What do you think?
Rate this book
The Basque Swallow
Romance -- or ruse?
Joanna Bellamy was tickled pink to be chaperoning a bevy of nervous, excited mail-order brides to the small European country of Andorra.
The appearance on shipboard of a sinister stranger was the society matron's first inkling that there was more to the trip than met the eye.
Lucien Soileau claimed to be an art dealer, but business wasn't the reason the tall Frenchman with the hooded eyes pursued the brides to the rugged Andorran countryside.
An ocean away from family and friends, Joanna was caught in a viper's nest of danger and deception--and she wasn't sure she could even trust her heart.
Joanna Bellamy was tickled pink to be chaperoning a bevy of nervous, excited mail-order brides to the small European country of Andorra.
The appearance on shipboard of a sinister stranger was the society matron's first inkling that there was more to the trip than met the eye.
Lucien Soileau claimed to be an art dealer, but business wasn't the reason the tall Frenchman with the hooded eyes pursued the brides to the rugged Andorran countryside.
An ocean away from family and friends, Joanna was caught in a viper's nest of danger and deception--and she wasn't sure she could even trust her heart.
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 28, 2018
Last weekend was my library's biannual book sale, which means I got a whole sack of paperbacks for a dollar. They had dozens of old Harlequin Intrigue titles, and if there is one thing I cannot resist, it's nearly forgotten genre fiction from bygone years. So I dusted them off and started my book binge with The Basque Swallow.
If I were to choose one word to sum up this book, it would be "old fashioned." It was written in 1991, but the plot and style felt more like something from 1961. The story concerns Joanna, a divorced woman in her late thirties who decides to add some adventure to her life by accepting a job as a chaperone to a group of "mail order brides" who are traveling from New York to Andorra, because apparently the farmers of Andorra are having problems finding women to marry them. Along the way, she keeps running into Lucien Soileau, a mysterious Frenchman, whom she immediately suspects is up to no good. She tries to warn her boss, and then suspects he is up to no good. Before long, she is caught up in a situation involving stolen artwork and Nazi war criminals.
Some of my thoughts while I was reading:
1. Why would a group of adult women from New York need a chaperone in 1991?
2. Joanna manages to trip and fall nearly every time she is in danger.
3. The bad guy seems more indestructible than the villain in a superhero movie.
4. This romance is so squeaky-clean I'm not sure that Joanna and the hero will even consummate their relationship after their HEA.
For what it is, I did find the book to be reasonably enjoyable. I really liked the Basque setting and Joanna was a good, no nonsense heroine. The author kept having the hero swoop and and save her every time she got in a pickle, but I thought she probably would have figured it out on her own if given a bit more time. In sum: recommended if you find it at a library book sale.
If I were to choose one word to sum up this book, it would be "old fashioned." It was written in 1991, but the plot and style felt more like something from 1961. The story concerns Joanna, a divorced woman in her late thirties who decides to add some adventure to her life by accepting a job as a chaperone to a group of "mail order brides" who are traveling from New York to Andorra, because apparently the farmers of Andorra are having problems finding women to marry them. Along the way, she keeps running into Lucien Soileau, a mysterious Frenchman, whom she immediately suspects is up to no good. She tries to warn her boss, and then suspects he is up to no good. Before long, she is caught up in a situation involving stolen artwork and Nazi war criminals.
Some of my thoughts while I was reading:
1. Why would a group of adult women from New York need a chaperone in 1991?
2. Joanna manages to trip and fall nearly every time she is in danger.
3. The bad guy seems more indestructible than the villain in a superhero movie.
4. This romance is so squeaky-clean I'm not sure that Joanna and the hero will even consummate their relationship after their HEA.
For what it is, I did find the book to be reasonably enjoyable. I really liked the Basque setting and Joanna was a good, no nonsense heroine. The author kept having the hero swoop and and save her every time she got in a pickle, but I thought she probably would have figured it out on her own if given a bit more time. In sum: recommended if you find it at a library book sale.
January 14, 2016
Edition: Harlequin Intrigue, 1991
Source: Borrowed from Library
PoV: 1st Person Narrative
Couple: Joanna Bellamy (an American) and Lucien Soileau (Lucien’s father was Basque, his mother French)
Setting: 1990s - Spain, Andorra, France
Picked up because under-utilized setting piqued my interest.
Recently divorced with twins who are now in college and no longer a partner in her ex-husband’s business, Joanna is at loose ends and answers an advertisement to act as a chaperone for a group of women traveling from the US to Andorra to meet prospective husbands. Joanna is hired by the business man sponsoring the trip and quickly clashes with one of the women—Cheryl—who goes out of her way to be catty and difficult and seems to have some kind of mysterious relationship with Joanna’s employer. Once aboard the cruise ship taking them to Andorra via Spain, Joanna notices Cheryl in heated conversation with a man named Lucien who claims to be an art dealer but is clearly something else. Joanna and Lucien are drawn to one another. Though her intellect tells her that Lucien is a dangerous man, her instincts tell her otherwise. The intrigue that ensues involves murder, looted art treasure, and a Nazi war criminal with ties to Lucien’s own past. At one point, Joanna observes how Lucien is gallant without being chauvinistic. Though Lucien would like to protect Joanna from danger, he respects her decisions and knows better than to keep her away from danger when she is determined. The author credits Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier as influences. However, that comparison perhaps invites unfair expectations for readers who’ve read those authors. The prose, while competent, lacks the thematic or psychological underpinnings found in Stewart and du Maurier and is bland by comparison. I also struggled with the premise of Joanna chaperoning women who are mostly in their 20s and 30s. Personally, I think it would have been more believable if they’d just been tourists rather than prospective brides. The plot lacked the tension that I felt should be there even though the villain manages to escape several times. That made the good guys seem incompetent by comparison. The romance was low-key and clean. Joanna decides she’s in love with Lucien by the half-way point. I never felt that invested in their relationship. I waffled between two and three stars for this, but will round up for the under-utilized setting. The author had some good ideas, but the execution lacked that something special IMO.
Source: Borrowed from Library
PoV: 1st Person Narrative
Couple: Joanna Bellamy (an American) and Lucien Soileau (Lucien’s father was Basque, his mother French)
Setting: 1990s - Spain, Andorra, France
Picked up because under-utilized setting piqued my interest.
Recently divorced with twins who are now in college and no longer a partner in her ex-husband’s business, Joanna is at loose ends and answers an advertisement to act as a chaperone for a group of women traveling from the US to Andorra to meet prospective husbands. Joanna is hired by the business man sponsoring the trip and quickly clashes with one of the women—Cheryl—who goes out of her way to be catty and difficult and seems to have some kind of mysterious relationship with Joanna’s employer. Once aboard the cruise ship taking them to Andorra via Spain, Joanna notices Cheryl in heated conversation with a man named Lucien who claims to be an art dealer but is clearly something else. Joanna and Lucien are drawn to one another. Though her intellect tells her that Lucien is a dangerous man, her instincts tell her otherwise. The intrigue that ensues involves murder, looted art treasure, and a Nazi war criminal with ties to Lucien’s own past. At one point, Joanna observes how Lucien is gallant without being chauvinistic. Though Lucien would like to protect Joanna from danger, he respects her decisions and knows better than to keep her away from danger when she is determined. The author credits Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier as influences. However, that comparison perhaps invites unfair expectations for readers who’ve read those authors. The prose, while competent, lacks the thematic or psychological underpinnings found in Stewart and du Maurier and is bland by comparison. I also struggled with the premise of Joanna chaperoning women who are mostly in their 20s and 30s. Personally, I think it would have been more believable if they’d just been tourists rather than prospective brides. The plot lacked the tension that I felt should be there even though the villain manages to escape several times. That made the good guys seem incompetent by comparison. The romance was low-key and clean. Joanna decides she’s in love with Lucien by the half-way point. I never felt that invested in their relationship. I waffled between two and three stars for this, but will round up for the under-utilized setting. The author had some good ideas, but the execution lacked that something special IMO.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews