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Long Cold Winter
Autumn's marriage to Yorke Laing had been a mistake from the start; she had been blinded by passion, he had more or less been forced into marrying her for appearances' sake - so it was inevitable that the marriage should end, bitterly, almost as soon as it had begun. Now, after two years' separation, Autumn just wanted to get a divorce and tie up all the loose ends - and it seemed she had her opportunity when unexpectedly Yorke turned up again. But Yorke had other ideas; he would give her a divorce, he agreed - but at his price...
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
37 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,125 books667 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 4, 2017
The following is an advertisement for an HP plot device
Do you have trouble communicating with your estranged spouse?
Did you marry him at 19 and then spend ten arid months in a forced marriage only coming alive at his touch each night?
Do you hate yourself for loving him when all he loves is business?
Did you run away, take business and grooming classes, and then ended up working at a sophisticated Caribbean resort?
Are you starting to regret this four months of reconciliation in a manor house in the Cotswolds so hubby can get his knighthood?
Then Jordan’s Sponging ™ might be for you!
Testimonial #1:
Blonde with violet eyes: It had been a long cold winter – well actually two winters because I’ve been separated from my husband that long. And well, actually it wasn’t that cold physically because I’ve been working at a resort in the Caribbean. But it was cold emotionally because all my natural passion and love had frozen when I realized my husband didn’t love me. And then I found Jordan’s Sponging ™ and -
Tall, dark, sexy alpha: I hated it. It was Christmas and I got the flu. Beds should be for sex.
Violet eyes: But that’s when I found out you had mommy issues.
Alpha: And that made my forcing you into marriage only to use you as a sex object okay?
Violet eyes: Yes.
Alpha: Jordan’s Sponging ™ has my endorsement.
Testimonial #2
Reviewer: I had heard about Penny Jordan’s remarkable Sponging ™ but I never expected it to be the solution to all of this couple’s problems. But really, what else would have worked? The heroine’s problem when they married was that she was raised by an elderly aunt, so she was an innocent. Once she took that grooming class and struck out on her own in her Cyclamen pink two piece suit, she was now the hero’s equal in sophistication. All of the minor characters said so – well, except for the Ows who were still jealous cats. Just her shopping choices alone – a sexy tuxedo pantsuit with a flamenco blouse and a tiered dress with pin-tucked sleeves and a heart-shaped neckline tell us she is now a worthy partner for our alpha.
So for a complete reconciliation, the hero had to explain that he had loved the heroine all along, was glad when a board member’s daughter caught them in bed together, thus forcing their marriage - but he had mommy issues and couldn’t express himself. Jordan’s Sponging ™ took care of all that in three pages.
Jordan’s Sponging™ it’s a plot device I can endorse.
Disclaimer: There are other sponging plot devices out there, but don’t be fooled. Only Jordan’s can bring guaranteed results.
Do you have trouble communicating with your estranged spouse?
Did you marry him at 19 and then spend ten arid months in a forced marriage only coming alive at his touch each night?
Do you hate yourself for loving him when all he loves is business?
Did you run away, take business and grooming classes, and then ended up working at a sophisticated Caribbean resort?
Are you starting to regret this four months of reconciliation in a manor house in the Cotswolds so hubby can get his knighthood?
Then Jordan’s Sponging ™ might be for you!
Testimonial #1:
Blonde with violet eyes: It had been a long cold winter – well actually two winters because I’ve been separated from my husband that long. And well, actually it wasn’t that cold physically because I’ve been working at a resort in the Caribbean. But it was cold emotionally because all my natural passion and love had frozen when I realized my husband didn’t love me. And then I found Jordan’s Sponging ™ and -
Tall, dark, sexy alpha: I hated it. It was Christmas and I got the flu. Beds should be for sex.
Violet eyes: But that’s when I found out you had mommy issues.
Alpha: And that made my forcing you into marriage only to use you as a sex object okay?
Violet eyes: Yes.
Alpha: Jordan’s Sponging ™ has my endorsement.
Testimonial #2
Reviewer: I had heard about Penny Jordan’s remarkable Sponging ™ but I never expected it to be the solution to all of this couple’s problems. But really, what else would have worked? The heroine’s problem when they married was that she was raised by an elderly aunt, so she was an innocent. Once she took that grooming class and struck out on her own in her Cyclamen pink two piece suit, she was now the hero’s equal in sophistication. All of the minor characters said so – well, except for the Ows who were still jealous cats. Just her shopping choices alone – a sexy tuxedo pantsuit with a flamenco blouse and a tiered dress with pin-tucked sleeves and a heart-shaped neckline tell us she is now a worthy partner for our alpha.
So for a complete reconciliation, the hero had to explain that he had loved the heroine all along, was glad when a board member’s daughter caught them in bed together, thus forcing their marriage - but he had mommy issues and couldn’t express himself. Jordan’s Sponging ™ took care of all that in three pages.
Jordan’s Sponging™ it’s a plot device I can endorse.
Disclaimer: There are other sponging plot devices out there, but don’t be fooled. Only Jordan’s can bring guaranteed results.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2020
"Long Cold Winter" is the story of Autumn and Yorke.
*Pew pew pew* T O X I C M A R R I A G E A L E R T
Isn't it fun where the heroine is terrified of the hero, and spends a large part of the book cowering in fear and being joked that she "invites rape"? And isn't it totally SO HOT when the hero is not just sexually aggressive, but so short tempered that you genuinely fear he's going to kill the heroine? Swell!
Yada yada she's an orphan bought up in a puritan household. Yada yada, he's an abandoned penniless child. She was 19, him 31. Lust at first sight led to a mature man almost seducing a super naive teenager, getting caught and marrying her on impulse. He then proceeds to ignore her, while OW around him belitte her. He also spends no time sharing any feelings, generally or during sex, leaving the heroine fearful and very broken. There are vague implications of her being depressed and even thinking of harming herself. Things get so toxic that she runs away.
Two years later, he tracks her down only to incentivize her back into marriage for a few months and then he'd finally divorce her. She is aloof and unfeeling towards his madness, well that is until he unleashes his sexual poweress on her again. She tries her best, eventually gives in, loadddds of drama and revelations happen and this ends in their HEA. Turns out, he was actually crazy and she was oblivious..because ofcourse she was supposed to understand that it was love behind all his tantrums and random bursts of verbal abuse.
TBH, in the virtual book topia, I think they'd need like 50 years of therapy before they can behave like normal, non violent (and threatening) married couple. This book made me cringe at so many parts, however, smooches for all the angst and tears and the rating is ONLY for that.
SWE?
3/5
*Pew pew pew* T O X I C M A R R I A G E A L E R T
Isn't it fun where the heroine is terrified of the hero, and spends a large part of the book cowering in fear and being joked that she "invites rape"? And isn't it totally SO HOT when the hero is not just sexually aggressive, but so short tempered that you genuinely fear he's going to kill the heroine? Swell!
Yada yada she's an orphan bought up in a puritan household. Yada yada, he's an abandoned penniless child. She was 19, him 31. Lust at first sight led to a mature man almost seducing a super naive teenager, getting caught and marrying her on impulse. He then proceeds to ignore her, while OW around him belitte her. He also spends no time sharing any feelings, generally or during sex, leaving the heroine fearful and very broken. There are vague implications of her being depressed and even thinking of harming herself. Things get so toxic that she runs away.
Two years later, he tracks her down only to incentivize her back into marriage for a few months and then he'd finally divorce her. She is aloof and unfeeling towards his madness, well that is until he unleashes his sexual poweress on her again. She tries her best, eventually gives in, loadddds of drama and revelations happen and this ends in their HEA. Turns out, he was actually crazy and she was oblivious..because ofcourse she was supposed to understand that it was love behind all his tantrums and random bursts of verbal abuse.
TBH, in the virtual book topia, I think they'd need like 50 years of therapy before they can behave like normal, non violent (and threatening) married couple. This book made me cringe at so many parts, however, smooches for all the angst and tears and the rating is ONLY for that.
SWE?
3/5
October 20, 2023
What do you do if you want to win your estranged wife back, when she left you because you didn’t even watch her and used her only for sex?
Why, first you organize a meeting with deception, then you threatens her boss’s business, second you blackmail her to stay with you 4 months to give her the divorce she wants, third you belittle her, shames her and mauls her every time you can, fourth you forcibly seduces her and make her beg for sex.
And after all these efforts she obviously she will love you and won’t ever leave you. No?
Why not?
One wonders what must a chap do to persuade his wife that he loves her.
Woo her?
Be nice to her?
Wine and dine her?
Tell her she’s wonderful?
Offer her flowers?
Make her happy?
Not in PJ world.
Sometimes I expect that the hero takes a club, hits the h on her head and drags her by her hair into his cave groaning “arghhhhhh” and the h must be very happy because she knows he loves her.
Anyway, much angst and miscommunication and angst and miscommunication and I loved it!
Two years celibate and suffering deserved my respect. They lost two years because they never talked about their feelings.
But I like this stuff.
It’s always the besotted and emotionally crippled hero that comes back and takes the heroine home.
Why, first you organize a meeting with deception, then you threatens her boss’s business, second you blackmail her to stay with you 4 months to give her the divorce she wants, third you belittle her, shames her and mauls her every time you can, fourth you forcibly seduces her and make her beg for sex.
And after all these efforts she obviously she will love you and won’t ever leave you. No?
Why not?
One wonders what must a chap do to persuade his wife that he loves her.
Woo her?
Be nice to her?
Wine and dine her?
Tell her she’s wonderful?
Offer her flowers?
Make her happy?
Not in PJ world.
Sometimes I expect that the hero takes a club, hits the h on her head and drags her by her hair into his cave groaning “arghhhhhh” and the h must be very happy because she knows he loves her.
Anyway, much angst and miscommunication and angst and miscommunication and I loved it!
Two years celibate and suffering deserved my respect. They lost two years because they never talked about their feelings.
But I like this stuff.
It’s always the besotted and emotionally crippled hero that comes back and takes the heroine home.
