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Sara Craven (1938–2017)

Author of The Forced Bride

158+ Works 1,852 Members 37 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Sara Craven is the pseudonym used by Anne Ashurst, originally Anne Bushell. She was born in October 1938 in Devon, England. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as journalist for the Paignton Observer and as teacher. Her first romance novel, The Garden of Dreams, was published in 1975 show more under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. Since then she has written over 80 romance novels including The Innocent's Surrender, His Untamed Innocent, The Highest Stakes of All, and Wife in the Shadows. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Sara Carven, سارة كريفن

Disambiguation Notice:

Anne Bushell Thomas Ashurst writes under the pseudonym of Sara Craven.

Series

Works by Sara Craven

The Forced Bride (2006) 56 copies, 3 reviews
Innocent on Her Wedding Night (2007) 49 copies, 1 review
The Innocent's Surrender (2010) 42 copies, 1 review
The Santangeli Marriage (2008) 39 copies, 1 review
The Marchese's Love-Child (2004) 36 copies
The Virgin's Wedding Night (2007) 36 copies, 1 review
Rome's Revenge (2001) 34 copies
Ruthless Awakening (2009) 34 copies, 2 reviews
Wife Against Her Will (2006) 34 copies, 1 review
His Wedding-Night Heir (2005) 33 copies, 1 review
Marriage at a Distance (1998) 32 copies
His Untamed Innocent (2010) 31 copies, 1 review
Dark Summer Dawn (1981) 30 copies, 1 review
His Convenient Marriage (2002) 27 copies
The Bedroom Barter (2003) 26 copies
His Forbidden Bride (2003) 26 copies
The Marriage Proposition (2002) 26 copies
Smokescreen Marriage (2001) 25 copies
The Highest Stakes of All (2011) 25 copies, 2 reviews
The Forced Marriage (2002) 24 copies
Comparative Strangers (1988) 23 copies, 2 reviews
Bartaldi's Bride (1999) 23 copies, 1 review
The Token Wife (2003) 23 copies
Mistress on Loan (2000) 23 copies
Marriage by Deception (2000) 22 copies
Tower of Shadows (1993) 21 copies, 1 review
Dark Apollo (1994) 21 copies, 1 review
The End of Her Innocence (2012) 20 copies
Promise of the Unicorn (1985) 20 copies, 1 review
Bride of Desire (2006) 20 copies, 1 review
The Tycoon's Mistress (2000) 20 copies
Marriage Under Suspicion (1998) 20 copies
Mistress at a Price (2004) 20 copies
Fugitive Wife (1980) 19 copies
The Seduction Game (1999) 18 copies
Unguarded Moment (1982) 18 copies, 1 review
The Price of Retribution (2012) 18 copies
Night of the Condor (1987) 17 copies
Desperate Measures (1991) 17 copies
Summer of the Raven (1981) 17 copies, 2 reviews
Wife in the Shadows (2011) 17 copies, 2 reviews
Witch's Harvest (1987) 16 copies, 1 review
Flame of Diablo (1979) 16 copies
Count Valieri's Prisoner (2013) 15 copies
Irresistible Temptation (1999) 15 copies
Deceived (1996) 15 copies
Sup with the Devil (1983) 15 copies
Witching Hour (1981) 15 copies
A Bad Enemy (1983) 15 copies
A Nanny for Christmas (1997) 15 copies
Devil and the Deep Sea (1988) 15 copies
Dawn Song (1993) 14 copies
Seduction Never Lies (2014) 14 copies
Counterfeit Bride (1982) 14 copies
Moon of Aphrodite (1980) 13 copies
Alien Vengeance (1985) 13 copies
Ultimate Temptation (1997) 13 copies
The Devil at Archangel (1978) 13 copies
Escape Me Never (1985) 13 copies, 1 review
The Marriage Deal (1986) 12 copies, 1 review
The Innocent's Shameful Secret (2017) 12 copies, 1 review
One Reckless Night (1997) 12 copies
Act of Betrayal (1985) 12 copies
Dark Ransom (1992) 12 copies, 1 review
Strange Adventure (1977) 11 copies, 1 review
Outsider (1987) 11 copies
Solitaire (1979) 11 copies, 1 review
Pagan Adversary (1983) 11 copies
Wild Melody (1977) 11 copies
A Place of Storms (1977) 11 copies
Temple of the Moon (1977) 11 copies
Thunder on the Reef (1994) 11 copies
Dark Paradise (1984) 11 copies
Shadow of Desire (1980) 10 copies
When the Devil Drives (1991) 10 copies
Storm Force (1989) 10 copies
Past All Forgetting (1978) 10 copies
King of Swords (1989) 10 copies
Flawless (1989) 10 copies, 1 review
High Tide at Midnight (1978) 9 copies
Moth to the Flame (1979) 8 copies
A High Price to Pay (1986) 8 copies, 1 review
Dragon's Lair (1978) 8 copies
The Garden of Dreams (1975) 6 copies
Island of the Heart (1989) 5 copies
The Right Bride? (By Request 3-in-1) (2010) — Contributor — 4 copies
Blind-Date Grooms (By Request 3-in-1) (2007) — Contributor — 4 copies
British Bachelors: Tempting and New (2017) — Author — 2 copies
Taltsutamata neitsi (2011) 2 copies
The Italian's Pleasure (3-in-1 By Request) (2006) — Contributor — 1 copy
Marriage Vows (2-in-1) (2008) 1 copy
Forced to Marry Bundle (2009) — Author — 1 copy
Mulheres De Poder — Author — 1 copy
A Christmas Engagement (2004) — Author — 1 copy
Poslední pokušení (1999) 1 copy
Sweet Revenge (3 in 1) (2006) 1 copy
Sara Craven Best Selection, Vol. 2 — Original Text — 1 copy
Uppoffringen (1979) 1 copy
Snědý Apollon (1997) 1 copy

Associated Works

One Night with His Virgin Mistress (2015) — Original Text — 4 copies
The Forced Bride (2011) — Original Text — 3 copies
The Token Wife (2015) — Original Text — 2 copies
Ruthless Awakening (2014) — Original Text — 2 copies, 1 review
Mistress at a Price (2016) — Original Text — 2 copies
A Place of Storms (2020) — Original Text — 1 copy
Deceived (2014) — Original Text — 1 copy
Irresistible Temptation (2019) — Original Text — 1 copy
The Santangeli Marriage (2020) — Original Text — 1 copy
His Forbidden Bride (2019) — Original Text — 1 copy
Marriage at a Distance (2019) — Original Text — 1 copy
His Convenient Marriage (2019) — Original Text — 1 copy
Seduction Never Lies [Manga] (2017) — Original Text — 1 copy
Inherited by Her Enemy (2018) — Original Text — 1 copy
Pagan Adversary [Manga] (2000) — Original text — 1 copy, 1 review
The Marchese's Love-Child (2011) — Original Text — 1 copy
Count Valieri's Prisoner [Manga] (2017) — Original Text — 1 copy
Smokescreen Marriage [Manga] (2017) — Original Text — 1 copy
The Virgin's Wedding Night — Original Text — 1 copy
Marriage by Deception — Original Text — 1 copy
A Nanny for Christmas (2016) — Original Text — 1 copy
Wife in the Shadows (2014) — Original Text — 1 copy
The Innocent's Surrender (2014) — Original Text — 1 copy
Rome's Revenge (2016) — Original Text — 1 copy
Mistress on Loan (2015) — Original Text — 1 copy
Solitaire (2022) — Original Text — 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Craven, Sara
Legal name
Bushell Thomas Ashurst, Anne
Other names
Craven, Sara
Birthdate
1938-10-05
Date of death
2017-11-15
Gender
female
Nationality
UK (birth)
Birthplace
Devon, England, UK
Places of residence
West Highlands, Scotland, UK
Somerset, England, UK
Occupations
journalist
novelist
teacher
Organizations
Romantic Novelists' Association
Awards and honors
BBC's Mastermind (1997)
Short biography
Anne Bushell was born in South Devon, England on October 1938, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.

She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
Disambiguation notice
Anne Bushell Thomas Ashurst writes under the pseudonym of Sara Craven.

Members

Discussions

Vintage Harlequin in Name that Book (January 2016)

Reviews

37 reviews
That star is for Kanako Uesugi's art.

If possible this managed to be creepier than the novel it's based on.

Step 1 in Revenge:
Get your enemy(?) to hand over his good luck charm that supposedly caused your friend's downfall.

If you've mentioned a couple times that good luck charm looks hella young, like a child, ignore that voice. Revenge Matters.

Step 2 in Revenge:
Kidnap said good luck charm to a far off island and tell your staff she's literally the worst woman ever so treat her bad.

If you show more notice she looks hella young while sleeping, crying or in general talking to you, ignore that voice. Revenge Matters.

Step 3 in Revenge:
Tell the gal she has no choice, it's all her fault for being a fool and you'll do as you like.

If you notice she looks hella young and innocent while arguing against taking her against her will, ignore that voice. Revenge Matters.

Step 4 in Revenge:
Don't bother seducing the harlot, didn't you say you'd take what you want? She didn't say no...Rape away!

If you notice she is OMG SHE'S A VIRGIN, LISTEN TO THAT VOICE. Revenge DOES NOT matter.

Step 5 in Revenge(?):
Look at the passport, oh she IS a child (18) and she's NOT a harlot. Did your friend lie perchance? New revenge!

So you noticed she's not a harlot, you made a bad mistake, revenge was bad...but oh look at that love maybe you can convince her to stay?

Step 6 in...whatever the fuck this is now:
Send her away!

But give her sad puppy dog looks and oh she came back this stupid fucking loon...can anyone say Stockholm Syndrome?

Look. Joanna called her father "Daddy" a lot. She saw no problem with him displaying her like a sexy doll constantly (Daddy needs me!). Then she decided she loved Vassos because he had the same hang dog expression and "needed" her like her dad.

In the book he's almost twice her age, so just a few years shy of her dad. In this manga Joanna mentions A LOT how she stayed with her dad because he needed her, would be lost without her and then she mentions that she wants to stay with Vassos for the same reasons.

Seriously this book was creepier as a manga. SHE IS 18. And the housekeeper, if possible, was a worst enabler here. Vassos' entire staff is OK with him potentially raping this strange oddly youthful looking girl because he told them how "evil" she was.

ugh. just. ugh.
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Before I begin this review let's start with something that REALLY set my hackles up:
"The Untamed arrogant and proud, unashamedly male! Harlequin Presents with a retro twist....Step back in time to when men were men--and women knew how to tame them!"

Let me break down what that means:
--the heroine will be at least 18, but under 22
--the hero will be somewhere above 30
--the hero will be rich and used to getting his way
--the heroine will not have a job, or if she does it will be some sort of show more 'female' job like secretary/nurse/assistant
--the heroine will protest a lot, the hero will laugh at her protestations
--the heroine will fall in love with the hero, for no real reason except the story calls for it

The book is set in 1975 (why?), the heroine is 18 (not quite 19), the hero is some age over 30 (though that's kind of a guess given some contextual clues) and the hero is so rich he owns his own ISLAND. The heroine has no job (but has aspirations to being a nanny, which in and of itself is not a bad profession, I was one once, but she honestly can not think of anything else she may want to go to school for and only settles on that because someone else tells her its a good idea) beyond what her father uses her for (he's a gambler and she is his scantily clad, sultry look giving good luck charm...that no one knows is his daughter and speculates is his mistress).

Yeah this sounds like a winner folks!

I have no good things to say about this book by the by so take from that what you will. Joanna has no backbone, also I find it hard to believe that no one at all thought it wrong that Vassos kidnapped her, openly threatened to rape her until he no longer wanted her and then promised to sell her off. Revenge is one thing, but seriously--how frelling loyal were his people that even the WOMEN thought it was okay for him to use Joanna like a piece of meat? How did no one object to this?

Beyond that what kind of father was Joanna's father that he didn't immediately jump up and say 'THIS IS MY DAUGHTER'? And why would Joanna expect a rescue from him when he wouldn't even acknowledge they were related? Why would she WANT a rescue from him?

Vassos was just...repulsive and disgusting. He either spends the book having sex with an unwilling Joanna, or a reluctantly willing Joanna (which besides the point but he's trying to get her to want to have sex with him for the pleasure of it...and goes about it by NOT driving her to climax. If I understood the writing rightly he would get her worked up, have his release and then send her back to her room without her own.) and promising to sell her off if she displeases him. He orders her around, keeps her cooped up, won't talk to her when she asks a question so she understands a situation he doesn't want her meddling in and even after learning the truth about her life he is still 'well. changes nothing I still want to have sex with you'. He goes so far to say that his revenge was only made sweeter because of who and what she was.

THEN to top it all off Joanna is suddenly 'in love' with Vassos? Because he chooses to get over himself enough to send her home? Really? But she doesn't tell him this, no instead she assumes he's done with her and wants to hold onto her pride (ha! lost that already). Their 11th hour confessions to each other were about as romantic as a hedgehog in bed.
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I might be being generous with 2 stars. This was an oldie so of course it was going to be different and maybe I just wasn't in the mood but... These two spend virtually no time together and the man, whose age I never managed to catch but I assume was about 30, expected this 17 year old girl to behave and respond like an adult. In these old HPs I'm never sure if the authors are purposely writing their teenaged heroines as teenagers and that is the reason for their silly reactions to stuff or show more if they would have them respond that way regardless of age. They never come right out and say these are naïve teenage reactions rather than silly female reactions so I don't know. But anyway, the hero knew she was 17 and kept expecting her to act like an adult. And for all his 'I loved you from the beginning' he never really treated her that way or really made any effort to win her over other than being rough and nasty to her. Surely he knew he could have had this impressionable teenager eating out of his hand with a little seduction. Oh well. show less
You know what I have a bigger problem with than the forced sex scene? The idea that a 21 year old girl would have such a successful business. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but it's very rare and shouldn't be a throwaway element in a book. I'm weird, I know. Okay on with the review. Sara Craven is an author who rarely works for me. This one was pretty par for the course. The heroine was weak and needed to take a stand at several different points in the book. The hero just show more rollercoastered right over her. I couldn't really get behind either the heroine nor the hero. Just okay. show less

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Statistics

Works
158
Also by
26
Members
1,852
Popularity
#13,892
Rating
3.1
Reviews
37
ISBNs
624
Languages
12
Favorited
1

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