Skye O'Malley [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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On the verge of marrying a man she loathes (the betrothal had been made when they were children), Skye O'Malley meets Niall Burke and it's love at first sight - but the betrothal can't be broken and Niall must make a better match than Skye. On her wedding night, Niall claims the right of droit du seigneur and gets first shot at the young virgin, enraging her husband Dom. Skye suffers mightily at the hands of her abusive husband, but by the time she's free Niall is married (unhappily) and what then follows are plentiful ups and downs from capture by pirates on the high seas, being sold into slavery (don't you worry, our heroine can charm anyone even the "whoremaster of Algiers"), and eventually ending in England in a marriage that brings her to the court of Elizabeth Tudor, but a twist in fate makes the two women enemies in the end. Can Skye win her battle of wits with the formidable Queen of England? Will she and Niall ever have a happy ending?

Somehow I missed reading Small's books back in the 80's and when I spotted this at a free-book sale I decided to give her a whirl. Yes, I was warned that the purple prose was plentiful, rapes abounded and that the sex was OTT and I was prepared for it, but still -

"As his seed thundered into her hidden valley he shook fiercely with the intensity of his passion."

"Ahh...Skye, your little honey-oven is made for me."

Remember that honey-oven bit. Three (count 'em) three different men use this very same term when referring to Skye.

"Let me play the great desert stallion tonight, my Skye. Roll over, and be my little wild mare."

Forgot to mention, Small seems to have a horse fixation...

"A moment before his climax, he touched one hand beneath her to tweak at the little button of her sensuality and they shuddered their satisfaction in union."

*rolls eyes*

"Your little honey-oven burns my lance with the fiery flow of the passion you would like to deny me, but can't."

There's that honey-oven again. Add all this up, toss in some very abrupt POV switches from one paragraph to the next, mix with some annoying info dumps containing waaaaay more background information on secondary characters than necessary (I really didn't need to know about Geoffrey's family history all the way back to the Norman Conquest) and what is left was just not the book for me. As for the rapes? Yes, they are pretty much standard for these older books and I can live with a forced seduction or two, but what I can't live with is when the heroine is raped by the meanest, baddest, most irredeemable man on earth and we get this,

"And though she hated him, her body treacherously yielded itself."

I won't spoil, but the reader should also be warned that there is a scene towards the end involving a twelve-year-old girl and an aroused dog. If you're a die-hard fan of the old school bodice rippers with a strong stomach this might be the book for you - and it's a series so you can keep on readin' more. Any one else, I'd recommend steering clear - this is my first and last Bertrice Small book.

I am a huge Skye O'malley saga fan. They were the first adult books I had ever read. Yes Skye might not have one man that she falls in love with and stays with forever and always. That's not what the saga is about. It's about real life. The way life was back then. Men treated their women like they were of lower status. They DID blame the women for the sex of the children because they didn't know any better.

Skye acts the way she does to make her stand out from the rest of the characters. If she was just a timid, well mannered, obedient wife what fun would the book be then?

She thinks with her head instead of acting the way "she is supposed to". Dom was a jerk. Geoffrey acted like a typical man of that era, Niall was heart broken and "forced by society" to wed the women he did. Of course he was unhappy. He was in love with a woman he could not have. Alot of us have been there before.

I love these books. They are definitly worth the money.

I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I like it when the heroine only has sex with the hero. That is most certainly not the case in this horrid book. I couldn't even finish it. I should have read *all* of the reviews here first.

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1.0 out of 5 stars I Wasted My Money on This One!
I bought the audio book recording of Bertrice Small's Skye O'Malley and I usually like historical romance books but I just didn't like this story or the characters and I was... Read more

Published on Jan 22 2004 by Calinira

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, But.....
This was the first book of Bertrice Small's that I read, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the book, except for one thing:

Skye is totally spoiled, and acts like a selfish... Read more

Published on Dec 14 2003 by Shortchick

4.0 out of 5 stars A guilty pleasure!
In general I HATE the historical romance genre. But I really do like Beatrice Small. Her plots and characters are complicated enough to be fairly believable and keep me... Read more

Published on Aug 6 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars Ahead of her Time...A Worthy Heroine...
Truly a woman ahead of her time(1500's), Skye O'Malley makes us proud to be a woman. Never taking less, she strives for more and gets it. Read more

Published on Oct 28 2002 by Tracy Talley

3.0 out of 5 stars Strong Heroine, But....
It seemed to me that every guy she was paired with was scum. Obviously that Dom guy was supposed to be evil but even the men we were supposed to like i found awful. Read more

Published on Aug 6 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars The handbook for all women's survival
This book is the handbook for all women's survival. Small makes you believe that anything is possible, esp. if you're a woman. We can handle anything that is thrown to us. Read more

Published on Jun 21 2002 by Hadda Acevedo

5.0 out of 5 stars The best erotic romance
I read this book when it was first released, nearly 20 years ago. It made me a fan of romantic erotica for life. Read more

Published on Jun 17 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST!
This is one of thee best "trashy romance" novels a person will ever read. The characters in this book are great and the plot is perfect. Read more

Published on April 9 2002 by Jessica Fetting

5.0 out of 5 stars Skye O'Malley
This is by far the best "trashy romance" novel. It is the first I ever read in the genre, and none have compared since. Read more

Published on Mar 15 2002 by J. Begley

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I ever read!
I am not usually a Historical Romance reader but a friend of mine said to me, "You HAVE to read this book". Boy, was I ever glad she did. Read more

Published on Jan 25 2002 by Wendy Easton

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