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The Longest Pleasure

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383 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 1986

6 people are currently reading
85 people want to read

About the author

Anne Mather

798 books358 followers
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.

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5 stars
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38 (32%)
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32 (27%)
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Tia.
Author 10 books142 followers
May 21, 2016
The hero and heroine didn't like each other, which I firmly believe because they were so similar and trying to fight against the passion they both felt towards each other. When the heroine returned because her grandmother left her things in her will, it was to find out she must marry the hero in order own the castle. But that was absurd, wasn't it? Great read. Love the bickering.
Profile Image for Shivani Singh.
Author 4 books24 followers
February 5, 2025
The heroine lost her parents as a four year old and was brought to the country home of her maternal grandmother. She found a boy in the house. He was the adopted child of the estate manager. The grandmother was excessively fond of him.
From the beginning the heroine was jealous of him.

The hero was that adopted boy. He troubled the heroine. Harassed and bullied her. They both appeared to hate each other. She definitely hated him.

Till she turned fifteen and he twenty one. Then she developed a fixation for hero. She followed him about and flirted with him.

Spoiler- the grandmother warned him not to lay a finger on her.
He was horny. Sadly too horny throughout the book. He slept with a buxom maid. Heroine had all dressed up to go find him while he was making hay.. making hay. She found him all right but with the maid. In the middle of a tryst.

This is the part I could not digest. The hero later accosted her. Told her SHE was shameless for coming to look for him and HE MOLESTED HER ROUGHLY. . Don’t say it was just a kiss. It was physically invasive and terrifying to the heroine as it would be to anyone else.

It scarred the heroine. She could not tell her grandmother because the grandmother adored this boy. Later we will find at end that the grandmother was in love with this boy’s grandfather. Or he was with her at least.

Anyway. The heroine knew she wouldn’t be heard. She left.

Meanwhile the hero continued to stay there. He took jobs here and there after university. But after his adopted parents’ death the grandmother of the heroine brought him back home and installed him in her own house.

He was the new estate manager now.

Anyway. The heroine never came back home. She only met the grandmother a few times in seven years when the grandmother came up to London for some work.

The heroine bought a shop with a friend and made a success of an antique business. She returned her grandmother’s loan with interest (that makes me hurt for the girl)

She got engaged to a titled young man. A wealthy playboy. She went to bed with him but there were no fireworks apparently.

Anyway. The grandmother died. The heroine was sent a telegram.

She went back home. The old cook and governess/companion were upset with her. For abandoning grandmother.

The will was read. Hero and heroine each got half .. he was to live and maintain it in his lifetime. If they got married their children would each get half share. If he left she got whole. Etc etc.

Grandmother wanted them both to marry and inherit it together though.

So on.

They slept with each other. The earth moved for heroine.

She told hero it was his fault. Left.

Did not say anything to fiancé on going back about her own unfaithfulness but he and her friend still guessed what could be wrong. .

The hero followed her to London on a pretext. He stayed at her flat. They again slept with each other.

Fiancé found out. She broke engagement finally.

Still kept refusing hero.

Finally she went back to her home district to buy antiques! Then went to visit old cook. Found that Hero was consorting with an old flame. Most promiscuous hero I’ve seen in HP books. Shameless.

Heroine got terribly jealous and said he couldn’t marry anyone else because she was pregnant. Hero agreed to marry her.

Few days after the Banns were read and hero was twiddling his thumbs wondering (along with us ) what was going on in the stupid woman’s brain she told him she had lied. There was no baby.

They broke it off.

After many months of heart burn and weight loss on both sides….

Finally he decided to leave. So she could inherit the whole property exclusively.

That’s when she went back. And they sorted the mess out.

I could not understand why the hero was so promiscuous. It seems he slept with two housemaids. Did he or didn’t he?

The heroine was justified in all her emotions and reactions.

The grandmother was terrible. Terrible. Partial to her lover’s grandson at the cost of her own grand daughter.

Anyway. Alls well that ends well.


Oh yes. The hero was the grandson of the elder son of the family from two generations back.


The last two hundred pages were quite futile. Not needed. The book could have been edited so it was around 250-300 pages.

The fact that the hero assaulted her again and again and suggested he wanted to break her neck in one conversation. Horrible.

The hero was not very likeable. Perhaps someone who grew up in his circumstances would be justified. He might resent the privileged grand daughter.

The grandmother was awful. If she had only disclosed he was also a member of the family by blood much heart burning would have been avoided. She kept his status in limbo. He was neither an employee nor a family member. Cruel.

The fact that they were in love with each other .. was not visible. The hero was more mature than her .. he only had to tell heroine.

But wait she continued to hate him. Abhore him and be nasty to him. So he thought his love was unrequited.

Whereas she was mixed up. Hearing him having sex with another woman would naturally make her doubt him specially if she was a teenager.

It was good and engrossing in the beginning. Very engrossing. Towards the end I got impatient.

So that’s my review.

Oh yes. One more thing.

How did they never discuss his assault. He was twenty one. She was fifteen. He was physically violent with her. Blamed her. Called her names.

He never apologised. He said he told the grandmother. The grandmother did nothing??!!!

She never went to bring grand daughter back.

He continued to stay and enjoy the privileges of that home. Heroine was sent off into exile. Because of his violence.

He never apologised. We never got an epilogue to hear if he was a faithful husband.

Why couldn’t he keep his member in his pants. He slept with every woman did he.

That was truly reprehensible.

Non redeemable. He was more an animal than man.
1 review2 followers
September 4, 2012
I absolutely loved the angst, the repartee, the fact that they had known each other since childhoood and all the pent-up passion in this book. Anne Mather is in her element when she writes about Alpha males and the strong women they love! <3!
Profile Image for Raffaella.
1,947 reviews298 followers
February 28, 2023
The longest book, that is.
This is one of the long stories of AM, about 400 pages and I really don't know if it was worth it.
The heroine is the usual bitchy and neurotic AM heroine, that hates the hero and tries to make his life miserable for years. The hero is no better.
She's the daughter of a Lady and he's the adopted son of one of the workers ans she treats him very badly since she first saw him.
He's no better of course but this heroine really lacks of feminine charm and some sweetness.
When granny dies we find out the hero is a distant cousin of the heroine and the big huge mansion will be divided into their children. Granny wanted them to get married, and I really don't know what is wrong with these people that want to marry some relatives.
Instead of being horrified, both are even more attracted to each other, and they have sex when the old lady has just been buried... Jayzuz the romanticism.
The heroine is also a cheater since she's engaged to another man.
For once I was happy because she didn't wait for the hero and had sex with other men, as it's right and sane, but sadly she never enjoyed it, and only enjoyed it with the hero so I'm not so happy anymore.
Eventually she dumps her fiance but she's had sex with the hero several times before, so this doesn't say very good things about her character.
They are separated for some weeks because (I dont really remember why) during which the hero resumes an affair with his ex gf, and even plans to marry her, and that's where I gave up my interest.
Because it's ok they had sex with op before they met as adults and had sex together, after all they were teenager both, but afterwards it's my pet peeve and I don't want them to be with anyone else, especially in so little time.
The hero couldn't even wait two months and he was already jumping into bed with another woman.
Nope.
His final declaration, that it's always been the heroine he wanted and no other woman sounds really bad. And improbable.
Aaaaand I didn't buy it.
Awful hero and awful heroine thought, so I'm quite contented since they will be very unhappy together.
There's also a sexual harassment from the hero when the heroine was only 15, and I almost threw my kindle because the hero blames the victim, since she was always trying to catch the hero's attentions.
That is exactly what rapists say. I just can't.
Profile Image for Dani.
202 reviews2 followers
July 24, 2023
*Pode conter spoilers

Eu amo esse livro, mesmo tendo elementos que eu odeio em romances, mesmo assim vai para os meus favoritos, e sim a autora acertou em cheio no título, pois têm muito haver com a relação do casal principal e também de mim, como leitora, com o livro. O meu favorito vai pela história em até mais ou menos seus 70%, até esse ponto eu estava vidrada, perdi várias horas de sono, e mesmo morrendo de raiva da imaturidade da mocinha, eu estava curtindo demais...mas depois disso, achei que a autora só encheu linguiça, a história começou a ficar meio maçante, e foi por rumos que eu não esperava, não que odiei, mas sim achei que a história poderia ter sido um pouco mais curta, para não precisar se arrastar no final.. o bom é que pelo menos no final ficou tudo esclarecido as questões entre o casal principal.

Resumindo a história: Helen e Rafe se conhecem desde criança, mas se odeiam, digamos assim, porém quando crescem, a mocinha sente uma forte atração por ele, e após se desiludir, vai embora, esperando enterrar o passado...até que um fato triste a leva de volta ao seu antigo lar e a coloca de frente a seu antigo amor/rival, e eles são obrigados a conviverem juntos, e aí é colocado a prova seus sentimentos... Eu ameiiiii o Rafe, um mocinho másculo, que se impõe, passa uma imagem de frio mas têm um ótimo coração... Já a Helen apesar de ser uma boa pessoa,achei que foi sim negligente com sua família, e ela era cheia de mimimi, não supera nunca as coisas, teimosa demais, parecia criança sabe, porém tinha uma baita química com o Rafe, a atração entre eles era muito forte !!! ...me surpreendi, mesmo o livro sendo bem antigo, as cenas mais quentes foram até bem descritivas, adorei! Torci, vibrei muito por eles, não conseguia largar o livro, mas os capítulos finais foram bem abaixo do nível dos anteriores :/ *POSSÍVEL SPOILER* E o fato da mocinha ter até ido para a cama com Rafe quando ainda estava noiva do palerma do Adam, e mesmo assim não se sentir extremamente culpada (ela e o Rafe melhor dizendo), me deu uma aflição...tenho uma raiva quando passam batido traição, por mais que ela amasse só o Rafe, mas é questão de caráter né... Mas enfim, com certeza lerei outra vez, já ciente que apenas até os 70%, o livro vale a pena ....


Profile Image for Camino de lecturas.
41 reviews4 followers
November 6, 2022
La novela es entretenida, tiene ritmo, buenas descripciones del ambiente en que se desarrolla, pero la protagonista te cae como un tiro desde el principio y no mejora. Entiendes que se porta así porque tiene celos de él. Comprendes que debe ser muy difícil que solo cuentes con el amor de un familiar, una abuela, y que tengas que compartirlo con un niño extraño que aparece de pronto y que se gana el cariño de la abuela como si fuera de la familia. Si esto ya es a veces difícil entre hermanos, imagino lo que debe ser entre dos huérfanos compitiendo por cariño.
Para colmo, se hacen de rabiar mutuamente con las armas que tienen cada uno para herir al otro, por supuesto irracionales a todo el que lo mira desde fuera y aunque todo esto se comprende, el resultado es que en toda la novela solo los ves pelear y no ves un gesto de amor o ternura por ninguna parte hasta el final, lo cual a mí me cansa. Entre medias si ves deseo, y sexo (con sabor de los 80's) .
En resumen, sí me parece una historia creíble, porque es lo que tiene todos esos rencores de mucho tiempo, que son irracionales y a veces una buena conversación o mirar los propios sentimientos lo arregla (lo del matrimonio de conveniencia y la herencia ya no es tan creíble, pero en una novela romántica yo esas cosas no me las tomo a pecho).

1 review
January 10, 2022
It was not a pleasure!
I love Anne Mather’s writing but this was painful. The heroine was selfish & horrid. There was nothing to recommend this woman at all … Rafe Fleming would have been better without her! Crazy messed up pathetic bitch!
137 reviews
June 1, 2015
The heroine was infuriating!!! She has a crush on the guy as a teenager, things do not go well as she wants them to and she hates him ever since. She moves away from her grandmother to be independent in London, her death brings her back to the family mansion and she is dismayed to learn that the estate has been left to him unless she married him.
It is amazing that she contributed every bad instance to him, she snapped and snarled, accused everyone of falling under his spell. After all the work he done on the estate while she had been busy with her life, she plans to get rid of him as soon as she is in power. She talks fondly of people she supposedly loved but every time they try to tell her something she doesn't want to hear she freezes up/shuts them down. When big decisions have to be made she consoles herself that it wasn't the right time until things come to a head. The final nail in the coffin was when he announces he might be getting be married she lies in a fit of jealousy so that he is honor bound to marry her. Apparently she did it out of love. Nowhere in her rumination does she even contemplate the effect that it might have on him on having to give up the other woman. Instead she feels cheated that he didn't react suitably to her lie!
The guy is mostly angry and sneering throughout the book. But then I don't blame him. Considering he was destined to end up with someone like that he couldn't behave any differently!!!
Profile Image for RomLibrary.
5,789 reviews
July 16, 2022
It was her grandmother's death that drew Helen Michaels back to Castle Howarth and the man who had shattered her world ten years ago—the man she still despised.

Rafe Fleming followed in his father's footsteps and was now the overseer of the magnificent mansion. He was the only reason Helen's visits had been so infrequent. How she hated him—and hated herself for the way her heart raced when he turned his heated gaze on her or treated her with smug self-assurance.

Why had her grandmother willed Castle Howarth to hint—with a clause that bordered on the absurd? The castle would belong to Helen, also—providing she and Rafe marry.

Of course, that was impossible
Profile Image for Mermarie.
461 reviews
Want to read
May 9, 2012
The Longest Pleasure... apparently these people haven't had jumbo sized drumsticks.
Profile Image for Desi.
2,667 reviews86 followers
May 2, 2017
Leído el 10/06/2011

VIEJOS RENCORES
La muerte de su abuela había hecho que Helen regresara a Castle Howarth y volviera a ver al hombre que había destruido su mundo diez años antes, el hombre al que ella seguía despreciando.
Rafe Fleming había seguido los pasos de su padre y ahora era el administrador de la magnífica mansión. Él era la única razón de las escasas visitas de Helen. ¡Cómo le odiaba... y se odiaba a sí misma porque el corazón se le aceleraba cuando él la miraba o la trataba con aquella desdeñosa condescendencia!
¿Por qué su abuela le había dejado Castle Howarth a él en su testamento... con una cláusula que rozaba el absurdo? La mansión sería también de Helen... si se casaba con Rafe.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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