An Arranged Marriage (Zebra Regency Romance) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jo Beverley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1993 | Series: Zebra Regency Romance

Forced into a hasty marriage of convenience with the roguish Earl of Stainbridge, Eleanor Chivenham tries to deny her husband's devastating charm and ignore her own secret desires. Reissue.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The name Jo Beverley will be on every fan's lips after reading this splendid love story of a young woman forced to wed a handsome rake.... This immensely appealing pair of lovers will utterly captivate readers, while Ms. Beverley's commanding ease with the regency period provides a veritable feast of delight for the true connoisseur." -- Romantic Times,June 1991 --This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

From the Author

This edition of An Arranged Marriage is completely unchanged. Though originally published as a regency romance, the plot elements and sensuality meant it was bold for that genre. Therefore, it fits well as a regency historical. In addition to the rave review above, An Arranged Marriage was a finalist for the prestigious RITA award (beaten by my own Emily and the Dark Angel,) and won the National Readers Choice Award and the Romantic Times Award for Best Regency novel. The next two Rogues books will be reissued in 12/00 and 12/01 --This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Regency (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821743023
• ISBN-13: 978-0821743027
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Historical > Regency

More About the Author

Jo Beverley writes bestselling historical romance set in her native England. She was born and raised in the UK, and has a degree in history from Keele University in Staffordshire, but she lived in Canada for 30 years. Now she's returned to England she enjoys doing even more on-the-spot research.

Her 30+ novels have won her many awards, including 5 RITA awards, the top award in romance, and 2 career achievement awards from Romantic Times. She's a member of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame and Honor Roll. Publishers Weekly declared her "arguably today's most skillful writer of intelligent historical romance."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent beginning, great characters, January 16, 2001

By 

Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Arranged Marriage (Zebra Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book from beginning to end, and I thought Beverley did a great job of handling the complex story. Eleanor, our heroine, is raped at the start of the book by the Earl of Stainbridge - a rape organised by her own brother, who wishes to blackmail the Earl. Eleanor does not shrug it off - did that reviewer read the book, as opposed to just skimming it? - she was actually contemplating throwing herself into the lake to drown when she met Stainbridge again. Consumed by guilt, Stainbridge - who was already on his way to Eleanor's brother's house at the time - takes Eleanor under his wing, but lies and claims it was his brother who'd raped her.

Nicholas Delaney (who, as the son of an Earl, should actually be Lord Nicholas) is engaged on crucial espionage work, and under orders to conduct an affair with Therese Bellaire, suspected to be involved in a Napoleonic plot. However, he agrees to bail his brother out, hoping that he can tie up his investigation quickly and end his affair. Nicholas is like no other man Eleanor has met: he is kind, considerate, values her opinions and treats her in many ways as his equal, unlike most men of the time and unlike her own experience with men. On their wedding night, she learns the truth about her rape, and he makes love to her gently and considerately - yet another hangover from the rape is that she's, naturally, afraid of sex.

Of course, the affair in the background means that Nicholas's behaviour is erratic; some of the time he is loving to Eleanor and willingly seeks her company, but as Therese becomes more and more unco-operative and Nicholas comes to care more for Eleanor, he has to distance himself from her and act as if their marriage had never seemed likely to become more than one of convenience. Eleanor, who had guessed that Nicholas has a mistress, accepts it because it was the norm for men at the time, and because their marriage *was* arranged, and the understanding was that she and Nicholas would lead separate lives. Neither of them, after all, she thinks, had anticipated that she'd fall in love with Nicholas.

And who wouldn't fall in love with Nicholas?! He is a wonderful creation: charming, amusing, considerate, very capable, intelligent, a great lover, and - best of all - he has a vulnerable side.

He also has some fascinating friends. I wish I'd read this book before reading An Unwilling Bride (publishers, *please* make it more clear when books are part of a series, and what their place in the series is!); I would have understood Lucien a lot better if I'd read this first, much as I loved Luce's own story. Francis also appealed enormously, and I hope he gets his own story at some point.

Nicholas and Eleanor make a wonderful couple, and I hope to have many glimpses of them in future Company of Rogues books.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What was Jo Beverley thinking?, October 31, 2003

By 

Thea (FL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Arranged Marriage (Zebra Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

I so hate it when characters that have a great potential are used in a less than satisfactory plot! That's what happened with this novel.

I could have loved Nicholas. He is so warm and lighthearted and at the same time wise and responsible. He has one of the most magnetic and fascinating personalities I have encountered in romance novel heroes. He is a natural leader and the best friend one can hope for. But the way he acts in this story denies all that. That is why I was so frustrated with this book.

I understand the fact that he owed no loyalty to Eleanor, and he couldn't be expected to drop everything for her, since he only married her to save her from a difficult situation created by their brothers, but even so, I could not justify or understand his actions.

I think what bothered me most was his ambivalence. If he wasn't in love with his wife, I could have understood what he did. But to betray and hurt her "for his country", when he was desperately in love with her and despised his mistress is hard to digest, to say the least.

What is more, he betrayed more than his wife with his actions, he betrayed himself. He prostituted himself due to some misguided sense of duty, and that made me loose my respect for him. There had to be other ways for the government to obtain the information they were seeking. By the way, if he was so repulsed by his mistress, how could he keep sleeping with her? How could he even "perform"? This suggests the idea men are only animals, capable of getting aroused by a beautiful and skillful woman, even if they despise her. Maybe this is true for some men, but is not a trait I would like in a romance novel hero.

And to top it off, all his "efforts" were for nothing, because the treasonous plot he was trying to uncover turned out to be a hoax devised by Therese (his mistress) to swindle money out Napoleon sympathizers and to get back at him for rejecting her in the past.

One more thing, where is all that sexual skill this book mentions so often he posseses? The only two times he slept with his wife were rather boring, and one of those times he didn't even concern himself with giving her pleasure. Does that sound like a great lover to you?

This is the first romance novel I have read in which the villains win, and the hero is made to look like an idiot. Reading the next "Rogues" books, one finds that the villains get what they deserve, but I think one shouldn't have to read another book, to see the conclusion of a story started in this one....All in all, I think this novel was a great waste of great characters, and a waste of my time.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Straining the boundaries of political correctness ..., June 30, 2003

By 

Tara A. Green (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: An Arranged Marriage (Zebra Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first romance novel I have read where the hero spends at least 3/4 of the book sleeping with another woman.
Jo Beverley strains the boundaries of political correctness in AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE, her most controversial story I have read to date. There is no denying Ms. Beverley is a master storyteller and perhaps because of this political incorrectness she delivers a powerfully fresh stage for her story.

Eleanor Chivenham is drugged by her manipulative brother and raped by an equally drugged Lord Delaney. Lord Delaney hazed into the brutal act and not quite having his wits about him completes the deed but comes back the next day to find out exactly what happened. Upon meeting Eleanor planning to jump to her death, and understanding a child might come from this act, concocts a story that it was actually his twin brother Nicholas Delaney who stole her maidenhood. A marriage is arranged, and Eleanor and Nicholas are soon married.

She quickly discovers that it was not Nicholas who raped her, but his brother. Nicholas, a charming and handsome man is soon off spending time with his mistress. Serving his country, Nicholas is actually involved in a plot to foil the mistress who is involved in Napoleonic activities. Eleanor finds she is with child and also that she loves her dreadfully neglectful and cheating husband. Nicholas, knowing he will be gone most of the time, has surrounded her with his Company of Rogues, a group of handsome and dashing young men to act as her protectors and escorts.

The hero Nicholas is not one I liked much at all. His sleeping with this mistress for the greater good of the country and at the expense of his marriage is hard for any woman to swallow I think. The very idea that this romance began in a rape, although not by the "hero" is still distasteful and gives a dark shadow over the entire story. That said, the story is incredibly engaging and tightly woven from start to finish and is a very entertaining read. Jo Beverley once again takes us for a ride and doesn't let go until the end.

This is Book 1 in Jo Beverley's Company of Rogues Series.