Sandra is the exquisite only daughter of Lord Blackstone. When a stepmother's hatred forces her to flee her beloved home, Sandra becomes companion to the celebrated Countess of Kyle. The boldest day-dreams of this country beauty are surpassed when romance blooms. Only a blackmailing Beau and a seductive Russian princess stand between Sandra and absolute ecstasy...
Born in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales. Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade. Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all. Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
The very lovely heroine takes the job of a companion to a dowager countess, because her step mother is very jealous of the heroine’s looks, and thus constantly abuses her.
The Hero is an Earl the grandson of the dowager countess. Although he and the heroine are attracted to each other, he is married so cannot offer her any kind of life.
There are some angsty moments between the two as they are in a dilemma, but thankfully, the heroine ferets out a list from one of the french villains. Whenhe is caught he confesses that the estranged wife of the Hero died in France 18 months.previously.
Madly envious of her demure stepdaughter’s loveliness, Isobel Fairburn, Lord Blackstone’s new bride, banishes young Sandra to the wilds of Bedfordshire where she is to live a miserable, isolated existence with her aged great-aunt. Desperate to escape this ‘living death’, Sandra secretly flees her home and, securing the post of ‘companion’ to the age-withered and cantankerous Dowager Countess of Kyle, soon finds herself amidst the glamorous Beau Monde in Brighton. Here Sandra meets the handsome Earl of Kyle and initially despises him for his cynical and sarcastic manner – but before long she finds that there’s more to him than meets the eye. But no sooner has love begun to grow timidly in her heart, than her hopes are dashed when she finds he is already married to a French woman. Worse still, she hears of a sinister plot to extort money from her ‘Knight of Chivalry’ but what can she do? And how will she ever find a match for this man beyond compare?
I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Barbara Cartland is an amazing author incorporating an unforgettable story with amazing characters.