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Impact
Impact by Madeleine Ker released on Nov 24, 1986 is available now for purchase.
- GenresHarlequin Presents
189 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 15, 2016
Re Impact - MK brings us the unusual love triangle situation of two men chasing after one girl. No OW in sight, just a nice 23 year old orphan h who hits the big time as a model and gets swept up in a whirlwind romance with a dashing young race car driver.
The story opens with the h and her fiance going to the fiance's cousin's fabulous Normandy estate to stay for a small vacation while the h is between modeling assignments. The h is very nervous because the fiance explains that his older cousin is the French version of Versace and descended from Hungarian nobility, so the h is concerned that the cousin won't find her a suitable wife for his younger cousin. Not to worry tho, the cousin is entranced from the moment he meets her and it seems he is determined to make it a very CLOSE family relationship.
In fact he wholeheartedly approves of the h, but seems to be very displeased with her fiance. There is a lot of discussion about the fiance settling down and taking a position in the cousin's company. The fiance doesn't want to do so. The h, being the supportive girlfriend, agrees that the fiance should pursue something he can be passionate about.
For now that passion is being poured into racing and some portion is spent trying to tempt the h into bed. They have known each other three months, but seen each other rarely due to conflicting schedules and the last time they were together the fiance impulsively proposed. The h still hasn't slept with him, she wants to wait until the marriage which she assumes will be occurring soon, tho no date has been set.
They settle in for their visit and the first night there, the h is awakened by a violent storm when the window blows open. The electricity is out and the h can't see anything and decides to go find a light, when someone enters the room and she assumes it is her fiance. He closes the window and the h starts a passionate kissing moment, only to realize that it isn't her fiance she is kissing. It is the cousin and he let her think she was kissing her fiance. The h is highly embarrassed and kicks him out. She goes back to bed but can't figure out the funny feeling she got from kissing the cousin.
As the next few days pass the h is put into the company of the cousin more and more, he takes her on a tour of his cider orchard and asks a lot of questions. We learn that he is an orphan too and just like the h, he has had to work his way to the top.
The fiance starts spending less and less time with the h and then the fiance wants the h to ask the cousin to reinstate the allowance he cut off when the fiance started the driving position. In a very embarrassing dinner scene, the cousin agrees to reinstate the allowance if the fiance will set a date for his wedding to the h.
The h is upset that she was used as a bargaining tool and the rot creeps a bit deeper when the fiance accuses her of setting him up later. The h is very irate at this point and tells the fiance off, but she doesn't break the engagement. She is starting to seriously question herself though and she is actually relieved when her fiance pushes the date out a further 6 months from the one agreed upon at dinner.
The cousin is becoming increasingly handsy and the kisses are getting more intense. The h finally realizes that she is powerfully attracted to the cousin, but she is stil engaged to the fiance - even tho the cousin points out that she wears no ring as the fiance hasn't gotten around to buying one yet. ( Shades of Beyonce are binging around my head at this point.)
Then we are all off to Le Mans for a big endurance race and both the fiance and the cousin will be driving as one of the other drivers for the team is ill. (The cousin uses the racing team as a promotional advertisement for his fashion empire.) The h is very frightened by the danger to both men but she still goes for a ride around the track with the cousin driving.
Then the fiance tosses her a ring over lunch, it is a very nice ring and the h feels really bad for accepting it and continuing the engagement when she knows she doesn't feel right about the fiance. The fiance keeps disappearing tho, and the h hardly sees him. She figures she will talk to him one the stress of the race is over.
The race begins and things are speeding along, the h and cousin get into ANOTHER kissing moment but restrain themselves and then it is the cousin's turn to drive. The h is awoken later that night with news that there has been a terrible wreck and the cousin is trapped in the car. She grabs her fiance and they race off to the wreck. The H is stuck in the car on a bad section of track and it is taking sometime for emergency cut-out teams to arrive. The H's spleen is ruptured and he is bleeding to death.
The fiance wants to leave, but the h notices the H's blood type is on the car (French endurance racing requirements) and it turns out she has the same blood type. She starts giving blood right then and continues all the way to the hospital. (Making HPlandia a truly magical place where one woman can transfuse blood for hours and not feel a thing - she would truly be a vampire fantasy come true if this were a paranormal.) The H is saved and the h finds out the ring she was given was stolen. The fiance decides he can't race anymore and runs off to avoid the police looking for him.
Then the h finds out that her fiance was engaged before, he got a young college student preggers, promised to marry her and then ran off. The H supports the fiance's ex and child. The h is outraged that neither the fiance or the H mentioned this little tidbit, ( I don't know why she was so upset, she had been kissing on the H for over a week and not dumping the fiance even tho she KNEW she probably wasn't going to marry him.) It seems the fiance only proposed in order to get her into bed, when she wouldn't comply, he lost interest.
The h takes herself back to London and her modeling career. Then she is mad that the H never calls. ( Again, I have to wonder why, she just left in the middle of the day while the H was still unconscious and he had already swore he loved her as they were pulling him from the car, he was very ill and she takes off in a snit. )
The h goes to Barbados for a series of TV commercials and on her return is booked for a fashion shoot with a lot of really expensive jewelry. She is modeling the prime piece of the collection, a 60 carat diamond, when the H walks in to tell her the diamond is her wedding present and sweeps her semi-clad self off to marry her.
When the h taxes him about not mentioning the former fiancee and child of the ex fiance, the H admits he was giving the fiance enough rope to hang himself. He figured the longer he waited the madder the h would get when she finally found out and he was going to use the chance to steal her away. Except he did not plan on being unconscious in a hospital bed when that happened. So he had to improvise. The h is happy with that manly explanation and they practice swearing eternal devotion to each other in French for a big HEA.
This one was okay, but the h's dragging out the engagement for so long made her seem a bit irritating. We all knew by chapter two that she wasn't going to wind up with the fiance, so the whole engagement sham became a really obvious plot device to extend out the story. Still the H was pretty charming and the racing bit was dramatic, so this one isn't a bad way to kill a few hours if you find it.
The story opens with the h and her fiance going to the fiance's cousin's fabulous Normandy estate to stay for a small vacation while the h is between modeling assignments. The h is very nervous because the fiance explains that his older cousin is the French version of Versace and descended from Hungarian nobility, so the h is concerned that the cousin won't find her a suitable wife for his younger cousin. Not to worry tho, the cousin is entranced from the moment he meets her and it seems he is determined to make it a very CLOSE family relationship.
In fact he wholeheartedly approves of the h, but seems to be very displeased with her fiance. There is a lot of discussion about the fiance settling down and taking a position in the cousin's company. The fiance doesn't want to do so. The h, being the supportive girlfriend, agrees that the fiance should pursue something he can be passionate about.
For now that passion is being poured into racing and some portion is spent trying to tempt the h into bed. They have known each other three months, but seen each other rarely due to conflicting schedules and the last time they were together the fiance impulsively proposed. The h still hasn't slept with him, she wants to wait until the marriage which she assumes will be occurring soon, tho no date has been set.
They settle in for their visit and the first night there, the h is awakened by a violent storm when the window blows open. The electricity is out and the h can't see anything and decides to go find a light, when someone enters the room and she assumes it is her fiance. He closes the window and the h starts a passionate kissing moment, only to realize that it isn't her fiance she is kissing. It is the cousin and he let her think she was kissing her fiance. The h is highly embarrassed and kicks him out. She goes back to bed but can't figure out the funny feeling she got from kissing the cousin.
As the next few days pass the h is put into the company of the cousin more and more, he takes her on a tour of his cider orchard and asks a lot of questions. We learn that he is an orphan too and just like the h, he has had to work his way to the top.
The fiance starts spending less and less time with the h and then the fiance wants the h to ask the cousin to reinstate the allowance he cut off when the fiance started the driving position. In a very embarrassing dinner scene, the cousin agrees to reinstate the allowance if the fiance will set a date for his wedding to the h.
The h is upset that she was used as a bargaining tool and the rot creeps a bit deeper when the fiance accuses her of setting him up later. The h is very irate at this point and tells the fiance off, but she doesn't break the engagement. She is starting to seriously question herself though and she is actually relieved when her fiance pushes the date out a further 6 months from the one agreed upon at dinner.
The cousin is becoming increasingly handsy and the kisses are getting more intense. The h finally realizes that she is powerfully attracted to the cousin, but she is stil engaged to the fiance - even tho the cousin points out that she wears no ring as the fiance hasn't gotten around to buying one yet. ( Shades of Beyonce are binging around my head at this point.)
Then we are all off to Le Mans for a big endurance race and both the fiance and the cousin will be driving as one of the other drivers for the team is ill. (The cousin uses the racing team as a promotional advertisement for his fashion empire.) The h is very frightened by the danger to both men but she still goes for a ride around the track with the cousin driving.
Then the fiance tosses her a ring over lunch, it is a very nice ring and the h feels really bad for accepting it and continuing the engagement when she knows she doesn't feel right about the fiance. The fiance keeps disappearing tho, and the h hardly sees him. She figures she will talk to him one the stress of the race is over.
The race begins and things are speeding along, the h and cousin get into ANOTHER kissing moment but restrain themselves and then it is the cousin's turn to drive. The h is awoken later that night with news that there has been a terrible wreck and the cousin is trapped in the car. She grabs her fiance and they race off to the wreck. The H is stuck in the car on a bad section of track and it is taking sometime for emergency cut-out teams to arrive. The H's spleen is ruptured and he is bleeding to death.
The fiance wants to leave, but the h notices the H's blood type is on the car (French endurance racing requirements) and it turns out she has the same blood type. She starts giving blood right then and continues all the way to the hospital. (Making HPlandia a truly magical place where one woman can transfuse blood for hours and not feel a thing - she would truly be a vampire fantasy come true if this were a paranormal.) The H is saved and the h finds out the ring she was given was stolen. The fiance decides he can't race anymore and runs off to avoid the police looking for him.
Then the h finds out that her fiance was engaged before, he got a young college student preggers, promised to marry her and then ran off. The H supports the fiance's ex and child. The h is outraged that neither the fiance or the H mentioned this little tidbit, ( I don't know why she was so upset, she had been kissing on the H for over a week and not dumping the fiance even tho she KNEW she probably wasn't going to marry him.) It seems the fiance only proposed in order to get her into bed, when she wouldn't comply, he lost interest.
The h takes herself back to London and her modeling career. Then she is mad that the H never calls. ( Again, I have to wonder why, she just left in the middle of the day while the H was still unconscious and he had already swore he loved her as they were pulling him from the car, he was very ill and she takes off in a snit. )
The h goes to Barbados for a series of TV commercials and on her return is booked for a fashion shoot with a lot of really expensive jewelry. She is modeling the prime piece of the collection, a 60 carat diamond, when the H walks in to tell her the diamond is her wedding present and sweeps her semi-clad self off to marry her.
When the h taxes him about not mentioning the former fiancee and child of the ex fiance, the H admits he was giving the fiance enough rope to hang himself. He figured the longer he waited the madder the h would get when she finally found out and he was going to use the chance to steal her away. Except he did not plan on being unconscious in a hospital bed when that happened. So he had to improvise. The h is happy with that manly explanation and they practice swearing eternal devotion to each other in French for a big HEA.
This one was okay, but the h's dragging out the engagement for so long made her seem a bit irritating. We all knew by chapter two that she wasn't going to wind up with the fiance, so the whole engagement sham became a really obvious plot device to extend out the story. Still the H was pretty charming and the racing bit was dramatic, so this one isn't a bad way to kill a few hours if you find it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2013
It is not an extraordinary book, but I found it quite entertaining. As in another book of Madeleine Ker (a male writer), while reading the story I was wondering if I could detect by some detail that the author is a man instead of a woman.
In Tuscan Encounter(also by this author), there was no OW. And here there isn’t either. There are two men hot in pursuit for the heroine. Quite unusual in a HP, where there are many women, among them the h, all of them intending to capture the H’s heart. And here there is no manipulative OW, but two rather manipulative men.
And here a surprise is that although the two men pursuing the heroine (Lili) are cousins, there seems not to be any “loyalty” of the H towards his cousin (Lili’s fiance). At the end all is satisfactorily explained, although there are some “hints” about Martin’s character that give us some clues.
In Tuscan Encounter(also by this author), there was no OW. And here there isn’t either. There are two men hot in pursuit for the heroine. Quite unusual in a HP, where there are many women, among them the h, all of them intending to capture the H’s heart. And here there is no manipulative OW, but two rather manipulative men.
And here a surprise is that although the two men pursuing the heroine (Lili) are cousins, there seems not to be any “loyalty” of the H towards his cousin (Lili’s fiance). At the end all is satisfactorily explained, although there are some “hints” about Martin’s character that give us some clues.
March 17, 2013
I found myself skimming a lot of this one. Way too much uninteresting plot without much drama. The romance wasn't great either -- the only obstacle to it was basically that they were cheating, without much compunction, on her fiance. It was still ok and had a pleasant ending, but not a great read for me.
January 19, 2020
Lili had never felt so confused It was important to Martin, Lili's fiance, that his cousin Daniel should like her. But when they met, she wasn't sure if she could ever merely like the sophisticated, powerful man Daniel was. With hints and gestures and caresses and kisses, Daniel was trying deliberately to turn her against the man she'd promised to marry. And such was the force of Daniel's personality that she couldn't simply ignore him. Like a pair of scales, unequally weighted, Lili was starting to tilt--away from Martin and toward the tall dark man who obsessed her thoughts.
Her fiance refused to marry a girl her impregnated and the Hero supports them both.
Her fiance refused to marry a girl her impregnated and the Hero supports them both.
June 26, 2024
This isn't really a four star, the plot is weak and drawn out a bit but I'm marking it for further reference because (and I'm aware tastes differ) I would climb this H like a tree. He, Daniel, is the cousin of the h, Lili's brand new fiance, hapless dilettante quasi race car driver Martin. Lili is a stunning model and chateau owning Daniel runs a male fashion empire with a little race car driving on the side. Martin is good looking, impetuous and mostly totally disappears from any involvement with Lili, his fiancee, when they stay with Daniel at his chateau in preparation for Le Mans. Separate rooms and everything 😶 They're both gorgeous, they're early twenties, they've just been holidaying together in Antibes,they're engaged and they haven't slept together yet. Told you it was weak. Daniel is the answer to a maiden's prayer and despite the Martin engagement he and Lili find themselves in sensuous clinch after clinch. I have no idea what was going on in this woman's head and I don't think the author could quite work it out either as it meandered on in this fashion for a lot of pages. The plot very much ran out of steam, which cannot be said for the H.
February 7, 2023
It wasn't bad, but I have big issues with cheating, and to me kissing is still cheating. Besides the hero kissing his cousin's fiance, I didn't mind him. That is until the end when he just tells the heroine that she was marrying her and that was the end of her modeling career. I realize it is an older book and usually I just accept it as part of its charm, a different era lifestyle. but in this case modern me got annoyed with it. I am not the hugest feminist but I do fully believe a woman can enjoy both a career and marriage
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2018
Read as a teen and never forgotten, nothing like a heart racing love story for a teen girl. Enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews