Throwback Thursday: Stars in the SKy by Barbara Cartland

Author:  Barbara Cartland
First published in 2000 by BarbaraCartland.com

Sylvia, daughter of the Duke of Belham, is bored with the various young men she meets at Lady Lamborne's masked ball. At last she escapes their attentions and makes her way into the cool, moonlit garden, where she encounters a masked stranger.

The following morning, Sylvia's father reveals that he has amassed such debts from his gambling that the family can no longer maintain their high profile London life. They must return to Castle Belham and Sylvia realises that she will never see her mystery stranger again.

At Castle Belham, Count Von Brauer enters their lives. In time, the Duke loses a vast sum of money to him at a gathering. The Count offers to overlook the debt in return for Sylvia's hand in marriage. At first, Sylvia refuses, but when the Duke suffers a nervous collapse, her resistence crumbles.

Only a stranger from the past can rescue her from her nightmare... only the stars in the sky can point the way. 

Stars in the Sky was another random audiobook pick from my library.  I had never heard of this author, so I gave it a go.  The story was very sweet and clean.  Sylvia longs to be swept off her feet, but her stepmother and father have other plans.  They want  her to marry the evil Count Von Brauer in order to have a gambling debt forgiven.  This is a classic story of a truly despicable, evil villain trying to get the young innocent maiden all for the sake of wealth.  There is a dashing young neighbor who Sylvia becomes friends with, but can he save the day?  I'm not going to spoil it.  I'll just say the ending has a twist and a sweet HEA. It made for a quick read and a great escape for a while. 

I did a little research into this author and found out that she passed away in 2000. Her son has since been publishing the over 160 unpublished manuscripts that she left behind.  I found a few more at my library, so stay tuned.  I'm sure they will show up in a Throwback Thursday post soon!  You can find out more about her and her writing career at www.BarbaraCartland.com.