The Legend of Lexandros

by Anne Mather

Dallas was forced to accept his charity!

Dallas always felt responsible for her young sister, Jane. But Jane's announcement that she was expecting a baby by rich, young Paris Stavros --and then the news of his death in a car crash--was just too much for her.

So, when Paris's father took over responsibility, taking both girls to his private island at Lexandros, Dallas was in no position to argue.

Something about this forceful man antagonized her. She had to be grateful--but she didn't want to be attracted to him!

Genres: Harlequin Presents, Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary Romance

Paperback

First published November 1, 1969

About the author

Anne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson, a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't stand bratty sisters stories. Can't stand them!

[KC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Looks like I have the "honor" of giving this book its first 1-star rating.

Anne Mather is a bit of a literary legend in Harlequin circles, but I fail to understand the hype as I really struggled to finish this book. The writing style, while easy to read, lacked emotion and excitement. But the biggest no-no was the weak romance. Dallas and Alex spent more time helping Jane (Dallas' younger sister) solve her problems and interacting with other people than they did with each other. The romance finally developed 75% of the way in to a tepid level, but it was just too little and too late for me. It also didn't help that Alex's character lacked development.

Another of this book's weakness lay in the contrived conflict between Dallas and Alex. Dallas' ongoing antagonism towards Alex was exaggerated. I felt once they were in Greece she was just holding a grudge. Yes, Alex did use emotional blackmail to coerce Dallas to accompany Jane to Greece. But on the whole, he was doing Jane a favor and Dallas would be compensated. And really, Dallas would have done anything for Jane so she would have gone to Greece anyway if Jane desired it, which she did. Alex had been nothing but generous to Dallas and her bratty, selfish sister (who was apparently very bad luck for Alex's family). Jane had been the common denominator in two separate car crashes involving the Stavros men. The first one resulted in her boyfriend's/Alex's son's death, while the second one caused injury to Alex's brother and forced Jane to miscarry her baby.

I'm not in a rush to read more from Anne Mather, although I will probably try at least one or two more books to see if she is for me. Other readers enjoyed it, I wish I could say the same.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one in my quest to read the first 100 HPs. This one is numbered 23 and was published in 1969. Decent enough book. The hero and the heroine didn't spend a lot of time together but it was enough to be believable. What was unbelievable was how little the hero seemed to be affected by the death of his only son. There were like two sentences. The heroine's sister was a bit of a little shit but I've read worse. The dynamic between the hero and heroine was nice. He was super rich and arrogant and she didn't treat him like he was all that. That shocked him into seeing her and then falling in love with her. The ending was believable but rather quick. We could have had a bit more in the I love you phase at the end.

[JillyB · Rating 3 out of 5]

The year was 1969….

This is one of those stories where one must believe in insta love, because our h and H did not share that many pages together. There are spoilers, but I don’t think it takes away from the story, and that in itself is saying something. The focus of our story is often on the h’s bratty 17 year old sister. So, I took some liberties with this book, by adding a few interpretations of my own….(or skip way to the bottom to get a quick opinion)

Hello! My name is Dallas..don’t let my kick-ass name fool you, I am a 22 year old virgin who teaches 2nd graders(40 at a time) and I dress like a schoolmarm from the 1920’s. (..h lights cigarette)



In my defense, I had to grow up fast. You see my mom left when I was 10. My archaeologist father was gone a lot and then died 3 years ago leaving me responsible for my 14 year old sister. My mother keeps in touch via birthday cards and Christmas greetings. She lives in the states. Maybe I should have called her to see if she would take over my sister;

Dallas: Mom, yeah it’s me Dallas. So, I’m like 19 and its the 60s. I was wondering if maybe you could suck it up and take responsibility for Jane.

Mom: I don’t know dear, how old is your sister now a days?

Dallas: Oh, mom, she is 14.

