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Sara Craven (1938–2017)

Author of The Forced Bride

165+ Works 2,017 Members 39 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.

Image credit: via Open Library

Series

Works by Sara Craven

The Forced Bride (2006) 58 copies, 3 reviews
Innocent on Her Wedding Night (2007) 49 copies, 1 review
The Santangeli Marriage (2008) 41 copies, 1 review
The Innocent's Surrender (2010) 41 copies, 1 review
The Virgin's Wedding Night (2007) 39 copies, 1 review
The Marchese's Love-Child (2004) 39 copies
His Wedding-Night Heir (2005) 38 copies, 1 review
Wife Against Her Will (2006) 36 copies, 1 review
Rome's Revenge (2001) 35 copies
Ruthless Awakening (2009) 34 copies, 2 reviews
Dark Summer Dawn (1981) 33 copies, 1 review
Marriage at a Distance (1998) 33 copies
His Untamed Innocent (2010) 32 copies, 1 review
His Convenient Marriage (2002) 31 copies
The Marriage Proposition (2002) 30 copies
His Forbidden Bride (2003) 27 copies
The Highest Stakes of All (2011) 27 copies, 2 reviews
Smokescreen Marriage (2001) 26 copies
The Bedroom Barter (2003) 26 copies
The Forced Marriage (2002) 25 copies
The Token Wife (2003) 24 copies
Comparative Strangers (1988) 24 copies, 2 reviews
Bartaldi's Bride (1999) 24 copies, 1 review
Mistress on Loan (2000) 23 copies
Fugitive Wife (1980) 23 copies
Dark Apollo (1994) 23 copies, 1 review
Tower of Shadows (1993) 23 copies, 1 review
Bride of Desire (2006) 22 copies, 1 review
The Tycoon's Mistress (2000) 22 copies
Marriage by Deception (2000) 22 copies
Promise of the Unicorn (1985) 22 copies, 1 review
Night of the Condor (1987) 22 copies
The Seduction Game (1999) 22 copies
Mistress at a Price (2004) 21 copies
Marriage Under Suspicion (1998) 21 copies
Unguarded Moment (1982) 20 copies, 1 review
Wife in the Shadows (2011) 20 copies, 2 reviews
Summer of the Raven (1981) 20 copies, 2 reviews
The End of Her Innocence (2012) 19 copies
Sup with the Devil (1983) 18 copies
Witching Hour (1981) 18 copies
A Bad Enemy (1983) 18 copies
Witch's Harvest (1987) 18 copies, 1 review
Deceived (1996) 18 copies
Devil and the Deep Sea (1988) 18 copies
Desperate Measures (1991) 18 copies
The Devil at Archangel (1978) 17 copies
The Price of Retribution (2012) 17 copies
Dawn Song (1993) 17 copies
Counterfeit Bride (1982) 16 copies
A Place of Storms (1977) 15 copies
Wild Melody (1977) 15 copies
Flame of Diablo (1979) 15 copies
Escape Me Never (1985) 15 copies, 1 review
A Nanny for Christmas (1997) 15 copies
Irresistible Temptation (1999) 15 copies
The Marriage Deal (1986) 14 copies, 1 review
The Innocent's Shameful Secret (2017) 14 copies, 1 review
Seduction Never Lies (2014) 14 copies
Count Valieri's Prisoner (2013) 14 copies
Act of Betrayal (1985) 14 copies
Dark Ransom (1992) 14 copies, 1 review
Moon of Aphrodite (1980) 14 copies
Alien Vengeance (1985) 14 copies
Dark Paradise (1984) 14 copies
Outsider (1987) 13 copies
Pagan Adversary (1983) 13 copies
One Reckless Night (1997) 13 copies
Strange Adventure (1977) 13 copies, 1 review
Ultimate Temptation (1997) 13 copies
Past All Forgetting (1978) 12 copies
Storm Force (1989) 12 copies
When the Devil Drives (1991) 12 copies
Temple of the Moon (1977) 12 copies
Solitaire (1979) 11 copies, 1 review
Thunder on the Reef (1994) 11 copies
King of Swords (1989) 11 copies
Flawless (1989) 11 copies, 1 review
Shadow of Desire (1980) 10 copies
Dragon's Lair (1978) 10 copies
Moth to the Flame (1979) 10 copies
A High Price to Pay (1986) 8 copies, 1 review
High Tide at Midnight (1978) 8 copies
The Garden of Dreams (1975) 8 copies
Island of the Heart (1989) 6 copies
Blind-Date Grooms (By Request 3-in-1) (2007) — Contributor — 4 copies
The Right Bride? (By Request 3-in-1) (2010) — Contributor — 4 copies
A Christmas Engagement (2004) — Author — 2 copies
Taltsutamata neitsi (2011) 2 copies
British Bachelors: Tempting and New (2017) — Author — 2 copies
Sweet Revenge (3 in 1) (2006) 2 copies
Szenvedélyek szigete (1990) 1 copy
A szív király (1992) 1 copy
Átlátok rajtad (1997) 1 copy
Érzelmek vihara (1993) 1 copy
Cruel Despertar (2016) 1 copy
Marriage Vows (2-in-1) (2008) 1 copy
The Italian's Pleasure (3-in-1 By Request) (2006) — Contributor — 1 copy
Forced to Marry Bundle (2009) — Author — 1 copy
Mulheres De Poder — Author — 1 copy
Sara Craven Best Selection, Vol. 2 — Original Text — 1 copy
Uppoffringen (1979) 1 copy
Snědý Apollon (1997) 1 copy
Poslední pokušení (1999) 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 (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 (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 (2014) — 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

1970s (18) 1980s (28) anthology (14) bestseller (19) calibre (17) category romance (78) contemporary (102) contemporary romance (54) cover LT (28) ebook (24) fiction (47) Harlequin (42) Harlequin Presents (211) HP (59) hp-stash (16) HQ Presents (60) Italian Husbands (10) Kindle (13) M&B (11) MF (11) Mills & Boon (87) owned (32) presents (52) romance (328) series (15) series romance (14) swapped (33) to-read (77) unread (35) Wedlocked! (28)

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
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.
Nationality
UK (birth)
Birthplace
Devon, England, UK
Places of residence
West Highlands, Scotland, UK
Somerset, England, UK
Disambiguation notice
Anne Bushell Thomas Ashurst writes under the pseudonym of Sara Craven.
Associated Place (for map)
England, UK

Members

Discussions

Vintage Harlequin in Name that Book (January 2016)

Reviews

49 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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****This review contains spoilers****

Carly North, a beautiful up-and-coming model, is eager to go to a reception party for "Flawless". ("Flawless" is looking for a new face to launch it's make-up campaign.) But Carly has different reasons for wanting to attend. She wants to meet up with Saul Kingsland (a photographer) who hurt her five years ago, and she is planning her revenge.

Five years ago Carly was going to be in her cousin Louise's wedding, which was to be photographed and made into a show more book by a popular, new photographer Saul Kingsland. All the bridesmaids were crazy about him, especially young and gawky Carly. (Carly was seventeen, was too tall, skinny, wore glasses, and had a long nose.) After following him around like a lost puppy while he took pictures of the bridesmaids Carly developed a huge crush on him. But one day, while looking for Saul, Carly eventually found him and another girl (Katie) he was photographing outside (the girl Katie was topless and sort of a floozy) and Carly ended up eavesdropping. Katie was making snide comments to Saul about how Carly didn't fit in with the other, prettier, smaller bridesmaids because Carly was so ugly and grotesque and Katie thought Carly was going to ruin the "bridesmaid's book"/photos with her bad looks. Then Saul replied to Katie that "she's (Carly) practically an object lesson in how not to look". After overhearing this (without Saul and Katie knowing it) a hurt and upset Carly tells everyone she's too ill to be in the wedding and leaves. Then she decides to have cosmetic surgery and plans her revenge against Saul.

I liked Saul, he was a good hero. At first I didn't like how Saul talked badly about Carly with the cheap girl (Katie) he was photographing, he should've had more class. But later in the book he explained why he said what he said. Carly went a little overboard with her revenge, but alot of people (family, bridesmaids) really put her down and she truly believed she looked like a freak (even though she didn't sound that bad.) After hearing Saul's comments about her, I guess she finally snapped.

I can't resist a vengeful heroine so I enjoyed this story. It was a captivating and crazy read. (Even though it wasn't as crazy as Sally Wentworth's plastic surgery/heroine-revenge story "The Judas Kiss". The heroine in that story was even crazier and more ruthless.)
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Ok, first of all... when you're in a foreign country, and you're warned to stay away from it, the last thing you do is abandon your group and go to that place ALONE. The fact that the female lead in this book did just that, made me immensely dislike her.

I also didn't much care for the male lead. He did not reveal to her that he knew her father, and the secret he had been keeping from her honestly wasn't that much of a secret. But then given how stupid the girl was - because she snuck onto show more his forbidden island in the first place - I probably wouldn't have told her the secret, either. The description of this book intrigued me, but the story fell flat, and the ending... just, ugh. show less

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Statistics

Works
165
Also by
26
Members
2,017
Popularity
#12,763
Rating
3.1
Reviews
39
ISBNs
632
Languages
14
Favorited
1

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