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Bittersweet Passion
In desperation Claire asked Dane to marry her
Her adoptive grandfather had left Claire his entire estate on the condition that she marry one of his grandsons.
But he must have forgotten that the free-spirited Dane Visconti, though long banished from the family's realm, still qualified. And Claire had always idolized and trusted Dane.
With his worldly reputation, Claire conceded Dane was not the marrying kind, so when he agreed she promised to make no demands on him. But Dane made no promise in return - and insisted on a few conditions of his own.
Her adoptive grandfather had left Claire his entire estate on the condition that she marry one of his grandsons.
But he must have forgotten that the free-spirited Dane Visconti, though long banished from the family's realm, still qualified. And Claire had always idolized and trusted Dane.
With his worldly reputation, Claire conceded Dane was not the marrying kind, so when he agreed she promised to make no demands on him. But Dane made no promise in return - and insisted on a few conditions of his own.
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1987
About the author
Lynne Graham
1,919 books1,465 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with her brother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her first book, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed a degree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was at home with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold her first book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in the local newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million of her books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and her only natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other four children, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two 9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted from Guatemala.
In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, which adds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. The family lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which is wonderfully private.
The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large and affectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy, an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves being chased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of the kitchen stove.
Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from old toys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with her brother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her first book, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed a degree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was at home with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold her first book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in the local newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million of her books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and her only natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other four children, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two 9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted from Guatemala.
In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, which adds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. The family lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which is wonderfully private.
The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large and affectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy, an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves being chased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of the kitchen stove.
Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from old toys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
October 24, 2016
This story had some fun, dramatic elements, but never really jelled. It starts out with a Cinderella h with low self-esteem - and she manages to keep that low self-esteem for all but the last five pages of the book, which got tiresome. The h must marry one of her adoptive grandfather's grandsons to inherit his estate. She asks the wealthy-in-his-own-right, man-whore hero to marry her rather than the priggish grandson who is always putting her down. The hero accepts her proposal, but warns her that the grandfather had invested poorly, and she probably wouldn't get much out of the estate. Heroine is more concerned about the elderly housekeeper and gardener than her own fortune. Oh, and she has a "fiance" in London who her grandfather ran off a year ago.
And here's a bare-bones plot. See how many tropes you can find.
Sadly, no cute puppies or kittens or goldfish named Caesar. So lots of LG elements, but not enough of the charm that characterized so many of her later works.
And here's a bare-bones plot. See how many tropes you can find.
Sadly, no cute puppies or kittens or goldfish named Caesar. So lots of LG elements, but not enough of the charm that characterized so many of her later works.
March 13, 2016
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Don't let the cover turn you off.
This was my first LG book and I could see why she was so popular.
I got an original copy from Amazon.
I am so glad I did.
The hero was very reluctant and she was one very uncertain and innocent.
She was so sweet and naive that it hurt me to hear the things he said to her. His treatment of her during their marriage was horrible.
He really did (dubious consent here) rape her.
It was not violent but when she said NO AND MEANS IT. She does eventually enjoy it but there is no way I would say this was a consenting event.
I hated that!!!
She was so debased and degraded by his treatment of her and the things he said and did, that she was in shock!
She literally shut down.
I have never heard of this in a book before. She was just like a real victim, which of course she was.
He was devastated by the horrible wrong he did to her. AS HE SHOULD BE!
He tries to make up for it but at this time she was protecting herself from future hurt by just shutting off and trying to be cold like he was.
Of course this is impossible for her sweet innocent who had secretly always been attracted to him and had feeling for him.
He does try but he is at a loss as to how to show he cares it's painful to read. I loved this book because I had such intense feelings all thought out the book. I could not put it down and I have reread it several times when I feeling like having a guy who knows how to grovel.
I recommend this book only to fans of LG and those who just like a good drama.
Triggers and Safety: dubious consent some OW drama and OM drama but they are both faithful.
Don't let the cover turn you off.
This was my first LG book and I could see why she was so popular.
I got an original copy from Amazon.
I am so glad I did.
The hero was very reluctant and she was one very uncertain and innocent.
She was so sweet and naive that it hurt me to hear the things he said to her. His treatment of her during their marriage was horrible.
He really did (dubious consent here) rape her.
It was not violent but when she said NO AND MEANS IT. She does eventually enjoy it but there is no way I would say this was a consenting event.
I hated that!!!
She was so debased and degraded by his treatment of her and the things he said and did, that she was in shock!
She literally shut down.
I have never heard of this in a book before. She was just like a real victim, which of course she was.
He was devastated by the horrible wrong he did to her. AS HE SHOULD BE!
He tries to make up for it but at this time she was protecting herself from future hurt by just shutting off and trying to be cold like he was.
Of course this is impossible for her sweet innocent who had secretly always been attracted to him and had feeling for him.
He does try but he is at a loss as to how to show he cares it's painful to read. I loved this book because I had such intense feelings all thought out the book. I could not put it down and I have reread it several times when I feeling like having a guy who knows how to grovel.
I recommend this book only to fans of LG and those who just like a good drama.
Triggers and Safety: dubious consent some OW drama and OM drama but they are both faithful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2013
I feel like I'm an outsider on this one (compared to friends I usually agree with). I don't think it met its full potential. Mostly because the h ran the insecure martyr train way past the station.
This was an odd LG. I don't recall ever reading one where the hero was this rapey. It's almost like she was channeling Lamb or one of the other seriously old school authors. Perhaps she was trying on the common style of the day... or perhaps I've just read the wrong LG's. Please share if there are others like this. I love the old school stuff, but would like to see her do one with a h that was less annoying.
I associate LG with snappy dialogue, quirky and outspoken heroines, and alpha heroes who are complete asses but still mostly clueless asses. Usually they just need LG's little plain speaking, working girl to tell them like it is and help them to pull their head out of their butt.
This heroine was far too tied up in her own insecurities and never said anything. I can deal with some insecurity making you blind to the H's love, but this was absurd. By the end, I was ready to smack her.
It was different though. I think LG did give a good picture of the shame a rape victim may feel if they respond physically. And, yes, this crossed the line from Romanceland forced seduction to rape. It's a blurry line (in fiction) at times, but I felt this crossed it. Particularly because of her emotional breakdown.
If the heroine had not been such a freaking martyr, I may have really liked this. The hero was working hard to gain her forgiveness and love, but she just disregards it as him feeling guilty. Which, hey, I can buy. But she shows no anger toward him and that's what irritated me.
She feels SORRY for him. Seriously. She feels like she just messed up his life by getting him involved in this MOC and just wants to get away so he can be happy and go back to screwing half of Europe. Poor little rapey hero, she ruined his life :(
Her love is selfless, I suppose. TOO selfless. I wanted to smack her.
This was an odd LG. I don't recall ever reading one where the hero was this rapey. It's almost like she was channeling Lamb or one of the other seriously old school authors. Perhaps she was trying on the common style of the day... or perhaps I've just read the wrong LG's. Please share if there are others like this. I love the old school stuff, but would like to see her do one with a h that was less annoying.
I associate LG with snappy dialogue, quirky and outspoken heroines, and alpha heroes who are complete asses but still mostly clueless asses. Usually they just need LG's little plain speaking, working girl to tell them like it is and help them to pull their head out of their butt.
This heroine was far too tied up in her own insecurities and never said anything. I can deal with some insecurity making you blind to the H's love, but this was absurd. By the end, I was ready to smack her.
It was different though. I think LG did give a good picture of the shame a rape victim may feel if they respond physically. And, yes, this crossed the line from Romanceland forced seduction to rape. It's a blurry line (in fiction) at times, but I felt this crossed it. Particularly because of her emotional breakdown.
If the heroine had not been such a freaking martyr, I may have really liked this. The hero was working hard to gain her forgiveness and love, but she just disregards it as him feeling guilty. Which, hey, I can buy. But she shows no anger toward him and that's what irritated me.
She feels SORRY for him. Seriously. She feels like she just messed up his life by getting him involved in this MOC and just wants to get away so he can be happy and go back to screwing half of Europe. Poor little rapey hero, she ruined his life :(
Her love is selfless, I suppose. TOO selfless. I wanted to smack her.
June 6, 2018
I was relieved to read that this was her first or one of her first books.
Geez Louise, LG. This started out so promising when the little adopted house mouse sets her cousin straight about his lack of manners and his pathetic attempt at marriage for money.
Setting the last dish to drain, she dried her hands. 'Sorry, I'm going up to bed. It's been a very long day.' His mouth narrowed in exasperation. 'For everybody, Claire,' he rebuked condescendingly.
A fuse blew, Claire planted her hands on her hips. 'Has it been? Were any of the rest of you involved in making beds, cleaning this wretched house or making meals? Has one of you so much as lifted a finger? Sandra and you arrived two days ago, and neither of you have done a single thing,' she condemned. 'Who do you think has been doing it? The fairies? The past week has been one long, relentless slog for me. I haven't been sitting around sipping tea. I've been serving it. I wouldn't marry you either, Carter, not if you went down on your bended knees and begged.
Then LG kicks her straight back into doormat territory with yet another POS blonde hero. Telling you, blonde heroes are not the way to go. St. Vincent Devil in Winter and Valentine Duke of Sin are the two exceptions, and they are still out and out utter bastards to everyone except for their beloved heroines.
Due to a convoluted will, the I’m-out-in-the-garden-eating worms heroine asks her other cousin that she's had a crush on for yonks for a MOC to fulfill the will. She wants to take care of the housekeeper and get money to help set up life with the wannabe fiance that was kicked off the island. The H who has been protective in the past says okay as much as to rile the bad cousin as to help out the h. His humongous ego, HUMONGOUS, makes him think she set the whole MOC up just so she could her hands on his goods and I’m not talking money. Herapes forcibly seduces her and annihilates her self esteem. Jokes on him when she has a mini-breakdown.
For a couple that has known each other all their live, there is no chemistry, camaraderie, feelings of shared past, inside jokes, humor. Nada.
Potential other women float by and it becomes obvious that these two are soul-mates because even the cold universe would not be heartless enough to inflict either one on someone else. He’s an arrogant, TSTL charmless ass, and she’s a petty, TSTL jealous doormat.
To add insult to injury, it was a chore slugging through it. Cranky reader.
Geez Louise, LG. This started out so promising when the little adopted house mouse sets her cousin straight about his lack of manners and his pathetic attempt at marriage for money.
Setting the last dish to drain, she dried her hands. 'Sorry, I'm going up to bed. It's been a very long day.' His mouth narrowed in exasperation. 'For everybody, Claire,' he rebuked condescendingly.
A fuse blew, Claire planted her hands on her hips. 'Has it been? Were any of the rest of you involved in making beds, cleaning this wretched house or making meals? Has one of you so much as lifted a finger? Sandra and you arrived two days ago, and neither of you have done a single thing,' she condemned. 'Who do you think has been doing it? The fairies? The past week has been one long, relentless slog for me. I haven't been sitting around sipping tea. I've been serving it. I wouldn't marry you either, Carter, not if you went down on your bended knees and begged.
Then LG kicks her straight back into doormat territory with yet another POS blonde hero. Telling you, blonde heroes are not the way to go. St. Vincent Devil in Winter and Valentine Duke of Sin are the two exceptions, and they are still out and out utter bastards to everyone except for their beloved heroines.
Due to a convoluted will, the I’m-out-in-the-garden-eating worms heroine asks her other cousin that she's had a crush on for yonks for a MOC to fulfill the will. She wants to take care of the housekeeper and get money to help set up life with the wannabe fiance that was kicked off the island. The H who has been protective in the past says okay as much as to rile the bad cousin as to help out the h. His humongous ego, HUMONGOUS, makes him think she set the whole MOC up just so she could her hands on his goods and I’m not talking money. He
For a couple that has known each other all their live, there is no chemistry, camaraderie, feelings of shared past, inside jokes, humor. Nada.
Potential other women float by and it becomes obvious that these two are soul-mates because even the cold universe would not be heartless enough to inflict either one on someone else. He’s an arrogant, TSTL charmless ass, and she’s a petty, TSTL jealous doormat.
To add insult to injury, it was a chore slugging through it. Cranky reader.
August 8, 2020
"Bittersweet Passion" is the story of Claire and Dane.
Underwhelming and disjointed.
This was not good. Let's recap.
Poor heroine, an orphan, lived all her life taking care of an ungrateful and mean grandfather who used and abused her. He dies, leaving a will that she must marry one of his adopted grandsons. One is a stiff shirt annoying man, another is a rude tomcat. She decides on the tomcat because she already loves another man. A marriage of convenience takes place, only for the heroine to realize she's been deceived by her grandfather, and the hero taking his revenge from her..
The book was extremely abrupt. We jumped from one major scene to the next without any flow. Characters were unlikable. Hero used sex to subjugate the heroine, who was a spineless wuss with very little grey matter. The resolution-conflict-resolution happened way too often and quickly.
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Awful.
Unsafe
1/5
Underwhelming and disjointed.
This was not good. Let's recap.
Poor heroine, an orphan, lived all her life taking care of an ungrateful and mean grandfather who used and abused her. He dies, leaving a will that she must marry one of his adopted grandsons. One is a stiff shirt annoying man, another is a rude tomcat. She decides on the tomcat because she already loves another man. A marriage of convenience takes place, only for the heroine to realize she's been deceived by her grandfather, and the hero taking his revenge from her..
The book was extremely abrupt. We jumped from one major scene to the next without any flow. Characters were unlikable. Hero used sex to subjugate the heroine, who was a spineless wuss with very little grey matter. The resolution-conflict-resolution happened way too often and quickly.
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Awful.
Unsafe
1/5
October 28, 2016
3.5 stars.
This is a story about Claire Danes :P Well, actually Claire and Dane. Claire, our h; is all set to inherit money from her distant and tough Grandfather (who isn't really a blood relation) after years of playing nanny to him. The only glitch? She has to marry one of his grandsons to avail herself of her inheritance. Disclaimer: she's only the adopted daughter of her parents and therefore, not truly related to any of the potential bridegrooms (so nothing remotely incestuous or 'Lannister'-ish going on here).
There's really not much of a choice though; and it's a foregone conclusion that she would pick the one man she thinks is uninterested in her or her sudden elevation to the rank of 'heiress'; - aka- our H Dane. Claire is a Cinderella-type character, and the H, Dane (who has known the h since she was a child); plays fairy godfather for a while before morphing into Prince Charming.
Of course, when the time comes; our superrich, playboy, man of the world thinks nothing of marrying the innocent and naive h who's mostly stunned at first, that he would even take any notice of her (let alone bed her with untrammelled passion). And though she'd secretly had a crush on the H since forever; Claire decides to pin her romantic hopes on this short and unemployed chap who mostly stays away and is eventually proved to be a philanderer. The betrayal, coupled with the stress of her grandfather's demise and the 'excessive' physical demands of her new husband; Claire has a breakdown of sorts and is forced to recuperate in the picturesque Caribbean islands (sigh). There she discovers the true depth of her feelings for Dane and as any woman in love would do (in hpland); she tries to escape him. :P
The H allows the 'escape'; obviously being a subscriber of the 'if you love someone, set them free' school of thought; till their baby - rather predictably- brings them together again. Now here's a problem I have with this trope. In stories like these, I can't help but wonder if the H would ever think of getting in touch with the h if the baby wasn't a part of the picture. Anyway, he does get in touch with her and then there's a little bit of drama before they reconcile for the requisite HEA.
I actually liked this one. It's been a long time since I've read something so satisfying from Lynne Graham - although, that's probably because it's one of her earlier titles. The plot was fresh; the dialogues were stirring; and even the intimate scenes packed a punch. Of course, at this point I should probably mention the infamous 'rape' scene. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. 'Foreplay' here, is probably rougher than what you're used to in other HP novels; but the h does yield fairly early on and is perfectly receptive to the H's sexual ministrations. So, no foul. At least for me.
All in all a good read, with a satisfying amount of angst and emotion. How I miss the old LG!
This is a story about Claire Danes :P Well, actually Claire and Dane. Claire, our h; is all set to inherit money from her distant and tough Grandfather (who isn't really a blood relation) after years of playing nanny to him. The only glitch? She has to marry one of his grandsons to avail herself of her inheritance. Disclaimer: she's only the adopted daughter of her parents and therefore, not truly related to any of the potential bridegrooms (so nothing remotely incestuous or 'Lannister'-ish going on here).
There's really not much of a choice though; and it's a foregone conclusion that she would pick the one man she thinks is uninterested in her or her sudden elevation to the rank of 'heiress'; - aka- our H Dane. Claire is a Cinderella-type character, and the H, Dane (who has known the h since she was a child); plays fairy godfather for a while before morphing into Prince Charming.
Of course, when the time comes; our superrich, playboy, man of the world thinks nothing of marrying the innocent and naive h who's mostly stunned at first, that he would even take any notice of her (let alone bed her with untrammelled passion). And though she'd secretly had a crush on the H since forever; Claire decides to pin her romantic hopes on this short and unemployed chap who mostly stays away and is eventually proved to be a philanderer. The betrayal, coupled with the stress of her grandfather's demise and the 'excessive' physical demands of her new husband; Claire has a breakdown of sorts and is forced to recuperate in the picturesque Caribbean islands (sigh). There she discovers the true depth of her feelings for Dane and as any woman in love would do (in hpland); she tries to escape him. :P
The H allows the 'escape'; obviously being a subscriber of the 'if you love someone, set them free' school of thought; till their baby - rather predictably- brings them together again. Now here's a problem I have with this trope. In stories like these, I can't help but wonder if the H would ever think of getting in touch with the h if the baby wasn't a part of the picture. Anyway, he does get in touch with her and then there's a little bit of drama before they reconcile for the requisite HEA.
I actually liked this one. It's been a long time since I've read something so satisfying from Lynne Graham - although, that's probably because it's one of her earlier titles. The plot was fresh; the dialogues were stirring; and even the intimate scenes packed a punch. Of course, at this point I should probably mention the infamous 'rape' scene. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. 'Foreplay' here, is probably rougher than what you're used to in other HP novels; but the h does yield fairly early on and is perfectly receptive to the H's sexual ministrations. So, no foul. At least for me.
All in all a good read, with a satisfying amount of angst and emotion. How I miss the old LG!
November 9, 2021
Updating my original review which I must’ve wrote on a deranged state of mind.
Like effing wtf. I clearly backtrack on everything I’d said once I re-read this book. I’m shocked at my own incredulity of having once raved about it.
The H and h are somewhat cousins and had to settle for an MOC so the h could get her share in her inheritance left by their stingy grandfather. The clause was that she was to marry one of his grandsons. The h was adopted by her parents so this worked out fine. The obvious choice of grandson would’ve been the guy that Claire didn’t marry since he was uncouth and just as stingy and ugly on the inside as their grandfather.
The other option was Dane, the cousin who was rich on his own means and for whom Claire had once carried a huge torch of teenage crush. This doesn’t die out as much since Dane is the only one who looks after Claire all these years.
The MOC comes easy but so do the never ending ramifications of being a non-needed wife to a man with a high flying life style.
Dane is forever on the go and teasing Claire of her undying crush on him. Poor Claire has no money or education and has to stick with him and hear out all the endless times that the H makes fun of her sob situation.
Dane’s I’ll humour got old and there wasn’t a stone left unturned at his relentless torture of her this way. Making fun of her attachment to him while I’d say that Claire was level headed and never once was needy or clingy towards him.
Eventually she backs out on the excuse of OM and Dane LETS HER GO. There is no remorse and he’s quite happy to give his wife space so she can live out her dream with OM before this MoC has trapped them.
There are more events and not one place where Dane puts his foot down and claims his honest love and/or attraction towards his wife. There isn’t an OW but side bitchy women who trollop past Dane as a married man and Dane never recedes.
