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Significant Others #3
AFTER HOURS
Wife wanted!
Quentin Ramsey was fed up with relationships and empty promises. And then he had seen Marcia Barnes across a crowded room and realized she was the woman he'd been waiting for all his life.
But Marcia was more Ms. Workaholic than Miss Right. Her biological clock was ticking. It was the only reasonable explanation she could think of for her involvement with Quentin. The only thing they had in common was sex--great sex admittedly, but sex all the same. Marcia had always lived to work, but now she was living for five o'clock ....
How could Quentin persuade Marcia to take him on for a lifetime and not just after business hours!
Quentin Ramsey was fed up with relationships and empty promises. And then he had seen Marcia Barnes across a crowded room and realized she was the woman he'd been waiting for all his life.
But Marcia was more Ms. Workaholic than Miss Right. Her biological clock was ticking. It was the only reasonable explanation she could think of for her involvement with Quentin. The only thing they had in common was sex--great sex admittedly, but sex all the same. Marcia had always lived to work, but now she was living for five o'clock ....
How could Quentin persuade Marcia to take him on for a lifetime and not just after business hours!
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Field
212 books35 followersJill MacLean was born on 1941 in England, UK. In 1950, her family moved to Nova Scotia, Canada.
After receiving her Bachelor of Science with honours from Dalhousie University, she married. She worked at the Fisheries Research Board until her daughter was born. Following the birth of her son, she was employed by the pathology laboratory of Sydney City Hospital and the biology department of Mount Allison University. More recently, she completed a Masters in Theological Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology; her thesis juxtaposed Hebrew concepts of chaos in the book of Job with modern chaos theory.
When her husband joined the Armed Forces as a chaplain, she had to stop working. They moved three times in the first 18 months, the last move was to Prince Edward Island. By then her children were in school; she couldn't get a job; and at the local bridge club, she kept forgetting not to trump her partner's ace.
However, she had always loved to read, fascinated by the lure of being drawn into the other world of the story. So one day she bought a dozen Harlequin novels, read and analyzed them, then sat down and wrote one. Her first book, To Trust My Love, typed with four fingers, was published in 1974 as Sandra Field (she believes she's curiously the first Canadian to write for Harlequin). During the four years she lived in Prince Edward Island, she researched an 18th century French settlement located near present-day Brudenell, resulting in a historical book, Jean Pierre Roma, published in 1977 under her real name. She also started to write in collaboration with other Martimer writer under the pseudonym Jan MacLean. She also used to singed her novels the pseudonym of Jocelyn Haley. Her pseudonyms was an attempt to prevent the congregation from finding out what the chaplain's wife was up to in her spare time.
Before she turned 40, her life was changed, she had lost three of the most important women in her life: her mother and sister to illness, and her seventeen-year-old daughter to a car accident, and she separated from her husband in 1976. One of the lasting legacies of the grief caused by these losses has been the idea that it is impossible and undesirable to live every waking moment in the knowledge that loss can strike at any time.
She's been very fortunate for years to be able to combine a love of travel (particularly to the north - she doesn't do heat well) with her writing, by describing settings that most people will probably never visit. And there's always the challenge of making the heroine's long underwear sound romantic. Her novels has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Yugoslavian, Japanese... and sold in more than 90 countries. Her first collection of poetry, The Brevity of Red, was published in 2003. When her nine-years-old grandson, Stuart, asked him a book for him, she wrote her first Children's book and decided continued writing this type of books.
Jill now lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and she's lived most of her life in the Maritimes of Canada, within reach of the sea. Kayaking and canoeing, hiking and gardening, listening to music and reading are all sources of great pleasure. But best of all are good friends, some going back to high-school days, and her family. In Newfoundland, she has a beautiful daughter-in-law and the two most delightful, handsome, and intelligent grandchildren in the world (of course!).
After receiving her Bachelor of Science with honours from Dalhousie University, she married. She worked at the Fisheries Research Board until her daughter was born. Following the birth of her son, she was employed by the pathology laboratory of Sydney City Hospital and the biology department of Mount Allison University. More recently, she completed a Masters in Theological Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology; her thesis juxtaposed Hebrew concepts of chaos in the book of Job with modern chaos theory.
When her husband joined the Armed Forces as a chaplain, she had to stop working. They moved three times in the first 18 months, the last move was to Prince Edward Island. By then her children were in school; she couldn't get a job; and at the local bridge club, she kept forgetting not to trump her partner's ace.
However, she had always loved to read, fascinated by the lure of being drawn into the other world of the story. So one day she bought a dozen Harlequin novels, read and analyzed them, then sat down and wrote one. Her first book, To Trust My Love, typed with four fingers, was published in 1974 as Sandra Field (she believes she's curiously the first Canadian to write for Harlequin). During the four years she lived in Prince Edward Island, she researched an 18th century French settlement located near present-day Brudenell, resulting in a historical book, Jean Pierre Roma, published in 1977 under her real name. She also started to write in collaboration with other Martimer writer under the pseudonym Jan MacLean. She also used to singed her novels the pseudonym of Jocelyn Haley. Her pseudonyms was an attempt to prevent the congregation from finding out what the chaplain's wife was up to in her spare time.
Before she turned 40, her life was changed, she had lost three of the most important women in her life: her mother and sister to illness, and her seventeen-year-old daughter to a car accident, and she separated from her husband in 1976. One of the lasting legacies of the grief caused by these losses has been the idea that it is impossible and undesirable to live every waking moment in the knowledge that loss can strike at any time.
She's been very fortunate for years to be able to combine a love of travel (particularly to the north - she doesn't do heat well) with her writing, by describing settings that most people will probably never visit. And there's always the challenge of making the heroine's long underwear sound romantic. Her novels has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Yugoslavian, Japanese... and sold in more than 90 countries. Her first collection of poetry, The Brevity of Red, was published in 2003. When her nine-years-old grandson, Stuart, asked him a book for him, she wrote her first Children's book and decided continued writing this type of books.
Jill now lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and she's lived most of her life in the Maritimes of Canada, within reach of the sea. Kayaking and canoeing, hiking and gardening, listening to music and reading are all sources of great pleasure. But best of all are good friends, some going back to high-school days, and her family. In Newfoundland, she has a beautiful daughter-in-law and the two most delightful, handsome, and intelligent grandchildren in the world (of course!).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 14, 2018
Re After Hours - Sandra Field's final entry in her Significant Others series is all about the older Dr. Researcher sister of the h in the first two books.
The 33 year old h is dragooned into meeting up with her sister, her sister's husband and the male artist BFF of the couple from Second Honeymoon.
The male artist H is having a gallery showing of his recent paintings and the h isn't really feeling the artistic vibe enough to enjoy the show.
The Artist H is not too keen on going to his own show either. He is in his mid thirties and an orphan. But he has this deep inner conviction that one day he is going to have a eyes meeting across a crowded room moment and that will be it. He will meet the love of his life and live happily ever after, just like his very in love and devoted parents did.
The H has been married before, but it was a youthful mistake because he was too impatient to wait for his Real True Love. He knew it was a mistake right after the wedding, but it took a little while longer for his first wife to meet an older, wealthier man and run off with him.
The H was very relieved when that finally happened. He resigned himself to waiting for his own One and Only to show up, but he wasn't too resigned, cause his dark good looks kept the lurvely lady buffet line continually circulating and the H wasn't hurting for samples.
That all changes when the rain soaked h makes it to his gallery showing and then bursts into tears at the sight of one of his paintings. The H's instincts are telling him that this is the one, even tho she dresses like Margaret Thatcher and appears to have no other interests outside her research.
The h doesn't know why she is crying over the gloriously multi-colored canvas the H created, she just knows that she is missing something in her life and also, she is fretting about her research job. Cutbacks are on the agenda and the h is still a junior researcher without tenure, so there is a very good chance she will get the ax and she REALLY likes her job.
Since her boss told her she had to take an unplanned vacation, the h's sister maneuvers her into spending it with the H. (He was supposed to be away on a trip, but that was never going to happen.)
The h initially rebuffs the besotted H at first, but he starts to grow on her and her attitude about herself, her work and her life slowly starts to change.
(In essence the h is having a 'midlife crisis' at 33. She has always been focused on being a researcher and in her family, the only emotional one is her younger sister, the h from the last two books. So the h is learning new things about herself practically every day and exploring new idears that pop into her mind, but it is all confusing for her and she has a hard time adjusting.)
Into the middle of all this self introspection, the H hurls in just like a cannonball on the rampage. He is utterly and completely convinced that the h is his ONE and if this was anyplace other than HPlandia, we would all be yelling at this h to change city's, hairstyles and her name, cause this H has obsessed stalkery guy written ALL over himself.
But fortunately for us, this is HPlandia and we can just cheer the H on as he stalks his true love h into submission as she injures herself on his roof, cries at just about everything and experiences the full force of the Lurve Force Mojo.
Over the course of the three weeks the H pushes every boundary the h has and the h is definitely feeling the lurve club explosions when they eventually get that far. The H is adamant that he is in love and the h is trying to figure out what exactly is happening to her.
Then the worst thing happens, the h research job is cut and the H gives her an ultimatum, cause her doubts about their three week relationship are causing him to doubt his instincts and he starts to panic.
When the h loses her job, she really loses her sense of identity. It is a very nice role reversal from SF, the h is the one whose self image comes from her job and the H is the one whose sense of self comes from how he expresses himself.
The h feels ashamed because her job was cut and she runs off to the H's old hometown to try and figure things out. She calls her brother in law to tell the H that she is off for a few days and the H figures his ultimatum deadline for the h to declare her true love forever to him has past, so he is going to go build himself a house.
The H likes to build houses in addition to his very famous artistic career.
The H goes off to have a mopey moment and the h goes to learn things about the H's life before he became the famous guy he is today. The h knows that the H's parents were regular people. His dad was lumber jack and his mum cleaned houses. The H always carries a clean white handkerchief because his mother thought that was the mark of a true gentleman.
But the h doesn't really know anything about the H or how he grew up and when she gets to the h's hometown, she meets the people who took over raising the H after his parent's died and she gets the full family anecdote/baby album treatment.
The h also has to do a bit of real medical doctoring, as the area is very remote and there is no regular physician. The h then has her big epiphany over H baby photos that she really does love the H, she should become a practicing physician instead of a research doctor and that the H probably has given up hope by now.
So the h chases off to find the H and the H ends up leaving, but then returning to the h's apartment. They have the big reunion scene where the h explains her metamorphosis from workaholic die hard research scientist to head over heels in love with the H woman, longing for a practicing medical career, a husband and a home complete with small rugrats.
The H is overjoyed that his infallible instincts were right on target and we leave the two of them planning a lifetime of arguing about oatmeal vs tuna fish sandwiches as the best fuel for purple passion moments.
We even get a teeny tiny epilogue where the H and h are packing up and moving to the West of Canada. The h will start her medical practice and the H will build a house and the h now has glorious vibrant color to look at everyday. Because the H bought his own painting that the h originally cried over as a symbol of his lasting devotion and Their True Love Forever HEA.
This was a nice, but rather slow kinda book and probably should be put in the just visiting HPlandia pile.
The H was very aggressive in his attempt to capture his girl, so all those fans of stalkery-stalkerific hero's take note. He isn't really mean or abusive about it, but he does assertively tell the h she wants him a lot.
The h is a bit harder to comprehend, she is very career focused and her continual bouts of weeping are a bit disconcerting at first. SF does a decent job building the h's character by the end. It helps that even the h has no clue about why she is crying so much, until her relationship and conversations with the hero help to see where she needs to grow.
Overall this a sweet little story and has none of the serious angst and pain of the first two books. So if you want a placid romance with a seriously determined H, who gets a lot of POV, this one makes for a pretty good HP outing.
The 33 year old h is dragooned into meeting up with her sister, her sister's husband and the male artist BFF of the couple from Second Honeymoon.
The male artist H is having a gallery showing of his recent paintings and the h isn't really feeling the artistic vibe enough to enjoy the show.
The Artist H is not too keen on going to his own show either. He is in his mid thirties and an orphan. But he has this deep inner conviction that one day he is going to have a eyes meeting across a crowded room moment and that will be it. He will meet the love of his life and live happily ever after, just like his very in love and devoted parents did.
The H has been married before, but it was a youthful mistake because he was too impatient to wait for his Real True Love. He knew it was a mistake right after the wedding, but it took a little while longer for his first wife to meet an older, wealthier man and run off with him.
The H was very relieved when that finally happened. He resigned himself to waiting for his own One and Only to show up, but he wasn't too resigned, cause his dark good looks kept the lurvely lady buffet line continually circulating and the H wasn't hurting for samples.
That all changes when the rain soaked h makes it to his gallery showing and then bursts into tears at the sight of one of his paintings. The H's instincts are telling him that this is the one, even tho she dresses like Margaret Thatcher and appears to have no other interests outside her research.
The h doesn't know why she is crying over the gloriously multi-colored canvas the H created, she just knows that she is missing something in her life and also, she is fretting about her research job. Cutbacks are on the agenda and the h is still a junior researcher without tenure, so there is a very good chance she will get the ax and she REALLY likes her job.
Since her boss told her she had to take an unplanned vacation, the h's sister maneuvers her into spending it with the H. (He was supposed to be away on a trip, but that was never going to happen.)
The h initially rebuffs the besotted H at first, but he starts to grow on her and her attitude about herself, her work and her life slowly starts to change.
(In essence the h is having a 'midlife crisis' at 33. She has always been focused on being a researcher and in her family, the only emotional one is her younger sister, the h from the last two books. So the h is learning new things about herself practically every day and exploring new idears that pop into her mind, but it is all confusing for her and she has a hard time adjusting.)
Into the middle of all this self introspection, the H hurls in just like a cannonball on the rampage. He is utterly and completely convinced that the h is his ONE and if this was anyplace other than HPlandia, we would all be yelling at this h to change city's, hairstyles and her name, cause this H has obsessed stalkery guy written ALL over himself.
But fortunately for us, this is HPlandia and we can just cheer the H on as he stalks his true love h into submission as she injures herself on his roof, cries at just about everything and experiences the full force of the Lurve Force Mojo.
Over the course of the three weeks the H pushes every boundary the h has and the h is definitely feeling the lurve club explosions when they eventually get that far. The H is adamant that he is in love and the h is trying to figure out what exactly is happening to her.
Then the worst thing happens, the h research job is cut and the H gives her an ultimatum, cause her doubts about their three week relationship are causing him to doubt his instincts and he starts to panic.
When the h loses her job, she really loses her sense of identity. It is a very nice role reversal from SF, the h is the one whose self image comes from her job and the H is the one whose sense of self comes from how he expresses himself.
The h feels ashamed because her job was cut and she runs off to the H's old hometown to try and figure things out. She calls her brother in law to tell the H that she is off for a few days and the H figures his ultimatum deadline for the h to declare her true love forever to him has past, so he is going to go build himself a house.
The H likes to build houses in addition to his very famous artistic career.
The H goes off to have a mopey moment and the h goes to learn things about the H's life before he became the famous guy he is today. The h knows that the H's parents were regular people. His dad was lumber jack and his mum cleaned houses. The H always carries a clean white handkerchief because his mother thought that was the mark of a true gentleman.
But the h doesn't really know anything about the H or how he grew up and when she gets to the h's hometown, she meets the people who took over raising the H after his parent's died and she gets the full family anecdote/baby album treatment.
The h also has to do a bit of real medical doctoring, as the area is very remote and there is no regular physician. The h then has her big epiphany over H baby photos that she really does love the H, she should become a practicing physician instead of a research doctor and that the H probably has given up hope by now.
So the h chases off to find the H and the H ends up leaving, but then returning to the h's apartment. They have the big reunion scene where the h explains her metamorphosis from workaholic die hard research scientist to head over heels in love with the H woman, longing for a practicing medical career, a husband and a home complete with small rugrats.
The H is overjoyed that his infallible instincts were right on target and we leave the two of them planning a lifetime of arguing about oatmeal vs tuna fish sandwiches as the best fuel for purple passion moments.
We even get a teeny tiny epilogue where the H and h are packing up and moving to the West of Canada. The h will start her medical practice and the H will build a house and the h now has glorious vibrant color to look at everyday. Because the H bought his own painting that the h originally cried over as a symbol of his lasting devotion and Their True Love Forever HEA.
This was a nice, but rather slow kinda book and probably should be put in the just visiting HPlandia pile.
The H was very aggressive in his attempt to capture his girl, so all those fans of stalkery-stalkerific hero's take note. He isn't really mean or abusive about it, but he does assertively tell the h she wants him a lot.
The h is a bit harder to comprehend, she is very career focused and her continual bouts of weeping are a bit disconcerting at first. SF does a decent job building the h's character by the end. It helps that even the h has no clue about why she is crying so much, until her relationship and conversations with the hero help to see where she needs to grow.
Overall this a sweet little story and has none of the serious angst and pain of the first two books. So if you want a placid romance with a seriously determined H, who gets a lot of POV, this one makes for a pretty good HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2012
4 Stars! ~ Marcia has dedicated her entire career as a physician to research. She's always felt that her career defined her. But the last few years she's become aware that there is an emptiness in her life and she's not sure what to do about that. Quentin is a talented artist who has the gift of portraying deep emotions on his canvasses and in his sculptures. Since the age of 11 he's been certain that there is one woman who will be his soulmate and when he meets her, he'll recognize her instantly -- it will be love at first sight. In Ottawa for a gallery showing of his work, Quentin finds the beautiful woman entering the gallery takes his breath away. It's a shock to discover that she's none other than his best friend Lucy's cold ambitious sister, Marcia. Instantly their attraction sizzles, and each admits readily that the other gets under their skin. Marcia's drawn to Quentin but he scares the heck out of her. He's so sure of their future that he threatens to scare her away.
I adore these two! And if Quentin showed up at my door, I'd haul him in in a hurry and never let him out! I adore a hero who thoroughly believes in love and has the determination to woe the woman he wants. Quentin is a terrific romantic hero. He's shaken up though when Marcia doesn't jump into his arms and he's forced to question his beliefs in love at first sight. Marcia really gives him a run and a couple of times I found myself ready to shout at her to open her eyes and see what a dream Quentin is. In the end, she comes to her senses but I hated that she made Quentin doubt love. This was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with Lucy and Troy again. Now I wonder if Ms. Fields has written a story for the other sister, Cat.
I adore these two! And if Quentin showed up at my door, I'd haul him in in a hurry and never let him out! I adore a hero who thoroughly believes in love and has the determination to woe the woman he wants. Quentin is a terrific romantic hero. He's shaken up though when Marcia doesn't jump into his arms and he's forced to question his beliefs in love at first sight. Marcia really gives him a run and a couple of times I found myself ready to shout at her to open her eyes and see what a dream Quentin is. In the end, she comes to her senses but I hated that she made Quentin doubt love. This was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with Lucy and Troy again. Now I wonder if Ms. Fields has written a story for the other sister, Cat.
June 23, 2012
This was an alright read. I like the trope of the eager hero and prickly heroine. And it was interesting to read a Harlequin set in Canada for a change. But the heroine was kind of over the top in her prickliness, and hard to like as a result.
June 5, 2024
Good book
Read
June 25, 2018Wife wanted!
Quentin Ramsey was fed up with relationships and empty promises. And then he had seen Marcia Barnes across a crowded room and realized she was the woman he'd been waiting for all his life.
But Marcia was more Ms. Workaholic than Miss Right. Her biological clock was ticking. It was the only reasonable explanation she could think of for her involvement with Quentin. The only thing they had in common was sex--great sex admittedly, but sex all the same. Marcia had always lived to work, but now she was living for five o'clock ....
How could Quentin persuade Marcia to take him on for a lifetime and not just after business hours!
Quentin Ramsey was fed up with relationships and empty promises. And then he had seen Marcia Barnes across a crowded room and realized she was the woman he'd been waiting for all his life.
But Marcia was more Ms. Workaholic than Miss Right. Her biological clock was ticking. It was the only reasonable explanation she could think of for her involvement with Quentin. The only thing they had in common was sex--great sex admittedly, but sex all the same. Marcia had always lived to work, but now she was living for five o'clock ....
How could Quentin persuade Marcia to take him on for a lifetime and not just after business hours!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews