The Arrogant Lover

by Flora Kidd

She felt the pull of past attraction

Kathy still loved Lucas MacBride, but she didn't trust him. He'd made love to her nine years ago, then left without a word. And now that the man she'd married on the rebound was dead, Lucas was trying to come between Kathy and her inheritance.

Lucas knew more than he was saying about the condition of Seaview Cottage in Scotland. He was keeping something from Kathy--just as he'd withheld his commitment from her once before.

But rather than tell the truth and ease her fears, Lucas made love to her, again....

Genres: Harlequin Presents, Second Chance, Romance

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1985

About the author

Flora Mildred Cartwright was born on 1926 in Liverpool, England, UK. The youngest of four children, Flora and her family lived in the same house until she was a teen. In 1949, she graduated from Liverpool University, where she met Robert Kidd, her husband. They moved to her beloved Scotland, where she began teaching, writing, and raised their four children: Richard, Patricia, Peter and David.

Flora Kidd published her first novel, Visit To Rowanbank, in 1966 at Mills & Boon. In 1977, the family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where she continued her romance career with Mills & Boon until 1989, when she retired. In 1994, she published the first of the The Marco Polo Project novels, to support a project to build a replica of the 19th century ship Marco Polo.

Flora Kidd passed away on March 19, 2008 at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 1 out of 5]

Grab a pen, kids. It's pop quiz time!

Pop Quiz: The Arrogant Lover by Flora Kidd
Reviewer Name: Stmargarets
Part I

Indicate which scene was either stupid or boring:

1. H/h pretend not to know each other nine years after they had a summer fling. Stupid

2. Writer heroine keeps telling the lawyer hero to go away after warns her not to renovate the cottage she inherited from her dead husband’s uncle. Boring.

3. Heroine runs after two men who cut through her garden and head toward the hero’s mansion. Stupid

4. Heroine bangs on the hero’s door in her nightdress accusing him of harbouring smugglers and finds herself in his bed. Stupid

5. The OW insists they are lovers and tells the h every chance she gets. Boring

6. The local con man tells heroine lies about the hero. Boring

7. The H/h each married other people after their fling and now those spouses are conveniently dead. Boring.

8. The heroine doesn’t call the police after her cottage is vandalized. She waits around for the hero. Stupid

9. The OW shows up for one last crack at the hero. Hero locks h in a room so she won’t run away while he confronts the crazy lady. Stupid and boring.

10. Hero explains he’s loved her all along. He married his ex because she reminded him of the h. He didn’t tell her about the smugglers or the danger she could have been in because reasons. Okay – this is a trick question. The answer is WTF????

Part Two
Short answer

1. List any redeeming qualities of the hero. Um.
2. List any redeeming qualities of the heroine. Er
3. List any admirable characters. None. Even the police chief is an idiot, waiting to catch the smugglers red-handed.
4. What were they smuggling? Stereos? Hard to say.
5. Were the vandals ever brought to justice? Not on page. The story ends with the H/h in bed..


Part Three

Summarize your thoughts about this book:
Don’t read it if you want to keep your brain cells intact.

Score:

100% since it’s your own quiz. Many reviewers disagree and loved the arrogant hero and the vintage vibe with a dash of gothic thrown in.

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is surprisingly so good!
More so because both the h/H started off as unlikable, with typical vintage-y vibes and qualities.

The h is prickly and confrontational, and annoys at so many levels. But then as you get to know her, she grows on you with her tenacity and independent spirit. Her anger and resentment for the H, who had unceremoniously dumped her 9 years ago, are understandable and then so was her giving in so easily to his seduction.

And if I may say so, the real hero of the book was the H!
He intrigues and attracts for the very reasons he should repel. And (to my horror and eternal shame) I loved him! He is cold, hostile, dour and quite unrepentantly un-gentlemanly. If you are looking for a caring sensitive side, even a latent one, you will not find it. No one ever thought of teaching him gallantry/chivalry - like opening doors or carrying things for the ladies.
'But I've never claimed to be chivalrous. I don't happen to be a knight errant in one of your historical romances,' he jeered. 'I've always believed in the equality of the sexes. You're welcome to the ladder. I'm going back to bed. Good night!'
'But I can't lift the ladder. It's too heavy for me,' she complained.
'Well, that's a pity, isn't it?' he drawled, turning to face her. 'You'll have to leave it where it is and find another way of getting into your cottage, won't you?

And not only is he a believer of tough love but also rough love.
'You're very rough,' she gasped when she found breath. 'But you like it. And you need it. You need to be roused, Kathy, out of that romantic sleep in which you've been indulging yourself. You need to be prodded alive like this and like this.' He pinched and poked at her until she cried out and reached blindly for him.
Pinched and poked? New lovemaking terminology for HPs!

Other things making this book good are the suspense/gothic elements. Well, there are no crumbling castles and howling winds, but hints and insinuations of smugglers, ghosts and hidden away mad wives sure made me sit tight and finish the book in one go.

[Jac K · Rating 3 out of 5]

2-3 Stars
I’m having a hard time finding something good, and planned on rating this another 2, but I’m wondering if this is a Jac thing. I suspect I’m in a book funk, possibly grumpy, and I admit, I went in with the expectation of an awful OW, and got a difficult h instead… so it’s possible I’m not being fair. 🤷‍♀‍ I’m rounding up with the disclaimer that I didn’t particularly enjoy this.

The plot… H and h meet and have a summer fling. He leaves town for an errand/interview, but doesn’t tell the h because he’s returning the next day. He’s delayed... she needs go home...they never got around to exchanging personal deets 😕 and have no way to contact each other. She returns the next summer, but he’s not there, so she assumed he just blew her off. I found this pretty flimsy… especially when you add in that both their ex-spouses are dead, and neither had kids. But, I’ll admit it made it a cleaner reconciliation.

Kathy is pretty prickly. She has made assumptions, and is BITTER about being ghosted. She’s also pretty stupid… annoyingly stupid, and has unmedicated ADHD, IMHO. (naïve scatter-brain sounds nicer, but like I said - grumpy) Lucas isn’t stupid, but he’s very arrogant, bossy, moody, and a general ass. In truth, I didn’t really like any of the characters.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working my way through the “Best of the Worst-Evil OW” list (you can find it attached to Island Of The Dawn), so I expected big things from wannabe OW, Jane. Unfortunately, she let me down. She’s certainly delusional and bitchy, but she’s married, and doesn’t really meddle. She pretty much just pops in occasionally to insult Kathy. Even worse, when Luke finally sets her straight, it’s all done off page!!??

Bottom Line- The key to this one is having patience (which I suck at) because the prickly pear will become a peach (sort of) and the toad will become a prince. (sort of) I like my h’s to have some backbone, but be a little less confrontational. These two were bickering or in bed or thinking about getting in bed. Why the round-up? 1- I think parts were supposed to be funny/light-cutie, but my sense of humor is dry. 2- I didn’t care for Kathy, but give her props for moving on with her life, and at least trying to be independent. 3- I just don't want to leave another low rating.

[boogenhagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re The Arrogant Lover - this is a pretty funny, cute little read.

The h is a 27 year old widow who is moving back to Scotland after living in Canada, where her husband of seven or eight years has recently passed from leukemia. He inherited his uncle's cottage in a seaside town and the h intends to live there and continue her historical romance career. She is FK's usual h type, a bit gullibly naive, but very nice and she has some interesting solutions to problems. She also has these little mini-rants to herself when the H does something she doesn't like and they are fairly funny.

The H is the solicitor that is handling the cottage while the h and her husband were in Canada. He is also the man the h had a summer affair with 9 years earlier. The H likes to sail and while the h was on holiday there, she crewed for him and they fell in love. Then he had to go out of town for a job interview and did not tell her, he just left, expecting to be back in a day or two and she had to go home before he returned.

Since they never got around to exchanging home addresses, they never met again. The h came back the next summer, but the H had not returned. (Pretty weak plot device, but FK has never written a comprehensively coherent plot yet, and I certainly didn't expect one at this stage of her career, that is just the FK way.)

The h, sad and heartbroken for her lover, met her husband and eventually married him. She loved her hubby, but not like the h. He needed her and she liked that and she loved him in a quiet, companionable way. (Kudos to her, finally an h who actually moves on after the H and gets herself a life and a man. FK was good about that, one of the reasons I usually like her books.)

The H doesn't act like her recognizes her and the h has herself a little self-mini rant, but she gets the keys to the cottage and the H pretty much orders her to wait for him to take her. He keeps telling her she should sell the place and that it is uninhabitable, but the h is very stubborn and insists on going.

She and the H get there and the cottage really does need work. The H gives the impression that she could bunk up with him just fine, and the h realizes that he knows who she is. She promptly fires him as her solicitor. Then she gets a room at the local hotel and starts getting the cottage sorted.

The h moves in and is happily settling in, when the H stops by and demands a date. It turns out her garden runs into his and he is her neighbor. She tells him she fired him and he tells her good, now they can have cozy, romantic times instead of a client relationship. The h and H have a little verbal exchange and then she kicks him out and turns down his offer.

She winds up in the village pub and meets a man who says he was her hubby's second cousin. She is friendly, cause he looks a bit like her dead hubby and he takes her to a local dance. He says some mean things about the H and this is verified by the local hotel owner's wife, she is a nice lady but very gossipy.

They also tell her the cottage is haunted by smugglers and one of the OM's friends claims to have seen two ghosts crossing the garden from her house to the H's. The h is a bit dubious, cause the drummer looks like he spends a lot of time with hallucinatory substances, but she also can't help harbouring some suspicions.


The h also runs afoul of the local self-styled Lady of the Manor. The h is invited to the local ladies tea but the wanna be OW, she is married to the local doctor, makes it clear she considers the H her property. She sharply probes into the h's acquaintance with the H and makes nasty comments about romance writers, but the h puts her off and then gets invited to speak about being a romance novelist at the next Ladies' Meeting.

The is at home later that night, happily writing away, when she hears a noise in the garden. She goes to investigate and sees two people running away towards the H's house. The h grabs her trusty flashlight and takes off after them in her jammies.

They run to the H's house and she thinks they might be inside. She is determined to confront the H. He answers the door and calls her another woman's name. Then he is much more interested in her night attire and throws out some propositions. The h has some propositions of her own involving a long walk off a short pier and after some interesting kisses, she goes home.

When she gets there, she finds she is locked out of her house. She makes various attempts to get in but realizes she needs a ladder. She goes over to the H's house, it seems he is asleep, so she opens his garage to borrow his ladder. She gets it out and winds up falling over and crashing the ladder.

The H comes out to see what the racket is about and finds the h. ( He is fairly flattered by her unusual seduction attempt.) The h just wants him to carry the ladder to her house so she can get in through an open upstairs window, but he won't - she has to spend the night at his house instead.

They wind up in bed and the next morning the h makes him climb in the window via the ladder to let her in. He wants to stay in bed, but he does the window entry and carries the ladder. He invites her to go sailing that afternoon, but the h puts him off. She plans to research her next historical.

She runs into the OM and he tells her about the H's wife, who is supposedly in a mental hospital. He is pretty mean about it and the h isn't liking him so much anymore, but she goes off and does her thing. When she returns to her home, someone has broken in and totally trashed the place and destroyed her pictures of her husband. She is scared and wants some moral support before calling the police.

She goes into the village to find her inn-keeper friend, but the lady is out and the h runs into the wanna be OW's husband instead. The H comes in making angry faces, he was crewing in a race for the WBOW and he isn't very happy about it. The h tells him what happened and he bundles her up to take her to his house. Then the WBOW shows up and demands that the h stay with them. The h agrees because she is afraid she will wind up in bed with the H and she doesn't want an affair with a married man.

On the way to the OW's house, OW tells the h that the H is married, but no one knows where the wife is. The h decides to leave town, she feels violated over her home and can't trust herself not to jump on the H. She leaves the next day, but her car gets a flat and while she is trying to change it, but can't get the lug nuts off, the H comes speeding by and splashes water all over her.

She asks him for help and he tells her no, he is taking her home instead - he doesn't want to have to keep chasing her all over the place. He kicks the tire iron into a field and steals her keys. They have a little argument and the h tells him he is arrogantly domineering and the H tells her she is stubborn and needs domineering over so someone can look out for her.

They arrive at the H's house and he insists she stay for dinner. He offers her a bath and starts the kissing, but the doorbell rings and it is the WBOW. The OW tells the H that her hubby has left and she and the H can get married now. The H is really irky and tells her he has had enough of her meddling and pretty much kicks her out.

While the h is bathing, the H locks her in the room. The h tries various escape routes, but they are all blocked. The h thinks the H might be kissing the OW so she beats up the door.

Eventually the H returns and explains that the OW's hubby came and took her home. Turns out the supposed OM cousin is not a relation of the h's former hubby. He is also probably the smuggler and the one behind the h's home violation. The h feels sorta silly for believing the OM, but justifies it by saying the OM did look a bit like her dead hubby.



The H finally explains that he was married, to a woman he met after the h disappeared. He tells the h that while she looked similar to the h, she was very dependent and split her time between the H and her lover she married the H to get away from.

The wife committed suicide after being separated from H for years, (he had no idear where she had gone and no one where she was knew she was married to him,) and he only found out about it a few months earlier. He called the h her name because in the dark and him still groggy from a nap, she looked how his dead wife used to look when she would wander back after long disappearances.

He tells the h that they are going to be together forever and the h tells him no they are NOT and decides to go to bed, alone. She forgot to call her mum though, to let her know she would be delayed, so she goes back down to the H to use the phone. While talking to her mum, the H does some sneaky love moves and tells the h to tell her mum she won't be home for a few days or she will be sorry. The h complies cause the H's hands do melting things to her backbone and then they wind up in bed.

The H tells her they are getting married and that he has always loved her, they both married other people because the other people needed them and they couldn't have each other, but that is all over and it is marriage and babies from now on. The H and h start arguing over what kind of baby to have and then start kissing and HEA.

The h may not be your cuppa, but I liked her. For all her dithering and naivete, she did accomplish things and she did not let a bad love affair hold her back, she went on to a happy life even without overwhelming passion. This h is a nice blend of sweet typical HP h and self-sufficient woman with a backbone.

The H WAS very arrogant and domineering, but he was pretty charming about it, with a dry sense of humor that offset the h's more flittery personality. He does help the h when there are serious problems, but he isn't shy about not helping if there is a chance he can corner her in his bed instead.

Give this book a chance if you find it. This one is a funny, fluffy read and I recommend it when you need angst relief. As long as the h doesn't put you off, it is a great little story.

[Nikki]

Alrighty. Uh that was a thing. Our hero is all over the place with his treatment of the heroine. They go out, he ditches her(apparently), never goes to find her, is mad and moody when she comes back, won’t leave her alone but is kinda a dick, demand she do stuff with him but tells her nothing, gets mad when she believes other people still tells her nothing, and then finally tells her everything. It’s not better late then never annnnnnd we are happy? :/ they got issues that weren’t addressed so marriage is gonna be a trial for them. Heroine is kinda silly too, skip.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Harlequin come and gone. I waffled between 2 and 3 stars but ultimately decided to be generous, mainly because I like Flora Kidd's writing style over some writers of these. The main character is okay but she's too weak willed with the hero, who is basically an insensitive jerk from start to finish. Their bond wasn't realistic - surely after 9 years the emotion fades? And if it were strong enough to endure nine years, surely one of them would have checked up on each other after the small misunderstanding during the first year before they both wed others? And neither had children for nine years after marriage? Despite that, for a Harlequin I'm gifting it a three star rating since it's not awful compared to others. Dialogue grew tiresome but the writing worked well enough.