January 9, 2019
2.5 stars
Thirty-one-year-old businessman Yorke marries innocent and naive 19-year-old Autumn after they are caught attempting to do the mattress tango by a spiteful lover/the daughter of one of his board members. This is Bad News if it's made public because Yorke should be focused on saving his airline business, not getting laid. Yorke and Autumn marry a week later, but he spends more time married to his job (because he secretly feels guilty for rushing her into marriage as we discover later). The only intimacy they share during their 10-month marriage is in bed.
Fed up with being just his bed partner, Autumn leaves Yorke without a word after they have a big argument and after he jets off to yet another business trip without her. Two years later, Yorke finally confronts Autumn in the Caribbean where she's been working for a hotelier because it looks as if her relationship with her boss might be getting hot and heavy. He will agree to a divorce if she agrees to become his wife again for four months as he needs to present the right image to secure a knighthood.
Review
Hero was a cold, hard dickhead:
Exhibit A
"Perhaps if there’d been something worth coming home to I might have come home more often," Yorke replied cruelly.
Exhibit B
"What did you expect? That I’d come chasing all this way just to get you back into my bed? You always did have a highly charged imagination. You were good, Autumn, but not that good," he added brutally.
Ah, there's simply no school like old-school. So what if Harlequin slapped a modern title on the ebook? (I hate it, by the way. "Long Cold Winter" is much more evocative than the forgettable and interchangeable "His Blackmail Marriage Bargain".) No worries though, Autumn melts enough to take Yorke back—all thanks to the revelations made by friends and colleagues about his horrible childhood, a fever-induced rambling in which Yorke finally reveals some vulnerability, and heroine's own generous heart.
So the big, bad alpha didn't earn his HEA which is necessary if a character has been a bastard for most of the book. Yes, he had a horrible childhood and, yes, unrequited love made him hangry for Autumn's love. However, his attempts to win her back were ridiculous: blackmail, punishing kisses, one forced seduction, insults including the word bitch, and tantrums. I probably would have had more sympathy if there had been a few scenes where Yorke displayed some tenderness via his actions, instead of one piddly scene (the fever ramblings) slotted very late into the book.
This book was supposed to have been a buddy read with my friend Tapasya, but I couldn't completely recommend it to her as it wasn't romantic. However, I couldn't put it down either as it's a compellingly-written vintage romance (hence, the rounded up rating). If one is going to skip the book and just read the reviews then I recommend SandraTheSnarkyOne's on-the-spot review, while StMargaret's hilarious one should be read for the satire.
P.S.
Autumn had been celibate while Yorke's celibacy seemed unclear. She implied that he quickly "replaced" her, but he was supposedly still nuts about her and had kept tabs on her, so maybe?
Thirty-one-year-old businessman Yorke marries innocent and naive 19-year-old Autumn after they are caught attempting to do the mattress tango by a spiteful lover/the daughter of one of his board members. This is Bad News if it's made public because Yorke should be focused on saving his airline business, not getting laid. Yorke and Autumn marry a week later, but he spends more time married to his job (because he secretly feels guilty for rushing her into marriage as we discover later). The only intimacy they share during their 10-month marriage is in bed.
Fed up with being just his bed partner, Autumn leaves Yorke without a word after they have a big argument and after he jets off to yet another business trip without her. Two years later, Yorke finally confronts Autumn in the Caribbean where she's been working for a hotelier because it looks as if her relationship with her boss might be getting hot and heavy. He will agree to a divorce if she agrees to become his wife again for four months as he needs to present the right image to secure a knighthood.
Review
Hero was a cold, hard dickhead:
Exhibit A
"Perhaps if there’d been something worth coming home to I might have come home more often," Yorke replied cruelly.
Exhibit B
"What did you expect? That I’d come chasing all this way just to get you back into my bed? You always did have a highly charged imagination. You were good, Autumn, but not that good," he added brutally.
Ah, there's simply no school like old-school. So what if Harlequin slapped a modern title on the ebook? (I hate it, by the way. "Long Cold Winter" is much more evocative than the forgettable and interchangeable "His Blackmail Marriage Bargain".) No worries though, Autumn melts enough to take Yorke back—all thanks to the revelations made by friends and colleagues about his horrible childhood, a fever-induced rambling in which Yorke finally reveals some vulnerability, and heroine's own generous heart.
So the big, bad alpha didn't earn his HEA which is necessary if a character has been a bastard for most of the book. Yes, he had a horrible childhood and, yes, unrequited love made him hangry for Autumn's love. However, his attempts to win her back were ridiculous: blackmail, punishing kisses, one forced seduction, insults including the word bitch, and tantrums. I probably would have had more sympathy if there had been a few scenes where Yorke displayed some tenderness via his actions, instead of one piddly scene (the fever ramblings) slotted very late into the book.
This book was supposed to have been a buddy read with my friend Tapasya, but I couldn't completely recommend it to her as it wasn't romantic. However, I couldn't put it down either as it's a compellingly-written vintage romance (hence, the rounded up rating). If one is going to skip the book and just read the reviews then I recommend SandraTheSnarkyOne's on-the-spot review, while StMargaret's hilarious one should be read for the satire.
P.S.
Autumn had been celibate while Yorke's celibacy seemed unclear. She implied that he quickly "replaced" her, but he was supposedly still nuts about her and had kept tabs on her, so maybe?
July 14, 2015
Alpha hero with mommy issues marries extremely young naive heroine. She thinks he doesn't love her, he is a workaholic and their marriage doesn't last. A few years later he is back in her life and this time heroine has matured and is well prepared to face hero's elite snotty friends and share his life. But she is blind and his erratic hot and cold behavior doesn't help.
Loved the angst, I devoured it.
Loved the angst, I devoured it.
August 28, 2018
I can’t believe I'm about to say this, especially since I'm a huge proponent of the fact that one shouldn't take fluff romances too seriously but people who look down on vintage romances as propagating the rape culture sadly, need not look further than this for an example.
And this coming from someone adores PJ and who has read some pretty trainwrecky romances and enjoyed them nonetheless.
I think I lost count of how many times H said words to the effect of “I want you,” and how many times she countered it with various forms of over-my-dead-body. Yet he pushed it, went against his word that he wouldn’t touch her, and used her body against her will to the point of forcing her to beg for it.
You may be thinking err… were you born yesterday? Is this your first vintage romance? I do get that the gist of these novels are the push-and-pull attraction, the fighting then melting heroine unable to resist the dickhead Hero and I've even liked novels where there was dubious consent. Well, not the non-consent bit, but being the angst junkie I am, I have to be honest and say depending on the context, maybe with a background of misplaced anger/wrong identity/vengeance and depending how the heroine reacts, the H’s post-behaviour and some stellar writing, some authors pull it off.
But in this case, the conflict was nothing else but the heroine’s bitterness of being used for the Hero’s sexual pleasure with no regard for her as a person during their short-lived marriage. She left him and painstakingly built herself up, from the shy, innocent 19 year old to a confident career woman. Two years later, he apparently wants a knighthood and needs a wife as a show of respectability and asks for a temporary reconciliation.
In order for this romance to work, the H had to stop being a dipshit and treat her with the respect and love she had craved. But there wasn’t enough show-by-action love moments to make up for his non-communicativeness; being told by people that he missed her and suffered when she left didn’t cut it for me.
I wanted to like him, I wanted to forgive him and I felt compassion for him when I found out (a little too late, maybe 10 pages to the end) about his neglected childhood. PJ does this bit so well. I hate that parents still do this in this day and age. Using children as pawns in your divorce should be deemed fucking criminal.
But I wished he had kept that connecting door to their bedrooms closed as he had promised he would. Though she succumbed, her self-hatred and bitterness was so apparent, the whole episode was disturbing. I felt like PJ detailed a rapist's oldest trick in the book: how to manipulate a woman’s body to feel sexual pleasure and have orgasms so the victim is confused into feeling shame and blaming herself.
I don't know if PJ wrote it this way intentionally to make some readers have a think about consent. It’s not like her to make her H so unapologetically unrepentant and even the steam factor was noticeably missing. And maybe, giving no hints about his childhood until the end was intentional. It’s almost as if she wanted the reader not to be seduced into thinking this was acceptable behaviour. Or perhaps I'm over-compensating for PJ and this was just 1982.
Though he kept away from her after that and seemed a tad remorseful during the HEA, it wasn’t enough for me. As for grovelling, Do check out StMargarets brilliant, satirical review on that.
An unsettling PJ novel still trumps other mediocre ones, so it’s still 3.5 stars for me. Only PJ can come up with a compelling read with an almost no-storyline. She will always be a favourite.
And this coming from someone adores PJ and who has read some pretty trainwrecky romances and enjoyed them nonetheless.
I think I lost count of how many times H said words to the effect of “I want you,” and how many times she countered it with various forms of over-my-dead-body. Yet he pushed it, went against his word that he wouldn’t touch her, and used her body against her will to the point of forcing her to beg for it.
You may be thinking err… were you born yesterday? Is this your first vintage romance? I do get that the gist of these novels are the push-and-pull attraction, the fighting then melting heroine unable to resist the dickhead Hero and I've even liked novels where there was dubious consent. Well, not the non-consent bit, but being the angst junkie I am, I have to be honest and say depending on the context, maybe with a background of misplaced anger/wrong identity/vengeance and depending how the heroine reacts, the H’s post-behaviour and some stellar writing, some authors pull it off.
But in this case, the conflict was nothing else but the heroine’s bitterness of being used for the Hero’s sexual pleasure with no regard for her as a person during their short-lived marriage. She left him and painstakingly built herself up, from the shy, innocent 19 year old to a confident career woman. Two years later, he apparently wants a knighthood and needs a wife as a show of respectability and asks for a temporary reconciliation.
In order for this romance to work, the H had to stop being a dipshit and treat her with the respect and love she had craved. But there wasn’t enough show-by-action love moments to make up for his non-communicativeness; being told by people that he missed her and suffered when she left didn’t cut it for me.
I wanted to like him, I wanted to forgive him and I felt compassion for him when I found out (a little too late, maybe 10 pages to the end) about his neglected childhood. PJ does this bit so well. I hate that parents still do this in this day and age. Using children as pawns in your divorce should be deemed fucking criminal.
But I wished he had kept that connecting door to their bedrooms closed as he had promised he would. Though she succumbed, her self-hatred and bitterness was so apparent, the whole episode was disturbing. I felt like PJ detailed a rapist's oldest trick in the book: how to manipulate a woman’s body to feel sexual pleasure and have orgasms so the victim is confused into feeling shame and blaming herself.
I don't know if PJ wrote it this way intentionally to make some readers have a think about consent. It’s not like her to make her H so unapologetically unrepentant and even the steam factor was noticeably missing. And maybe, giving no hints about his childhood until the end was intentional. It’s almost as if she wanted the reader not to be seduced into thinking this was acceptable behaviour. Or perhaps I'm over-compensating for PJ and this was just 1982.
Though he kept away from her after that and seemed a tad remorseful during the HEA, it wasn’t enough for me. As for grovelling, Do check out StMargarets brilliant, satirical review on that.
An unsettling PJ novel still trumps other mediocre ones, so it’s still 3.5 stars for me. Only PJ can come up with a compelling read with an almost no-storyline. She will always be a favourite.
May 30, 2013
3.5 stars. This was a decent older Penny Jordan, but not a great one. Angsty, but I wish we'd seen more signs of the hero's feelings along the way -- usually Jordan is pretty good with that. Also, there is pretty much zero explanation for how the hero treated her when they were first married -- if he were truly feeling guilty about marrying her, why would he treat her like crap and say awful things to her? I thought this was mostly just ok if you're in the mood for Penny Jordan angst.
July 6, 2020
Oh, wow, that was just how I like my vintage Harleys—such angst and exquisite hero cruelty! (Yes, I know, don’t judge, I’m a Lilian Peake/Robyn Donald fan too.) A cold-but-volatile uber-alpha asshat hero into sexual dominance (happy sigh). A vulnerable but sturdy heroine who may suffer from treacherous body syndrome but makes it her reason for leaving him originally! Well done, heroine! There’s only so much emotionally destitute sexual bondage a girl can take, no matter how hot it is.
This alpha, seriously, could have been dropped into an '80s Robyn Donald novel and done just fine tormenting an RD heroine. RD and PJ both really like the underpinning of emotional repression as the result of terrible parenting (the hero’s the one with the childhood trauma for once), so we do get the hero-behaving-badly-because backstory in this one, but late in the novel, so it never interferes with the to-the-bitter-end angst. (I hate when Harley writers pull their punches too early; NOT the case in this one.)
The hero is pretty awful to our heroine, both before she leaves him and upon their faux-reconciliation two years later, treating her coldly when he's not trying to make her succumb to her unwanted but irresistible attraction to him ( When he's not being a cold aloof asshat, he's wildly jealous and kind of scary in that "could explode at any moment" vintage hero way. The tension mounts and mounts and ooof! it's an intense read.
Some familiar PJ memes: blackmail, treacherous body syndrome, punishing kisses, sexual humiliation, and Penny Jordan’s patented SPONGING. Oh yaaassss, Christmas indeed! The tree-trimming scene brought a tear to my eye— I believed he found the woman he needed who was strong enough and loving enough to bring him into the warmth and light, so the HEA really worked for me. Loved this vintage read; it ticked all my boxes. For fans of cold, cruel, obsessive heroes and a boatload of angst, this was such a good one.
This alpha, seriously, could have been dropped into an '80s Robyn Donald novel and done just fine tormenting an RD heroine. RD and PJ both really like the underpinning of emotional repression as the result of terrible parenting (the hero’s the one with the childhood trauma for once), so we do get the hero-behaving-badly-because backstory in this one, but late in the novel, so it never interferes with the to-the-bitter-end angst. (I hate when Harley writers pull their punches too early; NOT the case in this one.)
The hero is pretty awful to our heroine, both before she leaves him and upon their faux-reconciliation two years later, treating her coldly when he's not trying to make her succumb to her unwanted but irresistible attraction to him ( When he's not being a cold aloof asshat, he's wildly jealous and kind of scary in that "could explode at any moment" vintage hero way. The tension mounts and mounts and ooof! it's an intense read.
Some familiar PJ memes: blackmail, treacherous body syndrome, punishing kisses, sexual humiliation, and Penny Jordan’s patented SPONGING. Oh yaaassss, Christmas indeed! The tree-trimming scene brought a tear to my eye— I believed he found the woman he needed who was strong enough and loving enough to bring him into the warmth and light, so the HEA really worked for me. Loved this vintage read; it ticked all my boxes. For fans of cold, cruel, obsessive heroes and a boatload of angst, this was such a good one.
August 3, 2021
Yorke Laing needs a wife, and conveniently, he already has one, even if he hasn’t seen her for two years! Autumn is not the trembling innocent he married but an independent woman who claims to no longer desire him, yet her body betrays her…
Autumn was a naïve girl when she wed Yorke. Cold and unyielding, her husband denied her the love she craved and the divorce she wanted. Now he is back offering freedom, but at a cost: he will grant her a divorce, but only after she agrees to be his wife in every sense of the word!
Autumn was a naïve girl when she wed Yorke. Cold and unyielding, her husband denied her the love she craved and the divorce she wanted. Now he is back offering freedom, but at a cost: he will grant her a divorce, but only after she agrees to be his wife in every sense of the word!
November 27, 2025
Another old Harlequin and another jerk male and doormat woman. Even with the explanations given for his actions no way excuses the way he treats her. An age gap romance with no real romance. All drama is caused by the two main characters mostly the male. The pseudo OW/OM just enough to cause jealousy to show their feelings. An HEA of course, but not a fan. Penny Jordan is a great reader but this one is a bit harsh. No rape but dubious consent involved.
Definitely won't be a re-read
Definitely won't be a re-read
August 15, 2021
Okay, so the long cold winter wouldn’t have lasted as long if these two could actually communicate. This book isn’t filled with miscommunication as much as little or no real communication. It is filled with lots of snipping at one another., some of which was entertaining. Thank goodness for his getting the flu in the last 15 pages, in his delirium, he starts to say what she needs to hear.
Why 3 stars, I like the heroine. She was a young 19 when they married, an “I’m done with this farce at 20”, and held her own at 22.
Why 3 stars, I like the heroine. She was a young 19 when they married, an “I’m done with this farce at 20”, and held her own at 22.
April 18, 2022
A reprint of a 1982 novel, Long Cold Winter, this newer incarnation suffers greatly. I am generally forgiving of tropes which have aged badly but the 80s brand of alpha-ass-hat heroes annoy me to no end. The trope can work if handled with some panache but this book not only fell flat, it crashed through the basement to subterranean levels.
I recently read the Harlequin comics (Long Cold Winter) based this novel and largely enjoyed it (see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). The novel itself though was much more intense and didn’t capture the romance feel at all.
The premise is that the couple got together when the heroine was young (19! Which in itself rung alarm bells for me as she was railroaded into marriage by an older man who should have known better). The marriage fell apart and the heroine ran away since she couldn't divorce him right away - this being the 80s.
Like a lot of Ms. Jordan’s book this one was pretty intense and full of darker emotions. However, for me, when the heroine has thoughts of suicide (chapter 2) instead of dealing with the hero - you’ve gone beyond intense romance and into abuse. Even after the obligatory reconciliation I think the heroine would have been better off dumping the “hero”.
The hero is a special piece of work - he constantly mocks the heroine’s lack of experience and naivete - which is stupid since she was 19 when they first got together. There was a particular “love-marking” scene which upset me quite a bit. The heroine accused the hero for “destroying” her and making her not fit for another marriage and “forcing her humiliation”. This was near the end where I would usually have expected him to eat humble pie.
All in all - this left a bad taste in my mouth. Avoid this one - 1 star!
I recently read the Harlequin comics (Long Cold Winter) based this novel and largely enjoyed it (see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). The novel itself though was much more intense and didn’t capture the romance feel at all.
The premise is that the couple got together when the heroine was young (19! Which in itself rung alarm bells for me as she was railroaded into marriage by an older man who should have known better). The marriage fell apart and the heroine ran away since she couldn't divorce him right away - this being the 80s.
Like a lot of Ms. Jordan’s book this one was pretty intense and full of darker emotions. However, for me, when the heroine has thoughts of suicide (chapter 2) instead of dealing with the hero - you’ve gone beyond intense romance and into abuse. Even after the obligatory reconciliation I think the heroine would have been better off dumping the “hero”.
The hero is a special piece of work - he constantly mocks the heroine’s lack of experience and naivete - which is stupid since she was 19 when they first got together. There was a particular “love-marking” scene which upset me quite a bit. The heroine accused the hero for “destroying” her and making her not fit for another marriage and “forcing her humiliation”. This was near the end where I would usually have expected him to eat humble pie.
All in all - this left a bad taste in my mouth. Avoid this one - 1 star!
June 3, 2017
I LOVED this classic Jordan offering from 1982. The story is as follows: Autumn, after a traumatic separation from her husband Yorke Laing, attempts to forge a career for herself in the hotel industry. The novel opens with Autumn working (mainly in a bikini as far as I can tell) as a customer service representative on a Caribbean Island. However, the resort is suffering financial problems and needs the help of a rich investor. Who could that be? Well, unfortunately for Autumn, it’s her vile estranged husband who turns up to save the day, promising Autumn the divorce she desperately wants if she will only agree to live with him for 4 months as his wife, while he secures a knighthood (which seems somehow dependent on the presence of a wife – maybe this is the case – who knows?) Autumn, desperate for the divorce (and it seems that Yorke really was vile to her and so who could blame her) agrees and – of course – because it’s a Mills and Boon, the inevitable happens and she falls in love with him again.
The real strength of this book is the development of Autumn told via flashback from a desperately shy, young, naïve girl who was seduced by Yorke and taken away from everything she knew to be put in a situation as his wife, which she just wasn’t adult or developed enough to cope with. Yorke really does show his failings at being unable to love her enough to make their marriage work in the first place. He really shows himself up to be a vile man – however, what the reader comes away with is Autumn’s ability to be able to manipulate Yorke and make him into what she wants him to be in order to make the marriage work. This is a fabulous book, which demonstrates perfectly how the heroine of romantic novels quite often play a performative role, in order to win the day (outwitting the hero as they go). Wonderful example of Jordan’s oeuvre. Definitely recommend it.
The real strength of this book is the development of Autumn told via flashback from a desperately shy, young, naïve girl who was seduced by Yorke and taken away from everything she knew to be put in a situation as his wife, which she just wasn’t adult or developed enough to cope with. Yorke really does show his failings at being unable to love her enough to make their marriage work in the first place. He really shows himself up to be a vile man – however, what the reader comes away with is Autumn’s ability to be able to manipulate Yorke and make him into what she wants him to be in order to make the marriage work. This is a fabulous book, which demonstrates perfectly how the heroine of romantic novels quite often play a performative role, in order to win the day (outwitting the hero as they go). Wonderful example of Jordan’s oeuvre. Definitely recommend it.
March 5, 2016
It was a long cold story! They get married the h is too young - throughout the marriage H ignores her and treats her coldly. So she leaves him. 2 years later he a walks back into her life since he needs a wife to get a knighthood. She agrees so that he will give her a divorce. He continues treating her coldly and we are shown scenes presumably to explain that she has matured in the meantime, however this doesn't seem to alter their dynamics she still hates herself for responding to him and he is still an unfeeling bastard. Sorry can't see the romance. The author should have shown even a couple of chapters where they get to know each other better maybe she could have shown the H appreciate the heroine's maturity more? But nothing like that happened and we get the usual abrupt ending and no groveling didn't make me feel hopeful for their future as a couple.
January 15, 2021
I’m a fan of vintage HP novels. Cruel HP heroes and forced sex, I can read about it as long as I feel that the hero loves her too. As long as he has enough tender moments. As long as he varies the cruel treatment with the loving treatment. That sounds sick, lol, but that’s my HP opinion (so not in real life).
In this novel I see nothing of his supposed love for her. He’s never tender, he never acts smitten like other heroes do when they just can’t stay away from the woman. This hero was cruel and possessive and threatening and never warm and tender.
Usually the cruel hero gets more tender before/during/after intimate moments, but this hero stays cruel and he humiliates and insults her. It’s as if the sexual intimacy means nothing to him. I don’t like that.
This “romance” is so wrong. Both the H and h need years of therapy.
In this novel I see nothing of his supposed love for her. He’s never tender, he never acts smitten like other heroes do when they just can’t stay away from the woman. This hero was cruel and possessive and threatening and never warm and tender.
Usually the cruel hero gets more tender before/during/after intimate moments, but this hero stays cruel and he humiliates and insults her. It’s as if the sexual intimacy means nothing to him. I don’t like that.
This “romance” is so wrong. Both the H and h need years of therapy.
August 20, 2017
Angst Angst Angst!!!
May 25, 2024
Classic Penny Jordan vintage read , not safe nor for the faint of hearts ..Just the way I love my PJ reads 3.5stars as it is not for everyone but I liked a lot .
October 3, 2024
I can't say I didn't know how it was gonna be cause I read the reviews before deep diving into this but I don't think I was quite prepared for the top tier wuthering heights type of angsty brooding in this book 😅.
Our main man was ice cold older sophisticated business mogul who just wanted to snatch a bit of sunshine to warm his world. He seemed the type to hit it and quit it regardless of the circumstances so that should have told us something there. Anyways, innocent and extremely sheltered h (like my heart hurt for how unprepared this young girl was for the real world) gets forced into a quickie wedding and brought back to the city where she is quickly pushed aside for his one true devotion....work. Girl lasted way longer than me cause after a couple of weeks I think I would've split! My favorite part of this book was learning all she accomplished in the 2 years they were separated and I felt like a proud parent for how much she matured. Obviously this lasted 0.2 seconds when she's back in the H's life so I was less proud but she did seem to want that divorce that he bribed her with so 🤷♀️. These two were the epitome of toxic relationship cause they only seemed to come alive and enjoy who could hurt each other the most for a good portion of the book. The redeeming thing that stuck out for me regardless of what H said was the house in the country that he moved to and brought her back to. I felt like it was a turning point in his life for someone that was such a workaholic and gave me hope. Overall, I didn't love it but I also didn't hate it so it was still a win for me.
Our main man was ice cold older sophisticated business mogul who just wanted to snatch a bit of sunshine to warm his world. He seemed the type to hit it and quit it regardless of the circumstances so that should have told us something there. Anyways, innocent and extremely sheltered h (like my heart hurt for how unprepared this young girl was for the real world) gets forced into a quickie wedding and brought back to the city where she is quickly pushed aside for his one true devotion....work. Girl lasted way longer than me cause after a couple of weeks I think I would've split! My favorite part of this book was learning all she accomplished in the 2 years they were separated and I felt like a proud parent for how much she matured. Obviously this lasted 0.2 seconds when she's back in the H's life so I was less proud but she did seem to want that divorce that he bribed her with so 🤷♀️. These two were the epitome of toxic relationship cause they only seemed to come alive and enjoy who could hurt each other the most for a good portion of the book. The redeeming thing that stuck out for me regardless of what H said was the house in the country that he moved to and brought her back to. I felt like it was a turning point in his life for someone that was such a workaholic and gave me hope. Overall, I didn't love it but I also didn't hate it so it was still a win for me.
June 14, 2022
Great dose of heroine angst. Not very satisfying if you want the asshole hero to spend much time apologizing, but at least he spends a good amount of time clearly suffering at her hands. (Just read Grace Harwood's review and she said it best: 'He really shows himself up to be a vile man – however, what the reader comes away with is Autumn’s ability to be able to manipulate Yorke and make him into what she wants him to be in order to make the marriage work. This is a fabulous book, which demonstrates perfectly how the heroine of romantic novels quite often play a performative role, in order to win the day (outwitting the hero as they go).' That's exactly why it works for me. The hero is no prize, but the heroine gains control over him and gets what she wants.) Also, strong d/s vibes if you're into that.
June 16, 2024
Long cold winter was the season of Yorke's waiting for Autumn.
Yorke has seduced a 19 year old made him an awful husband and added that having mommy and daddy's issues.
Yorke is the typical workaholic man who only cares about his business and poor Autumn who was too innocent and maybe a little dumb to understand her husband's feelings.
It made sense that he chooses her, poor, young, naive, zero experience of life. He wanted a puppy.
Of course that did not worke out well.
I don't know who he hates more himself for make her beg for his love or her to not comprehend him as difficult man.
I don't believe he was celibate during the separation.
Yorke has seduced a 19 year old made him an awful husband and added that having mommy and daddy's issues.
Yorke is the typical workaholic man who only cares about his business and poor Autumn who was too innocent and maybe a little dumb to understand her husband's feelings.
It made sense that he chooses her, poor, young, naive, zero experience of life. He wanted a puppy.
Of course that did not worke out well.
I don't know who he hates more himself for make her beg for his love or her to not comprehend him as difficult man.
I don't believe he was celibate during the separation.
September 19, 2024
This was better than I thought it would be after reading some reviews. Nice, juicy angst. A whole lot of dramatic, OTT emotions, a hero with some serious barriers and a heroine who was stuck in an emotional, sexual upheaval with no reprieve. People think this is rather funny, but I know many a character that has it all together in the business and social world who suck at personal relationships. That's this story. How's that for some drama?
October 16, 2018
Autumn deserved better.
July 1, 2024
Well, they sure started out with enough problems: their 12-year age difference, her innocence, as well as issues from being raised by an uptight aunt, his guilt at being a sophisticated man having the hots for a virginial girl, getting caught in the act (or nearly there) by the hotel manager and bitchy OW, his business threatened, the "scandal", his feeling obligated to marry her, etc. Yes, this marriage was too shaky for the ground not to cave in on them, which didn't take long. (It didn't help that he pretty much ignored her except when he felt horny and acted like he resented her half the time. The rest of the time he'd shut her out of his life or make snarky comments about what a "child" she was.)
No wonder she got fed up and left him!
A few years later, she's polished and sophisticated, has a good career going and is completely over her love for the H! (And if you believe that, you probably wait up Christmas Eve for Santa Claus!)
You get a lot of the usual stuff: H wanting the h back for what appears to be a selfish reason, making a reconciliation now/divorce later agreement, the bitchy OW (and a junior OW wannabee), bed scenes where the h says she doesn't want to, the H demands his conjugal rights, the h orgasms, hates him and also herself afterwards and the H's mood isn't any better, yet neither one will admit the truth (unless one of them is suffering from a bad case of flu, of course).
I would love it if for once they admit from the start that they still have feelings for each other and want to try and make a go of it and hopefully get it right this time, and take the story from there, rather than always the same old pretense. Sometimes you do find a book that's more original.
This wasn't it.
No wonder she got fed up and left him!
A few years later, she's polished and sophisticated, has a good career going and is completely over her love for the H! (And if you believe that, you probably wait up Christmas Eve for Santa Claus!)
You get a lot of the usual stuff: H wanting the h back for what appears to be a selfish reason, making a reconciliation now/divorce later agreement, the bitchy OW (and a junior OW wannabee), bed scenes where the h says she doesn't want to, the H demands his conjugal rights, the h orgasms, hates him and also herself afterwards and the H's mood isn't any better, yet neither one will admit the truth (unless one of them is suffering from a bad case of flu, of course).
I would love it if for once they admit from the start that they still have feelings for each other and want to try and make a go of it and hopefully get it right this time, and take the story from there, rather than always the same old pretense. Sometimes you do find a book that's more original.
This wasn't it.
October 13, 2014
Very good book!
April 3, 2017
1.5
Errrrrrrrrrgh
Errrrrrrrrrgh
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