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To Have and to Hold
Mills & Boon Sexy series delivers what you love in contemporary romance - glamour and scandal in exotic locations…Wedlocked!
A runaway wife
Alix North had fallen in love with Rhys Stirling the first time she had met him. Now Alix's dream was about to come true Rhys had asked her to marry him.
Rhys Stirling was an ambitious man, and the only thing that stood between him and a directorship was his single status. Of course, that was easily remedied. He'd known Alix all his life she was the perfect choice.
Alix isn't going to accept anything less than his love. It's only after Alix leaves him that Rhys finds that he's fallen in love with his own wife!
A runaway wife
Alix North had fallen in love with Rhys Stirling the first time she had met him. Now Alix's dream was about to come true Rhys had asked her to marry him.
Rhys Stirling was an ambitious man, and the only thing that stood between him and a directorship was his single status. Of course, that was easily remedied. He'd known Alix all his life she was the perfect choice.
Alix isn't going to accept anything less than his love. It's only after Alix leaves him that Rhys finds that he's fallen in love with his own wife!
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 9, 1994
12 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Sally Wentworth
106 books93 followersDoreen was born on 1936 or 1937 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK. She married Donald Alfred Hornsblow, with whom she has a son Keith, in 1968. The family lived in Braughing, England.
Doreen began her publishing career at a Fleet Street newspaper in London, where she thrived in the hectic atmosphere. She started writing after attending an evening class and sold her first novel to Mills & Boon in 1977, she published her novels under the pseudonym Sally Wentworth. Her novels were principally set in Great Britain or in exotic places like Canary Islands or Greece. Her first works are stand-alone novels, but in 1990s, she decided to create her first series. In 1991, she wrote a book in two parts about the Barclay twins and their great love, and in 1995, she wrote the Ties of Passion Trilogy about the Brodey family, that have money, looks, style, everything... except love.
Doreen was an accounts clerk at Associated Newspapers Ltd. in London, England, and accounts clerk at Consumers' Association in Hertford, England. In 1985, she was the founding chair of the Hertford Association of National Trust Members, and named its life president. She also collected knife rests and she was member of The Knife Rest Collectors Club.
Doreen Hornsblow died from cancer on 30 August 2001, at 64 years of age.
Doreen began her publishing career at a Fleet Street newspaper in London, where she thrived in the hectic atmosphere. She started writing after attending an evening class and sold her first novel to Mills & Boon in 1977, she published her novels under the pseudonym Sally Wentworth. Her novels were principally set in Great Britain or in exotic places like Canary Islands or Greece. Her first works are stand-alone novels, but in 1990s, she decided to create her first series. In 1991, she wrote a book in two parts about the Barclay twins and their great love, and in 1995, she wrote the Ties of Passion Trilogy about the Brodey family, that have money, looks, style, everything... except love.
Doreen was an accounts clerk at Associated Newspapers Ltd. in London, England, and accounts clerk at Consumers' Association in Hertford, England. In 1985, she was the founding chair of the Hertford Association of National Trust Members, and named its life president. She also collected knife rests and she was member of The Knife Rest Collectors Club.
Doreen Hornsblow died from cancer on 30 August 2001, at 64 years of age.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 31, 2018
Re To Have and To Hold - Sally Wentworth phones in eight chapters of pathetic needy h chasing after a nematode blobfish H only to rue the day she managed to wear him down.
Really, someone needed to help this h out and lock her in a room for two months with the audiobook version of He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys on continual loop.
The story stars with the h, aged four and the H is ten years older, she is instantly infatuated. All through the next 16 years, the h's obsession is encouraged to magnify and grow - both sets of parents think it would be lovely if the H and h made a match of it.
So they abet all this h chasing the H nonsense, going so far to encourage her when she goes to work for the same company the H does.
Even the glaring evidence that the H is all about sampling the lurvely lady buffet and getting multiple sides to go is not enough to stop this h's determination to chain him to her side.
As long as she gets a ring on it when she is 20, she doesn't really care who or what he might be doing in the interim. Tho to be sure she is all about pulling the martyred/wronged woman trope in front of the parents.
(That whole attitude throughout the book really disturbed me, this h is more obsessed than a Charlotte Lamb H who has been told no. I wondered that her family, (or at least her dad,) did not at least attempt to direct her goals toward something else.)
So eventually the H decides marrying the h will be good for his career promotion, (corporate wives are company policy,) and after numerous faxes from the h, they pick a date. There is also a lovely scene with the OW, who is unhappily married to the big boss the H is taking over for.
The OW spells it out that the H cheats on the h every chance he gets, (which the h has actually seen, but was too stupid to interpret that when a guy says he doesn't 'see other women when he is with you' and then the minute you walk away he is collecting phone numbers from a bevy of ladies, he is a cheating nematode slime pustule.)
The OW also explains that the H couldn't get his big promotion unless he was married. Since the h works for the OW's husband, she asks him about the married stipulations and he indirectly agrees.
But still the h doesn't let this stop her from being at the altar, even tho the H is supposedly so busy 'working out of town' that he almost misses the ceremony and has to hire a helicopter to actually make it on time.
The h STILL goes through with it and the only interest we see from the H is when he gets to revoke a unicorn groomer's license - even on his wedding night and the following day the H is all about work or whomever he is doing on the Lithuanian team and has no problems answering business calls in the middle of a purple passion moment.
Finally, the H decides he has to leave the honeymoon to go back to his business team. There is a huge argument and the h at long last clues in. The H married her for a promotion, not because she is the love of his life. The h has a huge temper tantrum, tells him she is getting a divorce and then leaves him.
But does she go out and buy a raft of slinky cocktail dresses and some bikini's and take off for Italy or Greece for bohemian hi jinks with Greek God Waiters and Charming Italian Vespa riders?
No, the h finds a quiet little village and works in a tearoom for the remaining three weeks of her honeymoon.
Then she takes her rings off, tells her mother she isn't going home and then gets herself a flat. She decides she is keeping her job, even tho she will have to see the H. She goes home to get her clothes and has another confrontation with the H and both mothers that ends in her hysterically running away again.
The h then gets the third degree from both the mothers, tho the h's father is a great dad and he totally gets that she made a bad choice and supports whatever she wants to do.
The h and H have testy encounters at work and a dinner out where the H tries some serious mushroom fertilizer lines about falling in love with the h when she walked out on him. The h calls him a liar, throws her wine in his face and leaves.
The h's boss is divorcing his wife, the OW, and moving to the Canadian branch of the company. The h wants to go with him, but her meddling boss refuses cause her mission in life is to stay married to his successor and become a dutiful company wife.
The h claims she is getting a divorce and that she will quit if her boss doesn't let her go with him. His response is to tell her she has a three month leave to quit contract and he will make her work it all out. We all go to Alaska and the H shows up to waylay the h into coming back to him. It was a setup between him and the h's boss
There is more smarmy lines about how he loves her now when he did not before and the h is naively gulping down the worm casting tea, we all know she is going to cave at any minute. Then the plane crashes.
The H and h have to work together to get everybody out safely and near death trauma reunites them in classic HP deus ex machina meddling to break an H/h impasse when the author writes herself into a corner.
(Which was a tragic waste of a perfectly good plane crash that could have gotten us a new H.)
The h will return to being the devoted, dutifully adoring, and probably cheated on ignorant wife, broodmare and doormat while the H gets his big promotions and all the lady buffet samples he could want on the side as a bonus.
SW calls this outcome a win for the day and we can be happy the h is happy for thankful conclusion of this HP outing.
Give this one a miss, endless chapters of unrequited obsessive hysterical h adoration and an indifferent blobfish, cheating H don't really make for a happily memorable HPlandia experience.
Really, someone needed to help this h out and lock her in a room for two months with the audiobook version of He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys on continual loop.
The story stars with the h, aged four and the H is ten years older, she is instantly infatuated. All through the next 16 years, the h's obsession is encouraged to magnify and grow - both sets of parents think it would be lovely if the H and h made a match of it.
So they abet all this h chasing the H nonsense, going so far to encourage her when she goes to work for the same company the H does.
Even the glaring evidence that the H is all about sampling the lurvely lady buffet and getting multiple sides to go is not enough to stop this h's determination to chain him to her side.
As long as she gets a ring on it when she is 20, she doesn't really care who or what he might be doing in the interim. Tho to be sure she is all about pulling the martyred/wronged woman trope in front of the parents.
(That whole attitude throughout the book really disturbed me, this h is more obsessed than a Charlotte Lamb H who has been told no. I wondered that her family, (or at least her dad,) did not at least attempt to direct her goals toward something else.)
So eventually the H decides marrying the h will be good for his career promotion, (corporate wives are company policy,) and after numerous faxes from the h, they pick a date. There is also a lovely scene with the OW, who is unhappily married to the big boss the H is taking over for.
The OW spells it out that the H cheats on the h every chance he gets, (which the h has actually seen, but was too stupid to interpret that when a guy says he doesn't 'see other women when he is with you' and then the minute you walk away he is collecting phone numbers from a bevy of ladies, he is a cheating nematode slime pustule.)
The OW also explains that the H couldn't get his big promotion unless he was married. Since the h works for the OW's husband, she asks him about the married stipulations and he indirectly agrees.
But still the h doesn't let this stop her from being at the altar, even tho the H is supposedly so busy 'working out of town' that he almost misses the ceremony and has to hire a helicopter to actually make it on time.
The h STILL goes through with it and the only interest we see from the H is when he gets to revoke a unicorn groomer's license - even on his wedding night and the following day the H is all about work or whomever he is doing on the Lithuanian team and has no problems answering business calls in the middle of a purple passion moment.
Finally, the H decides he has to leave the honeymoon to go back to his business team. There is a huge argument and the h at long last clues in. The H married her for a promotion, not because she is the love of his life. The h has a huge temper tantrum, tells him she is getting a divorce and then leaves him.
But does she go out and buy a raft of slinky cocktail dresses and some bikini's and take off for Italy or Greece for bohemian hi jinks with Greek God Waiters and Charming Italian Vespa riders?
No, the h finds a quiet little village and works in a tearoom for the remaining three weeks of her honeymoon.
Then she takes her rings off, tells her mother she isn't going home and then gets herself a flat. She decides she is keeping her job, even tho she will have to see the H. She goes home to get her clothes and has another confrontation with the H and both mothers that ends in her hysterically running away again.
The h then gets the third degree from both the mothers, tho the h's father is a great dad and he totally gets that she made a bad choice and supports whatever she wants to do.
The h and H have testy encounters at work and a dinner out where the H tries some serious mushroom fertilizer lines about falling in love with the h when she walked out on him. The h calls him a liar, throws her wine in his face and leaves.
The h's boss is divorcing his wife, the OW, and moving to the Canadian branch of the company. The h wants to go with him, but her meddling boss refuses cause her mission in life is to stay married to his successor and become a dutiful company wife.
The h claims she is getting a divorce and that she will quit if her boss doesn't let her go with him. His response is to tell her she has a three month leave to quit contract and he will make her work it all out. We all go to Alaska and the H shows up to waylay the h into coming back to him. It was a setup between him and the h's boss
There is more smarmy lines about how he loves her now when he did not before and the h is naively gulping down the worm casting tea, we all know she is going to cave at any minute. Then the plane crashes.
The H and h have to work together to get everybody out safely and near death trauma reunites them in classic HP deus ex machina meddling to break an H/h impasse when the author writes herself into a corner.
(Which was a tragic waste of a perfectly good plane crash that could have gotten us a new H.)
The h will return to being the devoted, dutifully adoring, and probably cheated on ignorant wife, broodmare and doormat while the H gets his big promotions and all the lady buffet samples he could want on the side as a bonus.
SW calls this outcome a win for the day and we can be happy the h is happy for thankful conclusion of this HP outing.
Give this one a miss, endless chapters of unrequited obsessive hysterical h adoration and an indifferent blobfish, cheating H don't really make for a happily memorable HPlandia experience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2018
The plot: Heroine falls in love with boy next door when she is four and he is fourteen. Fast forward 16 years and the heroine begins her pursuit of the hero in earnest – even joining his company and working as a PA to his boss. When they do get engaged (over the phone) the hero keeps putting off the wedding date because of work commitments. Finally, 18 months later, he agrees to let her set a date, but is unhappy that he has been taken off of a project so they can have a month off for the wedding/honeymoon. The hero actually takes a work call on his wedding night and agrees to attend an emergency meeting the next day. Heroine realizes her hero is a selfish pig and leaves him. It is only after she leaves that the hero realizes he loves the heroine. (Something he’s never told her). All of his efforts to woo her back don’t work until he tags along on a work trip to Alaska and the plane crashes, making the heroine realize she still loves him.
The hero, as you can see, is a bit of a cold fish. The heroine, as you can see, is a bit TSL when it comes to the hero. SW did a good job of setting up the impending doom for the heroine – but it went on for too long. An indifferent hero isn’t that compelling. The cold fish trying to win his very angry wife back was more interesting than the heroine’s wide-eyed adoration.
The plane crash was way too convenient, but I kind of loved it because it felt very HP. These two are going to have a boring life of duty to the company, so I’m glad they had a bit of excitement.
The hero, as you can see, is a bit of a cold fish. The heroine, as you can see, is a bit TSL when it comes to the hero. SW did a good job of setting up the impending doom for the heroine – but it went on for too long. An indifferent hero isn’t that compelling. The cold fish trying to win his very angry wife back was more interesting than the heroine’s wide-eyed adoration.
The plane crash was way too convenient, but I kind of loved it because it felt very HP. These two are going to have a boring life of duty to the company, so I’m glad they had a bit of excitement.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2021
This was recommended read from my asking for a book where the heroine doesn’t know she’s entered into a MOC. I read the reviews but decided to read it anyway. It’s stalker fiction, but I’not sure who’s the hunter and who’s the hunted.
Very uncomfortable in parts and felt more 1980s than 90s. Yes, the ten years would have made a difference in the way some women looked at marriage. If nothing else, just look at the sleeves on that wedding dress.
The heroine is bright, sweet, loving hard working, and an all around nice character except when it comes to her own personal brand of heroin. Yes, I am quoting Twilight now.
The main stalker is the heroine who’s had a crush on the H since she was four. No, this isn’t an old skool Harley where the older H grooms her and keeps her away from any otherevil influences men, but one where the hero and both families are amused and wallow in how sweet the OTT crush a young girl has on the cute older guy. She never stood a chance without anyone to point that this may not be a good thing. The h is pretty singleminded in her pursuit of the H. With the help of his father, she ends up working at his company in London. I’d have a whole lot more sympathy for our stalked little hero if he hadn’t indulged her obsession, kissed her all the time, taken her out to dinner, used her to fend off another husband hunting female, and lastly had her stay at his apartment whenever he wasn’t there. Let’s not forget the overly romantic, literally phoned in marriage proposal. Couldn’t he have thrown her the bone of dinner and a bended knee. Even doomed prisoners get a good last meal.
She finally gets several brutal wake up calls the worst of which he makes their wedding by the skin of his teeth followed by his demonstrating his order of priorities by leaving at a very intimate moment on the honeymoon to answer a business call. This all confirms the idea that he only married her for a promotion. The heroine is done, and it was entertaining reading just how done she was with the hero even if it was for only a little while. More contemporary HP’s barely let the H round the corner and the h has forgiven them or worse apologized for existing.
The heroine holds strong in her righteous anger in the face of EVERYONE pimping her back out to the H. She has to take guff from both families since her loser new husband won’t admit to anyone why she preferred working at a coffee shop rather than waiting by the phone on their honeymoon. The old plane-crash-in-the-wilderness trope places her back where she is supposed to be by Harlequin HP rules and it’s HEA. For now.
I predict he’ll be back to his workaholic ways within a couple of months, and they’ll be divorced in about two to five years. Work will always be first and foremost for him. Given how bright she is, I’d like to see her working at a rival company and beating him at his own game.
2 stars for the romance
3 stars for the believability of the characters and the era
Very uncomfortable in parts and felt more 1980s than 90s. Yes, the ten years would have made a difference in the way some women looked at marriage. If nothing else, just look at the sleeves on that wedding dress.
The heroine is bright, sweet, loving hard working, and an all around nice character except when it comes to her own personal brand of heroin. Yes, I am quoting Twilight now.
The main stalker is the heroine who’s had a crush on the H since she was four. No, this isn’t an old skool Harley where the older H grooms her and keeps her away from any other
She finally gets several brutal wake up calls the worst of which he makes their wedding by the skin of his teeth followed by his demonstrating his order of priorities by leaving at a very intimate moment on the honeymoon to answer a business call. This all confirms the idea that he only married her for a promotion. The heroine is done, and it was entertaining reading just how done she was with the hero even if it was for only a little while. More contemporary HP’s barely let the H round the corner and the h has forgiven them or worse apologized for existing.
The heroine holds strong in her righteous anger in the face of EVERYONE pimping her back out to the H. She has to take guff from both families since her loser new husband won’t admit to anyone why she preferred working at a coffee shop rather than waiting by the phone on their honeymoon. The old plane-crash-in-the-wilderness trope places her back where she is supposed to be by Harlequin HP rules and it’s HEA. For now.
I predict he’ll be back to his workaholic ways within a couple of months, and they’ll be divorced in about two to five years. Work will always be first and foremost for him. Given how bright she is, I’d like to see her working at a rival company and beating him at his own game.
2 stars for the romance
3 stars for the believability of the characters and the era
March 24, 2022
I *love* the first 85% of this book. It’s like a retro British romcom with a fixated, marriage-minded heroine and her indifferent, workaholic hero. (For readers who are put off by a heroine who chases the hero, I have to say this h is surprisingly passive in her pursuit. She’s just there -- in a vaguely stalkerish way -- and pretty and cheerful and loyal.) Watching her pursue her goal, blind to every “I’m just not that into you” signal he gives out, is hilariously horrifying while you wait for reality to hit. Those signals escalate: a non-existent courtship leads to a phoned-in proposal which becomes a lengthy engagement culminating in the hero's absence from all their wedding preparations. Wentworth repeatedly shows the heroine mentally processing her beloved's actions, putting the best possible spin on them so she can cling to her rosy world view. But we also see the accumulated damage being done. The optimistic, good-natured heroine is becoming more emotionally complex as the hero’s casual indifference and the villainous pseudo-OW’s assertion that he’s only getting married as a requirement for career promotion batter at her romantic bubble of entitlement.
If Sally Wentworth had steered a consistent course with the hero’s motivations and had the couple acknowledge their mutual misbehavior while indicating how they have changed, this would be a 4-star book. But the ending ruined it.
If Sally Wentworth had steered a consistent course with the hero’s motivations and had the couple acknowledge their mutual misbehavior while indicating how they have changed, this would be a 4-star book. But the ending ruined it.
May 24, 2020
H is incredibly awful in a pedestrian way. He'll cheat on her and manipulate her for the rest of their lives together, which is why I am writing a healing epilogue:
After the plane crash, the h is blissfully happy for a while, although her husband continues to work long hours, interrupting holidays, vacations, and other life events. She starts to realize that she will never have a normal life with him and tries to reconcile herself to that by developing a new hobby, creating metalwork art at a shop in a neighboring town. The H patronizingly thinks it is cute and has no problems as long as she doesn't let it interrupt the little time they are together.
She becomes friends with the elderly man who owns the metal shop, and when he dies peacefully in his sleep at the age of 90, she is surprised to learn he has left it to her, since he had no heirs. The H is not happy about this, because with the shrewd instincts of the extremely selfish, he recognizes that if the h is able to find something that truly interests her, he won't be the center of attention for her. His tactic of meting out just enough affection to keep her sweet will no longer work.
She reluctantly agrees and sets about selling the shop. The best prospective buyer is a hobbyist like herself, a wealthy man who made his money from manufacturing metal construction material. She sells she shop to him with the condition that she can have free use of the facility to continue her metal sculpting hobby.
Unbeknownst to her, the wealthy man has fallen for her like a ton of titanium and while he realizes that she is married, he quickly gets the measure of the H. After he has known the h for a month, he persuades her to go out to lunch with him. While they are at the restaurant , they run into his parents, who are very interested in meeting her.
A few more meals take place, each time running into important people in Metal Man's life. This couldn't be more different than the H, who only dines out with her when part of a group with his controlling in-laws and his own oblivious parents, all of whom are Team H and make excuses for his obvious cheating and constant absences.
Finally, MM respectfully but passionately tells her of his feelings. She realizes that she feels very differently about him than she does about the H. She feels loved and cherished, and she is fiercely attracted to him as she has been casting surreptitious looks at him when he is sweaty from metalwork and is aware that he is surprisingly brawny for a successful captain of industry.
Still, she is married and isn't that kind of girl, so she tells him that she needs to be divorced before she considers him as a suitor.
That's all MM needs to hear, and she now begins to understand why he is so incredibly successful in business. Within a month he has obtained evidence of the H's cheating and strong-arms him into a divorce where the h gets nearly all the marital assets, because he has also obtained information about the H's deceptive and fraudulent business practices. He also requires the H to undergo a battery of painful tests for STD's, which mercifully he does not have.
Within 2 months, the divorce is complete and the h has moved into a cute little cottage in the same village as the metal works. The MM is at her side as she makes new friends and even starts taking courses at the local university.
They become lovers and she learns the difference between sex with someone who is mechanically skilled and sex with someone who is truly focused on her and who finds her incredibly desirable.
Within a year he has proposed (he has promised himself to give her time). When she says yes, MM cautiously asks if they can get married within two months time. He wants them to have a beautiful wedding but can't wait for her to become Mrs. MM. Again, the difference from the H couldn't be more pronounced.
The time between the proposal and the marriage zips past and MM uses that interval to lay down the law with her parents, whom he low-key despises because they browbeat the h into staying with the H in spite of her misery. They agree, but unbeknownst to them, the h now views MM's parents as true parental figures.
The time arrives for the wedding, and they are just exiting the church when the H drives up, preparing to make a grand gesture to win the h back. Unfortunately, his flight from Latvia, where he has a second wife, is delayed, so he is too late.
He watches as they drive off in their car, which has been decorated with "just married" tin cans and the like. One of them flies off the car and scrapes the H on the arm. Within a week he is dead of tetanus.
The h and MM live happily ever after.
After the plane crash, the h is blissfully happy for a while, although her husband continues to work long hours, interrupting holidays, vacations, and other life events. She starts to realize that she will never have a normal life with him and tries to reconcile herself to that by developing a new hobby, creating metalwork art at a shop in a neighboring town. The H patronizingly thinks it is cute and has no problems as long as she doesn't let it interrupt the little time they are together.
She becomes friends with the elderly man who owns the metal shop, and when he dies peacefully in his sleep at the age of 90, she is surprised to learn he has left it to her, since he had no heirs. The H is not happy about this, because with the shrewd instincts of the extremely selfish, he recognizes that if the h is able to find something that truly interests her, he won't be the center of attention for her. His tactic of meting out just enough affection to keep her sweet will no longer work.
She reluctantly agrees and sets about selling the shop. The best prospective buyer is a hobbyist like herself, a wealthy man who made his money from manufacturing metal construction material. She sells she shop to him with the condition that she can have free use of the facility to continue her metal sculpting hobby.
Unbeknownst to her, the wealthy man has fallen for her like a ton of titanium and while he realizes that she is married, he quickly gets the measure of the H. After he has known the h for a month, he persuades her to go out to lunch with him. While they are at the restaurant , they run into his parents, who are very interested in meeting her.
A few more meals take place, each time running into important people in Metal Man's life. This couldn't be more different than the H, who only dines out with her when part of a group with his controlling in-laws and his own oblivious parents, all of whom are Team H and make excuses for his obvious cheating and constant absences.
Finally, MM respectfully but passionately tells her of his feelings. She realizes that she feels very differently about him than she does about the H. She feels loved and cherished, and she is fiercely attracted to him as she has been casting surreptitious looks at him when he is sweaty from metalwork and is aware that he is surprisingly brawny for a successful captain of industry.
Still, she is married and isn't that kind of girl, so she tells him that she needs to be divorced before she considers him as a suitor.
That's all MM needs to hear, and she now begins to understand why he is so incredibly successful in business. Within a month he has obtained evidence of the H's cheating and strong-arms him into a divorce where the h gets nearly all the marital assets, because he has also obtained information about the H's deceptive and fraudulent business practices. He also requires the H to undergo a battery of painful tests for STD's, which mercifully he does not have.
Within 2 months, the divorce is complete and the h has moved into a cute little cottage in the same village as the metal works. The MM is at her side as she makes new friends and even starts taking courses at the local university.
They become lovers and she learns the difference between sex with someone who is mechanically skilled and sex with someone who is truly focused on her and who finds her incredibly desirable.
Within a year he has proposed (he has promised himself to give her time). When she says yes, MM cautiously asks if they can get married within two months time. He wants them to have a beautiful wedding but can't wait for her to become Mrs. MM. Again, the difference from the H couldn't be more pronounced.
The time between the proposal and the marriage zips past and MM uses that interval to lay down the law with her parents, whom he low-key despises because they browbeat the h into staying with the H in spite of her misery. They agree, but unbeknownst to them, the h now views MM's parents as true parental figures.
The time arrives for the wedding, and they are just exiting the church when the H drives up, preparing to make a grand gesture to win the h back. Unfortunately, his flight from Latvia, where he has a second wife, is delayed, so he is too late.
He watches as they drive off in their car, which has been decorated with "just married" tin cans and the like. One of them flies off the car and scrapes the H on the arm. Within a week he is dead of tetanus.
The h and MM live happily ever after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2011
I don't kick puppies but...
I actually liked this book because it has a very stupid girl and she deserved all the diss that she got from her graven idol until she has learned her lesson.
The author deserves kudos for:
-establishing sympathy right away for the precocious then-four year old child asking the fourteen year old hero to marry her. One couldn’t help but root for the heroine Alix and her single-minded pursuit of him. Even when the guy was so certain that she’d grow out of her “love,” her rose-tinted spectacles made her envision only the day he’d grow in love for her.
-painting the hero totally black. He has to to be totally black-hearted. The heroine wouldn't get her comeuppance if the hero was a teensy-weensy bit more decent.
You see, had the heroine more self-regard and less hero-worship, warning bells should have alarmed for his questionable actions, like 1) his reluctance to commit, 2) his tacky over-the-phone proposal, 3) his refusal to name a wedding date even after a year of engagement, 4) his expressed ruefulness for losing his “bachelor holidays” once married, 5) his prioritizing work over the wedding and honeymoon, 6) his tardiness and flippant disregard for her anxiety on their wedding day, AND 7) his choice of engagement ring. (Duh! as an engineer, how can he NOT know that an opal is a very soft stone and won’t survive prolonged wear-n-tear? If a betrothal ring is supposed to symbolize lifelong commitment, then his choice is one colossal Freudian slip.)
These examples are merely a partial accounting but they all signify one thing: he’s faking it.
-making the girl resist for longer than a week his dumb pleas and silly excuses. Words came too easily with this guy. When she asked how she could believe his sincerity again, what she really needed from him was a grand geste to prove that he’d stop exploiting her and that he’d so treasure her forever. ( I guess, this is why Mr. Darcy is such an ideal hero -- because no matter how proud and arrogant he was, he was not above embroiling himself with the sordid affairs of his future-in-laws if that would afford Elizabeth Bennett some comfort and ease.)
The author deserves rotten tomatoes for:
-the deux ex machina plot ending instead of a creditable resolution. One plane crash et voila! all issues are cast aside; the hero is forgiven; and the heroine is put upon again. The hero needs to do penance, not confession. He need not cut a carotid artery or self-immolate but actions do speak louder than words.
And the heroine needs to grow up.
The finale is extremely unsatisfying. Rewrite, please!
I actually liked this book because it has a very stupid girl and she deserved all the diss that she got from her graven idol until she has learned her lesson.
The author deserves kudos for:
-establishing sympathy right away for the precocious then-four year old child asking the fourteen year old hero to marry her. One couldn’t help but root for the heroine Alix and her single-minded pursuit of him. Even when the guy was so certain that she’d grow out of her “love,” her rose-tinted spectacles made her envision only the day he’d grow in love for her.
-painting the hero totally black. He has to to be totally black-hearted. The heroine wouldn't get her comeuppance if the hero was a teensy-weensy bit more decent.
You see, had the heroine more self-regard and less hero-worship, warning bells should have alarmed for his questionable actions, like 1) his reluctance to commit, 2) his tacky over-the-phone proposal, 3) his refusal to name a wedding date even after a year of engagement, 4) his expressed ruefulness for losing his “bachelor holidays” once married, 5) his prioritizing work over the wedding and honeymoon, 6) his tardiness and flippant disregard for her anxiety on their wedding day, AND 7) his choice of engagement ring. (Duh! as an engineer, how can he NOT know that an opal is a very soft stone and won’t survive prolonged wear-n-tear? If a betrothal ring is supposed to symbolize lifelong commitment, then his choice is one colossal Freudian slip.)
These examples are merely a partial accounting but they all signify one thing: he’s faking it.
-making the girl resist for longer than a week his dumb pleas and silly excuses. Words came too easily with this guy. When she asked how she could believe his sincerity again, what she really needed from him was a grand geste to prove that he’d stop exploiting her and that he’d so treasure her forever. ( I guess, this is why Mr. Darcy is such an ideal hero -- because no matter how proud and arrogant he was, he was not above embroiling himself with the sordid affairs of his future-in-laws if that would afford Elizabeth Bennett some comfort and ease.)
The author deserves rotten tomatoes for:
-the deux ex machina plot ending instead of a creditable resolution. One plane crash et voila! all issues are cast aside; the hero is forgiven; and the heroine is put upon again. The hero needs to do penance, not confession. He need not cut a carotid artery or self-immolate but actions do speak louder than words.
And the heroine needs to grow up.
The finale is extremely unsatisfying. Rewrite, please!
August 1, 2017
Well, it was either 1 star or 4stars.
I really hated the hero, but the book kept my interest and generated some real emotion, so I'm going with the 4.
I really hated the hero, but the book kept my interest and generated some real emotion, so I'm going with the 4.
October 4, 2011
Rating: 3.5:
I loved that the heroine puts the hero down and sticks to her guns...The problem: She spent 8 chapters mooning over him so it's a lil hard to stomach. Plus: I had trouble believing the hero when he said he'd fallen in love with her cuz how could that be? They didn't even talk that much...Still SW wrote angsty goodness.
I loved that the heroine puts the hero down and sticks to her guns...The problem: She spent 8 chapters mooning over him so it's a lil hard to stomach. Plus: I had trouble believing the hero when he said he'd fallen in love with her cuz how could that be? They didn't even talk that much...Still SW wrote angsty goodness.
July 7, 2021
I really WAS excited to read this book. It sounded like it was right up my alley. I didn’t even read the reviews at first(mistake 1). This next part, I am ashamed to admit. I really really wanted to get to the part where she dumps him. So I skimmed until I found it(2/3 of the way through the book) and read it until the end. However, I don’t feel one should write a review based on the last 1/3 of the book, so I decided to go back to page 18 where I had left off. Then I read reviews before continuing(mistake 2). Now I know what I am in for, and I feel it is my penance to go ahead and read the story anyway. Maybe Stmargarets and Boogenhagen got it wrong in their reviews. This might be a 4 star for me.
The next part is what I will label WTH???
The H goes out of town and proposes to the h over the phone.(she is staying in his apartment while he works on location).
The h: “Tell me where you are,” she commanded “ I want to picture you there, proposing to me”
He tells her. (It’s boring)
The h: “I’m in your bed,” she told him with satisfaction.” And I’m wearing the top of a pair of pajamas that you left behind. The dark blue silk one.” (Ok everyone knows that (in romance movies and stories) there is nothing sexier to a man then a woman wearing his top. A woman lying in your bed wearing your top really ramps up the sexiness!!)
Hero: ‘I never wear the tops,” he told her. “Oh and keep our engagement under wraps til I get back.”
(In my head I am thinking it’s still early in the book, it will be ok!)
The story ambles along with the H out of town working and the h pining away for him. She writes him letters. He sends postcards. His calls to her are quick, perfunctory. (Me checking the page count, ok only 8o more pages to get to the parts I already read, I CAN DO THIS! )
The H gets back home. Both sets of parents are over the moon over the engagement. The h gushes all over the H and he is just like “okay then”….(ok honey read the cues!)
He takes the h for a quiet a walk and gives her a passionate kiss(I think he just wants to know if he can “get up” any passion for her. Then he presents her with an opal engagement ring.(ok, I know its an opal, but in all fairness he mined it himself so you know that’s kind of cool! However, the h’s dad said opals are bad luck, so um, that’s not good)
They talk future plans. The h lets the H know that she has no problem living with him before marriage. The H on the other hand doesn’t want to “spoil” her before the wedding AND he is looking for a long engagement. He is 30 and she is 20. He feels that she is still young and should enjoy all the trappings of being engaged.
They enjoy some more passionate encounters where the H becomes passionately acquainted with the h’s breasts. Honestly I think he was turned on by the talk proceeding the make out session….the talk was his future ambitions with the company and how the h would dutifully support him. The h sees premarital sex in her future…her inner woman has been unleashed.
The h gets a big promotion at work as the pa to the boss’s son. (Oh , she works for the same company as the H, this was on purpose so she could be even closer to the H before they were engaged)
Weeks pass. The H works out of town….a lot. Every-time they get together he pulls back on the passion. Our h is feeling a little frustrated at this point. The story continues where the H is always working out of town, they come together in passionate embraces, he puts a halt to it, he extends their engagement until he gets the promotion which is at least another year away.(it has almost been a year already since the H proposed to her).
Our sexually frustrated ready to marry h sets up a scene of seduction. They have plans to go out to dinner with the boss and his wife(a few others too) She shows up at the H’s flat early, and surprises him in the shower. Ok the shower scene was sexy. However, the H comes to his senses and chastises the h for trying to seduce him when she is not on the pill. He himself doesn’t have protection to offer as he tries to indicate that he is not a manwhore. Plus, she should want the white wedding to mean something. He tells her they will have all the time in the world to explore their love on their wedding night(famous last words, foreshadowing ) He tries to put off the wedding date even more, and tells him “ I want it soon!” Sensing that the little h is getting a little too angry, he tells her to set a date as long as it doesn’t interrupt with work. (😒)
At the dinner party the boss’s wife flirts shamelessly with the H and he allows it. The h and H have their first big fight and the H makes comments once again that should set off the h’s alarm bells. However, being the besotted h that she is, she quickly dismisses her thoughts AGAIN! The H is quick to use his weapon of choice which is to kiss her into submission.
The h starts making plans with the mothers for her wedding. She has some guilt over pushing the H for a date, and goes into to town to be with her thoughts. When she gets back home her mom can tell that she is not herself, she thinks the h might be pregnant and is shocked to find that after 18 months with the H her daughter is still untouched(our mom is modern thinking for sure, raised in the era of free love and all!)
The H is feeling a little overwhelmed at this point because not only has he been forced to move up the wedding date but the parents have a property for him to have a house. Before he leaves for yet another business trip, the h goes to him to profess her love she senses his withdrawal. He says he is eager to marry(for consummation reasons, never has he yet said that he loves her)
The boss does some finagling of the schedules and gives the Lithuanian job to someone else to oversee instead of the H so the h and H can get get married on June 10th. (The H is not a fan of people messing with his work!) He continues to flit in and out while the h makes the wedding plans and then he takes off on a sailing trip with friends as a last “bachelor excursion)! Basically the H stays away from the h as much as he can by working. He goes to Lithuania and tells the h he will be back in time for the wedding.
Lynette the boss’s soon to be estranged wife, gives the h some truths about the H. :
The day of the wedding arrives and the H is still not home. His Lithuanian gig hit a few snags. Finally he arrives in England and calls the h who has been wedding prepping all day. She doesn’t take the call. Of course by the time she walks down the aisle all is forgiven. The wedding is great, the reception is great! They go to a hotel to consummate their marriage which was a fade to black except for the searing pain which quickly turned to wonder.(seriously the shower scene was much more descriptive) They make love a few more times and she awakens to him on the phone….talking business. He hangs up and makes love to her again….then they make love again in the shower(finally) He tells her that there are lots of things he needs to teach her as he pulls her on top of him in the bed. She is an eager learner and only wants to please him. So here they are in the middle of the best love making so far(h finally thinks that after 5 previous times the H is finally into her on this session I guess he was just going through the motions before.) The phone rings, and these 2 are on their way to the pinnacle. The H pulls the h off him and chooses the phone over the orgasm.
Now the h is pissed. The next part is so ridiculous I won’t even write it about it. (Much) Suffice it to say, he doesn’t understand her pissiness, and tries to talk her down(if he calls her urchin 1 more time ugh…) Ok folks this goes from bad to worse…and I just can’t.
I am going to suggest that you check out these reviews instead for the rest…
Stmargarets not long and to the point: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Boogenhagen: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Reeder(reviews reviews) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Claire’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my star breakdown: 1 ⭐️ for the awesome depiction of a 90’s wedding dress on the cover. (Puffy sleeves, ott veil!) 1 ⭐️because it brought up strong feelings of disgust and anger..this isn’t the emotion I strive for when reading a “romance” but hey it is a feeling. 1⭐️for the h…not necessarily because I liked her, but because at the age of 4 she knew what she wanted and stuck to it. Now this was to her detriment in my opinion, but hey way to go with being tenacious.
So the only way I can stomach the contrived ending is to put my blinders on and convince myself that the H IS overwhelmed with love and will never cheat. I can do this because it is HP land. If this were real though, there is no doubt in my mind he would be a serial cheater.
The next part is what I will label WTH???
The H goes out of town and proposes to the h over the phone.(she is staying in his apartment while he works on location).
The h: “Tell me where you are,” she commanded “ I want to picture you there, proposing to me”
He tells her. (It’s boring)
The h: “I’m in your bed,” she told him with satisfaction.” And I’m wearing the top of a pair of pajamas that you left behind. The dark blue silk one.” (Ok everyone knows that (in romance movies and stories) there is nothing sexier to a man then a woman wearing his top. A woman lying in your bed wearing your top really ramps up the sexiness!!)
Hero: ‘I never wear the tops,” he told her. “Oh and keep our engagement under wraps til I get back.”
(In my head I am thinking it’s still early in the book, it will be ok!)
The story ambles along with the H out of town working and the h pining away for him. She writes him letters. He sends postcards. His calls to her are quick, perfunctory. (Me checking the page count, ok only 8o more pages to get to the parts I already read, I CAN DO THIS! )
The H gets back home. Both sets of parents are over the moon over the engagement. The h gushes all over the H and he is just like “okay then”….(ok honey read the cues!)
He takes the h for a quiet a walk and gives her a passionate kiss(I think he just wants to know if he can “get up” any passion for her. Then he presents her with an opal engagement ring.(ok, I know its an opal, but in all fairness he mined it himself so you know that’s kind of cool! However, the h’s dad said opals are bad luck, so um, that’s not good)
They talk future plans. The h lets the H know that she has no problem living with him before marriage. The H on the other hand doesn’t want to “spoil” her before the wedding AND he is looking for a long engagement. He is 30 and she is 20. He feels that she is still young and should enjoy all the trappings of being engaged.
They enjoy some more passionate encounters where the H becomes passionately acquainted with the h’s breasts. Honestly I think he was turned on by the talk proceeding the make out session….the talk was his future ambitions with the company and how the h would dutifully support him. The h sees premarital sex in her future…her inner woman has been unleashed.
The h gets a big promotion at work as the pa to the boss’s son. (Oh , she works for the same company as the H, this was on purpose so she could be even closer to the H before they were engaged)
Weeks pass. The H works out of town….a lot. Every-time they get together he pulls back on the passion. Our h is feeling a little frustrated at this point. The story continues where the H is always working out of town, they come together in passionate embraces, he puts a halt to it, he extends their engagement until he gets the promotion which is at least another year away.(it has almost been a year already since the H proposed to her).
Our sexually frustrated ready to marry h sets up a scene of seduction. They have plans to go out to dinner with the boss and his wife(a few others too) She shows up at the H’s flat early, and surprises him in the shower. Ok the shower scene was sexy. However, the H comes to his senses and chastises the h for trying to seduce him when she is not on the pill. He himself doesn’t have protection to offer as he tries to indicate that he is not a manwhore. Plus, she should want the white wedding to mean something. He tells her they will have all the time in the world to explore their love on their wedding night(famous last words, foreshadowing ) He tries to put off the wedding date even more, and tells him “ I want it soon!” Sensing that the little h is getting a little too angry, he tells her to set a date as long as it doesn’t interrupt with work. (😒)
At the dinner party the boss’s wife flirts shamelessly with the H and he allows it. The h and H have their first big fight and the H makes comments once again that should set off the h’s alarm bells. However, being the besotted h that she is, she quickly dismisses her thoughts AGAIN! The H is quick to use his weapon of choice which is to kiss her into submission.
The h starts making plans with the mothers for her wedding. She has some guilt over pushing the H for a date, and goes into to town to be with her thoughts. When she gets back home her mom can tell that she is not herself, she thinks the h might be pregnant and is shocked to find that after 18 months with the H her daughter is still untouched(our mom is modern thinking for sure, raised in the era of free love and all!)
The H is feeling a little overwhelmed at this point because not only has he been forced to move up the wedding date but the parents have a property for him to have a house. Before he leaves for yet another business trip, the h goes to him to profess her love she senses his withdrawal. He says he is eager to marry(for consummation reasons, never has he yet said that he loves her)
The boss does some finagling of the schedules and gives the Lithuanian job to someone else to oversee instead of the H so the h and H can get get married on June 10th. (The H is not a fan of people messing with his work!) He continues to flit in and out while the h makes the wedding plans and then he takes off on a sailing trip with friends as a last “bachelor excursion)! Basically the H stays away from the h as much as he can by working. He goes to Lithuania and tells the h he will be back in time for the wedding.
Lynette the boss’s soon to be estranged wife, gives the h some truths about the H. :
The day of the wedding arrives and the H is still not home. His Lithuanian gig hit a few snags. Finally he arrives in England and calls the h who has been wedding prepping all day. She doesn’t take the call. Of course by the time she walks down the aisle all is forgiven. The wedding is great, the reception is great! They go to a hotel to consummate their marriage which was a fade to black except for the searing pain which quickly turned to wonder.(seriously the shower scene was much more descriptive) They make love a few more times and she awakens to him on the phone….talking business. He hangs up and makes love to her again….then they make love again in the shower(finally) He tells her that there are lots of things he needs to teach her as he pulls her on top of him in the bed. She is an eager learner and only wants to please him. So here they are in the middle of the best love making so far(h finally thinks that after 5 previous times the H is finally into her on this session I guess he was just going through the motions before.) The phone rings, and these 2 are on their way to the pinnacle. The H pulls the h off him and chooses the phone over the orgasm.
Now the h is pissed. The next part is so ridiculous I won’t even write it about it. (Much) Suffice it to say, he doesn’t understand her pissiness, and tries to talk her down(if he calls her urchin 1 more time ugh…) Ok folks this goes from bad to worse…and I just can’t.
I am going to suggest that you check out these reviews instead for the rest…
Stmargarets not long and to the point: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Boogenhagen: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Reeder(reviews reviews) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Claire’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my star breakdown: 1 ⭐️ for the awesome depiction of a 90’s wedding dress on the cover. (Puffy sleeves, ott veil!) 1 ⭐️because it brought up strong feelings of disgust and anger..this isn’t the emotion I strive for when reading a “romance” but hey it is a feeling. 1⭐️for the h…not necessarily because I liked her, but because at the age of 4 she knew what she wanted and stuck to it. Now this was to her detriment in my opinion, but hey way to go with being tenacious.
So the only way I can stomach the contrived ending is to put my blinders on and convince myself that the H IS overwhelmed with love and will never cheat. I can do this because it is HP land. If this were real though, there is no doubt in my mind he would be a serial cheater.
July 23, 2015
Hmmm, this one had some great potential. But I gotta say the middle really dragged. The heroine fell in love with the hero when she was 4 years old and he was 14 and she spent the next 20 years begging him, the boy next door, to marry her. I didn't need a play by play of all those years. So she finally wears him down only to realize on her wedding night that he didn't really love her. And he didn't. The man admits later that he had put off the wedding so long because he was waiting for the great love of his life to show up. So on his wedding night he takes a few work calls and actually pulls out of her to answer his phone. He makes plans to leave and deal with a work situation. It will only take a couple of days and he doesn't understand why she is so upset. It is only when she leaves his ass that night that he falls in love with her. By this point we are 3/4ths of the way through the book. So then she runs and he chases her and I think in the end the explanations and groveling were a little too short. I'm glad I read it but it won't be a reread I don't expect.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2022
Horrible, avoid. Worst hero in HP land. Ever.
A romance where the heroine adores and hero-worships her childhood friend the hero, very boring reading of her being TSTL and him being indifferent, amused by her idolizing, refusing to commit, prioritizing work over wedding and over her. Finally, finally on their wedding night, in the middle of doing you-know-what when he again puts work before her, she sees him for what he is, a selfish manipulative sob, and leaves him.
Then the book is interesting for a bit as she tells him how it is (brava!) until the plane they are in crashes and the hero disappointingly doesn’t die. Worst ending ever. HEA, I don’t think so.
A romance where the heroine adores and hero-worships her childhood friend the hero, very boring reading of her being TSTL and him being indifferent, amused by her idolizing, refusing to commit, prioritizing work over wedding and over her. Finally, finally on their wedding night, in the middle of doing you-know-what when he again puts work before her, she sees him for what he is, a selfish manipulative sob, and leaves him.
Then the book is interesting for a bit as she tells him how it is (brava!) until the plane they are in crashes and the hero disappointingly doesn’t die. Worst ending ever. HEA, I don’t think so.
March 18, 2018
The hero was just a user and utterly unforgivable. The best part was when the heroine decided to leave him on their wedding night! I didn't believe he fell in love with her and h was beyond redemption when he confessed that during their 18 month engagement he kept not pinning a date because he as waiting for his one true love to come along so he fall in love, seriously?! The worst part was he was killing her with the fake kindness. I didn't buy the HEA.
February 28, 2022
The beginning, when 4-year-old Alix declares she’s going to marry 14-year-old Rhys, is pretty cute and stays cute for awhile. But it takes more than half the book to get to the actual marriage, with the months/days/hours leading up to the event filled with huge red flags. (The old-fashioned he’s-got-to-be-a-respectable-married-man-for-his-career thing is less bothersome to me than his not showing up for any of the planning or events leading up to the wedding. They literally don’t know if he’ll show up until like an hour before the ceremony.) Then two days into their honeymoon, he literally leaves her in bed to go back to work.
