Devil's Mistress

by Heather Graham

HE IS A MAN POSSESSED—BY A WOMAN WHOSE BEAUTY DRIVES MEN TO MADNESS.
 
If there was ever a devil who could lure and seduce the innocent, Lord Sloan Treveryan is that man. Captain of the Sea Hawk and bound to the king’s business, Treveryan may be a lord but he is no gentleman. Yet even he cannot ignore a lady in distress—or the temptation she provides.

Bewitched by Brianna MacCardle’s beauty, Scottish inquisitors have called her the devil’s own. Though Treveryan saves her from the witch-hunter’s clutches, how can she be grateful? He has carried Brianna off to America, claimed her, and taken her innocence. She vows that he will never capture her heart. But against her will she begins to fall in love—while swearing to reap revenge against the arrogant lord who has made her the devil’s mistress.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Pirates, Witches, Fiction

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1986

About the author

Also published as Heather Graham Pozzessere and Shannon Drake.

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.

Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.

Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC later

[LibraryDanielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh my freaking god, was brianna annoying as all hell. ok, so shes had a terrible experience seeing her aunt burned as a witch, but really. she acts like an idiot for the. whole. book. any time she thinks something isn't going her way she throws a hissy fit, yelling, screaming, threatening and hitting sloane. (or trying to) not that he's a perfect gentleman, but he's not so glaringly stupid he made me want to throw nook 42 across the room like she did.

Oh, and apparently she's trying to suffocate him with her boobs on the cover.

[Elis Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

James II’s Scotland, and the witch hunt is on. Pegeen MacCardle has been taken up by a fanatical witchfinder named Matthews. Brianna, her niece, ignores the advice of friends and neighbors and comes to the town square, where Pegeen is to burn. Brianna's cry of grief grabs Matthews' attention. Stunned by the perfection of her face and form, he cries "witch" yet again.

In mindless grief and terror, Brianna weaves through the streets of her small harbor town until she stumbles into a tavern. A patron there mistakes her for the whore he’d requested. With the witch-hunters hard on her heels, her only choice is to play along.

The man, Sloan Treveryan, is frustrated and a little fascinated by this doxy; she’s clearly reluctant to play, but just about the time he offers to send her on her way, she practically begs to stay and service him. He’s even more puzzled when he realizes she was a virgin. Then he sees the witch hunt under way on the street and everything makes sense. When Matthews pounds on Sloan's door, demanding that he hand over the devil’s whore he’s taken to his bed, he basically tells Matthews to go blow himself. Needless to say, that puts him on the “suspected witch” list, and that’s a damned hard list to get off of.

Soon as Matthews runs off for reinforcements, Brianna demands to leave, but Sloan can’t let her go, A) because, well, he can’t l—something in him just won’t turn loose, and B) because he knows Matthews will track her down, no matter where she runs. Brianna insists she can get away to relatives who’ll protect her, but against her protests, Sloan drags her to his ship and locks her in his cabin, thus commencing his subtle campaign of seduction.



Brianna’s outraged by her abduction and afraid of being raped. She’s shamed by what she's done and terrified of the fact that some part of her can’t seem to resist Sloan's touch, even now that she knows what he is. She refuses to be his whore and is horrified and angry when Sloan's crew sees her as one. He’s angry at her for being nice to everybody but him. She’s mad at him because he gives her his cast-off mistress’s clothes to wear, and won’t let her sleep in another cabin. These two spend most of the book mad at each other, for reasons great and trivial.



An attempted escape ends with Brianna in Matthews’ clutches, and he "proves" she's a witch in a way that is historically accurate—and that made me wonder if some witch-finders might have been piquerists (look it up). I'm giving nothing away (since this is a romance and there has to be a HEA) by telling you there's a rescue.

So anyway, Sloan and Brianna finally admit their love. But then Brianna learns why Sloan won’t marry her. She can't deal, so she gets together with her people and heads out to New England. You’ll never guess where she ends up settling.



The story takes on some characteristics of an epic simply by virtue of having so many twists and turns and interconnected facets. I enjoyed it, and Graham clearly did research the witch craze around that period, both in England and in the Americas, though she fictionalizes some points for the story. Four stars.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one surprised me - there were points when i wanted to bang the heroines head against a wall to try to knock some sence into her head it must be said - but over all I really did like her.

This book has sooo many ups and downs and plot twist It travels across different countries over many years. Its a beautiful story of love - (diffent types of love - all just as beautiful), it travels through European Witch Trials and even The Salem Witch trials which I found very interesting.

I highlt recommend this book - there were some "OH COME ON!!!" moments But it was worth it.

I won't go into to much details but I got rather emotional when one of the secondary characters.... nope not saying - needless to say I was rather choked up.

[Jena · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars ⭐️

Angsty, emotional bodice ripper.


Spoilers

H is married.
His wife went mad when they lost their baby 10yrs ago. ( obviously the marriage is in name only now)
The h fell in love with him not knowing that he’s married.
Once she finds out, she leaves him and they break up. He lets her go because he loves her too much and she begged him to.

Then the h marries her cousin ( in name only because she’s preg with H baby).
3-4 yr separation.
H wife’s dies.
But now she’s the married one. Oh the dramalama…

Lots of twists in this book, but I despised the h. She’s one of those selfish, always pissed off heroines that you will want to smack around.

[daemyra, the realm's delight]

DNF at 69%. This plot seemed right up my alley. I really wanted to like this but I don’t think Heather Graham is the author for me. I’ve tried to read a few of her books. This one is probably the farthest I’ve made it through.

[Carrie Olguin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story about witch hunts and persecution in history, including the Salem witch trials from a fictional point of view.

I would have enjoyed the story if I had liked the heroine. Before using common sense, intelligence or good manners, she'd lose her temper, beat on the hero and thro a hissy fit. She was the only woman in the book who behvaed so irrationally. For example, the hero breaks into jail to rescue her and other men and women acused of witchcraft. While all of the others leave without hesitation, she has to be gagged, shackled and carried away.

I have no idea why the hero liked her (let alone fell in love with her) unless he had some complex about reascuing stupid (but beautiful) women.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no idea what first drew me to this book or why I bought it. All I know is that I dread even trying to read it and hate seeing it on my currently reading shelf. I can't say I like anything about it. Not my cup of tea. I created a DNF shelf because of this book.

[Sarina Nur · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a big fat no. They fall in love because he literal traps her on a boat. Say it with me now “this is creepy”. He probably had scurvy because he’s a pirate. Not hot. But you know who is hot? The main character Brianna, she’s so hot that she’s accused of being a witch 2. Like how? Also that is her ONLY personality. Only reason they fall in love, only reason he helps her, and the only reason she is liked at all. Which is sad. The guy Sloane is also a creep. Idk how old he is but he is def too old to play these games. Also him saying that it’s her fault his crew wants to be creepy is crazy. Maybe control your crew..?

[Payal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good grief with the editing! Please, please don't torture your readers with so many misspellings, grammatical errors, and downright missing words.

The story could have been compelling, though the characters were flat and one-dimensional. There was a bit of heat, sure, being a romance novel. But enough boring details and tedious exchanges of dialogue that it fell rather flat.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brianna has one redeeming quality, and it’s that she’s super hot. She is quite literally too stupid to live, as she has to be saved three times. Even when one of these rescues gets innocent men killed, everyone somehow still loves her?

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brianna irritates me to no end. And so does Sloan. I skipped a lot of parts because the whole story was exhaustingly bad.

[BekkAlien · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ztráta času! :(
Zdlouhavé čtení o autorkou velmi přikrášlených čarodějnických procesech (kdyby věděla, co v té době ve skutečnosti dělali ženám a mužům obviněným z čarodějnictví, tak by to s ní seklo) a průběhu vztahu mezi hlavními hrdiny, který se odehrával v pořadí:
1) Nechci tě
2) Chci tě
3) Vodpal

[RomLibrary]

HE IS A MAN POSSESSED—BY A WOMAN WHOSE BEAUTY DRIVES MEN TO MADNESS.

If there was ever a devil who could lure and seduce the innocent, Lord Sloan Treveryan is that man. Captain of the Sea Hawk and bound to the king’s business, Treveryan may be a lord but he is no gentleman. Yet even he cannot ignore a lady in distress—or the temptation she provides.

Bewitched by Brianna MacCardle’s beauty, Scottish inquisitors have called her the devil’s own. Though Treveryan saves her from the witch-hunter’s clutches, how can she be grateful? He has carried Brianna off to America, claimed her, and taken her innocence. She vows that he will never capture her heart. But against her will she begins to fall in love—while swearing to reap revenge against the arrogant lord who has made her the devil’s mistress.

[Joycee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goodness! Such a tumultuous story!

It was so exhausting keeping up with Sloan’s and Brianna’s ups & downs! Brianna irked me by being so pig-headed and tunnel-visioned; Sloan - imprisoned by love, I suppose - refused to give up on her.

But, of course, despite how irritated I was by Brianna (and, at times, Sloan too), I just HAD to finish. Always holding out hope that there will be a redeeming scene that makes all the preceding annoyance worth it.

It wasn’t romantic sigh-inducing relief that I felt when they got their HEA - but rather relief that they were FINALLY together for good!

[Nessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.
THE PROBLEM WITH stories like this, is that the author always make a botch of the heroine, turning her into a virago. Whenever the hero tries to be nice, the heroine well retaliate in the she-devil manner. it was absolutely annoying and only meet the entire story so frustrating to read.

Absolutely do not recommend this bodice ripper novel.

[Samantha Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

They had me in the first half not gonna lie... I love a terrible romance like anyone else but this was was just terrible. They fall in love in one paragraph and its a small case of Stockholm Syndrome with some very questionable forceful rapey tactics. And then we throw witch politics into it for some reason? Very weird. And not very good. Not even in the fun way.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poorly written. The main female character was incredibly annoying. The end result was predictable. Do not recommend.

[The Literary Jedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old-school historical set mostly on a ship and in the New England colony of Salem, MA.

The female protagonist named Brianna McCardle escapes Scotland after her aunt is burned at the stake for witchcraft and the zealous witchfinder accuses her as well because of her beauty.

The male protagonist is named Lord Sloan Treveyan and he is a Welsh ship captain who is a friend of the exiled William and Mary.

Brianna is 18ish and has zero clue how the world works. She meets Sloan when he is waiting for a prostitute and pretends to be the prostitute. The miscommunication and withholding of information simply spiral out of control from there.

They spend a lot of time aboard Treveyan's ship the Sea Hawk and of course, they become intimate. This is a flowery adjective type of sex -think "he loved her as a man loves a woman and she was entranced by her emotions" type of description.

The first two sex scenes are messy and sadly some readers will call them non-con or worse; does that make them so? Each reader is responsible for their own understanding but in the intention of the novel itself, they both fit into character traits, plot device, and story action thus far.

When things move to Salem, of course, it's right smack at the start of the Salem Witch Trials. This entire plot seemed very convoluted and not really of substance; though in reality, the fear and danger were very real, and yet, the characters didn't convey it enough. Brianna acts stupid and stubborn while everyone around her seems more panicked and understands the direness of the situation.

I didn't like Brianna as the FMC. Sloan was a tool but he came through in the end. The HEA didn't feel earned, especially for Brianna.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own. Read on my Nook e-reader as a free download from B&N Nook Library.**

[AYAN Y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

This book had everything that I've been looking for in a novel. I love the characters although Brianna was a little annoying. The plot of this book and the story lines was right on point, well describe that I felt I was there. Very realistic. I felt like their reunion was rushed, I mean it took a day for her to fall into his arms after her......sorry no spoiler but any way I personally wouldn't have mind if it was made a little long for them to come together again. Heather Graham this is your best book.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Heather Graham's historical novels!!!! Devil's Mistress does not disappoint! It takes place during the medieval period when witch hunts were taking place. It is hard to imagine that innocent people could just be tried and killed because some folks accused them as witches! In this story Brianna MacCardle has been targeted by the Scottish Inquisitors as being a witch. She narrowly escapes the crowd when she meets Lord Sloan Treveryan, Captain of the Sea Hawk in a local tavern. Her life will be changed forever. Enjoy reading!

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked the first half of this book. As the second half began I started to lose interest. Perhaps I was more upset with the way things went. But, my interest was soon recaptured with the inclusion of events of the Salem Witch Trials. In a way I felt like I was reading two separate stories & I never was a captivated with Sloan & Brianna’s relationship in the second half as the first but overall, it was a good read.

[EvilAntie Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read

The setting of the 17th Century Witchcraft trials in both England and in Salem, serve as an amazing background for the epic love story of Sloane and Brianna. Feisty and romantic, the battle that these two rage is epic. This is a classic Heather Graham at her very best. 5 stars is simply not adequate but will have to do for now.

[Happy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out good, but didn’t Brianna didn’t hold my attention after a while she seemed less beguiling and more of the same childish whining about her anger and love for Sloan. Finished reading but really rushed through the end since the characters no longer pulled me in to join their journey. This books will likely be another forgettable one.

[Michelle A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! The twists and turns that caused angst and kept me reading to see how it turned out. It is set in a dark period of history. Heather Graham did an excellent job in giving insight into that time in history and I thank her for including resources to learn more.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new light on the persecutions of witches.

So often we Americans have focused on the Salem witch trials, when if fact they were going on in the British isles and Europe. So sad the narrow mindedness of the 17th century.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had so much potential. I loved the beginning, but they fell in love too fast. Both guy and girl think to themselves "I love him/her" in their minds a little too quickly.... There was too much unnecessary drama because of the heroine's stupid, unnecessary actions.

[Lore · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insufferable heroine and hot albeit "I know better than though" hero that was there solely to rescue her and make her life easy. She didn't do anything but make life hard for him and the people that loved her and rescued her through the years.

[myhawj · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75
H helps h on the run from being accused a witch. They fall in love but H is already married so h leaves and marries someone else but was pregnant with H’s kid. After H’s sick wife dies he goes find h and his son.

[Anastazja · Rating 2 out of 5]

She makes me so mad. I hate lack of communication almost as much as miscommunication. Everything about their relationship was weird and not once, besides physically, did I ever find out why Sloan loved her. I DNFed at 84%…. It wasn’t fun anymore and she really really annoyed me as did he.