That Sweet Enemy

by Dinah Dean, Marjorie May (Pseudonym)

Mary Burns is travelling through Europe with her friends when war resumes between Britain and France in 1803 and Napoleon orders the arrest of all British subjects on French territory. Their fate is to be decided by Captain Armand Dufour, who has bitter personal reasons for taking vengeance on the English. He offers safe passes for the whole party—on condition that Mary remains behind as his wife. With internment as the alternative, what choice has she? Yet cold, sarcastic and disfigured as he is, she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Captain. If her situation really is so terrible, why does she fail to take advantage of the opportunities to escape?

Genres: Regency, Historical Romance, Historical, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Traditional Regency, Historical Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 1982

About the author

Dinah Dean is known mainly for the historical romances she wrote in the 1980s for the Mills & Boon Masquerade Historical Romance imprint. Historical romances then, as now, included a wide range of both writing quality and historical accuracy. Dinah Dean is at the top end of the scale for both. While she does not confine herself to any one period or place, most of her books are set during the early 19th century, in either Waltham Abbey, Essex, England, or in Russia. As a resident of Waltham Abbey and the secretary of the Waltham Abbey Historical Society Dinah Dean is well informed about the history of the town and she uses this in her books which are set between 1060 and 1808. She is also knowledgeable about Russia and, as well as her romances about the early 19th century, she set one book there in the late 11th century.

Dinah Dean also published under the names Jane Hunt and Marjorie May.

Reviews

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 5 out of 5]

May I say just how much I loved this Georgian romance? I read it in one day.

The setting took place in France at the time of Napoleon; a side we rarely see in historical romances. The milieu was engrossing.

It was a period piece with one bodice ripper moment; Captain Armand Dufour was bitter, kind, frustrated and helpful. Each MC had a wariness of the other that gave a truthful edge to the storyline. The more you find out about them, the more you understood their behavior.

Though Armand and Mary ‘Marie’ Burns did not know it, they were perfect for each other. He was a complicated, but worthy hero. She was an endearing young woman: truly innocent in many ways.

This is the type of story I could easily reread again in a few months.

[Lyuda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, what a story! This is my third re-read of this lovely book and I know it is not the last one. Written by Marjory May, better known as Dinah Dean, the story takes place in French occupied Switzerland (very unusual for regency books place). From the back of the book: "Mary Burns is traveling through Europe with her friends when war resumes between Britain and France in 1803 and Napoleon orders the arrest of all British subjects on French territory. Their fate is to be decided by Captain Armand Dufour, who has bitter personal reasons for taken vengeance on the English. He offers safe passes for the whole party- on condition that Mary remains behind as his wife". This MOC story was written with a great deal of realism and sensitivity. The change in Armand from vengeful bitter man to a compassionate true hero was slow but very rewarding. The secondary characters were well developed and the unusual setting was really interesting.

[Mary23nm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had the bones to be a Great Romance. Naive , sweet, heroine and an embittered, scarred hero from an enemy country. A marriage that the heroine could not refuse. For me, there wasn't enough softening of the hero and the heroine always seemed to taking the steps forward in their relationship. There was no grovel/apology by the hero for the coerced wedding night humiliation either.
A little disappointing, but not bad. An epilogue would have helped. 3/5 stars

[Cherokee Ford · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 rounded down. It was so problematic, y’all.

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Number 97.
Set during the Napoleonic War Switzerland.

Mary Burns is travelling through Europe with her friends when war resumes between Britain and France in 1803 and Napoleon orders the arrest of all British subjects on French territory. Their fate is to be decided by Captain Armand Dufour, who has bitter personal reasons for taking vengeance on the English. He offers safe passes for the whole party--on condition that Mary remains behind as his wife. With internment as the alternative, what choice has she? Yet cold, sarcastic and disfigured as he is, she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Captain.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

What?? I had such a hard time finding an old used copy of this book back in november and now I find out that they re-published just a month later lol omg

Its a very good book though! Just lamenting about the ironies in life.

[DD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first found one book by this author in a second hand bookshop decades ago, and hadn't been able to find any others until they were republished in the last year or two. Wasn't aware she wrote under a second name. Now I think I have most of her books.
Set in the Napoleonic wars just after the Peace of Amiens broke down, Mary was travelling in Europe with friends, trying to get back to England without being interred as an Englishman in France.
The party was held in a town in Switzerland and Mary ends up being the translated for the French captain interviewing them all. After days the captain says he'll let the party continue if Mary stays and married him.
Armand Dufour, is serving as controller in a border town, a big step down for him, after he was held as a prisoner of war in England and badly injured there before being released when the Peace treaty was signed. He's held a certain resentment against the English ever since (understandably).

So they marry, but don't appear to communicate, although Armand provides well for Mary, and she certainly appears to have a more settled and certain life with him. Several men seem inclined to tempt Mary away from her 'monster' husband, and Armand seems to accept she will leave him.

I think that when he asked her to marry him and she said yes almost immediately they both had feelings already, but either didn't recognise them or didn't want to admit to them.

Another lovely book by this author, read it all in a single session. I enjoy recency books, and have read extensively around the Napoleonic wars, and romances set around them, don't of her see a book about a French soldier, although this author has written similar books but in the Russian soldiers involved (I recommend reading those too).
A definite will read again book.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a different setup than most of the Regency era books I've read--I think the only book I've read about the fallout after the Peace of Amiens and the French internment of British citizens was (briefly) in Patrick O'Brian's Post Captain, when Jack and Stephen had to sneak over the Pyrenees. The romance was sweet, occasionally veering towards Absolute Angst (the hero has a lot of terrible trauma to work through) but never tipping over the edge.

I put it down halfway through the story, though, and struggled to pick it back up. I think the heroine was perhaps too naive at times, and I struggled to connect with her as much as the hero. However, I'm interested in checking out Dinah Dean's Russian-set Regencies now!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was a lovely read, it was a slow paced book but it was a quick read so it balanced it out, the love story was very sweet, the main characters enjoyable, it was just a sweet and simple story of two people falling in love and finding unexpected happiness with each other, I read it about a month ago so I probably would have had more to say about it then, I always find if I'm reviewing a book I need to do it within a few days of reading it, but I feel what more is there for one to say about this, it's a nice sweet little book and I'm glad I read it, the writing was really nice too, this was the first book by this author I read and I liked her style so I ordered a few more of her books and I hope to enjoy them as much.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi piacciono in genere le storie un po' ruvide, che non si curano troppo di offendere (o, viceversa, di blandire) i gusti del lettore; ma, veramente, quando sono arrivata alla scena della violenza, ho pensato che forse in questo caso si stava passando un po' il segno.
Ma i fatti sono raccontati in modo asciutto, senza indugiare su aspetti patetici o erotici, e, d'altra parte, gli eventi narrati (ambientati con mano precisa ed esperta nella Francia delle guerre napoleoniche) non lasciavano molto spazio a romanticherie da educande.
Così, alla fine della lettura, mi posso dire pienamente soddisfatta: quattro stelle – il massimo, perché non siamo certo di fronte a un capolavoro della letteratura mondiale.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god, this book is something else.

Huge warning for rape scene, MMC and FMC which I have genuinely never read before, and I'm honestly shocked I could get past this.

Yet get past it I did, so I could enjoy Armand, our "hero", the most astoundingly cold husband I have ever come across. Honestly it's sold me on the whole trope. The book never dips into his POV (more of a modern thing than writers in Dean's time), so he remains a genuine enigma 99.9% of the book.

Very little happens in the plot. The MMC says like, 100 words the whole book and 99 of them are mean. I can't believe I liked this book. I totally loved it. I've read it 3 times.

Oh, and it's also a rare French POV in Napoleonic Wars.

[Darien · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing set up, with characters who have more complex motivations and a turbulent period in Europe during Napoleon's quest for domination. But ultimately the depth of the characters and development of the relationship was lacking for me. Very "old school" in the brooding dark hero misogynistic behavior and heroine's naiveté.
(TW) Trigger warning for spousal rape and endangerment of pregnant woman.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

ebook-borrowed from Hoopla
orig published in 1982
Mary, Armand, Napoleonic War

This quirky little book, something not ordinarily on my radar, quickly drew me into the story. My thanks to whoever recently posted a rating and prompted my borrowing of it. Likeable characters and a satisfying little love story.

[P Goff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great romance!

A group of English in the
wrong place at the wrong time detained by the French. A forced marriage to a cold wounded man that blossoms into something beautiful. I read this book in one day; couldn't put it down.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book. Takes place at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars in Switzerland. A nice story. The writing style was a bit more show than tell but not too bad. I would be willing to try another by this author.

[Vilesena · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Writing style: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Plot/storyline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟

[Laura Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am discovering this author because her books are being reissued in kindle format. This was a bit of a miss for me because of the way the author wrote the male lead. How was this considered a romance when he barely spoke to anyone including the female lead?

[Lilian80 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The plot and setting are very unique. The romance is sweet and develops very slowly.

[Claire S · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have enjoyed all other Dinah Dean books I've read, but this one was a miss. I'm surprised I finished it at all. I was unsure about the forced marriage, but figured the author would be able to pull it off based on her other books. Perhaps I was wondering how the author would attempt to redeem the "hero", but its impossible for me when he rapes his wife on their wedding night. Yes, I know that it wasn't against the law back then, but it doesn't change the fact that he assaulted her. The author spares us minute details, but shows us enough to fill me with disgust as well as describing the heroine as physically hurt and humiliated. I've read books where the heroine marries the hero reluctantly, and I've questioned the matter of consent as a modern woman, since she's willing to sleep with her husband but, given the choice, would have chosen not to, but at least the husband is considerate. There's no ambiguity here for the sheer violence of it and her obvious struggle.

The hero seems to regret his actions once he sees the heroine break down after the event, but it doesn't change what he just did. The author then uses the fact that he's later tender with her, and she starts enjoying the act, as a form of redemption. There also doesn't seem to be any lingering trauma from it, which was not very believable. At one point, the heroine also thinks that her pain that night must have been nothing compared to the pain the hero suffered in the past as yet another unsuccessful attempt to redeem his actions.

Had I realized he was going to rape her, I'd not have started the book as nothing afterwards can justify it. I've sadly have read many "romances" where the hero abuses the heroine one way or another to know that nothing an author then writes can justify it in my eyes. Life is not black and white, but abuse because one was once also abused is not okay. As for him being kind, I'm afraid I saw very little of it. Yes, we can infer that he likes her, because he gives her gifts, tells her she's beautiful now and then, and he's the hero of this romance after all but, for most part, he treats her with indifference and does not make her feel loved (of course it's because of his own insecurities and trauma).

The only way to really enjoy this "romance" is to be able to use his trauma to justify all he puts the heroine through, and I just can't.