Monday, December 28, 2015

New Review: Victoria Holt’s THE DEVIL ON HORSEBACK – Proper Englishwoman Resists the love of a Dark French Count in Revolutionary France

Another of Victoria Holt’s Gothic romances, this one set in 18th century France during the time leading up to the French Revolution. The hero is a domineering French count and the heroine a very proper English schoolteacher. Their lives become entangled when he pays a trip to England. Neither can deny the growing attraction to each other, despite he is married.

Aristocrat Comte Fontaine Delibes married young at 18 after already siring a bastard son with his mistress. But after giving him a daughter, his wife spurns him and the doctors advise against her having another child. Denied the son he wanted, the comte sets about having one mistress after the other—until he meets a young Englishwoman, Minella Maddox, “Minelle” who, along with her mother, teaches school on a wealthy estate.

Minelle agrees to travel to France and become companion to the comte’s daughter, Margot, when she gets in trouble and has to go away for a while. During this time, Minelle learns much about the intrigues of the comte’s family and the rising discontent of the French populace. Though she knows she should go home to England, she can’t bring herself to leave.

If you like Alpha male heroes, misunderstood for most of the book, a brave heroine and an intriguing mystery set in an interesting historical period, then you’ll like this one. It’s classic Victoria Holt and I recommend it.

Although many of Holt's novels are available for Kindle, this one is currently only available used in paper (which is how I bought it). On Amazon.

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