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O'Malley Saga #5
Lost Love Found
When Valentina's true lineage becomes suspect, she leaves the illustrious Elizabethan Court where she has grown up and travels to the Middle East in search of her sultan father and finds her one true love.
484 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 1989
84 people are currently reading
756 people want to read
About the author
Bertrice Small
216 books1,130 followersBertrice 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 11, 2013
I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like this book and boy was I right. It had way too many pages of boring Court intrigue (or lack of intrigue) and political shenanigans having nothing to do with Valentina. And Valentina herself was wishy-washy. I really couldn't find anything to like about her or either of her suitors. Both were overly aggressive and had no respect for a lady, not that Valenina acted like one. This book takes place in 1601 where chastity was a virtue. Granted Valenina was a widow but she acted like a slut - trying out one guy after another. Distasteful. She had the nerve to say to the second guy she had sex with (in roughly two weeks or so) "I am not a wanton to couple with every man who takes my fancy." WTH that is exactly what she was doing!
At that point I gave up. 205 pages of this crap was more than I could stand. Not only did I give up but I also threw the book in the garbage. Good riddance.
At that point I gave up. 205 pages of this crap was more than I could stand. Not only did I give up but I also threw the book in the garbage. Good riddance.
August 31, 2017
Valentina is Sky O'Malley's great-niece, and like the family matriarch she has an independent spirit and a voluptuous body. She is beloved by Queen Elizabeth but goes eastward to experience all the possible forms of sexual pleasure a woman can know before finding her true love at last.
All this sounds pretty terrible, doesn't it? But Bertrice Small has a way of making Val more human and more engaging than most romance novel heroines. There's a section about life at the royal court where Elizabeth is unable to eat properly because her teeth are all gone -- but no one dares to deal with the problem. Val solves it with gentleness and understanding, and it's a real window into royal history. She's not exactly strong-willed, but she's a survivor and she knows how to adapt to every new circumstance. I liked her and wanted her to be happy.
A great book for those who love harem romance and Tudor history.
All this sounds pretty terrible, doesn't it? But Bertrice Small has a way of making Val more human and more engaging than most romance novel heroines. There's a section about life at the royal court where Elizabeth is unable to eat properly because her teeth are all gone -- but no one dares to deal with the problem. Val solves it with gentleness and understanding, and it's a real window into royal history. She's not exactly strong-willed, but she's a survivor and she knows how to adapt to every new circumstance. I liked her and wanted her to be happy.
A great book for those who love harem romance and Tudor history.
January 24, 2013
Good enough story with the lovely & beautiful ending that we are so used to from Mrs. Small. The only thing is that Valentina could be very annoying with her stubbornness & "I-am-my-own-mistress" kind of attitude which got her into too much trouble. But I guess the fact that I feel so strong about it tells you what a great job Mrs. Small did with her character. All in all, I love her heroines and their happy endings!
January 28, 2024
Valentina's tale is part of the epic O'Malley saga, and one of my favourite Bertrice Small books of all time.
Before you read this, you should read A Love for All Time - my all-time favourite Bertrice Small romance, about the love story between Valentina's parents, Conn O'Malley and Aiden St. Michael. It will give you the necessary background to this book and is required reading for any Bertrice fan!
The book begins as Valentina (nee St. Michael), Lady Barrows, is burying her husband Ned, after a tragic accident. Valentina is newly married, and although she rises to the occasion and gives her husband a proper farewell, she does not know what to do -- so, she goes to her childhood home, Pearroc Royal, and joins her parents - Lord and Lady Bliss and her siblings.
At her sister's wedding, Valentina is reunited with her cousin (the son of her father's half-sister, the infamous Skye O'Malley), Padraic Burke. To Padraic, Valentina confesses the truth -- she did not love her husband, and indeed, did not feel passion for him. Padraic, in turn, confesses that he has always loved Valentina, and wishes to marry her. Valentina is horrified, for as she points out -- Padraic allowed her to marry Ned Barrows and never told her how he felt.
As the novel progresses, Valentina travels to the court of Queen Elizabeth I, and becomes one of her treasured ladies-in-waiting. Small captures the changed nature of Elizabeth's life as she wallows in old age, and sees her loved ones dying off. The "golden days" are over. And although often the prose lapses into prolonged and out-of-place historical passages, it is still interesting to hear about how it was during these times. I think Bertrice Small is the author who has most educated me on life in the 1600s!!! As scary as that is ;-)
Valentina becomes a favourite of the Queen, and helps her through her life as an elderly woman - while caught between the attention of two suitors, her cousin Padraic Burke and the dashing Tom Ashburne. I will say that Bertrice Small doesn't really make an effort to convince you that Valentina will ever pick anyone but Padraic -- he's the clear choice and Ashburne is just a dalliance. It's a little irritating, but Val does fool around with both of them, so that's cool! :) I'm all for women getting what's theirs, haha.
The book picks up when Valentina travels home and her mother's old tiring woman reveals a startling secret -- Conn may not be Val's father. She confronts her parents and they tell her the heartbreaking news -- that in the events from A Love for All Time - Aiden was kidnapped by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in Istanbul. In a short time, she slept with her husband Javid Khan, her owner Sultan Murad, and her English husband Conn O'Malley. The truth, Aiden says, is that she believed with all of her heart that Conn was Valentina's father, but she couldn't be sure.
Valentina is a bitch throughout this -- perhaps understandably so -- and can't accept that her mother believes Conn is the one. She makes the decision to travel to the East. Ashburne and Burke decide to accompany her, and so Valentina sets off on an odyssey that will change her life.
In Turkey, she meets the fascinating Esther Kira, and visits the Tatars to learn of Aiden's late husband, Javid Khan. Many interesting things happen that I won't spoil -- some of them are horrible -- but Valentina does learn that it would be impossible for her to be Javid's child (big shocker) and so she travels back to Istanbul to meet the Sultan's mother. She also picks Padraic as her husband-to-be (another HUGE SHOCKER, haha) and they travel back to Istanbul as a betrothed couple.
While visiting the valide, she lets her know that Murad could not possibly be her father. However, the Sultan casts lustful eyes on Valentina, as does the head Vizier, Cica Pasha (from Love Wild and Fair, another Small novel), who quickly kidnaps Valentina and installs her on his island in the Bosporus, "The Island of a Thousand Flowers". The true Small kink sets in, as Cica attempts to mold Valentina into his ideal love slave, seducing and finally raping her into submission. It's interesting that Cica's rape of Val is sexy and yet abhorrent -- sexy because she is drugged with aphrodisiacs (and knows she is) and badly wants him to have sex with her, and abhorrent because of course, it is rape and it is wrong.
Cica installs Val into his harem, and Esther Kira plots with Padraic and facilitates her escape. The novel culminates in the murder of the Kira family (horrendous) and Valentina's escape from Cica's clutches. It's extremely exciting, and the detail was perfect.
Lost Love Found concludes in dealing with Valentina's residual feelings about her rape at the hands of Pasha, and the Queen's death. All in all, it is an enthralling book and one of Small's best. She's at her most evocative when dealing with the O'Malley family, and Valentina is a worthy successor to Skye. I actually wish she had concentrated more on Val than Jasmine (who she starts a series with in later novels). Valentina is strong, funny, independent and kind.
I liked Padraic, but his whole "hinny love" business is creepy, and he did wait a LONG time before telling Valentina he loved her.
Skye's scenes are as always, enjoyable and I liked the flashbacks to Aiden and Conn's romance -- which is my favourite of all Small's books. I loved Valentina's realisation that her Mother was once a desirable woman and her shock at that -- it's so true to life!
One of my favourite scenes is when Valentina discovers the Queen dead. Bertrice Small had historical books open on her desk as she read, and too few liberties with the circumstances. It feels like being a fly on the wall in the death of Queen Elizabeth I and I found myself tearing up as her faithful people lined the streets of London for their beloved Queen. It truly was the end of an era and I felt it keenly.
I loved this book and have read it so many times! It's entertaining, bawdy, sentimental and romantic.
The only thing I didn't get was that I thought Esther Kira died at the end of Love, Wild and Fair? Was this just a continuity error from Bertrice?
Before you read this, you should read A Love for All Time - my all-time favourite Bertrice Small romance, about the love story between Valentina's parents, Conn O'Malley and Aiden St. Michael. It will give you the necessary background to this book and is required reading for any Bertrice fan!
The book begins as Valentina (nee St. Michael), Lady Barrows, is burying her husband Ned, after a tragic accident. Valentina is newly married, and although she rises to the occasion and gives her husband a proper farewell, she does not know what to do -- so, she goes to her childhood home, Pearroc Royal, and joins her parents - Lord and Lady Bliss and her siblings.
At her sister's wedding, Valentina is reunited with her cousin (the son of her father's half-sister, the infamous Skye O'Malley), Padraic Burke. To Padraic, Valentina confesses the truth -- she did not love her husband, and indeed, did not feel passion for him. Padraic, in turn, confesses that he has always loved Valentina, and wishes to marry her. Valentina is horrified, for as she points out -- Padraic allowed her to marry Ned Barrows and never told her how he felt.
As the novel progresses, Valentina travels to the court of Queen Elizabeth I, and becomes one of her treasured ladies-in-waiting. Small captures the changed nature of Elizabeth's life as she wallows in old age, and sees her loved ones dying off. The "golden days" are over. And although often the prose lapses into prolonged and out-of-place historical passages, it is still interesting to hear about how it was during these times. I think Bertrice Small is the author who has most educated me on life in the 1600s!!! As scary as that is ;-)
Valentina becomes a favourite of the Queen, and helps her through her life as an elderly woman - while caught between the attention of two suitors, her cousin Padraic Burke and the dashing Tom Ashburne. I will say that Bertrice Small doesn't really make an effort to convince you that Valentina will ever pick anyone but Padraic -- he's the clear choice and Ashburne is just a dalliance. It's a little irritating, but Val does fool around with both of them, so that's cool! :) I'm all for women getting what's theirs, haha.
The book picks up when Valentina travels home and her mother's old tiring woman reveals a startling secret -- Conn may not be Val's father. She confronts her parents and they tell her the heartbreaking news -- that in the events from A Love for All Time - Aiden was kidnapped by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in Istanbul. In a short time, she slept with her husband Javid Khan, her owner Sultan Murad, and her English husband Conn O'Malley. The truth, Aiden says, is that she believed with all of her heart that Conn was Valentina's father, but she couldn't be sure.
Valentina is a bitch throughout this -- perhaps understandably so -- and can't accept that her mother believes Conn is the one. She makes the decision to travel to the East. Ashburne and Burke decide to accompany her, and so Valentina sets off on an odyssey that will change her life.
In Turkey, she meets the fascinating Esther Kira, and visits the Tatars to learn of Aiden's late husband, Javid Khan. Many interesting things happen that I won't spoil -- some of them are horrible -- but Valentina does learn that it would be impossible for her to be Javid's child (big shocker) and so she travels back to Istanbul to meet the Sultan's mother. She also picks Padraic as her husband-to-be (another HUGE SHOCKER, haha) and they travel back to Istanbul as a betrothed couple.
While visiting the valide, she lets her know that Murad could not possibly be her father. However, the Sultan casts lustful eyes on Valentina, as does the head Vizier, Cica Pasha (from Love Wild and Fair, another Small novel), who quickly kidnaps Valentina and installs her on his island in the Bosporus, "The Island of a Thousand Flowers". The true Small kink sets in, as Cica attempts to mold Valentina into his ideal love slave, seducing and finally raping her into submission. It's interesting that Cica's rape of Val is sexy and yet abhorrent -- sexy because she is drugged with aphrodisiacs (and knows she is) and badly wants him to have sex with her, and abhorrent because of course, it is rape and it is wrong.
Cica installs Val into his harem, and Esther Kira plots with Padraic and facilitates her escape. The novel culminates in the murder of the Kira family (horrendous) and Valentina's escape from Cica's clutches. It's extremely exciting, and the detail was perfect.
Lost Love Found concludes in dealing with Valentina's residual feelings about her rape at the hands of Pasha, and the Queen's death. All in all, it is an enthralling book and one of Small's best. She's at her most evocative when dealing with the O'Malley family, and Valentina is a worthy successor to Skye. I actually wish she had concentrated more on Val than Jasmine (who she starts a series with in later novels). Valentina is strong, funny, independent and kind.
I liked Padraic, but his whole "hinny love" business is creepy, and he did wait a LONG time before telling Valentina he loved her.
Skye's scenes are as always, enjoyable and I liked the flashbacks to Aiden and Conn's romance -- which is my favourite of all Small's books. I loved Valentina's realisation that her Mother was once a desirable woman and her shock at that -- it's so true to life!
One of my favourite scenes is when Valentina discovers the Queen dead. Bertrice Small had historical books open on her desk as she read, and too few liberties with the circumstances. It feels like being a fly on the wall in the death of Queen Elizabeth I and I found myself tearing up as her faithful people lined the streets of London for their beloved Queen. It truly was the end of an era and I felt it keenly.
I loved this book and have read it so many times! It's entertaining, bawdy, sentimental and romantic.
The only thing I didn't get was that I thought Esther Kira died at the end of Love, Wild and Fair? Was this just a continuity error from Bertrice?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2012
Valentina is my favorite heroine in the O'Malley series and more like Skye than Skye's offspring. When Valentina goes to court to serve Elizabeth I, Bertrice Small's writing broke my heart. Mrs. Small's exceptional writing and incredible detail showed me how the lively days of courtlife in Elizabeth's youth had dramatically changed and had become a somber place as Elizabeth approached her last days. When a family secret is revealed, Valentina shows us her adventurous spirit and heads East! Her adventures are incredible!
I appreciated how Mrs. Small touched on "The Kadin" through the duchy of San Lorenzo and reintroduced us to Esther Kira (who met Valentina's mother in "A Love for All Time"). Also, the appearance of Cica Pasha tied into "Love Wild and Fair." Wonderful!
I wept at least 3 times and was filled with anger, frustration, joy, fear, and triumph as Mrs. Small weaved her magic spell of words and phrases and pulled me into her story. If you haven't read the O'Malley series, you might get a little confused. You should at least read "A Love for All Time" which is the tale of Aidan, Valentina's mother, and is the basis of much of this book's plot.
I appreciated how Mrs. Small touched on "The Kadin" through the duchy of San Lorenzo and reintroduced us to Esther Kira (who met Valentina's mother in "A Love for All Time"). Also, the appearance of Cica Pasha tied into "Love Wild and Fair." Wonderful!
I wept at least 3 times and was filled with anger, frustration, joy, fear, and triumph as Mrs. Small weaved her magic spell of words and phrases and pulled me into her story. If you haven't read the O'Malley series, you might get a little confused. You should at least read "A Love for All Time" which is the tale of Aidan, Valentina's mother, and is the basis of much of this book's plot.
August 7, 2012
Beatrice Small is one of my favorite authors of Romance. She knows how to tell a story to make you laugh and cry all a tthe same time. She makes you fall in love with the heroes and heroines and absolutely loath the villans. She is truely amazing and you would be entranced to read any one of her books. I know I am! I can't wait for her new ones to come out!
September 16, 2025
Vanilla 91 - per RFS
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In questo avvincente romance storico Bertice Small ci narra la storia di Valentina, amata figlia di lady e lord Bliss, rimasta vedova dopo appena un mese di infelice matrimonio.
Valentina è una protagonista decisa, determinata e ben ponderata. Sogna un amore come quello dei suoi genitori e non è disposta ad accontentarsi di nulla di meno.
Dopo un breve periodo di servizio alla corte della Regina Elisabetta, la giovane lady scopre casualmente che l’uomo che l’ha cresciuta e che lei ha sempre considerato suo padre potrebbe in realtà non esserlo.
Il padre biologico di Valentina potrebbe essere un affascinante principe arabo o un crudele sultano…la ricerca della verità sulle proprie origini porterà la nostra protagonista in un viaggio dove intrighi, sensualità e passione si intrecciano pagina dopo pagina.
L’autrice accompagna noi lettori in questa storia avventurosa lentamente, permettendoci di conoscere intimamente gli attori principali prima che l’adrenalina e l’azione incendino le pagine. Si nota inevitabilmente lo scrupoloso processo di ricerca svolto da Bertice Small, capace di trasportare egregiamente il lettore dalla sontuosa e rocambolesca corte inglese agli ambienti seducenti e mistici dell’harem.
Durante questo avventuroso (e un po’ turbolento) viaggio Valentina scoprirà la passione e sarà pronta a superare limiti e pregiudizi per trovare e vivere l’amore che aveva sempre sognato.
Sono rimasta catturata da questa emozionante storia che alterna eros, passioni sfrenate e ricerca della verità. Le tensioni tra Principi e Sultani e la lotta per conquistare un amore con la “a” maiuscola, mi hanno tenuta incollata alle pagine sperando fino alla fine in un epilogo felice per una protagonista dolce e risoluta che ho apprezzato davvero molto.
Fenici, davvero super consigliato se volete godervi una lettura conturbante, dal sapore esotico e che ben alterna romanticismo e avventura.
.
In questo avvincente romance storico Bertice Small ci narra la storia di Valentina, amata figlia di lady e lord Bliss, rimasta vedova dopo appena un mese di infelice matrimonio.
Valentina è una protagonista decisa, determinata e ben ponderata. Sogna un amore come quello dei suoi genitori e non è disposta ad accontentarsi di nulla di meno.
Dopo un breve periodo di servizio alla corte della Regina Elisabetta, la giovane lady scopre casualmente che l’uomo che l’ha cresciuta e che lei ha sempre considerato suo padre potrebbe in realtà non esserlo.
Il padre biologico di Valentina potrebbe essere un affascinante principe arabo o un crudele sultano…la ricerca della verità sulle proprie origini porterà la nostra protagonista in un viaggio dove intrighi, sensualità e passione si intrecciano pagina dopo pagina.
L’autrice accompagna noi lettori in questa storia avventurosa lentamente, permettendoci di conoscere intimamente gli attori principali prima che l’adrenalina e l’azione incendino le pagine. Si nota inevitabilmente lo scrupoloso processo di ricerca svolto da Bertice Small, capace di trasportare egregiamente il lettore dalla sontuosa e rocambolesca corte inglese agli ambienti seducenti e mistici dell’harem.
Durante questo avventuroso (e un po’ turbolento) viaggio Valentina scoprirà la passione e sarà pronta a superare limiti e pregiudizi per trovare e vivere l’amore che aveva sempre sognato.
Sono rimasta catturata da questa emozionante storia che alterna eros, passioni sfrenate e ricerca della verità. Le tensioni tra Principi e Sultani e la lotta per conquistare un amore con la “a” maiuscola, mi hanno tenuta incollata alle pagine sperando fino alla fine in un epilogo felice per una protagonista dolce e risoluta che ho apprezzato davvero molto.
Fenici, davvero super consigliato se volete godervi una lettura conturbante, dal sapore esotico e che ben alterna romanticismo e avventura.
December 28, 2015
Once upon a time I loved these "bodice rippers". But several (many) years on, it just frustrated me. In this case I found the story of the heroine was interrupted too many times by the detailed history of both the time (which seemed well researched and was interesting for it's own sake) and the family (as this was Book #5 in the O'Malley series). I skipped to the end.
January 14, 2019
It's really a replay of other books. Heroine pretends to be independent, then declares her undying love to some guy with eight bastards who sleeps with other chicks without bothering to hide it. She goes on a journey to dangerous countries for no freaking reason--well, a flimsy and contrived reason and of course, is kidnapped just like in all the other books.
April 7, 2017
compared to skye o'malley, the con air and nicolas cage of romance novels, this is nicolas cage going to the oscars. this is somehow the least laughable of the series and that's saying a lot given the events of this book. actually pretty satisfying!
August 20, 2013
Always good reads, but often quite similar to previous ones. Good to read a few then take a break for other works then come back in a few months for more.
June 14, 2023
So I’d been enjoying the O’Malley saga quite a bit until I got to this one. Yes, they’re old school bodice rippers rife with the purplest of prose. Yes, they all share essentially the same plot - Tudor era Irish or British woman is kidnapped and sold into a harem in the East. Yes, there’s too much (graphic yet boring) sex. However, listening to the series on audiobook (narrated by the excellent Justine Eyre) has proved quite entertaining over the past couple of weeks.
Then I got to this one. (Sadly, A Love for All Time is not available on audio, but that’s ok, because we get to hear all about its events in Lost Love Found!) The oh-so-charming widow lady Valentina, a favored attendant of Good Queen Bess, finds out that her paternity is in question, since her mother had been kidnapped and sold into an Ottoman harem (see above) where she (gasp!) banged three dudes (though only two willingly) in the weeks preceding her pregnancy. She returned to England and her excessively handsome O’Malley husband, Lord Bliss, proceeded to have her baby and went on with life, pretending there was no possibility of any other father. Lord Bliss loves his daughter regardless. They’re disgustingly happy, have six more kids, etc. Fast forward twenty some years and Valentina finds out about this old scandal. Her immediate reaction? “I, a sheltered country lady living in England in the year 1600, am going to hare off to Turkey to Find Out Who I Really Am!” Like, huh? How would going to Turkey solve this mystery? The other two potential sperm donors are dead, not that I expected them to have some magic power of instant blood kin recognition. Did the Ottomans have DNA testing in the 17th century? What the heck is wrong with this woman?
Well, I guess I’ll never find out because this is a rare DNF for me. My eyes hurt from all the rolling. Valentina is an idiot and I’m skipping ahead to Yasaman/Jasmine’s book. I hope she’ll have more sense.
Then I got to this one. (Sadly, A Love for All Time is not available on audio, but that’s ok, because we get to hear all about its events in Lost Love Found!) The oh-so-charming widow lady Valentina, a favored attendant of Good Queen Bess, finds out that her paternity is in question, since her mother had been kidnapped and sold into an Ottoman harem (see above) where she (gasp!) banged three dudes (though only two willingly) in the weeks preceding her pregnancy. She returned to England and her excessively handsome O’Malley husband, Lord Bliss, proceeded to have her baby and went on with life, pretending there was no possibility of any other father. Lord Bliss loves his daughter regardless. They’re disgustingly happy, have six more kids, etc. Fast forward twenty some years and Valentina finds out about this old scandal. Her immediate reaction? “I, a sheltered country lady living in England in the year 1600, am going to hare off to Turkey to Find Out Who I Really Am!” Like, huh? How would going to Turkey solve this mystery? The other two potential sperm donors are dead, not that I expected them to have some magic power of instant blood kin recognition. Did the Ottomans have DNA testing in the 17th century? What the heck is wrong with this woman?
Well, I guess I’ll never find out because this is a rare DNF for me. My eyes hurt from all the rolling. Valentina is an idiot and I’m skipping ahead to Yasaman/Jasmine’s book. I hope she’ll have more sense.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2025
Dici Small e intendi "harem": in effetti, quest'autrice è un'antesignana dell'harem romance, dove l'eroina si trova divisa tra il mondo inglese (dopo l'immancabile periodo alla corte di Elisabetta I) e l'ambientazione esotica di serragli, quartieri femminili e sultani seducenti.
Le donna O'Malley, in particolare, lasciano spesso e volentieri le fredde terre del nord per navigare (e farsi rapire) nelle calde acque del Mediterraneo.
Valentina, amata figlia di Conn (fratello di Skye), resta vedova praticamente subito del primo marito e viene inviata, dapprima, a fare esperienza alla corte londinese (dove ha ben due spasimanti) e poi a fare ricerche familiari in Oriente, tra India e Istanbul.
Ancora una volta resto stupita della fervida immaginazione della Small, che è capace di scrivere il quinto tomo di 500-600 pagine, sfruttando sempre gli stessi caratteri (lei indomita e curiosa, lui affascinante ma devoto) e (alla prova dei fatti) gli stessi avvenimenti (o fortemente simili...).
Il clan O'Malley si conferma affiatato, protettivo verso i propri membri e spietato verso chi è nemico, oltre che passionale quando serve.
La regina Elisabetta fa sempre le sue apparizioni chiassose e velenose (è anche simpatica) e la sua morte occupa l'ultima parte del romanzo.
Ovviamente, i lettori sono ingolositi dalle ultime pagine, perché la matriarca (Skye in persona) ha deciso che è tempo che anche la figlia di Velvet torni a casa, e già si profila un nuovo capitolo ricco di atmosfere indiane.
Le donna O'Malley, in particolare, lasciano spesso e volentieri le fredde terre del nord per navigare (e farsi rapire) nelle calde acque del Mediterraneo.
Valentina, amata figlia di Conn (fratello di Skye), resta vedova praticamente subito del primo marito e viene inviata, dapprima, a fare esperienza alla corte londinese (dove ha ben due spasimanti) e poi a fare ricerche familiari in Oriente, tra India e Istanbul.
Ancora una volta resto stupita della fervida immaginazione della Small, che è capace di scrivere il quinto tomo di 500-600 pagine, sfruttando sempre gli stessi caratteri (lei indomita e curiosa, lui affascinante ma devoto) e (alla prova dei fatti) gli stessi avvenimenti (o fortemente simili...).
Il clan O'Malley si conferma affiatato, protettivo verso i propri membri e spietato verso chi è nemico, oltre che passionale quando serve.
La regina Elisabetta fa sempre le sue apparizioni chiassose e velenose (è anche simpatica) e la sua morte occupa l'ultima parte del romanzo.
Ovviamente, i lettori sono ingolositi dalle ultime pagine, perché la matriarca (Skye in persona) ha deciso che è tempo che anche la figlia di Velvet torni a casa, e già si profila un nuovo capitolo ricco di atmosfere indiane.
April 29, 2024
I enjoyed this book, the 5th of the O'Malley series. I enjoyed the following Valentina on her adventure, from England to the Mediterranean then onto the middle East. You can just picture the scenes and the smells. I loved Valentina as a character. Enjoyed her relationship with our dearest Queen Elizabeth I.
Beautiful yet touching ending.
Beautiful yet touching ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2017
3 stars
I finished this pretty quickly which surprises me, since I have been in book reading rut,
I finished this pretty quickly which surprises me, since I have been in book reading rut,
May 25, 2019
God I hated Valentina.
October 13, 2023
As much as I liked this book, it frustrated me to know end. I found it unrealistic and the same as all the other books in the series.
wnr
November 18, 2023Have both hard and softcover (3 copies - two are trade 1989 first editions). The hardcover was published in 1989
June 4, 2024
My favorite of the O’Malley saga after the original book. But, my goodness, how much sexual abuse can one heroine take?
March 16, 2025
I mean…did she not listen to her mother and her grandmother…head east, end up in a harem…
The relationship between Elizabeth Tudor & Valentina was epic…however, the pogrom was unnecessarily gruesom
The relationship between Elizabeth Tudor & Valentina was epic…however, the pogrom was unnecessarily gruesom
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2025
I will never get the time that I wasted on this book back.
August 18, 2025
I absolutely despise this book. Unlike other books by the author where the hero and heroine have some redeeming qualities this piece of crap did not.
(Spoilers)
Valentina is an insipid drag, who for some reason is so beautiful that every man, with the exception of a few, even those who are related to her wants to screw her pretty little brains out.
She gets married to supposedly make her parents happy, but in reality she was a self sacrificing idiot. Since Conn, her father and Aiden, her mother wanted for her what they wanted for all their children to be happy.
Like other reviewers I very quickly had a belly full of the same drudged up fashions, settings and re rehashed plot lines.
Vapidtina really shows how self absorbed she is when she is called home from court, where she is the grand dame Mary Sue, to find her mother's old tiring woman dying. A deathbed confession about a conversation that had been eavesdropping on shows Vapidtina that Conn may not be her father.
I understand she was upset, but damn girl take a freaking chill pill. Instead of approaching it like an adult and asking what had happened she turns on her mother and father like a harridan demanding to know the answers. Forcing her mom, whom I adore, to relive several of the most painful memories of her life.
Wanting to know in excruciating detail each and every aspect of this time period in Aidens life.
She also refuses to acknowledge Conn as her father until she knows the truth.
Yada Yada Yada Blah Blah Blah, insert 97 other plots that have been used 96 to many times.
With Gross Pig the Sultan we find that his Kadin had more sure that Aiden had been given a secret and forbidden concoction to prevent conception.
With Javid, whom I really liked in Conn and Aidens story, and his appearance in this one, Okay I was wrong there was a redeeming quality. We find out that, (insert drum roll please) It's the lack of the magic birthmark.
In between all this 'plot' a whole lot of rape happens. And of course like with every other rape scene in one of her books, the poor heroines treacherous female body responded to the abuse. PUH LEASE.
A bunch of other crap happens, and she finds that she is actually in love with her first cousin Padric. BLECH. I never liked him, he showed exactly the kind of person he was in This Heart of Mine. He's a coward and an idiot whose lucky breathing comes naturally.
Oh and that the man who raised her is her father. And no she did not apologize to either of her parents for the grief she caused them, she's to busy making drooling idiotic children with her cousin/husband.
(Spoilers)
Valentina is an insipid drag, who for some reason is so beautiful that every man, with the exception of a few, even those who are related to her wants to screw her pretty little brains out.
She gets married to supposedly make her parents happy, but in reality she was a self sacrificing idiot. Since Conn, her father and Aiden, her mother wanted for her what they wanted for all their children to be happy.
Like other reviewers I very quickly had a belly full of the same drudged up fashions, settings and re rehashed plot lines.
Vapidtina really shows how self absorbed she is when she is called home from court, where she is the grand dame Mary Sue, to find her mother's old tiring woman dying. A deathbed confession about a conversation that had been eavesdropping on shows Vapidtina that Conn may not be her father.
I understand she was upset, but damn girl take a freaking chill pill. Instead of approaching it like an adult and asking what had happened she turns on her mother and father like a harridan demanding to know the answers. Forcing her mom, whom I adore, to relive several of the most painful memories of her life.
Wanting to know in excruciating detail each and every aspect of this time period in Aidens life.
She also refuses to acknowledge Conn as her father until she knows the truth.
Yada Yada Yada Blah Blah Blah, insert 97 other plots that have been used 96 to many times.
With Gross Pig the Sultan we find that his Kadin had more sure that Aiden had been given a secret and forbidden concoction to prevent conception.
With Javid, whom I really liked in Conn and Aidens story, and his appearance in this one, Okay I was wrong there was a redeeming quality. We find out that, (insert drum roll please) It's the lack of the magic birthmark.
In between all this 'plot' a whole lot of rape happens. And of course like with every other rape scene in one of her books, the poor heroines treacherous female body responded to the abuse. PUH LEASE.
A bunch of other crap happens, and she finds that she is actually in love with her first cousin Padric. BLECH. I never liked him, he showed exactly the kind of person he was in This Heart of Mine. He's a coward and an idiot whose lucky breathing comes naturally.
Oh and that the man who raised her is her father. And no she did not apologize to either of her parents for the grief she caused them, she's to busy making drooling idiotic children with her cousin/husband.
April 21, 2024
VALENTINA MARRIES, AND IS A WIDOW IN UNDER 1 MONTH.
WHILE AT HOME FOR MAG'S FINAL DAYS, IT'S REVEALED THAT CONN MAY OR MAY NOT BE HER FATHER.
VALENTINE AGAINST EVERYONE'S ADVICE, SETS OFF ON AN ADVENTURE TO FIND THE TRUTH.
PLEASE VIEW MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL THE DELUISEBOOKSERIES4821 IN MAY FOR THE REVIEW
WHILE AT HOME FOR MAG'S FINAL DAYS, IT'S REVEALED THAT CONN MAY OR MAY NOT BE HER FATHER.
VALENTINE AGAINST EVERYONE'S ADVICE, SETS OFF ON AN ADVENTURE TO FIND THE TRUTH.
PLEASE VIEW MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL THE DELUISEBOOKSERIES4821 IN MAY FOR THE REVIEW
July 23, 2012
There are six books in the Skye O'Malley series; too many words, too much gratuitous unimaginative sex, too little story, getting progressively worse through the series.
December 28, 2017
The whole premice for this book is stupid. And apparently Bertrice Small rrreeeaaally got off on rape.
April 2, 2014
Story of Skye's niece Valentina.
March 16, 2022
Historical romance with plenty of sizzle.
September 17, 2016
Lost Love Found
Bertrice Small is amazing in her O'Malley saga. There is a combination of English History, love and Eastern customs. So much intrigue.
Bertrice Small is amazing in her O'Malley saga. There is a combination of English History, love and Eastern customs. So much intrigue.
May 23, 2014
The adventures Valentina go on will leave you breathless.
April 8, 2017
Read this trashy fiction many times, most recently in March, 2017
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