I've read two stories by Theresa Charles. Please see the "Reviews" section. Although well-done, she used the same elements in the second book as she did in the first. That was disappointing. I liked her style of writing and hoped for something better than a rehash. I don't like it when talented authors rework their plots.
I don't know if all her stories are like these two, and if they are, I'll skip them. But if anyone has read something a little different from her, I'd appreciate a recommendation.
Irene Mossop
born: December 06, 1904 in The United Kingdom
died: October 26, 1988
Born in 1904, Irene Maude Mossop was the daughter of solicitor Robert Mossop, and his wife Maude Binford Eyre. She was educated at a private school, and - the early death of her father making it necessary to earn a living - turned to writing at a young age. She married ex-RAF officer Charles John Swatridge in 1934, and moved with him to Middlecombe Farm, near Kingsbridge, Devon, in 1942. In addition to her many girls' school stories, and other children's novels, Mossop also wrote adult romances under a variety of pseudonyms, including: Theresa Charles, Fay Chandos, Leslie Lance, Virginia Storm, and Jan Tempest. She died in 1988.
Gothics by Theresa Charles:
Dark legacy (1947) aka Happy now I go (UK title)
She had seen in her dreams so often - those dark, troubled dreams - that great, hard, arrogant figure of a man, pursuing her down a tunnel of terror from which she woke screaming. Now he stood before her, his eyes black as coal and savage. "Who are you?" she asked fearfully. "You know who I am", he said. "I'm your loving husband, and I've come to take you home.
Fairer Than She (1953)
Lovely and innocent Yasmin Taverton could not claim ignorance. She knew all there was to know about Edward LisÂcombe—all anyone could know about this mysterious figure.
She had heard about his past—the debauchery, the violence.
She had seen the inner pain that disfigÂured his handsome face and that moved his powerful body to sudden, uncontrolÂlable fury.
Yet from the moment she first met him in Liscombe Manor, she had known she was his, he could do with her what he liked, and whatever his strange destiny was, hers was intertwined—whether it led her to heaven or the darkest reaches of hell…
The burning beacon (1956)
Celia Darley's life plans were settled - she would marry George, whom she had known and loved since she was a girl. And they would settle in Halowell Farm which adjoined the beloved meadows of her girlhood home. Yet, when Halowell Farm was sold at auction, it went for a fantastically high price. Celia's dream was smashed. Then she met the handsome stranger who had paid the price for Halowell - for a reason only he knew. A reason that would change Celia Darley's life and plans...
House on the Rocks (1962)
Adele knew a moment of numbing horror as she felt herself pitched downward toward the jagged cliffs below. David had always been the ideal father to Adele-and the House on The Rocks the ideal home. Then one day David died "accidentally" while swimming under water......
Return to Terror (1963) aka Widower's wife (UK title)
Terror struck Laura's heart. Would her marriage end in sudden divorce-- or sudden death? On sheer impulse, Laura eloped with Chick Denzen, but the honeymoon was over in days. After 3 months of dread and danger she ran away from him. But an accident forced her to return to that dark and brooding house which had belonged to his first wife. A menacing secret was buried in that house, one that threatened Laura's life. What had happened to Chick's first wife. Why did Chick's cousin, Karen, treat Laura as if she were an invalid? Was she a protector or enemy? Why did Chick himself treat Laura so coldly? Would she live long enough to find out?
Lady in the Mist (1964) aka Nurse Alice in love (UK title)
First there had been the sudden death of her young charge, and then there had been the offer of a new job at Wrack Cove, where another child'slife was threatened...
Suddenly Alice Everton was living in a world of evergrowing danger. But to whom could she turn for help?
To the beautiful mistress of Wrack, who would receive a fortune if the child died?
To the hypnotically fascinating stranger whose nightly phone calls forecast terror?
To her stepsister, whose pretense at kindness had sent her into this dilemma?
Who would lead that LADY IN THE MIST back to the light?
The Shrouded Tower (1965) aka The man for me (UK title)
Romira Brompton returned home to fund her stepsister Sylvie vanished from their apartment. And when at last she traced the whereabouts of the beautiful but fickle girl, she found a more disturbing development. Sylvie believed herself to be the heiress to a vast estate and she was now living there, engaged to the sardonically handsome Mellion in a house filled with dark undercurrents. Romira knew she would leave Fercomb Manor, before she became hopelessly involved, but could she abandon Sylvie to the romantic mercies of a man who may have slain his first wife?
Proud Citadel (1967)
Destiny of Darkness — Somehow, beautiful Dena Smith had always known she would one day climb the island's rocky, wind-swept steps to D'Arvanes. Like a voice from the midnight of her past, the stone-walled chateau seemed to call to her, daring her to defy its unspoken command. — But from the moment she arrived she was plagued with doubts. Was it really fate that had at last brought her to D'Arvanes? Or was it an insidious, well-planned scheme designed to lure her to her own destruction. . . .