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Reckless Angel Kindle Edition
She turned his life into chaos even as she melted his heart…
The injured “boy” Sir Daniel Drummondrescues from a British battlefield is no boy at all,but a vivacious young enchantress fleeing hertyrannical father. Moved by her plight, herspirit, and her mesmerizing beauty—and his own young daughters’ need for a mother—the dashing nobleman impulsively offers towed Henrietta “Harry” Ashby, who promptlythrows his life and household into disarray.
Headstrong, impetuous, wildly unconventional, “Harry” knows precious little about wifelyduties. But the irrepressible miss understandsthe importance of unwavering loyaltywhen danger threatens. And she knows daringways to set a man’s passions aflame—and the sensuous secret to transforming amarriage of convenience into a union ofeverlasting ecstasy and love.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins e-books
- Publication dateMarch 6, 2009
- File size2585 KB
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About the Author
Jane Feather was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in the south of England. She was trained as a social worker, and, after moving with her husbandand three children to New Jersey, pursued her careerin psychiatric social work. She started writing after she relocated her family to Washington, D.C. Her other Avon Books romances include The Eagle and the Dove, Silver Nights, and Bold Destiny.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Odd's bones, Sir Daniel, I swear 'tis but a maid!" The trooper was on his knees beside a crumpled figure--just one crumpled figure among the many littering the field; some were silent, others shrieked their agonies to the night sky, yet others moaned their prayers for surcease with the helpless resignation of the vanquished.
Daniel Drummond swung down from his big black charger, whose head drooped listlessly in the August warmth. "How can that be, Tom?" He joined the trooper beside the inert body. "A maid in this charnel house?"
The body stirred, moaned, eyelashes fluttered upward, and Daniel found himself looking into a air of enormous brown eyes now clouded with pain. "I want Will. Where's Will?" a small voice croaked, then the eyes closed again.
"Sweet heaven," muttered Daniel, unfastening her buff leather jerkin stained heavily with blood at the shoulder. Had there been any doubt as to the sex of this victim of the three-day battle of Preston, it was quickly resolved. Beneath the coarse linen shirt were outlined two unmistakably feminine hillocks. He had heard tell of the women who donned a trooper's britches and buff jacket, took up pike and halberd, and followed their men into battle, but he had never come face-to-face with the phenomenon before. This particular example seemed remarkably young for such devotion to love.
"'Tis a pike thrust, I'd say," muttered Tom, peering at the ugly wound. "There'll be parties searching for the wounded soon enough; we'd best leave her to them and be on our way, else ye'll be languishing in a Roundhead prison.'
"Aye." The Cavalier agreed absently, but he did not immediately straighten and get to his feet. His fingers were probing the wound. 'Tis not excessively deep, I'd say, but there's no saying when she'll be discovered. She could bleed to death before a stretcher party arrives." He gestured expressively around the battlefield, its grim scene shrouded by the night, only occasionally brought into stark relief when the moon appeared fleetingly from behind the scudding clouds. Figures were moving among the bodies in a curious crouching run. They could be as easily robbing the dead and wounded as offering succor, Daniel thought with somber realism.
"We'll take her with us." He spoke with sudden decision, tearing off his sash. "She'll fare as well with us as leaving her here." He bound the wound as tightly as he could and the deep blue of the sash darkened with ominous rapidity.
"We'll not make much speed," grumbled the trooper, looking anxiously around . "Not with a wounded maid on our hands. I don't mean no disrespect, sir, but if we're taken, you'll be as much service to her as a dead fish."
Despite his anxiety, Daniel smiled at his companion's customary lack of subtlety. "I'll not argue with ye on that score, Tom, but we're still taking her. She's no more than a child, not much older than little Lizzie."
Tom shrugged. The decisions were not his to make, although it did occur to him that if this girl in trooper's clothing were indeed little more than eight years old, matters had come to a fine pass in this land torn by civil strife. He took the still figure from his master while Sir Daniel remounted, then handed her up before mounting his own sturdy cob. "Where to, sir?"
"We'd best keep off the roads ... strike out across country," responded Sir Daniel. "They'll be looking to round up the runaways." A bitter smile twisted his lips. "As God is my witness, Tom, this is the last time I'll run from those foul, treasonous bastards " Prophetic words, but he was not to know that. He touched spur to his mount, and the charger seemed to summon up the last reserves of strength as he surged forward into the night, away from the ghastly field where agony and death hung like a miasma over the spectral shapes.
They rode for four hours, until dawn streaked the eastern sky and he could feel the beast beginning to founder beneath him. The body in his arms had stirred little, only an occasional whimpering cry indicating that she still lived. They came upon a small copse where a green-brown stream flowed sluggishly over flat stones, and Daniel reined in.
"We'll rest a while here, Tom. 'Tis secluded enough--a spot for cowherds and milkmaids, not soldiers."
"'Tis to be hoped they're not cowherds and milkmaids in search of the reward to be won for a betrayed Cavalier, " muttered Tom, dismounting to take his master's burden from him. He laid her on the bank of the stream and stood frowning down at her. "She bears no insignia; 'tis impossible to tell whether she fights for King or Parliament."
"Whether her lover does," corrected Daniel, removing his steel helmet with a sigh of relief. The rich, flowing locks of a Cavalier tumbled in dark profusion to the deep lace collar at the neck of his doublet. "I suspect 'tis love, not politics, that motivates this maid." He unfastened his breastplate and flexed his arms, stretching luxuriously. "Do you see to the horses and I will do what I may for her."
Kneeling down, he gently eased off the girl's leather jerkin. His sash was soaked and dark with blood. As he began to unfasten it, her eyes opened again. "I want Will," she said clearly. "Where is he?" She made a move as if to sit up.
"Easy now." He restrained her with little effort, but panic flared in her eyes.
"Leave me be. Who are you? What are you doing?" The panic edged a voice that he noted with interest was refined, bearing no trace of peasant dialect.
"I just wish to help you," he said. "Unless I much mistake, you have taken a pike through your shoulder." He drew aside the sash and took the torn edges of the shirt, ruthlessly ripping them apart to lay bare the wound where fresh blood still bubbled up to add another layer to the caked gash.
Product details
- ASIN : B001UQO4BE
- Publisher : HarperCollins e-books (March 6, 2009)
- Publication date : March 6, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 2585 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 389 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,683 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,823 in American Historical Romance (Books)
- #4,446 in 20th Century Historical Romance (Books)
- #10,314 in Victorian Historical Romance (Kindle Store)
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RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:
The only reason I chose to review this novel is the low, and I mean a very, very low score it received from the readers on Amazon. I've just recently discovered this author and from only a handful of books read so far, that score bothered me.
Here is the original 1989 Book Blurb:
She turned his life into chaos as she melted his heart...
Sir Daniel Drummond had amazed himself by offering to marry Henrietta Ashby to save her from her tyrannical father. Now the little hoyden had turned his household topsy-turvy with her unconventional ways. Yet he had to admit that his impetuous "Harry" brought a unique ardor to their bedchamber, making each night a glorious celebration of silken skin and satin caresses...snaring his world-weary heart.
Henrietta had learned much from her bold, cynical husband whose skilled lovemaking sent the blood singing through her veins. But as they followed their deposed king into exile, she wondered if she had enough courage, enough love, to face the perils of court intrigue... and save her beloved Daniel from a traitor's death!
This book was originally published in 1989 (the age of Bodice Rippers) with an interesting setting of England right before Charles I had been executed, during Cromwell's rule as well as Charles II's attempt to return to England. I am surprised it went unnoticed by me. Yet, reading the blurb, I'm not so surprised. The blurb actually doesn't do the book justice, and in my opinion, is atrocious and aims to titillate rather than draw a reader to the story. It misrepresents the hero as a "bold, cynical husband whose skilled lovemaking sent the blood singing through her veins," and misses the mark by leagues in talking about the heroine as "impetuous 'Harry' brought a unique ardor to their bedchamber, making each night a glorious celebration of silken skin and satin caresses." The hero was never bold or cynical, and the heroine, while impetuous, was still very young and could never have acted `ardently'. As much as I was happy to see Avon rewrite the blurb, in my opinion, it still misrepresents the hero and heroine.
Sir Daniel Drummond is twenty-nine; Baronet of Glebe Park in the village of Cranston, in the county of Kent; His Majesty's most loyal servant; a widower who was faithful and loved his wife, until she died birthing their second child; and a father who adores his children, yet always tries to apply gentle discipline. He is the epitome of the word 'hero'. A hero, from Wikipedia, describes one as "(male) and heroine (female) came to refer to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice--that is, heroism--for some greater good of all humanity. This definition originally referred to martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence." That is exactly who Daniel was.
Only a hero would stop at the end of battle to help a young girl, wounded and helpless; only a hero would attempt to return her to her father; and only a hero would save her in the end from that retched man by offering her safe haven as his wife. He was aware of her tender years; aware of her ignorance in regards to marital relations, and for a man that went four years after his wife's death without the said relations, had the forethought and great restraint not to take any chance in leaving his young wife with child until he thought her ready to be. It bothers me when people use the age difference in the characters as an excuse not to finish the book. For goodness' sake, this is 1649 and the age difference between these two was acceptable and preferable. Did you know that "between 1625 and 1649, life expectancy at birth in England and Wales was 38.7 years for males and 37.6 for females"? Both of these people were already middle-aged, so, get a grip people.
Henrietta Ashby is a fifteen-year-old young woman that has never known love of any kind, yet she knew how to give it. Her father and stepmother were willing to give her in marriage to a man twice her age, only because they owed him money and would never even consider allowing her to marry Will, a young man she deeply cared for and thought herself so much in love with, that she ran away from home and willingly followed him on the battle field at Preston, which Royalists lost to the Puritans. This girl was pure of heart, and what some might see as selfish and manipulative, I saw as too eager to help and make herself irreplaceable, therefore worth keeping, worth loving. She also embodies the term `heroine' as much as our hero, Daniel. Everything she does is motivated by her love of others and her loyalty to those that have shown her affection. Her willingness to help them may not always, or most of the time, be the right course, but the motivation behind it is pure.
My favorite paragraph is at the end of this tale, as Daniel is watching her sleep, thinking... "Daniel gazed upon his sleeping wife and wondered how such a wondrous, magical creature has been shaped, how such a loving and giving spirit could have emerged from the arid soil of her childhood. And he had wondered what he had done to deserve the gift of her love, the measurable joy of her self to inform his life."
RECKLESS ANGEL is a romance with sensual overtones that should make Ms. Feather proud. She has achieved a perfect balance of romance and history by introducing us to England as it was at the time of civil strife, and gifting us with characters that were three-dimensional. Combined with a very plausible plot and a quick pace, this makes for a wonderful, extremely entertaining and fun read. I would go so far as to even recommend it to sixteen-year-olds! There are no overly explicit scenes in this book that would make it inappropriate for this generation, or for that matter, any generation. I highly recommend it, and strongly urge you to ignore the negative reviews of this delightful romance story.
Melanie
Many comments have been made about the big age difference between many of the characters in her books. I admit it doesn't make me entirely comfortable either. But, I am looking at those age differences with the eyes of a modern woman. It was not uncommon for girls to be married off to "older" men at extremely young ages in the times represented in JF's books. I'm sure some of the historical facts in her books are probably not accurate. What I love is while reading about some outlandish thing a historical character does in JF's books, I am often motivated to research that character's true place in history.
So, sit back, dispel reality, and get swept up into a hot historical romance!
Although I will agree that Henrietta is a one of those almost TSTL 'feisty and independent' females that are not my favorite among the stock characters of romance novels.
The H, Daniel, is the main draw for me, along with the setting & time period.
thought them a good read. For the life of me, I just could not like the Hero OR Heroine in this
book..
This is the Story of Sir Daniel Drummond, a Malignant Noble during the time of the execution of
Charles I and exile of Charles II and of Henrietta Asby (aka Harry) the mis-treated and mis-
understood, willful country gentle maiden.
They meet when Sir Daniel rescues Henrietta from the Battlefield at Preston. Due to the terrible
circumstances of her homelife, Henrietta ran away from home to be with her "supposedly" true
love Will, who was fighting with the royalists. In a quick turn of events Sir Daniel proposes to
Henrietta, she accepts, and the story however bad it started out, gets worse.(in one week she
went from Loving Will to marrying Sir Daniel?)
Henrietta is the kind of fictional character you literally want to strangle. She is so wishy washy.
The girl doesn't know whether she is Arthur or Martha. At times she is about at animated as a
limp rag and when she does do something, you just want to cringe and think to yourself. Ohh
well THAT was stupid!!!
And then there is Sir Daniel our stoic hero. He acts like a bit of a git really. He is so
condescending to the Heroine. Although you tend to feel for the man because he has saddled
himself with Henrietta.
I couldn't do it. I picked it up three times and all three time I threw it back down. Read a
magazine, that's what I say.