Never Call It Love

by Veronica Jason

A blazing love that was born in smoldering hate.
When beautiful young Elizabeth Montlow lost her innocence it was not on a night of romantic dreams. It was in an act of savage violence by a man seeking vengeance.

Yet from this brutal beginning came an all-consuming passion that would take Elizabeth from the sheltered eighteenth-century English countryside to a lonely manor in Ireland, where she was forced to share her man with his ravishing and ruthless mistress... to a nightmare exile on a lush and licentious Caribbean island, where lust and murder went hand in hand... to the depths of the lawless American wilderness, where two men played a monstrous game of heart-wrenching deception with her as the stake...

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Abuse, American Revolutionary War, Ireland

348 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1978

About the author

A pseudonym of Velda Johnston

Reviews

[Birjis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all bad for a bodice ripper that is so clean and less complicated. The story-telling is smooth which is not usually my hype for a plot but hunky-dory somewhat romance and a good tempered heroine helped me finish the book. The villian of the book is liked throughout the book and he was so well build of a side character that although I was suspicious of him turning the villian I was still surprised.

Patrick [(H) an Irish born] and Elizabeth [(h)an English born] were attracted to each other in their first meet but simply drifted away but have fancy thoughts for each other. When Patricks ward was raped and Elizabeth's brother Christopher was accused Patrick rapes her in revenge but feels guilty and proposes marriage. The two are always cool towards each other but secretly pining for the other. Patrick's mistress is less dangerous in my case. She tries to put "divorce" among the couple and follows them around. I was expecting some evil scheme but she simply poofed from the story. Christopher is one hell of a trouble maker who finally got an end that seem to finally let Elizabeth proclaim romantic (she had them before but never admitted) feelings for Patrick. Her mother (I hate those 'delicate' women who need smelling salts to stay conscious) is always blinded to Christopher's misdeeds and she died unaware of her sons crimes.

That being said the story didn't thrill me and is very tame but it had all the bodice ripper assets; triggers: rape, cheating, murder, animal death, miscarriage and a bit of adventure. The main issue is the hero and heroine unable to connect with each other (not surprising) leading hero to seek out his mistress and the heroine pretending that this doesn't affect her. I wish there was some persistence or evilness in the book which could have made the story more interesting.

[Fre06 Begum · Rating 1 out of 5]

This "hero" was so sexually infatuated with his mistress up until almost the end, there was no sign of him caring for the heroine he spent more time in bed with the mistress or drooling after her and then suddenly he was in love with the heroine?! He was disgusting!

[Tutti Dolci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't you just hate it when a cover is so way off from the actual content of a book that it almost seems misleading? Grrr.

Well, that's one of my pet peeves (yeah, it's probably rather petty, but eh). Anyway, the couple on this cover looks nothing like the characters in the story. In fact, the heroine has dark hair and gray eyes. There never was a red haired woman in this book, except for a young girl who dies right at the beginning.

Upon further scrutiny (and after having read the entire thing), I realized that this book isn't what I'd consider a true Bodice Ripper. In fact, after looking up the 'What is a Boddice Ripper?' checklist on one of my fave BR blogs, I've come to the conclusion that this one IS NOT. So people, don't assume that a seemingly old-school romance novel cover = Bodice Ripper. And that is your BR lesson of the day.

Moving right along...

I had pined over this book for MONTHS, looking for it everywhere. When I finally landed a copy (this is an out-of-print book from 1978), I was over the moon. Being that reviews for it were so favorable and most importantly, that it had been compared to Christine Monson's Stormfire (which I loved), I was pretty damned excited to read it. So, when I finally got to the end of the story, I felt a little pissed off.

Why?

Okay, let me backtrack a little before I answer that.

