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The Golden Sovereigns
Surging with passion and epic power, GOLDEN SOVEREIGNS sweeps from the proud family estates of England to the exotic West Indies to the sprawling plantations of the Virginia Colony -- and, against the pageantry and adventure of an enthralling age, reveals the fiery spirit of a beautiful woman destined for blazing desire.
Thrust into the tumultuous events of two continents -- and into the lustful embraces of men of high and low station -- Carmody Petrie braves enslavement, danger, and royal intrigue to conquer her tormentors...and to seal, in the arms of the adoring Mark Tennant, their fated bond of surpassing love.
Thrust into the tumultuous events of two continents -- and into the lustful embraces of men of high and low station -- Carmody Petrie braves enslavement, danger, and royal intrigue to conquer her tormentors...and to seal, in the arms of the adoring Mark Tennant, their fated bond of surpassing love.
404 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
15 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Jocelyn Carew
4 books12 followersPseudonym of Jacqueline Aeby, who also wrote under the name Vanessa Gray.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 11, 2021
The Golden Sovereigns is unlike any bodice ripper I've ever read. It's very difficult to rate or categorize as it defies genre conventions. Jocelyn Carew is an absolutely skillful writer to make me enjoy a book where the heroine, Carmody, doesn't meet her hero until page 270 of this 404-page epic. This is the kind of bodice ripper where the heroine's journey is the real tale, however, the hero is not a mere prize she wins at the end; he's a balm to heal her damaged soul.
Our story begins in late 17th century England. Carmody Petrie is in love with Waldo, who's a no-good rogue. She engages in some heavy petting with him, but she knows better than to give in to his caresses despite her body's urges:
"A new stirring, of springs moving deep inside her, a well of emotion she had never dreamed of had been uncovered. When Waldo had laid impertinent hands on her, she had felt a moving, rising, betraying response. Her own body--if she did not carefully govern it--might well turn traitor!"
That certainly brought me to attention. I was ready to enjoy a bawdy, lust romp. But The Golden Sovereigns isn't that at all.
Waldo steals Carmody's dowry & has no intention of marrying her; he's got another, a wealthier woman in mind. Then her young brother Ralph gambles their inheritance away to the Duke of Monmouth. Carmody goes to the Duke and with him, finds her first tragic love affair.
Awakened into passion by the Duke of Monmouth, who is written here as a fascinating, tragically doomed character, Carmody is the only person who stays with him after his final defeat at Sedgemoor & he's declared a criminal. In a stunning betrayal, Monmouth abandons Carmody to make his escape, that bastard! Well, history shows he gets his just desserts in the end!
Carmody assumes a false name, is captured, tried for treason, & sentenced to penal servitude in the West Indies for life.
Carmody is given into employ to a multifaceted man who is in mourning for his dead wife. He's cruel to Carmody, but he never forces her and they don't engage in sex. In time, she gets her freedom, but it's temporary as more trials and tribulations face Carmody. She's forced into marriage and finds herself in the American colonies.
At long last, we meet the hero, Mark Tennant, a truly nice guy who offers Carmody a different world she's known: one filled with joy & love. Her response is to him is heartbreaking:"There was a time Mark, when I would have given my soul for such cherishing...But I lost my soul for much, much less."
What's the most unusual aspect is that Carmody and Mark don't consummate their relationship, at least not during the time the book takes place. Carmody and Mark's relationship transcends physical love, theirs is a meeting of spirit that is paramount to the meeting of flesh.
I am not a patient reader. Although I adore these old romances, the older I get the more difficult they are to read, as the long stories with tiny fonts usually lead to my interest waning (ADHD is no fun) and I'll put the book down, forgetting I ever started it. So many half-finished books!
There have been other romances where I have less forgiving about the same flaws that The Golden Sovereigns has (ie, meeting the hero more than halfway through the book), but somehow Carew makes the journey worthwhile.
This was a beautifully written, mature bodice ripper, very philosophical in nature, delving into the depths of humanity. Unfortunately, because there is so little of the hero with very little interaction between Carmody and Mark and a much bigger emphasis on the villain this book fell short of perfection. I still consider this a great and unexpected piece of fiction, but it lacked a little oomph at the end to make it perfect.
4 1/2 stars
Our story begins in late 17th century England. Carmody Petrie is in love with Waldo, who's a no-good rogue. She engages in some heavy petting with him, but she knows better than to give in to his caresses despite her body's urges:
"A new stirring, of springs moving deep inside her, a well of emotion she had never dreamed of had been uncovered. When Waldo had laid impertinent hands on her, she had felt a moving, rising, betraying response. Her own body--if she did not carefully govern it--might well turn traitor!"
That certainly brought me to attention. I was ready to enjoy a bawdy, lust romp. But The Golden Sovereigns isn't that at all.
Waldo steals Carmody's dowry & has no intention of marrying her; he's got another, a wealthier woman in mind. Then her young brother Ralph gambles their inheritance away to the Duke of Monmouth. Carmody goes to the Duke and with him, finds her first tragic love affair.
Awakened into passion by the Duke of Monmouth, who is written here as a fascinating, tragically doomed character, Carmody is the only person who stays with him after his final defeat at Sedgemoor & he's declared a criminal. In a stunning betrayal, Monmouth abandons Carmody to make his escape, that bastard! Well, history shows he gets his just desserts in the end!
Carmody assumes a false name, is captured, tried for treason, & sentenced to penal servitude in the West Indies for life.
Carmody is given into employ to a multifaceted man who is in mourning for his dead wife. He's cruel to Carmody, but he never forces her and they don't engage in sex. In time, she gets her freedom, but it's temporary as more trials and tribulations face Carmody. She's forced into marriage and finds herself in the American colonies.
At long last, we meet the hero, Mark Tennant, a truly nice guy who offers Carmody a different world she's known: one filled with joy & love. Her response is to him is heartbreaking:"There was a time Mark, when I would have given my soul for such cherishing...But I lost my soul for much, much less."
What's the most unusual aspect is that Carmody and Mark don't consummate their relationship, at least not during the time the book takes place. Carmody and Mark's relationship transcends physical love, theirs is a meeting of spirit that is paramount to the meeting of flesh.
I am not a patient reader. Although I adore these old romances, the older I get the more difficult they are to read, as the long stories with tiny fonts usually lead to my interest waning (ADHD is no fun) and I'll put the book down, forgetting I ever started it. So many half-finished books!
There have been other romances where I have less forgiving about the same flaws that The Golden Sovereigns has (ie, meeting the hero more than halfway through the book), but somehow Carew makes the journey worthwhile.
This was a beautifully written, mature bodice ripper, very philosophical in nature, delving into the depths of humanity. Unfortunately, because there is so little of the hero with very little interaction between Carmody and Mark and a much bigger emphasis on the villain this book fell short of perfection. I still consider this a great and unexpected piece of fiction, but it lacked a little oomph at the end to make it perfect.
4 1/2 stars
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October 10, 2023I don’t know how to rate this book, it’s weird, even for a bodice ripper. Like that’s definitely the villain on the cover with the heroine. I feel like it’s more historical fiction with a bit of romance at the end. She doesn’t meet the hero until 58% of the way into the book and there’s maybe ten pages total committed to their romance. There is an HEA though, in true romance style.
December 14, 2016
The cover says Regency Romance but this novel takes place in 1685 so over a hundred years earlier
With her parent’s dead, the young and beautiful Carmody Petrie is left to run Oaklands, the family estate, until her brother is old enough to inherit it. Ralph, however, is young, foolish and prone to gambling – perfect prey for the political opportunists that abound in late seventeenth-century England. Carmody is engaged to marry Waldo Rivers but although he wants Carmody he wants money.
