Surrender [Mass Market Paperback]

Amanda Quick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1990

From the dazzling ballrooms of glittering London society to magnificent, cursed estate in the distant wilds of Yorkshire, comes the deliciously wicked story of a thoroughly unconventional courtship—and a thrilling midnight rendezvous that could only lead to love... At four and twenty Victoria Huntington thought herself quite adept at fending off fortune hunters... until she came under siege from Lucas Colebrook, the darkly disturbing new Earl of Stonevale. Amidst the brightly plumed birds of the town, Lucas was a hawk. And when he held out the lure of moonlit rides and wild, reckless midnight escapades, Victoria found herself powerless to resist. But becoming Stonevale's companion in adventure was far more dangerous undertaking than Victoria could ever imagine. For the attractive Earl would use her every weakness to woo her, to win her, and ultimately to wed her. And soon the amber-eyed lady would find herself ensconced in a crumbling mansion deep in the English countryside... where the real reason for her hasty marriage becomes all too apparent...and where the ghosts of her dark-stained past are waiting to rise up in a terrifying plot that will threaten her life, her honor, and the only man she could ever love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Quick's ( Seduction ) light, amusing touch animates a pair of stock Regency romance characters: the experienced fortune-hunter and the naive but spirited maiden. Victoria Huntington is an heiress with a taste for any adventure but marriage. Her late mother's second marriage was unhappy, and she herself is weary of men who want to espouse her money. Enter Lucas Colebrook, Earl of Stonevale, claiming strictly honorable intentions. He'll court her, he promises, by satisfying her yen for risky pursuits, escorting her to the London normally off-limits to ladies, such as its gaming "hells" and brothels. When Victoria's boundless curiosity prompts her to suggest an amorous liaison (even as she dismisses Lucas's marriage proposal), they are discovered at an inn, and only a wedding can salvage Victoria's reputation. With charm and humor Quick portrays this irregular courtship and marriage, which is eventually clouded by Victoria's learning that Colebrook had indeed been after her inheritance and by a sinister secret from her past that threatens not only their happiness but their lives.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

From the dazzling ballrooms of glittering London society to magnificent, cursed estate in the distant wilds of Yorkshire, comes the deliciously wicked story of a thoroughly unconventional courtship -- and a thrilling midnight rendezvous that could only lead to love... At four and twenty Victoria Huntington thought herself quite adept at fending off fortune hunters... until she came under siege from Lucas Colebrook, the darkly disturbing new Earl of Stonevale. Amidst the brightly plumed birds of the town, Lucas was a hawk. And when he held out the lure of moonlit rides and wild, reckless midnight escapades, Victoria found herself powerless to resist. But becoming Stonevale's companion in adventure was far more dangerous undertaking than Victoria could ever imagine. For the attractive Earl would use her every weakness to woo her, to win her, and ultimately to wed her. And soon the amber-eyed lady would find herself ensconced in a crumbling mansion deep in the English countryside... where the real reason for her hasty marriage becomes all too apparent...and where the ghosts of her dark-stained past are waiting to rise up in a terrifying plot that will threaten her life, her honor, and the only man she could ever love.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (September 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553285947
• ISBN-13: 978-0553285949
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #685,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With a string of bestselling Regency and Victorian Era romantic-suspense novels under her quill, AMANDA QUICK (who also writes under the pen names JAYNE ANN KRENTZ and JAYNE CASTLE) entered the world of a highly secretive paranormal group, the ARCANE SOCIETY, with her novel SECOND SIGHT. The series moved into a contemporary setting when JAYNE ANN KRENTZ (Amanda's contemporary alter-ego) released the second book in the series, WHITE LIES.

This winter, the ARCANE SOCIETY continues with THE LOOKING GLASS TRILOGY. It begins with IN TOO DEEP by Jayne Ann Krentz this December. Amanda is working on QUICKSILVER, her Spring 2011 contribution is book 2 in the series. The trilogy will conclude when JAYNE CASTLE releases CANYONS OF NIGHT, the futuristic novel, in Summer 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well Written But Where's The Romance?, June 16, 2002

By 

"bigreader60" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surrender (Mass Market Paperback)

This book started well enough. The hero is a penniless earl, and he needs to marry an heiress to keep his estate running. He meets Victoria, and decides to court her. She is intelligent, independent, and adventuress. He uses her desire for adventure to get close to her by taking her to gaming hells and the like, and they get caught and he has to marry her.

Well the story goes downhill from here. As soon as they get married, the hero, Lucas turns into a tyrant. He dictates the money that was once hers, puts a stop to her intellectual exploration activities she loves doing, and forbids her to wear the flamboyant clothes that are her own personal style.

I hate stories like this where the hero likes the heroine because she is unconventional, marries her then tries to change her into a typical woman of society and forbids the activities that the heroine loves. In the beginning of the story, Victoria is afraid of marriage because she is afraid of ending up with a fortune hunter, and that is exactly what she gets. I saw no love between these two, only attraction and isn't the whole point of reading a romance novel to read about romance?

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Quick's best works despite some major flaws, September 21, 2001

By 

bookjunkiereviews (India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surrender (Mass Market Paperback)

I am one of those readers who prefers Amanda Quick's earlier works. When I first discovered historical romances (in my mid-twenties) Quick was one of the authors I devoured. I think SCANDAL (a somewhat untypical Quick) was my first book. Somehow I missed SURRENDER. Recently I came across a copy, and because of all the positive reviews, I decided to try it.

I also have to admit that a fortune-hunting hero is quite unusual for Quick. Usually, her heroes are all very rich, mysterious, and rather intimidating. This hero, Lucas, can be intimidating - because of his status as a war hero. The mystery about him is not so much in in his past (he is a distant relative who has succeeded unexpectedly to the title), but in his financial position at least as far as the ton (society) is concerned.

The story begins with Lucas pursuing a not-so-young (in her mid-twenties) heiress named Victoria, with the aid of his former love Jessica. Unlike previous old flames in other Quick novels, Jessica is not the villain(ess). In fact, she is decidedly a prude, and rather pleased with her status as a martyr to family duty. But I digress...

Victoria is the usual Quick heroine in that she is bright, unconventional and she positively thirsts for adventure. She is unusual in that she is richer than the hero. As in most Quick plots, the heroine's desire for adventure leads her into some compromising situations and also considerable danger. Thanks to one such episode, Lucas and Victoria must get married - which suits Lucas just fine.

Well, Lucas is a fortune-hunter, but he is a bit more than that. He is fortune-hunting because he owes the people on his estates and the land the best that he can manage. [A rather nice reason to chase an heiress, compared to the usual spendthrift feckless gamble who goes fortune-hunting]. And Lucas also respects Victoria's intelligence, her unusual qualities, and even her appetite for rather unorthodox adventures. Although he is not displeased by his forced marriage, he would have preferred a more conventional courtship. Best of all, although it would have been easy for him to engineer the forced marriage, it is clear fairly soon that he was not the one who betrayed the couple.

Victoria and Lucas have their usual tiffs, including a remarkable tiff about money and her spending, in which he manages to alienate Victoria for a while. But he is always good at retrieving the situation, partly by appealing to her sense of adventure. And into this mix is thrown an old family legend about an Amber Knight and his Lady, into which Victoria plays beautifully with her penchant for amber-colored and yellow-colored outfits. The people on the estate are as thrilled by Victoria's wardrobe as her actions, and everything seems to be going nicely.

Or is it? From the outset, it is clear that Victoria is being stalked by someone regarding a Big Secret in her past. And here I have to say that Victoria exhibits remarkable stupidity (as does Lucas at one point). Does she take someone into her confidence early? No. Does she take certain precautions such as hiring a Bow Street Runner or finding out the mole among the staff? No. Do she and Lucas act rashly at a certain point? Yes. Unfortunately, this part of the story was a decided letdown as was the author's lack of knowledge about inheritance law.

For the record, if Victoria's mother had control of her own fortune at her first husband's death and she then remarried without any safeguards, her fortune would go immediately to her new husband. If she and her friends had safeguards built (basically a trust being set up), then her new husband could not inherit her fortune. The point being that the reason for a certain death in the back history of the novel made little sense - almost as little sense as the villain's desire for revenge (this person is supposed to be smart). I cannot say more without giving away secrets, but at the beginning of the book, either Victoria inherits her mother's fortune outright after her mother's death (usually in the form of a trust) or that fortune has passed into another family in the absence of such a trust. [For further enlightenment, I recommend Emily Bronte's WUTHERING HEIGHTS].

If this problem (with the disposition of Victoria's mother's fortune) had not existed, and if the hero and heroine had not acted rashly (and even stupidly at several points), I would have given this book a 5 or something close to it. As it stands, it gets a 3.9 (rounded up to a 4). Why do I penalize it so much? Because Quick makes mystery and revenge key motives in her plots - and it is disappointing when that part comes undone, especially near the end.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Change From The Normal Quick!, June 22, 2000

By 

Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surrender (Mass Market Paperback)

That's all that I can think of when _Surrender_ comes to mind. A lot of previous reviewers are complaining that Lucas is too harsh of a hero and that no love is involved in his relationship with Victoria. I would like to strongly disagree. First of all, yes he did go after Victoria for her money... but that was before he met her and got to know her. Isn't that how most relationships start? Someone thinks something of their partner, but as they meet them and get to know them, their opinions change. At least, that has been my experience. Lucas was a very complex character. He was calus at first, but as you peel away his layers, the true man is shown, and it is a very caring, very loving man. I loved him because he was a change from the normal Quick hero. They are usually immediatly loving and let the heroine do whatever they want. Don't get me wrong, that works for a book, but Ms. Quick went out on a limb to have Lucas for her hero. He is more true to the times this book was written in. He doesn't let Victoria do whatever she wants, but he does let her be herself and he doesn't marry her for her money. Victoria was a lovely heroine... I found myself wishing I were her many times (even when Lucas was acting like the big bad wolf). She was spunky but down to earth at the same time. The added element of the paranormal was great spice added to the book, and I enjoyed hearing older beliefs about it. Mystery is Quick's strongest suit, and it is applied perfectly to _Surrender_. You are kept guessing at who the bad apple is while watching the relationship between Lucas and Victoria blossom. All in all, _Surrender_ is a wonderful book. It is a nice change from the normal romance.