There's so many things I loved about this book! I really don't know why I waited so long to read it. The story stars off quite simply with Phoebe and The Tryant's sham engagement to get themselves out of a scrape. It all started when they found a Jacobite rebel in the garden during a party and found in a compromising place because of it. Now they've got to find a way of getting the rebel away before they are taken as traitors as well as a way out of their engagement which one of them at least, doesn't want to end...I loved the chemistry between the hero and heroine, I loved the characters back history and the plot had several of my favorite elements, decrepit buildings with secret rooms, man hunts, wild horse rides and an unseen enemy who won't stop at anything to get what he/she wants, even murder. Another tidbit, the hero is scarred and very blunt at social functions, he doesn't mind tell guests to go away she he can sleep. Even better, there is some humor to lighten darker moments. Oh, there's so many exciting things I'd love to talk about but I'd give the whole thing away so I'll just stop now and say it was amazing and if you like Georgette Heyer and Sylvia Thorpe you'd like this.Note: this is the third book in the Golden Chronicles Series, I haven't read the first two, and I didn't need to. I'd probably have recognized some of the characters but it was fine as a standalone. PG Some violence in the form of fisticuffs, shots and knocks in the head. Swears are limited to Ds and a few Bs as well as one or two Hs. Some of the covers to this book look a bit steamy, but it really can't be called steamy or racy. Other than one bad guy who tries to fondle two of the girls in this story. Which is put over in such a way I can hardly mention it. In no way is it described or put over to entertain. Other than that I can't think of anything objectionable.
I'll give this book 3 stars because there were moments that I really did enioy, but Phoebe drove me nuts through most of the book. Though there were times that I thought she was fine, and a bit heroic, I just didn't like her all that much. Meredith was a bit flat to me as a charater, even though I did like aspects of him. I did enjoy the suspense of the chase for Lance, though. My favorite characters were the grandmother of Phoebe and Roly. They had pluck and dimensionality that seemed genuine to me. I do enjoy Veryan's style of writing, but was not overly impressed with this offering.
Do You like book The Tyrant (1989)?
Described as a "romantic adventure", Veryan's The Tyrant is set in Georgian England, just after the Jacobites have have been defeated, leaving the militia and bounty hunters scouring the countryside searching for remaining supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Miss Phoebe Ramsay, in the middle of a campaign to convince her parents to allow her to marry her penniless suitor, discovers a horribly wounded man in her garden during a party. Her efforts to secure his safety manage to get her compromised by and then betrothed to Meredith Carruthers, a friend of the wounded man. What follows is a test of everyone's courage as Phoebe, Meredith, and Phoebe's brother try to set everything right without being beheaded for treason. The book was not only an entertaining adventure (with an appropriately romantic happy ending), but a bit of a history lesson as well. I'll admit to forgetting most of what I'd learned in high school about Bonnie Prince Charlie and his rebellion. The pace seemed to plod a bit at times, but the characters were delightfully written and the story compelling.
—Jenny
