Raven and the Rose

Informationen zum Autor Virginia Henley  is the author of more than twenty novels, including the New York Times  bestsellers Seduced  and Desired . Her work has been translated into fourteen languages. A recipient of the Romantic Times  Lifetime Achievement Award, she lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. Klappentext Her beauty was the spark . . . Her hair was black silk against her ivory skin; her gray eyes burned with opal fire. The love child of King Edward IV, Roseanna was pledged to her father's most prized warrior. He was dark, strong, and commanding, and in the bedchamber, where he forced her to honor her marriage vows, she learned to crave his intoxicating touch. And still she swore not to love him even as she surrendered to the dark rapture of . . . the raven His passion was the fire . . . His shoulders were broad within the coat of mail that made him invulnerable to everything but Reseanna's innocence. Obsessed with taming the fiery beauty who inflamed his flesh, Ravenspur fell in love, knowing ruthless men plotted to topple the king he served and at the heart of the intrigue was she who would be either his death or his salvation . . .“The King is coming!” cried Roseanna breathlessly as she ran into the great hall of Castlemaine Manor. In her excitement she failed to notice either the gasp of pleasure that escaped her mother’s lips or the sigh of resignation that escaped her father’s. A flush of excitement enhanced her face, and as her father watched her, he realized that her exquisite beauty outshone her mother’s by a hundredfold.   “His Majesty sent a messenger ahead; he’ll be here in time for supper.” She picked up her gown from around her ankles and flew up the stairs.   “Roseanna, where are you going?” her mother asked sharply.   She paused on the step. “To change so I can ride out to meet him.”   “You will not! I know it’s been over a year since we’ve seen him, but Roseanna, you are sixteen, almost seventeen—no longer a child. I will not have you tearing across the countryside on that wild animal you insist on riding!”   Roseanna lifted her chin willfully. “Try and stop me!” “Roseanna, you must remember that Edward is the King of England and that you, I hope, are a lady. I forbid you!”   Roseanna, now very still, drew herself up to her full height and said quietly, “Forbid? I think not.”   “Ah, if you would only use some of that cool disdain in the King’s presence, it would be becoming. If you continue to fling yourself upon him, he will think of you as a nuisance.”   She gave her mother a seething look, ran back down the stairs and outside, and slammed the door to the hall so angrily that it shook the armored shields upon the walls.   Sir Neville Castlemaine made no remark about his daughter’s behavior but said quietly, “I’ll go see how many we can expect in the King’s party.”   Joanna’s eyes followed her husband as he left the hall. She briefly wondered what he was thinking, then swiftly dismissed thoughts of him as she realized that hundreds of things would need to be done before Edward’s arrival.       Instead of going directly in search of the messenger, Sir Neville slipped around to the walled garden, where he found Roseanna angrily throwing pebbles into the lily pond. He smiled at the sight of her. Her dark hair fell like a cloud of smoke, reaching almost to her knees in its unbound disarray. Not even the plainest yellow linen gown could hide the lovely curves of her breasts. “The King could not possibly think of you as a pest, sweetheart.”   “Oh, Father, why is it that every time Mother and I speak to each other, we fight?”   He smiled. Neville Castlemaine was a quiet man yet a wise one. “When you were a child and never questioned your mother’s authority, your relationship was a loving one. Now that you are both women...

Product details

• Authors: V. Henley, Virginia Henley, Vriginia Henley
• Publisher: Random House USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.06.1987
• EAN: 9780440171614
• ISBN: 978-0-440-17161-4
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 104 mm x 174 mm x 27 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature