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Dragon Bay

2007-12-12T22:21:38Z

Amarventria:

'''Dragon Bay''' is a brilliantly plotted romance and adventure story, with some major conflicts occurring throughout the book. The heroine is Kara Stephanos, first seen in the "The Honey is Bitter" Winspear novel. In that story she was the juvenile niece of the principal character, a Greek shipping magnate with a strong sense of family and tradition. Here we see Kara's story continued.

Kara's crush on Mikos has blossomed into love, and she is shocked by the marriage of Mikos in America to a beautiful girl from a wealthy family. Domini takes pity on the girl's humiliation in the midst of the family looking on and Paul dispatches a yacht around the Mediterranean and Caribbean to amuse her and she gets over Mikos. The book starts as Kara alights on a small island in the South Pacific.

Kara is young and beautiful but hardly vain and sophisticated. Her family's wealth and power have sheltered her from the worst of society. In the era the book was written, the mid to late sixties, mores are still family oriented and the risque world of the islands cafe society is far from what she wants. Kara's emotional turmoil gives her newfound intellectual clarity, she muses on the name of a man signed in before her in the hotel register, Lucan Savidge. She reflects he's probably a doormat or an accountant.

Kara is not spoiled or mature, and when she wakes up in the bed of a man's bedroom she is forthrightly upset. Furthermore, the man in question is a devil of a man with red hair, a sexy way about him, and a lord on the island society pillar. Kara has walked into the wrong hotel room due to a faulty door number, and the occupant returned and went to bed unknowing she was there. Kara has landed in the bedroom of Lucan Savidge, and the waiter who brings their coffee no doubt spreads the tale throughout the kitchens and staff.

Kara is unready to deal with the situation. The two have breakfast, where the wily man ferrets out Kara's secrets. He is quick and smart, good looking and wilful, but he too has problems on his mind and begs her to have dinner with him. Kara gos to dinner and minds her manners, unwilling to get caught up in any other type of bond. Lucan challenges her to enjoy the island for the time being. Before long they have an uneasy truce.

Lucan is working toward an end. Later Kara realizes that Lucan knows their spending time together will be talked about. When a woman at a island function makes innuendos about telling Paul about Domini's affair with a notorious womanizer like Savidge, she is rumbled. Lucan knows Kara's infatuation with Mikos has kept her sheltered from knowing much about men and their dating habits. Lucan is more aware. one night out a fortune teller sees Lucan in her future, a red haired man who will bring her pain. When the bitchy woman, jealous of Lucan;s attention to kara, speaks to her, she implies a juicy scandal is on the horizon for the Stephanos family. The backstabber slashes at Kara, and her newfound pride dissolves.

Lucan learns of the threat and abrubtly offers marriage. Kara is startled but sees into the escape from her close knit family life where the tragedy of Miko's loss will be reiterated over and over again. Lucan waxes about the fabulous plantation estate he lives at, Dragon Bay. he talks about his twin brother Pryde. Lucan too has ghosts and they marry in a quiet ceremony designed to stave off cruel gossip and embarassment for Kara and her family. Just the purchase of her wedding dress makes eyebrows rise due to Lucan's supposed reputation.

Kara's Aunt Sophula is Miko's mother, and the plague of reminders at the Stephanos compund would never end.
The boat trip up the river to Dragon Bay spares Kara the duties of a wedded woman. Lucan wants her but keeps aloof. Kara soon learns why. Arriving at the stunning picturesque mansion on the lip of Dragon Bay, she sees that family and tradition have also roped Lucan into strange choices. Kara is stunned to realize that Pryde is confined to a wheelchair but emanates an erotic dread she canot cope with. There is also a sister and a child who belongs to the famiy.

Winspear weaves a brilliant structure of two halves of the whole. Pryde is the real villain, who dominates everything from his handicaped position. Pity and sympathy make Lucan a slave to his brother's wishes. Kara learns Pryde suffered his injuries long ago after challenging Lucan to an uphill climb. Kara learns that Lucan's mother pitted the twins against each other, enjoying their rivalry and deliberately focusing on Pryde as the elder son.

Lucan's sister is a mystery. She lives at Dragon Bay, whule being pursued by the family lawyer. The child, Rue, is obviously of the same red hair and complexion of the family, and many accept her for an offspring who found its way home. Kara learns in time that Pryde has managed Lucan into a reputation for being a rake he doesn't deserve to manipulate him into marriage to give Dragon Bay an heir. Kara and Lucan fence and feint in this maelstrom of image, drama, family tensions, and attraction.

Mysterious legends have sprung up about the tobacco and cane fields the estate yields. A voodoo woman tends Pryde ad Lord of the Manor. Lucan works like a field hand and Pryde watches Kara with desire. Kara herself is now trapped in a marriage with a tormented stranger who cannot let her in. Kara connects with Rue, remembering what it's like to exists in a family with so much at stake. Lucan gives Kara an ultimatum: bear a child or leave Dragon Bay. She is not ready to do either.

Mysterious "accidents" begin to occur around Dragon Bay. The book take a Gothic turn when Lucan's sister shies away from realizing true love. Kara also realizes Pryde's command sand wishes control Dragon Bay. If Pryde wants her, can Lucan say no? Storms pound the cliff where the old house stands on the bay. Lucan detects tension between Kara and Pryde and becomes jealous, angry, and baffled.

Kara's attention to Pryde has an instinctive purpose. Kara discovers that Pryde can walk and has been framing Lucan for fall for some time. Pryde has been nursing the grudge of the lost footrace for years and wants his pound of flesh. The Savidge mania for dramatic extremes comes forth. Lucan was returning from a trip to Paris when he met Kara, after being turned down for marriage. Pryde had pressured the match, knowing model Cecile would never ruin her figure with a baby.

But now Pryde wants Kara, and with Lucan out of the way he can have her. Kara struggles to escape Pryde after she has caught him walking to arrange another "accident". He taunts her with his power and strength, even from the wheelchair. It's a tour de force of character conflict. Pryde is the Savidge "bad boy" Lucan was thought to be. Doesn't she want the real thing?

Lucan saves Kara at the end as storms and eroding soil push the mansion off the cliff of Dragon Bay. Discovering a mutual love in the middle of the tragedy, Kara and Lucan voiw to build a new life of happiness at Dragon Bay. The romance of Mikos and what happens to him shows that they have twin boys and are happy ever after.

***

The Stephanos back story illuminates this book. Kara is an unspoiled woman of good character caught in a romantic infatuation. But without the experience of the Stephanos clan, with their family tradition and close knit love, the story might not be credible. Lucan catches her before disillusionment with life sets in an ruins her.

The plot of the twin brothers, the fantastic estate, and the Winspear trademarked "marriage bind" is also present. This is a highly functional mystery story, because the reader discovers that Lucan has taken the blame for Rue when she is in fact his sister's child. The Pryde plotline neatly waves in why Lucan has such a bad reputaton and why he is so bitter and torn with respect to his family. We see why Lucan is attracted to Kara, why she fits in his world.

Dragon Bay

2007-12-12T22:09:49Z

Amarventria: New page: Dragon bay is a brilliantly plotted romance and adventure story, with some major conflicts occurring throughout the book. The heroine is Kara Stephanos, first seen in the "The Honey is Bit...

Dragon bay is a brilliantly plotted romance and adventure story, with some major conflicts occurring throughout the book. The heroine is Kara Stephanos, first seen in the "The Honey is Bitter" Winspear novel. In that story she was the juvenile niece of the principal character, a Greek shipping magnate with a strong sense of family and tradition. Here we see Kara's story continued.

Kara's crush on Mikos has blossomed into love, and she is shocked by the marriage of Mikos in America to a beautiful girl from a wealthy family. Domini takes pity on the girl's humiliation in the midst of the family looking on and Paul dispatches a yacht around the Mediterranean and Caribbean to amuse her and she gets over Mikos. The book starts as Kara alights on a small island in the South Pacific.

Kara is young and beautiful but hardly vain and sophisticated. Her family's wealth and power have sheltered her from the worst of society. In the era the book was written, the mid to late sixties, mores are still family oriented and the risque world of the islands cafe society is far from what she wants. Kara's emotional turmoil gives her newfound intellectual clarity, she muses on the name of a man signed in before her in the hotel register, Lucan Savidge. She reflects he's probably a doormat or an accountant.

Kars is not spoiled or mature, and when she wakes up in the bed of a man's bedroom she is forthrightly upset. Furthermore, the man in question is a devil of a man with red hair, a sexy way about him, and a lord on the island society pillar. Kara has walked into the wrong hotel room due to a faulty door number, and the occupant returned and went to bed unknowing she was there. Kara has landed in the bedroom of Lucan Savidge, and the waiter who brings their coffee no doubt spreads the tale throughout the kitchens and staff.

Kare is unready to deal with the situation. The two have breakfast, where the wily man ferrets out Kara's secrets. He is quick and smart, good looking and wilful, but he too has problems on his mind and begs her to have dinner with him. Kara gos to dinner and minds her manners, unwilling to get caught up in any other type of bond. Lucan challenges her to enjoy the island for the time being. Before long they have an uneasy truce.

Lucan is working toward an end. Later Kara realizes that Lucan knows their spending time together will be talked about. When a woman at a island function makes innuendos about telling Paul about Domini's affair with a notorious womanizer like Savidge, she is rumbled. Lucan knows Kara's infatuation with Mikos has kept her sheltered from knowing much about men and their dating habits.

Lucan learns of the threat and abrubtly offers marriage. Kara is startled but sees into the escape from her close knit family life where the tragedy of Miko's loss will be reiterated over and over again. Lucan waxes about the fabulous plantation estate he lives at, Dragon Bay. he talks about his twin brother Pryde. lucan too has ghosts and they marry in a quiet ceremony designed to stave off cruel gossip and embarassment for Kara and her family.

The boat trip up the river to Dragon Bay spares Kara the duties of a wedded woman. Lucan wants her but keeps aloof. Kara soon learns why. Arriving at the stunning picturesque mansion on the lip of Dragon Bay, she sees that family and tradition have also roped Lucan into strange choices. Kara is stunned to realize that Pryde is confined to a wheelchair but emanates an erotic dread she canot cope with. There is also a sister and a child who belongs to the famiy.

Winspear weaves a brilliant structure of two halves of the whole. Pryde is the real villain, who dominates everything from his handicaped position. Pity and sympathy make Lucan a slave to his brother's wishes. Kara learns Pryde suffered his injuuries long ago after challenging Lucan to an uphill climb. Kara learns that Lucan's mother pitted the twins against each other, enjoying their rivalry and deliberately focusing on pryde as the elder son.

Lucan's sister is a mystery. She lives at Dragon Bay, whule being pursued by the family lawyer. The child, Rue, is obviously of the same red hair and complexion of the family, and many accept her for an offspring who found its way home. Kara learns in time that Pryde has managed Lucan into a reputation for being a rake he doesn't deserve to manipulate him into marriage to give Dragon Bay an heir. Kara and Lucan fence and feint in this malestrom if image, family tensions, and attraction.

Mysterious legends have sprung up about the tobacco and cane fields the estate yields. A voodoo woman tends Pryde and he watches Kara with desire. Kara herself is now trapped ina marriage with a tormented stranger who cannot let her in. Kara connects with Rue, remembering what it's like to exists in a family with so much at stake. Ultimately Lucan gives Kara an ultimatum: bear a child or leave Dragon Bay. She is not ready to do either. Mysterious "accidents" begin to occur around Dragon Bay.

Kara discovers that Pryde can walk and has been framing Lucan for fall for some time. Pryde has been nursing the lost footrace for years and wants his pound of flesh. The Savidge mania for dramatic extremes comes forth. Lucan was returning from a trip to Paris when he met Kara, after being turned down for marriage. Pryde pressured the match, knowing model Cecile would never ruin her figure with a baby.

But now Pryde wants Kara, and with Lucan out of the way he can have her. Kara struggles to escape Pryde after she has caught him walking to arrange another "accident". He taunts her with his power and strength, even from the wheelchair. It's a tour de force of character conflict. Pryde is the Savidge "bad boy" Lucan was thought to be. Doesn't she want the real thing?

Lucan saves Kara at the end as storms and eroding soil push the mansion off the cliff of Dragon Bay. Discovering a mutual love in the middle of the tragedy, Kara and Lucan voiw to build a new life of happiness at Dragon Bay. The romance of Mikos and what happens to him shows that they have twin boys and are happy ever after.

***

The Stephanos back story illuminates this book. Kara is an unspoiled woman of good character caught in a romantic infatuation. But without the experience of the Stephanos clan, with their family tradition and close knit love, the story might not be credible. Lucan catches her before disillusionment with life sets in an ruins her.

The plot of the twin brothers, the fantastic estate, and the Winspear trademarked "marriage bind" is also present. This is a highly functional mystery story, because the reader discovers that Lucan has taken the blame for Rue when she is in fact his sister's child. The Pryde plotline neatly waves in why Lucan has such a bad reputaton and why he is so bitter and torn with respect to his family. We see why Lucan is attracted to Kara, why she fits in his world.

The Noble Savage

2007-12-12T13:15:38Z

Amarventria:

'''The Noble Savage''' is about a Conde who uses the society companion of a cruel title chaser on the French Riviera in his own scheme. Isobel is trapped in a dead end job as traveling companion and dogsbody to an obnoxious wealthy woman. The Conde cuts the woman dead, only to find she imagines an attraction. The Conde Estigardias de Reyes notices Isobel, whose lips twitch at the embarassing reprimand. He hatches a plan.

On some time off, Isobel reflect her meagre options. She has no resources and no savings, and relishes the stolen days of foreign travel and the perks. Orphaned and alone, Isobel is beautiful with blue eyes and white blonde hair, but is frozen from the death of father. The Conde pounces. When Isobel won't go out with him, he promises revenge. To stave off trouble she relents and they dine out.

Isobel waits for the punch line and it arrives. The Conde wants a wife, one who will pose as the mother of an infant child of his family. His brother has died and left the child, and his ailing noble grandmother will never accept the child's heritage or illegitimacy. The Conde plans to palm the child off as his own, angry at the circumstancs that demanded his brother be forced to abandon the woman he loved. But he needs a "wife" to pull it off. Isobel is entertained but turns him down.

The Conde returns Isobel to the hotel in a thoughtful mood. Isobel's pride is somewhat elevated by having turned down the most elgible man in Europe. The angered Conde then dangles Isobel's scarf in front of her employer, in front of social company. The implication that Isobel enjoys the Conde's visits while the employer is rejected drives the woman into a frenzy of anger. She stages a hotel room jewel robbery and turns Isobel out into the street.

Dozing off on a bench at sundown is how the Conde finds Isobel. Party to blame for what happened, he has ferreted out her oubliette. He wryly takes her to see the baby, noting she has no choice now but to accompany him. The Conde wants Isobel's pure appearance to work its magic and turn the stolid grandmother's heart into accepting the child as the Conde's heir. Isobel marries him in a ceremony and they drive to the hacienda estate.

Isobel is unnerved at the sharp woman who greets them and looks analytically at the child. The family retainers acknowledge the baby as a Reyes and all is well. But the Conde now wants the benefits of marriage and begins toying with Isobel about bedroom issues. The castle is crawling with eyes and ears and Isobel is forced to play mouse to the Conde's mocking cat. Isobel begins to feel conflicted about her role.

Isobel begins to sees the parallels to her former life. The Conde grows angry as it seems she does not appreciate her position, ironically that is what she appreciates most of all. But events and interactions in the hacienda reveal the Conde is really just a human being wearing a title after all, he's fallen for Isobel hard and is not sure whether to assert his rights or romance her, afraid both methods will fail.

A final encounter comes when Isobel wanders off into the swamp and gets lost in a mess of glass and mud. The Conde rides in on a charger and rescues her, revealing his feelings for her and allowing her to discover her own emotions without cash or tiaras lying on the table. When the currency between them changes, both the Conde and Isobel climb toward happiness.

The Noble Savage

2007-12-12T13:08:30Z

Amarventria: New page: '''The Noble Savage''' is about a Conde who uses the society companion of a cruel title chaser on the French Riviera in his own scheme. Isobel is trapped in a dead end job as traveling com...

'''The Noble Savage''' is about a Conde who uses the society companion of a cruel title chaser on the French Riviera in his own scheme. Isobel is trapped in a dead end job as traveling companion and dogsbody to an obnoxious wealthy woman. The Conde cuts the woman dead, only to find she imagines an attraction. The Conde Estigardias de Reyes notices Isobel, whose lips twitch at the embarassing reprimand. He hatches a plan.

On some time off, Isobel reflect her meagre options. She has no resources and no savings, and relishes the stolen days of foreign travel and the perks. Orphaned and alone, Isobel is beautiful with blue eyes and white blonde hair, but is frozen from the death of father. The Conde pounces. When Isobel won't go out with him, he promises revenge. To stave off trouble she relents and they dine out.

Isobel waits for the punch line and it arrives. The Conde wants a wife, one who will pose as the mother of a infant child of his family. His brother has died and left the child, and his ailing noble grandmother will never accept the child's heritage or illegitimacy. The Conde plans to palm the child off as his own. But he needs a "wife" to pull it off. Isobel is entertained but turns him down.

The Conde returns Isobel to the hotel in a thoughtful mood. The angered Conde then dangles Isobel's scarf in front of her employer, in front of social company. The implication that Isobel enjoys the Conde's visits while the employer is rejected drives the woman into a frenzy of anger. She stages a jewel robbery and turns Isobel out into the street.

Dozing off on a bench at sundown, the Conde finds Isobel. He wryly takes her to see the baby, noting she has no choice now but to accompany him. The Conde wants Isobel's pure appearance to work its magic and turn the stolid grandmother's heart into accepting the child as the Conde's heir. Isobel marries him in a ceremony and they drive to the hacienda estate.

Isobel is unnerved at the sharp woman who greets them and looks analytically at the child. The family retainers acknowledge the baby as a Reyes and all is well. But the Conde now wants the benefits of marriage and begins toying with Isobel about bedroom issues. The castle is crawling with eyes and ears and Isobel is forced to play mouse to the Conde's mocking cat.

