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Breaking/Making Up: Something Borrowed / Vendetta
Two irresistible men from Down Under--one Aussie, one Kiwi. The time hascome for them to settle old scores and win the women they've always wanted!
Something Borrowed:
Ashleigh is marrying James. He's kind and reliable--unlike Jake, his wild identical twin, who loved Ashleigh and left her long ago. This time, Ashleigh is sure she's chosen the right brother.... Until her wedding night turns out to be so passionate that she wonders if she knows her new husband at all!
Vendetta:
Vivian goes in place of her sister to face Nicholas Thorne's retribution--and walks into his trap. Nicholas is now Vivian's captor and she must play him along until she can outwit him But Nicholas has waited ten years for this.... To seduce Vivian into falling in love with him will be the greatest revenge ever!
Something Borrowed:
Ashleigh is marrying James. He's kind and reliable--unlike Jake, his wild identical twin, who loved Ashleigh and left her long ago. This time, Ashleigh is sure she's chosen the right brother.... Until her wedding night turns out to be so passionate that she wonders if she knows her new husband at all!
Vendetta:
Vivian goes in place of her sister to face Nicholas Thorne's retribution--and walks into his trap. Nicholas is now Vivian's captor and she must play him along until she can outwit him But Nicholas has waited ten years for this.... To seduce Vivian into falling in love with him will be the greatest revenge ever!
184 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1997
10 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Miranda Lee
813 books235 followersMaureen Mary was born on 1945 at Port Macquarie, a popular seaside town on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is the youngest of four children. Her sister was the novelist Wendy Brennan (Emma Darcy). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. When Miranda was ten, her father was transferred to Gosford, another coastal town in the countryside, much closer to Sydney. After leaving her convent school, she briefly studied the cello before moving to Sydney, where she embraced the emerging world of computers. Her career as a programmer ended after she married, had three daughters and bought a small acreage in a semi-rural community. Following this, she attempted greyhound training, as well as horse and goat breeding, but was left dissatisfied.
Miranda yearned to find a creative career from which she could earn money. When her sister suggested writing romances, it seemed like a good idea. She could do it at home, and it might even be fun! It took a decade of trial and error before her first romance, After the Affair, was accepted and published. At that time, Miranda, her husband Tony, and her three daughters had moved back to the Central Coast, where they could enjoy the sun and the surf lifestyle once again. Not long into her writing career, Miranda committed herself to writing a six-book series entitled, The Hearts of Fire, with a deadline of just nine short months. Bravely, her husband left his executive position to stay home and support Miranda’s writing career. He learned to cook and to clean, two invaluable household skills. Numerous successful stories followed, each embodying Miranda’s trademark style: pacy and sexy rhythms; passionate, real-life characters; and enduring, memorable story lines. She has one credo when writing romances: Don’t bore the reader! Millions of fans world-wide agree she never does.
Miranda was the sister of the late author, Emma Darcy.
Miranda yearned to find a creative career from which she could earn money. When her sister suggested writing romances, it seemed like a good idea. She could do it at home, and it might even be fun! It took a decade of trial and error before her first romance, After the Affair, was accepted and published. At that time, Miranda, her husband Tony, and her three daughters had moved back to the Central Coast, where they could enjoy the sun and the surf lifestyle once again. Not long into her writing career, Miranda committed herself to writing a six-book series entitled, The Hearts of Fire, with a deadline of just nine short months. Bravely, her husband left his executive position to stay home and support Miranda’s writing career. He learned to cook and to clean, two invaluable household skills. Numerous successful stories followed, each embodying Miranda’s trademark style: pacy and sexy rhythms; passionate, real-life characters; and enduring, memorable story lines. She has one credo when writing romances: Don’t bore the reader! Millions of fans world-wide agree she never does.
Miranda was the sister of the late author, Emma Darcy.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 29, 2018
Re Breaking/Making Up - Miranda Lee and Susan Napier do two novellas in one book for the very first time in this little whackatstic trip to HPlandia.
First up is Miranda Lee with Something Borrowed. The h in this is almost 30 and a doctor. Her indifferent father and dead mother have left her somewhat adrift family-wise, but the h is sure that her upcoming marriage to the twin brother of her first and only lover will at least allow her the comfort of children in her life.
It seems when the h was a teenager, she fell in love with a typical bad boy son of a local socially prominent family. The h was friends with both of the family's twin sons, but one just had a treacherous body syndrome mojo that she couldn't resist.
When the h finally graduated from school, she and her boyfriend became lovers. It wasn't great until they bought a manual, then their love life went from zero to mach 10 and both of them were breathless with the passion.
The boyfriend then decided to go overseas for a few months and did not want the h to come with him. The heartbroken h watched her true love fly off and then came the news that he got convicted of drug smuggling in Thailand some months later.
The h did not believe her love would do such a thing, so she flew out to Thailand, only to be berated and told that she had been cheated on multiple times and that her boyfriend did indeed smuggle drugs. The betrayed h still wouldn't give up, she gave her boyfriend her heart locket as a symbol of her love and continued to write letters that were never answered.
Even when the boyfriend was pardoned a few years later, he never came back to the h's hometown to look her up. So the h went to medical school, started practicing in the big city and then when the h's biological clock started ticking, she came back to her hometown and ran into her boyfriend's look alike brother.
They soon decided to marry, even tho they did not love each other and the day of the wedding is at hand. But when the h's fiance's mother comes in with her old heart locket and looking a bit shell shocked, the h is determined to let nothing ruin her day. The mother gives the h the news that her old boyfriend sent the locket back and the h is furious.
She has a wedding to get to tho, so she defiantly wears the locket as a statement of taking her heart back and on the way to the wedding, the h ponders if she will be able to sleep with her old love's brother. The h decides that for kids she can do it.
Then her irritated father drops the bombshell that he is kicking the h out of the family medical practice, because a woman should know her place doncha' know - and that is at home having dinner parties and babies.
The h is walking down the aisle when she realizes that the groom's knuckles are messed up like he has been fighting and the original best man has been replaced. The h is okay with the best man replacement, she hated the original one, tho he is very good friends with her groom.
The h gets another jolt when the celebrant calls the groom by the name of her old boyfriend, the two brothers have the same name, but reversed in order. After the wedding, the h is immediately hauled off for cheap hotel passion moments and the truth is revealed. The old boyfriend pretended to be the h's fiance and groom.
The original best man has managed to seduce his brother into being gay and the two of them ran off together. The whole wedding was a farce with a fake celebrant and the H only did it to save his mother's social position. The h is livid and a forced seduction ensues.
Then the h goes to town on berating the H. He claims that he still loves the h and that he was set up on the drug smuggling too. When he was finally released, his brother and his parent's lied about the h being engaged to some other guy. The parents because they never believed the H was innocent and his brother lied because the H knew he was gay and did not want his seekrit getting out.
The H wants the h to move to Thailand with him, but the h refuses at first. Then the H takes the h to see his mother and she turns out to be a total witch. The h is shocked and ready to go with the H wherever, she decides she still loves him and always has.
( The H explained that he originally left because his rich aunt suggested the h and he needed time apart to evaluate their feelings for each other. )
The mother then does an about face because she is sure her favorite son, (the gay brother, not the H,) is really straight and was only forced to be gay by an evil man. So the h and her BFF bridesmaid concoct a cover story to keep all the scandals safely hidden and the H reveals that he is really rich from his aunt and the two of them leave for Thailand and their HEA.
This is a Typhoon of Tackiness that is about the lowest of the low with the whole forced into being gay brother explanation. Still it is a quick read and the build up to the H's big reveal is pretty good, tho 3 stars is pretty generous cause I am feeling the aftereffects of Christmas cheer.
Susan Napier's Vendetta is just plain terrible. The h shows up with a bag of cash and a seekrit on some nearly deserted isle. She is trying to get a land contract signed for the land management company she has a big stake in.
It seems the wealthy h, (her natural parents left her a fortune,) was engaged to the owner of the land management company she invested heavily in and she is also adopted. When she was 15, she was driving some teens and her adopted sister home one night when there was a bad wreck due to the weather.
The man driving the other car was injured, his pregnant wife was killed and there was apparently a son in the back seat that survived with some injuries. The h was pretty sheltered from the effects of the accident by her adoptive parents, but she does know that one of the passengers was slated to compete in the Olympics as a sprinter and that he was injured badly enough that he couldn't compete anymore.
The h knows the guy doing the land deal is the former driver of the car in disguise. He seems to be using the land as a way to get her sister out to the deserted island and take his revenge. When the h finds out her money grubbing fiance and dubious adopted sister are having an affair behind her back, she suggests the sister marry the fiance instead.
Then the the h goes to the island in her sister's place to try and convince a vengeance ridden man to go ahead with the deal and not bankrupt their company. When she gets there the man she meets seems very angry and he drugs her.
While she is unconscious, he takes very intimate photos of her and when the h wakes up a full day later, the man tells her he is going to send the lewd photos to her fiance to force the h to be jilted at the altar. (The h doesn't mention that her wedding is now her sister's, she just wants the land contracts the H signed and she paid for.)
Then the H suggests that he raped her while she was unconscious. (SN tries to present it as seduction, but the h was comatose and it would clearly be a case of rape and was absolutely disgusting.)
The H then goes on about him forcing the h to have his child and over the course the next few days, the h decides she is in love with the H. (Why or how I do not know, but SN wrote it that way.) So the h starts questioning the H and then she finds the chloral hydrate he used to drug her. The h takes the bottle and drugs the H.
But not before the H explains that he was the son that was in the backseat, he and his father have the same name and his father was driving. The H also reveals that his father forced him to marry his wife and they hated each other, so he was glad she died.
Then the H passes out and the h tries to escape by stealing a wet suite and swimming for the mainland of New Zealand. The H chases her down in a boat and rescues her and then we get the rest of the story.
After the wreck, the H ignored and avoided his father for years. Until he found out that his father had been planning some sort of huge vengeance against the h because the father felt that the h had destroyed his relationship with his son, the H, who basically had enough of his psychopathic manipulations and disowned him.
The father had a stroke,so the H came to the island to conduct the land deal and then apologize for his father's vendetta. But the H fell in love with the h when she showed up instead of her sister and the H decided that since he knew she was getting married, he had to do whatever to stop her.
(So the father's psychopathic behavior is perpetuated via the H. Tho he does confess he never raped the h while she was unconscious.)
By now the h has explained that her sister is the one marrying her fiance and that she loves the H back, so the two of them are going to marry each other for the HEA.
This one was a mess, it was confusing and the comatose drugging ruined my happy Christmas Cheer Glow, so I had to go drink some more to recover.
Overall the first book in this is marginally readable and the second one is too bad to even be cultic, which means that this is one book that can probably be skipped for better HP outings and may not be worth reading if you run into it.
First up is Miranda Lee with Something Borrowed. The h in this is almost 30 and a doctor. Her indifferent father and dead mother have left her somewhat adrift family-wise, but the h is sure that her upcoming marriage to the twin brother of her first and only lover will at least allow her the comfort of children in her life.
It seems when the h was a teenager, she fell in love with a typical bad boy son of a local socially prominent family. The h was friends with both of the family's twin sons, but one just had a treacherous body syndrome mojo that she couldn't resist.
When the h finally graduated from school, she and her boyfriend became lovers. It wasn't great until they bought a manual, then their love life went from zero to mach 10 and both of them were breathless with the passion.
The boyfriend then decided to go overseas for a few months and did not want the h to come with him. The heartbroken h watched her true love fly off and then came the news that he got convicted of drug smuggling in Thailand some months later.
The h did not believe her love would do such a thing, so she flew out to Thailand, only to be berated and told that she had been cheated on multiple times and that her boyfriend did indeed smuggle drugs. The betrayed h still wouldn't give up, she gave her boyfriend her heart locket as a symbol of her love and continued to write letters that were never answered.
Even when the boyfriend was pardoned a few years later, he never came back to the h's hometown to look her up. So the h went to medical school, started practicing in the big city and then when the h's biological clock started ticking, she came back to her hometown and ran into her boyfriend's look alike brother.
They soon decided to marry, even tho they did not love each other and the day of the wedding is at hand. But when the h's fiance's mother comes in with her old heart locket and looking a bit shell shocked, the h is determined to let nothing ruin her day. The mother gives the h the news that her old boyfriend sent the locket back and the h is furious.
She has a wedding to get to tho, so she defiantly wears the locket as a statement of taking her heart back and on the way to the wedding, the h ponders if she will be able to sleep with her old love's brother. The h decides that for kids she can do it.
Then her irritated father drops the bombshell that he is kicking the h out of the family medical practice, because a woman should know her place doncha' know - and that is at home having dinner parties and babies.
The h is walking down the aisle when she realizes that the groom's knuckles are messed up like he has been fighting and the original best man has been replaced. The h is okay with the best man replacement, she hated the original one, tho he is very good friends with her groom.
The h gets another jolt when the celebrant calls the groom by the name of her old boyfriend, the two brothers have the same name, but reversed in order. After the wedding, the h is immediately hauled off for cheap hotel passion moments and the truth is revealed. The old boyfriend pretended to be the h's fiance and groom.
The original best man has managed to seduce his brother into being gay and the two of them ran off together. The whole wedding was a farce with a fake celebrant and the H only did it to save his mother's social position. The h is livid and a forced seduction ensues.
Then the h goes to town on berating the H. He claims that he still loves the h and that he was set up on the drug smuggling too. When he was finally released, his brother and his parent's lied about the h being engaged to some other guy. The parents because they never believed the H was innocent and his brother lied because the H knew he was gay and did not want his seekrit getting out.
The H wants the h to move to Thailand with him, but the h refuses at first. Then the H takes the h to see his mother and she turns out to be a total witch. The h is shocked and ready to go with the H wherever, she decides she still loves him and always has.
( The H explained that he originally left because his rich aunt suggested the h and he needed time apart to evaluate their feelings for each other. )
The mother then does an about face because she is sure her favorite son, (the gay brother, not the H,) is really straight and was only forced to be gay by an evil man. So the h and her BFF bridesmaid concoct a cover story to keep all the scandals safely hidden and the H reveals that he is really rich from his aunt and the two of them leave for Thailand and their HEA.
This is a Typhoon of Tackiness that is about the lowest of the low with the whole forced into being gay brother explanation. Still it is a quick read and the build up to the H's big reveal is pretty good, tho 3 stars is pretty generous cause I am feeling the aftereffects of Christmas cheer.
Susan Napier's Vendetta is just plain terrible. The h shows up with a bag of cash and a seekrit on some nearly deserted isle. She is trying to get a land contract signed for the land management company she has a big stake in.
It seems the wealthy h, (her natural parents left her a fortune,) was engaged to the owner of the land management company she invested heavily in and she is also adopted. When she was 15, she was driving some teens and her adopted sister home one night when there was a bad wreck due to the weather.
The man driving the other car was injured, his pregnant wife was killed and there was apparently a son in the back seat that survived with some injuries. The h was pretty sheltered from the effects of the accident by her adoptive parents, but she does know that one of the passengers was slated to compete in the Olympics as a sprinter and that he was injured badly enough that he couldn't compete anymore.
The h knows the guy doing the land deal is the former driver of the car in disguise. He seems to be using the land as a way to get her sister out to the deserted island and take his revenge. When the h finds out her money grubbing fiance and dubious adopted sister are having an affair behind her back, she suggests the sister marry the fiance instead.
Then the the h goes to the island in her sister's place to try and convince a vengeance ridden man to go ahead with the deal and not bankrupt their company. When she gets there the man she meets seems very angry and he drugs her.
While she is unconscious, he takes very intimate photos of her and when the h wakes up a full day later, the man tells her he is going to send the lewd photos to her fiance to force the h to be jilted at the altar. (The h doesn't mention that her wedding is now her sister's, she just wants the land contracts the H signed and she paid for.)
Then the H suggests that he raped her while she was unconscious. (SN tries to present it as seduction, but the h was comatose and it would clearly be a case of rape and was absolutely disgusting.)
The H then goes on about him forcing the h to have his child and over the course the next few days, the h decides she is in love with the H. (Why or how I do not know, but SN wrote it that way.) So the h starts questioning the H and then she finds the chloral hydrate he used to drug her. The h takes the bottle and drugs the H.
But not before the H explains that he was the son that was in the backseat, he and his father have the same name and his father was driving. The H also reveals that his father forced him to marry his wife and they hated each other, so he was glad she died.
Then the H passes out and the h tries to escape by stealing a wet suite and swimming for the mainland of New Zealand. The H chases her down in a boat and rescues her and then we get the rest of the story.
After the wreck, the H ignored and avoided his father for years. Until he found out that his father had been planning some sort of huge vengeance against the h because the father felt that the h had destroyed his relationship with his son, the H, who basically had enough of his psychopathic manipulations and disowned him.
The father had a stroke,so the H came to the island to conduct the land deal and then apologize for his father's vendetta. But the H fell in love with the h when she showed up instead of her sister and the H decided that since he knew she was getting married, he had to do whatever to stop her.
(So the father's psychopathic behavior is perpetuated via the H. Tho he does confess he never raped the h while she was unconscious.)
By now the h has explained that her sister is the one marrying her fiance and that she loves the H back, so the two of them are going to marry each other for the HEA.
This one was a mess, it was confusing and the comatose drugging ruined my happy Christmas Cheer Glow, so I had to go drink some more to recover.
Overall the first book in this is marginally readable and the second one is too bad to even be cultic, which means that this is one book that can probably be skipped for better HP outings and may not be worth reading if you run into it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2019
What the.... I only read the first book in this nutbasket as I had already read the other whackadoodle mess a few weeks ago.
Another total bonkers one.
I'm not even going to review this one properly suffice to say Boogenhagen has all the deets.
Its nice to see the the h is an intelligent independent woman with a decent job she clearly worked hard for.
The H is just... words can't even he is dumb as a box of rocks. EVERYONE knows you don't carry stuff for strangers esp in Thailand its notorious as a drug smuggling hotpsot. We've all seen the movies and documentaries about being locked up abroad. I mean who stays in the country that incarcerated him if fact I'm pretty sure if you are charged with a crime in another country when you are released (esp as he was deus machina pardoned) you get your butt deported back to your country of origin.
I like my H's smarter than this :(
Another total bonkers one.
I'm not even going to review this one properly suffice to say Boogenhagen has all the deets.
Its nice to see the the h is an intelligent independent woman with a decent job she clearly worked hard for.
The H is just... words can't even he is dumb as a box of rocks. EVERYONE knows you don't carry stuff for strangers esp in Thailand its notorious as a drug smuggling hotpsot. We've all seen the movies and documentaries about being locked up abroad. I mean who stays in the country that incarcerated him if fact I'm pretty sure if you are charged with a crime in another country when you are released (esp as he was deus machina pardoned) you get your butt deported back to your country of origin.
I like my H's smarter than this :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2020
I picked this up for the second story, so I had no idea what I was getting into with the first, Something Borrowed, by Miranda Lee. And I have parts of this under spoilers since I don't think I would have enjoyed this as much if I had been aware of the surprise.
It's the heroine's wedding day and she is marrying the identical twin of her true love who was busted for drugs in Thailand years ago. Heroine maintained his innocence and carried the torch all through medical school - until the hero was freed and never contacted her. Heart-broken, she has made-do with the ineffectual twin.
Boogenhagen has all the details, so I won't go into the fact that
But I will note that I re-read Michelle Reid's House of Glass after this story and I noticed some interesting compare/ contrast.
They both handled this topic in a way that was "enlightened" at the time. Although
It's the heroine's wedding day and she is marrying the identical twin of her true love who was busted for drugs in Thailand years ago. Heroine maintained his innocence and carried the torch all through medical school - until the hero was freed and never contacted her. Heart-broken, she has made-do with the ineffectual twin.
Boogenhagen has all the details, so I won't go into the fact that
But I will note that I re-read Michelle Reid's House of Glass after this story and I noticed some interesting compare/ contrast.
They both handled this topic in a way that was "enlightened" at the time. Although
November 23, 2021
The rating was for Something Borrowed, I didn’t re-read Vendetta.
November 9, 2021
This would have been better if it had been longer (I always say that!) and was more about their reconciliation. The major plot was when she would discover who she was marrying. It was lame!
October 11, 2017
Plot was obvious
The characters were ok but even in the 90's I am not sure if anyone would have talked about gay men this way. Seduced by an evil man into being gay? Really?
The characters were ok but even in the 90's I am not sure if anyone would have talked about gay men this way. Seduced by an evil man into being gay? Really?
November 12, 2021
Two novellas…
First we have Miranda Lee’s Something Borrowed.
Girl(our heroine Ashleigh) meets twin brothers. They grow up together and are pals. High school hits and said girl becomes girlfriend of the hero twin, Jake. James, the other twin takes a backseat and bides his time. The H and h are high school sweethearts who wait until she is 18 to consummate their relationship. They work out the whole awkward sex thing and get into quite a good groove. Then the hero takes a vacation to Thailand at his aunt’s request. Hero is arrested for smuggling drugs. Heroine goes to hero. Hero rejects heroine and tells her it was puppy love. He has since had better. Heroine is sad. She devotes her time to university, becomes a Doctor, and works for her dad who has ideas about a woman’s place. Hero’s life sentence is dropped and he is let out of prison about 3 years before our story opens. He comes to town. He doesn’t seek out the heroine. Heroine is sad. Hero’s family rejects him thinking he was guilty. Hero returns to Thailand and decides to move on with his life and sexual pursuits. Fast forward 3 years….
Heroine is 29, her bio clock is ticking. James wants a family as well. Heroine and James(the twin) marry. On their wedding day, the heroine finally feels some very strong attraction for the take charge hero. He is getting her dormant mojo a going. Plus, he has gotten rid of his nasty friend who disliked the heroine. The wedding afternoon/night at a roadside motel is phenomenal and then Hell breaks loose. Actually, hell doesn’t only break loose, it unleashes every hellhound from the underworld. There ends up being a lot of truths that are shared, cleared up, and the two plan to go on and have their HEA.
Ok, there is a lot more to this story, but I think it is better read without the spoiler. Oh and there is an obvious in your face spoiler, that you, my HP reading friend, will figure out right away. However, there is a little sneaky sneak that ML put in there, that upon reflection I’m like oh 😯, but I definitely didn’t expect it. This story would have been a 4 but the last chapter, imo, was too concerned about helping the evil-doers not lose status in the community. I wish instead that there had been an epilogue with our lovely couple and their parcel of children living it up in their new home. I found the denials in the story over the “evil man” humorous. This was written in 1997. It would be differently approached in 2021. There are family members on both sides that made me mad.
Here is Susan Napier, Vendetta: I tend to like SN more than ML, so let’s see what happens.
OK this definitely needed to be longer. The train-wreck that was this story made the train-wreck in the movie Fugitive look like children playing with a train set. There were so many “revelations” that I feel like SN took every idea she ever had in her head for a story and just tossed it in this 90 page story. With that being said things were underdeveloped to a certain extent.
There is revenge, love gone wrong, love at first sight, eye patches, freckles, cleavage, limps, coke bottle glasses, burly body guards, desolate island complete with lighthouse, frightening fathers, daring escapes, handcuffs 😯, morning wood, bare breasts, one up man ships, drugs, explicit photos and the list goes on . If you don’t believe me check out the review by Stmargarets. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
During the story, I was like….didn’t see that coming……..3-4 ⭐️
First we have Miranda Lee’s Something Borrowed.
Girl(our heroine Ashleigh) meets twin brothers. They grow up together and are pals. High school hits and said girl becomes girlfriend of the hero twin, Jake. James, the other twin takes a backseat and bides his time. The H and h are high school sweethearts who wait until she is 18 to consummate their relationship. They work out the whole awkward sex thing and get into quite a good groove. Then the hero takes a vacation to Thailand at his aunt’s request. Hero is arrested for smuggling drugs. Heroine goes to hero. Hero rejects heroine and tells her it was puppy love. He has since had better. Heroine is sad. She devotes her time to university, becomes a Doctor, and works for her dad who has ideas about a woman’s place. Hero’s life sentence is dropped and he is let out of prison about 3 years before our story opens. He comes to town. He doesn’t seek out the heroine. Heroine is sad. Hero’s family rejects him thinking he was guilty. Hero returns to Thailand and decides to move on with his life and sexual pursuits. Fast forward 3 years….
Heroine is 29, her bio clock is ticking. James wants a family as well. Heroine and James(the twin) marry. On their wedding day, the heroine finally feels some very strong attraction for the take charge hero. He is getting her dormant mojo a going. Plus, he has gotten rid of his nasty friend who disliked the heroine. The wedding afternoon/night at a roadside motel is phenomenal and then Hell breaks loose. Actually, hell doesn’t only break loose, it unleashes every hellhound from the underworld. There ends up being a lot of truths that are shared, cleared up, and the two plan to go on and have their HEA.
Ok, there is a lot more to this story, but I think it is better read without the spoiler. Oh and there is an obvious in your face spoiler, that you, my HP reading friend, will figure out right away. However, there is a little sneaky sneak that ML put in there, that upon reflection I’m like oh 😯, but I definitely didn’t expect it. This story would have been a 4 but the last chapter, imo, was too concerned about helping the evil-doers not lose status in the community. I wish instead that there had been an epilogue with our lovely couple and their parcel of children living it up in their new home. I found the denials in the story over the “evil man” humorous. This was written in 1997. It would be differently approached in 2021. There are family members on both sides that made me mad.
Here is Susan Napier, Vendetta: I tend to like SN more than ML, so let’s see what happens.
OK this definitely needed to be longer. The train-wreck that was this story made the train-wreck in the movie Fugitive look like children playing with a train set. There were so many “revelations” that I feel like SN took every idea she ever had in her head for a story and just tossed it in this 90 page story. With that being said things were underdeveloped to a certain extent.
There is revenge, love gone wrong, love at first sight, eye patches, freckles, cleavage, limps, coke bottle glasses, burly body guards, desolate island complete with lighthouse, frightening fathers, daring escapes, handcuffs 😯, morning wood, bare breasts, one up man ships, drugs, explicit photos and the list goes on . If you don’t believe me check out the review by Stmargarets. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
During the story, I was like….didn’t see that coming……..3-4 ⭐️
May 8, 2019
Breaking/Making Up
The first story was about a young woman who was about to marry the twin brother of the man she had once loved. He had ended up in prison. Now after the wedding she finds out that she indeed married her first love? But will it be enough to keep the marriage going? What happened in the past can make a impact now.
This story has a past that was mired in a car accident that caused some people to believe something else. The two people have a past that now is interfering with their present. Secrets and lies that were told to cover up the past is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. But can love win all!
The first story was about a young woman who was about to marry the twin brother of the man she had once loved. He had ended up in prison. Now after the wedding she finds out that she indeed married her first love? But will it be enough to keep the marriage going? What happened in the past can make a impact now.
This story has a past that was mired in a car accident that caused some people to believe something else. The two people have a past that now is interfering with their present. Secrets and lies that were told to cover up the past is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. But can love win all!
July 28, 2022
Loved Them!
I may re-read them immediately. It was ridiculous, but I loved them both, especially the last one. Old fashioned fun!
I may re-read them immediately. It was ridiculous, but I loved them both, especially the last one. Old fashioned fun!
December 7, 2022
First one is lousy and second is DNF.
December 11, 2023
Neither one was good! So disappointing 😔
May 18, 2016
3 stars for something something borrowed, 2 stars for vendetta, August 31, 2008
This review is from: Making Up (Not Breaking Up) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book has two stories as mentioned and they are both half the pages of a regular harlequin presents.
SOMETHING BORROWED: Ashleigh is marrying James. He's kind and reliable - unlike Jake, his wild identical twin, who loved Ashleighand left her long ago. This time, Ashleigh is sure she's chosen the right brother... Until her wedding night turns out to be so passionate that she wonders if she knows her new husband at all!
VENDETTA: Vivan goes in place of her sister to face Nicholas Thorne's retribution - and walks into his trap. Nicholas is now Vivian's captor and she must play him along until she can outwit him But Nicholas has waited ten years for this... To seduce Vivian into falling in love with him will be the greatest revenge ever!
MY THOUGHTS: I thought the first story was pretty readable and entertaining. I actually read every word because I was curious as to Jake pretended to be James and when the big reveal was gonna happen. The story is Ashleigh was in love with Jake but he breaks her heart by throwing her away cruelly, he was in jail for drug smuggling in Thailand, life imprisonment. But he is set free later and even then never contacts Ashleigh so she becomes traumatized, and reaches the age of 30 without ever being involved with another man - until she meets James again, Jake's brother. So because her biological clock is ticking and she does want to have a family she agrees to marry James even though she doesn't love him and doesn't think she can ever have that super duper physical passion & love she had for Jake. And yes, of course, there is a twist in the story as to why Jake did what he did, why James wanted to marry Ashleigh, etc. Even though the book was 86 pages long, they were able to put the whole story there and still be a little exciting.
The second story I actually skimmed. I didn't like the short synopsis and then when I started reading it, the heroine didn't seem appealing to me, she had glasses, and red hair, and I guess the author in my impression made her sound to be plain 0_0 I know, I'm shallow. And eh, anyway, the story didn't appeal to me. But what its about is that the hero Nicholas Thorne wants to avenge the fact that back when Vivian was 15 along with her sister drove a car and had an accident and the other car carried Nicholas, his pregnant wife and son. So now he wants revenge for that. Of course, all is not what it seems and there is a twist in the story - in Nicholas' case and Vivian's case. Anyway, I wasn't too emotionally involved in the characters so I gave it a 2 stars.
This review is from: Making Up (Not Breaking Up) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book has two stories as mentioned and they are both half the pages of a regular harlequin presents.
SOMETHING BORROWED: Ashleigh is marrying James. He's kind and reliable - unlike Jake, his wild identical twin, who loved Ashleighand left her long ago. This time, Ashleigh is sure she's chosen the right brother... Until her wedding night turns out to be so passionate that she wonders if she knows her new husband at all!
VENDETTA: Vivan goes in place of her sister to face Nicholas Thorne's retribution - and walks into his trap. Nicholas is now Vivian's captor and she must play him along until she can outwit him But Nicholas has waited ten years for this... To seduce Vivian into falling in love with him will be the greatest revenge ever!
MY THOUGHTS: I thought the first story was pretty readable and entertaining. I actually read every word because I was curious as to Jake pretended to be James and when the big reveal was gonna happen. The story is Ashleigh was in love with Jake but he breaks her heart by throwing her away cruelly, he was in jail for drug smuggling in Thailand, life imprisonment. But he is set free later and even then never contacts Ashleigh so she becomes traumatized, and reaches the age of 30 without ever being involved with another man - until she meets James again, Jake's brother. So because her biological clock is ticking and she does want to have a family she agrees to marry James even though she doesn't love him and doesn't think she can ever have that super duper physical passion & love she had for Jake. And yes, of course, there is a twist in the story as to why Jake did what he did, why James wanted to marry Ashleigh, etc. Even though the book was 86 pages long, they were able to put the whole story there and still be a little exciting.
The second story I actually skimmed. I didn't like the short synopsis and then when I started reading it, the heroine didn't seem appealing to me, she had glasses, and red hair, and I guess the author in my impression made her sound to be plain 0_0 I know, I'm shallow. And eh, anyway, the story didn't appeal to me. But what its about is that the hero Nicholas Thorne wants to avenge the fact that back when Vivian was 15 along with her sister drove a car and had an accident and the other car carried Nicholas, his pregnant wife and son. So now he wants revenge for that. Of course, all is not what it seems and there is a twist in the story - in Nicholas' case and Vivian's case. Anyway, I wasn't too emotionally involved in the characters so I gave it a 2 stars.
hq-to-read
November 12, 2019Breaking Making Up
Two irresistible men from Down Under--one Aussie, one Kiwi. The time has come for them to settle old scores and win the women they've always wanted!
Miranda Lee Something Borrowed
Ashleigh is marring James. He's kind and reliable--unlike Jake, his wild identical twin, who loved Ashleigh and left her long ago. This time, Ashleigh is sure she's chosen the right brother.... Until her wedding night turns out to be so passionate that she wonders if she knows her new husband at all!
Susan Napier Vendetta
Vivian goes in place of her sister to face Nicholas Thorne's retribution--and walks into his trap. Nicholas is now Vivian's captor and she must play him along until she can outwit him. But Nicholas has waited ten years for this.... To seduce Vivian into falling in love with him will be the greatest revenge ever!
Breaking Making Up
Two irresistible men from Down Under--one Aussie, one Kiwi. The time has come for them to settle old scores and win the women they've always wanted!
Miranda Lee Something Borrowed
Ashleigh is marring James. He's kind and reliable--unlike Jake, his wild identical twin, who loved Ashleigh and left her long ago. This time, Ashleigh is sure she's chosen the right brother.... Until her wedding night turns out to be so passionate that she wonders if she knows her new husband at all!
Susan Napier Vendetta
Vivian goes in place of her sister to face Nicholas Thorne's retribution--and walks into his trap. Nicholas is now Vivian's captor and she must play him along until she can outwit him. But Nicholas has waited ten years for this.... To seduce Vivian into falling in love with him will be the greatest revenge ever!
Breaking Making Up
August 11, 2013
It's just too short to do anything much for me, there's just not enough pages or happenings going on to make me think the main characters are actually in love... I think if the 1st story's a longer one, there is actually a pretty interesting storyline there. The 2nd one is just a bit like a bodiceripper piraty thingy that I'm not too into.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 3, 2009MIRANDA LEE = SOMETHING BORROWED
SUSAN NAPIER = VENDETTA
SUSAN NAPIER = VENDETTA
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