I didn't hate the book. Overall, I found that it was a good read (vivid imagery and smooth storytelling) and if it currently sits on your To Read shelf, I'd still suggest that you read it. However, FOR ME, it just didn't live up to the hype. In fact, I found that it lacked passion, and I don't just mean the kind between people who are attracted to one another. Never Call It Love felt a lot more like an epic adventure and not so much as a romance (was this categorized as a romance, ever?) so it left much to be desired for someone like me who was expecting a romance of epic proportions. Don't get me wrong, the romance part comes, but it was very minimal and practically at the very end. Oh, and for those of you who like the more detailed love scenes...not happening here. Actually, the "love" scenes were rather scarce and there was no romance involved (because no one ever admitted to feeling anything other than a sense of obligation, lust, or contempt) in pretty much the entirety of this book.

In the meantime, I was left feeling like I read and read, expecting the explosive, dramatic climax that never really came. Furthermore, I found myself unable to connect with the characters emotionally.

However, I have to admit that my opinion may be biased because I was expecting something similar or comparable to Stormfire. As a result, I felt disappointed when this book didn't deliver - especially because there was so little romance involved.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Да, бива си ги старите истории ПП (преди политкоректността).

Той е себичен и прибързан егоист с титла, за когото всичко идва на второ място спрямо моментната му прищявка (патриотизъм, ревност, подигравка към по-слабите). Тя е лицемерка с перфектни маниери, която по-скоро ще лъжесвидетелства пред съда, за да не се наруши благоприличието като бъде справедливо осъден брат ѝ за изнасилване и убийство. И двамата ще си платят жестоко в периода 1778 - 1783 г., сменяйки Англия с Ирландия, после с Хаити и накрая с Пенсилвания. И двамата ще загубят титли, пари и достойнство, и ще се поизцапат с тежък труд, но ще станат и по-честни и добри хора.

В съвременен сюжет абсурд да се срещне такава щуротия. Второстепенните герои да чудесни, а финалният злодей изобщо не беше злодей, даже беше абсолютно прав за много неща. И в съвременен сюжет той щеше да е добрият, многострадален герой, но без грам от сегашния чар. И естествено, че Амазон няма да го пуснат за Киндъл.

[Twiggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The other reviews are right when they describe this as more of an adventure/survival story as opposed to a traditional romance.

The story starts off with the rape and death of Sir Patrick Stanford's ward at the hands of Christopher Montlow and friends. Christopher makes a get away to his mother and sister's home outside of London. He fabricates a story saying that he was with a well known courtesan at the time of the rape and assault but asks his mother and sister Elizabeth to say that he was home with them as no one would believe the woman he was with because she is a whore. Elizabeth has reservations about her brother and is not convinced by his story. She goes to see the other woman, whom confirms the story, having been bribed by Christopher.

A trial ensues and Christopher is acquitted. Sir Patrick knows that Elizabeth has lied and seeks revenge on her brother, who has escaped on boat from southampton. He confronts Elizabeth whilst she is alone in her home and rapes her violently.

Elizabeth had been in love with her betrothed Donald and they were due to get married in June. They had a gentle and loving relationship and he was due to take over the local vicarage. Elizabeth finds that she is pregnant and can not bear to tell Donald for fear of what he would do, and so she writes to Sir Patrick alerting him to the situation and suggesting that they marry after all, which he agrees to.

Sir Patrick and Elizabeth return to live in his estate near Cork in Ireland. After a few days, he beds Elizabeth and for a period they get on fairly well. Elizabeth becomes concerned at the risk to the baby and tells her husband that they must stop their relations. He turns to the neighbour Lady Moira with whom he engages in a well flaunted affair. Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, lonely and essentially abandoned by her husband. Donald comes to visit her and Sir Patrick sees them embrace at the end of the visit. He remonstrates with her and she trips and falls, bringing on a miscarriage.

It emerges that Sir Patrick has been involved in orchestrating an Irish revolt. He is betrayed and forced to flee Ireland with his wife and half brother, Colin.

For a period they reside in the West Indies, running a rum distillery. Although their House is a lot smaller than what they are used to, they involve themselves in the upper class social scene of the island and appear to be on the verge of prospering. Their relationship also improves until Lady Moira turns up on the scene. Sir Patrick finds that he is still attracted to her and Elizabeth is jealous. Things get worse when evil brother Christopher turns up. Elizabeth begs Patrick not to harm her brother and out of guilt for what has happened between them, he agrees. He puts christopher to work at the distillery, but christopher robs them of £6000 and then turns up dead, likely murdered. Elizabeth is suspicious that Patrick killed him. Donald then turns up to inform her that her mother is dead. Elizabeth tells him that she is in love with her husband and so he returns to England and his new love.

The English attack the island and because there is a price of Patrick's head, they flee to America, where he buys 100 acres of land in the wilds of Pennslyvania. Things are very difficult as they have had to flee with hardly anything, not having a chance to sell the distillery or house. They build a log cabin and live very basically. Elizabeth is pregnant again and they have a daughter Caroline. Patrick is told of a meeting of Irish revolutionaries in Philadelphia in October and insists on going, despite Elizabeth's protests and her fears at being alone for the coming winter. Almost as soon as Patrick leaves, his brother Colin is badly wounded so that he is not in a position to go hunting. The winter is particularly bad and Patrick does not return. Elizabeth and Caroline come close to starving and Caroline falls ill. Patrick eventually returns in march ( some 5 months later). Elizabeth Is furious that he abandoned them and tells him he has just come back in time to see Caroline die. He leaves in distress. She is sorry for what she said and follows him, whereupon she hears him praying and declaring his love and remorse. She does not want to embarass him by letting him know she over heard and returns home, thinking he will follow. The baby recovers but Patrick disappears and she eventually gets word that he is dead.

Colin convinces elizabeth to sell up and return to Philadelphia. He suggests that they marry and although it is too soon, Elizabeth thinks it likely that she will agree in the future. However she then gets word that Patrick is alive and when she informs Colin about this, he tells her the truth about certain events and then kills himself.

Patrick and Elizabeth are reunited and return to their estates in Ireland due to the act of settlement and live hea.

Overall this was well written and it held my attention.

It was a bit of a curiosity in some respects: Elizabeth's toleration of her brother's presence despite a knowledge that he was pretty vile, was hard to bear; Sir Patrick came across as a cold customer; he had no guilt about adultery at all and just expected his wife to put up with it: and the author did not overly convince in terms of his remorse for his actions towards Elizabeth; likewise the discovery of his love for Elizabeth came out of the blue and was not really followed up at all, leaving the reader somewhat skeptical. I wouldn't have put any money on his long term fidelity...

I have to say it was not worth the £20 or more that I think I paid for it but it was an ok read.

[Cc · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/20

I went looking for this when I realized I was bored with everything written here lately. This was written in the 70's, so no political correctness, at all. But it does make you feel. I have an old print copy, but if you can get for cheap it's worth it for the angst you feel.

If you want to feel frustration, anger, rage, hate, pain (physical) and the Heros ( and I use the term hero verra verra loosely) lust for his mistress, then by all means, read and enjoy!

[Mermarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never Call It Love
Veronica Jason




Warning: Never call Never Call It Love, love, OK? Don't fixate and presume this is a conveniently complex romance. It's not. I was previously prepared by other reviews to not mistake that and I'd be set. So, what aspects of the novel encouraged a 4+ rating on my part?

Sometimes in romance, or historical fiction, or even bodice rippers--you have this chaotic two paired up who are the least compatible people in mind for a HEA. Eventually that pair resolves their Princess Illusion™, or perhaps their Rape-Wagon fancies--and just maybe they're able to compromise through endless pages of resolving dysfunctions to collectively soothe the reader into the idea that those two made it. The endless drudgery, globe-trotting and spritely dancing about those pesky mundane qualities of normal relationships and begin to grate on ones nerves, because you've grown accustomed to its fallout and want the whole blasted thing to at least veer into a remotely amendable stage.



In a great variety of my HF history, this happens. Bodice-rippers will question your reader's relatability and eventually ease that foot off your jugular, but it happens on its own accord. When circumstances become difficult to read or dwell on endless unpleasantry,you're prepared for a long overdue reprieve, and it's a safeguard of sorts. Eventually even bodicerippers seemingly get better. Never Call it Love never quite did get better, or worse, either. It maintained its same unhinged tempo for pretty much the majority of the book. Approximately 70% through, I lifted my head and realized both parties were practically still in love, or infatuated with their former lover(s) prior to their arrangement and despite the initial domestic violence, it was basically less confrontational for the remainder of the novel itself. Call me a dysfunctional chit with no communication skills, but I'm firm in believing in fighting; well, disassociating that with true someone's gonna get hurt reaaaal bad violence, arguing could be a better, more honest alternative. Viciously maiming your loved ones, not so much--nor do I encourage testing out those throwing knives on your old man, or better yet--flexing wife-beater beer belly in your "that bitch is crazzzy" direction, albeit fairly breaking down barriers, even in high volumes can be effective in a sense. What of Elizabeth and Patrick? Our two conflicting characters? When the ability to charge through those unspoken barriers came to a head, they simply found their corner, and sent brooding glares across the way toward one another. This transpired over YEARS and YEARS of gallivanting across the world.

Elizabeth was the ideal, calm and cool minded, rigidly regal English lady, who, despite the bedroom pick-me-ups, I felt deserved to at least have been a closet alcoholic or promiscuous heroine. I was awaiting her to all out open-fire on Patrick with those guns he used her inheritance to purchase, or have his balls trampled by a New World stampede. I was seriously on edge with her complacency, and felt like slipping her a cutter's knife to release some of the cats cradle of endorphins she had cooked up,




because I believe Jason left some of the character refinement as an afterthought, but in the same instance she also left breathing room for each character, too. Villains were believable--emotionally crippled beings whose inherently wicked, tyrannical plans weren't immediately revealed in word-count fashion.

I also felt that whilst as a reader I was aware of the unavowed feelz exchanged between the two; the persons who would have benefited moreso from the revelation were never truly vocalized and used to capitulate the two lovers into more resolved matters. Why's this important to me to remark on? Because Jason refused to write herself into a corner and that defiance is admirable? I suppose I dwell into a certain, "this is how it should go" mentality and the contempt from being denied kind of mollified my personal grudge and I reflected that this mutual ending benefited the story afterall. Truthfully though, when would either of them had time to reveal their loving sentiments? As said earlier, 70% of the book kept those two busy pining over lost-loves or a bootycall, and neither of them fell fast and hard for the other, because of proximity and you're in my bed. Despite their availability and martial bonds of these two--they still kept rooted in their former lives, regardless their predicament. Jason didn't introduce Patrick as a means to simply get-over her former, lifelong(?) love, I mean, that could have likely been difficult as is--considering Patrick's actions to influence their marriage, albeit so many writers use it as a staple for throwing the H/h into nest-eggin'.

By the ending, I had concluded that the wrap-up and plotline of side-characters came tumbling so overwhelmingly in the summit of things. I honestly believed some of the deflective characters would have persisted, because Jason seemed to graft them out of a tangible, everyday persona, that which could be tolerated overall.

P.S. Patrick's Colin was Sean's Liam. ::Trollface::

[Love love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Like most great bodice rippers it has many different themes, revenge, rape, marriage of convenience, and a cheating Hero. It takes you from England to Ireland, to the Caribbean and America. A real emotional ride.

[LuvBug · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If you want to *FEEL* then you should read this book! It has got to be one of the most frustrating books I have ever read! If you cannot abide cheating in your romance then this book is not for you. The hero is an unapologetic cheat who does some really unforgivable things to the heroine, and he is unrepentant until the very end. The angst in this book is sometimes intolerable and many times I wanted to throw it in the ocean, but could not let go since my eyes was glued to the pages wishing they could read faster. Beware, this book has it all, rape, cheating, jealous mistress, jealous fiance, murder, sucide, you name it, it's got it! I enjoyed it for what it was - a good book. Even though it's suppose to be a romance and has it's moments as one, I wouldn't say it was strong in the romance department. It was an engaging read nonetheless and it will go on my keeper shelf.

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

Need to be reviewed.

[Chrisangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, you sure can't call it love in the beginning; later on it's another story, but in between a heck of a lot happens!

I found this HR to be way above average for several reasons, but before I get into that, I'll give you fair warning: the beginning of this book starts out with a terrible crime, and though she's only around for a short time, the young woman victim leaves an impression, (and maybe a few tears) as does the love she feels for a man who never had a clue. It may make you want to stop reading, but I recommend you don't.

One of the things I liked was the lack of age difference between the H and h, which is rare in a book from the late 70's, when the guy's usually 30-something and the girl's in her mid-teens. In this book, Elizabeth Montlow is about 23 or 24, while Patrick Stanford is 32, so there's no rob-the-cradle feeling, a refreshing change!

Also, Elizabeth is neither a spoiled, pouty brat throwing temper tantrums, nor a man-magnet flirt, who's the belle of the ball in her low neckline dress. Neither is she an expert horsewoman, who hunts, shoots, rides, etc. just like a man. Instead, Elizabeth is a young woman who, while enjoying society, doesn't live for it, likes to ride horses without needing to outride the neighborhood, and cares more for reading, gardening and good conversation than she does for the latest fashions. She has a mind of her own, and a temper when necessary, but she also has a maturity, and the ability to adapt to any situation, which she'll need.

She feels responsible for both her widowed mother, who's not in the best of health and on the flighty side, and her brother, Christopher who has good looks and charm, (as well as acting talent) that enable him to get away with murder, and that's no exaggeration. In the book's time period (it starts in 1778) he'd be a cad, rake, rogue....today he'd be a sociopath.

Elizabeth first meets Patrick Stanford at a dance, where he's taken with her, then finds out she's engaged and doesn't give her much thought after that until about a year later, when he's in a courtroom, listening to her perjure herself, to protect her brother (whom, at the time, she believed was innocent) from the gallows. She then helped him leave the country to protect him from Patrick, who takes his revenge on her. Two months later, Patrick receives a letter from Elizabeth, informing him that she's pregnant.

Yes, a brutal start to this relationship, but don't let that stop you from reading, as there's lots of character development, for both of them, as they find themselves in a marriage neither wanted, but his guilt, and her concern for her unborn child, compelled them to accept.

There are other characters in this story; the OM, Donald, a mild mannered, good natured vicar who had been in love with Elizabeth for years, and has just gotten a parish living which would have enabled him to support a wife and family. Though his heart was broken (and further shattered when he discovered the reason for her marriage) he remained her friend. There's also the OW, beautiful Lady Moira, who was married to an older man when she met Patrick, pursued him when she became a widow, and had to settle for being his mistress when he married Elizabeth. (Yes, he's unfaithful, but in this case, with the marriage they had at first, it's easier to understand, though I wish it had only been a few incidents, instead of several months.) Moira also has quite a family background, which figures into her volatile character.

I'm not going to give too many details, but I will say that another thing admirable about Elizabeth was her confrontations with Moira, which she handled with calm dignity, but made it clear she wasn't taking any nonsense. Too often, the h either gets into a cat fight with the OW, or else she acts TSTL and believes everything she's told. Not Elizabeth. When Moira informed her that Patrick wanted a divorce, Elizabeth said she'll believe it when he asks her for one himself. When Moira gives veiled insults, Elizabeth gives as good as she gets. No silly hysterics or hair pulling, and no packing up and leaving because of what the OW said. Unlike so many foolish h's, she doesn't take anything the woman says at face value. How could she, knowing her ulterior motives? That's another refreshing change from the usual nonsense!

Patrick's a different type of H, too. While he's got the usual qualities: tall, good looking, somewhat volatile and sardonic (the opposite of Donald), there's no emphasis on past exploits and conquests, and he's not the typical entitled aristocrat, drinking, gambling, etc. He takes the plight of the Irish peasants seriously (he's Anglo/Irish) and wants his native country free from British oppression. To that effect, he helps plan a rebellion, which will have far reaching consequences that'll include Elizabeth, as well as his older half-brother, Colin, who has a double stigma of being both illegitimate and disabled. (His leg was injured in a riding accident and didn't heal properly.)

In a twist on an old scenario, at one point when Patrick's preparing to fight for his cause, a worried Elizabeth actually forbids him! Her exact words: "I forbid you to go!" Naturally, he didn't take kindly to that, nor pay attention, but it was funny to hear the woman do the forbidding, when usually it's the man who says it.

The book's a bit of a travel log. It starts in England, then Ireland, then the West Indies, then America, (Philadelphia and the Alleghenies) then back to Ireland. In each country, you get a sense of current social/political situations, as well as vivid descriptions of the different towns, cities and villages.

Elizabeth and Patrick's marriage takes a lot of twists and turns, one step forward/two steps back, but there's also an intense passion that neither can deny for long.

Adding to it all, there's a murder, and you'll be as surprised as I was when you find out whodunit (unless I was just too dumb to figure it out).

I won't say anymore and ruin the story. I suggest to anyone reading this review that you read the book; it's worth it, just for being so different than the average.

[BRNTerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

PUBLISHING INFO: Signet, 12/1978
GENRE: Historical Romance
SETTING: England/Ireland/W. Indies/America, 1778
TIMESPAN: 5-6 years
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: When beautiful young Elizabeth Montlow lost her innocence it was not on a night of romantic dreams. It was in an act of savage violence by a man seeking vengeance.

Yet from this brutal beginning came an all-consuming passion that would take Elizabeth from the sheltered eighteenth-century English countryside to a lonely manor in Ireland, where she was forced to share her man with his ravishing and ruthless mistress... to a nightmare exile on a lush and licentious Caribbean island, where lust and murder went hand in hand... to the depths of the lawless American wilderness, where two men played a monstrous game of heart-wrenching deception with her as the stake...

MY THOUGHTS/SPOILERS: This didn't live up to my expectations at all. I learned of it at least five years ago online from someone who said it reminded her a bit of Stormfire. There were just a couple similarities, like hero and heroine's nationality, rape, hero being a smuggler, ect., but the plotlines/core of the story were dissimilar.

Elizabeth is twenty-three, dark brown hair, gray eyes, and is from England. I found Elizabeth to be very bland and passive. Patrick is from Ireland but lives in England, is tall and thin, has a 'dark' complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, and is thirty-two. He's been smuggling arms, cannons, and muskets for ten years. The story begins and ends in England, 1778-1783.

The first 100 pages of the story were the best of all and were mostly about Elizabeth's eighteen-year old disturbed brother, Christopher, the blond Golden Child. Christopher and his friends were wearing masks when they kidnapped and raped Anne Reardon, Patrick's seventeen-year old ward, in Christopher's unoccupied family home. They fooled her into thinking they'd let her go. They let her run away from them, they chased her, and she jumped out the window and died later from her injuries. He fooled Elizabeth and their mother into believing he was innocent but Elizabeth always had doubts. I find Christopher to be one interesting character, the most interesting of the entire story.

Patrick, who'd met Anne briefly at a ball or something the previous year, was very angry at her for covering for her brother, whom he believed responsible for Anne's death. He broke into her bedroom one night, demanding to know where her brother fled after the trial. She wouldn't give him any information so he raped her (p. 89), after slapping her for struggling. That's his only violence toward her in the story.

For me, the story went downhill from there and became very boring. They got married because she was in a desperate situation. Patrick had been considering marrying Miora Ashley, a wealthy twenty-seven year old widow back in Ireland. I'm not sure why he wanted to marry Elizabeth. He didn't really feel any affection toward her and though she brought a dowry to the marriage, he had much more to gain by marring Miora. Miora became his mistress only after realizing she could no longer marry him, since he was married to Elizabeth. She disappeared from the story for awhile and was brought back to give the readers a suspect for an event that caused Patrick, Elizabeth, and Colin to flee to the West Indies.

The most boring part of all was when Patrick, Elizabeth, and his half-brother Colin were forced to flee the West Indies (after already having to flee England because Patrick was caught planning an uprising against England) and settled in America (Pennsylvania). There they had to live off the land and it made for dull reading. Not much happened the entire few years they lived there until Elizabeth got bad news about Patrick that lead me to believe they wouldn't have a happy ending.

Something eventful, a few confessions, happened near the end involving a secondary character that I didn't see coming. This person had lied about several important things and were involved in murder because they were angry and jealous of another person. I felt a little sad for them at the end.

It was mentioned very early on that Patrick and Colin were responsible for Anne's father Tim's death in a boating accident but the reason for that was never given. We weren't told if the death was intentional or not.

I don't think Patrick ever told Elizabeth that he loved her though she did overhear him once talking out loud about loving her. He never showed affection toward her or gave the impression that he was interested in her at all.

Overall, this wasn't an interesting love story and damnit, I'm disappointed.

[Mystikfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wanted to read this book for about 4 months and finally bought it for more than it was worth on Amazon. I love the book, but to me it felt way too rushed and should have been written longer. I still gave it a five star reading because I loved the characters and the passion in the book but sadly I wished it was slower, instead of weeks moving fast.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is unfair how much these people got to travel.

[°мαggιє° (っ⚈ᴥ⚈)っ™ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Not for the faint hearted and he treated her so callously...abandoning them for a winter is really unforgivable. Nevertheless I finished this hell of a book. I disliked how Colin was barely remembered at the end and they both seemed to have forgotten him despite the many sacrifices he made for the lady.

[Dangermousie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hero is one of those 1970s “it’s a pity nobody strangled you are birth” types but the book itself is madly entertaining and adventurous.

[Tapa in lovezone]

Note to me - H has mistress and is sexually attracted to her.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was really interesting. I really thought the book was going to be character-centered and full of emotional drama but alas. It was not. The author did a brain fart somewhere in the middle and decided she needed action where there really was no need or requirement. You're walking near the beaches of Ireland and suddenly you find yourself in the middle of the ocean trying to escape evil Englishmen. What the fck??

The last 50-60 pages served no purpose than to alleviate an author's sudden insecurity about the book's purpose. The crazy thing about it? Everything was fine until somebody told her to add a stupid, improbable plot where the H/h would be required to lose a child over a stupid argument and turn the Hero's soft-spoken half-brother into a villain. Don't finish reading the book. There's a HEA but you'll save yourself an anger-induced stroke if you stopped reading before reaching the last 20% of the book.

[Consuela Rossetto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un romance storico scritto molto bene, uno scorcio della storia politica dal 1778.
La protagonista assoluta di questo romanzo è Elizabeth Montlow, una giovane dell'antica nobiltà inglese che a causa di un crimine commesso dal fratello subisce la vendetta di sir Patrick.
Costretta al matrimonio abbandona la sua vita sicura e rassicurante e viene trascinata dal marito prima in Irlanda, poi in seguito al fallimento di un complotto, di cui sir Patrick era a capo contro la corona inglese, nelle Indie occidentali e in America.
Attraverso gli occhi di questa donna forte, intrepida e leale noi viviamo una emozionante avventura.
I personaggi maschili del romanzo con i loro pochi pregi e molti difetti non colpiscono favorevolmente il lettore, ma poco importa.
Con il suo stile accurato e coinvolgente Veronica Jason ci dà il ritratto di una straordinaria donna.

[Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book more than I thought that I would. Not recommended for those who feel uncomfortable with rape scenes for its very much real and unlike most bodice rippers the heroine does not enjoy it. I liked the heroine who for a change is not an impulsive ninny and loyal to those she loves. The hero comes off as distant and I really liked him though his passion for Ireland annoyed me in the end. Overall a very nice read.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Reminded me of "Stormfire".

[Jennefer]

Whoo hoo! Just found this at the library book sale for $.50! Score!

[Lorrane Gloriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fine story but character Patrik was wierd.

[Wachuka · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I finished this book last night and I had to sit back and absorb what I had read. Perharps because it was written at a different time so had different sensibilities but I was horrified. The H to me was irredeemable and the h accepted all that shit without a blink like she almost deserved it. I'm from Kenya which is supposedly behind in its attitude towards women but seriously not this much. Oh well, I'm starting another book to scrub this one off my mind