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From Here to Paternity #2
Grounds for Marriage
"Too handsome, too clever, too sure of himself, too everything."
Lacey Kerr, at seventeen, had thought that of Tully Cleaver, before she'd made the mistake that had altered her life. And in ten years she hadn't changed her mind. For her daughter's sake Tully was welcome in their lives, and he had surprised Lacey by becoming a good father who wanted to be involved in Emma's life--but he wasn't husband material. However, when Lacey announced that she was to marry Julian Wye, Tully took action! After all, he was father of the bride's daughter....
FROM HERE TO PATERNITY--men who mid their way to fatherhood by fair means, by foul, or even by default!
Lacey Kerr, at seventeen, had thought that of Tully Cleaver, before she'd made the mistake that had altered her life. And in ten years she hadn't changed her mind. For her daughter's sake Tully was welcome in their lives, and he had surprised Lacey by becoming a good father who wanted to be involved in Emma's life--but he wasn't husband material. However, when Lacey announced that she was to marry Julian Wye, Tully took action! After all, he was father of the bride's daughter....
FROM HERE TO PATERNITY--men who mid their way to fatherhood by fair means, by foul, or even by default!
186 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1996
10 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Daphne Clair
124 books64 followersDahpne Clair is one of many pseudonyms of Daphne de Jong, a New Zealand writer who also uses the names Laurie Bright, Claire Lorel and Clarissa Garland. She is the winner of the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America Rita Award more than once.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
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November 18, 2018
Re Grounds for Marriage - Daphne Clair gives us the second book in the From Here to Paternity series, doing a little HP boundary breaking along the way.
This book seems seriously tropy and a bit dated now in 2018, but this book really was an unusually expansive HP back in the day. One that took on a very real societal concern in several industrialized countries, but most especially in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Serious and long time HP Voyagers know the standard HP pregnancy tropes. There is the often used and abused seekrit baby trope where the H and h have a lurve club event, something happens and the h ends up having the H's baby without his knowledge.
As soon as the H discovers the new addition to the family, insta-marriage happens and then the two of them fight their feelings while in HPlandia-blessed matrimony, usually with large diamonds and shopping excursions along the way. We love this trope in HPlandia and devoted readers are never going to let that die.
But there are other pregnancy tropes too. There is the fling trope where the H is immediately notified as soon as the h starts feeling ill and the little stick turns pink. The H may have thought he is only having a one night or two week fling, but an HP baby changes everything and thus we get another path to insta-marriage and then wash, rinse and repeat.
Whatever the pregnancy trope used, ultimately the HPlandia Gold Standard is that when an HP h gets pregnant by the H, there is going to be a marriage and then we get to the romance.
There is also the currently much less used trope of teen pregnancy. (Probably because teen pregnancy rates are much lower today and there isn't as much focus on it as there has been in the past.)
Prior to this book, teen pregnancy was usually the result of an h's bad luck experience with a man other than the Hero and the stalwart single mum living in a grotty flat waiting for her rich and besotted H to arrive is a HP vintage classic.
But in the real world in the 1990's teen pregnancy was a very serious social issue in the three countries named above. Societal conventions and various societal group's economic levels, along with the increased teen use of alcohol and drugs, had led to a fairly large spike in teen pregnancy with a significant number of teen age girls having babies before their 19th birthday.
This in turn led to a spike in teen marriages, which are by their very nature less likely to succeed and frequently ended in divorce, (often with more children involved and more domestic violence,) trapping more women and children in a cycle of poverty that is very hard to break out of.
This was cause for concern, because all kinds of things can go wrong in teenage pregnancy and high divorce rates are often seen as signs of social instability. Increased domestic violence issues are also never good, so there was a lot of debates in the US, New Zealand and Australia about how to lower that teen pregnancy rate to be more compatible with other European countries and how to break that cycle of teen pregnancy and poverty before it ever got started.
Daphne Clair uses her slot in the Paternity series to address both issues. She has a 17 yr old h drunkenly seduced by the equally intoxicated 19 yr old H, who also happens to be the h's older sister's boyfriend.
(Nowadays, there would be a serious question of the h's consent if this book were set in a 2018 context. Which is very appropriate to how we have developed socially over the last 30 years, but this is Vintage HPlandia, so different societal norms are going to apply.
I am also going to slide the backstory in first, even tho it comes later in the actual story, because the context of how this is set up is important to understanding why the H and h make the choices that they do. )
The H, the h's sister and the h are all at a teen party when the H and the sister have a fight and the h's sister storms off. The h's sister is a self-centered teen narcissist Queen Bee and the H is the epitome of Teen Hot Rich Bad Boy.
The h is only at the party because she is much more serious in nature than her older sister and the h's parents think she is a moderating influence that can keep the Man Trap in the Making sister out of trouble.
The h gets stuck trying to comfort the H about his poor little rich boy life and he gets her drunk, in a classic example of an innocent unicorn grooming teen's yielding to Bad Boy peer pressure. As these things go, the H gets very friendly in the after glow of downing a bottle of brandy and the intoxicated h thinks that is just a marvelous idear at the time.
The big lurve club event is NOT a personal success for the h, nor is the throwing up in the bathroom later OR the little unexpected dividend that will be arriving nine months later.
The h's sister's hysterics and the h's parent's disappointment are all things that affect the h greatly and contribute to her feelings that she made a bad mistake and now she has to morally pay for it.
The h does manage to keep her baby, in spite of the H's controlling mother trying to force her to have a termination and the H, at 19, does step up to the plate and offer marriage.
The h refuses to go that route. She uses her large supply of common sense and has a well developed backbone that sees her through to ten years later, successful in her career and raising a well adjusted ten year old daughter in a co-parenting relationship with the H.
The H accepts the marriage proposal rejection and he does buy the h a house and then proceeds on with his life. He dates, he does young man things and while the h doesn't sleep with anyone else, over the years she develops a dating life as well.
(DC is very aware that she is pushing boundaries here, so HP h celibacy rules are still going to apply.)
There have been a few roofie kissing incidents with the H over the years, but in the h's estimation the H is a gad-about playboy and she has a child to raise and the two are not compatible. Tho the H does do his part time dad duties and he does them well.
When the book opens, the h announces to the H that she is ready for the next phase of her life. She has met a man she thinks is compatible and she wants to marry him. She wants the H to help their daughter accept a new stepfather and the H is NOT happy with that.
The H has proposed to the h multiple times over the years and the h has turned him down every time. She knows that parenting and marriage are two different things and then there is also the estrangements in her own family.
Her older sister is married to a prominent doctor and has a family of her own, but the lingering shame of the h getting preggers by her sister's boyfriend still ignites familial tension. Besides, the H has made no secret of his lady lurving activities over the years and the h doesn't think a marriage for the kid's sake is necessary after all this time.
The H disagrees, he doesn't like the h's potential new husband and he really doesn't like the dynamics that get stirred up when he meets the OM's teenage daughter. The h's new guy is a bit of a dweeb and a bad fit for the h, but the h doesn't seem to realize it until there is big conflict between her OM's teenage daughter and her own.
The H figures out that the older girl is bullying their daughter and going so far as to have her illicit boyfriend threaten the h's daughter's cat. The h and her OM go into their respective kid's corners over the whole affair and the OM is soon lost to the mists of HPlandia, the h decides that they just don't work after all.
Running the OM off was the H's goal the whole time, but DC also shows that the H is doing his best to be an involved parent with the limited access that he has. Then DC has to up the tension even further, when the h's sister shows up to move in with the h.
The older sister is bored with her life and leaves her husband and her kids. The H makes a huge point of reconnecting with the older sister and flaunting that reconnection in the very jealous h's face.
The h feels she has no right to complain tho, because her sister has never let her forget that the h stole her boyfriend. There are all kinds of underlying tensions and it looks like another big triangle is in the making, but the older sister does manage to acknowledge that she has always resented the h for forcing the sister to share the paternal love and devotion spotlight and the h is shocked.
When the sister's husband finally shows up to drag his wife back to the family fold, the h is forced to see the H in a different light. He has genuinely grown up to be a good man, his lady buffet days seem to be well behind him and he does do all he can to be a supportive parent and supportive partner to the h. He even double checks to make sure that the sister's husband isn't the abusive type as he hauls his wife off.
When the H finally breaks through to the h that he isn't kidding in his attraction to her, nor does he intend to falter in his devotion to creating a family unit with the h and his daughter, the h agrees to marry him.
She now sees that the H has matured, just as she has and that they really can build a good marriage if they work at it. There is also the tidbit that the h has managed to fall in love with the H and of course the daughter is all for having two live-in parents.
So the H and the h marry and the H has been fretting for a long time that his drunken 19 yr old self put the h off boudoir moments for life. The honeymoon soon relieves both the h and the H of their lurve club anxieties and the h's only remaining worry is that the H is still carrying a torch for her sister.
There is finally full and open communication about the whole teenage drama, which ends when the H explains that he and the sister were never lovers. The sister liked to tease and the H got frustrated with her multiple juggling routines between all the good looking teen aged guys in their social group.
The H realized a long time ago that the sister was a self-involved drama queen and the whole seduction of the h occurred because even way back then, the h was a mature and empathetic listener and the H had a lot of baggage that the h's quiet support helped him to unload.
When the h turned up pregnant, the H was more than willing to marry her, but he figured he traumatized her and so he went to make his fortune and do what dad duties she would let him instead, hoping that one day the h would really see him and then want to be with him.
This leads to the h finally accepting that the H's declaration of love, which he has been saying for a while now, is really sincere and she makes her big declaration of her own love back.
Now that their love for each other is finally sorted out and acknowledged, the H declares that they are buying a bigger house with space for a pony and more kids are in the works, for the pretty happy and very sincere through sunshine and rain HP rosy glow HEA.
This one was boundary stretching because the h, with a lot of social and H support, was able to successfully navigate a teen pregnancy without the traditional required marriage route. While it seems very quaint and old fashioned today, this was a big issue in the context of the time it was written.
DC wanted to advocate that with the proper supports in place, the cycle of teen pregnancy could be broken. Ladies who had children as teens could take their place in society as self-supporting, functioning, mature adults and marriage wasn't needed to be a forgone conclusion nor was it absolutely necessary to good parenting.
This is huge because this means that future HP h's and also real world ladies had options, they did not have to let an unanticipated pregnancy destroy their future success as adults.
It doesn't really seem like a big deal now, but DC managed to tactfully and respectfully disagree with a very common opinion at the time that teen mothers were doomed to low income living and a perpetual chain of parenting mistakes.
It is true that the h initially had assistance in getting her schooling and having a place to live, but DC also shows that the h takes the initiative to grow and develop on her own, providing a powerful statement that successful non-traditional parenthood is achievable and not something to be sneered at or dismissed.
DC just wraps it up in the standard HP-approved belated HEA, thus making this story acceptable to the more conservative HP readership and the editors of that particular time.
Future HP authors will have cause to appreciate this expansion, DC's entertaining diversion into the less conventional routes to parenthood not only offer more heroine's active assertiveness for future stories, it also is part of the ongoing quest of keeping HPlandia relevant and current with real world changes.
This means that Grounds for Marriage goes on the HP required reading list. It is a genre expanding book in the HP backlist that makes some important statements about varieties of parenting and what makes a family. It is also a really cute second chance romance HP voyage, with a nicely rewarding HEA, well worth the read if you run into it.
This book seems seriously tropy and a bit dated now in 2018, but this book really was an unusually expansive HP back in the day. One that took on a very real societal concern in several industrialized countries, but most especially in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Serious and long time HP Voyagers know the standard HP pregnancy tropes. There is the often used and abused seekrit baby trope where the H and h have a lurve club event, something happens and the h ends up having the H's baby without his knowledge.
As soon as the H discovers the new addition to the family, insta-marriage happens and then the two of them fight their feelings while in HPlandia-blessed matrimony, usually with large diamonds and shopping excursions along the way. We love this trope in HPlandia and devoted readers are never going to let that die.
But there are other pregnancy tropes too. There is the fling trope where the H is immediately notified as soon as the h starts feeling ill and the little stick turns pink. The H may have thought he is only having a one night or two week fling, but an HP baby changes everything and thus we get another path to insta-marriage and then wash, rinse and repeat.
Whatever the pregnancy trope used, ultimately the HPlandia Gold Standard is that when an HP h gets pregnant by the H, there is going to be a marriage and then we get to the romance.
There is also the currently much less used trope of teen pregnancy. (Probably because teen pregnancy rates are much lower today and there isn't as much focus on it as there has been in the past.)
Prior to this book, teen pregnancy was usually the result of an h's bad luck experience with a man other than the Hero and the stalwart single mum living in a grotty flat waiting for her rich and besotted H to arrive is a HP vintage classic.
But in the real world in the 1990's teen pregnancy was a very serious social issue in the three countries named above. Societal conventions and various societal group's economic levels, along with the increased teen use of alcohol and drugs, had led to a fairly large spike in teen pregnancy with a significant number of teen age girls having babies before their 19th birthday.
This in turn led to a spike in teen marriages, which are by their very nature less likely to succeed and frequently ended in divorce, (often with more children involved and more domestic violence,) trapping more women and children in a cycle of poverty that is very hard to break out of.
This was cause for concern, because all kinds of things can go wrong in teenage pregnancy and high divorce rates are often seen as signs of social instability. Increased domestic violence issues are also never good, so there was a lot of debates in the US, New Zealand and Australia about how to lower that teen pregnancy rate to be more compatible with other European countries and how to break that cycle of teen pregnancy and poverty before it ever got started.
Daphne Clair uses her slot in the Paternity series to address both issues. She has a 17 yr old h drunkenly seduced by the equally intoxicated 19 yr old H, who also happens to be the h's older sister's boyfriend.
(Nowadays, there would be a serious question of the h's consent if this book were set in a 2018 context. Which is very appropriate to how we have developed socially over the last 30 years, but this is Vintage HPlandia, so different societal norms are going to apply.
I am also going to slide the backstory in first, even tho it comes later in the actual story, because the context of how this is set up is important to understanding why the H and h make the choices that they do. )
The H, the h's sister and the h are all at a teen party when the H and the sister have a fight and the h's sister storms off. The h's sister is a self-centered teen narcissist Queen Bee and the H is the epitome of Teen Hot Rich Bad Boy.
The h is only at the party because she is much more serious in nature than her older sister and the h's parents think she is a moderating influence that can keep the Man Trap in the Making sister out of trouble.
The h gets stuck trying to comfort the H about his poor little rich boy life and he gets her drunk, in a classic example of an innocent unicorn grooming teen's yielding to Bad Boy peer pressure. As these things go, the H gets very friendly in the after glow of downing a bottle of brandy and the intoxicated h thinks that is just a marvelous idear at the time.
The big lurve club event is NOT a personal success for the h, nor is the throwing up in the bathroom later OR the little unexpected dividend that will be arriving nine months later.
The h's sister's hysterics and the h's parent's disappointment are all things that affect the h greatly and contribute to her feelings that she made a bad mistake and now she has to morally pay for it.
The h does manage to keep her baby, in spite of the H's controlling mother trying to force her to have a termination and the H, at 19, does step up to the plate and offer marriage.
The h refuses to go that route. She uses her large supply of common sense and has a well developed backbone that sees her through to ten years later, successful in her career and raising a well adjusted ten year old daughter in a co-parenting relationship with the H.
The H accepts the marriage proposal rejection and he does buy the h a house and then proceeds on with his life. He dates, he does young man things and while the h doesn't sleep with anyone else, over the years she develops a dating life as well.
(DC is very aware that she is pushing boundaries here, so HP h celibacy rules are still going to apply.)
There have been a few roofie kissing incidents with the H over the years, but in the h's estimation the H is a gad-about playboy and she has a child to raise and the two are not compatible. Tho the H does do his part time dad duties and he does them well.
When the book opens, the h announces to the H that she is ready for the next phase of her life. She has met a man she thinks is compatible and she wants to marry him. She wants the H to help their daughter accept a new stepfather and the H is NOT happy with that.
The H has proposed to the h multiple times over the years and the h has turned him down every time. She knows that parenting and marriage are two different things and then there is also the estrangements in her own family.
Her older sister is married to a prominent doctor and has a family of her own, but the lingering shame of the h getting preggers by her sister's boyfriend still ignites familial tension. Besides, the H has made no secret of his lady lurving activities over the years and the h doesn't think a marriage for the kid's sake is necessary after all this time.
The H disagrees, he doesn't like the h's potential new husband and he really doesn't like the dynamics that get stirred up when he meets the OM's teenage daughter. The h's new guy is a bit of a dweeb and a bad fit for the h, but the h doesn't seem to realize it until there is big conflict between her OM's teenage daughter and her own.
The H figures out that the older girl is bullying their daughter and going so far as to have her illicit boyfriend threaten the h's daughter's cat. The h and her OM go into their respective kid's corners over the whole affair and the OM is soon lost to the mists of HPlandia, the h decides that they just don't work after all.
Running the OM off was the H's goal the whole time, but DC also shows that the H is doing his best to be an involved parent with the limited access that he has. Then DC has to up the tension even further, when the h's sister shows up to move in with the h.
The older sister is bored with her life and leaves her husband and her kids. The H makes a huge point of reconnecting with the older sister and flaunting that reconnection in the very jealous h's face.
The h feels she has no right to complain tho, because her sister has never let her forget that the h stole her boyfriend. There are all kinds of underlying tensions and it looks like another big triangle is in the making, but the older sister does manage to acknowledge that she has always resented the h for forcing the sister to share the paternal love and devotion spotlight and the h is shocked.
When the sister's husband finally shows up to drag his wife back to the family fold, the h is forced to see the H in a different light. He has genuinely grown up to be a good man, his lady buffet days seem to be well behind him and he does do all he can to be a supportive parent and supportive partner to the h. He even double checks to make sure that the sister's husband isn't the abusive type as he hauls his wife off.
When the H finally breaks through to the h that he isn't kidding in his attraction to her, nor does he intend to falter in his devotion to creating a family unit with the h and his daughter, the h agrees to marry him.
She now sees that the H has matured, just as she has and that they really can build a good marriage if they work at it. There is also the tidbit that the h has managed to fall in love with the H and of course the daughter is all for having two live-in parents.
So the H and the h marry and the H has been fretting for a long time that his drunken 19 yr old self put the h off boudoir moments for life. The honeymoon soon relieves both the h and the H of their lurve club anxieties and the h's only remaining worry is that the H is still carrying a torch for her sister.
There is finally full and open communication about the whole teenage drama, which ends when the H explains that he and the sister were never lovers. The sister liked to tease and the H got frustrated with her multiple juggling routines between all the good looking teen aged guys in their social group.
The H realized a long time ago that the sister was a self-involved drama queen and the whole seduction of the h occurred because even way back then, the h was a mature and empathetic listener and the H had a lot of baggage that the h's quiet support helped him to unload.
When the h turned up pregnant, the H was more than willing to marry her, but he figured he traumatized her and so he went to make his fortune and do what dad duties she would let him instead, hoping that one day the h would really see him and then want to be with him.
This leads to the h finally accepting that the H's declaration of love, which he has been saying for a while now, is really sincere and she makes her big declaration of her own love back.
Now that their love for each other is finally sorted out and acknowledged, the H declares that they are buying a bigger house with space for a pony and more kids are in the works, for the pretty happy and very sincere through sunshine and rain HP rosy glow HEA.
This one was boundary stretching because the h, with a lot of social and H support, was able to successfully navigate a teen pregnancy without the traditional required marriage route. While it seems very quaint and old fashioned today, this was a big issue in the context of the time it was written.
DC wanted to advocate that with the proper supports in place, the cycle of teen pregnancy could be broken. Ladies who had children as teens could take their place in society as self-supporting, functioning, mature adults and marriage wasn't needed to be a forgone conclusion nor was it absolutely necessary to good parenting.
This is huge because this means that future HP h's and also real world ladies had options, they did not have to let an unanticipated pregnancy destroy their future success as adults.
It doesn't really seem like a big deal now, but DC managed to tactfully and respectfully disagree with a very common opinion at the time that teen mothers were doomed to low income living and a perpetual chain of parenting mistakes.
It is true that the h initially had assistance in getting her schooling and having a place to live, but DC also shows that the h takes the initiative to grow and develop on her own, providing a powerful statement that successful non-traditional parenthood is achievable and not something to be sneered at or dismissed.
DC just wraps it up in the standard HP-approved belated HEA, thus making this story acceptable to the more conservative HP readership and the editors of that particular time.
Future HP authors will have cause to appreciate this expansion, DC's entertaining diversion into the less conventional routes to parenthood not only offer more heroine's active assertiveness for future stories, it also is part of the ongoing quest of keeping HPlandia relevant and current with real world changes.
This means that Grounds for Marriage goes on the HP required reading list. It is a genre expanding book in the HP backlist that makes some important statements about varieties of parenting and what makes a family. It is also a really cute second chance romance HP voyage, with a nicely rewarding HEA, well worth the read if you run into it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
March 31, 2018Not only does she stay in the freezer for 10 years while he plays around he also decides to sabotage her chances with OM, why was he sticking his dick in other holes over 10 years if he’s serious about her?
I cannot stand dog in manger attitude. It doesn’t scream love to me. It screams “you are my possession”.
I cannot stand dog in manger attitude. It doesn’t scream love to me. It screams “you are my possession”.
May 15, 2018
This book has been on my radar for some time but I wasn’t exactly sure how the ten years period pans out between the two. Too much or too less involvement can both kill the essence.
But I’m glad I took the plunge. This is a fresh approach to the HP teenage pregnancy trope. In HPs teenage pregnancies usually end up as secret pregnancies. And a forced marriage and blah blah.
Ah well, it is an HP after all!
But I’m glad I took the plunge. This is a fresh approach to the HP teenage pregnancy trope. In HPs teenage pregnancies usually end up as secret pregnancies. And a forced marriage and blah blah.
Ah well, it is an HP after all!
December 4, 2013
I really enjoyed this one. It was so different than any other HP I have read. Lacey is a single mom raising her daughter after having got pregnant when she was 17 years old with her sister's drunken boyfriend. The story opens 12 years later, where they share custody of the daughter and have built an amicable relationship. The book opens with Lacey telling Tully that she has decided to marry someone else. From there the sparks fly.
What was so intriguing about this book was nothing fit the mold. Their relationship started out as a one night drunken stand, with neither person having any feelings for the other. With the help of flashbacks, you see the tragedy caused by this one mistake and the destroyed relationship between two sisters....Of course, Tully steps up to the plate to offer marriage, but Lacey refuses to settle for a marriage of convenience.
There were a couple of things I didn't quite care for..... Sleeping with your sister's boyfriend because you are jealous of her, doesn't rank too highly for me. I never could quite figure out why she did it, other than oneupmanship which ultimately hurt her sister. I also wasn't too keen on Tully's motives. Needless to say, neither would win a prize for good citizenship, but they both evolved into good people...(Tully more so than Lacey)
I also found that I really came to like Tully and what he stood for in those ensuing 12 years. A different book, that worked well for me.
What was so intriguing about this book was nothing fit the mold. Their relationship started out as a one night drunken stand, with neither person having any feelings for the other. With the help of flashbacks, you see the tragedy caused by this one mistake and the destroyed relationship between two sisters....Of course, Tully steps up to the plate to offer marriage, but Lacey refuses to settle for a marriage of convenience.
There were a couple of things I didn't quite care for..... Sleeping with your sister's boyfriend because you are jealous of her, doesn't rank too highly for me. I never could quite figure out why she did it, other than oneupmanship which ultimately hurt her sister. I also wasn't too keen on Tully's motives. Needless to say, neither would win a prize for good citizenship, but they both evolved into good people...(Tully more so than Lacey)
I also found that I really came to like Tully and what he stood for in those ensuing 12 years. A different book, that worked well for me.
December 4, 2013
2.5 stars
This one had a hero that was difficult to love. He was only 19, intoxicated and upset about a girlfriend and used the heroine as a means to make himself feel better. The result was a pregnancy at 17 for the heroine. She keeps the baby and becomes a single mom and although the hero provides for them and spends time with his daughter, it takes 10 years before he confronts her about growing to love her over the years. Of course, he has had other relationships over the intervening years, while she has stayed true to him.
This one had a hero that was difficult to love. He was only 19, intoxicated and upset about a girlfriend and used the heroine as a means to make himself feel better. The result was a pregnancy at 17 for the heroine. She keeps the baby and becomes a single mom and although the hero provides for them and spends time with his daughter, it takes 10 years before he confronts her about growing to love her over the years. Of course, he has had other relationships over the intervening years, while she has stayed true to him.
July 17, 2016
This is one of those rare Harlequins where characters are determined to be sensible about things.
Lacey got pregnant at seventeen. The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, and the encounter with the father of her child, Tully, are told in flashback. They are juicy! When the book opens, Lacey is planning to marry another man, and she wants Tully's help in transitioning their daughter, Emma, to the new arrangement.
In the past ten years, Tully has been a supportive father. He's bought Lacey and Emma a house, and he sees Emma every weekend. He and Lacey have a good parenting relationship, although it mostly seems to come down to not touching any hot spots that are likely to send them into an argument. They spend time together amicably, and Tully regularly asks Lacey to marry him. Lacey, however, is convinced that this isn't what Tully really wants, because she doesn't see herself as in Tully's league. She wants to get married. She wants a normal adult relationship including sex. So she's found a single father who is nearing 40. She thinks he's more her speed.
Tully is an unusual Harlequin hero. He's rich, but he's still under 30. And that name! At first, I kept thinking it was the same name as the big blue monster in Monster's Inc, but then remembered that was Sully. Still, for at least a few chapters I thought I was reading a romance that had cross-overs with the Pixar universe, and it did strange things to my head.
He is, however, hero-like in that he goes ten years being incredibly reticent about his true feelings towards Lacey, and then making efforts to boss her into what he wants without getting into any of his vulnerable places. I liked that the story addressed why he hadn't made a more concerted effort until it looked like he was about to lose his chance forever, but I'm still always a little suspicious over why the hero or heroine wait so long. While there's realism in inertia and procrastination, I do want fictional characters to go to a bit of effort.
Lacey's a wonderfully sensible person and won me over by not falling apart on the occasions when her daughter's behaviour was difficult.
This was all very charming and lovely and I really liked both Lacey and Tully. Even Emma was okay, and managed to behave like a kid and be part of the plot without being nauseatingly cute or magically wise beyond her years.
Lacey got pregnant at seventeen. The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, and the encounter with the father of her child, Tully, are told in flashback. They are juicy! When the book opens, Lacey is planning to marry another man, and she wants Tully's help in transitioning their daughter, Emma, to the new arrangement.
In the past ten years, Tully has been a supportive father. He's bought Lacey and Emma a house, and he sees Emma every weekend. He and Lacey have a good parenting relationship, although it mostly seems to come down to not touching any hot spots that are likely to send them into an argument. They spend time together amicably, and Tully regularly asks Lacey to marry him. Lacey, however, is convinced that this isn't what Tully really wants, because she doesn't see herself as in Tully's league. She wants to get married. She wants a normal adult relationship including sex. So she's found a single father who is nearing 40. She thinks he's more her speed.
Tully is an unusual Harlequin hero. He's rich, but he's still under 30. And that name! At first, I kept thinking it was the same name as the big blue monster in Monster's Inc, but then remembered that was Sully. Still, for at least a few chapters I thought I was reading a romance that had cross-overs with the Pixar universe, and it did strange things to my head.
He is, however, hero-like in that he goes ten years being incredibly reticent about his true feelings towards Lacey, and then making efforts to boss her into what he wants without getting into any of his vulnerable places. I liked that the story addressed why he hadn't made a more concerted effort until it looked like he was about to lose his chance forever, but I'm still always a little suspicious over why the hero or heroine wait so long. While there's realism in inertia and procrastination, I do want fictional characters to go to a bit of effort.
Lacey's a wonderfully sensible person and won me over by not falling apart on the occasions when her daughter's behaviour was difficult.
This was all very charming and lovely and I really liked both Lacey and Tully. Even Emma was okay, and managed to behave like a kid and be part of the plot without being nauseatingly cute or magically wise beyond her years.
May 22, 2014
So far the ebook has so many misspelling of the hero's name it is not funny. I wonder if the original book had the same issues with the hero's name as this reprint did.
After I read it, I could not figured out if they love each other. He fathered her child when he was 19 and she was 17. He did the weekend father thing which gave him more money of course. He did buy a nice house for the heroine and their child to live in.
He basically after fathering the kid without marriage acted like a male slut having all kinds of girlfriends. It is the double standard that he can disappear for a few years barely seeing the kid leaving the mom to do everything for the kid. He like my father did pay support for the kid that was 1 thing in his favor.
After I read it, I could not figured out if they love each other. He fathered her child when he was 19 and she was 17. He did the weekend father thing which gave him more money of course. He did buy a nice house for the heroine and their child to live in.
He basically after fathering the kid without marriage acted like a male slut having all kinds of girlfriends. It is the double standard that he can disappear for a few years barely seeing the kid leaving the mom to do everything for the kid. He like my father did pay support for the kid that was 1 thing in his favor.
February 26, 2011
At age 17, Lacey shared an unexpected encounter with Tully and wound up pregnant; she refused his offer of marriage, believing him to be too immature and untrustworthy, and kept the baby. Ten years later, the two of them amiably share parental rights. But when Lacey announces that she’s getting married, the dynamics of their relationship abruptly change.
This is more serious and realistic in tone than most Harlequin Presents, but Clair is a good enough writer to pull it off, weaving in small threads about class distinctions, self-esteem, and the growth of maturity. Although at first I found the set-up somewhat implausible, as all of the complex backstory came out it made a lot more sense. (Although dislikers of flashbacks will not be thrilled.) It's not the book to pick if you're looking for heavy drama and fantasy, but I thought it was an interesting change of pace.
This is more serious and realistic in tone than most Harlequin Presents, but Clair is a good enough writer to pull it off, weaving in small threads about class distinctions, self-esteem, and the growth of maturity. Although at first I found the set-up somewhat implausible, as all of the complex backstory came out it made a lot more sense. (Although dislikers of flashbacks will not be thrilled.) It's not the book to pick if you're looking for heavy drama and fantasy, but I thought it was an interesting change of pace.
February 20, 2021
I didn’t hate the book, but, certainly, I wouldn’t say I liked it either. It was just okay, I guess.
September 11, 2020
Long long ago..... My conservative traditional teenage self found the theme of pregnancy-doesn’t-lead-to-marriage difficult to accept.
And now after reading and appreciating Boogenhagen’s extremely well written review, I am able to understand the book better.......contemplated rereading but I didn’t warm up to the story.
But I still maintain my original view that according to a HP landia rule # (The exact numbering of the rules is known to only a few) Unexpected pregnancy = Shotgun marriage!!
And now after reading and appreciating Boogenhagen’s extremely well written review, I am able to understand the book better.......contemplated rereading but I didn’t warm up to the story.
But I still maintain my original view that according to a HP landia rule # (The exact numbering of the rules is known to only a few) Unexpected pregnancy = Shotgun marriage!!
May 12, 2021
For some reason I can forgive the Mills and Boon hero for all the same crap I cant forgive the modern hero for....
A slow but stressful read which I probably wouldn't have touched if it was written within the last decade.
A slow but stressful read which I probably wouldn't have touched if it was written within the last decade.
November 15, 2013
i liked it very much ! but they shared more or less a platonic relationship all through the book. n it was unbelievable how they took 10 years 2 realise what they meant 2 each other. i guess julian's appearance gave tully the impetus he very much needed or a jolt shud i say !? after all, u dunt sit around n go out wid other women while u're in love wid one. he was such an ass n did not no what he wanted. but the ass part was before the book becoz in the book, he was the most kind, considerate n fun-loving man. he had actually blossomed since his teens, infact he was not dat bad even then. he did not abandon lacey n his kid. he made life easier 4 both of them as far as he cud n never suggested dat lacey shud have an abortion. a double plus 4 him !! where the book lost 2 stars ? well the platonic relationship they kept n i think they lack some chemistry. also, i think they wud have found their HEA before 10 years if lacey had been less pathetic. she had some major issues, too low opinion of herself n no self-confidence
April 16, 2021
"Too handsome, too clever, too sure of himself, too everything."
Lacey Kerr, at seventeen, had thought that of Tully Cleaver, before she'd made the mistake that had altered her life. And in ten years she hadn't changed her mind. For her daughter's sake Tully was welcome in their lives, and he had surprised Lacey by becoming a good father who wanted to be involved in Emma's life - but he wasn't husband material. However, when Lacey announced that she was to marry Julian Wye, Tully took action! After all, he was the father of the bride's daughter....
Lacey Kerr, at seventeen, had thought that of Tully Cleaver, before she'd made the mistake that had altered her life. And in ten years she hadn't changed her mind. For her daughter's sake Tully was welcome in their lives, and he had surprised Lacey by becoming a good father who wanted to be involved in Emma's life - but he wasn't husband material. However, when Lacey announced that she was to marry Julian Wye, Tully took action! After all, he was the father of the bride's daughter....
November 9, 2018
[Leopards didn't change their spots, and he'd probably still be eyeing attractive women when he was eighty. But while she lived, looking was all he'd be doing. He might be a leopard, but he was her leopard, from this day forward.]
We have a hero who wasn't a douche, but a normal imperfect man that needs to grow/mature from being a teen without guidance from his family (role model). But he did try to be a better man for the heroine and his daughter, the character development is good, hence, the 4 stars, the writing is neat but a bit slow pacing, the plot and its HEA is adequately believable.
We have a hero who wasn't a douche, but a normal imperfect man that needs to grow/mature from being a teen without guidance from his family (role model). But he did try to be a better man for the heroine and his daughter, the character development is good, hence, the 4 stars, the writing is neat but a bit slow pacing, the plot and its HEA is adequately believable.
November 20, 2018
This was frustrating read. I got almost the end when the story started to move finally the couple getting together I lost interest all together. It wasn't bad at the same time it wasn't great. Did not connect with h, she was annoying.
Would not recommend this.
Would not recommend this.
December 16, 2018
Sweet second chance
Sweet second chance romance. This is an older book that plays more on emotion than heat. Worth a read. :)
Sweet second chance romance. This is an older book that plays more on emotion than heat. Worth a read. :)
May 21, 2021
There are things one can tolerate, and things one cannot. I guess I can tolerate more in my romance books than others....I really enjoyed this book. It was different than any other ones I’ve read to date. Boogenhagen’s review went into more detail about this and was well done.
SPOILERS AHEAD..........I left out lots of details, but still there are SPOILERS so STOP 🛑 if you want a mystery!
Hero and heroine had a drunken one night stand when they were teens. It resulted in a pregnancy.
Hero was dating h’s sister at the time. They had an argument. He went in his house and got drunk, while h’s sister stayed at the fire pit and got felt up by one of the party goers. The h tried to intervene, to get her sister to go to H but “beautiful, all the men love me Francie” decided to stay put. The h goes looking for the bathroom, winds up in H’s bedroom where they drink, talk, and dispense of her virginity in an underwhelming quick roll in the bed. Upon finish H falls asleep and h loses her cookies in the bathroom.(sleeping with your sisters bf is a deal breaker for most Romance readers even if your sister is a grade A bitch)
This destroyed her already fragile relationship with her sister. The H offered marriage, but she isn’t a moc type of girl.
He becomes a good weekend dad and supports in many other ways(bought a house etc...) in addition to this they develop a comfortable coexistence where it isn’t unusual for him to hang out, eat dinner, and watch shows with h. He offers marriage on different occasions, but that’s the problem. He makes it feel like an offer, not born out of love and passion. She continues to say no. He decides another tactic is warranted after the h says she will be marrying and older man. Even though we don’t see H’s POV his actions show us that he is and has been interested in the h for a long time. Another contention to Romance readers...hero was not celibate....why would he be ? h has continuously rejected his proposals(he explains later how those refusals made him feel. )The h was most definitely celibate: by choice? by low self esteem? by being a role model for daughter? a myriad of reasons....
I won’t dwell too long on the drama that is the OM and his teen daughter. He wasn’t right for the h. She was just ready to move on with her life with someone who was “nice”. Eventually they broke up......because nice isn’t heart thumping sexy.
Then OW, (otherwise known as sister shows up unannounced....She has left her husband out of boredom. She sidles up to the H...H plays along as a ploy to get h hot and bothered...jealous husband comes to get his vapid wife and she is impressed by his passion...while in the other room the H and h are getting in some long awaited truths and loving as well.
There is a substantial amount of pages spent on the ending for our h and H(he never ever slept with sister, and has loved heroine for a long time) sex is good in a fade to black sort of way...future gets mapped out....she continues to have doubts on her attractiveness, but the H has some powerful persuasive tools on his side to convince her.
I felt the love...but I really like how the author changed the whole accidentally knocked up trope with some new ideas.
I was definitely able to tolerate things in this story others couldn’t. Normally sleeping with a sisters bf would be a no go for me, but I was ok with it here.
SPOILERS AHEAD..........I left out lots of details, but still there are SPOILERS so STOP 🛑 if you want a mystery!
Hero and heroine had a drunken one night stand when they were teens. It resulted in a pregnancy.
Hero was dating h’s sister at the time. They had an argument. He went in his house and got drunk, while h’s sister stayed at the fire pit and got felt up by one of the party goers. The h tried to intervene, to get her sister to go to H but “beautiful, all the men love me Francie” decided to stay put. The h goes looking for the bathroom, winds up in H’s bedroom where they drink, talk, and dispense of her virginity in an underwhelming quick roll in the bed. Upon finish H falls asleep and h loses her cookies in the bathroom.(sleeping with your sisters bf is a deal breaker for most Romance readers even if your sister is a grade A bitch)
This destroyed her already fragile relationship with her sister. The H offered marriage, but she isn’t a moc type of girl.
He becomes a good weekend dad and supports in many other ways(bought a house etc...) in addition to this they develop a comfortable coexistence where it isn’t unusual for him to hang out, eat dinner, and watch shows with h. He offers marriage on different occasions, but that’s the problem. He makes it feel like an offer, not born out of love and passion. She continues to say no. He decides another tactic is warranted after the h says she will be marrying and older man. Even though we don’t see H’s POV his actions show us that he is and has been interested in the h for a long time. Another contention to Romance readers...hero was not celibate....why would he be ? h has continuously rejected his proposals(he explains later how those refusals made him feel. )The h was most definitely celibate: by choice? by low self esteem? by being a role model for daughter? a myriad of reasons....
I won’t dwell too long on the drama that is the OM and his teen daughter. He wasn’t right for the h. She was just ready to move on with her life with someone who was “nice”. Eventually they broke up......because nice isn’t heart thumping sexy.
Then OW, (otherwise known as sister shows up unannounced....She has left her husband out of boredom. She sidles up to the H...H plays along as a ploy to get h hot and bothered...jealous husband comes to get his vapid wife and she is impressed by his passion...while in the other room the H and h are getting in some long awaited truths and loving as well.
There is a substantial amount of pages spent on the ending for our h and H(he never ever slept with sister, and has loved heroine for a long time) sex is good in a fade to black sort of way...future gets mapped out....she continues to have doubts on her attractiveness, but the H has some powerful persuasive tools on his side to convince her.
I felt the love...but I really like how the author changed the whole accidentally knocked up trope with some new ideas.
I was definitely able to tolerate things in this story others couldn’t. Normally sleeping with a sisters bf would be a no go for me, but I was ok with it here.
April 5, 2022
I would have liked this better if the time span of the friendship hadn’t been 10 years. It rings a little hollow that he waited his time for so many years. He admitted to wanting more that friendship for 6 of those 10 years. That is too long and makes a potential alpha into a beta IMO. I was happy h stood firm and didn’t get pushed into marriage when they were teens.
October 14, 2024
I started this over a year ago but got bogged down in the boring OM with sex bomb daughter. Don’t understand how h could think of marrying a cipher like him or try to make his daughter sister to her younger daughter.
Like the H much more than clueless h.
Like the H much more than clueless h.
October 28, 2012
loveable characters. i enjoyed it greatly.
July 9, 2016
Feel good story with a wonderful hero who is unbelievably understanding, mature and engaging. Uhhhh!
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