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The Infamous Arrandales #3

Return of the Runaway

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"It seemed such an adventure to elope…"

Lady Cassandra Witney once left behind everything she knew for love. Now widowed, disillusioned and stranded in France, all she wants is to return to England, beg forgiveness of her family and forget about men forever!

But Cassie's resolve to never fall for a man again is tested when fugitive Raoul Doulevant offers to escort her on her journey. Infuriating he may be, but he's also honorable, brave and dangerously attractive! Perhaps Raoul could give this runaway the home she's been yearning for…

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2016

9 people are currently reading
327 people want to read

About the author

Sarah Mallory

211 books117 followers
Sarah Mallory is the pen name for Melinda Hammond.

Born in Bristol, England, UK, she grew up telling stories. She would make up adventures to relate to her school friends during break times and lunch hours, and she was once caught scribbling a story instead of listening to the French lesson. As a punishment, her teacher made her translate the story into French! She left school at sixteen and worked in offices as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, insurance brokers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company.

She married at nineteen, but continued to work until the birth of her first child. It was at that time that she decided to try her hand at her first love—writing, and shortly after the birth of her daughter she had her first book, Fortune's Lady, published under the pen name of Melinda Hammond. This was quickly followed by two more historical novels, Summer Charade and Autumn Bride, but with the birth of her twin sons the demands of family life meant that writing had to take a backseat for a few years. A compulsive scribbler, she never stopped writing and continued to work on research for her novels, experimenting with contemporary scenarios as well as writing pantomimes for her children's school. In 1989 the family moved to an isolated Pennine farmhouse in West Yorkshire, not far from Brontë country, where the family expanded to include a dog, two gerbils and a dozen chickens. The growing family needed funding and she went back to work full-time. The writing had to be put on hold.

Then, in March 2000, Sarah stepped off a curb and landed in hospital with one ankle broken and one badly sprained. This laid her up on a sofa for twelve weeks and gave her the time she needed to finish a novel. She wrote as Melinda Hammond and Maid of Honour was published the same year. Since then she has never looked back. She's published more than a dozen books under this pen name and has won the Reviewers' Choice Award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond. Her novel Gentlemen in Question was a Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice Title in November 2006. In 2012 her novel The Dangerous Lord Darrington won the Love Story of the Year by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is now concentrating on writing romantic historical adventures for Mills & Boon.

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5 stars
22 (28%)
4 stars
31 (39%)
3 stars
16 (20%)
2 stars
6 (7%)
1 star
3 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Monique Takens.
645 reviews11 followers
March 13, 2023
Een romantisch en spannend verhaal .
Lady Cassandra ( de kleindochter van Lady Hune waarvan we in de eerdere delen al hadden vernomen dat zij tot groot verdriet van haar stiekem getrouwd was ) wordt onderweg naar de kust waar zij een schip terug naar Engeland wil nemen , overvallen door de door haarzelf ingehuurde koetsier en begeleider . Zij wordt gered door Raoul en samen ontsnappen zij aan haar belagers op het paard van de begeleider . Al haar bagage en haar identiteitspapieren blijft achter in de koets maar gelukkig heeft ze wel haar beurs met geld weten te behouden . Raoul is op de vlucht voor een officier die hem beschuldigd van desertie uit het leger en ook hij heeft door omstandigheden geen identiteitspapieren .
Weten zij samen door vijandelijk Frankrijk naar de kust te komen ?
Profile Image for Violet Banerjee.
34 reviews
April 25, 2016
Dodging gendarmes and highwaymen on the roads of Napoleonic France, Lady Cassandra Witney and fugitive surgeon Raoul Doulevant could not be a more unlikely pairing. She, the daughter of a marquess had impetuously eloped with a womanizing gambler who had broken her heart long before he left her widowed. He, on the run from an unscrupulous French officer who has vowed to make him pay for insults rendered. Though the connection between the two deepens as their adventures on the road bring out the best in themselves, there is too much keeping them apart: nationality, family, rank, and personal histories.

The obstacles Sarah Mallory places in front of her hero and heroine seem so insurmountable that by the end of the book the reader is praying for anything, even a deus ex machina, to give the two their much deserved happily ever after. The suspense is heightened by the challenges they must surmount before fleeing France in the dead of night. Return of the Runaway is a page-turning read.
1,106 reviews3 followers
December 8, 2024
Book three in the series.
After eloping with a gambler after her money Cassie has been left widowed, in France during the Napoleonic wars. So she decided to return home to her grandmother, and safety. But her journey starts with her courier trying to attack her and steal her limited funds, but it can't get worse can it?
Profile Image for Vana.
214 reviews2 followers
November 10, 2017
An enjoyable read with the hero and heroine trying to escape Napoleonic France and having adventures on the way. The type of book I really like to read, but I did find sections in the middle a bit repetitive so I could not award a full five stars.
8 reviews
April 14, 2016
I'm not sure if I will change the rating in the future. The storyline just happened to coincide with what type of story I wanted to read. Half of the book is about the two main characters' journey to secure a ship back to England (is this counted as spoiler?). It might be a boring book to some people because most of them are repeated scenes. They traveled -> find a place to eat/sleep -> travel again -> find a place to eat/sleep again -> and so on. I don't mind the repeated scenes because they met different type of people who offered them place to eat/sleep. Since I have never travelled in that style, this book is as far as I can get to experience it, though I'm sure there are other way better books in this subject.

I love Cassie and Raoul enough. They have a good dynamics, not too "I-don't-care,-I-got to-have-you-now" when they realised they were attracted to each other. Raoul really took a good care of Cassie the whole journey, while Cassie constantly proved herself that she could be Raoul's helping partner; that she wasn't representing the stereotype he thought of her.
Profile Image for Rachel.
901 reviews14 followers
April 26, 2016
I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.

This was my first introduction to "The Infamous Arrandales". I wasn't sure what to expect, but having the heroine saved from rascals by a man running from the law wasn't it. There was definitely some excitement. There was a love story. There were likeable characters. I was not overly impressed with the progression of the story. There was far more inner thought and travel than anything else. Honestly, the best parts of the story happened while Wolfgang was involved. Overall it was a cute, fast read that was everything you would expect from Harlequin.
146 reviews1 follower
February 5, 2017
It was fun reading this book. The heiress elopes with a gambler and a cheat and soon realized her mistakes. When her philanderer husband is dead, she tries to return to her family but faces various perils on the way in the times of war. A Belgian surgeon escaorts her and amidst all their troubles they find love!


Profile Image for Elaine.
4,326 reviews93 followers
May 18, 2016
It was o.k., though not my favourite in the series up to yet. For most of the book its about Raoul and Lady Cassandra trying to flee France in 1803, and the last two chapters are set in England.
I found the story like lots of others I've read.
3***
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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