Isobel begins to sees the parallells to her former life. The Conde grows angry as she does not appreciate her position, ironically that is what she appreciates most of all. But events and interactions in the hacienda reveal the Conde is really just a human being wearing a title after all, he's fallen for Isobel hard and is not sure whether to assert his rights or romance her, afraid both methods will fail.

A final encounter comes when Isobel wanders off into the swamp and gets lost in a mess of glass and mud. The Conde rides in on a charger and rescues her, revealing his feelings for her and allowing her to discover her own emotions without cash or tiaras lying on the table. When the currency between them changes, both the Conde and Isobel climb toward happiness.

The Honey Is Bitter

2007-12-12T12:38:30Z

Amarventria:

This book is a stunning revelation to any aspiring writer or romance reader. The young girl '''Domini''' is a beautiful waif whose family is torn asunder by tragedy. Her fragile family patriarch "guardy" brings a swarthy Greek foreigner to the family home to talk business, and Domini plays the English rose with thorns. She waits for the old man's son Rhodri to return from foreign service and make her whole again.

But the intimidating man Paul Stephanos has other plans. His tough shipowner persona hides many scars. He corners Domini and givers her a brutal choice. She must marry him and go away to his Greek island, or let him bring charges against Rhodri for forged checks. The book opens with the curious marriage and her Guardian kissing her goodbye. Domini is brittle and unsettled at marrying this intimidating man.

Before they leave for the honeymoon, Domini sneaks away to meet Rhodri newly returned from abroad. Rhodri is shocked but vows to find some way they can be together. Domino is bitterly disillusioned, she now knows Rhodri is a child whose love has cost her her freedom. Rhodri has forged several checks against Paul's company. Paul threatens to expose Rhodri unless she comes away. It's her guardian's pride in Rhodri Domini is really marrying to save.

'''Paul Stephanos''' is fleshed out as a hard man whose family depends on him. They eye Domini with rueful awareness of attraction of this wealthy man for the impossible English flower. Despite the frigid temperature, Domini relaxes just enough. A new beginning is possible. Stephanos dutifully burns the checks when they arrive in Greece, but Rhodri's telegram about their having met on the wedding day inflames him with anger.

Domini is paraded as the new bride to family and society friends, whose worldliness is a breath of unwelcome air to homebody Domini. Domini taunts Paul with reminescences about her idyllic romance with Rhodri. Stephanos clan society tests Domini's acting ability. Paul taunts her with an inner knowledge of what kind of man Rhodri is, hiding behind old men and girls to get clear of his deeds. Stephanos family problems interfere when the tension becomes to thick to take.

Paul's niece Kara has a crush on Mikos, an older boy. There is also an itinerant painter who lives on the island shore. Domini is quick to realize this is '''Barry Sothern''', a man she knew in Wales. Barry wanted Domini but his career as a painter came first. Domini becomes the object of a competition between Paul and Barry, because Barry has known Domini and a genuinely happy woman and knows Paul's pride will not allow her to parad her sorrows to his family. But a married Domini is a match for the established painter Barry has become.

Barry incites a confrontation when he gives Paul a painting. The painting is a Trojan Horse, because the men have discussed the painting before Domino was a presence in the Greek island world. Here is another man standing between them. Paul awakens to the fact that despite his pride and wealth Domini can never feel the way a wife should and will become demoralised and tainted if he makes her stay in the marriage.

Paul is proud but has another battle to face. His metal fragment from his guerrilla war days has shifted due to a diving accident and he faces a critical surgical operation. Domini is not happy and he grimly faces a mortal procedure conscious that Domini doesn't really want him to make it. Between them is the late knowledge that Domini finds out; her Guardian Uncle and Rhodri talked the day after she flew to Greece and he knew everything and wanted her to return home. Paul ripped up the telegram and didn't tell her.

Paul Stephanos is a great romantic hero because he grabs hold of Domini and never lets go. He knows deep down any stratagem would have been utilized to bring Domini home as his wife. Stephanos comes through the surgery as the family watches gingerly what will happen. They haven't been fooled, Paul is not blissfully married by any standard. Will Domini choose a life of wealth, life with Barry, or return home to her ivory tower?

Paul is blind in one eye or worse, and gives Domini permission to go back to the U.K. But Domini by now has fallen under the spell of this tough man, or maybe she just has decided that out of the boy and the dreamer, the cynical soldier is the one she wants. Paul is a realist, and has been fighting for them and a chance to be together the whole story through. The book ends with a pregnant Domini reveling in the security of a happy marriage.

***

This novel is unsettling because it has Freudian asterisks all over it. Domini's romanticism serves her poorly, first infantilizing her with Paul and holding her "prisoner" to nonexistent bonds with both Rhodri and Barry. Both those men stand on the outside of Domini's orbit, only Paul breaks the glass. Domini trades a secure family home and network where she is the princess for the...same thing abroad.

