The Little Dragon

by Betty Neels

Mills & Boon presents the complete Betty Neels collection. Timeless tales of heart-warming romance by one of the world’s best-loved romance authors.

She swore she would never marry a rich man!

As a private nurse to wealthy spoiled people, Constantia had seen the misery too much money could bring. Jeroen van der Giessen, though, was only a poor overworked GP, so when she found herself stranded in Delft without money or passport, and Jeroen offered marriage, Constantia accepted.

At first she was quite happy with her loveless marriage, though she thought Jeroen was being recklessly extravagant – until she began to discover things, about herself and him, that took away her new-found happiness.

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Clean Romance, Harlequin Romance

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years.(This stood her in good stead later for the tribulations to come with the Second World War). She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho

Reviews

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read. This has to be one of my favorites by Betty Neels, maybe because it deviates slightly from her other stories.

1) Boy meets girl and boy falls hard and fast, first!
2) Girl is described as lovely instead of the usual "thin, unattractive, mouse, with lovely grey eyes"
3) No beautiful, evil OW trying to get her claws into Doctor who doesn't realize how shallow OW really is. This doctor knew the value of people.
4) A great relationship where they spend quality time building a solid foundation
5) Comic relief provided by a great family

The whole "let's keep it a secret that I am wealthy" was a bit of a stretch, but it worked for me!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun! The leads are great!

[Teri-K · Rating 2 out of 5]

In many ways this is a typical Neels book. Our heroine is a British private nurse temporarily working in Holland when she is befriended by a Dutch doctor and his three nieces and nephews. They marry as friends and the story follows the usual lines, including three dogs, a cat, lots of good food, and a natural disaster.

I didn't, however, like this one as much as most, for two reasons. The doctor is particularly perfect in every way and I really liked him, but the heroine doesn't have much personality. She's supposed to be little but fierce, like a dragon, but I thought she was mostly wimpy, never speaking up for herself with her employer and never asking obvious questions of her husband. Also, he lies to her about owning the big house and the cars. He clearly tells her they belong to a relative and allows her to think they are poor.. It's not just a matter of not telling everything, which I can accept in a story like this, but he's actually lying to her, and they marry without her knowing the truth. This of course leads to a "situation" for them that has to be worked out. But it left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't really necessary, and I don't see how one can enter a marriage and expect it to work if they won't be honest with their spouse. Even in a novel.

So all in all I wasn't a big fan of this one. Too bad, as most of her books are light, fun reads.

NB - If you enjoy Neel's books join the conversation at the GR group Betty Neels Junkies. See you there!

[Sruthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I enjoyed a book so much, This one has to be one of the best Betty Neels.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Except for the heroine's lack of IQ, this is a GREAT BETTY. Read why in the blogpost that follows, verbatim:

I did so enjoy my latest Betty read, The Little Dragon. I especially appreciated the non-OW conflict. Instead, we have a heroine (who skips!) with an unreasonable hatred of wealth. Utterly unconvincing because she reaps its benefits when the hero throws delicious dinners and beautiful clothes her way. But I don’t want to make Constantia sound like a hypocrite. She’s just not terribly smart and can’t recognize either the irony of her position, or the evidence of her husband’s wealth! (That it’s a marriage-of-convenience-troped romance made it all the better for me.) It’s a bit silly, but I loved the dynamic between Constantia and Jeroen and its accompanying Betty accoutrements: food, flowers, clothes, treats, cuddle-able animals, adorable children, extended warm family, a beautiful, graceful home (where hot drinks are served in Meissen cups), and a gargantuan, handsome doctor-hero who is described with my favourite Betty adjective, “placid,” and whose actions are accompanied by the adverb, “lazily”. He even smiles “lazily”! He is the ideal of Betty safety and security, comfort and strength; when Constantia gazes at him, she sees someone who is “solid and safe and very handsome”. I loved how Betty conveyed the hero’s kindness, through acts and second-hand. The children tell Constantia about the new doggie addition to the household, magnificently named “Prince,” given his humble beginnings: “Oom Jeroen found him in a ditch and brought him home to live with us.”

The Little Dragon is standard Neels fare. The blurb summary:

She swore she would never marry a rich man! As a private nurse to wealthy spoiled people, Constantia had seen the misery too much money could bring. Jeroen van der Giessen, though, was only a poor overworked G. P., so when she found herself stranded in Delft without money or passport, and Jeroen offered marriage, Constantia accepted. At first she was quite happy with her loveless marriage, though she thought Jeroen was being recklessly extravagant–until she began to discover things, about herself and him, that took away all her new-found happiness…

Meh, I’m not sure about Constantia being able to “discover things”. She’s not that bright. Jeroen’s grandmother throws them an expensive post-wedding party … duh, Constantia. Jeroen’s sister, whose children are staying with their uncle while she and her husband are in New York on a business deal, seems to live in the most expensive part of Delft. And the servants?! They’re so happy and cuddly and appear constantly to produce delicious dinners and polish silverware. I’ll concede one point to Constantia: Jeroen does tell her he’s living in this graceful, beautiful, heirloom-filled home because a “relative” lends it to him, preferring his country estate (which is, of course, Jeroen’s own).

In truth though, this was moot for me, given how much I enjoyed the Betty accoutrements and the growing, loving relationship between Jeroen and Constantia. On their first “date”, when Constantia bumps into Jeroen while exploring Delft on her half-day-off, he treats her to tea and Constantia eats two “cream cakes”, encouraged to spear another one after the first by Jeroen himself, “Have another cake — your carbohydrates must be at a very low ebb.” Now, this is my kind of hero, the cream-cake-encouraging kind. When Jeroen invites Constantia home to have yet more tea, they have “bread and butter and jam and a large cake” with the children; after the children are in bed, they indulge in an adult coffee repast of “little chicken patties and sausage rolls.” They share many more meals and, as it was the 70s when Betty wrote her Little Dragon, they have “quiche” for lunch (I counted at least three “quiche” lunches), which Constantia considers “cordon bleu”.

Lastly, I’ve been thinking about Betty’s attitude towards work and how readily her heroines give up their nursing careers, in which there may be some drudgery, but also professional satisfaction and fulfillment. While we can throw aspersions towards Betty’s non-feminist stance, certainly, and justified too, we can also get off our feminist plinth and consider how Betty distinguishes between work and service, connecting purpose to leisure rather than career, or profit. When the heroine gives up nursing to marry the hero, it’s also to bring up their children, run a household, and enjoy hobbies (one heroine wants to pursue her embroidery). Is this a viable model for everyone? Absolutely not. Is it an idealized, circumscribed feminine 1950s utopia? Yes. On the other hand, does it elevate “work” as the sole means of realizing a life well-lived? Nope. What is important to Betty’s heroes and heroines is purpose, not “work”, even in the form of “career”. Her heroes are doctors and work hard, despite great wealth, because they take it as an natural extension of who they are to care for others. As do the heroines, until the hero comes along and provides them with a means to do the same while also being thoroughly loved, cared for, and respected. Thank you for coming to my TED talk on Betty’s undermining of the work-as-virtue ethic …

‘Nuff said, The Little Dragon is going onto the reread shelf of Betties. Miss Austen agrees.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4½ Stars ~ Orphaned at the age of six, Constantia went to live with her aunt. Her aunt died just after Constantia's nurses training had completed, so she took a position with a London hospital. She loved the work but with no family to love she found her life to be hollow. So she left the hospital and became a private nurse hoping to be better fulfilled. She found that those who could hire a private nurse were often very wealthy and most were very miserable selfish people. Working in Holland for a very wealthy woman with uncontrolled diabetes, she came to the decision that having money seemed to corrupt people. Her patient was very rude and set on having her own way, even if this lead to her health's destruction. On one of her half day's off, Constantia met a very handsome doctor, Jeroen, who drove a very beat up Fiat. They struck up an instant friendship and soon she was spending most of her half days off with him. When her patient refused to follow medical orders and fired her, she found herself homeless, and while walking to the train station she was robbed of her handbag that contained her passport and money. Luckily, Jeroen seen her wandering and came to her aid. He immediately employed her to help him look after his sister's three young children who were staying with him for several months while their parents were in America. Constantia believed Jeroen to be a hardworking GP and that the very lavish home he lived in belonged to a family member. Knowing that she has an aversion to wealthy people, he keeps secret the fact that he actually owns his home and is very rich. When the police find her passport, Jeroen suggests that instead of her returning to England she should marry him. It would be a marriage based on their friendship, and her being a nurse she understood the demands his medical practice would have on him; Constantia agrees. She fits in well in his home and finds herself wishing that Jeroen could spend more time with her.

Another charming love story from Betty Neels. For Jeroen it was love at first sight, so when Constantia told him her feelings that money made people miserable, he concealed his wealth so that she would continue to see him. His whole family is in on his deception and though no one actually says he is only a poor GP, no one corrects Constantia's beliefs. The keeping of the secret is rather over the top, but some how it all worked for me. Perhaps it's just the whole romantic and charming way that Jeroen gently sweeps her off her feet.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic Neels marriage of convenience story. Constantia, with no money or family of her own, has taken up private nursing. While nursing a wealthy busybody in Delft, Holland, she meets Dr. Jeroen van der Giessen, whom Patient Busybody describes as "poor." Constantia dislikes rich people on principle and has several outings with Jeroen, who has temporary care of his 2 nephews and niece while their parents are away. When Constantia falls out with her patient and also has her purse stolen (no money or passport), Jeroen takes her home to be a mother's help. He deliberately doesn't tell her he is rich (we never learn why he drives a beat-up Fiat when he owns both a Rolls and a Daimler) and his servants and family are all in on the deception. Of course, after they are married, an old family friend spills the beans, thus making way for The Declaration and a HEA.

I quite liked Jeroen. He seemed younger and more fun than some of TGB's staid, placid heroes. I thought Constantia a little unreasonable about her attitude about rich people, although I know that's a common sentiment.

Now for my main problem with this storyline. I understand Constantia having the mistaken idea that Jeroen had no money. The Fiat and older clothes, Mrs. Dowling and Jeroen's careful ruse. But how on earth did a woman like Mrs. Dowling have such a mistaken notion? Women like her are both gossipy and nosy; everyone in society and the community would know that Jeroen was wealthy. Mrs. Dowling would be certain to ferret out such information. That's my main bugaboo about this otherwise delightful book.

I love all the little inside jokes and secret smiles when Constantia talked about the "owner" of the house and how Jeroen had to speak of himself in the third person. I can just imagine Betty giggling to herself when she wrote those scenes!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Betty Neels.

The plot is so simple: Girl and boy meet. Boy falls in love first. Boy set up a plan to marry girl. Girl falls in love. HEA.

But what makes this story unique among all the BN books is the unheard of stunt that the hero pulled off to get her to marry him. He loved the girl so much he got his family, niece and nephews, household servants, friends and colleagues and everyone else to pretend that he was an ordinary, average-income doctor all because she declared an aversion to marrying a rich man. And of course, the heroine was gullible and trusting enough to believe him that the beautiful house, the expensive cars, and stuff were loaned by a benevolent and absent uncle.

If this was written by somebody else, I’d find it laughable. But Betty Neels is Betty Neels and this is her kind of story.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m on a Neels kick. Not sure how I got here, actually, cuz last week I was reading — and enjoying— Alexander McCall Smith’s Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse (who is a dog, an actual dog). Maybe our wintry weather took me to Neels, who can really describe snowbound scenes (An Old-Fashioned Girl). Anyway, this story takes a comedic or farcical turn, rare amongst her 100-plus books.

Constantia Morley, age 26, is a British nurse in private practice, currently in Holland contending with monied Mrs Dowling, a real downer, a demeaning and demanding diabetic.

She was a pretty girl, small and slim with nut-brown hair and wide grey eyes heavily fringed. Her nose turned up the merest trifle and her mouth was too wide, although it curved enchantingly. She looked happy too, which was surprising, for Constantia Morley, twenty-six years old and an orphan for twenty of those years, hadn’t a great deal to be happy about.

Jeroen van der Giessen, age 39, is a wealthy bachelor baron, a Dutch doctor. He pretends to be ….not monied…driving a beat-up fiat, wearing an old sheepskin coat, cuz Constantia has a low opinion of the boring rich. Probably cuz of her experiences with Demanding Dowling.

I don’t think wealthy people have much fun…’

‘You wouldn’t marry a rich man?’

She shook her head. ‘They worry about their money, don’t they?

Some quibbles:
His “my rich uncle” charade goes on for some time. Hah! Constantia is not stupid, so her gullibility doesn’t really hold water, but duplicitous Mrs Dowling did directly state that Dr Giessen was poor, so…But still, the cover-up went on too long, in my opinion. Up until the last chapter.

Neels sometimes seems a little out of touch, or she’s living in bygone days. She seems to think it’s just fine to let a five-year-old walk home alone on the busy streets of Delft. And then there’s this gem:

The next half an hour was an organised rush, culminating in her walking down the pretty little garden behind the house and seeing the three children safely into the street.

Neels has the same young child playing Monopoly, and later the children play “a rowdy game of Scrabble” — the mind boggles

Fun read anyway. They get married as friends midway through the book. Clearly they value each other. He calls her a dragon. A Little Dragon.

[Susan in NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reread this one after seeing a friend give it a high rating and I couldn't remember whether I found Constantia perky or clueless; now I remember, I thought she was both! Betty Neels' books are pure comfort food for my brain, an instant pick-me-up that I have treasured and collected for years just to have on hand, but some are favorites and others leave me cold. Too much angst, too cold of a hero, too whiny or wimpy of a heroine (rare for Betty, but it does happen), the Other Woman is too witchy, etc.

In this book I liked Constantia and understood that as a private nurse she had seen a lot of rich, spoiled, unhappy patients and felt money didn't buy happiness - so the hero, Jeroen, goes out of his way to hide his wealth, title and position so she'll accept him. Fair enough, and it was touching to see how much Constantia enjoyed being part of Jeroen's large family and household - but it was too much of a stretch for me that a no-nonsense Betty heroine who could be a successful nurse and run a ward and deal with spoiled, obnoxious private patients STILL couldn't pick up on the obvious fact that Jeroen was a successful, wealthy man. So, another lovely Betty fairy tale happy ending, and very sweet how much Jeroen loved our girl from first sight and was willing to go to such lengths to win her - just not one of my personal favorites.

[Kat Latham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book earns three stars mostly because it was such an entertaining look at relationships (and romance novels) of the 70s. The heroine, who has such a pretty face and is lovely in every way, marries Jeroen for security and to no longer be lonely.

The marriage proposal comes out of nowhere, and it's totally a rational decision on both their parts. They decide to have a celibate marriage "for a while" and by the end of the novel they haven't kissed other than on the cheek (though there's one mention of Jeroen giving her a "hard kiss", so maybe that one is on the lips?). There's not even an inkling of sexual desire, and their love is all about having someone to keep them company.

Such a fun blast to the past, especially as it had my jaw dropping over and over at how Constantia's life and dreams were pushed aside with no consideration - least of all by her - in pursuit of marriage.

We've come a long way, baby.

[elstaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this point, I go into a Betty Neels book with certain expectations. There will be a man doctor/lady nurse romance. The doctor will be just a little older than the nurse than I am comfortable with. Holland will be a major character. And the heroine will be plucky but...let's say...not too good at picking up on certain cues.

Well. I was excited by the fact that this book was titled "The Little Dragon," but from the first 20 pages expected it to be one of the more normal/less ridiculous Neels(es?) I've read. I...was incorrect.
If you pick up this edition of the book, you will notice that there are some questions asked in the back cover copy. The final question (could Jeroen be keeping something from her?) was what initially made me pick this up (aside from the title). I love a good deception romance - one of the first romance novels I ever enjoyed was Stephanie Laurens' A Secret Love, where the heroine deceived the hero pretty thoroughly, and then they had to deal with those consequences when the truth came out.

Because the truth does come out in these sorts of books. Usually. And it's fun to see how the characters move on after that, reconfiguring their views of one another.

The first third-nay, the first half-of this book proceeds pretty normally. There are the usual Neelsisms ("...but Paul said at once: 'Girls do not carry things. I will do it, Miss'" (74)), and a fixation on how pretty every part of the heroine and her actions are, but again, this is pretty standard. The situation/quote at the top of the back cover copy only appears on page 103 (of 188 pages), but given my past experience with Betty Neels, I cannot evince too much shock at this.

Except then you start to hit the 2/3 mark, and she still hasn't figured out that Jeroen is a millionaire/rich dude type who owns the house he lives in and all the accoutrements. And then you hit page 154 and start to wonder when the questions that are asked on the back cover copy are asked. At page 165, you facetiously wonder if Betty Neels just never reveals the secret, just to screw with you. But 23 pages is still an adequate amount of time for the hero and heroine to deal with the deception, you suppose, so as long as it happens soon, it will all be okay.

Page 177: you are seriously concerned, because it appears the author has indeed forgotten she has to let the heroine know what's been going on.

Page 180: Constantia [oh I didn't mention the names. The names. They're pretty great.] finally starts to ponder things.

PAGE. ONE HUNDRED. EIGHTY. ONE. OF ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY EIGHT:
"'Jeroen, I thought when we met that you were a G.P. and then I discovered that you were a professor, and now she says you're a baron. Are you a baron?'
'Yes, my dear'" (181).

I was annotating this book for a friend, but at this point my annotations had pretty much degenerated into me scrawling "AHHHHHHHH" at various points throughout each page. I did have to stop doing this at page 183, though, because I could feel my pen tearing through the paper a little after I'd underlined the following line heavily (bolded for emphasis) (because AHHHHH does not convey it):
"And yet they had all been so kind, and Regina had tried so hard to prevent Mevrouw van Hoorn from letting the cat out of the bag. It was incredible that in the weeks since she had been in Jeroen's house, she had never suspected" (183).
.
..
...

BETTY NEELS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

[Lyuda · Rating 2 out of 5]

OMG! I know I shouldn't have high expectations for Betty Neels’s books and normally would read them for comfort. But this book was just right down annoying with such a naïve clueless heroine that you wonder how in the world she finished her nursing school…

[Nell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sheer escapist bliss that is Betty Neels. A lovely typical Betty story with a lovely heroine and a nice hero

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting concept for this book.

[Cup a tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a mousy heroine this time. A perfect match for the hero.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice hero ... for once!

[Mudpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 solid stars! I really like this book despite the subterfuge by Jeroen!

Let's get it out of the way! Constantia was only 23 and an orphan, so she seemed naive and immature. Look at her skipping on the streets and pronouncements about friends to Jeroen when they first met! Her unfortunate private nursing experience made her think ALL rich people are nasty and unhappy people which was irrational. Jeroen attempted to correct her sweeping statement made ME think he must be VERY rich and bingo! A millionaire baron! Hey that was the billionaire duke in today's terms haha!

Since he'd fallen so hard for her, he'd be right to think his wealth (don't even mention his title) would frighten her away!

There were SO MANY CLUES and even Constantia saw but the light bulb on moment never came for her...I was amazed and wondered HOW Jeroen pulled it off! We knew something was up when he told the (truly lovable kids) about their "conspiracy" haha! I wonder where the army of servants hid and especially the live in faithful family retainers Rietje and Tarnus! Where did they go in the afternoons and nights? Constantia found the apartment and rooms but they were empty!

This book took on a comedic tone, but I never once felt the deception was mean, and it wasn't to trick Constantia for fun. I think the whole clan, Jeroen's partner and co-workers must have been so amazed and amused to see this eligible confirmed bachelor fall so hard he had to go through so much trouble to keep the truth from her till she's learned to love him a little!

No Other Woman or Big Misunderstanding, no unnecessary angst, so I really love this story! After Pineapple Girl I love this! When talking about the parsnip wine, Jeroen's facial expressions were priceless haha! And when thebrother-in-law and brother made slips of the tongue, the siblings gave the death glares and saved the situation! LOL I wonder now if Jeroen had more than the three cars we had seen! This book is filled with many such delightful moments and just like him calling her his Little Dragon, so adorable and sweet! Not forgetting Elizabeth the niece's strangling hugs haha!

Constantia got a ruby and diamond heirloom ring which Jeroen put on for her! That to me showed true love by then, only he had to hide it from her.

I usually disliked the no guest wedding, but in this case it was perfect. It showed how sensitive Jeroen was, not to subject her to the awkwardness and sadness of a church full of his guests and none of hers. I wondered who were the two witnesses?! Also noticed Jeroen only took her shopping AFTER hey were married...He might not have wanted her to think he minded what she wore based on what she could afford!

Constantia only discovered the truth in chapter nine; she packed her bag, but did not even manage a note before her runaway plan was foiled! I love the ending for once, Tarnus was spot on. I hope the baron and baroness were occupied with each other for the rest of the day...and night!

[Kat]

I don't even know what I can rate this. It's so very Betty Neels, with all of the bland creepiness that implies. The heroine is so incurious as to seem mentally impaired, and the hero lies to her until less than 10 pages from the end of the book, by which point they've been married for almost a month!

It was fun to read Laura's marginal notes. At least I knew that I was not alone in my frustration.

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely old fashioned romance story of its time. I would have been coming up to 13 at the time and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. A lovely typical Betty Neels story with a lovely heroine and a nice Dutch hero doctor.

[Tonya Warner]

What a wonderful story. Jeroen falls for little Constantia, but she is opposed to the rich. He, is a baron and a millionaire. A true romance. So sweet.

[Judio · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read in 1997 and then re-read now. Upgrading to a 4.

[Mellanie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13136708

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is so much to love about this story including the warmth between the two main characters from the very first meeting. But then... the lies through the whole story simply ruined it for me. :(

[Anuradha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage Betty Neels. But with a more humourous premise. She doesn't care much for the rich and idle. She's thinks money ruins their happiness.

Now our hero is a staple Betty Neels hero - a Dutch doctor. But he is also a baron, a millionaire !

So how does he overcome the girl's prejudice about the rich ? Simple, pretend to be poor :)

He befriends her, helps her when she gets into trouble, proposes a marriage of convenience. And she agrees to everything. She spends a lot of time worrying about his meagre finances and finds many extravagant habits in him that befuddles her.

A mischief making aunt finally breaks the secret. The girl is horrified and tries to flee. Of course our hero makes a grand gesture of his love and they get their HEA.

It could have been a hilarious rib tickling comedy if the author had put in a few more situations that intrigue the girl about her husband.

But until the end, his conspiracy works without a hitch and she suspects nothing.

Nevertheless, a lovely lively read. 4 stars.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might involve one of the wealthiest men in Neels' canon (a detail that makes his choice of specialty all the more puzzling) and one of the only stories in which she doesn't employ her favorite narrative device for creating conflict and suspense. The book finds its humor and forward momentum in other ways, though.

Granting that this is a romance novel, and such tales always require massive suspension of disbelief, I found the pretext for their marriage of convenience a bit thin. At least in cases of widowed fathers, there's some claim to children needing a father, but several of Neels' marriage-of-convenience books describe relationships closer to arranged marriages at the start than true cases of problem solving by romantic ends.

[Christina Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, time to take another Betty Neels break. In *this* tale of an English nurse and a Dutch doctor, the variation was that the heroine was pretty and there was no hot young Dutch girl she was threatened by. Both welcome changes, but it does irk me how Betty Neels gals just drop their nursing work like hot potatoes to keep house or watch children. Weren't some of these written after that was no longer the "goal" in life? And this gal was not the sharpest tool in the shed, not catching on that her fella was actually super rich and thinking that he liked her out of pity. Am I the only one who wants the hero to suffer too? In the romances I write there is equal-opportunity anguish. But Betty's fellas are always confident and amused by the heroines' insecurity. Blah.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, the hero is a LITTLE BIT presumptuous and pompous and the heroine sometimes too naive for the real world; the book is still a little heaven from the real world.
Betty Neels sometimes makes one wish that a man could protect and really love a woman and woo with romance...not having the heroine degraded as a sex object. Maybe I am too old fashioned for “the real world” as well since I adore these clean sweet books and seem to need one on the back burner at all times to feel that at one point in time, the world loved real romance.
Ok. Off my soapbox now.
In short: if you like reading...just read a Betty Neels and this is a cute start.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

You really have to set aside your reality check sometimes when reading a Betty Neels. But that's okay, because no-one reads them for reality.
This book requires a particularly big suspension of disbelief because the hero, adorable hero, is hiding a big secret. So big he has to get his whole family in on the subterfuge.
Jeroen van der Giessen is a Betty Neels standard hero. A rich professor who is also a Baron. He has a fabulous house. He drives gorgeous cars and is very handsome.
The only person who doesn't know this is Constantia, who believes that being rich makes you unhappy and inconsiderate. The result of doing private nursing with rich selfish hypochondriacs.
When she meets Jeroen, she is pretty cheesed off with her rich patient so her comments to him about the corrupting nature of riches are pretty sharp.
Jeroen, who fortunately was driving a cheap, battered car at the time, immediately decides that if he is to have any chance with her, she must not realise his wealth and status.
Thus we have a charming little story of a hero in pursuit and a heroine who is everything he could wish for. Constantia is pretty, unlike many Neel's heroines. She is a good nurse, kind to children and is obviously falling for him. A match made in heaving, if only she can forgive his deception.

[Viivika Tamm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Väga hea raamat "Reading Through Europe" raames! (20-s raamat 50-st. Holland)

Peategelanna on töötava turisti rollis, nii et talle tutvustatakse kohalikke vaatamisväärsusi ja olusid.

Peategelane on aga rikas arst, kes oma varalist seisundit peategelanna eest varjab. Miks? Sest peategelanna juhtub mainima, et talle rikkad inimesed ei meeldi. Natuke pingutatud konflikt, aga oli päris nauditav.