What do you think?
Rate this book
Betray Not My Passion
That beautiful Elana's loyalty and life belong to another does not matter to Reeve, a domineering sea captain, but before she leaves her Spanish home, he will have to pledge his everlasting love
491 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1984
3 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Sylvie F. Sommerfield
35 books28 followersAka Sylvie Sommerfield.
In 1978, Sylvie Sommerfield's husband challenged her to write a "better" romance novel, than the ones she eagerly devoured. She accepted the challenge. And now the six-time grandmother has written many historical romance novels, which have sold into the millions of copies.
In fact, John Sommerfield had to retire from his successful career as an investment funds manager to run the business side of Sylvie F. Sommerfield Enterprises.
Some of her books, with western themes, all published by Zebra, include Moonlit Magic, Tame My Wild Heart, Captive Embrace, Savage Rapture, Savage Kiss, Wild Wyoming Heart and Autumn Dove.
In 1978, Sylvie Sommerfield's husband challenged her to write a "better" romance novel, than the ones she eagerly devoured. She accepted the challenge. And now the six-time grandmother has written many historical romance novels, which have sold into the millions of copies.
In fact, John Sommerfield had to retire from his successful career as an investment funds manager to run the business side of Sylvie F. Sommerfield Enterprises.
Some of her books, with western themes, all published by Zebra, include Moonlit Magic, Tame My Wild Heart, Captive Embrace, Savage Rapture, Savage Kiss, Wild Wyoming Heart and Autumn Dove.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 14, 2015
A Romance Set Against the Backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition.
"Betray Not My Passion" by Sylvie F. Sommerfield takes place in the 15th century in Spain, during the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Although that is not the primary focus of the book, the Inquisition plays a major role in what goes on in the book.
The Story: The story officially begins with an introduction to the hero of the book, Reeve Burke, an English captain of his own ship, the Golden Eagle. Through intermediaries, Reeve is asked by a Lord Bragham to go to Spain to rescue some people. Reeve is not told, however, who he is to rescue, why they have to leave Spain or why Lord Bragham is interested in getting them out of Spain.
Reeve makes his way to Spain, and with the assistance of a man named Rafael Chavez, finds himself in the royal court of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. It it there that he meets several people, among them the heroine of the book, Elana Margurita Inez de Santangel, one of Queen Isabella's Ladies-in-Waiting. They are immediately attracted to each other and fall in love. Their love is threatened, however, by Don Francisco de Varga, who has a lot of power both with the king and queen and with the church, specifically Fray Torquemada, one of the leading figures of the Inquisition. Queen Isabella betroths Elena to one of de Varga’s men, Diego Sandoval, much to the dismay of both Elena and Reeve.
After some time and a lot of palace skullduggery, Reeve finds out why he is in Spain and who he is to rescue. He has to get Beatriz de Mendosa-Elena's best friend, fellow lady-in-waiting and fiance to Elena's brother, Rodrigo-and Beatriz' grandfather out of Spain. The reason: despite their Spanish names, they are in fact Jewish, which was considered heretic at that time in Spain. Also needing to be extricated: Rodrigo, Elena and the rest of the de Santangel family, as well as their friends the Chavez family, Don Diego Chavez, his son Rafael and Rafael’s wife, Catrina. They almost don’t get away, as Diego finds Reeve and attacks him. Reeve strikes Diego, and believes he has killed Sandoval. Much to his shock, he would find out later that wasn’t the case.
Reeve and his group meet up with a gypsy caravan that they hope will take them back to his ship to safety. In the gypsy caravan is a woman, Carmen Almeda, who was one of Reeve’s first contacts in Spain and who also is madly in lust with Reeve. Carmen’s jealousy over Elena being with Reeve and Carmen’s own lust for him cause her to betray them, the group is captured by de Vargas.
The plan conceived by Reeve and Rodrigo called for Rafael and Catrina to direct the Golden Eagle to a non-direct area of Spain where the caravan would meet up with them. Unfortunately, Rafael and Catrina were captured by Carlos Manrique, who has a personal motive for wanting to destroy the Chavez family. Carmen’s plan was for Elena and Beatriz to be taken, and, while Reeve was grieving over his lost love, for Carmen to console him and make him forget about Elena. However, Carmen quickly discovers that Reeve only loves Elena, and that he would rather die than leave her to the Inquisition. Despite this, Carmen believes that if she bargains with de Vargas’ henchman, Juan Ortega, for Reeve’s life, he will leave Elena and then she can make him love her. Instead, Juan physically and sexually abuses Carmen while Reeve holds steadfast to his position-he loves Elena and he will get her out of this terrible dilemma even if it costs him his own life.
After Reeve, Elena, Rodrigo and Beatriz are brought to de Varga, they are separated. Fearing for Reeve’s life, Elena makes a bargain with de Varga: she’ll give him the marriage licence and papers stating that she and Reeve are married; in exchange, de Varga will let Reeve, Rodrigo and Beatriz go free. de Varga has no plan to hold to this agreement, however, and orders Reeve brought to him to be killed. Much to de Varga’s shock and anger, however, Reeve and Rodrigo have escaped from their imprisonment.
While Reeve and Rodrigo try to free Elena and Beatriz, others are also at work. After Juan rapes and beats a maid in Don Francisco’s Madrid home, he is killed by Carmen, who gets a gruesome revenge on him by slitting his throat, castrating him and carving the words “revenge” into his chest.
Back with Rafael, Catrina and his father, Carlos tries to get Catrina to turn against Rafael by telling her both a truth and a lie. The truth: Carlos and Rafael are in fact half-brothers, although Rafael got to claim the Chavez name and the family fortune and status, while Carlos grew up poor and jealous of the life he felt he should have had. The lie: Rafael impregnated a woman who Carlos loved and refused to marry her. This led to the woman committing suicide and killing the unborn baby as well. While that part is true, the actual truth is that is was Carlos who impregnated the woman who Rafael loved, not the other way around.
While this is going on, Don Francisco continues to try to break Elena and Beatriz, this time by taking them to a torture chamber where both women are whipped, not severely, but whipped nonetheless. Neither woman, however, breaks. Shortly after their torture, Reeve and Rodrigo, now assisted by Carmen, who has been forgiven for her betrayal by both Reeve and Elena, find them. At the same time, Rafael and his father are rescued by Pedro, the captain of the caravan that was supposed to take Reeve, Elena, etc, to safety. Pedro and his men lead Rafael on a mission to do two things: rescue Catrina, and kill Don Carlos, both of which occur.
As the book comes to an end, Elena, Rodrigo and Beatriz face a trial by Fray Torquemada and Don Francisco, and are convicted of heresy and sentenced to death. Before anything can befall them, however, Reeve, Rafael, Carmen, Catrina and Queen Isabel arrive to put a stop to it. Reeve kills Don Francisco, and the truth about Reeve is revealed; he is not a lowly ship’s captain, but rather an English Peer of the Realm, who left home after having a major fight with his brother, Philip, over a woman. At the end of the book, the two Burke brothers reconcile, and all of the couples-including Carmen, who finds her own love-go on to their happily ever after.
While this is a good book, it’s not quite on the same level as most of Ms. Sommerfield’s books. There are three big issues for me. One, it is never explained why Lord Bragham wants Reeve to go to Spain and perform this extrication. The second is that some characters share first names, making it somewhat confusing over who is who. Third, the title is misleading. Reeve never betrays Elena’s passion. At no point is he even remotely unfaithful to her after meeting and falling in love with her. If these issues had been addressed, this would have been a better book.
Sex: a lot of sex scenes, but again, as I’ve stated before, Ms. Sommerfield’s love scenes are more about the feelings of love rather than the mechanics or descriptions of body parts.
Violence: There is a great deal of violence, including women getting hit, whippings, and people dying at swordpoint. None of the violence is described in over graphic detail.
Bottom Line: This book is mostly for Ms. Sommerfield’s fans, of which I am one of them. This would not be a book I would recommend to someone who wants to read her work for the first time.
"Betray Not My Passion" by Sylvie F. Sommerfield takes place in the 15th century in Spain, during the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Although that is not the primary focus of the book, the Inquisition plays a major role in what goes on in the book.
The Story: The story officially begins with an introduction to the hero of the book, Reeve Burke, an English captain of his own ship, the Golden Eagle. Through intermediaries, Reeve is asked by a Lord Bragham to go to Spain to rescue some people. Reeve is not told, however, who he is to rescue, why they have to leave Spain or why Lord Bragham is interested in getting them out of Spain.
Reeve makes his way to Spain, and with the assistance of a man named Rafael Chavez, finds himself in the royal court of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. It it there that he meets several people, among them the heroine of the book, Elana Margurita Inez de Santangel, one of Queen Isabella's Ladies-in-Waiting. They are immediately attracted to each other and fall in love. Their love is threatened, however, by Don Francisco de Varga, who has a lot of power both with the king and queen and with the church, specifically Fray Torquemada, one of the leading figures of the Inquisition. Queen Isabella betroths Elena to one of de Varga’s men, Diego Sandoval, much to the dismay of both Elena and Reeve.
After some time and a lot of palace skullduggery, Reeve finds out why he is in Spain and who he is to rescue. He has to get Beatriz de Mendosa-Elena's best friend, fellow lady-in-waiting and fiance to Elena's brother, Rodrigo-and Beatriz' grandfather out of Spain. The reason: despite their Spanish names, they are in fact Jewish, which was considered heretic at that time in Spain. Also needing to be extricated: Rodrigo, Elena and the rest of the de Santangel family, as well as their friends the Chavez family, Don Diego Chavez, his son Rafael and Rafael’s wife, Catrina. They almost don’t get away, as Diego finds Reeve and attacks him. Reeve strikes Diego, and believes he has killed Sandoval. Much to his shock, he would find out later that wasn’t the case.
Reeve and his group meet up with a gypsy caravan that they hope will take them back to his ship to safety. In the gypsy caravan is a woman, Carmen Almeda, who was one of Reeve’s first contacts in Spain and who also is madly in lust with Reeve. Carmen’s jealousy over Elena being with Reeve and Carmen’s own lust for him cause her to betray them, the group is captured by de Vargas.
The plan conceived by Reeve and Rodrigo called for Rafael and Catrina to direct the Golden Eagle to a non-direct area of Spain where the caravan would meet up with them. Unfortunately, Rafael and Catrina were captured by Carlos Manrique, who has a personal motive for wanting to destroy the Chavez family. Carmen’s plan was for Elena and Beatriz to be taken, and, while Reeve was grieving over his lost love, for Carmen to console him and make him forget about Elena. However, Carmen quickly discovers that Reeve only loves Elena, and that he would rather die than leave her to the Inquisition. Despite this, Carmen believes that if she bargains with de Vargas’ henchman, Juan Ortega, for Reeve’s life, he will leave Elena and then she can make him love her. Instead, Juan physically and sexually abuses Carmen while Reeve holds steadfast to his position-he loves Elena and he will get her out of this terrible dilemma even if it costs him his own life.
After Reeve, Elena, Rodrigo and Beatriz are brought to de Varga, they are separated. Fearing for Reeve’s life, Elena makes a bargain with de Varga: she’ll give him the marriage licence and papers stating that she and Reeve are married; in exchange, de Varga will let Reeve, Rodrigo and Beatriz go free. de Varga has no plan to hold to this agreement, however, and orders Reeve brought to him to be killed. Much to de Varga’s shock and anger, however, Reeve and Rodrigo have escaped from their imprisonment.
While Reeve and Rodrigo try to free Elena and Beatriz, others are also at work. After Juan rapes and beats a maid in Don Francisco’s Madrid home, he is killed by Carmen, who gets a gruesome revenge on him by slitting his throat, castrating him and carving the words “revenge” into his chest.
Back with Rafael, Catrina and his father, Carlos tries to get Catrina to turn against Rafael by telling her both a truth and a lie. The truth: Carlos and Rafael are in fact half-brothers, although Rafael got to claim the Chavez name and the family fortune and status, while Carlos grew up poor and jealous of the life he felt he should have had. The lie: Rafael impregnated a woman who Carlos loved and refused to marry her. This led to the woman committing suicide and killing the unborn baby as well. While that part is true, the actual truth is that is was Carlos who impregnated the woman who Rafael loved, not the other way around.
While this is going on, Don Francisco continues to try to break Elena and Beatriz, this time by taking them to a torture chamber where both women are whipped, not severely, but whipped nonetheless. Neither woman, however, breaks. Shortly after their torture, Reeve and Rodrigo, now assisted by Carmen, who has been forgiven for her betrayal by both Reeve and Elena, find them. At the same time, Rafael and his father are rescued by Pedro, the captain of the caravan that was supposed to take Reeve, Elena, etc, to safety. Pedro and his men lead Rafael on a mission to do two things: rescue Catrina, and kill Don Carlos, both of which occur.
As the book comes to an end, Elena, Rodrigo and Beatriz face a trial by Fray Torquemada and Don Francisco, and are convicted of heresy and sentenced to death. Before anything can befall them, however, Reeve, Rafael, Carmen, Catrina and Queen Isabel arrive to put a stop to it. Reeve kills Don Francisco, and the truth about Reeve is revealed; he is not a lowly ship’s captain, but rather an English Peer of the Realm, who left home after having a major fight with his brother, Philip, over a woman. At the end of the book, the two Burke brothers reconcile, and all of the couples-including Carmen, who finds her own love-go on to their happily ever after.
While this is a good book, it’s not quite on the same level as most of Ms. Sommerfield’s books. There are three big issues for me. One, it is never explained why Lord Bragham wants Reeve to go to Spain and perform this extrication. The second is that some characters share first names, making it somewhat confusing over who is who. Third, the title is misleading. Reeve never betrays Elena’s passion. At no point is he even remotely unfaithful to her after meeting and falling in love with her. If these issues had been addressed, this would have been a better book.
Sex: a lot of sex scenes, but again, as I’ve stated before, Ms. Sommerfield’s love scenes are more about the feelings of love rather than the mechanics or descriptions of body parts.
Violence: There is a great deal of violence, including women getting hit, whippings, and people dying at swordpoint. None of the violence is described in over graphic detail.
Bottom Line: This book is mostly for Ms. Sommerfield’s fans, of which I am one of them. This would not be a book I would recommend to someone who wants to read her work for the first time.
December 14, 2010
Had trouble keeping my attention on this book. Not sure if it was the book or my attitude at the time I read it thought! lol
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews