Sweet Adventure

by Barbara Cartland

Assise dans le wagon spécial du prince Lintz, Alicia regarde tristement le paysage du Rasgrade qui défile sous ses yeux. Ce petit royaume va devenir le sien car la raison d'État exige qu'elle épouse le souverain. Un mariage arrangé qui la révolte mais comment désobéir à la reine Victoria ? Soudain, un choc terrible, le train déraille. Alicia perd connaissance. Lorsqu'elle se réveille, elle se retrouve parmi les artistes de music-hall qui doivent se produire prochainement au palais. — Vous savez danser, chanter ? lui demande Bill Below, le directeur de la troupe. Eh bien, dans ce cas, bienvenue chez les Below's Belles ! C'est donc déguisée en danseuse qu'Alicia va faire la connaissance de son futur époux... et peut-être conquérir son cœur ?-

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Fiction, Historical Fiction

189 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1973

About the author

Born in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com

Reviews

[Olive · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first I thought the story was interesting. In manner of a much younger famish version of Cinderella dressed as a young boy Who is clever enough to tell it as it is to the noble man that brushes past her and saves her.
Then this man is seduced by the confidence of this young man. ( hardly realistic because someone who is this starved and without any family or friend as described in the book wouldnt act this confident- but moving on...)
So this older man offers this young boy ( desguised as Ventura) a job as. ..a page?
Then they start sleeping together in a grange ( there is no room left in the inn! How convenient for the author! )

What feels really wrong here is that young Ventura is described as a frail infant. A child. Not of 16. But of 13 years of age. Because she is under developped due to the fact she has been starved for quite à while.

An older man that helps a Child is ...okay ish.
An older man that ends up marrying that infant...reads as encouragement of Child abuse to me.
Very unsettling.

In manner of Lolita book by Nabokov trying to make us female readers think it should be okay that an older man fall for it for an underdevelopped Child?

If this was reading as a Jane Austen book from 1845 i would have said the Author came from à time where poverty was terrible.
But thé Author is writing this from 1970 and was never poor.
It Just feels wrong to read this and even wronger that this so called mature man think It is okay to bed an infant girl.

So i would say Barbara Cartland was slightly deranged and mentally troubled if she thought this was romantic?

[Kimberly Karalius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord Lynke is forced into an enhancement with Dona Alcira of Spain for the sake of England but also to put an end to his affairs with married women oooof. On his way to Spain, he loses his page boy and needs support to get to Madrid—lucky for him he runs into a street orphan with gentle manners who is up for the job. That orphan is Ventura, who lost her parents (father was exiled from Scotland btw) and has been surviving by disguising herself as a boy. Ventura serves as Lynke’s page which suits her just fine because her mother’s dying words were to go to Madrid and deliver the letters... what letters? What was her mother’s secret and how will it change Ventura’s life? Of course, the more time they spent together, the stronger the feelings grow between lord and page... but Dona Alcira recognizes Ventura even in disguise and that sets off a dangerous turn of events...

I don’t think “sweet” accurately conveys this novel haha. It really was an adventure, though! Ventura and Lynke were great characters and having a legitimate slow burn that made them falling for each other enjoyable and believable, especially while both of them were so wrapped up in intrigue and murder and secret identities! Shout out to Dona Alcira who was a legit frightening villain. Her ending was satisfyingly ironic. RIP Frivolo.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

With her dying breath Ventura's mother had said, "Go to Madrid," and Ventura knew that, somehow, her destiny lay in that city. She dared to travel as page to the English Lord Lynke who was on his way to an arranged marriage with Dona, one of the richest women in Spain.

Lord Lynke himself was fooled by the masquerade until a midnight attempt on Ventura's life drove her into his arms for protection. Her masquerade was over. If she were ever to reveal her growing love for him, she must learn the secret of her birth--the secret that lay somewhere in the Spanish capital.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good storyline, but the dialog was weak. Got way too mushy at the end, and is another reminder why I normally don't read romance novels...historical or otherwise.