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Rakehell
A romantic novel set in the days of Jacobean intrigue. Kit Elliot is set upon by highwaymen and ends up a prisoner and then finds himself joining the highwaymen. A young woman by the name of Innocence helps him. A young lady by the name of Judith Burnham gets drawn into Kits orbit and a complex network of intrigue.
- GenresHistorical Romance
184 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1970
2 people want to read
About the author
Anne Rundle
42 books2 followersAnne Lamb Rundle
aka Anne Rundle, Joanne Marshall, Marianne Lamont, Alexandra Manners, Jeanne Sanders, Georgianna Bell
Anne Lamb was born on 1920 in Berwick-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England, UK, daughter of Annie Sanderson and George Manners Lamb, a soldier. She was educated at Army Schools, and attended Berwick High School for Girls. She worked as civil servant on Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1942 to 1950. On 1th October 1949, she married Edwin Charles Rundle, and had one daughter, Anne, and two sons, James and Iain.
When she published her first novel in 1967, she won the Netta Muskett Award for new writers. She won twice the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association for her novels Cat on a Broomstick (1970) and Flower of Silence (1971). In 1974, she was named Daughter of Mark Twain. On 1937, she married Richard Maddocks, who died in 1970. Anne Rundle died on 1989.
aka Anne Rundle, Joanne Marshall, Marianne Lamont, Alexandra Manners, Jeanne Sanders, Georgianna Bell
Anne Lamb was born on 1920 in Berwick-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England, UK, daughter of Annie Sanderson and George Manners Lamb, a soldier. She was educated at Army Schools, and attended Berwick High School for Girls. She worked as civil servant on Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1942 to 1950. On 1th October 1949, she married Edwin Charles Rundle, and had one daughter, Anne, and two sons, James and Iain.
When she published her first novel in 1967, she won the Netta Muskett Award for new writers. She won twice the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association for her novels Cat on a Broomstick (1970) and Flower of Silence (1971). In 1974, she was named Daughter of Mark Twain. On 1937, she married Richard Maddocks, who died in 1970. Anne Rundle died on 1989.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 12, 2022
This was a good highwaymen story set in 17th century England, with plenty of nail-biting suspense, effectively sinister mood, and shocking twists and turns that even this jaded reader did not see coming.
A band of ruthless, bloodthirsty highwaymen and women invade the home of a secluded country gentleman, making it their base for their nightly jaunts robbing the carriages of rich Londoners traveling to and from the capital. One night, a young aristocrat fallen on hard times makes the ballsy mistake of trying to rob the robbers. He is swiftly disarmed, taken prisoner, and the leader of the highwaymen has the choice between making him one of their own or disposing of him. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately for the young prisoner, the leader's doxy, a psycho bitch from hell, takes a liking to him. His life is spared provided he cooperates with their crimes, which he does, half-heartedly, while working behind the scenes on the psycho bitch from hell to see if she will agree to team up with him to take down the highwaymen's leader. Until one day, the niece of the old gentleman whose home they are squatting in, comes to check on her uncle, and she is taken prisoner as well. And it turns out this is the young woman that the hero had thunderously fallen in love with when he had glimpsed at her in Queen Anne's Court one day. He can't help but display his feelings which makes the psycho bitch from hell rage from jealousy. Our hero has to play an intense game of cat and mouse and see if he can finesse himself and his lady love out of this snake's nest with their lives intact.
I wish I could give it a higher rating than 3.5 but I had a pet peeve about how much the hero dithered over the psycho bitch from hell. He had too much sympathy for her and though he kept thinking of her as second best, I feel he was too wishy washy in his feelings between her and his supposed lady love. It's one thing to pretend to like the psycho bitch to manipulate her into doing his bidding but another thing when his internal monologue keeps referencing how beautiful and desirable she is, and even thinking how his lady love's habit of biting her lip reminds him of the way the psycho bitch does it.
4 stars for the suspense aspect of the story, the writing, the ambience, the world building. But I had to deduct 1 star because hero's ambivalent feelings towards the OW marred the romance aspect.
A band of ruthless, bloodthirsty highwaymen and women invade the home of a secluded country gentleman, making it their base for their nightly jaunts robbing the carriages of rich Londoners traveling to and from the capital. One night, a young aristocrat fallen on hard times makes the ballsy mistake of trying to rob the robbers. He is swiftly disarmed, taken prisoner, and the leader of the highwaymen has the choice between making him one of their own or disposing of him. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately for the young prisoner, the leader's doxy, a psycho bitch from hell, takes a liking to him. His life is spared provided he cooperates with their crimes, which he does, half-heartedly, while working behind the scenes on the psycho bitch from hell to see if she will agree to team up with him to take down the highwaymen's leader. Until one day, the niece of the old gentleman whose home they are squatting in, comes to check on her uncle, and she is taken prisoner as well. And it turns out this is the young woman that the hero had thunderously fallen in love with when he had glimpsed at her in Queen Anne's Court one day. He can't help but display his feelings which makes the psycho bitch from hell rage from jealousy. Our hero has to play an intense game of cat and mouse and see if he can finesse himself and his lady love out of this snake's nest with their lives intact.
I wish I could give it a higher rating than 3.5 but I had a pet peeve about how much the hero dithered over the psycho bitch from hell. He had too much sympathy for her and though he kept thinking of her as second best, I feel he was too wishy washy in his feelings between her and his supposed lady love. It's one thing to pretend to like the psycho bitch to manipulate her into doing his bidding but another thing when his internal monologue keeps referencing how beautiful and desirable she is, and even thinking how his lady love's habit of biting her lip reminds him of the way the psycho bitch does it.
4 stars for the suspense aspect of the story, the writing, the ambience, the world building. But I had to deduct 1 star because hero's ambivalent feelings towards the OW marred the romance aspect.
Displaying 1 of 1 review