He’s out and about partying and living it up while Claire takes off not wanting to be a needy nut case of a cousin that he can come home and make fun of!
The ending is unconvincing. I’d forever doubt Dane and sadly Claire really was not all that special or pretty to keep a man life Dane on his hunches for her. I wish Claire had spoken to OM before getting in this big mess for life!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like. Effing fantastic. I don’t know what else to say. This book had been lying dead on my tbr for years and I never bothered beyond the first page. A truly indulgent unadulterated take on romance, old school and all. LG also drove the romance home. I was totally satisfied left yearning for nothing..!
Claire is, well, little orphan Annie with nothing left to her in her grandfathers will except a clause of marriage to one of his grandsons. This would guarantee Claire an inheritance of the home she lived in with this mean grandpa.
Now the fun part is the choice of the available men that she must pick. Ones a total d and the other, an arrogant bully of a man who was rich on his own accounts and didn’t need Claire or her dilapidating inheritance.
Claire also was in love with another man but her grandfather left her no room to work around his will. Eventually there’s a solution and Claire’s quick to ask this haughty devil of her cousin for help in becoming a convenient husband and Dane is anything but. He’s possessive, assertive and throws his weight around in every thing. The funniest part is when Dane who can’t be bothered with measly food, orders steak as take out food post their grandpa’s funeral.
Dane is unbothered by niceties, is sure on his feet and totally burns up with jealousy. He’s also tender and loving and territorial and cruel. The h and H bicker constantly and Dane isn’t one to give up or take heed to Claire’s demurely shy restraints. He constantly irks her and then shuts her up with his toe curling claims to his rights as her husband.
I was total jelly and could barely hold in my yelling at everyone who disrupted me all day. I’m totally going back for a re-read. The best is that this book wasn’t tainted by HP requirements since this is supposedly LG’s first book. It has total closure to their HEA. Dane also holds Claire’s hand when she’s having the babies. Now give me a better book or hold your peace. Recommend to all my beautiful friends who are a sucker for irrevocable heart tugging romance.
Like effing wtf. I clearly backtrack on everything I’d said once I re-read this book. I’m shocked at my own incredulity of having once raved about it.
The H and h are somewhat cousins and had to settle for an MOC so the h could get her share in her inheritance left by their stingy grandfather. The clause was that she was to marry one of his grandsons. The h was adopted by her parents so this worked out fine. The obvious choice of grandson would’ve been the guy that Claire didn’t marry since he was uncouth and just as stingy and ugly on the inside as their grandfather.
The other option was Dane, the cousin who was rich on his own means and for whom Claire had once carried a huge torch of teenage crush. This doesn’t die out as much since Dane is the only one who looks after Claire all these years.
The MOC comes easy but so do the never ending ramifications of being a non-needed wife to a man with a high flying life style.
Dane is forever on the go and teasing Claire of her undying crush on him. Poor Claire has no money or education and has to stick with him and hear out all the endless times that the H makes fun of her sob situation.
Dane’s I’ll humour got old and there wasn’t a stone left unturned at his relentless torture of her this way. Making fun of her attachment to him while I’d say that Claire was level headed and never once was needy or clingy towards him.
Eventually she backs out on the excuse of OM and Dane LETS HER GO. There is no remorse and he’s quite happy to give his wife space so she can live out her dream with OM before this MoC has trapped them.
There are more events and not one place where Dane puts his foot down and claims his honest love and/or attraction towards his wife. There isn’t an OW but side bitchy women who trollop past Dane as a married man and Dane never recedes.
He’s out and about partying and living it up while Claire takes off not wanting to be a needy nut case of a cousin that he can come home and make fun of!
The ending is unconvincing. I’d forever doubt Dane and sadly Claire really was not all that special or pretty to keep a man life Dane on his hunches for her. I wish Claire had spoken to OM before getting in this big mess for life!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like. Effing fantastic. I don’t know what else to say. This book had been lying dead on my tbr for years and I never bothered beyond the first page. A truly indulgent unadulterated take on romance, old school and all. LG also drove the romance home. I was totally satisfied left yearning for nothing..!
Claire is, well, little orphan Annie with nothing left to her in her grandfathers will except a clause of marriage to one of his grandsons. This would guarantee Claire an inheritance of the home she lived in with this mean grandpa.
Now the fun part is the choice of the available men that she must pick. Ones a total d and the other, an arrogant bully of a man who was rich on his own accounts and didn’t need Claire or her dilapidating inheritance.
Claire also was in love with another man but her grandfather left her no room to work around his will. Eventually there’s a solution and Claire’s quick to ask this haughty devil of her cousin for help in becoming a convenient husband and Dane is anything but. He’s possessive, assertive and throws his weight around in every thing. The funniest part is when Dane who can’t be bothered with measly food, orders steak as take out food post their grandpa’s funeral.
Dane is unbothered by niceties, is sure on his feet and totally burns up with jealousy. He’s also tender and loving and territorial and cruel. The h and H bicker constantly and Dane isn’t one to give up or take heed to Claire’s demurely shy restraints. He constantly irks her and then shuts her up with his toe curling claims to his rights as her husband.
I was total jelly and could barely hold in my yelling at everyone who disrupted me all day. I’m totally going back for a re-read. The best is that this book wasn’t tainted by HP requirements since this is supposedly LG’s first book. It has total closure to their HEA. Dane also holds Claire’s hand when she’s having the babies. Now give me a better book or hold your peace. Recommend to all my beautiful friends who are a sucker for irrevocable heart tugging romance.
July 26, 2013
I really enjoyed this. For me, Lynne Graham can be very hit or miss, especially when her heroines are so downtrodden. But for me, this had the right balance between passion, angst, sorrow and forgiveness. I felt the heroine's confusion, pain, bitterness and fear. I could tell that the hero was in over his head and did things a normally sane person would never do. But then again, he was bonkers for the heroine who knew how to play it cool.
avoid
February 23, 2018Just because he kept telling her and himself it wasn’t rape, doesn’t make it any less so.
He raped her. Plain and simple.
No redeeming that.
And he thought she deserved it, makes him worse than a bastard rapist.
Almost EVERY single rapist thinks it wasn’t rape.
Tell me how this was different.
He raped her. Plain and simple.
No redeeming that.
And he thought she deserved it, makes him worse than a bastard rapist.
Almost EVERY single rapist thinks it wasn’t rape.
Tell me how this was different.
August 14, 2018
H - ‘I didn’t even get to grovel tonight. I was going to.’
h - ‘I love you.’
🤦🏻♀️
h - ‘I love you.’
🤦🏻♀️
July 15, 2014
Ugh. Dane is such a pig. I mean he can be charming and all that, but goodness gracious, if he gets angry - look out! He uses sex as punishment and only begins to realize what he's done (and feel some remorse) when she breaks down and becomes a shell of a person for two days. And he never does improve all that much. When he gets angry he gets high handed and attacks her with sex. And what's with the inability to express his feelings? At one point he admits that he had every excuse lined up in the book to get her back and if it really came down to the bottom of the barrel he was finally going to admit that he loved her. I'm pretty sure if he wanted her back, that should have been at the top of the list. Was this guy considered an ideal in the 70's?
And the doormat heroine with an inferiority complex. How do you fall in love with someone like that? The hero even recognizes it in her (at one point suggesting that he found it attractive). These people are nuts! I guess I should also consider the book I'm reading - its obviously over 20 years old, times change...
And the doormat heroine with an inferiority complex. How do you fall in love with someone like that? The hero even recognizes it in her (at one point suggesting that he found it attractive). These people are nuts! I guess I should also consider the book I'm reading - its obviously over 20 years old, times change...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2013
what can i say...hmmm the book is stupid, no really it is. Claire is such a doormat plus she swims in self pity. self pity is her middle name. and Dane is such arrogant bully. also the rape....god help us with this horrible book.
June 19, 2024
Initially published in 1987, Bittersweet Passion by Lynne Graham is a novel that thrusts readers into the tumultuous world of Claire Fletcher and Dane Visconti, where passion collides with pride, and misunderstandings ignite an inferno of emotions.
The story opens with the funeral of Adam Fletcher, a man whose death sets in motion a chain of events that unravel the tightly wound lives of those left behind. Claire Fletcher, his adopted granddaughter, is forced to choose between what her heart desires; i.e., follow the love of her life Max or marry one of her cousins for her inheritance.
Claire had never received any affection from the man who had taken her in at a tender age, making it a point to be cruel to her and keep her at an emotional distance. Claire had been forced to sacrifice her own happiness when Adam had taken ill, and his death, while it should have freed her to pursue her own happiness, brings forward more responsibilities.
The novelty of the story lies in how it is Claire that proposes a marriage of convenience to Dane Visconti, the estranged grandson of Adam, whose reputation precedes himself. Dane’s return to the family home ignites sparks of disdain among the Fletcher clan, yet Claire sees in him a solution to her predicament.
While Dane is at first contemptuous regarding Claire’s proposal and sees it as an extension of her crush on him from long back, Dane finally agrees to what she proposes on certain conditions. From the onset, Dane and Claire’s coming together is fraught with misunderstandings and of course, passion. Their ensuing marriage, shrouded in secrecy, when exposed to the prying eyes of the media, adds another layer of distrust to the battleground that is the union between Dane and Claire.
While Claire believes herself to be in love with Max, her internal conflict stems from the effect Dane has on her, his magnetic presence and his sexuality that plays havoc with her emotions. Dane, whose character is more explosive in nature in comparison to Claire, is often driven to the edge by Claire and her seemingly unaffected nature, when she is anything but.
While Claire’s emotional scars are all too vividly portrayed, Dane is a harder nut to crack. However, Claire does have help in understanding Dane’s complex and multi-faceted character, a boy who had been just as emotionally deprived as Claire had been as a young girl growing up in the household of a man who had always made it well known who she was to him.
While I enjoyed the building blocks of the story which had all the hallmarks of a Lynne Graham novel, I felt that the novel faltered in its execution. The prolonged separations between Claire and Dane, fueled by pride and miscommunication, diluted the impact of their passionate encounters. While the underlying chemistry between the characters is palpable, it was not enough to give the novel that oomph factor which I expect from most of Ms. Graham’s work, especially her earlier ones.
Recommended for fans of Ms. Graham’s earlier works. Even though this did not work for me, it just might for you.
Final Verdict: Bittersweet Passion by Lynne Graham is a compelling tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption which offers romance of the raw and intense variety.
Rating = 3.5/5
For more reviews and quotes, please visit A Maldivian's Passion for Romance
The story opens with the funeral of Adam Fletcher, a man whose death sets in motion a chain of events that unravel the tightly wound lives of those left behind. Claire Fletcher, his adopted granddaughter, is forced to choose between what her heart desires; i.e., follow the love of her life Max or marry one of her cousins for her inheritance.
Claire had never received any affection from the man who had taken her in at a tender age, making it a point to be cruel to her and keep her at an emotional distance. Claire had been forced to sacrifice her own happiness when Adam had taken ill, and his death, while it should have freed her to pursue her own happiness, brings forward more responsibilities.
The novelty of the story lies in how it is Claire that proposes a marriage of convenience to Dane Visconti, the estranged grandson of Adam, whose reputation precedes himself. Dane’s return to the family home ignites sparks of disdain among the Fletcher clan, yet Claire sees in him a solution to her predicament.
While Dane is at first contemptuous regarding Claire’s proposal and sees it as an extension of her crush on him from long back, Dane finally agrees to what she proposes on certain conditions. From the onset, Dane and Claire’s coming together is fraught with misunderstandings and of course, passion. Their ensuing marriage, shrouded in secrecy, when exposed to the prying eyes of the media, adds another layer of distrust to the battleground that is the union between Dane and Claire.
While Claire believes herself to be in love with Max, her internal conflict stems from the effect Dane has on her, his magnetic presence and his sexuality that plays havoc with her emotions. Dane, whose character is more explosive in nature in comparison to Claire, is often driven to the edge by Claire and her seemingly unaffected nature, when she is anything but.
While Claire’s emotional scars are all too vividly portrayed, Dane is a harder nut to crack. However, Claire does have help in understanding Dane’s complex and multi-faceted character, a boy who had been just as emotionally deprived as Claire had been as a young girl growing up in the household of a man who had always made it well known who she was to him.
While I enjoyed the building blocks of the story which had all the hallmarks of a Lynne Graham novel, I felt that the novel faltered in its execution. The prolonged separations between Claire and Dane, fueled by pride and miscommunication, diluted the impact of their passionate encounters. While the underlying chemistry between the characters is palpable, it was not enough to give the novel that oomph factor which I expect from most of Ms. Graham’s work, especially her earlier ones.
Recommended for fans of Ms. Graham’s earlier works. Even though this did not work for me, it just might for you.
Final Verdict: Bittersweet Passion by Lynne Graham is a compelling tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption which offers romance of the raw and intense variety.
Rating = 3.5/5
For more reviews and quotes, please visit A Maldivian's Passion for Romance
February 28, 2022
So I understand this is the first book of ms Graham.
I quite liked it, it has some characteristics that you will find in her following books and others that are only on the older ones.
-The heroine is a martyr orphan, small and tiny, and has been exploited by her adoptive granfather who used her as a maid, cook, nurse, preventing her any education or social skills.
-She's shy and frumpy, and when she was teenager she had a crush on the hero.
-There's a moc where at first the hero isn't attracted to her.
- There's a complete makeover from ugly duckling to swan, so the hero is aware she's a sexy lil thang.
-There's a big misunderstanding and the heroine is badly misjudged by the hero
-There's some sort of fiance who turns out to be a two-timing a**hole.
-There's an unplanned pregnancy
-There's a separation
-The hero is celibate during their separation of one year. This is something that you don't often find in older LG, but you always find in more recent ones. This was unexpected because the heroine left the hero and he thought she went to her ex fiance, so he wasn't really waiting for her.
All these elements will be used and are used in most of lg books.
Then we have:
-angst, very high. This is something you don't find very often in her latest books, and you can find only in some of her oldest ones, as in Savage Surrender, Vengeful Passion and in my beloved Bond of Hatred, where the angst level is very very high. Here the heroine has an emotional breakdown after the hero forcibly seduces her thinking her guilty of deceiving him about her inheritance.
-The hero rapes the heroine, or at least he seduces her without her consent and in anger since he found out she hasn't inherited any money and thinks she deceived him. This also is something you don't find in LG. Her heroines are willing and happy to jump in bed with the heroes, or else they suffer from TBS without much emotional discomfort. (that is, ok, you hate me, I hate you but sex is sooo gooooood that I just can't regret it!)
- The heroine has a total breakdown. LG heroines can be exploited by all the people around but they never ever break down like this one. This is a first and a last.
-A fair hero. Usually LG has dark heroes, with dark hair and dark eyes, or also green.
-The heroine is not in love with the hero in the beginning. She fancies herself in love with om who should be her fiance. Pity she goes to London and finds he's living with another woman.
The book was good for me, more intense than usual Lg, but I liked her style, so flawless and easy to read.
Not much love for both characters, the hero is spoiled and snob, the heroine is a martyr and expects the worst from everybody. But the end was cute, with the baby and the declaration of love.
She's also his cousin, but thank god they are not related by blood.
I quite liked it, it has some characteristics that you will find in her following books and others that are only on the older ones.
-The heroine is a martyr orphan, small and tiny, and has been exploited by her adoptive granfather who used her as a maid, cook, nurse, preventing her any education or social skills.
-She's shy and frumpy, and when she was teenager she had a crush on the hero.
-There's a moc where at first the hero isn't attracted to her.
- There's a complete makeover from ugly duckling to swan, so the hero is aware she's a sexy lil thang.
-There's a big misunderstanding and the heroine is badly misjudged by the hero
-There's some sort of fiance who turns out to be a two-timing a**hole.
-There's an unplanned pregnancy
-There's a separation
-The hero is celibate during their separation of one year. This is something that you don't often find in older LG, but you always find in more recent ones. This was unexpected because the heroine left the hero and he thought she went to her ex fiance, so he wasn't really waiting for her.
All these elements will be used and are used in most of lg books.
Then we have:
-angst, very high. This is something you don't find very often in her latest books, and you can find only in some of her oldest ones, as in Savage Surrender, Vengeful Passion and in my beloved Bond of Hatred, where the angst level is very very high. Here the heroine has an emotional breakdown after the hero forcibly seduces her thinking her guilty of deceiving him about her inheritance.
-The hero rapes the heroine, or at least he seduces her without her consent and in anger since he found out she hasn't inherited any money and thinks she deceived him. This also is something you don't find in LG. Her heroines are willing and happy to jump in bed with the heroes, or else they suffer from TBS without much emotional discomfort. (that is, ok, you hate me, I hate you but sex is sooo gooooood that I just can't regret it!)
- The heroine has a total breakdown. LG heroines can be exploited by all the people around but they never ever break down like this one. This is a first and a last.
-A fair hero. Usually LG has dark heroes, with dark hair and dark eyes, or also green.
-The heroine is not in love with the hero in the beginning. She fancies herself in love with om who should be her fiance. Pity she goes to London and finds he's living with another woman.
The book was good for me, more intense than usual Lg, but I liked her style, so flawless and easy to read.
Not much love for both characters, the hero is spoiled and snob, the heroine is a martyr and expects the worst from everybody. But the end was cute, with the baby and the declaration of love.
She's also his cousin, but thank god they are not related by blood.
July 19, 2008
Claire was adopted into a wealthy family and raised by her miserly grandfather when her parents died. Her grandfather's will leaves her his entire estate, on the condition that she marry one of his grandsons. Dane is one of her cousins and also is extremely rich through his own hard work mainly. He treats her like a kid sister and reluctantly agrees to marry her so she can get her money. Of course, like in all Graham's books, the two of them have insane sexual chemistry but an early misunderstanding causes Dane to mistrust and abuse Claire.
My Lynne Graham marathon is coming to an end, I think. This book kind of offended me. I mean, you've got this woman who was adopted into a snobby family and treated like a servant. Her grandfather even pulled her out of high school so that she could slave after him and look after the house to save him a dime. Then this will happens, but she needs to marry a cousin (not blood related). First of all, Dane's treatment of her was so rude when she first asked! He knew she didn't have a penny to her name and no education and no references because her "grandfather" used her like a slave, but Dane still comes out with these sarcastic accusations that she's a money-grabber just like the rest of the family. And her frantic concern for her grandfather's elderly staff who now have nothing to fall back on got on my nerves. I just don't like heroines who're always worrying about others instead of themselves, it's boring and cliche and kind of insulting. Women have the right to be normal human beings with normal survival instincts.
Anyway, what really got to me was how Claire didn't do much growing throughout the book. She had a crush on Dane most of her life. At some point, she remarks that there would have to have been something wrong with her, to have nursed an crush without encouragement for so many years. And yet, then she starts realizing, "OMG, I'm still in love with him!" That might've been OK if she'd learned how to care for herself, but I never really felt like she managed to become independent or get on her feet. And then at the very end, she wants to whisper in her baby daughter's ear that fantasies do sometimes come true. In light of her life and her obsession with Dane and stuff, it felt like she was indoctrinating the next generation of females: "Maybe you'll get lucky too and marry a guy who's jealous, needy, and constantly tells you what to do."
My Lynne Graham marathon is coming to an end, I think. This book kind of offended me. I mean, you've got this woman who was adopted into a snobby family and treated like a servant. Her grandfather even pulled her out of high school so that she could slave after him and look after the house to save him a dime. Then this will happens, but she needs to marry a cousin (not blood related). First of all, Dane's treatment of her was so rude when she first asked! He knew she didn't have a penny to her name and no education and no references because her "grandfather" used her like a slave, but Dane still comes out with these sarcastic accusations that she's a money-grabber just like the rest of the family. And her frantic concern for her grandfather's elderly staff who now have nothing to fall back on got on my nerves. I just don't like heroines who're always worrying about others instead of themselves, it's boring and cliche and kind of insulting. Women have the right to be normal human beings with normal survival instincts.
Anyway, what really got to me was how Claire didn't do much growing throughout the book. She had a crush on Dane most of her life. At some point, she remarks that there would have to have been something wrong with her, to have nursed an crush without encouragement for so many years. And yet, then she starts realizing, "OMG, I'm still in love with him!" That might've been OK if she'd learned how to care for herself, but I never really felt like she managed to become independent or get on her feet. And then at the very end, she wants to whisper in her baby daughter's ear that fantasies do sometimes come true. In light of her life and her obsession with Dane and stuff, it felt like she was indoctrinating the next generation of females: "Maybe you'll get lucky too and marry a guy who's jealous, needy, and constantly tells you what to do."
September 18, 2017
A fun Lynne Graham.
March 23, 2020
Whoah, this was a tough read for me as I felt really bad for the heroine and the hero acted REALLY badly. He started off quite sympathetic to the heroine's plight and had a history of kindly gestures towards her but once they were married, he just flipped.
**SPOILERS** It didn't make sense to me as there was no reason for the hero to think she had tipped off the paparazzi to their secret wedding and she repeatedly protested her innocence. Considering what a bunch of snakes the cousins were, it was pretty damned obvious who had leaked the info! I think part of the problem was, in later books when this happened, LG made the heroine culpable as she had confided ill-advisedly in some friend or acquaintance, so she felt guilty and it showed, but in this instance the heroine was completely innocent so the hero just looked an a**.
Also, this book had so-called 'forced-seduction' which I am NOT a fan of. I actually felt really tense about this - especially when the heroine had a mini breakdown and a doctor had to be called out for her for gawd's sake! Not fun and took any enjoyment out of the bedroom scenes. I appreciate this is an older book, and tended to be the status quo but it does not age well.
It had plenty of angst - the heroine did attempt at preserving her dignity by disappearing and getting a job for 9 months during the inevitable pregnancy. I just wish the hero had grovelled A LOT more!
**SPOILERS** It didn't make sense to me as there was no reason for the hero to think she had tipped off the paparazzi to their secret wedding and she repeatedly protested her innocence. Considering what a bunch of snakes the cousins were, it was pretty damned obvious who had leaked the info! I think part of the problem was, in later books when this happened, LG made the heroine culpable as she had confided ill-advisedly in some friend or acquaintance, so she felt guilty and it showed, but in this instance the heroine was completely innocent so the hero just looked an a**.
Also, this book had so-called 'forced-seduction' which I am NOT a fan of. I actually felt really tense about this - especially when the heroine had a mini breakdown and a doctor had to be called out for her for gawd's sake! Not fun and took any enjoyment out of the bedroom scenes. I appreciate this is an older book, and tended to be the status quo but it does not age well.
It had plenty of angst - the heroine did attempt at preserving her dignity by disappearing and getting a job for 9 months during the inevitable pregnancy. I just wish the hero had grovelled A LOT more!
March 5, 2015
First read - 4 🌟
Reread: 3 May 2023 - 5🌟
Reread July 2025 -4🌟
It was so much better for some reason I enjoyed reading this book than first time. Another fav by Lynne Graham.
Marriage of convenience. This had twist and turns with the drama making the story gripping.
Reread: 3 May 2023 - 5🌟
Reread July 2025 -4🌟
It was so much better for some reason I enjoyed reading this book than first time. Another fav by Lynne Graham.
Marriage of convenience. This had twist and turns with the drama making the story gripping.
November 7, 2019
Claire has a tolerant personality! After the death of her adaptive caring parents she was taken by her grandfather who saw her as a free servant and nurse. He never treated her as a real member of the family. After his death, she was relieved thinking she would be free, but his will chained her. It stated that in order for her to have everything he owns and help the housekeeper and her husband whom she cared for so much, she needs to marry one of his three grandsons! Steven was engaged, Charter was greedy and selfish, and Dane was a womanizer and richer than anyone so he would have no gain in helping her. To top it all, she had to help Max, the one man she loves and whom her grandfather fired a year ago. After a lot of thinking, she came up with a plan to go round the will! If she marries Dane, everything would be solved! Unfortunately, she didn't bargain for circumstances to change so drastically after their marriage.
The story is fine, but endless similar descriptions gave it way and made it tiring and boring. What could have been delivered in quite simple paragraphs continued endlessly in different scenes in the heroine's head!
The story is fine, but endless similar descriptions gave it way and made it tiring and boring. What could have been delivered in quite simple paragraphs continued endlessly in different scenes in the heroine's head!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
March 1, 2022I have just started reading this. I’m on page 34.
What strikes me, is how Lynne Graham has already stressed a few times how not pretty the h is.
I’ve read dozens of Lynne Graham’s hp’s. Almost all of her h’s are beautiful blondes (some h’s do have red hair but are considered beautiful too).
Is it merely a coincidence that suddenly this not pretty h has dark hair and isn’t her usual blonde h?
So Lynne Graham, a woman with dark hair is equal to being average or ugly? A woman with dark hair can’t be pretty?
What makes it more curious is that usually the evil OW has dark hair in Lynne Graham’s HP’s.
Maybe her h’s are not the only ones who need therapy. Maybe Lynne Graham has been bullied in high school by girls with dark hair.
What strikes me, is how Lynne Graham has already stressed a few times how not pretty the h is.
I’ve read dozens of Lynne Graham’s hp’s. Almost all of her h’s are beautiful blondes (some h’s do have red hair but are considered beautiful too).
Is it merely a coincidence that suddenly this not pretty h has dark hair and isn’t her usual blonde h?
So Lynne Graham, a woman with dark hair is equal to being average or ugly? A woman with dark hair can’t be pretty?
What makes it more curious is that usually the evil OW has dark hair in Lynne Graham’s HP’s.
Maybe her h’s are not the only ones who need therapy. Maybe Lynne Graham has been bullied in high school by girls with dark hair.
November 13, 2017
Este es el dichoso libro que no encontraba, y si lo sé no lo hubiera leído.
De todos los Harlequin que he leído en mi vida este es el más "moderno" y el que menos me ha gustado.
Dane ha tratado a Claire como una puta mierda tooooodo el libro. Esos comentarios fríos, esas pullas y esos "arréglate un poco haz el favor" me han sacado de mis casillas. No entiendo en qué punto pudo ella enamorarse de este imbecil y que esta historia finalmente acabase bien. No lo entiendo. Menuda chafada me he llevado...
De todos los Harlequin que he leído en mi vida este es el más "moderno" y el que menos me ha gustado.
Dane ha tratado a Claire como una puta mierda tooooodo el libro. Esos comentarios fríos, esas pullas y esos "arréglate un poco haz el favor" me han sacado de mis casillas. No entiendo en qué punto pudo ella enamorarse de este imbecil y que esta historia finalmente acabase bien. No lo entiendo. Menuda chafada me he llevado...
March 31, 2020
Best line in the book
“And here you are, my wife, who left me for another man. A midget, no less”😂🤣😂🤣🤣
“And here you are, my wife, who left me for another man. A midget, no less”😂🤣😂🤣🤣
November 22, 2014
This was a strange one ...
The basic plot is naive virgin h spends her life slaving for cold adopted grandfather. When he dies he words his will so she only inherits if she marries one of her cousins. One is engaged, one is just like their grandfather and the other is the playboy black sheep of the family. So, in order to secure the retirement of her beloved servants and to have some money so she can get married and settle with her beau she begs the black sheep for a marriage in name only, and he agrees. ..
My main issue with the story was I never felt the connection between h/H. In fact when they go from a friendly relationship to sex was so out of left field I went back and reread, thinking I was missing something.
This book also has some trigger issues..
I also ended up really disliking the h toward the end.. I don't mind the doormat style h in the old school HQ but this one was a bit too much for me. The last several chapters she inner monologues so much, about how EVERYTHING is her fault, and that poor H, yadda yadda.. Even when he storms out and declares hes going to find a "willing woman", shes blaming herself and swearing to forgive whatever he does... I just wanted to shake her.
The basic plot is naive virgin h spends her life slaving for cold adopted grandfather. When he dies he words his will so she only inherits if she marries one of her cousins. One is engaged, one is just like their grandfather and the other is the playboy black sheep of the family. So, in order to secure the retirement of her beloved servants and to have some money so she can get married and settle with her beau she begs the black sheep for a marriage in name only, and he agrees. ..
My main issue with the story was I never felt the connection between h/H. In fact when they go from a friendly relationship to sex was so out of left field I went back and reread, thinking I was missing something.
This book also has some trigger issues..
I also ended up really disliking the h toward the end.. I don't mind the doormat style h in the old school HQ but this one was a bit too much for me. The last several chapters she inner monologues so much, about how EVERYTHING is her fault, and that poor H, yadda yadda.. Even when he storms out and declares hes going to find a "willing woman", shes blaming herself and swearing to forgive whatever he does... I just wanted to shake her.
September 16, 2017
Her adoptive grandfather had left Claire his entire estate on the condition that she marry one of his grandsons.
But he must have forgotten that the free-spirited Dane Visconti, though long banished from the family's realm, still qualified. And Claire had always idolized and trusted Dane.
With his worldly reputation, Claire conceded Dane was not the marrying kind, so when he agreed she promised to make no demands on him. But Dane made no promise in return - and insisted on a few conditions of his own
But he must have forgotten that the free-spirited Dane Visconti, though long banished from the family's realm, still qualified. And Claire had always idolized and trusted Dane.
With his worldly reputation, Claire conceded Dane was not the marrying kind, so when he agreed she promised to make no demands on him. But Dane made no promise in return - and insisted on a few conditions of his own
March 22, 2020
3.5 stars Fun to read a book from this time period!
December 14, 2021
The h drove me nuts. She rejects the H every chance she gets, picks fights nonstop, lies to him—and then sulks because he doesn’t magically sense her deep love? Give me a break!
February 18, 2016
LG’s very first romance novel, from 1988, with a forced seduction
Claire Fletcher was adopted at age four and had an idyllic childhood until her parents died in a tragic accident when she was 10. From then on, the begrudging legal guardian of sweet-natured, shy, little Claire was her paternal grandfather, Adam Fletcher, who was a cold, callous, domineering narcissist. Claire’s father was Adam’s least favorite offspring, because he was nothing like Adam in temperament. For that reason alone, Adam would have resented having responsibility for any biological grandchild of that son, but his prejudicial resentment was massively increased due to Claire’s not being blood kin.
At the start of this story, Claire is 23 years old, and apart from being sent to boarding school until age 16—when Adam insisted her schooling end—she has spent all of her life at Adam’s poorly maintained mansion on his rundown estate called Ranbury, in Yorkshire, England. For the past seven years, she has worked for miserly Adam as an unpaid housekeeper, receiving for her diligent efforts nothing but room and board. Adam’s only other servants are the poorly paid cook and gardener, Maisie and Sam Morley, who are in their 70s and live in a derelict cottage on the estate. This kindly couple have offered the only consistent, supportive, human connection that Claire has known since her parents died, with one sporadic exception. Over the years, during his very occasional visits to Ranbury, Claire has received casual doses of big-brotherly attention from her cousin, Dane Fletcher, who is around seven years older than her. However, Dane quarreled with Adam during his last visit three years ago, and he has not been back since.
Claire is a slender redhead who is 5’1” tall. A little over a year ago, she fell in love with a maintenance worker on the Ranbury estate named Max, who is around her age and, at 5’5”, is what diminutive Claire considers a perfect size. After a few months of deepening friendship, Claire fell in love with Max, who assured her his dreams were the same as hers, a home and a family, and when he proposed, she accepted. But when she told Adam about her plan to marry Max, he raged at Claire and threw Max off the estate. Claire desperately wanted to flee to London with her fiancé, in order to get away from her horrible grandfather, but two major obstacles stood in her way: poverty and family loyalty. Claire had no marketable skills, and Max had nowhere to take her and could not support himself, let alone a wife. In addition, Adam informed Claire that he had terminal cancer and demanded that she stay and add to her current household tasks the grueling duties of an unpaid private nurse. Because Claire has the passive disposition of a born doormat, and had been in the habit of offering obedience and loyalty to Adam for over a decade—even though he never expressed any gratitude for her faithful service—her immediate impulse was to agree. And that impulse was strengthened by the fact that compassionate, loyal Claire believed it was her moral obligation to serve her grandfather in whatever way he needed during his final illness, because he didn’t dump her into foster care during her vulnerable childhood and teens, and he has continued to give her a place to live in her early adulthood. However, during the final year of his existence, Adam made her life a living hell, because he constantly, vindictively nagged and complained about the quality of her unpaid nursing care. No details are given in this novel about what Claire’s nursing care would have inevitably entailed, but the reader can easily imagine how ghastly it would be for a tiny, physically weak, shy virgin, with no nursing training whatsoever, and no calling for the nursing profession, to bathe, provide bedpan services, and prop up and turn over in bed an old man who was much larger and heavier than she.
At the start of this story, Adam has finally died, and his funeral is attended by all four of his grandsons, including Dane. At the reading of Adam’s will, Claire is shocked to learn that Adam has left his entire estate to her—which all of his relations, including Claire, had long assumed was worth a fortune (in spite of the mansion and grounds looking anything but prosperous). But Claire’s bequest has a cruel condition attached: she may only inherit if she marries one of Adam’s grandsons. There are only two who are unmarried: obnoxiously patronizing Carter, who blatantly assumes Claire will marry him and obviously plans to take over her inheritance for himself. And her cousin, Dane, who is a wealthy, successful businessman, to whom her inheritance, whatever it might be, would be insignificant. Claire urgently needs her inheritance, but it is unthinkable to her to marry anyone but Max. Unfortunately, without a big infusion of cash, it could be many years before they can marry, if they ever can. And she also very much wants to help Maisie and Sam, whom Adam heartlessly ignored in his will. It suddenly occurs to her that there is a possible solution to her dilemma. She asks Dane to become her groom in a marriage of convenience, explaining eagerly that it wouldn’t have to last very long. After she has gained her inheritance, they can have the marriage annulled. At first perpetual-bachelor Dane flatly refuses, insisting that Claire should have long since moved on from her teenage crush on him at age 16—a circumstance she is enormously embarrassed to discover that he had been aware of at the time. But when she assures him that she is engaged to Max and has no designs on Dane himself, he thinks it over and agrees.
This “classic” contemporary romance from 1988 is LG’s very first published romance. As such, it contains themes that she has not offered in her romance novels in decades, including:
1. An enraged, sexual-assault seduction of the heroine. Outright rape of the heroine by the hero is something that occurred quite frequently in historical romances many years ago, starting in 1972 with The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E Woodiwiss. At that time in history, marital rape was still legal everywhere in the USA. Nebraska was the first state to outlaw it in 1975, without calling it “rape,” and it wasn’t until 1993 that marital rape was outlawed in all 50 states. Around that time, in the early 1990’s, sexual-assault presented as “romance” began to disappear in both historical and contemporary romance novels.
2. Single point of view (POV) of the heroine. From the beginning of Harlequin Presents (HP) in 1973 until around the mid-1990’s, only the heroine’s POV was typical in their novels. From that point on, in both the HP and Harlequin Romance lines, its authors would very occasionally (perhaps 1,000 words of a 50,000-word novel) delve into the hero’s head. Typically the hero’s POV is used to set the story in motion, by revealing in his thoughts his absolutely wrong impression of the heroine as a bad person. Starting in the late 1980’s, single-title, contemporary romances of about 70-90,000 words first appeared in the marketplace, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990’s that it began to be a genre tradition for those romances to include an almost 50%, co-equal amount of the hero’s POV compared to the heroine’s. That percentage of the hero’s POV has never been included in any of LG’s HP novels, to this day. At most, she includes maybe 5% of the hero’s POV. Keeping his thoughts unknown helps to extend the romantic conflict that the hero’s motivation is an anxiety-producing mystery to the heroine.
3. The heroine drinks champagne while pregnant. It wasn’t until 1980, after a Surgeon General’s warning, that American women started avoiding alcohol during pregnancy. Apparently British women didn’t get the memo about fetal alcohol syndrome until years later.
4. Condoms are never mentioned. It was during the rise of the AIDS epidemic, around the mid-1980’s, that education on safe sex became extremely important in the USA, and American authors began including condoms overtly in their sex scenes. Again, apparently British authors didn’t catch onto this important issue for some years after American authors did.
Themes in this novel that have remained a constant in LG’s romances all these years:
1. The main romantic conflict arises from the wealthy hero mistakenly believing that the heroine is a gold-digger. He also frequently, hypocritically, applies a double-standard by condemning the heroine (who is always a virgin, or if this is a reunion romance, has been celibate for many years) for supposedly having had a fraction of the number of lovers that he himself has had. He is convinced that, even beyond how repugnant in and of themselves he finds these character flaws in the heroine, her moral deficiencies have somehow either directly, or indirectly, caused harm to himself or someone in his family, and he is determined to get revenge. In the case of this novel, Dane mistakenly decides, after marrying Claire, that she tricked him into marriage in order to rip him off financially.
2. Accidental pregnancy caused when the heroine loses her virginity. Right from this very first book, and continuing to this day, this is a consistent trope in LG novels. I have read all 130 books she has written, to date, and I believe there are no more than about 4-5 of her novels that exclude an accidental pregnancy.
3. Twins. A huge percentage of LG’s accidentally pregnant heroines have twins. Unusually, in this novel—unlike her more medically realistic later books where the twin births in LG’s novels invariably are delivered by caesarean—the twins in this book are delivered vaginally with zero complications. And though they are four weeks premature and underweight (which is typical for twins), they do not end up in an NICU.
4. A Cinderella heroine who is a downtrodden doormat. Quite a few of LG's heroines, as is the case with Claire in this novel, are either commanded by a dictatorial relation to leave school at age 16, or sacrificially volunteer to do so, in order to be an unpaid servant and nurse to a sick relative, usually always an elderly woman but, uniquely, in only this book, the sick relative is an old man, her grandfather. This relative unrepentantly takes complete advantage of the heroine’s gentle, nurturing disposition and, in addition to being ungrateful, is cold and critical toward her in the manner of Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother. After the sick relative finally dies, the heroine is flat broke and has no marketable skills besides being an unpaid nurse—and she has no desire to go back to school for years and gain the training required to pursue that as a paid career. Which is the case for Claire. It is at this low point that she typically meets the billionaire, arrogant, alpha hero. Which is also the case for Claire.
5. Billionaire, arrogant, alpha hero. Since LG has always written for HP, this type of hero is an absolute requirement of that line. However, for the first 40 years or so, up until around 2011, HP heroes were called “millionaires” or “tycoons.” There has always been a huge social-power disparity between the hero and the heroine in LG’s HP novels—and those of most all HP authors—because he is über-rich and she is, at most, middle class. Up until about 20 years ago, the disparity has often been at the level of King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, as in this book. The way the hero’s extreme wealth is overtly displayed in LG’s novels is as follows: showering the heroine with designer clothing and jewels; owning expensive property in many parts of the world (in this book he has no private island, but that features prominently in the real estate of virtually all of LG’s Greek billionaires, in particular), a cordon bleu personal chef, a yacht, a private jet, an extremely expensive car and/or a chauffeured limousine. Interestingly, in later years, LG’s heroes have always had four or five bodyguards. But this, her first novel, does not contain them.
6. The hero has “bronze” skin, and the heroine has porcelain skin. Interestingly, this hero is one of the very few (maybe two at most) heroes LG has ever written who has blond hair. Most likely because all of her heroes, even the two blondes, are men of color, with a bronze complexion (which is No. 5 on the Fitzpatrick scale, a medium-brown skin tone). Though I must admit that brown skin seems to be an unspoken expectation for *all* romance heroes, virtually without exception, even in historical romances where the hero is a white aristocrat who never goes in the sun. In contrast, every single one of LG’s heroines has a porcelain complexion (No. 1 on the Fitzpatrick scale) and either white-blonde or red hair, and blue or green eyes, with only one or two exceptions in the form of a “black Irish” heroine with black hair and blue eyes.
7. Euphemistic descriptions in sex scenes. Prior to the 1980’s, sex did not occur on the page in any line of Harlequin romances, and after that time, though it did occur on the page in the HP line, it has never been a major part of the story, and descriptions of any body parts below the waist have always involved euphemisms. LG’s novels have consistently followed this formula.
8. No foul language. HP novels have never contained foul language, and LG’s novels reflect that.
OVERALL OPINION
This novel is what is called a “classic” or “vintage” romance, because it was published long ago. Unfortunately, it has not aged well, because times have drastically changed since it was written almost 35 years ago. In fact, LG never writes heroes like this one anymore, for good reason, and HP has allowed this book to fall out of print in its original form, only re-releasing it as a greatly truncated, manga ebook. However, avid fans of LG who wish to read everything she has ever written can locate this novel in its 1988 paperback form as a used book.
I rate this novel as follows:
Heroine: 3 stars
Hero: 2.5 stars
Subcharacters: 3 stars
Melodramatic Romance Plot: 3.5 stars
Forced Seduction by 2022 standards: 1 star
Forced Seduction by 1988 standards: 3 stars
Writing: 3 stars
Overall: 2.7 stars, rounded to 3 stars
Claire Fletcher was adopted at age four and had an idyllic childhood until her parents died in a tragic accident when she was 10. From then on, the begrudging legal guardian of sweet-natured, shy, little Claire was her paternal grandfather, Adam Fletcher, who was a cold, callous, domineering narcissist. Claire’s father was Adam’s least favorite offspring, because he was nothing like Adam in temperament. For that reason alone, Adam would have resented having responsibility for any biological grandchild of that son, but his prejudicial resentment was massively increased due to Claire’s not being blood kin.
At the start of this story, Claire is 23 years old, and apart from being sent to boarding school until age 16—when Adam insisted her schooling end—she has spent all of her life at Adam’s poorly maintained mansion on his rundown estate called Ranbury, in Yorkshire, England. For the past seven years, she has worked for miserly Adam as an unpaid housekeeper, receiving for her diligent efforts nothing but room and board. Adam’s only other servants are the poorly paid cook and gardener, Maisie and Sam Morley, who are in their 70s and live in a derelict cottage on the estate. This kindly couple have offered the only consistent, supportive, human connection that Claire has known since her parents died, with one sporadic exception. Over the years, during his very occasional visits to Ranbury, Claire has received casual doses of big-brotherly attention from her cousin, Dane Fletcher, who is around seven years older than her. However, Dane quarreled with Adam during his last visit three years ago, and he has not been back since.
Claire is a slender redhead who is 5’1” tall. A little over a year ago, she fell in love with a maintenance worker on the Ranbury estate named Max, who is around her age and, at 5’5”, is what diminutive Claire considers a perfect size. After a few months of deepening friendship, Claire fell in love with Max, who assured her his dreams were the same as hers, a home and a family, and when he proposed, she accepted. But when she told Adam about her plan to marry Max, he raged at Claire and threw Max off the estate. Claire desperately wanted to flee to London with her fiancé, in order to get away from her horrible grandfather, but two major obstacles stood in her way: poverty and family loyalty. Claire had no marketable skills, and Max had nowhere to take her and could not support himself, let alone a wife. In addition, Adam informed Claire that he had terminal cancer and demanded that she stay and add to her current household tasks the grueling duties of an unpaid private nurse. Because Claire has the passive disposition of a born doormat, and had been in the habit of offering obedience and loyalty to Adam for over a decade—even though he never expressed any gratitude for her faithful service—her immediate impulse was to agree. And that impulse was strengthened by the fact that compassionate, loyal Claire believed it was her moral obligation to serve her grandfather in whatever way he needed during his final illness, because he didn’t dump her into foster care during her vulnerable childhood and teens, and he has continued to give her a place to live in her early adulthood. However, during the final year of his existence, Adam made her life a living hell, because he constantly, vindictively nagged and complained about the quality of her unpaid nursing care. No details are given in this novel about what Claire’s nursing care would have inevitably entailed, but the reader can easily imagine how ghastly it would be for a tiny, physically weak, shy virgin, with no nursing training whatsoever, and no calling for the nursing profession, to bathe, provide bedpan services, and prop up and turn over in bed an old man who was much larger and heavier than she.
At the start of this story, Adam has finally died, and his funeral is attended by all four of his grandsons, including Dane. At the reading of Adam’s will, Claire is shocked to learn that Adam has left his entire estate to her—which all of his relations, including Claire, had long assumed was worth a fortune (in spite of the mansion and grounds looking anything but prosperous). But Claire’s bequest has a cruel condition attached: she may only inherit if she marries one of Adam’s grandsons. There are only two who are unmarried: obnoxiously patronizing Carter, who blatantly assumes Claire will marry him and obviously plans to take over her inheritance for himself. And her cousin, Dane, who is a wealthy, successful businessman, to whom her inheritance, whatever it might be, would be insignificant. Claire urgently needs her inheritance, but it is unthinkable to her to marry anyone but Max. Unfortunately, without a big infusion of cash, it could be many years before they can marry, if they ever can. And she also very much wants to help Maisie and Sam, whom Adam heartlessly ignored in his will. It suddenly occurs to her that there is a possible solution to her dilemma. She asks Dane to become her groom in a marriage of convenience, explaining eagerly that it wouldn’t have to last very long. After she has gained her inheritance, they can have the marriage annulled. At first perpetual-bachelor Dane flatly refuses, insisting that Claire should have long since moved on from her teenage crush on him at age 16—a circumstance she is enormously embarrassed to discover that he had been aware of at the time. But when she assures him that she is engaged to Max and has no designs on Dane himself, he thinks it over and agrees.
This “classic” contemporary romance from 1988 is LG’s very first published romance. As such, it contains themes that she has not offered in her romance novels in decades, including:
1. An enraged, sexual-assault seduction of the heroine. Outright rape of the heroine by the hero is something that occurred quite frequently in historical romances many years ago, starting in 1972 with The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E Woodiwiss. At that time in history, marital rape was still legal everywhere in the USA. Nebraska was the first state to outlaw it in 1975, without calling it “rape,” and it wasn’t until 1993 that marital rape was outlawed in all 50 states. Around that time, in the early 1990’s, sexual-assault presented as “romance” began to disappear in both historical and contemporary romance novels.
2. Single point of view (POV) of the heroine. From the beginning of Harlequin Presents (HP) in 1973 until around the mid-1990’s, only the heroine’s POV was typical in their novels. From that point on, in both the HP and Harlequin Romance lines, its authors would very occasionally (perhaps 1,000 words of a 50,000-word novel) delve into the hero’s head. Typically the hero’s POV is used to set the story in motion, by revealing in his thoughts his absolutely wrong impression of the heroine as a bad person. Starting in the late 1980’s, single-title, contemporary romances of about 70-90,000 words first appeared in the marketplace, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990’s that it began to be a genre tradition for those romances to include an almost 50%, co-equal amount of the hero’s POV compared to the heroine’s. That percentage of the hero’s POV has never been included in any of LG’s HP novels, to this day. At most, she includes maybe 5% of the hero’s POV. Keeping his thoughts unknown helps to extend the romantic conflict that the hero’s motivation is an anxiety-producing mystery to the heroine.
3. The heroine drinks champagne while pregnant. It wasn’t until 1980, after a Surgeon General’s warning, that American women started avoiding alcohol during pregnancy. Apparently British women didn’t get the memo about fetal alcohol syndrome until years later.
4. Condoms are never mentioned. It was during the rise of the AIDS epidemic, around the mid-1980’s, that education on safe sex became extremely important in the USA, and American authors began including condoms overtly in their sex scenes. Again, apparently British authors didn’t catch onto this important issue for some years after American authors did.
Themes in this novel that have remained a constant in LG’s romances all these years:
1. The main romantic conflict arises from the wealthy hero mistakenly believing that the heroine is a gold-digger. He also frequently, hypocritically, applies a double-standard by condemning the heroine (who is always a virgin, or if this is a reunion romance, has been celibate for many years) for supposedly having had a fraction of the number of lovers that he himself has had. He is convinced that, even beyond how repugnant in and of themselves he finds these character flaws in the heroine, her moral deficiencies have somehow either directly, or indirectly, caused harm to himself or someone in his family, and he is determined to get revenge. In the case of this novel, Dane mistakenly decides, after marrying Claire, that she tricked him into marriage in order to rip him off financially.
2. Accidental pregnancy caused when the heroine loses her virginity. Right from this very first book, and continuing to this day, this is a consistent trope in LG novels. I have read all 130 books she has written, to date, and I believe there are no more than about 4-5 of her novels that exclude an accidental pregnancy.
3. Twins. A huge percentage of LG’s accidentally pregnant heroines have twins. Unusually, in this novel—unlike her more medically realistic later books where the twin births in LG’s novels invariably are delivered by caesarean—the twins in this book are delivered vaginally with zero complications. And though they are four weeks premature and underweight (which is typical for twins), they do not end up in an NICU.
4. A Cinderella heroine who is a downtrodden doormat. Quite a few of LG's heroines, as is the case with Claire in this novel, are either commanded by a dictatorial relation to leave school at age 16, or sacrificially volunteer to do so, in order to be an unpaid servant and nurse to a sick relative, usually always an elderly woman but, uniquely, in only this book, the sick relative is an old man, her grandfather. This relative unrepentantly takes complete advantage of the heroine’s gentle, nurturing disposition and, in addition to being ungrateful, is cold and critical toward her in the manner of Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother. After the sick relative finally dies, the heroine is flat broke and has no marketable skills besides being an unpaid nurse—and she has no desire to go back to school for years and gain the training required to pursue that as a paid career. Which is the case for Claire. It is at this low point that she typically meets the billionaire, arrogant, alpha hero. Which is also the case for Claire.
5. Billionaire, arrogant, alpha hero. Since LG has always written for HP, this type of hero is an absolute requirement of that line. However, for the first 40 years or so, up until around 2011, HP heroes were called “millionaires” or “tycoons.” There has always been a huge social-power disparity between the hero and the heroine in LG’s HP novels—and those of most all HP authors—because he is über-rich and she is, at most, middle class. Up until about 20 years ago, the disparity has often been at the level of King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, as in this book. The way the hero’s extreme wealth is overtly displayed in LG’s novels is as follows: showering the heroine with designer clothing and jewels; owning expensive property in many parts of the world (in this book he has no private island, but that features prominently in the real estate of virtually all of LG’s Greek billionaires, in particular), a cordon bleu personal chef, a yacht, a private jet, an extremely expensive car and/or a chauffeured limousine. Interestingly, in later years, LG’s heroes have always had four or five bodyguards. But this, her first novel, does not contain them.
6. The hero has “bronze” skin, and the heroine has porcelain skin. Interestingly, this hero is one of the very few (maybe two at most) heroes LG has ever written who has blond hair. Most likely because all of her heroes, even the two blondes, are men of color, with a bronze complexion (which is No. 5 on the Fitzpatrick scale, a medium-brown skin tone). Though I must admit that brown skin seems to be an unspoken expectation for *all* romance heroes, virtually without exception, even in historical romances where the hero is a white aristocrat who never goes in the sun. In contrast, every single one of LG’s heroines has a porcelain complexion (No. 1 on the Fitzpatrick scale) and either white-blonde or red hair, and blue or green eyes, with only one or two exceptions in the form of a “black Irish” heroine with black hair and blue eyes.
7. Euphemistic descriptions in sex scenes. Prior to the 1980’s, sex did not occur on the page in any line of Harlequin romances, and after that time, though it did occur on the page in the HP line, it has never been a major part of the story, and descriptions of any body parts below the waist have always involved euphemisms. LG’s novels have consistently followed this formula.
8. No foul language. HP novels have never contained foul language, and LG’s novels reflect that.
OVERALL OPINION
This novel is what is called a “classic” or “vintage” romance, because it was published long ago. Unfortunately, it has not aged well, because times have drastically changed since it was written almost 35 years ago. In fact, LG never writes heroes like this one anymore, for good reason, and HP has allowed this book to fall out of print in its original form, only re-releasing it as a greatly truncated, manga ebook. However, avid fans of LG who wish to read everything she has ever written can locate this novel in its 1988 paperback form as a used book.
I rate this novel as follows:
Heroine: 3 stars
Hero: 2.5 stars
Subcharacters: 3 stars
Melodramatic Romance Plot: 3.5 stars
Forced Seduction by 2022 standards: 1 star
Forced Seduction by 1988 standards: 3 stars
Writing: 3 stars
Overall: 2.7 stars, rounded to 3 stars
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April 15, 2026Lynne Graham’s Bittersweet Passion bears all the unmistakable hallmarks of her early craft—indeed, it reads very much like one of the first blooms of a writer who would go on to master the emotional intensity of category romance. Written around 1987, at the dawn of her career, the novel already reveals her signature blend of high-stakes family drama, simmering passion, and moral contrast.
At the heart of the story lies a chillingly drawn patriarch—a miserly, vindictive grandfather whose final act is as manipulative as his life. Upon his death, he leaves behind a will that appears generous on its face, bequeathing his entire estate to the heroine, his adopted granddaughter. Yet, true to his nature, the gift is barbed: she must marry one of his grandsons to claim it. The heroine, though raised within the family, has always been made to feel the fragility of her place—adopted, not of blood—and her vulnerability is further underscored by the grandfather’s earlier cruelty in pulling her out of school just as she approached her GCSEs, all to serve his own selfish need for care and control.
The two grandsons present a classic Graham contrast. One is cut from the same cloth as the old man—entitled, arrogant, and convinced the inheritance is rightfully his. The other, long sidelined and even disowned through his mother’s marriage to a foreigner, has risen independently to become a formidable, self-made billionaire. Yet despite his distance from the family, he alone has shown the heroine consistent kindness over the years. It is this quiet integrity, rather than wealth or entitlement, that ultimately draws her to him.
When the will’s condition comes into play, the tension sharpens beautifully. The entitled grandson, buoyed by ego and assumption, believes himself the inevitable choice. But the heroine’s decision—to choose empathy over arrogance—is both a personal triumph and a deeply satisfying narrative turn. Graham captures this moment with a deftness that makes it truly “a sight to behold.”
What elevates the novel further is its subtle but incisive commentary on family greed and the often unseemly anticipation of testamentary gain. The scramble for inheritance, the assumptions, the quiet calculations—these are rendered with striking authenticity. And in a final twist of irony, the old man’s grand manipulations collapse into futility: unknown to most, his estate was already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. In the end, there is little to inherit at all.
Against this backdrop, the romance unfolds with a restrained poignancy. The love between the protagonists is not loud but deeply felt, growing through misunderstanding, separation, and emotional restraint. The heroine’s quiet endurance is especially moving—particularly as she finds herself expecting the hero’s children (twins), a truth he does not yet know. It is in these tender, unspoken spaces that Graham’s storytelling truly shines.
Bittersweet Passion may belong to the early phase of Lynne Graham’s career, but it already carries the emotional depth, dramatic tension, and moral clarity that would come to define her work. A compelling blend of family intrigue and heartfelt romance, it lingers long after the final page.
At the heart of the story lies a chillingly drawn patriarch—a miserly, vindictive grandfather whose final act is as manipulative as his life. Upon his death, he leaves behind a will that appears generous on its face, bequeathing his entire estate to the heroine, his adopted granddaughter. Yet, true to his nature, the gift is barbed: she must marry one of his grandsons to claim it. The heroine, though raised within the family, has always been made to feel the fragility of her place—adopted, not of blood—and her vulnerability is further underscored by the grandfather’s earlier cruelty in pulling her out of school just as she approached her GCSEs, all to serve his own selfish need for care and control.
The two grandsons present a classic Graham contrast. One is cut from the same cloth as the old man—entitled, arrogant, and convinced the inheritance is rightfully his. The other, long sidelined and even disowned through his mother’s marriage to a foreigner, has risen independently to become a formidable, self-made billionaire. Yet despite his distance from the family, he alone has shown the heroine consistent kindness over the years. It is this quiet integrity, rather than wealth or entitlement, that ultimately draws her to him.
When the will’s condition comes into play, the tension sharpens beautifully. The entitled grandson, buoyed by ego and assumption, believes himself the inevitable choice. But the heroine’s decision—to choose empathy over arrogance—is both a personal triumph and a deeply satisfying narrative turn. Graham captures this moment with a deftness that makes it truly “a sight to behold.”
What elevates the novel further is its subtle but incisive commentary on family greed and the often unseemly anticipation of testamentary gain. The scramble for inheritance, the assumptions, the quiet calculations—these are rendered with striking authenticity. And in a final twist of irony, the old man’s grand manipulations collapse into futility: unknown to most, his estate was already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. In the end, there is little to inherit at all.
Against this backdrop, the romance unfolds with a restrained poignancy. The love between the protagonists is not loud but deeply felt, growing through misunderstanding, separation, and emotional restraint. The heroine’s quiet endurance is especially moving—particularly as she finds herself expecting the hero’s children (twins), a truth he does not yet know. It is in these tender, unspoken spaces that Graham’s storytelling truly shines.
Bittersweet Passion may belong to the early phase of Lynne Graham’s career, but it already carries the emotional depth, dramatic tension, and moral clarity that would come to define her work. A compelling blend of family intrigue and heartfelt romance, it lingers long after the final page.
April 3, 2023
First off; LG is one of my favourite authors. This is her first published Mills and Boon. It was published in 1988. I have read this book about three times over the years and it has never been a favourite re-read. I read it in March 2023 because I decided to read all of LG's books this year in the order they were published.
So even though it is a product of the 1980s, it's still awful. Forced sex, H and h are not likeable which really ruins it for me. H is grumpy, rude and yuck really. heroine's self-esteem is below ground level but she plucked up enough courage to ask H to marry her so that she can get her inheritance. So one star for that and the second star was because the book was written by LG.
Botton line is: if you read this book don't let it put you off reading her other books because usually there's humour and a quirky animal or a parrot.
My next read is LG's April 1989 The Veranchetti Marriage.
So even though it is a product of the 1980s, it's still awful. Forced sex, H and h are not likeable which really ruins it for me. H is grumpy, rude and yuck really. heroine's self-esteem is below ground level but she plucked up enough courage to ask H to marry her so that she can get her inheritance. So one star for that and the second star was because the book was written by LG.
Botton line is: if you read this book don't let it put you off reading her other books because usually there's humour and a quirky animal or a parrot.
My next read is LG's April 1989 The Veranchetti Marriage.
March 25, 2022
3.5 This kept coming up on my GRs page and I put off reading it because of some of the reviews from trusted reviewers I follow. I knew it was LGs first book and decided to give it a try. There were some icky things that bothered me, the H was a huge manwhore and the sex was definitely dubcon. Since I read a lot of vintage HPs I can sometimes overlook that depending on the story. Surprisingly I liked this one a lot. You could feel the Hs remorse and regret in the last half and the fact that he let her leave thinking she was going to another man because he wanted her to be happy. And I can forgive a lot of bad behavior if the H is celibate during the separation and he WAS! Overall it was a good, solid debut for LG.
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