Amanda Quick: Ravished

Ravished: B

There was no doubt about it. What Miss Harriet Pomeroy needed was a man. Someone powerful and clever who could help her rout the unscrupulous thieves who were using her beloved caves to hide their loot. But when Harriet summoned Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. John, to her aid, she could not know that she was summoning the devil himself…

Dubbed the Beast of Blackthorne Hall for his scarred face and lecherous past, Gideon was strong and fierce and notoriously menacing. Yet Harriet could not find it in her heart to fear him. For in his tawny gaze she sensed a savage pain she longed to sooth…and a searing passion she yearned to answer. Now, caught up in the beast’s clutches, Harriet must find a way to win his heart – and evade the deadly trap of a scheming villain who would see them parted for all time.

After the last Amanda Quick/ Jayne Ann Krentz disaster, The Paid Companion, I swore off her books for all eternity. But this book was highly recommended to me, so I found it in my large heart to give the author another shot.

I surprisingly enjoyed the book. I found it a little similar to Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase – because of the internally tortured, self-despising hero. However, I liked it more than Chase’s book for no other reason than the fact that it “clicked” to me more than the other.

I liked Harriet even though I didn’t care for her passion about fossils and the caves. I liked that she was logical and wasn’t a whimpering too-stupid-to-live heroine (aka Ava Gardner from The Hazards of Hunting a Duke). She was surprisingly all right with the fact that she married after she was found to be in a compromising situation with Gideon. And she was all right with the fact that Gideon didn’t love her – but that they were decent companions – and when she realized that there was a chance she could change Gideon, she strived to do so patiently.

I liked how Gideon was gentle and kind with Harriet, even while trying to get her to do what he wanted her to. And I liked how they were witty with each other.

And while I didn’t care for the looters and the thieves, Quick was able to weave it into the story without me being bored.

Quite a typical story, nothing extra fancy or original, but a nice treat nonetheless.