Stormy Challenge

by Jayne Ann Krentz, Stephanie James

Leya Brandon thought her heart was protected against Court Treymayne, but she had underestimated his determination to win her for his own.

He set out on a campaign to challenge her heart and storm the barriers in her mind. And before he finished, he would leave her hungering for his lean strength, shivering at his gaze and aching for the fulfillment only he could give.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Category Romance, Romantic Suspense

250 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1982

About the author

The author of over 50 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 30 million copies of her books in print.

She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.

Reviews

[Azet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deception,Seduction and Newfound Love in Oregon. A Romantic Keeper by one of my all time favourite author that deserves its 5-STARS!

A Hero hot in pursuit, the irresistible Alpha-male Court Tremayne falls instantly in love with the intelligent and bright heroine Leya Brandon. A man desperate for the one woman who have ever brought him down his knees he uses every ounce of knowledge to win her forgiveness, trust and heart.

Such charm and sensuality "Stormy Challenge" won over my expectations. Court is a man with a great heart,he may have been frustrated with impatience when it came to Leya, but with his restrain it only showed how much he loves her. With the love-scenes that raised the chemistry into another level with all the sexual tension, damn it was hot! The ending are so beautiful where we get to see them both confess their love to each other on their honeymoon.

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Stormy Challenge" is the story of Leya and Court.

A banter filled pursuit romance, this one has an INSANELY obsessed hero, who is unapologetically crazy about the heroine, and not afraid to use any means to get her, be it deception, seduction or grovel. We know since page one he will not give up on her, and when the heroine gives him a run for his money, testing his loyalty and intentions, he passes with flying colors.

Loads of banter, heated kisses and crazy jealousy in this one, mixed with some OM drama, insanity in love and a HEA.

Safe
3.5/5

[reeder (reviews) · Rating 2 out of 5]

While lying to the heroine about his name, the hero convinces her to sign a contract giving his true identity control of her family firm. Then, instead of making the hero grovel for his deception, JAK has the heroine make TWO grand gestures to prove she trusts him.

First, she signs over her shares in the family company to her brother so the hero would no longer have any business motivation for pursuing her, which also means that she can no longer use her vote to protect her brother should the hero actually be evil. Then she gets her ears pierced at the hero's request as a symbolic gesture that she trusts him.

Not only do I think it's ridiculous that the heroine is the one making these gestures when the hero is the guilty party, but signing away her inheritance makes me wish I had a "heroines who make bad financial decisions" tag. She didn't even ask her brother to buy her out. She just gave him her 50% of a company that is probably worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and could, over the course of her lifetime, potentially generate a million-plus in revenue.

And then, to really prove she trusts the hero, she has to self-mutilate so she can wear the pierced earrings he bought her. (Okay, it's a bit dramatic to describe ear piercing as self-mutilation, but the heroine had earlier described pierced ears to the hero as "physical injury for the sake of fashion," so he's pushing her to prove her love by forcing her out of her comfort zone.)

The scales just don't balance here. Where's his grovel? Where's his sacrifice to prove his love? At the very least, he should get a tattoo of her name.

JAK checklist
Pacific Northwest setting: Vacationing in Oregon, but home is Santa Rosa, California.
Familiar professions: She owns an independent bookstore, an entrepreneurial career choice at least 3 other JAK heroines will follow. In addition to being a first-class business consultant (like virtually every other JAK hero), he tinkers with electronics. (One of the reasons the heroine is so suspicious of him is that he's going to use the firm to put one of his inventions into production.) Tinkering gets mixed respect in subsequent JAK novels: sometimes it's the hobby of pathetically underperforming uncles (The Wedding Night), sometimes it's the basis of an inherited fortune (Absolutely, Positively).
What's in a name?: Well, one's true identity, for one thing. Courtland Gannon Tremayne introduces himself to the heroine as Court Gannon, but he's identified as "C. Tremayne" in the contract she signs.
Marital status: Both single. She was badly burned a year earlier by a lover who was using her as cover for his affair with a married woman (so, she's realllly sensitive about being deceived). He apparently has a history of dating vapid blondes.
Age: She's 27; he's 35-36.
Heroine's eye exam: Silvery green
Hero's eye exam: Tortoiseshell eyes: brown flecked with gold.
Hair color: Hers is a dark sable, worn in a long, thick braid. His hair apparently matches his eyes, a layered brown and gold.
Pets: None.
Vehicles spell success: He drives her around a lot in his "sleek black car," but no makes or models were namedropped.
Metaphors are for flogging: Nothing too egregious. The storm in the title is tied to the stormy Oregon coast where they were vacationing, as well as the tempestuous nature of their relationship.
Hero threatens to spank heroine: Yes ("...at the moment I might find it more satisfying to beat you than make love to you"), but much more disturbing is the way he manhandles her by tugging on that thick sable braid she wears...a lot. Also, the whole book is basically them playing sexual chicken, and twice when she pulls back, he reminds her how easy it would be to take her against her will. (The eighties: when heroines were grateful if their heroes didn't rape them. Yeesh.)

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not a good story. The hero, Court, is physically and sexually abusive throughout the first 2/3 of it, and there's no actual chemistry between him and the heroine, Leya. All they do is bicker the whole time before magically "admitting" that they love each other in the last few pages. And the thing that really appalled me is the behavior of Leya's brother, Keith. He not only encourages Court to abuse his sister, he actually helps facilitate it!! Disgusting!


To start at the beginning, we have Leya and her brother Keith as co-owners of their late father's company. Leya is supposed to be a "silent" partner in every sense of the word but technically Keith can't make any major business decisions without her consent. The story opens with Leya reviewing a contract that Keith wants to sign with a guy named "C. Tremayne" that will ensure Tremayne spends 2 years teaching Keith how to run the company, but will also give him complete authority over every decision made during those two years. Leya is wary of the contract and is immediately turned off of Tremayne when he orders Leya come into his office at a specified date so he can "deal with" her.

Leya doesn't take kindly to Tremayne's orders and condescension so she deliberately books herself a vacation during the specified meeting date and takes the contract with her so she can make her decision while she's there. She goes to a seaside inn in Oregon and meets "Court Gannon" who single-mindedly targets Leya to sweep her off her feet. She's confused by his devoted attention to her because she realizes that she's of average looks and not the sort of woman men like Court pursue so persistently. After less than two days of knowing Court, however, she apparently trusts him enough that she discusses her dilemma about the contract and asks Court for his advice. He happily tells her that she should sign the contract because he personally knows "C. Tremayne" and that he's a perfectly trustworthy guy who would never take advantage of her naive brother.

Leya isn't convinced and Court takes her for a walk on the beach where things get hot and heavy. Court has been very candid that he wants to be her lover but Leya is fighting it because she's not interested in a meaningless vacation fling - particularly because she feels it would only be meaningless for the devastatingly handsome Court while she'd be left thinking of him for years to come. That night however, Court succeeds in seducing her to the point where she allows herself to be brought up to his hotel room. They come close to doing the deed but Leya manages to stick to her guns to say no and Court lets her leave, though they're both sure that if he had continued to work his magic on her, she would have eventually surrendered.

While she's in Court's room, she takes back the contract she'd given him to review and decides to go ahead and sign it and mail it to her brother. Court's reassurances that everything is legit have finally convinced her to let her brother have his way. The next morning she calls her brother to let him know she's signed it and he happily exclaims that Tremayne must have been successful in convincing her after all. When she asks what he's talking about, Keith unconcernedly explains that Court is the infamous C. Tremayne and that it was Keith himself who had informed Court of Leya's location specifically so that he could drive up and convince her to sign the contract. And what's really disgusting is that later on in the story we find out that, before he left, Court actually came straight out and TOLD Keith that the only way to "handle" a woman like Leya was to get her into bed. So Keith knew that Court planned to seduce his sister into signing the contract and he was totally fine with it!!! That's so disgusting.

Leya is, naturally, outraged that Court deliberately hid his identify from her the whole time they've been together. Her only consolation is that she hadn't yet given in and slept with him, but she still feels like three kinds a fool for having been deceived the way she was. Court comes to take her to breakfast directly after her phone call with her brother and realizes immediately that the jig is up. Instead of apologizing to her and giving her space, he behaves in typical 1980's "hero" fashion by refusing to admit he's done anything wrong and trying to turn everything around so that it's Leya's fault. He wouldn't have "had" to resort to this deception if she'd come to his office when he ordered her to, etc.

In fact, Court’s only regret about the whole situation is that he didn't force the sex issue the night before when he had the chance because he feels that once she'd been in his bed, his unbelievable sexual prowess would have won over any possible objections to his deception. Talk about a massive ego! He goes on and on about how it's just her "feminine pride" that's been hurt but that she should just get over that so that their sexual relationship can continue where they left off...because he's decided that she absolutely WILL be his woman.

Leya, for her part, feels completely betrayed and used and doesn't want anything to do with Court. She keeps telling him, in no uncertain terms, to get lost but he refuses to leave her alone because she "belongs" to him. She threatens to call the hotel manager to force Court to leave her room but unfortunately doesn't actually make good on the threat. Instead, she agrees to go for a walk on the apparently completely deserted beach where Court sexually assaults her. He grabs her by her long braid and uses it to drag her into his arms where he proceeds to feel her up and force aggressive, unwanted kisses on her. She responds by saying "no" and punching him in the ribs, but that only makes him use even more of his brute force to subdue her. It's disgusting.

But what's even more disgusting is JAK's depiction of Leya secretly feeling desire when Court abuses her in this way and indeed throughout all his abuse in the entire book. How many real-life rapes have occurred because authors like this insisted on perpetuating the idea that when a woman says "NO!" to a brutal sexual attack, what she really means is "yes"? And how many impressionable young girls grew up reading these kinds of books and thinking that when a man forces unwanted sexual attention on you, what it really means is that he's your one true love? I'm not saying it's all JAK's fault, she was just following the conventions of romance novels of the time, but it's still chilling to think about.

For some reason, after this brutal attack, the fact that Court let her go after just forcing kisses and feeling her up, somehow makes Leya feel safe and empowered with the knowledge that he "wouldn't" actually rape her. (Gee, might as well marry the prince right now, eh?) So she allows him to drive her back to her house in Seattle. That's just idiotic. After he's broken her trust and assaulted her, the absolute LAST thing she should do is let him get her alone in a car and the next-last thing she should do is show him where she lives!!! Does this girl have no sense of self-preservation at all? Of course, keeping her address a secret was probably impossible since her douchebag brother knows where she lives and is completely on board with Court screwing his sister so he probably would have just told Court her address before giving him a slap on the back and saying "go get her, tiger!"

When he drops her off, Court orders Leya to go to dinner with him the following night. She doesn't agree but her wishes are irrelevant at this stage. The douchebag brother calls and invites Leya to a party the following night and she jumps at the chance to avoid Court's dinner date. The next evening, she gets out of her shower and finds that Court has broken into her house and is waiting for her in her bedroom when she emerges wearing just a towel. He again forces sexual advances on her, ignoring her protests and using his strength to pin her arms so that she can't prevent the towel from falling off her naked body. He again forces unwanted kisses on her and, of course, she again feels unwanted desire for this psychopath.

He then orders her to get dressed so that he can take her to this party where the douchebag brother offers lots of nods and winks and elbows in the side about how it's "obvious" that Court is indeed banging his sister and isn't that just fantastic! Court basically plasters himself to Leya's side the whole night, making sure to stare menacingly at any man who so much as looks at her so that everyone knows she's Court's property. He also, completely out of nowhere, starts accusing her of drinking too much alcohol. Even though she has less than one drink throughout the whole night he keeps ordering her to stop drinking like she's three sheets to the wind or something. It was a weird scenario since everywhere else in the story Court has no problem with Leya drinking and, in most cases, is the one supplying her with the drinks. Not to mention that Court himself is rarely without a straight-up scotch and at several points makes comments about how he "needed" the drink.

Also at this party is Leya's ex-fiance, Alex. Alex pretended to be in love with Leya because he was using her as a cover for his true relationship with a married woman; one of Leya's friends. Once the friend filed for divorce from her husband, Alex promptly dropped Leya and she was left feeling humiliated and foolish. Court notices Alex staring at Leya and demands to know who he is. You'd think that after she explains Court would recognize that Leya has been betrayed by men whom she thought were interested in her before and realize that made Court's deception that much harder for her to take. Instead all Court sees is a potential rival and orders Leya not to see Alex.

Leya finally manages to get away from Court at the party and goes out on the terrace to be alone. Alex follows her and says that he and the other woman have broken up and he now realizes what a great thing he had going with Leya so he wants to pick up where they left off. She allows him to kiss her and then tells him that he's too late; she's already in love with Court and they're engaged to be married. Alex gets angry and Court appears from the shadows to say that he and Leya are indeed engaged. The pissed off Alex storms off and then proceeds to tell everyone at the party that Leya and Court are engaged.
For some reason, Leya is so elated at Court having participated in her little revenge game that she's apparently ready to forgive and forget everything he's done to her up to that point....until the douchebag brother shows up. This is where he informs Leya that Court set out for Oregon with the sole strategy of seducing her into signing the contract in mind. Up to this point she'd been under the impression that he'd just intended to talk to her about the contract and their attraction for each other was separate. Now she feels that all of Court’s romantic overtures towards her are rooted in his business motives and that his continued pursuit of her must therefore also have an ulterior motive; such as keeping her from interfering in his plans for the company.

Leya is incensed that Court has been using seduction to try to "handle" her (although strangely unaffected by the news that her jerk brother was in on the idea) and throws a drink on Court. She then tries to leave the party but is waylaid by all the oblivious party-goers wanting to congratulate the "happy couple" on their recently "announced" engagement. In a circle of presumably sane people, Court and Leya have an ill-concealed argument and Court tells her that they're leaving the party right then and there and she can either go voluntarily or be thrown over his shoulder. She balks and he makes good on his threat to toss her over his shoulder. No one at the party does anything to stop this barbaric display or pays any attention to the fact that Leya is clearly in trouble. She begs her brother to intervene and the douchebag just laughs and says that she "brought this on herself". God, has there ever been a slimier character??

Court forces her into his car and then drives her to his apartment. Any sane woman would have made a run for it the moment the car stopped at a red light but of course Leya doesn't do this because deep down all women crave to be carried around like a sack of potatoes . She voluntarily follows Court up to his apartment where he orders her to make them tea while he changes his shirt. She meekly does this and they sit down to talk. The talking just involves Court calling her an unreasonable shrew and ignoring all the perfectly logical complaints she has about his ill-treatment of her. Once again he opts to force seduction on her because he's certain that will solve everything. And once again she's "unwillingly" swept up in desire because he's just that darn good.

He carries her off to his bedroom, despite her protests that she doesn't want to have sex, and before long they're both naked on the bed. His masterful technique has succeeded in sweeping away all of Leya's objections and by the time he's poised to enter her, she's begging for him to do it. He pauses at this point to ask her questions. Does she want him? Yes, she says she does. Does she need him? Again she says yes. Does she trust him? No, she says she doesn't. Court basically explodes with irritation. He accuses her of just trying to exact revenge on him for that silly little matter of lying to her in Oregon and then makes a completely illogical leap to say that she's abused his trust too by claiming they were engaged when getting her revenge on Alex. That they should be "square" now. When she asks why her desire for him can't just be enough he insists that no, he wants her complete surrender. She MUST say she trusts him. She basically shrugs and says that she doesn't trust him. Trust takes a long time to repair and she can't just get over his deception in only a few days. He again calls her a shrew and insists that she's just being stubborn and petty and trying to make him pay but in the long run she's hurting both of them. Then he throws on his clothes and orders her to get dressed as well so he can take her home.

The story moves on from there with Leya constantly trying to convince herself that Court must have ulterior motives for continuing to pursue her. First it was the contract, then it was because he was afraid she'd continue to be a thorn in his side during the next two years with her half-shares of the company, and finally she thinks it's just the challenge of it all. That serves as the basis for most of their fights for the rest of the book where Leya alternatively accuses him of these motives and Court tries to convince her that no, he really just wants to have sex with her and she's a shrew for not trusting him. It's ridiculous that Leya chooses to accuse Court of these things instead of focusing on the dangerously violent behavior he's been exhibiting but that's 1980's romance for you. The next time Court and Leya go out, Court changes his mind about needing Leya to trust him before they have sex. Once again they're partially naked and about to take the plunge but it's Leya who calls a halt to things now because she's decided that she really does need to trust him before they sleep together. They part ways again with Court frustrated and insisting that she's just trying to punish him.

Eventually Leya decides to call Court's perceived bluff and she signs all her shares of the company over to her douchebag brother. Now, she reasons, Court will have no reason to continue pursuing her because she has no way of interfering with how he runs the company. Court is overjoyed with her decision because he says that it secretly means she's decided to trust him. That by giving up her ability to stop his actions, it means she trusts that he won't gobble up her idiot brother's company. Leya hadn't thought about it from that angle and denies that she trusts him but Court isn't listening. He gives her a jewelry box with emerald earrings in it. They're post earrings and he knows that Leya doesn't have pierced ears. He tells her that when she's really ready to give up on punishing the both of them, she'll show it by having holes put in her flesh and wearing his earrings. That it'll show him she's willing to make a commitment to him. She asks what he'll give her in return if she makes this commitment and he says he'll agree to whatever she wants. Then he leaves for a few days of business in Silicon Valley.

While he's gone Leya basically just decides to throw in the towel on fighting him and quickly following that is the "realization" that she's loved him all along. That she fell in love with him way back in Oregon and nothing that's happened since then has killed that love. So the night before he's due back, she gets her ears pierced and puts on his earrings. The douchebag brother is hosting a party the night Court is due to return and the couple agree to meet there so Leya puts on her sexiest outfit and heads over. Upon seeing her, the brother makes more crude sexual remarks about how Court will "go crazy" when he sees her. Several men at the party proceed to devour Leya with their eyes and quite a few take the opportunity to hit on her. One is in the middle of doing just that when Court finally arrives. He makes a beeline for Leya and tells the other guy to buzz off before accusing Leya of flirting with the man. He's in a dangerously possessive mood and puts a hand on the back of Leya's neck to start forcing her out of the party. When his hand accidentally brushes against the earrings, however, he forgets his jealousy and is overjoyed that she's finally surrendered to him. When he asks what she wants from him in return, she tells him she wants marriage.

The brother shows up at that moment and Court instantly tells Keith that Leya has agreed to be his wife. Keith gives Court a bunch of "atta boy!" slaps on the back before happily excusing them from the party with a "knowing look". At this point I'm only surprised that the sleaze-ball brother didn't ask to be a spectator at their wedding night. They drive back to Leya's house where they finally sleep together for the first time. It's a fairly anti-climactic scene because they've already come so close to sleeping together so many times in the story that JAK apparently felt it was best to rush through a lot of the seductive lead-up since we'd read it all several times before. She wasn't wrong in that decision not to repeat herself, but it did make the actual big event seem less exciting than the previous "almost" encounters.

A week later they get married but Leya isn't really happy. Ever since they consummated their union the night of her brother's party, Court hasn't tried to get Leya back into bed. She frets that she shouldn't have demanded that he marry her as his part of their "earrings deal" and thinks that he's having second thoughts because he doesn't love her. Instead of talking to him about this before she takes this huge, life-changing step, she keeps quiet and goes through with the wedding. They marry and for their honeymoon Court takes her back to the Oregon Inn where they first met. He asks her what's troubling her and she admits that she should have asked for his love rather than marriage. He says that he does love her and has from the moment he saw a picture of her in her brother's office. She admits that she's loved him all along too and they have a very long conversation about how all their arguments and misunderstandings throughout the whole book were just the result of them both secretly feeling insecure and afraid of the depth of their feelings for each other.

All in all there wasn't anything satisfying about the whole story.

[Kathi Sharp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Court Tremayne is a dangerous man. I don't mean dangerous as in "ooohh chills!". I mean dangerous as in "he should be institutionalized". His possessiveness of Leya spills over into an unhealthy obsessiveness and his physical threats to her made me cold. Couldn't finish the book. I like Jayne Ann Krentz as a writer but I do not like her choice of "hero" for this book.

[Jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm heartbroken. This is the first JAK novel I didn't like. However, it is one of her early works and had been very rough around the edges. There were familiar moments which had the finesse we're used to seeing in her later works but the male character was just too alpha and rough around the edges. The contest of wills tended to border on near-date rape scenes. The novel also lacked the usual intrigue that is mixed in with the courtship. This novel was pure courtship with a little corporate manipulation but only as a means to an end.

[Jadzia · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was horrible. Possibly the worst book ever written by Ms. Krentz. The hero was so possesive I couldn't read what he was saying, it was just sick. If I ever met a man like that in the real life I'd run fast and far. And the heroine was seemingly similar to all the others, but she was lacking something. And the story was boring.

[H.M. Gooden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ye gads. Awful awful awful stereotype abound in this book. I couldn’t finish due to the domineering/abusive quality. Not sure what decade this was written but damn.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok.
The heroine (27) and the hero (36) are both rather brash. It’s a bit insta-love 1982 style. He’s possessive and slightly neurotic, and she’s the object of his affection.
Probably a believable HEA as they suited each other well, but it wasn’t the best.

[fulano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Personal reasons for dnfing. Very sexist. 🥱

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my gosh. To read one of this authors books from 3 decades ago is shocking. I generally love Jayne krentz, things and culture have really changed.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have loved all the dozens of works by this author...except this one.

Too much sexual assault (or forcible seduction if one is being VERY charitable), too much arrogance. Hated both characters.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Flag on the field!

The "hero" in this book is so, so awful. He is manipulative, abusive, and a stalker. He lies to her the entire time. He yanks her hair to refuse to allow her to leave. He illegally enters her home to watch her naked. He controls how much alcohol she is permitted to drink and who she is allowed to talk to. He insists that she alter her body to prove her love. All of it is abusive and gross.

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book while I was looking for something else, and I decided to get it too. It was a quick read (just over 2 hours), but I thought the story was pretty well written. I'm not sure I'dve fallen in love with Court - he was kind of a jerk - but I did like Leya.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG FANTASTIC!

There is absolutely nothing in this world that is better than a JAK romance. It doesn't matter which name she is writing under her books satisfy everything a romance is supposed to be.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of her older books so there's still that 70's battle of the sexes vibe. It's still a good read.
PG13

[Annette Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and amusing bantering between two very strong personalities! Delightful

[RW Mueller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abuse is not romance. An aggressive male like the main character is not a "romantic hero"; he is a classic example of how an abuser courts a woman. He shows all the typical behaviors: controlling, possessive, jealous, easily angered, seductive then threatening rape when she resists. He literally invades her space by breaking into her house and refusing to leave. He belittles her by calling her a "shrew who needs taming" just because she shows independence and expresses an opinion. He even pulls her hair when she tries to get away from him. His behavior is obsession, not love.
I finished the book because I usually enjoy this author and kept expecting this character to show some redeeming qualities before the end of the book. Didn't happen.
If this were a real-life situation, I wouldn't predict a "happily ever after" marriage. The woman would more likely end up in divorce court, a shelter for abused women, or the morgue.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jayne Ann Krentz is one of my favorite authors, I've read pretty much everything she's written in the last two decades, so I thought I would try her earlier works. This is one of them, written originally under the pseudonym of Stephanie James in the 80's and it is obvious that this is one of her earlier romances and that it was published by Harlequin. This book doesn't have the substance that her more recent romances do, it is a bit of Harlequin-style fluff. An ok read, one that makes it obvious that she has gotten much better with experience.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a man! He is a very determined, possessive, passionate, jealous man. I like a H in pursuit and this H is very much in overdrive haha. At least she’ll never have to worry if he wants her.

The H is for me 5 stars, but I take 1 star off because of the annoying h. The scene in which she lets her ex kiss her is just stupid. She acted childish so often, she spoilt a bit the fun of reading which is a shame. But the H makes this book work, at least for me.

[Joanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated the characters. Tried to finish this book but got Half way through then decided that I was just wasting time.

[Shani · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.4*

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Courts behavior was abusive and very rapey. No thank you.

[Kellyn Dwyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me glad I missed the 80s.

[Mara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable. Really badly written, confusing and with weird characterization.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very early Jayne Ann Krentz (1982), this one is repetitive and does not flow well. Added to that, my copy has a lot of typos, so it does not read smoothly on that level either. I didn't care for Court's bullish behavior nor Leya's illogical interpretation of Court's behavior, which is the subject of the repetitive nature of this book. Nevertheless, any Jayne Ann Krentz is better than none, so I re-read this book from time to time. In fact six times so far, yet it isn't growing on me as some do.

[Barbi Huhn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was awful! I did not even finish reading it since I got so upset with the male lead, Court, breaking into Leya's home. She didn't call the cops or anything else. She just stood there shocked that he had done it. Plus, every time he wanted to bring her closer to him, he wrapped her braid around his hand and tugged. She complained every time but kept doing it to her.
I stopped reading this book before Court became even more abusive because that is the path that this book was headed on.
UGH!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krentz in the beginning but always good.
I just reread this novel and as always well-written and a sign of the times. However this time around I noticed even more so that Krentz puts in the fact that they are really both chained to each other and no one is domineering. A slow beginning to the changing times.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, this was okay. Not one of my favourites. Basically the man pursues the woman with a single mind intent and then maybe learns he was a bit heavy handed. But hey, they came to an understanding and it's all good. *rolls eyes*

[Tessa in Mid-Michigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor writing, plot and everything else. Too much of 50 shades kind of behavior from the guy--really disturbing. And it didn't make sense in places nor was there much cohesion when it did make sense. Uneven and not recommended.