What do you think?
Rate this book
Impasse
He was obsessively wary of love and marriage
Slade Western was arrogant and overbearing, bent on having his own way. Passion seemed to be the only emotion he understood--that and possessiveness.
Lee had always wanted a home and a man willing to share a lifetime commitment, but Slade had always misunderstood her. Finally her dissatisfaction with being little more than a mistress to Slade created an impasse between them, and she left him....
Now, five years later, Slade might still not love her, but he desired her more than ever--enough, at least, to ruin her engagement to someone else!
Slade Western was arrogant and overbearing, bent on having his own way. Passion seemed to be the only emotion he understood--that and possessiveness.
Lee had always wanted a home and a man willing to share a lifetime commitment, but Slade had always misunderstood her. Finally her dissatisfaction with being little more than a mistress to Slade created an impasse between them, and she left him....
Now, five years later, Slade might still not love her, but he desired her more than ever--enough, at least, to ruin her engagement to someone else!
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Pargeter
104 books73 followersMargaret Pargeter was a popular writer of 50 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1975 to 1986.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 31, 2018
3.5 stars.
Slade, the H of this novel, was a bit deserving of the above treatment, because of the way he'd used the then 19 yr old heroine 5 yrs ago when she'd been his mistress for 6 months. This was an enjoyable angsty, second chance trainwreck with a H who belonged to the Mine, Mine, Mine ! posse of obsessed, possessive alpha males. It was totally old school with a few politically incorrect elements, but it fed my addiction for drama and I lapped it up gleefully ! It also had the most sex that I've come across, so far, in a Margaret P novel. This isn't a novel that everyone would find enjoyable; in fact, some would hate it because Slade was rude, obstinate, selfish, arrogant, mean and crazed with jealousy over the heroine, Lee. He was so fixated with her that he got jealous and angry if other men looked at her and as a result, he saw her as some kind of juvenile Mata Hari type of femme fatale when they'd been together.
This is the heroine, Lee ( based on how the H saw her )
The MC's had met when Lee had been 19 and he'd been 31. Slade had been obsessed with the heroine from the moment he'd first seen her. She had been equally obsessed with him but had camouflaged it by flirting with other men. This had caused the H to think of her as a vacuous little tart, but it didn't stop him from pursuing her. It was only when the heroine took the blame for a theft, committed by the housekeeper's son, that Slade was able to blackmail her into being his mistress. However, it was stated clearly in the story that the heroine was more than willing to use this little piece of blackmail as an excuse to be with him. Their relationship had burned hotly for the first 6 months until Lee started to long for a commitment such as marriage. When she realized that the H was never going to propose she left him.
The story began 5 yrs after this and the heroine is now engaged to the H's boring and bland older cousin, Matt. When Slade heard about this, he got mad with possessive jealousy:
The lazy amusement went out of his face and he looked at her with savage anger, his eyes biting.
'I put my brand on you and never gave you permission to remove it. I'll be calling to see you very soon. You'd better be in and prepared to listen.'
He kept claiming that he only wanted to break the engagement because his cousin deserved a better fiancee than the heroine, but it was obvious that he was still besotted with Lee. It's not even long after they've met again, that their sexual relationship begins anew. They didn't even fight their attraction much and the heroine knew that she could no longer marry Matt. Her ex fiance didn't exactly suffer after the jilting, because he soon found himself consoled by the heroine's friend Sandra. It was obvious, from the beginning of the story, that Sandra was in love with Matt and was better suited to him. Anyway, most of the angst in this novel stemmed from the MC's inability to fight their heated sexual attraction while claiming to hate each other. They kept having their spontaneous, clandestine sex and the H kept pushing for her to become his mistress again.
They argued and had a lot of sex but eventually they came to an impasse again when Lee decided that she wouldn't settle for anything less than marriage:
'You don't know what you're asking,' she said sharply, realising she had to be strong and drive him away. 'I'd be a fool to let history repeat itself and put myself at your mercy again. I've suddenly discovered I could never be happy with a man like you.'
Of course, the H refused to even think of marriage as a possibility so they broke up and were separated for a few weeks. It's only when Slade's mother joked about the heroine's future marriage and motherhood plans with another man, that the stubborn H finally realized he loved her:
'That would make a pleasant change,' exclaimed Lydia. 'And you never know—you might even meet someone special and decide to settle there. The French are very attractive,' she teased. 'I could come and stay with you for your first christening.'
'Lee must be quite capable of planning her own life,' snapped Slade, a peculiar white line around his mouth.
In fact, the H himself said later on:
'I was still point-blank refusing to believe I couldn't, until I met you that day in the bookshop in Reading. It was when Lydia talked of going to France for your first christening that I knew if you ever had a child I had to be its father. No other man had touched you but me, and I swore, there and then, that no one was going to. I went, the next day, and bought the ring and made the necessary arrangements for us to be married. Suddenly I couldn't wait.'
I even felt a little sorry for the H because of how much weight he'd lost during the weeks after Lee had broken off their relationship. He'd clearly suffered a lot and admitted it to her when he told her how much he loved her. I think Slade grovelled a lot more than most of Margaret P's heroes. His declaration of love was definitely more meaningful and passionate. The author also included an epilogue, which helped to raise my rating for the novel. In the epilogue, the MC's are on their second honeymoon in Greece and are the parents of a 4 month old baby called Slade Jr. The H was a lot more light hearted, down to earth, loving, sweet, kind and fabulous in the epilogue. It truly made me believe that their HEA was well earned and that they would be together for the long haul. I was a bit angry that the theft of the necklace 5 yrs ago had been resolved so easily and the real thief had not been punished. In fact, the H had given him a job ! But I guess that a job would serve to rehabilitate him, whereas prison might've turned him into an even worse criminal.
Safety: There's no OW but the heroine was engaged to another man at the start of the story. She had never had sex with her fiance, though. She did have have sex with the H before she had ended her engagement to Matt. She only ended her engagement to Matt after she had sex with the H. The heroine had been celibate during their 5 yr separation while the H hadn't been celibate.
This is the H, Slade:
Slade, the H of this novel, was a bit deserving of the above treatment, because of the way he'd used the then 19 yr old heroine 5 yrs ago when she'd been his mistress for 6 months. This was an enjoyable angsty, second chance trainwreck with a H who belonged to the Mine, Mine, Mine ! posse of obsessed, possessive alpha males. It was totally old school with a few politically incorrect elements, but it fed my addiction for drama and I lapped it up gleefully ! It also had the most sex that I've come across, so far, in a Margaret P novel. This isn't a novel that everyone would find enjoyable; in fact, some would hate it because Slade was rude, obstinate, selfish, arrogant, mean and crazed with jealousy over the heroine, Lee. He was so fixated with her that he got jealous and angry if other men looked at her and as a result, he saw her as some kind of juvenile Mata Hari type of femme fatale when they'd been together.
This is the heroine, Lee ( based on how the H saw her )
The MC's had met when Lee had been 19 and he'd been 31. Slade had been obsessed with the heroine from the moment he'd first seen her. She had been equally obsessed with him but had camouflaged it by flirting with other men. This had caused the H to think of her as a vacuous little tart, but it didn't stop him from pursuing her. It was only when the heroine took the blame for a theft, committed by the housekeeper's son, that Slade was able to blackmail her into being his mistress. However, it was stated clearly in the story that the heroine was more than willing to use this little piece of blackmail as an excuse to be with him. Their relationship had burned hotly for the first 6 months until Lee started to long for a commitment such as marriage. When she realized that the H was never going to propose she left him.
The story began 5 yrs after this and the heroine is now engaged to the H's boring and bland older cousin, Matt. When Slade heard about this, he got mad with possessive jealousy:
The lazy amusement went out of his face and he looked at her with savage anger, his eyes biting.
'I put my brand on you and never gave you permission to remove it. I'll be calling to see you very soon. You'd better be in and prepared to listen.'
He kept claiming that he only wanted to break the engagement because his cousin deserved a better fiancee than the heroine, but it was obvious that he was still besotted with Lee. It's not even long after they've met again, that their sexual relationship begins anew. They didn't even fight their attraction much and the heroine knew that she could no longer marry Matt. Her ex fiance didn't exactly suffer after the jilting, because he soon found himself consoled by the heroine's friend Sandra. It was obvious, from the beginning of the story, that Sandra was in love with Matt and was better suited to him. Anyway, most of the angst in this novel stemmed from the MC's inability to fight their heated sexual attraction while claiming to hate each other. They kept having their spontaneous, clandestine sex and the H kept pushing for her to become his mistress again.
They argued and had a lot of sex but eventually they came to an impasse again when Lee decided that she wouldn't settle for anything less than marriage:
'You don't know what you're asking,' she said sharply, realising she had to be strong and drive him away. 'I'd be a fool to let history repeat itself and put myself at your mercy again. I've suddenly discovered I could never be happy with a man like you.'
Of course, the H refused to even think of marriage as a possibility so they broke up and were separated for a few weeks. It's only when Slade's mother joked about the heroine's future marriage and motherhood plans with another man, that the stubborn H finally realized he loved her:
'That would make a pleasant change,' exclaimed Lydia. 'And you never know—you might even meet someone special and decide to settle there. The French are very attractive,' she teased. 'I could come and stay with you for your first christening.'
'Lee must be quite capable of planning her own life,' snapped Slade, a peculiar white line around his mouth.
In fact, the H himself said later on:
'I was still point-blank refusing to believe I couldn't, until I met you that day in the bookshop in Reading. It was when Lydia talked of going to France for your first christening that I knew if you ever had a child I had to be its father. No other man had touched you but me, and I swore, there and then, that no one was going to. I went, the next day, and bought the ring and made the necessary arrangements for us to be married. Suddenly I couldn't wait.'
I even felt a little sorry for the H because of how much weight he'd lost during the weeks after Lee had broken off their relationship. He'd clearly suffered a lot and admitted it to her when he told her how much he loved her. I think Slade grovelled a lot more than most of Margaret P's heroes. His declaration of love was definitely more meaningful and passionate. The author also included an epilogue, which helped to raise my rating for the novel. In the epilogue, the MC's are on their second honeymoon in Greece and are the parents of a 4 month old baby called Slade Jr. The H was a lot more light hearted, down to earth, loving, sweet, kind and fabulous in the epilogue. It truly made me believe that their HEA was well earned and that they would be together for the long haul. I was a bit angry that the theft of the necklace 5 yrs ago had been resolved so easily and the real thief had not been punished. In fact, the H had given him a job ! But I guess that a job would serve to rehabilitate him, whereas prison might've turned him into an even worse criminal.
Safety: There's no OW but the heroine was engaged to another man at the start of the story. She had never had sex with her fiance, though. She did have have sex with the H before she had ended her engagement to Matt. She only ended her engagement to Matt after she had sex with the H. The heroine had been celibate during their 5 yr separation while the H hadn't been celibate.
This is the H, Slade:
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2016
RE Impasse - Here it is HPlandians - the one and only MP that DOES NOT have an alien mind hijack of the H in the end of the book. In fact, he pretty much stays like he is for the whole part - his mind transfer actually happened five years earlier - it just took a while to sink in.
Our h is a 23 year old children's author who lives in her grandfather's former restaurant/house in the English countryside and has lodgers that contribute to the food and upkeep in return for a place to stay. She is engaged to a nice young man and mainly has the roommates for the company.
Five years earlier, she was involved with the H when he blackmailed her into being his mistress after he caught her with his mum's jewelry. The h was actually covering for her friend, the H's housekeeper. The housekeeper's son had stolen the necklace and the h was putting it back. The H gave her a choice, the police or his mistress and since she secretly had a thing going for him, she picked the mistress slot.
That lasted about six months before the sheen wore off. The H became more possessive and obsessed with her and she finally leaves him in France, because he did not want a marriage or real relationship. Then she got hit by a car and has partial amnesia. She lived in a convent for 6 months, then came home to nurse her grandfather for a year or so in his final illness.
Her memories of the H are a bit hazy, but she feels like she has moved on and with her writing career and her current relationship, she is pretty happy with her life. When the H finds out that she is engaged to one of his distant relatives, he comes back with a vengeance. Apparently he had warned her to stay away from his family, but she though he meant his mum. He insists it was everybody.
When she still won't break the engagement, the H forcibly seduces her and now that she is reminded of the H and her own passion, she ends the engagement the next day. The H gets possessive again, tries to domineeringly take care of her - he steals her motorcycle because he is worried she will wreck and stuff- but the h is resisting.
(She hasn't heard of the HP Borg H where resistance is futile, but she will soon learn.) The H and h have more verbal run-in's interspersed with a physical encounter or two, but the H only wants her to be his live in lurve slave and she isn't down with that. He promises her the moon and stars but not a marriage license and she is not having any - thank you. The H does his best, but she stands firm (for once an MP h sticks to her NO and it isn't a code word for yes, I was like a proud parent for her.)
The H eventually resigns in defeat, but keeps trying sneaky ways to see her. Events finally culminate in the search for a missing little boy. The H and h find him together and the H makes a last attempt to snare her in his wiles by offering her a ride to London. She has to go see her publisher and turn in her manuscript. The h girds her inner defenses and accepts, but when the H shows up to take her the next day, the h is ill and can't make it.
The H hauls her to the Dr. and nurses her, then he figures out she is preggers. Poor girl never even has a clue until the H tells her. He swears he loves her and now wants to marry her and since marriage is what she was angling for all along, she agrees. The H apologizes for misjudging her as the housekeeper had previously told him about her son's attempted theft. Happiness and kisses and lurve clubbing all around.
The H and h have a big HEA and in an HPlandia rarity at this point and time, we get a nice little epilogue - I can't recall MP doing any other one.
All in all this is probably the least evilly mean H MP has ever written, he is almost nice at times and he is definitely her most non-violent one - which means he is about an 8 on the violence scale (but since most MP H's are at 100X, that is a real change for her).
I don't know what caused this, MP could have found a better brand of aluminum foil for interrupting those controlling radio waves. Anyways, the H and h and a couple of kids are happily little travelers and HPlandia is safe from alien invasion once again.
Our h is a 23 year old children's author who lives in her grandfather's former restaurant/house in the English countryside and has lodgers that contribute to the food and upkeep in return for a place to stay. She is engaged to a nice young man and mainly has the roommates for the company.
Five years earlier, she was involved with the H when he blackmailed her into being his mistress after he caught her with his mum's jewelry. The h was actually covering for her friend, the H's housekeeper. The housekeeper's son had stolen the necklace and the h was putting it back. The H gave her a choice, the police or his mistress and since she secretly had a thing going for him, she picked the mistress slot.
That lasted about six months before the sheen wore off. The H became more possessive and obsessed with her and she finally leaves him in France, because he did not want a marriage or real relationship. Then she got hit by a car and has partial amnesia. She lived in a convent for 6 months, then came home to nurse her grandfather for a year or so in his final illness.
Her memories of the H are a bit hazy, but she feels like she has moved on and with her writing career and her current relationship, she is pretty happy with her life. When the H finds out that she is engaged to one of his distant relatives, he comes back with a vengeance. Apparently he had warned her to stay away from his family, but she though he meant his mum. He insists it was everybody.
When she still won't break the engagement, the H forcibly seduces her and now that she is reminded of the H and her own passion, she ends the engagement the next day. The H gets possessive again, tries to domineeringly take care of her - he steals her motorcycle because he is worried she will wreck and stuff- but the h is resisting.
(She hasn't heard of the HP Borg H where resistance is futile, but she will soon learn.) The H and h have more verbal run-in's interspersed with a physical encounter or two, but the H only wants her to be his live in lurve slave and she isn't down with that. He promises her the moon and stars but not a marriage license and she is not having any - thank you. The H does his best, but she stands firm (for once an MP h sticks to her NO and it isn't a code word for yes, I was like a proud parent for her.)
The H eventually resigns in defeat, but keeps trying sneaky ways to see her. Events finally culminate in the search for a missing little boy. The H and h find him together and the H makes a last attempt to snare her in his wiles by offering her a ride to London. She has to go see her publisher and turn in her manuscript. The h girds her inner defenses and accepts, but when the H shows up to take her the next day, the h is ill and can't make it.
The H hauls her to the Dr. and nurses her, then he figures out she is preggers. Poor girl never even has a clue until the H tells her. He swears he loves her and now wants to marry her and since marriage is what she was angling for all along, she agrees. The H apologizes for misjudging her as the housekeeper had previously told him about her son's attempted theft. Happiness and kisses and lurve clubbing all around.
The H and h have a big HEA and in an HPlandia rarity at this point and time, we get a nice little epilogue - I can't recall MP doing any other one.
All in all this is probably the least evilly mean H MP has ever written, he is almost nice at times and he is definitely her most non-violent one - which means he is about an 8 on the violence scale (but since most MP H's are at 100X, that is a real change for her).
I don't know what caused this, MP could have found a better brand of aluminum foil for interrupting those controlling radio waves. Anyways, the H and h and a couple of kids are happily little travelers and HPlandia is safe from alien invasion once again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2020
"Impasse" is the story of Lee and Slade.
Ooh! I enjoyed this!
The book begins with the heroine getting a glimpse of the hero- the man whom she had run away from five years ago. As a young 19 year old, she had come to the big city, and soon utterly possessed by the hero. She became his mistress, until she could not take his callousness anymore, and run away. What followed is amnesia, return of memory, and the heroine ultimately finding solace with the hero's distant cousin, the OM. As the hero re-enters her life, she realizes she has not gotten over him, not even a little bit- and is an utter slave to her passions. They have wild sex, and the heroine breaks up with OM..only to realize the hero still thinks poorly of her and scorns commitment.
TSTL, spineless and madly in love heroine- pompous, overbearing and crazy jealous hero- hot lovemaking- drama- confessions and HEA. I really liked the sweet, and bred epilogue
SWE
3.5/5
Ooh! I enjoyed this!
The book begins with the heroine getting a glimpse of the hero- the man whom she had run away from five years ago. As a young 19 year old, she had come to the big city, and soon utterly possessed by the hero. She became his mistress, until she could not take his callousness anymore, and run away. What followed is amnesia, return of memory, and the heroine ultimately finding solace with the hero's distant cousin, the OM. As the hero re-enters her life, she realizes she has not gotten over him, not even a little bit- and is an utter slave to her passions. They have wild sex, and the heroine breaks up with OM..only to realize the hero still thinks poorly of her and scorns commitment.
TSTL, spineless and madly in love heroine- pompous, overbearing and crazy jealous hero- hot lovemaking- drama- confessions and HEA. I really liked the sweet, and bred epilogue
SWE
3.5/5
November 9, 2019
Second chance, May/December story although the hero is just as immature as the teenager he blackmailed when they first got together.
Backstory: Hero caught heroine stealing a necklace from his mother (she was putting it back for real culprit - the servant's son) and blackmailed her into living with him for two years for his silence.
Heroine lasted six months as his mistress and then ran away, was in an accident, was taken in by nuns and then suffered amnesia. Once recovered, she returned to England to nurse her grandfather for a year. She finally got over the hero and is engaged to the hero's distant cousin when the story
opens.
Honestly, the backstory is more interesting than the reunion story.
Hero is still a commitment-phobe. Heroine still has treacherous body syndrome. A pregnancy and a search for a missing boy breaks the impasse. (Hero insists he had his epiphany earlier - but it doesn't matter, they're finally marrying). I don't envy the heroine a jealous husband, but he is older and rich, so perhaps merry widowhood awaits.
Backstory: Hero caught heroine stealing a necklace from his mother (she was putting it back for real culprit - the servant's son) and blackmailed her into living with him for two years for his silence.
Heroine lasted six months as his mistress and then ran away, was in an accident, was taken in by nuns and then suffered amnesia. Once recovered, she returned to England to nurse her grandfather for a year. She finally got over the hero and is engaged to the hero's distant cousin when the story
opens.
Honestly, the backstory is more interesting than the reunion story.
Hero is still a commitment-phobe. Heroine still has treacherous body syndrome. A pregnancy and a search for a missing boy breaks the impasse. (Hero insists he had his epiphany earlier - but it doesn't matter, they're finally marrying). I don't envy the heroine a jealous husband, but he is older and rich, so perhaps merry widowhood awaits.
August 31, 2018
I like it very much. First half was slow paced but second half was better. Of course H was stubborn, jealous asshat and i wanted to shake him a lot but i loved him at the end. Yes, i know, i lost myself in HPlandia. Lol
April 7, 2018
Impasse. I was at one while reading this book. Should I finish it or should I throw it in the crap pile. Well, I pushed on and finished it and surprisingly, it was the read.
Slade and Lee had an earlier relationship that was very one sided, favoring Slade. He was thirty, she was nineteen and he blackmailed her into a relationship with him on a supposition.
After 6 months with him, Lee ran away and ended up in a convent hospital with amnesia. Now, five years later, Lee is engaged to a nice guy A nice guy who happens to be Slade’s cousin.
Really girl? All the men in the world and you chose his cousin. Smh @u. You were asking for him to walk back into your life and turn that shit upside down. Just like he did!
And then you jump into Slade’s pants five seconds after seeing him again. While engaged to his cousin! And you keep doing it, even though you doubt his feelings for you, and even after he had your motorcycle towed away because he didn’t approve. Eff that ish!
My frustration of Lee’s easy acceptance of Slade’s overbearing ways was great, large, massive. I wanted to shake some sense into her.
So much drama, angst, stupidity. It all works out well, (it’s a HP after all) but the stupid that happens before and the lack of true groveling gives it a 2.75 Stars.
P.S. I loved Trigg. That boy needed lots of hugs.
Slade and Lee had an earlier relationship that was very one sided, favoring Slade. He was thirty, she was nineteen and he blackmailed her into a relationship with him on a supposition.
After 6 months with him, Lee ran away and ended up in a convent hospital with amnesia. Now, five years later, Lee is engaged to a nice guy A nice guy who happens to be Slade’s cousin.
Really girl? All the men in the world and you chose his cousin. Smh @u. You were asking for him to walk back into your life and turn that shit upside down. Just like he did!
And then you jump into Slade’s pants five seconds after seeing him again. While engaged to his cousin! And you keep doing it, even though you doubt his feelings for you, and even after he had your motorcycle towed away because he didn’t approve. Eff that ish!
My frustration of Lee’s easy acceptance of Slade’s overbearing ways was great, large, massive. I wanted to shake some sense into her.
So much drama, angst, stupidity. It all works out well, (it’s a HP after all) but the stupid that happens before and the lack of true groveling gives it a 2.75 Stars.
P.S. I loved Trigg. That boy needed lots of hugs.
Read
May 25, 2014What is it with this author and her fixation with having doormats for heroines who seem to have no pride or self respect??? It's such a shame because her books are actually good but her females always spoil it with their obsessive need for the male leads.
March 11, 2016
I really shouldn’t review this book as I only half read it. I don’t like it because I didn’t believe in the HEA and the H was so against marrying the h. I really believe he’s only marrying the h because of the baby. Also I’m slightly annoyed with h’s friend and ex-fiance’ ending up together just a little too close to home in my opinion.
April 22, 2016
I couldn't finish it, I was bored.
February 15, 2025
Пълна лудница в стар арлекински стил.
3,5⭐️
3,5⭐️
June 29, 2020
He was obsessively wary of love and marriage
Slade Western was arrogant and overbearing, bent on having his own way. Passion seemed to be the only emotion he understood--that and possessiveness.
Lee had always wanted a home and a man willing to share a lifetime commitment, but Slade had always misunderstood her. Finally her dissatisfaction with being little more than a mistress to Slade created an impasse between them, and she left him....
Now, five years later, Slade might still not love her, but he desired her more than ever--enough, at least, to ruin her engagement to someone else! (less)
Slade Western was arrogant and overbearing, bent on having his own way. Passion seemed to be the only emotion he understood--that and possessiveness.
Lee had always wanted a home and a man willing to share a lifetime commitment, but Slade had always misunderstood her. Finally her dissatisfaction with being little more than a mistress to Slade created an impasse between them, and she left him....
Now, five years later, Slade might still not love her, but he desired her more than ever--enough, at least, to ruin her engagement to someone else! (less)
February 26, 2016
My favorite part of this story was the H. He was really possessive of the h and voiced his desperation for her throughout the story. I thought the story with the neighbor was boring. Anyway, the H and h have a passionate love life and I enjoyed reading how they both couldn't get enough of each other.
January 25, 2019
3,5 points. It was good except H's insistence in denying his feelings for h even after 5 years of separation.
