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Starlit Surrender
Christina Bower, nineteen, finds herself drawn to Adrien Hunt, despite his reputation as a wealthy rake
443 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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406 people want to read
About the author
Judy Cuevas
7 books31 followersSee profile for Judith Ivory.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
May 18, 2025
Read: 5/18/25
The French Terror at its best!
I think this was JI's best book! This definitely had one of her best Hs. Adrian was just yummy all around.
I highly recommend!!!
The French Terror at its best!
I think this was JI's best book! This definitely had one of her best Hs. Adrian was just yummy all around.
I highly recommend!!!
Read
January 31, 2021Yep, this is definitely Judith Ivory.
The book is a bit of a beautiful mess. In the sense that I am very, very sure it's a purposeful mess. As usual, Ivory's writing is seductive and sensual.
😮🥺😣🤭😳😨🧐🙈🙉🙊💞😼🔥🥰
Those are just a few of the feelings I was feeling? There's a lot going on. It's very likely you should prepare yourself to simultaneously hate Adrien and also want to jump him? And maybe that makes it really clear how you can put yourself in Christina's place.
Also, a warning: I have a bit of an allowance for certain scenes and frankly toxicity in this relationship that might not uh, fly for all - most - many? readers. I have wanted to light books on fire for much less. But also, one of of my favorites has a similar dynamic. So, I don't have good excuse or explanation - it's never presented as okay and isn't as well-established/explained as it could be at least on first read. Anyway, if you're sensitive, just think twice about picking this up and let me know if you need more details.
The book is a bit of a beautiful mess. In the sense that I am very, very sure it's a purposeful mess. As usual, Ivory's writing is seductive and sensual.
😮🥺😣🤭😳😨🧐🙈🙉🙊💞😼🔥🥰
Those are just a few of the feelings I was feeling? There's a lot going on. It's very likely you should prepare yourself to simultaneously hate Adrien and also want to jump him? And maybe that makes it really clear how you can put yourself in Christina's place.
Also, a warning: I have a bit of an allowance for certain scenes and frankly toxicity in this relationship that might not uh, fly for all - most - many? readers. I have wanted to light books on fire for much less. But also, one of of my favorites has a similar dynamic. So, I don't have good excuse or explanation - it's never presented as okay and isn't as well-established/explained as it could be at least on first read. Anyway, if you're sensitive, just think twice about picking this up and let me know if you need more details.
November 22, 2023
Now that I've read this I have no more Judy Cuevas books and I'm distraught. This is Cuevas's first book and some reviews made it out to seem like it was a shoddy first attempt -- I strongly disagree!
It's not Cuevas's best work that's not the same thing as saying it's bad or dull. in fact, Cuevas makes so many unconventional choices here I was on the edge of my seat throughout.
This is a great read if you're interested in rakes that actually act like rakes, in messy feelings and family drama, and French people behaving badly. While the books that Cuevas published with Jove are her masterpieces (Black Silk, Bliss, and Dance) I almost prefer Starlit Surrender over Cuevas's (writing under the pen name Judith Ivory) later air-tight Avon novels.
It's not Cuevas's best work that's not the same thing as saying it's bad or dull. in fact, Cuevas makes so many unconventional choices here I was on the edge of my seat throughout.
This is a great read if you're interested in rakes that actually act like rakes, in messy feelings and family drama, and French people behaving badly. While the books that Cuevas published with Jove are her masterpieces (Black Silk, Bliss, and Dance) I almost prefer Starlit Surrender over Cuevas's (writing under the pen name Judith Ivory) later air-tight Avon novels.
November 2, 2020
This review is of “Starlit Surrender” by Judy Cuevas. (This book was later republished under the title “Angel in a Red Dress” by Judith Ivory. This review is of the paperback version published in January 1988).
Prologue: July, 1789. At a party somewhere in England, Christina Bower, 19, the heroine of the book, meets Adrien Hunt, seventh Earl of Kewischester (pronounced “Kester”), and dances with him. This causes a scandal with her father, Winchell Bower, Kings Counselor, because Adrien is a bounder, cad, libertine and rake of the first order. Later, Adrien is seriously injured in the French Revolution.
Part I: Shadows in the Sun.
Fast forward 3 years. Christina-now Christina Bower Pinn after marrying Richard Pinn, a baronet’s son, has been brought to a house by her cousin, Evangeline, to plan her next steps after learning that Richard is going to divorce her because she can’t have children. (Christina will discover later that the fault was Richard’s, not hers). What Christina doesn’t know is that the house is Adrien’s. As time goes on, Christina and Adrien become lovers, and we learn a great deal about him. Adrien: was married, now divorced; has five children by women he didn’t marry; is a successful businessman; and is involved in intrigue which requires constant travel between England and France, where he was born.
Part II: Shadows in the Shade.
The scene then shifts to France, where Adrien has taken the now very pregnant Christina after she learned about some of his activities. Things take a dark turn when Adrien is arrested by the French government for his actions. After escaping, Adrien and Christina marry to give their child legitimacy. Upon returning to England, Adrien is shot, seriously wounded and presumed dead.
Part III: Shadows in the Dark.
An elaborate scheme takes place. Adrien is captured and nursed back to somewhat health, as Christina is told he is dead. Not believing this, she tries to find him. Adrien escapes from his captors, reunites with Christina and they have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: The fact that I finished “Starlit Surrender” was a major accomplishment; had I not paid for it, I wouldn’t have. The only other upside is the blurbs for other books in the back of the book, which hopefully will be better than this; they can’t be worse.
Downside: Where to begin? Let’s start with Christina, who is basically a brainless ninny. She starts off only caring about going to parties, becomes married, then falls in “love” with an amoral, self-centered, horn dog bastard who cares nothing for her feelings or wishes.
Then there is Adrien, who is a bastard from beginning to end (Not to be too holier-than-thou, but having multiple children out of wedlock isn’t something I’m down with). Apparently, Ms. Cuevas/Ivory realizes her hero is garbage and tries to redeem/explain/justify his behavior in the second half of the book. This, like everything here, fails miserably. Then there are his activities. It is never explained why Adrien is involved in what he is involved in. Ms. Cuevas/Ivory appears to believe that readers are supposed to care simply because Christina and Adrien are the hero and heroine, and makes no other efforts to try to make readers care for them. I also felt like Ms. Cuevas/Ivory was being paid by the word; she uses thousands of words to say absolutely nothing.
Sex: A handful of love scenes involving Christina and Adrien, which are as banal and uninteresting as the rest of the book is.
Violence: Much of the violence is directed toward Adrien, who is shot multiple times, stabbed, and assaulted, and yet, somehow, he survives, which I find incredibly unrealistic. A supporting character commits suicide by gun at the end of the book.
Bottom Line: “Starlit Surrender” is clearly among the worst books I’ve ever read.
Prologue: July, 1789. At a party somewhere in England, Christina Bower, 19, the heroine of the book, meets Adrien Hunt, seventh Earl of Kewischester (pronounced “Kester”), and dances with him. This causes a scandal with her father, Winchell Bower, Kings Counselor, because Adrien is a bounder, cad, libertine and rake of the first order. Later, Adrien is seriously injured in the French Revolution.
Part I: Shadows in the Sun.
Fast forward 3 years. Christina-now Christina Bower Pinn after marrying Richard Pinn, a baronet’s son, has been brought to a house by her cousin, Evangeline, to plan her next steps after learning that Richard is going to divorce her because she can’t have children. (Christina will discover later that the fault was Richard’s, not hers). What Christina doesn’t know is that the house is Adrien’s. As time goes on, Christina and Adrien become lovers, and we learn a great deal about him. Adrien: was married, now divorced; has five children by women he didn’t marry; is a successful businessman; and is involved in intrigue which requires constant travel between England and France, where he was born.
Part II: Shadows in the Shade.
The scene then shifts to France, where Adrien has taken the now very pregnant Christina after she learned about some of his activities. Things take a dark turn when Adrien is arrested by the French government for his actions. After escaping, Adrien and Christina marry to give their child legitimacy. Upon returning to England, Adrien is shot, seriously wounded and presumed dead.
Part III: Shadows in the Dark.
An elaborate scheme takes place. Adrien is captured and nursed back to somewhat health, as Christina is told he is dead. Not believing this, she tries to find him. Adrien escapes from his captors, reunites with Christina and they have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: The fact that I finished “Starlit Surrender” was a major accomplishment; had I not paid for it, I wouldn’t have. The only other upside is the blurbs for other books in the back of the book, which hopefully will be better than this; they can’t be worse.
Downside: Where to begin? Let’s start with Christina, who is basically a brainless ninny. She starts off only caring about going to parties, becomes married, then falls in “love” with an amoral, self-centered, horn dog bastard who cares nothing for her feelings or wishes.
Then there is Adrien, who is a bastard from beginning to end (Not to be too holier-than-thou, but having multiple children out of wedlock isn’t something I’m down with). Apparently, Ms. Cuevas/Ivory realizes her hero is garbage and tries to redeem/explain/justify his behavior in the second half of the book. This, like everything here, fails miserably. Then there are his activities. It is never explained why Adrien is involved in what he is involved in. Ms. Cuevas/Ivory appears to believe that readers are supposed to care simply because Christina and Adrien are the hero and heroine, and makes no other efforts to try to make readers care for them. I also felt like Ms. Cuevas/Ivory was being paid by the word; she uses thousands of words to say absolutely nothing.
Sex: A handful of love scenes involving Christina and Adrien, which are as banal and uninteresting as the rest of the book is.
Violence: Much of the violence is directed toward Adrien, who is shot multiple times, stabbed, and assaulted, and yet, somehow, he survives, which I find incredibly unrealistic. A supporting character commits suicide by gun at the end of the book.
Bottom Line: “Starlit Surrender” is clearly among the worst books I’ve ever read.
August 30, 2017
What a sorry excuse for a romance. I can't believe I wasted so much time reading it. I kept hoping it would get better, the hero more hero like, some semblance of a romance but nope. I would not classify this as a romance or the hero a hero.