What makes this really enjoyable is that she is absolutely furious with him and cuttingly dresses him down in a most satisfactory manner. She’s not pretending to be angry like a lot of weak-willed HP heroines, she’s spitting mad and walks out on him. The shock of this, from someone who has always adored him and acquiesced to his wishes, makes him wake up to see her in a different way.
I wish her anger had been sustained for longer, however, or at least the initial circumstances of them starting to get back together didn’t feel so ho-hum. After all the buildup of the wedding and fiery drama of their parting, her choosing to go back to work in the same place just felt very anticlimactic. The whole plane crash at the end also felt like a shortcut to them reuniting—I liked them being apart, and I liked his realization of his feelings, but we got too little of this and too little apologizing when balanced out against the early chapters. Not to mention that he also still left their honeymoon for his wretched job even when she told him that would be the end of them. He is never taken to task for that.
Anyway, there were the bones of a very good 4-star book in here, but it wasn’t properly executed. The ending was fine, but our girl deserved a more emphatic apology and reassurance for happiness than I think she got.
What makes this really enjoyable is that she is absolutely furious with him and cuttingly dresses him down in a most satisfactory manner. She’s not pretending to be angry like a lot of weak-willed HP heroines, she’s spitting mad and walks out on him. The shock of this, from someone who has always adored him and acquiesced to his wishes, makes him wake up to see her in a different way.
I wish her anger had been sustained for longer, however, or at least the initial circumstances of them starting to get back together didn’t feel so ho-hum. After all the buildup of the wedding and fiery drama of their parting, her choosing to go back to work in the same place just felt very anticlimactic. The whole plane crash at the end also felt like a shortcut to them reuniting—I liked them being apart, and I liked his realization of his feelings, but we got too little of this and too little apologizing when balanced out against the early chapters. Not to mention that he also still left their honeymoon for his wretched job even when she told him that would be the end of them. He is never taken to task for that.
Anyway, there were the bones of a very good 4-star book in here, but it wasn’t properly executed. The ending was fine, but our girl deserved a more emphatic apology and reassurance for happiness than I think she got.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2017
Personagens poucos carismáticos. Mocinha imatura e mocinho chato e de sentimentos ambíguos. Mudava de humor de uma hora para outra.
Ela gostava dele desde criança.
Mocinho se aborrecia porque praticamente o forçaram a noiva e se casar. Pensava mais no trabalho e enrolou adiando o casamento. E na lua de mel, abandonou-a para resolver problemas da empresa...
Se gostava dela, não havia motivos para adiar o casamento...
2,5 estrelas
Ela gostava dele desde criança.
Mocinho se aborrecia porque praticamente o forçaram a noiva e se casar. Pensava mais no trabalho e enrolou adiando o casamento. E na lua de mel, abandonou-a para resolver problemas da empresa...
Se gostava dela, não havia motivos para adiar o casamento...
2,5 estrelas
April 12, 2022
I actually really like,this one if only because once the h wishes her stalker ass up she really sticks it to the massive cock womble of a H.
Once she leaves his horrible ass he doesn't know what he's dealing with. Woman scorned and all that. I only wish she had made him suffer more because he totally deserved it.
Don't get me wrong she kinda deserved it because she stalked him from 4 years old but her determination did win her the man so he should have just rolled over and had his belly scratched or manned up and being a true alpha hole and told her where to get off.
Real H's don't marry little stalker girls while waiting for their true love they marry evil trampy goldiggers. He's a complete toad.
Still I rather enjoyed this one once she left him
Once she leaves his horrible ass he doesn't know what he's dealing with. Woman scorned and all that. I only wish she had made him suffer more because he totally deserved it.
Don't get me wrong she kinda deserved it because she stalked him from 4 years old but her determination did win her the man so he should have just rolled over and had his belly scratched or manned up and being a true alpha hole and told her where to get off.
Real H's don't marry little stalker girls while waiting for their true love they marry evil trampy goldiggers. He's a complete toad.
Still I rather enjoyed this one once she left him
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2011
This for me is a keeper. I've read this story over and over again and it's one I'll keep reading over and over. It's such a lovely story of first love and the real troubles life can bring.
It's one that's stuck with me.
It's one that's stuck with me.
July 9, 2021
I just loved how the hero called the heroine an idiot every time he spoke to her for 3/4’s of the book. So Dreamy... ** eye roll ** Heroine seemed to really enjoy it too.
Be careful what you wish for .. etc.. etc..
Happy for now.
Be careful what you wish for .. etc.. etc..
Happy for now.
February 27, 2023
When I started reading this book till the first 4-5 chapters I thought it was cute and I had a winner in my hands this book needed more than a 5 stars as the story was unique for Mills and Boon but the last chapter just ruined it for me and I was so disappointed that I almost gave this a 1 star rating.
I kept on thinking that someone better than the male character is going to come and give him a chance to really fall in love with the heroine which he was clearly not from the beginning the middle or even at the end. The author should have given the ending more thought as nowhere in the ending did Rhys grovel enough or grovel at all to redeem himself. Rhys with his attitude could be any OM where he does not get the girl at the end and some dashing man comes and sweeps her of her feet even in the long run Alix's boss Todd had more feelings for her than Rhys LOL. I wish the writer can rewrite the ending and give it a epilogue of 5 years later since this pair is definitely not sticking together even for a year with the clues we gathered throughout the book.
I kept on thinking that someone better than the male character is going to come and give him a chance to really fall in love with the heroine which he was clearly not from the beginning the middle or even at the end. The author should have given the ending more thought as nowhere in the ending did Rhys grovel enough or grovel at all to redeem himself. Rhys with his attitude could be any OM where he does not get the girl at the end and some dashing man comes and sweeps her of her feet even in the long run Alix's boss Todd had more feelings for her than Rhys LOL. I wish the writer can rewrite the ending and give it a epilogue of 5 years later since this pair is definitely not sticking together even for a year with the clues we gathered throughout the book.
July 26, 2023
Reading the first 3rd of the book l thought this is too good to be true. Reading the 2nd 3rd l knew something very wrong is beneath the surface.
The h in the first 70% of the book was a very naive, immature, dreamer with tunel vision. She was madly in love with the H since childhood and was blind to anything else. Her life's goal was to marry the H.
With his actions and words the H gave plenty of clues but they all went unnoticed. I wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up.
When her bubble burst l was hurt and angry along with her. Her blinders were off and she could see the H in a new more realistic light.
I could do without the plane crush scene towards the end. I hate it when authors use an illness, an accident or a disaster to resolve a story.
I was not quite convinced that the H fell in love with her at the end but l wasn't the one who wrote the book the author did and she wanted us to believe that he did so l will go along with it.
The h in the first 70% of the book was a very naive, immature, dreamer with tunel vision. She was madly in love with the H since childhood and was blind to anything else. Her life's goal was to marry the H.
With his actions and words the H gave plenty of clues but they all went unnoticed. I wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up.
When her bubble burst l was hurt and angry along with her. Her blinders were off and she could see the H in a new more realistic light.
I could do without the plane crush scene towards the end. I hate it when authors use an illness, an accident or a disaster to resolve a story.
I was not quite convinced that the H fell in love with her at the end but l wasn't the one who wrote the book the author did and she wanted us to believe that he did so l will go along with it.
September 3, 2020
Sigh! The only payoff for the h falling in love at 4 years of age would have been if the H also admitted to be besotted with her since then. Unfortunately, he was not. Not then, not during the next 16 years which included their engagement period (which, needless to say, the h forced on him) Nope, no siree!
It took her walking out for him to fall head over heels in love with her...
And then, coz there really wasn't much going on throughout the book except the protagonists playing a game of Tag (first him, then her) the author just *had* to add an airplane crash in the end....after which they had just cause to live HEA...
Cannot remember when I bought this book, but it had been on my bookshelf long enough for me to forget that I did..... And now wish I'd let it remain unread.... !!
The 2 stars are for the spine the h finally developed for at least part of the book..
It took her walking out for him to fall head over heels in love with her...
And then, coz there really wasn't much going on throughout the book except the protagonists playing a game of Tag (first him, then her) the author just *had* to add an airplane crash in the end....after which they had just cause to live HEA...
Cannot remember when I bought this book, but it had been on my bookshelf long enough for me to forget that I did..... And now wish I'd let it remain unread.... !!
The 2 stars are for the spine the h finally developed for at least part of the book..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
hq-to-read
July 5, 2018A runaway wife
Mix North had fallen in love with Rhys Stirling the first time she had met him. Now Mix's dream was about to come true--Rhys had asked her to marry him.
Rhys Stirling was an ambitious man, and the only thing that stood between him and a directorship was his single status. Of course, that was easily remedied. He'd known Mix all his life--she was the perfect choice.
Alix isn't going to accept anything less than his love. It's only after Alix leaves him that Rhys finds that he's fallen in love--with his own wife!
Mix North had fallen in love with Rhys Stirling the first time she had met him. Now Mix's dream was about to come true--Rhys had asked her to marry him.
Rhys Stirling was an ambitious man, and the only thing that stood between him and a directorship was his single status. Of course, that was easily remedied. He'd known Mix all his life--she was the perfect choice.
Alix isn't going to accept anything less than his love. It's only after Alix leaves him that Rhys finds that he's fallen in love--with his own wife!
July 19, 2020
There was a good story in there some place but it didn't come through. Our poor ditz of a heroine doesn't wake up until like half way through the book. Our hero, we know NOTHING about him except he works and the heroine loves him. He is practically a blank slate. I liked the premise and I liked the heroine taking control of her life(later than she should have). But if you have to crash a plane to get the couple back together perhaps they just aren't meant to be. Skip.
November 27, 2015
Some reviewers seem to feel the hero's suddenly falling in love with the heroine when she left him was unconvincing. It was weak, but I found the heroine's love for him to be equally unconvincing. I never believed her feelings for him were anything more than hero worship.
March 4, 2023
I don’t know who’s worse in this book.
The heroine is a pushy spineless doormat who basically has been stalking the hero since she’s 4, asking him to marry her and telling him she loves him.
No, that won’t do.
A man has to have the pleasure of the pursuit when it comes to his woman and a woman always pining after a man who basically ignores her and treats her as his lil sister… it is pitiful.
Then when she’s 19 he decides he will accept her proposal and I’m not joking because she’s been shoving herself down his throat since forever, that eventually he gives in and decides that since he’s not found his true love she will do.
I’m not joking, again.
He keeps her waiting for two years and eventually, pushed by both their families and by the hero herself, he accepts to fix a date.
He’s a workaholic and somewhat of an opportunist so he’s always traveling and of course, since he’s not in love with the heroine, she comes after his job.
So they get married and as soon as the wedding is over he leaves his bride to go somewhere for work.
The heroine at this point is fed up with his behavior but I honestly don’t understand her at all.
He has ignored her for years and she forced herself on him, so why is she surprised that he is so ready to give up his honeymoon for his job?
She leaves him and wants a divorce. Again, I don’t understand why. He’s no different from what he’s always been.
He spends weeks trying to win her back because now that she threatens to divorce his sorry ass he’s understood that he’s in love with her and he’s treated her badly.
Eventually there’s some kind of scare that makes everything all right since the heroine understands that she loves him a lot and accepts his apologies.
He declares he wasn’t in love with her before their marriage and afterwards when she left him he realized she’s the love of his life.
His explanations are pathetic and embarrassing both for the heroine and for him but I couldn’t feel sorry for her since she’s been on his tail for years and she deserved to be overlooked.
About celibacy the heroine is of course celibate while he wasn’t until they got engaged. Afterwards he tells her he’s been always celibate, but in this case where the hero is so uncaring about the heroine at all that I couldn’t feel any love or attraction for her, his celibacy is the least of his faults.
This is one of the less romantic books I’ve read in many months.
The heroine is a pushy spineless doormat who basically has been stalking the hero since she’s 4, asking him to marry her and telling him she loves him.
No, that won’t do.
A man has to have the pleasure of the pursuit when it comes to his woman and a woman always pining after a man who basically ignores her and treats her as his lil sister… it is pitiful.
Then when she’s 19 he decides he will accept her proposal and I’m not joking because she’s been shoving herself down his throat since forever, that eventually he gives in and decides that since he’s not found his true love she will do.
I’m not joking, again.
He keeps her waiting for two years and eventually, pushed by both their families and by the hero herself, he accepts to fix a date.
He’s a workaholic and somewhat of an opportunist so he’s always traveling and of course, since he’s not in love with the heroine, she comes after his job.
So they get married and as soon as the wedding is over he leaves his bride to go somewhere for work.
The heroine at this point is fed up with his behavior but I honestly don’t understand her at all.
He has ignored her for years and she forced herself on him, so why is she surprised that he is so ready to give up his honeymoon for his job?
She leaves him and wants a divorce. Again, I don’t understand why. He’s no different from what he’s always been.
He spends weeks trying to win her back because now that she threatens to divorce his sorry ass he’s understood that he’s in love with her and he’s treated her badly.
Eventually there’s some kind of scare that makes everything all right since the heroine understands that she loves him a lot and accepts his apologies.
He declares he wasn’t in love with her before their marriage and afterwards when she left him he realized she’s the love of his life.
His explanations are pathetic and embarrassing both for the heroine and for him but I couldn’t feel sorry for her since she’s been on his tail for years and she deserved to be overlooked.
About celibacy the heroine is of course celibate while he wasn’t until they got engaged. Afterwards he tells her he’s been always celibate, but in this case where the hero is so uncaring about the heroine at all that I couldn’t feel any love or attraction for her, his celibacy is the least of his faults.
This is one of the less romantic books I’ve read in many months.
August 2, 2021
To Have And To Hold
She has loved him since the first time they met. As she grew up she let him know that they were going to get married. She didn't mind the ten years age gap. But when she finds out that he only asked to marry her was to get a promotion at work her rose colored glasses fell off. After their marriage she leaves him. Will his own feelings about her come to light or will they end up divorced?
She has loved him since the first time they met. As she grew up she let him know that they were going to get married. She didn't mind the ten years age gap. But when she finds out that he only asked to marry her was to get a promotion at work her rose colored glasses fell off. After their marriage she leaves him. Will his own feelings about her come to light or will they end up divorced?
July 1, 2019
A sweet little romance of the very traditional role kind. Alix has loved Rhys since she was 4 years old and finally he proposes, but so much can go awry when he takes her forgranted and puts work first, even up to their wedding day and during their honeymoon. Watch Alix grow up and into herself — that is the best part of this old romance novel from 1994.
Read
January 8, 2022I like the drama when her love for him turned to hate. I like his groveling.
But the end with the plane crash and the HEA was really disappointing.
It’s very rare to see a h letting the H pay for what he had done wrong. Usually the h forgives immediately. Happy to see that this woman stayed angry at him for a while. Therefore (despite the not satisfying ending) 4 stars.
But the end with the plane crash and the HEA was really disappointing.
It’s very rare to see a h letting the H pay for what he had done wrong. Usually the h forgives immediately. Happy to see that this woman stayed angry at him for a while. Therefore (despite the not satisfying ending) 4 stars.
March 20, 2022
The set-up was great - Alix has been in love with Rhys since early childhood and he's basically marrying her because hey, why not, she's grown up attractive - but the grovel was definitely insufficient.
April 1, 2023
I got introduced to the romance world reading the graphic novel of this book and went into the actual book itself eventually. I was originally just into young adult and popular fictional reads, but this was an opening to a door that has now led me to the romance reader I am.
October 20, 2018
One of the better old harlequin books.
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