Mystic Rose

by Patricia Gallagher

A silken fervor caressed them, a flame consuming beautiful Star Lamont and dashing Captain Troy Stewart in a wave of ripening desire beneath the Southern sky.

Across a fiery landscape scorched by the fury of slave revolt and the tumult of war -- across the oceans and across the years -- theirs is a story of surpassing grandeur, from a moment's shipboard encounter through a lifetime of everlasting love.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical Fiction, 19th Century, Fiction, Adventure

342 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1977

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 1 out of 5]

The dialogue between characters was wooden, there were so many info dumps that made the book highly skimmable, and the protagonists were dull and uninspiring. As flawed as Castles in the Air was, it was never boring like this book. I gave up on page 159 out of 342.

[Nick Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

How nice! A well researched historical romance with complex characters capable of growth, change, and surprise. And, how's this for a refreshing change of pace: the heroine never gets raped and the hero isn't an arrogant prick.

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadfully boring. I'm glad I do not remember what I payed for this.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pleasant surprise. After reading some of the positive reviews of Mystic Rose, I dived head first into what I was expecting to be a satisfying read. It paid off even more than I expected. This is no bodice ripper and it borderlines on historical romance and historical fiction. The cover is a bit misleading in that I thought this would be heaving bosoms and thrusting loins. Yeah, some of that is there, but Patricia Gallagher has drawn some finely wrought characters and supporting players. There were moments I had difficulty putting this one down and for so many good reasons that I don't want to spoil here. Ms. Gallagher has earned a fan in me.

[Misfit]

Not sure yet how to rate this, it was different than what I was expecting. The H and h only interacted at the first and then very last of the book, the rest her being stuck at home on her father's plantation during the War of 1812, and him being non existent. While I enjoyed the historical bits about the war, it got a bit info dumpy since the heroine couldn't be directly involved in events. The slave revolt was cool though, but no other cray cray. If you're looking for an old skool romance with lots of sex, this isn't the book for you.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is good and awful.

The good part is the historical content. Patricia Gallagher knows her history. The bad part is the Gone With the Wind without the Civil War feeling and oh, yeah, she's not Margaret Mitchell.

There is some hero confusion. The "supposed" hero is a sea captain who is only around for about 25% of the book. Oddly, the man who shows her the most dedication and love is the guy who cheated on her while she was at boarding school and married her step-sister. Yeah, a lousy thing, but he never stopped loving her.

The captain is kind of just passing through and doesn't really spend any time with her. I don't feel the love or passion. In fact, she travels five miles through swamps and fights alligators so she can sally up to the docks and visit his private quarters on a ship. Now, she's an eager little hussy, right? Oh, no. She cries virgin and rape after he kisses her. Yeah--she acts like a man starved trollop and he's the bad guy? Yeah...okay.

So, besides this book lacking sex, passion and love, it's not entirely bad. There is the part where her nasty stepbrother gets shot, but not even that was terribly satisfying because I've seen meaner grade school bullies. Sigh...

The heroine does grow and mature after having to deal with grownup issues, but not enough that she isn't still a condescending trollop chasing the sea Captain down so she can lower herself to being with him.

[ANGELIA · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the time period (War of 1812) and I liked learning some history, but I didn't like the H and h having so little time together throughout the book. This was written in the late 70's, and I think a lot of historical romance fiction was like that, where you get the couple leading separate lives for a long period of time. That (and the fact that they usually include rape and promiscuity, though not in this case) keeps me from reading a lot of them. This one - with no rapes, forced seduction or sleeping around, would have been a much better story if the couple were together more often, rather than having to read about other characters I couldn't care less about.

[Margarida Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

[Dendera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read October/2015

*** 2 Stars ***

This is my first novel by Patricia Gallagher as I've not read anything by her previously. However, I'll be really honest here as this book wasn't what I was expecting. The first 1/3 of the storyline was fast-paced with a lot of drama and purpose. Yet somehow that was lost and the remaining 2/3 of the story fell into dreary, bland storytelling with no climax keeping the reader on edge or anything. It really was disappointing. Also, it'd been much more simple if Patricia Gallagher hadn't included waaay too much talk on politics and the war of 1812. What a snooze those parts were! I've no interest in boring re-telling of some American war! It does not belong in any historical romance.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

did not enjoy it