Mom: Oh, that’s right. Um, honey that would be a big no from me…

Dallas: ….but mom…(lights cigarette)

Mom: Now, Dally dear, I was smart enough to leave your dad right before your puberty hit, and now you think I want to take on a 14 year old and all her teen issues? Sweetheart, PLEASE…I’ll make sure to add a little something extra to your birthday card this year….toodles!

Well, at least I have Charles. Anyhoo….Oh I didn’t tell you about Charles. He is my fiancé. He was my dad’s friend. He is 37, an accountant, and is very mature for his age. He lives with his mother…I mean that’s not weird, Right? I mean his mother says it isn’t weird. She actually says quite a bit. Charles is such a good .boy Son, and he takes care of her needs(at least someone’s needs are getting met). Charles respects me though, I mean he never gets fresh with me when he is watching the telly(and he is always watching the Telly). He likes my clothing sense, except for the time I wore a pantsuit…he said mumsy would not approve of that. I am sure his mummy would die of fright if she saw photos from woodstock,,,🤔I wonder where I could get photos from Woodstock……(lights cigarette)

He and his mother do not approve of Jane, my sister at all. In fact, right now I do not approve of her. She is running around with an 18 year old, wealthy boy from Greece. His name is Paris(oh wow, I like that!) So, being the older sister, I tried to warn her that wealthy boys from Greece do not marry 17 year old typists from England.

Dallas: Jane dear, I am trying to warn you that boys like Paris have no issue with using their tallywhackers in a willing girl’s garden…

Jane(🙄)-Seriously, are you really older than me? You do know the correct anatomical terms for body parts, right? I mean you are engaged…I’m sure Charles and you….

Dallas: Jane, how dare you insinuate….I mean…Charles thingy and my foof are waiting for marriage.(..lights cigarette)

Janet: Ok, then….I’m just going to hop on out of here and join 1969, you know, the year of love…(she skips out of the flat singing Led Zeppelin’s, whole lotta love….)

I just knew I needed to do something, so I found out that Paris’s dad was to be in London. I show up at his .den of iniquityHotel room, where a ravishing brunette is lounging about. I wait for the stodgy, pudgy balding greek to make an entrance….The door opens and in walks tall, dark and yummy, I feel tingly…of course my last cigarette was 10 minutes ago so maybe it’s withdrawal…

I tell him my dilemma…Paris has led my sister astray and what was he going to do about it. He pretty much told me boys will be boys and that he was pretty sure my sister’s straying had little to do with his son and more to do with her modern attitudes. He asked me questions about my personal life and I got more and more .arousedAgitated. I finally had to leave….music in my head…🎶I wanna whole lotta love🎶(Lights cigarette)

So now here we are living in Greece….Ooops, let me catch you up…Paris and my sister got in a car accident, he died, she is pregnant. Charles wouldn’t take us in…basically, it was him or my sister….I chose Jane. Alexander, Paris’s father, insisted that we live in Greece so he could take care of his son’s responsibility. I really didn’t want to go, but Janie dear, thought it might be what she needed as she was stuck with Paris’s child, who incidentally she now hates. Right before the car accident, he basically told her he had no intention of marrying her as he was engaged already. I am sure my sister handled this with decorum, like, I am sure she didn’t hit him or anything while he was driving super fast. (Lights cigarette). Nikos, Alexander’s brother, escorted us to the Greek family owned island from London. Niko was even yummier than Alex, and I do believe Janie was jealous of the attention her older sister was getting. We get to Greece where we are greeted cooly by Natalia, one of Alex’s sisters. I guess she was best friends with Paris’s betrothed and blames my sister. I wanted to tell her it takes two to tango, and that maybe her friend dodged a bullet there. I then got to meet Alex’s mother. She is friendly in a passive aggressive sort of way. She told us we would be staying at one of the villas, not the main house and that we should not feel the need to come up to the main house if we didn’t want to….Alex walked in at that moment telling his mama that he expected us every night at dinner. His mom smiled serenely at that…or maybe she was gritting her teeth. Anyway, I met Alex’s other sister Paula and she was super nice. Plus, his friendly 18 year old brother Andrea, who was the spitting image of Paris. My sister was all over that. Alex, got me a job, as a tutor for his twin nieces for his brother Paul and his wife. (I was not about to be beholden to anyone)

My sister kept bemoaning the fact that she was pregnant, especially when she overdid it and had to stay in bed. I embraced my 22 year old self and went out and about with Paula or Niko. My sister actually tried to make me feel guilty over my freedom to do as I please….(I could have said something, like you know the pill WAS invented 9 years ago, but I thought that might seem too snarky)(lights cigarette)

Unfortunately, I don’t get to see Alex much. When I do, he often has a mother approved woman he is squiring about. OF course when I do see him I get some flutterings…..Then he took me to the magical ruins of lexandros and kissed me….He left the next day…for several weeks taking Nikos with him.

My job as a tutor is going well, but Paul, the brother creeps me out, he tries to flirt with me…I’m like eww, you are married AND your wife is lovely(a little pudgy) but lovely!

Paula meanwhile tells me that Alex’s first marriage was a complete mess. He was tricked into marriage(interpretation: he had been engaged to Helen for years, but slept with Anna because her vajayjay was like a siren’s song, and got her pregnant…he was 19…so obviously an arranged engagement if it had been years) Worse than that, Anna continued to sleep around….even with Alex’s married brother Paul(I knew he was shifty) He did provide for her though, especially when she got cancer and then died. Paula tells me not to get attached to Alex. Unfortunately, that one kiss pretty much did me in. It doesn’t help that later, his mom pretty much tells me to back off as well. She tells me that Helen will be arriving with Alex from Athens. Marriage is a foregone conclusion(not sure why he has waited 10 years, because Helen’s 36 year old eggs can’t be getting any fresher) (lights a cigarette)

It gets worse, he finds me crying over him in the garden after his mom has warned me. Helen is there. She is gorgeous and rather rude. I tell him it is nothing. He comes to me later that night, as I don’t do dinner at the house anymore. He took me away in the car. We stopped at what looked like a shooting lodge. Things got heated. He tells me he wants to make love to me. I say no, he says yes, I say no, he says yes…then he drives me back. I am totes in love now!

Meanwhile, Jane is whooping it up with Andrea, and continues to gripe about the pregnancy. Then tragedy strikes again….another car accident. This time with Andrea and Jane. Andrea gets more banged up then Jane.

Dallas: Oh, Janie, you lost the baby….my poor sweet sister….

Janie: Ah, you know, Que Sera Sera, and all that jazz…. It will be nice to fit back into my clubbing clothes, and I am definitely going to try out that whole pill thing….although…if Andrea got me pregnant…….(me lighting up a cigarette, in the hospital)

Alex put me up in a fancy suite at a hotel. He has been very kind. I tell him since there is no baby, that Jane and I will be leaving soon. He tells me that is not happening. But I can’t stay here any longer, I love him so. I decide to book a seat on a plane to England the next morning…Jane can stay in Greece…The next morning I leave, and Alex is at my door. He found out my plans. He tells me I am not going anywhere…In fact, he tells me that he….LOVES me…and that I am the only woman he has ever said that to…. Oh wow….(lights a cigarette)Cue the music…..
🎶 You've been cooling
And baby I've been drooling
All the good times, baby
I've been misusing
A-way, way down inside
I'm gonna give ya my love
I'm gonna give ya every inch of my love
I'm gonna give ya my love
Hey!
Alright! Let's go!
Whole lotta love
Want to whole lotta love
Want to whole lotta love
Want to whole lotta love
Way down inside
Woman, you need, yeah
Love
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
Lord
Shake for me girl
I wanna be your backdoor man
Hey, oh, hey, oh
Hey, oh, hey, oh
Ooh
Oh, oh, oh, oh🎶

Oh wow, this is the first time I have really read the lyrics….and to listen to Robert Plant singing it





END SCENE………….
Why 3 stars? I really am not sure. This is probably a 2 star, but I gave it 3 for the vintage/kitchyness of it all….

The most romantic part of the story happens in the last 3 - 5 pages when the 38 year old hero declares his undying love for the 22 year old heroine. The sister was an immature selfish brat. There were lots of characters in the story. One of the biggest flaws in the story was the hero’s reaction to the death of his only child, his son Paris. He was pretty apathetic about it. I realize he didn’t love his wife, but this was his son!!! Even Jane, who professed her love for Paris, was like yeah well he was engaged, so I don’t love him anymore, and now I’m pregnant…maybe I will fall down the stairs etc… Oh, and two car crashes with the sister being in both of them…..I just feel that AM could have come up with a different scenario instead of yet another car crash. There was also the introduction of Paul the brother, which really didn’t go anywhere, except for us to see that he was a cheater and his wife is too good for him. Helen the ex fiancé was not necessary to bring back when we had other ow’s in waiting. Seriously, Helen is a successful doctor and she is still pining away for the man she was betrothed to from childhood. He expresses that he never loved her. Why didn’t she move on? Well she may still get her chance because the heroine will most likely die of lung cancer at an early age….

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those older, enjoyable HP reads. However, for me this was a bit unique in that the only one I really liked was the hero. He seemed to be the only caring individual in the whole bunch.

First let's start with the irresponsible 17 year old sister who chases after a very wealthy playboy who dumps her when he finds out she is pregnant. Seems he is in love with his fiancé in Greece and was only looking for some lighthearted casual sex. Sister ends up in a car accident where the man dies, and accepts the aid of his father. The only problem is her attitude of entitlement and her willingness to entertain other men at the drop of the hat. Her grieving period for her lover was close to a nano-second.

Then we have the responsible sister (our heroine), who runs around insulting and offending the only person who has tried to help her since her father's death.

Finally, we have 3 evil women (mother, ex-fiance and nasty sister) who treat the heroine and her sister like dirt and low life. Though in fairness to them, given both sister's behaviors, I can't really say I blame them.

This review might read as though I didn't like the story, but I actually did. My only regret was in the heroine. I just couldn't warm up to her. But I think I am alone in that respect. I would definitely recommend this to those readers who enjoy the older HPs and I believe it to be one of Anne Mather's better stories.

[*CJ* · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Legend of Lexandros” is the story of Dallas and Alex.

Heroine is having a seventeen year old spoiled bratty sister. She not only gets pregnant at 17 by the hero’s son, but their impulsive behavior together gets the son killed. This leads to the heroine’s snooty boyfriend breaking up with her, and the hero asking the heroine and her sister to move to Greece. Ofcourse, the hero’s family gives the heroine a hard time, the sister continues to behave like a spoiled child and eventually loses the baby, the heroine gets chastised for being attracted to the hero, and all of this leads to an abrupt confession and ending. Like seriously, there were traces of attraction but we deserved more scenes between the hero ans the heroine, and the sister needed to be told off because she deserves some punishment.

Safe
2/5

[Jenny]

abandoned cause heroine smokes! eww!

[mad4rombks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Discovered a whole slew of AM books released recently in digital format. Remembered I had loved several of hers when I first started reading romance books almost 25 years ago but this one reminded me why I tend to stay away from HP that were published years ago. The constant "I hate you, I hate you so much" and then 2 pages before it ends it turns into "I love you, I can't live without you" just makes me roll my eyes so much. Oh well...was a quick read, not one I'll reread but it is what it is.

[iamGamz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex's 18 year old brother and Dallas' 17 year old sister have a hot fling. At the end of it she is pregnant and he does in a car accident.

Alex forces Dallas and her spoiled, selfish sister to stay at his island in Greece. There they rub each other the wrong way when Dallas argues and stands up to him and the sparks fly. Their chemistry makes for a exciting read even though there's no va-va-voom.

A great read and one I can highly recommend.

[Diya✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars would have been 4 solid one if the ending was not so abrupt and it lacked intensity the ending fell flat. I enjoyed reading it nonetheless.

[Bookaddict · Rating 3 out of 5]

#23 of first 100

[Brian Sirith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heroine is an idiot. She’s dull and annoying from page 1 but now -1/3 down- she’s starting to throw tantrums. I’ll pass. I believe I like AM heroines that go after their guy, the independent/ resisting ones are idiots. To start with:

- She has a problem with her sisters bf. He’s the same age as sis and the heroine has never met him. So basically her argument here is “He’s rich and you’re not so he can’t be serious about you” Yeah. Right. I’d dump that rich guy straight out with such a convincing argument.
- Second: she calls her sister’s bf’s DAD (H) and meets up with him. She asks the guys DAD to make his son break up with her sister. Cause obviously the unacceptable son is rich. Rich people only date other rich people. (Of course she is right in the end blah blah. Lucky shot)
- Third: Your 17 year old STUPID sis is pregnant, her bfs is dead and the child’s grandfather wants to provide for and raise the kid. The child’s FILTHY RICH grandfather. But nooooo... we’re gonna raise that kid on food stamps instead. Grandpa could pay for college? Take care that the kid has all it needs? Who cares? I don’t like him. We will beg in the streets rather than let that arrogant bastard help us out.
- Fourth: She’s dull.

I kinda liked the hero. He was the only decent guy in the book. Sadly he wasn’t the slapping / shaking type. This particular heroine really needed shaking.

The end :)

[LLC · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heroine, Dallas, was five years older than her 17 year old sister. She had been resposible for her since their father died 3 years previous. She was deathly worried about her sisters relationship with a rich 18 year old, and talking to her sister wasn't working so she finally went to see the boys father. He thought she was being ridiculous so she left in a huff. Unfortunately she was right, her sister had run off with the boy and the had a car wreck. the boy died and her sister ewas pregnant. That's when the father, the hero, took over their lives he took them both to his Island in Greece and things became very complicated.

[Anuradha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me just list down the ups and downs of this book, that will make a simpler review.

Downs first, since there are more of these:
- The heroine is 22, hero is 38. Such age differences always make me queasy.
- Hero is a widower with a son aged 18. Son dated heroine's 17 year old sister, got her pregnant. So basically the hero is about to be a grand father. And he has set his sights on his son's GF's sister. Nope, I don't see how this can be seen in a healthy light from any angle!
- The hero'es son conks in an accident. The kid sister loses her unborn child in another accident. For a guy who has lost his son and grandson in a matter of weeks, the hero is disgustingly unaffected !
- Zero emotion in the story. Just a series of events, some reasonable, some down right absurd !
- The heroine appears sensible. But the whole "He looks at me and I melt into a puddle of mush" routine with such an age gap. Sorry, not working.

A few positives:
- The hero in spite of being rich and powerful is not a jerk. He is pushy with the girl, but otherwise quite considerate towards every one in the story.
- The chemistry between them is there, its just that the circumstances are so bad. Any romance blooming amidst all that death and tragedy sounds crass.

Anne Mather routinely churns out these age defying, emotionless and convoluted romances. This is one among the rotten lot, but marginally better than the really horrible ones! That's some consolation I suppose !!!!!!!!

[StMargarets · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated everyone in this story.

Heroine is shrill and controlling . Her 17 year-old sister who gets knocked up by the hero's son, is an amoral hedonist. Hero is a rich, cynical Greek patriarch who owns the island with it's local pagan god, Lexandros. After the hero's son is killed in a car accident on the way to sister's abortion, hero takes heroine and her sister to his island where they live in a small cottage on the grounds until the baby is born..

The reader is then treated to the hero's family (all snobs) the local legend of the title (stupid and pointless) and the hero's "courtship" of the heroine (bicker, bicker).

The heroine's sister is in *another* car accident where she loses the baby and now the H/h are free to get married after the hero says he loves her.

To see "love" used in such a cynical story is so jarring. Especially towards such an unloveable heronie. The casual discarding of that pregnancy is also jarring.

This is a hot mess. Avoid.

[Annarose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dallas took her responsibility towards her 17-year-old spoiled sister, Jane, seriously, and recently she was consistently worry of her dating, Paris, the son of a Greek rich man called Alexander Stavros. When Paris and Jane run away and disaster stuck in the form of Jane being pregnant and Paris's death, though, she was totally shocked and could not stop Alexander Stavros from taking over their lives!

It's not the best of Anne Mather and I certainly have something against the hero who didn't seem a grieving father at all and against the ordinary events, but it is a passable book.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun. I love the touristy look at the beauties of Greece and the island setting seems super gorgeous. I also generally relate to responsible older sister FMCs, so I enjoyed that aspect as well, even though the younger sister turned out brattier/more selfish than i would have liked. (I usually prefer stories with much stronger sister bonds.)

MMC was good and I like how reliable and caring he is.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars! ~ From the time she was 10, and their mother had deserted them, Dallas Collins had taken care of her then five year old sister, Jane. When their father passed away, Dallas barely out of school took guardianship. Jane’s now 17, working for the Stavros Shipping Co. and claiming to be in love with Paris Stavros, the 18 year old son of the owner. Dallas loves her teaching position, is planning to marry in a few months, even though her fiancé barely tolerates Jane, she will be living with them. The relationship with the Stavros boy upsets Dallas so she goes to his father, Alexander to put a stop to it. Alex is amazed at the young woman who insists that he keep his son away from her sister, and simply shrugs and informs her that the boy is only 18 and hardly a threat to Jane. Only he comes to regret those words when Paris is killed in an auto crash and it’s discovered that Jane is pregnant. When Dallas’ fiancé refuses to allow Jane to live with them once she has the baby, Dallas realizes she’s had a near miss. Only now they have no choice but to accept Alex Stavros’ invitation to live on his Greek island, Lexandros, until the baby is born and at that time he will be more than happy to take over complete responsibility for the child. Dallas resents Alex’s power, and though she agrees that they will go to Greece, she insists that Jane will be given every opportunity to decide for herself what she wants to do about the baby.

Ms. Mather seems fond of hero’s that father children when they themselves are teenagers. As in A Distant Sound of Thunder, Alex married a young girl when she became pregnant, and it turned out the woman had set Alex up, and after two years of marriage left her child and the island to live in Athens and she died ten years before this book begins. Alex is a powerful man who isn’t used to people questioning his decisions. And we learn from the people closest to Alex that Dallas definitely is getting under his skin, and they wonder why she continues to infuriate him. Of course, Dallas is just being Dallas. She may be only 22 to his 37, but she’s not about to let him push her around! This book, though 35 years old, was a delight for me. Many readers today would shake their heads at some of the outdated notions, but as I was a very early 60’s baby and grew up during the time this book is set, I took little notice

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather thought this book was brilliant. It wasn't your normal or average harlequin, it was full of everything imaginable! The only thing I stress is the fact that Jane needed a spanking, she was pregnant and irresponsible. It made me wanna punch her in the face to be honest. At least Dallas was poise and trying to what she thought was expected of her.

When Dallas's sister Jane got pregnant with Alexander's sons baby, things took a turn. Paris, Alexander's son had died in an accident, so Alex took it upon himself to take Jane and Dallas back to his greek island. When they arrived, they didn't receive a warm welcome at all, in fact it was pretty icy. When Jane is in an accident and loses her baby, Dallas is determined to return to England but Alex is in love with Dallas and won't let her go.

[Maretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

cool.... greece is so cool.. :)

[Somia Abdelmanam · Rating 4 out of 5]

beatiful

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so refreshing to have a book written and not dumbed down. Hope I can find more like this.