Soon, Oaklands is lost and brother and sister ruined. Set adrift amidst political turmoil, Carmody strives to make the best of her lot. She strives to get the promissory notes from James the Duke of Monmouth
Now living on the wrong side of the law, sensing herself guilty of more than one crime; she is captured and transported to Jamaica. Upon landing, Carmody, who’s adopted a false identity Mercy Holland, finds herself in a completely different world. Now a commodity to be bought and sold, she is set to work on an island plantation, where she experiences the gritty reality of life both above and below stairs. She becomes the maid to Aurelia Tolliver, however when Aurelia dies Mercy flees the advances of her cruel master, she escapes through her marriage to a local landowner Howard Vickery – talk about from the pan to the fire.
Locked into matrimony with a cruel and vicious husband, Carmody needs all her wits to survive. As her bid for a new life, the unbreakable nature of her marriage contract and the attentions of Mark Tennant collide, it seems that Carmody Petrie must live out her days in sorrow.
Quite a long novel, the descriptions of the different lands are very good & the main characters are well portrayed. The villains are truly villainous. However although I warmed to Mark I didn’t to Carmody, for all she gave all for her brother & Oaklands they slipped from her thoughts until the end of the book. An enjoyable read which I would have enjoyed more with a likeable heroine
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book
With her parent’s dead, the young and beautiful Carmody Petrie is left to run Oaklands, the family estate, until her brother is old enough to inherit it. Ralph, however, is young, foolish and prone to gambling – perfect prey for the political opportunists that abound in late seventeenth-century England. Carmody is engaged to marry Waldo Rivers but although he wants Carmody he wants money.
Soon, Oaklands is lost and brother and sister ruined. Set adrift amidst political turmoil, Carmody strives to make the best of her lot. She strives to get the promissory notes from James the Duke of Monmouth
Now living on the wrong side of the law, sensing herself guilty of more than one crime; she is captured and transported to Jamaica. Upon landing, Carmody, who’s adopted a false identity Mercy Holland, finds herself in a completely different world. Now a commodity to be bought and sold, she is set to work on an island plantation, where she experiences the gritty reality of life both above and below stairs. She becomes the maid to Aurelia Tolliver, however when Aurelia dies Mercy flees the advances of her cruel master, she escapes through her marriage to a local landowner Howard Vickery – talk about from the pan to the fire.
Locked into matrimony with a cruel and vicious husband, Carmody needs all her wits to survive. As her bid for a new life, the unbreakable nature of her marriage contract and the attentions of Mark Tennant collide, it seems that Carmody Petrie must live out her days in sorrow.
Quite a long novel, the descriptions of the different lands are very good & the main characters are well portrayed. The villains are truly villainous. However although I warmed to Mark I didn’t to Carmody, for all she gave all for her brother & Oaklands they slipped from her thoughts until the end of the book. An enjoyable read which I would have enjoyed more with a likeable heroine
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book
June 15, 2023
Not really a historical romance—in fact, heroine Carmody Petrie doesn't meet her love interest until over halfway through the novel—"The Golden Sovereigns" is really an historical epic that has been packaged by its publisher as a bodice ripper. In 1685, in Dorset, Carmody Petrie winds up getting involved with Monmouth's Rebellion. That fateful turn of events will lead to servitude in Jamaica and finally take her to Jamestown, Virginia. Along the way, Carmody will meet a variety of no-good men, from double agents to treasonous dukes to insane planters to vengeful gamblers. Curiously passive, Carmody accepts her fate until nearly the very end of the novel...and then, passively again, someone else will fix things. All that resigned suffering would be more annoying than it is, were it not for the sheer entertainment value of those dastardly men who bedevil this droopy heroine. Carew creates villains who all but twirl their mustaches (they are, in fact, much more interesting than the rather vapid, late-coming hero). But don't be fooled by the back cover copy or by those villains: this is not a prurient novel, along the lines of the contemporaneous Purity series by Janelle Seymour. Carmody is menaced, but when push comes to shove, Carew fades to black, with all the naughtiness happening offstage.
September 26, 2019
History,romance,intrige,danger you have it all in this book a thrilling read
Everyone i know and some, family and friends and in reviews like this thank you for giving me this chance to review this auther
Everyone i know and some, family and friends and in reviews like this thank you for giving me this chance to review this auther
November 12, 2014
WONDERFULLY WRITTEN. you actually go there.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews