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Deliberate Provocation
Man with a Mission
Few men would have the audacity to accuse a woman lying in a hospital bed of having an affair with his business partner. Kiel Lindstrom did that and more - he insisted Justine accompany him to the island of Madiera to reclaim some valuable papers and the missing partner. Of course, the brute had no sympathy for her cumbersome cast, aches, bruises and partial amnesia.
Okay, fine. She'd find the missing man, the plans and with luck, a piece of her past. Now if only she could lose Kiel - whose disturbing sensuality made her ache like never before.
- GenresRomance
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 18, 2018
Re Deliberate Provocation - Emma Richmond gets one the HP Plus spots for February of 1994 in this tale of two feuding sort of in-laws and the bickerfest is awesome.
This one features a Norwegian ship yard owing H and a golf resort vacation travel agent h. The h and H both have incredibly pathetic sewage slurping relatives - the H's sister and the h's step cousin are married and both are limpet slime crawlers that manage to create drama whenever they breathe.
So the book opens with the h in hospital after a car wreck. She has transient amnesia, a cast on her wrist and a lot of aches and pains. She also has the Viking God look alike H yelling at her. Apparently her slimy step cousin works in one of the H's boatyards and has lost the original yacht plans for a bid tender on a specialized racing yacht.
The H is on a rampage and the h is concussed, has no memory and isn't feeling too great in her hospital bed either. The H is angry because the slime swiller cousin told him AND his wife, the H's limpet parasite sister, that he was having an affair with the h and that they were going off together and that the h has the all important yacht plans.
The h doesn't remember anything about having any plans, knows for sure she wasn't sleeping with her step-cousin as she can barely tolerate his whining or his self-absorption, (and she only has a few hours of blank memory from the car accident.) She got stuck with the step cousin and his sewer crawling mother after her parents died when she was a child. Her mother's brother took her in - he also married right around the same time to the sewer slurper woman- then he died inconveniently two years later.
So the h was made to feel like this huge burden on her step-aunt, while the step-cousin was spoilt and coddled. The H tells the h she has to help him because a year prior to the story, the h was invited to the H's sister's hotel that catered to high end golf players. The sister wanted the h to promote her hotel via her golf resort specialist agency - the h has a really thriving business in making arrangements for luxury golf getaways.
The problem was that the H's sister and the h's step cousin were charging vast sums to stay at their boutique hotel and the service was lousy. The h told the woman to cater to families and casual travelers, who are more relaxed about their standards because the service level the H's sister was charging for and not providing would drive the target audience away.
The H's sister insists that the h badmouthed her hotel and that is why she had to sell it - at a considerable profit to add to her already significant inherited wealth. But the h explains to the H that when things went wrong for the guests, the H's sister just fell apart and did not fix the issues and the people she booked wouldn't tolerate that kind of ineptitude, so word spread that the H's sister's hotel was rip off. The h never said anything about the sister's hotel - she did not promote it, because she knew her clients wouldn't be happy, but she never detracted from it either.
The H doesn't care tho, he tells the h that because she did not bail out his sister's hotel, her step-cousin had to go work for him in his boatyard and now everyone is miserable and the H's sister is pregnant. He puts a huge guilt trip on the h and yells at her for two days to remember. The only thing the h can recall is that her step-cousin likes to paint and goes to a friend's villa in Madeira to do it.
But she can't remember where the villa is, so the H guilts her into accompanying him to Madeira to find the slime pustule. The h, concussion, injuries and cast in place, agrees to help him look and we get the road trip from hell in Madeira. The H and h bicker and argue endlessly, with the H berating and belittling the h for everything under the sun and the h trying to hide her physical longing for a mighty swing of the H's love club.
The H knows an easy mark when he sees it, cause he is quick to take up the h's offer of a no strings attached lurve clubbing extravaganza as he can't drag along one of his usual bed warmers when he is on the hunt for his brother-in-law.
So we have Madeira travelogue touristy things. Some almost love club moments as the anger turns to passion and bitter verbal arguments by day and lurve mojo expeditions by night, as the h finally figures out where her step-cousin is and seduces the H at the same time.
The h, who hides a tender heart under her competent outer shell, is soon wildly in love with the H. They find the step-cousin and the H gets even angrier with the h because he believes the h and step-cousin are lovers. Even tho the h is hardly lover-like with the step-cousin and in fact tells him off pretty soundly as we all go back to England.
Finally the h gets a flashback memory and finds the yacht plans in her couch cushions, the h had put them there for safekeeping while she took her step-cousin to the airport in his great escape. But then she got hit while driving the step-cousin's car and lost her memory. The step-cousin goes to deliver the plans and grovel to his pregnant wife and the h irritably tells him to grow up, confess he lied about her to his wife and go paint pictures of people's yachts for a living.
The step-cousin takes off and the h is worn out, so the H drags her to his house where she spends a few days arguing with both the H about how priggishly bossy SHE is- (which was ironic cause she has been shamelessly chasing the H all through this book.) Then there is the H's kinda witchy and berating housekeeper that likes to belittle the h too. The H has to take off on business and the h goes home. Supposedly the H wants a real relationship with the h, but as three weeks go by and the h finally gets her cast off, she only gets some flowers and a card with the name of the H's English boat yard on it.
So the h once again has to be the responsible one and she goes to the H's boatyard, where he seems to be keeping company with another woman. The H and h have a black moment when it looks like their affair is over, but then the H explains the OW is an employee's wife and nothing was going on between them and that he loves the h.
The h loves him back, of course and the two decide to marry. We get a mini-epilogue where the step-cousin is now a yacht portratist for high wages, the H's sister is nice to the h now and the H and h are married and working on a baby to not only make sure the H is leg-shackled but hog-tied as well for the big HP HEA.
This one was pretty good until the H's flake out at the end. Which turned a decent book into a sorta meh one - mainly cause everyone seemed to blame their own bad behavior on the h. Especially when she was highly competent and they resented her success and then dumped their baggage on her to try and bring her down to the sub-sewer the rest of them mucked around in.
This one would have been better if the H had actually pursued the h - instead she had to sort things out AGAIN and it made for a rather mediocre HP outing.
This one features a Norwegian ship yard owing H and a golf resort vacation travel agent h. The h and H both have incredibly pathetic sewage slurping relatives - the H's sister and the h's step cousin are married and both are limpet slime crawlers that manage to create drama whenever they breathe.
So the book opens with the h in hospital after a car wreck. She has transient amnesia, a cast on her wrist and a lot of aches and pains. She also has the Viking God look alike H yelling at her. Apparently her slimy step cousin works in one of the H's boatyards and has lost the original yacht plans for a bid tender on a specialized racing yacht.
The H is on a rampage and the h is concussed, has no memory and isn't feeling too great in her hospital bed either. The H is angry because the slime swiller cousin told him AND his wife, the H's limpet parasite sister, that he was having an affair with the h and that they were going off together and that the h has the all important yacht plans.
The h doesn't remember anything about having any plans, knows for sure she wasn't sleeping with her step-cousin as she can barely tolerate his whining or his self-absorption, (and she only has a few hours of blank memory from the car accident.) She got stuck with the step cousin and his sewer crawling mother after her parents died when she was a child. Her mother's brother took her in - he also married right around the same time to the sewer slurper woman- then he died inconveniently two years later.
So the h was made to feel like this huge burden on her step-aunt, while the step-cousin was spoilt and coddled. The H tells the h she has to help him because a year prior to the story, the h was invited to the H's sister's hotel that catered to high end golf players. The sister wanted the h to promote her hotel via her golf resort specialist agency - the h has a really thriving business in making arrangements for luxury golf getaways.
The problem was that the H's sister and the h's step cousin were charging vast sums to stay at their boutique hotel and the service was lousy. The h told the woman to cater to families and casual travelers, who are more relaxed about their standards because the service level the H's sister was charging for and not providing would drive the target audience away.
The H's sister insists that the h badmouthed her hotel and that is why she had to sell it - at a considerable profit to add to her already significant inherited wealth. But the h explains to the H that when things went wrong for the guests, the H's sister just fell apart and did not fix the issues and the people she booked wouldn't tolerate that kind of ineptitude, so word spread that the H's sister's hotel was rip off. The h never said anything about the sister's hotel - she did not promote it, because she knew her clients wouldn't be happy, but she never detracted from it either.
The H doesn't care tho, he tells the h that because she did not bail out his sister's hotel, her step-cousin had to go work for him in his boatyard and now everyone is miserable and the H's sister is pregnant. He puts a huge guilt trip on the h and yells at her for two days to remember. The only thing the h can recall is that her step-cousin likes to paint and goes to a friend's villa in Madeira to do it.
But she can't remember where the villa is, so the H guilts her into accompanying him to Madeira to find the slime pustule. The h, concussion, injuries and cast in place, agrees to help him look and we get the road trip from hell in Madeira. The H and h bicker and argue endlessly, with the H berating and belittling the h for everything under the sun and the h trying to hide her physical longing for a mighty swing of the H's love club.
The H knows an easy mark when he sees it, cause he is quick to take up the h's offer of a no strings attached lurve clubbing extravaganza as he can't drag along one of his usual bed warmers when he is on the hunt for his brother-in-law.
So we have Madeira travelogue touristy things. Some almost love club moments as the anger turns to passion and bitter verbal arguments by day and lurve mojo expeditions by night, as the h finally figures out where her step-cousin is and seduces the H at the same time.
The h, who hides a tender heart under her competent outer shell, is soon wildly in love with the H. They find the step-cousin and the H gets even angrier with the h because he believes the h and step-cousin are lovers. Even tho the h is hardly lover-like with the step-cousin and in fact tells him off pretty soundly as we all go back to England.
Finally the h gets a flashback memory and finds the yacht plans in her couch cushions, the h had put them there for safekeeping while she took her step-cousin to the airport in his great escape. But then she got hit while driving the step-cousin's car and lost her memory. The step-cousin goes to deliver the plans and grovel to his pregnant wife and the h irritably tells him to grow up, confess he lied about her to his wife and go paint pictures of people's yachts for a living.
The step-cousin takes off and the h is worn out, so the H drags her to his house where she spends a few days arguing with both the H about how priggishly bossy SHE is- (which was ironic cause she has been shamelessly chasing the H all through this book.) Then there is the H's kinda witchy and berating housekeeper that likes to belittle the h too. The H has to take off on business and the h goes home. Supposedly the H wants a real relationship with the h, but as three weeks go by and the h finally gets her cast off, she only gets some flowers and a card with the name of the H's English boat yard on it.
So the h once again has to be the responsible one and she goes to the H's boatyard, where he seems to be keeping company with another woman. The H and h have a black moment when it looks like their affair is over, but then the H explains the OW is an employee's wife and nothing was going on between them and that he loves the h.
The h loves him back, of course and the two decide to marry. We get a mini-epilogue where the step-cousin is now a yacht portratist for high wages, the H's sister is nice to the h now and the H and h are married and working on a baby to not only make sure the H is leg-shackled but hog-tied as well for the big HP HEA.
This one was pretty good until the H's flake out at the end. Which turned a decent book into a sorta meh one - mainly cause everyone seemed to blame their own bad behavior on the h. Especially when she was highly competent and they resented her success and then dumped their baggage on her to try and bring her down to the sub-sewer the rest of them mucked around in.
This one would have been better if the H had actually pursued the h - instead she had to sort things out AGAIN and it made for a rather mediocre HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2021
4 ½ Stars ~ I'd forgotten how fabulously Ms. Richmond can sweep you up and take you on a roller coaster ride, filled with hilarity and angst and some incredible spark. Kiel and Justine have definite spark, constantly pushing each other's buttons, thus the moniker "Deliberate Provocation".
Poor Justine; she wakes up in the hospital with a blistering headache from concussion, her arm in a cast and bruises all over. They tell her she was in an auto accident, driving her cousin's car, but no cousin in sight. Enter Kiel; he's tired from a rushed trip from Norway to find his sister's husband, David (Justine's cousin) who seems to have run away from home and inadvertently taken away some valuable design blueprints of a innovative yacht. The plans are needed for tender of a lucrative contract that will save David's shipyard from bankruptcy. Demanding to know where David is, Kiel's temper fueled by his frustration explodes when Justine doesn't remember even seeing David. When prodded to think of a place where David may retreat, Justine can only think of the island of Maderia. Without an address for the villa or the name of the villa's owner, Kiel decides to drag concussed and cast wearing Justine to remember where on the island this villa and hopefully, David may be.
I love a spark filled no words barred temper fest, and Ms. Richmond is a master at crafting them. The confrontations between Kiel and Justine are so vivid and delightfully written, like scenes in a movie only the images are in the mind of the reader. Though their bickering is a dominate part of the story, Ms. Richmond gives us some of Justine's hilarious self-talks that tones down the angst. Kiel's housekeeper is a true genius creation, with a sharp and sarcastic tongue that Kiel amusingly puts up with. This often chaotic love story kept me turning the pages. This one's for the keeper shelf.
Poor Justine; she wakes up in the hospital with a blistering headache from concussion, her arm in a cast and bruises all over. They tell her she was in an auto accident, driving her cousin's car, but no cousin in sight. Enter Kiel; he's tired from a rushed trip from Norway to find his sister's husband, David (Justine's cousin) who seems to have run away from home and inadvertently taken away some valuable design blueprints of a innovative yacht. The plans are needed for tender of a lucrative contract that will save David's shipyard from bankruptcy. Demanding to know where David is, Kiel's temper fueled by his frustration explodes when Justine doesn't remember even seeing David. When prodded to think of a place where David may retreat, Justine can only think of the island of Maderia. Without an address for the villa or the name of the villa's owner, Kiel decides to drag concussed and cast wearing Justine to remember where on the island this villa and hopefully, David may be.
I love a spark filled no words barred temper fest, and Ms. Richmond is a master at crafting them. The confrontations between Kiel and Justine are so vivid and delightfully written, like scenes in a movie only the images are in the mind of the reader. Though their bickering is a dominate part of the story, Ms. Richmond gives us some of Justine's hilarious self-talks that tones down the angst. Kiel's housekeeper is a true genius creation, with a sharp and sarcastic tongue that Kiel amusingly puts up with. This often chaotic love story kept me turning the pages. This one's for the keeper shelf.
March 18, 2018
Kiel was rather hard to like, and Justine was pretty abrasive, but it worked for me. Not a great book, but not too bad.
November 23, 2023
Ennuyant DNF
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews