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Honor Bound
Lieutenant Crawford Treynor has fought valiantly for everything he has. The bastard child of a noblewoman, he was handed over as an infant to a poor farmer—and beaten so badly that he ran away at age fourteen. Now a respected officer, he vows to command his own frigate one day. There is no place in his life for a woman, especially one of noble birth. He has no love for the aristocracy… After narrowly escaping the guillotine in the French Revolution, petite beauty Jeannette Boucher agrees to secure her family’s future by marrying a wealthy English baron. But when she learns what her impotent husband has planned in order to produce an heir, she escapes on their wedding night, stowing away aboard Lieutenant Treynor’s ship. Once she’s discovered, the handsome, duty-bound lieutenant is tempted enough by her beauty and spirit to go against everything he believed he’d ever do—and soon he must decide between returning her to a husband he knows will abuse her, or risking everything to keep her all to himself. Revised Previously published as The Bastard , this edition of Honor Bound includes editorial revisions.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 23, 2011
336 people are currently reading
2027 people want to read
About the author
Brenda Novak
238 books6,962 followersIt was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s bestselling author career.
“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided that I needed to do something from home.”
However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business.
Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of 20 in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer.
“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”
Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. Now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, she continues to publish two or three novels a year, in a variety of genres.
Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. Now that they are empty-nesters, she spends her free time babysitting her two grandchildren.
When she’s not with her family or writing, Brenda is usually raising money for diabetes research. To date, she's raised almost $2.6 million. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-...
“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided that I needed to do something from home.”
However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business.
Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of 20 in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer.
“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”
Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. Now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, she continues to publish two or three novels a year, in a variety of genres.
Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. Now that they are empty-nesters, she spends her free time babysitting her two grandchildren.
When she’s not with her family or writing, Brenda is usually raising money for diabetes research. To date, she's raised almost $2.6 million. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
October 16, 2012
The Bastard by Brenda Novak is an action packed historical romance, much of which takes place aboard the Royal Navy ship The Tempest. It’s the story of a bastard son, Lieutenant Crawford Treynor, whose life is the sea and greatest ambition is to Captain his own ship. It’s a tale of a young bride, Jeanette Boucher - now Lady St. Ives who, on her wedding night, learns exactly what a monster her new husband is. Her family survived the hell of the French Revolution but can she survive the hell that is to be her marriage?
This is very exciting and romantic story, but I also found it interesting to read about life at sea during the late 18th century. And I’m not just talking about the ‘hoist the sails’, ‘swab the decks’, and the ‘hold him down while I tattoo him against his will’ things, either. I’m talking about the horrible living conditions and the class distinctions and politics involved in buying a rank, even if you weren’t as capable or qualified as someone who had no such connections. All it took was money and title to give someone the advantage of rank which, as we learned from this story, could lead to deadly consequences.
The Bastard is my first taste of Ms. Novak's writing, but it won't be my last. Her characters are honorable - for the most part, and devoted to those they love. Were they perfect people? No, of course not, but that just made them all the more believable and endearing. With their troubled pasts and uncertain futures, Treynor and Jeannette grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go! I'd tell myself 'just one more chapter' only to end up reading several, and still not want to stop. And only when I was dragged from my hiding place to greet my Christmas Eve guests was I able to put the story aside.
The bottom line - If you're tired of the same old storyline and are looking for something a little different but have hesitated to read Ms. Novak's historicals because she’s not yet one of the "big names" in this genre, I urge you to wait no longer! This was such an exciting, enjoyable story and I'll definitely be reading more by this author!
This book was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Brenda Novak.
3.75/5
June 4, 2024
"I care not whether your heart is perfect, Treynor. The only thing that matters to me is whether it is mine."
Buddy read with Nenia, my love.
Buddy read with Nenia, my love.
May 20, 2015
NB: I received a free copy of this book from the Goodreads First Reads program, but that has not affected the content of my review.
I curse this book for breaking my streak of writing reviews within about a day or so of finishing the books. This book has singlehandedly caused me to be six reviews behind, and counting. Grrrr.
Mostly I think this is because when I feel so apathetic about a book, neither really liking or disliking it, it’s hard to work up enough energy to actually sit down and think up things to say. And I feel doubly bad about that in this case since I did receive the book for free.
Honor Bound is a historical romance novel set just after the French Revolution, and its heroine, Jeannette Boucher, is the daughter of French nobility who barely escaped the guillotine by fleeing to England. She marries a wealthy English lord in exchange for security for her impoverished family, but on the wedding night she learns that her husband is impotent, and in order to secure an heir for himself, he’s persuaded a few friends of his into their marriage bed. Jeannette flees into the night, ending up a stowaway on an English navy ship, and in the care of Lt. Treynor Crawford, a cynical bastard. She disguises herself as a boy and plans to spend the two day trip to London as quietly as possible. Of course things go wrong, and of course the two of them are attracted to one another, and blah blah you know how this goes if you’ve ever read a romance novel at all.
Before I get to all the stuff I had problems with, I do want to say that I was impressed by the level of historical detail included here. Usually in this kind of book, the violence is toned down, and any connection to actual history is almost non-existent. But Novak actually makes things feel pretty real. The ship smelled and its inhabitants were dirty. When a battle occurs midway through, it has actual stakes. She also had a good grasp on how soldiers of the day might actually behave.
But verisimilitude only extended so far. Her characters and the story they are participating in are about as cliché as you can get for this type of book. Everything was predictable. The hero was tortured by his mysterious bastard past. The jealous rival who acts like an idiot just so our heroes can have someone to play off of. The heroine even had the requisite purple eyes. Sometimes cliché is okay (even welcome!) as long as it’s aware of what it’s doing, but the tone of the thing read like it was taking itself entirely too seriously, and like it was unaware that everything it was doing had been done before ad nauseum. And to make matters worse, it didn’t even give us the one thing we’d been waiting for the entire book. There was NO SEX.
And look, I’ve read chaste romance novels before. Even enjoyed them and list some of them among my favorites! But this was not one of those. There was everything BUT sex here. If you’re going to bother describing almost sex (you know, nakedness, groping, humping, all that fun stuff), and your characters themselves have no moral objection to it, at least do your readers the favor of giving them what you promise and tease throughout and let your stupid characters bone already.
Anyway, I still plan on checking out Novak’s Through the Smoke sometime in the future. I had that book on my to-read list long before I won this one. I really hope it’s a better example of her work than this was. All in all, it wasn’t really bad, but if you’re looking for a great romance novel, I’d definitely recommend other books long before this one.
[2.5 stars]
I curse this book for breaking my streak of writing reviews within about a day or so of finishing the books. This book has singlehandedly caused me to be six reviews behind, and counting. Grrrr.
Mostly I think this is because when I feel so apathetic about a book, neither really liking or disliking it, it’s hard to work up enough energy to actually sit down and think up things to say. And I feel doubly bad about that in this case since I did receive the book for free.
Honor Bound is a historical romance novel set just after the French Revolution, and its heroine, Jeannette Boucher, is the daughter of French nobility who barely escaped the guillotine by fleeing to England. She marries a wealthy English lord in exchange for security for her impoverished family, but on the wedding night she learns that her husband is impotent, and in order to secure an heir for himself, he’s persuaded a few friends of his into their marriage bed. Jeannette flees into the night, ending up a stowaway on an English navy ship, and in the care of Lt. Treynor Crawford, a cynical bastard. She disguises herself as a boy and plans to spend the two day trip to London as quietly as possible. Of course things go wrong, and of course the two of them are attracted to one another, and blah blah you know how this goes if you’ve ever read a romance novel at all.
Before I get to all the stuff I had problems with, I do want to say that I was impressed by the level of historical detail included here. Usually in this kind of book, the violence is toned down, and any connection to actual history is almost non-existent. But Novak actually makes things feel pretty real. The ship smelled and its inhabitants were dirty. When a battle occurs midway through, it has actual stakes. She also had a good grasp on how soldiers of the day might actually behave.
But verisimilitude only extended so far. Her characters and the story they are participating in are about as cliché as you can get for this type of book. Everything was predictable. The hero was tortured by his mysterious bastard past. The jealous rival who acts like an idiot just so our heroes can have someone to play off of. The heroine even had the requisite purple eyes. Sometimes cliché is okay (even welcome!) as long as it’s aware of what it’s doing, but the tone of the thing read like it was taking itself entirely too seriously, and like it was unaware that everything it was doing had been done before ad nauseum. And to make matters worse, it didn’t even give us the one thing we’d been waiting for the entire book. There was NO SEX.
And look, I’ve read chaste romance novels before. Even enjoyed them and list some of them among my favorites! But this was not one of those. There was everything BUT sex here. If you’re going to bother describing almost sex (you know, nakedness, groping, humping, all that fun stuff), and your characters themselves have no moral objection to it, at least do your readers the favor of giving them what you promise and tease throughout and let your stupid characters bone already.
Anyway, I still plan on checking out Novak’s Through the Smoke sometime in the future. I had that book on my to-read list long before I won this one. I really hope it’s a better example of her work than this was. All in all, it wasn’t really bad, but if you’re looking for a great romance novel, I’d definitely recommend other books long before this one.
[2.5 stars]
December 5, 2011
I am a total sucker for HRs set on ships. Pirates are great, but naval officers are best. Must be something about the uniform, plus the rugged sea, or something equally spurious. Anyway, I really enjoyed this one, provided by netgalley.
There were two or three things about this book, which just made it for me, with one negative that knocked it down from a 5 star rating.
First off, what I loved:
- The amount of detail of a fighting naval vessel crammed into this book is really quite astonishing, and yet you hardly notice since it's cleverly slipped in, providing color and texture to the plot, but not dominating the descriptions. Such details as that women did in fact live and work on naval vessels at this point in history - some openly and some not - is up-front. Some women did in fact rise to positions of considerable importance in a ship's ranking hierarchy. Check out
David Cordingly's Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History if you don't believe me. It has some fascinating stories of some pretty amazing individuals, who just happened to be women. They drew wages and lived and worked like one of the men. Also, the description of the naval vessel in port as a floating brothel-cum-bazaar is also very accurate. When writing a naval setting, I personally think an HR has to be incredibly strong to miss out the details necessary to take the reader to a place we'll never personally know. Well, this author does a GREAT job.
- The author's skill with suspense just shines through. Normally when HRs have any suspense elements, they're pretty feeble, but here they're believable, paced and not pointless. The hero and heroine are chased into impossible corners, from which you don't ever feel they can escape. Excellent.
- The hero and heroine are both nice, but interesting people. The hero really is an honorable man, none of this nonsense of not being able to control himself that you see so much of, and which, quite frankly I find more than a little disconcerting. No, this hero is a real hero, and a nice guy too. And the heroine is wonderful also - determined, resourceful but realistic.
The only thing that let this down for me what that the ending involved a dramatic discovery of the hero's father, and, to be honest, I didn't understand why his father had to be who he was. It would have been so much better if he'd been some genteel but modest man rather than, well what he was. The hero didn't need the extra bolstering to win the woman - he was perfectly capable of doing that by himself.
Anyway, 4 stars. I can't believe this author hasn't written an HR for so long - its criminal.
There were two or three things about this book, which just made it for me, with one negative that knocked it down from a 5 star rating.
First off, what I loved:
- The amount of detail of a fighting naval vessel crammed into this book is really quite astonishing, and yet you hardly notice since it's cleverly slipped in, providing color and texture to the plot, but not dominating the descriptions. Such details as that women did in fact live and work on naval vessels at this point in history - some openly and some not - is up-front. Some women did in fact rise to positions of considerable importance in a ship's ranking hierarchy. Check out
David Cordingly's Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History if you don't believe me. It has some fascinating stories of some pretty amazing individuals, who just happened to be women. They drew wages and lived and worked like one of the men. Also, the description of the naval vessel in port as a floating brothel-cum-bazaar is also very accurate. When writing a naval setting, I personally think an HR has to be incredibly strong to miss out the details necessary to take the reader to a place we'll never personally know. Well, this author does a GREAT job.
- The author's skill with suspense just shines through. Normally when HRs have any suspense elements, they're pretty feeble, but here they're believable, paced and not pointless. The hero and heroine are chased into impossible corners, from which you don't ever feel they can escape. Excellent.
- The hero and heroine are both nice, but interesting people. The hero really is an honorable man, none of this nonsense of not being able to control himself that you see so much of, and which, quite frankly I find more than a little disconcerting. No, this hero is a real hero, and a nice guy too. And the heroine is wonderful also - determined, resourceful but realistic.
The only thing that let this down for me what that the ending involved a dramatic discovery of the hero's father, and, to be honest, I didn't understand why his father had to be who he was. It would have been so much better if he'd been some genteel but modest man rather than, well what he was. The hero didn't need the extra bolstering to win the woman - he was perfectly capable of doing that by himself.
Anyway, 4 stars. I can't believe this author hasn't written an HR for so long - its criminal.
January 28, 2015
DNF on page 40 because WTF is going on and the writing is too warm for me. Skimmed through the rest really quickly, which only brought on more wtf-inducing scenes, including one where the hero freaking spanks the heroine.
Pass for me.
Not a clean read.
Pass for me.
Not a clean read.
September 19, 2014
The family virtually penniless after fleeing the French Revolution, Jeannette Boucher is married off to an older baron who wants an heir at any price - and since he's impotent he plans to *farm* Jeannette out to his friends to get the job done. Jeannette gets wind of the odious plot and flees into the dark and stormy night, poorly clad and with no funds and plans to make her way from Plymouth to London and take refuge with her English cousin who brokered the marriage in the first place (!!). She does make it to Plymouth, has a few unusual *adventures* and eventually steals a man's clothing and gets a gig on one of His Majesty's frigates with a little help from Lieutenant Crawford Treynor, bastard by birth (hence the title).
It doesn't take long for Jeannette to realize she's not going to pull off her little disguise for two days on a ship full of men, nor does it take long for Treynor to realize he should have looked a bit closer at the *lad*. Nor does it take long before both are in immediate lust I might add…
While not a bad book by any means, some of the things that happen here really stretch credulity at times (can't give examples without spoiling, but puhleeze a newborn infant and its mother survived THAT?). And then there is Jeannette's seriously bad habit of doing whatever the heck she wants to do no matter what risks she's putting Treynor in by disobeying him (I so wanted to strangle her a few times). It was a quick easy read, it was a free download and I'm not sorry I read it, but it doesn't win any prizes for me in the historical romance department either. Sex wise there is lots of heavy kissing, but if you're expecting lots of horizontal mumbo jumbo I'd keep looking.
It doesn't take long for Jeannette to realize she's not going to pull off her little disguise for two days on a ship full of men, nor does it take long for Treynor to realize he should have looked a bit closer at the *lad*. Nor does it take long before both are in immediate lust I might add…
While not a bad book by any means, some of the things that happen here really stretch credulity at times (can't give examples without spoiling, but puhleeze a newborn infant and its mother survived THAT?). And then there is Jeannette's seriously bad habit of doing whatever the heck she wants to do no matter what risks she's putting Treynor in by disobeying him (I so wanted to strangle her a few times). It was a quick easy read, it was a free download and I'm not sorry I read it, but it doesn't win any prizes for me in the historical romance department either. Sex wise there is lots of heavy kissing, but if you're expecting lots of horizontal mumbo jumbo I'd keep looking.
September 29, 2012
A typical trope, bride running away from icky new husband who has icky plans for her and meets up with an unlikely hero. I don't mind such standard story lines, and Brenda Novak's writing is quite good for this genre, but there were real problems character-wise that just weren't overcome.
The heroine, Jeannette, is supremely irritating. She's constantly getting herself in trouble and putting other people at risk because she's too headstrong to listen when someone who has experience and knowledge tells her what to do. Oh, yes, some opportunities are manufactured for her to redeem herself, but she continues to make TSTL moves throughout.
The hero, Treynor, is much better, but his story doesn't actually make much sense. He's an honorable guy with a real talent for leadership so he's likable enough, but some of his choices later on are completely baffling.
The ending felt unsatisfying as the story comes to its conclusion with characters' behavior becoming bizarre. And the final chapters -- where a LOT of stuff happens -- feels like a cursory wrap up. After pages and pages in the middle that contained little furtherance of the story, just repetitious inner monologues and delayed revelations, it makes for a pretty big disappointment.
The heroine, Jeannette, is supremely irritating. She's constantly getting herself in trouble and putting other people at risk because she's too headstrong to listen when someone who has experience and knowledge tells her what to do. Oh, yes, some opportunities are manufactured for her to redeem herself, but she continues to make TSTL moves throughout.
The hero, Treynor, is much better, but his story doesn't actually make much sense. He's an honorable guy with a real talent for leadership so he's likable enough, but some of his choices later on are completely baffling.
The ending felt unsatisfying as the story comes to its conclusion with characters' behavior becoming bizarre. And the final chapters -- where a LOT of stuff happens -- feels like a cursory wrap up. After pages and pages in the middle that contained little furtherance of the story, just repetitious inner monologues and delayed revelations, it makes for a pretty big disappointment.
September 9, 2015
A matter of Grave Concern was one of my favorite books of Novak...but I knew this one was not going to be as fulfilling experience as that book. Too many obvious flaws to point out but two bothered me so much that it took the joy from the book...first was the unnecessary change in Trey's station..second was the fact that Jeannette and Trey almost made love several times in the book but in the end the author never wrote the love scene...she just ended the book abruptly. I hated that either you write love scenes or you don't from all the incomplete scenes you can tell that Novak had no problem with writing about it....she just refused to give a satisfying end to the book. I hope she goes back and writes an epilogue for this book. Atleast it will make the 6 hours I spent reading this book worthwhile. Right now its a waste of time. The 2 stars are for Jeannette.
May 21, 2012
Dear Book,
It's not you, it's me. Honestly, you're a very entertaining and competent book, beautiful even. You're just not the one for me.
We didn't meet under the best circumstances. I was bouncing off another bad relationship and you, well, I suspect you were caged in your authors mind for far too long. Still, I was determined to make it work, and for a while I thought we might get along splendidly even if we weren't to be each others' true loves.
I did my best to tolerate the small quirks that usually make me snippy. I bit my tongue and suspended my disbelief when your heroine jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. I shrugged my shoulders as you made an issue of her bound breasts. I arched my eyebrows as each and every small pay off was rushed and the main couple was let to get away with murder. I only sighed when you forced the additional angst in the end only to rush their vows at an incredible speed. I resolved myself to the fact that I didn't think the happy couple deserved their happiness together.
That's when I finally realised, that this wasn't right. It wasn't fair to you to be tied down to someone who cared not a whit. So, I'm letting you go in hopes that somewhere out there is a special someone who understands and cherishes you the way you deserve. I hope you two will be happy together and spend many nights over a glass of wine.
Sincerely yours,
A Reader.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
It's not you, it's me. Honestly, you're a very entertaining and competent book, beautiful even. You're just not the one for me.
We didn't meet under the best circumstances. I was bouncing off another bad relationship and you, well, I suspect you were caged in your authors mind for far too long. Still, I was determined to make it work, and for a while I thought we might get along splendidly even if we weren't to be each others' true loves.
I did my best to tolerate the small quirks that usually make me snippy. I bit my tongue and suspended my disbelief when your heroine jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. I shrugged my shoulders as you made an issue of her bound breasts. I arched my eyebrows as each and every small pay off was rushed and the main couple was let to get away with murder. I only sighed when you forced the additional angst in the end only to rush their vows at an incredible speed. I resolved myself to the fact that I didn't think the happy couple deserved their happiness together.
That's when I finally realised, that this wasn't right. It wasn't fair to you to be tied down to someone who cared not a whit. So, I'm letting you go in hopes that somewhere out there is a special someone who understands and cherishes you the way you deserve. I hope you two will be happy together and spend many nights over a glass of wine.
Sincerely yours,
A Reader.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
December 26, 2014
First of all, let me just say that the title of this novel embarrasses me. Haha. I'm glad I had it on my Kindle so that nobody could see it! That cover is pretty lovely, though! Mmmmhmmm... Ok, anyways. On to the review!
**EDIT: When I read this, it was called The Bastard. Now it's Honor Bound! Much better!)**
The story was exciting! We enter the story right as Jeanette is marrying this ugly old man that she is really rather repulsed by. She's doing it to help her family, though. By marrying him, her family will want for nothing, but she will always want true love! While awaiting her new husband's arrival to their bedroom, her brother barges in with some scary news. Her husband is impotent, and plans to have his male friends sleep with her to get her pregnant so he can have an heir. Jeanette decides to flee. When she discovers a Royal Navy ship in port that will be leaving for London soon, she decides to pose as a thirteen-year-old boy and sign on as one of the crew. In doing so, she runs into some dangerous situations. Lieutenant Treynor figures out her secret, and takes care of her until they can get her back on dry land. Of course, love happens... along with some adventure.
I really enjoyed this story. I appreciated the fact that, as far as romance novels go, this one was a little on the tamer side. It's definitely not a book for youth, as steam happens, but there's not a ton of time or pages devoted to it. It's very easy to skip if you're so inclined.
Jeanette is one of those characters that easy to not really know how you feel about her. Do I like her? Do I not like her? There's a fine line between the two in this book. At times, I really liked her. I mean, she had self-esteem. She knew she did not deserve the life her husband was going to give her. She had a sense of honor because she married him to help her family. She was brave posing as a boy and becoming part of the crew. She had a certain level of values, and was very ladylike. However... so many of the times she was in danger were because she was an idiot. She kept doing things she was told not to do, thereby putting herself and Treynor in danger. It happened all the time. I can't stand heroines who lack common sense.
How could anyone not like Lieutenant Treynor? He's described as being nothing short of a Greek god. He came from a very difficult background and ran away to join the Royal Navy at a very young age. He climbed the ranks, and gained a ton of respect from the people he works with. He has an incredible sense of duty and does everything he can to protect Jeanette in secret, as well as do his job. He respects women. At one point, Jeanette gt a little tipsy drinking rum with the boys one night, and tried to seduce him. He sent her away because he felt wrong taking advantage of her current state of mind. He never forced himself on her. He is compassionate. Even when he thought she was a boy, he protected this young thing and took "him" under his wing. He's also very gentlemanly and well-spoken. I really liked him. Definitely one of my favorite males in romance, and the very best part of this book.
The supporting characters were great. There were not too many to keep track of, but enough to convince you that the ship was full of a crew that mattered. We even have a villain, as pretty much all books do. He bugged me, but he was supposed to! I found myself enjoying the company of many of the characters. I'm not used to that, but I suppose it's because these were Navy men and not ruthless, cold-hearted pirates.
I loved the descriptions. I could picture the wedding, the town, the port area (with taverns and seedy inns), the ship, the ocean, all the different cabins and rooms on board, etc. I could picture the crew doing tasks that I've never seen done before. I pictured everything wonderfully. I understood everything, and even learned a little about what went on aboard ships in days gone by, not to mention French and British history.
I'm not used to books of this genre covering so much adventure. Many authors could have turned this in to two books. I loved how fast-paced it was. Just as I thought we were winding down, ready to tie everything up into a nice bow, something crazy happened. AND every loose end imaginable was tied up. I was not left really wanting anything. I was happy with the ending.
I'd recommend this book to people who love romance on the high seas, adventure, strong male leads, likeable heroines, interesting and amusing supporting characters, and happy endings.
I'll definitely be looking into more of Novak's books. I hear she writes a lot of romantic suspense, which is another favorite genre of mine. Happy reading!
(Notes for those concerned about sensitive content: (Some may consider these spoilers, so be careful in reading.)
- Foreplay happens, but the actual act of sex never does.
- Any steamy scenes are kept to a paragraph or two (with the exception of maybe one).
- There is a rape attempt at Jeanette by someone on the opposing side of the war. Nobody on her ship's crew is involved with that.
- There is war violence. People die.
**EDIT: When I read this, it was called The Bastard. Now it's Honor Bound! Much better!)**
The story was exciting! We enter the story right as Jeanette is marrying this ugly old man that she is really rather repulsed by. She's doing it to help her family, though. By marrying him, her family will want for nothing, but she will always want true love! While awaiting her new husband's arrival to their bedroom, her brother barges in with some scary news. Her husband is impotent, and plans to have his male friends sleep with her to get her pregnant so he can have an heir. Jeanette decides to flee. When she discovers a Royal Navy ship in port that will be leaving for London soon, she decides to pose as a thirteen-year-old boy and sign on as one of the crew. In doing so, she runs into some dangerous situations. Lieutenant Treynor figures out her secret, and takes care of her until they can get her back on dry land. Of course, love happens... along with some adventure.
I really enjoyed this story. I appreciated the fact that, as far as romance novels go, this one was a little on the tamer side. It's definitely not a book for youth, as steam happens, but there's not a ton of time or pages devoted to it. It's very easy to skip if you're so inclined.
Jeanette is one of those characters that easy to not really know how you feel about her. Do I like her? Do I not like her? There's a fine line between the two in this book. At times, I really liked her. I mean, she had self-esteem. She knew she did not deserve the life her husband was going to give her. She had a sense of honor because she married him to help her family. She was brave posing as a boy and becoming part of the crew. She had a certain level of values, and was very ladylike. However... so many of the times she was in danger were because she was an idiot. She kept doing things she was told not to do, thereby putting herself and Treynor in danger. It happened all the time. I can't stand heroines who lack common sense.
How could anyone not like Lieutenant Treynor? He's described as being nothing short of a Greek god. He came from a very difficult background and ran away to join the Royal Navy at a very young age. He climbed the ranks, and gained a ton of respect from the people he works with. He has an incredible sense of duty and does everything he can to protect Jeanette in secret, as well as do his job. He respects women. At one point, Jeanette gt a little tipsy drinking rum with the boys one night, and tried to seduce him. He sent her away because he felt wrong taking advantage of her current state of mind. He never forced himself on her. He is compassionate. Even when he thought she was a boy, he protected this young thing and took "him" under his wing. He's also very gentlemanly and well-spoken. I really liked him. Definitely one of my favorite males in romance, and the very best part of this book.
The supporting characters were great. There were not too many to keep track of, but enough to convince you that the ship was full of a crew that mattered. We even have a villain, as pretty much all books do. He bugged me, but he was supposed to! I found myself enjoying the company of many of the characters. I'm not used to that, but I suppose it's because these were Navy men and not ruthless, cold-hearted pirates.
I loved the descriptions. I could picture the wedding, the town, the port area (with taverns and seedy inns), the ship, the ocean, all the different cabins and rooms on board, etc. I could picture the crew doing tasks that I've never seen done before. I pictured everything wonderfully. I understood everything, and even learned a little about what went on aboard ships in days gone by, not to mention French and British history.
I'm not used to books of this genre covering so much adventure. Many authors could have turned this in to two books. I loved how fast-paced it was. Just as I thought we were winding down, ready to tie everything up into a nice bow, something crazy happened. AND every loose end imaginable was tied up. I was not left really wanting anything. I was happy with the ending.
I'd recommend this book to people who love romance on the high seas, adventure, strong male leads, likeable heroines, interesting and amusing supporting characters, and happy endings.
I'll definitely be looking into more of Novak's books. I hear she writes a lot of romantic suspense, which is another favorite genre of mine. Happy reading!
(Notes for those concerned about sensitive content: (Some may consider these spoilers, so be careful in reading.)
- Foreplay happens, but the actual act of sex never does.
- Any steamy scenes are kept to a paragraph or two (with the exception of maybe one).
- There is a rape attempt at Jeanette by someone on the opposing side of the war. Nobody on her ship's crew is involved with that.
- There is war violence. People die.
January 20, 2012
As members of the aristocracy, Jeannette Boucher and her family were forced to flee France because of the Revolution. A distant English cousin found a suitable husband for Jeannette and the story opens in the middle of her vows to Baron St. Ives, a man in his late 50s to Jeannette’s 18. By marrying him, she will be able to provide for her parents and young brother, Henri, as they work to create a life for themselves in England. On her wedding night, Jeannette discovers St. Ives unique plan for her to produce an heir so she flees. She disguises herself to look like a young boy and eventually makes her way onto the Tempest, a royal naval warship. The 2nd Lieutenant Crawford Treynor takes pity on her, believing her to be a young lad who reminds him of his traumatic youth, and makes a point of looking out for her behalf. He is the son of Lady Bedford, who has not acknowledged him publicly as he was a product of her affair with another man who she’s never identified. He is considered a “bastard”, even though he’s become an accomplished officer.
Jeannette’s experiences while on the ship are pretty harrowing and aren’t glamorized in the least. Treynor proves himself to be an astute naval officer and cleverly works to protect Jeannette from the 1st Lieutenant Cunnington, who has an axe to grind with him. When Treynor discovers Jeannette’s ruse, he continues that protection and their attraction is unmistakable. While she often makes decisions that have you wanting to throttle her, Jeannette still is an interesting character and one you’ll want to win. Treynor is especially intriguing as he not only has to look out for Jeannette but serve in command at the same time. He is extremely attractive, quick-witted and a true gentleman, looking out for Jeannette’s best interest throughout, even when it didn’t appear she deserved it. Life on the Tempest was portrayed very realistically and it was easy to visualize due to the extraordinary writing. I found myself caught up in the story, finding it difficult to put down. The battle scenes were mesmerizing, reminding you of the primitive resources during that era. I’m not an historian and cannot evaluate whether this story is accurate in that sense but it certainly seemed authentic.
My only criticism is that the romance between Jeannette and Treynor seemed to wrap up hurriedly. I believe a short epilogue might have made this ending more complete to that end. It should also be noted that this a PG rated romance for the most part, which is pretty consistent with the values of the characters. Otherwise, this is a very interesting story with layered, interesting characters who stayed with me after the book’s end. I highly recommend it and wish there was another to follow. It’s also my first experience with this author and I plan to read more of her titles. I’m rating this story 4 stars.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley)
Jeannette’s experiences while on the ship are pretty harrowing and aren’t glamorized in the least. Treynor proves himself to be an astute naval officer and cleverly works to protect Jeannette from the 1st Lieutenant Cunnington, who has an axe to grind with him. When Treynor discovers Jeannette’s ruse, he continues that protection and their attraction is unmistakable. While she often makes decisions that have you wanting to throttle her, Jeannette still is an interesting character and one you’ll want to win. Treynor is especially intriguing as he not only has to look out for Jeannette but serve in command at the same time. He is extremely attractive, quick-witted and a true gentleman, looking out for Jeannette’s best interest throughout, even when it didn’t appear she deserved it. Life on the Tempest was portrayed very realistically and it was easy to visualize due to the extraordinary writing. I found myself caught up in the story, finding it difficult to put down. The battle scenes were mesmerizing, reminding you of the primitive resources during that era. I’m not an historian and cannot evaluate whether this story is accurate in that sense but it certainly seemed authentic.
My only criticism is that the romance between Jeannette and Treynor seemed to wrap up hurriedly. I believe a short epilogue might have made this ending more complete to that end. It should also be noted that this a PG rated romance for the most part, which is pretty consistent with the values of the characters. Otherwise, this is a very interesting story with layered, interesting characters who stayed with me after the book’s end. I highly recommend it and wish there was another to follow. It’s also my first experience with this author and I plan to read more of her titles. I’m rating this story 4 stars.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley)
December 23, 2011
Where I got the book: e-galley from NetGalley.
Oh dear. What's a reviewer to do? I find myself in two minds about this, the first Brenda Novak novel I've read. I'm also not very familiar with the romance genre (I'm on a quest to understand genres I don't normally read) so I don't know if this novel is typical of the genre or typical of Novak or both.
Added to which, I was reading a galley and I don't know how much things have changed between the galley and the final version. So you may take all of my opinions with a pinch of salt, if you wish. But I'm not really sure what to make of this novel.
The trouble is, I found The Bastard wildly inconsistent, and so my feelings about it varied tremendously from one chapter to the next. Sometimes it dragged and had far too much exposition (particularly near the beginning), sometimes it was lively and compelling. Sometimes the dialogue flowed along beautifully and meshed well with the narrative, and sometimes the sentences jerked along awkwardly. Sometimes I smiled over the dashing, Barbara Cartland-style, tongue-in-cheek humor that I detected beneath the story, and sometimes, unfortunately, I laughed AT the words and not with them.
I jumped eagerly into the galley on the strength of its title and setting, and did not in fact know I was reading the work of a bestseller till I read the bio at the end. So I spent much of the time musing on how useful a really good developmental editor would be, to draw out the author's obvious strengths. I'm still left with the impression that the novel was written by two people, and that one of them needed to take the other in hand and address her weaknesses.
Most of what I did like about the book lay in the middle--fast action, nicely-paced dialogue and a good sense of what it was like to be aboard a naval warship fighting the revolutionary French. The romance was well-focused and juuust walked the line between a PG-13 rating and what I'd consider too much sex (I said I wasn't a romance reader!) The poor hero was brought almost to the point of no return so many times that I began to fear for his health, an example of the sense of humor and perspective that seemed to infuse the narrative. The plot was pure Barbara Cartland, in other words entirely preposterous and yet extremely engaging.
In short, an enjoyable but flawed novel.
Oh dear. What's a reviewer to do? I find myself in two minds about this, the first Brenda Novak novel I've read. I'm also not very familiar with the romance genre (I'm on a quest to understand genres I don't normally read) so I don't know if this novel is typical of the genre or typical of Novak or both.
Added to which, I was reading a galley and I don't know how much things have changed between the galley and the final version. So you may take all of my opinions with a pinch of salt, if you wish. But I'm not really sure what to make of this novel.
The trouble is, I found The Bastard wildly inconsistent, and so my feelings about it varied tremendously from one chapter to the next. Sometimes it dragged and had far too much exposition (particularly near the beginning), sometimes it was lively and compelling. Sometimes the dialogue flowed along beautifully and meshed well with the narrative, and sometimes the sentences jerked along awkwardly. Sometimes I smiled over the dashing, Barbara Cartland-style, tongue-in-cheek humor that I detected beneath the story, and sometimes, unfortunately, I laughed AT the words and not with them.
I jumped eagerly into the galley on the strength of its title and setting, and did not in fact know I was reading the work of a bestseller till I read the bio at the end. So I spent much of the time musing on how useful a really good developmental editor would be, to draw out the author's obvious strengths. I'm still left with the impression that the novel was written by two people, and that one of them needed to take the other in hand and address her weaknesses.
Most of what I did like about the book lay in the middle--fast action, nicely-paced dialogue and a good sense of what it was like to be aboard a naval warship fighting the revolutionary French. The romance was well-focused and juuust walked the line between a PG-13 rating and what I'd consider too much sex (I said I wasn't a romance reader!) The poor hero was brought almost to the point of no return so many times that I began to fear for his health, an example of the sense of humor and perspective that seemed to infuse the narrative. The plot was pure Barbara Cartland, in other words entirely preposterous and yet extremely engaging.
In short, an enjoyable but flawed novel.
December 23, 2011
I doubt whether I would have known that this book even existed if not for a friend in one of my groups on Goodreads for saying how much she enjoyed this. So I resolved to get my hands on a copy and much to my utter delight the lovely people over at NetGalley had it available.
I LOVED this book! You probably already know that I love historical romances but if you didn't know it before than you certainly do now. This book had everything I like in a historical romance.
There was war, love, deception and adventure on the high seas! The story of Jeannette and Treynor was steamy and filled with the usual macho male and the damsel in distress but it was written phenomenally well.
The author Brenda Novak seemed to try and in my opinion she succeeded in giving Jeannette a brain! Oh how it irks me when writers make their heroines dimwits, it was nice to see a young girl with a brain who was not afraid to speak for herself and defend herself more and more as the book went on. I really liked Jeannette's character and I also liked Treynor. I especially liked Treynor even more at the end when he reconciled with his mother nearer the end and I appreciate that the author added another aspect to the story by including Treynor's mother in the story and how their relationship past, present and future evolved.
I sincerely hope that the author Brenda Novak continues to write more in this genre because I devoured this book. I stayed up until 3:30 am here and read the book on my laptop in all of 5 hours. It was wonderful and I can't wait to read more books by this amazing author.
I highly recommend this to fans of historical romance as well as people who are wanting to give this genre a try.
* I recieved a copy of this book via Netgalley from the publisher in exchange for my free and honest review.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I LOVED this book! You probably already know that I love historical romances but if you didn't know it before than you certainly do now. This book had everything I like in a historical romance.
There was war, love, deception and adventure on the high seas! The story of Jeannette and Treynor was steamy and filled with the usual macho male and the damsel in distress but it was written phenomenally well.
The author Brenda Novak seemed to try and in my opinion she succeeded in giving Jeannette a brain! Oh how it irks me when writers make their heroines dimwits, it was nice to see a young girl with a brain who was not afraid to speak for herself and defend herself more and more as the book went on. I really liked Jeannette's character and I also liked Treynor. I especially liked Treynor even more at the end when he reconciled with his mother nearer the end and I appreciate that the author added another aspect to the story by including Treynor's mother in the story and how their relationship past, present and future evolved.
I sincerely hope that the author Brenda Novak continues to write more in this genre because I devoured this book. I stayed up until 3:30 am here and read the book on my laptop in all of 5 hours. It was wonderful and I can't wait to read more books by this amazing author.
I highly recommend this to fans of historical romance as well as people who are wanting to give this genre a try.
* I recieved a copy of this book via Netgalley from the publisher in exchange for my free and honest review.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
November 16, 2011
I learn that this is the second historical outing by the author, and it shows in her eagerness. The Bastard is a jumbo gumbo pot of every single well-favored romance plotpoint imaginable. Whether it's cross-dressing - check. Adventure in high sea - check. Sea battle - check. Lots and lots of bodice rippings - check. Rape attempt - check. Duel at dawn - check. Cinderella-esqe ball scene - check. Anything else you could think of, there is a good chance it is featured in this book. And at the price of only $2.99, what could go wrong? Well, almost everything I would say. The story itself is all over the place. The hero whom the title is after is nothing out of ordinary, like a dime a dozen, typical heroes we read a thousand times before. He is painted as tormented by his status and upbringing and as a champion for underdogs. But, at the end he is more than relieved (into the territory of gleeful) to learn of his noble parentage. The heroine is insipid, somewhat stupid, but oh so gorgeous type. Nothing much to complain on this side since I think the author just keeps it real, considering the heroine's pampered background. The secondary characters are just there for the sake of necessity without providing any additional dimensions to the story.
This is my first taste of historical tale by Ms. Novak and my verdict is that she is immensely better at what she is known for now which is romantic suspense. 2 and 1/2 stars
This is my first taste of historical tale by Ms. Novak and my verdict is that she is immensely better at what she is known for now which is romantic suspense. 2 and 1/2 stars
December 6, 2011
This is actually a DNF. Chapter one introduced us to the titular bastard, and his mother, who had abandoned him at birth to avoid scandal, yet for some reason kept in contact with him, even though she obviously doesn't care for the -- by now -- young man. Most of the chapter was a boring infodump, presented through as-you-know-bobs of the worst kind, and punctuated by anachronisms.
In chapter two, a young French aristocrat gets married to a fat, old, villanous villain who does everything but twirl a moustache -- again, punctuated by anachronisms, particularly in thinking and attitudes. That was the point when I realised I could have more fun -- say, catching up with my accounting, or cleaning up the cats' litterbox.
I love historicals, and I'm perfectly willing to overlook a bit of wallpapering, or some overly modern attitudes, and even an occasional cliche for the sake of fun - but not all of that at once. Keep away.
In chapter two, a young French aristocrat gets married to a fat, old, villanous villain who does everything but twirl a moustache -- again, punctuated by anachronisms, particularly in thinking and attitudes. That was the point when I realised I could have more fun -- say, catching up with my accounting, or cleaning up the cats' litterbox.
I love historicals, and I'm perfectly willing to overlook a bit of wallpapering, or some overly modern attitudes, and even an occasional cliche for the sake of fun - but not all of that at once. Keep away.
December 25, 2011
This book was a wonderful and delightful read, a true love story between a strong heroine, complimented by a strong Hero.
Lieutenant Trenor Crawford is an officer at the British Royal Navy and hadn’t had an easy time getting where he is. He mistrusts women as a result of his bitterness towards his mother who lead him to believe he is a bastard, never revealing who his real father was. He meets Jeanette dressed as a boy, who is running away from her baron husband after finding out on her wedding night that the baron (who is impotent) has other distasteful ways of getting her with child. She wants to go to London in the hope that her uncle will help in having the marriage annulled.
The two characters and the situation they find themselves in create a healthy conflict, eventually find they are truly in love. Oh, what can I say? I LOVED this book, and I enjoyed that everything was nicely tied at the end, giving the Trenor and Jeannette their Happy Ever After.
Lieutenant Trenor Crawford is an officer at the British Royal Navy and hadn’t had an easy time getting where he is. He mistrusts women as a result of his bitterness towards his mother who lead him to believe he is a bastard, never revealing who his real father was. He meets Jeanette dressed as a boy, who is running away from her baron husband after finding out on her wedding night that the baron (who is impotent) has other distasteful ways of getting her with child. She wants to go to London in the hope that her uncle will help in having the marriage annulled.
The two characters and the situation they find themselves in create a healthy conflict, eventually find they are truly in love. Oh, what can I say? I LOVED this book, and I enjoyed that everything was nicely tied at the end, giving the Trenor and Jeannette their Happy Ever After.
November 29, 2011
'The Bastard' by Brenda Novak is a historical romance set in 1794. What a gripping read! The descriptions about life on board a navy frigate in the eighteenth century are very realistic (or as realistic as I would imagine – no I wasn't there to see for myself) showing how hard, dirty, smelly and dangerous life was. I loved how Brenda wrote the love story and how she developed the characters throughout.
Brenda Novak is known more for her romantic suspense books but I hope she continues with historical romance as she definitely shouldn't be pigeonholed. I look forward to reading more of this author's work as I love her writing style.
Brenda Novak is known more for her romantic suspense books but I hope she continues with historical romance as she definitely shouldn't be pigeonholed. I look forward to reading more of this author's work as I love her writing style.
June 27, 2016
I don't usually read this type of romance--the bodice-ripping historical story, but I enjoyed this one a lot.
What I found masterful was the way the characters fell in love. This author totally captured their every emotion, from dislike to frustration to annoyance, to acceptance, all the way through until they had to admit to themselves that it was love. But of course, there were some very valid reasons why they could never be together.
Anyone who enjoys romance should love this.
What I found masterful was the way the characters fell in love. This author totally captured their every emotion, from dislike to frustration to annoyance, to acceptance, all the way through until they had to admit to themselves that it was love. But of course, there were some very valid reasons why they could never be together.
Anyone who enjoys romance should love this.
January 14, 2020
Loved it the second time again I read it .💕💕💕
August 13, 2021
I used to devour historical romances. This is a good book & I enjoyed reading it
February 3, 2020
A really fun and enjoyable historical romance, knocked a star off because of the lack of smut.
April 11, 2019
Dashing and brave
They overcome so much for such a sweet ending. The story keeps us on our toes and nothing should be taken for granted.
They overcome so much for such a sweet ending. The story keeps us on our toes and nothing should be taken for granted.
December 3, 2011
Heroine: Jeanette is a feisty French woman who keeps her familial duties first. She’s kindhearted and compassionate and she does things for the good of others. I like that Novak chose to write her character’s dialogue without the accent spelled out. Sometimes, I do find it very distracting when authors write in an accent. I think that a constant reminder of Jeanette’s nationality was enough to make a point.
Hero: I love that Treynor is honorable right down to his actions. There were so many times that he could easily have taken advantage of Jeanette, but he did not. Reading his childhood struggle as an illegitimate child was really interesting and I liked seeing him grow as a character. On a side note, I wish that the book wasn’t named The Bastard. It’s an eye-catching title, but it is so unromantic.
Supporting Cast: I think that the book was lacking most in strong secondary characters. I liked Mr. and Mrs. Hawker but after the beginning, you really don’t read much of them and I felt that their characters fell flat as a resort.
Plot: I’m a complete sucker for pirate/shipsman novels, and THE BASTARD did not disappoint. Stowaways, battle, life on a ship, etc. This one had everything that I typically look for in this kind of novel.
Romance: Novak kept up the tension between the characters all way to the end. It was very satisfying as a reader. Also, for those concerned, this one is definitely more of a cleaner romance than others.
Love Potion Strength:
I’ll definitely keep an eye out for Novak’s historical romances in the future.
Hero: I love that Treynor is honorable right down to his actions. There were so many times that he could easily have taken advantage of Jeanette, but he did not. Reading his childhood struggle as an illegitimate child was really interesting and I liked seeing him grow as a character. On a side note, I wish that the book wasn’t named The Bastard. It’s an eye-catching title, but it is so unromantic.
Supporting Cast: I think that the book was lacking most in strong secondary characters. I liked Mr. and Mrs. Hawker but after the beginning, you really don’t read much of them and I felt that their characters fell flat as a resort.
Plot: I’m a complete sucker for pirate/shipsman novels, and THE BASTARD did not disappoint. Stowaways, battle, life on a ship, etc. This one had everything that I typically look for in this kind of novel.
Romance: Novak kept up the tension between the characters all way to the end. It was very satisfying as a reader. Also, for those concerned, this one is definitely more of a cleaner romance than others.
Love Potion Strength:
I’ll definitely keep an eye out for Novak’s historical romances in the future.
December 10, 2011
This book was quite a departure from the other books I have read by this author. I enjoyed her foray into a different genre. I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like either of the two main characters, but I ended up enjoying both they and their story. The plot was compelling and kept me interested. I'll definitely read any other romantic historicals that Novak writes.
Jeannette Boucher feels that she has no choice but to marry a man forty years her senior. Her family has escaped and been left impoverished by the French Revolution, and she sees her marriage as the only way for her family to have a chance at a comfortable life. Immediately following her wedding ceremony, she learns that her husband has nefarious plans regarding the conception of an heir that involves several of his friends. Jeannette flees and ends up on an English frigate. Lieutenant Crawford Treynor ends up taking the responsiblity for Jeannette's care aboard the ship. Lieutenant Crawford Treynor was born as the result of a noble woman's affair and he has had a hard lot in life. He has worked his way to his current position and doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize his future. As he and Jeannette fight the attraction between them, he has his work cut out trying to insure her safety.
I enjoyed this story of a displaced French lady and the man who comes to care for her. The story had plenty of action and interesting characters. I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, and stayed intrigued throughout the story.
Jeannette Boucher feels that she has no choice but to marry a man forty years her senior. Her family has escaped and been left impoverished by the French Revolution, and she sees her marriage as the only way for her family to have a chance at a comfortable life. Immediately following her wedding ceremony, she learns that her husband has nefarious plans regarding the conception of an heir that involves several of his friends. Jeannette flees and ends up on an English frigate. Lieutenant Crawford Treynor ends up taking the responsiblity for Jeannette's care aboard the ship. Lieutenant Crawford Treynor was born as the result of a noble woman's affair and he has had a hard lot in life. He has worked his way to his current position and doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize his future. As he and Jeannette fight the attraction between them, he has his work cut out trying to insure her safety.
I enjoyed this story of a displaced French lady and the man who comes to care for her. The story had plenty of action and interesting characters. I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, and stayed intrigued throughout the story.
December 8, 2011
As I read The Bastard by Brenda Novak, I found it to be an intriguing story. The book begins with the marriage of a young French woman (Jeannette) to an older English man. She is informed after the ceremony by her young brother that her new husband intends to sell her virginity to the highest bidder in order to acquire an heir. She decides the best course of action is to run away. Due to some very interesting circumstances, she ends up aboard a frigate (military boat) dressed as a young boy. To avoid detection and abuse by the rest of the crew, she forms an alliance of sorts Lieutenant Crawford Treynor. He is both enamored and frustrated with the young lady, but vows to help her keep her virtue and return to her relatives in London to acquire an annulment to her marriage. This proves to be difficult and frustrating for both the lieutenant and Jeannette. Both characters come to realize that determination, perseverance and circumstances, can sometimes lead to romance and possibly love; but is love enough to give them a future when she is an aristocrat and he a bastard?
I loved reading this unique story. I was captivated by young Jeannette’s plight and poor Treynor’s resolution to try his best to preserve her virtue at great personal cost. This book is definitely one I will read again very soon!
I loved reading this unique story. I was captivated by young Jeannette’s plight and poor Treynor’s resolution to try his best to preserve her virtue at great personal cost. This book is definitely one I will read again very soon!
November 21, 2011
Originally posted on Cozy Up With A Good Read
So this is my first romance novel, and the words I have are "Oh My" (continuously). I thought I would try out a romance novel and this one peaked my interest, being classified as a historical romance. I am sorry I did not delve into romance novels earlier. I admit, I could not put this book down! This novel had romance, action, and crime.
Lieutenant Treynor... can I just say yum!! Who wouldn't want a handsome, yet rugged sailor to be their 'knight in shining armour'. I'll take him. And his fiery attitude just draws you in deeper. I can barely come up with words, the book just left me breathless. I just want to keep reading it (but I have a feeling all romances are like this).
The one thing that I thought Brenda Novak did really well was the teasing of the readers. I found myself expecting the romance to come but it was over as soon as it started, and I had to keep coming back. The heat and passion between Jeannette and Treynor is to die for.
I'm definitely glad I started with this book for my first romance novel! I will come back for more from Brenda Novak if they are all along these lines (the historical aspect of it is what really grips me).
So this is my first romance novel, and the words I have are "Oh My" (continuously). I thought I would try out a romance novel and this one peaked my interest, being classified as a historical romance. I am sorry I did not delve into romance novels earlier. I admit, I could not put this book down! This novel had romance, action, and crime.
Lieutenant Treynor... can I just say yum!! Who wouldn't want a handsome, yet rugged sailor to be their 'knight in shining armour'. I'll take him. And his fiery attitude just draws you in deeper. I can barely come up with words, the book just left me breathless. I just want to keep reading it (but I have a feeling all romances are like this).
The one thing that I thought Brenda Novak did really well was the teasing of the readers. I found myself expecting the romance to come but it was over as soon as it started, and I had to keep coming back. The heat and passion between Jeannette and Treynor is to die for.
I'm definitely glad I started with this book for my first romance novel! I will come back for more from Brenda Novak if they are all along these lines (the historical aspect of it is what really grips me).
November 29, 2011
4.5)THE BASTARD by Brenda Novak is an exciting historical romance set during the French Revolution and Regency England. It is welle written depth and details while the characters while capture your heart and have you turning pages. While Lietenant Crawford Treynor may have been born a "Bastard" he is a gentleman. It is a Navy Officer,honorable,and a born leader. Jeannette Boucher,is a young French immigate whose family if penniless and she must marry an English husband to save them from ruin. But right after her wedding vows she learns her new husband is less than honorable and runs away. "The Bastard" has everything a historical reader could want. It has secrets past and present,betrayal,misunderstanding,high sea adventure,sensual tension,romance,love,danger,courage,bitterness,sea battle,death,finding your birthright,healing,and did I mention a true love story.With high octane adventure,fast paced,and a heart pounding story you could not go wrong with reading "The Bastard".A must read for any historical,romance,high sea adventure,French Revolution,Regency England,and sea battles.Received from Net Galley and the author for review. Details can be found at the author's website and My Book Addiction Reviews.
November 9, 2011
4.5 stars
Something about the cover and the title turned me off from this book. I was also bit worried that the author normally writes mysteries and thrillers which aren't my cup of tea. For some reason or another, I picked up this book and I'm very glad that I had a chance to read it.
The heroine, Jeannette, did seem a bit foolhardy at first, but I got over that quickly as she proved that she had courage and devotion to her family. Lieutenant Treynor had honor and feeling. It was a wonderful story with adventure and action that I couldn't put down. This is not your usual parlor room chatting, tea sipping, social calling, milling about gossiping courtship. I can't tell you how many parking lots I have been sitting in (I pick up/drop off kids) or dinners I have delayed just to read this book in 10-15 minute increments.
I would definitely read another historical romance from this author. I'm still not sold on the mystery/thrillers because it's not my thing, but I might be convinced to give one of them a try someday.
Something about the cover and the title turned me off from this book. I was also bit worried that the author normally writes mysteries and thrillers which aren't my cup of tea. For some reason or another, I picked up this book and I'm very glad that I had a chance to read it.
The heroine, Jeannette, did seem a bit foolhardy at first, but I got over that quickly as she proved that she had courage and devotion to her family. Lieutenant Treynor had honor and feeling. It was a wonderful story with adventure and action that I couldn't put down. This is not your usual parlor room chatting, tea sipping, social calling, milling about gossiping courtship. I can't tell you how many parking lots I have been sitting in (I pick up/drop off kids) or dinners I have delayed just to read this book in 10-15 minute increments.
I would definitely read another historical romance from this author. I'm still not sold on the mystery/thrillers because it's not my thing, but I might be convinced to give one of them a try someday.
December 16, 2011
I loved this book and couldn't put it down.
I found the story to be fast paced and intriguing.
I adored the two main characters and how their relationship progressed from start to finish.
This novel contains romance, action and a battle at sea.
After reading this historical romance I hope Ms. Novak plans to continue writing in this genre.
I found the story to be fast paced and intriguing.
I adored the two main characters and how their relationship progressed from start to finish.
This novel contains romance, action and a battle at sea.
After reading this historical romance I hope Ms. Novak plans to continue writing in this genre.
January 2, 2012
As historical romances go, it was alright. It was fast-paced and a rather quick read. I don't usually go for at-war or military leads in books, but I'd heard such good things about this book that I had to give it a shot.
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