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Beyond Surrender
Dianna Brandley was heartbroken when Christian Cartwright married and took his bride to Virginia. Danni fulfilled her mother’s deathbed wish by marrying her Virginia cousin, North Delveau, and followed Christian to the new world. But she soon came to yearn for North, who seemed indifferent to her. In the turbulence of the wilderness she longed for North to understand and forgive her. Historical Romance by JoAnn Wendt; originally published by Avon
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1982
5 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
JoAnn Wendt
6 books6 followersJoAnn Wendt was born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. At the tender age of 19, she married a young Air Force officer and immediately plunged into a life of constant travel. JoAnn, however, managed to stop along the many roads to earn both a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland and a master's degree from Wisconsin State University.
Her talented pen and diverse background led her into freelance writing, where she went on to win the Catherine L. O'Brien Award for outstanding achievement in women's interest newspaper reporting.
JoAnn's stint as a freelance writer stimulated her creative energy. The romantic plots she contemplated grew as her knowledge and love of history increased. The result: a blend of sizzling romance and historical intrigue that has made loyal fans of her four award-winning novels, BEYOND SURRENDER, BEYOND THE DAWN, THE GOLDEN DOVE and BEYOND THE SAVAGE SEA.
JoAnn lives with her husband in the foothills of the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains near Lake Tahoe, where she is currently working on two novels: an historical romance, THE GOLDEN RAVEN, and an historical mystery, HANGMAN'S LULLABY.
In her spare time she enjoys yoga, tai chi and four delightful young grandchildren.
Her talented pen and diverse background led her into freelance writing, where she went on to win the Catherine L. O'Brien Award for outstanding achievement in women's interest newspaper reporting.
JoAnn's stint as a freelance writer stimulated her creative energy. The romantic plots she contemplated grew as her knowledge and love of history increased. The result: a blend of sizzling romance and historical intrigue that has made loyal fans of her four award-winning novels, BEYOND SURRENDER, BEYOND THE DAWN, THE GOLDEN DOVE and BEYOND THE SAVAGE SEA.
JoAnn lives with her husband in the foothills of the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains near Lake Tahoe, where she is currently working on two novels: an historical romance, THE GOLDEN RAVEN, and an historical mystery, HANGMAN'S LULLABY.
In her spare time she enjoys yoga, tai chi and four delightful young grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 13, 2025
SPOILERS
England 1766
Seventeen year old, beautiful, Diana, was in love with Christian her whole life.
Her father's handsome friend, Sir Gordon, only a week after he buried his wife, told Diana that he meant to have her as his wife.
Diana hated him but was attracted to him.
Diana was promised to a son of a Comte, who lived in Virginia in the Americas, and was very rich.
Now the Comte lay ill and in letters he pressured Diane's father to fulfil the vow.
His son, North, was now in England.
Christian married someone else and Diana was devastated.
When North came to the house as a quest to a party, he told Diana that he did not want this marriage between them. He was committed to a woman he loved.
Diana told him that she too loved someone and wanted to remain in England to be close to him.
But later on, Diana learnt that Christian was to go to Virginia for a few years.
So Diana made an announcement at the party: North asked her to marry him and she had accepted.
She was going to Virginia too.
North and Sir Gordon were livid.
So begrudgingly North married Diana, but made it clear to her that he wanted nothing to do with her.
There was no wedding night as North left the wedding party.
That night Diana was raped by Sir Gordon.
He told her that he had to. He loved her, he said.
Six days later North and Diana boarded a ship for the Americas.
The couple did not share a cabin and the marriage remained uncosummated.
The rift between them was irreparable.
Two months into the trip, Diana realised that she was pregnant.
She was to have Sir Gordon's baby.
Arriving in Virginia and on their way to North's plantation, they passed an Indian village.
There, Diana witnessed North's emotional and passionate reunion with a young, stunning looking Indian woman.
A woman big with child.
Her name was Starlight and she was North's wife.
North's estate was impressive.
A few days later, North was getting ready to
leave.
"Where are you going? To your Indian whore?"
"Not whore, but wife. "
"Dirty Indian squaw, you mean!" (At that point l hated the heroine.)
"Goddaamn you. She is my wife in the true sense of the word, as you are not. Starlight is my wife. She carries my child. I can no more stop myself from loving her than l can stop myself from beginning to care for you. "
Diana told North, one day, that she was with child and he was consumed with rage to the point that he had his way with her in anger, (I call it rape).
Afterwards he was remorseful.
He asked her if the father was Christian.
She said it was someone else. She was assaulted, she said.
He said when his father dies, that sham of a marriage would be at an end.
Days went by, North would disappear for a week or so at a time, and Diana knew he was with Starlight.
Diana started to fall in love with him.
She told him that she yearned for him to take her.
"You carry another's child. I don't want you like this."
Starlight had given birth to twin sons.
Some months later, Diana gave birth to a boy.
The baby looked a lot like North, everybody said so.
One day Diana asked him what he wanted of her.
He said he wanted what Christian owned. Her love.
She said that she longed to own what Starlight owned of him.
She said she loved Christian as a child, but as a woman she was in love with North.
They started to be intimate after that conversation.
Diana asked him about Starlight.
"Don't ask me to measure what l feel for you against what I feel for Starlight. Does one compare the sky to the sea? Or the earth to the wind?"
North went to Starlight at least twice a month.
They never talked about it but the situation was eating up on Diana.
She understood that North agonised over the situation too.
Stress and tension was building up inside him.
She knew that he would not go on in this mode forever.
She knew that one day, for his own peace of mind, he would choose one of them and give up the other.
The thought terrified Diana for she knew he would never give up his small sons and never put aside their mother.
She knew he would choose Starlight.
A year after their marriage, North told Diana in a very sad voice that he loved her.
Alarmed she told him that she can't live without him and asked him not to send her away.
North's father died and North went away to the sugar islands for a while.
During his absence, a snake beat Diane's son.
He was slipping away.
Frantic, Diana took him to Starlight who was a healer.
Starlight tend to him and declared that North's son lives.
Grateful Diana asked what she could do for her in return.
"Cross back the Great Pond. Give me back my husband. "
Starlight encouraged Diana to go back to the plantation.
It was not safe there for a white woman. The baby should stay for a few more days.
Back at the plantation, Diana received a letter from North.
'Diana, the voyage afforded me time to ponder my problems.
I have reached the most difficult and painful decision of my life.
It would be unfair and cowardly to write you of that decision.
I must tell you face to face. North.'
Shaking, Diana knew that the tone of the letter clearly showed that he decided to send her away.
Two days later, Diana returned to the Indian village, only to find everybody slaughtered.
She was inconsolable.
She buried her son at the plantation.
When North returned back, he was shattered.
Months went by, North and Diana were now wed for two years.
Diana knew that North was her's and she was his and she prayed never to know who North had decided to keep as a wife months ago, and who to send away.
One day they received a visit. It was Sir Gordon.
That day everything came to the light.
North now knew that Sir Gordon was Diane's baby father.
Sir Gordon managed to draw a wedge between North and Diana using lies and half truths.
North told him to take Diana and leave.
"If you value her life, get her out of this house. For the next time l see her, by God, l will kill her. "
He then turned to Diana.
"When l returned from the sugar islands months ago, l had planned to send you away. Would to God that l had."
Sir Gordon took Diana with him.
Diana knew that her life had ended and nothing mattered anymore.
Sir Gordon told her that North had divorced her.
Diana was pregnant with North's baby.
Sir Gordon told her that North had remarried.
Sir Gordon died and Diana and the baby went to a farm that belonged to her maid and her husband.
A month later, they spotted someone coming from afar.
It was North.
Diana hid in the loft.
North had a drink of water and as he was about to leave, the baby cried. He picked her up and asked Nan the baby's name. When she said 'Charlotte Arabella' he knew.
Diana run towards the woods but he catched up with her.
Weeping, Diana asked him not to take the baby from her.
He said "Weep, darling. And Weep, too, for a fool who valued pride above love. "
He asked her forgiveness and asked her to be his wife again.
"But you divorced me. You have another wife. Gordon showed me the document of divorce, and you had remarried. "
None were true. Sir Gordon made everything up to suit him. He left everything to the baby girl.
England 1766
Seventeen year old, beautiful, Diana, was in love with Christian her whole life.
Her father's handsome friend, Sir Gordon, only a week after he buried his wife, told Diana that he meant to have her as his wife.
Diana hated him but was attracted to him.
Diana was promised to a son of a Comte, who lived in Virginia in the Americas, and was very rich.
Now the Comte lay ill and in letters he pressured Diane's father to fulfil the vow.
His son, North, was now in England.
Christian married someone else and Diana was devastated.
When North came to the house as a quest to a party, he told Diana that he did not want this marriage between them. He was committed to a woman he loved.
Diana told him that she too loved someone and wanted to remain in England to be close to him.
But later on, Diana learnt that Christian was to go to Virginia for a few years.
So Diana made an announcement at the party: North asked her to marry him and she had accepted.
She was going to Virginia too.
North and Sir Gordon were livid.
So begrudgingly North married Diana, but made it clear to her that he wanted nothing to do with her.
There was no wedding night as North left the wedding party.
That night Diana was raped by Sir Gordon.
He told her that he had to. He loved her, he said.
Six days later North and Diana boarded a ship for the Americas.
The couple did not share a cabin and the marriage remained uncosummated.
The rift between them was irreparable.
Two months into the trip, Diana realised that she was pregnant.
She was to have Sir Gordon's baby.
Arriving in Virginia and on their way to North's plantation, they passed an Indian village.
There, Diana witnessed North's emotional and passionate reunion with a young, stunning looking Indian woman.
A woman big with child.
Her name was Starlight and she was North's wife.
North's estate was impressive.
A few days later, North was getting ready to
leave.
"Where are you going? To your Indian whore?"
"Not whore, but wife. "
"Dirty Indian squaw, you mean!" (At that point l hated the heroine.)
"Goddaamn you. She is my wife in the true sense of the word, as you are not. Starlight is my wife. She carries my child. I can no more stop myself from loving her than l can stop myself from beginning to care for you. "
Diana told North, one day, that she was with child and he was consumed with rage to the point that he had his way with her in anger, (I call it rape).
Afterwards he was remorseful.
He asked her if the father was Christian.
She said it was someone else. She was assaulted, she said.
He said when his father dies, that sham of a marriage would be at an end.
Days went by, North would disappear for a week or so at a time, and Diana knew he was with Starlight.
Diana started to fall in love with him.
She told him that she yearned for him to take her.
"You carry another's child. I don't want you like this."
Starlight had given birth to twin sons.
Some months later, Diana gave birth to a boy.
The baby looked a lot like North, everybody said so.
One day Diana asked him what he wanted of her.
He said he wanted what Christian owned. Her love.
She said that she longed to own what Starlight owned of him.
She said she loved Christian as a child, but as a woman she was in love with North.
They started to be intimate after that conversation.
Diana asked him about Starlight.
"Don't ask me to measure what l feel for you against what I feel for Starlight. Does one compare the sky to the sea? Or the earth to the wind?"
North went to Starlight at least twice a month.
They never talked about it but the situation was eating up on Diana.
She understood that North agonised over the situation too.
Stress and tension was building up inside him.
She knew that he would not go on in this mode forever.
She knew that one day, for his own peace of mind, he would choose one of them and give up the other.
The thought terrified Diana for she knew he would never give up his small sons and never put aside their mother.
She knew he would choose Starlight.
A year after their marriage, North told Diana in a very sad voice that he loved her.
Alarmed she told him that she can't live without him and asked him not to send her away.
North's father died and North went away to the sugar islands for a while.
During his absence, a snake beat Diane's son.
He was slipping away.
Frantic, Diana took him to Starlight who was a healer.
Starlight tend to him and declared that North's son lives.
Grateful Diana asked what she could do for her in return.
"Cross back the Great Pond. Give me back my husband. "
Starlight encouraged Diana to go back to the plantation.
It was not safe there for a white woman. The baby should stay for a few more days.
Back at the plantation, Diana received a letter from North.
'Diana, the voyage afforded me time to ponder my problems.
I have reached the most difficult and painful decision of my life.
It would be unfair and cowardly to write you of that decision.
I must tell you face to face. North.'
Shaking, Diana knew that the tone of the letter clearly showed that he decided to send her away.
Two days later, Diana returned to the Indian village, only to find everybody slaughtered.
She was inconsolable.
She buried her son at the plantation.
When North returned back, he was shattered.
Months went by, North and Diana were now wed for two years.
Diana knew that North was her's and she was his and she prayed never to know who North had decided to keep as a wife months ago, and who to send away.
One day they received a visit. It was Sir Gordon.
That day everything came to the light.
North now knew that Sir Gordon was Diane's baby father.
Sir Gordon managed to draw a wedge between North and Diana using lies and half truths.
North told him to take Diana and leave.
"If you value her life, get her out of this house. For the next time l see her, by God, l will kill her. "
He then turned to Diana.
"When l returned from the sugar islands months ago, l had planned to send you away. Would to God that l had."
Sir Gordon took Diana with him.
Diana knew that her life had ended and nothing mattered anymore.
Sir Gordon told her that North had divorced her.
Diana was pregnant with North's baby.
Sir Gordon told her that North had remarried.
Sir Gordon died and Diana and the baby went to a farm that belonged to her maid and her husband.
A month later, they spotted someone coming from afar.
It was North.
Diana hid in the loft.
North had a drink of water and as he was about to leave, the baby cried. He picked her up and asked Nan the baby's name. When she said 'Charlotte Arabella' he knew.
Diana run towards the woods but he catched up with her.
Weeping, Diana asked him not to take the baby from her.
He said "Weep, darling. And Weep, too, for a fool who valued pride above love. "
He asked her forgiveness and asked her to be his wife again.
"But you divorced me. You have another wife. Gordon showed me the document of divorce, and you had remarried. "
None were true. Sir Gordon made everything up to suit him. He left everything to the baby girl.
September 15, 2018
This book is so damn angsty. Damn book had me crying. The hero has a second wife and she's native american. It was just too much. I still like the h even though she was a bit of a dolt. I don't know if I even liked this book but I give it four stars for the keeping me entertained for a night. I couldn't but it down. I would call this Stokholm reading because the book abuses the reader.
April 27, 2025
Read: 3/10/25 - late review
Setting: 1761Englan and Virginia
4.5 stars
I waited too late to review this book. This was such a unique, complex story. It's not easy to describe, and I'm too lazy to try. Luckily, my friend, Anna, wrote a fantastic review that better explains the plot. I recommend reading that review.
Just quick notes:
liked:
The author was smart telling the story through the h's POV. It would have been harder to root for this couple if I knew the love words the H was saying to his Indian wife.
disliked:
I hate how the h martyrs herself at the end. All so the villain won't tell the H about his late mom's true character. It was stupid and unnecessary and ruined a great story up until this point.
Conclusion: This was not an easy read at times, but it was so worth it!
Setting: 1761Englan and Virginia
4.5 stars
I waited too late to review this book. This was such a unique, complex story. It's not easy to describe, and I'm too lazy to try. Luckily, my friend, Anna, wrote a fantastic review that better explains the plot. I recommend reading that review.
Just quick notes:
liked:
The author was smart telling the story through the h's POV. It would have been harder to root for this couple if I knew the love words the H was saying to his Indian wife.
disliked:
I hate how the h martyrs herself at the end. All so the villain won't tell the H about his late mom's true character. It was stupid and unnecessary and ruined a great story up until this point.
Conclusion: This was not an easy read at times, but it was so worth it!
August 11, 2019
The H lives in a bigamic like relationship with the h and his indian wife, both (H, h) have kids with others, but don't worry, all these people died in the end so our H and h can have their HEA with children of their own! Awful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
April 6, 2017Seems like both MCs are hoes pinning for other ppl! WTF!
December 24, 2021
I mean what the heck was this?
The h is a best who wants to marry a man who is in love with someone else she has some other dude who is totally obsessed with her and does her wrong and she also marries another dude (H) who is in love with someone else and has kids with this lady so they have a MOC.
I felt sorry for the OW she was done wrong by on every level and the H and h are just basically selfish monsters.
Literally everyone who stands in the way of this h and H ends up conveniently dead - including all the kids that have parents that isn’t one of these 2 and the monster dude also has some kind of weird forgiveness as well.
This book left me feeling rather horrified at the end.
The h is a best who wants to marry a man who is in love with someone else she has some other dude who is totally obsessed with her and does her wrong and she also marries another dude (H) who is in love with someone else and has kids with this lady so they have a MOC.
I felt sorry for the OW she was done wrong by on every level and the H and h are just basically selfish monsters.
Literally everyone who stands in the way of this h and H ends up conveniently dead - including all the kids that have parents that isn’t one of these 2 and the monster dude also has some kind of weird forgiveness as well.
This book left me feeling rather horrified at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
December 24, 2021Self note
H has a 2nd wife (Native American), while being married to h.🤭
Need detailed safety info please!
H has a 2nd wife (Native American), while being married to h.🤭
Need detailed safety info please!
November 4, 2019
Dear Joanne Wendt. I'm writing one review on each of your books in hopes you'd read this. I have brought all your books. It was the 'Beyond The Savage Sea' that made me sceptical to further read your books but later (much later) I chanced upon another of your books, 'Beyond Surrender' and I fell in love with your plots and writing style. I finally finished reading your fourth (earlier) book, The Golden Dove and it was absolutely amazing. There's something about your books that are so addicting and it's saddening that there's no other instalments.
You must continue writing because you are brilliant at it! Please let Goodreads know if there's any other book a you'd be publishing.
From a fan. :)
You must continue writing because you are brilliant at it! Please let Goodreads know if there's any other book a you'd be publishing.
From a fan. :)
August 11, 2023
Serious spoilers ahead. Old school, messy, and depressing. There is certainly an OTT factor but too much of it is caused by cheating and non-consensual sex. At one point the H raped her, which in some ways does poetic because his father also raped the h. Also, let’s not forget the abuse: When he finds out that she is pregnant, he refuses to believe that she was assaulted and rapes and hits her.
Published in 1982 and you can really tell. So many disturbing elements and I can’t even go there about the bigamy with a Native woman because it is just opening up an enormous can of worms.
Published in 1982 and you can really tell. So many disturbing elements and I can’t even go there about the bigamy with a Native woman because it is just opening up an enormous can of worms.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2020
I really love the book. Even though it made me cry sometimes but the plot of your book made turn the pages every single day when reading while forgetting to do my chores
July 3, 2024
it had its moments, but a bit too much for me. The H and h marrying while the H is married to a Native American girl, the h marrying him to get back at the OM she thinks she loves who's married someone else (and wasn't worth her time), misunderstandings, rape, a forced marriage (to the H's father!!!!), children dying and a lot of crummy stuff.
For its good moments, I gave this book two stars, but one and a half would have been better.
For its good moments, I gave this book two stars, but one and a half would have been better.
October 11, 2014
not really worth the read
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews