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Eagle at the Gate
Her heart soared on wings of rapture... and terror!
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
18 people want to read
About the author
Rona Randall
81 books10 followersRona Green Shambrook
aka Rona Randall, Rona Shambrook, Virginia Standage
Rona Green was born on 16 June 1911 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK. Her education includes: Pitmans College in London, a Diploma in English Literature at Royal Society of Art, Birkenhead School of Art Literary. She married Frederick Walter Shambrook, and had a son.
A former actress, before writing, she worked also as journalist and sub-director of publishing company Amalgamated Press, and as assistant editor of George Newnes Ltd. Published since 1942, she started publishing mainly contemporary doctor nurse romances, before writing also gothic romances, and when the market for gothic novels softened, she wrote historical mystery romances. In 1970, Broken Tapestry, her contemporary novel about a broken family, won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. In 1989, she wrote her The Model Wife: Nineteenth Century Style, a book about social constumbres, including clothing. In 1992, she wrote Writing Popular Fiction, a complete guide for writers.
aka Rona Randall, Rona Shambrook, Virginia Standage
Rona Green was born on 16 June 1911 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK. Her education includes: Pitmans College in London, a Diploma in English Literature at Royal Society of Art, Birkenhead School of Art Literary. She married Frederick Walter Shambrook, and had a son.
A former actress, before writing, she worked also as journalist and sub-director of publishing company Amalgamated Press, and as assistant editor of George Newnes Ltd. Published since 1942, she started publishing mainly contemporary doctor nurse romances, before writing also gothic romances, and when the market for gothic novels softened, she wrote historical mystery romances. In 1970, Broken Tapestry, her contemporary novel about a broken family, won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. In 1989, she wrote her The Model Wife: Nineteenth Century Style, a book about social constumbres, including clothing. In 1992, she wrote Writing Popular Fiction, a complete guide for writers.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 19, 2023
Meh. I don’t think this is terrible—it’s just very predictable, esp if you’re well-versed in vintage gothic romance. Also, the heroine is a dumb-dumb…not quite TSTL, but definitely at the low end of the brain scale. (Corollary issue: actress/theatre themes rarely work for me, but that’s just a personal peeve.)
It’s a shame, really—I did like Red, the gruff blacksmith hero, & Evul Eagle Conrad made an unusual villain. (Yes, Conrad is an eagle. And he’s a mean SOB…or at least his master is. I didn’t read long enough to see Conrad’s fate, but it probably wasn’t a happy one. Poor Conrad.) Anyhoo. 😶 Red & evul eagles aside, the book was boring + predictable with annoying characters & blatant gaslighting that made me want to thwack the heroine over the head with a wet fish. Then Conrad could’ve eaten it later—waste not, want not. 🦅
…It says much that I was more interested in the nasty pet eagle than the heroine. Oops.
Standard 2-star rating for DNF + dullness combined. (Yes, I read the ending to see if my predictions were right. They were.) This was my final Rona Randall book, & I doubt I’ll be trying any others—she’s too hit or miss, & when she misses it’s an uber-snooze.**
**I did keep DRAGONMEDE, LYONHURST, & WATCHMAN’S STONE for future rereads. But they seem to be the exception, not the rule.
It’s a shame, really—I did like Red, the gruff blacksmith hero, & Evul Eagle Conrad made an unusual villain. (Yes, Conrad is an eagle. And he’s a mean SOB…or at least his master is. I didn’t read long enough to see Conrad’s fate, but it probably wasn’t a happy one. Poor Conrad.) Anyhoo. 😶 Red & evul eagles aside, the book was boring + predictable with annoying characters & blatant gaslighting that made me want to thwack the heroine over the head with a wet fish. Then Conrad could’ve eaten it later—waste not, want not. 🦅
…It says much that I was more interested in the nasty pet eagle than the heroine. Oops.
Standard 2-star rating for DNF + dullness combined. (Yes, I read the ending to see if my predictions were right. They were.) This was my final Rona Randall book, & I doubt I’ll be trying any others—she’s too hit or miss, & when she misses it’s an uber-snooze.**
**I did keep DRAGONMEDE, LYONHURST, & WATCHMAN’S STONE for future rereads. But they seem to be the exception, not the rule.
February 15, 2023
Much like "Dragonmede," the novel showcases the transition of a beautiful romantic marriage to an ugly and horrIble one amidst typical gothic elements to be expected from its genre. As her readers RR makes sure we know that, despite the heroine's hardships, the h is atleast having great sex all the time even if she is falling in love with someone else. (Minus Abbotswood, this book could have been a boddice ripper in my opinion).Nonetheless, I felt the book was very interesting and wellwritten. But to me the most horrific aspect of the book was the presentation of a woman's dependence on a psycho, abusive, wife-beater husband during the early twentieth century since the heroine's husband is gradually revealed as a terribly dangerous man as his psychological manipulationon of the heroine makes it worse The poor heroine withstanding her husband 's weirdness is also told that her husband's work is relating to toxicology and he claims that the reason for his gross experiments is for the sake of discovering a revolutionary antitoxin...and she can't even runaway because there is nowhere to go. I found it disturbing and creepy. Nonetheless the dramatic ending made it very satisfactory.
October 25, 2025
What kind of drug trip was the author on when she wrote this mess????
November 5, 2014
A woman searching for her identity!That was the aim of this book,romance came secondary,so yep,I'm loving it already.Aphra was a character who grew throughout the book,and had her fears and faults,but was genuine,so by the end of the book she is a mature woman.David and Conrad certainly gave me the creeps,Randall certainly knew the ins and outs of an abusive relationship,the passages of his treatment of her were terrifying in their accuracy.The twist at the end was fantastic,though a little confusingly explained,but I'd say overall a good solid read.
content/sexual violence and depravity aswell as marital relations are referred too,but never gratuitously or without reason.There are sustained injuries and attempted murders throughout,so I would say for an older teenager it would be suitable
content/sexual violence and depravity aswell as marital relations are referred too,but never gratuitously or without reason.There are sustained injuries and attempted murders throughout,so I would say for an older teenager it would be suitable
Want to read
November 7, 2013Published by G. K. Hall & Company
Large Print, Hardcover, 595 pages
is my copy.
Large Print, Hardcover, 595 pages
is my copy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews