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A Kiss for Julie
Simply Simon
Julie enjoyed her work as a medical secretary at St. Bravo's Hospital, so it came as a shock when her boss announced his retirement. His replacement, Simon van der Driesma, was younger, more energetic and worked her much harder— which she could have accepted if only he would call her Julie, and not "Miss Beckworth" in that cool voice! From the start, both of them had the wrong impression of the other. What would it take for the truth to be revealed?
Julie enjoyed her work as a medical secretary at St. Bravo's Hospital, so it came as a shock when her boss announced his retirement. His replacement, Simon van der Driesma, was younger, more energetic and worked her much harder— which she could have accepted if only he would call her Julie, and not "Miss Beckworth" in that cool voice! From the start, both of them had the wrong impression of the other. What would it take for the truth to be revealed?
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1996
81 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Betty Neels
564 books417 followersEvelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years.(This stood her in good stead later for the tribulations to come with the Second World War). She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.
In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.
When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.
Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.
Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.
To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho
In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.
When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.
Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.
Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.
To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
August 10, 2024
Five stars for the heroine’s mother, sister (especially her!), and family help (an older man!) alone. They were simply delightful! I love how Simon gets to know them and know Julie through them. I enjoyed this one a lot, especially the warmth of Julie’s family, the earlier trip to Holland, and the sort of “enemies to lovers” plot. It’s not exactly that but Simon and Julie definitely clash for a while first. Oh, it’s mentioned like ten times that Luscombe, Julie’s family’s help, has made macaroni cheese. I thought this was amusing.
February 25, 2021
A later Betty book that she mostly gets right in the placid way of her later books. No unemployable waifs in need of rescue in this one (or not quite so in need of rescue, anyway)--our titular Julie is a smart and efficient medical secretary. She can even use a portable computer! (The company I worked for in 1996, the year this book was issued, had "portable computers" (early laptops) that we shared, and they weighed like 800 lbs).
Julie's boss retires and she is "inherited" by our RDD, Professor Simon van der Driesma, who is a typical work-obsessed Neelsian wealthy and handsome bachelor who is not thrilled to have a gorgeous and distracting secretary working for him. And despite finding him attractive, Julie takes a dislike to him as well, because he treats her coolly and abruptly and insists on calling her Miss Beckworth for ages. Julie's mostly prickly throughout the book but not as annoying as some of Betty's more snappish heroines can be.
Despite being one of Betty's more capable non-nurse heroines, Julie is still a typical BN heroine in many ways--essentially shy despite being beautiful, partly because she has never had much time for men and relationships, given her job and her family responsibilities. She's the chief breadwinner for her family since her father died, with most of her time and money spent on helping to support her mother and younger sister (and two brothers who are mentioned once or twice and then never again).
At least Betty gives Julie a supportive and loving family, unlike so many other BN heroines who have the worst relatives ever. (Mind you, although Julie's mom is not one of Betty's more awful parents, it's hard to understand what she does all day, given that there's a aitch-droppin' Faithful Family Retainer who does the housework and provides Cockney commentary on the developing (or not) relationship between "his nibs," our hero, and the heroine.) Little sis Esme is pretty funny, given that she has no filter and is continually telling our RDD things Julie would prefer he didn't know.
Some cute moments and a couple of dramatic moments (an attempted robbery! A hospital fire!) liven up a typically warm and cosy Neels book from her later years. Nothing new here and not on par with some of her earlier standouts but with a great deal of charm and a hero who despite a few chilly moments is one of Betty's nicer heroes.
Julie's boss retires and she is "inherited" by our RDD, Professor Simon van der Driesma, who is a typical work-obsessed Neelsian wealthy and handsome bachelor who is not thrilled to have a gorgeous and distracting secretary working for him. And despite finding him attractive, Julie takes a dislike to him as well, because he treats her coolly and abruptly and insists on calling her Miss Beckworth for ages. Julie's mostly prickly throughout the book but not as annoying as some of Betty's more snappish heroines can be.
Despite being one of Betty's more capable non-nurse heroines, Julie is still a typical BN heroine in many ways--essentially shy despite being beautiful, partly because she has never had much time for men and relationships, given her job and her family responsibilities. She's the chief breadwinner for her family since her father died, with most of her time and money spent on helping to support her mother and younger sister (and two brothers who are mentioned once or twice and then never again).
At least Betty gives Julie a supportive and loving family, unlike so many other BN heroines who have the worst relatives ever. (Mind you, although Julie's mom is not one of Betty's more awful parents, it's hard to understand what she does all day, given that there's a aitch-droppin' Faithful Family Retainer who does the housework and provides Cockney commentary on the developing (or not) relationship between "his nibs," our hero, and the heroine.) Little sis Esme is pretty funny, given that she has no filter and is continually telling our RDD things Julie would prefer he didn't know.
Some cute moments and a couple of dramatic moments (an attempted robbery! A hospital fire!) liven up a typically warm and cosy Neels book from her later years. Nothing new here and not on par with some of her earlier standouts but with a great deal of charm and a hero who despite a few chilly moments is one of Betty's nicer heroes.
September 27, 2021
4 Stars ~ This is one of Betty Neels' later books; 113 of 134. Published in the 90's it is more contemporary, with portable computers and pocket beepers.
Our heroine in this romance is 27 year old Julie, a medical secretary whose wage is necessary as it helps support her mother, younger sister, and the elderly houseman who has been with their family for 25 years. Julie's brothers are both away at university. While not embarrassed at their lack of wealth, they do struggle, with Julie sharing the one elegant coat with her mother, and creating and recreating new dresses out of old as an occasion arises. Julie's a beautiful woman but her circumstances don't lead to much free time for dates, plus she's well aware that it would be a rare man who would be willing to take on the financial responsivities of her whole family.
Our hero, Simon, is in his mid to late 30's, he's earned an international reputation in Haematology and provides consultancy in London, Edenborough, Brussels, and throughout his homeland, Holland. When Professor Smythe retires from St. Bart's, Simon takes on his position and inherits Julie as his secretary. From their first meeting, he found Julie a bit prickly, while Julie found the Professor to be cold and impersonal. At every turn they seem to be at cross purposes. Until he'd met Julie, Simon hadn't really thought much about marriage, it was something for the future. While he fights his attraction for her, she slips under his skin.
This is another charming romance with a gentle pace and endearing characters. Ms. Neels always treats us with colourful family members and loyal housemen and housekeepers. In this one, Julie's family play a large role, in fact Simon uses them in order to get closer to Julie. There's also a robbery that Simon walks in on saving Julie from attack, and when a fire breaks out at the hospital trapping Julie in the attic, Simon is there on the roof pulling her to safety through the skylight. There's also the trip to Holland and a sighting of Simon kissing a very pretty young woman, something that causes Julie a great deal of concern.
I'm sure I'll be enjoying this one again and again.
Our heroine in this romance is 27 year old Julie, a medical secretary whose wage is necessary as it helps support her mother, younger sister, and the elderly houseman who has been with their family for 25 years. Julie's brothers are both away at university. While not embarrassed at their lack of wealth, they do struggle, with Julie sharing the one elegant coat with her mother, and creating and recreating new dresses out of old as an occasion arises. Julie's a beautiful woman but her circumstances don't lead to much free time for dates, plus she's well aware that it would be a rare man who would be willing to take on the financial responsivities of her whole family.
Our hero, Simon, is in his mid to late 30's, he's earned an international reputation in Haematology and provides consultancy in London, Edenborough, Brussels, and throughout his homeland, Holland. When Professor Smythe retires from St. Bart's, Simon takes on his position and inherits Julie as his secretary. From their first meeting, he found Julie a bit prickly, while Julie found the Professor to be cold and impersonal. At every turn they seem to be at cross purposes. Until he'd met Julie, Simon hadn't really thought much about marriage, it was something for the future. While he fights his attraction for her, she slips under his skin.
This is another charming romance with a gentle pace and endearing characters. Ms. Neels always treats us with colourful family members and loyal housemen and housekeepers. In this one, Julie's family play a large role, in fact Simon uses them in order to get closer to Julie. There's also a robbery that Simon walks in on saving Julie from attack, and when a fire breaks out at the hospital trapping Julie in the attic, Simon is there on the roof pulling her to safety through the skylight. There's also the trip to Holland and a sighting of Simon kissing a very pretty young woman, something that causes Julie a great deal of concern.
I'm sure I'll be enjoying this one again and again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2017
Julie Beckworth is a tall, curvy, redheaded medical secretary. Her boss, Professor Smythe, is retiring and his replacement is RDD Simon van der Driesma. Julie has two brothers (that we know nothing about), a young sister, a dog named Blotto, a mother and FFR Luscombe. Her father was a doctor who died of a heart attack at age 56.
Julie and Simon clash at first, but it's because they are attracted to each other. He becomes friendly with her family. At one point he tells himself to be careful because "he had no intention of allowing himself to fall in love with a girl who so disliked him."
Of course, Julie is in love with Simon as well. As Luscombe remarked to Mrs. Beckworth, "the pair of them has crossed wires." Simon by now has realized he is in love with Julie and wants her for his wife. He tells his mother and sister.
But Julie had seen Simon kiss his sister, Celeste, when she was in London. Of course, she didn't know it was his sister, just a pretty woman. So when Simon drops hints about getting married, Julie thinks that girl is the one.
Finally, Simon takes Julie to Holland, she thinks for work, but they go straight to his home to meet his mother. Of course, Julie recognizes his sister immediately.
The next morning, Simon makes his D&P. Kisses ensue.
Quite nice.
Julie and Simon clash at first, but it's because they are attracted to each other. He becomes friendly with her family. At one point he tells himself to be careful because "he had no intention of allowing himself to fall in love with a girl who so disliked him."
Of course, Julie is in love with Simon as well. As Luscombe remarked to Mrs. Beckworth, "the pair of them has crossed wires." Simon by now has realized he is in love with Julie and wants her for his wife. He tells his mother and sister.
But Julie had seen Simon kiss his sister, Celeste, when she was in London. Of course, she didn't know it was his sister, just a pretty woman. So when Simon drops hints about getting married, Julie thinks that girl is the one.
Finally, Simon takes Julie to Holland, she thinks for work, but they go straight to his home to meet his mother. Of course, Julie recognizes his sister immediately.
The next morning, Simon makes his D&P. Kisses ensue.
Quite nice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2011
The usual essential Betty Neels elements are here - very important doctor, very fancy food ("the lobster mousseline with champagne sauce is an excellent starter"), big silent man, big silent cars, faithful retainers, and a fixation on manners - the response of the heroine's 13-year-old sister to the hero saving the day: "I wouldn't mind being rescued by the Prof. I don't suppose he swore once." LOL. Of course he wouldn't! The very idea of 'his nibs' being so uncouth!
Upsides: no harping on how plain the heroine is, heroine is also not downtrodden. She is, in fact, "tart." Also, another staple of BN romances, the scheming, heartless cow (I've been shamed out of using the word I really had in mind) who gives the heroine poor self-esteem is barely in evidence here. Neither is there the horrible self-absorbed mother that Neels often inflicts on her heroines.
Better than Neels' average, but not really gripping, either.
Upsides: no harping on how plain the heroine is, heroine is also not downtrodden. She is, in fact, "tart." Also, another staple of BN romances, the scheming, heartless cow (I've been shamed out of using the word I really had in mind) who gives the heroine poor self-esteem is barely in evidence here. Neither is there the horrible self-absorbed mother that Neels often inflicts on her heroines.
Better than Neels' average, but not really gripping, either.
June 16, 2015
Another sweet story from Betty Neels. The interactions between Julie and Simon were just too cute. And although Simon, like most of Betty Neels heroes, was the quite type, we get to see what's going on inside that handsome head of his.
A journey from England to Holland with a tall FAIR handsome Dutch gentleman and lots and lots of teas... count me in!
A journey from England to Holland with a tall FAIR handsome Dutch gentleman and lots and lots of teas... count me in!
August 17, 2024
4.5 ⭐️ I especially enjoyed the family members and servants in this one. Julie’s attitude at times should have gotten her fired and Simon’s lack of communication was frustrating, but I do like how it was all resolved. I especially loved all references to the comforting meals of macaroni cheese. 😊😊😊
April 18, 2020
Julie Beckworth enjoyed her work as a medical secretary at St Bravo's hospital . Her new boss, Professor Simon van der Driesma, was younger, more energetic and worked Julie much harder , and not 'Miss Beckworth' in that cool voice , will he every look at Julie as a woman or jusy Miss Beckworth his secretary.
September 23, 2015
Terrible title for a fun book. Julie is a lively, likable young woman who finds out only at the last minute that the doctor she works for is retiring and she'll be working for a stranger. This puts her off a bit and leads the new RDD to decide she doesn't like him. For his part he considers her too young and pretty. lol
This book differed a bit from Neels usual because the doctor is attracted to the girl but is convinced she doesn't like him and there's no chance for him. She, on the other hand, just believes he doesn't think about her at all. We get to see more of the Dr.'s thoughts than usual here, too. And the heroine has a nice family that adds to the pleasure as they scheme to get her happily married. It's a lovely, fun story.
This book differed a bit from Neels usual because the doctor is attracted to the girl but is convinced she doesn't like him and there's no chance for him. She, on the other hand, just believes he doesn't think about her at all. We get to see more of the Dr.'s thoughts than usual here, too. And the heroine has a nice family that adds to the pleasure as they scheme to get her happily married. It's a lovely, fun story.
January 1, 2017
Only a Bentley but absolutely EVERYONE rides in it!
This one was a bit OTT featuring the requisite fallen-on-hard-times uber-competent beautiful secretary with adoring family, hospital burglar!, and hospital fire. This is the second hospital fire I've read about in a Neels. There's also a lot of repurposing of clothes and a lack of nice coats. It was all very Sound of Music.
Simon loves Julie but in typical Neels fashion, doesn't act like it. Julie loves Simon and in typical Neels fashion, decides he must love someone else. Lack of communication ensues between H & h but not, strangely, between H and Julie's mother and their man-of-all-work.
This one was written in the 90s and features bleeps and "portable" computers.
This one was a bit OTT featuring the requisite fallen-on-hard-times uber-competent beautiful secretary with adoring family, hospital burglar!, and hospital fire. This is the second hospital fire I've read about in a Neels. There's also a lot of repurposing of clothes and a lack of nice coats. It was all very Sound of Music.
Simon loves Julie but in typical Neels fashion, doesn't act like it. Julie loves Simon and in typical Neels fashion, decides he must love someone else. Lack of communication ensues between H & h but not, strangely, between H and Julie's mother and their man-of-all-work.
This one was written in the 90s and features bleeps and "portable" computers.
May 20, 2011
Quite a departure for Neels: NOT a nurse, but a medical secretary this time. This is one of her later books published in the 1990s. Again the big misunderstanding about the gruff Dutch doctor and his involvement with another woman. And Julie is the only working member of her family and lives with her mother and younger sister after her physician father died. Another in a long, long line of chaste, soothing books that are a wonderful panacea when the world looks bleak.
August 12, 2025
Meh. DNF. Annoying MCs.
August 20, 2024
4 stars rounded up to 4.5 for a dog named "Blotto" and delicious meals, along with some RDD POV as he reluctantly falls in love.
October 14, 2018
1996. I am liking Betty Neels' writing style during this period! It's the mid 90s and her heroes seemed more in touch with their feelings based on the past few books.
Simon and Julie. I love how we get insights into their relationship through the eyes of their nearest and dearest. In Julie's case we see a lot more from her mother and faithful Luscombe's points of views and opinions. They even spoke to Simon and he made known his intentions towards Julie!
Both Simon and Julie wasted too much time thinking the other disliked him/her... but it was most amusing to see Simon falling for Julie despite his efforts not to! Julie was just confused but had her revelation after Simon had his.
It could have been very frustrating to read but I like how Simon went from smitten at first sight, to self denial...and when he gad his own revelation he admitted it to himself like a man. I call this Simon's Waterloo because like Caroline in Caroline's Waterloo, he set off like a battle and strategised to win Julie's heart thinking she REALLY disliked him haha.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder indeed! Julie thought Simon's heart belonged to another...and tried to use any men in her acquaintance to make it seem like she's going to be committed soon. It's very funny and endearing how he could see right through her each time!
Overall a very sweet story, not really angsty but leaves me very satisfied by the end.
Simon and Julie. I love how we get insights into their relationship through the eyes of their nearest and dearest. In Julie's case we see a lot more from her mother and faithful Luscombe's points of views and opinions. They even spoke to Simon and he made known his intentions towards Julie!
Both Simon and Julie wasted too much time thinking the other disliked him/her... but it was most amusing to see Simon falling for Julie despite his efforts not to! Julie was just confused but had her revelation after Simon had his.
It could have been very frustrating to read but I like how Simon went from smitten at first sight, to self denial...and when he gad his own revelation he admitted it to himself like a man. I call this Simon's Waterloo because like Caroline in Caroline's Waterloo, he set off like a battle and strategised to win Julie's heart thinking she REALLY disliked him haha.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder indeed! Julie thought Simon's heart belonged to another...and tried to use any men in her acquaintance to make it seem like she's going to be committed soon. It's very funny and endearing how he could see right through her each time!
Overall a very sweet story, not really angsty but leaves me very satisfied by the end.
August 11, 2025
Having read them all by now, I’m on a mission to re-read the Betty Neels books that I don’t actually remember that well. I find that some of them are not anything like I remember, or I just don’t remember them at all, so at times like these, it’s like discovering brand new Bettys. Yay!
I read A Kiss for Julie thinking it was one of those I did not like all that much. I discovered there were swathes of it I had no recollection of, that I like the RDD better than I remembered and that the bits that made me go WTF still make me go WTF.
Julie is a 26-year-old red-headed bombshell (the Olivia). She is tall, beautiful and as Betty likes to say, has a splendid figure. Or as the RDD describes her to his little sister:
‘Julie-Julie Beckworth. She has green eyes and bronze hair, very long and thick, and she is what the English call a fine figure of woman.’
‘All curves?’ asked Celeste.
‘All curves,’ agreed Simon.
That’s the thing about RDDs… they may be cool, collected and impassive on the surface, but underneath, they appear to be seething with much more volatile…er…feelings. Yeah, we’ll call them feelings.
This is really just a gentle little story of two people falling in love, with no complicated plot points or OW/OM to speak of apart from a few hardly noticed dates with people other than the two main characters. (Funny aside: the would-be OW makes only a very brief appearance, and after luring the RDD to her house for dinner, she is shown watching him leave and acknowledging to herself that he is not interested in her, then we never see or hear from her again. This made me laugh given Betty’s penchant for very wicked OW and their evil machinations.)
Our heroine Julie is a medical secretary at a hospital, and when her elderly doctor boss retires, she gets handed off to his replacement, Simon. Simon is your standard issue RDD (rich Dutch doctor): six and a half feet tall, blond, blue eyes, late thirties (I am not sure we ever get anything more definitive than ‘thirty-five, at the most forty’), detached in manner, possessed of multiple homes in London, the English countryside and Holland complete with a retinue of faithful family retainers (FFRs). He is cool towards Julie for a couple of chapters but as was increasingly common in the late canon, we do get some of his POV. (Betty wrote between the late 1960s and her death in 2001 at the age of 91; this book is from 1996). Julie ‘disturbs’ Simon to the point where he tells himself he needs to find himself a wife (those pesky “feelings”), although it takes a little longer for him to understand his own emotions and decide Julie should be that wife. But Julie has taken exception to his coolness and for much of the book, she really doesn’t like him all that much, and while he soon decides she’s the one, he can tell she is less than thrilled with him. So apart from suddenly becoming a lot friendlier to her and smiling at her and saying Good Morning (you know, normal people stuff), he doesn’t press his suit because he wants her to discover she loves him on her own.
Sigh… there is a happy medium that could be reached. Simon does not appear to make a distinction between being obnoxiously, pushily amorous and respectfully, gently letting her know he likes her. But then, he is her boss, so while BN did not really ever delve into the politics of sexual harassment, maybe he is wiser not to push it? Anyway, Simon confines himself to waiting and watching for any little sign that she has come to like him. Or love him. Something. Anything.
Thing is, Julie is unlikely to let her feelings show. She has her pride, and she saw him early in the book with his aforementioned sister and since RDDs never let on about pesky little details (“I have to see my sister and give her hugs and kisses since I rarely am able to meet up with her”), Julie automatically assumes this beautiful blonde is his girlfriend or fiancée or clandestine lover who is kept apart through the wicked hand of fate. Is this ridiculous? Maybe not. After all, she sees Simon hold this girl “closely” and kiss her and call her lieveling, which according to Betty, is a serious Dutch endearment not used lightly. Also, as this embrace is described… ick. Is it a kiss on the cheek? RDDs are fond of cheek kisses. Would Julie have gotten the wrong idea if it was a cheek kiss? And if it was indeed a kiss on the lips…ick.
Once Simon realizes that the sticking point for Julie is this incident, he lures Julie to Holland under false pretenses (he says it is a work trip. It’s not.). He introduces her to his sister so that Julie *knows* this is his sister, and voila, all problems are magically unraveled and we close out the book with another trademark BN abrupt ending.
I want to like this book. Julie is a little snappy in the first part of the book but she feels dismissed and disliked, and who wouldn’t feel snappish if someone you have to work closely with treats you like that? Simon is mostly OK too. He may be cool and detached, but he's a decent person and is really lovely to Julie's family. But the incident of him kissing his sister presumably like she is his girlfriend (well, that’s how Julie interpreted it) is icky. And then being lured to Holland under false pretenses is supposed to be romantic, but to me, it just means he is controlling and does not grant her the agency to make her own decisions by telling her in advance what he is up to. All RDDs are controlling and paternalistic and this is presented as normal in Neelsland, but it didn’t sit quite right in this story, although he otherwise does seem to treat her respectfully.
But this is Betty, and the gentle flow of the story (much like an RDD making small talk) is right on brand. The RDD rescues Julie from a fire in the hospital. Julie's family is warm and friendly (not a given for BN). We get all the lovely descriptions of the RDD homes complete with antique furnishings, the FFRs cooking and keeping house, the lovely food, the clothes, and the knowledge that in Neelsland, everyone lives happily ever after and never has the need to ask for relationship advice on Reddit. Three and a half stars.
I read A Kiss for Julie thinking it was one of those I did not like all that much. I discovered there were swathes of it I had no recollection of, that I like the RDD better than I remembered and that the bits that made me go WTF still make me go WTF.
Julie is a 26-year-old red-headed bombshell (the Olivia). She is tall, beautiful and as Betty likes to say, has a splendid figure. Or as the RDD describes her to his little sister:
‘Julie-Julie Beckworth. She has green eyes and bronze hair, very long and thick, and she is what the English call a fine figure of woman.’
‘All curves?’ asked Celeste.
‘All curves,’ agreed Simon.
That’s the thing about RDDs… they may be cool, collected and impassive on the surface, but underneath, they appear to be seething with much more volatile…er…feelings. Yeah, we’ll call them feelings.
This is really just a gentle little story of two people falling in love, with no complicated plot points or OW/OM to speak of apart from a few hardly noticed dates with people other than the two main characters. (Funny aside: the would-be OW makes only a very brief appearance, and after luring the RDD to her house for dinner, she is shown watching him leave and acknowledging to herself that he is not interested in her, then we never see or hear from her again. This made me laugh given Betty’s penchant for very wicked OW and their evil machinations.)
Our heroine Julie is a medical secretary at a hospital, and when her elderly doctor boss retires, she gets handed off to his replacement, Simon. Simon is your standard issue RDD (rich Dutch doctor): six and a half feet tall, blond, blue eyes, late thirties (I am not sure we ever get anything more definitive than ‘thirty-five, at the most forty’), detached in manner, possessed of multiple homes in London, the English countryside and Holland complete with a retinue of faithful family retainers (FFRs). He is cool towards Julie for a couple of chapters but as was increasingly common in the late canon, we do get some of his POV. (Betty wrote between the late 1960s and her death in 2001 at the age of 91; this book is from 1996). Julie ‘disturbs’ Simon to the point where he tells himself he needs to find himself a wife (those pesky “feelings”), although it takes a little longer for him to understand his own emotions and decide Julie should be that wife. But Julie has taken exception to his coolness and for much of the book, she really doesn’t like him all that much, and while he soon decides she’s the one, he can tell she is less than thrilled with him. So apart from suddenly becoming a lot friendlier to her and smiling at her and saying Good Morning (you know, normal people stuff), he doesn’t press his suit because he wants her to discover she loves him on her own.
Sigh… there is a happy medium that could be reached. Simon does not appear to make a distinction between being obnoxiously, pushily amorous and respectfully, gently letting her know he likes her. But then, he is her boss, so while BN did not really ever delve into the politics of sexual harassment, maybe he is wiser not to push it? Anyway, Simon confines himself to waiting and watching for any little sign that she has come to like him. Or love him. Something. Anything.
Thing is, Julie is unlikely to let her feelings show. She has her pride, and she saw him early in the book with his aforementioned sister and since RDDs never let on about pesky little details (“I have to see my sister and give her hugs and kisses since I rarely am able to meet up with her”), Julie automatically assumes this beautiful blonde is his girlfriend or fiancée or clandestine lover who is kept apart through the wicked hand of fate. Is this ridiculous? Maybe not. After all, she sees Simon hold this girl “closely” and kiss her and call her lieveling, which according to Betty, is a serious Dutch endearment not used lightly. Also, as this embrace is described… ick. Is it a kiss on the cheek? RDDs are fond of cheek kisses. Would Julie have gotten the wrong idea if it was a cheek kiss? And if it was indeed a kiss on the lips…ick.
Once Simon realizes that the sticking point for Julie is this incident, he lures Julie to Holland under false pretenses (he says it is a work trip. It’s not.). He introduces her to his sister so that Julie *knows* this is his sister, and voila, all problems are magically unraveled and we close out the book with another trademark BN abrupt ending.
I want to like this book. Julie is a little snappy in the first part of the book but she feels dismissed and disliked, and who wouldn’t feel snappish if someone you have to work closely with treats you like that? Simon is mostly OK too. He may be cool and detached, but he's a decent person and is really lovely to Julie's family. But the incident of him kissing his sister presumably like she is his girlfriend (well, that’s how Julie interpreted it) is icky. And then being lured to Holland under false pretenses is supposed to be romantic, but to me, it just means he is controlling and does not grant her the agency to make her own decisions by telling her in advance what he is up to. All RDDs are controlling and paternalistic and this is presented as normal in Neelsland, but it didn’t sit quite right in this story, although he otherwise does seem to treat her respectfully.
But this is Betty, and the gentle flow of the story (much like an RDD making small talk) is right on brand. The RDD rescues Julie from a fire in the hospital. Julie's family is warm and friendly (not a given for BN). We get all the lovely descriptions of the RDD homes complete with antique furnishings, the FFRs cooking and keeping house, the lovely food, the clothes, and the knowledge that in Neelsland, everyone lives happily ever after and never has the need to ask for relationship advice on Reddit. Three and a half stars.
November 3, 2024
I really enjoyed this story. It's a little different from the typical Betty Neels in that the reader gets to see the male protagonist’s struggle as well as the female's. Usually the one only gets the girl's insight and are left guessing at the man's. In this case not only are both parties trying not to fall in love when it was obvious to others that they already were, but the reader gets to laugh at the fact that each thinks the other doesn’t like them. It was a nice change.
August 21, 2015
Vary sweet. It was nice that the heroine wasn't completely hopeless.
January 25, 2016
Typical Betty Neels sweet romance with the sassy plain girl, and the dashingly handsome Dutch doctor. The two dislike each other at first, and then a romance slowly blooms between them.
March 7, 2021
Estas historias cortas me sirven mucho cuando tengo bloqueo de lector y quiero algo ligero pero esta se me hizo un poco pesada y no ma disfrute mucho.
November 19, 2019
"Profesor nie mówił tym razem o anemiach, tylko o krwotokach i wysiękach, używając przy tym słów tak długich i trudnych jak cytostatyki czy trombocytopenia".
Dobrze, że Betty Neels nie słyszała o keratocyście, sequestrectomii, kokcydioidomikozie, chorobie Abta-Letterera-Siwego o przyjemnej łacińskiej nazwie reticuloendotheliosis haemorrhagica chronica, czy o złamaniu jarzmowo-szczękowo-oczodołowym (fracturae zygomaticomaxilloorbitales) :D Po intensywnej nauce anatomii długie i niezrozumiałe wyrazy przestają robić jakiekolwiek wrażenie ;)
Już pomijając schemat stosowany przez autorkę (szara myszka + przystojny lekarz) to "Niespodzianka dla Julie" była po prostu nudna. Nie spodziewałam się oszałamiających zwrotów akcji, ale ileż można czytać o przepisywaniu papierków dla pana profesora van der Driesmy. Rodzinka Julie też mnie denerwowała, zabrakło w tej historii uroku, który w innych książkach autorki był i był ich największą zaletą. Sekretarka Julie to strasznie bezbarwna dziewucha, a że takich mimoz nie znoszę - zupełnie nie mogłam się do niej przekonać.
2/10
Dobrze, że Betty Neels nie słyszała o keratocyście, sequestrectomii, kokcydioidomikozie, chorobie Abta-Letterera-Siwego o przyjemnej łacińskiej nazwie reticuloendotheliosis haemorrhagica chronica, czy o złamaniu jarzmowo-szczękowo-oczodołowym (fracturae zygomaticomaxilloorbitales) :D Po intensywnej nauce anatomii długie i niezrozumiałe wyrazy przestają robić jakiekolwiek wrażenie ;)
Już pomijając schemat stosowany przez autorkę (szara myszka + przystojny lekarz) to "Niespodzianka dla Julie" była po prostu nudna. Nie spodziewałam się oszałamiających zwrotów akcji, ale ileż można czytać o przepisywaniu papierków dla pana profesora van der Driesmy. Rodzinka Julie też mnie denerwowała, zabrakło w tej historii uroku, który w innych książkach autorki był i był ich największą zaletą. Sekretarka Julie to strasznie bezbarwna dziewucha, a że takich mimoz nie znoszę - zupełnie nie mogłam się do niej przekonać.
2/10
April 24, 2023
I have read this book before (actually, I've read all of Betty's books) but this is my first review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how Julie and her new boss, Simon, stumbled along in their first days working together. Julie had been working for Professor Smythe, but when he retired, she was set up with Professor van der Driesma. This must have been written in the early days of portable computers (no laptops here). Julie can't understand why Simon treats her in such a chilly manner. His reasons become clear as time goes by, but still, Julie is confused. It took a while for these two to come to their senses, but I enjoyed their burgeoning friendship. A quietly romantic story, old-fashioned, but I like them that way.
October 1, 2020
“Amor callado” con este significativo título estamos ante un libro raro dentro del canon Betty. Porque aquí el doctor en cuestión tiene claro que la protagonista le gusta pero afanosamente hace de todo para disimularlo y alejar a la confusa secretaria.Aquí la muchacha no será pobre del todo pero si hay una insistencia en remarcar que no tiene dinero para comprar ropa, entonces ella arregla y mejora prendas . También llama la atención el hecho de que ella es bonita y agradable,otra característica que la aleja del canon y de las novelas que más me gustan leer de Betty.así y todo la encontré entretenida de leer y a pesar de algunas detalles conecte con los personajes centrales.No serán mis favoritos pero algo tienen.
September 16, 2024
The hero wasn’t quite as atrocious as some BN heroes can be, but we had about fifty pages of his coy refusal to enlighten the heroine to the fact that the young girl she’d seen with him had been his sister. Honestly I’d have preferred a short epilogue to the fifty pages of suspense and mild angst we had to endure during which we were described all the stages of the long drive it took them to reach his ancestral home.
May 20, 2024
A delightful read!
This story is one of my favorites. All the characters are enjoyable and fundamentally sensible. The professor and Julie are both a perfect match and Betty Neels is at her solidify, lighthearted best describing the professor’s thoughts as he comes to love Julie.
This story is one of my favorites. All the characters are enjoyable and fundamentally sensible. The professor and Julie are both a perfect match and Betty Neels is at her solidify, lighthearted best describing the professor’s thoughts as he comes to love Julie.
February 1, 2022
I think if you have read one BN you have read them all! I shelved this as vintage even though there is talk of a phone in the pocket and a portable computer. It had the feel of a 50’s book updated with those modern devices.
May 31, 2017
Simon and Julie had great chemistry this romance starts off with confusion between the hero and heroin they fall in love despite this confusion
January 18, 2018
I'm a fan of Neels' fluffy escapist romances, but the manager in me screams "NO YOU DON'T DATE YOUR BOSS THAT'S A BAD IDEA!!!!"
July 22, 2018
Lovely
If you enjoy your romances clean, light, fluffy and vintage then you will enjoy the wonderful work of Betty Neels
If you enjoy your romances clean, light, fluffy and vintage then you will enjoy the wonderful work of Betty Neels
August 14, 2019
Sweet, lighthearted, love story. I enjoyed this book very much.
November 15, 2019
Review for Betty Neels Boks
Very good book, love all of Betty Neels books, very relaxing stories too. Have most of her books in my bookcase.
Very good book, love all of Betty Neels books, very relaxing stories too. Have most of her books in my bookcase.
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