Winspear employs the lost love scenario which often blocks the path of married love in her more sensual novels. Paul Stephanos isn't the man of most of our dreams, but he is the man of Domini's eventual dreams and that is what matters. There is also a severe class consciousness debated about whether Domini would have eventually gone to the highest bidder anyway.

The Barry Sothern character is one of Winspear's best because his romance never becomes resolved in any of the books. He is the window into the action of the books while not participating in the key pairing that makes the book work. '''The Honey is Bitter''' is one of Winspear's best because the hero doesn't dissolve into a namby pamby at the end, he's kind of a John Wayne type who gets the girl after a big fight. Ah, romance.

The Honey Is Bitter

2007-12-12T12:15:02Z

Amarventria: New page: This book is a stunning revelation to any aspiring writer or romance reader. The young girl Domini is a beautiful waif whose family is torn asunder by tragedy. her fragile family patriarch...

This book is a stunning revelation to any aspiring writer or romance reader. The young girl Domini is a beautiful waif whose family is torn asunder by tragedy. her fragile family patriarch brings a swarthy Greek foreigner to the family home to talk business, and Domini plays the English rose with thorns. She waits for the old man's son Rhodri to return from foreign service and make her whole again.

But the intimidating man Paul Stephanos has other plans. His tough shipowner persona hides many scars. He corners Domini and givers her a brutal choice. She must marry him and go away to his Greek island, or let him bring charges against Rhodri for forged checks.The book opens with the curious marriage and her Guardian kissing her goodbye. Domini is brittle and unsettled at marrying this intimidating man.

Before they leave for the honeymoon, Domini sneaks away to meet Rhodri newly returned from abroad. Rhodri is shocked but vows to find some way they can be together. Domino is bitterly disillusioned, she now knows Rhodri is a child whose love has cost her her freedom. Rhodri has forged several checks against Paul's company. Paul threatens to expose Rhodri unless she comes away.

Paul Stephanos is fleshed out as a hard man whose family depends on him. They eye Domini with rueful awareness of attraction of this wealthy man for the impossible English flower. Despite the frigid temperature, Domini relaxes just enough. A new beginning is possible. Stephanos dutifully burns the checks when they arrive in Greece, but Rhodri's telegram about their having met on the wedding day inflames him with anger.

Domini is paraded as the new bride to family and society friends, whose worldliness is a breath of unwelcome air to homebody Domini. Domini taunts Paul with reminescences about her idyllic romance with Rhodri. Paul taunts her with an inner knowledge of what kind of man Rhodri is, hiding behind old men and girls to get clear of his deeds. Stephanos family problems interfere when the tension becomes to thick to take.

Paul's niece Kara has a crush on an itinerant painter who lives on the island shore. Domini is quick to realize this is Barry Sothern, a man she knew in Wales. Barry wanted Domini but his career as a painter came first. Domini becomes the object of a competition between Paul and Barry, because Barry has known Domini and a genuinely happy woman and knows Paul's pride will not allow her to parad her sorrows to his family.

Barry incites a confrontation when he gives Paul a painting. The painting is a Trojan Horse, because the men have discussed the painting before Domino was a presence in the Greek island world. Paul awakens to the fact that despite his pride and wealth Domini can never feel the way a wife should and will become demoralised and tainted if he makes her stay in the marriage.

Paul is proud but has another battle to face. His metal fragment from his guerrilla war days has shifted due to a diving accident and he faces a critical surgical operation. Domini is not happy and he grimly faces a mortal procedure conscious that Domini doesn't really want him to make it. between them is the late knowledge that Domini finds out; her Guardian Uncle and Rhodri talked the day after she flew to Greece and he knew everything and wanted her to return home.

Paul Stephanos is a great romantic hero because he grabs hold of Domini and never lets go. He knows deep down any stratagem would have been utilized to bring Domini home as his wife. Stephanos comes through the surgery as the family watches gingerly what will happen. They haven't been fooled, Paul is not blissfully married by any standard. Paul is blind in one eye or worse, and gives Domini permission to go back to the U.K.

But Domini by now has fallen under the spell of this tough man, or maybe she just has decided that out of the boy and the dreamer, the cynical soldier is the one she wants. The book ends with a pregnant Domini reveling in the security of a happy marriage.

***

This novel is unsettling because it has Freudian asterisks all over it. Domini's romanticism servers her poorly, first infantilizing her with Paul and holding her "prisoner" to nonexistent bonds with both Rhodri and Barry. Both those men stand on the outside of Domini's orbit, only Paul breaks the glass. Domini trades a secure family home and network where she is the princess for the...same thing abroad.

Winspear employs the lost love scenario which often blocks the path of married love in her more sensual novels. Paul Stephanos isn't the man of most of our dreams, but he is the man of Domini's eventual dreams and that is what matters. There is also a severe class consciousness debated about whether Domini would have eventually gone to the highest bidder anyway.

The Barry Sothern character is one of Winspear's best because his romance nver becomes resolved in any of the books. He is the window into the action of the books while not participating in the key pairing that makes the book work. '''The Honey is Bitter''' is one of Winspear's best because the hero doesn't dissolve into a namby pamby at the end, he's kind of a John Wayne type who gets the girl after a big fight. Ah, romance.

Devil In A Silver Room

2007-12-12T11:36:22Z

Amarventria:

Devil in a Silver room is a very well written book about two people wronged by love. The woman comes to the palatial French estate of a certain family to mind the young son. She is beautiful with starry blue eyes, and the rakish estate manager tries to chat her up while taking her to the castle across the river. But she'll have none of it, she has designs on another agenda.

This home holds the son of the man she loved, who has since died. The family wine vineyard and lands surround the castle in fertile abundance. The wife that now langushes abed is the woman who stood between her and happiness. The entire staff and household look on as this beautiful girl plays nursemaid to a difficult young boy. She tells herself she finds solace being with the child if the father is gone.

The child gets along, and the mother emerges back into her old life. The myth of the perfect lover slowly ebbs from the girl as family secrets are revealed. The estate manager is Paul, who runs everything at the Chateau. he watches and wonders about this stunning girl closeted with his nephew. Meanwhile she recovers from the memory of her dead love.

Paul is a the illegitimate son of the family matriarch, whose brother was lost. He watches the goings on of the nursemaid who has pretensions above her class and movie star looks. Others jealously notice as well. Before long a killing tension develops between them. The "Devil In a Silver Room" is the light in Paul's silver grey eyes when he watches her with love.

Paul discovers her secret and challenges her to look around for a better, more available man who will want her for herself as not as a beautiful possession. She knows now he would never have asked for a divorce. Paul waits for her to discover that another more worthy love is ready and waiting, but not before a violent pursuer in the shadows puts their love to the test.

Devil In A Silver Room

2007-12-12T11:32:07Z

Amarventria: New page: Devil in a Silver room is a very well written book about two people wronged by love. The woman comes to the palatial estate of a certain family to mind the young son. She is beautiful with...

Devil in a Silver room is a very well written book about two people wronged by love. The woman comes to the palatial estate of a certain family to mind the young son. She is beautiful with starry blue eyes, and the rakish estate manager tries to chat her up while taking her to the castle across the river. But she'll have none of it, she has designs on another agenda.

This home holds the son of the man she loved, who has since died. The wife that now langushes abed is the woman who stood between her and happiness. The entire staff and household look on as this beautiful girl plays nursemaid to a difficult young boy. She tells herself she finds solace being with the child if the father is gone.

But Paul is a the illegitimate son of the family matriarch, whose brother was lost. He watches the goings on of the nursemaid who has pretensions above her class and movie star looks. Before long a killing tension develops betwene them. The "Devil In a Silver Room" is the light in Paul's silver grey eyes when he watches her with love.

Paul discovers her secret and waits for her to discover that another more worthy love is ready and waiting, but not before a violent pursuer in the shadows puts their love to the test.

Desire Has No Mercy

2007-12-12T11:26:53Z

Amarventria:

'''Desire Has No Mercy''' is a luridly titled work of some distinction. Spoiled daughter of wealth and privilege Julia comes to a casino to beg the owner to allow her sister's gambling debts to be destroyed. Julia's sister is engaged to a powerful man who will break the engagement if he learns of her debts. Julia is the product of a stifling but privileged upbringing scarred by loneliness and vulnerability. Her strict and unyielding grandmother held sway over her life.

Julia comes face to the face with the hard bitten but dynamic casino owner, Rome Demario. He is powerful and charismatic, but mocks her while recalling their tortured past. Rome was a poor son of a laundress for Julia's family and they share memories of lonely childhood spent gazing across the divide. Julia is humilated yet her family pride makes her demand the IOU's from Rome. He barters sex with Julia for the debts, and she angrily agrees, scornfully submitting to Rome's sexual advance.

Julia comes in contact with Rome again months later. The cool and poised Miss Van Deere is pregnant, and threatens to abort the child. Rome quickly takes her away to his homeland fortress, bringing her childhood maid they both remember to attend. Rome's interest in having a child contrasts with Julia's disgust at the situation. Rome attempts to make the best of things but Julia scorns him again and again as the child grows. Both are trapped by pride and desire.

Feeling betrayed both by her programming of the wealthy upper class mores her grandmother instilled and used by her sister, Julia lashes out at Rome once too often. Rome deliberately allowed the sister to run up the debts to gain contact with Julia, whom he always rememberd. She is more than symbol of the happiness he cannot buy despite his amazing wealth. But Julia is bitter that she is left no dignity.

Just as her feelings waver he leaves, and they re-unite in a touching affirmation of love as the baby is born. Julia and Rome can finally belong to each other, as their childhood eyes promised.

Desire Has No Mercy

2007-12-12T11:23:47Z

Amarventria:

'''Desire Has No Mercy''' is a luridly titled work of some distinction. Spoiled daughter of wealth and privilege Julia comes to a casino to beg the owner to allow her sister's gambling debts to be destroyed. Julia's sister is engaged to a powerful man who will break the engagement if he learns of her debts. Julia is the product of a stifling but privileged upbringing scarred by loneliness and vulnerability. Her strict and unyielding grandmother held sway over her life.

Julia comes face to the face with the hard bitten but dynamic casino owner, Rome Demario. He is powerful and charismatic, but mocks her while recalling their tortured past. Rome was a poor son of a laundress for Julia's family and they share memories of lonely childhood spent gazing across the divide. Julia is humilated yet her family pride makes her demand the IOU's from Rome. He barters sex with Julia for the debts, and she angrily agrees, scornfully submitting to Rome's sexual advance.

Julia comes in contact with Rome again months later. The cool and poised Miss Van Deere is pregnant, and threatens to abort the child. Rome quickly takes her away to his homeland fortress, bringing her childhood maid they both remember to attend. Rome's interest in having a child contrasts with Julia's disgust at the situation. Rome attempts to make the best of things but Julia scorns him again and again as the child grows. Both are trapped by pride and desire.

Feeling betrayed both by her programming of the wealthy upper class mores her grandmother instilled and used by her sister, Julia lashes out at Rome once too often. Just as her feelings waver he leaves, and they re-unite in a touching affirmation of love as the baby is born. Julia and Rome can finally belong to each other, as their childhood eyes promised.

Desire Has No Mercy

2007-12-12T11:20:27Z

Amarventria: New page: '''Desire Has No Mercy''' is a luridly titled work of some distinction. Spoiled daughter of wealth and privilege Julia comes to a casino to beg the owner to allow her sister's gambling deb...

'''Desire Has No Mercy''' is a luridly titled work of some distinction. Spoiled daughter of wealth and privilege Julia comes to a casino to beg the owner to allow her sister's gambling debts to be destroyed. Julia's sister is engaged to a powerful man who will break the engagement if he learns of her debts. Julia is the product of a stifling but privileged upbringing scarred by loneliness and vulnerability. Her strict and unyielding grandmother held sway over her life.

Julia comes face to the face with the hard bitten but dynamic casino owner, Rome Demario. he mocks her while recalling their tortured past. Rome was a poor son of a laundress for Julia's family and they share memories of lonely childhood spent gazing across the divide. Julia is humilated yet her family pride makes her demand the IOU's from Rome. He barters sex with Julia for the debts, and she angrily agrees, scornfully submitting to Rome's sexual advance.

Julia comes in contact with Rome again months later. The cool and poised Miss Van Deere is pregnant, and threatens to abort the child. Rome quickly takes her away to his homeland fortress, brining her childhood maid they both remember. Rome attempt to make the best of things but Julia scorns him again and again as the child grows.

Feeling trapped both by her programming of the wealthy upper class mores and used by her sister, Julia lashes out at Rome once too often. Just as her feelings waver he leaves, and they re-unite in a touching affirmation of love as the baby is born. Julia and Rome can finally belong to each other, as their childhood eyes promised.

The Awakening Of Alice

2007-12-12T11:11:46Z

Amarventria: New page: '''The Awakening of Alice''' is about a mousy woman whose flighty sister has become engaged to some wealthy playboy. When she runs away from her boyfriend, he commits an attempt at suicide...

'''The Awakening of Alice''' is about a mousy woman whose flighty sister has become engaged to some wealthy playboy. When she runs away from her boyfriend, he commits an attempt at suicide. The brother is a hard man and chases down the sister to exact revenge. After kidnapping Alice to his island retreat, we find that the man is attracted to Alice but bent on revenge. Alice herself tries in vain to convince this man she is not the woman who threw the brother over. As they draw closer together, the man and woman must choose which path they will follow.

This plot is probably much more in keeping with the media headlines of the period in which it was written. However, it might make a good movie of the week. Ultimately the man decides he wants Alice for herself no matter what she has done. Then Alice must awaken the woman within to find the tomorrow she deserves.