اطياف بلا وجوه

by Flora Kidd

She loved him as he had never loved her.
For nine months Elaine had tried to forget Yvan. She thought she'd succeeded, but now she knew nothing had changed.

She'd been back in Chambourtin only twenty-four hours and already Yvan was filling her whole mind--pushing everyone and everything else out just as he had a year before when they'd first met and married there. So his words were shattering.

"I've decided that it's best for us to get a divorce," Yvan said curtly. "Did you think I'd never agree?"

Genres: Harlequin

Unknown Binding

First published July 1, 1977

About the author

Flora Mildred Cartwright was born on 1926 in Liverpool, England, UK. The youngest of four children, Flora and her family lived in the same house until she was a teen. In 1949, she graduated from Liverpool University, where she met Robert Kidd, her husband. They moved to her beloved Scotland, where she began teaching, writing, and raised their four children: Richard, Patricia, Peter and David.

Flora Kidd published her first novel, Visit To Rowanbank, in 1966 at Mills & Boon. In 1977, the family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where she continued her romance career with Mills & Boon until 1989, when she retired. In 1994, she published the first of the The Marco Polo Project novels, to support a project to build a replica of the 19th century ship Marco Polo.

Flora Kidd passed away on March 19, 2008 at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Practical French vigneron sweeps dumb dingbat English heroine off her feet for a hasty marriage. The honeymoon period of their marriage is filled with sexual satisfaction for both but not much else. Then, hero’s fangtoothed viper ex slithers on the scene and spills her venom. She claims the hero is still having an affair with her, that he only married the heroine for convenience because she inherited her uncle's chateau/winery, and that hero’s mother arranged it all because she herself is a gold digging hall of famer who managed to graduate from being the uncle’s housekeeper to becoming his wife, and that the marriage between her son and her husband’s niece is meant to fulfill her ambition to be the all powerful chatelaine of the locality. The heroine swallows all the OW’s lies without questioning either her husband or her mother-in-law, and immediately flees back to England with only a terse little note to her husband that their marriage was a mistake.

Heroine stays in England for 9 months but is forced to return to France because her uncle is on his death bed. She agrees reluctantly to a pretend reconciliation with the hero just to soothe the old man’s last days. During her stay, all the OW’s lies are refuted, not only by the hero and his mother, but by objective third parties. The heroine is no heiress because her uncle is not the owner of the chateau/vineyard. Due to financial difficulties, he long ago sold his property to a corporation and remained there as a figurehead. The hero’s mother is no gold digger. She actually had turned down the uncle’s marriage proposal made long ago in her youth when he was actually still rich and had a title, because she was in love with another man, who was poor. She agreed to marry the uncle only after her husband’s death, because she felt sorry for the lonely old man and decided she could take care of him in his last days, especially as he had remained steadfast in his unrequited love for her for over thirty years. Hero also vehemently denies he was continuing an affair with the OW. In fact, his affair with her happened years before he met the heroine and was very short lived and forgettable, at least on his side.

Eventually, heroine and hero make love but she is still unsure of him! OW shows up and the author sets a scene for a juicy comeuppance since the heroine and hero now both have the solid facts to confront her BUT inexplicably, the author has the heroine run away yet again! What a little spineless wuss! OW gets the last laugh and if the hero did ever manage to tell her off, it occurred off page.

The hero and heroine finally get their HEA not that I cared by this point. Honestly, for the author to lead us like a horse to water for that potentially epic confrontation scene and then to bail was offensive. The heroine should have stood her ground and given the OW the tell-off she deserved to show us that she matured from the dumb dingbat she was at the beginning of the story. Otherwise, how am I supposed to believe in this HEA? Show me some growth, woman!

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 star. ⭐️⭐️⭐️This was boring and anticlimactic. The h was a sulky teenager and was too young to be married! It was a classic believe OW lies and not give H any chance to defend himself. He had done nothing to lead her to believe the OW but her own insecurities which leads back to the h was too immature to be married!

[Gary Branson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this because of fond memories of reading Flora Kidd when I was much younger. Unfortunately, this just fell flat, a bit boring and aggravating.

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

[RomLibrary]

She loved him as he had never loved her.
For nine months Elaine had tried to forget Yvan. She thought she'd succeeded, but now she knew nothing had changed.

She'd been back in Chambourtin only twenty-four hours and already Yvan was filling her whole mind--pushing everyone and everything else out just as he had a year before when they'd first met and married there. So his words were shattering.

"I've decided that it's best for us to get a divorce," Yvan said curtly. "Did you think I'd never agree?

[‎شروق إلهامى · Rating 3 out of 5]

رواية مسلية، تحمل الكثير من التباين بين طباع الابطال فمنهم من يتسم بالنزق والإندفاع وغيرة بالعجرفة والمكر وغيرهم من يتسم بالطيبة والعفوية وكلهم علي اختلافهم جمعهم الحب ولم يحمهم من كذب الاوغاد وكيدهم وحسدي سوي الصدق والصبر والثقة.

[أحمد حسين · Rating 1 out of 5]

ضيعت وقتي في قرائته حتي نهايته , ينفع فيلم لكن كروايه فهي روايه فقيره جدا :/

[Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book about an arranged marriage, and how it works or doesn't.