Deep in the Forest

by Joyce Dingwell

Selina was going to marry Roger Peters -- but unless they waited another three years, Selina would forfeit a large legacy and lose her beloved Tall Tops. She was prepared to wait; so was Roger.

That maddening Joel Grant had no right to be so sarcasiic about it all.

Genres: Harlequin Romance

Paperback

First published October 1, 1975

About the author

Enid Joyce Owen Dingwell, née Starr, was born on 1908 in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. She wrote, as Joyce Dingwell and Kate Starr, 80 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1931 to 1986. She was the first Australian writer living in Australia to be published by Mills & Boon. Her novel The House in the Timberwood (1959), was made into a motion picture, The Winds of Jarrah (1983). Her work was particularly notable for its use of the Australian land, culture, and people. She passed away on 2 August 1997 in Kincumber, New South Wales.

Reviews

[C. Michael]

First book finished in 2021. One reason I enjoy Dingwell's books is that they usually send me to Google to look up Australian slang at least once or twice per volume, and this one did. Besides that, this was a dramatic tale of life and death in and around a timber operation -- almost like a timber farm in some ways -- as well as romance, of course. Even though you could guess who'd end up with whom long before the end of the story, there were loose ends to be wrapped up even until the final page.

[Myrna · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I, too, like children. We two should think over that mutual liking one day." A deliberate pause. "Do something about it.’

And that’s page 7. The H isn’t wasting his time.

Oh, I might swoon. He washes her clothes when he sees it lying on the floor in the bathroom ready for a wash. If that’s not the love declaration, I don’t know what love is.

A charming book. The h is impertinent and the H is provoking.
She can say some hurtful things, because she believes he’s invincible. And she’s slightly egoistical and self-centered.

The primary conflict although is between the experienced H lacking formal education and the inexperienced newcomer OM with a solid academic background.

Dingwell favors experience without education. She seems to support the old-fashioned physical labor instead of modern automatisation.

The side story is heart-breaking. It looks like Dingwell always wants to add a pinch of salt into her books to remind the reader that life is cruel and unfair.

[Andi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beware, this book contains racist, derogatory references.

The h is a silly, prejudiced idiot (dense as a doorknob). She grows up a little over the course of the book, but not enough to make up for how much I disliked her. The story itself was meh, rather disjointed, the language unnecessarily overwrought (Case in point - “There was not one of them who had not responded to the gift by not learning to swim” - was a triple negative really necessary? Why not simply write ‘they had all responded to the gift [a pool] by learning to swim’?). I’m not sure why I stuck with it.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hero never gave up on the silly heroine who thought she was in love with the OM - a rival forester. Hero was a self-made man. OM was a college-educated snob with coordinating outfits.

Why the heroine was so smitten with the OM and so defensive/obnoxious about the H had to be chalked up to the vintage author belief that sexual tension is best expressed through insults and punishing kisses.

Fortunately, this author was just as interested in the lumber camps and forestry and the reader is treated to descriptions of a bygone world - with lots of interesting characters.

There is a terrible forest fire and some very sobering descriptions of lives lost that put the H/h's romance in stark contrast. Suddenly all the banter about fertility and children makes sense in light of the death and destruction the H/h have just witnessed.

I enjoyed this one, but trigger warning for several death scenes.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those heavier Joyce Dingwell stories - with natural disaster and death (human and animal). The heroine (22) is rather obnoxious to the hero as the story commences, but later shows herself to be caring once her infatuation with the OM has worn off. By contrasting her with her ultra beautiful, superficial elder sister (suggested potential OW), she actually comes across as worthier for the hero. There is an OM (also vapid and superficial) who is quite unlikeable, but again he contrasts with the manly, earthy and genuine hero. The story has a fascinating setting, but there's a thread of anxiety running through the book that makes me dock a star, despite very much liking the hero and his declaration at the end (but not the devastation to the setting).

[KSHG · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10 This author can be somewhat hit-and-miss. This one is a hit! Dingwell writes a vibrant tale that moves quickly almost like an action movie. I read it in one sitting.
The setting is brilliantly depicted, the dialogue sparkles and the characterization is spot on for the most part, particularly for the children. The hero is wonderful from the start, as other reviewers have pointed out. He does swoony things for the heroine. The story is nice and clean too.
The heroine is likeable but her change of affection from OM to hero is flawed. The OM-OW setup could have created more drama and should have, instead there was nothing.
There are also unnecessary deaths that detract rather than add to the story.

[RomLibrary]

Selina was going to marry Roger Peters -- but unless they waited another three years, Selina would forfeit a large legacy and lose her beloved Tall Tops. She was prepared to wait; so was Roger.

That maddening Joel Grant had no right to be so sarcasiic about it all.

[Henji · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was crazy and riveting. Some parts were unintentionaly hilarious.

Nothing made sense and it kept getting wilder and wilder.

The heroine was particularly stupid and shallow in this one. She had no redeeming qualities.

[Nenya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description of the trees and the forests and lumbering was a little beyond me, but poetic enough to not turn me off of reading it altogether.

Rather sweet; macho H (bewarned!). The om (h's fiance) wasn't too much of a sleaze-bag, just shallow. I was expecting om and sister to be much, much more devious, and am glad they're not. They're just well-suited and shallow.

Wasn't a fan of the H flirting (seemed like it to the h; or just being extra polite; i dunno, i don't like it) with the h's drop-dead gorgeous, twice (or thrice) -divorced sister.

Oh, and the author didn't have to kill off that minor character (the one with the adopted son)!! bleh.

It was still nice. Rather in the style of Betty Neels... if she ever wrote of Australian lumberjacks!

[Lori Nemitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read between January & June 1983.

Original notes on book from 1983: Normal Harlequin, but good. Set in Australia.