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Crystal Heart
The reigning belle of London's high-society, Lady Lettice Kenton swears she will never give her heart to any man, but when she must flee England for the Colonies, she falls into the arms of rebel Charles Murdock. Reprint.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
Lisa Gregory
16 books34 followersPseudonym of Candace Camp
Candace Pauline Camp was born on May 23, 1949 in Amarillo, Texas, U.S.A.. The youngest of three children born into a newspaper family -- her mother, Lula Mae (Irons) Camp, had been a reporter and her father, Grady Camp, was the business manager of the Amarillo, Texas, newspaper -- some of Candace's earliest memories are of making up stories which she played out on the floor of their den with whatever objects were handy. She cannot remember a time when she was not interested in creating stories. She began writing down her stories when she was about 10, and from then on writing was her favorite form of relaxation. Explains Candace: "I was always very shy and did not talk much. However, in written form, I could express all my thoughts and feelings."
Writing remained only a hobby, though, as Candace attended college at the University of Texas at Austin and West Texas State University, then became a secondary teacher in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. She later moved to North Carolina, where she worked in the trust department of a bank. It was there that she discovered the romance novel in modern form and started to write her first romance. She also began law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and while she was there, she finished her first novel, entitled Bonds of Love, that was published by Jove Publishing in 1978, under the pseudonym Lisa Gregory. Candace credits the rigorous training of law school with teaching her the discipline necessary to finish a book. She gave up the practice of law to devote her time to writing. Two pseudonyms later (Kristin James and Sharon Stephens), Candace writes under her own name Candace Camp-- and still loves creating stories.
Candace is married since 1980 with Pete Hopcus, and they had a daughter Anastasia Hopcus in 1982, who had started on her own career path in the field of acting and now also writes young adult novels.
Candace Pauline Camp was born on May 23, 1949 in Amarillo, Texas, U.S.A.. The youngest of three children born into a newspaper family -- her mother, Lula Mae (Irons) Camp, had been a reporter and her father, Grady Camp, was the business manager of the Amarillo, Texas, newspaper -- some of Candace's earliest memories are of making up stories which she played out on the floor of their den with whatever objects were handy. She cannot remember a time when she was not interested in creating stories. She began writing down her stories when she was about 10, and from then on writing was her favorite form of relaxation. Explains Candace: "I was always very shy and did not talk much. However, in written form, I could express all my thoughts and feelings."
Writing remained only a hobby, though, as Candace attended college at the University of Texas at Austin and West Texas State University, then became a secondary teacher in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. She later moved to North Carolina, where she worked in the trust department of a bank. It was there that she discovered the romance novel in modern form and started to write her first romance. She also began law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and while she was there, she finished her first novel, entitled Bonds of Love, that was published by Jove Publishing in 1978, under the pseudonym Lisa Gregory. Candace credits the rigorous training of law school with teaching her the discipline necessary to finish a book. She gave up the practice of law to devote her time to writing. Two pseudonyms later (Kristin James and Sharon Stephens), Candace writes under her own name Candace Camp-- and still loves creating stories.
Candace is married since 1980 with Pete Hopcus, and they had a daughter Anastasia Hopcus in 1982, who had started on her own career path in the field of acting and now also writes young adult novels.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 1, 2009
Grade: B
Candace Camp has been around for ever, or at least 30 years anyway. I have read a title or two from each decade she has been writing and I have to say that I prefer the very early books she has written as Lisa Gregory the best so far.
As in The Rainbow Season (1979), Camp touches on the heroine’s sense of alienation behind her social mask in Crystal Heart. This is something that I dont see enough of in romances, even when the heroine is supposedly a wallflower, anymore. Lady Lettice is desperately unhappy at the beginning of the book and not just because her husband pimps her out (altho that doesnt help). Her journey to discovering her self-worth is shown in metriculous fashion. This is definitely her story. Charles, in comparison, is a bit of a dullard. He is also fugly so if you’re a reader who like her heroes pretty and slutty, this novel aint for you.
This is also the first romance I have read in a long while set in America during the Revolutionary War. It made for a refreshing change and it wasnt just wallpaper in the second half of the book so I found it fun. However, ugh! I didnt care for that conditional HEA. What a downer after all that Lettice went through. Still, CH was a solidly written book. Camp may never sing opera for me but I am appreciating the steady craftsman writer more in my dotage.
Content warnings: rape (the typical 1980s bodice-ripper overcome-by-passion type), adultery (if you wanna get technical) and a conditional HEA
Plot from Amazon.com: Charles is not an attractive man, nor a wealthy one. He is in England, just before the Revolutionary War breaks out, trying to get Parliament to listen to reason. He lives a simple life in Boston, but has some money and property and his views and opinions are highly respected.
Thrown into the company of the rich and powerful, he first meets Lady Lettice at a party and is mesmerized by her beauty. Lettice is a vain, beautiful woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, knowing no other way to be, knowing no other way to live her life. She hides her unhappiness beneath a caustic, brittle exterior.
Her handsome, immoral husband lives off his gambling and wits. He has been know to settle gambling debts thru the loan of his wife, upon occasion. And, although she hates it, she’s forced to do it. She and her husband long ago stopped any intimacy between them. He hurts her when she isn’t easily persuaded to do as he wants.
Charles is given Lettice to take “home” one night when her husband cannot pay what he has lost in gambling. Charles is appalled. He takes her, but then, disgusted, sends her away without touching her. She and her husband get into an argument later that night when she refuses to do that any more and, to save herself, strikes him with a hard object as he is strangling her. When she has recovered from nearly passing out, she finds blood everywhere. She believes she has killed him. In a panic, she disguises herself as a boy and runs to Charles, who is in a ship’s cabin for his voyage to America the next morning. From there on, it is the story of her huge adjustment to a simpler way of life, without the luxuries she has always known, and her attempts to change. The backdrop to this is the secrecy of the beginnings of the Revolution, which plays a bigger and bigger role in the plot as it develops.
Candace Camp has been around for ever, or at least 30 years anyway. I have read a title or two from each decade she has been writing and I have to say that I prefer the very early books she has written as Lisa Gregory the best so far.
As in The Rainbow Season (1979), Camp touches on the heroine’s sense of alienation behind her social mask in Crystal Heart. This is something that I dont see enough of in romances, even when the heroine is supposedly a wallflower, anymore. Lady Lettice is desperately unhappy at the beginning of the book and not just because her husband pimps her out (altho that doesnt help). Her journey to discovering her self-worth is shown in metriculous fashion. This is definitely her story. Charles, in comparison, is a bit of a dullard. He is also fugly so if you’re a reader who like her heroes pretty and slutty, this novel aint for you.
This is also the first romance I have read in a long while set in America during the Revolutionary War. It made for a refreshing change and it wasnt just wallpaper in the second half of the book so I found it fun. However, ugh! I didnt care for that conditional HEA. What a downer after all that Lettice went through. Still, CH was a solidly written book. Camp may never sing opera for me but I am appreciating the steady craftsman writer more in my dotage.
Content warnings: rape (the typical 1980s bodice-ripper overcome-by-passion type), adultery (if you wanna get technical) and a conditional HEA
Plot from Amazon.com: Charles is not an attractive man, nor a wealthy one. He is in England, just before the Revolutionary War breaks out, trying to get Parliament to listen to reason. He lives a simple life in Boston, but has some money and property and his views and opinions are highly respected.
Thrown into the company of the rich and powerful, he first meets Lady Lettice at a party and is mesmerized by her beauty. Lettice is a vain, beautiful woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, knowing no other way to be, knowing no other way to live her life. She hides her unhappiness beneath a caustic, brittle exterior.
Her handsome, immoral husband lives off his gambling and wits. He has been know to settle gambling debts thru the loan of his wife, upon occasion. And, although she hates it, she’s forced to do it. She and her husband long ago stopped any intimacy between them. He hurts her when she isn’t easily persuaded to do as he wants.
Charles is given Lettice to take “home” one night when her husband cannot pay what he has lost in gambling. Charles is appalled. He takes her, but then, disgusted, sends her away without touching her. She and her husband get into an argument later that night when she refuses to do that any more and, to save herself, strikes him with a hard object as he is strangling her. When she has recovered from nearly passing out, she finds blood everywhere. She believes she has killed him. In a panic, she disguises herself as a boy and runs to Charles, who is in a ship’s cabin for his voyage to America the next morning. From there on, it is the story of her huge adjustment to a simpler way of life, without the luxuries she has always known, and her attempts to change. The backdrop to this is the secrecy of the beginnings of the Revolution, which plays a bigger and bigger role in the plot as it develops.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2019
Inimă de gheață este o carte historical-romance aparte, cu o intrigă deosebită, a cărei acțiune se petrece într-o perioadă istorică extrem de frământată, înainte de războiul de independență american. Dacă în multe alte cărți de acest gen am întâlnit o lume de basm, populată de nobili carismatici, cu baluri, sezoane, ținute extravagante, pasiuni furtunoase și fericire până la adânci bătrâneți, această carte ne arată din plin cealaltă parte a monedei. Autoarea ne prezintă o societate putredă moral, măcinată de vicii și nedreptăți. Nu poți să nu te revolți citind despre condiția femeii din acele vremuri, aceasta fiind folosită adesea fără scrupule ca monedă de schimb fie de propria familie, fie de propriul soț, care ajungea să aibă drepturi depline asupra ei.
Recenzia mea:
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/ini...
Recenzia mea:
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/ini...
March 1, 2009
Grade: B
Candace Camp has been around for ever, or at least 30 years anyway. I have read a title or two from each decade she has been writing and I have to say that I prefer the very early books she has written as Lisa Gregory the best so far.
As in The Rainbow Season (1979), Camp touches on the heroine’s sense of alienation behind her social mask in Crystal Heart. This is something that I dont see enough of in romances, even when the heroine is supposedly a wallflower, anymore. Lady Lettice is desperately unhappy at the beginning of the book and not just because her husband pimps her out (altho that doesnt help). Her journey to discovering her self-worth is shown in metriculous fashion. This is definitely her story. Charles, in comparison, is a bit of a dullard. He is also fugly so if you’re a reader who like her heroes pretty and slutty, this novel aint for you.
This is also the first romance I have read in a long while set in America during the Revolutionary War. It made for a refreshing change and it wasnt just wallpaper in the second half of the book so I found it fun. However, ugh! I didnt care for that conditional HEA. What a downer after all that Lettice went through. Still, CH was a solidly written book. Camp may never sing opera for me but I am appreciating the steady craftsman writer more in my dotage.
Content warnings: rape (the typical 1980s bodice-ripper overcome-by-passion type), adultery (if you wanna get technical) and a conditional HEA
Plot from Amazon.com: Charles is not an attractive man, nor a wealthy one. He is in England, just before the Revolutionary War breaks out, trying to get Parliament to listen to reason. He lives a simple life in Boston, but has some money and property and his views and opinions are highly respected.
Thrown into the company of the rich and powerful, he first meets Lady Lettice at a party and is mesmerized by her beauty. Lettice is a vain, beautiful woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, knowing no other way to be, knowing no other way to live her life. She hides her unhappiness beneath a caustic, brittle exterior.
Her handsome, immoral husband lives off his gambling and wits. He has been know to settle gambling debts thru the loan of his wife, upon occasion. And, although she hates it, she’s forced to do it. She and her husband long ago stopped any intimacy between them. He hurts her when she isn’t easily persuaded to do as he wants.
Charles is given Lettice to take “home” one night when her husband cannot pay what he has lost in gambling. Charles is appalled. He takes her, but then, disgusted, sends her away without touching her. She and her husband get into an argument later that night when she refuses to do that any more and, to save herself, strikes him with a hard object as he is strangling her. When she has recovered from nearly passing out, she finds blood everywhere. She believes she has killed him. In a panic, she disguises herself as a boy and runs to Charles, who is in a ship’s cabin for his voyage to America the next morning. From there on, it is the story of her huge adjustment to a simpler way of life, without the luxuries she has always known, and her attempts to change. The backdrop to this is the secrecy of the beginnings of the Revolution, which plays a bigger and bigger role in the plot as it develops.
Candace Camp has been around for ever, or at least 30 years anyway. I have read a title or two from each decade she has been writing and I have to say that I prefer the very early books she has written as Lisa Gregory the best so far.
As in The Rainbow Season (1979), Camp touches on the heroine’s sense of alienation behind her social mask in Crystal Heart. This is something that I dont see enough of in romances, even when the heroine is supposedly a wallflower, anymore. Lady Lettice is desperately unhappy at the beginning of the book and not just because her husband pimps her out (altho that doesnt help). Her journey to discovering her self-worth is shown in metriculous fashion. This is definitely her story. Charles, in comparison, is a bit of a dullard. He is also fugly so if you’re a reader who like her heroes pretty and slutty, this novel aint for you.
This is also the first romance I have read in a long while set in America during the Revolutionary War. It made for a refreshing change and it wasnt just wallpaper in the second half of the book so I found it fun. However, ugh! I didnt care for that conditional HEA. What a downer after all that Lettice went through. Still, CH was a solidly written book. Camp may never sing opera for me but I am appreciating the steady craftsman writer more in my dotage.
Content warnings: rape (the typical 1980s bodice-ripper overcome-by-passion type), adultery (if you wanna get technical) and a conditional HEA
Plot from Amazon.com: Charles is not an attractive man, nor a wealthy one. He is in England, just before the Revolutionary War breaks out, trying to get Parliament to listen to reason. He lives a simple life in Boston, but has some money and property and his views and opinions are highly respected.
Thrown into the company of the rich and powerful, he first meets Lady Lettice at a party and is mesmerized by her beauty. Lettice is a vain, beautiful woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, knowing no other way to be, knowing no other way to live her life. She hides her unhappiness beneath a caustic, brittle exterior.
Her handsome, immoral husband lives off his gambling and wits. He has been know to settle gambling debts thru the loan of his wife, upon occasion. And, although she hates it, she’s forced to do it. She and her husband long ago stopped any intimacy between them. He hurts her when she isn’t easily persuaded to do as he wants.
Charles is given Lettice to take “home” one night when her husband cannot pay what he has lost in gambling. Charles is appalled. He takes her, but then, disgusted, sends her away without touching her. She and her husband get into an argument later that night when she refuses to do that any more and, to save herself, strikes him with a hard object as he is strangling her. When she has recovered from nearly passing out, she finds blood everywhere. She believes she has killed him. In a panic, she disguises herself as a boy and runs to Charles, who is in a ship’s cabin for his voyage to America the next morning. From there on, it is the story of her huge adjustment to a simpler way of life, without the luxuries she has always known, and her attempts to change. The backdrop to this is the secrecy of the beginnings of the Revolution, which plays a bigger and bigger role in the plot as it develops.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2015
Me gustó la evolución de Lettice; de frívola mezquina a damisela sedienta de afecto y comprometida con la causa de los colonos del Nuevo Mundo. También ha resultado novedoso que el galán en cuestión sea feo a rabiar (o eso se repetía en la narración cada vez que surgía la ocasión) que conste que en mi mente me he negado a pintarlo como el chimpancé que describían en algunos párrafos. Me limité a otorgarle un rostro no excepcionalmente atractivo, del tipo Liam Neeson por lo menos jejeje
Lo peor? Bajo mi cirterio personal, el corte tajante que derivó en el final. Demasiado brusco y precipitado para mi gusto.
Lo peor? Bajo mi cirterio personal, el corte tajante que derivó en el final. Demasiado brusco y precipitado para mi gusto.
March 26, 2022
3.5, I'm rating this up one because considering the year it was published, and the type of long-winded novels that were being written then, along with the time-period of the setting, this could have easily been 150-175 pages longer, made up of details and filler material that I don't care about. This book was simplistic with regard to the history thrown in (sometime after the Boston Tea Party), and it was appreciated.
May 21, 2014
Una maravilla de libro con un personaje masculino que no suelo ver. Un hombre feo en apariencia, pero resuelto, comprometido y amable.
Esta vez, comprobar la evolución de una protagonista me ha parecido real y consecuente.
No digo más para no cargarlo de spoliers.
Lo recomiendo al 100%.
Esta vez, comprobar la evolución de una protagonista me ha parecido real y consecuente.
No digo más para no cargarlo de spoliers.
Lo recomiendo al 100%.
May 24, 2024
Usually when I start reading a book and I feel that I don't particularly like the main character I stop reading, but in this case, I made an exception, and I'm glad I did! At first, the h didn't appeal to me, and her whole lifestyle just seemed so sleazy, but then it becomes clear it was hardly her fault, she was a victim of circumstances (or more to the point, the marriage from HELL!) I guess her husband can be called the OM in the story, but piece of crap was more like it!
The h goes through a real transformation, one very much for the better, after the H comes into her life. He's not the typical H either, because this is no wealthy, handsome, sophisticated man that leaves the women swooning. He doesn't have the usual "bad boy" past, either. but if you're disappointed at first, don't let that stop you from reading on, because I think you'll change your mind.
One of the things I really liked was the time setting of the novel, as I LOVE Revolutionary War stories, and I also love the way the h goes from a jaded member of the British aristocracy to an ardent patriot, who supports the rebels wholeheartedly. She uses her unfortunate situation with her husband to her advantage and helps the cause she's grown to admire, and which means so much to the man she's grown to love.
That's all I'll say, because I don't want to give away and details. I'll just recommend you read this, and I doubt you'll be sorry if you do!
The h goes through a real transformation, one very much for the better, after the H comes into her life. He's not the typical H either, because this is no wealthy, handsome, sophisticated man that leaves the women swooning. He doesn't have the usual "bad boy" past, either. but if you're disappointed at first, don't let that stop you from reading on, because I think you'll change your mind.
One of the things I really liked was the time setting of the novel, as I LOVE Revolutionary War stories, and I also love the way the h goes from a jaded member of the British aristocracy to an ardent patriot, who supports the rebels wholeheartedly. She uses her unfortunate situation with her husband to her advantage and helps the cause she's grown to admire, and which means so much to the man she's grown to love.
That's all I'll say, because I don't want to give away and details. I'll just recommend you read this, and I doubt you'll be sorry if you do!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews