To open up a novel by Bertrice Small is to surrender to the deepest longings of the heart. In her sensational bestsellers, she sweeps us to the far corners of the globe and into the most sensual places of desire. In The Innocent, she takes us to the wild Welsh borderlands of England, where a young beauty ready to embrace her religious vows becomes the pawn of desperate men. . . .
Deceptively fragile-looking, Eleanore of Ashlin had promised her life to God . . . until fate intervened. With her brother's untimely death, Eleanore—known as Elf to those who love her—becomes the heiress of an estate vital to England's defenses. She is ordered by royal command to wed one of the king's knights rather than take her final vows. With resistant heart, but ever obedient to King Stephen's will, she complies.
Ranulf de Glandeville is all too aware that his innocent bride wants no man; yet his patience, gentle hand, and growing love for his spirited young wife soon awaken Eleanore to passions she never knew, or desired . . . until now.
But their love is not secure from the wicked schemes of an evil woman who hates Eleanore with all her black heart—and she will seek to destroy the innocent in a depraved plot that will put Eleanore's life in jeopardy and her faith in love to its greatest test. . . .
Bertrice Williams was born on December 9, 1937 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, the daughter of Doris S. and David R. Williams, both broadcasters. She studied at Attended Western College for Women and Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. On October 5, 1963, she married George Sumner Small, a photographer and designer with a History Major at Princeton. They had a son Thomas David. She lived on eastern Long Island for over 30 years. Her greatest passions were her family; Finnegan and Sylvester, the family cats; Nicki, the elderly cockatiel who whistles the NY Mets charge call; her garden; her work, and just life in general.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
Yeah, so, Bertrice Small books are not for me. What I saw as misogynistic themes, non-consensual sex, and messily done BDSM dominated this story. Oddly enough, the hero was a babe in the woods but we didn't get much of his and the heroine's relationship because the evil sister-in-law and her quest against the heroine dominated the story. Some Stephen, Matilda, and Duke Henry history with the hero having to walk a fine line of being loyal to Stephen but pledging to honor Duke Henry after his death. I'm glad, for the most part, the romance genre has grown and gotten better from the days when this was acceptable to publish.
Eleanore De Montfort was left at a monastery by her brother at the age of five. Her mother dead and her brother to marry and be the new lord of Aslin, but unfortunately his new young wife did not want to raise his small sister.
Eleanore, also known as Elf to her friends and family, took well to the cloister, and at the age of 14 was ready to take her vows when suddenly called home for her dying brother.
The young and very innocent novice finds her brother so ill he is close to death. His young wife still very lovely, but seemingly not caring about her husband’s discomfort and peril. Elf is innocent and believes the best of everyone, until her brother died, and she suspects his wife may have poisoned him. There is a handsome cousin who seemed to be with the beautiful wife all the time, and had every appearance of an affair between the two.
With the help of a loyal surf, Elf escaped to the cloister. Her virginity still intact, she was taken before the king and given to a loyal knight in marriage.
Her married life suited her and life was happy at Aslin, until her jealous former sister-in-law re-entered her life.
This was an amazingly well told story with main characters who are impossible not to love, as the villains were impossible not to hate. This was kind of a different love story… an amazingly spicy love story, considering it started with a nun. Five stars for this well written story.
I was expecting this to be bad, but I'm a sucker for OTT medieval hr. I think because of my low expectations, I was able to find more positives than other readers.
The couple was the best part of the book. These two belong together! They just blended well together. There were no silly misunderstandings or lack of trust. They were a team. Elf was too innocent in the beginning, but she slowly learned the ways of the world. She definitely called it when it came to her SIL. She had wisdom. She just needed to experience the world.
The villain's motives were silly and made no sense. She was like a bad penny. Still, she added some fun OTT moments. Her sexual fetish was a little too much, though.
Conclusion: I had fun with this book and didn't take it too seriously.
Sidenote: In the beginning, i was crying when Elf's brother left her at the nunnery when she was 5 years old. 😢. What a selfish ass!
It was a bad sign that Bertrice Small’s The Innocent features one of her dullest covers ever. The lone positive was it was designed as one last covers created by legendary artist Elaine Duillo, for her dear friend Bertrice.
Taking a break from Small's usual romances where the heroine is captured by some salacious sultan and enslaved in his harem, The Innocent is a rather ho-hum medieval. The heroine is a former nun named Eleonore, who goes by the ridiculous name Elf. Elf is a paragon of virtue, saintliness, and sweetness and totally dull. She is made to marry Ranulf, an equally boring character who patiently introduces Elf into the arts of love. There’s an evil villain, a hired killer, who falls in love with Elf for her purity and goodness, but all I could wonder was WHY? She, like most Small heroines, is perfect beyond belief.
Ok, I lied when I said the reason for the cover was the sole positive aspectof this book. The villainess, Isleen, is such a caricature of slutty evil, she's hysterical. She hates Elf and is her total opposite: a cruel, bitchy whoo-ore who will stop at nothing to have Elf killed. There’s a funny (to me, anyway) scene where the villainess gets gangbanged by the villain and a couple of other guys, then stops after a few rounds and says, “Oh wait we have to practice safe medieval sex so I don’t get preggers,” and proceeds to douche with a full wine bottle.
I read a ton of Bertrice small books circa 1999 to 2002, and at the time I found myself addicted to them. But being addicted to and loving something aren’t the same thing. I picked this one up figuring it would be a change of pace from Small’s usual sexcapades when the heroine (and hero) romp around with everything in sight. Elf is a virgin and sleeps only with the hero (boring for a ripper, although I wouldn’t classify this as a ripper, just a little salacious). Yet other than a few scenes and an interesting villain who would have made a better hero and surprisingly redeems himself in the end, this one was a snoozer.
The innocent by Bertrice Small tells the story of Eleanor de Montfort who is called Elf by her friends and family. After her mother’s death Elf is left in the care of her older brother.
Richard De Montfort recently became engaged to a woman named Isleen de Warenne. He wants to keep Elf with him but is persuaded by Isleen and her parents that it’s best to send Elf to a convent. So Elf is sent to St. Frideswide’s.
At first she doesn’t like it, but she eventually adjust to life there and is even planning on taking her vow as a nun. She is surprised when she is ordered back home to Ashlin due to her brother who is gravely ill and not long for this world.
Richard dies leaving Ashlind to Elf.
Elf intends to hand over Ashlind to the church and continue in her plans in becoming a nun. But her plans are dashed when Saer de Bude and Isleen
Elf and the nuns at St. Frideswide manage to convince King Stephen that Saer de Bude is a liar and that Isleen had poisoned Richard.
Saer de Bude is sent to Blois, and Isleen is banished to live the rest of her life in a nunnery, but she manages to escaping, not spending a single day in the convent.
Elf doesn’t have to marry Saer de Bude, but she is forced to marry a knight named Ranulf de Glandeville. Love blossom between her and new husband, but their future happiness is still in jeopardy thanks to Isleen.
I have been reading a lot of nonfiction as of late. So I decided that I needed something lite to pick up. I decided to re-read The Innocent by Bertrice Small. I read this book several years ago, but I definitely needed a refresher on it. I am happy that I decided to pick it up again.
I am finding that I am liking the second read on it better than the first. This is not my first book of Bertrice Small. One of things that I like about Small’s book is that she adds history to it.
This particular book takes place during the reign King Henry II. Though when the story first start King Stephen is in power. In this book I didn’t find any historical inaccuracies. The characters in this story were certainly interacting with royalty in this, but they were doing it in a way that it didn’t change history. I can’t say that for all her books, but it certainly rings true for this one.
I thought that the characterizations were really well done, especially the villains. If your looking for nice and fuzzy villains than this is not the book for you. I have to admit that Merin Ap Owen, even though he is horrible in this has become one of my favorite characters. And I Liked how his story concluded in this.
I didn’t see many writing errors in this, though Small had two different hair colors for Isleen. In one scene she had dark hair and in the next scene her hair was pure blonde.
I highly recommend this book, but I do have to warn there are some general dark themes in this.
Read 42% got to "He groaned as his love juices erupted to flood her secret garden." and couldn't make myself finish! Reading this book made me feel as though the characters couldn't speak English the dialogue was so stilted! And what's this "His fingers brushed over the warm, plump mound of her Venus mont, smooth and devoid of hair as a proper lady’s should be." ?? Since when were ladies of that time required to be bare! I thought proper ladies were supposed to be unaware of those disgusting body parts! Lol Bad bad bad book!
Once again, I liked this Bertrice Small historical better on the reread. When we first meet heroine, Eleanore, (aka Elf) she is a small child, packed off to a convent by her (boo, hiss) sister in law, fully expecting to live the religious life as a future nun. Please note, she is fine with this, actually looking forward to it, and not being able to take her final vows, as life happens and her path diverges to marriage, is a thing. Thankfully for our hero, Elf comes around, reconciling that she can have faith and marital love at the same time. As this is a Bertrice Small story, expect the doors not only open but off the hinges, and there will be an extremely entertaining history lesson along with the love story.
I struggled with a rating for this book. On the positive side, I thought the characters were well written. Everyone, even minor characters, had their own distinct personalities. The plot was pretty good too. Some parts were a little slow, but nothing I couldn't make my way through. On the negative side, the language the author uses is really cringeworthy sometimes. Apparently, Bertrice is known for this type of writing, so I guess I should have known what I was getting into. I literally found myself laughing out loud at some of her descriptions. In the end, I went with a higher rating because the story did keep my interest the whole way through.
Necesito más libros donde la protagonista sean tan amable que hasta los malos se sientan culpables de arruinar su vida.
Del inicio no tengo mucho que decir. En la mitad pensé seriamente en abandonarlo. Ya la última parte volvió a ganar mi atención por el enamoramiento del villano hacia ella.
No lo vi venir y creo que fue de mis partes favoritas, fue algo nuevo para mí leer donde meten otro hombre y ella si siente atracción por él. Además el final que le dieron a Merin también fue una sorpresa.
“We would have been magnificent together, my lady of Ashlin.”
Me encantó que lo haya tratado de cambiar y que él por el resto de su vida siguiera las palabras de Elf.
This is one of those odd books that grace a person's bookshelves ... what's the appeal? But the eeeevil villainess and her partner ... who kidnap the heroine: they're one of the most compelling skanky pairs around. Set in medieval times, this book is quite the mish mash of courtly love and very rough, trying times. Compelling and hard to forget but perhaps not for the reasons one might expect.
I read this years ago and remember enjoying it more but upon rereading this book I found the age of the heroine off putting as 14 is still such a child. The being married to a scarred knight at such a young age and being so sheltered yet alone and persecuted really made my stomach churn a bit.
The whole story was compelling reading. ......often kept me reading till the hours. I found the epilogue to be especially fitting and the perfect addition to the story. Well done!
I'm glad I tried another book by this author after not being able to finish 'Beloved'. This one only had one love interest with whom all the intimate scenes were with, as a proper romance book should, in my opinion. I usually don't like overly religious characters but Eleanor was endearing, and since she was brought up to be a nun, I forgave her sometimes naive and overly trusting nature. Though I felt a little uncertain about the story when the female lead had to beg God to be strong so she would not give in to Temptation with her abductor. I was relieved nothing happened. But it did make me realize that I should probably end it on this good note. Because I feel bad giving bad ratings and reviews, but I definitely will if I come across another 'Beloved' where the main lead has more than one developing romantic relationship in the same book (wether they're years apart or at the same time), and it is not mentioned in the description when the category is romance. Perhaps "Love story" or simply just "Erotica" are more appropriate categories? But, overall I really liked this one!
After reading so many reviews and so much controversy, I decided to tackle the book. I had already started another book by the author. A few considerations: it's an old book, so even for a medieval context, perhaps the period in which it was published was different, so I believe some triggers used certainly wouldn't be used today, for example (which bothered me the most: Eleonore is 14 and he is 30...). Was that what was expected for the time?? Certainly! But surely this type of writing would be prohibitive in our current century... Anyway: the book is super descriptive in terms of steam scenes (perhaps at the time it was published, it would even be considered erotic), it has unusual descriptive scenes, perhaps a bit of masochism and other things. But the main romance is beautiful. The two mature together, and Ranulf is simply perfect. In any case, it's a great read, unless you're a more sensitive person.
I wanted to love the book but there was just too many things that brought down the score.
I will start off with what I did like: Trope: arranged marriage Eleanor and Ranulf The premise. The conflicts and the whole story could have been great.
What I didn't like: Eleanor is 14 when they get married. I get that in those times, they married young but the book is fiction, fudge it a little. Everything was resolved so easily but it was drawn out. There were more sex scenes between the antagonists than the main characters. Those scenes were a dubcon at best. Everyone guessed the motives of actions correctly instead of investigating. It was lazy writing in my opinion. I would have loved more scenes with Eleanor and Ranulf getting to know each other, getting to know their son, and falling in love. The epilogue was wasted on the antagonists.
Pandemic induced nostalgia has been my thing these last few years. In addition to rewatching MASH & all 20+ seasons of Law & Order: SVU, I saw this on sale and thought: Would I like to revisit one of the great historical bodice-ripper authors of the '80s - and for 0.99 cents? Why, yes. Yes, I would.
And it was fun. Perusing the 12th c. as King Stephen ineffectually shuffles off his mortal coil, ending the civil war with Empress Maude and ushering in Henry II and his Plantagenets - while following a love story that seems tame by current standards - was indeed nostalgic fun. Not as fun as watching Derek Jacoby as Cadfael in the awesome low-budget BBC series set in the same time period, but still low-key enjoyable.
After reading and rejecting Bertrice Small's earlier works because I felt like I was reading hardcore porn, which is not my cup of tea, some time later I borrowed this book from a friend who recommended it and was pleased to find a refreshing change: a heroine that actually stays faithful to her husband, who believes in love over lust and would rather be a lady than a tramp. Either Bertrice mellowed with time, or was influenced by the wave of political correctness. Either way, I heartily approve!
Not my cup of tea, the narration style and pace are fair but the plot and content are not. There's eccentricity to say the least and the dynamics are not what I was expecting.. and this is said to be one of Bertrice Small's milder works, so I guess I am skipping the rest of her books.
This is one of my favorite books 📚of this author because things seem to fall in place. Elle has great faith in god her husband and her family. This is an amazing book 📖.