Silver Storm by Cynthia Wright is an American Revolution-era romance that takes a slow start to warm up, but once it does… oh my!
Rating:
Published: 1979
Illustrator: Unknown
Book Series: Rakes & Rebels: The Raveneau Family #1
Published by: Ballantine
Genres: Historical Romance, American Revolution Romance, Bodice Ripper
Pages: 342
Format: eBook, Paperback
Buy on: Amazon, AbeBooks
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader
MILD SPOILERS 😉
The Book
I started reading Cynthia Wright‘s Silver Storm, a historical romance set during the American Revolution, then put it down.
It was sweet, but sometimes too sweet, and I had enough cavities. Then about halfway through, it changes in tone.
Our previously gentlemanly hero does a 180 and turns into a lecherous jerk. It was great, and I wanted more!
The Plot
The first half of Silver Storm features a sensuous French privateer named Andre Raveneau. He is escorting orphaned Devon Lindsay to her fiancé in Virginia after the end of America’s War of Independence from Great Britain.
The girl is obviously not in love with her missing man. However, she is devoted to him out of a weird sense of commitment.
All the while, this tall, gorgeous, gray-eyed Frenchman plays nice with her. Devon stomps her foot and plays hard to get. Andre was such a nice gentleman–I wondered where this was going.
But oh, he has a plan–a cunning plan–to trap his strawberry-haired prey. And when he finally gets what he wants, Andre plans to just as cruelly get rid of her, eagerly awaiting his next new lay.
In one scene, Andre attempts to seduce his ex-mistress while her brother and new husband play cards downstairs, and Devon, his current mistress, naps in her room.
But poor Devon wakes up and witnesses the dog’s hounding!
It had been so long. He pulled her gown open and her breasts spilled out like ripe, round melons…
Andres is a jerk, all right, but he’s French, so it evens out. I enjoyed the break from the English heroes that dominate Historical Romancelandia. There’s something about a Frenchman that’s so sexy. I can listen to Eric Ripert recite recipes all day…
The second half of this book takes on Devon and Andre’s passionate adventures. That was fun to experience.
Ah, Andre, what a hero!
My Opinion
Silver Storm would have been excellent if not for the slow start.
However, once it gets there… Oh my.
One nit to pick: there’s an anachronistic reference to “Empire”-styled gowns in the early 1780s, when Napoleon wasn’t crowned Emperor until 20 years later.
Final Analysis of Silver Storm
Years ago, I read a book that designated romance novels, specifically bodice rippers, into two genres: “Sweet” or “Savage.” (Even though it was Kathleen Woodiwiss who started the bodice ripper genre, it was Rosemary Rogers that gave it a name.)
“Sweet” is defined as a story with a hero who may be cruel, callous, forceful, or cheats, but he is the heroine’s one and only.
In a “Savage” styled-romance, anything and everything goes.
In Silver Storm‘s case, although here the heroine is almost raped, her bodice ripped, she is abandoned and cheated on… it’s still sweet.
But it’s very spicy, too!
Cynthia Wright’s first entry in her seven-part Ravenau family saga is off to a great start. All in all, a solid, old-school romance; maybe not a keeper, but I had fun with it.
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| Overall: | 3.5 |
Synopsis
A RECKLESS NOW ENGLAND BEAUTY…A DAUNTLESS FRENCH BUCCANEER…THEIR LOVE BLAZED TO FIERCE FULFILLMENT!
UNTAMED INNOCENCE
Devon Lindsay was a restless, high-spirited girl when she met Andre Raveneau, a notorious sea captain whose pirate’s plunder aided the American Revolution. But his first careless caress stirred Devon to a woman’s wanton needs…AN ECSTASY SHARED
Silver Storm by Cynthia Wright
Theirs was a wild, impulsive passion that swept them into wartime espionage and dangerous intrigue. Yet, even in the throes of ecstasy, their willful hearts would not speak of love–until deceit and treachery threatened their life together!
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