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Reluctant Captive
Second time around
Kate vowed she would never see Nicolas again--much less share his bed...or his name. But the powerful Sydney businessman was both ruthless and determined--and wasn't above resorting to blackmail to get what he wanted. He wanted his wife!
And now Kate was back in the gilded cage that she'd once called home. But in the time that they'd been apart, Kate had grown older and wiser. She had no regrets that their marriage had been one of convenience, but was she so wrong to desire a future filled with love?
Kate vowed she would never see Nicolas again--much less share his bed...or his name. But the powerful Sydney businessman was both ruthless and determined--and wasn't above resorting to blackmail to get what he wanted. He wanted his wife!
And now Kate was back in the gilded cage that she'd once called home. But in the time that they'd been apart, Kate had grown older and wiser. She had no regrets that their marriage had been one of convenience, but was she so wrong to desire a future filled with love?
188 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1992
123 people want to read
About the author
Helen Bianchin
380 books228 followersHelen Shirley was born on February 20 1939 in New Zealand, where she grew up, an only child possessed by a vivid imagination and a love for reading. She wrote stories for amusement in her early teenage years, and when she left leaving school, she took a secretarial job at a father-and-son legal firm.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 26, 2018
Re: Reluctant Captive - Helen Bianchin has another entry for A Year Down Under series with this one.
We start with the 22 yr old h having to return to Sydney and her adulterous husband or her spoiled slime pustule of a brat sister will wind up in juvvie jail.
The backstory on this is that the h's weak, parasitic mother conspired with her BFF to marry the h off the to the woman's son. Ostensibly so that her daughter's would have a means of support, because apparently borrowing some money and sending her daughter's to uni for a career or training is too low class or something.
So the H and h marry. The h is in love or at least serious infatuation, but the H is too busy with the wife of his BFF, escorting her about town and social functions that he does NOT bring his wife to, to notice. Eventually the rumors reach the h, there is a confrontation and the H denies any wrong doing and the h takes her sister and takes off for the bush.
She has now spent three years building a life and supporting herself via trading labor etc, but her pus blob sister doesn't like to work or scrimp and save, so she runs back to the big city. Where the pus blob went to a big hotel, ran up a ton of bills and then tried to sneak off. The hotel wants to press charges and since the H is ready for his heir and has been secretly financing the h anyway, he figures the time is ripe to drag his wife back.
The H will only intervene for the sister if the h returns to him as his devoted sex toy and broodmare. With a sense of doom that she can't let her little sister go to jail and a moment of regret that she never got any calcium as a child to develop a bone structure, the h agrees.
We get the usual HB high society witchy OW and clothesfest with endless charity events scenarios. The h and H fight, she slaps him and he hauls her off to bed. The HB trademark witchy OW make comments, the H orders the h about and she soon learns to ask permission to breathe.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat
We also get the typical HB trademark ladies room meeting - but this time it is the first OW, (who is now divorced), who wants to patronize the h during lunch and issues an invitation. Instead of telling the woman that she loses her appetite when she is expected to dine with adulterous tarts, the h goes to lunch with her.
We get this truly pathetic spiel about how the OW's husband became seriously ill and his company was going to lose share value if it became known. So the husband was the H's BFF and he stepped in to help out and take the OW out and about to dispel any hint that there was a problem and hide the BFF's illness.
These society events apparently precluded bringing the h, his wife, along to socialize too and of course the OW couldn't introduce herself and explain the situation to the h because it would have been too hurtful, as the h was much too young to understand how consoling the H was being and how she would just have to tolerate it.
The OW's husband divorced her and then he died and the OW just wants to express her gratitude that the h is now returned to her duties as the H's brood mare. The h meekly agrees with the OW's patronizing summation and damn near apologizes for being an inconvenience and making the OW and the H look bad because she ran off.
Then the sister's court date arrives and the pus blob brat is swelling with sewage slime pride because she is back in her high living life style at an exclusive boarding school, has gotten a divine shopping spree and gotten off on the criminal charges - all without any effort on her part.
Next comes the h's big pregger acknowledgement moment, but the H is too busy doing something or someone else to come home for the dinner the h cooked. So the h writes the H a letter with a copy of the positive pregnancy slip and leaves it in an envelope on his desk.
The dramatic conclusion is the H sitting at his desk staring at the letter and refusing to open it because he thinks the h left again. Then we get a lukewarm admission of love, the H vowing that if she leaves he will drag her back and then the H drags her off to do her sex toy duty for the HEA.
