عروس ابليس

by Violet Winspear, فيوليت وينسبير

Elvi wanted all of Rodari's love.

Elvina Lloyd knew why she'd married Rodari Fortunato: she loved him. She was not at all certain why he had made her his wife.

Nevertheless, he had married her, a quiet little English nurse he scarcely knew, and she ought to have been wildly happy. Rich, aristocratic and passionate, Rodari showered Elvi with everything she could possibly want.

Yet how could she be happy, knowing that while he demanded her love, he loved someone else. His beautiful Camilla had married another man--but that didn't mean Rodari had forgotten her!

Genres: Harlequin Presents, Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Romance

160 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Violet Winspear was a British author renowned for her prolific output of romance novels, publishing seventy titles with Mills & Boon between 1961 and 1987. In 1973, she became a launch author for the Mills & Boon-Harlequin Presents line, known for its more sexually explicit content, alongside Anne Mather and Anne Hampson, two of the most popular and prolific British romance writers of the time. Winspear began writing while working in a factory and became a full-time novelist in 1963, producing her works from her home in South East England, researching exotic settings at her local library. She famously described her heroes as lean, strong, and captivating, “in need of love but capable of breathtaking passion and potency,” a characterization that provoked controversy in 1970 when she stated that her male protagonists were “capable of rape,” leading to considerable public backlash. Her novels are celebrated for their vivid, globe-spanning settings and dramatic tension, often employing sexual antagonism to heighten conflict between the alpha male hero and the heroine, who is frequently portrayed as naïve or overwhelmed by his dominance. Winspear never married or had children, and she passed away in January 1989 after a long battle with cancer, leaving a lasting influence on the romance genre.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shades of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, we have a wealthy, worldly, dominating and arrogant Italian aristo plucking a young, virginal, poor, working class English nurse, on the rebound from a failed love affair with a beautiful, glamorous, but icy and disloyal Contessa. I would have liked it better if the heroine wasn't so damn stupid and down on herself (one of those shy, retiring types who think they are nothing special even as pretty much all the men in the story, including her husband, are falling at her feet like love struck fools). The Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings about him pining away for his last love, or having fathered an illegitimate son before he married the heroine, were too clumsy. No one, except for the stupid heroine, could have fallen for these red herrings, so that the resolution of them were tedious and unsatisfying. Not one of my favorite VWs that's for sure.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet young nurse heroine marries hero cause he pursues her and she falls for him. He treats her well, he buys her things but the only thing Elvina wants is his love. She is afraid he loves someone else, his beautiful ex girlfriend who married another man.

I loved Elvi. She was a shy, insecure young woman whose doubts and fears were legit. Hero was not cruel at all he was very nice and attentive and I liked his jealousy and possessiveness.

[Megzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, it does a good job conveying the emotions of a shy, insecure young married woman. The highlight for me was the scene in the garden, when Elvi met the old Russian ballerina and heard her life story. I really don't know what everyone is talking about the hero being cruel.. I didn't find him cruel and I could see right through him from the very start. Maybe I have been reading too many romances with really nasty guys and in comparison to them he seemed tame.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was interesting. Different but interesting. First off it was an exercise in purple prose. Sort of felt like a gothic romance. All of the descriptions were florid and the heroine was a wimpy ninny. She is a heroine that few are going to enjoy. My goodness she leapt quickly and often to conclusions. She saw her husband have a quick word with a local unmarried mother who he had just saved from suicide. She immediately is convinced that he is the baby's father. She holds on to that throughout the book but never asks him, not even in a round about way. With no particular reason she is convinced he loves yet another OW. She gets so het up about it that she continually turns him away in bed. At least here he doesn't then force her like in many older HPs. And unlike in newer HPs her lady bits don't lead her to sleep with him anyway. She was the master of blowing hot and cold. He basically does everything for her to convince her he loves her except say the actual words and she is just blind to it all. Finally he fesses up and all is well, HEA.

This was an interesting read from an historical standpoint. I liked it as an illustration of changing mores in the romantic fiction genre. At least it wasn't boring. I read it on my continuing quest to read the first 100 numbered HPs. This was number 30. I've got a couple more early VWs so I'm interested to see if they are all written like this. Is this style something she grew out of gradually or was it something she wrote just to try the style out. I've read later books by here that weren't so gothic in feel.

[Leona · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh...she got on my nerves.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rodari married Elvi without knowing her. She was a nurse when he met her. When they were married he took her back to Italy and she struggled to find her place with Rodari.

I kind of liked this book, it was full of jealousy, honesty and sweet innocent passion in many ways. The characters were likable and the plot which was simplistic was absolutely wonderful!

[Bookaddict · Rating 3 out of 5]

This h was annoying in her jumping to conclusions! #30 of first 100.

[Emily Garmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE* The thing to remember is that this is one of those Harlequin Presents Romance novels from the 1970s (in this case, the Harlequin edition was printed in 1973). It's not "good" in the sense of romance novels today. All of these cheap Harlequin Presents romance novels from the late 1960s to the 1970s featured a male protagonist who was two steps away from using physical violence to assert his "authority" over the woman, our heroine. In most cases, he does use verbal and emotional abuse to maintain control.

My opinion: I'm not saying these are "good," and these novels are certainly NOT forward thinking. I have some weird love/hate relationship with them, and that's why I, personally, enjoy reading them. I also think the male characters are nonsensical and generally fantasical. Every male protagonist is a rich, handsome stranger (or former lover) who inevitably whisks our heroine to a foreign country or island to seduce her, willingly or not.

In this particular novel from Violet Winspear, we have our heroine Elvi, an English nurse working in the Alps, swept off her feet by the darkly handsome Italian writer, Rodari Fortunato (isn't this name ridiculous? That's the point!). In a matter of weeks, she has met Rodari and is now married to him. What starts off as a dazedly pleasurable honeymoon for Elvi on Rodari's family estate of the Isle of Fortunato, soon becomes an investigation into Rodari's past life and his past love. Can Elvi fully commit her heart and love to a man whom she suspects is continuing his relationship with his former lover, the ultra chic, aristocratic Camilla?

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evie met Rodari while she was a nurse in England. He marries her and takes her back to his home country. She marries him for love but when she finds out that he married her on rebound their marriage has many bumps in the road. And more to come as the story line evolves. This is a very old book and one I have reread several times. Rodari is a alpha male who does not like to explain himself so this story leads to many misconceptions and secrets that would have comforted her didn't come out till the end of the story.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Elvi and Rodaris love story. However, I wish she hadnt gone off with the OM for the outing that nearly killed her. I really didnt ljke the OM. But the book has got nice gothic and romantic features. I seem to like the older harlequins more because they still have better indepth romances than the present ones.

[Queen I of Book Whore. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The heroine was infuriatingly frustrating I wanted to slap her,she was a depressing doormat,couldn't feel petty cause she got on my nerves. She was written in a very pathetic way which makes it more annoying that book hero worshiped the manipulative asshole hero,his arrogance was not attractive to read,rather showed signs of an abuser.

[Dearangely · Rating 1 out of 5]

السلام عليكم... هذه الكاتبه من افضل الكاتبات با النسبه لي... ولكن هذه الروايه جدا جدا ممله ونصف الروايه ان لم يكم معظمها وساوس وحديث نفس من قبل البطله... كما لم اشعر بأي عاطفه حقيقيه بين الزوجين من خلال الروايه... فقط نعلم ان البطله قبلت بالزواج من البطل لانها وقعت بحبه

[Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another head talking, paranoid heroine with extreme inferiority feeling. Not a love inspiring character at all!

[Rissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really made me cry... like why would you do that to me!!!!???????

[ANGELIA · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay, but the H seemed too hung up on the OW from his past (perhaps as a defense mechanism), and the h was too young and insecure and too ready to believe the worst, like when she meets the daughter of the local tavern owner, an unwed mother, and assumes the H is the baby's father!

She's also too ready to accept the attentions of the OM, the assistant to the designer who's helping her update her wardrobe. The guy makes excuses to put his hands all over her and she seems to like it! Then she agrees to have lunch with him in an out of the way place and go swimming afterward. (The place was by a beach and had swimsuits to rent, though I'm guessing the OM would have preferred swimming nude.) True, she told him at the start that she loved the H, and this was going to be a friendly date nothing more, but knowing this guy's Don Juan rep, did it make sense to trust him? It was obvious he would have loved to get in her panties, and since at this point in time she was unsure about the H's feelings, it did seem like she was playing with fire.

Or in this case, with water, as she ends up nearly drowning! Later, she assures the H it was all innocent fun, like two children! Well, one of those children had blinders on, while the other was
incredibly horny!

I never really felt the love between these two and think it was all kind of silly.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elvi wanted all of Rodari's love.

Elvina Lloyd knew why she'd married Rodari Fortunato: she loved him. She was not at all certain why he had made her his wife.

Nevertheless, he had married her, a quiet little English nurse he scarcely knew, and she ought to have been wildly happy. Rich, aristocratic and passionate, Rodari showered Elvi with everything she could possibly want.

Yet how could she be happy, knowing that while he demanded her love, he loved someone else. His beautiful Camilla had married another man--but that didn't mean Rodari had forgotten her!

[RomLibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elvina Lloyd knew why she'd married Rodari Fortunato: she loved him. She was not at all certain why he had made her his wife.

Nevertheless, he had married her, a quiet little English nurse he scarcely knew, and she ought to have been wildly happy. Rich, aristocratic and passionate, Rodari showered Elvi with everything she could possibly want.

Yet how could she be happy, knowing that while he demanded her love, he loved someone else. His beautiful Camilla had married another man--but that didn't mean Rodari had forgotten her!

[سارة محمد سيف · Rating 2 out of 5]

"الحب ليس وسيلة للسعادة فقط. إنه للعذاب أيضًا، ولتفهم من نهتم بهم. وزواج بلا محن يتخلله الضجر وصيف بلا شتاء يخسر أكثر من نصف جماله"