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The Marriage Surrender
Joanna adored Alessandro, but could never give him what he needed, so she walked out on their marriage. Two years later she turned to him for help, but she would have to return to his bed, as his wife. And surrendering to him would reveal the secret she had kept hidden all along.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Michelle Reid
388 books639 followersHi, my name is Michelle Reid and I’ve been writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon for the last twenty years, and the crazy part about it is that I only realised it had been twenty years while updating this page!
So, hang on for a minute while I take this huge milestone in....
Twenty years with almost forty books published or in the pipeline ... I know it isn’t a great average when compared with some authors but it sounds pretty good to me!
So what was I doing twenty years ago before I wrote books? Well, I did the all of the usual things, like growing up and attending school, finishing at secretarial college, which I hated, then spent the next several years wandering aimlessly from job to job. Eventually I met my husband, we married and produced two daughters who then grew up and between them presented us with two gorgeous grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Somewhere in between my girls growing up and the grandchildren arriving on the scene, I started writing. To this day I don’t know why, unless it was a natural progression from my never being without a book close by—often several—because books have always been an important part of my life for as far back as I can recall.
So, I started to write, by hand at first, scribbling short stories in notebooks which never saw the light of day. At some point I discovered Mills & Boon Romance books and that was pretty much it for me. I’d found my new love, as in reading romantic fiction and inevitably writing it too.
So twenty years on and almost forty books on, here I am still writing and still loving it!
So, hang on for a minute while I take this huge milestone in....
Twenty years with almost forty books published or in the pipeline ... I know it isn’t a great average when compared with some authors but it sounds pretty good to me!
So what was I doing twenty years ago before I wrote books? Well, I did the all of the usual things, like growing up and attending school, finishing at secretarial college, which I hated, then spent the next several years wandering aimlessly from job to job. Eventually I met my husband, we married and produced two daughters who then grew up and between them presented us with two gorgeous grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Somewhere in between my girls growing up and the grandchildren arriving on the scene, I started writing. To this day I don’t know why, unless it was a natural progression from my never being without a book close by—often several—because books have always been an important part of my life for as far back as I can recall.
So, I started to write, by hand at first, scribbling short stories in notebooks which never saw the light of day. At some point I discovered Mills & Boon Romance books and that was pretty much it for me. I’d found my new love, as in reading romantic fiction and inevitably writing it too.
So twenty years on and almost forty books on, here I am still writing and still loving it!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
February 1, 2018
Re-read
SPOILERS:
Apologizes here. Total reversal on a review. I rated it a two star before, and it barely makes a three star now but the reasons have changed.
Torture porn for starters:
Orphaned heroine.
Virgin raped by two men two weeks before her wedding
Leaves marriage due to emotional trauma
Beloved younger sister is killed
Boss blackmailing into sex
The h approaches the H for money to pay off her boss as he has her cornered for sex. The H hasn't seen her for about two years. We find out later he kept up with her via her little sister, but didn't know the little sis died while he was out of country for a month.
Bottom line, the H adores her and wants her back. There has never been anyone for him since she left although he was considering possibilities. He tries to use tough love to break through which ultimately works. This is an HP universe, so, of course.
Why my initial 2 stars? Unbelievable turnaround of a rape victims. Reid did a huge disservice to her two characters and readers with the resolution for a rape victim. Counseling, counseling, counseling. Rape by anyone, much less two men in an elevator, is hardly cured by a magic penis and tough love. It's obvious the hero loves her regardless of virginity or rape, but the resolution is far too simple.
Bumped to three stars because I bought the H's emotions this time around.
Old review
Having problems sticking with this. Potential DNF.
Okay, I'm done.
SPOILERS:
Apologizes here. Total reversal on a review. I rated it a two star before, and it barely makes a three star now but the reasons have changed.
Torture porn for starters:
Orphaned heroine.
Virgin raped by two men two weeks before her wedding
Leaves marriage due to emotional trauma
Beloved younger sister is killed
Boss blackmailing into sex
The h approaches the H for money to pay off her boss as he has her cornered for sex. The H hasn't seen her for about two years. We find out later he kept up with her via her little sister, but didn't know the little sis died while he was out of country for a month.
Bottom line, the H adores her and wants her back. There has never been anyone for him since she left although he was considering possibilities. He tries to use tough love to break through which ultimately works. This is an HP universe, so, of course.
Why my initial 2 stars? Unbelievable turnaround of a rape victims. Reid did a huge disservice to her two characters and readers with the resolution for a rape victim. Counseling, counseling, counseling. Rape by anyone, much less two men in an elevator, is hardly cured by a magic penis and tough love. It's obvious the hero loves her regardless of virginity or rape, but the resolution is far too simple.
Bumped to three stars because I bought the H's emotions this time around.
Old review
Having problems sticking with this. Potential DNF.
Okay, I'm done.
October 13, 2016
The central conflict of this story stems from
This is a compelling story, because the reader is left in the dark about what exactly happened to the heroine, who is Molly, etc . . for many pages. But it's unrealistic and possibly triggering for rape. Read with your eyes wide open.
This is a compelling story, because the reader is left in the dark about what exactly happened to the heroine, who is Molly, etc . . for many pages. But it's unrealistic and possibly triggering for rape. Read with your eyes wide open.
April 15, 2019
Re The Marriage Surrender - Michelle Reid does a very difficult real world juxtaposition with HPlandia in this one.
In one of two books in the entirety of HPlandia at this point in 1999, (the other being the 1982 The Loving Trap,) the heroine in this one is raped. Just like Daphne Clair's Trap, the h is raped by two strangers, so there is NO old skool forced seduction or marital 'dues' in this one, the rape is a random act of violence.
Also like the h of Trap, this h goes ahead and marries her fiance, but doesn't tell anyone she was raped and the fall out is that she is unable to consummate her marriage with her husband H and she winds up leaving him.
The story starts three years after the marriage has tanked. The h got into a bad gambling debt situation with a skeezy guy and she calls her estranged husband to save her. He does show up, dressed in his finest Mafia Don style, and rescues her from her unwise actions.
But his repayment demand is that the h returns to the marriage and tries again. The beginning of this marriage reboot doesn't go well. The h is a mental mess and we don't know why. Her pain and damage is real, partly because the h has also experienced the death of her younger sister.
The H is all about making demands in a suggestive way. It appears he is demanding the h live up to her conjugal duties, after making him feel like an incompetent eunuch for the last three years. It is also very clear that the h is in no mental shape to go that route yet.
