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His Mistress by Marriage by Lee Wilkinson

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His Mistress by Marriage from Lee Wilkinson has a lousy title and a mediocre story. The main characters, Deborah and David, were engaged three years earlier before Deborah believed David was having an affair with her flat mate. She dumped him, claimed she wanted her fashion designer career more than him and left England for New York, all without asking David about it.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Skip Spoilers

His Mistress by Marriage opens with Deborah and her new fiancé, her boss Gerald, driving through backroads England to visit her parents two weeks before their wedding. Deborah has not been home since she dumped David. Gerald is obnoxious, says right out that no one with any intelligence would live in a backwater like her folks do, and makes it clear he resents having to come over for the family visit. After all, Deborah must not be at all close to her family since she’s not been home and why should he have to waste time visiting unimportant people?

Gerald’s nasty tone and comments disconcert Deborah as does the fact that no one in her family nor her New York friends think he’s a good match for her. Deborah dieted down to fashion model gauntness to catch Gerald’s eye and she lives a life full of high fashion to keep him. She has not slept with Gerald although she slept with David three years before.

Gerald takes Deborah to California to see his parents the next week, and when they get back to New York he seems reluctant to take her home to her flat even though she is exhausted by the trip and asks him to skip dinner out. He takes her out anyway and drags his feet getting her home. We find the reason when she finally does return home.

David is there, waiting impatiently for her. He tried to contact Deborah but when her office said she was out with Gerald, called him directly. Deborah’s brother Paul is badly injured from an accident, in a coma, his very pregnant wife had her baby a bit early, and the family needs Deborah to come home. She and Paul are close and they hope that she can reach him since his wife cannot spend much time with him. Deborah is furious that Gerald did not pass on the message. She informs David she would have been on the next flight had he told her.

David uses his private jet to get them both back to England and to the hospital. Paul responds slightly when Deborah talks to him; even the tiny response gives hope. David takes her to the old family home where Paul and his family live now; David is staying there too. He makes lots of nasty comments about Deborah not caring, being hard, etc., etc., especially when Deborah asks who is running Paul’s company.

Deborah is shocked to realize she still loves David, there is a lot of sexual chemistry between them too, and she figures that she probably cannot marry Gerald feeling as she does. But she’s not sure and intends to go home on the Friday, just in time for their wedding. Gerald is rather nasty on the phone, angry that she left him, angry that she had her friend call him, angry that she felt it necessary to go.

Deborah is now leaning towards cancelling the wedding and wants to go back to New York to dump Gerald in person. David will have none of it. Instead of driving her to the airport as promised he takes her to the country house he bought when they had been engaged three years earlier. Now comes the blackmail. David is running Paul’s company and provided some interim financing to head off a take over. If Deborah leaves David will pull the plug. Deborah must stay in England as David’s mistress.

Deborah doesn’t believe this since Paul’s wife is David’s sister, but she’s not going to chance a rebuff. And she wants to regain the love she and David had shared. Finally, after a couple days Deborah tells Paul the reason she dumped him. Claire, her best friend at the time said she was having an affair with David, was pregnant by him and Deborah saw her going into David’s room at Christmas and getting a great big embrace and kiss.

David says nothing doing, he didn’t ever sleep with Claire, is not the dad and Claire staged the whole thing, threw herself at him and he threw her out but unfortunately Deborah was already back in her own room. He implores Deborah to trust him.

They sleep together, David is loving but never says he loves her or forgives her. Deborah promises to never doubt him, to trust him. They go back to Paul’s house in London and Paul has to go out for a business meeting. By chance Deborah ends up in the same restaurant where she sees Claire with David, acting as intimately possessive as one can in a restaurant. Deborah goes for a very long walk in the freezing rain, decides David lied to her and that she’s leaving.

She eventually gets back to Paul’s house where David gets her warm and puts her to bed. The next morning Deborah drops her bombshell. She knows David had and is still having an affair. David says OK, let’s go talk to Paul and tell him how awful I am.

Oops. It was Paul who had the affair with Claire before he met his wife. He hadn’t told his wife for fear she would not forgive him and Claire has been blackmailing him since. Claire wants money for her son because neither her ex husband nor current lover will have the boy. Paul got the business in trouble trying to pay her off. Paul’s wife arrives and he tells her the whole sad story. His wife offers to adopt the little boy and David offers to talk to Claire’s sister who takes care of him.

Deborah is sick. She doubted David and he’s pretty blunt that this was too much, he is done with her except for sex. She goes with him to Claire’s sister where they find the sister wants to adopt the little boy and is grateful when David offers to set up a small trust fund to help with the expenses. The little boy has brown eyes and both Paul and Claire have blue, thus the child is highly unlikely to be Paul’s son.

David reiterates that he wants nothing from Deborah now except her body, they are done. She pleads with him, she promises never to doubt him again, tries to explain how damning it looked. Finally she gives up and starts to undress. David relents. She should not have to promise never to doubt, he should not give her any reason to. Kiss and Happy Ever After.

Why Doesn’t His Mistress by Marriage Work?

The ending does not satisfy. David goes from wanting to kick Deborah out to suddenly they are in love. Granted three years ago she was all-too-easily suspicious of him, but in her defense, the situation was suspicious and her supposed best friend was all-too-plausible. David made it easy for the wanna-be OW to plant seeds of doubt and suspicion.

In the present time David made trouble for himself. He should have told Deborah that he was meeting with Claire and he could have asked her brother to explain the situation. Granted he is adamant that he never looked at Claire now or in the past but since he knows that Deborah has a wide jealous streak he could have avoided some trouble.

Remember, David blackmails Deborah into staying with him, that is bound to anger her, and he never says anything about love. She never should have felt she had to promise never to doubt him, that’s a teenage thing, not what an adult does. Adults may doubt but they check and resolve, not have tantrums.

Even those misunderstandings apart, this is not a satisfying story. The whole family is mixed up and it’s incredible that Paul was so eager to believe Claire’s son is his and never got a DNA test. David is all too eager to believe badly of Deborah the entire time and I was not feeling the love between them. I don’t give their happy-ever-after much chance.

2 Stars

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Guilty of Love by Jennifer Taylor

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I wish this author wrote more in the straight Harlequin line instead of the medical line because she always has some unusual plot points and character attributes. Guilty of Love features Alexandra Campbell, in her mid 20s, attractive, who designs, makes and sells her own jewelry and lives with her younger brother, Kenny, in a flat over her shop.

Kenny is a problem. Although he’s 20 years old and has a job, he has little common sense and Alex has shielded him and helped him out of his constant problems. Recently Kenny lost more gambling than he could possibly pay and Alex had to squeak out of her bank business loan to pay his debts. He also got into trouble at his work, Lang’s Engineering, and is generally immature. The story opens in late fall when Alex is tense and worried about her overdue loan and working flat out to prepare for Christmas shoppers.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Skip Spoilers

Kenny’s latest stunt is swiping design plan printouts for Lang’s top secret engine. He panics when he gets home and realizes what he did. Oops. What now? Kenny asks Alex to go with him to the factory, slip in to his boss’s office and return them. Kenny will distract the security guard for her. What could go wrong?

Well, two things go wrong. First Jordan Lang, the boss, comes in as Alex slips out. Second, Jordan knows that someone has sold some engineering designs to his competitor. He knows there is industrial espionage and now he know who did it. Alexandra Campbell is the spy.

Jordan needs a week to get his engine finished. He grabs Alex, forces her into his car and kidnaps her to his remote Wales cottage, intending to hold her for the week he needs. Alex tries to fight, tries to get away but cannot. She does not tell him her name and he calls her Jane as in Jane Doe. They stop at Jordan’s neighbor to exchange the car for a 4-wheel drive car to get up the rough hill track.

The power goes out at the cottage. Jordan goes to fix the generator and gets banged on his head, nearly knocked out. Alex finds him and helps him in the cottage, grabs the keys and drives off. As she walks out the door Jordan yells “I shall find you, Jane. Even if I have to move heaven and earth, I shall find you and make you pay for what you’ve done!” Jordan believes Alex is the spy and attacked him, hit him on the head – he’s not thinking rationally around her.

Jordan does not know who Alex is, has no idea that she is related to Kenny who works for him. Even so she is terrified that he will find her. And he does.

Alex is working when the shop bell rings and someone throws aside the bead curtain that separates her workroom from the store. It’s Jordan.

He threatens Alex. He will go to the police and report her and Kenny to the police for industrial espionage and assault. And if by some miracle Alex gets off then he will do everything he can to ruin her business and her personally. In fact he will ruin her business if he goes to the police since the bank will call her loan.

Jordan offers her a choice. Face ruin or marry him. Design flaws have delayed his engine development and that plus his competitors announcing a nearly identical design have caused his investors to drop out. He needs money and he needs it now. His mother left him enough money to complete his engine but he must be married to receive it. Thus marry Alex.

Jordan makes it clear it would be a short term, paper marriage although he demonstrates that they both are attracted to the other. He kisses Alex, acts seductive, then when she’s enthralled backs off and makes nasty comments about how they could make it a marriage in bed and on paper.

Alex is angry at him and even angrier at herself for responding to his pseudo passion (actually there was nothing pseudo about it although Jordan claims it was). She agrees and the date is set three weeks ahead.

Alex claims her innocence again and gets Jordan to agree that if he finds out that she was not the spy that he will drop the marriage idea. And they can divorce after six months. Jordan agrees with both but insinuates she might decide she likes being married. He’s insulting.

Jordan takes her to a fancy restaurant dinner with many friends to announce their engagement. One guest is James Morgan, Lang’s chief designer and Kenny’s boss. A lady asks Alex how they met and she tells the truth. Jordan saw her at his factory, jumped to conclusions and kidnapped her! Morgan asks the obvious next question, did Jordan realize he was wrong? Alex is saved from answering since the lady jumps in that of course he must have since they are now in love and engaged. Everyone laughs, although Alex doesn’t think Morgan is laughing at all or that he believes it.

Alex quickly finds out that Morgan did not believe it. Jordan takes her to the factory and is called away. Morgan inveigles her into touring the building, starts with his office, insists on showing her the engine plans then he leaves her in his office with the plans. Alex should have walked away but she knows the plans are confidential and starts to fold them up to shove into the file cabinet when Jordan and Morgan come in the office. Morgan denies getting the plans out, denies asking Alex to look at them and of course Jordan assumes she is back to her old espionage tricks.

Jordan is furious and disappointed. and moves the wedding up to a few days ahead. Alex reluctantly marries him and they go to his house in a close by town. He makes a pass at her, insults her some more, then leaves her to go back to work.

One night, after three weeks of steadily increasing sexual tension Alex cannot face going back to his house after she closes her shop. She goes shopping and out for a meal by herself, then back to her flat. She’s in the tub when Jordan rings the doorbell and keeps ringing it. She wraps herself in a towel (apparently no one in Harlequin land owns a bathrobe) and answers the door. Jordan is furious; he was worried she was injured or dead or had left him. They make love.

Next morning both are so happy, Alex decides to go home early on the off chance Jordan also came home. Unfortunately James Morgan is there, full of poison and eager to spill it all over Alex. Turns out that Jordan discovered before they married that it was Morgan, not Alex, who sold company secrets, moreover, Jordan only got half his inheritance. He gets the other half when he has a child.

Horrified Alex tries to dismiss Morgan’s insinuations, but she remembers. She remembers Jordan promised to let her off the marriage if he found the true spy beforehand. He knew she was innocent of his spy charge yet forced her to marry him. She remembers Jordan never said he loved her. Wanted, yes. Loved, no. She remembers that the only thing Jordan seems to care about is his business. He never seemed to care about her. She does not know that Jordan slept with her because of the will, but by now she doesn’t care. She is in love with Jordan and he broke her heart.

Alex lays into Jordan when he gets home; rather than defend himself or claim any love he gets on his high horse. “Lang’s isn’t some little two-bit concern. It’s been in my family for years. It’s part of me and yes, I would do anything to stop it being taken from me.” That seals it for Alex. She starts to walk out the door when Jordan grabs her and tries to seduce her into staying. Now she’s angry on top of hurt. She returns to her flat and shop and tries to stop hurting, stop caring about Jordan.

A few weeks later, just before Christmas, Jordan comes in the store as she’s closing up. She refuses to sell him anything nor will she talk to him. She hits the panic alarm when he refuses to leave, then runs upstairs and packs to go stay with Kenny since she know Jordan will return. Jordan catches her when she leaves the building and tries to compel her towards his car, but stops when she refuses to go with him or listen. Finally he tells her that he simply wants to talk to her, to explain, but if she won’t then he will get out of her life. He walks away, she yells and runs into his arms. (Cue Tchaikovsky.)

They drive into the country and Jordan tries to explain to her. He HAD to have the funds or Lang’s would go bankrupt since he had invested everything into his new project. He didn’t think she would marry him if she didn’t have to (apparently he didn’t think of the handy Harlequin buy-a-wife scenario) so he didn’t tell her he knew she had not spied on him. He loves her. He slept with her because he loved her, it went way beyond sex for both of them; he knows it, she knows it and he won’t let her cheapen it by claiming it was just sex. Jordan realized the company meant nothing compared to Alex. He sold a good chunk to a Japanese firm and put all the inheritance money into a trust fund for any children they might have.

Happy ever after.

Believable Romance

When you read the plot without reading the story the romance seems off kilter. How can Alex love a man as cold as Jordan? As obsessed about his business as Jordan? Who breaks a serious promise as did Jordan? True Jordan is immensely attractive and has a compelling personality. True, we can love people who do not “deserve” our love – in fact does anyone “deserve” another’s love? It’s fairly easy to believe Alex’s love is real.

Can we believe that Jordan turned himself around as he claims? That he truly puts Alex first, ahead of Lang’s? Jordan himself tells Alex that he knows she would find it difficult to believe him, that he repaid the inheritance into the trust fund he set up for any children, that he found investors in order that she can believe him. It’s remarkable and it is believable.

Overall

I liked Guilty of Love the first time I read it, reread and still enjoyed, in fact I liked it even better the second time. I bought a paperback copy and have re-reread and still like it. Sometimes it’s not clear why a book appeals so much, but let’s try.
* Jordan is a jerk at the beginning, suspicious, hard-hearted, almost cruel, accuses Alex of espionage and assault, kidnaps her. Whew.
* Alex fights him and wins, at least temporarily. She escapes and goes back to her jewelry business.
* Jordan tells Alex point blank that she’s doing Kenny more harm than good by easing his way through life. Later Alex realizes that Kenny is growing up now that he’s on his own. I detest entitled brats and it’s good to see Kenny grow up.
* Author Taylor shows, she does not tell.
* I like beautiful hand-made jewelry and drooled over the descriptions of Alex’s pieces.
* The love scene isn’t fade to black but it’s not at all explicit. Jordan promised to make it beautiful for them and he succeeds.
* Alex doesn’t rely solely on Morgan’s claims. Jordan sank his own boat when he refused to talk of love.
* Alex confronts Jordan before walking out. She is completely clear why she is going.
* Alex refuses to allow Jordan to seduce her into staying.
* She wins again (temporarily) when she gets Jordan out of her shop via the alarm.
* Jordan not only claims to love her, he defends his decision to force the marriage because Lang’s is so important, yet he also has now given up significant control in order to demonstrate his love.

4 Stars

I got my paperback copy from Thriftbooks. Amazon has used copies and you can likely find copies on other used book sites and eBay. As of this writing it is available on Archive.org but note they have lately made many books unavailable (I suspect because they are available to buy in paper or in E form).

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Court of the Veils – Vintage Romance Violet Winspear

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Plot Synopsis – Click to Skip Spoilers

Violet Winspear set her 1968 romance Court of the Veils in an oasis plantation in the Sahara. The main character, Roslyn Brant, is suffering amnesia after a plane crash. She had been traveling with her fiancé, Armand, to meet his family, his French grandmother Nanette, brother Trevor who writes operas and cousin Duane who manages the family date and fruit plantation. Armand died in the crash and so did her best friend, Juliet Grey, who was a stewardess on the plane. Nanette invites Roslyn for a visit to recover and give Armand’s family time.

Nanette and Trevor are hospitable, kind and welcome Roslyn. Trevor’s guest, beautiful singer Isobela, has her sights on Duane and does not welcome Roslyn. Duane does not welcome Roslyn, implies several times that Roslyn is not actually who she is and warns her not to deceive Nanette or to claim amnesia and a fake identity. Since Roslyn has no memory she cannot say who she is; people identified her by her blonde hair and the fact she was clutching Armand’s engagement ring when they found her.

Roslyn slowly gets better but her memory is still not there. She develops close friendship with Trevor; Trevor likes her very much but they are just friends, not lovers. Nanette warns Roslyn not to confuse Trevor with Armand, they are very different.

The four young people, Isobela, Roslyn, Trevor and Duane, go to the city for the weekend. Trevor takes Roslyn around the souk and to lunch, they have a lot of fun while Isobela gets Duane to take her for lunch. Trevor and Roslyn see Isobela leaving Duane’s room wearing only a lacy robe; Roslyn is pretty sure they are lovers, at least they are if Isobela has her way. Later the four go out. Duane insists Roslyn dances with him but she’s not much of a dancer. Isobela is a bit nasty about it, elbows Roslyn out of the way and shows off her dancing skills.

She had memory flashes of to going in a lake with her friend Juliet and there is a lake near the hotel. After everyone is in bed she walks there, down the cliff staircase to the shore. Sadly she gains no more memories. Duane is there too. It starts to rain violently while they talk and wash away the cliff stairs. Duane insists they take shelter in the boathouse and the two go to sleep in the punt. They manage to get up the hill at dawn and into the hotel without anyone seeing them.

By this time Roslyn is fully recovered physically and still has little memory but wonders whether she did love Armand; she cannot be sure, she just doesn’t think she would have forgotten love that easily. She decides it’s time to go home to England and hope she recovers her memory there.

A few days later Nanette suffers a heart problem. Roslyn takes care of her, decides to stay until Nanette recovers. Isobela realizes Duane has a connection with Roslyn and that is not in her plans at all. Isobela is determined that Duane should leave the plantation and get a management job in Europe where she can sing. She’s not interested in Nanette, Trevor is only a cog in the wheel of her operatic career and Roslyn is a threat.

Duane talks to Roslyn in the courtyard, mentions the night they were together at Lake Temcina. Isobela overhears and decides it’s time to do something about Roslyn. She invites Roslyn to go for a drive with her out on the desert highway, accuses her of loose behavior, insults her, then loses her scarf out the window and asks Roslyn to get out and pick it up. Isobela drives off, leaving Roslyn stranded at least 30 miles from the plantation in the desert, with no water and a sandstorm on the way. No one knows they went out.

Fortunately for Roslyn Duane drives that way and takes her back. They get caught in the sandstorm, the car heaves around and Roslyn bangs her head. Afterwards she remembers. She is not Roslyn Brant, she was not engaged to Armand, she is Juliet Grant, Roslyn’s friend. She grabbed Roslyn’s hand in the crash and the ring must have come off in her clutch. Duane figured this out weeks before and is not surprised.

Nor is Duane surprised that Isobela left Roslyn to die in the desert. He calls her a neurotic, charming, selfish to the bone and with no knowledge or care for others. He says his mother, Nanette’s daughter, was the same. It was his mother who betrayed him and his father, leaving him not able to trust his heart to women.

Juliet says she had envied the real Roslyn not for Armand, but for gaining Armand’s family. Both girls were orphans, spent years together in an orphanage and Juliet wanted to be part of a family. Duane tells her that she still can be part of theirs, what about Trevor? Juliet says no, she and Trevor are very good friends but that’s all. Duane gets riled up, exclaims he has nothing to lose since Juliet doesn’t like him or want him to touch her, grabs her and kisses her. They he tells her that she can slap his face, but that he loves her. Juliet loves him back.

Happy Ever After

What Doesn’t Work

Mistaken Identity. It’s nearly incompressible today that someone could get misidentified after an airplane crash. Juliet and Roslyn both worked as stewardesses although Roslyn was a passenger on that flight, they resembled each other only slightly. Apparently no one took fingerprints or worried about the fact the girls would have been dressed differently (assuming their clothes were recognizable after the crash). Even in 1969 we’d expect the airline, which employed both girls, would have made an attempt to confirm identity.

Dislike to Love. Every time Juliet/Roslyn interacts with Duane she found him distrustful, almost insulting. She stays wary throughout the story, shows no indication that she loved him. We readers can see Duane is interested in her, but without knowing much about her it’s not completely believable.

Roslyn/Juliet Driving with Isobela Juliet knows the sandstorm was coming and Duane and the servant had warned her to stay home. She has no real reason to go for a drive with Isobela. She would have died had Duane not found her and Isobela likely would have claimed no knowledge how she got lost in the blowing sands.

What Does Work

Low Key Romance The feelings here build slowly. Juliet slowly gains memories and we get glimpses that Duane finds her intriguing even as he insinuates she lies about her amnesia and identity. Keeping her feelings out of display other than a general discomfort with Duane and his insulting hints keeps the tension low.

Point of View We have only Roslyn/Juliet’s point of view. Winspear comments only one time on something that happened in front of Roslyn/Juliet, but that she did not see, and that was when Isobela saw that Duane was interested in her. Limiting the point of view keeps the focus squarely on Roslyn/Juliet and her growing frustration with her memory and her discomfort around Duane.

Characters Despite the quiet plot and lack of strong emotions, Winspear makes the five characters alive to us. We feel we would recognize them.

Nanette is the most cardboard-cutout of them, a former Parisian singer who fell in love with the French planter and went with him to make her life in the Sahara.

Isobela is not complex; she is completely self-centered. Somehow she believes she has enough charisma to entice Duane away from his family home and the plantation he loves. She’s well aware of her sexual appeal and uses it without compunction and she belittles Roslyn/Juliet for her looks, lack of memory, lack of dancing skill, dependence on Nanette’s generosity. Isobela is too full of herself to care a bit about someone else. If we hadn’t known that before we certainly learned it when she inveigled Roslyn/Juliet to get out of the car a long way from home in the desert. That is attempted murder.

Trevor has little page time but enough that we see he’s dedicated to his music, not the plantation and intends to move to Brittany. He’s kind, undemanding. Initially he chases Isobela before he sees through her charm to the ruthless selfishness beneath.

Roslyn/Juliet sees Duane as enigmatic when he is not threatening. She’s not sure why he’s so negative towards her, she’s intrigued by him but stays away because he insinuates she’s lying and a fraud. The basic conflict is that Duane is pretty sure Roslyn is actually Juliet; he cousin told him that his fiancée was full of gaiety and chic and he knows Armand was not likely to fall for the girl who calls herself Roslyn. Juliet knows Duane doesn’t trust her; she herself does not know enough to know whether his suspicions are correct and in fact she never claims to be Roslyn. It bothers her to wear the clothes that Nanette provides, even though many were purchased specifically for Armand’s fiancée. She does not feel engaged and she feels like a fraud, which Duane’s attitude exacerbates.

Roslyn/Juliet herself is quiet. Duane calls her quiet and deep and we see her as essentially kind, friendly in a reserved manner, grateful for Nanette’s kindness, wary of Duane. We end up knowing Duane better than we do Roslyn/Juliet.

Setting Winspear describes the locations in the Sahara vividly and with liking. I could not find a real Lake Temcina or the other locations described. The Gebel d’Oro is a real place in the south of Egypt but I couldn’t find Ajina or the other locations.

Language and Style. I really appreciate the way older writers – way back in the 1960s and 70s – assumed we readers were literate and willing to see unfamiliar words. It’s a treat to see a word that was new to me, chatoyant, meaning like a cat’s eye. Some recent Harlequins write to middle school reading levels.

Overall

Court of the Veils is an early romance that Harlequin reprinted because it was popular. I can see why it was popular; the story is interesting, the characters are well done, setting unusual, plot makes sense. It’s dated in the sense that today such a misidentification would be unlikely and of course, no cell phones and the hotel lacks running water. The story itself is not dated.

3 Stars

Court of the Veils is not on Archive.org as of October 2023 nor is in Ebook format. I got my paperback copy from Thriftbooks. You can find copies on Amazon and likely on eBay and used book sites online.

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Wife by Agreement – Harlequin Presents by Kim Lawrence

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I liked Wife by Agreement the first time I read it. It was a “good book”, not excellent, but somehow it stuck with me and I reread it. Then reread again. And again. And again. Finally I realized that it resonates so much it is better than “good”. Try “Excellent”.

Why? What about this simple-appearing romance appeals so much? Let’s take a quick look at the plot, then delve into why this book is one I reach for when I’m tired or just want a pleasant, happy time.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Avoid Spoilers

Hannah married Ethan Kemp a year ago. Although she calls him “Ethan” and they visit his friends together and she has the bedroom next to his, they still relate to each other as nanny and employer. Ethan was widowed three years earlier and after several nannies lasted only a few months, leaving his 5 year old daughter Emma wary and unhappy, Ethan decided to marry Hannah when he thought she too might be considering marriage.

Hannah accepted because she loves Ethan, loves Emma and 3 year old Tom, and although she knew he felt nothing for her, decided to risk heartbreak and take what she could. What she gets was essentially nothing. Ethan remains disinterested, leaves early, gets home late, rarely talks to Hannah. He is a loving father and spends what time he has with his children, never with her.

Besides Ethan’s indifference, Hannah’s main problems are lack of time with people she likes, the oppressive feeling of living in a shrine to Ethan’s beautiful and ultra-talented first wife Catherine, and his former mother-in-law Alexa. Alexa constantly belittles Hannah and makes sure she realizes that she could never match up to the incomparable Catherine.

Wife by Agreement opens when Hannah comes home around 1 AM, scratched and bruised from jumping out of a moving car. She had gone out for a drink after her evening French class with several others and took a ride home with Craig who turned out to be a louche. Hannah figures she can get in without anyone knowing she had been so foolish, but Ethan is still up and he gets angry. In fact he’s nasty, attacks Hannah for unwisely accepting a ride with a man she does not know, putting herself at risk and she ought to stop taking French classes.

Hannah retorts that she likes French class, that she goes on her night off (Ethan objects to that term, she’s not the nanny but his wife and can have any night off), that she doesn’t intend to quit class.

The next day Hannah’s French teacher Jean-Paul visits and asks her to reconsider dropping his class and more, wants her to pursue a degree. Hannah is furious that Ethan so arrogantly quit for her and intrigued to get a degree. She left school before taking A levels because she had aged out of the foster care system and worked several bad jobs while she trained as a nanny. Hannah became a nanny because she like kids, had no way to pursue more education and the jobs provide room and board.

As Jean-Paul is leaving Hannah retrieves his glasses from Tom when Alexa walks in.

‘Does Ethan know you entertain your men whilst he is out working?’ Alexa settled herself into the chair Jean-Paul had vacated. ‘I expect you’ve been playing up a couple of scratches for all it’s worth.

Chapter 2

Alexa exaggerates the incident to Ethan as yet another example of Hannah being unworthy, incapable, careless with the children. That night Ethan is mostly angry because up to now he has shoved Hannah into the back of his mind, she’s in a box marked no-trouble/needs nothing, and now she’s causing all sorts of upsets to the household. He wants everything to be smooth, placid, peaceful.

‘No, you married me because you wanted a low-maintenance wife who would make as little impact as possible on your life!’ … He flinched as the accuracy of her husky accusation hit him. … He wanted things back to normal. At the end of the day he could always come home knowing she would have coped with any household crises with quiet efficiency, his children would be happy and content and nobody would make any emotional demands on him. He hadn’t realized how much he’d come to rely on this small oasis of peace until he’d been unexpectedly deprived of it.

Chapter 3

Up to now Hannah has clothes shopped with Ethan’s colleague’s wife (at Ethan’s request) who has horrible taste, but Hannah goes elsewhere for the next party and buys a few lovely, becoming and rather sexy dresses, gets her hair cut and highlighted and looks nothing like the nonentity she was at past parties. Ethan is wary of the change, he doesn’t want to Hannah to rock the boat because he likes his life just as it is yet he’s attracted to Hannah and decides to seduce her.

After the party – where Ethan was furious with the attention Hannah attracted – Ethan and Hannah get home. Surprise! Ethan’s widowed mother is visiting. And she’s getting married. Moreover, she has Drew with her, 35, good looking, a bit scruffy with a back pack. Drew instantly notices Hannah is wary, stiff and sore, bruised, looks at Ethan glaring murder at him and figures Ethan’s been hurting Hannah. Hannah tells him it’s fine and goes to bed.

She wakes up screaming from a nightmare, knocks a lamp over and both Drew and Ethan come in. Ethan shoves Drew out of the room with a few insults then seduces Hannah. This begins a halcyon few weeks when Ethan and Hannah make love, spend some time together, have a marriage.

Alexa can’t stand this. She is at Hannah’s when Jean-Paul calls to ask her to come discuss a degree and offers to take care of Tom and pick up Emma. She lets Emma wait a while and calls Ethan, frantic. Hannah abandoned the kids, forgot Emma at school, all to pursue her own pleasure.

Ethan believes her. Hannah tells him it is not true, that Alexa hates her for usurping Catherine’s place but Ethan refuses to consider this. Why would Alexa lie? Clearly Hannah is moving on, doesn’t care for the kids or him, is using them as a stepping stone. Hannah is horribly hurt. She loves the kids, Ethan won’t believe her and he says there is no “us”, she was convenient and he had needs, and that as for the house, she’s the hired help.

A couple weeks later Hannah and Ethan have the kids at a downtown hotel for Faith’s wedding. Ethan is cutting, disparaging, hurtful. Hannah has Emma’s hand when her hat blows off, she lets go of Emma for a second, long enough for the little girl to run across the busy street. Hannah drops everything, charges after her. She manages to toss Emma out of the way of the car before she is hit.

Ethan is horror-struck. He saw it all. Now he’s waiting at the emergency room to find out whether Hannah will live or have permanent damage. The doctor tells him she had been pregnant but lost the baby in the accident. Ethan tries to comfort Hannah but she won’t let him. She won’t talk about the baby. Both are grieving.

Ethan overhears Alexa apologizing to Hannah for sowing anger and discord and he’s appalled at his own behavior. Hannah tells Alexa and him that it no longer matters. She’s numb, so badly hurt. She doesn’t even care when Ethan apologizes, says he loves her, she tells him she married him for love, not security. “But don’t worry, mistrust and suspicion did what complete neglect couldn’t.”

Later Hannah has coffee with an old friend who came to her for help and learns that Ethan has been giving pro bono time to a trust that helps people find their way. She realizes she still loves him and visits his chambers. She apologizes for saying such awful things and she still loves him. They make love, Ethan burns their prenuptial agreement and sets off the fire alarm and sprinklers. HEA.

Technical Quality

This romance novel started off with a bang. Right away in first scene we see Hannah is wary of Ethan, that he takes her for granted, that things are changing. Both interact on page 2. Author skillfully lets us see Ethan growing frustrated with Hannah changing and rebelling (in his mind) and Hannah, fed up after turning herself inside out to ease his life, when he attacks her for the first ripple in the smooth water.

Kim Lawrence builds the tension, slowly then accelerates to the heartbreaking crisis when Ethan claims Hannah neglects the kids. Hannah is optimistic when Ethan makes love to her, sees them develop a true marriage, only to have it crash when Ethan believes Alexa instead of her. She isn’t completely surprised since Ethan had never taken her side with Alexa no matter how poisonous the comments, but Hannah had been hoping Ethan might eventually love her.

The pacing follows the same arc as the emotional tension: a bang, then accelerating followed by slower, more poignant scenes, then very fast at the emotional peak, then gently retarding as Ethan struggles, realizing he may have lost the woman he loved, and Hannah blind by grief and bitterness. This pacing is very well done.

Lawrence sets the slow, emotional scene where Ethan teaches Hannah to swim and they make love immediately before the cruel confrontation where Ethan accuses Hannah of abandoning and neglecting his children. That gives us readers time to catch our breath and see the growing love and care, the increasing warmth and time together before Ethan rips it apart with Alexa’s lies. Perfect contrast in pace, tension and emotions.

Characters

Alexa, Ethan’s former mother in law. “Alexa Harding had been horrified when she’d learnt that the nanny was to take her daughter’s place. Having any woman take Catherine’s place would have been hard for her to accept, but the fact that Hannah was, in her eyes, menial household help made the situation unacceptable to the older woman.” Alexa cannot accept Hannah, sees her as stealing Catherine’s place, resents that the children’s love Hannah as their mom.

She never lets a chance go by to run down Hannah, to compare her to Ethan’s first wife who was gorgeous, owned her own company and was an Olympic-level rider. “Catherine never let personal discomfort stop her doing what she wanted. She wasn’t afraid of anything!’ Alexa’s laugh was shrill. … And I’m sure Ethan remembers what he lost every time he looks at you,’ she sneered.

Finally Alexa snaps when Ethan asks her to take the kids while he and Hannah go on a belated honeymoon. She first offers to take care of Tom and pick up Emma from school so Hannah can talk to the college about a degree course, then she lies to Ethan. She lets Emma wait alone at her school so she can accuse Hannah of forgetting about her!

Hannah is more horrified that Alexa could do that to Emma than she is that Alexa lied – Alexa did everything she could to tear Hannah down – and she is heartbroken that Ethan believed her. She heard Alexa’s apology but was too numb and hurt to verbally offer forgiveness.

Faith, Ethan’s Mother. Faith doesn’t have a big part, mostly serves to observe and create plot points. Hannah is surprised that Faith is so friendly when she visits before her wedding. ‘‘I knew Ethan didn’t love you, and in my view marriage with love is hard enough, but without it…’ She lifted her shoulders expressively. “I could also see you loved him.’ Her blue eyes grew compassionate as she watched the colour flee dramatically from Hannah’s face. ‘I didn’t want to see you hurt.’

Faith comments that she is surprised that Hannah had not changed the home’s décor. Ethan is put out, ‘And Hannah knows perfectly well she can do anything she wants to the house.’ ‘From the expression on her face I’d say she might have felt more comfortable if you had told her that, Ethan.’

Drew, Faith’s To-Be Stepson Drew makes Ethan jealous, horribly, horribly jealous when he finds Drew in Hannah’s room when she has a nightmare. This is the impetus for Ethan to make love to Hannah.

Drew is an interesting person in his own right and it would be fun to read a romance with him as the hero. A couple years earlier his fiancée dumped him the day before their wedding because she thought he would need to have his suit removed surgically by the time he was 40. He sold his business clothes, took a leave from his banking job and went around the world. His dad caught up with him in Patagonia and this is where Faith met both of them. Drew is good looking, kind, fun and attracted to Hannah, a good spur for Ethan!

Ethan. Hannah’s Husband and Employer. Ethan is the most complex character and Lawrence shows him to us through Hannah and Ethan’s own point of view.

Ethan’s first wife, Catherine left two children, one 3 and the other an infant, when she died, leaving Ethan to find a nanny to care for his kids. Hannah knows Ethan is devoted to his children, enough to marry her in fact, and she admires him for this. He does not spend very much time with them as they are usually asleep when he gets home from work but he makes them his priority when possible. (She wishes she could be his priority too, but chastises herself for wanting even more when she has so much.)

Everyone says Ethan was devastated when Catherine died; everyone believes he was deeply in love with her and was filled with grief. In fact he and Catherine had drifted apart; she prized her accomplishments and public acclaim more than she cared for the kids or Ethan. Of course Ethan keeps this to himself. He doesn’t seem to realize (or care) how his silence and comments from Alexa and his friends affect Hannah, or how much his house feels to her like a shrine to Catherine with many photos and her medals and awards displayed prominently.

Hannah remembers the first time she hosted a dinner party with Ethan and his friend’s wife compared Hannah – dull and quiet – to the so much better Catherine. Ethan looked resigned and bleak and he barely defended Hannah beyond saying she is bright and he doesn’t care for the friend’s snobbishness.

Ethan started to story seeing Hannah as just another piece of furniture, ambulatory and loving to his kids, but unnecessary to him and simply there. “‘I took your contribution to this house pretty much for granted,’ Ethan continued, noting her expression with a look of satisfaction.” Hannah tells him off at one point, that she twisted herself into knots to give him the smooth, placid home he wanted and she is angry that just one false step causes him to accuse her of looking for excitement and on the verge of looking for an affair. Ethan is confident in her Hannah V1, but Hannah V2 challenges him immensely and he does not like it.

Ethan starts to see Hannah as a separate person when she comes home beat up from jumping out of a moving car. He’s flabbergasted she would do that, worried that she’s somehow inviting trouble, disquieted that she has a personality, quiet yes, but not a doormat and not solely a docile childminder. He insults her by saying she’s trouble and he’s not happy about it.

Ethan’s view of Hannah continues to evolve when Hannah reacts to his insults by dressing the way she likes, acting more the way she feels, saying more what she thinks. She still is quiet, peaceful, helpful, willing to stay in the background, do what she needs to provide Ethan a sanctuary, but she’s not going to put up with his silly assumption that she’s now looking for an affair or has completely changed or is willing to quit night class. The more he annoys her, the more Hannah acts like herself, and the more he finds he both likes and is afraid of the changes.

Once we know that Catherine was distant, cold to Ethan and to her children, then we can understand Ethan’s reactions to Hannah. Initially he simply wants her there, essentially as a nanny who can’t quit, a nonentity in his life, essential to his children. He claims later that he would never have married her without feeling a great deal more, but his thoughts at the beginning say otherwise. He may have realized she was a very good deal and could come to mean something more, but I don’t think she did, not at first.

Later Ethan is intrigued. He has been celibate for three years and Hannah is right there, in the room next to his, only a door between. He’s going to think sexually about her regardless of his emotions. Once he sees her as a person he isn’t able to think clearly about Hannah without his feelings about Catherine, about his children, his mother, his friends swirling around in his mind about his wife. He’s intrigued, starts to notice more, begins to listen to her, challenges her to express herself (and isn’t happy with what she says!), physically attracted to her. It’s how many of us respond when we find someone we might want to love.

He’s falling in love, realizes he loves Hannah, and he’s scared. Things are changing and he’s not sure he can cope with a wife who is his equal at his side. He’s not sure he wants to be in love or whether he’d prefer their earlier quiet, sterile non-relationship. Also, if Hannah is his equal, then she needs and deserves part of him, deserves his time and trust and attention, and her wants and desires are just as important as his.

Why does he believe Alexa? As Hannah says, he has zero reason to think she’d abandon the kids, zero reason to think so badly of her, she had never been anything other than reliably loving and always put them first. Yet Ethan condemns her without even considering what she might say. He had to realize Alexa is bitter, grieving, possibly blames him, certainly blames Hannah, but he chooses to believe Alexa instead of his own lying eyes.

It’s tempting to say he is frightened of his own feelings with his heart frozen, and that is part, but I think the bigger reason is that he doesn’t want to have to factor in another adult, his equal, who might want other things than he wants her to want. Ethan liked it when Hannah put his kids and him first, now she’s asking for herself. (Actually she isn’t asking, she is simply doing, but always leaving her family as top priority.) Hannah says at the start of the story that “Ethan could be mind-bogglingly selfish at times”. He is also a little scared and it’s so much easier to push Hannah aside, blame her, and after he does it once, it’s very tough to apologize and backtrack.

We don’t know how long it is between the confrontation where he accuses Hannah of neglect and Faith’s wedding, maybe around two weeks, but that is plenty of time for Ethan to harden his heart and keep it hard, especially when “the sight of her bewildered, distressed face hurt too much…what he’d find ‘incredibly easy’ would be taking her in his arms and kissing her.” But “he couldn’t let himself be sucked in again.”

Once Hannah shoves her care and love for Emma in Ethan’s face he has to face himself. Once he learns that she knew she was pregnant but had not told him, he has to face how he treated her. Once he hears her fear that Emma is hurt, that she knows Ethan will blame her for letting go of Emma’s hand, he has to realize exactly how much he destroyed the trust and growing love. Once he hears Alexa admit she lied out of jealousy it is too late. Hannah will think any apology is because Alexa lied, not because he knows Hannah and trusts her. She’s not going to believe his hooey any more. Oops.

It is only because Hannah truly loves him and doesn’t want to live in an emotional desert that they get back together. Ethan apologizes but obviously has no clue what to do next. Thankfully Hannah is able to overcome the gut wrenching hurt that Ethan inflicted, allows him to apologize and forgives him. She is even big enough to apologize for saying he was glad their baby died when she knows that his is not happy at all.

Overall

Kim Lawrence does an excellent character study of Ethan wrapped up in a category romance. On the surface Hannah is the main character and we mostly have her point of view but she does not change much, she begins the story as a complete character (albeit not one that Ethan sees) and ends the story richer and blessed, but still the same warm person. Ethan changes as he recognizes Hannah as the wife he truly is lucky to have.

5 Stars

I got my E copy from Harlequin.com and read it on Glose. You can find Wife by Agreement in Nook E format from Barnes and Noble and from Amazon in Kindle and paperback. (Harlequin has frequent sales.)

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The Yuletide Child by Charlotte Lamb, One Romance, One Fizzle

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Heroine Dylan was a prima ballerina dancing a very sensuous role when her to-be husband, Ross, spots her and instantly wants/must have/dazzled by/passionately attracted to her. Dylan feels the same way. She quits the ballet company – leaving her good friend, costar and choreographer in the lurch – and marries Ross within a few weeks of meeting.

Ross works for a commercial forest company near York; his house is surrounded by evergreens and miles from anywhere or anyone. Dylan is a city girl and finds it hard to cope, and other than their intense physical passion they have nothing in common. Ross wants his wife to be friends with his best friend’s wife, Suzy but the two ladies do not hit it off and are not going to be friends. Suzy treats her own husband badly, mocks him, is sarcastic, that’s repulsive to Dylan.

Dylan gets pregnant right away and has morning sickness, backache and all the usual problems exacerbated by the fact Ross no long touches or kisses her, never mind sleeps in the same bed nor makes love. He never had much to say and he doesn’t explain why the embargo on physical contact (supposedly because his sister told him not to ???) nor does he spend time with Dylan. They barely even eat together.

Ross thinks he would like Dylan to be more like Suzy, down to earth, upbeat, wishes he had known Dylan better as he regrets marrying her and taking her so far from her milieu. He recognizes it’s hard for her to live in the forest.

Dylan sees him with in his car alone with Suzy with their heads together and wonders. A month before her due date, and just before Christmas, Ross has to go to York for a business meeting and will stay overnight, and NO, Dylan can’t come. No wives you see. Yeah, right. Dylan is frightened because the weather looks like a blizzard is on the way but Ross will neither stay nor take her with him. He grudgingly gives her his cell just in case.

Ross asks her for her three wishes from York and isn’t too pleased when Dylan shouts that 1) that she never met him, 2) that they never married and 3) that she wasn’t pregnant. Ross is furious and leaves.

His cell rings and Dylan doesn’t have a chance to say hello. It’s Suzy, all full of darlings and oh, I can’t wait to meet you tonight and I can’t leave because I don’t want hubby to know. Dylan has had it. All suspicious are now on red alert. She leaves a note, drops her wedding ring on it and takes off in her flower-painted car to visit her sister in the Lake District. No wonder Ross wouldn’t take her with him! No Wives??? Hah!

Blizzard starts and Dylan takes a wrong turn, crashes into a stone wall. She’s not badly hurt but the car isn’t going anywhere. She manages to get to a nearby farm house, escorted by Fred the resident goat, and welcomed by Ruth, the 40-something owner and Cleo, Ruth’s cat. Dylan is bruised and cut and her ankle is swollen and she is very pregnant. Ruth’s good friend and doctor, Harry, sees the car smushed into the wall and checks it out. Dylan is OK, no serious problems, and he has other people to see but will be back.

Meanwhile Dylan’s sister tracks Ross down. Dylan is late, very late, and she’s worried with the snow she may have had an accident. Suzy is coming to Ross’s hotel room (platonic of course) and Ross manages to catch her there to tell her he’s leaving to go look for Dylan.

Ross finds Dylan at Ruth’s, the baby decides it time, eventually Harry comes too. Harry’s wife dumped him about 2 years prior to run off with a younger golf pro. Ruth really likes Harry, she had been engaged when younger but her fiancé drowned and she went to London for a career until her mom got too sick to live alone. Harry and Ruth are very good friends and Ruth would like a warmer relationship. Harry appreciates that Ruth never alludes to his wife nor conveys sympathy nor mocks him.

Ross claims to Dylan that he was meeting Suzy because they were having a surprise birthday party for her husband that night – to which his 8 month pregnant wife was NOT invited nor aware of – and they were planning the party and the darlings and sultry voice are just the way Suzy is. Ross claims he doesn’t want Suzy, isn’t attracted to her, doesn’t like that she talks all the time or plays loud music. (This is the same Ross that just a few days before wished his wife was just like Suzy.) Dylan isn’t too sure she believes him but she’s having her baby so that’s taking precedence.

Meanwhile Ruth and Harry realize they each love the other, Harry proposes and Ruth accepts. Dylan names her new baby Ruth and asks them to be godparents and the story ends.

Happy Ever After or Fizzle?

Ross and Dylan are excited by their new baby and Ross is once again attracted to his wife. Everything is rosy and just peachy with them. At least for that day. I wonder how they will cope when baby Ruth keeps them up at night, when Dylan is run off her feet, tired, exhausted with caring for the baby and recovering and Ross once again neglects her for his forest and Suzy.

I do not believe Ross’s explanation. If there was a birthday party, then why not bring Dylan? She offered to wait in the hotel for him to finish his work meetings, why could she have not waited in the hotel then joined the party? I don’t think there was a party, I think it was just what Dylan suspected, an affair.

We’re supposed to believe that Ross shifted from wishing he had a wife like Suzy to not liking Suzy and only wanting his beautiful Dylan. It looks to me like Ross is physically attracted to Dylan but that’s it, no other depth of commitment nor love. When Ross told Dylan he wasn’t having an affair he said he wouldn’t do that to Suzy’s husband. Not a word that he would not do it to his wife!

Give it a few months and these two will separate. It’s probably too late for Dylan to recapture her prima ballerina role but who knows. Ross will happily go look for someone with Suzy’s personality and Dylan’s body, or he’ll show up from time to time to claim his marital rights. Dylan is just as attracted to him, so maybe that’s what they will end up with, passion.

Ruth and Harry are quieter but they look to have a true Happy Ever After.

Overall

I did not like The Yuletide Child. Liked Ruth, liked Cleo who was the best character, liked Harry, but did not care for Dylan and even less for Ross. Dylan should have found out more about Ross before tossing everything and going with him, or once she married, she should have found a way to make it work. She was completely sincere when she said she regretted marrying and being pregnant, the baby was much too soon for her to adjust to Ross’s life while feeling awful.

Ross made no concessions that we readers see to having a wife. He wouldn’t spend time with her, wouldn’t explain why he no longer wanted any physical contact, wouldn’t even take her to mythical party! He mocked her when she was afraid to stay alone with a blizzard coming, after all the weatherman wasn’t forecasting a blizzard, and he was not convincing with his denials of the affair nor avowals of love.

Ross tells Dylan he loves her, wants only her, finds her nearly perfect, but his love didn’t come through when she was suffering a hard pregnancy. Seems like he loves her when the going is easy, not when it’s hard.

Nonetheless, Charlotte Lamb writes well and certainly shows us two marriages, one in fact and one to come. She creates a nice contrast between Harry and Ruth’s quiet devotion and the ultimately selfish wants of Ross and Dylan.

3 Stars

I got my paperback copy used from Thriftbooks. Amazon has it in Kindle and paperback and you can likely find used copies at most online sites.

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Dark Master by Charlotte Lamb – Harlequin Romance

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Charlotte Lamb’s 1979 Dark Master is a romance between a bossy, possessive, rich French count and an ordinary English girl. I enjoyed it and found the romance believable despite the different personalities and backgrounds.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Skip Spoilers

Alex, an orphan, works at the front desk of a holiday hotel in England and is engaged to the hotel manager, Hal. She opens the story running along the groine (a wooden structure to reduce beach erosion), loving how the wind feels in her red hair as it flies around her head. Philippe sees her and wants to own all that wildness; he catches her when she falls at the water edge, both slide on the ground and he wets his suit with the salt water, rejects her offer to pay for cleaning.

Later, when Alex is working, Philippe asks her to dinner but she refuses. Hal expects to have time free that evening to spend together and she wants to be available for him; however, Hal ends up busy. When Alex is off work the next day she sees Hal in a clinch with young widowed hotel guest, Deidre. Both are talking “love you but we must not hurt Alex” and neither sees her standing by the stairs. Alex is stunned, Philippe walks by, takes in the situation, grabs Alex and hustles her first to a handy closet, then to his room. Philippe talks her into letting him take over and make it look like she has fallen for him and he sets up a scene for Hal that looks like they have made love.

Alex thinks Hal is in love and is being noble so as to not hurt her, that he will reject the lovely Deidre and Alex isn’t having that. She does not want to marry a man who loves another lady and marries her out of duty and pity.

Philippe spins her a tale that he too suffers from unrequited love, that the lady he loves married someone else and he wants to show her that he doesn’t love her. He carefully diverts Alex from realizing that Hal is a flirt, is not in love with Deidre, is unable to be completely faithful. Had Alex known that she would have dumped Hal without a worry, but thinking he’s in love, Alex gives Hal back his ring and Philippe takes her to London and marries her out of hand. As he says later, he didn’t want to give her time to think.

Two days later they arrive at his large chateau which is connected to the remains of a castle. Alex, coming back to her usual self, wonders why she let Philippe take her away, what she is doing at a castle. Philippe is not sympathetic, tells her she will cope just fine.

Alex meets Philippe’s family at dinner. His brother Gaston is younger, bitter about his marriage but warm and friendly, sister in law Elise is icy cold, nasty and clearly does not respect or love her husband. Alex overhears Elise insulting her to Philippe and assumes that Elise is the woman Philippe wanted to show he doesn’t care.

Alex is angry and hurt and scared. She had somehow not thought past the wedding and hadn’t thought about the marriage, assumed Philippe didn’t intend to sleep with her. Philippe tells her that he doesn’t give a d— why she sleeps with him, but sleep with him she will. He comes to bed and seduces her.

Over the next few weeks Alex learns how to run the chateau and the estate books, learns to ride and gets to know the staff and some of Philippe’s friends, even hosting dinner parties. She and Gaston become good friends, threatening to Philippe who makes Gaston and Elise move to the dower house about a mile away. Alex is fitting into Philippe’s world but she still doesn’t feel comfortable in her marriage; she does not think Philippe loves her although they make passionate love almost every night. She falls in love with Philippe and is not happy about it.

Alex is gobsmacked when Gaston shows that he is in love with her. She thought they loved each other like brother and sister, not romantic or sexual. Philippe says he should have known a man frozen by the iceberg Elise would instantly fall for Alex’s warmth.

Alex realizes she is pregnant while Philippe is away and is ambivalent. She wants this child but now she will never be able to leave and she still does not think Philippe cares for her. She goes up to the old battlements and runs down the stairs, falls. She wakes up in hospital, concussed, somewhat amnesiac and badly injured, miscarried. She does not recognize Philippe when he visits, only knows she doesn’t want to see him, doesn’t like him.

Eventually Alex heals well enough to have other visitors. Gaston’s visit triggers Alex’s memory. Elise left him for another man and Philippe is sending Gaston to London to set up a sales branch for their very expensive dinnerware. She refuses to leave with Gaston and goes home with Philippe but they are not sleeping together and Philippe is distant.

When Alex is more robust Philippe takes her to London, first to the hotel where Hal works, then to visit Gaston. She challenges Philippe that next he will give her away with a set of dinnerware! She feels like a lost kitten someone tries to find a home for and decides to find her own home. She gets a job and room at a hotel, packs and leaves, puts a note under Philippe’s hotel room door. He comes out and drags her into his room, finally tells her that he loves her, that he needs to give her the opportunity to choose since he railroaded her into marriage.

Alex claims she doesn’t want him either but he doesn’t believe it and forces the issue. The next scene is 18 months later when their baby is christened.

Why Romance is Believable

Dark Master is intensely emotional. Author Charlotte Lambshows us Gaston’s feelings, shows Alex’s falling in love with Philippe. She’s a little less obvious with Philippe but he is no enigma.

We readers know Philippe was Lying when he claimed he wanted to marry Alex only to show the girl he supposedly loves that he didn’t care at all. For one thing, this is more a high school girl’s approach than a mature man’s, for another he gives no indication he likes the supposed Other Woman Elise, nor does Elise act as if he does. The OW treats her own husband with scorn and antipathy but never tries to thrust herself at Philippe.

Of course Philippe claims this to Alex to save his pride and it backfires on him when she remains wary and unsure of him, even tries to leave him. Alex is gullible and silly to believe the lie, but since Philippe doesn’t act particularly loving nor cherishes Alex, she has reason to believe. Even though we readers know Philippe doesn’t want to show Elise anything (except the door), author keeps Alex guessing whether he loves her given his dismissive “you’ll cope” attitude.

Philippe wants Alex physically, relishes their sexual relationship and teaches Alex to enjoy making love with him. She comes to love Philippe’s home, to care for his staff and his friends, and eventually to love him despite feeling uncertain of his attitude towards Elise or herself. When she realizes she is pregnant she knows Philippe will never let her go and is frightened, yet she is glad to have something of him to love.

Philippe confuses Alex by how he treats Gaston and Elise. He doesn’t trust Gaston with Alex and he pulls Gaston away when he gets through to Alex in the hospital. Philippe thinks Alex might be in love with Gaston but isn’t sure whether she loves either Gaston or Hal or himself. He challenges Alex about her passionate response to him in bed when she claims she hates him to touch her; he knows he gets through to her physically – calls it their one sure line of communication – but he also knows that Alex hasn’t put it together yet that he loves her.

The part where Alex challenges Philippe as to why he is trying to find her a home – and a man – is funny in a poignant way. By this point Alex is certain Philippe does not love her, isn’t even sure he still wants her physically because they have not made love since the accident. She decides to cut her losses and find herself a new home, make a new life for herself. She tries to sneak away without talking to Philippe because she knows she cannot deny him and doesn’t want the heartbreak of making love without love. Finally Philippe is forced to be blunt and they talk through their beliefs and love. It is heartfelt and we can believe they are in love and will have a happy life together.

The sex scenes are not at all graphic, but intense. Lamb keeps the attention on Alex’s response and feelings, first dismay as she tries to push Philippe away, then physical enjoyment, then fear and finally joyful response. Philippe is intent on seducing Alex and on giving and invoking passion.

Dark Master uses plot to drive and build emotion and follows a classic plot event/Alex action/Alex emotional reaction and build. Author Lamb cycles through the events and builds the emotion to a peak in London. The final epilogue-like chapter adds nothing except a chance to see Alex and Philippe’s happy future and a parallel with her maid’s romance.

Overall

I like romances that feel real – even when the events and characters are way outside my experience – and Dark Master fits the bill. The initial seduction scene is one of the best in the Harlequin universe and I wish more authors realized we do not need technical descriptions nor a master class in arousing a partner. The physical actions can fade into the background as long as the scene creates and builds emotional response.

I keep a few romance novels handy for when I want to read a few pages that I know and enjoy. Dark Master is one of those. I like the London scenes where Alex rejects Hall, Gaston and tries to reject Philippe, only to be pulled up short when he questions whether she would show any man the passion she shows him. I liked how Alex takes charge of her own life, finds a job and a place to live and even more, how she gives into Philippe and stays with him when he finally confesses he loves her. The two bedroom scenes are excellent, clearly show Philippe’s character. The beginning confusion when Philippe pushes Alex into compromising herself and then into marriage is well done.

4 Stars

I got my paperback copy from Thriftbooks. Amazon, eBay and other used book sites likely have used copies. As of July 2023 Dark Master is not available on Archive.org nor in electronic format on Barnes and Noble, Amazon or Harlequin.

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His Convenient Marriage by Sara Craven

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His Convenient Marriage ranks low on both Amazon and Goodreads but I like it. Reviewers notice the romance seems to come out of left field, that Miles, the hero, gives almost no indication he loves heroine Chessy, that the minor characters complicate the relationship, that Chessy is weak willed at the beginning and that the sister and nasty neighbor are overdone. I shared this opinion the first time I read the story, but it stuck in my mind and I reread it several times and liked it better each time.

The romance is subtle but real. Miles shows he cares about Chessie immediately although he’s not demonstrative and thinks she is in love with someone else.

Let’s see whether I can show why His Convenient Marriage is a winner for me. First a quick plot synopsis.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Avoid Spoilers

Story opens with Chessie’s spoiled younger sister Jen bursting with news. Alastair, son of the local rich guy, whom Chessie dated the summer before her dad died in disgrace, is back. His father sent him to America two years before and Chessie heard nothing from him after a couple letters. Many things changed in his two year absence: Chessie’s dad died bankrupt and in disgrace after embezzling from his clients, Miles bought their old home and Chessie now works for him and lives with Jen in a separate annex in their old house. Quite a come down.

Jen is excited. Surely Alastair will ride in like a white knight to save Chessie from her life of drudgery working for novelist Miles as combination housekeeper and secretary! Except Chessie isn’t excited. She realized long ago Alastair was never serious about her and isn’t keen to reprise her role as lovestruck girlfriend, especially given her current status.

Jen is antagonistic towards Miles, has no consideration for him, resents her sister’s willingness to work for him (and support her by the way). Chessie likes Miles in a distant way and makes peace between him and her sister. Miles treats her with respect but not warmth until that same night when he asks Chessie to go out for dinner. In fact it’s the first time he calls her by her first name, not Miss LLoyd.

More surprises. Miles asks Chessie to marry him; he says while it could be platonic initially he will want closer relations eventually. He says he wants to entertain and needs a hostess and he’s angry with Jen on Chessie’s behalf; Jen takes and takes, complains all the while. This is first hint Miles might care for Chessie.

Chessie promises to consider it, She imagines making love with Miles, and is stunned when she realizes just how attractive he is. In the restaurant foyer she runs into Alastair’s step mother, the glamorous, ultra malicious, spiteful Linnet who makes her usual catty comments, implies Chessie is virginal and untouched because no one wants her. Chessie immediately corrects her, in fact she is engaged to Miles. Miles is angry that she used him to score points and has not committed herself.

Jen has Alastair in their sitting room when they get back and he’s chagrined that Chessie doesn’t fling herself into his arms. His dad, Sir Robert, had a stroke and moved himself, Alastair and Linnet back home to recover. Alastair wants to sell the home while Sir Robert is incapacitated and resents that his dad will prevent it. Chessie doesn’t like Alastair’s attitude about his father.

Meanwhile, Jen is getting into trouble. She attends an expensive school on scholarship and Chessie has ensured Jen has all the right label clothes and gear. Lately Jen has been out drinking with an unsavory guy and we learn later has cut classes, and not studied for her A levels. If Jen does not secure top grades then she cannot go to university; Chessie is counting on Jen leaving home and being on her own.

This evening sets the stage: Chessie, the heroine torn between her care for Jen, her natural resentment of Jen’s selfishness and her own growing feelings for Miles; Miles the ex war journalist turned author who tells Chessie his former fiancée rejected him after his injury, revolted by his scars and handicap. Alastair who expected Chessie to fall all over herself being grateful he returned, Linnet who cannot stop making trouble with gossip and malicious spite. Jen, the spoiled, careless sister.

We have several scenes with Linnet playing lady-of-the-manor, patronizing Chessie, flirting with Miles, being an all around first class obnoxious vamp. More scenes with Miles insisting Chessie play fiancee, wear his ring, sit at his table, entertain his visiting sister and Linnet when she calls. Alastair shows himself to be vile, selfish and unloving towards his father and complacent towards Chessie.

Linnet tells Chessie that Miles had been engaged to actress Sandie Wells, recently divorced after she married someone else and she is back in England. Surely Chessie realizes she cannot compete, that Miles simply was using her as Sandie’s temporary stand in? Chessie decides to find a different job and quit living at Miles’ once Jen is at college.

Eventually everything comes to a head at Sir Robert’s midsummer party. Miles buys Chessie a gorgeous dress and escorts her. He cannot dance due to his injuries but watches Chessie swirl around with all the men who lined up to ask her to dance. At one point he disappears due to a lady phoning for him. Chessie decides to leave herself. When she’s retrieving her wrap she overhears Alastair and Linnet; it’s obvious they have been lovers for years, even the summer Alastair dated Chessie, that Alastair greatly fears his father recovering and disinheriting him.

Chessie goes home, disgusted with all the lies and deceit, with Alastair and Linnet, with her sister jeopardizing her future, and most of all, with Miles for pretending to care for her even while he’s spending days in London when Sandie Wells is staying at his flat. She’s ready to chuck it all in and leave the bunch to fend for themselves when Miles comes home with crying Jen. Jen was with her boyfriend who wanted her to buy and then sell drugs; he was arrested and the police took her in too. She called Miles who brought her home. Miles tells Chessie he knows she wants to leave but she should delay until Jen’s more settled.

Chessie and Miles go to bed together, he tries to tell her something important, but Chessie cuts him off. She thinks he’s going to tell her about Sandie Wells and doesn’t want to hear it. Miles is in great pain afterwards from his back injuries, tells her that he wants to be free of the pain, free to take his wife to bed, to kick a soccer ball with his kids.

The next morning she discovers he’s gone and he took his portable typewriter with him, indicating a long absence. She’s heartbroken that he left without a good-bye. She finishes typing his manuscript and takes it to the post office where she runs into Sir Robert’s nurse who tells her that Miles is in London for a risky back surgery.

Chessie goes to the London clinic and tells Miles not to have the operation, it’s not worth the risk and if Sandie Wells really loved him she would love him the way he is, not require perfection at the risk of long term damage. Miles tells Chessie he is doing it for her, that she’s the one he loves, that Sandie Wells stayed at his flat but he stayed elsewhere, that he wants to make love to her all night long, that he fell in love with her two years earlier when they met. Chessie tells him that she’s marrying him no matter what happens and we have the Happy Ever After.

Why His Convenient Marriage Works

From the synopsis you can see why readers find the romance lacking.

Miles is emotionally distant and it’s hard to believe he could have been in love with Chessie for two years without showing it. However, I find this realistic given the situations for both characters two years prior. Chessie’s world caved in. Her dad revealed as a crook, dead, she herself responsible for her sister, homeless and dumped by friends after the scandal. Miles, badly injured in his last journalism assignment, in pain, dumped by his former fiancée horrified by his scars. Even had Miles not been in pain emotionally and physically he wouldn’t have tried to court a girl as devastated as Chessie was.

Chessie acts wimpy. Actually Chessie acts like someone who put her life and emotions in the freezer two years ago and simply wants to get through the time until Jen is off at school and she can look to her own future. Chessie shows great strength to take on a housekeeper/typist role, to live in her old home as an employee, to put up with her sister’s tantrums. She doesn’t stand up to Miles but she doesn’t need to.

Linnet is appalling. This is true. Linnet is constitutionally incapable of not flirting with any decent looking or rich man and she’s vicious, spiteful, takes glee in seeing Chessie living as an employee and in her mind, humbled. Chessie is a lady and Linnet is a bad imitation, and everyone can tell the difference. Add to that natural envy that an aging vamp has for a younger, pretty girl and we have all the reason Linnet needs to be malicious and make trouble. I suppose one could see Linnet as over the top, but given her character as sketched in the first 20 pages, Linnet is perfectly cast.

Alastair is an entitled jerk who gets little page time. He tries to make Chessie believe he’s in earnest about her at the midsummer party but Chessie by this time knows she loves Miles and doesn’t like Alastair at all, even before learning he’s been cuckolding his own father.

Sister Jen is a flat character. True. Author Craven portrays Jen as spoiled, willfully ignoring reality in favor of “well it should have been”, rude to Chessie and Miles, lazy, selfish. She doesn’t develop much as a person until the very end when she realizes that ignoring studies to go drinking might mean no university. We don’t see her after this so cannot see whether she matures.

The romance is believable given the people and the situations. The other characters act consistent with their personalities as written, the setting and plot are solid. Author Craven advances the plot and story with dialogue that shows personalities and actions that confirm character.

Overall

Given the complex set up followed by simple plot, author Sara Craven tells a very good story, a believable romance between two people who were badly injured two years ago who now find their future and happiness with each other.

Title misleads. Miles proposes a marriage for convenience, all the while wanting more, but the characters are engaged, not married through the story. His Convenient Marriage is part of the Wedlocked! series. The story is excellent and the characters are very well created, act consistent with their given personalities as cast.

4 Stars

His Convenient Marriage is available on Archive.org here, as a Nook here and in Kindle form here. You can find used paperback copies at most online used bookstores, Amazon, eBay. I bought the Kindle for myself.

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Disturbing Stranger by Charlotte Lamb

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Disturbing Stranger is not a romance. Our H, Randal, semi-forces innocent h Laura to marry him because he wants her body. Randal is obsessed, ridiculously possessive, jealous, completely gobsmacked with lust for Laura. Laura loves and thinks she’s in love with doctor Tom Nichol, her second cousin once removed who is a cross between brother, substitute dad, best friend, a caring, gentle man who intends serve the truly poor via the World Health Organization. (Book written in 1978 before WHO lost credibility.)

Randal knows Laura loves Tom and he’s going crazy thinking she’ll marry Tom and sleep with him. Randal chases Laura for months, kisses her enough for both of them to realize they both are attracted to each other. Eventually Randal catches Laura’s feckless father embezzling from him and blackmails Laura to marry him.

Laura enjoys their honeymoon; it’s passionate and Laura realizes Randal is kind, generous and can be fun. A couple scenes however show a different, fraught side. First scene is in Antoinette Bell’s Venetian palazzo. Antoinette takes Randal’s arm and leads him off, and Randal lets her, leaving Laura trailing behind. Antoinette tells one of the young men to dance with Laura. Randal eventually dances with Laura himself and is very jealous of the young men she met. When she mentions one of them in their hotel room he gets nasty.

The second bothersome honeymoon scene is their last morning when they are lying in bed and Randal is “sensuously engaged in his ceaseless exploration of Laura’s body”. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. When Laura says they should get up he threatens to “take you again to teach you a lesson you won’t forget.” More ugh.

The first night they are home in England Laura wakes up at 4 am and Randal wakes up too and rapes her, tells her he wants to hurt her. At the story’s end he tells her he wanted to hurt her, wanted to rape her, wanted to make her know she belonged to him and only to him. But it’s ok because he didn’t enjoy it either. What a guy.

In the denouement (I won’t call it a happy ever after) Randal says he fell in love with Laura at sight and was terrified that she would turn to Tom, that he was taking the biggest gamble of his life. He worried she would hate him for forcing her to marry him.

That’s the story in a nutshell. Although we shouldn’t forget that Randal and Laura have the second floor of his folks’ house and that his dad expects them to be prompt at meal times and that his mother tells Laura what to do (masked as suggestions of course). His mother thinks it would help Laura get used to running a house if she lives with them and learns from her, forgetting that Laura had been responsible for her own parents’ home, cooked most meals and took care of her own mother.

I don’t see this as a romance. Yes both characters claim to love the other but it’s a shallow, possessive type of love, a taking not a giving, driven by lust and jealousy. I’d call this more the prequel to murder.

Nonetheless, Charlotte Lamb almost makes this work. She is an excellent writer with a knack for making the most incredible jerk’s into heroes.

I don’t have to necessarily believe the happy ever after or love the characters to like a book, but it sure helps.

3 Stars

I got my paperback copy on eBay and you can usually find copies on Amazon, eBay, Thriftbooks and other used book sites. Mills and Boon reissued Disturbing Stranger, which was published originally in 1978, in 1984 in their “Best Seller Romance Line”.

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Makeshift Marriage by Marjorie Lewty

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Makeshift Marriage is a marriage of convenience between a loving, pseudo-doormat heroine and a too-stupid-to-live hero that veers off into I-want-to-dump-you, family pressure, Hong Kong, drug dealers, hair salon, Other Man and Other Woman. It is an odd romance that I had to squint and look sideways at to believe completely.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Avoid Spoilers

Makeshift Marriage opens with our heroine, Maggie, summoned to the big chief’s (aka the hero’s father’s) office for the chief to grill her on his son’s romance with Fiona, a red-haired manipulative, unfaithful bitch of an Other Woman. Seems sonny Blake has been dating Fiona extensively but his dad and the board of their construction/engineering company has serious reservations about Fiona and her sleazy connections to some drug dealers. Dad states he won’t approve Blake’s position as boss of a new development in Hong Kong if he marries Fiona.

Maggie and Blake are both engineers and Maggie works for him; Blake relies on her very much. He is supposedly brilliant, Maggie less so but more in tune with nitty gritty as one must be in the engineering world. They make a great pair and Blake is devastated when Maggie declines his offer to come to Hong Kong with him.

Maggie loves Blake; he is not indifferent to her, knows she’s pretty, is attracted to her, likes her very much, trusts and relies on her, his feelings are very close to love but he puts it off when he thinks Maggie isn’t interested. She’s managed to hide her feelings too well.

Maggie has weathered several Blake girlfriends before Fiona but it’s obvious Fiona is different, Blake is smitten. Fiona puts on a good show of sweet, slightly helpless which ensnares Blake; Maggie sees through the act to the cold, hard steel inside. Blake invites both ladies to dinner (he’s clueless) where Fiona gushes over how smart Maggie must be, etc., etc., thus defusing any romantic thought Blake might have about her.

Finally we’re about a month from the Hong Kong adventure when Fiona marries the race car driver she’s been dating in between Blake. Blake is devastated, gets drunk, Maggie helps him home, covers up his drunkenness. He asks Maggie to marry him since he needs a wife and he really doesn’t want to go to Hong Kong without her. (Clueless as noted.)

Of course Maggie agrees and her family is happy and excited. The day before the wedding Blake calls to meet her away from her home. Fiona’s husband died in a car accident and the poor girl is heartbroken and of course Blake can’t possibly marry Maggie now that Fiona is free. (Can we say STUPID???) He wants Maggie to jilt him by not showing up at church the next day. He can’t do it because his dad would be mad (and what about Maggie’s family and their happiness and expense?) nor is he willing to marry and then annul/divorce in a month because that would look bad too. Nope, Maggie has to do the dirty work. She is very unhappy and extremely reluctant but as usual agrees to what Blake wants.

That night she just cannot face the situation and goes to London to meet Blake, to tell him he has to tell his Dad the wedding is off, then she’ll tell her family. Blake isn’t home but Fiona is in his apartment and is quite open with Maggie about how she has no intention to go to Hong Kong, that she’ll divert Blake, that she is stone broke and needs Blake’s money. Maggie is appalled. She’s in a hard spot now.

If Maggie allows Blake to dump her and go off with Fiona his career is over despite being the boss’s son. Further Fiona is not welcome in Hong Kong and Maggie knows Blake will eventually realize what poison Fiona is. She’s finally angry now. Blake is always expecting her to pick up after him and she’s tired of it, tired of being the bad guy, doing his dirty work. Plus she wants to marry Blake and is pretty sure they could be happy together.

Maggie shows up at her wedding. Blake marries her then launches a tirade in the car afterwards, calls her nasty names, yells and has a tantrum that she did not do as he wanted. But he’ll show her! Blake takes her to Hong Kong, dumps her in a hotel room, asks a friend to take her around and goes back to London to sweet Fiona. (At this point we readers wonder what planet Blake lives on. What does he think will happen with Fiona? That he can bring her to Hong Kong as his mistress, leave his wife – a respected fellow employee – in an apartment and ignore her and still have the project workers respect him??)

Blake’s friend Nick, shows Maggie over Hong Kong. They had dated before; Maggie liked Nick a lot and he is the Other Man, half in love with her. A coworker sees Nick comfort Maggie and spreads vile rumors they are having an affair, which brings Blake hot foot back to Hong Kong.

This time he’s scared he might lose Maggie and is angry about the rumors, they sleep together. He meant it brutal force but Maggie, in love with him, gives herself with joy and Blake discovers she was a virgin.

Cranky Blake ignores Maggie, stays out all night, refuses to have her work with him and she follows up on a tentative friendship with the lovely Ling Sang who is opening a beauty parlor. Maggie helps her set up the salon and is her first customer.

She gets all dolled up for Ling Sang’s grand opening fancy party to which Blake agreed to go with her. He comes late and stays only long enough to tell Maggie she looks nice and he’s sorry, something came up and he can’t stay.

Maggie sees Blake with Fiona and decides she’s had enough. She gets Nick to get her a flight home and goes to her sister in law’s Scotland home. She discovers she’s pregnant. Blake shows up and confesses all. When he went back to London the first time he found Fiona in his bed in his apartment with another guy. He had a heart to heart with his dad, learned that Maggie had known Fiona was unwelcome and Blake would have destroyed his career had he kept her. Meanwhile he missed Maggie, missed talking to her, spending time together, all the things he had thrown away.

Blake met up with Fiona in Hong Kong because she had chased after him, was arrested in connection with another drug dealer guy and she needed his help to clear her name. Supposedly he’s done with Fiona and will devote himself to Maggie. I love you and Happy Ever After.

Can We Believe Blake?

The entire premise of the Makeshift Marriage happy ever after is Blake loves Maggie and will remain faithful and loving in the future. Do we readers believe he is sincere and that he will keep his promises and continue his sincerity in the future?

I find Blake sincere at the story close. I’m not convinced he will stay sincere, that he will remain loving and faithful (emotionally and physically) to Maggie; the odds are 50/50 or 60/40 that his turnaround will last. I give such low odds of future fidelity and happiness because:

  • Author Lewty tells us Blake had never fallen for anyone before Fiona. He fell for her hard.
  • Even after seeing her in bed with someone else Blake puts Fiona’s need ahead of Maggie’s clear, strong desire for him to come to Ling Sang’s party. One could argue a legal problem trumps a party, but this is a big deal for Maggie, she spent a lot of time and expense making herself beautiful and Blake knew it was important to her.
  • Fiona had come to Hong Kong to get Blake back, yet we’re supposed to believe he helps her out of kindness and wants to get her out of their lives.
  • Blake takes Maggie for granted. He assumes Maggie would stop the wedding, would understand even his choice to help Fiona vs. go with Maggie. This attitude is hard to change.
  • He claims he wants to make love to Maggie, that he missed her, that he wants their baby. Even Maggie has to stifle her doubts and she does mostly because she loves Blake.

I’m not sure Fiona herself will continue to be a problem, but it is strongly possible that Blake will keep finding other Fionas – ladies who appear delicate and needy and lovely and soft – a complete opposite from his strong, intelligent, capable wife. Blake shows he is susceptible to that sort of person.

Their future happiness depends on Maggie gently steering Blake, giving her strength to him. She becomes less understanding and less willing to accept his lack of character through the novel, first when she refuses to do his dirty work and jilt him, then when she makes herself enjoy Hong Kong with Nick, and last when she walks away after he chooses to help Fiona vs. keeping his promise to go to the party. She’s beginning to hold Blake accountable to get himself right, not rely on her, but I think she will always have to be the strong one in their marriage.

Overall

I like Makeshift Marriage. Author Lewty developed Maggie into a believable, realistic character and contrasted her strength to Blake’s supposed brilliance that devolved to stupidity and cluelessness. It would be easy to see Maggie as a doormat, in fact she sees herself that way in the beginning. We see her grow and take ownership for herself and forces Blake to take responsibility for himself as the book progresses.

Maggie’s main flaw is she will do anything for Blake, she’s his to command. She confronts that flaw when she decides to go ahead with the marriage, when she is alone in Hong Kong, when she gives herself to Blake in bed, when she dumps him even though pregnant. By the end of the book she’ll still do many things for Blake but she is done with lying for him, hiding his problems, taking the blame for his actions.

Most of the reviewers on Goodreads find the happy ever after unbelievable, don’t like Blake, and think Maggie is a doormat. Agree on Blake; he is an immature jerk who needs to grow up. I disagree about Maggie. She starts as a doormat but gets tired of having Blake wipe his feet on her and will not allow him to do so any more.

4 Stars

I got my paperback copy of Makeshift Marriage on Thriftbooks, it was not available on Archive.org at the time I read it nor is it available in E format from Harlequin, Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Amazon has paperback copies and you can probably find this on eBay and other used book sites.

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Sister to Meryl – Intense Vintage Romance Nerina Hilliard

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Sister to Meryl is the first novel I read from author Nerina Hilliard. She wrote science fiction short stories and plays but we know her best for lovely vintage romance novels with strong-willed heroines and heroes who fall in love the hard way. Sister to Meryl is my hands-down favorite of the seven novels I’ve read from her.

I like this because the heroine, Christine, will do almost anything to save her sister from a lifetime of regret and that “anything” includes marrying the man her sister is infatuated with, then tricking her brand new husband by fleeing down the fire escape after the coerced wedding. Wow. Sister to Meryl has all the elements: strong-willed heroine with strong moral principles, a hard, strong hero who melts into goo around the heroine, wonderful side characters, fun plot – blackmail, forced marriage, spiffy escape, near death, Rio, amnesia, realizing love at the hospital bedside, yacht cruise around the Mediterranean, Paris nighties.

Let’s start with the plot which is a doozy.

Plot Synopsis – Click to Skip Spoilers

Christine is worried about her sister traveling on an extended Caribbean holiday when Meryl’s letters start talking more about Julian Galveston than about her husband. Christine checks the back files at the newspaper where she works and discovers Julian has a very bad reputation, his name linked to many women as a debauched playboy.

When Meryl gets home she shocks Christine by admitting she intends to leave her husband and go away with Julian, that they are in love. The distraught husband talks to Christine who agrees to try to stop the affair. (The story implies Julian and Meryl are not sleeping together but Meryl is unfaithful emotionally.)

Christine cannot talk Meryl out of believing she loves Julian, in fact Meryl gets more obstinate, finally Christine goes to see Julian, accuses him of trying to steal Meryl from her husband. Julian laughs, says he is not in love with Meryl, that he’s not responsible for the foolish ways women respond to him, refuses to end things with Meryl. He offers to let Christine take Meryl’s place and asks her out.

Christine refuses, leaves. Julian says she will be back, and indeed after commiserating with Meryl’s ineffectual husband, Christine reluctantly returns to Julian, agrees to go to dinner with him. She does not trust Julian, doesn’t like him but she is unwillingly attracted to him. They date several times and Christine attacks him for his poor morals, the fact he doesn’t respect marriage vows, the way he seduces and leads women on, all based on his reputation. With her Julian displays none of these characteristics and treats Christine with great respect.

Christine has a good friend, Tom, and a very good friend and coworker Jane. Christine has no romantic interest in Tom but he offers to date her, even to pretend to be engaged if it will push Julian off. Jane tells Christine that it seems to her that Julian is in love with her and that Christine is in love right back. Christine doesn’t want to even think about this. How can a womanizer actually love someone? “His type of man” doesn’t do love!

Finally Christine gets her chance to show Meryl that Julian is a cad. Meryl’s husband takes her to The Retreat, a fancy nightclub/restaurant the same evening Meryl is dancing there with Julian. Christine agrees she belongs to Julian but dodges when he tries to propose to her. Then Meryl sees them together.

Christine knows Julian will be there the next night and goes with Tom to give Julian the brush off. Tom claims that he and Christine are engaged. By now Christine is conflicted. She is attracted to Julian, feels a strong bond to him, but keeps pushing him and her feelings away based on her prejudice from reading about his reputation. Julian treats her with immense respect and care but Christine cannot let go of her predetermined viewpoint.

Julian picks her up after work the next day and she insults him even more, refuses to say Tom made up their engagement, will not admit to liking Julian or his kisses, finally says “”there’s something in all of us – something horrible – and your type of man always knows how to reach it!” Julian is furious and tells Christine that he will live up to the black character she gave him.

The next day Meryl’s husband tell Christine that she’s leaving to go with Julian to Rio on Julian’s yacht. Christine cannot dissuade Meryl, in fact Meryl is vicious, claims Christine threw herself at Julian and is after Julian’s money.

Christine is heartsick and knows she must offer herself to Julian to keep Meryl safe. She goes to him and agrees to marriage, wondering whether she can duck out after the ceremony and lose herself to avoid living with him. Julian states he wants her, he intends to have her and he needs a mistress for his family home and a wife to give him children.

They get married in a civil ceremony and a have a small reception in Julian’s apartment. Julian’s aunt Helen introduces herself and mentions how glad she is that Julian found Christine, that he was glowing with joy when he came to tell her – the night before The Retreat date. Christine wonders whether Julian possibly could truly love her since he intended marriage all along, but she shoves those ideas down out of her mind, gets Helen to leave her alone to change in Julian’s bedroom, then locks the door and goes out the window to the fire escape.

Jane and her sister’s husband are waiting for Christine down below and they go to the sister’s home for a few months where she works in the husband’s office. Christine worries about Julian finding her and feels vaguely ashamed of herself for tricking him, but she convinces herself that Julian could not possibly feel anything sincere for her and that she is only attracted physically.

Jane’s family throws Christine a surprise birthday party and she finds a leftover card and on impulse sends it to Julian signed “from your loving wife” and sent it without a return address. A few days later Julian finds her and forces her to his home, Galveston Chase. He asks whether she can get by the fact he forced her to marry him and start over, but she is intransigent. They have dinner then he comes to her bedroom and seduces Christine. The entire time she says she hates him but she kisses and holds onto him as if to stay forever.

Julian is gone the next morning. Christine is mortified that she responded to him sexually, remembers that she was gloriously happy, that he held her gently and lovingly after while she sobbed how she hated him. Christine sees a news story that Julian is joining an expedition to Brazil and she is hurt that he didn’t bother to tell her. (Julian wrote her a note but she didn’t see it.) She goes back to Jane’s family.

Four months after the delayed wedding night Helen comes to take Christine with her to Brazil where Julian is near death after getting shot with a poisoned arrow and a bad head wound and concussion. The minute Christine sees him she realizes she does love Julian, that she has loved him all along. Julian has amnesia but he semi recognizes Christine, knows she is important to him, and regains his will to live. Helen gives her Julian’s delayed note where he says he loves her and will somehow find a way to free her from the marriage without divorce. Reading this Christine realizes that Julian had hoped to die from his wounds.

Once Julian heals they return to Galveston Chase, happy together, but Julian cannot remember anything. Christine knows they have a chance now to start over the right way, with love. Julian can’t remember their wedding and wants to remarry her before they sleep together, which tells Christine how much he respects her.

They go on a several month honeymoon cruise and are very happy together, Christine knows now that Julian loves her and that she loves him. She buys an enticing nightie in Paris that both she and Julian enjoy and it becomes a bit of a private joke.

Christine runs into Tom at a port and has coffee with him; when Julian sees them together he remembers everything and thinks that Christine has been pretending all along, that she still wants Tom, that she does not want him. Christine gets angry and tells Julian he is stupid, blind as a bat and won’t listen to her! Finally Julian believes her and HEA.

There is a nice epilogue a few months later when Christine is pregnant. Meryl writes to apologize and to admit that her romance with Julian was mostly wishful thinking. Christine tells Julian that she is so glad she came to “rescue” Meryl since it brought her so much happiness, living with him is like living in a rose colored dream.

Characters

The main characters, Christine and Julian, are vivid, feel real, act real, talk real. There are several side characters who play strong roles – Aunt Helen, Friend Jane, Friend OM Tom – and others with cameo appearances who have personalities despite their small roles. Let’s cover the smaller roles first.

Meryl We see very little of Meryl, Christine’s wayward sister. She kicks off the story by writing to Christine about meeting Julian and spending time with him while she and her husband vacation. In those letters Meryl seems like a star-struck kid, someone living in a fantasy world where she’s got her nose pressed against the glass watching Julian dazzle.

She appears once to tell off Christine for trying to steal Julian when she acts like a spoilt brat with a nasty mouth. Christine could have washed her hands of Meryl and Julian at this point; Meryl clearly intends to go her own selfish way despite how she hurts her husband or ruins her own reputation. The fact that Christine does not simply walk away at this point gives us evidence that she’s not going back to Julian purely for Meryl’s sake. Even a loving, dedicated sister would be hard pressed to give in to a man she detests solely to save her sister’s marriage after the sister attacks her viciously.

The mea culpa letter at the end that exonerates Julian completely is a nice touch. It gives Christine the opportunity to tell Julian she knew he was innocent of trying to inveigle Meryl even without Meryl’s evidence. The author uses little touches like this throughout the story to build the case that the love is real.

Meryl’s Husband This guy is a wimp! He doesn’t seem to have any idea how to keep his wife and relies on his sister in law to keep Meryl away from Julian. Meryl’s Husband (MH) is a cipher about whom we know little except that he’s rich, can take months off on vacation (in other words, he’s not running his own business full time like contemporary alpha HP heroes do), and loves his wife.

It looks as though MH tries to stop her incipient adultery by talking to her, trying to convince her that she love him, not Julian. Not sure what the right approach would have been but talking clearly was not it!

Doctor in Rio The small, portly doctor in Rio is on page in only two scenes, but both helped Christine realize how important she is to Julian. First he tells Christine that Julian doesn’t seem to want to live, then that he’s improved and will live since she arrived. Both are important because Christine has just realized she loves Julian but has not fully accepted that he loves her.

The Supporting Characters are Tom, Aunt Helen and Jane. All three do their best to help Christine realize that she and Julian are in love and are meant to be together.

Tom Christine and Tom are friends, good friends and neighbors, with no romance although Tom could easily fall for her. Tom cares enough for Christine to offer himself as a buffer to Julian, a fake date, a fake fiancé and finally an outside viewpoint.

As Christine’s romance with Julian intensifies her relationship with Tom becomes weaker, solely friendship. Julian takes Christine to The Retreat for dinner and dancing and Tom takes her the next night. Christine watches Julian the whole time she and Tom dance. Julian comes over and Tom claims he just got Christine to accept his proposal; Julian isn’t completely convinced until he talks to Christine privately the next day.

Tom makes it clear to Christine that he gladly will marry her and suggests she is in love with Julian and that Julian loves her. He leaves for Canada almost immediately after his date with Christine. Later when Julian takes Christine to his home he tells her he knew she had gone with Tom. I inferred that Julian truly viewed Tom as his rival and wasn’t certain that Christine didn’t love him.

Christine should have listened to Tom but she did not. Later, when she runs into him while she and Julian are on their honeymoon cruise, Tom tells her that he thought Meryl was spoilt, had pretty much chased Julian and imagined that he had loved her. This time Christine agrees with Tom although she still finds it hard to criticize Meryl even in her mind.

Aunt Helen In some romances the author has to rely on a 3rd party to shed light, explain, push the hero and heroine together, the “Well, John, it’s like this…” method. That is most unsatisfying, far better when authors use a third party to hint or show, not tell, which is how author Hilliard uses Aunt Helen.

Helen challenges Christine with her feelings for Julian and helps her to understand his horrible upbringing. His father did everything he could to kill any warm feelings or sense of loyalty or high moral standards that Julian had.

I liked Helen as a character and author Hilliard embedded her “Well, John” explanations into the story enough that they were not annoying although I do not care for this expository technique. (It’s fast and effective though.)

Jane is great! She listens to Christine, supports and helps her to run from Julian even though she does not believe that Christine is wise. She emphatically states several times that she believes Julian loves Christine, and even that Christine is nowhere near indifferent to nor dislikes him. Jane believes there is a lot of gray in Julian and in Julian’s relationship to Meryl and to Christine and she says so.

Jane forces Christine to confront herself, tells her bluntly that she is being unfair to Julian. After Christine returns home from their delayed wedding night Jane backs off some but is still there as the good angel on Christine’s shoulder urging her to honesty and to challenge her feelings and attitudes. Even though Jane never meets Meryl she clearly doesn’t buy Christine’s blindness towards her sister’s faults; likely Christine doesn’t recognize her own ambiguous thoughts when talking to her best friend.

Jane enlists her brother to help Christine escape, gets her family to make her welcome and to find a job, she gives practical and emotional support. Jane does not let Christine run down Julian nor is she a one of those friends who agrees with everything; Jane challenges Christine over and over about her misconceptions about Julian.

Most of us would love to have a friend like Jane: fair, honest, willing to listen, to give practical help and advice, but not slavishly devoted as to never challenge one to be better, to be honest, to give someone (and ourselves) a chance.

Julian Julian is the most interesting person in this story. He explains himself: “When a man thinks he has lost all his ideals and then one day he finds everything he thought he had lost done up in one attractive parcel, he knows he has to get them back somehow…” Christine refuses to believe that he is serious, that he loves her, regards these comments as those of a practiced philanderer, but we readers can see that just maybe Julian is serious.

Julian has moral standards that aren’t obvious from his past behavior. He did not entice Meryl, Meryl tried to entice him. He did not force Christine to be his mistress but married her. He was willing to die from his injuries to free her when he realized (wrongly as it turned out) that she hated him. He insists he remarries Christine before sleeping with her when he could not remember their wedding. He was willing to let her go to marry Tom when he thought she had been pretending to love him.

Julian shows one flaw initially, then later a second. First he is ruthless when he wants Christine. Second he can’t accept that she loves him. Julian is incredibly hurt when Christine lies in his arms crying how she hates him after they sleep together. He cannot stop loving her but he cannot face further rejection. He leaves for Brazil and later when he regains his memory Julian is determined to free her to go to Tom. He remembers how she cried and hated him, and he is confused about the honeymoon months. It’s easier to believe Christine still hates him and has been pretending than to take a chance.

Christine Christine has two main flaws that prevent her from immediately finding happiness with Julian.

  • Christine is foolish and blind about her sister Meryl.
  • She sees people in black and white. Meryl is all good, therefore Julian must be all bad. Even when she realizes Meryl is wrong she refuses to believe that Julian had not inveigled her away from her husband. When she sees Julian has good qualities she pushes those out of her mind and grimly, doggedly holds on to her prejudice about his past. A man like him could never love someone!

We see these flaws immediately. She worries when Meryl writes her about Julian, digs out news articles about his past, immediately assumes that Julian had pursued Meryl. Even when MH suggests that it was accidental that Julian traveled home on the same ship as Meryl, Christine refused to consider that, surely it was no accident. Julian must have targeted Meryl!

Later when Christine knows Julian better, even when she agrees that she belongs to him, she cannot stop seeing him as a super villain, almost a caricature. She clings to this belief, hugs it to herself, uses it to justify her behavior.

After the traumatic wedding night Christine goes back to Jane’s family and for a week or so is partly in shock at the emotional storm Julian raised in her and partly shocked and horribly hurt that he left the next day. She at first tosses it off as he was bored after sleeping with her once, later, especially after Helen told her men don’t get bored after one night, starts to wonder what really happened. She slowly softens towards Julian. She enjoyed intercourse with Julian, responded with ardor and emotion to him and that colors her attitude.

The trigger for Christine to realize her flaws are preventing happiness, and even in effect are killing Julian, is seeing him so weak and near death in Rio. She realizes she loves him and it doesn’t matter what he’s done and that he loves her. I don’t think she could have had such a revelation had she not spent four months away, had time to think and to understand her own feelings.

Why Sister to Meryl Is So Good

Sister to Meryl is one of the best romances I have read. Here’s why:

  • Author Hilliard creates complex characters who feel real and who act the way real people act.
  • Hilliard uses dialogue and actions – plot – to drive the story, which is Christine’s and Julian’s emotional journey.
  • Christine’s flaws are real. They are far more subtle than flaws in more contemporary Harlequin Presents and they are flaws in character.
  • The sex scene is fade to black yet intense.
  • Author uses a familiar framework:
    • Act 1 starts with a bang and shows Christine’s flaws on page 3. She meets Julian and refuses to believe he is anything other than a heartless womanizer.
    • Act 2 ratchets the action and dialogue. Christine is increasingly desperate to free first Meryl, then herself, from Julian. She frees herself physically but now is caught emotionally.
    • Act 3 begins in the hospital when Meryl realizes she loves Julian.
    • There is a second revelation when Julian regains his memory and finally believes Christine loves him.

Usually in Harlequins the hero redeems himself, converts from his selfish/immoral/bullying/belittling behavior to become decent, to love the heroine. In Sister to Meryl Julian is never completely bad and in moral terms he turns himself around from past the minute he meets Christine. It is in fact Julian, with Jane’s help, who redeems Christine. And later, it is Christine who redeems Julian.

Overall

5 stars.

I got my copy from Thriftbooks and you can usually find copies of Sister to Meryl on eBay and other used book sites.