August 6, 2017
This was just an ok read. I would have wanted a better flashback of the beginning of their relationship. We get to know how they meet, but the flashback ends with the h agreeing to the blackmail. The rest of the book we just get her memories of how good the relationship was and how they traveled etc. The how and why she left him is a bit vague too.
April 7, 2024
Double standard. The hero wasn’t celibate but of course the heroine was, but ok, it is a old school and women were judged by different standards. But she and the hero met when she was just 19 and he was 30, that was a bit of a nuisance to me, I don’t like when a much older man takes advantage of a much younger woman like he did, he blackmailed to become his mistress because he caught her with a jewel belonging to his mother, that she was basically putting into the safe again since one of he acquaintance tried to steal. Yes, stupid snd silly of her to cover for another persons crime. So the hero thinks she’s a gold digger and a thief and makes her his mistress. She leaves him six months later, has an accident and amnesia. Five years later she’s engaged to one of the hero’s cousins and he wants her back, so he seduces her again, with utter ease since she’s suffering from severe tbs, and then when she dumps the poor fiancé who btw was a decent, honest, kind guy, he proposes to live together again. But by now the heroine has upgraded herself and only wants marriage, sadly the hero won’t comply, he wants his freedom with an obsession that would be unnerving if he didn’t want the heroine even more. In the end he proposes, because he can’t live without her, and btw, she’s also pregnant, which forces her to accept his proposal. There’s a lot going on here, the hero would be simply disgusting but he wants the heroine with a fierceness bordering on insane obsession, he’s awfully jealous and I suppose that having her as his wife will make him much more secure and sane of mind. I think the heroine was quite dumb, if she had been smarter she could have played on his stupid attachment to his precious freedom and his jealousy telling him that, since she was not his anything and she was free as he was, he could shove his jealousy and possessiveness and resign himself to see her flirting with whomever young male she wanted, and if and when she would tire of him she would dump him to go to greener and younger pasture. I think the hero would have thrown her on his shoulder and forced her to marry him in a couple of hours. The man was too jealous, insecure, and possessive to be able to live with her without commitment for a week let alone all his life. The book was not that bad but I didn’t like how the hero treated the heroine the whole time. Had he been 23 instead of 36, but he was old enough to behave like a mature man, not a spoiled and unreasonable manchild.
May 25, 2019
Lee was too young when she met Slade Winston, and since was barely lately had her freedom and he was too much for her to cope with, she tried her best to avoid and refuse him. However, circumstances forced her to be his mistress. She didn't like her worse than death fate so she fled and came back after 5 years engaged to Slade's cousin. Of course, Slade didn't like this and he acted possessively towards her.
The story is fine. It's the characters I didn't like. :( Lee was selfish to be engaged to Matt without frankly telling his she intimately knew his cousin. He was unfaithful and unfair. Slade was worse. He was too obsessive and more of a sex maniac than a lovable lover. He abused his power over her too much and she turned to mushroom in his arms a lot!
The story is fine. It's the characters I didn't like. :( Lee was selfish to be engaged to Matt without frankly telling his she intimately knew his cousin. He was unfaithful and unfair. Slade was worse. He was too obsessive and more of a sex maniac than a lovable lover. He abused his power over her too much and she turned to mushroom in his arms a lot!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2022
Pargeter's heroes are usually mean, sarcastic and distrustful. Some I like, some don't.
This one is a dissapointment.
The young girl has an affair, runs away from her lover because he doesn't love her, gets hurt, loses her memory, regains her memory, meets her lover's cousin, gets engaged, meets the lover again, sleeps with him, breaks an engagement, refuses to live with her lover because he doesn't love her...
This one is a dissapointment.
The young girl has an affair, runs away from her lover because he doesn't love her, gets hurt, loses her memory, regains her memory, meets her lover's cousin, gets engaged, meets the lover again, sleeps with him, breaks an engagement, refuses to live with her lover because he doesn't love her...
September 9, 2018
2.5 stars.
September 2, 2024
Dnf- Chap. 6
December 18, 2025
4.5⭐️ This is one of the spiciest Harlequin romances I’ve ever read . The chemistry between the hero and heroine was electrifying and they acted on it frequently 😅
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews