Sweet treason [Unknown Binding]

Patricia Gaffney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1989

Scottish beauty and spy Katherine McGregor has no qualms about posing as a doxy, if the charade will strike a blow against the hated English. But her certainty turns to confusion when she is captured and confronted by Major James Burke, an English officer.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 442 pages
• Publisher: Book Margins (1989)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00072UWPY
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Patricia Gaffney began her writing career with the publication of Sweet Treason, a historical romance set in revolutionary Scotland. Eleven romance novels later, she tried something different--The Saving Graces, a story of women's friendships, that ended up spending 17 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List.

Circle of Three, Flight Lessons, and The Goodbye Summer followed, all bestsellers that established Gaffney as a premier mainstream fiction writer.

Her new book is Mad Dash, the story of a happy marriage in trouble. It's due out in Spring 2008.

Gaffney, who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, is currently at work on a novel about a man who changes his life when he finds out he's dying--then finds out he isn't. Working title: On Second Thought.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Completely unbelieveable, February 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Treason (Paperback)

I can't for the life of me imagine why James found Katherine in any way worthy of love. What an arrogant twit she was. The ending was completely unbelieveable - she was the cause of his losing everything else he might have held dear in his life, but it didn't matter because he loved her? I thought her responses were incredibly immature and self-centered, and I felt sorry for James for being so caught up in her. This is one of the few books I've read lately where I just intensely disliked one of the main characters, and the ending didn't resolve anything for me because I didn't believe it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great characters and witty dialogue make the book, July 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Treason (Paperback)

Lady Katherine MacGregor's sedate life is destroyed when deserters from the English army cross into Scotland and kill her family. Vowing revenge, she becomes a spy for the Jacobite cause. She poses as a prostitute and steals a satchel containing secret documents from an English officer. She is caught, but claims she thought she was simply stealing the officer's money. James Burke, an English officer and viscount, is given the responsibility of escorting this "Scottish prostitute" to Lancaster for her trial on charges of treason. The first half of the book is a wonderfully funny road romance, as Katie and Burke match wits and exchange barbs during their journey. He suspects she truly is a spy and is determined to discover the truth. Still, he finds himself unsettled by his growing attraction to a woman he disdains as a prostitute. She slowly is forced to admit her attraction to one of the hated English. Eventually, recognizing her feelings for him, she saves his life, which sets in motion a chain of events that lands him in hot water. I love this book for several reasons, but mostly because of the fabulous characters. These are two of the most real people I've ever read in a romance. Gaffney modulates these characters perfectly. Although flawed, the characters always remain likable. In some romances, readers are "told" by the writer that a character is supposed to be arrogant, or intelligent, or some other such adjective, but the actions of the character don't really bear that out. In this novel, the personalities of the main characters directly influence their actions and the course the book takes. Sweet Treason also contains wonderful bantering dialogue that makes me laugh out loud at times, and yet I wouldn't call this book a comedy. It takes a turn to the dramatic about halfway through, and the drama is just as involving as the comedy is funny. The love scenes are fresh--I didn't read them thinking I'd read scenes like them a dozen times before. Even the secondary characters are well-developed and original. I also found the heroine's "pathological lying" to be quite logical for the story--after all, her life depends on her ability to clear herself of treason charges.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One of Gaffney's weakest and it started out so well..., July 13, 2002

By 

TheclaM (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Treason (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a huge Patricia Gaffney fan and I must concur with other reviewers here who give this book a tepid review. This book starts out just swell - energetic and fun and sassy...and this it all just...goes away.

Disappointing and not up to her usual good work.