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V #6
Violet
From the extraordinary pen of Jane Feather, nationally bestselling author of Valentine, comes a bewitching tale of a beautiful bandit who's waging a dangerous game of vengeance--and betting everything on love...
She was a bandit known as La Violette, and she had fallen into the hands of the French. Now it was Julian St. Simon's assignment to rescue her -- then force her to reveal the strategic military secrets only she knew. But Tamsyn was no timid flower. Beneath her deceptively fragile beauty was a spirited young woman who would give Julian what he wanted -- for a price. Soon the handsome officer is trapped into taking Tamsyn back with him to England and turning her into a proper lady. It's a mission more dangerous than he knows... as Tamsyn, exchanging rifle and bandolier for the sensuous glide of silk, plots a vengeance that could threaten both of their lives and his well-guarded heart.
She was a bandit known as La Violette, and she had fallen into the hands of the French. Now it was Julian St. Simon's assignment to rescue her -- then force her to reveal the strategic military secrets only she knew. But Tamsyn was no timid flower. Beneath her deceptively fragile beauty was a spirited young woman who would give Julian what he wanted -- for a price. Soon the handsome officer is trapped into taking Tamsyn back with him to England and turning her into a proper lady. It's a mission more dangerous than he knows... as Tamsyn, exchanging rifle and bandolier for the sensuous glide of silk, plots a vengeance that could threaten both of their lives and his well-guarded heart.
496 pages, Paperback
First published June 9, 1995
56 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
Jane Feather
171 books631 followersJane Feather (born Jane Robotham) is a popular British–American writer of historical romance novels. In 1984 she wrote five contemporary romances under the pseudonym Claudia Bishop. She is a New York Times-bestselling, award–winning writer, and has more than ten million romance novels in print.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 16, 2020
Violet is an infamous brigand who haunts the roads and passes during the Peninsular War.
Violet aka Tamsyn deals with a young women in the Spanish hills, daughter of a kidnapped English woman named Wellington and a Spanish highwayman known as The Baron. The brother of the woman paid to have his sister kidnapped, intending to rid himself of her independent ways that threatened his plans for the future. Wellington is tortured for information she possesses about the difficult terrain of the region and the partisans, with whom she has alliances. This would give the French an unacceptable advantage, so Wellington dispatches Colonel Julian St. Simon to rescue her and bring her to Elvas, where he instead will gain her secrets. St. Simon arrives in the nick of time to prevent torture, but then when she wants to rescue a compatriot who was also captured, he forcibly drags her off.
Violet has been captured by the French, and Colonel, Lord St. Simon, has come to rescue her and deliver her to Admiral Lord Nelson, as she has secrets of mountain trails and access to partisans who would be willing to work with the English to defeat Napoleon's forces. Her price for her services?
What I did not like is the relationship between Julian aka Lord St. Simon and Violet they do find attraction between each other but he rapes her in essence when they have sex. Even though she is attracted to him he did do that. It gave me an icky feeling and made me not like Julian at all.
Violet aka Tamsyn deals with a young women in the Spanish hills, daughter of a kidnapped English woman named Wellington and a Spanish highwayman known as The Baron. The brother of the woman paid to have his sister kidnapped, intending to rid himself of her independent ways that threatened his plans for the future. Wellington is tortured for information she possesses about the difficult terrain of the region and the partisans, with whom she has alliances. This would give the French an unacceptable advantage, so Wellington dispatches Colonel Julian St. Simon to rescue her and bring her to Elvas, where he instead will gain her secrets. St. Simon arrives in the nick of time to prevent torture, but then when she wants to rescue a compatriot who was also captured, he forcibly drags her off.
Violet has been captured by the French, and Colonel, Lord St. Simon, has come to rescue her and deliver her to Admiral Lord Nelson, as she has secrets of mountain trails and access to partisans who would be willing to work with the English to defeat Napoleon's forces. Her price for her services?
What I did not like is the relationship between Julian aka Lord St. Simon and Violet they do find attraction between each other but he rapes her in essence when they have sex. Even though she is attracted to him he did do that. It gave me an icky feeling and made me not like Julian at all.
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March 6, 201799 cents on 3/6/17
September 20, 2020
VIOLETTE by Jane Feather
Another “blockbuster” historical/romance by the incomparable Ms. Jane Feather.. She delivers like no other author in my opinion.
This story is uniquely Feather! H/h are most unusual passionate and madly in love! The story takes place in various locales but these two lovers make love under any circumstances! I loved them!
VIOLETTE is a mercenary and she bewitches a Colonel with her unusual looks personality and her ingenuity! It is a fast paced plot and keeps your interest as always. I recommend all her books-there is never a bad one!
Another “blockbuster” historical/romance by the incomparable Ms. Jane Feather.. She delivers like no other author in my opinion.
This story is uniquely Feather! H/h are most unusual passionate and madly in love! The story takes place in various locales but these two lovers make love under any circumstances! I loved them!
VIOLETTE is a mercenary and she bewitches a Colonel with her unusual looks personality and her ingenuity! It is a fast paced plot and keeps your interest as always. I recommend all her books-there is never a bad one!
February 19, 2024
I picked this book up at a local book sale because I wanted to give older style romance novels a chance. I now know that 90s romance is a very different breed of book, and I don't think I am a fan. I like the concept of a strong swashbuckling female lead who wears pants in a time when women were expected to be wall flowers, but the lack of consent trope only 2 chapters in was a strong nope for me. I honestly would have stopped reading at that point, but I was on vacation, and it was the only book I had. Things surprisingly picked up the further along I got. Overall, this felt like the concept of a strong female lead from the 80s/90s, super tiny, blonde, gorgeous, tough, smart, able to hold her own in a fight, but feminine enough to still faint at the sight of her own blood. Basically, a strong independent woman who absolutely still needs a man to save her, and I wasn't a fan. On a more positive note, I did appreciate the main character's blunt ability to express what she wanted and not shy away from things because of propriety. This book would have been a fun adventure story if it wasn't also trying too hard to be romance. Very much feels like a product of its time. 2.5/5
August 13, 2017
Rating 3/5
Good book of romance with interesting and many-dimensional characters. Great locations, events and intriguing enough plot.
Good book of romance with interesting and many-dimensional characters. Great locations, events and intriguing enough plot.
December 3, 2021
¿Amor prohibido? ¡Perfección!
September 29, 2022
Love this book . I read it first when I was 17yrs
November 8, 2025
as expected: mid. overhanded with the details in the first half, rushing to finish in the second, bumbling over plot points as she went. but steamy nonetheless!
March 16, 2017
In many ways, this book is very early 90s. It is way too long (taking out all the non-Julian/Tamsyn points of view would have easily eliminated 50 needless pages); Julian is kind of a domineering prig; Tamsyn can be overly precocious; there's certainly some casual sexism going on. But. But this book was still so good? I really liked it. Tamsyn is sexually liberated and open with her desire, and Julian treats her like an equal, never a soiled dove or a trollop or anything but the smart, confident, devious, passionate woman that she is. And what a pair they made. It was a delight reading the pair of them interacting, so much so that I gave no shits about the plodding pace of the book and the lack of any kind of an active plot.
May 26, 2012
In this installment of the "V" series, Feather introduces yet another heroine who lives outside the lines drawn by the strict period culture. Tamsyn, a/k/a La Violette, is an infamous brigand who haunts the roads and passes during the Peninsular War. As the story opens, Wellington learns that she has been captured by the French. No doubt she will. Be tortured for information she possesses about the difficult terrain of the region and the partisans, with whom she has alliances. This would give the French an unacceptable advantage, so Wellington dispatches Colonel Julian St. Simon to rescue her and bring her to Elvas, where he instead will gain her secrets.
St. Simon arrives in the nick of time to prevent torture, but then when she wants to rescue a compatriate who was also captured, he forcibly drags her off. I had a little trouble with her at this point because she puts up a feeble struggle and then gives up. Given that she knows why the English want her, I wondered why she didn't barter, as in, "if you leave my friend behind, I'll never tell you what you want to know." it seemed to me that she gave up her concerns about her friend far too easily,
In any event, Julian drags her off, and keeps her tied up, and pretty much treats her like dirt. And then we wander into my "pet peeve" territory, because while he's treating her like dirt she's attracted to him. At one point he grabs her and kisses her. She melts, then when she comes to her senses she slaps him and asks whether he rapes his prisoners. His answer? He grabs her and forces another kiss on her "just to show her the difference." inevitably, he more or less rapes her (and again she ends up enjoying it--ick), and from then on they are lovers, though from this point on she is the aggressor. Once she learns that he hails from Cornwall, she sees a use for him--he can help to pave the way for a long-awaited vengeance. She finds a way to force him to do her bidding and, even though he felt perfectly justified in holding her prisoner, humiliating and forcing himself on her, he's a real baby about it when the tables are turned. He's also a high stickler, it turns out, and considers himself far above her type, so he's unpleasant that way also, grinding it into her that her mere presence threatens to sully his innocent sister, etc. it was hard to grasp what she saw in him.
Her enemy, the man who is to feel her vengeance, is a thoroughly unpleasant fellow, and a bit one dimensionally evil, as are his creepy twin nephews who like to hurt women. The comeuppance does not go as planned, and that, along with Julian's eventual turnabout, kept
the pages turning to the end, even despite my issues with some elements of the story.
December 28, 2017
letto e riletto, divertente!
October 7, 2012
More Mind Candy I read this many years ago, but like all good mind candy, the memory doesn't linger and it is like reading it for the first time.
Jane Feather wrote a series of books set during the concluding years of the Napoleonic wars. Violet deals with a young woman in the Spanish hills, daughter of a kidnapped English woman and a Spanish highwayman known as The Baron. The brother of the woman paid to have his sister kidnapped, intending to rid himself of her independent ways that threatened his plans for the future.
Violet has been captured by the French, and Colonel, Lord St. Simon, has come to rescue her and deliver her to Admiral Lord Nelson, as she has secrets of mountain trails and access to partisans who would be willing to work with the English to defeat Napoleon's forces. Her price for her services? Violet would have Lord St. Simon take her to England and sponsor her introduction to the "Quality".
Jane Feather wrote a series of books set during the concluding years of the Napoleonic wars. Violet deals with a young woman in the Spanish hills, daughter of a kidnapped English woman and a Spanish highwayman known as The Baron. The brother of the woman paid to have his sister kidnapped, intending to rid himself of her independent ways that threatened his plans for the future.
Violet has been captured by the French, and Colonel, Lord St. Simon, has come to rescue her and deliver her to Admiral Lord Nelson, as she has secrets of mountain trails and access to partisans who would be willing to work with the English to defeat Napoleon's forces. Her price for her services? Violet would have Lord St. Simon take her to England and sponsor her introduction to the "Quality".
December 8, 2014
Not bad but I found the story a little inconsistent. Since this Violet is an infamous bandit, you would expect her to be a real good fighter and good at evasion etc. But this Violet is not much good at anything. So, she doesn't sound like a bandit that the english and the french should fear.
January 30, 2016
A beautifully written love story between Tamsyn and Julian St.Simon set partly in Spain and partly in Cornwall. The characterization of Tamsyn was amazing and the chemistry sizzling, lots of tension yet a very sweet ending.
August 4, 2016
There is a lot to like about this romance novel. Violet is a truly independent woman which is good since she is living in the middle of a war. St. Simon who is sent to deal with her, meets his match. I do think she would have more problems trying to blend in to normal English society.
August 4, 2013
Tamsyn es una protagonista atípica. Julian no es un héroe romántico. 4 ★ porque para ser un libro de mas de quinientas páginas, es una lectura ágil y entretenida.
May 22, 2015
Liked this book the least of all hers I have read.
March 27, 2017
Loved it!!!!
Awesome story. Fascinating characters with depth a plenty!! The twists and turns were so cleverly designed that I couldn't put it down!! Thanks for the ride!!
Awesome story. Fascinating characters with depth a plenty!! The twists and turns were so cleverly designed that I couldn't put it down!! Thanks for the ride!!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews