Whisper of Darkness

by Anne Mather

Joanna didn't know what to expect...

Necessity forced Joanna Seton to accept a position as governess to Jake Sheldon's daughter. She set out for Ravensgarth, his farm in the Lake District, with a determination to make the best of what she found.

What she found was a man whose scarred face reflected his battered life--who had cut himself off from all social contacts. His daughter, too, had suffered. She was a wild, uncontrollable child.

Even though both of them seemed to hate her, Joanna's heart went out to these two survivors of past tragedy!

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary Romance, Romance, Category Romance, Contemporary, M F Romance

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 6, 1985

About the author

Anne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson, a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twenty-year-old heroine Joanna Seton arrives at Ravensgarth, a farm in the Lake District, to accept the position of governess to a young girl. But when she arrives everything isn't what she expected it to be. Hero Jake Seton is angry and disapproves of Joanna, thinking she is too young and inexperienced for the job. His eleven-year-old daughter Anya is dirty, unkempt, and out of control. Joanna wonders what she got herself into...

I really enjoyed this book. Joanna was an outspoken, no-nonsense heroine who eventually got through to rebellious Anya, although she was a bit harsh at times. I liked how Anya changed from an angry, uncontrollable child to an eager to learn young girl. Jake was a moody hero. His face was scarred from a car accident (which killed his wife) and he was very sensitive about his looks. He was surly, bitter, angry, and didn't socialize much. Joanna gets him to eventually come out of his shell. Jake thought he was too old for Joanna (he was thirty-nine) so he was frustrated with his attraction to her and tried to resist her. I thought they made a good couple. Joanna seemed mature for her age.

Another wonderful read by Anne Mather. I enjoyed the Ravensgarth, Lake District setting.

[Naksed · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a memorable, hilarious book! Best I have ever read from this author, who normally drives me up the wall with doormat heroines, villains who get no comeuppance and unworthy heroes.

The story begins as our young heroine, clad in 1970s glam consisting of navy suede boots and a wine-red suede overcoat, is dragging her heavy suitcase through a muddy countryside road. Suddenly, she is SHOT at by a rifle-wielding eleven year old demon spawn from hell, who is accompanied by her unapologetic, broody, scarred father. These are the lovely people she has been engaged to work for as a live-in governess.

Add to that a hygiene-challenged old dragon of a housekeeper, a handyman who gets blackout drunk every lunar cycle, hostile villagers, deadbeat parents, and a pretty boy next door neighbor who stands no chance, and you've got yourself one hell of a story!

Our heroine has a backbone of steel, a tongue like a ginsu knife and an itch that she needs the hero to scratch very badly. LOL. For an author who always writes painful, forced seduction scenes by rapey heroes shaking and bruising little bird-brained dolls, it was a hoot to see the virginal heroine take charge and jump the hero's bones!

I loved every bit of this. It was such a welcome surprise, my first decent read of 2020.

[Anne E ♡ emo + OTT Hs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5-star

39yo scarred & reclusive former-engineer H hires 20yo newly-impoverished society-girl virgin h to be the new nanny-tutor of his 11yo impertinent & wild child. h doesn't passively take his daughter's sneaky antics to get her fired like her 3 previous live-in nanny-tutors. And H isn't happy about her meddling into their messy & unhappy home. But he needs her to stay for his daughter.

MEH or the BAD:
Didn't match my expectation of darkness & mystery, based on the book's title. Slow start but better pacing/rom dev/ S tension/char after 30% but overall meh until 90%. Probably due to H's 11yo daughter playing a big part in the book. H's daughter often served as the bridge between H&h as well as serving as the distraction H needed to break the emotional-sexual tension between him & h during their occasional private moments together.

The GOOD:
Mather's skilled writing brought needed angst & ratcheting up the S tension & romance @ 90% when H came for h who he fired & sent back to London 10 days prior. Liked h's impertinence & frankness which fit her society-girl background and which was what was needed to shock depressed H out of his reclusive insecurity re: his scarred face from the car accident which killed his wife (who he was divorcing since she found another man) 2 years ago. I don't usually like the h doing the chasing but it was ok & fitting here since H was so avoidant due to his scars. And she only initiated here & there to get a rise out of him, which often worked. He'd then expose his passion & possessiveness towards her. H was broody & avoidant of h due to her age/her job as his daughter's governess/his belief that no woman would find his scarred face attractive. And added some mystery to the book. Liked the epilogue 9 months later with H&h happily married & smexxing it up (although no details & just general info). They're now living in London while planning to possibly move back to H's country house when he freelances with his engineer job & h is preggo & H's daughter is better adjusted in school.

Sexual History:
virgin h dated & kissed other men who she partied with but no one serious. H was married to his 1st wife (who had a 9yo son from her 1st marriage) for about 10 years before she died in the car accident where she was driving recklessly while H & their daughter were passengers. H's 1st wife was divorcing H at that point for a richer man & she was willing to abandon their daughter to please her new BF's no-children marriage condition. H was celibate since the accident 2 years ago.

[Azet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this yesterday but forgot to add and Review it on Goodreads.

This was a Lovely surprise!

I just love romances by Anne Mather."Whisper of Darkness" is another keeper by her where Joanna Seton takes on a job as a governess to the daughter of Jake Sheldon,the scarred master of Ravengarth.It felt gothic from the start,the introduction and Joannas first precence in Ravengarth was greatly written.I love how she slowly wins the trust of Anya and wins the heart of the notorious hero,despite his brooding demeanour.The heroine in this one has a mind of steel and are brave enough to go after her heart.
I love the ending where they finally speak honestly about their feelings,and how Jake opens up about his insecurities and declares how he loves her.We also get a nice epiluge with the pregnant Joanna kissing her husband,planning another honeymoon after the birth of their child.

[JillyB · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely my 2nd time reading this, but it was obviously before I joined Goodreads so there was no record of me reading it. I really loved this story. It has a whole Beauty and the Beast, Jane Eyre, Edgar Allen Poe, Sound of Music vibe to it. I think this story would appeal to non fans of Anne Mather as well. It has a different feel to it.

This booked checked off some of my personal favorites, there was a May/December romance, scarred hero, a strong heroine, and some wicked banter.

Heroine: Joanna is a 2o year old virgin who should be married off to a local squire and live the life of a socialite chairing committees all while being a mother to an heir and a spare…..Her gambling father ruined that when he died. He left his widow and daughter bankrupt and they lost their standing in polite society. Joanna wasn’t much of an academic, and the only thing she could put on her cv is that she attended a nice finishing in school in Switzerland. Needless to say no one was hiring her with her current credentials. Her aunt got her a gig as a governess and this is where our story begins…cue the gothic music….

She was dropped off by a bus, but this is out in the English country, so she had to lug her suitcase across muddy cobblestones to the gates of RavenGarth. Upon reaching the gates she is accosted by some rag tag urchin shooting a shotgun and warning her off. The urchin is taken in hand by a shadowy man emerging from the dark woods…he beckons the h to follow him to the homestead.

Once inside she takes in the shabby dirty surroundings. She meets the unkempt housekeeper who wastes no time in gossiping about the hero and his daughter.

The gun toting urchin was the 11 year old daughter of the hero. The one she is supposed to be governess to. Let’s just say Anya could take on every single Vontrap child with her hands tied behind her back. She has gotten rid of 3 previous governesses and she takes one look at the cultured h and figures she will make short work of her as well.

However, our heroine dressed in matching suede and corduroy is made of tougher stock. She has no qualms with speaking her opinion, and she gives the the gutter snipe quite the tongue lashing. The damaged, 39 year old scarred hero is appalled yet intrigued by this brash young woman. I’m pretty sure he realizes that this woman is the storm he has been trying to protect himself from.

Hero, Jake was involved in a car accident which took the life of his wife. He left the car wreck with physical facial scars and psychosomatic brain injury which ruined his ability to be the next Steve Jobs! He left London to hide himself away in a drafty estate with broken furniture and a housekeeper who serves subpar food while allowing the dirt to pile up. He keeps to himself and doesn't mingle with the locals. He keeps his life private and doesn’t want the pitying stares of others.

Of course our h doesn’t see the scars and starts feeling a pull to the H right away. She is responsible for the early dismissal of the housekeeper and She learns how to navigate the damaged psyche of the little girl Anya breaking through the child’s tough shell. She tries to work her same sorcery on the H, but his self preservation skills are award winning. He keeps pushing her away(at least when he is not pulling her to him). The h does her best seduction skills on the quickly dissolving resolve of the H, until his daughter awakes to him carrying the h up the stairs. Children, the ultimate mood killer/blockers. This was too much of a close call for the H so the next morning he sends the ott in love h away, claiming that yes sexually she is alluring, but he isn’t into little girls trying to act like women.

The child runs away to London looking for the h and this brings the H back into her life. When he goes to the h’s apartment to get his daughter and reiterate to the h that he is still not interested things get heated up….the child awakes with a bad dream. He and the h comfort her, tell her to have sweet dreams. Refusing to be c### blocked again they give into their passions and there is a nice little epilogue almost a year later.

I have left out lots of details. There is an om wannabe. The H’s sister makes an appearance in the story and was somewhat instrumental in bringing the h to him(which made him suspicious) There is some beautiful writing in this story, and some great banter between the characters. The child is not just a toss away character. Her presence in the story is needed. As far as the dead wife goes, no worries about her making the h feeling 2nd best in the H’s eyes. Her history with the H is covered.

The heroine in this story has some of the best lines. Based on her upbringing, she should be a shrinking violet, but she is smart, strong, and quick with the takedowns.

AM does make reference to Jane Eyre near the end of the book, so it isn’t a coincidence that parallels will be drawn.

[bookjunkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I gave Anne Mathers another chance after being so mad at a couple of her other books. This one was great with a simplified Jane Eyre setup (even acknowledged by the characters- "You're not the Jane Eyre to my Rochester!" But I mean, she totally was...).

So Jake is scarred, physically and mentally, living like a bitter recluse in a gloomy mansion with his wild and undisciplined daughter. Joanna's a posh young woman who goes to be little Anya's new governess. At first Joanna's a bit immature herself, saying rude things to the housekeeper, her boss, AND the child, but she soon adapts and matures into a responsible person. I liked that she wasn't afraid of Jake and not totally gullible to Anya's pranks. She was smart and knew what she wanted.

We never get too many details about his previous marriage and the wife who killed herself, scarring Jake and traumatizing their daughter in the process, but it's not really necessary to the enjoyment of this story. It's pretty basic, when all's said and done, without an excess of baggage or angst, but if you like stories about determined heroines saving bitter scarred men and bonding with out-of-control children, this one's exactly that.

[Grrrrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one from Anne Mather, with a dark and brooding hero, his lonely and rebellious daughter, and the fallen-on-hard-times no-nonsense heroine who comes into their lives as governess to the daughter and straightens them all out. What fun! The scarred and reluctantly attracted hero is no match for the level-headed but smitten heroine who has no intentions of pandering to his hopelessness and sensitivity to his injuries (he is both physically scarred and also thinks he has lost his mental acuity and can no longer function at his old job or with people in general). Our smitten heroine discovers her inner sex kitten and soon breaks through his hard shell to the vulnerable and lonely man within. (Sidenote: it's pretty clear the 20-year-old heroine is a virgin but there's not much agonizing about premarital sex, except from the hero, who thinks he's too old for her and also is trying to keep his distance. It's an interesting contrast to some later 80s books (this one appears to have been published in 1980), and makes me wonder if it's just that Anne Mather, one of Harlequin's powerhouse authors, just got away with an attitude that other authors couldn't or if there was less tolerance toward sexually uninhibited heroines once the Reagan/Thatcher era advanced.)

There's a slovenly housekeeper (who soon gets the axe) and the occasionally drunk handyman, to provide some local color, and a bit of a sense of gothic-lite, in the backwaters of the Lake District. Hero is dark and brooding but not one of Mather's slappy, rapey types (the heroine slaps him and he complains that it hurt!) , and the hero and heroine get the HEA they deserve, as we see in the epilogue set nine months later, with a happy family and a new baby on the way.

[RomLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joanna didn't know what to expect...

Necessity forced Joanna Seton to accept a position as governess to Jake Sheldon's daughter. She set out for Ravensgarth, his farm in the Lake District, with a determination to make the best of what she found.

What she found was a man whose scarred face reflected his battered life--who had cut himself off from all social contacts. His daughter, too, had suffered. She was a wild, uncontrollable child.

Even though both of them seemed to hate her, Joanna's heart went out to these two survivors of past tragedy!

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new about the plotline of this one, really, but the H was distinguished in the level of across-the-board self-doubt he expressed, and the h, who was really straightforward about her desire to have sex with the H. She'll be the strong one in the relationship, but that's the best thing for this h, really, because she'd be miserable with a traditional alpha H.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this novel and although I didn't love it completely I enjoy the characters immensely. The heroine meets the hero to be a governess to his daughter, only for him to fall in love with the heroine. The daughter approves and they have nice background information on tragedy as well.

[Michelle Robinson]

I remember really enjoying this book when I was young. I remember that the father was disfigured or scarred in some manner. I would read this again, if I could find it, if only to see if I still liked it.

[Annarose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joana is a determined strong welled woman who wanted to do the best she could for herself and her mother after the death of her father left both of them in dept. Her godmother found her a job that suited her lack of qualifications as a governess to a little girl called, Antonia Sheldon. She was determined to be successful in her job until she met Jake Sheldon and his daughter in the flesh and examined their living place! Antonia's emotional scars and Jake's facial scar were setbacks against her. In order to get through to both of them, she needed all her wits around her so her heart had to be in her chest and not flattering every time she saw Jake!

To all honesty, the story is typical and painfully predictable. There is nothing of angst and I personally found it unbelievable that the main characters had actually fallen in love. Its writing style if okay, but leaves nothing to be intrigued.

[Radhika Meganathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books of Anne Mather (not all her books are enjoyable!) with a heroine who is not afraid to go after what she wants. Though the nearly 20 year old gap between the main characters and the way the heroine feels the urge (twice) to 'slap' the 11 year child character for being spoilt (fine world we would have, if every spoilt child is punished with slaps and beatings) is quite a turn off (for me), on the whole I enjoyed this story because of the story telling. I like 'Governess' romances and this one has perfected the formula to the T. Will do quite nicely when you are in search of an olden goldie 80's style romance novel.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hero stayed blinded by his own tragedy/trauma for a bit too long, and the child was mostly annoying, but quite endearing all the same.

[Myrna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could be interesting if Anne Mather were more experienced then.

Lovely penniless former lady of leisure agrees to become a governess to a wild child and falls for the child's disfigured father

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

A rather thin category romance by the prolific and beloved British Mills and Boon/Harlequin writer, “Whisper of Darkness” has very faint echoes of “Jane Eyre,” even as its characters joke that their situation is hardly that of the Brontë novel. And they are right: although Mather has a young governess coming to a remote estate to care for the willful child of a brooding, scarred man, there is zero suspense; her heroine Joanna is attractive and knows it; and the hero, Jake, is bad-tempered but not terribly compelling. That the novel was written in 1980 is telling: it displays an almost quaint prurient quality at the idea of unchaperoned women working in a house with an unmarried man, yet in its love scenes, before it fades to black., we get some fairly lurid foreplay, such as rigid lengths of the hero and several moments of breast-touching. It would only be a few years before category romances would get much less sweet. Like many of its cousins, the short length of the genre means that the protagonists fall in love fast and resolve their differences quickly. Although not a clunky writer, Mather gives the sense of someone who’d have been much better had she been able to increase her word count and break out of her formula.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heroine (20) has fallen on hard times after her gambling father dies leaving her mother and herself without funds. Her aunt arranges for her to take a position in a rural location to be governess to a rebellious and over-the-top angry 11 year old girl. The father, our hero (39), is somewhat rude, standoffish and sullen because he's scarred from the accident that killed his wife 2 years before. He is also unable to do the highly intellectual job in micro-computer chip programming that was his former career, as he is supposedly brain damaged.
There's a potential OM farm neighbour that could have been used to create angst, but really once the heroine starts to feel lust for the hero, she's putty in his hands. He fights it off because he is older, scarred, widowed, has a brat for a daughter (who makes positive changes) and because he feels insecure because he can't do his job anymore.
I like it for the heroine as she's forthright and the hero was very lucky to bewitch her with his physical magnetism, because he's a bit of a dull fellow.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hero is no prize. He's traumatized and physically and emotionally scarred from his ex wife who died in a car crash - with hero and his young daughter surviving the accident.

Hero can't concentrate at work any more so he buys a small farm in the Lake District and lives in splendid isolation with a horrible housekeeper, an alcoholic handyman and his feral daughter. Enter heroine who is a lily of the field turned working girl now that her father died leaving only debts. She's traveled from London to be the little girl's governess.

The best part of this story was the heroine who managed the daughter with a skill honed in boarding schools where she had to stick up for herself. Heroine also cooked and cleaned and turned that hovel into a home of sorts.

Hero didn't appear to appreciate any of it, but we're told in the last chapter tha he did. Okay, then.

I don't care about hero, but heroine and hero's daughter are happy at the end and that's enough for me.

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Whisper of Darkness" is the story of Joanne and Jake.

Oh such a wonderful read- and the exact reason I love old school romances!

Our heroine is broke, and accepts a job in a remote village as a governess. She is to help the unruly child to ex engineer hero, who is a scarred recluse since an accident left him widowed. There is some friction with the child, but eventually the heroine wins her over. However, her biggest tussle is with this broken man, who seems to be afraid to open his heart, despite the heroine loving him.

Oh what a resilient heroine! All the characters were likable. The hero defends the heroine against the unruly housekeeper, there are many scenes of the heroine and daughter connecting, we see their attraction blooming, loads of angst and pushing away leading to a heartfelt confession and a bred HEA.

I loved it!

Safe
4.5/5

[Lucimar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake, um viúvo com problemas de autoestima por conta de um acidente que o deixou com sequelas: sem condições de realizar o trabalho que antes realizava, se isola e por isso se fechou em copas, se enterrando em uma cidade para esconder-se junto com uma filha rebelde - pois achava que seu rosto desfigurado afastava as pessoas e por não se relacionar com os vizinhos, se tornou um solitário, porém ao contratar uma professora particular (Joanna) para filha rebelde, e suas vidas vão mudar com a chegada dela, que fará tudo através do amor para que ele a filha se recuperem das consequências do que acontecera com ele. Joanna se apaixona por Jake, porém ele se recusa a entregar-se a essa paixão por se achar velho demais para ela. Mas, Joanna é uma batalhadora que não entrega os pontos e vai lutar por esse amor.
Uma boa leitura, um pouco aquém do desejado.

[Mafe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me decepciono este libro la verdad esperaba mas, me parecieron muy inmaduros e indecisos los protagonistas.

No senti la quimica entre Joanna y Jake. Ademas teniendo en cuenta que ella era la empleada de el, la percibi como muy altanera e irrespetuosa.

Calificación final: 3 Estrellas ⭐

[SassyLeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great old school, strong characters and a decent amount of drama!!

[Vali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it when the oldies get to have an epilogue!

[Manga · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read