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Shattered Trust
Nick's words were not reassuring.
"I want my son," he'd said. "And I always get what I want."
Since Nick's cruel rejection, Abby had built a satisfying new life for herself and little Jonathan. And now Nick needed his son and was quite ruthlessly blackmailing her into returning him.
But he needn't think he'd have everything his own way; this time Abby was determined to show that she was more than a match for him. If only the old attraction between them weren't still so powerful...
"I want my son," he'd said. "And I always get what I want."
Since Nick's cruel rejection, Abby had built a satisfying new life for herself and little Jonathan. And now Nick needed his son and was quite ruthlessly blackmailing her into returning him.
But he needn't think he'd have everything his own way; this time Abby was determined to show that she was more than a match for him. If only the old attraction between them weren't still so powerful...
187 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1990
24 people are currently reading
1322 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Baird
276 books258 followersJacqueline Baird was born on the 1st of April at home in a small village Northumbria, England, UK, where she raised. She went to the local village school, and later an all-girls' grammar school where she passed the University of Oxford General Certificate of Education in various subjects. On leaving school she joined the civil service in the then Post Office department.
She met her husband Jim, when she was only eighteen. Eight years later, after working as a hotel receptionist in a five-star hotel in Scotland and traveling abroad for a few years, she came home and married him. They still live in Northumbria and have two grown sons.
Her number one love is writing. She has always been an avid reader, and she had her first success as a writer at the age of eleven, when she won the first prize in the Nature Diary of the Year competition at school. But she always felt a little guilty because her diary was more fiction than fact. Apart from a spell as a hopeful painter in oils, when she actually did have a painting accepted for the Federation of Northern Artists' annual exhibition her real passion was for romance novels. When her sons went to school all day she thought she would try writing one. Jacqueline Baird's been writing for Mills & Boon since 1988, and she still gets a thrill every time a new book is published.
When Jacqueline is not busy writing she likes to spend her time traveling, reading and playing cards. She was a keen sailor until a knee injury ended her sailing days, but she still enjoys swimming in the sea. She visits a gym twice a week now and has made the surprising discovery that she gets some good ideas while doing the mind-numbingly boring exercises on the cycling and weight machines.
She met her husband Jim, when she was only eighteen. Eight years later, after working as a hotel receptionist in a five-star hotel in Scotland and traveling abroad for a few years, she came home and married him. They still live in Northumbria and have two grown sons.
Her number one love is writing. She has always been an avid reader, and she had her first success as a writer at the age of eleven, when she won the first prize in the Nature Diary of the Year competition at school. But she always felt a little guilty because her diary was more fiction than fact. Apart from a spell as a hopeful painter in oils, when she actually did have a painting accepted for the Federation of Northern Artists' annual exhibition her real passion was for romance novels. When her sons went to school all day she thought she would try writing one. Jacqueline Baird's been writing for Mills & Boon since 1988, and she still gets a thrill every time a new book is published.
When Jacqueline is not busy writing she likes to spend her time traveling, reading and playing cards. She was a keen sailor until a knee injury ended her sailing days, but she still enjoys swimming in the sea. She visits a gym twice a week now and has made the surprising discovery that she gets some good ideas while doing the mind-numbingly boring exercises on the cycling and weight machines.
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May 26, 2011
I tend to overlook a lot of things but in this case I just couldn't.
Abby and Nick were married. Every time they went to visit his family they basically pressured her about having a baby. So Abby started trying to have a baby and it didn't happen. Then Nick decided to start having affairs. He OPENLY did this. At one point he showed up at a party with his girlfriend, announced to the room at large that he'd been detained with 'other things' with the other woman. He implied knowingly that he'd been too busy having sex with his girlfriend while his wife was standing there.
Did she leave him? No.
She only left him when he decided to leave and take his girlfriend on a cruise for a month. THEN she left him. And he filed for divorce stating that she abandoned him. Of course she then finds out she's pregnant and thinks that all their troubles are over. He was only cheating on her because she wasn't giving him children, now that she's managed to attain that goal he's wanted, everything will be good again. So imagine her shock when he denies the child, signs off all rights to the child and continues the divorce.
This book had tons of loose ends. In my first reading I couldn't stand Nick but the next time I read it, I couldn't stand Abby either. Nick never got any better, she just got worse.
I have no respect for her when her husband can openly humiliate her, cheat on her, and she still wants to stay with him and basically just overlook it. That's what she did throughout her marriage. He was with multiple women openly during their marriage.
Enter a few years later and Nick sees her at a dinner with another man. He's got his secretary, another one of the women that he'd been sleeping with during their marriage, claiming it was business. Yet his secretary is there getting herself drunk during supposed business.
The next day he shows up on her doorstep but not before the secretary calls and tells her how he needs an heir to inherit the company he's been running for his father for years.
Nick thinks they can just get back together because she's so great and wonderful and understanding but she has other plans, so he blackmails her.
Basic plot, but many things were never explained.
The secretary. Supposedly he was with her before, during and after their marriage. Yet he claims there was never anything with the secretary. Yet, at a party Abby walked outside and saw him kissing the secretary and giving her jewelry. He couldn't have known or planned on Abby stepping outside at just that time to do this. Also, the secretary later confronts her in the bathroom and makes it obvious that he'd given her the jewelry. There was no need for her to imply that he had if what had happened outside was all a setup. It obviously wasn't. Yet supposedly there was nothing going on between them? Also, why did she call and say that he needed an heir if it wasn't true? Furthermore, despite the fact that she was supposedly with him on business but got herself drunk, she called and told supposed lies, she didn't get fired? Instead, according to the book, she was given a promotion to a different country. It would be more convincing that she'd been lying if she'd been fired. After all, she deals with confidential information all the time and would be expected to maintain confidentiality.
Then we have the actress. Supposedly a friend of the family that Nick asked to pretend. But while she's pretending she's ruining her own social standing and credibility. Her job requires public interest above all else and flaunting herself as the mistress of a married man would have won her no favors. However, as far as the actress is concerned, I can believe that it was all faked. I just can't believe the secretary was just a big misunderstanding.
Nick. Supposedly he organized this very public humiliation of his wife because he couldn't have children and instead of just admitting it, he wanted her to leave him so she could go be with someone else and have the children she wanted so bad. Yes, he was just thinking of her when he paraded his many women in front of not only her, but all of society including friends and family. He treated her like crap but it was all for her own good? And to add to that, he legally denied his son, but let his family think that Abby had hidden away his child from him. That he'd had no idea that he'd even had a child. She took all the blame and he took none of it. I'm sure that was all for Abby's benefit also. He took no blame, he had no shame. It was all her fault, none of it was his. He would not go through what he made her go through which just makes all his claims worth exactly nothing. If he wasn't willing to be the bad guy, to face public humiliation and take the blame for what happened with his family, then how was he ever looking out for anyone but himself?
And then Abby. The only time I liked her was at the beginning, when they met again and she had no feelings for Nick at all. Oh happy day. Instead she ignored his affairs and kept trying to stay with him. Then when she actually gets a backbone she gets blackmailed into going back with him. How? The man legally signed off all rights to the child, so even if he wanted to, he had no powers there. And a failing trait that I find in most Baird books is the ending confession. The hero announces he loves the heroine and wants to explain what happened but she only cares that he loves her and nothing else matters.
Abby does the same thing. Nick loves her, so she doesn't care about all the other women he's slept with, or the affairs he had while he was with her. She actually only cares about the actress and not about the secretary. The one he was kissing on, giving jewelry to, and still had with him years later. The one who supposedly lied yet got a promotion for it? And he's kissing on her and hugging on her in the end? Yet she lied about his reasons for being with Abby again and lied about them being together without him asking her? Something is fishy about this story.
I hated this book because I hated both the main characters and couldn't believe in their HEA for a single second.
Abby and Nick were married. Every time they went to visit his family they basically pressured her about having a baby. So Abby started trying to have a baby and it didn't happen. Then Nick decided to start having affairs. He OPENLY did this. At one point he showed up at a party with his girlfriend, announced to the room at large that he'd been detained with 'other things' with the other woman. He implied knowingly that he'd been too busy having sex with his girlfriend while his wife was standing there.
Did she leave him? No.
She only left him when he decided to leave and take his girlfriend on a cruise for a month. THEN she left him. And he filed for divorce stating that she abandoned him. Of course she then finds out she's pregnant and thinks that all their troubles are over. He was only cheating on her because she wasn't giving him children, now that she's managed to attain that goal he's wanted, everything will be good again. So imagine her shock when he denies the child, signs off all rights to the child and continues the divorce.
This book had tons of loose ends. In my first reading I couldn't stand Nick but the next time I read it, I couldn't stand Abby either. Nick never got any better, she just got worse.
I have no respect for her when her husband can openly humiliate her, cheat on her, and she still wants to stay with him and basically just overlook it. That's what she did throughout her marriage. He was with multiple women openly during their marriage.
Enter a few years later and Nick sees her at a dinner with another man. He's got his secretary, another one of the women that he'd been sleeping with during their marriage, claiming it was business. Yet his secretary is there getting herself drunk during supposed business.
The next day he shows up on her doorstep but not before the secretary calls and tells her how he needs an heir to inherit the company he's been running for his father for years.
Nick thinks they can just get back together because she's so great and wonderful and understanding but she has other plans, so he blackmails her.
Basic plot, but many things were never explained.
The secretary. Supposedly he was with her before, during and after their marriage. Yet he claims there was never anything with the secretary. Yet, at a party Abby walked outside and saw him kissing the secretary and giving her jewelry. He couldn't have known or planned on Abby stepping outside at just that time to do this. Also, the secretary later confronts her in the bathroom and makes it obvious that he'd given her the jewelry. There was no need for her to imply that he had if what had happened outside was all a setup. It obviously wasn't. Yet supposedly there was nothing going on between them? Also, why did she call and say that he needed an heir if it wasn't true? Furthermore, despite the fact that she was supposedly with him on business but got herself drunk, she called and told supposed lies, she didn't get fired? Instead, according to the book, she was given a promotion to a different country. It would be more convincing that she'd been lying if she'd been fired. After all, she deals with confidential information all the time and would be expected to maintain confidentiality.
Then we have the actress. Supposedly a friend of the family that Nick asked to pretend. But while she's pretending she's ruining her own social standing and credibility. Her job requires public interest above all else and flaunting herself as the mistress of a married man would have won her no favors. However, as far as the actress is concerned, I can believe that it was all faked. I just can't believe the secretary was just a big misunderstanding.
Nick. Supposedly he organized this very public humiliation of his wife because he couldn't have children and instead of just admitting it, he wanted her to leave him so she could go be with someone else and have the children she wanted so bad. Yes, he was just thinking of her when he paraded his many women in front of not only her, but all of society including friends and family. He treated her like crap but it was all for her own good? And to add to that, he legally denied his son, but let his family think that Abby had hidden away his child from him. That he'd had no idea that he'd even had a child. She took all the blame and he took none of it. I'm sure that was all for Abby's benefit also. He took no blame, he had no shame. It was all her fault, none of it was his. He would not go through what he made her go through which just makes all his claims worth exactly nothing. If he wasn't willing to be the bad guy, to face public humiliation and take the blame for what happened with his family, then how was he ever looking out for anyone but himself?
And then Abby. The only time I liked her was at the beginning, when they met again and she had no feelings for Nick at all. Oh happy day. Instead she ignored his affairs and kept trying to stay with him. Then when she actually gets a backbone she gets blackmailed into going back with him. How? The man legally signed off all rights to the child, so even if he wanted to, he had no powers there. And a failing trait that I find in most Baird books is the ending confession. The hero announces he loves the heroine and wants to explain what happened but she only cares that he loves her and nothing else matters.
Abby does the same thing. Nick loves her, so she doesn't care about all the other women he's slept with, or the affairs he had while he was with her. She actually only cares about the actress and not about the secretary. The one he was kissing on, giving jewelry to, and still had with him years later. The one who supposedly lied yet got a promotion for it? And he's kissing on her and hugging on her in the end? Yet she lied about his reasons for being with Abby again and lied about them being together without him asking her? Something is fishy about this story.
I hated this book because I hated both the main characters and couldn't believe in their HEA for a single second.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2017
Re Shattered Trust - Jacqueline Baird's second HP outing is truly a whacktastic trainwreck with an avalanche wrapped in typhoon epic of a book. There is no middle ground on this one and I suspect this book alone has caused more home drywall repair than 95% of HPlandia.
Yet for all the antipathy and back and forth over this book, it is definitely one of JB's best - plot holes and serious logic errors included, this book hands down defines the true wrecki angst drama spirit of HPlandia and if you have the stomach for it, definitely should not be missed. I would put it on the required HP reading list, cause HP devotees should all share the angst, but I hesitate to go there cause this book's agony is seriously agonizing and painful to read.
This one has a young 25 yr old h who was divorced by her husband at 21 when he began a series of VERY public affairs with other women. Up until that point, the two of them had been delightfully and blissfully in love and the only fly in the ointment was that the H's Greek family was pushing hard for the h to deliver the heir and hopefully a spare. The h began to fret under all the family pressure and apparently this completely tarnished the shine of love on the H's part.
He began flaunting other women in front of the h. He implied he was sleeping with his secretary, in fact she was proudly flaunting the H's very pricey baubles in front of the h every chance she got. He showed up at receptions the h and he had been invited to as a couple flaunting a half dressed actress and he made it very clear to friends, family and all acquaintances that the h, tho married to him, was not on the menu - he was sampling lots of dishes elsewhere cause the h was as bland as blancmange.
When the h protests these publicly humiliating abuses, the H proceeds with the full on h ravishment, and she just can't resist the H's epic lurve mojo. The h, who is still in love and wondering if aliens have done an H brain transplant, is completely bewildered and confused, but gamely hanging in and trying to fight for her man. Until the public actress flaunting drives her to tormented tears and the H ravishes her once again, then leaves a note on the pillow the next morning that he will be off with the actress cruising on the Aegean for a month, ostensibly scouting movie locations.
The h takes this as a sign to retreat. So she heads back to London from Greece, thinking the H will come to his senses and chase her down. She gets served divorce papers instead. Then she finds out she is preggers and she thinks THIS will bring the H back. Instead, the H denies paternity and finishes off the divorce. He pays the h out a big settlement which she donates to various charities, then she sells her London apartment and buys an art gallery in Wales.
The story starts when the h is invited to a business dinner as a plus one with one of her male friend's and his new business partner. The male friend is a resort developer and the new business partner and his companion are extending an evening social invitation and her friend needs a platonic date. The h finds out that the business partner is her ex H and his companion is the secretary the H had systematically cheated on her with. She still has feelings for the H, tho she refuses to acknowledge them. She asks her friend to pretend to be engaged to her, as she wants to try a little sauce for the gander move on the H.
(This fake engagement request by the h is the her downfall, and JB almost always puts one in play when she is off on her favorite revenge trope. JB is literally the Queen of HP Revenge, no one does it as much or as well as she does, it is her very favorite trope and the revenge seems to replace the old skool forced seduction trope in JB's corner of HPlandia as her h's rarely resist the H's magnetic tower of power.)
So the dinner goes on and the H is perturbed by the h and her supposedly engaged partner. The secretary tart is as catty as ever and the H makes a good show of cozying up to her to discomfit the h. She doesn't really care, she just enjoys the anger on the H's face when he sees her with another man. So both of them are playing quid pro quo and the evening comes to a draw.
The H shows up at the h's art gallery the next day and he is full of jealous questions about the h. He is angered too that people seem to think the h's son is his, and he is trying to shoot her down when the boy shows up and there is not a doubt that yep, he really is the H's son cause he looks like a mini H.
The H acts like he has taken a mortal blow and the h angrily denies that the son has any father at all, the H rejected him a long time ago and she isn't in the mood to give do-overs after his immoral and slime slurping behavior and she explains that very clearly. The H gets the message and he leaves. The h starts feeling nervous over the next few days and then she gets a call from the H's secretary. The H has announced that he and the h are reconciling and the secretary just called up to rub it in that she is still the H's lover, he just needs his heir and the h shouldn't get any idears about a happy marriage.
The h is in shock, she hasn't heard from the H and she has no idear what the secretary means, except that apparently the H needs her son to secure his position as head of the family firm. The h is pretty sure pigs will fly and aliens will land before she is back with the H.
Sure enough the H shows up and explains that he never cheated on her before they divorced - in fact he claims he has been celibate for four years. He tells her his physician, who is old and not up on modern treatments, claimed that since the H was exposed to mumps he became sterile. The H flaunted all those women to drive the h away, so that she could find someone else and build a family. He seems really sincere and the h almost buys that story, but the secretary's phone call comes back to mind and the h believes the H is lying so he can get to her son.
The H is all ready to start again, but the h completely rejects him and the H decides that if the h doesn't remarry him and give him his son, he will bankrupt the village and her male friend by delaying construction on the holiday resort until they can't finance themselves anymore. The h doesn't want to see her friends and her village ruined, so she agrees to remarry the H. She isn't happy about it tho and angry sex and more OW situations continue to happen- including the H alone with his former secretary, who has now been promoted, and the H dragging the h to dinner with the mistress actress. The H also bought and furnished the h's dream house, complete with studio as he now realizes the h was a lot more than his pampered lurve toy.
The H's family also thinks she kept her son secret and the H refuses to explain to them that he is the one at fault. It is HPlandia rule #1 in a big huge way with the h being blamed for every thing and tho the angry lurve clubbings continue, the h finally has enough when the H's father dies and the H won't let the h leave with her son. The h also finds out the H has an ocean phobia, so she knows he did not go sailing off with the actress for a month, she thinks they just holed up in a lurve shack instead.
The h rejects the H's advances once again after she finds him with his secretary, she tells him she only lurved him up after his father's death because of pity. The H wasn't too happy to hear that and declares that future lurve clubbings are off the table, from now on it is separate rooms all the way. Things are getting really icy between them when the h's son gets chicken pox. The H and h develop a sorta truce during the illness and the h finds out from the family doctor that the H really did think he was sterile cause the doctor told him he was after the mumps exposure.
The h believes the H's story now and she goes to try and repair the damage, but while the H is good for a poke, he isn't interested in rebuilding a marriage and the h starts crying. This makes the H miserable and he begs for forgiveness. We get the further explanation that the H thought the h had left him for another man - they were on the same flight together back to England.
He really believed the h had lurved it up with someone else, whether in rejection of the H's antics or out of a sense of desolation and that the baby wasn't his. He sent his secretary, whom he insists he never slept with, to another country as she lied about the H needing his son to inherit the family firm. The H also swears that the actress was his BFF's widow and she only was trying to help him in his campaign to run the h off for her own good. The h believes the H this time around and they avow true lurve forever with a baby bonus epilogue and promise to switch family doctors for the big HEA.
The wrecki drama in this book is EPIC. But ultimately the tolerance for this book is based on how much the reader believes that the H is telling the truth.
I vacillate on this one a lot. The first few times I read it, I bought the H's story. But then I got to thinking and I consulted the Captain and two questions just keep haunting me.
The first is that I have to wonder that a man being told he is sterile in such a machismo society would actually embrace celibacy because he thought he couldn't father a child and it damaged his manly mojoness. I tend to think that such a message would drive him into the opposite reaction, he would want to pike and poke as many ladies as possible, just to prove that the mojo was still humming even tho the motilators weren't running.
The second thing I ponder after five or six rereads of this, is that he was very, very quick to assume the h had left with another man. Even tho it was really, really obvious that the h only had eyes for him and was in fact his adorative lurve slave, even while he was engaged in running her off and publicly humiliating her. I believe we tend to see in others what we would do ourselves, so my conclusion is that perhaps the H was so willing to believe the h took a lover straight away cause that is what he was doing himself.
A lot of readers believe he was sleeping with the secretary in the book. I truly don't, mainly cause all of her actions were a woman who wanted but wasn't getting. Her every action wasn't OW sleeping with the H moves, it was wanna be OW trying to drive the wife off so she could sleep with the H moves and he was encouraging that behavior. That is classic HP trope right there and JB did it really, really well.
I DID believe he was sleeping with the actress - even tho he claims that the actress was the widow of his dead BFF and thus inviolate to his lustful urges. I did not necessarily believe that he slept with her out of lust. Probably more for comfort and friendship after his sterility diagnosis and because she was a link to his dead friend where she needed comfort too and because he really believed the h left with another man and his ego took a beating.
The kid custody issue was a total plot point, there is no way the H could have gotten him on his passport when apparently he wasn't even listed as his father, as the h said the H ceded parental rights and denied paternity OFFICIALLY in the divorce. Which I interpreted to mean that the H signed a statement denying culpability and legally wasn't the son's father. JB needed leverage for the h to stay tho, so she kinda had to do that to keep the story going. Plus they were in Greece and the H had legal leverage via his power and position, so it wasn't that far a stretch to believe that bit of blackmail
(I don't hold it against her, veteran HP authors have done much, much worse, (Anne Mather for one,) and this is only JB's second attempt at writing, so I was impressed that she managed to pull off even a semi believable reason to keep the drama going. As we all know big misunderstandings and unnecessary drama and angst are the foundations of the entire HQN Universe and there is no way we want those foundations cracked. So the H claiming custody wasn't the big issue for me.)
What it really comes down to in the end is does the H really love the h? In this instance, I believed he really did. I also think that he still believed the h had other lovers during their time apart, even tho she truthfully states that there was only him. But he decides that he has to torture himself with images of her with another man and that is his penance for being a mule dropping. He certainly won't be calling her out on it and it will help to keep him a bit humble in the future, cause she is hot property and he could lose her if he doesn't mind his p's and q's.
I also think the H was sincerely sorry, he got blindsided and reacted out of ego and trauma and he spent a lot of time regretting his actions by the end. Mainly cause the h was passively hating him for most of the book and it wasn't an easy thing for him to tolerate.
Still, this H was extremely persistent in his quest to recapture the h, and stalkerific, intense H's are a large part of what we are reading HP's for, so overall this is a pretty good outing for adventures in HPlandia - if you don't burn the book in protest at the H's appalling antics.
Yet for all the antipathy and back and forth over this book, it is definitely one of JB's best - plot holes and serious logic errors included, this book hands down defines the true wrecki angst drama spirit of HPlandia and if you have the stomach for it, definitely should not be missed. I would put it on the required HP reading list, cause HP devotees should all share the angst, but I hesitate to go there cause this book's agony is seriously agonizing and painful to read.
This one has a young 25 yr old h who was divorced by her husband at 21 when he began a series of VERY public affairs with other women. Up until that point, the two of them had been delightfully and blissfully in love and the only fly in the ointment was that the H's Greek family was pushing hard for the h to deliver the heir and hopefully a spare. The h began to fret under all the family pressure and apparently this completely tarnished the shine of love on the H's part.
He began flaunting other women in front of the h. He implied he was sleeping with his secretary, in fact she was proudly flaunting the H's very pricey baubles in front of the h every chance she got. He showed up at receptions the h and he had been invited to as a couple flaunting a half dressed actress and he made it very clear to friends, family and all acquaintances that the h, tho married to him, was not on the menu - he was sampling lots of dishes elsewhere cause the h was as bland as blancmange.
When the h protests these publicly humiliating abuses, the H proceeds with the full on h ravishment, and she just can't resist the H's epic lurve mojo. The h, who is still in love and wondering if aliens have done an H brain transplant, is completely bewildered and confused, but gamely hanging in and trying to fight for her man. Until the public actress flaunting drives her to tormented tears and the H ravishes her once again, then leaves a note on the pillow the next morning that he will be off with the actress cruising on the Aegean for a month, ostensibly scouting movie locations.
The h takes this as a sign to retreat. So she heads back to London from Greece, thinking the H will come to his senses and chase her down. She gets served divorce papers instead. Then she finds out she is preggers and she thinks THIS will bring the H back. Instead, the H denies paternity and finishes off the divorce. He pays the h out a big settlement which she donates to various charities, then she sells her London apartment and buys an art gallery in Wales.
The story starts when the h is invited to a business dinner as a plus one with one of her male friend's and his new business partner. The male friend is a resort developer and the new business partner and his companion are extending an evening social invitation and her friend needs a platonic date. The h finds out that the business partner is her ex H and his companion is the secretary the H had systematically cheated on her with. She still has feelings for the H, tho she refuses to acknowledge them. She asks her friend to pretend to be engaged to her, as she wants to try a little sauce for the gander move on the H.
(This fake engagement request by the h is the her downfall, and JB almost always puts one in play when she is off on her favorite revenge trope. JB is literally the Queen of HP Revenge, no one does it as much or as well as she does, it is her very favorite trope and the revenge seems to replace the old skool forced seduction trope in JB's corner of HPlandia as her h's rarely resist the H's magnetic tower of power.)
So the dinner goes on and the H is perturbed by the h and her supposedly engaged partner. The secretary tart is as catty as ever and the H makes a good show of cozying up to her to discomfit the h. She doesn't really care, she just enjoys the anger on the H's face when he sees her with another man. So both of them are playing quid pro quo and the evening comes to a draw.
The H shows up at the h's art gallery the next day and he is full of jealous questions about the h. He is angered too that people seem to think the h's son is his, and he is trying to shoot her down when the boy shows up and there is not a doubt that yep, he really is the H's son cause he looks like a mini H.
The H acts like he has taken a mortal blow and the h angrily denies that the son has any father at all, the H rejected him a long time ago and she isn't in the mood to give do-overs after his immoral and slime slurping behavior and she explains that very clearly. The H gets the message and he leaves. The h starts feeling nervous over the next few days and then she gets a call from the H's secretary. The H has announced that he and the h are reconciling and the secretary just called up to rub it in that she is still the H's lover, he just needs his heir and the h shouldn't get any idears about a happy marriage.
The h is in shock, she hasn't heard from the H and she has no idear what the secretary means, except that apparently the H needs her son to secure his position as head of the family firm. The h is pretty sure pigs will fly and aliens will land before she is back with the H.
Sure enough the H shows up and explains that he never cheated on her before they divorced - in fact he claims he has been celibate for four years. He tells her his physician, who is old and not up on modern treatments, claimed that since the H was exposed to mumps he became sterile. The H flaunted all those women to drive the h away, so that she could find someone else and build a family. He seems really sincere and the h almost buys that story, but the secretary's phone call comes back to mind and the h believes the H is lying so he can get to her son.
The H is all ready to start again, but the h completely rejects him and the H decides that if the h doesn't remarry him and give him his son, he will bankrupt the village and her male friend by delaying construction on the holiday resort until they can't finance themselves anymore. The h doesn't want to see her friends and her village ruined, so she agrees to remarry the H. She isn't happy about it tho and angry sex and more OW situations continue to happen- including the H alone with his former secretary, who has now been promoted, and the H dragging the h to dinner with the mistress actress. The H also bought and furnished the h's dream house, complete with studio as he now realizes the h was a lot more than his pampered lurve toy.
The H's family also thinks she kept her son secret and the H refuses to explain to them that he is the one at fault. It is HPlandia rule #1 in a big huge way with the h being blamed for every thing and tho the angry lurve clubbings continue, the h finally has enough when the H's father dies and the H won't let the h leave with her son. The h also finds out the H has an ocean phobia, so she knows he did not go sailing off with the actress for a month, she thinks they just holed up in a lurve shack instead.
The h rejects the H's advances once again after she finds him with his secretary, she tells him she only lurved him up after his father's death because of pity. The H wasn't too happy to hear that and declares that future lurve clubbings are off the table, from now on it is separate rooms all the way. Things are getting really icy between them when the h's son gets chicken pox. The H and h develop a sorta truce during the illness and the h finds out from the family doctor that the H really did think he was sterile cause the doctor told him he was after the mumps exposure.
The h believes the H's story now and she goes to try and repair the damage, but while the H is good for a poke, he isn't interested in rebuilding a marriage and the h starts crying. This makes the H miserable and he begs for forgiveness. We get the further explanation that the H thought the h had left him for another man - they were on the same flight together back to England.
He really believed the h had lurved it up with someone else, whether in rejection of the H's antics or out of a sense of desolation and that the baby wasn't his. He sent his secretary, whom he insists he never slept with, to another country as she lied about the H needing his son to inherit the family firm. The H also swears that the actress was his BFF's widow and she only was trying to help him in his campaign to run the h off for her own good. The h believes the H this time around and they avow true lurve forever with a baby bonus epilogue and promise to switch family doctors for the big HEA.
The wrecki drama in this book is EPIC. But ultimately the tolerance for this book is based on how much the reader believes that the H is telling the truth.
I vacillate on this one a lot. The first few times I read it, I bought the H's story. But then I got to thinking and I consulted the Captain and two questions just keep haunting me.
The first is that I have to wonder that a man being told he is sterile in such a machismo society would actually embrace celibacy because he thought he couldn't father a child and it damaged his manly mojoness. I tend to think that such a message would drive him into the opposite reaction, he would want to pike and poke as many ladies as possible, just to prove that the mojo was still humming even tho the motilators weren't running.
The second thing I ponder after five or six rereads of this, is that he was very, very quick to assume the h had left with another man. Even tho it was really, really obvious that the h only had eyes for him and was in fact his adorative lurve slave, even while he was engaged in running her off and publicly humiliating her. I believe we tend to see in others what we would do ourselves, so my conclusion is that perhaps the H was so willing to believe the h took a lover straight away cause that is what he was doing himself.
A lot of readers believe he was sleeping with the secretary in the book. I truly don't, mainly cause all of her actions were a woman who wanted but wasn't getting. Her every action wasn't OW sleeping with the H moves, it was wanna be OW trying to drive the wife off so she could sleep with the H moves and he was encouraging that behavior. That is classic HP trope right there and JB did it really, really well.
I DID believe he was sleeping with the actress - even tho he claims that the actress was the widow of his dead BFF and thus inviolate to his lustful urges. I did not necessarily believe that he slept with her out of lust. Probably more for comfort and friendship after his sterility diagnosis and because she was a link to his dead friend where she needed comfort too and because he really believed the h left with another man and his ego took a beating.
The kid custody issue was a total plot point, there is no way the H could have gotten him on his passport when apparently he wasn't even listed as his father, as the h said the H ceded parental rights and denied paternity OFFICIALLY in the divorce. Which I interpreted to mean that the H signed a statement denying culpability and legally wasn't the son's father. JB needed leverage for the h to stay tho, so she kinda had to do that to keep the story going. Plus they were in Greece and the H had legal leverage via his power and position, so it wasn't that far a stretch to believe that bit of blackmail
(I don't hold it against her, veteran HP authors have done much, much worse, (Anne Mather for one,) and this is only JB's second attempt at writing, so I was impressed that she managed to pull off even a semi believable reason to keep the drama going. As we all know big misunderstandings and unnecessary drama and angst are the foundations of the entire HQN Universe and there is no way we want those foundations cracked. So the H claiming custody wasn't the big issue for me.)
What it really comes down to in the end is does the H really love the h? In this instance, I believed he really did. I also think that he still believed the h had other lovers during their time apart, even tho she truthfully states that there was only him. But he decides that he has to torture himself with images of her with another man and that is his penance for being a mule dropping. He certainly won't be calling her out on it and it will help to keep him a bit humble in the future, cause she is hot property and he could lose her if he doesn't mind his p's and q's.
I also think the H was sincerely sorry, he got blindsided and reacted out of ego and trauma and he spent a lot of time regretting his actions by the end. Mainly cause the h was passively hating him for most of the book and it wasn't an easy thing for him to tolerate.
Still, this H was extremely persistent in his quest to recapture the h, and stalkerific, intense H's are a large part of what we are reading HP's for, so overall this is a pretty good outing for adventures in HPlandia - if you don't burn the book in protest at the H's appalling antics.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2020
Trainwreck Alert!* This earns five stars because the heroine stays angry and mistrustful for the entire story. Even when she allows her treacherous body to enjoy the sex – her mind is having none of the hero’s antics. That is just what I want from a heroine who has been betrayed. No mid-book forgiveness.
The premise is ridiculously trainwrecky. The hero thought he was sterile because he had mumps as a lad. Heroine is much younger and he thought he should let her go so she could find another man to give her the family she always wanted. So he pretends he’s cheating with a bunch of women and finally drives the heroine to leave him.
When she tells him she’s pregnant, he disavows the child *in writing* and divorces her. He thinks she was cheating on him.
Heroine knows none of this when the hero shows up five years later, takes one look at his mini-me son and promptly blackmails the heroine back into marriage.
*Happy sigh* He’s so ridiculous and the heroine has the added angst of the hero’s family blaming *her* for the break up, the hero still being in contact with the two OWs he supposedly cheated with, and the hero thinking she’s been shagging anything that moves during their five year separation.
Stay angry, heroine. Only an HP hero has the gall to be angry the heroine doesn’t trust his word after *he* deceived her in the first place.
*Sandra TheSnarkyOne thinks Trainwreck Alert is as compelling as the ice cream truck bell. I know I would run down the street for a good trainwreck. 😊
The premise is ridiculously trainwrecky. The hero thought he was sterile because he had mumps as a lad. Heroine is much younger and he thought he should let her go so she could find another man to give her the family she always wanted. So he pretends he’s cheating with a bunch of women and finally drives the heroine to leave him.
When she tells him she’s pregnant, he disavows the child *in writing* and divorces her. He thinks she was cheating on him.
Heroine knows none of this when the hero shows up five years later, takes one look at his mini-me son and promptly blackmails the heroine back into marriage.
*Happy sigh* He’s so ridiculous and the heroine has the added angst of the hero’s family blaming *her* for the break up, the hero still being in contact with the two OWs he supposedly cheated with, and the hero thinking she’s been shagging anything that moves during their five year separation.
Stay angry, heroine. Only an HP hero has the gall to be angry the heroine doesn’t trust his word after *he* deceived her in the first place.
*Sandra TheSnarkyOne thinks Trainwreck Alert is as compelling as the ice cream truck bell. I know I would run down the street for a good trainwreck. 😊
May 26, 2015
This was a rec from a thread at Amazon for wtf, crazy/angsty HPs. There was definitely some WTF'ery :) It was also very hard to put down, thus the 4 stars. It can't be a 5 star wtf crazy HP simply because of some serious logic fail (and yes, I realize we're in HP land where the laws of physics don't apply).
January 26, 2013
This was a throw back to the style of the 60s and 70s. Nick, the "hero" (in quotes because he is anything but) is a mean man with anger management problems.
Nick's Doctor tells him he's sterile and he believes it without seeking a second opinion. Smart business man indeed. So, altruistically, he sets to drive Abby,his wife, away from him by humiliating her in public with his mistresses.
Not to worry, he really isn't with anybody else, it's all for show to hurt Abby enough so she'll leave him and possibly find somebody else. Somebody who can have kids. Never mind we later learn his *mother* killed herself because his father flaunted his lovers for real in front of her. Nick found his mother's body in the sea when he was 19. So why doing exactly what drove his mother to her death seemed like a good idea is beyond me.
But wait, it gets better.
In the midst of the divorce Abby learns she's pregnant. Of course she's the virtuous heroine so we all know it's Nick's son. Nick believing he's sterile completely disavows all knowledge. He refuses to put up one cent of child support and signs away all rights to the baby. Stand up guy!
A few years later he and Abby run in to each other at a bizarrely contrived dinner. The purpose of this dinner is for Nick to be told by somebody else that his son looks just like him. This intrigues Nick so he comes knocking and sees the boy is indeed his spitting image. This book was written in the early 90s so DNA testing was very much in it's infancy. Otherwise she could have sued the pants of the fool.
After Nick realizes what an idiot he's been he compounds it by blackmailing Abby in to marrying him again. He's caustic and rude because she has the nerve not to fall at his feet in thanks for giving her a second chance. Oh. Wait.
The book goes on and on in the vein. Abby is the hapless victim of Nick's emotional cruelty. Granted, Abby (and us through her)sees flashes of pain in his eyes every time he's nasty. Or it could be gas. Who really knows? Not us because we don't get a real window in to his twisted little mind. Until the final pages of course and the obligatory "oh the time I treated you like dirt? I didn't mean it love of my life!"
Finally we near the end where Abby overhears a conversation between Nick and one of his faux mistresses. Oddly enough she construes the conversation to mean Nick is still with her. Distrustful wench. How could she possibly think such a thing? Well, I surely don't know!
The story then veers in to the twilight zone because Nick is now the victim. Poor poor Nick. He's angry that Abby refuses to trust him an inch and doesn't believe the song and dance about sterility, made up lovers and the rest. Well dude, remember the old saying? "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive" Right.
Abby,finally showing a glimmer of a spine decides enough is enough, she and her son are leaving. Nick says she can leave but she can't take her son. What??? He signed a legal document relinquishing all rights. Just because they remarry doesn't mean that document vanishes in to the ether. He has no legal rights. He could fight for visitation but really, he doesn't have a lot to stand on.
"Well, your honor, you see, I thought I was sterile. I humiliated my wife with my mistresses in public in front of witnesses even but I wasn't really sleeping with them. Honest. Then I told my wife I was going on a cruise, but I really wasn't. Instead I was stalking my wife to see where she was going after she left me. Oh yes, I sued her for abandonment. Don't ask. It doesn't make sense to me either. Then when she told me she was pregnant I told her it wasn't my problem, the kid is not my son. Yes. Yes. I did sign documents stating as much and relinquishing rights. What? Get out of your court and stop wasting your time? But.. I have a heart of gold. See the pain in my eyes. Look harder. It's there. "
After Abby is completely deconstructed, she actually thinks this doozy : "she cringed with shame at her own horrifying, blind, selfish stupidity"
Yes. Really.
I can understand the appeal of alpha males and arrogant heroes. However, this was so over the top it descended in to farce. For a book written in the early 90s, I expected more from the hero than this.
The hero reminded of an interview with Essie Summers years and years ago, I don't have the exact quote but she was saying sometimes she reads extreme alpha men and thinks she wouldn't want to be married to one of them.
Well said. I wouldn't want to be married to this abusive tool.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody.
Nick's Doctor tells him he's sterile and he believes it without seeking a second opinion. Smart business man indeed. So, altruistically, he sets to drive Abby,his wife, away from him by humiliating her in public with his mistresses.
Not to worry, he really isn't with anybody else, it's all for show to hurt Abby enough so she'll leave him and possibly find somebody else. Somebody who can have kids. Never mind we later learn his *mother* killed herself because his father flaunted his lovers for real in front of her. Nick found his mother's body in the sea when he was 19. So why doing exactly what drove his mother to her death seemed like a good idea is beyond me.
But wait, it gets better.
In the midst of the divorce Abby learns she's pregnant. Of course she's the virtuous heroine so we all know it's Nick's son. Nick believing he's sterile completely disavows all knowledge. He refuses to put up one cent of child support and signs away all rights to the baby. Stand up guy!
A few years later he and Abby run in to each other at a bizarrely contrived dinner. The purpose of this dinner is for Nick to be told by somebody else that his son looks just like him. This intrigues Nick so he comes knocking and sees the boy is indeed his spitting image. This book was written in the early 90s so DNA testing was very much in it's infancy. Otherwise she could have sued the pants of the fool.
After Nick realizes what an idiot he's been he compounds it by blackmailing Abby in to marrying him again. He's caustic and rude because she has the nerve not to fall at his feet in thanks for giving her a second chance. Oh. Wait.
The book goes on and on in the vein. Abby is the hapless victim of Nick's emotional cruelty. Granted, Abby (and us through her)sees flashes of pain in his eyes every time he's nasty. Or it could be gas. Who really knows? Not us because we don't get a real window in to his twisted little mind. Until the final pages of course and the obligatory "oh the time I treated you like dirt? I didn't mean it love of my life!"
Finally we near the end where Abby overhears a conversation between Nick and one of his faux mistresses. Oddly enough she construes the conversation to mean Nick is still with her. Distrustful wench. How could she possibly think such a thing? Well, I surely don't know!
The story then veers in to the twilight zone because Nick is now the victim. Poor poor Nick. He's angry that Abby refuses to trust him an inch and doesn't believe the song and dance about sterility, made up lovers and the rest. Well dude, remember the old saying? "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive" Right.
Abby,finally showing a glimmer of a spine decides enough is enough, she and her son are leaving. Nick says she can leave but she can't take her son. What??? He signed a legal document relinquishing all rights. Just because they remarry doesn't mean that document vanishes in to the ether. He has no legal rights. He could fight for visitation but really, he doesn't have a lot to stand on.
"Well, your honor, you see, I thought I was sterile. I humiliated my wife with my mistresses in public in front of witnesses even but I wasn't really sleeping with them. Honest. Then I told my wife I was going on a cruise, but I really wasn't. Instead I was stalking my wife to see where she was going after she left me. Oh yes, I sued her for abandonment. Don't ask. It doesn't make sense to me either. Then when she told me she was pregnant I told her it wasn't my problem, the kid is not my son. Yes. Yes. I did sign documents stating as much and relinquishing rights. What? Get out of your court and stop wasting your time? But.. I have a heart of gold. See the pain in my eyes. Look harder. It's there. "
After Abby is completely deconstructed, she actually thinks this doozy : "she cringed with shame at her own horrifying, blind, selfish stupidity"
Yes. Really.
I can understand the appeal of alpha males and arrogant heroes. However, this was so over the top it descended in to farce. For a book written in the early 90s, I expected more from the hero than this.
The hero reminded of an interview with Essie Summers years and years ago, I don't have the exact quote but she was saying sometimes she reads extreme alpha men and thinks she wouldn't want to be married to one of them.
Well said. I wouldn't want to be married to this abusive tool.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2012
This is an amazing read...and you will be sitting on the edge of your seat, biting your nails all the way to the finish....and for that it is definitely a five star read and probably one of my all time favorite HP's. But there were some real issues with the book, that held me back from rating as five stars.
Abby is an incredibly strong and endearing heroine in the BEGINNING of the story. Four years after a devastating end to their marriage, she meets Nick at a business dinner. She does a great job in seeing his true colors and takes great delight in dishing out whatever punishment or caustic remark he deserves. That night, she ends up walking away recognizing that he just isn't worth loving and grateful that she and her son escaped their marriage. It was really enjoyable to watch her safely put the past behind and make plans to finally move on.
However, shortly after that dinner, Nick blackmails her into marriage by threatening to go back on a financial commitment he has made for a small town renovation project. Given her closest friends are heavily invested in the project, they stand to lose everything if he backs out. We also learn that when they divorced four years ago, Nick willingly signed away all rights to his son.
So this is where it starts to break down.
1) Why does Abby believe that saving her friends from financial ruin is more important than her son? She proceeds to marry him...with the commitment that when his father dies, she and the boy can return home. Yet she puts her son on HIS passport, prohibiting the boy from leaving the country without HIS consent. Which is a trump card the hero readily plays the moment she says she is leaving him. He indicates she is free to go, but the son must stay.
2) Four years ago when they were married, he publicly embarrassed and repeatedly hurt her by putting his many mistress on display, He stopped being intimate and brutally denied her physical contact even when she begged him. So how in heaven's name could she possibly want this guy and fall so quickly into his bed?
3) She gives as good as she gets, but rather than coming off as being strong, it just feels bitc#@, petty and frankly very annoying.
4) I could not buy that the secretary was never his mistress. Handing someone jewelry and smooching them on a private patio..promoting them when they have breached your confidence...are not the actions of an innocent man or secretary!
But with all that said, it is still a very fascinating read. Nick is the ultimate jerk who knows how to snap his fingers to get Abby running back....Abby is weak and shallow allowing herself to be manipulated every which way with sparks of energy that are often childish, whiny and not very effective.
Abby is an incredibly strong and endearing heroine in the BEGINNING of the story. Four years after a devastating end to their marriage, she meets Nick at a business dinner. She does a great job in seeing his true colors and takes great delight in dishing out whatever punishment or caustic remark he deserves. That night, she ends up walking away recognizing that he just isn't worth loving and grateful that she and her son escaped their marriage. It was really enjoyable to watch her safely put the past behind and make plans to finally move on.
However, shortly after that dinner, Nick blackmails her into marriage by threatening to go back on a financial commitment he has made for a small town renovation project. Given her closest friends are heavily invested in the project, they stand to lose everything if he backs out. We also learn that when they divorced four years ago, Nick willingly signed away all rights to his son.
So this is where it starts to break down.
1) Why does Abby believe that saving her friends from financial ruin is more important than her son? She proceeds to marry him...with the commitment that when his father dies, she and the boy can return home. Yet she puts her son on HIS passport, prohibiting the boy from leaving the country without HIS consent. Which is a trump card the hero readily plays the moment she says she is leaving him. He indicates she is free to go, but the son must stay.
2) Four years ago when they were married, he publicly embarrassed and repeatedly hurt her by putting his many mistress on display, He stopped being intimate and brutally denied her physical contact even when she begged him. So how in heaven's name could she possibly want this guy and fall so quickly into his bed?
3) She gives as good as she gets, but rather than coming off as being strong, it just feels bitc#@, petty and frankly very annoying.
4) I could not buy that the secretary was never his mistress. Handing someone jewelry and smooching them on a private patio..promoting them when they have breached your confidence...are not the actions of an innocent man or secretary!
But with all that said, it is still a very fascinating read. Nick is the ultimate jerk who knows how to snap his fingers to get Abby running back....Abby is weak and shallow allowing herself to be manipulated every which way with sparks of energy that are often childish, whiny and not very effective.
July 6, 2015
This was intense like I like my Harlequin Presents. I honestly didn't like Nick at all initially. I totally thought the worst of him. But then there would be moments where he looked so devastated and heartbroken. I sort of guessed what his issue was partway into the book, and that he was trying to push Abby away. I also felt he must be deeply in love with her and that's why he was trying to get them back together. It was heartbreaking to see Nick interact with the son he had rejected four years before. But I could see why Abby didn't trust him and certainly didn't want to fall back in love with him, since it had cost her so much the first time around. This book really makes you believe the hero was a cheater, but hang in there if you don't like cheating. It all turns out well.
I liked that both lead characters are so three-dimensional. You see all their traits, even the ones that aren't as pretty, such as Abby's jealousy of other women. Although that is really understandable, considering the situation. I like that Baird shows Nick at his worst, but allows the reader to gain the ability to think favorably about Nick and believe he loves his family and his wife. He was a very tortured guy and that came across very clearly. I think this is one of the HPs where you can feel just as strongly about the hero and the heroine.
Books like these are why I avidly reach for the older Harlequin Presents. They really bring the emotion and intensity for the reader.
Overall rating: 4.25/5.0 stars.
I liked that both lead characters are so three-dimensional. You see all their traits, even the ones that aren't as pretty, such as Abby's jealousy of other women. Although that is really understandable, considering the situation. I like that Baird shows Nick at his worst, but allows the reader to gain the ability to think favorably about Nick and believe he loves his family and his wife. He was a very tortured guy and that came across very clearly. I think this is one of the HPs where you can feel just as strongly about the hero and the heroine.
Books like these are why I avidly reach for the older Harlequin Presents. They really bring the emotion and intensity for the reader.
Overall rating: 4.25/5.0 stars.
July 21, 2012
I found it very hard to stomach the hero attitude: the way he divorced the heroine in the first place, the way he forced the heroine to marry him again, more than once in the early stage of their re-marriage he implied the heroine slept with more than one man while he in actual fact showed the world that he was sleeping with other women and expected the heroine to believe him that has only slept with the heroine since marrying her in their first marriage, his refusal to keep his promise almost at the end of the story and let the heroine leave with his son. This is not how I see a man trying to win his wife back when he recognised his mistake in divorcing her in the first place. Everything is about what he wanted and expected the heroine will eventually forgive and trust him again in the process.
He is an absolute unlikeable hero and I just do not see how the heroine can love him so much. If during their marriage again he tried to do nice things to amend his past mistakes and really grovel, I will be able to understand why the heroine will give their relationship another chance. No, but he has to be hurtful in his actions as well as in speech almost to the end. That makes me unable to enjoy their final HEA.
He is an absolute unlikeable hero and I just do not see how the heroine can love him so much. If during their marriage again he tried to do nice things to amend his past mistakes and really grovel, I will be able to understand why the heroine will give their relationship another chance. No, but he has to be hurtful in his actions as well as in speech almost to the end. That makes me unable to enjoy their final HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
December 24, 2021Self note
Doormat h.
H is constantly cheating and he does it to her face, because he wants her to leave him. Doormat wouldnt leave the cheater, he had to leave her. Then she thinks she can get him back because she’s finally preggers. Why would anyone want a cheater?
No he wasn’t cheatjng with all those women but he did kiss his secretary (and some reviewers believe he did cheat with her- she had too many expensive jewelry from the H). If your hub was passionately kissing his secretary , would that be cheating? For me, yea.
avoid because the h is a loser and a doormat.
Doormat h.
H is constantly cheating and he does it to her face, because he wants her to leave him. Doormat wouldnt leave the cheater, he had to leave her. Then she thinks she can get him back because she’s finally preggers. Why would anyone want a cheater?
No he wasn’t cheatjng with all those women but he did kiss his secretary (and some reviewers believe he did cheat with her- she had too many expensive jewelry from the H). If your hub was passionately kissing his secretary , would that be cheating? For me, yea.
avoid because the h is a loser and a doormat.
February 10, 2017
I read this years ago and, well, it shattered my trust in this author. So much so that it's taken me years to retry her. So far, the score isn't looking good (0-2).
October 9, 2018
The scenario is intense, but the execution didn’t work for me. Specifically, I absolutely HATED that after the remarriage, any attempt the heroine made to punish the wrongdoers from four years before was met with failure and disdain. She did not get the vengeance she deserved and had to settle for one slightly tarnished husband instead.
I am irate that after their remarriage, the husband took the heroine to a formal dinner without first warning her she would be forced to sit at the same table as the actress he publicly humiliated her with four years earlier. No way was a Jacqueline Baird heroine going to sit still for that; public face is very important to them. But instead of being allowed to deliver a crushing set-down or do a dramatic exit, the heroine just says something catty about the aging actress now dating a younger man and the angry hero hauls her home like she’s a misbehaving teenager. Winner: adulterous actress.
I am confused by the secretary. During the initial marriage unravel, the heroine randomly walks out onto a balcony at a party and immediately spies her husband giving the secretary an expensive gold bracelet accompanied by a long and passionate kiss. There’s no indication he had seen his wife approaching to stage this scene, so I don’t see how this encounter is part of his cunning plan to drive away his wife by faking infidelity. Then, when the secretary betrays herlover boss by telling the heroine he plans to remarry her so he can use his son to manipulate his own father into bequeathing him the controlling shares in the family business, the husband gets rid of the secretary by promoting her (ooh, burn!) to a position in New York where she meets and marries a tycoon of her own and is perfectly happy. Winner: sleazy secretary.
I’m willing to believe he didn’t sleep with the actress (who nevertheless should have apologized to the wife for her part in the plot), but the secretary is flaunting a lot of expensive jewelry for someone who wasn’t sleeping with the boss.
Edit: Lol! over the husband's insistence that if Popodopoulos is going to continue as their family doctor, they're always going to need to seek a second opinion.
I am irate that after their remarriage, the husband took the heroine to a formal dinner without first warning her she would be forced to sit at the same table as the actress he publicly humiliated her with four years earlier. No way was a Jacqueline Baird heroine going to sit still for that; public face is very important to them. But instead of being allowed to deliver a crushing set-down or do a dramatic exit, the heroine just says something catty about the aging actress now dating a younger man and the angry hero hauls her home like she’s a misbehaving teenager. Winner: adulterous actress.
I am confused by the secretary. During the initial marriage unravel, the heroine randomly walks out onto a balcony at a party and immediately spies her husband giving the secretary an expensive gold bracelet accompanied by a long and passionate kiss. There’s no indication he had seen his wife approaching to stage this scene, so I don’t see how this encounter is part of his cunning plan to drive away his wife by faking infidelity. Then, when the secretary betrays her
I’m willing to believe he didn’t sleep with the actress (who nevertheless should have apologized to the wife for her part in the plot), but the secretary is flaunting a lot of expensive jewelry for someone who wasn’t sleeping with the boss.
Edit: Lol! over the husband's insistence that if Popodopoulos is going to continue as their family doctor, they're always going to need to seek a second opinion.
March 30, 2021
Desculpa esfarrapada!
Mocinho imbecil que mete o pé na bunda da mocinha sem dar explicação nenhuma pra ela e ainda por cima rejeita a gravidez dela.
A mocinha idiota fica no hora veja por quase quatro anos se sentindo a mosca do cocô do cavalo do bandido, pois foi descartada sem saber o motivo e no divórcio o idiota ainda faz questão de abrir mão de qualquer responsabilidade pela criança.
Aí um belo dia ele aparece novamente e vê que a criança é a imagem dele e então começa a velha história de sempre... chantageia a mocinha para que ela volte pra ele e ainda faz questão de reivindicar o filhote.
Pelo amor de Deus... o cara renunciou a qualquer direito sobre a criança no divórcio e retirou a mocinha da vida dele como se ela não significasse nada.
Será que os milionários gregos são tão idiotas que eles não procuram uma segunda opinião quando são diagnosticados de alguma doença????
Pra que serve aquele exército de serviçais que eles aparentemente possuem???? Será que é somente para eles terem mais secretárias e assistentes que eles possam fazer suas amantes???
No livro ainda tem a secretária vagabunda que é a sombra do cara!
E as mulheres aceitam tudo!!!
Amazing Review Here
Mocinho imbecil que mete o pé na bunda da mocinha sem dar explicação nenhuma pra ela e ainda por cima rejeita a gravidez dela.
A mocinha idiota fica no hora veja por quase quatro anos se sentindo a mosca do cocô do cavalo do bandido, pois foi descartada sem saber o motivo e no divórcio o idiota ainda faz questão de abrir mão de qualquer responsabilidade pela criança.
Aí um belo dia ele aparece novamente e vê que a criança é a imagem dele e então começa a velha história de sempre... chantageia a mocinha para que ela volte pra ele e ainda faz questão de reivindicar o filhote.
Pelo amor de Deus... o cara renunciou a qualquer direito sobre a criança no divórcio e retirou a mocinha da vida dele como se ela não significasse nada.
Será que os milionários gregos são tão idiotas que eles não procuram uma segunda opinião quando são diagnosticados de alguma doença????
Pra que serve aquele exército de serviçais que eles aparentemente possuem???? Será que é somente para eles terem mais secretárias e assistentes que eles possam fazer suas amantes???
No livro ainda tem a secretária vagabunda que é a sombra do cara!
E as mulheres aceitam tudo!!!
Amazing Review Here
June 15, 2014
There are two camps on this book, the lovers and the haters....I'm on the positive side and here is why. Lots of angst and emotion, making it a great read for me. As to H's behavior, I have read a lot of Harlequins lately, and the well -written angsty ones fall in two camps for me. One where H has been with other women during a separation (worse when made clear but still very disturbing when it is intimated). There are several otherwise great books that have that component and infuriate me (Tempestuous Reunion, Lost in Love, Powerful Greek Unwordly Wife). And those where H is actually celibate, including through separation, sometimes even in the face of believing h has been unfaithful (Veranchettii's Marriage, and this book, Shattered Trust). I could go through and divide them up based solely on the OW question. Ok, so this H was mean and jerky...gosh, if I wanted a sweet read without harsh words or power play/blackmail, I wouldn't be reading an old HP or 3/4 of my kindle. I'm happy to have H say and do mean things, as long as there is some explanation (which need not be objectively reasonable) and true love and devotion from H. He does try to make h think he was unfaithful, like so many do (Bond of Hatred, Price of a Bride) but here while he does kiss another woman for show, it's more than just Greek/Italian/Spanish pride. There is actually a loving, selfless component on H's part. Ok, it's dumb but the misunderstanding in these books is almost always unnecessary and most could be cleared up in a day. But that would be no fun. Although the grovel was decent, could have been stronger, for me what makes it great is the clear depiction of H's jealousy, suffering and pain throughout. Tapping into H's emotion is what differentiates a great read for me, and Shattered Trust did that.
March 4, 2016
In this story the hero is really tortured by the fact that he can't give the heroine a baby and let's her think that he was unfaithful and no longer loved her to get her to divorce him. I love that he was so upset when he found out about his child he honestly felt it could not be his. omg that scene was epic and she gave him shit and he took it for a while but then he got his. They are evenly matched and I loved that he tries so hard to win her back but after all that she thought and he led her to believe he has done it's no wonder it took her a while. It's a story that stays with you and I totally loved it.
June 7, 2014
Terrible. Don't get me wrong, I love angsty books, I adore romantic tension, and I prefer my heroes to be reformed rakes. I don't even mind a cheating hero if he is truly repentant and battles to get into the heroine's good graces again, sometimes the struggle of rebuilding a fallen relationship is more heart warming then a book that depicts romance perfection. What I can't stand for is borderline abusive heroes and pathetic heroines who go through never ending cycles of " I don't love him anymore", only to fall into mind numbingly predictable fits of passion the minute the hero is in her sights, even though he has done awful things to her with zero remorse. It's disgusting how weak this leading lady is.... and the saddest part is that she started out with so much potential. This book will leave you nothing but frustrated and annoyed, if you manage to finish it. I would give zero stars if I could.
June 22, 2017
I just read this and I loved it. I had read bad things about it in the cheater forum at Amazon and I avoided it but I totally read it and I loved the story. Both of them stayed true to each other during the separation. The H thought he sterile and when she told him she wanted a baby, he flipped out. He pretended to have affairs to drive her away so she could find someone else and have babies. He was pretty cruel to her and when he kissed the OW wannabe and gave her a bracelet, he made sure the h saw it. I hated him at that point and he was just a jerk. And when she did get pregnant he just went crazy and denied the child. But he never cheated even while apart. He did divorce her and they were separated for four years. It was just crazy but I loved the story and was especially happy when I found out that he was not unfaithful. This one will be on my keeper shelf for sure. I love these type of stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2017
"Frustration"
That is the adjective I'd use to describe "Shattered Trust", Nick and Abby's story.
Nick divorced Abby four years ago, even relinquishing rights of their kid- leaving her utterly heartbroken.
Since the separation, she takes care of her son and is now a successful gallery owner, when Nick returns to her life and the old passions are back.
Soon he wants his son and remarries her by blackmailing her- and loads of secrets are exposed.
Angst angst angst. That's the gist of this story. The leads DO NOT COMMUNICATE (anyway except in the bedroom boinking) and spend most of the time one-upping each other.
The hero causes soooo much heartbreak in the past that even I was skeptical when he comes back, and then he blackmails his way through second half- and all I could do was shake my head- even though I wanted to feel sorry for him!
I didn't find Abby's feelings wrong at all- for once a HQN heroine fights for herself.... until it comes to sex and then she's easily seduced and back to point zero.
This book was so frustrating with both of them acting like idiots, and all I did was feel bad for Jonathan, their son.
Egh
Safe with exceptions (loads of kissing other people in form of greeting/ as date/ to make jealous)
1.5/5
That is the adjective I'd use to describe "Shattered Trust", Nick and Abby's story.
Nick divorced Abby four years ago, even relinquishing rights of their kid- leaving her utterly heartbroken.
Since the separation, she takes care of her son and is now a successful gallery owner, when Nick returns to her life and the old passions are back.
Soon he wants his son and remarries her by blackmailing her- and loads of secrets are exposed.
Angst angst angst. That's the gist of this story. The leads DO NOT COMMUNICATE (anyway except in the bedroom boinking) and spend most of the time one-upping each other.
The hero causes soooo much heartbreak in the past that even I was skeptical when he comes back, and then he blackmails his way through second half- and all I could do was shake my head- even though I wanted to feel sorry for him!
I didn't find Abby's feelings wrong at all- for once a HQN heroine fights for herself.... until it comes to sex and then she's easily seduced and back to point zero.
This book was so frustrating with both of them acting like idiots, and all I did was feel bad for Jonathan, their son.
Egh
Safe with exceptions (loads of kissing other people in form of greeting/ as date/ to make jealous)
1.5/5
April 16, 2021
3.5 stars
avoid
June 3, 2019Cheating.
December 12, 2021
So many excellent reviews for this book, I think there are two factions here: those who believe the hero was faithful and utterly stupid trying to make his young wife hate him and leave him, those who thinks he cheated.
I think this is not the point.
The hero was in love with the heroine and they were happy for one year, then, since she wasn’t pregnant yet, she started worrying and the hero went to a doctor who told him he was sterile.
Of course he,being a proud and chauvinist Greek, panicked and decided the best solution was to pretend infidelities so his wife would have left him.
He wanted her to have a husband who could give her children, since she seemed so worried because she couldn’t get pregnant.
Since he’s a JB hero, whose IQ is still lower than that of usual HPs heroes, he’s so dumb that when she tells him she’s pregnant he doesn’t even think the child is his and he makes her sign a document where he refuses paternity of her child.
Even a medium low IQ hero would have asked a DNA test, since they’re available since the 60s (maybe earlier) but no, he’s so sure the child is not his. So he sends his wife and child away.
Five years later he’s back because he found out she is not married. His stupidity was so great he thought she married the father of his child, an artist he though was her lover.
The idiocy of this man is unlimited.
He has decided that he wants the heroine back, and when he eventually sees the child and understands the boy is his he almost has a heart attack. Sadly, he has not, and being a low form of life other than having a very low IQ, he threatens her and forces her to marry him.
The heroine thinks she will stay with him only until his father dies and he has the control of his company so she accepts.
The heroine is angry and of course does not trust him and even having sex with him she tries to remain aloof.
1000 misunderstandings later, they declare mutual love and they have their hea with another baby on the road.
Well, I’m one of those who believe him when he tells her he never cheated her and never had another woman since he first met her for two reasons:
- the man was really idiot and the plan he made to get rid of her without even being sure of his sterility are the product of a very stupid and insecure man, who doubted his virility because he thought he couldn’t father children and thought his wife couldn’t be happy without children.
- those who read other JB books know she often has heroes that even if they are stupid and dumb, can stay celibate for years because they are in love with the heroine.
So yes, for me he was celibate and stupid and cruel.
I’ve read another book of Penny Jordan where the hero told the heroine he had another woman and didn’t want her anymore because he thought he was sterile, so she would divorce him and have all the children she wanted. That was better because he didn’t humiliate his wife with other women in public like this one did. His behavior was unforgivable.
The point of the book wasn’t his celibacy though.
It was his presumption of knowing what was the heroine’s best. And her public humiliation. Repeatedly.
He knew she was in love with him and decided to hurt her anyway because he thought she wouldn’t be happy without children.
This was wrong and cruel.
He didn’t even check on her after the divorce and didn’t check with other doctors if he was really sterile. I know many couples with fertility issues and I know for certain that they seek many opinions from many doctors, for years, even going to other countries to try and find solutions.
So it seems really idiotic that he only trusted his old family doctor.
Then I don’t believe he really loved his wife, since he chose to send her away and divorced her without a second thought.
The heroine was usual JB: proud and angry but with a bad case of TBS.
She made him grovel but the man was really an idiot and I couldn’t find him sexy because stupid is never sexy.
The heroine was a good character, she became stronger after she divorced her husband but I would have liked that she had other men: he deserved it.
I enjoyed the book, the angst was average though. He should have suffered more to satisfy my thirst for revenge. Pity.
I think this is not the point.
The hero was in love with the heroine and they were happy for one year, then, since she wasn’t pregnant yet, she started worrying and the hero went to a doctor who told him he was sterile.
Of course he,being a proud and chauvinist Greek, panicked and decided the best solution was to pretend infidelities so his wife would have left him.
He wanted her to have a husband who could give her children, since she seemed so worried because she couldn’t get pregnant.
Since he’s a JB hero, whose IQ is still lower than that of usual HPs heroes, he’s so dumb that when she tells him she’s pregnant he doesn’t even think the child is his and he makes her sign a document where he refuses paternity of her child.
Even a medium low IQ hero would have asked a DNA test, since they’re available since the 60s (maybe earlier) but no, he’s so sure the child is not his. So he sends his wife and child away.
Five years later he’s back because he found out she is not married. His stupidity was so great he thought she married the father of his child, an artist he though was her lover.
The idiocy of this man is unlimited.
He has decided that he wants the heroine back, and when he eventually sees the child and understands the boy is his he almost has a heart attack. Sadly, he has not, and being a low form of life other than having a very low IQ, he threatens her and forces her to marry him.
The heroine thinks she will stay with him only until his father dies and he has the control of his company so she accepts.
The heroine is angry and of course does not trust him and even having sex with him she tries to remain aloof.
1000 misunderstandings later, they declare mutual love and they have their hea with another baby on the road.
Well, I’m one of those who believe him when he tells her he never cheated her and never had another woman since he first met her for two reasons:
- the man was really idiot and the plan he made to get rid of her without even being sure of his sterility are the product of a very stupid and insecure man, who doubted his virility because he thought he couldn’t father children and thought his wife couldn’t be happy without children.
- those who read other JB books know she often has heroes that even if they are stupid and dumb, can stay celibate for years because they are in love with the heroine.
So yes, for me he was celibate and stupid and cruel.
I’ve read another book of Penny Jordan where the hero told the heroine he had another woman and didn’t want her anymore because he thought he was sterile, so she would divorce him and have all the children she wanted. That was better because he didn’t humiliate his wife with other women in public like this one did. His behavior was unforgivable.
The point of the book wasn’t his celibacy though.
It was his presumption of knowing what was the heroine’s best. And her public humiliation. Repeatedly.
He knew she was in love with him and decided to hurt her anyway because he thought she wouldn’t be happy without children.
This was wrong and cruel.
He didn’t even check on her after the divorce and didn’t check with other doctors if he was really sterile. I know many couples with fertility issues and I know for certain that they seek many opinions from many doctors, for years, even going to other countries to try and find solutions.
So it seems really idiotic that he only trusted his old family doctor.
Then I don’t believe he really loved his wife, since he chose to send her away and divorced her without a second thought.
The heroine was usual JB: proud and angry but with a bad case of TBS.
She made him grovel but the man was really an idiot and I couldn’t find him sexy because stupid is never sexy.
The heroine was a good character, she became stronger after she divorced her husband but I would have liked that she had other men: he deserved it.
I enjoyed the book, the angst was average though. He should have suffered more to satisfy my thirst for revenge. Pity.
July 8, 2021
4.5 stars!
Finally I read what has showed up in almost all HP lists that I’ve come across and truly deserving of that. Not very vintage vibes and truly an alpha H to hit you hard in your solar plexus. No soft beta feelings from this man here.
Abby has been happily married when a crazy crazy misunderstanding and misinformation leads to her divorce. She’s just gotten pregnant and tries to tell her husband but he’s made up his mind on letting Abby go.
Years later they meet again. Turns out all these years Nick has been keeping an eye on Abby and Abby has been celibate for she truly never got her heart back from her first and only husband. Nick realizes that the little boy is his and is gutted by his earlier dismissal of his wife and child. He will do anything to get Abby back as well as his son.
The H is a hot possessive, territorial alpha H and orders Abby around like he owns her. Got my toes curling. Abby is once bitten twice shy but can’t control her reaction to Nick‘s indulgent loving for he truly owns her heart.
Their reconciliation is sweet and angsty. I disliked all of these women doing a short one-time role as OW cuz Abby truly got worked up by each of them. I wished the h and H had talked earlier and not missed out on so many years of togetherness. A sure keeper!!
Finally I read what has showed up in almost all HP lists that I’ve come across and truly deserving of that. Not very vintage vibes and truly an alpha H to hit you hard in your solar plexus. No soft beta feelings from this man here.
Abby has been happily married when a crazy crazy misunderstanding and misinformation leads to her divorce. She’s just gotten pregnant and tries to tell her husband but he’s made up his mind on letting Abby go.
Years later they meet again. Turns out all these years Nick has been keeping an eye on Abby and Abby has been celibate for she truly never got her heart back from her first and only husband. Nick realizes that the little boy is his and is gutted by his earlier dismissal of his wife and child. He will do anything to get Abby back as well as his son.
The H is a hot possessive, territorial alpha H and orders Abby around like he owns her. Got my toes curling. Abby is once bitten twice shy but can’t control her reaction to Nick‘s indulgent loving for he truly owns her heart.
Their reconciliation is sweet and angsty. I disliked all of these women doing a short one-time role as OW cuz Abby truly got worked up by each of them. I wished the h and H had talked earlier and not missed out on so many years of togetherness. A sure keeper!!
April 1, 2011
For a more detailed review discussion read Booklover's review and the comments that follow it but here is why I like it:
-The hero and heroine are shown to be good friends before the hero pulled off his scheme of separation
-There are parts which are funny. Like a certain scenario with a goat (ahem!)
-You can tell what the hero is feeling by the way his facial expressions are described and sympathise with how he must be cursing himself
-All the i dotted and t's crossed: You get the explanation for almost everything in the end
-Thank the Dear Lord there weren't in-laws issues on top of the hero's own problems (apparently that's the in-thing these days!)
-The guy was a good dad (again, the heroine didn't have to say this: his actions spoke very clearly!)
Read it a long time ago and read it again! Love it!
-The hero and heroine are shown to be good friends before the hero pulled off his scheme of separation
-There are parts which are funny. Like a certain scenario with a goat (ahem!)
-You can tell what the hero is feeling by the way his facial expressions are described and sympathise with how he must be cursing himself
-All the i dotted and t's crossed: You get the explanation for almost everything in the end
-Thank the Dear Lord there weren't in-laws issues on top of the hero's own problems (apparently that's the in-thing these days!)
-The guy was a good dad (again, the heroine didn't have to say this: his actions spoke very clearly!)
Read it a long time ago and read it again! Love it!
April 26, 2012
This was an intense emotional read,it had me gripped till the end but what spoiled the book for me is Nick's behaviour even by the end we get the reason for it i still have my doubts.Abby was a doormat but she did grow a spine and stood for herself later.Overall a good read.
August 20, 2015
Rating: 4 stars
I recently put this in my 'might have read shelf' not completely sure if I've read it. But looking through my old hard drive confirms that I have read it! Definitely need to reread it again.
I recently put this in my 'might have read shelf' not completely sure if I've read it. But looking through my old hard drive confirms that I have read it! Definitely need to reread it again.
April 10, 2013
I couldn't stand the hero or the heroine of this book....
November 18, 2017
this was a typical HQ novel.
What really annoyed me about this novel is the 3 year old child that had the understanding and vocabulary of a 10 year old. It was actually ridiculous. And very annoying. Over done baby talk annoys me too but this was the other extreme.
I did start of really enjoying this book, but i quickly lost interest once she agreed to the marriage as it just became sooooo predictable. I suddenly wasnt interested in her ruminations and it was obvious what was going to happen. That and because she was thinking one thing but gave in so quickly with everything else. Her quick acceptance of letting him be a father when in her mind he had callously abandoned his own child 4 years ago really annoyed me. She let him off so easily with that, where as for me that would have been as bad, if not worse than the supposed affairs.
Also his responses to her disbelief were ridiculous. Of course she hates him, as far as she can see he blatantly cheated on her and abused her.
yeah so i lost interest pretty quickly and started skimming after the marriage.
Ok. when they went out for dinner with his "ex mistress" that was just ridiculous. That he got mad at her and she felt guilty. Come on Jacqueline Baird, that's just stupid sloppy writing on your behalf. Make it more realistic please. that just dropped my rating.
Yeah, the whole thing jsut became frustrating. I absolutely am all for letting plot holes and OTT reactions off as fiction and all in good fun. But this is just annoying. The guy made sure she believed he had affairs. Her reactions then and now were completely allowed and understandable. Him blackmailing her was deplorable. Her suddenly feeling bad and realising what a fantastic man he is....?? Bullshit. OTT is fine but realism is still essential. He needs to beg for forgiveness. Beg to convince her the truth. Going out for dinner with the ex mistress and getting pissed at her for being upset.... F off. Him getting angry at her for not trusting him? F off. Stupid. All of it. Annoying.
half way through this book i was at a comfortable three stars. By the end it was a 1 star.
What really annoyed me about this novel is the 3 year old child that had the understanding and vocabulary of a 10 year old. It was actually ridiculous. And very annoying. Over done baby talk annoys me too but this was the other extreme.
I did start of really enjoying this book, but i quickly lost interest once she agreed to the marriage as it just became sooooo predictable. I suddenly wasnt interested in her ruminations and it was obvious what was going to happen. That and because she was thinking one thing but gave in so quickly with everything else. Her quick acceptance of letting him be a father when in her mind he had callously abandoned his own child 4 years ago really annoyed me. She let him off so easily with that, where as for me that would have been as bad, if not worse than the supposed affairs.
Also his responses to her disbelief were ridiculous. Of course she hates him, as far as she can see he blatantly cheated on her and abused her.
yeah so i lost interest pretty quickly and started skimming after the marriage.
Ok. when they went out for dinner with his "ex mistress" that was just ridiculous. That he got mad at her and she felt guilty. Come on Jacqueline Baird, that's just stupid sloppy writing on your behalf. Make it more realistic please. that just dropped my rating.
Yeah, the whole thing jsut became frustrating. I absolutely am all for letting plot holes and OTT reactions off as fiction and all in good fun. But this is just annoying. The guy made sure she believed he had affairs. Her reactions then and now were completely allowed and understandable. Him blackmailing her was deplorable. Her suddenly feeling bad and realising what a fantastic man he is....?? Bullshit. OTT is fine but realism is still essential. He needs to beg for forgiveness. Beg to convince her the truth. Going out for dinner with the ex mistress and getting pissed at her for being upset.... F off. Him getting angry at her for not trusting him? F off. Stupid. All of it. Annoying.
half way through this book i was at a comfortable three stars. By the end it was a 1 star.
July 20, 2018
I think the author must have been having an off day when she came up with the idea for this one.
1 Nick and Abby fall in love and marry.
2. Abby wants a family, but Nick is told by the very old family retainer that he’s sterile.
3. Rather than tell Abby the truth, because in his mind Abby would stay with him no matter what.
He pretends to have affairs with other women, this works spectacularly and Abby leaves him and
they divorce, by this time Abby finds she’s pregnant. But of course Nick refuses to believe it’s
his.
4. Fast forward 4 years Abby has her own business an art gallery, Nick is in town for a business deal
to cut to the chase he sees the boy and realises what a massive mistake he’s made. He
blackmails Abby into marrying him with threats re the business deal he’s involved in which will
save the local economy.
5. Nick is constantly furious with Abby because she doesn’t trust him, what a twat.
6. Abby doesn’t trust a word Nick utters.
7. How these two resolved things was beyond me, while I had a smidgen of sympathy for Nick
8 I didn’t understand how Abby could forgive him or trust him ever again.
1 Nick and Abby fall in love and marry.
2. Abby wants a family, but Nick is told by the very old family retainer that he’s sterile.
3. Rather than tell Abby the truth, because in his mind Abby would stay with him no matter what.
He pretends to have affairs with other women, this works spectacularly and Abby leaves him and
they divorce, by this time Abby finds she’s pregnant. But of course Nick refuses to believe it’s
his.
4. Fast forward 4 years Abby has her own business an art gallery, Nick is in town for a business deal
to cut to the chase he sees the boy and realises what a massive mistake he’s made. He
blackmails Abby into marrying him with threats re the business deal he’s involved in which will
save the local economy.
5. Nick is constantly furious with Abby because she doesn’t trust him, what a twat.
6. Abby doesn’t trust a word Nick utters.
7. How these two resolved things was beyond me, while I had a smidgen of sympathy for Nick
8 I didn’t understand how Abby could forgive him or trust him ever again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2018
3 'clueless H' stars
avoid
June 17, 2017What she said
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Screams cheater and opportunistic bastard to me!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Screams cheater and opportunistic bastard to me!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews