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Double Doubting
Her defenses were dangerously weak
Liz had tried to keep her husband's memory alive after his death, but with the years, his image had misted over and receded from her. In Avignon, where they'd been happy, she hoped his image would crystallize and comfort her again.
But on her way to Avignon, Liz became stranded at the home of Jean-Marc St. Clair, a man who invaded her thoughts and threatened her security. Jean-Mares eyes promised everything she'd lost--and more.
He promised nothing less than a fearsome kind of love that would require Liz's complete surrender--heart, soul, body and mind.
Liz had tried to keep her husband's memory alive after his death, but with the years, his image had misted over and receded from her. In Avignon, where they'd been happy, she hoped his image would crystallize and comfort her again.
But on her way to Avignon, Liz became stranded at the home of Jean-Marc St. Clair, a man who invaded her thoughts and threatened her security. Jean-Mares eyes promised everything she'd lost--and more.
He promised nothing less than a fearsome kind of love that would require Liz's complete surrender--heart, soul, body and mind.
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 24, 2019
Heroine ruined this one for me. She is a widow traveling to France as a pilgrimage to Avignon - the last place she was happy with her husband. She has agreed to drop her 10 year-old nephew at a French farm as part of a cultural exchange. She does not want to stay and see if her nephew is doing all right among strangers. She just wants to dump him and move on.
A storm and a run in with a fallen tree means that her car will be in the shop for two weeks so she has to stay at the farm/chateau with the handsome hero and his 12 year-old half-brother. She gives in with ill grace. In fact, she does everything with ill grace. She snaps at the kids, slams the phone down on her sister too many times to count, she frowns at the housekeeper. I don't mind if a heroine is bitchy to the hero - she's fighting her feelings after all. But she is rude to *everyone*.
Hero takes it all in his stride. There is a last minute OW in the form of the hero's "Liz Taylor" lookalike step mother who spews a pack of lies.
Heroine has to return to France after four months to final grovel to the hero about believing step mom over him. There are some good passages about moving on from grief and living all of your life - not just the good parts, but the heroine ruined it for me.
A storm and a run in with a fallen tree means that her car will be in the shop for two weeks so she has to stay at the farm/chateau with the handsome hero and his 12 year-old half-brother. She gives in with ill grace. In fact, she does everything with ill grace. She snaps at the kids, slams the phone down on her sister too many times to count, she frowns at the housekeeper. I don't mind if a heroine is bitchy to the hero - she's fighting her feelings after all. But she is rude to *everyone*.
Hero takes it all in his stride. There is a last minute OW in the form of the hero's "Liz Taylor" lookalike step mother who spews a pack of lies.
Heroine has to return to France after four months to final grovel to the hero about believing step mom over him. There are some good passages about moving on from grief and living all of your life - not just the good parts, but the heroine ruined it for me.
October 28, 2015
JM was a Harlequin Romance writer prior to this book. This first HP is a nice little story about an h who is widowed fairly young. She is sort of moving on, but for her family, (especially her rather irritating sister,) it isn't fast enough. Anyhow, the sis finagles her into taking her nephew to visit family in France since the h is going there on a sort of pilgrimage to remember her husband.
The h winds up taking the boy all the way to the house he is visiting and then her car gets damaged, forcing her to stay. The house's owner is the H of course, and he is very interested in this lady. The h is pretty feisty, (a JM trademark) but not a witch, and she isn't comfortable with the H's attentions. Although she does have an attraction, she is still working on her feelings about her marriage and her dead spouse.
They go back an forth and have a few intimate moments but the H's stepmother (who was much younger than the H's dad) throws some big wrenches in the mix when she insists that she and the H were lovers before she married the father, (the H went into the army for a spell,) and that they were still lovers now and the child who the h thinks is the H's brother is actually his son that the stepmother lied and said was the H's fathers so that he could inherit their winery and farm.
The h leaves him of course but she has really fallen in love, so she goes back to see the H after some yelling from her sister. The H explains that he and stepmother dated very briefly as teens, and then she hooked his dad while he was doing military service. She had lovers during the marriage, and overspent a ton of money, but no affairs with the H as he was not interested. The H is not rich in this one, but he does love the h and she loves him back so HEA.
The defining hallmark of JM is her very strong, feisty h's and her incredibly enigmatic H's. They aren't all rich and several of them are farmers - you will get no H pov in her books, but her h's are usually hilarious in HPlandia without being spoiled witches. She always has an evil OW in HPlandia and there is also almost always children in her stories as well (but no plot moppets).
I like her stories a lot, and I suspect she was an older lady as she has some great mature perspectives in how the h's handle a lot situations--they don't run away without really good cause and they don't have hysterical outbursts either. If you like a strong h who isn't stupid and not intimidated and has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, JM is a writer to go with
The h winds up taking the boy all the way to the house he is visiting and then her car gets damaged, forcing her to stay. The house's owner is the H of course, and he is very interested in this lady. The h is pretty feisty, (a JM trademark) but not a witch, and she isn't comfortable with the H's attentions. Although she does have an attraction, she is still working on her feelings about her marriage and her dead spouse.
They go back an forth and have a few intimate moments but the H's stepmother (who was much younger than the H's dad) throws some big wrenches in the mix when she insists that she and the H were lovers before she married the father, (the H went into the army for a spell,) and that they were still lovers now and the child who the h thinks is the H's brother is actually his son that the stepmother lied and said was the H's fathers so that he could inherit their winery and farm.
The h leaves him of course but she has really fallen in love, so she goes back to see the H after some yelling from her sister. The H explains that he and stepmother dated very briefly as teens, and then she hooked his dad while he was doing military service. She had lovers during the marriage, and overspent a ton of money, but no affairs with the H as he was not interested. The H is not rich in this one, but he does love the h and she loves him back so HEA.
The defining hallmark of JM is her very strong, feisty h's and her incredibly enigmatic H's. They aren't all rich and several of them are farmers - you will get no H pov in her books, but her h's are usually hilarious in HPlandia without being spoiled witches. She always has an evil OW in HPlandia and there is also almost always children in her stories as well (but no plot moppets).
I like her stories a lot, and I suspect she was an older lady as she has some great mature perspectives in how the h's handle a lot situations--they don't run away without really good cause and they don't have hysterical outbursts either. If you like a strong h who isn't stupid and not intimidated and has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, JM is a writer to go with
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2021
I can imagine feeling and acting much as h does, the emotions and character are real. There are two main conflicts through the story, first her ongoing sadness and grief keep her locked away from feelings and actions and life. H is determined to break through her wall of self-possession and disinterest. This conflict is the main thrust of the story.
Second conflict is contrived when his stepmother tells all sorts of lies, things h is a fool to give and credence to, especially when she has no reason to x except fear that H is breaching her walls. She wants H to defend himself but why should he? If she genuinely loves him she would know it’s a pack of nonsense.
This author uses kids extremely well. Her boisterous nephew and his brother are minor characters that are solid and add to the story. How she and he interact with the boys shows their characters.
Second conflict is contrived when his stepmother tells all sorts of lies, things h is a fool to give and credence to, especially when she has no reason to x except fear that H is breaching her walls. She wants H to defend himself but why should he? If she genuinely loves him she would know it’s a pack of nonsense.
This author uses kids extremely well. Her boisterous nephew and his brother are minor characters that are solid and add to the story. How she and he interact with the boys shows their characters.
June 16, 2021
This is why I usually don’t like HP’s of widows/widowers or of people who are divorced from another man/woman. The constant comparisons and thinking about the past with that other man/woman.
I know tragedies happen to people. I know that’s real life. But when I reach for a HP, I don’t want to read about real life or tragedies.
I want to be swept off my feet by a besotted H who only has eyes for the h. I want the full romance. I want the dream. If I would want reality, I would choose a different genre of books.
I know tragedies happen to people. I know that’s real life. But when I reach for a HP, I don’t want to read about real life or tragedies.
I want to be swept off my feet by a besotted H who only has eyes for the h. I want the full romance. I want the dream. If I would want reality, I would choose a different genre of books.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews