Sweet Adventure

by Mary Burchell

When Nicola set out on a short motoring holiday, she vaguely hoped to encounter some sort of adventure. She wasn’t prepared, however, for the bewildering net of events in which she found herself caught.

To lose her way was bad enough, but to find herself involved in a dramatic sudden death, to become the temporary guardian of a small girl, and then to have the course of her own life changed. This was more than Nicola had bargained for.

Genres: Romance, Harlequin Romance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Ida Cook was born on 1904 at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland, England. With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook (1901), she attending the Duchess' School in Alnwick. Later the sisters took civil service jobs in London, and developed a passionate interest in opera. The sisters helped 29 jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida's writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.

As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.

Reviews

[Henji · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, it's such a pleasure to read Mary Burchell. 5-stars writing.

The h and H were very decent people who really deserved each other. I loved how loyal she was to him, and how caring he was to her. They will make a great team in marriage.

Minus one star because the useless brother took too much space for my liking, and because the H was initially really in love with his fiancée.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been rereading and reviewing a box of romances from when I was a kid. Mary Burchell was my favorite author because of her interesting plots and character development. (She also used the proceeds from her writing to help save Jews from the Nazis.)

I give this four stars for the plot, not the romance. There isn't much romance in it. The hero is very unlikeable in a Mr Darcy way at the beginning. I recently read that Mary Burchell's books (at least some of them) were edited to fit the required length of Harlequin Romances, and this book seems like it could have been edited.

Anyway, not a keeper but of interest to fans of Mary Burchell and vintage genre romance.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another awesome heroine/meh hero pairing. At least this one wasn’t a condescending dick, he was just oddly passive.

[Eclecticbookreviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good. Unexpected story-line but good. 4 stars. Romance was nice steady and realistic just needed more passion. But I didn't mind too much.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminded me a lot of Betty Neels books without the Norway trip! The H was engaged almost the entire book and the romance didn't come until 97% of the book was finished!

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicola becomes involved in the Colwell family when she lost her way while on a motoring tour. Nicola becomes a temporary guardian when 10-year-old Belinda's mother suddenly dies. Belinda is sweet, but she frequently puts her foot in her mouth.

Vaughan and Algie Colwell are brothers. Their invalid mother lives with them. Nicola goes to their home to help Belinda adjust after losing her mom. Vaughan is engaged to shallow little Felicity. Algie gets himself involved with the some shady dealings, which pretty much blows up the family.

Another good one from Mary Burchell. This is the 76th MB book I've read.

Grey-eyed character ~ Nicola (heroine)

[Rongbu]

Not memorable

[Griffinyarn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating:
Writing: 3 stars
Romance: 2 stars
Overall: 2.5 stars

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed at last. "I don't see, even now, how—how it's all happened.

Describes my sentiments exactly! And that was the main problem with the story - the resolution came without any real groundwork, at least from the romance point of view.

That aside, the writing was fairly engaging - I liked Nicola as a heroine and I was interested in her and Belinda's story. The hero was likeable enough, although I would have liked to have gotten into his head a bit more.

This story is fairly typical of the earlier style harlequin romances - clean and centered around the heroine.