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The Awakened Heart
"SHOULDN'T THERE BE LOVE, AS WELL?"
Devastated by a love affair that had gone wrong, Sophie was determined to avoid any more heartache. Then one day the brilliant brain surgeon Rijk van Taak appeared in her life. He, too, had been hurt in the past--and made it clear that he now wanted a companion rather than a wife. Sophie was pleased to accept his proposal on that basis alone--but her heart seemed to have other ideas!
Devastated by a love affair that had gone wrong, Sophie was determined to avoid any more heartache. Then one day the brilliant brain surgeon Rijk van Taak appeared in her life. He, too, had been hurt in the past--and made it clear that he now wanted a companion rather than a wife. Sophie was pleased to accept his proposal on that basis alone--but her heart seemed to have other ideas!
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1994
65 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Betty Neels
582 books419 followersEvelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years.(This stood her in good stead later for the tribulations to come with the Second World War). She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.
In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.
When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.
Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.
Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.
To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho
In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.
When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.
Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.
Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.
To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
December 3, 2010
Well, for one thing, the back blurb is a bit misleading...
Sophie Blount's one brush with love was when she was 19(!!)--he broke her heart, so in the years since, she has remained heart-whole and leery of falling in love again --doesn't want the pain when it goes wrong, you know.
Dr Rijk van Taak ter Wijsma (one of Betty's more tongue twisty names for her Rich Dutch Doctor) falls for Sophie at first sight!
So Neels plot 17B swings into action. He courts her in a very low-key manner, but he is there all the time! Tells her it's friendship, to lull her into agreeing to marry him. Well, dear Sophie has her Dawning Realization the day before the wedding and decides that she can make him love her, yes she can.
Dear ole' Rijk is keeping it so low-key and friendly though, Sophie despairs of making any progress. And then of course, we must have the "other woman" misunderstanding. (Which could easily have been cleared up with no drama, but would have left the book 30 pages short!)
Nothing outstanding here, but a nice riff on a standard theme.
Sophie Blount's one brush with love was when she was 19(!!)--he broke her heart, so in the years since, she has remained heart-whole and leery of falling in love again --doesn't want the pain when it goes wrong, you know.
Dr Rijk van Taak ter Wijsma (one of Betty's more tongue twisty names for her Rich Dutch Doctor) falls for Sophie at first sight!
So Neels plot 17B swings into action. He courts her in a very low-key manner, but he is there all the time! Tells her it's friendship, to lull her into agreeing to marry him. Well, dear Sophie has her Dawning Realization the day before the wedding and decides that she can make him love her, yes she can.
Dear ole' Rijk is keeping it so low-key and friendly though, Sophie despairs of making any progress. And then of course, we must have the "other woman" misunderstanding. (Which could easily have been cleared up with no drama, but would have left the book 30 pages short!)
Nothing outstanding here, but a nice riff on a standard theme.
June 1, 2024
⭐️⭐️ two stars -
I’m a fairly new member of the “Betty Neels Fanatics” group here on Goodreads. After reading this recent sad representation of this popular Mills and Boon author’s normally stellar work, I’ve decided that I need to pay more attention to the reviews and group member comments.
Why? Main reason being that this story, “The Awakened Heart” was a total waste of precious book-reading time.
As I lumbered my way through this dull tale, I remained uninterested in this “very boring Romeo and Juliet” - to loosely quote a memorable line from one of my favorite Georgette Heyer novels, “Frederica”. You can find my review of that favorite romance treasure here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sophie and Rijk were as dull as dishwater. Nothing of interest happened and the lack of romance was supremely annoying to this reader!
This whole story lacked any type of emotional feeling. To compound this lack of any type of romantic feeling from either mc throughout this entire DULL story, there was a complete lack of emotional payoff at the end for this reader. What little romance Neels conjured up at the finish was as equally as dull as the entire novel, and was in no way satisfying for this reader.
Part of the dullness from the story stems from our very dull and silly heroine. Sophie is too emotionally stunted to realize that she is in love with our Hero, and this makes for a story without an emotional backbone. I did not care for this lack of depth from our heroine, and the lack of emotional story development is what kills the romance here.
When you pick up a M&B you expect romance, right? This reader sure does. Without an emotional payoff, this makes a poor Neels choice, and a poor romance.
For me, I’ll be checking out my fellow Harley and M&B reviewers for other Neels recommendations. If you’re new to Neels, I’d tell you to pass on this one. My favorite story from her “Saturday’s Child”. You can read my review of that wonderfully told romance here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Feel free to skip “The Awakened Heart”. Neels has much better romantic stories that showcase romance with her signature charters of the RDD (Rich Dutch Doctor) and an over-worked English Nurse.
Pass on this poor representation of a romance from favored M&B author, Neels.
I’m a fairly new member of the “Betty Neels Fanatics” group here on Goodreads. After reading this recent sad representation of this popular Mills and Boon author’s normally stellar work, I’ve decided that I need to pay more attention to the reviews and group member comments.
Why? Main reason being that this story, “The Awakened Heart” was a total waste of precious book-reading time.
As I lumbered my way through this dull tale, I remained uninterested in this “very boring Romeo and Juliet” - to loosely quote a memorable line from one of my favorite Georgette Heyer novels, “Frederica”. You can find my review of that favorite romance treasure here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sophie and Rijk were as dull as dishwater. Nothing of interest happened and the lack of romance was supremely annoying to this reader!
This whole story lacked any type of emotional feeling. To compound this lack of any type of romantic feeling from either mc throughout this entire DULL story, there was a complete lack of emotional payoff at the end for this reader. What little romance Neels conjured up at the finish was as equally as dull as the entire novel, and was in no way satisfying for this reader.
Part of the dullness from the story stems from our very dull and silly heroine. Sophie is too emotionally stunted to realize that she is in love with our Hero, and this makes for a story without an emotional backbone. I did not care for this lack of depth from our heroine, and the lack of emotional story development is what kills the romance here.
When you pick up a M&B you expect romance, right? This reader sure does. Without an emotional payoff, this makes a poor Neels choice, and a poor romance.
For me, I’ll be checking out my fellow Harley and M&B reviewers for other Neels recommendations. If you’re new to Neels, I’d tell you to pass on this one. My favorite story from her “Saturday’s Child”. You can read my review of that wonderfully told romance here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Feel free to skip “The Awakened Heart”. Neels has much better romantic stories that showcase romance with her signature charters of the RDD (Rich Dutch Doctor) and an over-worked English Nurse.
Pass on this poor representation of a romance from favored M&B author, Neels.
September 20, 2015
Another book with an intelligent, sensible heroine. I've asked myself why I enjoy these stories so much when I'm not usually a fan of straight romance. However, these books are more like slice-of-life fiction, which I love. There's no angst, no lust, no sex or profanity, just a quick peek into a young woman's life. We get to see her job, family, friends, home, and a bit of her heart. Then somehow that's shaken up and we watch her deal with the changes. Not big changes, though, no one is kidnapped or anything. Just a relationship that takes it's time revealing itself and a few little complications. Lovely stories for a quiet evening reading. This was especially nice, maybe one of my favorites. But then I'm a sucker for winter scenes and big dogs. :)
October 28, 2013
The book opens with a scene in which the heroine is standing still in the street and hero a couple floors above her is watching her from the window. He goes out to her and she told him that her shoe is caught in a grate. She can't free herself because her hands are full (with two bags) and the shoe is a lace up. Not a promising start, as I can't understand why she doesn't just put the bags down, bend down and untie her own shoelace.
The hero doesn't seem to mind though. He pretty much right away starts finding all about the heroine, visiting her at her crummy little apartment, taking her for drives into the country, and dropping her off at her parents' house. Next thing you know he's throwing an arm around her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek, in front of her parents! All very inexplicable, but he seems to know what he wants. This is, by the way, less than 20% the way into the book.
The outings and rides home continue until a third of the way through the book, when the hero asks the heroine to marry him. Then it's off to Holland and his amazing huge house, which has a tower with an onion dome.
Once they are married things seem to be going along swimmingly, if platonically. But we are only 75% of the way through the book, so clearly something has to happen. And it does, when the heroine sees her husband getting into a car, laughing with a pretty woman. Does he explain when she sees him later? Does she ask him about it? Of course not. That would solve the conflict. Instead our intrepid heroine does needlework and weeps into a pillow. And that's our heroine floundering and flailing around in the dark, while the hero looks on apparently indifferent. Things only get cleared up once the heroine makes a complete fool of herself based on a misunderstanding, giving the hero an opportunity to be quite angry with her for a bit, despite the fact that it was his refusal to communicate clearly that began the whole problem.
The book starts really promisingly and has some really nice romantic bits towards the beginning, but about two thirds through it takes a turn for the blah, becoming slightly depressing, even.
The hero doesn't seem to mind though. He pretty much right away starts finding all about the heroine, visiting her at her crummy little apartment, taking her for drives into the country, and dropping her off at her parents' house. Next thing you know he's throwing an arm around her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek, in front of her parents! All very inexplicable, but he seems to know what he wants. This is, by the way, less than 20% the way into the book.
The outings and rides home continue until a third of the way through the book, when the hero asks the heroine to marry him. Then it's off to Holland and his amazing huge house, which has a tower with an onion dome.
Once they are married things seem to be going along swimmingly, if platonically. But we are only 75% of the way through the book, so clearly something has to happen. And it does, when the heroine sees her husband getting into a car, laughing with a pretty woman. Does he explain when she sees him later? Does she ask him about it? Of course not. That would solve the conflict. Instead our intrepid heroine does needlework and weeps into a pillow. And that's our heroine floundering and flailing around in the dark, while the hero looks on apparently indifferent. Things only get cleared up once the heroine makes a complete fool of herself based on a misunderstanding, giving the hero an opportunity to be quite angry with her for a bit, despite the fact that it was his refusal to communicate clearly that began the whole problem.
The book starts really promisingly and has some really nice romantic bits towards the beginning, but about two thirds through it takes a turn for the blah, becoming slightly depressing, even.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2020
A just-OK read from Betty that was pretty forgettable ("the one where the heroine gets her shoe caught"--and as another reviewer notes, why didn't she just put her bags down to free it?). All the familar BN elements were there, but it was boooring. No quietly seething heroine or infuriating RDD. Hastily sketched secondary characters and locations. The first 70+ pages involve our hero courting the sleep-deprived and cranky night-shift-nurse heroine by taking her out for drives and breakfast. Did I mention boring?
Everyone was so very polite. There's an MoC, but so little tension or real conflict that the story seems to just plod along familiar lines with no real color or detail. There's a very silly Big Misunderstanding that the heroine could have cleared up within seconds--and zero reason why she wouldn't. The OW is not even one of Betty's deliciously hateful OW--it's all just the heroine jumping to ridiculous conclusions for no reason at all.
This was Betty's first book (of 4) in 1993, written when she was 84, and while I find Betty's later offerings hit or miss, she showed with the next book she issued (At Odds With Love) that she could still write a fun and compelling, if familiar, book. But this one was just a miss for me. The only interesting moments for me were when the hero reveals that he flies a plane (I expected a near-death plane crash scare after that, but no dice); the hero's elderly father, a retired RDD, is a speed demon (as are all self-respecting RDDs); and the hero tells the heroine he is "dangerously" angry when she FINALLY, within a few pages of the end, unloads all her suspicions upon him.
I've read probably 50 BNs by now and I seem to have an astonishing tolerance for her repetition of plots and familiar elements, largely because I find that she usually writes characters who, no matter how ridiculous (oh! the stock they put in the things that people they despise tell them) are usually likable and well-developed. Not the case here.
Everyone was so very polite. There's an MoC, but so little tension or real conflict that the story seems to just plod along familiar lines with no real color or detail. There's a very silly Big Misunderstanding that the heroine could have cleared up within seconds--and zero reason why she wouldn't. The OW is not even one of Betty's deliciously hateful OW--it's all just the heroine jumping to ridiculous conclusions for no reason at all.
This was Betty's first book (of 4) in 1993, written when she was 84, and while I find Betty's later offerings hit or miss, she showed with the next book she issued (At Odds With Love) that she could still write a fun and compelling, if familiar, book. But this one was just a miss for me. The only interesting moments for me were when the hero reveals that he flies a plane (I expected a near-death plane crash scare after that, but no dice); the hero's elderly father, a retired RDD, is a speed demon (as are all self-respecting RDDs); and the hero tells the heroine he is "dangerously" angry when she FINALLY, within a few pages of the end, unloads all her suspicions upon him.
I've read probably 50 BNs by now and I seem to have an astonishing tolerance for her repetition of plots and familiar elements, largely because I find that she usually writes characters who, no matter how ridiculous (oh! the stock they put in the things that people they despise tell them) are usually likable and well-developed. Not the case here.
April 7, 2022
I’ve read numerous romances by ‘The Betty’. Some were four stars (I have never given 5), most were three, a few twos and even a couple of ones. If I gave it a one, I believed at the end the H/h would not stay married. One or both of the MCs’ personalities were awful (IMHO) and I saw divorce as a real possibility.
In The Awakened Heart, conflicts arose from the internal thoughts of the h, Sophie Blount. There was no OW or OM, missing parents, scheming sisters or nasty relatives. Sophie was confident yet prickly in her personality. Though she had dated, she lacked wisdom and judgment. And yet...
Dr. Rijk van Taak ter Wijsma fell in love almost immediately after meeting the young nurse. At every available moment (he was a very busy man) Rijk was wooing her softly. Too bad, Sophie was clueless even when he asked for her hand in marriage. And naturally, in Betty's land, it would be a marriage of convenience. Until it wasn't.
I lost patience with Sophie more than once. Except for her good looks, I never understood why the good doctor kept pursuing her, BUT I liked his character. There was a minor misunderstanding towards the end that would have been solved immediately if Sophie communicated her frustrations to Rijk. All in all, I found it a three-star read.
In The Awakened Heart, conflicts arose from the internal thoughts of the h, Sophie Blount. There was no OW or OM, missing parents, scheming sisters or nasty relatives. Sophie was confident yet prickly in her personality. Though she had dated, she lacked wisdom and judgment. And yet...
Dr. Rijk van Taak ter Wijsma fell in love almost immediately after meeting the young nurse. At every available moment (he was a very busy man) Rijk was wooing her softly. Too bad, Sophie was clueless even when he asked for her hand in marriage. And naturally, in Betty's land, it would be a marriage of convenience. Until it wasn't.
I lost patience with Sophie more than once. Except for her good looks, I never understood why the good doctor kept pursuing her, BUT I liked his character. There was a minor misunderstanding towards the end that would have been solved immediately if Sophie communicated her frustrations to Rijk. All in all, I found it a three-star read.
April 12, 2021
You know, this is another story where on second read my rating dramatically changed.
I absolutely loved this story. Nothing is too over the top. A bit of OW drama at the end but it wouldn't be a Betty Neels story if there weren't some OW floating around to make mischief. For me, the difference was the hero. He was much more complex than I gave him credit for the first time. He was also absolutely scrumptious. He knew what he wanted and he knew what obstacles lay ahead. So it was great to see him weaving through them. The poor heroine didn't stand a chance.
A lovely lovely story...............
My original review is below. It was very brief. :D
______________________________
yawn!
I absolutely loved this story. Nothing is too over the top. A bit of OW drama at the end but it wouldn't be a Betty Neels story if there weren't some OW floating around to make mischief. For me, the difference was the hero. He was much more complex than I gave him credit for the first time. He was also absolutely scrumptious. He knew what he wanted and he knew what obstacles lay ahead. So it was great to see him weaving through them. The poor heroine didn't stand a chance.
A lovely lovely story...............
My original review is below. It was very brief. :D
______________________________
yawn!
December 6, 2023
This was sweet, but nothing really happened. I don’t even know what the time in the book was spent on. I was left with the impression that this was about 3/4 of a book.
May 18, 2025
So, I just discovered this author and am having myself a little Betty Neels binge. Her stories are very simlar but there's something so sweet about the characters and their love story that I'm gobbling them up one at a time. Even though these stories were written in the 80's and 90's, they have the innocence of a much earlier time which is pretty delightful. Sort of D. E. Stevenson but a bit more formula and fluffy.
January 11, 2026
3.5, I’d say. I enjoyed it but there are better Bettys. I do like Sophie and Rijk very much. Their families are both lovely. And the OW is actually a very nice woman whose actions are misconstrued by Sophie thanks to a mean gossip. I love the bits towards the end about the cold, snow, and ice skating. Oh, the only odd thing about this one was that Sophie has a cat called Mabel who is never mentioned again after chapter five. Very unusual!
September 28, 2016
This otherwise TGB standard MOC has a charming opening scene. Rijk van Taak ter Wijsma is looking out a hospital window and sees a young woman standing quite still on a sidewalk with a "look of deep concentration on her face." He goes to see what is the matter and if he can be of assistance. The heel of her shoe has wedged into grate and, being a lace up and her arms full of groceries, she cannot get herself free. He takes her foot out of the shoe, wiggles the shoe free, replaces the she want her foot and then she is on her way.
When he sees her later in the hospital, he asks who she is, and is told that she is named Sophie and is night sister and casualty. Like wastes no time in becoming acquainted with her and pretty quickly makes the standard RDD moves - The occasional meal out, taking her to his London pied-à-terre, and driving her home for her days off. It isn't long until he proposes a MOC. She agrees to go to Holland with him for a week to meet his family and get a glimpse of his lifestyle.
Sophie is an Olivia - tall, shapely and beautiful with long dark hair. Now we have hints that Rijk fell in love with Sophie at first sight. The reason for the MOC in this book is that Sophie has a Past - she fell in love at age 19 and he married a small, dainty rich widow. This has put her off romance forever. Wink wink.
So in Holland, Sophie learns that Rijk is not just a successful doctor, but very wealthy. He has a large and delightful family, as well as a beautiful, servant-stocked home.
Rijk takes Sophie home; she spends Christmas with her family while Rijk is performing brain surgery in Greece. He sends her a basket a red roses on Christmas Eve.
He comes back; Sophie agrees to marry him - he gives her the family engagement ring and they make arrangements with the local rector. Sophie wakes up in the middle of the night - she suddenly knows she has fallen in love with Rijk.
After they are married, things are going well until one day, Sophie arrives at the hospital to meet Rijk and sees him leaving with an attractive older woman - the infamous OW. Sophie doesn't know it at the time, but Irena van Moeren is the rare OW who isn't a Veronica.
Irena and her husband, Jerre, are old friends; Jerre had a brain tumor which Rijk operated on. Irena explains this to Sophie, who had been angry and nasty to Rijk the night before, and Irena takes Sophie to the hospital. Although Rijk isn't there, Sophie tracks him down and explains and says she loves him. He reciprocates. Abrupt ending.
Sophie's mother provides an interesting voice. She sees that Rijk is in love with Sophie and her inner narrative gives insight into his actions. We also see occasional flashes of Rijk's POV. Pretty typical Neels MOC, but with some special details - the initial meeting, strong secondary characters and of course the usual clothes, food and travelogue bits. 3 1/2 stars.
When he sees her later in the hospital, he asks who she is, and is told that she is named Sophie and is night sister and casualty. Like wastes no time in becoming acquainted with her and pretty quickly makes the standard RDD moves - The occasional meal out, taking her to his London pied-à-terre, and driving her home for her days off. It isn't long until he proposes a MOC. She agrees to go to Holland with him for a week to meet his family and get a glimpse of his lifestyle.
Sophie is an Olivia - tall, shapely and beautiful with long dark hair. Now we have hints that Rijk fell in love with Sophie at first sight. The reason for the MOC in this book is that Sophie has a Past - she fell in love at age 19 and he married a small, dainty rich widow. This has put her off romance forever. Wink wink.
So in Holland, Sophie learns that Rijk is not just a successful doctor, but very wealthy. He has a large and delightful family, as well as a beautiful, servant-stocked home.
Rijk takes Sophie home; she spends Christmas with her family while Rijk is performing brain surgery in Greece. He sends her a basket a red roses on Christmas Eve.
He comes back; Sophie agrees to marry him - he gives her the family engagement ring and they make arrangements with the local rector. Sophie wakes up in the middle of the night - she suddenly knows she has fallen in love with Rijk.
After they are married, things are going well until one day, Sophie arrives at the hospital to meet Rijk and sees him leaving with an attractive older woman - the infamous OW. Sophie doesn't know it at the time, but Irena van Moeren is the rare OW who isn't a Veronica.
Irena and her husband, Jerre, are old friends; Jerre had a brain tumor which Rijk operated on. Irena explains this to Sophie, who had been angry and nasty to Rijk the night before, and Irena takes Sophie to the hospital. Although Rijk isn't there, Sophie tracks him down and explains and says she loves him. He reciprocates. Abrupt ending.
Sophie's mother provides an interesting voice. She sees that Rijk is in love with Sophie and her inner narrative gives insight into his actions. We also see occasional flashes of Rijk's POV. Pretty typical Neels MOC, but with some special details - the initial meeting, strong secondary characters and of course the usual clothes, food and travelogue bits. 3 1/2 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2011
I am not sure if I liked the book or not.. I could never get it rolling.. I dont know if that was because of the setting or the charaters or the writer. The story could have been so much more.
January 4, 2018
This could have been a 4* if not for the abrupt ending! For that I give this 3.5*
The opening scene could have been soooo romantic if not for the hero's look after he helped remove the heroine's heel which got stuck in the gutter. To think he went to her all the way from the room in the hospital across the street. She was baffled by his kind help but impatient fierce look, but little did she know he fell in love at first sight with her then. *swoon*
The hero Rijk/Professor was unbelievably forward in that very early on he started to kiss or touch our heroine Sophie, though in a friendly and seemingly platonic manner. Nothing to freak her out haha!
He tried so hard to come across as a friend only requiring companionship from her, not love, yet his little looks and touches betrayed his real feelings to us readers and her mother! His whole family believed them in love anyway so our heroine could be so blind...or just innocent and naive. The whole marriage of convenience ploy was for him to "secure" Sophie first and make her fall for him. Sneaky Rijk!
All his driving back and forth and travelling made my head spin. So far he's the busiest doctor hero I have read LOL.
The "Other Woman" served to add some angst to the end, forcing Sophie to express her feelings rather than keep up the act.
But darn it I really wanted more sweet and tender scenes between them!
The opening scene could have been soooo romantic if not for the hero's look after he helped remove the heroine's heel which got stuck in the gutter. To think he went to her all the way from the room in the hospital across the street. She was baffled by his kind help but impatient fierce look, but little did she know he fell in love at first sight with her then. *swoon*
The hero Rijk/Professor was unbelievably forward in that very early on he started to kiss or touch our heroine Sophie, though in a friendly and seemingly platonic manner. Nothing to freak her out haha!
He tried so hard to come across as a friend only requiring companionship from her, not love, yet his little looks and touches betrayed his real feelings to us readers and her mother! His whole family believed them in love anyway so our heroine could be so blind...or just innocent and naive. The whole marriage of convenience ploy was for him to "secure" Sophie first and make her fall for him. Sneaky Rijk!
All his driving back and forth and travelling made my head spin. So far he's the busiest doctor hero I have read LOL.
The "Other Woman" served to add some angst to the end, forcing Sophie to express her feelings rather than keep up the act.
But darn it I really wanted more sweet and tender scenes between them!
May 20, 2020
This is the first time that I've ever read a book by Betty Neels (1909-2001). I knew going in that her books are known for having unglamorous nurses falling in love with forceful Dutch doctors. Given that Neels did not begin writing until 1969 when she was 60 years old, I expected her novels to be a bit old-fashioned. Unlike some Harlequin writers like Anne Mather whose output graduated from the regular Harlequin Romance line to the racier Harlequin Presents, Neels was firmly a fixture of the former due to the tameness of her romances. That's not a bad thing of course, although (as a result of being written by Neels) our 27 year old heroine Sophie seems to be leading the quiet life of an old lady with her pet cat Mabel, when she's not at her exhausting nursing job. (Sophie's age is indicated on page 63, but math is involved.) When the visiting Dutch doctor Rijk asks her to marry him -- not out of love, but simply because they are good friends who have no foolish romantic notions -- Sophie eventually agrees.
Annoyingly, it is assumed that she will drop her nursing career to become his wife, which she does so without a thought of keeping her job. When this novel was published in the early 1990s, young women living in London in real life might have spent their off-hours attending a rave party or listening to Radiohead. But Neels was 85 years old when this book was published as Harlequin Romance #3339 (Dec. 1994) and it's only to be expected that her heroine is naturally going to be more like a 1950s young woman than a modern one. (The reason that the novel is copyright 1993 is because it was published that year by Mills & Boon in the UK before its North American publication by Harlequin.) Some readers may feel that the old-fashionedness adds to the book's charm and gives it a kind of universal appeal (the text lacking any pop culture references to pin a date on it), like the reader is entering Neels' world and either "gets" it and finds it a comforting read or wants something more contemporary, something that it never tried to be, and doesn't. One big drawback to the old-fashioned style is that the perspective is almost continually from Sophie's POV. When Rijk smiles enigmatically, we don't know why because Neels doesn't let us get inside his head much. This can give the story a kind of claustrophobic feeling, since we are spending so much time with Sophie and her confused feelings, and none on Rijk's internal thoughts.
The slow pace and the lack of action caused me to spend a lot more time reading this 189-page novel than I should have. The gimmick of this story is that Rijk married Sophie because he is in love with her, but she doesn't know that (and neither does the reader for certain). Eventually she falls in love with him, but is afraid to reveal this love because she assumes he didn't want to marry for love. This misunderstanding on her part, and then getting jealous of a woman that he knows, makes the book read like a romance novel from the 1950s instead of the 1990s. And the last third of the book, where the couple relocate to his home in Holland, was a bit of a chore to read as I waited for the expected ending where the misunderstandings are resolved and the married couple admits their love for each other. Every writer has their own favorite words and phrases that they use over and over again, and it was during this last third of the book that I noticed the word "presently" frequently appearing, which added to my irritation. This book started out as a 3-star read for me, but by the last third of the novel, my rating descended a notch. So I'm going to give this book only 2.5 stars. Some people might love this sort of predictable old-fashioned romance novel, but I did not and will be reluctant to try another Neels book anytime soon. (Maybe next year.)
Annoyingly, it is assumed that she will drop her nursing career to become his wife, which she does so without a thought of keeping her job. When this novel was published in the early 1990s, young women living in London in real life might have spent their off-hours attending a rave party or listening to Radiohead. But Neels was 85 years old when this book was published as Harlequin Romance #3339 (Dec. 1994) and it's only to be expected that her heroine is naturally going to be more like a 1950s young woman than a modern one. (The reason that the novel is copyright 1993 is because it was published that year by Mills & Boon in the UK before its North American publication by Harlequin.) Some readers may feel that the old-fashionedness adds to the book's charm and gives it a kind of universal appeal (the text lacking any pop culture references to pin a date on it), like the reader is entering Neels' world and either "gets" it and finds it a comforting read or wants something more contemporary, something that it never tried to be, and doesn't. One big drawback to the old-fashioned style is that the perspective is almost continually from Sophie's POV. When Rijk smiles enigmatically, we don't know why because Neels doesn't let us get inside his head much. This can give the story a kind of claustrophobic feeling, since we are spending so much time with Sophie and her confused feelings, and none on Rijk's internal thoughts.
The slow pace and the lack of action caused me to spend a lot more time reading this 189-page novel than I should have. The gimmick of this story is that Rijk married Sophie because he is in love with her, but she doesn't know that (and neither does the reader for certain). Eventually she falls in love with him, but is afraid to reveal this love because she assumes he didn't want to marry for love. This misunderstanding on her part, and then getting jealous of a woman that he knows, makes the book read like a romance novel from the 1950s instead of the 1990s. And the last third of the book, where the couple relocate to his home in Holland, was a bit of a chore to read as I waited for the expected ending where the misunderstandings are resolved and the married couple admits their love for each other. Every writer has their own favorite words and phrases that they use over and over again, and it was during this last third of the book that I noticed the word "presently" frequently appearing, which added to my irritation. This book started out as a 3-star read for me, but by the last third of the novel, my rating descended a notch. So I'm going to give this book only 2.5 stars. Some people might love this sort of predictable old-fashioned romance novel, but I did not and will be reluctant to try another Neels book anytime soon. (Maybe next year.)
December 18, 2025
3.3 stars. hmm.... not sure what to make of this one. it had that cozy betty neels vibe but it wasn't among my faves. it wasn't boring either but I guess the tropes in this one just weren't for me:
1. he falls first but she doesnt trust love and is oblivious so he sets out to make her love him. this has worked well in other betty books, but here the overall lack of other real story tension/conflict made it a bit dull
2. when she realises she is in love with him, now we have a situ where they both love each other but think they must make the other fall in love. I find that setup isn't enough story tension for an angst lover like me either.
also, the book description says "He too had been hurt in the past" and that is untrue. he was not nursing a cynical/broken heart, which would have made the story more interesting. very annoying to be misled.
THE PLOT
Big beautiful Sophie (27?) is a nurse at a hospital. one day, RDD Rijk (a visiting consultant) sees her out of the hospital window getting jostled by a crowd. he goes down to the street and finds her shoe heel is stuck in a grate and she can't put her shopping down amongst this jostling crowd to unstick herself. he unlaces her shoe and unsticks it and ties it back up for her. (v sexy for a betty book!) she thanks him, but the mocking look he gives her uncertain and makes her dislike him a bit.
She discovers later that day that he is a consultant surgeon when they work together at hospital to help a patient. we get quite a lot of his POV in this book so we know he found out what ward she works in and he purposefully went there in hopes of seeing her again.
indeed, he even seeks her out at her flat and cajoles her into going out for a meal, saying he would like to be friends. he even insists on driving her home to the countryside to her parents for no reason, insisting it will give them a chance to get to know each other as friends. Sophie can't understand why. she has had her heart broken when she was 19, when the man she loved ditched her for a rich young widow, so now she doesn't believe in love. however, for a 27 year old woman she is far too naive for her confusion about this new friendship to be believable. she must be very stupid, but we know she is smart enough as a nurse, so stupidity doesnt fit either. her unbelievable level of naivety was another frustration in the book. how she keeps wondering why he is being friendly and telling herself he can't be interested in her and surely a big man would desire a petite skinny girl instead. I lost my patience with that a bit.
SPOILERS AHEAD
so anyway, we are soon made aware he is in love with her but he knows he needs to tread carefully with her. in fact, after going out of his way to become friends, he then asks her for a marriage based on friendship and she reveals to him she had her heart broken and doesn't trust passionate love anyway.
he is very patient about letting her make up her mind about if she wants to marry him, even arranging a trip to Holland so she can meet his family and see how he lives. he treats her with every courtesy, a bit like glass. some readers might lap it up, but it left me feeling a bit icky about the "she's so fragile and might run away from her feelings" trope. it made her seem insipid.
so anyway, she marries him at around 70% and shortly before the wedding, she realises she has fallen in love with him. now she resolves to hide her feelings because he only wanted a friendly marriage.
the rest of it is full of her becoming annoyed by his always being busy with work life and wishing he treated her as more than a friend, her frustrations and uncertainties, and then a bit of angst after she sees him with a beautiful woman who he is clearly very close to. then a spiteful visitor also hints that he has had a past relationship with the OW. she starts to believe the OW must be a widow and that he must have loved the OW for years but now that the OW is free, he is married, and surely he must regret it. worse, when she meets the OW, she discovers the OW is really nice, and the OW asks "you must surely know about us?" and says she is heartbroken and sad and can't talk about it. leaving Sophie very upset and shaken up
ENDING SPOILERS
anyway, instead of a runaway heartbroken h type of climax (my fave), we see Sophie angrily confront Rijk about being in love with the OW. he is furious that she thinks he would cheat on her and leaves for work in a fury. the OW turns up to visit Sophie and clarifies that her hubby had been secretly operated on by Rijk for a brain tumor but it's a big secret because he is head of a major corporation. OW says she and rijk have only ever been close friends and that the spiteful woman who implied anything is known to be a nasty troublemaker. so Sophie rushes to find Rijk at work to apologise. gets lost in thr backstreets. he comes to find her. they make up. love declarations. kisses. HEA.
OVERALL
it didn't have enough interesting story tension for me. others might enjoy this setup for a romance, but I prefer ones where the h falls first, and then for there to be loads of angst, or for the H to be cynical and cold and fighting his feelings etc. so this betty book wasn't quite right for me, alas.
good points were that it had all the cosy family scenes and all the beautiful cosy new home scenes etc, which are always enjoyable in betty books.plus it was not boring and the plot progressed fairly quickly.
1. he falls first but she doesnt trust love and is oblivious so he sets out to make her love him. this has worked well in other betty books, but here the overall lack of other real story tension/conflict made it a bit dull
2. when she realises she is in love with him, now we have a situ where they both love each other but think they must make the other fall in love. I find that setup isn't enough story tension for an angst lover like me either.
also, the book description says "He too had been hurt in the past" and that is untrue. he was not nursing a cynical/broken heart, which would have made the story more interesting. very annoying to be misled.
THE PLOT
Big beautiful Sophie (27?) is a nurse at a hospital. one day, RDD Rijk (a visiting consultant) sees her out of the hospital window getting jostled by a crowd. he goes down to the street and finds her shoe heel is stuck in a grate and she can't put her shopping down amongst this jostling crowd to unstick herself. he unlaces her shoe and unsticks it and ties it back up for her. (v sexy for a betty book!) she thanks him, but the mocking look he gives her uncertain and makes her dislike him a bit.
She discovers later that day that he is a consultant surgeon when they work together at hospital to help a patient. we get quite a lot of his POV in this book so we know he found out what ward she works in and he purposefully went there in hopes of seeing her again.
indeed, he even seeks her out at her flat and cajoles her into going out for a meal, saying he would like to be friends. he even insists on driving her home to the countryside to her parents for no reason, insisting it will give them a chance to get to know each other as friends. Sophie can't understand why. she has had her heart broken when she was 19, when the man she loved ditched her for a rich young widow, so now she doesn't believe in love. however, for a 27 year old woman she is far too naive for her confusion about this new friendship to be believable. she must be very stupid, but we know she is smart enough as a nurse, so stupidity doesnt fit either. her unbelievable level of naivety was another frustration in the book. how she keeps wondering why he is being friendly and telling herself he can't be interested in her and surely a big man would desire a petite skinny girl instead. I lost my patience with that a bit.
SPOILERS AHEAD
so anyway, we are soon made aware he is in love with her but he knows he needs to tread carefully with her. in fact, after going out of his way to become friends, he then asks her for a marriage based on friendship and she reveals to him she had her heart broken and doesn't trust passionate love anyway.
he is very patient about letting her make up her mind about if she wants to marry him, even arranging a trip to Holland so she can meet his family and see how he lives. he treats her with every courtesy, a bit like glass. some readers might lap it up, but it left me feeling a bit icky about the "she's so fragile and might run away from her feelings" trope. it made her seem insipid.
so anyway, she marries him at around 70% and shortly before the wedding, she realises she has fallen in love with him. now she resolves to hide her feelings because he only wanted a friendly marriage.
the rest of it is full of her becoming annoyed by his always being busy with work life and wishing he treated her as more than a friend, her frustrations and uncertainties, and then a bit of angst after she sees him with a beautiful woman who he is clearly very close to. then a spiteful visitor also hints that he has had a past relationship with the OW. she starts to believe the OW must be a widow and that he must have loved the OW for years but now that the OW is free, he is married, and surely he must regret it. worse, when she meets the OW, she discovers the OW is really nice, and the OW asks "you must surely know about us?" and says she is heartbroken and sad and can't talk about it. leaving Sophie very upset and shaken up
ENDING SPOILERS
anyway, instead of a runaway heartbroken h type of climax (my fave), we see Sophie angrily confront Rijk about being in love with the OW. he is furious that she thinks he would cheat on her and leaves for work in a fury. the OW turns up to visit Sophie and clarifies that her hubby had been secretly operated on by Rijk for a brain tumor but it's a big secret because he is head of a major corporation. OW says she and rijk have only ever been close friends and that the spiteful woman who implied anything is known to be a nasty troublemaker. so Sophie rushes to find Rijk at work to apologise. gets lost in thr backstreets. he comes to find her. they make up. love declarations. kisses. HEA.
OVERALL
it didn't have enough interesting story tension for me. others might enjoy this setup for a romance, but I prefer ones where the h falls first, and then for there to be loads of angst, or for the H to be cynical and cold and fighting his feelings etc. so this betty book wasn't quite right for me, alas.
good points were that it had all the cosy family scenes and all the beautiful cosy new home scenes etc, which are always enjoyable in betty books.plus it was not boring and the plot progressed fairly quickly.
March 19, 2012
Yes, love and romance sneeks up on Sophie as she gets to know Dr. Rijk van Taak ter Wijsma. Rijk falls for her at first sight, but Sophie is not a woman to be rushed. Between multiple trips abroad, Rijk works his way in to marriage with Sophie, even before he is sure of her heart.
My favorite kind of light, elegant romance.
My favorite kind of light, elegant romance.
March 22, 2008
ok...as my friends know, Betty Neels books are my guilty pleasure. I'm only listing my absolute favorite, because there's not enough room to list them all.
July 19, 2013
A very nice, typical betty neels read.
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December 14, 2015501 - يقظة قلب - بيتي نيلس- قلوب عبير
الطبيب الجراح
الطبيب الجراح
January 9, 2019
It isn't the traditional romance that you get today, where the love is up in your face. This time it is a little more subtle and I really enjoyed it.
June 12, 2020
WONDERFUL. BEAUTIFUL. LOVED IT SO VERY MUCH.
November 15, 2024
Sigh. Though I turn to Betty Neels like comfort food, this one just did not do it for me. (And I'm praying it's not Betty Neels who no longer does it for me.)
Look, I'm fine with the recycled characters of the English nurse and the uber-successful, giant, older, self-assured, condescending Dutch surgeon; I'm fine with the recycled plot beats of working in England, taking care of the pet, going to Holland, thinking the guy might like someone else, etc.; I'm fine with all the other stock characters being pretty much penciled in. I can even squelch my irritation that Betty's heroines always quit their jobs to sit around in the rich guy's house the rest of their days.
The problem with this one was that even the main characters were cardboard. Sophie's supposed love affair that went wrong was seriously a sentence mentioned once or twice, and she even says she can't remember what the guy looked like, it's been so long. And I ought to be used to the hero already knowing he's going to marry her but not bothering to clue her in, but, to paraphrase Mr. Knightley talking about Emma, just for *once* I'd like to see the hero in love, and in some doubt of a return. (Mr. Riki Tiki Tavi's--his name was something like that--only memorable characteristic was that he was a total workaholic, so if he ever did plan to, he could have mistresses in about five different places because he was always jetting off.)
On the plus side, it was repetitive. Just kidding. On the plus side the heroine was decent looking for once, to at least give him a plausible reason for his unexpressed-till-the-last-page love at first sight.
Totally skippable.
Look, I'm fine with the recycled characters of the English nurse and the uber-successful, giant, older, self-assured, condescending Dutch surgeon; I'm fine with the recycled plot beats of working in England, taking care of the pet, going to Holland, thinking the guy might like someone else, etc.; I'm fine with all the other stock characters being pretty much penciled in. I can even squelch my irritation that Betty's heroines always quit their jobs to sit around in the rich guy's house the rest of their days.
The problem with this one was that even the main characters were cardboard. Sophie's supposed love affair that went wrong was seriously a sentence mentioned once or twice, and she even says she can't remember what the guy looked like, it's been so long. And I ought to be used to the hero already knowing he's going to marry her but not bothering to clue her in, but, to paraphrase Mr. Knightley talking about Emma, just for *once* I'd like to see the hero in love, and in some doubt of a return. (Mr. Riki Tiki Tavi's--his name was something like that--only memorable characteristic was that he was a total workaholic, so if he ever did plan to, he could have mistresses in about five different places because he was always jetting off.)
On the plus side, it was repetitive. Just kidding. On the plus side the heroine was decent looking for once, to at least give him a plausible reason for his unexpressed-till-the-last-page love at first sight.
Totally skippable.
November 2, 2018
Leída bajo el título “En el lago(y el amor)” esta novela tiene a Sophie una enfermera alta y bonita como protagonista. Ella ha sufrido una decepción amorosa hace unos años entonces sigue soltera y ajena a los hombres. Un día engancha sus zapatos en la vereda de una calle cercana al hospital donde cumple su horario nocturno y desde una ventana la ve el eminente cirujano holandés Rijk. Así comienzan una relación de amigos cercanos hasta que él le pide matrimonio,un matrimonio de conveniencia a medias porque desde el primer momento ya sabemos que él está enamorado de Sophie.en resumidas cuentas: ella es alta y linda,es enfermera, tiene padres bondadosos y comprensivos, pertenece a la clase media y es independiente,pretendientes no le faltan entonces... si bien tiene todos los tópicos clásicos de Betty no es la mejor Betty que podes leer.
January 23, 2023
Summary: Sophie had fallen in love and it ended badly, so she decided to never fall in love again. Rijk falls in love with her instantly but knew any abrupt love declarations would send her packing. So, instead he proposes a marriage of "convenience" and hopes that she'll fall in love with him over time.
Spoiler Alert: As this is a Betty Neels novel, the heroine does fall satisfyingly in love over the course of a slowly developing romance.
I enjoy Betty Neel's novels because you always know how the plot will go and that it will all be right in the end. There are no plot twists and this story developed with ease and likeable characters. I particularly liked Sophie's mother and how she knew from the beginning what was going on but let Sophie find love on her own.
Spoiler Alert: As this is a Betty Neels novel, the heroine does fall satisfyingly in love over the course of a slowly developing romance.
I enjoy Betty Neel's novels because you always know how the plot will go and that it will all be right in the end. There are no plot twists and this story developed with ease and likeable characters. I particularly liked Sophie's mother and how she knew from the beginning what was going on but let Sophie find love on her own.
April 25, 2020
Another Betty Neels, with all the Betty Neels traits - gentle narrative, nurse heroine, Dutch doctor hero, and of course the heroine has no idea the hero is in love with her until the very end - but greatly assisted by the fact that the heroine is majorly crankypants for most of the book, usually with good justification. I had difficulty believing the book was actually set in the nineties, though.
April 27, 2023
Same as any other Betty novel. Hero is a famous surgeon and Dutch,heroine is a London nurse they marry on the basic of understanding that they suit each other,all the while the hero is in love with heroine but he patiently waits for her to fall in love with him.
June 1, 2017
One of my favorite Betty Neels. I am a sucker for her romances.
August 13, 2018
This is the 1st book I read by Betty Neels. I'm sorry I only read the 1st chapter & stopped because this story didn't grab my interest.
January 14, 2020
I like the first part of this book but not the ebding. How come Rijk didn't tell his wife about him and irena. Did he trust his wife enough?
April 14, 2020
Liked it,
Very nice story, I specially liked the ( kind) twist at the end. Very refreshing. One of Betty Neels later books
Very nice story, I specially liked the ( kind) twist at the end. Very refreshing. One of Betty Neels later books
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