May 12, 2025
Such an interesting start from Cuevas. Always love her voice and her unique take on things. A propulsive read. Will be mulling over my feelings on this one for a bit.
June 2, 2011
First, there is no angel and not one in red dress.
Second, it is one of earlier Judith Ivory attempts' and a lot of things are not historically correct. However, the story other than the romance is fairly interesting in itself.
And Adrien Hunt............I don't like him but I can't dislike him either. Early and down to mid story, you actually dislike him.A womanizer, who seduces, who doesn't take no for an answer, who does as he pleases cannot be an honourable man and no matter how the author tries to potray him, it just won't float. However, when the story does deepen and his true character is allowed to merge than things do make more sense.
And I don't particularly like Christina either becasue she does all this denying and drama, and all he has to do is touch her...............and down she falls like a house of cards. Either allow him or truly stand your ground. In the end she does and then she also comes across as a more mature and valid character than earlier in the book.
I like her books a lot. The male leads in "untie my heart" and Black Silk" are almost on the same footing as Adrien but far more authentic and throughout the stories there is a certain consistency, as a slow unraveling of a yarn. I have to say Ms Ivory's male characters physically are men you dream about. But even then I didnot like Adrien early on, rather he is nasty. The redemption in the end atleast makes up for the annoyance one feels in the first half of the book, with an untidy and ugly sketch of a character. You can't have purity and truth comingle with lechery and mendacity in equal amount in the same heart. It would be an unlivable world.
It has never taken me so long to finish such a small book. Her later books more than make up for this one.
Second, it is one of earlier Judith Ivory attempts' and a lot of things are not historically correct. However, the story other than the romance is fairly interesting in itself.
And Adrien Hunt............I don't like him but I can't dislike him either. Early and down to mid story, you actually dislike him.A womanizer, who seduces, who doesn't take no for an answer, who does as he pleases cannot be an honourable man and no matter how the author tries to potray him, it just won't float. However, when the story does deepen and his true character is allowed to merge than things do make more sense.
And I don't particularly like Christina either becasue she does all this denying and drama, and all he has to do is touch her...............and down she falls like a house of cards. Either allow him or truly stand your ground. In the end she does and then she also comes across as a more mature and valid character than earlier in the book.
I like her books a lot. The male leads in "untie my heart" and Black Silk" are almost on the same footing as Adrien but far more authentic and throughout the stories there is a certain consistency, as a slow unraveling of a yarn. I have to say Ms Ivory's male characters physically are men you dream about. But even then I didnot like Adrien early on, rather he is nasty. The redemption in the end atleast makes up for the annoyance one feels in the first half of the book, with an untidy and ugly sketch of a character. You can't have purity and truth comingle with lechery and mendacity in equal amount in the same heart. It would be an unlivable world.
It has never taken me so long to finish such a small book. Her later books more than make up for this one.
May 18, 2025
read under: Angel In Red Dress
January 19, 2016
I debated long and hard about whether I was going to give this book 4 or 5 stars, but in the end, the ending left me dissastisfied. Yes, Adrian and Christia got their HEA, but after what we as the reader had been put through I wanted to read more after the fact. After the I love yous, but no I won't marry you, after almost getting caught in France as a spy for England, after getting shot mutiple times and trying to be killed by a madman, after surviving the opium, the ex wife, the ex husband, the other 5 children out of wedlock with 3 different women. I still wanted more. More of Adrian and Christina just being together as a married couple...finally after a tumultous year of everything that happened above.
You either love JI's writing or you hate it...there is usually no inbetween. She can wring emotions out of a dishcloth I swear. Who amoung you, could forget the chair scene in Untie My Heart...not me...not ever. This book is the same way, Adrian is a spoiled aristrocrat used to getting everything he wants and if he can't have it one way, he will scheme to get it another. Christine is someone he is going to have to scheme to get...she doesn't fall into his bed and arms as easy as all the others. Adrian is hard to like, until you figure out he is hiding secrets, lots of secrets that could get him beheaded.
Christina is struggling to stay out of Ardrian's hands and bed, but she isn't winning the war, nor even very many battles. Once her heart gets engaged she fights all the harder, but Adrian is determined to win the war. That was what was great about this book, it was all about Adrian and Christina and how they fall in loved. Now Adrian he is kicking and screaming the whole entire way. Denouncing to anybody who will listen that Christina is just a really good roll in the hay. Christina though, she sees the sweat and nervousness, she knows she is seeing a man trying to deny his true feelings. There is a lot of emotions built into the story and at times I hated Adrian for how he treated Christina. Then he would do something that would make me like him all over again.
I just flat out wasn't ready for the story to end.
You either love JI's writing or you hate it...there is usually no inbetween. She can wring emotions out of a dishcloth I swear. Who amoung you, could forget the chair scene in Untie My Heart...not me...not ever. This book is the same way, Adrian is a spoiled aristrocrat used to getting everything he wants and if he can't have it one way, he will scheme to get it another. Christine is someone he is going to have to scheme to get...she doesn't fall into his bed and arms as easy as all the others. Adrian is hard to like, until you figure out he is hiding secrets, lots of secrets that could get him beheaded.
Christina is struggling to stay out of Ardrian's hands and bed, but she isn't winning the war, nor even very many battles. Once her heart gets engaged she fights all the harder, but Adrian is determined to win the war. That was what was great about this book, it was all about Adrian and Christina and how they fall in loved. Now Adrian he is kicking and screaming the whole entire way. Denouncing to anybody who will listen that Christina is just a really good roll in the hay. Christina though, she sees the sweat and nervousness, she knows she is seeing a man trying to deny his true feelings. There is a lot of emotions built into the story and at times I hated Adrian for how he treated Christina. Then he would do something that would make me like him all over again.
I just flat out wasn't ready for the story to end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2024
I buddy read this with friends and we agree that this is a Hot Mess. Despite the fact that Angel in a Red Dress came out in 2008 (I think), it's actually a reissue of 1988's Starlit Surrender, which was Judy Cuevas/Judith Ivory's first book. While you get glimpses of the astounding writing that marks pretty much all her other 8 books, I am still floored that her very next book was the utterly sublime Black Silk--one of my top 10 historical romances of all time. So, did she have a crappy editor for Starlit Surrender, or was this just the sandbox where she figured sh*t out?
Anyway, the heroine is Christina, who unfortunately is now my second-most-loathed historical romance FMC, being kept out of the number-one spot by the wretched Jenny of A Kingdom of Dreams. Christina had so much potential and acquits herself well here and there, but on the whole, she bitches and moans and acts TSTL and I wanted to throttle her. I know Judy is capable of writing an outstanding heroine, but Christina was written (or edited?) so inconsistently and annoyed me throughout.
So, Adrien, our MMC. He's a classic complex and charismatic Cuevas/Ivory hero. Despite the fact that he is a sex pest bordering on noncon jerk in true late-80s romance style, he is also smart and charming and weirdly honorable? idk
Throughout, I couldn't get a grip on Christina and Adrien and why they wanted to be together. It was like she wanted to write a really complex relationship between two really complex people but didn't know how to pull it off. To be honest, this would have been a much stronger book without their "romance," or if Christina had been written completely differently. I enjoyed the spy stuff and everything else seemed to get in the way. I really can't see an HEA for these two.
The ending is tonally jarring, and I do not think Epilogue means what Judy thinks it means. Did she just run out of steam on this one? Was her editor too irritating? I think I'm just going to blame it on her editor (groundlessly) because of the strength of the rest of Judy's oeuvre.
Other notes:
- The greenhouse scene is exquisite
- You get a helpful dissertation on the horrors of the French Revolution
- There is an excellent (and shocking) action sequence near the end
In conclusion: This is not an easy read, but if you are a Judy stan, it is a must-read -- ideally once you've read all her others, because then you'll be sustained by the glimpses of her genius and won't think this is all she has to offer.
Anyway, the heroine is Christina, who unfortunately is now my second-most-loathed historical romance FMC, being kept out of the number-one spot by the wretched Jenny of A Kingdom of Dreams. Christina had so much potential and acquits herself well here and there, but on the whole, she bitches and moans and acts TSTL and I wanted to throttle her. I know Judy is capable of writing an outstanding heroine, but Christina was written (or edited?) so inconsistently and annoyed me throughout.
So, Adrien, our MMC. He's a classic complex and charismatic Cuevas/Ivory hero. Despite the fact that he is a sex pest bordering on noncon jerk in true late-80s romance style, he is also smart and charming and weirdly honorable? idk
Throughout, I couldn't get a grip on Christina and Adrien and why they wanted to be together. It was like she wanted to write a really complex relationship between two really complex people but didn't know how to pull it off. To be honest, this would have been a much stronger book without their "romance," or if Christina had been written completely differently. I enjoyed the spy stuff and everything else seemed to get in the way. I really can't see an HEA for these two.
The ending is tonally jarring, and I do not think Epilogue means what Judy thinks it means. Did she just run out of steam on this one? Was her editor too irritating? I think I'm just going to blame it on her editor (groundlessly) because of the strength of the rest of Judy's oeuvre.
Other notes:
- The greenhouse scene is exquisite
- You get a helpful dissertation on the horrors of the French Revolution
- There is an excellent (and shocking) action sequence near the end
In conclusion: This is not an easy read, but if you are a Judy stan, it is a must-read -- ideally once you've read all her others, because then you'll be sustained by the glimpses of her genius and won't think this is all she has to offer.
February 26, 2012
A favorite author recommended this book to me, which I should recognize as a warning the characters are going to take on an emotional roller coaster. Set against the back drop of the reign of terror, their personal struggles with themselves and each other echo the tumultuous time they live in.
The hero and heroine are two of the most complex, difficult, emotional people I've ever read about. He's a tortured, strategically brilliant man. Name the vice and he's done it, usually with a self-destructive bent. She's the beauty of her season coming to grips with growing up, with reality outside her father's strictures and ambitions. Scandalous for their time is a vast understatement. Courtship is a veritable miasma for them, confusing, passionate, divergent, frustrating; and yet I couldn't look away. Somehow it became imperative to learn how they get to their HEA. Even at the last page the feeling lingers that their HEA will remain dramatic, messy and perfect only for them.
Without having experienced some fairly awful grief, having that prism to view this story through, I don't think I would have finished it or had the empathy for these characters. They are a haunting once-only read, a push me-pull me read.
Point blank if a reader is looking for fun, for a comfort food read, go pull a favorite Bridgerton from the shelf. (No disrespect, I love the Bridgeton's!) Save this one for Jane Eyre/Wuthering Heights type cravings, but don't miss it.
The hero and heroine are two of the most complex, difficult, emotional people I've ever read about. He's a tortured, strategically brilliant man. Name the vice and he's done it, usually with a self-destructive bent. She's the beauty of her season coming to grips with growing up, with reality outside her father's strictures and ambitions. Scandalous for their time is a vast understatement. Courtship is a veritable miasma for them, confusing, passionate, divergent, frustrating; and yet I couldn't look away. Somehow it became imperative to learn how they get to their HEA. Even at the last page the feeling lingers that their HEA will remain dramatic, messy and perfect only for them.
Without having experienced some fairly awful grief, having that prism to view this story through, I don't think I would have finished it or had the empathy for these characters. They are a haunting once-only read, a push me-pull me read.
Point blank if a reader is looking for fun, for a comfort food read, go pull a favorite Bridgerton from the shelf. (No disrespect, I love the Bridgeton's!) Save this one for Jane Eyre/Wuthering Heights type cravings, but don't miss it.
no-nay-na-nein-non-ochi-nu-net-nei
February 1, 2021Its a theme that I personally dislike.
The Hero has not one, not two, not three, not four......
But five ......yes FIVE children by different women......
AND..... he gets the heroine pregnant too!!!!!
The Hero has not one, not two, not three, not four......
But five ......yes FIVE children by different women......
AND..... he gets the heroine pregnant too!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2023
I’m not even sure what this is. Historical? Mostly, I suppose. Romance? Totally AWOL. There’s love, of a sort, though it’s hardly recognizable. But no romance, no warm and fuzzies, no joy. This is unpleasant. Fascinating, but unpleasant. The male main character, Adrian, is not a nice person, in spite of his extracurricular heroics. The female main character, Christina, is soon-to-be-divorced, living in Adrian’s house because she has nowhere else to go, and is swept up by Adrian and into international intrigue. She thinks of Adrian as “Willful. Self-centered. Difficult.” So is she. The tone of all this is faintly dreamlike until it segues into nightmarish in France, which then segues into hellish upon their return to London. And frankly, the pieces just don’t fit together in a way that makes sense.
This is like a failed science project: it doesn’t achieve its goal but some interesting stuff happens along the way.
This is like a failed science project: it doesn’t achieve its goal but some interesting stuff happens along the way.
February 4, 2012
That's enough. I can't take it anymore. I just really dislike the h and h.
The last straw was when the heroine did this completely odd thing that I felt was too ridiculous for me to continue with the story.
I'm afraid I have a hard time with Judith Ivory. She writes so so beautifully that I just want to drink up everything she writes. Her ability to capture moments in time and create a scene that I feel as if I can reach out and touch astounds me, but then the characters always leave me feeling cold and irritated. Well, not always, I loved Untie My Heart.
Anyhoo--this hero is not the least bit likeable. He's arrogant, pushy, and a man-whore. Then the heroine, who is going through a divorce, repeatedly tells him "no" because she has enough self-respect to not want to be another notch on his bedpost, but she won't leave him alone.
Plus, I have no clue what he would see in her. She's not interesting, intelligent, or any better than all his other affairs...so why her? Why does he keep wanting her?
Pluh. I'm done with it.
The last straw was when the heroine did this completely odd thing that I felt was too ridiculous for me to continue with the story.
I'm afraid I have a hard time with Judith Ivory. She writes so so beautifully that I just want to drink up everything she writes. Her ability to capture moments in time and create a scene that I feel as if I can reach out and touch astounds me, but then the characters always leave me feeling cold and irritated. Well, not always, I loved Untie My Heart.
Anyhoo--this hero is not the least bit likeable. He's arrogant, pushy, and a man-whore. Then the heroine, who is going through a divorce, repeatedly tells him "no" because she has enough self-respect to not want to be another notch on his bedpost, but she won't leave him alone.
Plus, I have no clue what he would see in her. She's not interesting, intelligent, or any better than all his other affairs...so why her? Why does he keep wanting her?
Pluh. I'm done with it.
June 12, 2012
It's heartening for a would-be writer to read the first book a truly accomplished author wrote and discover that it is not nearly as good as her later novels. It tells you that you can improve, you can get better...
ANGEL is a reprint of Judy Cuevas's first book, STARLIT SURRENDER (1988), after which it appears she didn't publish a second book until 7 years later. One can understand why -- lots of melodrama plot, historical inaccuracies (two divorces? really??) and a really yucky rape trope (if I make you want me then it can't really be rape, despite how many times you say "no") make this feel far more old-school than Ivory/Cuevas's later books. Though the writing is still stylistically appealing, ideologically the book just makes me feel "ick." I'd recommend just saying "no" to both STARLIT SURRENDER and this later repackaged edition, and picking up one of Ivory's later works.
ANGEL is a reprint of Judy Cuevas's first book, STARLIT SURRENDER (1988), after which it appears she didn't publish a second book until 7 years later. One can understand why -- lots of melodrama plot, historical inaccuracies (two divorces? really??) and a really yucky rape trope (if I make you want me then it can't really be rape, despite how many times you say "no") make this feel far more old-school than Ivory/Cuevas's later books. Though the writing is still stylistically appealing, ideologically the book just makes me feel "ick." I'd recommend just saying "no" to both STARLIT SURRENDER and this later repackaged edition, and picking up one of Ivory's later works.
May 9, 2025
This was magnificent . . . for me?
Angel in a Red Dress is the rerelease of Starlit Surrender (originally released in 1988 and written under Judith Ivory's real name, Judy Cuevas). This was Judith's first published book and although it is missing some of her more atmospheric writing and has some first book pacing issues, I enjoyed it. There were so many unexpected twists, turns and revelations in this book - which I have found is often the case with Judith Ivory. (sidenote: Starlit Surrender is the apt title, iykyk)
Our MMC has 5 children by 3 different women (a sixth child is on the way with our FMC) and although some may find this absolutely awful for a romance, I actually found this to be a wonderfully real addition to the character. The children Adrien had were out of wedlock (oh, but he is also divorced) but he LOVES the children. He loves his children and wants to know them and be present in their lives. And he wants Christina to understand how important his fatherhood is to - not only their children - but to all his children. A family: he sees them all as a family.
I don't know, I feel like Ivory was really doing something here with family systems, marriage and monogamy. This book was - for me - revitalizing in a raw and textured way. And I kind of love that quite a few chamber pots make an appearance lol. There are some CWs to be aware of that may make reading this book impossible for some.
CWs: dubcon and non-con (this is kind of a bodice ripper), gruesome violence and injuries due to feuding countries, on-page sex, pregnancy, incest between cousins, big bad gay, torture, SA threats
Angel in a Red Dress is the rerelease of Starlit Surrender (originally released in 1988 and written under Judith Ivory's real name, Judy Cuevas). This was Judith's first published book and although it is missing some of her more atmospheric writing and has some first book pacing issues, I enjoyed it. There were so many unexpected twists, turns and revelations in this book - which I have found is often the case with Judith Ivory. (sidenote: Starlit Surrender is the apt title, iykyk)
Our MMC has 5 children by 3 different women (a sixth child is on the way with our FMC) and although some may find this absolutely awful for a romance, I actually found this to be a wonderfully real addition to the character. The children Adrien had were out of wedlock (oh, but he is also divorced) but he LOVES the children. He loves his children and wants to know them and be present in their lives. And he wants Christina to understand how important his fatherhood is to - not only their children - but to all his children. A family: he sees them all as a family.
I don't know, I feel like Ivory was really doing something here with family systems, marriage and monogamy. This book was - for me - revitalizing in a raw and textured way. And I kind of love that quite a few chamber pots make an appearance lol. There are some CWs to be aware of that may make reading this book impossible for some.
CWs: dubcon and non-con (this is kind of a bodice ripper), gruesome violence and injuries due to feuding countries, on-page sex, pregnancy, incest between cousins, big bad gay, torture, SA threats
June 16, 2025
2025 reread: I LOVE IT!!!
ps. anyone that refers to a female character as too stupid to live is a sexist LOSER!
2023: here is my review of the re-issue of this book Angel in a Red Dress
I love this book and how Adrien challenges Christina about marriage and what makes a family. Everyone is a mess but that is why they feel so human and beautiful.
ps. anyone that refers to a female character as too stupid to live is a sexist LOSER!
2023: here is my review of the re-issue of this book Angel in a Red Dress
I love this book and how Adrien challenges Christina about marriage and what makes a family. Everyone is a mess but that is why they feel so human and beautiful.
August 17, 2022
First third of the book was amazing.
The other 2/3 I was wondering what is happening where is it going until our hero got crushed so badly at the end yet he somehow survived and then the book ended.
The other 2/3 I was wondering what is happening where is it going until our hero got crushed so badly at the end yet he somehow survived and then the book ended.
August 5, 2009
Adrien Hunt is a spy for the English crown during the French Revolution. He is in love with Christina Bower but refuses to acknowledge this even to himself. Christina is in love also and very concerned about Adrien's covert operations. She doesn't know that he is a spy but she's figuring it out from the many clues given inadvertantly.
I enjoyed this book. Christina and Adrien were both very likeable characters. I'm not much on war and whatnot but Judith Ivoy kept to the minimum on the historical details which made it rather enjoyable.
I enjoyed this book. Christina and Adrien were both very likeable characters. I'm not much on war and whatnot but Judith Ivoy kept to the minimum on the historical details which made it rather enjoyable.
July 6, 2023
This was exhilarating, breathtaking, brave with main characters who are just so layered, complex, and like SO HOT. Just classic Ivory. There’s so many things I loved about this one and is so typical of her work and that’s how she writes BIG FEELINGS, especially anger. And orchestration of plotty stuff that somehow enhances the characters and doesn’t overshadow them. Will try to write more because this book was just an incredible ride.
July 8, 2024
Aaaaaaah, Adrien is such a spoiled brat I swear I want to boil him in hot oil. The angst, the pain, the incomprehensible attitude of the Earl of Kewischester drove me nuts, I’m not going to lie. I was so irritated by him, I nearly failed to finish the book. But, Judith Ivory writes so well and her prose is so compelling, I am persuaded to give the book 5 stars!
I know it’s weird but that’s the way it is. It’s a very good book regardless of the awful hero. Now, the heroine Christina should be awarded the martyr of the decade for what she went through. It’s the least she deserves. Sigh.
I know it’s weird but that’s the way it is. It’s a very good book regardless of the awful hero. Now, the heroine Christina should be awarded the martyr of the decade for what she went through. It’s the least she deserves. Sigh.
July 11, 2011
Judith Ivory's 1988 debut. Reading this was like time travelling, back to the days when books were books and we could sink into them for a few evenings. Ivory/Cuevas wrote so very well. She brought all the scenes alive without a single cliche.
But she was writing in the '80s, when there was a reason people called Romances "bodice rippers" and the "romance" in this book is far too rape-like for today's reader. The heroine is too passive, too, and the historical facts upon which the otherwise well-plotted plot revolves so utterly wrong that the book is painful to read at times. Aristocrats in the 1780s and '90s did not get divorced in a few months by filing papers and seeing a judge. Male doctors did not deliver babies with forceps.
But even so, damn I love the way that woman writes, and her hero, though indefensible, is a masterful creation whose conversation fascinates, even if his rough wooing would put him in jail today.
Recommended only for serious students of the genre, and established fans of Judith Ivory.
But she was writing in the '80s, when there was a reason people called Romances "bodice rippers" and the "romance" in this book is far too rape-like for today's reader. The heroine is too passive, too, and the historical facts upon which the otherwise well-plotted plot revolves so utterly wrong that the book is painful to read at times. Aristocrats in the 1780s and '90s did not get divorced in a few months by filing papers and seeing a judge. Male doctors did not deliver babies with forceps.
But even so, damn I love the way that woman writes, and her hero, though indefensible, is a masterful creation whose conversation fascinates, even if his rough wooing would put him in jail today.
Recommended only for serious students of the genre, and established fans of Judith Ivory.
September 4, 2018
This is one of the first historical romance books I read, and to me at the time it seemed that it was rather romantic and intriguing with lots of plot and criminals to defeat etc... but when I re-read it it didn't hold its candle to the first time I read it and that's because my younger mind was rather impressionable and anything was different than what I was used to. Looking back I realise that the main characters did not have a healthy relationship to begin with. I don't really like it when the h chases the H because the H usually doesn't realise he likes the h back until almost the end of the book. This was no exception, even though the blurb says that Adrien chased Christina, sure it might have begun like that, but then once he made it clear he didn't want to continue his relationship with her she still kept clinging on to him in an unnatural way. She was annoying and so was the H, but despite its faults, I still have fond memories of reading this book consecutively.
January 3, 2015
I adore Judith Ivory aka Judy Cuevas, but this renamed reissue of a very early novel is the only thing I've read by her that I don't wholeheartedly recommend. Since I'm
labeling this as her worst, allow me to steer you to her best: The Indiscretion, a wholly delightful and delicious Victorian-era romance with two beautifully rendered protagonists.
labeling this as her worst, allow me to steer you to her best: The Indiscretion, a wholly delightful and delicious Victorian-era romance with two beautifully rendered protagonists.
March 23, 2015
I expected much more from this book. The idea in general is not bad... in the beginning. All this spying moments usually turn to be interesting, BUT. The female character is awful and inadequate. I looks like the author enjoyed just her male protagonist. However the man who falls in love with THAT woman just can't be normal. I'm so disappointed!
June 18, 2010
This was a good book until he gets captured and put in that yucky prison in the dog pens. Then the details of the stuff he does to him. Yuck!
November 22, 2014
But there is no angel in a red dress! More descriptive would be: The Scarlet Pimpernel: A Psychological Portrait.
June 30, 2019
I enjoyed this unique book. Low ratings overall, but story was interesting spy plot.
January 1, 2021
Imperfect for Ivory/Cuevas but that's to be expected in a first book by an author who went on to hone her craft. She paints Hs whose charisma overwhelms their extreme rake behavior for the h and about half the readers of this particular book going by reviews. The heroines are problematic in a different way. They play hard-to-get too long or too often between bouts of sizzling sex. Christine does the no-no-no-YES! act on the way to being seduced, during several months as a willing mistress and after becoming pregnant, even intends to estrange herself after the marriage for which she's been angling. Make up your mind Christine! Along with her constant ambivalence, there seems to be too little about her to make her uniquely attractive for a man of Adrien's vast experience and 5 bastard children as well as truly heroic Scarlet Pimpernel type exploits (except the infertility for which her husband divorced her and that turned out not to be so). Maybe she just happened to be in the right place when Adrien was slowing down and willing to settle.
There was a bizarre side trip down memory lane to Adrien's first love and cousin Madeleine and their teen marriage when she betrayed him to the French authorities 12 years later out of pique over their divorce. Madeleine seems to have engendered deeper feelings in her ex-husband back in the day than he evidences for the very pregnant Christine. Nothing could stop him from marrying his cousin whereas nothing could induce him to marry Christine until it was a strategic move to conserve his earldom through legitimizing an heir. So that was weird.
Another weakness was the sadistic bodily punishment meted out to Adrien and the zero odds that he would have survived 2 major gut injuries in the pre-antibiotic era. What marksmanship to riddle him with 6 bullets including a gut shot on orders to keep him alive when the only reason he survived according to an attending doctor was because he was frozen from his previous dunking in the wintry English channel and bled little. The marksmen wouldn't have known to factor that in. Although his superhuman survival ability was ascribed to superb fitness, there was never any indication that Adrien did anything to achieve physical endurance. He ate poorly, slept little and lived a dissolute life between mercy missions, with previous bouts of opium usage.
Still, plot and character holes didn't stop a relatively exciting drive with a flashy H though the h took a back seat much of the time. This was more of a one man show with her bathed in his reflected glory.
There was a bizarre side trip down memory lane to Adrien's first love and cousin Madeleine and their teen marriage when she betrayed him to the French authorities 12 years later out of pique over their divorce. Madeleine seems to have engendered deeper feelings in her ex-husband back in the day than he evidences for the very pregnant Christine. Nothing could stop him from marrying his cousin whereas nothing could induce him to marry Christine until it was a strategic move to conserve his earldom through legitimizing an heir. So that was weird.
Another weakness was the sadistic bodily punishment meted out to Adrien and the zero odds that he would have survived 2 major gut injuries in the pre-antibiotic era. What marksmanship to riddle him with 6 bullets including a gut shot on orders to keep him alive when the only reason he survived according to an attending doctor was because he was frozen from his previous dunking in the wintry English channel and bled little. The marksmen wouldn't have known to factor that in. Although his superhuman survival ability was ascribed to superb fitness, there was never any indication that Adrien did anything to achieve physical endurance. He ate poorly, slept little and lived a dissolute life between mercy missions, with previous bouts of opium usage.
Still, plot and character holes didn't stop a relatively exciting drive with a flashy H though the h took a back seat much of the time. This was more of a one man show with her bathed in his reflected glory.
December 27, 2022
Pretty good—unfortunately I skipped ahead a bit during my first night of reading and I think this affected my experience and made it hard to trust my evaluation of the book. Ivory is certainly a capable writer but I could definitely tell via the story that this was her first work (originally published as Starlit Surrender in 1988). I don't even really know how to write a review of this book so I'm just going to rattle off some details and leave it at that:
Georgian era. Set in England and France during the French Revolution, so lacking Ivory's usual Victorian/Edwardian setting, which I definitely noticed since those are such a vivid part of her books. Age gap (hero 34, heroine 22). Divorced hero and divorced heroine. Barren heroine who turns out to Hero with illegitimate children. Lots of plot drama. Strong dub con and non con. Half French hero, which again Ivory loves her foreign-ish heroes. Spy hero—or sort of/close enough. Takes place over at least a year and has a couple time jumps. Rake hero. Heroine who becomes his mistress. Heroine who demands marriage (hell yeah!!)
This book sort of suffered from incomplete communication. Like I wanted more resolution at points—him clarifying the things she overheard at the inn, him explaining that he already planned to marry her before the letter, etc. I just wanted more romantic talking from him. Also, I thought the villain was going to have a deeper motive behind his weird fixation on Adrien—like that he had committed treason himself and wanted to hide it or something. Not just
Third person past tense dual POV.
Georgian era. Set in England and France during the French Revolution, so lacking Ivory's usual Victorian/Edwardian setting, which I definitely noticed since those are such a vivid part of her books. Age gap (hero 34, heroine 22). Divorced hero and divorced heroine. Barren heroine who turns out to Hero with illegitimate children. Lots of plot drama. Strong dub con and non con. Half French hero, which again Ivory loves her foreign-ish heroes. Spy hero—or sort of/close enough. Takes place over at least a year and has a couple time jumps. Rake hero. Heroine who becomes his mistress. Heroine who demands marriage (hell yeah!!)
This book sort of suffered from incomplete communication. Like I wanted more resolution at points—him clarifying the things she overheard at the inn, him explaining that he already planned to marry her before the letter, etc. I just wanted more romantic talking from him. Also, I thought the villain was going to have a deeper motive behind his weird fixation on Adrien—like that he had committed treason himself and wanted to hide it or something. Not just
Third person past tense dual POV.
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