As you can probably guess, I have absolutely NO respect or tolerance for this book. The slime pustule sister is horrible and her hiney should have been locked up. But what really irritates me is that for some reason, HB thinks it is a good idea to have the h essentially condone her husband's infidelity and become BFF with woman he cheated with.
That is an absolute deal breaker in this type of book. Only one author (Lynne Graham The Greek's Chosen Wife) has EVER pulled that one off, (tho some readers debate that,) and the h was the one doing the patronizing in it during a hilariously funny scene so it worked out - it helped a lot that the h totally did not care that the H was sleeping around either.
It is just absolutely too tacky to have the tart the H cheated with 'kindly' explain why the h had to be publicly humiliated and how it was all for her own good. It Doesn't Work - because all that kind of scene does is drive it in that h is a doormat and has to drink the kool-aid and would be better of with a merciful killing toilet seat to the head.
Plus let's face it, the H cheated with his best friend's wife and then lied to the h about it. No matter what the H or the OW say about the BFF being mentally off or whatever from his illness -The BFF DIVORCED THE OW and disassociated himself from the H - which meant that he had grounds and it was infidelity - the h should have followed up on that. What on earth HB was thinking I don't know.
This H was a bullying, cheating sub sewer coprophagic slime gulper and there is just no recovery from that kinda low life non redemption or from inflicting that type of OW scene on the h and expecting the reader to believe it.
This one is just poor plotting, poor writing with a pathetic resolution and it makes for an extremely disappointing outing in HPlandia. Read this if you must, but know that you have been warned- head banging and copious amounts of adult beverages will be consumed and HPlandia is not responsible for any resulting headaches or hangovers.
We start with the 22 yr old h having to return to Sydney and her adulterous husband or her spoiled slime pustule of a brat sister will wind up in juvvie jail.
The backstory on this is that the h's weak, parasitic mother conspired with her BFF to marry the h off the to the woman's son. Ostensibly so that her daughter's would have a means of support, because apparently borrowing some money and sending her daughter's to uni for a career or training is too low class or something.
So the H and h marry. The h is in love or at least serious infatuation, but the H is too busy with the wife of his BFF, escorting her about town and social functions that he does NOT bring his wife to, to notice. Eventually the rumors reach the h, there is a confrontation and the H denies any wrong doing and the h takes her sister and takes off for the bush.
She has now spent three years building a life and supporting herself via trading labor etc, but her pus blob sister doesn't like to work or scrimp and save, so she runs back to the big city. Where the pus blob went to a big hotel, ran up a ton of bills and then tried to sneak off. The hotel wants to press charges and since the H is ready for his heir and has been secretly financing the h anyway, he figures the time is ripe to drag his wife back.
The H will only intervene for the sister if the h returns to him as his devoted sex toy and broodmare. With a sense of doom that she can't let her little sister go to jail and a moment of regret that she never got any calcium as a child to develop a bone structure, the h agrees.
We get the usual HB high society witchy OW and clothesfest with endless charity events scenarios. The h and H fight, she slaps him and he hauls her off to bed. The HB trademark witchy OW make comments, the H orders the h about and she soon learns to ask permission to breathe.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat
We also get the typical HB trademark ladies room meeting - but this time it is the first OW, (who is now divorced), who wants to patronize the h during lunch and issues an invitation. Instead of telling the woman that she loses her appetite when she is expected to dine with adulterous tarts, the h goes to lunch with her.
We get this truly pathetic spiel about how the OW's husband became seriously ill and his company was going to lose share value if it became known. So the husband was the H's BFF and he stepped in to help out and take the OW out and about to dispel any hint that there was a problem and hide the BFF's illness.
These society events apparently precluded bringing the h, his wife, along to socialize too and of course the OW couldn't introduce herself and explain the situation to the h because it would have been too hurtful, as the h was much too young to understand how consoling the H was being and how she would just have to tolerate it.
The OW's husband divorced her and then he died and the OW just wants to express her gratitude that the h is now returned to her duties as the H's brood mare. The h meekly agrees with the OW's patronizing summation and damn near apologizes for being an inconvenience and making the OW and the H look bad because she ran off.
Then the sister's court date arrives and the pus blob brat is swelling with sewage slime pride because she is back in her high living life style at an exclusive boarding school, has gotten a divine shopping spree and gotten off on the criminal charges - all without any effort on her part.
Next comes the h's big pregger acknowledgement moment, but the H is too busy doing something or someone else to come home for the dinner the h cooked. So the h writes the H a letter with a copy of the positive pregnancy slip and leaves it in an envelope on his desk.
The dramatic conclusion is the H sitting at his desk staring at the letter and refusing to open it because he thinks the h left again. Then we get a lukewarm admission of love, the H vowing that if she leaves he will drag her back and then the H drags her off to do her sex toy duty for the HEA.
As you can probably guess, I have absolutely NO respect or tolerance for this book. The slime pustule sister is horrible and her hiney should have been locked up. But what really irritates me is that for some reason, HB thinks it is a good idea to have the h essentially condone her husband's infidelity and become BFF with woman he cheated with.
That is an absolute deal breaker in this type of book. Only one author (Lynne Graham The Greek's Chosen Wife) has EVER pulled that one off, (tho some readers debate that,) and the h was the one doing the patronizing in it during a hilariously funny scene so it worked out - it helped a lot that the h totally did not care that the H was sleeping around either.
It is just absolutely too tacky to have the tart the H cheated with 'kindly' explain why the h had to be publicly humiliated and how it was all for her own good. It Doesn't Work - because all that kind of scene does is drive it in that h is a doormat and has to drink the kool-aid and would be better of with a merciful killing toilet seat to the head.
Plus let's face it, the H cheated with his best friend's wife and then lied to the h about it. No matter what the H or the OW say about the BFF being mentally off or whatever from his illness -The BFF DIVORCED THE OW and disassociated himself from the H - which meant that he had grounds and it was infidelity - the h should have followed up on that. What on earth HB was thinking I don't know.
This H was a bullying, cheating sub sewer coprophagic slime gulper and there is just no recovery from that kinda low life non redemption or from inflicting that type of OW scene on the h and expecting the reader to believe it.
This one is just poor plotting, poor writing with a pathetic resolution and it makes for an extremely disappointing outing in HPlandia. Read this if you must, but know that you have been warned- head banging and copious amounts of adult beverages will be consumed and HPlandia is not responsible for any resulting headaches or hangovers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2020
Second chance story of an h who married the rich H because their mothers wanted the match. Heroine was 21. Her mother was dying and worried about who would care for the 12 year-old sister. Hero is full of money and animal magnetism. (LOL) It’s a match made in heaven until the heroine thinks the hero is using her to cover up an affair with a married woman.
She leaves after one year of marriage, taking her very unhappy sister with her. For three years she has eeked out a living in Broome (Sugar cane country in Australia) taking in sewing and caring for an elderly man. Her sister is a brat and wants to return to Sydney and the bright lights.
It all comes to a head when the sister runs away and is arrested for trying to sneak out without paying her motel bill. Hero comes to her rescue and then comes for the heroine. Apparently, he’s kept tabs on her all of this time and her independence was a sham.
To further add insult, the hero tells heroine he will only help the sister if heroine moves back in and resumes their marriage. Sister will go to an exclusive boarding school.
The second half is the heroine being tortured with orgasms, shopping sprees and gala events. Eventually the OW explains (over coffee – not in the ladies’ room) that her husband was ill and hero was just being a pal. Heroine is now happy and pregnant for an HEA
The heroine was a well-groomed doormat and hero was a non-entity. It was the bratty sister – OW in-training – who capture my attention. She devised an elaborate plan that didn’t work – is unrepentant - but she ends up getting everything she wanted – a new wardrobe, new school, and living in the lap of luxury. It that isn’t OW behavior, I don’t know what is.
If this had been an Anne Mather story, she would have tried to seduce the hero, but since it’s HB – she’s in training at the snobby boarding school to haunt a clueless heroine like her older sister in future books.
She leaves after one year of marriage, taking her very unhappy sister with her. For three years she has eeked out a living in Broome (Sugar cane country in Australia) taking in sewing and caring for an elderly man. Her sister is a brat and wants to return to Sydney and the bright lights.
It all comes to a head when the sister runs away and is arrested for trying to sneak out without paying her motel bill. Hero comes to her rescue and then comes for the heroine. Apparently, he’s kept tabs on her all of this time and her independence was a sham.
To further add insult, the hero tells heroine he will only help the sister if heroine moves back in and resumes their marriage. Sister will go to an exclusive boarding school.
The second half is the heroine being tortured with orgasms, shopping sprees and gala events. Eventually the OW explains (over coffee – not in the ladies’ room) that her husband was ill and hero was just being a pal. Heroine is now happy and pregnant for an HEA
The heroine was a well-groomed doormat and hero was a non-entity. It was the bratty sister – OW in-training – who capture my attention. She devised an elaborate plan that didn’t work – is unrepentant - but she ends up getting everything she wanted – a new wardrobe, new school, and living in the lap of luxury. It that isn’t OW behavior, I don’t know what is.
If this had been an Anne Mather story, she would have tried to seduce the hero, but since it’s HB – she’s in training at the snobby boarding school to haunt a clueless heroine like her older sister in future books.
March 11, 2017
Decent enough. I'm partial to Helen Bianchin so I'm easy to please. The heroine was a bit too combative - I can't believe any hero would put up with this much verbal and at times, physical abuse. The heroine left because she believed in the gossip that the hero was having an affair with a married friend of his. If he had really loved her, as he claimed in the end, why didn't he try harder to make her believe in his innocence. Also, he claims he was taking the other lady out sometimes since she was going through a bad time with her husband. I find it so naive of them to think that this action wouldn't naturally result in gossip! Alternatively, he could have taken his wife along and both of them could have 'comforted' his friend if necessary. But then we wouldn't have had a story. Oh well.... Just read if you have nothing else.
May 26, 2011
This book contains my most hated character ever. Rebecca.
So Kate and Nick were married when she was..18ish. Her mother and his mother were best friends despite the fact that choices had led them to lead very different lives. When Kate's mother is dying, Nick's mother and her basically arrange Kate and Nick to marry so that Nick's mom's friends children are all taken care of before she dies.
So they marry and her younger sister Rebecca and her move in with Nick. She's got rose tinted glasses on thinking that the world is great and she loves Nick to pieces. Until she finds out through many vicious people that Nick's got an affair going on with his best friend's wife. He only married her as a smoke screen to cover up the affair. She's shattered and runs away and hides herself and her sister in the back of no where.
Three years later and we have Rebecca, now perfectly old enough to spend time in jail with my fondest fair thee well. She's pissed because she used to live in a big house and have all this money but her older sister had to screw it up by going and leaving her rich husband and stranding them in the back of beyond. She ran away when she should have been with friends and took herself off to Sydney, where she checked into a hotel and then tried to sneak out without paying. She was caught and the hotel wants to press charges to set an example. I'm very proud of the hotel and agree strongly with their decision.
Nick comes back into Kate's life to tell her that the only way to keep Rebecca out of trouble is for them to get back together, enroll Rebecca in a high class private school and show a united front to the judge. Kate loves her sister and will do anything for her, so she does exactly that.
So Kate has been blackmailed back into the arms of her husband, while her trouble maker sister now gets shopping sprees, parties, and private schooling as a slap on the wrist for what she's done.
This was my first romance novel, so I rate it higher then it probably deserves. It's really a mishmash that doesn't make any sense.
While they were married, the two never talked. Supposedly Nick's best friend was going through a bad spot and taking his wife down with him. Nick was taking her out so she didn't waste away, but he always did this without his wife, and he never told her anything?
The other woman aspect is tame compared to her psycho violent other women that are written now. The heroine is still the meek lady who takes everything with nary an argument.
But I absolutely loved the moment when she leaves a note for Nick and then walks in on him staring off into space when he finds it. That part was written so well. I really felt for him and I still love that part.
So Kate and Nick were married when she was..18ish. Her mother and his mother were best friends despite the fact that choices had led them to lead very different lives. When Kate's mother is dying, Nick's mother and her basically arrange Kate and Nick to marry so that Nick's mom's friends children are all taken care of before she dies.
So they marry and her younger sister Rebecca and her move in with Nick. She's got rose tinted glasses on thinking that the world is great and she loves Nick to pieces. Until she finds out through many vicious people that Nick's got an affair going on with his best friend's wife. He only married her as a smoke screen to cover up the affair. She's shattered and runs away and hides herself and her sister in the back of no where.
Three years later and we have Rebecca, now perfectly old enough to spend time in jail with my fondest fair thee well. She's pissed because she used to live in a big house and have all this money but her older sister had to screw it up by going and leaving her rich husband and stranding them in the back of beyond. She ran away when she should have been with friends and took herself off to Sydney, where she checked into a hotel and then tried to sneak out without paying. She was caught and the hotel wants to press charges to set an example. I'm very proud of the hotel and agree strongly with their decision.
Nick comes back into Kate's life to tell her that the only way to keep Rebecca out of trouble is for them to get back together, enroll Rebecca in a high class private school and show a united front to the judge. Kate loves her sister and will do anything for her, so she does exactly that.
So Kate has been blackmailed back into the arms of her husband, while her trouble maker sister now gets shopping sprees, parties, and private schooling as a slap on the wrist for what she's done.
This was my first romance novel, so I rate it higher then it probably deserves. It's really a mishmash that doesn't make any sense.
While they were married, the two never talked. Supposedly Nick's best friend was going through a bad spot and taking his wife down with him. Nick was taking her out so she didn't waste away, but he always did this without his wife, and he never told her anything?
The other woman aspect is tame compared to her psycho violent other women that are written now. The heroine is still the meek lady who takes everything with nary an argument.
But I absolutely loved the moment when she leaves a note for Nick and then walks in on him staring off into space when he finds it. That part was written so well. I really felt for him and I still love that part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2020
A little communication at the start of their marriage may have saved a ton of ridiculous drama... and the obnoxious little sister is too much.
Read
June 17, 2019🤮
October 19, 2024
So much silliness. The h was 22, not 19, when she runs off like a child (dragging her kid sister with her) because she believes rumors that the H is cheating on her. I'll accept that from a wife still in her teens, but NOT one over 21! How about a direct confrontation of "What the hell's going on?" At least in other books, the h catches the H in a compromising position, but here she just listened to gossip. What a jerk!!
But so was the H a jerk, for spending too much time with the OW, for knowing about the rumors and not thinking they might get to his wife (Well, DUH!!!!!), for not explaining the situation when he found out she heard those rumors, for not letting the OW explain things herself (?????), because he figured the h wouldn't trust her, (Oh, Please!!!), and - most ridiculous of all - for finding out where the h went when she left, for having an elderly friend (her neighbor) look out for her on the sly, and for letting three years go by without getting in touch with her, though claiming he was waiting for the "right time" to let her know he wanted her back. (I guess because she hadn't been dating anyone and just worked and looked after her younger sister, he figured he could take his time???)
The reason for their marriage was even more jerky, but I won't get into that. Let's just say, old time arrangements come to mind.
Also jerky: the H admits later that the h was too young when they got married to handle all the many social responsibilities. So why didn't he wait a while, then? She could have finished her studies, worked a while, gotten more self-confidence, and then (maybe when she was around 23) things might have been different. Feeling more confident and mature, she would have been less likely to take rumors and gossip so seriously. But alas, the H could be a real dim bulb!
I'll give credit for one thing: the author doesn't go for that old stupid trope of the h disappearing off the face of the earth, while her wealthy, powerful husband can't trace her whereabouts for years! (In truth, if a guy like that couldn't find her, it means he didn't want to!) This guy found her in no time at all! I liked it when she discovered that, at some points she needed the wind taken out of her sails.
But both of them were major JERKS when it came to the scheming, manipulative, brat-turned-socialite sister! This scheming teen had them all dancing to her tune! She resented living in the boonies after enjoying the perks of having a rich brother-in-law, had a real attitude problem, backtalked her sister at every chance, deliberately got in trouble at school to the point of being expelled, tricked friends into helping her run away (back to the city where her sister's in-laws lived), checked into a swank hotel she couldn't afford, so when it came time to pay the bill she'd attempt to run off, get caught, and have to call her estranged brother-in-law for help, which would inevitably involve her sister, (I'll get to that later), and what are the results? Jail time? A blot on her record? Community service, at the very least? No, indeed! She's "punished" with admittance to a classy boarding school (yes, the rich can do anything, with everyone panting with lust for their money), tons of designer outfits and accessories, and an introduction to the 1% social circle! That poor kid! Every brat crap kid should be so lucky!
And all the adults seemed to think this was just fine, as she's suddenly behaving like a model young lady! Well gee, I would too, if everything worked out my own selfish way! She seemed to think hugs, kisses and "thank you so much" all over the place was enough for her to do. An offer to help her sister's mother-in-law with all her charity work or volunteer for some worthy cause, or anything like that would have been nice. All she volunteers for is shopping, shopping and more shopping, with everyone's blessing, of course! The H and h indulge her in everything and just seem to feel she learned her lesson. (WHAT?????) Just wait a few years, when she reaps what they've sown!!
There's so much DUMB stuff going on! The H offered to help the manipulative teen in order to get the h back, claiming that his money will enable the kid to go to med school (like that's ever going to happen, professional mistress, more likely), things the h could never do for her, he'll use his connections to keep her record clean, get the judge to give a wrist slap, etc., if the h returns and gives him an heir! Naturally!
Did it ever occur to him to just say, as they're still legally married, he'd like to forget the past and make a new start? Uh, well, duh, gee, no, I guess it didn't!
And naturally, she's angry and feeling trapped, and if she had acted more like an adult, I'd have been on her side more, but instead we get the behavior expected from a 19-year-old, not someone who's now 25: snark remarks, shouts of "I HATE YOU!", kicking, hitting, biting (though he bites back), and acting like someone off her meds, all because she can't face the fact that he still makes her want to rip off her clothes (and his) and yell "TAKE ME!!!" Which he does, which she loves, and which she claims to hate! Yeah, right after your fourth or fifth orgasm!!!
He, meanwhile, knew the real problem in their marriage (besides her having to attend endless dinner parties and other social events with a bunch of phonies and snarky snobs) was that she thought he had cheated, he knew he hadn't (at least, not back then but you're never told what he did while they were apart) but does he ever explain anything? No, not even when they're confronted by the OW, who seems to want to be friends, making the h wonder, "What the heck???", and he STILL doesn't explain!!
It's the OW who does (in a scene which should have had the world's smallest violin playing in the background, it was that hokey) and now the h realizes (though she had a few suspicions before) that she just may have jumped to some wrong conclusions and been a bit too hasty! You think????
Now, suddenly she goes from hate to love, from wanting to avoid getting pregnant (hard to do if you're not taking precautions) to being on cloud 9 when she discovers she is! And how does she plan to tell the H? By leaving a dorky note on his desk, in an envelope, no less! When he finds it, he's reminded of when she left him three years ago, and left an envelope like that too, so he doesn't want to open it, thinking she's planning to leave again.
When she discovers this, does she put an end to his obvious misery? Nope, she decides to get cute instead, and tells him to read it, while she gets dinner ready (servants' night off, you know). She just had to prolong the agony, more jerk stuff!
Naturally, when he reads it, you get dozens of "I LOVE YOU"'s all over the place, and the hokiest, corniest, sick making talk about babies in wombs, how the embryo will know his father's gently, tenderly, making love to his adored mother (if I were that embryo, I'd say "Adios,, I'm out of here!"), and some more sap, while they also contemplate a quickie in the kitchen, figure that one out!
I gave up figuring this whole mess out, especially since one very good point (her idea of designing clothes to give to charity) was completely overlooked. All you get is her having made some doll's clothes to donate to children, then the whole thing's dropped altogether, which was DUMB, as that would have made this joke of a book interesting.
One more note: the h has a couple of scenes where she gives a potential OW as good as she gets, which is a distinct improvement over too many h's, and that's all the credit I can give this story.
Skip it without a regret!
But so was the H a jerk, for spending too much time with the OW, for knowing about the rumors and not thinking they might get to his wife (Well, DUH!!!!!), for not explaining the situation when he found out she heard those rumors, for not letting the OW explain things herself (?????), because he figured the h wouldn't trust her, (Oh, Please!!!), and - most ridiculous of all - for finding out where the h went when she left, for having an elderly friend (her neighbor) look out for her on the sly, and for letting three years go by without getting in touch with her, though claiming he was waiting for the "right time" to let her know he wanted her back. (I guess because she hadn't been dating anyone and just worked and looked after her younger sister, he figured he could take his time???)
The reason for their marriage was even more jerky, but I won't get into that. Let's just say, old time arrangements come to mind.
Also jerky: the H admits later that the h was too young when they got married to handle all the many social responsibilities. So why didn't he wait a while, then? She could have finished her studies, worked a while, gotten more self-confidence, and then (maybe when she was around 23) things might have been different. Feeling more confident and mature, she would have been less likely to take rumors and gossip so seriously. But alas, the H could be a real dim bulb!
I'll give credit for one thing: the author doesn't go for that old stupid trope of the h disappearing off the face of the earth, while her wealthy, powerful husband can't trace her whereabouts for years! (In truth, if a guy like that couldn't find her, it means he didn't want to!) This guy found her in no time at all! I liked it when she discovered that, at some points she needed the wind taken out of her sails.
But both of them were major JERKS when it came to the scheming, manipulative, brat-turned-socialite sister! This scheming teen had them all dancing to her tune! She resented living in the boonies after enjoying the perks of having a rich brother-in-law, had a real attitude problem, backtalked her sister at every chance, deliberately got in trouble at school to the point of being expelled, tricked friends into helping her run away (back to the city where her sister's in-laws lived), checked into a swank hotel she couldn't afford, so when it came time to pay the bill she'd attempt to run off, get caught, and have to call her estranged brother-in-law for help, which would inevitably involve her sister, (I'll get to that later), and what are the results? Jail time? A blot on her record? Community service, at the very least? No, indeed! She's "punished" with admittance to a classy boarding school (yes, the rich can do anything, with everyone panting with lust for their money), tons of designer outfits and accessories, and an introduction to the 1% social circle! That poor kid! Every brat crap kid should be so lucky!
And all the adults seemed to think this was just fine, as she's suddenly behaving like a model young lady! Well gee, I would too, if everything worked out my own selfish way! She seemed to think hugs, kisses and "thank you so much" all over the place was enough for her to do. An offer to help her sister's mother-in-law with all her charity work or volunteer for some worthy cause, or anything like that would have been nice. All she volunteers for is shopping, shopping and more shopping, with everyone's blessing, of course! The H and h indulge her in everything and just seem to feel she learned her lesson. (WHAT?????) Just wait a few years, when she reaps what they've sown!!
There's so much DUMB stuff going on! The H offered to help the manipulative teen in order to get the h back, claiming that his money will enable the kid to go to med school (like that's ever going to happen, professional mistress, more likely), things the h could never do for her, he'll use his connections to keep her record clean, get the judge to give a wrist slap, etc., if the h returns and gives him an heir! Naturally!
Did it ever occur to him to just say, as they're still legally married, he'd like to forget the past and make a new start? Uh, well, duh, gee, no, I guess it didn't!
And naturally, she's angry and feeling trapped, and if she had acted more like an adult, I'd have been on her side more, but instead we get the behavior expected from a 19-year-old, not someone who's now 25: snark remarks, shouts of "I HATE YOU!", kicking, hitting, biting (though he bites back), and acting like someone off her meds, all because she can't face the fact that he still makes her want to rip off her clothes (and his) and yell "TAKE ME!!!" Which he does, which she loves, and which she claims to hate! Yeah, right after your fourth or fifth orgasm!!!
He, meanwhile, knew the real problem in their marriage (besides her having to attend endless dinner parties and other social events with a bunch of phonies and snarky snobs) was that she thought he had cheated, he knew he hadn't (at least, not back then but you're never told what he did while they were apart) but does he ever explain anything? No, not even when they're confronted by the OW, who seems to want to be friends, making the h wonder, "What the heck???", and he STILL doesn't explain!!
It's the OW who does (in a scene which should have had the world's smallest violin playing in the background, it was that hokey) and now the h realizes (though she had a few suspicions before) that she just may have jumped to some wrong conclusions and been a bit too hasty! You think????
Now, suddenly she goes from hate to love, from wanting to avoid getting pregnant (hard to do if you're not taking precautions) to being on cloud 9 when she discovers she is! And how does she plan to tell the H? By leaving a dorky note on his desk, in an envelope, no less! When he finds it, he's reminded of when she left him three years ago, and left an envelope like that too, so he doesn't want to open it, thinking she's planning to leave again.
When she discovers this, does she put an end to his obvious misery? Nope, she decides to get cute instead, and tells him to read it, while she gets dinner ready (servants' night off, you know). She just had to prolong the agony, more jerk stuff!
Naturally, when he reads it, you get dozens of "I LOVE YOU"'s all over the place, and the hokiest, corniest, sick making talk about babies in wombs, how the embryo will know his father's gently, tenderly, making love to his adored mother (if I were that embryo, I'd say "Adios,, I'm out of here!"), and some more sap, while they also contemplate a quickie in the kitchen, figure that one out!
I gave up figuring this whole mess out, especially since one very good point (her idea of designing clothes to give to charity) was completely overlooked. All you get is her having made some doll's clothes to donate to children, then the whole thing's dropped altogether, which was DUMB, as that would have made this joke of a book interesting.
One more note: the h has a couple of scenes where she gives a potential OW as good as she gets, which is a distinct improvement over too many h's, and that's all the credit I can give this story.
Skip it without a regret!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2016
Hate the heroin..uuugghhh!!!
Such a petulant child, grumpy and sooo selfish..
Such a petulant child, grumpy and sooo selfish..
November 30, 2022
Odio, ODIO, pero ODIOOOO que Rebecca nunca pagó por nada de lo que hizo, y no, tener 15 años no es excusa para la mierda de comportamiento que tiene, seguramente cuando crezca se convertirá en una de las malvadas mujeres que a Helen le encanta describir en sus libros, y lo que más ODIOOO es que la Kate simplemente dejó que su hermana pasara por encima de ella, gozando la vida como si absolutamente nada pasara. Hay muchas cosas que decir, pero es otra historia similar a las de la autora. Como sea, por si no quedó claro, ODIO a Rebecca, y ODIO que la autora haya retratado toda la situación como: "ay, pobre, hay que comprender a esta rebelde chica de 15 años porque ahora ya no tiene el estilo de vida super lujoso que quiere" UGH
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2017
This book had its good and bad parts. I felt sorry for our h who was made to suffer for her bratty spoiled little sisters sins. Should have taught her a lesson and let her ass be hauled off to jail. As for our H he seemed to love our h but made a proper mess of the relationship to start off with. I couldn't quite get my head round the convenience of her running off and he knew where she was within 24 hours and managed to anonymously set her up with a house etc.
I did feel sorry for him at the end she didn't really think that little surprise through bless her. If she'd had a bit more of a spine concerning the ingrate sister this would have been worthy of more stars
I did feel sorry for him at the end she didn't really think that little surprise through bless her. If she'd had a bit more of a spine concerning the ingrate sister this would have been worthy of more stars
December 7, 2020
Finding doormat heroines in HP is not surprising, but this one is a no-no. For the entire story, the heroine was almost always someone's tool, either it was the hero's, her sister's, or some random socialite beeyatch's. And during her supposedly "independent" three years away from the hero, basically she was everything but independent. And the worst part is that she actively fought the hero almost every time the hero initiated sex that it almost qualified as rape when they finally did the deed if not for the fact she "melted" when the hero as much as poked her.
One star. The extra star is for the sex scenes.
One star. The extra star is for the sex scenes.
November 18, 2021
Omg. This h is a wild, agressive one.
She bites him. She kicks him. She tries to slap him in his face a few times. She punches him with her fists.
She calls him all sorts of abusive names. She tells him to go to hell. She says “D*mn you!” so many times to him that I’ve lost count.
The H is a besotted alpha male. That’s a good thing about the book.
But the h is way too agressive and she is a doormat for the spoilt little brat that is her younger sister.
She bites him. She kicks him. She tries to slap him in his face a few times. She punches him with her fists.
She calls him all sorts of abusive names. She tells him to go to hell. She says “D*mn you!” so many times to him that I’ve lost count.
The H is a besotted alpha male. That’s a good thing about the book.
But the h is way too agressive and she is a doormat for the spoilt little brat that is her younger sister.
January 13, 2019
Found myself rolling my eyes throughout this book. All this angst and fighting because the H and h don't communicate.
December 17, 2020
Old school Harlequins just make me happy.
March 6, 2022
What the heck is this story? Very empty, and no one's decisions make any sense. No romance, not plot, no characters. No read. Skip.
May 25, 2025
A light read
May 28, 2011
Aunque es una autora que me gusta, es un libro que no voy a leer otra vez. El argumento es coherente, pero hay una violencia en la relación de ellos que a mi me parece innecesaria. El conflicto que la alejó de él es bueno, está de acuerdo con el caracter de la chica, pero "Kate había crecido y madurado" es una gran mentira, sigue la misma tonta hasta el final. La hermana menor de Kate, Rebecca, no logra convencer como inocente y arrepentida.
December 20, 2024
Цей роман передбачуваний, а про сюжет можна згадатися і з обкладинки. Читала цю книгу більше як вправу з англійської ніж для себе. Хоча герої теж добряче бісили своїми характерами і вчинками. Типова історія чи то Попелюшки, чи то Красуні і Чудовиська 🤔
October 31, 2010
I really despise books like this where the heroine is vilified for acting her age. Her husband should have communicated with her...of course, then we wouldn't have a book.
July 29, 2012
So sweet book,I am completely in love of it.
August 12, 2013
This was one the few books i could smuggle into my room, wasn't that great as mills & boon go, but must have read it at least 30-35 times!
September 19, 2014
Bu yazarın kadın kahramanları çok dikbaşlı.
Read
April 22, 2018Kate vowed she would never see Nicolas again--much less share his bed...or his name. But the powerful Sydney businessman was both ruthless and determined--and wasn't above resorting to blackmail to get what he wanted. He wanted his wife!
And now Kate was back in the gilded cage that she'd once called home. But in the time that they'd been apart, Kate had grown older and wiser. She had no regrets that their marriage had been one of convenience, but was she so wrong to desire a future filled with love?
And now Kate was back in the gilded cage that she'd once called home. But in the time that they'd been apart, Kate had grown older and wiser. She had no regrets that their marriage had been one of convenience, but was she so wrong to desire a future filled with love?
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