St. Raven

Company of Rogues #9

by Jo Beverley

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hazard—a sizzling and sensual novel of fortune and fate… 

A Lady with a Quest…

Cressida Mandeville agrees to Lord Crofton’s vile proposal, but secretly she has other plans. She will trick the loathsome man, find her father’s hidden wealth, and save her family from ruin. All goes well, until a daring highwayman stops their carriage, whirls Cressida up onto his dark horse, and demands a kiss….

 A Duke with a Conscience…Tristan Tregallows, Duke of St. Raven, doesn’t plan to rescue a damsel in distress, but he can hardly leave an innocent in Crofton’s power. One kiss confirms his prisoner’s innocence, but instead of grateful, she is furious. When he discovers that Cressida is on a quest, one that will take her into the darkest parts of Regency society, St. Raven knows he must become her partner and protector. But he doesn’t expect the dangers to his heart….

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Regency Romance, Fiction

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Mary Josephine Dunn was born 22 September 1947 in Lancashire, England, UK. At the age of eleven she went to an all-girls boarding school, Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool. At sixteen, she wrote her first romance, with a medieval setting, completed in installments in an exercise book. From 1966 to 1970, she obtained a degree in English history from Keele University in Staffordshire, where she met her future husband, Ken Beverley. After graduation, they married on June 24, 1971. She quickly attained a position as a youth employment officer until 1976, working first in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and then in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.

In 1976, her scientist husband was invited to do post-doctoral research at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. When her professional qualifications proved not to be usable in the Canadian labour market, she raised their two sons and started to write her first romances.

Moved to Ottawa, in 1985 she became a founding member of the Ottawa Romance Writers’ Association, that her “nurturing community” for the next twelve years. The same year, she completed a regency romance, but it was promptly rejected by a number of publishers, and she settled more earnestly to learning the craft. In 1988, it sold to Walker, and was published as "Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed". She regularly appears on bestseller lists including the USA Today overall bestseller list, the New York Times, and and the Publishers Weekly list. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Golden Leaf, the Award of Excellence, the National Readers Choice, and a two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. She is also a five time winner of the RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers Of America, and a member of their Hall of Fame and Honor Roll.

Jo Beverley passed away on May 23, 2016 after a long battle with cancer.

Reviews

[Alba Turunen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Estrellas para esta vuelta a los "Pícaros" de Jo Beverley.

El libro anterior me pareció bastante flojillo en cuanto a historia y romance, si algo me dejó con ganas fue la aparición estelar del Duque de Saint Raven, sabía que debía leer su libro, y sí, aquí está su historia.

Tristan es descrito como un libertino y un vividor que vive para el placer, pero éste es sutil y nada vulgar, lo justo para ser refinado como duque que es. Aparte de lo que pueda parecer, es un hombre bueno, íntegro y un auténtico encanto. Por eso una noche, cuando se hace pasar por quien no debe, intercepta un carruaje que lleva al disipado vizconde Crofton y a una damisela inocente y de buena familia, hacia la finca de Crofton para participar en una orgía. Tristan no lo piensa y se lleva a la dama para que no cometa una locura, pero las intenciones de ésta son muy distintas.

Cressida lo tenía todo pensado. Es la hija de un rico mercader, pero éste ha perdido toda su fortuna jugando a las cartas contra lord Crofton, y la salvación de su familia se halla en forma de joyas dentro de una estatuilla erótica que su padre trajo de la India, y que se encuentra en la finca de Crofton (que antes era de los Mandeville, la familia de Cressida). Su idea era persuadir a Crofton para que la llevara a su finca, y así poder recuperar las joyas, pero la irrupción del bandolero conocido como Le Courbeau trastocó sus planes, pues no solo la descubre con Crofton, si no que para más inri la ha raptado.

Tras esta primera aventura, que da al traste con los planes de salvación de Cressida, ésta le confiesa a su captor quién es y lo que buscaba en la finca de Crofton. Lejos de pensar que lo pondría de su parte, no solo convence a éste misterioso hombre, que no es otro que el Duque de Saint Raven, sobre su historia, si no que Tris, sin esperar nada a cambio, decide ayudar a la dama a recuperar sus joyas.

Así es como empieza esta divertida historia de enredos al más puro estilo Regencia inglesa. Lo he pasado muy bien leyéndola, y me ha demostrado que Jo Beverley era escritora de ciertos libros, por muy largas que fueran sus series, tenía libros muy bueno, o muy tediosos, pero en éste libro, al igual que ocurrió con "La heredera del Diablo" me ha convencido la historia y el romance de los personajes.

"El Duque de Saint Raven" se divide en dos partes muy diferenciadas, una primera mitad, donde nuestros protagonistas se conocen de un modo tan estrambótico y que ocurre casi en su totalidad en la orgía de Crofton, que aunque interesante, no he podido imaginarla de otro modo que repulsiva, y que también se me ha hecho un poquito lenta y pesada. Pero luego tenemos una segunda parte donde afloran de otra manera los sentimientos de los protagonistas, donde realmente admiras la determinación y entereza de Cressida, pues de estúpida no tiene nada, y donde no puedes si no enamorarte de Tris y de cómo trata a Cressida; sin duda es uno de los pocos protagonistas masculinos de Jo Beverley a quien realmente he visto enamorado de su pareja femenina. También ésa segunda parte traerá una serie de giros y sorpresas que son la mar de divertidos para el lector.

A mí desde luego la historia de Saint Raven me ha convencido, y me ha dejado con ganas de seguir leyendo a los Pícaros, pero eso será en otro momento.

[🐝 Shaz 🐝 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Tris in Hazard, and even more in his own story.

[Fani *loves angst* · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a solid 4.5 stars book that I have serious trouble picking either 4 or 5 stars to rate it here.

The first half was great IMHO. Cressida and her lascivious escort are robbed by a highwayman who ends up taking her with him. Surprisingly, she's not as grateful as he hoped; she had a plan of her own to escape her escort, after she managed to steal a statue from his house. The highwayman turns out to be the notorious Duke of St Raven, who always enjoys a little fun. Thus he agrees to take her to her escort's house, where he's throwing an orgy, and help her steal the statue. The party is a masquerade after all, which allows her to dress so she won't be identified by polite society later. And off they go!

The orgy scene and the return from it take up almost half the book. I know many people felt it too slow but I loved every single page of it. The style in those pages was -though not very sexy I have to admit- much more humorous than usual Jo Beverley style, and I really, really loved how they started to get closer and closer as they found themselves in those extreme circumstances. It's one of those rare cases were I could actually believe their early attraction and how easily they opened up to each other. St Raven was a hell of a hero: handsome, witty, caring, tender, protective, honest but also sexy and naughty enough to be interesting! I absolutely loved him and couldn't get enough of him. Cressida was a nice heroine, prim and proper outside while curious and adventurous on the inside. She did bother me with her actions a couple of times, but nothing serious.

In the second part, where they return back to London, I felt the plot loosening somewhat. A second adventure soon takes place but what prevails is their belief that they can't be together. St Raven is a duke with many responsibilities, while Cressida doesn't like to move under the spotlight. Even more, she can't be sure that St Raven would give up his wild life for her, being a rake and all that. And if someone connects the woman St Raven escorted to the orgy to Cressida, the scandal would be so great, even marriage wouldn't cover it. I absolutely felt their desperation, their love and will to be together, only to realize that could never be. I ached with them in a way few authors can make you feel for their characters. The ending I'm afraid, didn't throw a good light on Cressida though and that, along with the comparison to the awesome A Most Unsuitable Man are the reasons I couldn't rate it with 5 stars. But I loved this book and St Raven as a hero was topnotch; He reminded me of St Vincent from Devil In Winter somewhat.I'll probably buy more books of Beverley's Rogues series soon. Thanks seton for drawing my attention to this one:)

[Ilze · Rating 3 out of 5]

A totally madcap crazy story that you have to read with your tongue firmly in your cheek - there's a pretend highwayman, a real highwayman, a truly wild orgy, a damsel in distress who is rescued by a duke and his loyal sidekick, a good-hearted whore, at least 3 curricle chases (the Regency equivalent of a car chase, I guess), a last-minute rescue from a horrible fate, i.e. marriage to a cold-hearted society lady, and on and on. St. Raven and Cressida are wonderful characters, though, and their interaction is a joy to read.

One of the things Beverley does very skillfully is to build up the suspense around the possibility of the heroine's reputation being "ruined" for actions that in this day and age wouldn't merit even a moment's attention. Much of the plot is taken up with making sure, by whatever means possible, legal or otherwise, that Cressida's reputation remains unsullied, and the reader is sucked right into caring and worrying about this almost as much as the characters in the book do!

[Dangermousie · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMFG so bad! So very very bad. It's so bad, I want to know why on earth the publishers paid for it, but then I bought it so perhaps the dummy is me. The plot involves our hero, a duke, masquerading as a highwayman for idiotic reasons, and rescuing the heroine from a bad guy jewel search blah blah. If you think I demonstrate no interest in the plot, rest assured, Beverley demonstrates even less - there really is no point to any of the story - half the book is occupied with a very detailed bu tedious description of a very tedious orgy at which our leads end up for little good reason. I mean, if I want pure porn, I know where to get it, and this wouldn't be it as a less exciting write-up I have yet to see outside of a medical textbook. If you think any of the characters in this trash are interesting, think again. SIMs have more personality.

[_inbetween_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beverley is a hack who should not be allowed to publish books. She makes me very unhappy. The whole first half of this novel was just the description of a hornyatfirstsight virgin and a rake an orgy, as boring and unerotic as anything I ever read. And she actually split it into endless chapters, whereas the changes in pov still occur in the middle of paragraphs.

I want there to be sex in novels, but interesting and unique to the characters, not horrid like she ALWAYS writes it, right from her very first novels. She makes me feel sick and bruised inside.


ETA: please see e.g. the next book/review (Rescue a Rogue) for factual details about the problem with this writer.

[Tanya 313 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ There’s nothing like a well written historical romance - I did not want to put this down. Beverley was on her game! I loved Tris - he was awesome, and charming and honourable. Cressida was sensible with a bold adventurous streak. It would have been 5 ⭐️ but it dragged just a little towards the end!

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyright 2003. #9 in the series, but can be read as a stand alone. Tris appears in the previous book "Hazard" & is not a member of the Rogues.

JB has previously used the wild orgy house party in "My Lady Notorious" & she uses it again in this book.
Tris is a Duke & someone dressed as a French highwayman has been robbing rich people near his estate. When the authorities catch a Frenchman & jail him, Tris suspects he knows who the highwayman really is & decides to get him released. By dressing up as a French Highwayman! He robs a carriage with a man he despises in it who is escorting a young woman to an orgy. He decides to save her.

Cressy doesn't want saving since she's on a mission to steal back an erotic statue from India. Her father lost everything to a card game & there are enough jewels hidden there to restore their fortune. She didn't count on being kidnapped by a "highwayman"

When everything is explained, Tris escorts Cressy to the party in disguise to look for the statue. Of course nothing is easy. They fall in love & defeat the villain.

I liked this story. Although this is a Rogue book, none of the actually appear. The HEA is satisfying.

[Cozy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lent by a friend, would have liked more action and less "will they, won't they?" But it was cute and interesting and I liked the main couples dynamic

[Elis Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long story short. Tristan Tregallows, Duke of St. Raven, is pretending to be the famed highwayman Corbeau. Seems the real Corbeau is a guy who could light up a helluva scandal for the Tregallows family—and the guy's been caught. Tristan figures that if "Corbeau" rides again tonight, the Frenchman in the hoosegow will be "uncaught," and then Tristan can deal with him privately. So he's riding around with a mask on his face, trying his best to commit a crime. Instead, he ends up playing matchmaker, forcing our H/h to strip and then locking them in an attic overnight to, uh, sort out their feelings.



OK, that was a fail, but try, try again, right? Only this time he abducts rescues a damsel in distress.



In case you're keeping count, it's 0/2.

Meanwhile, Cressida Mandeville is bound, gagged, and pissed. Seems she, too, had a plan—she was trying to recover a priceless work of art. Well, it's not really the "art" that's priceless, but the fortune in Indian Jewels hidden in the secret compartment of the explicit statue. To get at it she needs access, even if it means becoming the mistress of the schmuck who ruined her father at a gaming table.

Together, the two of them brave a fortuitously masked orgy (bit of a shocker for Cressy), and a wild chase to London after the erotic work.

And then the story degenerates into more or less the same conflict/plot line as Hazard, only flipped. He's the aristocrat, she's the commoner. She's not snootygood enough for him, and they both angst over it ad nauseum. I'm sure aristocrats in those days did just that, so the story's not unrealistic, but...



The story has its moments, but it's a straight three stars.

[Renee Elizabeths]

This review was crossposted from my blog. For the full post (and more!), click here.

I've been working my way through Beverley's Company of Rogues series over the last few weeks and even though there aren't really any Rogues in this one, it's still set in that world and so I guess it sort of counts. A few of the Rogues get mentioned anyway, though now that I'm thinking about it I can't remember if any of them actually put in an appearance.

St. Raven was a solid read. A little bit of intrigue, lots of heat, decent characters, and a good depiction of an orgy of all things. You don't see the main characters attending orgies very often in regency romance, so it certainly gets points for originality there.

I was disappointed by how much angst and moping there was in the story, particularly the second half. I know class distinctions were a big deal in that time period, but I get bored when the potential for scandal becomes the only thing keeping the hero and heroine apart.

Overall I liked this book but I didn't love it. It started out pretty strong but sort of fizzled by the end. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, but I wouldn't recommend much more than that either.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jo Beverley keeps coming up with the good plots for the Company of Rogues series. Cressida (our heroine) was in a bad position to be sure--father gambled away the family fortune--and she turned to the worst of solutions--agreeing to become mistress to the despicable character who won the family home from her father. Being an innocent, she does not realize that she is to be on display as the main event at an orgy. Our hero, the Duke of St. Raven, rescues her and of course, falls for her. But neither of them can see a way to have a life together and preserve her reputation. I must admit, I could not predict how Ms. Beverley would work this out, but it was a fun finish and I did love this book.

[Lesleya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the ending might redeem it for me but there were a few too many things bothering me about this book. The beginning had the potential to be a great sexy romp of an adventure but then it petered out and dragged on quite a bit more than needed. The heroine was not well developed IMO, and toward the end, she acted as though she hadn't been present enjoying the early occurrences in the book right along with the hero the whole time. Which then led to some unnecessary 'misunderstandings' that were rapidly resolved by the help of two secondary characters who were in the story far too little to play such pivotal roles in getting the H and h to their HEA.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read St. Raven a number of times but I decided to read it again. Three stars seems maybe too low but I'm going to rethink it after I finish. I'll be curious to see how Violet Vane comes across (I just re-read Emily and the Dark Angel).

Finished my re-read and changed my rating to 4 stars. Any book I re-read that often has something that pulls me back in. Maybe it's the acknowledgement that even wealthy dukes can't do as they please.

[Mary Lauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. I think I liked this more the first time I read it. It felt flat for me this go-round. And everything wrapped up too neatly. Separated forever because she wasn't trained to be a duchess and (she thinks) he likes the wild life? And then, NO our love is strong enough to overcome ALL. I would read a book about Jean-Marie and Miranda tho. 8-)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. The first 3/4 was very good. But the ending felt lackluster.

[Virginia Tican · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stokeley Manor in Cambridgeshire was briefly in the possession of Mandeville, a wealthy adventurer~nabob who was obviously missing the excitement of making money and thought to seek another thrill by venturing into high stakes play and losing the crown jewel of his pretensions, Stokeley Manor... and then he inconveniently had an invalidating stroke plunging his family into less than the style they were accustomed to ~ an unpretentious and comfortable life preferably in middle class Matlock and most definitely NOT among the beau monde. Five miles from the Manor was Nun's Chase, the hunting seat of the highly eligible Duke of St. Raven who sometimes hold some inimitable orgies there... The roads between these two properties were the milieu of a highwayman called 'Le Corbeau' or the Crow or the Raven for more than a year. One particular night, the Duke playing his namesake, held up a carriage... and its occupants were the new owner of Stokeley Manor (who thought to emulate his neighbor's revels and hold an orgy to celebrate his new acquisition) and with him was Cressida Mandeville (one~time brief resident of the aforementioned Manor) who had an agenda of her own when she agreed to be the mistress of the man whose offer of marriage she once rejected. St. Raven, recognizing Crofton and his dark perversions took Cressida away on his horse to save her. For naive Cressida thought she could drug Crofton and get away with a statuette mimicking a particular Kama~Sutra pose full of jewels that was part of a set of 10 doing various poses of the same theme. Since this is a re~read I skipped the orgy chapters and some annoying dithering parts... recaptured the mordant humor and the layers of remarkable sub~plots that made this one still a very entertaining read.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much preoccupation with reputation - perhaps more accurate... Less angsty with quite a bit of insta-love. I like instalove though, so it's fine with me I had a few quibbles about character motivation for various actions, but overall really enjoyed it. I'm going to round this up to a 5 but really it's a 4.5. Crofton just didn't make the most convincing villain, I didn't always understand the holding back of the hero in communicating his actions, and Miss Mandeville's character was inconsistent. Also thought St. Raven's transformation from rake to reformed rake was rather bland, with no particular reasoning. But again, I really enjoyed Jo Beverley's writing, and really enjoyed the premise, various subplots. I think the workman-like storyline could have been tightened and refined, and some of the loose ends explored more efficiently. I appreciated the heroine figuring out some on her own. The whole confusion over the statues was a little confusing and could have been explained better. I think part of my disappointment is that I hold JoBev to a higher standard.

[Bia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta es la novela de Tristán, un primo y amigo de Anne y que la ayuda mucho en su relación con Race de Vere. Igual que las anteriores encierra mucha emoción y aventura, pues nuestro querido lord es algo así como Robin Hood. Roba a los ricos y le da a los pobres. Es en una de estas hazañas cuando conoce a Cressida y queda enamorado de ella. Claro que ella tiene otras intenciones…y para nada incluyen a este pícaro.
Debo decir que Tristán fue como lo esperaba. Cuando lo conocí en la novela anterior me pareció alguien fuerte, leal y amigo. En esta le sumas a esas características, muy romántico y apasionado, y es entonces que tienes al lord de ensueño. Aunque lo pícaro no se le quita jaja, lo de enamorado se destaca. Sobre todo cuando soltaba frases como estas: “Somos dos mitades. Lo sé casi desde que la conocí. Sin ella soy sólo medio hombre. Y a ella le pasa lo mismo”. WAOOO morí!!!

[piranha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage.

I'm kinda sad about it too, because I rather liked Tris (St.Raven) in Hazard and was looking forward to his book.

But this mix between soft porn and unending angst over class divisions is just bad. I gotta say, I've read a lot of erotica, and much of it bad, but this book features the most unerotic orgy I've ever encountered - I find encounters with absolutely vile men and vulgar whores completely unsexy and gross, and this goes on forever and ever.

This is about as far from the sort of Regencies for which I love the genre as one can get.

Garbage.

[Dianne Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story of another Rogue by association. Tris and Cressida cross paths one night when Tris acts the part of a highwayman(mentioned in another story) and steals Cressida from a cad who is taking her to a party. Cressida is going in order to take a statue that belonged to her father. No one knows that the statue has a hidden cache of jewels. Several mistakes are made which keeps Cressida and Tris together. Tris, the Duke of St.Raven, falls in love with her and she with him. Because of their different lifestyles,they think they don't suit . Can they overcome gossip.?Can Cressida trust enough to believe Tris could be her husband?

[May Mostly Romance · Rating 1 out of 5]

เล่มนี้เป็นเรื่องของดยุคแห่งเซ็นต์ราเวน ซึ่งเป็นญาติผู้พี่ของแอนนางเอกในเรื่อง Hazard (นี่เป็นหนึ่งในวิธีที่จะต่อซีรี่ย์ให้ขยายยาวไปเรื่อย ๆ ด้วยการเพิ่มตัวละครเป็นเพื่อนพี่น้องของตัวเอกในเล่มก่อน) ทราวิสเข้าไปพัวพันกับหญิงสาวที่ไม่เหมาะสมอย่างยิ่งเมื่อเขาตกกระไดพลอยโจน เข้าไปเกี่ยวข้องกับเธอ ด้วยการถูกขอร้องให้พาเธอไปปาร์ตี้มั่วยาอี (ถ้าเป็นสมัยปี 2008) นะ หรือปาร์ตี้มั่วเซ็กส์ในสมัยรีเจนซี่ เพราะเธอต้องการขโมยของบางอย่างที่กุมความลับใหญ่หลวงของพ่อเธอออกมา

พล็อตนางเอกใส ซื่อ ไร้เดียงสาที่พยายามทำตัวเป็นสาวเจนโลก เป็นอะไรที่แม็กซ์เกลียด เกลียด เกลียด เกลียด เกลียด (คงพอเข้าใจความรู้สึกนะ) นี่ไม่นับความโง่ของเธอที่เปล่งรัศมีออกมาทั่วทุกรูขุมขน

คะแนนที่ 53

[Cy · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 🌟
Es un libro en el que los protagonistas no paran de estar en la aventura, sin embargo, algunas situaciones son tan poco realistas para la época, que no terminaron de engancharme.

Los protagonistas no me encantaron. El es un duque aventurero y libertino, pero.. solo quiere buscarse una esposa que este a la altura de su titulo, si no ¿que dirá la sociedad? Y ella, una señorita inocente y respetable, se mete en cada aventura alocada que si la descubriera terminaría arruinada, pero al final solo quiere una vida tranquila en su pueblo de la infancia. 😒 No me convencen sus personalidades.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoopla
Anne flosnick narrates and she's definitely not one of my favorites. She does ok with this one or I'm just getting used to the breathiness.
The story starts out super interesting with a hold up and then an orgy. Then she gets self-righteous and the mystery stuff happens and I skipped most of it. Then at the end the assumptions and self righteous behavior just about ruin it. But finally the hea comes and I like St Raven enough to give it 3 stars.

[LaVaughn Bayne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have so much enjoyed the Rogue series. But this one is thoroughly disgusting and I am truly

sorry that I even bothered t o purchase it. I will surely hesitate before choosing another of the Rogue stories.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trosku vulgarne, ale budiz. Co som vsak neprehryzla bola hlavna postava...vojvoda. V predchadzajucej casti mi prisiel ako mily a sympatický clovek. Tu...arogancia sama, zaletnik...no, sklamalo ma to. Inak fajn citanie.

[Suzanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had a rocky start for me in the sense that I could see the author's research as plainly as if I were reading her index cards. The story did have some fun little twists and idiosyncrasies, though, and a rather satisfying ending.

[Ellama42 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an experience to read this book, from the orgy at the beginning till the proposal at the end. I didn't expect the plot, which made it a lot funnier. Overall, a little too much for me but I still enjoyed it ;)

[Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was intriguing, well written, good character development, spicy as always (maybe more so), overwrought as most of JB's books are; and not resolved until the last couple of chapters. It gets tiring.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nov 13, 2017

An adventurous love story full of twists and turns.