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Guilty
Guilty by Anne Mather released on Jan 25, 1993 is available now for purchase.
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1992
5 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Anne Mather
798 books358 followersAnne 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 29, 2025
1992 publication
Beautiful Laura was the only child of elderly parents. They lived in Newcastle.
At sixteen she met a thirty year old man who was worldly and sophisticated, and she had been flattered that he had found her so attractive.
One day he told her that he had been transferred to Manchester, and she'd never heard from him again. Later on she found out that he was married all along.
Laura discovered that she was pregnant.
Her parents supported her, and she was able to finish school and attend university.
She became a high school teacher.
Her daughter Julie was beautiful and before she was eighteen, she took herself off to London where she made a successful career in modelling.
Laura was almost relieved. Julie was a difficult child, totally self-absorbed and selfish and was blaming Laura for her not having a father, and was critical of Laura's poor youthful choices.
After Julie moved to London, Laura bought a cottage in a village and was content.
The book started with twenty-one year old Julie calling her mother Laura, now thirty-eight, from London:
Julie had met a man, an Italian Count, thirty-two year old Jake Lombardi. He was very sexy, she said.
She wanted to marry him, even though he hadn't asked her yet. He was very wealthy, she wouldn't be considering marrying him otherwise no matter how sexy he was. She said they were coming over for the weekend so she can introduce him to her mother.
When Laura did meet Jake, she had the feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again.
She felt guilty. But guilty of what?
Laura was told that Jake had an eight year old daughter. His wife he said, passed away years ago.
They left the next day, and Laura felt relieved for she had never felt such attraction to a man before.
The following Saturday there was a knock on the door.
To her surprise it was Jake. Julie was not with him.
SPOILERS
He said that he was passing by. Even though Laura did not want him there, still she was Julie's mother, he was welcome to her hospitality, to clear the way for their continued association.
As she started to make dinner, he took her in his arms and kissed her. She did not react at first, but then she pulled back. She told him that he was disgusting, that he had demeaned and humiliated her, but for Julie's sake was prepared to forget it.
After dinner, and while they were having coffee, Jake told her that ever since last weekend, he had thought of little else but her. Since he'd seen her, he experienced feelings he'd never had before.
Laura told him that he could not have her. Even if he weren't involved with her daughter, it wouldn't have worked. She was much older than him, she was not interested, and he should go to an inn for the night.
He said that as he had consumed whisky, he should not drive.
Laura knew that she could not turn him out.
She wondered how she had got herself into such a mess. Should she tell Julie the truth of what had happened and allow her to draw her own conclusions? But would she believe her? And if Jake chose to lie, whose story was Julie likely to accept? Jake's of course!
He had probably caused a rift between herself and Julie that would take years to heal.
The next morning Jake left, but not before he kissed her again.
A few weeks later, Julie phoned Laura. She said she got an invitation for her from Jake's mother. She'll liked her to spend a weekend at their castello in Italy. Jake and Julie would be there too.
Laura did not want to go, but her daughter was adamant. She said she was her mother and she should not let her down.
At the castello Laura was greeted warmly by Jake's parents, the Comte and the Contessa.
She met his eight year old daughter.
Julie never made an appearance.
Jake and Laura made love at his instigation. Laura fought against it but she eventually gave in.
He told her in Italian that he loved her, while making love.
Laura was full of regrets afterwards.
She asked him how could he do that, when he was going to marry Julie.
He said he did not know where the heck she got that from, but he was not going to marry her.
They had a terrible row over Julie.
Laura returned back home.
She later found out from her daughter that they had never been intimate, and he never spoke about marriage.
Jake and Laura got married and had a baby son within a year.
Jake's passion for Laura was palpable.
Is Laura to be condemned and blamed for succumbing to their passion at a time that she thought that he was with her daughter?
Beautiful Laura was the only child of elderly parents. They lived in Newcastle.
At sixteen she met a thirty year old man who was worldly and sophisticated, and she had been flattered that he had found her so attractive.
One day he told her that he had been transferred to Manchester, and she'd never heard from him again. Later on she found out that he was married all along.
Laura discovered that she was pregnant.
Her parents supported her, and she was able to finish school and attend university.
She became a high school teacher.
Her daughter Julie was beautiful and before she was eighteen, she took herself off to London where she made a successful career in modelling.
Laura was almost relieved. Julie was a difficult child, totally self-absorbed and selfish and was blaming Laura for her not having a father, and was critical of Laura's poor youthful choices.
After Julie moved to London, Laura bought a cottage in a village and was content.
The book started with twenty-one year old Julie calling her mother Laura, now thirty-eight, from London:
Julie had met a man, an Italian Count, thirty-two year old Jake Lombardi. He was very sexy, she said.
She wanted to marry him, even though he hadn't asked her yet. He was very wealthy, she wouldn't be considering marrying him otherwise no matter how sexy he was. She said they were coming over for the weekend so she can introduce him to her mother.
When Laura did meet Jake, she had the feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again.
She felt guilty. But guilty of what?
Laura was told that Jake had an eight year old daughter. His wife he said, passed away years ago.
They left the next day, and Laura felt relieved for she had never felt such attraction to a man before.
The following Saturday there was a knock on the door.
To her surprise it was Jake. Julie was not with him.
SPOILERS
He said that he was passing by. Even though Laura did not want him there, still she was Julie's mother, he was welcome to her hospitality, to clear the way for their continued association.
As she started to make dinner, he took her in his arms and kissed her. She did not react at first, but then she pulled back. She told him that he was disgusting, that he had demeaned and humiliated her, but for Julie's sake was prepared to forget it.
After dinner, and while they were having coffee, Jake told her that ever since last weekend, he had thought of little else but her. Since he'd seen her, he experienced feelings he'd never had before.
Laura told him that he could not have her. Even if he weren't involved with her daughter, it wouldn't have worked. She was much older than him, she was not interested, and he should go to an inn for the night.
He said that as he had consumed whisky, he should not drive.
Laura knew that she could not turn him out.
She wondered how she had got herself into such a mess. Should she tell Julie the truth of what had happened and allow her to draw her own conclusions? But would she believe her? And if Jake chose to lie, whose story was Julie likely to accept? Jake's of course!
He had probably caused a rift between herself and Julie that would take years to heal.
The next morning Jake left, but not before he kissed her again.
A few weeks later, Julie phoned Laura. She said she got an invitation for her from Jake's mother. She'll liked her to spend a weekend at their castello in Italy. Jake and Julie would be there too.
Laura did not want to go, but her daughter was adamant. She said she was her mother and she should not let her down.
At the castello Laura was greeted warmly by Jake's parents, the Comte and the Contessa.
She met his eight year old daughter.
Julie never made an appearance.
Jake and Laura made love at his instigation. Laura fought against it but she eventually gave in.
He told her in Italian that he loved her, while making love.
Laura was full of regrets afterwards.
She asked him how could he do that, when he was going to marry Julie.
He said he did not know where the heck she got that from, but he was not going to marry her.
They had a terrible row over Julie.
Laura returned back home.
She later found out from her daughter that they had never been intimate, and he never spoke about marriage.
Jake and Laura got married and had a baby son within a year.
Jake's passion for Laura was palpable.
Is Laura to be condemned and blamed for succumbing to their passion at a time that she thought that he was with her daughter?
August 14, 2021
Wow, "Guilty" is far better than i expected and came on like a guilty pleasure for me and its plot intrigued me,since i have read another harlequin with the same plot in Penny Jordan`s "A Forbidden Loving" that i also thoroughly enjoyed,and really didn`t want to miss out on the occasion of reading "Guilty",so i quickly started reading it and got stuck with Anne Mather`s vivid represantation,heroine`s vulnerability,daughter`s stuck-up selfish behaviour and the emotions that sparkled up the romance.
I wondered why in hell the inexperienced heroine (i don`t want to call her a prude),schoolteacher Laura Fox would ever try to resist the hot pursuit of the dark lover-like hero,Italian tycoon Jake Lombardi who willingly gave her his heart.He simply oozed of latino sexiness with his husky declarations of passion and love.My thoughts were: OH MY GOD I WANT THIS MAN FOR MYSELF everytime he appeared!!!This book worked for me only because of Jake and his Alpha character that had a savage and sexual charisma that neither i together with Laura couldn`t resist.I literally would have ate him for breakfast if he had been standing in front of me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wondered why in hell the inexperienced heroine (i don`t want to call her a prude),schoolteacher Laura Fox would ever try to resist the hot pursuit of the dark lover-like hero,Italian tycoon Jake Lombardi who willingly gave her his heart.He simply oozed of latino sexiness with his husky declarations of passion and love.My thoughts were: OH MY GOD I WANT THIS MAN FOR MYSELF everytime he appeared!!!This book worked for me only because of Jake and his Alpha character that had a savage and sexual charisma that neither i together with Laura couldn`t resist.I literally would have ate him for breakfast if he had been standing in front of me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 29, 2017
Re Guilty - Anne Mather switches up her favorite Mother vs Daughter over the H trope, but this time it is the mum h who is poor downtrodden one and the daughter who needs a serious toilet seat to the head.
This one starts with the h's 21 yr old daughter, who is now a big time London model calling the h up to have her kill the fatted calf cause she is bringing the man she plans to marry home. The h isn't particularly glad to hear this, as her daughter is a Brat Witch slime swiller of the lowest order and seems to think that the h ruined her own life and the daughter's by getting seduced at 16 by a thirty something married man.
The h's parents lived just long enough for the h to get a teaching certificate and then she was left to work full time and try and raise an extremely difficult child on her own. I don't know if it was genetics or her environment, but this child was an utter spoiled selfish brat and the h basically appeased her just to get her out of her hair.
The man the Brat Witch brings home is a very handsome Italian, a few years younger than the 38 yr old h. He is a 33 yr old widower and has an eight year old daughter. To the h's surprise, she feels a melty knee moment coming on when she first meets the H.
As the Brat Witch swans around and demands the h play maid to her Brat Witchiness, sleeps until noon and generally makes sure that everyone shares her misery at being stuck in her mother's dumpy cottage in the middle of nowhere interesting, the H takes advantage of the BW's down time to interrogate the h.
He asks all kinds of extremely personal questions and the h is confused. He acts very flirtatiously and the h thought he was there to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage or something. But the Brat Witch is kinda off too, she acts like she expects the h to demand that the H marry her daughter and gets all kinds of irky when the h tells her that BW's relationship with the H is up to the Brat Witch to sort out.
(The pacing in this book was weird. We only have the h pov and she did not seem to be the type to helicopter parent and fight the Brat Witch's battles with other people for her. Yes, the h did wait on her when she visited, but it was treated as expedient for the h to do so to shut the Brat Witch up.
So I wasn't understanding why the daughter thought that the h would fix things with the H for her when it did not seem like something the h had done in the past. This h seemed to take the shortest route to expediency in getting the Brat Witch to shut up and wander off and that was the extent of her involvement with the girl. The h even thinks up ways to get the Brat Witch to go and is happy to see her gone, not that I really blamed her for it. )
Eventually the weekend ends and Brat Witch and the H leave and the h blows off the pedantic male teacher she sorta goes out with occasionally when she needs a partner for the village social life. The h makes plans with her BFF to have lunch and shop and as soon as she dresses up more than she usually does for her outing, the H shows up.
The H is woozy on his feet and has some kind of laceration on his side that is open and bleeding. Supposedly he got the injury fencing in some kind of illegal duel or something. The h can't figure it out, but he is obviously ready to pass out, so she doctors him up and lets him sleep at her house while she goes to lunch.
She meets her friend and then gets an Inquisition worthy interrogation from the woman about why is she dressed better than normal and why doesn't she have a man and how much the h should want to get married cause she needs to get a groove on and a whole bunch of interrogating questions about the H and the Brat Witch in the most annoying lecturing tone that made the woman seem like was trying out for the Interrogator Olympics instead of having lunch with a friend.
( I think AM was trying to show the h's brain starting to think of the H as a potential partner and get the h to realize that she wasn't too old for love, but it was really, really badly done and awkward.)
So the h goes home and she drives by where the H parked his Lamborghini on the village green and it is gone. She starts crying, until she gets home and sees that the H had moved his car next to her cottage. The H is still there. There are some big mojo roofie kisses and the h is swooning with passion.
But the h is horrified in the aftermath and and she can't believe a man that is dating her daughter is trying to hook up with her. The h wards him off and the H spends the night in her spare room and then leaves the next morning - apparently he has given up his pursuit of the h after she rebuffed his attempts to lurve her up.
But the h is wrong, because the Brat Witch calls her up a month later and demands that the h drop everything to go meet the H's parents in Italy. After a lot of trip arranging drama and the H calling to dictate to the h like a five star General, the h and the H go to his family's Florentine medieval castle. The h was under the impression that the trip was arranged for Brat Witch to meet the H's family, but Brat Witch is no where to be found. Supposedly Brat Witch is in Hollywood doing a last minute screen test.
After some awkward meeting the H's family moments and an unfortunate horse incident in the presence of the H's eight yr old daughter, cause the h is not a good rider, the h and H have a major purple magenta lurve club mojo explosion. After which the h freaks out and yells at the H that he is supposed to be marrying her daughter. The H looks at the h like she has lost her mind and tells her NO, he certainly is NOT marrying that Brat Witch.
We get a cut scene after those words. The h is back in her peaceful, serene cottage and no other person is around to bother her. We find out that the h left Italy after a big argument with the H over how involved he was with her daughter. The H claims they weren't even dating, the h firmly asserts that Brat Witch told her otherwise and it all ends in tears and the h goes home.
Then Brat Witch shows up, she has no clue her mother actually went to Italy and BW is now claiming that she and the H were not really anything at all, certainly they were not dating. The h realizes that her daughter is a huge liar. Now Brat Witch is off to Hollywood with the H's second cousin, who is a big time movie director the H pawned BW off to and the h can relieve her guilty conscience that she did not sleep with her daughter's boyfriend.
Then the H's mother calls, the H has had an accident where he had a bad fall off a ravine on his horse and the h needs to get to Italy right away as the H seems to be pining and not getting better. So the h rushes to the H's side.
After some arguments that the h believed her daughter over him and wouldn't accept her love for the H until her daughter cleared up the relationship issues, the h is going to leave until the H comes in and apologizes. The h tries to explain that she has had NO relationships with men after the birth of her daughter - the teacher she occasionally goes out with doesn't count- and so she has no frame of reference on how to handle the H.
(Plus, she has only met the H two times and then they have the Italy visit trip. Why wouldn't she believe her daughter when she hardly knows the H? Surely the H wasn't so oblivious to Brat Witch's ploy that he couldn't figure out why the were at the h's cottage if not to introduce BW's potential partner to her mum?
And if he couldn't figure out the motivation for BW to take him there, then what did he think was going on? BW was not subtle and the H comes off as a huge nematode sewer trail for most of the book. He was also really quick to arrange a more attractive sub for himself with the second cousin when he wanted to shake BW off. )
The H doesn't care and likes the h's inexperience. The h has confessed she loves him and he loves her back. So they marry, the Brat Witch is working on becoming wife number four to the H's second cousin and the H won't let the Brat Witch bully the h any more. The H's daughter is turning out to be a much better prospect in the maternal affection for the h stakes and the H and h also have a baby boy. Brat Witch sorta apologizes at the end and we can all finally escape this HPlandia outing with a sigh of relief.
Sorry, this book drove me nuts. I kept having to consult the Captain with extra cannonballs because if the H wasn't being obnoxious or really amorous in a creepy kinda of way, the h needed a spine and a brain transplant and the h's daughter just needed to be planted, preferably at the bottom of a deep dark abyss in the Mariana Trench.
Every interaction in this book was either an interrogation, a list of demands or a purple passion moment and it was really very poorly done. Why the H and the Brat Witch even went to the h's is never explained and there is no real characterization done at all. They were all generic stereo type cut outs of characters. We got the HP infatuated but maybe lady buffet sampling H, Brat Witch as the evil OW, the befuddled yet strangely distant h and the mandatory pimp the h out secondary characters.
Even the h's supposed BFF just went on and on about how the h needed a man and srsly, I don't really see why the h did. Granted this is a romance, but this lady seemed perfectly happy by herself with her garden and self sufficient in her own little happy space too. She loved her daughter, but it was love that was best at a distance and her character was such that she seemed much happier when she was alone.
Every interaction except the actual boudoir bounce seemed fraught with misery for this h. It was like AM wanted to write a Penny Jordan sensitive and wounded h, but couldn't make the character work cause AM h's are not sensitive or timid types. The whole romance was kind of ludicrous as well, the H is declaring eternal love and devotions based on two meetings - so time was not on the HEA's believability side here.
At least it is over now and AM wrote an HEA to get done with on a happy note. Plus other HP voyagers might enjoy the endless suspense of the H's motives more than I did, so don't be afraid to give it a go on this particular HPlandia outing.
This one starts with the h's 21 yr old daughter, who is now a big time London model calling the h up to have her kill the fatted calf cause she is bringing the man she plans to marry home. The h isn't particularly glad to hear this, as her daughter is a Brat Witch slime swiller of the lowest order and seems to think that the h ruined her own life and the daughter's by getting seduced at 16 by a thirty something married man.
The h's parents lived just long enough for the h to get a teaching certificate and then she was left to work full time and try and raise an extremely difficult child on her own. I don't know if it was genetics or her environment, but this child was an utter spoiled selfish brat and the h basically appeased her just to get her out of her hair.
The man the Brat Witch brings home is a very handsome Italian, a few years younger than the 38 yr old h. He is a 33 yr old widower and has an eight year old daughter. To the h's surprise, she feels a melty knee moment coming on when she first meets the H.
As the Brat Witch swans around and demands the h play maid to her Brat Witchiness, sleeps until noon and generally makes sure that everyone shares her misery at being stuck in her mother's dumpy cottage in the middle of nowhere interesting, the H takes advantage of the BW's down time to interrogate the h.
He asks all kinds of extremely personal questions and the h is confused. He acts very flirtatiously and the h thought he was there to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage or something. But the Brat Witch is kinda off too, she acts like she expects the h to demand that the H marry her daughter and gets all kinds of irky when the h tells her that BW's relationship with the H is up to the Brat Witch to sort out.
(The pacing in this book was weird. We only have the h pov and she did not seem to be the type to helicopter parent and fight the Brat Witch's battles with other people for her. Yes, the h did wait on her when she visited, but it was treated as expedient for the h to do so to shut the Brat Witch up.
So I wasn't understanding why the daughter thought that the h would fix things with the H for her when it did not seem like something the h had done in the past. This h seemed to take the shortest route to expediency in getting the Brat Witch to shut up and wander off and that was the extent of her involvement with the girl. The h even thinks up ways to get the Brat Witch to go and is happy to see her gone, not that I really blamed her for it. )
Eventually the weekend ends and Brat Witch and the H leave and the h blows off the pedantic male teacher she sorta goes out with occasionally when she needs a partner for the village social life. The h makes plans with her BFF to have lunch and shop and as soon as she dresses up more than she usually does for her outing, the H shows up.
The H is woozy on his feet and has some kind of laceration on his side that is open and bleeding. Supposedly he got the injury fencing in some kind of illegal duel or something. The h can't figure it out, but he is obviously ready to pass out, so she doctors him up and lets him sleep at her house while she goes to lunch.
She meets her friend and then gets an Inquisition worthy interrogation from the woman about why is she dressed better than normal and why doesn't she have a man and how much the h should want to get married cause she needs to get a groove on and a whole bunch of interrogating questions about the H and the Brat Witch in the most annoying lecturing tone that made the woman seem like was trying out for the Interrogator Olympics instead of having lunch with a friend.
( I think AM was trying to show the h's brain starting to think of the H as a potential partner and get the h to realize that she wasn't too old for love, but it was really, really badly done and awkward.)
So the h goes home and she drives by where the H parked his Lamborghini on the village green and it is gone. She starts crying, until she gets home and sees that the H had moved his car next to her cottage. The H is still there. There are some big mojo roofie kisses and the h is swooning with passion.
But the h is horrified in the aftermath and and she can't believe a man that is dating her daughter is trying to hook up with her. The h wards him off and the H spends the night in her spare room and then leaves the next morning - apparently he has given up his pursuit of the h after she rebuffed his attempts to lurve her up.
But the h is wrong, because the Brat Witch calls her up a month later and demands that the h drop everything to go meet the H's parents in Italy. After a lot of trip arranging drama and the H calling to dictate to the h like a five star General, the h and the H go to his family's Florentine medieval castle. The h was under the impression that the trip was arranged for Brat Witch to meet the H's family, but Brat Witch is no where to be found. Supposedly Brat Witch is in Hollywood doing a last minute screen test.
After some awkward meeting the H's family moments and an unfortunate horse incident in the presence of the H's eight yr old daughter, cause the h is not a good rider, the h and H have a major purple magenta lurve club mojo explosion. After which the h freaks out and yells at the H that he is supposed to be marrying her daughter. The H looks at the h like she has lost her mind and tells her NO, he certainly is NOT marrying that Brat Witch.
We get a cut scene after those words. The h is back in her peaceful, serene cottage and no other person is around to bother her. We find out that the h left Italy after a big argument with the H over how involved he was with her daughter. The H claims they weren't even dating, the h firmly asserts that Brat Witch told her otherwise and it all ends in tears and the h goes home.
Then Brat Witch shows up, she has no clue her mother actually went to Italy and BW is now claiming that she and the H were not really anything at all, certainly they were not dating. The h realizes that her daughter is a huge liar. Now Brat Witch is off to Hollywood with the H's second cousin, who is a big time movie director the H pawned BW off to and the h can relieve her guilty conscience that she did not sleep with her daughter's boyfriend.
Then the H's mother calls, the H has had an accident where he had a bad fall off a ravine on his horse and the h needs to get to Italy right away as the H seems to be pining and not getting better. So the h rushes to the H's side.
After some arguments that the h believed her daughter over him and wouldn't accept her love for the H until her daughter cleared up the relationship issues, the h is going to leave until the H comes in and apologizes. The h tries to explain that she has had NO relationships with men after the birth of her daughter - the teacher she occasionally goes out with doesn't count- and so she has no frame of reference on how to handle the H.
(Plus, she has only met the H two times and then they have the Italy visit trip. Why wouldn't she believe her daughter when she hardly knows the H? Surely the H wasn't so oblivious to Brat Witch's ploy that he couldn't figure out why the were at the h's cottage if not to introduce BW's potential partner to her mum?
And if he couldn't figure out the motivation for BW to take him there, then what did he think was going on? BW was not subtle and the H comes off as a huge nematode sewer trail for most of the book. He was also really quick to arrange a more attractive sub for himself with the second cousin when he wanted to shake BW off. )
The H doesn't care and likes the h's inexperience. The h has confessed she loves him and he loves her back. So they marry, the Brat Witch is working on becoming wife number four to the H's second cousin and the H won't let the Brat Witch bully the h any more. The H's daughter is turning out to be a much better prospect in the maternal affection for the h stakes and the H and h also have a baby boy. Brat Witch sorta apologizes at the end and we can all finally escape this HPlandia outing with a sigh of relief.
Sorry, this book drove me nuts. I kept having to consult the Captain with extra cannonballs because if the H wasn't being obnoxious or really amorous in a creepy kinda of way, the h needed a spine and a brain transplant and the h's daughter just needed to be planted, preferably at the bottom of a deep dark abyss in the Mariana Trench.
Every interaction in this book was either an interrogation, a list of demands or a purple passion moment and it was really very poorly done. Why the H and the Brat Witch even went to the h's is never explained and there is no real characterization done at all. They were all generic stereo type cut outs of characters. We got the HP infatuated but maybe lady buffet sampling H, Brat Witch as the evil OW, the befuddled yet strangely distant h and the mandatory pimp the h out secondary characters.
Even the h's supposed BFF just went on and on about how the h needed a man and srsly, I don't really see why the h did. Granted this is a romance, but this lady seemed perfectly happy by herself with her garden and self sufficient in her own little happy space too. She loved her daughter, but it was love that was best at a distance and her character was such that she seemed much happier when she was alone.
Every interaction except the actual boudoir bounce seemed fraught with misery for this h. It was like AM wanted to write a Penny Jordan sensitive and wounded h, but couldn't make the character work cause AM h's are not sensitive or timid types. The whole romance was kind of ludicrous as well, the H is declaring eternal love and devotions based on two meetings - so time was not on the HEA's believability side here.
At least it is over now and AM wrote an HEA to get done with on a happy note. Plus other HP voyagers might enjoy the endless suspense of the H's motives more than I did, so don't be afraid to give it a go on this particular HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2016
This should be called Bratty. The heroine's daughter is the absolute worst. Example, when she comes down for breakfast her mother has to stop her baking twice because the delicate flower is incapable of pouring her own coffee.
I'm sorry, unlike the other reviewers I just did not feel the love. The hero is definitely over the moon for the heroine but I can't figure out why as she is so unpleasant. I can imagine the discomfort of being attracted to your own daughter's boyfriend, especially this daughter, but... Chemical reaction possibly.
Definite old school vibe to this. I was surprised to see it was published in '93 as it has a 70s feel to it.
I'm sorry, unlike the other reviewers I just did not feel the love. The hero is definitely over the moon for the heroine but I can't figure out why as she is so unpleasant. I can imagine the discomfort of being attracted to your own daughter's boyfriend, especially this daughter, but... Chemical reaction possibly.
Definite old school vibe to this. I was surprised to see it was published in '93 as it has a 70s feel to it.
January 6, 2018
SQUICK to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!! Holy mother of.... Wowowowowow!!! The heroine's DAUGHTER is the OW here... that's right, the heroine falls in love with her DAUGHTER'S boyfriend!
I guess it could be considered kind of sexist of me- the fact that I quite enjoyed the story of a heroine falling in love with the son of her late husband in Surrender, My Heart, but having the mother get with her daughter's man in this book grossed me out. Still, there it is. It certainly did NOT help that the heroine was so darn insecure. She referred to herself as an overweight middle-aged matron. How romantic. She kept telling the Hero how old and unattractive she was, as if she were hoping to convince him of it. He even told her she was trying to act like a grandmother, LOL.
Also, she was a bad mother. The daughter was quite heavy-handedly portrayed as a selfish bitch worthy of the typical OW title, but the heroine herself was so pathetic in all her dealings with her spoiled spawn, no wonder she turned out that way. Sure, she was a teen mom so she should be cut some slack, but by the time of this story she has been a schoolteacher for teenagers for quite some time and she should know better than to have absolute zero authority over her own daughter like that. There was clearly no respect from her daughter, and I can't blame her because her mother was so spineless.
This book was interesting in a yucky way. I hated the heroine's I'm-old-and-fat attitude and insecurity.
I guess it could be considered kind of sexist of me- the fact that I quite enjoyed the story of a heroine falling in love with the son of her late husband in Surrender, My Heart, but having the mother get with her daughter's man in this book grossed me out. Still, there it is. It certainly did NOT help that the heroine was so darn insecure. She referred to herself as an overweight middle-aged matron. How romantic. She kept telling the Hero how old and unattractive she was, as if she were hoping to convince him of it. He even told her she was trying to act like a grandmother, LOL.
Also, she was a bad mother. The daughter was quite heavy-handedly portrayed as a selfish bitch worthy of the typical OW title, but the heroine herself was so pathetic in all her dealings with her spoiled spawn, no wonder she turned out that way. Sure, she was a teen mom so she should be cut some slack, but by the time of this story she has been a schoolteacher for teenagers for quite some time and she should know better than to have absolute zero authority over her own daughter like that. There was clearly no respect from her daughter, and I can't blame her because her mother was so spineless.
This book was interesting in a yucky way. I hated the heroine's I'm-old-and-fat attitude and insecurity.
June 23, 2021
“Guilty” is the story of Laura and Jake.
Our heroine is a 38 year old school teacher, who is also a single mother. At 16, she got betrayed by a married man and since then worked hard to bring her daughter up- who still holds a grudge against her and spares no thought in hurting her feelings.
Things take a turn when the daughter decides to bring an Italian tycoon for a weekend trip to her house, and the heroine finds her feels aroused after years of dormancy. What’s strange is that he reciprocates the attraction!
What follows is a very sexy romance in which the hero peruses the forbidden attraction, and the heroine tries to push him away.. but fails. He is completely taken by her, and in love with her, and she falls for him too- but feels guilty about her feelings. His daughter and family are sweet, hers takes time to come around. There’s also super sexy lovemaking and confessions, and the epilogue is heartwarming.
Loved it!
Safe
4.5/5
Our heroine is a 38 year old school teacher, who is also a single mother. At 16, she got betrayed by a married man and since then worked hard to bring her daughter up- who still holds a grudge against her and spares no thought in hurting her feelings.
Things take a turn when the daughter decides to bring an Italian tycoon for a weekend trip to her house, and the heroine finds her feels aroused after years of dormancy. What’s strange is that he reciprocates the attraction!
What follows is a very sexy romance in which the hero peruses the forbidden attraction, and the heroine tries to push him away.. but fails. He is completely taken by her, and in love with her, and she falls for him too- but feels guilty about her feelings. His daughter and family are sweet, hers takes time to come around. There’s also super sexy lovemaking and confessions, and the epilogue is heartwarming.
Loved it!
Safe
4.5/5
August 10, 2021
Second time reread. Loved the ending!!
September 9, 2022
2022 Re-read (2nd or 3rd time actually!) I decided to change my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars because I grabbed this book whenever I want a "comfort" read and/or when I need that awww...!! happy feelings lol! Whether it is because I'm almost the same age as the heroine changed my views or whatnot, I connected with the h about feeling plain, old and fat and just wanting to relax and having a tall, dark, rich and handsome man who falls in love at first sight with her for sure brought out the awwww!!! feelings within me. The story may seem icky what with the h's daughter being the OW but she was written in such a way that I didn't feel too bad for the h's daughter LOL. Anyhow they sorta gave the h's daughter a happy ending, no harm no foul! (not that I think she deserves but hey!) The H/h love story also reminded me of one of my fave singers who met his wife when she opened the door after singer had a date/going on a date with the sister (0_0) Anyhoo, so when I analyze the H in Guilty, I think just like any man he decided to go with the h's daughter because yes, she was beautiful and world/men experienced you could say and since h's daughter "lured" him with country home feelin's - ie maybe h's daughter aint so bad after all since she has a traditional/smalltown upbringing but once H saw h game over, he got shot by Cupid's arrow and it was game over! Also, I totally love it and inspired AWWWW that the H gave the h her pleasure before thinking of himself What can I say that's hot LOL. The only thing I had questions on or I "laugh" about were the side characters - that poor OM the h would go on platonic dates with which is kinda sad (for the OM I mean!) and of course the h's school and/or the students she taught heck even the h's friend - very minor but I wonder what they all thought of this h getting whisked away to the H's fantastical and rich world when h was just a small town school marm initially. But trivial matters, lol. So anyway, changing this 5 stars because whenever I re-read this book I still get the happy feelings :) I love that there is an epilogue!
2008 Review: Cute. My thoughts: I normally dont like that older woman younger man story - not that he was THAT young and the heroine having a grown up daughter! However, the heroine was still supposedly attractive (yay!) and the hero was truly manly and not some young stupid hero. And (spoilers alert) dont worry, its not that perverted where the hero does the mother and the daughter - I would DEFINITELY have given this book a thumbs down if he did! I just thought it was cute that the hero falls for her, and she was all innocent and naive and doing her best to stop the attraction, etc. etc. Anyway, the story kept on going, didnt get me bored, and I was greatly anticipating when they both would finally hook up and understand each aka have their happy ending, haha! Anyway, bottomline, I loved the story. I'm typing this as I just finished my first reading. I think I'll re-read it again so I can relive the happiness =P
2008 Review: Cute. My thoughts: I normally dont like that older woman younger man story - not that he was THAT young and the heroine having a grown up daughter! However, the heroine was still supposedly attractive (yay!) and the hero was truly manly and not some young stupid hero. And (spoilers alert) dont worry, its not that perverted where the hero does the mother and the daughter - I would DEFINITELY have given this book a thumbs down if he did! I just thought it was cute that the hero falls for her, and she was all innocent and naive and doing her best to stop the attraction, etc. etc. Anyway, the story kept on going, didnt get me bored, and I was greatly anticipating when they both would finally hook up and understand each aka have their happy ending, haha! Anyway, bottomline, I loved the story. I'm typing this as I just finished my first reading. I think I'll re-read it again so I can relive the happiness =P
December 22, 2018
Laura needs to grow a backbone, and learn to speak in coherent sentences.
June 25, 2023
Oh dear. I'm quite fond of this kind of taboo as a rule but I ended up skimming. Prissy Laura (aged 38, got pregnant aged 16 the first time she had sex and hasn't had any since 🙄 Surprised she hasn't healed up.) is bowled over by the rich Italian Jake that her selfish awful model daughter brings up to her Northumbrian cottage. Daughter has led her to believe that they are lovers and intending to marry. This is one of those 'obstacles that a conversation could resolve' stories that I find really irritating. When she finally has sex with him in Italy she says "but you are marrying my daughter ". Next thing she's walking through the door of her cottage and has neither seen nor spoken to Jake since she said that. There is a separation which is only resolved because Jake's mother (yes, this is a hot blooded rich 32 year old *adult* male who needs his mother to step in) rings to tell her he's not recovering well after an accident because he's pining (😬 I really don't like man baby types. There's emotional intelligence/awareness and emotional incontinence/immaturity. It's not that fine a line but somehow HP latin Hs often fall the wrong side of it). Anyhow, you can tell from the tone of this review that I really wasn't feeling it. It's scored well so it's probably just me.
August 13, 2012
I was a little bit shocked reading this description and curiosity got the better of me. I can't say that this novel would appeal to a lot of people but it did for me. In some ways it was so forbidden but that's what made it so darn good.
October 26, 2019
And yet another hot Italian stud saves a prematurely middle-aged English rose wasting away in the countryside, just waiting for the right man to come along and water her garden and fill her womb with his virile seed, so she can have Miracle-Gro babies.
Laura Fox is thirty-nine years old and teaches high school English in northern England and lives in a tiny two-bedroom cottage by herself, since she has a grown daughter who moved away to London to become a model a few years ago. She lost her virginity to a man in a party at sixteen and when the man–who was married and a lot older than her, by the way–found out how young she was, he freaked out and disappeared. Laura never saw him again. She had to live with the stigma of being a young, single mother in a small village and raised her daughter with the help of her parents. Having to put herself through school, taking her care of her daughter, and working to make a living, Laura looks up twenty years later, only to realize that life had passed her by and she’d somehow become a dried-up old spinster.
Laura has convinced herself that she is somehow content with her existence, occasionally going out with a man she deems non-threatening: he is a fellow schoolteacher called Mark, who still lives with his mother and takes her out to dinner and to the theater sometimes. She has friends. She sees her daughter Julie, too, when Julie remembers she exists, which seems rarer these days and it suits Laura fine, since Julie resents her for not giving what Julie deems a proper childhood and because Julie is a proper monster and a bitch.
But One Fateful Day, Julie calls Mother out of the blue and announces that she has found herself her a Man to Marry and would like to bring him around for Mother to take a gander at him. Laura is surprised at this because Julie has never cared about her approval on anything and now here she is, demanding to be seen and bringing along some strange man with her.
Jake Lombardi is thirty-two years old, Italian, wealthy, ridiculously good-looking, and a widower with a cute 8-year-old daughter. And a castle! Well, his parents have a castle. He also drives a Lamborghini because what self-respecting, rich Italian stud doesn’t? When Laura is asked by her friend Jess if Jake a.k.a. “Giacomo” is sexy, Laura basically says of course because he’s “an Italian.” LOL! He’s basically straight out of Harlequin Presents Central Romance Casting. It’s like Anne Mather called them up and asked straight up for him. “Yeah. Give me the Lombardi Special. Sexy Italian, amazing lover, some emotional baggage, maybe a little moppet, and really understanding parents he can conveniently unload the moppet on. Oh, he’s got to be really rich, too. Don’t forget the Lambo. If he’s got a castle, that would be fab.”
Jake and Julie get to Laura’s house and predictability ensues. Laura is freaking out because there’s suddenly a strange man in the house whose virility and sexiness she finds very unsettling, especially since she’s never really had cause to think about her own sexuality for more than twenty years and now her own young, beautiful daughter is in her face, reminding her how old, decrepit, and lame she is. As if that’s not alarming enough, Jake decides she’s far more interesting than her daughter, a vapid, bratty girl whose plan in life is to marry a wealthy guy and live in the lap of luxury (not a bad plan–nice work, if you can get it).
Laura’s tiny cottage gets a little bit smaller because Jake has taken to hovering around her and eating up her personal space, trying to get to know her in a way that no man should try to acquaint himself with a prospective mother-in-law that I’m aware of. Laura’s attracted to him and it’s obvious to her that he’s up to something, though she can’t tell what because she don’t got the right amount of know-how of what’s on a man’s mind, on the account of she’s practically a virgin and all. It’s been so long since anybody’s been down there that it’s practically sealed itself factory-fresh. I’ve read this to be the case with some Harlequin Presents heroines, especially the older ones.
After that weird, awkward weekend to which Laura’s daughter Julia was oblivious due to her own self-absorption, Laura sets to castigating herself and mental flagellation, calling herself a bad mommy for daring to lust for a man that her daughter wants to marry. Because not a lot of talking and catching up was done during the visit due to Laura and her daughter not being close, she doesn’t get actual confirmation on whether Jake actually DOES intend to marry Julie himself, so she gets the surprise of her life when he shows up a few days later at her cottage sans Julie, all bloody and needing to get patched up.
It turns out he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he met her and has been frustrated with himself all this time, so he went to his sport club in London to cross real swords with someone and got sliced (this story sounds really hinky to me–really, who goes fencing?). Anyway, instead of going to the Emergency Room like a sane person, he drives all the way to Newcastle in his Lambo and crashes at Laura’s cottage, asking to be patched up. For real? I bet he got in a bar fight in a pub nearby and he just classed up the story for Laura’s sake. Anyway, Laura’s heart of gold and loins of lust won’t allow him to bleed to death on the side of the road, so she lets him stay the night, and they gets several hours to get to know each other again. Jake gets blue balls part one. Awww, Jake. Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance. Laura tells him it’s disgusting that he’s macking on her since he’s supposed to be with her daughter and he’s like, what? I’m here with you, you dingus. I wouldn't be here if I were also boning your kid. You’re weird. I’m outta here. Laterz.
Laura haz a sad.
For two weeks, she doesn’t see Jake and is all, alllllll by myseeeeelf… don’t want to live allllll by myyyyselfff anymore… when all of a sudden, she gets a call from Julie (remember her?), saying she has an invitation from Jake and Jake’s parents for her and Laura to spend some time with them at their palazzo in the Italian countryside so they can all get to know each other better. Laura’s all, like, what… I don’t want go. (But oh, I get to see Jake again!) And Julie is like, Mother, don’t be a spazz. You have to go. And you better not embarrass me in front of these people. Jake calls and says he already got everything arranged, so all Laura has to do is to wait for the limo that will pick her from the cottage that will take her to the airport, then she, Julie, and Jake will all fly to Italy from London together. Only Julie gets delayed and will just follow them to Italy… then Julie suddenly had to go to California and couldn't go to Italy at all… and all this time, Jake is telling Laura, don’t worry, cara mia, your daughter will arrive when she arrives… Here, have some more grapes and some of my dizzying kissess….
That Jake, he’s a wily one. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he planned this whole thing to get Laura alone and he never intended to have Julie along at all.
This was a nice, little story that I found to be a quick read. I was expecting the daughter to be much more villainous and bratty, but the real villain is really Laura’s neuroses. And the worst-case scenarios she invents in her head as justifications for keeping Jake away. So I guess what makes the premise not too gross is the fact that Laura does worry an awful lot that Jake is supposed to be dating her daughter, not her, so he should be way over there, far away from her, doing just that. Even when Jake makes it obvious to her that he has no intention of marrying Julie nor were they all that seriously involved to begin with, Laura is like, nooooo… you should… not be here. Shoo, go away, hot… Italian man. It would have been squicky if she were all gung-ho about it after some token protests. I mean, way to stick to your guns, Laura! I would have also liked to see her smack her daughter across the face with a folding chair at the denouement. But you can't always get what you want...
I gotta ask, though: if Jake and Julie were never all that seriously involved to begin with, how did Julie get Jake to go up to Newcastle to see dear old Mum? Jake had no idea Laura was hot or that he was going to fall in love with her at first sight. For all he knew, she could have just looked someone’s Mum, not a hot one. Why would you go drive more than a couple of hours to go see the mother of the chick you’re not even bangin’ or had no intention on sticking around for? That’s just so weird to me.
At any rate, this is just another Anne Mather Older-Woman, Slightly Younger Man thing and these are always a lot of fun. I thought it was funny what a big deal Laura made about being 39. Heh. I remember when 39 was soooo old to me. I don’t think that anymore.
Laura Fox is thirty-nine years old and teaches high school English in northern England and lives in a tiny two-bedroom cottage by herself, since she has a grown daughter who moved away to London to become a model a few years ago. She lost her virginity to a man in a party at sixteen and when the man–who was married and a lot older than her, by the way–found out how young she was, he freaked out and disappeared. Laura never saw him again. She had to live with the stigma of being a young, single mother in a small village and raised her daughter with the help of her parents. Having to put herself through school, taking her care of her daughter, and working to make a living, Laura looks up twenty years later, only to realize that life had passed her by and she’d somehow become a dried-up old spinster.
Laura has convinced herself that she is somehow content with her existence, occasionally going out with a man she deems non-threatening: he is a fellow schoolteacher called Mark, who still lives with his mother and takes her out to dinner and to the theater sometimes. She has friends. She sees her daughter Julie, too, when Julie remembers she exists, which seems rarer these days and it suits Laura fine, since Julie resents her for not giving what Julie deems a proper childhood and because Julie is a proper monster and a bitch.
But One Fateful Day, Julie calls Mother out of the blue and announces that she has found herself her a Man to Marry and would like to bring him around for Mother to take a gander at him. Laura is surprised at this because Julie has never cared about her approval on anything and now here she is, demanding to be seen and bringing along some strange man with her.
Jake Lombardi is thirty-two years old, Italian, wealthy, ridiculously good-looking, and a widower with a cute 8-year-old daughter. And a castle! Well, his parents have a castle. He also drives a Lamborghini because what self-respecting, rich Italian stud doesn’t? When Laura is asked by her friend Jess if Jake a.k.a. “Giacomo” is sexy, Laura basically says of course because he’s “an Italian.” LOL! He’s basically straight out of Harlequin Presents Central Romance Casting. It’s like Anne Mather called them up and asked straight up for him. “Yeah. Give me the Lombardi Special. Sexy Italian, amazing lover, some emotional baggage, maybe a little moppet, and really understanding parents he can conveniently unload the moppet on. Oh, he’s got to be really rich, too. Don’t forget the Lambo. If he’s got a castle, that would be fab.”
Jake and Julie get to Laura’s house and predictability ensues. Laura is freaking out because there’s suddenly a strange man in the house whose virility and sexiness she finds very unsettling, especially since she’s never really had cause to think about her own sexuality for more than twenty years and now her own young, beautiful daughter is in her face, reminding her how old, decrepit, and lame she is. As if that’s not alarming enough, Jake decides she’s far more interesting than her daughter, a vapid, bratty girl whose plan in life is to marry a wealthy guy and live in the lap of luxury (not a bad plan–nice work, if you can get it).
Laura’s tiny cottage gets a little bit smaller because Jake has taken to hovering around her and eating up her personal space, trying to get to know her in a way that no man should try to acquaint himself with a prospective mother-in-law that I’m aware of. Laura’s attracted to him and it’s obvious to her that he’s up to something, though she can’t tell what because she don’t got the right amount of know-how of what’s on a man’s mind, on the account of she’s practically a virgin and all. It’s been so long since anybody’s been down there that it’s practically sealed itself factory-fresh. I’ve read this to be the case with some Harlequin Presents heroines, especially the older ones.
After that weird, awkward weekend to which Laura’s daughter Julia was oblivious due to her own self-absorption, Laura sets to castigating herself and mental flagellation, calling herself a bad mommy for daring to lust for a man that her daughter wants to marry. Because not a lot of talking and catching up was done during the visit due to Laura and her daughter not being close, she doesn’t get actual confirmation on whether Jake actually DOES intend to marry Julie himself, so she gets the surprise of her life when he shows up a few days later at her cottage sans Julie, all bloody and needing to get patched up.
It turns out he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he met her and has been frustrated with himself all this time, so he went to his sport club in London to cross real swords with someone and got sliced (this story sounds really hinky to me–really, who goes fencing?). Anyway, instead of going to the Emergency Room like a sane person, he drives all the way to Newcastle in his Lambo and crashes at Laura’s cottage, asking to be patched up. For real? I bet he got in a bar fight in a pub nearby and he just classed up the story for Laura’s sake. Anyway, Laura’s heart of gold and loins of lust won’t allow him to bleed to death on the side of the road, so she lets him stay the night, and they gets several hours to get to know each other again. Jake gets blue balls part one. Awww, Jake. Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance. Laura tells him it’s disgusting that he’s macking on her since he’s supposed to be with her daughter and he’s like, what? I’m here with you, you dingus. I wouldn't be here if I were also boning your kid. You’re weird. I’m outta here. Laterz.
Laura haz a sad.
For two weeks, she doesn’t see Jake and is all, alllllll by myseeeeelf… don’t want to live allllll by myyyyselfff anymore… when all of a sudden, she gets a call from Julie (remember her?), saying she has an invitation from Jake and Jake’s parents for her and Laura to spend some time with them at their palazzo in the Italian countryside so they can all get to know each other better. Laura’s all, like, what… I don’t want go. (But oh, I get to see Jake again!) And Julie is like, Mother, don’t be a spazz. You have to go. And you better not embarrass me in front of these people. Jake calls and says he already got everything arranged, so all Laura has to do is to wait for the limo that will pick her from the cottage that will take her to the airport, then she, Julie, and Jake will all fly to Italy from London together. Only Julie gets delayed and will just follow them to Italy… then Julie suddenly had to go to California and couldn't go to Italy at all… and all this time, Jake is telling Laura, don’t worry, cara mia, your daughter will arrive when she arrives… Here, have some more grapes and some of my dizzying kissess….
That Jake, he’s a wily one. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he planned this whole thing to get Laura alone and he never intended to have Julie along at all.
This was a nice, little story that I found to be a quick read. I was expecting the daughter to be much more villainous and bratty, but the real villain is really Laura’s neuroses. And the worst-case scenarios she invents in her head as justifications for keeping Jake away. So I guess what makes the premise not too gross is the fact that Laura does worry an awful lot that Jake is supposed to be dating her daughter, not her, so he should be way over there, far away from her, doing just that. Even when Jake makes it obvious to her that he has no intention of marrying Julie nor were they all that seriously involved to begin with, Laura is like, nooooo… you should… not be here. Shoo, go away, hot… Italian man. It would have been squicky if she were all gung-ho about it after some token protests. I mean, way to stick to your guns, Laura! I would have also liked to see her smack her daughter across the face with a folding chair at the denouement. But you can't always get what you want...
I gotta ask, though: if Jake and Julie were never all that seriously involved to begin with, how did Julie get Jake to go up to Newcastle to see dear old Mum? Jake had no idea Laura was hot or that he was going to fall in love with her at first sight. For all he knew, she could have just looked someone’s Mum, not a hot one. Why would you go drive more than a couple of hours to go see the mother of the chick you’re not even bangin’ or had no intention on sticking around for? That’s just so weird to me.
At any rate, this is just another Anne Mather Older-Woman, Slightly Younger Man thing and these are always a lot of fun. I thought it was funny what a big deal Laura made about being 39. Heh. I remember when 39 was soooo old to me. I don’t think that anymore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2014
A good romance. I was enticed by the description and just had to read it, can't say I was disappointed. Forbidden love.....or is it?
The attraction between them is hot and they can't resist, but boy does she fight it as she believes her daughter is in love with him. Believing that he is sleeping with her daughter, she is disgusted by his flirting and thinks herself horrid for responding. She feels such guilt over being attracted to him and thinking/dreaming of him. But she has catered so much to her 'princess' daughter and felt such guilt at being such a young unwed mother that she can't confront her(this kind of makes her a doormat). Even after they fall in love she runs away because of the daughter. Our poor hero is so miserable and heartbroken.
A well written novel....such strong emotions are pulled out of the lovers and the author has done a wonderful job putting these onto paper.
The attraction between them is hot and they can't resist, but boy does she fight it as she believes her daughter is in love with him. Believing that he is sleeping with her daughter, she is disgusted by his flirting and thinks herself horrid for responding. She feels such guilt over being attracted to him and thinking/dreaming of him. But she has catered so much to her 'princess' daughter and felt such guilt at being such a young unwed mother that she can't confront her(this kind of makes her a doormat). Even after they fall in love she runs away because of the daughter. Our poor hero is so miserable and heartbroken.
A well written novel....such strong emotions are pulled out of the lovers and the author has done a wonderful job putting these onto paper.
September 10, 2022
The h is a 38-year old MILF who opens the door for her 21-year old daughter and her 32-year old boyfriend while she’s wearing nothing more than a bathrobe.
She is of course completely naked underneath the bathrobe. Her reason for opening the door like that for her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend she has never met, is that he was going to be her son-in-law, so “the sooner he saw her as she really was, the better”.
Well, why don’t go completely naked then when you meet you son-in-law. 🙄
And throughout the book, the h continues to see her daughter’s boyfriend while she is only half-dressed. She has sex with the H thinking he is still her daughter’s boyfriend. The h is a mother from hell.
Her daughter says later on in the book (after the h had sex with the H) that she and the H hadn’t slept together. But there are more sexual things than the final act or the deed or intercourse or whatever you want to call it.
She said to her mother that the H tastes as good as he looks. The daughter and the H were seeing each other for 6 weeks, so surely the daughter and the H have done a lot more than just kissing.
The h is a teacher but she couldn’t make coherent sentences. It for sure wasn’t her eloquence that made him fall for her. 🙄
She is of course completely naked underneath the bathrobe. Her reason for opening the door like that for her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend she has never met, is that he was going to be her son-in-law, so “the sooner he saw her as she really was, the better”.
Well, why don’t go completely naked then when you meet you son-in-law. 🙄
And throughout the book, the h continues to see her daughter’s boyfriend while she is only half-dressed. She has sex with the H thinking he is still her daughter’s boyfriend. The h is a mother from hell.
Her daughter says later on in the book (after the h had sex with the H) that she and the H hadn’t slept together. But there are more sexual things than the final act or the deed or intercourse or whatever you want to call it.
She said to her mother that the H tastes as good as he looks. The daughter and the H were seeing each other for 6 weeks, so surely the daughter and the H have done a lot more than just kissing.
The h is a teacher but she couldn’t make coherent sentences. It for sure wasn’t her eloquence that made him fall for her. 🙄
June 20, 2025
Guilty
This was different type of courtship. Laura had her daughter when she was sixteen. And never married. Now her daughter is old enough for her own relationship. She brings home Jake who is older than her but younger than her mother. Things get complicated when Laura starts having feelings for him. Trying to protect herself she tries to distance herself from him. But he is not letting her go. This could be a nasty triangle if he wants both. But in true HP fashion it seems only one woman has his heart.
This was different type of courtship. Laura had her daughter when she was sixteen. And never married. Now her daughter is old enough for her own relationship. She brings home Jake who is older than her but younger than her mother. Things get complicated when Laura starts having feelings for him. Trying to protect herself she tries to distance herself from him. But he is not letting her go. This could be a nasty triangle if he wants both. But in true HP fashion it seems only one woman has his heart.
August 23, 2017
The plot has so much potential but somehow h falls short of being the lovable person whom the author tried to portray. h is cold and talks in her head too much. Not a communicative type. Her lustful encounter with her daughter`s "supposedly" lover is not an acceptable behavior either.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2017
Heroine was a teenage single mother who now has a grown up selfish daughter. Meets Hero as a potential boyfriend to the daughter. Instant attraction, followed by angst...enjoyable read.
February 12, 2013
Harlequins tend to recycle formulas, use similar plotting devices, similar heroines and heros, and work from there. Here Mather wrote a fun book that was extremely different from most of it's class - the heroine was not suave and confident, but rather thought little of herself, prim, and let herself be taken advantage of from an adult daughter. The hero was direct, flirty, and you had to fall in love with him as she did. Her reservations got a bit trying at times - but really, the plot story was about him initially being her DAUGHTERS suitor, and there's a drama-laden dilemma if you've ever heard of one. Not sex filled but when it's there, it's surprisingly enticing. Not an incredible amount happens action wise, but the buildup is intriguing and it's a hard one to put down once you get into it enough.
June 29, 2012
loved this book so much i read it twice ^-^
November 25, 2013
2.5 stars. I used to read HP books back in my early teens and I always thought the heroes and heroines were glamorous. Now reading it again it feels like I'm reading historical romances.
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April 9, 2018The man of her fantasies belonged to another -- her daughter
Slim, lovely Laura Fox didn't look like the mother of a twenty-one-year-old, although her safe, predictable life--save the occasional run-in with her headstrong daughter--quite befitted that of a country matron.
Her world turned upside down when she met Jake Lombardi. Was it simply lust for something she'd never had--or did this passionate man's potent sensuality savage her emotions and lay bare the unguarded hunger of her soul? She despised him for making her want him. And oh, how Laura wanted him. But he was too young, too rich . . . and involved with her own daughter!
Slim, lovely Laura Fox didn't look like the mother of a twenty-one-year-old, although her safe, predictable life--save the occasional run-in with her headstrong daughter--quite befitted that of a country matron.
Her world turned upside down when she met Jake Lombardi. Was it simply lust for something she'd never had--or did this passionate man's potent sensuality savage her emotions and lay bare the unguarded hunger of her soul? She despised him for making her want him. And oh, how Laura wanted him. But he was too young, too rich . . . and involved with her own daughter!
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