Then the big secret of the h's assault is revealed and it turns out that the H knew this all along, the h's younger sister used to meet the H for lunch and kept him posted on the h's progress. The H is using aversion therapy to force the h into differentiating between being violated and the more physical side of marriage.
After several dramatic moments, the H's mother shows up and the focus switches to the most insidious of victim blaming - the h believes that she has no value because she failed to 'defend her honor', thus she is no longer a worthy wife for the H, no matter how much she loves him.
The H's mother is the one who seems to agree with this on at least one level, but to the H's great credit, he calls that judgement the mushroom fertilizer it is. The h has a few more dramatic utterances and a running away so the H can chase her moment, but the H is right behind her and he catches up pretty quickly.
The h then figuratively girds her loins and the marriage is finally consummated. It is a magical, mystical experience and the H declares that the h is still virginal, despite the violation of her body, because her mind was not induced into the marital lurve mojo experience yet.
With the magic of the physical explosion on the Golden Shores of Transcendent Bliss, the h is healed of all her mental woes and regrets and the H and h can move on with their marriage in a hard earned HEA.
This is not an easy book to read and tho I give MR credit for the real word awareness that many rapes go unreported and many women do not get any type of counseling, I was not a fan of the aversion therapy exposure technique to physical romance.
I also give MR great credit for pointing out that a woman's value is not dependent upon a hymen, which is very shocking for HPlandia, because unicorn grooming is long touted as the key to the HP gold mine and at this point in the line, mostly the only way a heroine is going to get to her HEA.
This is a social statement book, wrapped in a lot of angst and pain. I think one of the reasons the reviews on this are so mixed is probably because the writing is great, the angst, love and pain are very real on page, but if you have never bought into the HP 'Hymen is everything' chorus, you are going to miss what MR was trying to point out.
Still, little seeds eventually grow into big trees. Back when this was written, there were many areas in the general world consciousness where it was considered a woman's fault if she was violated, even in Europe and the US. We taught, and continue to teach our young women to defend themselves, be alert, use the buddy system and stay safe.
But it is only relatively recently that we teach our young men that just because there is an opportunity, if there is no explicit consent, then any type of seduction activity is simply not okay and it is the equal responsibility of everyone to make sure that all parties involved are physically safe.
MR was very careful in this one to make no judgments, her real world connections are more implied that specifically stated. But from small starts like this book these ideas have grown into huge movements today, which makes this one worth a read and plus, MR does give us a very good HPlandia HEA.
In one of two books in the entirety of HPlandia at this point in 1999, (the other being the 1982 The Loving Trap,) the heroine in this one is raped. Just like Daphne Clair's Trap, the h is raped by two strangers, so there is NO old skool forced seduction or marital 'dues' in this one, the rape is a random act of violence.
Also like the h of Trap, this h goes ahead and marries her fiance, but doesn't tell anyone she was raped and the fall out is that she is unable to consummate her marriage with her husband H and she winds up leaving him.
The story starts three years after the marriage has tanked. The h got into a bad gambling debt situation with a skeezy guy and she calls her estranged husband to save her. He does show up, dressed in his finest Mafia Don style, and rescues her from her unwise actions.
But his repayment demand is that the h returns to the marriage and tries again. The beginning of this marriage reboot doesn't go well. The h is a mental mess and we don't know why. Her pain and damage is real, partly because the h has also experienced the death of her younger sister.
The H is all about making demands in a suggestive way. It appears he is demanding the h live up to her conjugal duties, after making him feel like an incompetent eunuch for the last three years. It is also very clear that the h is in no mental shape to go that route yet.
Then the big secret of the h's assault is revealed and it turns out that the H knew this all along, the h's younger sister used to meet the H for lunch and kept him posted on the h's progress. The H is using aversion therapy to force the h into differentiating between being violated and the more physical side of marriage.
After several dramatic moments, the H's mother shows up and the focus switches to the most insidious of victim blaming - the h believes that she has no value because she failed to 'defend her honor', thus she is no longer a worthy wife for the H, no matter how much she loves him.
The H's mother is the one who seems to agree with this on at least one level, but to the H's great credit, he calls that judgement the mushroom fertilizer it is. The h has a few more dramatic utterances and a running away so the H can chase her moment, but the H is right behind her and he catches up pretty quickly.
The h then figuratively girds her loins and the marriage is finally consummated. It is a magical, mystical experience and the H declares that the h is still virginal, despite the violation of her body, because her mind was not induced into the marital lurve mojo experience yet.
With the magic of the physical explosion on the Golden Shores of Transcendent Bliss, the h is healed of all her mental woes and regrets and the H and h can move on with their marriage in a hard earned HEA.
This is not an easy book to read and tho I give MR credit for the real word awareness that many rapes go unreported and many women do not get any type of counseling, I was not a fan of the aversion therapy exposure technique to physical romance.
I also give MR great credit for pointing out that a woman's value is not dependent upon a hymen, which is very shocking for HPlandia, because unicorn grooming is long touted as the key to the HP gold mine and at this point in the line, mostly the only way a heroine is going to get to her HEA.
This is a social statement book, wrapped in a lot of angst and pain. I think one of the reasons the reviews on this are so mixed is probably because the writing is great, the angst, love and pain are very real on page, but if you have never bought into the HP 'Hymen is everything' chorus, you are going to miss what MR was trying to point out.
Still, little seeds eventually grow into big trees. Back when this was written, there were many areas in the general world consciousness where it was considered a woman's fault if she was violated, even in Europe and the US. We taught, and continue to teach our young women to defend themselves, be alert, use the buddy system and stay safe.
But it is only relatively recently that we teach our young men that just because there is an opportunity, if there is no explicit consent, then any type of seduction activity is simply not okay and it is the equal responsibility of everyone to make sure that all parties involved are physically safe.
MR was very careful in this one to make no judgments, her real world connections are more implied that specifically stated. But from small starts like this book these ideas have grown into huge movements today, which makes this one worth a read and plus, MR does give us a very good HPlandia HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2012
In typical Michelle Reid fashion this is an absorbing book filled with a lot of angst. The heroine and hero are madly in love. One week before their wedding, she is brutally raped by two men in an elevator. She goes through with the wedding, but is so emotionally scarred that she can not consummate the marriage and she ultimately leaves him. Two years later, she enters his life again asking for help financially since she has fallen prey to a loan shark.
Though, I wasn't able to put the book down...there were some things that really bothered me.
First, The heroine was seriously traumatized over the rape. The fact that the hero forced her back into a relationship and was often callous towards her struggles just didn't make sense. Secondly, this woman needed some serious counseling if she was ever going to recover. Finally, it didn't feel to me that the author truly researched the reactions of a rape victim and the recovery. To tackle such an important topic without the due diligence and research, seemed inappropriate.
Though, I wasn't able to put the book down...there were some things that really bothered me.
First, The heroine was seriously traumatized over the rape. The fact that the hero forced her back into a relationship and was often callous towards her struggles just didn't make sense. Secondly, this woman needed some serious counseling if she was ever going to recover. Finally, it didn't feel to me that the author truly researched the reactions of a rape victim and the recovery. To tackle such an important topic without the due diligence and research, seemed inappropriate.
February 22, 2016
There was a lot of angst in this book. The hero and heroine fall madly in love but one week before the wedding she is raped by 2 guys in an elevator. She doesn't tell anyone and goes ahead a gets married and then freaks out and can't sleep with her husband. The story starts 3 years later when they have been apart for 2 years. He was basically emasculated by her refusal to sleep with him or even let him touch her so she left him. So she comes to him for some help with a money problem and he won't let her go again. In the meantime her sister has told him the scoop so at least he knows what's up.
There were bits that I had problems with. First off the girl needed counseling. As soon as the hero found out, if he loved her, he should have gotten her counseling. Secondly even knowing what he did, he kept getting fed up with her fear etc. Then you find out that they had been waiting to have sex until they were married and he was all hyped about marrying a virgin. The fact that she wasn't a virgin anymore turns out to have been her major problem. She wasn't scared of sex, she was just scared he would find out she wasn't a virgin and thus she wouldn't have anything special to give him. When that finally all comes out he tells her it isn't all about her virginity but about him loving her so they finally have sex and everything is now rainbows and butterflies.
I just felt like there were moments of brilliance that were overshadowed by wonky motivations and reactions that kind of didn't strike me as quite right. Didn't quite live up to its potential.
There were bits that I had problems with. First off the girl needed counseling. As soon as the hero found out, if he loved her, he should have gotten her counseling. Secondly even knowing what he did, he kept getting fed up with her fear etc. Then you find out that they had been waiting to have sex until they were married and he was all hyped about marrying a virgin. The fact that she wasn't a virgin anymore turns out to have been her major problem. She wasn't scared of sex, she was just scared he would find out she wasn't a virgin and thus she wouldn't have anything special to give him. When that finally all comes out he tells her it isn't all about her virginity but about him loving her so they finally have sex and everything is now rainbows and butterflies.
I just felt like there were moments of brilliance that were overshadowed by wonky motivations and reactions that kind of didn't strike me as quite right. Didn't quite live up to its potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2019
4 star
I think I'm in the minority on this mixed reviews HP. I liked it - it wouldn't be HP without some OTT angst and drama, but I liked the H. Maybe he should have gone after her but I believe his "confession". His reaction and actions felt real in many ways. I did feel sorry for him. I wish the h had gotten counseling - but, I understand her reaction, her heightened fears, lack of self-esteem. She was overwhelmed and because of trauma, her fears became huge and almost ingrained. The H did not give up on her. Because he didn't know in the beginning, her rejection deeply hurt Sandro because he truly loved her. I saw and felt it. This is my take and I'm sticking to it:)
BTW - I've read this one before (I think in PB form). Unsure why I didn't shelve, rate and review.
I think I'm in the minority on this mixed reviews HP. I liked it - it wouldn't be HP without some OTT angst and drama, but I liked the H. Maybe he should have gone after her but I believe his "confession". His reaction and actions felt real in many ways. I did feel sorry for him. I wish the h had gotten counseling - but, I understand her reaction, her heightened fears, lack of self-esteem. She was overwhelmed and because of trauma, her fears became huge and almost ingrained. The H did not give up on her. Because he didn't know in the beginning, her rejection deeply hurt Sandro because he truly loved her. I saw and felt it. This is my take and I'm sticking to it:)
BTW - I've read this one before (I think in PB form). Unsure why I didn't shelve, rate and review.
January 24, 2019
I had a really tough time pushing through this story. Joanna's behavior was so off putting through the story (before discovering the true reason why), that I had a really hard time caring why she was acted the way she did. I did like the angstiness of how tough she had it going on her own and trying to struggle financially after the death of her sister, as well as believing Sandro didn't care that her sister had passed away. The ending was just too abrupt for me though. No closure at all.
January 25, 2019
This was a serious romance dealing with mental and emotional health issues, but instead of resolving the root of the heroine's pain the author decided to bandage it instead, as I will explain.
Joanna was a tormented woman whose low self-esteem drove most of the story's conflict. This lack of worth was the reason why she didn't believe in Sandro's love for her. The reason why she spent the majority of the book wallowing in fear and self-pity. And the reason why she had run out on their marriage. Joanna didn't believe Sandro would love her the way she was now.
My point with all of this is that I don't believe Joanna had overcome her hangups by the novel's end, or that their happy ending would stick. Joanna needed professional counseling more than any sexual healing her husband could give, because her problems were psychological and not physical. Giving into Sandro's emotional blackmail (he had implied that he was tiring of the "lost cause") to consummate their marriage and "surrender" before she was ready to seemed like a desperate attempt on Joanna's part to keep her husband and not because she'd truly healed emotionally. How sad.
Joanna was a tormented woman whose low self-esteem drove most of the story's conflict. This lack of worth was the reason why she didn't believe in Sandro's love for her. The reason why she spent the majority of the book wallowing in fear and self-pity. And the reason why she had run out on their marriage. Joanna didn't believe Sandro would love her the way she was now.
My point with all of this is that I don't believe Joanna had overcome her hangups by the novel's end, or that their happy ending would stick. Joanna needed professional counseling more than any sexual healing her husband could give, because her problems were psychological and not physical. Giving into Sandro's emotional blackmail (he had implied that he was tiring of the "lost cause") to consummate their marriage and "surrender" before she was ready to seemed like a desperate attempt on Joanna's part to keep her husband and not because she'd truly healed emotionally. How sad.
March 23, 2017
This book started with addressing serious issues but what I felt was ended abruptly.
The hero claimed even demanded intimacy from the heroine pretty much throughout the whole book not with tact. Heroine was raped, so she has issues with intimacies, he didn't try to offer counselling and at the the end of the book basically mentioned he was getting tired of the lost cause.
Any intimacy followed by that threat is bound to be out of desperation not out of being free of trauma.
The ending felt definitely rushed, so not the best read for me.
The hero claimed even demanded intimacy from the heroine pretty much throughout the whole book not with tact. Heroine was raped, so she has issues with intimacies, he didn't try to offer counselling and at the the end of the book basically mentioned he was getting tired of the lost cause.
Any intimacy followed by that threat is bound to be out of desperation not out of being free of trauma.
The ending felt definitely rushed, so not the best read for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2018
"The Marriage Surrender" is the story of Joanna and Alessandro.
Two years ago, a scarred Joanna had run away from her marriage with Alessandro because of her inability to allow him to touch her. A tragedy had befallen a week before marriage, and Joanna hides the trauma behind aversion to physical intimacy..
Now as she runs out of money and is harassed by her lewd despicable boss, she approaches Alessandro for monetary help.
But seeing him again brings back all the heartbreaking memories, and her own insecurities.
Can these two scarred souls overcome their past with their love?
What a beautiful, heart-wrenching tale about the victim of sexual assault trying to deal with PTSD, albeit in a dramatic HQN drama filled away. Michelle has a way with angst, and this had oodles of it. The hero was kind and caring who never gave up on his wife, and despite their differences the couple loved one another.
Yes, the heroine did over-analyze and over-react to everything, but I kinda found it real, especially if she didnt actually deal with what had actually happened.
The eventual post coital events were a bit cheesy, but I totally did enjoy reading it.
A very different and offbeat read, but a must for all angsty romance fans.
Safe
4.25/5
Two years ago, a scarred Joanna had run away from her marriage with Alessandro because of her inability to allow him to touch her. A tragedy had befallen a week before marriage, and Joanna hides the trauma behind aversion to physical intimacy..
Now as she runs out of money and is harassed by her lewd despicable boss, she approaches Alessandro for monetary help.
But seeing him again brings back all the heartbreaking memories, and her own insecurities.
Can these two scarred souls overcome their past with their love?
What a beautiful, heart-wrenching tale about the victim of sexual assault trying to deal with PTSD, albeit in a dramatic HQN drama filled away. Michelle has a way with angst, and this had oodles of it. The hero was kind and caring who never gave up on his wife, and despite their differences the couple loved one another.
Yes, the heroine did over-analyze and over-react to everything, but I kinda found it real, especially if she didnt actually deal with what had actually happened.
The eventual post coital events were a bit cheesy, but I totally did enjoy reading it.
A very different and offbeat read, but a must for all angsty romance fans.
Safe
4.25/5
March 18, 2013
I would expect from a female author to talk to rape victims or research the topic before they write about it. I don't believe sexual therapy was the answer for her to get past all the trauma. No rape victim is going to just one day decide to shrug it off and get back to her life the way it was before.
will-not-read
July 2, 2018DNF
I was in chapter three hating the h with passion so I came to GR to check reviews and found out the reason for her behavior. AS I'm sure I won't like it and I'm not having much time to read, I'll skip this one.
I was in chapter three hating the h with passion so I came to GR to check reviews and found out the reason for her behavior. AS I'm sure I won't like it and I'm not having much time to read, I'll skip this one.
March 5, 2017
It was ok but the rape thing is too serious and just not a good plot for a Harlequin.
August 23, 2011
From start to finish, the heroine is in utter emotional turmoil because of what had happened to her a week before her marriage. In a romance novel, I like to see some ups (happy moments) and downs (conflicts)...However,in this book it is all downs until the last 2 pages. It was too draining, and simply too exhausting to get through...
Only 2 stars because I didn't enjoy the time I spent reading it.
Only 2 stars because I didn't enjoy the time I spent reading it.
January 5, 2022
It feels good that the h who has experienced so much misery and trauma in her life ends up happy with the man she loves and who adores her.
But it was shocking to read what she has gone through in her life. If there was ever a h who you would want to be happy the rest of her life, it is this h.
Michelle Reid is an excellent writer. One of my favourite HP writers. So much angst from the first pages that the story grabs you immediately.
But it was shocking to read what she has gone through in her life. If there was ever a h who you would want to be happy the rest of her life, it is this h.
Michelle Reid is an excellent writer. One of my favourite HP writers. So much angst from the first pages that the story grabs you immediately.
May 4, 2021
This could be a 4 stars thanks to the hero and his love for the heroine but it has so many holes and things unresolved. The heroine and the hero are estranged, the heroine goes back to the hero and ask his help because she needs money to pay her debts. He- and we- find out that she left him because she couldn’t stand to have sex with him after their marriage, and it’s very strange because when they were engaged she was very passionate and wanted to have sex with the hero, and they didn’t have sex because he wanted to wait until they were married to have their first time. The hero was mad because he thought that she was repulsed by him, so she left without an explanation. Then we understand that the heroine’s little sister and the hero talked about her strange behavior and her sister told him that she believed she’s been assaulted. So that’s it. The hero, who is not dumb stupid and naive, after having heard that the heroine has this strange behavior because she was very probably assaulted, instead of going after her and taking her to a counselor or a professional psychiatrist, leaves her with her trauma and doesn’t look for her. Really? Really!!! And in the meantime she loses her little sister in an accident, has another trauma and almost ends prostituting herself because she can’t regain her balance. And where is the hero??? There waiting (for what? A traumatized person can’t heal easily without help!) for her to appear. Ok, so when she suddenly appears in his life he’s very willing to help her and refuses to leave her alone even when she would run away. Of course his methods cannot be considered orthodox but I appreciate that he refused to leave her and wanted to help her recover. Eventually it turns out he always loved her and was always faithful to her, and was waiting for her to come to him, but anyway it is not believable that he didn’t look for her when he knew that she was assaulted, to ask her what exactly she had to endure. And he could well try to guess what kind of trauma she suffered (but the oh so smart heroes in hp book are really dumb and slow sometimes...) I think that sensitive readers could find this book a little hard to take because of the issues it deals with.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2019
Re The Marriage Surrender - Michelle Reid does a very difficult real world juxtaposition with HPlandia in this one.
In one of two books in the entirety of HPlandia at this point in 1999, (the other being the 1982 The Loving Trap,) the heroine in this one is raped. Just like Daphne Clair's Trap, the h is raped by two strangers, so there is NO old skool forced seduction or marital 'dues' in this one, the rape is a random act of violence.
Also like the h of Trap, this h goes ahead and marries her fiance, but doesn't tell anyone she was raped and the fall out is that she is unable to consummate her marriage with her husband H and she winds up leaving him.
The story starts three years after the marriage has tanked. The h got into a bad gambling debt situation with a skeezy guy and she calls her estranged husband to save her. He does show up, dressed in his finest Mafia Don style, and rescues her from her unwise actions.
But his repayment demand is that the h returns to the marriage and tries again. The beginning of this marriage reboot doesn't go well. The h is a mental mess and we don't know why. Her pain and damage is real, partly because the h has also experienced the death of her younger sister.
The H is all about making demands in a suggestive way. It appears he is demanding the h live up to her conjugal duties, after making him feel like an incompetent eunuch for the last three years. It is also very clear that the h is in no mental shape to go that route yet.
Then the big secret of the h's assault is revealed and it turns out that the H knew this all along, the h's younger sister used to meet the H for lunch and kept him posted on the h's progress. The H is using aversion therapy to force the h into differentiating between being violated and the more physical side of marriage.
After several dramatic moments, the H's mother shows up and the focus switches to the most insidious of victim blaming - the h believes that she has no value because she failed to 'defend her honor', thus she is no longer a worthy wife for the H, no matter how much she loves him.
The H's mother is the one who seems to agree with this on at least one level, but to the H's great credit, he calls that judgement the mushroom fertilizer it is. The h has a few more dramatic utterances and a running away so the H can chase her moment, but the H is right behind her and he catches up pretty quickly.
The h then figuratively girds her loins and the marriage is finally consummated. It is a magical, mystical experience and the H declares that the h is still virginal, despite the violation of her body, because her mind was not induced into the marital lurve mojo experience yet.
With the magic of the physical explosion on the Golden Shores of Transcendent Bliss, the h is healed of all her mental woes and regrets and the H and h can move on with their marriage in a hard earned HEA.
This is not an easy book to read and tho I give MR credit for the real word awareness that many rapes go unreported and many women do not get any type of counseling, I was not a fan of the aversion therapy exposure technique to physical romance.
I also give MR great credit for pointing out that a woman's value is not dependent upon a hymen, which is very shocking for HPlandia, because unicorn grooming is long touted as the key to the HP gold mine and at this point in the line, mostly the only way a heroine is going to get to her HEA.
This is a social statement book, wrapped in a lot of angst and pain. I think one of the reasons the reviews on this are so mixed is probably because the writing is great, the angst, love and pain are very real on page, but if you have never bought into the HP 'Hymen is everything' chorus, you are going to miss what MR was trying to point out.
Still, little seeds eventually grow into big trees. Back when this was written, there were many areas in the general world consciousness where it was considered a woman's fault if she was violated, even in Europe and the US. We taught, and continue to teach our young women to defend themselves, be alert, use the buddy system and stay safe.
But it is only relatively recently that we teach our young men that just because there is an opportunity, if there is no explicit consent, then any type of seduction activity is simply not okay and it is the equal responsibility of everyone to make sure that all parties involved are physically safe.
MR was very careful in this one to make no judgments, her real world connections are more implied that specifically stated. But from small starts like this book these ideas have grown into huge movements today, which makes this one worth a read and plus, MR does give us a very good HPlandia HEA.
In one of two books in the entirety of HPlandia at this point in 1999, (the other being the 1982 The Loving Trap,) the heroine in this one is raped. Just like Daphne Clair's Trap, the h is raped by two strangers, so there is NO old skool forced seduction or marital 'dues' in this one, the rape is a random act of violence.
Also like the h of Trap, this h goes ahead and marries her fiance, but doesn't tell anyone she was raped and the fall out is that she is unable to consummate her marriage with her husband H and she winds up leaving him.
The story starts three years after the marriage has tanked. The h got into a bad gambling debt situation with a skeezy guy and she calls her estranged husband to save her. He does show up, dressed in his finest Mafia Don style, and rescues her from her unwise actions.
But his repayment demand is that the h returns to the marriage and tries again. The beginning of this marriage reboot doesn't go well. The h is a mental mess and we don't know why. Her pain and damage is real, partly because the h has also experienced the death of her younger sister.
The H is all about making demands in a suggestive way. It appears he is demanding the h live up to her conjugal duties, after making him feel like an incompetent eunuch for the last three years. It is also very clear that the h is in no mental shape to go that route yet.
Then the big secret of the h's assault is revealed and it turns out that the H knew this all along, the h's younger sister used to meet the H for lunch and kept him posted on the h's progress. The H is using aversion therapy to force the h into differentiating between being violated and the more physical side of marriage.
After several dramatic moments, the H's mother shows up and the focus switches to the most insidious of victim blaming - the h believes that she has no value because she failed to 'defend her honor', thus she is no longer a worthy wife for the H, no matter how much she loves him.
The H's mother is the one who seems to agree with this on at least one level, but to the H's great credit, he calls that judgement the mushroom fertilizer it is. The h has a few more dramatic utterances and a running away so the H can chase her moment, but the H is right behind her and he catches up pretty quickly.
The h then figuratively girds her loins and the marriage is finally consummated. It is a magical, mystical experience and the H declares that the h is still virginal, despite the violation of her body, because her mind was not induced into the marital lurve mojo experience yet.
With the magic of the physical explosion on the Golden Shores of Transcendent Bliss, the h is healed of all her mental woes and regrets and the H and h can move on with their marriage in a hard earned HEA.
This is not an easy book to read and tho I give MR credit for the real word awareness that many rapes go unreported and many women do not get any type of counseling, I was not a fan of the aversion therapy exposure technique to physical romance.
I also give MR great credit for pointing out that a woman's value is not dependent upon a hymen, which is very shocking for HPlandia, because unicorn grooming is long touted as the key to the HP gold mine and at this point in the line, mostly the only way a heroine is going to get to her HEA.
This is a social statement book, wrapped in a lot of angst and pain. I think one of the reasons the reviews on this are so mixed is probably because the writing is great, the angst, love and pain are very real on page, but if you have never bought into the HP 'Hymen is everything' chorus, you are going to miss what MR was trying to point out.
Still, little seeds eventually grow into big trees. Back when this was written, there were many areas in the general world consciousness where it was considered a woman's fault if she was violated, even in Europe and the US. We taught, and continue to teach our young women to defend themselves, be alert, use the buddy system and stay safe.
But it is only relatively recently that we teach our young men that just because there is an opportunity, if there is no explicit consent, then any type of seduction activity is simply not okay and it is the equal responsibility of everyone to make sure that all parties involved are physically safe.
MR was very careful in this one to make no judgments, her real world connections are more implied that specifically stated. But from small starts like this book these ideas have grown into huge movements today, which makes this one worth a read and plus, MR does give us a very good HPlandia HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2018
Synopsis:
The story starts with Joanna, Alessandro Bonnetti's wife, asking for his help, for financial assistance. It appears they are living separately for the past two years. He, the heir of Bonnetti Empire, while she, a worker in a seedy nightclub. She started staying with her sister, Molly, after walking out on her marriage to Sandro two years ago. But grief struck again when her sister died. Joanna is in pain, she was raped weeks before her marriage, and after her sister died, she hasn’t been able to get over the grief of losing the only family she had. She doesn't have any other support and doesn't tell Sandro anything as she believes everything to be her fault. But Sandro, determined to get her back, tries to make inroads into her mind. But does he know what happened to her all those years ago?
Review:
I have read many reviews about this book since I came across it. Michelle Reid is one of my favourites, her books emotional and full of angst. This was one of my most anticipated reads, and it didn't disappoint. (Her books The Price of a Bride and The Mistress Bride are my favourites!)
What a slime Arthur Bates is, to be demanding the loan he forwarded to Joanna to be paid back in cash or in kind! This book is so sad; it makes you feel the pain the main characters are going through. Sandro always takes to sarcasm when he feels Joanna distancing herself from him – physically as well as mentally, while never trying to understand what it is that she truly fears. While Joanna never approaches Sandro with the truth of what happened to her. The author has written Joanna's character with such finesse, that nobody would want to be in her head. An issue which has to be dealt with sensitively, here Sandro appeared to bulldoze her into them living together again, about forgetting their past. Sandro is more sensitive inside; but he maintains a hard, cynical exterior.
Joanna is all about blames and self-recriminations. Amid the heartbreak, sorrow, past baggage, do they finally find their joie de vivre?
Not to diminish the impact of the story, but an epilogue would have been great.
Fun facts:
1. sexual release = sun-burst (for a book written in 1999, a pretty old-fashioned term, but funny nonetheless).
2. 19 times the word quiver has been used, whether in fear or sexually.
Originally posted on:
https://sassyshaina.wordpress.com/201...
The story starts with Joanna, Alessandro Bonnetti's wife, asking for his help, for financial assistance. It appears they are living separately for the past two years. He, the heir of Bonnetti Empire, while she, a worker in a seedy nightclub. She started staying with her sister, Molly, after walking out on her marriage to Sandro two years ago. But grief struck again when her sister died. Joanna is in pain, she was raped weeks before her marriage, and after her sister died, she hasn’t been able to get over the grief of losing the only family she had. She doesn't have any other support and doesn't tell Sandro anything as she believes everything to be her fault. But Sandro, determined to get her back, tries to make inroads into her mind. But does he know what happened to her all those years ago?
Review:
I have read many reviews about this book since I came across it. Michelle Reid is one of my favourites, her books emotional and full of angst. This was one of my most anticipated reads, and it didn't disappoint. (Her books The Price of a Bride and The Mistress Bride are my favourites!)
What a slime Arthur Bates is, to be demanding the loan he forwarded to Joanna to be paid back in cash or in kind! This book is so sad; it makes you feel the pain the main characters are going through. Sandro always takes to sarcasm when he feels Joanna distancing herself from him – physically as well as mentally, while never trying to understand what it is that she truly fears. While Joanna never approaches Sandro with the truth of what happened to her. The author has written Joanna's character with such finesse, that nobody would want to be in her head. An issue which has to be dealt with sensitively, here Sandro appeared to bulldoze her into them living together again, about forgetting their past. Sandro is more sensitive inside; but he maintains a hard, cynical exterior.
I'll overcome your sad determination to punish us both for something neither of us had any control over!
Joanna is all about blames and self-recriminations. Amid the heartbreak, sorrow, past baggage, do they finally find their joie de vivre?
Not to diminish the impact of the story, but an epilogue would have been great.
Fun facts:
1. sexual release = sun-burst (for a book written in 1999, a pretty old-fashioned term, but funny nonetheless).
2. 19 times the word quiver has been used, whether in fear or sexually.
Originally posted on:
https://sassyshaina.wordpress.com/201...
December 17, 2017
I didn't like this book. I liked just Sandro.Other books I'v read of this author are good, but this one I couldn't. Not because of a 'rape' subject but because this didn't convince properly..80% of the book was just joanna's thoughts. Ofcourse, what happened to her was the most horrible thing & it cannot be consoled so easily, nobody could moveon but, I also felt Sandro too suffered so much. Though shs should have told him before the wedding, I understand why she couldn't.Bcz, she wanted not to accept the realilty. But later when she couldn't let him touch her, she should have told him.He was hurting so badly, didn't even know what was wrong. He had the right to know. She owed it to him. Ofcourse, I donot expect her to bed him bcz after such incident, a girl is terrified. I really felt bad for her. It happened just a week before the wedding that too when she wanted to gift him with her virgnity. Her state of mind must be terribble But, before leaving him, atleast she could have let him know. He didn't even know the complete trutg yet, he was so patient with her. After knowing complete truth, I think the time he meant sex, it was just to encourage her not to be insensitive. He was right when he told that she hurt him, too.. Then, I don't know how just in 4 days they bedded. May be I understood when she told that, going slowly may again make her to draw back. So sometimes, it is better not to think much. But, ending should have been elaborate & more of their happy times should have been shown.
August 14, 2011
Because of being raped very shortly before her wedding to the hero, the heroine is unable to 'be a proper wife' to the hero; this, in addition to her inability to tell anyone the details, or tell her husband anything at all about it, causes the breakdown of the marriage.
Two years after leaving him, the events of the novel start. Characters are sympathetic (although the extreme high-pitch of the heroine's emotional state is hard to relate to). The resolution comes about rather suddenly; really, the whole books takes basically three days. The heroine is a shivering wreck for most of it, then she's fine. This was a little implausible to me. I think it would have been better had it been a lot longer and slower paced, or had it started with the main character at a more advanced stage in her healing.
Two years after leaving him, the events of the novel start. Characters are sympathetic (although the extreme high-pitch of the heroine's emotional state is hard to relate to). The resolution comes about rather suddenly; really, the whole books takes basically three days. The heroine is a shivering wreck for most of it, then she's fine. This was a little implausible to me. I think it would have been better had it been a lot longer and slower paced, or had it started with the main character at a more advanced stage in her healing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2010
This book tried to pack too much emotional punch into such a slim volume. It's also unbelievable that he would go so long without finding a wife for whom he had been celibate for two plus years. I did appreciate that her recovery was long and painful-you know, realistic-instead of the one kiss and she's healed syndrome of some books.
January 24, 2020
This book requires trigger warnings, it’s not a typical HP.
As the story unfold you know the heroine has lived through some sort of trauma that she has kept to herself. One week before their wedding, she was raped in an elevator by 2 men. In her state of shock, she’s told no one, they get married on schedule, but for obvious reasons she rejects all aspects of their marriage. They have been married 3 years, have been separated for 2 years, and it’s one year since her sister was killed in a car accident. She’s a train wreck, never truly dealing with the rape. She has victim guilt, wrapped around saving her virginity for her wedding night, feeling worthless that she had nothing to bring to her marriage.
Everything is handled in a somewhat sensitive way for HP. She desperately needs counseling and therapy—that’s probably why I can’t bring to give it 4 stars—I believe this was written in the late 90s and it’s interesting to think this was a subject not usually found in HP.
As the story unfold you know the heroine has lived through some sort of trauma that she has kept to herself. One week before their wedding, she was raped in an elevator by 2 men. In her state of shock, she’s told no one, they get married on schedule, but for obvious reasons she rejects all aspects of their marriage. They have been married 3 years, have been separated for 2 years, and it’s one year since her sister was killed in a car accident. She’s a train wreck, never truly dealing with the rape. She has victim guilt, wrapped around saving her virginity for her wedding night, feeling worthless that she had nothing to bring to her marriage.
Everything is handled in a somewhat sensitive way for HP. She desperately needs counseling and therapy—that’s probably why I can’t bring to give it 4 stars—I believe this was written in the late 90s and it’s interesting to think this was a subject not usually found in HP.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2019
A (virgin) heroine who raped in her own book, just weeks before her wedding, is not romantic subject matter. The traumatized heroine is emotionally crippled the entire book. The hero's patient love and magic penis ultimately fixes the physical/emotional damage done by her rapists. This solution was completely contrived and unbelievable. Female authors should be ashamed of making money from abuse plotlines of female characters.
June 6, 2019
So not the right way for a man to handle shit.
August 2, 2010
This was a very intense book and dealt with some serious subject matter very well. Be prepared to have some kleenex available when reading this one.
July 14, 2012
Just loved it. The oldies are just fantastic!
November 19, 2018
Love the ending, show that love is very strong no mater how long people have been away form each other.
June 29, 2018
The plot was promising, but the execution was lacking.
Read
May 13, 2019I wish I could give this book negative stars. This was so truly awful, I don’t even know what to say. It was written quite so time ago, but I don’t think it excuses the way the author portrays rape, and the way the Hero dealt with it. I’m going to try to wipe this book from my memory
April 28, 2022
Warning! This book has a lot of triggers for anyone who has suffered from any type of sexual trauma, especially rape. It is a very hard read!
The Marriage Surrender was about Joanna and Alessandro "Sandro" Bonetti.
Joanna, having walked out of their marriage two years earlier after having been married only one short year before that, was in a desperate situation and had no one to turn to but Sandro. Calling him from a payphone, it took her forever to get through to him, only to run out of coins to continue the call. Sandro demanded the number so he could return the call, only to have someone else step in and interrupt his attempts. When he finally managed to get back in touch with her, Joanna requested an urgent meeting with him. However, he told her he was headed to the airport that afternoon and would be gone for some time, that she would have to wait till he returned. When she said never mind, that it would be too late by then, he conceded and told her to meet him at the office in an hour.
When she met with Sandro in his office to ask him for money she needed to pay off a creditor who was requiring immediate payment of cash...or sex, Sandro demanded to know what and who the money was for. After he accused her sister of being the one who she needed the money for, Joanna was angry and asked him how it could be for her sister, since she had died exactly a year ago. Sandro hadn't known, even though she had called to let him know about it...except he hadn't gotten the message. Learning that the money she'd had to borrow, and was now asking him for, had been to pay for her sister's funeral, Sandro once again asked her who the debt was through and what would happen if she failed to pay it. Once he knew, he set about getting the money together and visited the man and, at the same time, gathered all of Joanna's things from her apartment. Upon returning, he told her that she would start being his wife again.
Joanna didn't know how to be a proper wife to Sandro...and she didn't know how to tell him why that was the case. She was terrified of how he would look at her once he knew her secret. But Sandro was determined to knock down all of her defenses, to break through the walls that she had built around her, and finally be the couple he longed for...for he still loved her. But when he took her back to Rome "to start their marriage from the beginning again", Joanna began to feel panic in earnest, for she would be returning to his Rome apartment that "would always be the place of her very worst memory. She felt sick to the stomach even thinking about it. The closer they got, the worse she began to feel.". But...Sandro still didn't know about it and she felt like he was ignoring her reaction, to her fears. No matter what she said, or what she did, Sandro refused to acknowledge the panic that was overcoming her the closer they got to the elevators that would lead up to the apartment in Rome. But then Sandro said something that Joanna couldn't understand. He said that he knew...he knew about the attack she endured the week before they were married three years before. And that created a horrible fear inside her...for him to know what she had gone through, for him to know how she had been violated, and once again, she felt trapped, helpless, and exposed, and that Sandro knew the worst thing about her, that he would look at her and find her wanting, he would pity her...and she didn't want his pity.
But Sandro didn't know why she didn't want him to know, why she felt the need to shut him out of the worst part of her life, why she felt she couldn't share it with him. But she didn't want to talk to him about it...she just wanted to escape. And escape grabbed her in all of its darkness as she passed out, and that darkness did not want to let her go. But then Sandro was there to pull her out of it, to get her back to a safe place...and she slept.
When Sandro finally managed to get Joanna to open up about what happened, she poured the entire, sordid, horrible truth out to him...but thankfully the author mercifully spared the reader those details...just gave the reader a look at the pain that such an attack rendered not only the victim but to her husband as well. But once the flood gates were open, and he begged her to say no more...she couldn't. She couldn't stop airing all she had endured and it all came flooding out.
This was a hard story to read. A story that was about a woman very much in love with her husband, who got raped by two men in an elevator the week before their wedding. She had been a virgin, a state that seemed pleasing to Sandro when she had informed him of it and that, once it was gone, she felt as though she had let him down, disappointed him, and somehow was responsible for the disappointment he would have felt once he knew he would not have been her first and only lover.
Unable to respond to him sexually for the first year of their marriage horribly jeopardized their relationship and made Sandro feel hurt and angry towards her constant rejection of him, even though he wasn't to blame for his reaction since she had never told him about what had happened to her, for she was too ashamed.
Although it seemed as if Sandro was an unfeeling cad, he was quite sweet, understanding, and caring. He had also been through a great deal during the year they spent together before neither could take another strained moment. Without ever knowing why she constantly rejected him, he began to have his own self-doubts...doubts about his masculinity, his prowess, etc.
Joanna was such a strong character who had endured so much trauma it was hard to read, but a joy to watch as she developed along the way, even though it was a "tough love" struggle for her...and Sandro. The emotions that swamped these two were enough to flow from the pages and affect the reader as well...and they did. The fear that both of them had to overcome was heartwrenching. Joanna had to let go of the emotional and mental pain of the attack, while Sandro had to let go of the emotional and mental pain of not only what she had endured, but also what she had inadvertently inflicted on him in the process. Two very strong people who finally managed to overcome together what so many are unable to do in the real world.
The storyline was rough, yes, with all of its twists and turns, the emotional rollercoaster that flipped the heart and mind of the reader mercilessly and without end, and the subtle passion that finally broke through to consume them in the end...all of it was well worth the time it took to read. Was it worthy of a five-star rating? You bet. It also deserved a place with the Keeper for the Shelves collection.
The Marriage Surrender was about Joanna and Alessandro "Sandro" Bonetti.
Joanna, having walked out of their marriage two years earlier after having been married only one short year before that, was in a desperate situation and had no one to turn to but Sandro. Calling him from a payphone, it took her forever to get through to him, only to run out of coins to continue the call. Sandro demanded the number so he could return the call, only to have someone else step in and interrupt his attempts. When he finally managed to get back in touch with her, Joanna requested an urgent meeting with him. However, he told her he was headed to the airport that afternoon and would be gone for some time, that she would have to wait till he returned. When she said never mind, that it would be too late by then, he conceded and told her to meet him at the office in an hour.
When she met with Sandro in his office to ask him for money she needed to pay off a creditor who was requiring immediate payment of cash...or sex, Sandro demanded to know what and who the money was for. After he accused her sister of being the one who she needed the money for, Joanna was angry and asked him how it could be for her sister, since she had died exactly a year ago. Sandro hadn't known, even though she had called to let him know about it...except he hadn't gotten the message. Learning that the money she'd had to borrow, and was now asking him for, had been to pay for her sister's funeral, Sandro once again asked her who the debt was through and what would happen if she failed to pay it. Once he knew, he set about getting the money together and visited the man and, at the same time, gathered all of Joanna's things from her apartment. Upon returning, he told her that she would start being his wife again.
Joanna didn't know how to be a proper wife to Sandro...and she didn't know how to tell him why that was the case. She was terrified of how he would look at her once he knew her secret. But Sandro was determined to knock down all of her defenses, to break through the walls that she had built around her, and finally be the couple he longed for...for he still loved her. But when he took her back to Rome "to start their marriage from the beginning again", Joanna began to feel panic in earnest, for she would be returning to his Rome apartment that "would always be the place of her very worst memory. She felt sick to the stomach even thinking about it. The closer they got, the worse she began to feel.". But...Sandro still didn't know about it and she felt like he was ignoring her reaction, to her fears. No matter what she said, or what she did, Sandro refused to acknowledge the panic that was overcoming her the closer they got to the elevators that would lead up to the apartment in Rome. But then Sandro said something that Joanna couldn't understand. He said that he knew...he knew about the attack she endured the week before they were married three years before. And that created a horrible fear inside her...for him to know what she had gone through, for him to know how she had been violated, and once again, she felt trapped, helpless, and exposed, and that Sandro knew the worst thing about her, that he would look at her and find her wanting, he would pity her...and she didn't want his pity.
But Sandro didn't know why she didn't want him to know, why she felt the need to shut him out of the worst part of her life, why she felt she couldn't share it with him. But she didn't want to talk to him about it...she just wanted to escape. And escape grabbed her in all of its darkness as she passed out, and that darkness did not want to let her go. But then Sandro was there to pull her out of it, to get her back to a safe place...and she slept.
When Sandro finally managed to get Joanna to open up about what happened, she poured the entire, sordid, horrible truth out to him...but thankfully the author mercifully spared the reader those details...just gave the reader a look at the pain that such an attack rendered not only the victim but to her husband as well. But once the flood gates were open, and he begged her to say no more...she couldn't. She couldn't stop airing all she had endured and it all came flooding out.
This was a hard story to read. A story that was about a woman very much in love with her husband, who got raped by two men in an elevator the week before their wedding. She had been a virgin, a state that seemed pleasing to Sandro when she had informed him of it and that, once it was gone, she felt as though she had let him down, disappointed him, and somehow was responsible for the disappointment he would have felt once he knew he would not have been her first and only lover.
Unable to respond to him sexually for the first year of their marriage horribly jeopardized their relationship and made Sandro feel hurt and angry towards her constant rejection of him, even though he wasn't to blame for his reaction since she had never told him about what had happened to her, for she was too ashamed.
Although it seemed as if Sandro was an unfeeling cad, he was quite sweet, understanding, and caring. He had also been through a great deal during the year they spent together before neither could take another strained moment. Without ever knowing why she constantly rejected him, he began to have his own self-doubts...doubts about his masculinity, his prowess, etc.
Joanna was such a strong character who had endured so much trauma it was hard to read, but a joy to watch as she developed along the way, even though it was a "tough love" struggle for her...and Sandro. The emotions that swamped these two were enough to flow from the pages and affect the reader as well...and they did. The fear that both of them had to overcome was heartwrenching. Joanna had to let go of the emotional and mental pain of the attack, while Sandro had to let go of the emotional and mental pain of not only what she had endured, but also what she had inadvertently inflicted on him in the process. Two very strong people who finally managed to overcome together what so many are unable to do in the real world.
The storyline was rough, yes, with all of its twists and turns, the emotional rollercoaster that flipped the heart and mind of the reader mercilessly and without end, and the subtle passion that finally broke through to consume them in the end...all of it was well worth the time it took to read. Was it worthy of a five-star rating? You bet. It also deserved a place with the Keeper for the Shelves collection.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews