Download PDF 189 Hazard of Hearts The Eternal Collection Barbara Cartland 9781788670470 Books
Download As PDF : 189 Hazard of Hearts The Eternal Collection Barbara Cartland 9781788670470 Books
After her mother died when Serena Staverley was just nine, her father, Sir Giles, indulged his deep passion for gambling, leaving his only child in charge of an impoverished household. Now a stunningly beautiful young woman, Serena is mortified to hear that her father has been killed in a duel. Worse still, it seems that he went willingly, even deliberately to his death. But why? The appalling answer is presented by her much-loved cousin Nicholas who suddenly proposes marriage - to save Serena from a terrible fate - Sir Giles has not only lost the Staverley estate on the turn of a card, but he has also gambled away the hand in marriage of his lovely daughter, along with her eighty thousand pounds inheritance all in a last desperate bet to try and best his arch-rival at the tables, Lord Vulcan. Serena has little alternative but to marry a man whose wicked ways have contributed to her family's downfall. And Lord Vulcan takes her away from her beloved Staverley to his majestic ancestral home, Mandrake, which is close to the sea and where Serena finds its welcome to be strange and sinister. Abducted by a lecherous guest at Mandrake, threatened by a smuggler Marchioness, rescued by a gentleman highwayman and, resisting the marriage of convenience, Serena slowly realises that she has lost her heart to a man she thought she despised.
Download PDF 189 Hazard of Hearts The Eternal Collection Barbara Cartland 9781788670470 Books
"I believe her earlier books were her best. This one is really great. Exciting with a brooding and somewhat dark storyline. The events that occur during story are put together to keep you reading."
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189 Hazard of Hearts The Eternal Collection Barbara Cartland 9781788670470 Books Reviews :
189 Hazard of Hearts The Eternal Collection Barbara Cartland 9781788670470 Books Reviews
- Although I knew I'd love the book, as I do love all of BC's books, and the movie, I was really happy about the length of the book. Compared to her later books, this one still contained a lot of story and descriptive content, which the movie version doesn't quite capture. Although I love the movie and book equally, the difference is that there were some charachter and event changes in the movie, and I enjoyed both "versions." I think these earlier books, with original press dates in the 1940's through early 50's, are very interesting. I've been searching for many of these, which were reprinted in the early 1970's. Her three movies were based off of books from that time frame as well. I am very glad to have bought this book after watching the movie, as it gave me insight as to how BC actually wrote it, not what the movie people wanted. I'm not a big fan of the artwork on any of her books though. Overall, I LOVE it! A++++++++ & 5 stars
- I believe her earlier books were her best. This one is really great. Exciting with a brooding and somewhat dark storyline. The events that occur during story are put together to keep you reading.
- Still has it after all these years. Fun read.
- This story is beautiful and romantic. I love how the setting is described. I can see in my mind what I am reading.
- I cut my romance-reading teeth on Barbara Cartland and that was wa-ay back when. So she has a special place in my heart and this book being my very first has a special place on my keeper shelf. I purchased it for re-reading.
The characters- sweet Serena, tres outre Justin & his dashing friends, the mad Marchioness & her decadent set, the aristocratic dirty old man, the smugglers- and the setting of fabulous stately homes and glittering parties were all so finely limned that it captured a 10 year old's imagination, paving the way for later historicals, other romance genres and abiding Anglophilia.
This is one of the earliest BCs which makes for great reading because these stories were written with a sort of earnestness and greater care lacking in later stories. These early Cartlands were followed by prolific output via Bantam books which were shorter stories though still fun. After Bantam...well, it seemed to me another writer has taken over the same name, the spirit was simply not there and the quality became assembly-line ho-hum goo.
I always say that 60% of a book's appeal depends on its heroine, for me, that is. The thing about Barbara's heroines is that they are just too young, sweet and spirituelle for the 21st century. It doesn't help that heroines dialogue is overwhelmed with ...(dot, dot, dot & interminable breaks), something to be avoided in case of future reprints. But everything else in her stories is bang-on. The dialogue, vocabulary, phrasing is beautiful British English, I like her plots, adore her fascinating trivias about historical figures and events, her stately home descriptions are to-die-for, I love her masterful aristocratic heroes who in my mind's eye look either like Lord Granville Leveson-Gower or the Duke of Grafton. Barbara depicts that whole early 19th century world with admirable familiarity instead of mere book-source knowledge. The lovely bookcovers are in themselves highly collectible.
I will read the early & Bantam Cartlands any day over numerous Regency authors of today. If one admires Barbara's works and is looking for a very similar author whose heroines have slightly more gumption wouldn't go amiss with Caroline Courtney's Regency romances.
One last thing- Hazard was made into a movie starring a very young Helena Bonham Carter and the fact that it's a B-movie in no way affects its watchability. - I watched the movie and wanted to read the book. It turned out to be a good story. Classic, romantic.
- I purchased both the DVD and later the book... although the story line is similar, there are parts of the book that are not in the screen play. Both are among my favorites and I play the DVD frequently. I am a fan of Barbara Cartland and have quite a few of her novels in my collection, but this one was among her first and is a 'great read'. Difficult to find but worth the search. As an author, I appreciate her writing skills and her ability to run plots and develop characters.
- Normally I would not read Cartland but I came across some of the plot whilst researching the Regency Era and then saw similarities there that forced me to investigate the book. Before getting it I saw the cheesy film version which is much more readily available in the teens of the 21st century then the book is.
Where once Cartland was recognized as a queen of the genre, i do not think she holds up well. We have added more history and attention to the details of the period than Ms. Cartland seemed to have here in this sampling of her style and tale.
Where it might be fine for those who like their romances in such a way that there is a hero, a villain, and a heroine, I can't seem to allow Cartland to have a hold on me as either Austen or Heyer does of writers who have left us. Or more modern writers whom give me enjoyment.
The tale revolves around the plot line of a woman being lost to our hero over the turn of the play at cards. I think we are assured now in our study of the regency that even were such play to be done, it would be considered debasing against all sides, and that would mean the hero we learn to know in this story, Lord Vulcan, would never engage in such. Or should he try, countless other gentlemen witnessing this would stop them.
Cartland, though may not have stopped at such a study of the Regency in order to create her plot and tell her tale. I think that is the disconnect. Suspend my disbelief, but do not force me to think that this is an alternate universe. Thus in the end, I can not recommend this work to others who like the Regency, and since it was difficult enough for me to find, 65 years after it was first published, seeing it fade away from the canon of regencies we read might be better than urging any to find it and read it as well.
