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البحار الساخر
الثقة بالنفس ليست دائماً ورقة رابحة، والقوي ليس باستمرار قوياً على قلبه... ثيو كارينغتون ، البحار الساخر احبته نساء كثيرات، لكن قلبه بقي حراً مستقبلاً، حتى جمعته الصدفة بجايني باودن، فتاة في سن دراسة، تختلف كثيراً عن اي امرأة عرفها ثيو من قبل.
أحبته جايني حباً قوياً مفعماً بالعطاء، لكنه صدها وتجاهل مشاعرها قائلاً: منتديات ليلاس
- ارحلي قبل ان افقد ماتبقى لي من شهامة، فأنا لا استحق حبك.
رحلت جايني واليأس يحطم كيانها فكيف لها ان تعيش بعد الآن وفي قلبها طبع حب دي لاامل لها في محوه؟.
أحبته جايني حباً قوياً مفعماً بالعطاء، لكنه صدها وتجاهل مشاعرها قائلاً: منتديات ليلاس
- ارحلي قبل ان افقد ماتبقى لي من شهامة، فأنا لا استحق حبك.
رحلت جايني واليأس يحطم كيانها فكيف لها ان تعيش بعد الآن وفي قلبها طبع حب دي لاامل لها في محوه؟.
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First published January 1, 1978
5 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Robyn Donald
448 books146 followersRobyn Elaine Donald was born on 14 August 1940 in Northland, New Zealand. She was the oldest child in her family, and as a child, she thrilled her four sisters and one brother with bloodcurdling adventure tales, usually very like the latest book she'd borrowed from the library.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 16, 2018
18 year-old heroine domesticates manwhore hero after two years apart. News at Eleven
And that's about it for the plot line. The incognito best-selling-author hero sails into the harbor of a small NZ town a few weeks before Christmas. The disgruntled, aimless 18 year-old heroine chases her Siamese cat off of his yacht in the early morning hours as she is fishing. Hero is intrigued as is the heroine.
The cat meet-cute is followed by other cat scenes as well as the hero rescuing puppies. See? He's not all bad, even though he dates the local squire's daughter, kisses the heroine, and also dates the heroine's hot bombshell sister when she is home for the Christmas Holidays.
Poor heroine - what is she to think? Hero is toying with her and all the other women in the district. But a year at secretarial school and a year traveling the world with her do-gooder aunt, has taught her some self-worth.
Hero, meanwhile, built her dream house and waited for her to return to him. A reverse Penelope if you will. He can't help if he is a babe magnet. LOL.
I really enjoyed the slow pace of this and the evocative descriptions of the North Island landscape. RD set this during a very hot summer with a drought - a nice metaphor for the destructive side of heat and passion.
The sister thing just underlined the Manwhore Fantasy. The Manwhore Fantasy is: the hero could have any woman in the world, including my sister whom I have always felt inferior to, and he chose me.
Okay, it takes some squick to get to the fantasy, but if that is your fantasy, then this story delivers.
And that's about it for the plot line. The incognito best-selling-author hero sails into the harbor of a small NZ town a few weeks before Christmas. The disgruntled, aimless 18 year-old heroine chases her Siamese cat off of his yacht in the early morning hours as she is fishing. Hero is intrigued as is the heroine.
The cat meet-cute is followed by other cat scenes as well as the hero rescuing puppies. See? He's not all bad, even though he dates the local squire's daughter, kisses the heroine, and also dates the heroine's hot bombshell sister when she is home for the Christmas Holidays.
Poor heroine - what is she to think? Hero is toying with her and all the other women in the district. But a year at secretarial school and a year traveling the world with her do-gooder aunt, has taught her some self-worth.
Hero, meanwhile, built her dream house and waited for her to return to him. A reverse Penelope if you will. He can't help if he is a babe magnet. LOL.
I really enjoyed the slow pace of this and the evocative descriptions of the North Island landscape. RD set this during a very hot summer with a drought - a nice metaphor for the destructive side of heat and passion.
The sister thing just underlined the Manwhore Fantasy. The Manwhore Fantasy is: the hero could have any woman in the world, including my sister whom I have always felt inferior to, and he chose me.
Okay, it takes some squick to get to the fantasy, but if that is your fantasy, then this story delivers.
April 11, 2017
Just to clarify, cause it is confusing. When RD is referring to the H "making love" to the h's sister - she means kissing and flirting - the H doesn't sleep with the sister, he just dates her as the h is still very young when they first meet. The sister and the H part after a few times out - which damaged the sister's ego a bit and the H decides to wait around for the h to grow up.
January 20, 2018
I’ve read through a couple of reviews on ‘Awakopu’ and I’m sort of surprised that there aren’t more positive ones, because I loved this book. Like ‘Rangitatou’ I’m furious that this place is fictional because Awakopu sounds totally magical. It’s a sleepy little town on the shores of a massive river, and people sail their yachts into its fairly basic harbour, and farmers in the area hire seasonal workers to pick strawberries and bale hay.
I’m not that fussed on getting a seasonal worker job, but getting someone to take me on a boat to little beaches you can only reach going by water sounds perfect, and I want to go see all those brilliant red-flowered pohutukawa trees and look at them perfectly reflected in the still water close to the river bank. And drink crisp NZ wine and watch from the deck of a yacht as the sky darkens and the town lights up across the water and all those other perfect things that don’t really happen in romance as much because everyone’s too busy being pregnant and hanging out in crowded rich people places. God, now I feel old. I never used to read the descriptive stuff in these books ... in any books really. Something is going on with my brain and I now like reading about trees. It’s bizarre.
Janey has just turned 18 and she doesn’t know what to do next with her life. Her beautiful petite older sister is in Auckland studying for her law degree, but Janey isn’t academically inclined. She’s tall and feels gawky and is still stinging over an overheard comment where someone described her as a scarecrow. Her current options are staying home (which her mother is subtly encouraging) or doing ... something.
She meets Theo when her cat climbs onto his yacht. Janey’s cat had walked down to the shore with her because Janey was down there fishing for sprats, and this is another romantically idyllic sounding thing to do, and I could get behind a life of fishing for my cat, although she probably wouldn’t appreciate the effort any more than Janey’s cat does.
Theo comes topside on his yacht, and Janey thinks he’s a Viking. He’s chill about the fact he woke up with Janey’s cat climbing on his face, and chill about going up the road to meet Janey’s parents and little brother. Not to imply that Theo is chill, he’s not. He’s all pent up passion and secrets and consuming delicious kisses and no one has any idea what he’s doing in their sleepy little town until he’s outed as a famous author at a New Year’s party.
Janey likes Theo a lot, but has no idea what to do about it. Nothing at all seems to be the best plan. Janey’s not got a lot of confidence in herself. But what she does have, in her own quiet way, is poetry in her soul, and I loved her. She had this wonderful self-contained air, a way of looking at things and thinking deeply. Janey’s whole personality could have been one long internal ‘notice me, I have feels!’ Cry, but it’s not. She’s a dreamer and awkward, but she’s also loving and smart.
Theo is of course too old for her, and is at his most likeable when it’s clear that he realises this. There’s some romantic interference from another girl, but the worst attack of love nearly lost Janey suffers is in seeing Theo flirt with her sister.
Penny comes home for the summer holidays, and starts pursuing Theo. She does check in with Janey first, which I liked a lot. In fact, I liked the dynamics of their relationship, and how it was made clear that while they didn’t really understand each other all that well, they did love each other, and for Penny, making out with Theo wasn’t point scoring. For Penny, it was the self-realisation that she was being a bit of an idiot about what she wanted out of a relationship. I thought the scene where Janey comes upon Penny and Theo having a serious snog was really well handled. I’m much more interested in sisters getting their relationship right, over who ends up ‘winning’ the guy in the end.
Janey and Theo reach an end, because Theo cannot lock it down with a girl of 18, which is admirable. Janey starts calling herself Jane and turns awesome. I’d sort of anticipated that maybe she was going to end up being discovered as a model because she’s tall and incredibly attractive and I’m so glad the plot doesn’t go in that direction, of making her journey all about learning to love her looks by having others validate them. Instead, she goes off to learn secretarial stuff and then her aunt hires her and takes her around the world to do charity work in war-torn countries. Jane gets a massive confidence boost from being pretty awesome and I loved that for her. I love that Donald took it in this direction as well, she made Jane such an interesting person, taking her from dreamer to adventurer. Jane had said a number of times that she didn’t necesssarily want to be with Theo, in that she wanted to hang off his Viking muscles and gaze up at him adoringly, more that she wanted to be him: able to sail off around the world and be free.
Two years later Jane’s back home from her adventures, and is thinking through a proposal from a man she sort of likes. I won’t spoil it because I think the scene where Jane finds Theo again is just about perfect as a romantic reunion.
One last thing, about summer. There’s a lot of heat layered into this book, and descriptions of baking sun and drought and wearing thin and skimpy clothes. It gets to 80 which everyone thinks is the end of the world. I checked my conversions and 80 is like up to 30, so it made me laugh. It’s 39/101 as I’m writing this, so take that NZ. Your heatwave sounds like cardigan weather.
I’m not that fussed on getting a seasonal worker job, but getting someone to take me on a boat to little beaches you can only reach going by water sounds perfect, and I want to go see all those brilliant red-flowered pohutukawa trees and look at them perfectly reflected in the still water close to the river bank. And drink crisp NZ wine and watch from the deck of a yacht as the sky darkens and the town lights up across the water and all those other perfect things that don’t really happen in romance as much because everyone’s too busy being pregnant and hanging out in crowded rich people places. God, now I feel old. I never used to read the descriptive stuff in these books ... in any books really. Something is going on with my brain and I now like reading about trees. It’s bizarre.
Janey has just turned 18 and she doesn’t know what to do next with her life. Her beautiful petite older sister is in Auckland studying for her law degree, but Janey isn’t academically inclined. She’s tall and feels gawky and is still stinging over an overheard comment where someone described her as a scarecrow. Her current options are staying home (which her mother is subtly encouraging) or doing ... something.
She meets Theo when her cat climbs onto his yacht. Janey’s cat had walked down to the shore with her because Janey was down there fishing for sprats, and this is another romantically idyllic sounding thing to do, and I could get behind a life of fishing for my cat, although she probably wouldn’t appreciate the effort any more than Janey’s cat does.
Theo comes topside on his yacht, and Janey thinks he’s a Viking. He’s chill about the fact he woke up with Janey’s cat climbing on his face, and chill about going up the road to meet Janey’s parents and little brother. Not to imply that Theo is chill, he’s not. He’s all pent up passion and secrets and consuming delicious kisses and no one has any idea what he’s doing in their sleepy little town until he’s outed as a famous author at a New Year’s party.
Janey likes Theo a lot, but has no idea what to do about it. Nothing at all seems to be the best plan. Janey’s not got a lot of confidence in herself. But what she does have, in her own quiet way, is poetry in her soul, and I loved her. She had this wonderful self-contained air, a way of looking at things and thinking deeply. Janey’s whole personality could have been one long internal ‘notice me, I have feels!’ Cry, but it’s not. She’s a dreamer and awkward, but she’s also loving and smart.
Theo is of course too old for her, and is at his most likeable when it’s clear that he realises this. There’s some romantic interference from another girl, but the worst attack of love nearly lost Janey suffers is in seeing Theo flirt with her sister.
Penny comes home for the summer holidays, and starts pursuing Theo. She does check in with Janey first, which I liked a lot. In fact, I liked the dynamics of their relationship, and how it was made clear that while they didn’t really understand each other all that well, they did love each other, and for Penny, making out with Theo wasn’t point scoring. For Penny, it was the self-realisation that she was being a bit of an idiot about what she wanted out of a relationship. I thought the scene where Janey comes upon Penny and Theo having a serious snog was really well handled. I’m much more interested in sisters getting their relationship right, over who ends up ‘winning’ the guy in the end.
Janey and Theo reach an end, because Theo cannot lock it down with a girl of 18, which is admirable. Janey starts calling herself Jane and turns awesome. I’d sort of anticipated that maybe she was going to end up being discovered as a model because she’s tall and incredibly attractive and I’m so glad the plot doesn’t go in that direction, of making her journey all about learning to love her looks by having others validate them. Instead, she goes off to learn secretarial stuff and then her aunt hires her and takes her around the world to do charity work in war-torn countries. Jane gets a massive confidence boost from being pretty awesome and I loved that for her. I love that Donald took it in this direction as well, she made Jane such an interesting person, taking her from dreamer to adventurer. Jane had said a number of times that she didn’t necesssarily want to be with Theo, in that she wanted to hang off his Viking muscles and gaze up at him adoringly, more that she wanted to be him: able to sail off around the world and be free.
Two years later Jane’s back home from her adventures, and is thinking through a proposal from a man she sort of likes. I won’t spoil it because I think the scene where Jane finds Theo again is just about perfect as a romantic reunion.
One last thing, about summer. There’s a lot of heat layered into this book, and descriptions of baking sun and drought and wearing thin and skimpy clothes. It gets to 80 which everyone thinks is the end of the world. I checked my conversions and 80 is like up to 30, so it made me laugh. It’s 39/101 as I’m writing this, so take that NZ. Your heatwave sounds like cardigan weather.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2021
This cover is scary.
The man looks 54 with hair that you don’t ever want to see in a man and the heroine 38 (at least)
There’s another cover where the heroine is near an oyster and the hero is behind and both looks 40.
Why????
The hero is 30 and something and she’s 18 and naive.
He’s a writer and flirts with everyone with two legs and two boobs.
The heroine immediately falls for him.
But he also flirts with her older more beautiful and more experienced sister.
One day he kisses the heroine, the night after he kisses her sister.
Tacky.
Then eventually, as soon as he ends his book he leaves and says goodbye to the besotted heroine.
She goes on with her studies in a big city and two years later she’s back more sophisticated and she finds that he’s built the house of her dreams waiting for her.
Aaaaaaand no, there’s been no other woman since he first met her.
That’s kind of cute, the hero pining for her while he doesn’t know whether she’ll be back to him or she’ll meet another man.
He looks older and thinner in the usual hp way, that is more charming. Mmmmm.
The heroine was nice and tooooooo naive but she was really in love with him despite her age.
The man was not really my kind of guy, a restless playboy who flirted with each and every woman.
He may not have had sex with ow but his tongue was very busy down their throats and he didn’t give good reasons for it, while declaring his love for the heroine. Some kind of I kissed your sister because she was too sticky and if I didn’t she would have pestered me until I gave up. Yessir. And I’m the queen of elves.
I preferred young Sam, that the author describes as a mix of Maori, Yugoslav, and Scottish, very tall and handsome.
Mmmmm, I bet he is with those genes! And he was smart and nice too.
But sadly our heroine was too fond of Blondie the hero, with his manwhore ways.
What a waste.
The man looks 54 with hair that you don’t ever want to see in a man and the heroine 38 (at least)
There’s another cover where the heroine is near an oyster and the hero is behind and both looks 40.
Why????
The hero is 30 and something and she’s 18 and naive.
He’s a writer and flirts with everyone with two legs and two boobs.
The heroine immediately falls for him.
But he also flirts with her older more beautiful and more experienced sister.
One day he kisses the heroine, the night after he kisses her sister.
Tacky.
Then eventually, as soon as he ends his book he leaves and says goodbye to the besotted heroine.
She goes on with her studies in a big city and two years later she’s back more sophisticated and she finds that he’s built the house of her dreams waiting for her.
Aaaaaaand no, there’s been no other woman since he first met her.
That’s kind of cute, the hero pining for her while he doesn’t know whether she’ll be back to him or she’ll meet another man.
He looks older and thinner in the usual hp way, that is more charming. Mmmmm.
The heroine was nice and tooooooo naive but she was really in love with him despite her age.
The man was not really my kind of guy, a restless playboy who flirted with each and every woman.
He may not have had sex with ow but his tongue was very busy down their throats and he didn’t give good reasons for it, while declaring his love for the heroine. Some kind of I kissed your sister because she was too sticky and if I didn’t she would have pestered me until I gave up. Yessir. And I’m the queen of elves.
I preferred young Sam, that the author describes as a mix of Maori, Yugoslav, and Scottish, very tall and handsome.
Mmmmm, I bet he is with those genes! And he was smart and nice too.
But sadly our heroine was too fond of Blondie the hero, with his manwhore ways.
What a waste.
October 20, 2015
Did I read this right? He made love to her sister but he always loves her! No way would I get with him and marry him? What is wrong with you girl? He was with you loving you but he makes love to your sister and the reason you may ask!? Why cause she would not take no for an answer!!! Wtf!!! And she waited two years for him while he did God knows who with his time all the time loving her!? Bullshit! He just wanted to marry a virgin who worshipped him while he f.. Around some more. This is so bad I was sorry I read it twice! After reading a review here I thought I misread something in this book. Nope it's shit!
avoid
April 11, 2017Sister's sloppy second.
I rest my case!
I rest my case!
December 4, 2017
It was a good read. The story spans a little over 2 years i think.
The h just turned 18 and finished school and doesnt really know what to do next because she doesnt really want to do anything and she feels that even if she did something its not gonna be as awesome as her law student older sister. In comes the older H and she feels attraction for the first time in her life. The H is on a boat traveling and no one know what he really does just that hes cultured and has enough money to not to have to work yet still have that boat. The hero proceeds to date a few women there including the heroines sister and the heroine is hurt cause shes in love but cant say anything cause she doesnt have any claim on him. The hero breaks the little flirtation they have with each other before it gets too late. She wants him but he tells her shes too young and hes not the marrying kind. She moves away and gets a job that allows her to travel around the world and refine her rough edges( the job seemed too good to be true considering her age but oke its HP). She comes back home to think about a marriage proposal she got after being 2 years away. She wants to see the place she and the H went to long ago before committing to someone else. there she finds the house she described to the H and the H waiting for her. Turns out he broke it up because he wanted her to grow up first but he was a goner the first time the met.
I loved his idea of if you love something then set it free and if it comes back it was yours all along. it was risky, and im not that generous but to be honest, the h was very young compared to him.
this is the problem i have with 18 year old and 30 something men, the teen doesnt know what they want yet and i cant imagine what type of resentment will come when shes 25 and up and want to party but has 3 4 kids and an old husband that knows everything because he already did all of that before her.
The h just turned 18 and finished school and doesnt really know what to do next because she doesnt really want to do anything and she feels that even if she did something its not gonna be as awesome as her law student older sister. In comes the older H and she feels attraction for the first time in her life. The H is on a boat traveling and no one know what he really does just that hes cultured and has enough money to not to have to work yet still have that boat. The hero proceeds to date a few women there including the heroines sister and the heroine is hurt cause shes in love but cant say anything cause she doesnt have any claim on him. The hero breaks the little flirtation they have with each other before it gets too late. She wants him but he tells her shes too young and hes not the marrying kind. She moves away and gets a job that allows her to travel around the world and refine her rough edges( the job seemed too good to be true considering her age but oke its HP). She comes back home to think about a marriage proposal she got after being 2 years away. She wants to see the place she and the H went to long ago before committing to someone else. there she finds the house she described to the H and the H waiting for her. Turns out he broke it up because he wanted her to grow up first but he was a goner the first time the met.
I loved his idea of if you love something then set it free and if it comes back it was yours all along. it was risky, and im not that generous but to be honest, the h was very young compared to him.
this is the problem i have with 18 year old and 30 something men, the teen doesnt know what they want yet and i cant imagine what type of resentment will come when shes 25 and up and want to party but has 3 4 kids and an old husband that knows everything because he already did all of that before her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2021
He was a "love 'em and leave 'em" man. Janey Bowden could never cope with man like Theo Carrington--a man who had captured hearts and cast them aside at his pleasure. And Janey was the kind of selfless, untouched young girl Theo had never known. "You're a fool to love me," he told her savagely. "Go away before I forget the last bit of chivalry I have left!" Janey had to obey. But would she spend the rest of her life longing for a man who needed no one
July 6, 2020
A very sweet coming-of-age story by Robyn Donald, beautifully written and a real love letter to the Northland of New Zealand. I loved this story--RD is a hell of a writer. The h is a very young-for-her-age coltish 18 year old who falls hard for the cynical older H. He is amused and quite smitten by the h but for the most part tries to keep his hands to himself (there are a couple of hot scenes where he doesn't quite succeed). The h is lovely--she is quiet and perceptive, and the family dynamics in this book are wonderful, and the character interactions, especially between the h and her siblings, is just top-notch writing.
The love story itself unfolds dreamily during the course of a hot NZ summer, and our h suffers first (but believably enduring) love. The H is popular with the ladies and deftly avoids allowing the h to get too entangled with him, despite the fact that he's smitten with her. She is perceptive and clear-headed for her age in a lot of ways, although very much a young person just learning to be a grownup. She knows that the H is aware of her attraction for him and trying to keep her at arm's length, and she understands why that's the right thing to do and does her best to keep her love to herself and not humiliate herself or him. It's sweet and sad and this is one of my very favorite RD h's.
The H dates the local rich girl and also the h's sister, but it's pretty clear both are light flirtations and with regard to the sister, he's pretty much just being cruel to be kind to both the h and the not-as-sophisticated-as-she-appears sister. I liked this H--he is charming on the surface but has RD's dark-alpha appeal (and the h's Siamese cat likes him and seems aware that this is the h's true lifemate).
The h is kind of aimless in a very believably adolescent way and not sure what she wants to do, so her big sister convinces her to go to college in Auckland to grow up a little and figure out her career goals. The h is not enthusiastic but she knows that she has to leave to move on from the H because she is too young for him. She also knows it's probably an adolescent crush but she has a pretty deep fear and knowledge that it's more than that and that it might be difficult for her to put his image and memory aside for another man when the time comes. She's fearful of that and knows she has to get on with her life.
The H drives her to Auckland when it's time for her college interview, and on the way they have a pretty intense discussion of why she is going and what she wants out of life. He leaves her with her aunt, who is sharp and immediately knows that the h is in love with the very sophisticated older H but doesn't make a fuss about it (very Grandma Gable from Smoke in the Wind, whom I loved and who told that book's h "so you've been crossed in love. It's not the end of the world.").
Over the next two or three years, the h goes to college, where she does well, and then begins to work for her philanthropist aunt, traveling all over the world to aid relief efforts. She leaves her adolescence behind, gains sophistication and confidence, and meets a man whom she likes and who wants to marry her. She's uncertain that she's ready and decides to return home to Awakopu to make a decision.
There's a very private pocket beach where the H lost his head once and kissed her, and where she told him her daydream of the kind of house she would build there. She decides to take a boat out to the beach, and realizes that her dream house has been built on the land, right down to the details she described. She knows that she cannot marry someone other than the H, because she is still in love with him and always will be. She also knows this house is a testament to his love for her, and goes to find him.
He had been waiting for her, to grow up and to come back to him if she loves him. He says he was going to go to her in another month or so, and had fallen in love with her that summer two years prior but knew he needed to let her go, to grow up a bit and have some experience of life so she would know her own mind and heart. The HEA and the love rang very true to me, and I think this is one of the sweetest Harleys I've ever read. I loved the h and her family and the descriptions of a hot, drought-stricken NZ summer in a small town, and I liked the H too--more charming than many an RD H, but with that dangerous core and a sense of honor that surprises even himself. A lovely, lovely read from RD and a keeper on my faves shelf.
The love story itself unfolds dreamily during the course of a hot NZ summer, and our h suffers first (but believably enduring) love. The H is popular with the ladies and deftly avoids allowing the h to get too entangled with him, despite the fact that he's smitten with her. She is perceptive and clear-headed for her age in a lot of ways, although very much a young person just learning to be a grownup. She knows that the H is aware of her attraction for him and trying to keep her at arm's length, and she understands why that's the right thing to do and does her best to keep her love to herself and not humiliate herself or him. It's sweet and sad and this is one of my very favorite RD h's.
The H dates the local rich girl and also the h's sister, but it's pretty clear both are light flirtations and with regard to the sister, he's pretty much just being cruel to be kind to both the h and the not-as-sophisticated-as-she-appears sister. I liked this H--he is charming on the surface but has RD's dark-alpha appeal (and the h's Siamese cat likes him and seems aware that this is the h's true lifemate).
The h is kind of aimless in a very believably adolescent way and not sure what she wants to do, so her big sister convinces her to go to college in Auckland to grow up a little and figure out her career goals. The h is not enthusiastic but she knows that she has to leave to move on from the H because she is too young for him. She also knows it's probably an adolescent crush but she has a pretty deep fear and knowledge that it's more than that and that it might be difficult for her to put his image and memory aside for another man when the time comes. She's fearful of that and knows she has to get on with her life.
The H drives her to Auckland when it's time for her college interview, and on the way they have a pretty intense discussion of why she is going and what she wants out of life. He leaves her with her aunt, who is sharp and immediately knows that the h is in love with the very sophisticated older H but doesn't make a fuss about it (very Grandma Gable from Smoke in the Wind, whom I loved and who told that book's h "so you've been crossed in love. It's not the end of the world.").
Over the next two or three years, the h goes to college, where she does well, and then begins to work for her philanthropist aunt, traveling all over the world to aid relief efforts. She leaves her adolescence behind, gains sophistication and confidence, and meets a man whom she likes and who wants to marry her. She's uncertain that she's ready and decides to return home to Awakopu to make a decision.
There's a very private pocket beach where the H lost his head once and kissed her, and where she told him her daydream of the kind of house she would build there. She decides to take a boat out to the beach, and realizes that her dream house has been built on the land, right down to the details she described. She knows that she cannot marry someone other than the H, because she is still in love with him and always will be. She also knows this house is a testament to his love for her, and goes to find him.
He had been waiting for her, to grow up and to come back to him if she loves him. He says he was going to go to her in another month or so, and had fallen in love with her that summer two years prior but knew he needed to let her go, to grow up a bit and have some experience of life so she would know her own mind and heart. The HEA and the love rang very true to me, and I think this is one of the sweetest Harleys I've ever read. I loved the h and her family and the descriptions of a hot, drought-stricken NZ summer in a small town, and I liked the H too--more charming than many an RD H, but with that dangerous core and a sense of honor that surprises even himself. A lovely, lovely read from RD and a keeper on my faves shelf.
December 30, 2021
This was literally a coming-of-age story and didn’t really deliver in the romance department as it could have. The ending scene was pretty romantic but still gave me the ick . Would have given it 3 stars but the extra star is for the beautiful writing and descriptive setting.
May 24, 2021
I was always going to rate this book highly as it has both awesome pets and a h that did go off and enjoy the world when the H broke her heart.
I won't go too deep into this book as both Boogenhagen and St Margarets are both more eloquent than I am at describing a plot.
Needless to say the h was very young and although it was tacky of the H to date the sister he was head over heels for the h at the end and his waiting for her and building the dream house was kinda sweet and redeeming. Not that I would tolerate any man of mine sticking his tongue down the throat of my sister. However, that is tame by Robyn Donald's standards at least he wasn't married to another woman at the same time.
I won't go too deep into this book as both Boogenhagen and St Margarets are both more eloquent than I am at describing a plot.
Needless to say the h was very young and although it was tacky of the H to date the sister he was head over heels for the h at the end and his waiting for her and building the dream house was kinda sweet and redeeming. Not that I would tolerate any man of mine sticking his tongue down the throat of my sister. However, that is tame by Robyn Donald's standards at least he wasn't married to another woman at the same time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2015
Love, love the cover.
Like the story because the hero actually acknowledges the age difference (which is a seldom trait in HP), and wants to heroine to grow up a bit more and get her own life before anything happens. It feels more like coming of age than actual romance most of the times though.
Like the story because the hero actually acknowledges the age difference (which is a seldom trait in HP), and wants to heroine to grow up a bit more and get her own life before anything happens. It feels more like coming of age than actual romance most of the times though.
April 7, 2014
This is one of my all-time favourite Presents! It just...is. I loved the story and the characters. It is just magical.
February 21, 2023
An early version of what we now call an age gap romance. This one set in New Zealand (a first for me). The descriptions of the Flora and fauna, the little villeges and bigger cities was so intense you could just picture it in your minds eye.
The main characters were mostly what you expect from a book of this age and a HQN. The male main Character (Theo) was an arrogant male as we expect but the author wrote about him in a certain way that you suspected what was below the surface and why he was acting how he was and so did not hate him. The female lead (Janey) was so young and had so much growing up to do and learn but even so she was not a spoiled brat so you were routing for her all the way.
A enjoyable read
The main characters were mostly what you expect from a book of this age and a HQN. The male main Character (Theo) was an arrogant male as we expect but the author wrote about him in a certain way that you suspected what was below the surface and why he was acting how he was and so did not hate him. The female lead (Janey) was so young and had so much growing up to do and learn but even so she was not a spoiled brat so you were routing for her all the way.
A enjoyable read
July 18, 2025
"Summer at Awakopu" is the story of Janey and Theo.
A coming of age romance between a very young heroine and older hero. It was not enjoyable to read- the first half has the heroine being underconfident, churlish and naive while the hero treats her like a kid. He then dates her sister and we get yearning and jealousy. We do have some beautiful scenes with pets, and the hero waits for heroine to grow up- but I did not enjoy the romance as such and the hero was very unlikable.
Unsafe
1.5/5
A coming of age romance between a very young heroine and older hero. It was not enjoyable to read- the first half has the heroine being underconfident, churlish and naive while the hero treats her like a kid. He then dates her sister and we get yearning and jealousy. We do have some beautiful scenes with pets, and the hero waits for heroine to grow up- but I did not enjoy the romance as such and the hero was very unlikable.
Unsafe
1.5/5
May 20, 2021
It's actually rather sweet. And very unlike Robyn Donald.
No Big Misunderstanding.
Simply a story of growing up.
A summer love story which ends with the season.
To be honest, I wouldn't have been surprised if grown-up Jane married Stuart (or whatever his name was). Still she held a torch for Theo. After 2 years.
The ending is romantic.
No Big Misunderstanding.
Simply a story of growing up.
A summer love story which ends with the season.
To be honest, I wouldn't have been surprised if grown-up Jane married Stuart (or whatever his name was). Still she held a torch for Theo. After 2 years.
The ending is romantic.
August 24, 2024
It always takes me a chapter or two to truly tune-in to Ms. Donald's writing voice. From the first, I really enjoyed Janey and how meeting Theo precipitated her coming of age. He'd never called her the childish "Janey" always "Jane", which gives the clue that he very much takes her seriously. Their reunion in the final chapter is the best and well worth the journey to get there.
February 27, 2021
Very well written but I couldn't believe in their HEA
October 11, 2021
2.5 stars
A bit of a tedious, meandering story, saved by vivid descriptions of the environment and scenery. The writing was exquisite, because of course, it is Robyn Donald.
I have to wonder at the maturity of a 30 year old man falling for a very young 18 year old. Her character and personality were so unformed she just seemed listless, gawky, gauche at the start of the story. Honestly she seemed like she had the maturity of a 12 year old sometimes.
I simply could not understand why the worldly, sophisticated hero would fall for such an adolescent.
He was a bit of a dog squiring around local girls while having secret kisses with the heroine. Although I get that he did not have sex with her sister, he did string her along and kiss her. Yuck.
Despite my reservations throughout the story, the ending was sweet. Though I still have my doubts about his staying power given what a player he had been until then. And I still can't comprehend how he could have fallen so passionately in love with her, when there was almost nothing to her personality.
A bit of a tedious, meandering story, saved by vivid descriptions of the environment and scenery. The writing was exquisite, because of course, it is Robyn Donald.
I have to wonder at the maturity of a 30 year old man falling for a very young 18 year old. Her character and personality were so unformed she just seemed listless, gawky, gauche at the start of the story. Honestly she seemed like she had the maturity of a 12 year old sometimes.
I simply could not understand why the worldly, sophisticated hero would fall for such an adolescent.
He was a bit of a dog squiring around local girls while having secret kisses with the heroine. Although I get that he did not have sex with her sister, he did string her along and kiss her. Yuck.
Despite my reservations throughout the story, the ending was sweet. Though I still have my doubts about his staying power given what a player he had been until then. And I still can't comprehend how he could have fallen so passionately in love with her, when there was almost nothing to her personality.
February 7, 2017
هذه هي اول رواية قمت بقرأتها وكانت نافذتي للبدء في قراءة عدد كبير من الروايات
February 6, 2013
كانت صغيرة جدآ
October 5, 2016
حرفيًا هعيط إنها خلصت ، مكنتش متوقعة نهايتها ..
فقدت صديق عزيز مع آخر سطر فيها ..
فقدت صديق عزيز مع آخر سطر فيها ..
March 29, 2020
Jane falls hard for Theo, but he's 12 years older. He realizes that she's only 18 and needs to experience the world at least a little.
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