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Ravenswood
House of Intrigue
Forced to choose a husband from among her many suitors, Catherine Galloway settles on Lord Simon Ravenswood, assuming he will soon tire of her and return to his many mistresses. Instead, he is attentive and kind, only traveling often to Napoleon's France on mysterious diplomatic errands. But there is a mystery in Catherine's life, too...she is a spy for the British government.
When attempts are made on Catherine's life at Ravenswood's country home on the Dover coast, Catherine guesses that someone has discovered her secret. But when Simon Ravenswood's old romance with a beautiful and passionate singer seems to spring to life once again, the source of the threat becomes far more puzzling, and Catherine is isolate totally, with no one to turn to for protection....
Forced to choose a husband from among her many suitors, Catherine Galloway settles on Lord Simon Ravenswood, assuming he will soon tire of her and return to his many mistresses. Instead, he is attentive and kind, only traveling often to Napoleon's France on mysterious diplomatic errands. But there is a mystery in Catherine's life, too...she is a spy for the British government.
When attempts are made on Catherine's life at Ravenswood's country home on the Dover coast, Catherine guesses that someone has discovered her secret. But when Simon Ravenswood's old romance with a beautiful and passionate singer seems to spring to life once again, the source of the threat becomes far more puzzling, and Catherine is isolate totally, with no one to turn to for protection....
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1971
About the author
Janet Louise Roberts
77 books30 followersSee pseudonyms Louisa Bronte, Rebecca Danton & Janette Radcliffe. Some of the listed titles are more straight romance than romantic suspense.
Janet Louise Roberts was born on January 20, 1925, in New Britain Connecticut, the daughter of a missionary in a conservative church. She wrote contemporary, historical, and gothic romances, as well as occult horror romances such as The Devil’s Own, Isle of the Dolphins, Lord Satan, and Her Demon Lover. She used pseudonyms for several of her works.
Roberts died on June 11, 1982 in Dayton, Ohio.
Janet Louise Roberts was born on January 20, 1925, in New Britain Connecticut, the daughter of a missionary in a conservative church. She wrote contemporary, historical, and gothic romances, as well as occult horror romances such as The Devil’s Own, Isle of the Dolphins, Lord Satan, and Her Demon Lover. She used pseudonyms for several of her works.
Roberts died on June 11, 1982 in Dayton, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 3, 2021
Started out strong, with a vaguely Scarlet Pimpernel feel and fairly strong writing, as our heroine Catherine spies for England while contending with an overbearing stepfather. Forced to select a husband, she chooses more or less at random - a handsome, mysterious diplomat: Simon, Lord Ravenswood. However, she then keeps spying for England, even though she doesn't want to, and even as her husband continually misinterprets her spy meetings as potential affairs; for some reason she's desperate not to let him know that she understands foreign languages and politics. She is eventually shunted off to a manor house - you'll note the very Gothic cover (the cover of my edition is even Gothickier) - but it's still not very Gothic, although there are a bunch of crazy ladies roaming the village, and intruders continually entering the house through secret passageways; everyone's response to this seems totally inadequate and surprisingly low-key, like, sure, why not just let it happen. The book then transitions locales to Italy and suddenly!
This was the beginning of the downhill slide for me, because basically Roberts had a nice premise, obviously knows how to write a sparky regency romance, and then she just kind of... made her page count. Also, huge content warnings for the fact that after they have a huge fight Simon explicitly rapes Catherine (the word "rape" is used, in fact). Anyway, after that there's further ridiculousness but the rape scene was just so much ick and the last half-of the book was so full over over-dramatic poorly-connected set pieces that there was zero emotional impact to any of it.
This was the beginning of the downhill slide for me, because basically Roberts had a nice premise, obviously knows how to write a sparky regency romance, and then she just kind of... made her page count. Also, huge content warnings for the fact that after they have a huge fight Simon explicitly rapes Catherine (the word "rape" is used, in fact). Anyway, after that there's further ridiculousness but the rape scene was just so much ick and the last half-of the book was so full over over-dramatic poorly-connected set pieces that there was zero emotional impact to any of it.
April 11, 2024
1.5*
This Gothic romance from the 1970s has not aged well, the most problematic aspect being the H’s rape of the h, and how this gets treated as no big deal. The rape is so violent he makes her bleed, and yet the h only seems to care about the H’s perceived infidelity. Once she learns he hadn’t been having an affair, then all is forgiven (Argh!!).
Nominally, this is set during the Napoleonic period, the H being in the diplomatic service and the h being a spy. Considering that England and France were at war for almost the entirety of Napoleon’s reign, it makes little sense that the H keeps jaunting off to France without issue. This is but one of a number of historically questionable / inaccurate details.
Putting these aside, both the plot and the characterizations seemed sloppy and under-developed. If it weren’t for the author’s easy writing style, I probably wouldn’t have finished this book.
This Gothic romance from the 1970s has not aged well, the most problematic aspect being the H’s rape of the h, and how this gets treated as no big deal. The rape is so violent he makes her bleed, and yet the h only seems to care about the H’s perceived infidelity. Once she learns he hadn’t been having an affair, then all is forgiven (Argh!!).
Nominally, this is set during the Napoleonic period, the H being in the diplomatic service and the h being a spy. Considering that England and France were at war for almost the entirety of Napoleon’s reign, it makes little sense that the H keeps jaunting off to France without issue. This is but one of a number of historically questionable / inaccurate details.
Putting these aside, both the plot and the characterizations seemed sloppy and under-developed. If it weren’t for the author’s easy writing style, I probably wouldn’t have finished this book.
September 9, 2023
How can read this book why not barrow this book
July 22, 2023
Once again, I've read a book that was okay, could have been much better, and had more than one flaw. It's especially irksome when the author had a good idea going but didn't develop it the way she should have.
The story takes place in my fav time period, during the Napoleonic wars, and the h, Catherine, is spying for England, keeping her ears open at social occasions to gather useful information, keeping her language fluency a secret, so anyone speaking their native tongue around her wouldn't be on guard.
Right there, Ms. Roberts wastes a good opportunity. She never goes into details about how Catherine started spying, just that she has an adventurous spirit and when her childhood friend (and frustrated suitor) Patrick asked her to join the spy ring she accepted, passing along any info she gets to him, so he can relay it to those higher up. When she's coerced into getting married by her stepfather, who sees her and her younger, disabled sister, Evalina as financial burdens, she chooses Lord Simon Ravenswood, considering him the best of her suitors, despite his rakish reputation and affair with a Parisian singer, Yolande. Simon is a diplomat, working with the government to try and get Russia and Italy on the British side against France. Right here, there was opportunity for some political intrigue, as Ms. Roberts could have had Simon discover what Catherine had been doing, then they could have worked together, using her connections to help his cause. Instead, there's the usual HR nonsense, with Simon seeing Catherine and Patrick together and assuming they're lovers, while (because of a sworn secrecy oath) Catherine keeps her espionage involvement to herself. That was just foolish! I doubt her superiors would be up in arms about her informing her husband; they were on the same side, after all! If she had been spying for Napoleon, then it would have made sense (not to mention one heck of a story) but to keep her activities a secret from Simon (not that she did all that much) because of some oath of allegiance was just dumb, especially when it got to a point when she was risking her marriage by keeping silent.
There's also a lot of silliness with Catherine going into psychic mode, insisting that she's surrounded by evil and something terrible is going to happen. That, on top of the mood swings she seems to have, would make her a modern-day candidate for bipolar meds! One minute she's up, then down, then depressed, then indifferent, then so ridiculous that when an intruder breaks into Ravenswood (the name of the family country estate) in the night and nearly strangles her, and they set up a house patrol to try and catch him, including the family dogs, she finds it a great adventure! Another WTF!!!! moment!!
There's also too much mistrust between Catherine and Simon, and not enough communication, each too ready to believe the worst, as Simon still suspects Patrick is her lover and when Catherine discovers Yolande in the village and smells her perfume in Simon's bedroom, she's convinced they've been continuing their affair all along. The two of them end up having meltdowns, with Catherine acting like a nasty, snarky bitch and Simon getting ruthless and brutal, and raping her! And we're supposed to believe these two are in love???? HA!!
The best people in this story were the housekeeper, Mrs. Thatcher, and Catherine's 12-year-old sister, Evelina. The parts where Evelina's learning to overcome her disability and walk better is really touching and she's such a nice person, too. Her older sister could take a few lessons!
So much time was wasted because Simon and Catherine never really talked to each other, both keeping things bottled up and spending most of their time together in bed. A marriage can't live on sex alone.
And the whole ridiculous kidnapping caper (two of them, in fact), and some unnecessary characters thrown in (like a young woman who supposedly went mad when Simon dumped her) could all have been done without.
My favorite part was when Patrick, without a doubt the most annoying character ever written, finally gets his comeuppance! More than once he tries to get Catherine to run away with him, despite her forever telling him she only thinks of him as a friend. That guy needed a kick where it would hurt the most, and a week of singing soprano!
Also: there was so much time wasted on redecorating plans, too many details on curtains, carpets, paints, color schemes, flowers, vases, etc. ad nauseum!! Can you say: "Who the f--- cares!!!"
It could have been a really good book, if not for the stupidity.
The story takes place in my fav time period, during the Napoleonic wars, and the h, Catherine, is spying for England, keeping her ears open at social occasions to gather useful information, keeping her language fluency a secret, so anyone speaking their native tongue around her wouldn't be on guard.
Right there, Ms. Roberts wastes a good opportunity. She never goes into details about how Catherine started spying, just that she has an adventurous spirit and when her childhood friend (and frustrated suitor) Patrick asked her to join the spy ring she accepted, passing along any info she gets to him, so he can relay it to those higher up. When she's coerced into getting married by her stepfather, who sees her and her younger, disabled sister, Evalina as financial burdens, she chooses Lord Simon Ravenswood, considering him the best of her suitors, despite his rakish reputation and affair with a Parisian singer, Yolande. Simon is a diplomat, working with the government to try and get Russia and Italy on the British side against France. Right here, there was opportunity for some political intrigue, as Ms. Roberts could have had Simon discover what Catherine had been doing, then they could have worked together, using her connections to help his cause. Instead, there's the usual HR nonsense, with Simon seeing Catherine and Patrick together and assuming they're lovers, while (because of a sworn secrecy oath) Catherine keeps her espionage involvement to herself. That was just foolish! I doubt her superiors would be up in arms about her informing her husband; they were on the same side, after all! If she had been spying for Napoleon, then it would have made sense (not to mention one heck of a story) but to keep her activities a secret from Simon (not that she did all that much) because of some oath of allegiance was just dumb, especially when it got to a point when she was risking her marriage by keeping silent.
There's also a lot of silliness with Catherine going into psychic mode, insisting that she's surrounded by evil and something terrible is going to happen. That, on top of the mood swings she seems to have, would make her a modern-day candidate for bipolar meds! One minute she's up, then down, then depressed, then indifferent, then so ridiculous that when an intruder breaks into Ravenswood (the name of the family country estate) in the night and nearly strangles her, and they set up a house patrol to try and catch him, including the family dogs, she finds it a great adventure! Another WTF!!!! moment!!
There's also too much mistrust between Catherine and Simon, and not enough communication, each too ready to believe the worst, as Simon still suspects Patrick is her lover and when Catherine discovers Yolande in the village and smells her perfume in Simon's bedroom, she's convinced they've been continuing their affair all along. The two of them end up having meltdowns, with Catherine acting like a nasty, snarky bitch and Simon getting ruthless and brutal, and raping her! And we're supposed to believe these two are in love???? HA!!
The best people in this story were the housekeeper, Mrs. Thatcher, and Catherine's 12-year-old sister, Evelina. The parts where Evelina's learning to overcome her disability and walk better is really touching and she's such a nice person, too. Her older sister could take a few lessons!
So much time was wasted because Simon and Catherine never really talked to each other, both keeping things bottled up and spending most of their time together in bed. A marriage can't live on sex alone.
And the whole ridiculous kidnapping caper (two of them, in fact), and some unnecessary characters thrown in (like a young woman who supposedly went mad when Simon dumped her) could all have been done without.
My favorite part was when Patrick, without a doubt the most annoying character ever written, finally gets his comeuppance! More than once he tries to get Catherine to run away with him, despite her forever telling him she only thinks of him as a friend. That guy needed a kick where it would hurt the most, and a week of singing soprano!
Also: there was so much time wasted on redecorating plans, too many details on curtains, carpets, paints, color schemes, flowers, vases, etc. ad nauseum!! Can you say: "Who the f--- cares!!!"
It could have been a really good book, if not for the stupidity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews