What do you think?
Rate this book
de Batistas #3
Jezebel
Widowed by the town preacher and denounced by her neighbors, Charity Bell finds herself a marked woman who has no hope for love, until a handsome strange walks into her life and ignites a spark of passion she has never felt before
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1997
About the author
Katherine Sutcliffe
43 books75 followersKatherine Sutcliffe was born an only child in East Texas. After working for a time at an oil company and as a headhunter for a computer personnel company, Sutcliffe decided in 1982 to quit her job and attempt to write a novel. Three years later she sold her first book, Desire and Surrender to Avon Books. She works eight hours a day, five to seven months a year. Sutcliffe also attempts to find a single CD that will provide inspiration during the writing of each book. In the past, she has used the soundtrack to Somewhere in Time and Kitarō's Silk Road.
In 1995 and 1996, Sutcliffe worked as the Consultant Head Writer for the soap operas As The World Turns and Another World. Sutcliffe was offered the job after Bill Graham, who searched for writers for Proctor and Gamble, mentioned to his wife that they wanted to refocus the soap opera stories on romance. His wife, who loved Sutcliffe's book, insisted that he contact her. During her time as a soap opera writer, she concentrated on developing the six-month story lines, which the breakdown writers would then develop into dialogue and individual scenes for the show. During this time frame, Sutcliffe also made a guest appearance on Another World, playing herself. She resigned from her position after the networks began to insist that she move to New York City to be more accessible.
Her historical romance, Notorious, sold out its first printing in a mere four days.
Sutcliffe lives near Dallas, Texas. She met her husband, an English geologist, while they worked for the same oil company. They have three children, Bryan, Rachel, and Lauren. Sutcliffe also raises and shows Arabian horses.
In 1995 and 1996, Sutcliffe worked as the Consultant Head Writer for the soap operas As The World Turns and Another World. Sutcliffe was offered the job after Bill Graham, who searched for writers for Proctor and Gamble, mentioned to his wife that they wanted to refocus the soap opera stories on romance. His wife, who loved Sutcliffe's book, insisted that he contact her. During her time as a soap opera writer, she concentrated on developing the six-month story lines, which the breakdown writers would then develop into dialogue and individual scenes for the show. During this time frame, Sutcliffe also made a guest appearance on Another World, playing herself. She resigned from her position after the networks began to insist that she move to New York City to be more accessible.
Her historical romance, Notorious, sold out its first printing in a mere four days.
Sutcliffe lives near Dallas, Texas. She met her husband, an English geologist, while they worked for the same oil company. They have three children, Bryan, Rachel, and Lauren. Sutcliffe also raises and shows Arabian horses.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 5, 2010
Set in 1870 Texas, this book starts out when the hero, trapped by a snowstorm, stumbles upon the heroine's home while she is in midlabor (with her dead husband's child)! He's on the run, with a bounty on his head, but decides to stick around to help the poor babe survive since his mama is no shape to care for him. What started out as a fascinating story with compelling characters unfortunately soon turned into one of those "annoying heroine" books. Almost immediately the heroine began to rub me the wrong way because of her selfish and self-centered attitude and it only got worse from there. I continued to read the book because I thought the hero deserved a happy ending. His dark and tortured past was absolutely horrendous and the flash backs broke my heart but alas it was not meant to be because he got saddled with the unlikable heroine for life! If you don't mind abrasive heroines and adore sensitive, tortured guys you'll probably like this one more than I did.
June 9, 2015
Rafe is a tortured hero who watched his wife and son killed in front of him and he's out seeking vengeance. Charity is a recent widow, giving birth to her dead-husband's son and living on her own in a town that believes she's a slut. And she attracts trouble. And she's crazy. And Rafe is consumed with his vengeance (and he's a murderer).
So the heroine irritated the crap out of me. She really does seem to be insane. Her mood swings and declarations of undying love followed by hate make it really hard for me to respect her in the least. Not to mention her "sleeping" with another guy while supposedly in love with the hero. Okay, so the consent was pretty much dubious...she did invite the guy to stay the night knowing what was going to happen (while in supposedly in love with the hero). She also had recently given birth. And she's also having sex with the hero. I think what bothered me the most is that she slept with another guy - I hate it when heroes do it and I hate it just as much when a heroine does it. Rafe was a strong character, but he was downright abusive at times as well. I just did not care for this book. It did not leave me with a happy feeling about having read it.
So the heroine irritated the crap out of me. She really does seem to be insane. Her mood swings and declarations of undying love followed by hate make it really hard for me to respect her in the least. Not to mention her "sleeping" with another guy while supposedly in love with the hero. Okay, so the consent was pretty much dubious...she did invite the guy to stay the night knowing what was going to happen (while in supposedly in love with the hero). She also had recently given birth. And she's also having sex with the hero. I think what bothered me the most is that she slept with another guy - I hate it when heroes do it and I hate it just as much when a heroine does it. Rafe was a strong character, but he was downright abusive at times as well. I just did not care for this book. It did not leave me with a happy feeling about having read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2013
*** 1.5 stars ***
The heroine seriously annoyed me. The hero deserves someone a heck of a lot better than her.
The heroine seriously annoyed me. The hero deserves someone a heck of a lot better than her.
September 22, 2023
I gave it 4 stars only because the author wrote so well that she brought me to tears. As for the story itself, it's a 2 or 3. The heroine, and I use that term very losely, was just TSTL.
Rafe is a walking time-bomb. His family was killed and I have to say, the sadistic manner in which it happened was chilling. He is out for blood and has turned himself into killing machine on a mission to eliminate all the men involved.
He's on the run from the law for murdering four of the group and is on his way to a town called Hell to murder the other two.
Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for Charity Bell, there's a snowstorm that forces him to stop at Charity's farm. Charity is in the middle of giving birth to the son of her dead, abusive husband. Rafe helps with the birth and keeps Charity and the baby alive as Charity is out of her mind and in no shape to care for either of them.
The book is all about Rafe facing his demons, his grief and rage, and eventually letting them go. Rafe makes questionable decisions and I'm not talking about killing the murderers. I'm talking about getting drunk when he needs a sharp mind and unnecessarily putting himself in dangerous situations.
Charity moved from Boston where she lived a pampered life to the aptly named town of Hell with her lunatic preacher husband. There she lived on ramshackle farm but had prime land wanted by many others in town.
I did not understand Charity at all. She's ungrateful, flighty, has poor judgement and is prideful. Her only redeeming quality is her bravery. She has parents who love her but instead of saying she made a mistake and wants to come home, her pride makes her live a harsh life. Rafe saves her life and the life of her child but she shows little gratitude. He fixes her farm, saves her from unpleasant situations and still...little gratitude. She tries to manipulate him into marriage and when he refuses, she accepts the advances of a man she finds repugnant. It made no sense. It didn't take a genius to realize he wanted her farm, a housekeeper and caretaker for his mother and mentally challenged brother. He was a bully. And yet she has sex within within the week of his courting her, while Rafe, who she was supposedly in love with, was in the barn. Frankly, it was disgusting. After that I lost any compassion for her. She also had no consideration for what was best for her child.
The ending was vague. Does she stay on her farm, move to Rafe's family? Who knows?
Rafe is a walking time-bomb. His family was killed and I have to say, the sadistic manner in which it happened was chilling. He is out for blood and has turned himself into killing machine on a mission to eliminate all the men involved.
He's on the run from the law for murdering four of the group and is on his way to a town called Hell to murder the other two.
Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for Charity Bell, there's a snowstorm that forces him to stop at Charity's farm. Charity is in the middle of giving birth to the son of her dead, abusive husband. Rafe helps with the birth and keeps Charity and the baby alive as Charity is out of her mind and in no shape to care for either of them.
The book is all about Rafe facing his demons, his grief and rage, and eventually letting them go. Rafe makes questionable decisions and I'm not talking about killing the murderers. I'm talking about getting drunk when he needs a sharp mind and unnecessarily putting himself in dangerous situations.
Charity moved from Boston where she lived a pampered life to the aptly named town of Hell with her lunatic preacher husband. There she lived on ramshackle farm but had prime land wanted by many others in town.
I did not understand Charity at all. She's ungrateful, flighty, has poor judgement and is prideful. Her only redeeming quality is her bravery. She has parents who love her but instead of saying she made a mistake and wants to come home, her pride makes her live a harsh life. Rafe saves her life and the life of her child but she shows little gratitude. He fixes her farm, saves her from unpleasant situations and still...little gratitude. She tries to manipulate him into marriage and when he refuses, she accepts the advances of a man she finds repugnant. It made no sense. It didn't take a genius to realize he wanted her farm, a housekeeper and caretaker for his mother and mentally challenged brother. He was a bully. And yet she has sex within within the week of his courting her, while Rafe, who she was supposedly in love with, was in the barn. Frankly, it was disgusting. After that I lost any compassion for her. She also had no consideration for what was best for her child.
The ending was vague. Does she stay on her farm, move to Rafe's family? Who knows?
November 18, 2021
I read this book a very long time ago (it was one of the very first romance books I found in my grandmother's stash). I remembered some of the details, but not all of them and was not disappointed. I didn't realize it was a part of a series, though, until I logged it here and now I feel like I need to track down the first two books to read them.
May 27, 2025
I find this boring, quick, with an unlikeable fmc, Charity. If that is what was aimed for, then the author succeeded. I dont find this romantic at all.
September 7, 2025
#152 - 2025
Genre: Historical Romance
Genre: Historical Romance
November 8, 2014
Next in the series but this one really did not relate hardly at all to the other books other than when Rafe de Bastitas mentioned his family. Laughed at the behaviors of Charity Bell wanting loving sex and getting nothing from a preacher husband and her totally not being lady-like. Respected Rafe and his attempts at being a good "father" after the delivery. Liked how the story kept referencing the town name of Hell.
March 10, 2016
I was torn between 3-4 stars , but I really did enjoy MOST
all of this quick page turner romance . I really appreciated how not only did Miss Sutcliffe keep me interested ALL the way to the last page , but she had me wondering if Rafe + Charity would " run off into the sunset to together " til then also. Those are the two main things most romance novels are missing , so though I found the sex parts WAY over done are cheesy this was great !
all of this quick page turner romance . I really appreciated how not only did Miss Sutcliffe keep me interested ALL the way to the last page , but she had me wondering if Rafe + Charity would " run off into the sunset to together " til then also. Those are the two main things most romance novels are missing , so though I found the sex parts WAY over done are cheesy this was great !
March 21, 2009
I love stories about wounded people who help heal each other
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews