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King of Spades
Did she love enough to forget the past? Sara Everette was stunned by the suicidal death of her best friend, Maura Penhurst. and she knew who to blame for it. Maura's last letter had told of the heartbreak she had suffered when she was jilted by Armand Romond de Poulain. So when Sara met Armand on a holiday in Monte Carlo, she was determined to seek revenge. But fate turned the tables and somehow she found herself in love with a man she hated!.
- GenresHarlequin Romance
186 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 4, 2021
This is a re-read. First read this more than 20 years ago.
Sara is on vacation, but she is quite sad., she is grieving for her best friend Maura, who committed suicide over a love affair gone wrong. Sara's only brother, who was secretly in love with the friend, is devastated, so leaves the country.
Now Sara is all alone in the resort she is vacationing in. While at the pool, she notices an attractive Frenchman. She notices him again at the dinning room and when she asks the waiter for his name, it's Armand de Poulain. She is shocked, he is the man who broke her friend's heart!!
Later, as she enters the hotel she bumps into Armand and he accidentally steps oh her foot, so insists on accompanying her to her room. He is quite pleasant and charming but Sara is cold since she remembers what he did to her friend. From then on he sends her flowers and pursues her but she repulses him. However, he is persistent so she eventually goes out with him. She suddenly gets the idea of marrying him for revenge as payback for her friend. During the time they are going out Sara enjoys herself and succumbs to his charm but invariably she remembers her friend.
Anyway her plans work, and by this time Armand is head over heels in love with her. He marries her in Paris then they drive to the country to spend their wedding night in the Chateau of his parents. The parents are supposed to be away, but when they arrive, the parents are home. Armand's father has suddenly been taken ill.
They have dinner with his mother and she is so accepting and welcoming to Sara that Sara has pangs of conscience. This doesn't stop her though and when they eventually go to their room, she tells Armand that she only married him for revenge. Armand is devastated but also gets angry he refuses to explain to Sara what happened to her friend. He leaves her and sleeps in the other room.
The next morning at breakfast they continue the charade in front of the mother. Now it seems the father's illness is more grave than originally thought, so Sara agrees to stay with the mother while Armand brings his father to Paris for treatment. While at the chateau, Sara gets closer to Armand's mother and feels even more guilty. Finally, in her guilt and loneliness, she decides to leave, she goes to confront Armand but finds him hunched over in desperation and hopelessness. She is completely overcome and since she has come to terms with her love for him she goes to comfort him. They confess their love for each other and finally have their wedding night. Armand's father recovers enough to come home but Armand has to go abroad on some business so leaves Sara again.
SPOILERS:
While Armand is away, many friends and neighbors come to visit the parents. Among them is a cousin of Armand, Beau. Sara doesn't like Beau since he is a dissolute gambler. Then she finds out he used to work in Paris and he knew her friend Maura. She now suspects she wrongly accused Armand. Then she finds out that Beau's real name is also Armand and now she knows the truth.
When Armand comes home, she feels guilty and runs away to a cottage on the estate to cry. Armand finds her there and she confesses all. He forgives her since he loves her so much. He told her he didn't deny or explain about her friend because he wanted her to love him enough and to trust him in spite of all her misconceptions.
Sara is on vacation, but she is quite sad., she is grieving for her best friend Maura, who committed suicide over a love affair gone wrong. Sara's only brother, who was secretly in love with the friend, is devastated, so leaves the country.
Now Sara is all alone in the resort she is vacationing in. While at the pool, she notices an attractive Frenchman. She notices him again at the dinning room and when she asks the waiter for his name, it's Armand de Poulain. She is shocked, he is the man who broke her friend's heart!!
Later, as she enters the hotel she bumps into Armand and he accidentally steps oh her foot, so insists on accompanying her to her room. He is quite pleasant and charming but Sara is cold since she remembers what he did to her friend. From then on he sends her flowers and pursues her but she repulses him. However, he is persistent so she eventually goes out with him. She suddenly gets the idea of marrying him for revenge as payback for her friend. During the time they are going out Sara enjoys herself and succumbs to his charm but invariably she remembers her friend.
Anyway her plans work, and by this time Armand is head over heels in love with her. He marries her in Paris then they drive to the country to spend their wedding night in the Chateau of his parents. The parents are supposed to be away, but when they arrive, the parents are home. Armand's father has suddenly been taken ill.
They have dinner with his mother and she is so accepting and welcoming to Sara that Sara has pangs of conscience. This doesn't stop her though and when they eventually go to their room, she tells Armand that she only married him for revenge. Armand is devastated but also gets angry he refuses to explain to Sara what happened to her friend. He leaves her and sleeps in the other room.
The next morning at breakfast they continue the charade in front of the mother. Now it seems the father's illness is more grave than originally thought, so Sara agrees to stay with the mother while Armand brings his father to Paris for treatment. While at the chateau, Sara gets closer to Armand's mother and feels even more guilty. Finally, in her guilt and loneliness, she decides to leave, she goes to confront Armand but finds him hunched over in desperation and hopelessness. She is completely overcome and since she has come to terms with her love for him she goes to comfort him. They confess their love for each other and finally have their wedding night. Armand's father recovers enough to come home but Armand has to go abroad on some business so leaves Sara again.
SPOILERS:
While Armand is away, many friends and neighbors come to visit the parents. Among them is a cousin of Armand, Beau. Sara doesn't like Beau since he is a dissolute gambler. Then she finds out he used to work in Paris and he knew her friend Maura. She now suspects she wrongly accused Armand. Then she finds out that Beau's real name is also Armand and now she knows the truth.
When Armand comes home, she feels guilty and runs away to a cottage on the estate to cry. Armand finds her there and she confesses all. He forgives her since he loves her so much. He told her he didn't deny or explain about her friend because he wanted her to love him enough and to trust him in spite of all her misconceptions.
June 26, 2025
If you're hell bent on revenge, at least get your facts straight first! This bat crap h doesn't give a damn about anyone but her weak ass former BFF who killed herself over "love" (yeah, right). So, she sets out to get revenge on the man supposedly responsible (when meanwhile it's his crap cousin who's the real guilty party), sets out to make him fall for her, won't admit that she's fallen for him and actually marries him so she can humiliate and then dump him! Meanwhile, the hurt to his parents would just be collateral damage, of course!
I HATED this woman, and the H should have kicked her sorry butt to the curb, instead of pining away with love for her, like a beta raisin balls!
Skip this mess!
I HATED this woman, and the H should have kicked her sorry butt to the curb, instead of pining away with love for her, like a beta raisin balls!
Skip this mess!
September 16, 2021
A horse, a beautiful mare, dies because of this woman’s actions.
This nasty piece of sh*t woman goes out riding a horse while she is wallowing in self-pity. And in the thunderstorm she rides like crazy and pushing the horse so far over the edge that the horse stumbles and dies.
I can’t remember loathing a h as much as this h.
And her revenge on the H is so shameless that she even is prepared to drag his nice mother into it.
This nasty piece of sh*t woman goes out riding a horse while she is wallowing in self-pity. And in the thunderstorm she rides like crazy and pushing the horse so far over the edge that the horse stumbles and dies.
I can’t remember loathing a h as much as this h.
And her revenge on the H is so shameless that she even is prepared to drag his nice mother into it.
May 28, 2020
This was the Harlequin book cover edition. Mum's copy was the UK Mills and Boon book cover which I much prefer. More glamorous in my view for the backdrop to the story. I loved this story and it has been a keeper in my collection since the 1970s. this was the first Katrina Britt I ever read. It remains a keeper.
SYNOPSIS:
Sara Everette was stunned by the suicidal death of her best friend, Maura Penhurst. and she knew who to blame for it. Maura's last letter had told of the heartbreak she had suffered when she was jilted by Armand Romond de Poulain. So when Sara met Armand on a holiday in Monte Carlo, she was determined to seek revenge. But fate turned the tables and somehow she found herself in love with a man she hated!.
SYNOPSIS:
Sara Everette was stunned by the suicidal death of her best friend, Maura Penhurst. and she knew who to blame for it. Maura's last letter had told of the heartbreak she had suffered when she was jilted by Armand Romond de Poulain. So when Sara met Armand on a holiday in Monte Carlo, she was determined to seek revenge. But fate turned the tables and somehow she found herself in love with a man she hated!.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews