swept off through secret passages to Scott’s bedroom for a night of passion. After an unsuccessful attempt to shoot him with a pistol, Angela apparently never found another gun. Eventually, she stops fighting him.
Rape is not the only abuse Scott inflicts on Angela. It’s a love-hate relationship, complicated by other characters who have feelings for both Scott and Angela, and Scott’s smuggling that takes him off to the Caribbean for a time. Despite Scott’s dabbling with other women, he remains obsessed with Angela. At first I saw Angela as a victim and felt sorry for her; eventually I thought her a slut.
The thing about this book that kept me reading (I knew you’d be asking) was the very good storytelling by DuBarry. She made the whole bizarre tale intriguing and compelling. Still, this is definitely NOT for everyone. Even fans of bodice rippers might find it a bit much. I contrast this novel with Christine Monson’s STORMFIRE, also a bodice ripper and at times violent, but it was so much more believable. The hero, who took vengeance for the deaths of innocent Irish villagers inflicted by the heroine’s father, was loved by his men and noble at heart, eventually coming to admire the heroine’s spirit and courage. I can’t say that for Scott in this story. He seemed bad to the bone and selfish to boot. His rare moments of kindness and his eventual “love” for Angela were unconvincing. And the whole Highwayman episode was just bizarre.
Because I’m a stickler for forms of address, I have to note that the author had the forms of address all wrong (the nobility didn’t use surnames but went by their titles, and very rarely used first names. A duke would be addressed “Your grace or “My lord.” And the oldest son of a duke who was given a courtesy title would likely be a marquess, not a viscount.
The trilogy (As far as I can determine, these are the only books she ever published):
Into Passion’s Dawn
Across Captive Seas
Toward Love’s Horizon
May 10, 2014
PUBLISHING INFO: Star, 1981
ISBN: 035230913X
GENRE: Historical Romance
SETTING: England, Scotland, 1802-1806
SERIES: The Loves of Angela Carlyle, #1
MY GRADE: A-
PARTIAL SPOILER SUMMARY: Brace yourselves. I've stumbled upon the most effed up over the top anti-hero ever, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll detail the abusive stuff below.
Black-haired, light blue-eyed Angela meets the seventy-something year old Lord Percival 'Percy' Harrington at her parents home when she was ten. He's a distant cousin by marriage to her mother. Five years later, she realizes her father is running out of money so she doesn't know what else to do but write to Percy and let him know, in a roundabout way, she needs money. He visits and lets her know that if she wants money, she has to marry him. She's horrified at the thought, since she's only fifteen, and lets him know it. He's described as being tall, fat, with yellow, tobacco-stained broken teeth. She agrees to it and before the wedding, she meets his son, Scott, one day when she's outside. That's when his obsession with her begins. He's ten years her senior and has brown hair and brown eyes.
On their wedding night, she lays in bed and waits for Percy. He arrives drunk and passes out. Out of the darkness appears Scott. He tells her he drugged his father and that he's going to rape her right in the bed with him passed out. He rips her gown off, she claws his face and bites his lip. He flings her off of him, hitting her in the face in the process. He throws her on the bed, she claws his back, he calls her a bitch and ties her hands to the headboard, then rapes her. She bleeds heavily for a hour. The next morning Percy wakes up thinking they'd had sex.
Soon after that incident she finds a diary in the house that belonged to Scott's aunt Blanche. It talks about how Scott was unwanted, neglected, ignored, and she begins to feel sympathy for him but hates him with a passion at the same time. We never learn exactly what went on in his childhood. We just know that he and his father hate each other. She took the diary to him and he had the nerve to proposition her- have sex with him willingly or he'd continue to rape her. She doesn't agree to it.
His abuse towards her is off the charts from then on out. He continues to drug (more likely have a servant do it) his father every night, her too sometimes, and sneak into her bedroom through a secret underground tunnel that leads to his own house on the property and rape her.
She shot him once when she realized she'd been drugged by him. He smacked her twice, put her over his knee and whipped her until his arm hurt, then raped her. Another time Angela insults him and he calls her a bitch and slut, carries her into the ocean and drops her in, right as she was telling him she was pregnant. He rescues her then and they get in bed and have sex, her supposedly not remembering the near drowning. She's as mentally screwed up as him for saying that him doing that was partially her fault for 'goading' him into anger. Another time, Scott sneaks into her room and finds her in bed with her friend, Keith. He beats the heck out of him and smacks Angela. Now for the worst of his abuse- right after beating Keith up, he tied Angela to the bed, with Keith passed out on the floor, and began biting her all over- lips, breast, neck, nipples, everywhere! He turned her over and alternated between beating her with her quirt (short riding crop) and raping her. He heated his signet ring in the fire and branded her butt cheek with it. If ever a hero needed a bullet to the brain, it's him. At some point in the book Keith smacks and rapes Angela once too.
He kidnaps her at her wedding to Keith and takes her to Scotland. At this point, she's nineteen. She becomes pregnant again. He's trying hard to get her to marry him but she refuses. He tells her that he'll take her home to England but the children have to stay with him. She says and they begin a consentual sexual relationship with each other. She finds happiness with him and agrees to marry him and that's how the book ends.
MY THOUGHTS: Nothing shocks me in old historicals anymore but there were several moments in this book that made my jaw drop and eyes pop. Scott is beyond disturbed. Unfortunately for the reader, we never learned what happened to him in his childhood that helped turn him into the jealous, possessive monster he became. He's really arrogant too.
Poor Angela sees herself as an 'unwilling captive of desire and revenge'. She's very spirited and feisty, not passive at all. She hates yet loves him and he won't let her break free. There are periods of consentual sex between them throughout the story. She has a sexual relationship with three men and never has sex with her elderly husband, who's not in the story much.
There was a part in here where she's kidnapped by a highwayman named Jack Newton, who's forty years old. She's about seventeen. He's not abusive while he's holding her for ransom for six weeks. They become lovers, even though they're both married. He eventually hangs for his crime. This part became boring to me once he was captured and went to trial.
I like warped romances and this one fit the bill. I'm calling it an extreme bodice ripper.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2023
This review is of the three volume set by Michele du Barry which was loaned to me by a friend who has an extensive HR collection .., she thought I might like to read it. As far as I can tell, these are the only books the author wrote and they are exceedingly difficult to find. First edition published in 1981, Dorchester … photo shows different editions.
Into Passion’s Dawn
Across Captive Seas
Toward Love’s Horizon
An unselfish motive, to provide for her mother’s care, has 15 year old Angela ask a distant relative, the 72 year old widowed Duke of Brightling for financial aid. He agrees only if she will marry him… and to give him another son as he has cut off his adult son, Scott. She agrees and sells her body and soul to help her family. On her wedding night while in bed with the Duke, who quickly falls asleep because he was drugged, Scott enters the bedchamber and rapes virgin Angela while she’s lying there next to his father. Yes, Scott drugged his father … revenge and he wants Angela. This continues repeatedly over a number of nights while the Duke never knows.
Angela’s story covers about 12 years in which she and Scott go thru numerous agonizing times… marriage, love, hate, passionate sex, infidelity for both, children, and lots of physical abuse and mental anguish for Angela. In the third book she suffers amnesia. Part of the story covers when Scott is falsely accused of murder and transported to Australia, and Angela goes after him by way of Jamaica and Key West battling pirates and more abuse and rape.
Angela and Scott put Steve and Ginny (Sweet Savage Love) and Sean and Catherine (Stormfire) in the bodice ripping dust. Their story is more intense, brutally violent and deeply sad. However, it splendidly soars with their love and romantic passion. Angela is like a cross between Ginny and Skye O’Malley… strong, fierce, impulsive, stunningly beautiful with long black hair and eyes the color of aquamarines.., and every man who sees her lusts after her. Plus she’s a nymphomaniac. Gorgeous Scott has huge anger issues, a hot temper, strong sex drive, and is extremely cruel towards Angela while being wildly possessive, and caring. They love and hate each other obsessively thru long separations, other lovers, tragedy and jealousy.
Similar to Stormfire, this author’s writing is engaging and deeply descriptive not just of the characters but also places and scenery. You get totally drawn into the wild roller coaster story and feel the pain, fear and passion of Angela and Scott. A unique bodice ripper OTT four star masterpiece that I relished!
Into Passion’s Dawn
Across Captive Seas
Toward Love’s Horizon
An unselfish motive, to provide for her mother’s care, has 15 year old Angela ask a distant relative, the 72 year old widowed Duke of Brightling for financial aid. He agrees only if she will marry him… and to give him another son as he has cut off his adult son, Scott. She agrees and sells her body and soul to help her family. On her wedding night while in bed with the Duke, who quickly falls asleep because he was drugged, Scott enters the bedchamber and rapes virgin Angela while she’s lying there next to his father. Yes, Scott drugged his father … revenge and he wants Angela. This continues repeatedly over a number of nights while the Duke never knows.
Angela’s story covers about 12 years in which she and Scott go thru numerous agonizing times… marriage, love, hate, passionate sex, infidelity for both, children, and lots of physical abuse and mental anguish for Angela. In the third book she suffers amnesia. Part of the story covers when Scott is falsely accused of murder and transported to Australia, and Angela goes after him by way of Jamaica and Key West battling pirates and more abuse and rape.
Angela and Scott put Steve and Ginny (Sweet Savage Love) and Sean and Catherine (Stormfire) in the bodice ripping dust. Their story is more intense, brutally violent and deeply sad. However, it splendidly soars with their love and romantic passion. Angela is like a cross between Ginny and Skye O’Malley… strong, fierce, impulsive, stunningly beautiful with long black hair and eyes the color of aquamarines.., and every man who sees her lusts after her. Plus she’s a nymphomaniac. Gorgeous Scott has huge anger issues, a hot temper, strong sex drive, and is extremely cruel towards Angela while being wildly possessive, and caring. They love and hate each other obsessively thru long separations, other lovers, tragedy and jealousy.
Similar to Stormfire, this author’s writing is engaging and deeply descriptive not just of the characters but also places and scenery. You get totally drawn into the wild roller coaster story and feel the pain, fear and passion of Angela and Scott. A unique bodice ripper OTT four star masterpiece that I relished!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2023
⭐⭐⭐ 3 I keep my reviews as reminders of the books I read, and this one? Está fuerte.
I started this book and so far I’m more shocked than intrigued. Like… I had to pause and just stare at the page for a second.
So not only does the “hero” (and honestly—can we even call him that?!) force himself on the heroine on her wedding night—she isn’t even marrying him. Nope. She’s marrying his father. 🤢
And yes, she’s understandably miserable about it—because hello, the man is old and… gross. Pero entonces the so-called hero decides that since she’s there, he should have her. Not only that—he taunts her, telling her he’s going to rape her until she’s pregnant with his child.
Let me tell you… that hit me like a slap. Sin aviso.
I’m trying to finish this book, but it’s been hard so far. And it’s not that I’m not into dark romance—I do enjoy dark, twisted stories—but maybe not this flavor, and definitely not tonight.
I may come back to it another time… cuando esté en otro estado mental.
Porque ahora mismo? I need a break y un té calmante. ☕😮💨
I started this book and so far I’m more shocked than intrigued. Like… I had to pause and just stare at the page for a second.
So not only does the “hero” (and honestly—can we even call him that?!) force himself on the heroine on her wedding night—she isn’t even marrying him. Nope. She’s marrying his father. 🤢
And yes, she’s understandably miserable about it—because hello, the man is old and… gross. Pero entonces the so-called hero decides that since she’s there, he should have her. Not only that—he taunts her, telling her he’s going to rape her until she’s pregnant with his child.
Let me tell you… that hit me like a slap. Sin aviso.
I’m trying to finish this book, but it’s been hard so far. And it’s not that I’m not into dark romance—I do enjoy dark, twisted stories—but maybe not this flavor, and definitely not tonight.
I may come back to it another time… cuando esté en otro estado mental.
Porque ahora mismo? I need a break y un té calmante. ☕😮💨
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2014
I first read this book when i was in high school and fell in love with the strong character that Angela became.
I lost the book, but through the help of kind fellow good readers, i managed to locate it once again.
i was curious whether it would leave the same impression as it did all those years ago, and it did.
let me start of my saying this is a bodice ripper.
it is violent, filled with beatings and rape. But well worth the experience.
that being said. i admired the fact that the main character didn't succumb to the abuse but took it head on and gave back as she got.
she even shot the lead male character.
She put her family first and in doing so went from girl to woman over night. but instead of most heroines who are meek, she fought back and that is what drew my attention.
Have ordered the the follow up in the series and cannot wait to read it.
I lost the book, but through the help of kind fellow good readers, i managed to locate it once again.
i was curious whether it would leave the same impression as it did all those years ago, and it did.
let me start of my saying this is a bodice ripper.
it is violent, filled with beatings and rape. But well worth the experience.
that being said. i admired the fact that the main character didn't succumb to the abuse but took it head on and gave back as she got.
she even shot the lead male character.
She put her family first and in doing so went from girl to woman over night. but instead of most heroines who are meek, she fought back and that is what drew my attention.
Have ordered the the follow up in the series and cannot wait to read it.
March 27, 2022
I read this book when I was in middle school back in the 80’s! The book matter was way too mature for me to be reading but I devoured it! I think this book is what made me love romance books. Although the romance in this particular book was a bit skewed!
When I read it I knew it was the first part of a trilogy but way back then I had no way of knowing how to get the other two books. I’ve thought of this book for YEARS and often tried looking online for it but couldn’t ever find it. Then today when I searched for it I found it! I thought about re-reading it but after reading the comments I doubt I will!
When I read it I knew it was the first part of a trilogy but way back then I had no way of knowing how to get the other two books. I’ve thought of this book for YEARS and often tried looking online for it but couldn’t ever find it. Then today when I searched for it I found it! I thought about re-reading it but after reading the comments I doubt I will!
July 29, 2023
Sadly I could not finish the book. However, I have thoughts...
Even though this was well written, the charcters did not even seem fully fledged out. The Heroine had a spine but alas fell in the trap of a psychotic, abusive, narcissistic arsehole.
In my humble opinion, this is one of those death-trap rides in an amusement park, by the end of it your either thrilled or half-dead.
Even though this was well written, the charcters did not even seem fully fledged out. The Heroine had a spine but alas fell in the trap of a psychotic, abusive, narcissistic arsehole.
In my humble opinion, this is one of those death-trap rides in an amusement park, by the end of it your either thrilled or half-dead.
February 28, 2019
One of my favourites.
special-unread-plot
February 11, 2020Both heroes deserved each other. He took his girl friend's virginity and ruined her and the h had affair with a married man with 6 children that loved his wife and tried to resist her.
December 18, 2021
My kind of crazy
October 2, 2015
This was so filthy with crazy shit happening at every turn. I had a close encounter when my grandma came into the room while I was reading and took a look at the cover. After seeing it and reading the tile, my super-innocent, 83 year old grandma bluntly stated "well, she must really get around". I quickly changed the subject.
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