Hannah

by Betty Neels

Tiny Paul van Eysink was a very special case to nurse Hannah Lang, and she had become very fond of his young parents, Corinna and Paul. When they invited her to go back with them to Holland until the baby was completely recovered, Hannah was only to happy to oblige. The problem was Corinna's unbending uncle, Doctor Valentijn van Bertes! He could find no fault with Hannah's nursing skills--but she was only too well aware that she meant little to him as a person. Why should she? He had a very lovely fiancee in Nerissa...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Romance, Category Romance, Fiction, Ebooks

219 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1981

About the author

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reviews

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars for Hannah! I enjoyed this book so much that I rank it in the Top Ten Best ever written by Betty Neels.

Though the book follows the typical BN storyline, it had a slightly different feel and I found it refreshing. I think Betty penned some wonderful characters that distinguishes this book from the rest.

First, Hannah was great and I fell in love with her on the very first page. She was smart, fun, kind, but quirky. Though she is plain and mousy, she is loved by everyone. Her only downfall was she suffered from a guilt ridden martr complex when it came to her lazy, "good for nothing" mother. (I so wanted to just kick the old broad in the "keister"). She is a slave to her mother's every whim, working herself to the bone to keep mom living in a standard she was accustomed to prior to her father's death. She never gets a day off for herself. She works constantly and when she is not working she cooks, cleans, shops, irons, and does anything else mom asks her to do. She even forgoes buying a much needed winter coat so that her mother can squander her earnings on frivilous nothings. She even sacrifices her love-life, all to keep dear old Mom happy happy happy!

Our hero is delicious. Though he also fits the typical Betty mold, I found him to be quite different. First of all, he is divorced, not widowed, divorced!!!!...... (Shock alert......A very first, I think for Betty) He's a bit arrogant, with that mocking condescending tone, but he quickly gets put in his place by our dear Hannah when she overhears him make a cutting remark about her. From that point on, the good doctor is on the defensive and I just loved watching him trying to get back into Hannah's good graces.

We have a delicious evil OW, Narcissa, who quickly realizes that our mousy Hannah is going to be quite the competition. So she sets out to make things very difficult belittling Hannah at every turn and feeding her vicious lies. She even sets Hannah up on a date with a nasty gentleman in the hopes that she will pose less of a threat. Not a very bright move on her part, I might add. You would think if she really wanted to eliminate the competition, she would have set Hannah up with someone worth capturing her interest. But then again, OW was just evil, not brilliant.

There are twists and turns at every corner that kept me really engrossed in the story and invested in the characters.

This one hit the spot for me.

[Grrrrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, classic Betty with some really funny moments! Full-on spoilage ahead: Poor little plot moppet Paul van Eysink certainly has a rough time of it in this romance, at death’s door THREE times! Good thing heroine Hannah Lang is such a great nurse! Having famous pediatrician Uncle Valentijn as his godfather doesn’t hurt either. Hannah is pretty sick of hearing about perfect Uncle Valentijn from Baby Paul’s mother, despite not having met him. She’s convinced he’ll be middle aged, pedantic, and balding. Much to her surprise upon meeting him, Uncle Valentijn is hot.

Indeed, Hannah is a bit overwhelmed by our vast Rich Dutch Doctor, Valentijn van Bertes. But she’s also nettled by his “polite indifference,” and amused mockery and decides that he’s quite horrible and unsettling. As for Valentijn, although he initially thinks of Hannah as an “unassuming girl,” something about her—her gorgeous gray eyes, her nice figure, her pretty voice, her kind nature?--catches his reluctant interest.

Baby Paul’s mother, Corinna, is convinced that the only thing standing between Baby Paul and certain death is Hannah, and she and her Uncle Valentijn arrange to bring Hannah back to Holland. Valentijn manages to convince Hannah’s Dementor mother to let her go. Hannah is excited at the chance to travel out of her rut, even if it means seeing more of Valentijn, whom she doesn’t think she likes and who doesn’t seem to even notice her.

He does, but mostly as “calm and hardworking.” Corinna tells him Hannah’s worth six of his new “lanky and self-centered” fiancée Nerissa. Nerissa (“sea-serpent” in Dutch—thanks Uncrushable Jersey Dress!) is a classic BN OW, skinny, sly, and sophisticated. Our doctor, a divorcee (a first? Usually BN kills off unfaithful first wives), has given up on love and thinks Nerissa will be a “suitable” wife: someone for whom he feels very little and who will not interfere with his work.

At first, Valentijn seems indifferent to Hannah, although amused by her prickliness. He even takes her to dinner one night after she works late caring for Baby Paul. It doesn’t go well: She’s shy and stiff, and rather than putting her at ease, the way RDDs usually do, he looks faintly bored, so that she ends up chattering away, fueled by too much wine and nerves. She apologizes, and he reassures her, so it’s really pretty awful when she overhears him the next day imploring Corinna to keep her away from the claret, since she’d given him a headache with her chatter. Ugh! The Germans have a word for feeling embarrassed on someone else’s behalf: fremdschämen, and I felt it. Hannah is hurt and angry and hopes she won’t see much of him during her month in the Netherlands.

To her dismay, Valentijn is there when they arrive to a party of relatives and friends waiting to meet Baby Paul. Hannah retreats to a quiet corner, where she is handed a glass of champagne. She catches Valentijn staring, “waiting for her to make a fool of herself,” she thinks; “if she chattered too much after a couple of glasses of claret, what was she likely to do after champagne?” Still angry, she says as much to him, and his apology for the “claret incident” seems insincere to her.

Valentijn continues to act bland or faintly bored around her, and she tells herself that she’s relieved not to see him much. She settles into the van Eysink household nicely, despite the long hours. Valentijn shows up with Nerissa one afternoon, finding Hannah in the pool. She is at a disadvantage, feeling plump and dowdy with Valentijn eyeing her “shapeless and shabby” borrowed toweling robe. Nerissa is beautiful, poised, and chic, making it worse. Valentijn, unforgivably, seems amused and mocking, and Nerissa (whom he introduces as “Juffrouw van der Post,” despite giving Hannah’s first name—rude!) doesn’t shake her hand and greets her “in a gentle voice that conveyed surprise, amusement, and contempt.”

Just desserts when Baby Paul is handed off to her later, though. “She was uneasy; she held Paul as though he was a parcel of something nasty which might come undone at any moment.” He drools on her, and Nerissa freaks out (hilariously): “Take it away!” she cried. “It’s dirty—my dress!—my lovely dress!” Hannah points out “kindly” that dribble washes out and obliges by taking Paul away, glad to have a little time to herself. So she’s resentful when Valentijn follows her to “explain about Juffrouw van der Post—she doesn’t like babies or children very much. She’s an only child herself and you know how it is.” Hannah, herself an only child, sharply says “No, I don’t—You tell me.” Ha!

For a self-assured RDD, Valentijn is unusually off balance: “you are sometimes very…” he paused. “I am a great deal older than you and….” She tells him that she’ll be properly servile if she meets him on a ward and he’s amused and teases her that she’s a “viper” (no, that would be your sea-serpent fiancée) and asks if she’s been at the claret again—but it’s good natured teasing. “You’re a nice change from the women I know,” he tells her.

On a day off, Hannah is waylaid by Valentijn while riding on the bridle paths near the van Eysink’s home. She agrees to eat lunch with him but tells him that it’s her free day and she prefers her own company. He won’t be ditched, and they have a nice afternoon together. (And we get a Betty bathroom break—so funny how many of BN’s books have a scene in which the RDD/RBD points out the loo to the heroine; is it to suggest some kind of growing everyday intimacy between them?)

Baby Paul has a setback. Another operation, more intensive care and late hours and our MCs working together for good. Valentijn kisses her at the end of a long day: “Now I wonder why I did that?” he asks himself in “an interested voice,” and she is as nonplussed as he is and scampers away.

Paul recovers, and when Hannah next sees Valentijn, he’s coolly courteous, and she wonders if she dreamed that he’d kissed her. She wonders if Nerissa allows herself to be kissed or if it’s “taffeta darling!” Valentijn asks if she’s lonely and decides she should meet some people her own age. He foolishly allows Nerissa to set up Hannah with a date. Nerissa shows up with Horrible Henk: “a little on the short side and plump,…a straggling mustache…and an Adam’s apple which jumped up and down….” He probably has clammy hands too. Nerissa bullies Hannah into going out with Henk by lying that Valentijn has asked her to “prise [Hannah] lose from [Baby] Paul.”

The date is awful. Worse, Valentijn is waiting for her after, asking if she had a nice time. “No” she tells him, upset. She says that maybe she’s just a failure as a dinner companion (the “claret incident” again). Valentijn mutters something “forceful” in Dutch and tells her that she looks pretty in her new dress. He kisses her again. Flustered, Hannah slips away. Looking at herself in the mirror upstairs, she sees only a plain girl in a pretty but cheap dress--men like Valentijn don’t give girls like her a second look, and it’s funny that she hadn’t liked him at first and now she’s in love with him. Poor Hannah.

A few days later, he shows up with Nerissa, who’s sly and falsely sweet, making digs. Hannah gets angry, so when Nerissa starts fake-cooing over Baby Paul, she plops the baby into Nerissa’s arms—there’s no vengeance like a stinky baby in need of a diaper change. Nerissa holds Baby Paul “like a bag of broken eggs,” and Valentijn hands Paul back to Hannah, clearly displeased: “The man staring down at her now…wasn’t the man who had kissed her.” He follows her when she goes to change Paul and tells her she was unkind; Nerissa knows little about babies. Hannah rages that Nerissa will make an awful wife and mother, before she “stopped again under his quelling eye. The silence which ensued lasted a very long time.” She asks if he’s going to fire her, and he says of course not, but he thinks she’s unhappy and asks if she wants to go home. “Do you want me to go?” she asks. He leaned forward and took her hand in his. “No, Hannah, I don’t.” They reach an accord.

He takes her on a hospital tour and then tea at his lovely home. He tells her that he divorced 15 years ago, and doesn’t Hannah think it’s time he married again? Although he’s been satisfied with his workaholic life, just lately he’s realized it’s not enough. She brings up Nerissa and when he says that Nerissa’s social frenzy will mean there’s little time for domestic bliss, Hannah points out that he has to expect that.

”No, it’s not what I expect,” he says impatiently and tellingly. “I expect a wife to be waiting for me when I come home, knitting cozily by the fire or helping the children with their homework, and it’s only during the last few weeks that I’ve realized that.” (When a BN hero says it, it sounds charming somehow. Very regressively subversive, our Betty.)

Hannah hilariously responds: “It’s a bit unusual…I mean, for a wife to sit and knit all day.” Haha! Nice little in-joke from our Betty, whose books are full of stay-at-home wives who fill the hours with knitting and needlepoint.

He takes her on the Home Tour of Eternal Love and, later, out for a romantic dinner, eclipsing her Horrible Henk date. They finally lay the claret incident to rest when he sincerely begs her pardon for his ill manners. Left-handed compliment time: “Oh, you couldn’t be ill-mannered if you tried…Arrogant, yes, quite often, but always very polite about it….” She later tells him she’ll always remember the evening and he says so will he.

A few days before Hannah is to leave, Nerissa shows up and says a lot of nonsense that Hannah believes. At her farewell party, Hannah can barely look at Valentijn, and he looks “thoughtful and sad and, funnily enough, calculating.” She avoids him until he shows up two days later, and she tells him she doesn’t want to see him every again and what’s more, he clearly won’t want to see her.

Hannah returns to London, heartsick and sad, not helped by her soul-sucking mother. (“You’re beautifully tanned, but you look…” she paused and gave a little laugh, “well—plain.” Nice.) Hannah briefly and reluctantly takes some private nursing gigs, but Valentijn shows up and tells her Paul is ill again (gastroenteritis, “just as bad as he can be,”) and needs her. She agrees to go back because he looks so tired and worried. The little plot moppet has suffered the most, I think, in this circuitous courtship dance! Poor Baby Paul!

Valentijn flies them back to Holland in his own plane—how cool is he? Tough little Baby Paul recovers; he’ll probably grow up to be a strapping, arrogant, managing RDD! Valentijn brings Hannah home to meet his auntie—matriarchal approval of the bride to be! Not that Hannah knows it yet.

Hannah’s exit is imminent. She gets lost one day in the woods, and when Valentijn finds her, she confesses that she loves him. “Hannah, little Hannah,” he says, sounding kind and concerned. He’s leaving for Brussels (uh-oh) the next day but says they’ll talk when he gets back. Under the RDD code of honor, there can be no declarations of love or proposals until the OW is appropriately discarded (usually by finding her a tacky American millionaire).

Our sea serpent OW rises from the depths before Hannah departs, lying that she and Valentijn have set a wedding date. Hannah foolishly believes her and sadly marches off on the Bridle Trails of Love in the pouring rain. Valentijn finds her and explains that he needed to end things with Nerissa before he could ask Hannah to marry him. “When you came to my house, I wanted you to stay there for always. You’re so right, so exactly right….” She’s the most beautiful girl in the world, he tells her, and his avowals of love are sweet and heartfelt, and it’s just the ending that sweet Hannah deserves after a pretty rough go of it (but not as rough as Baby Paul).

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannah is the typical plain Poor British Nurse. She works in the Paediatric ward and when our story opens, is looking after a Dutch infant whose young mum was in a wreck and which presumably caused said infant's premature birth. Hannah has heard Mum (Corinna) rhapsodize about her Oom Valentijn (Uncle Valentine for English speakers). When Hannah finally meets the Oom she is quite surprised at his non-uncle-y appearance; he is, in a word, hot. Hot.

Our Hannah is burdened with a mother who is lazy and whiny and extravagant. She expects Hannah to work her fingers to the bone to support Mother for the rest of Mother's pampered, extravagant life.

Poor little Paul has no idea of all the medical misadventures he will have to endure to bring together his devoted nurse Hannah and his Oom Valentijn. Premature birth, intussusception and stomach flu, all within a matter of weeks. Still, better that than he be saddled with Nerissa as his unloving auntie!

I just love this book. Hannah is delightful - sensible, sassy, smart, warm. Valentijn is the strong silent type; he had a Faithless First Wife from whom he is divorced; he is pursuing the beautiful but cold Nerissa; but time spent in Hannah's company wakes him up to the fact that he wants the plain and sassy, but loving and kind, Hannah.

I do like that Hannah blurted out her feelings when Valentijn found her lost in the woods. I even like Valentijn for being so honorable as not to propose to Hannah before he disengaged himself from Nasty Nerissa. Very lovely ending. "When you came to my house I wanted you to stay there for always. You're so right, so exactly right; I could see you so clearly in my mind sitting in that little armchair, knitting or whatever, with the light shining on your pretty hair and the children doing their lessons around the table and the baby in its high chair." *swoon*. "My dearest darling. I'm so in love with you – I couldn't let you go, I had to come back and talk to you." This RDD is clearly not afraid to tell our girl exactly how he feels! He even loves her enough to support the lazy, whiny MIL - preferably keeping the North Sea between them.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, I'm still binging on Betty Neels. They are so safe and samey but in a good way. Hannah is a nurse, looking after baby Paul, the son of Valentijn's niece. He's newly engaged to Nerissa after years of loneliness after a failed first marriage. These men just don't learn.

One really has to wonder about Betty's experience of family life because her heroine's are often orphan's or have the most appalling mother's and stepfather's. Hannah is afflicted with self centred mother. Fortunately this makes it easy to disengaged the heroine by providing the mother with someone to pander to her whims.

Nerissa is a nasty piece of work. The poor taste demonstrated by the heroes and heroine's in their choices of ex's is apparent in this one. Even after she know's she's lost, Nerissa comes around to have a last poke at the heroine.

Altogether I enjoyed this read.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 ½ Stars ~ This one from Betty Neels reminds me of Winter Wedding, as both have a moment where the heroine over hears the hero saying something unflattering about her and later, he finds himself regretting it. In Winter Wedding, Emily heard Renier claim "she merges into the background from whatever angle one looks at her" and in this book, Valentijn warns "don’t for God’s sake let her loose on the claret; my head aches with her chatter!"

Staff nurse on a busy maternity ward, Hannah's patience and sheer refusal to give up, soon sees the preemie Dutch baby thriving. Born two months early due to a car crash, baby Paul is just waiting for his mother to be fit to travel after her hip injury. When Corinna is finally fit to travel, she insists that Hannah come to Holland to help both baby Paul and her recover. There's a bit of a hiccup with Hannah's over demanding mother, but Corinna's Uncle Valintijn soon fixes that, and Hannah's able to accept. As Valintijn is a renown Paediatrician Consultant, he's in charge of the baby's care so this puts him in constant contact with Hannah.

Valitijn, about to turn 40, has recently become engaged to the beautiful, Nerissa. He's not in love with her, he thinks that after his divorce 15 yrs ago, he is now past the stage of passionate romance. Nerissa is entertaining and has a large social life, but sadly, she doesn't want to spoil herself with children. For some reason this paediatrician seems to feel he's past becoming a father. Corinna detests Nerissa and feels her uncle deserves a woman with a warm heart to fill his home with love and many children.

Valitijn admires Hannah's dedication to her patients, baby and mother, and finds himself wanting to spend time with her. He creates opportunities to bump into her on her off duty; showing her the bridle paths on a Saturday ride; tea at his house; and meetings with he Aunt, his eldest relative. When he shows her around his home and a room that was his mother's favourite, describing how she used to sit in that chair knitting while he was at the round table doing his home work; he realizes that he wants Hannah to be sitting there with their children around the table and a baby in a high chair. Hannah while listening to Valitijn describe his childhood memory, wishes very much that he wasn't marrying Nerissa and that he so deserved to have a wife and his own children to share that room; and oh, how she wished that wife could be her.

In usual Betty style, Nerissa realizes Valitijn holds too much regard for Hannah, so she lies to Hannah that Valitijn only spends time with her because the family owes her so much for her invaluable care of baby Paul. And after Valitijn ends their engagement, Nerissa tells the big lie that they've set the date for their wedding giving Hannah some heartbreaking moments until Valitijn comes to find her.

The HEA is wonderfully set. Hannah sitting on a tree stump in the pouring rain bawling (or as Betty puts it having a good howl) not noticing Valitijn approaching. This is one for the keeper shelf!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, just okay. A little too much of baby Paul and the horrible mother.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sick baby as plot device--not quite as low as Betty can sink, but pretty close. Seemed like anytime there was a lull in the action, poor little Paul got sick. At least our Betty didn't kill him off. Otherwise a fairly standard British Nurse/Rich Dutch Doctor story. The minor characters were fairly well done, especially little Paul's parents. Nerissa (the requisite beautiful financee of the RDD) was deliciously rotten and I wanted to smack Hannah's lazy, whiny, self-centered mother.
Not a keeper for me, but I don't feel like I wasted my time.

[Megzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betty writes some of the most selfish, spoiled secondary characters in romance novels. I really didn't know who was more evil, Val's bit*** fiance or Hannah's mother. Well, Hannah's mom got her cake and ate it too. She had a slave for a daughter until she married the uber rich doctor who promised his wife to be that her mom would live in comfort. This is a woman who was mostly lounging on the couch while her daughter worked 6 days a week at the hospital which she resided and on her day off came home to cooked, clean, shop, iron for her mom. She spent all her money on her mom's rent and daily household expenses so the "mom" could spend her entire pension buying whatever she wanted. She destroyed Hannah's chances in marriage and at her work so she could have someone who would take care of her financially and physically. Hannah gave up the job she loved and the chance to become the unit supervisor nurse and took on private nursing so her mom could continue to have her maid. I am not sure how Betty came up with so many dysfunctional and unhealthy family relationships in her books. Unfortunately the evil family member never suffers and they usually get a way with murder.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I enjoyed from start to finish, I liked the h Hannah but the H Valentijn took a few pages for me to warm up to him, I did like when Hannah told him what she thought of him when she overheard him saying not so nice words about her to his niece.
The ow I did enjoy and as usual she wasn't the brightest lol and for once I would like the h to actually do something rather than just walk away when the ow causes trouble and for the h to say a few words to her lazy selfish mother because in this book she was spoiled and frustrating.
I liked the medical setting and of course when she goes to Holland and lives with Valentijn's family for a while when she's looking after his niece's little baby boy and I liked the ending aside from the ow causing trouble, the only thing that is missing is an epilogue which is the same in most of her books.

[Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my reading habits have changed the last couple of years and I stumble on some Betty Neels in a op shop. It’s relativise my love for the oldies romances.

Follow my adventures here and on my other platforms!

First up is a new one to me 😱😱😱 . Hannah is the dutiful nurse and puts up with a lot in this one. I had to wonder where Neels was going with this one as the plot is all over the place as she could not make up her mind up about things. Typical heroine characterisation from Neels and honestly one to remember because of this plot

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Star read for me.. It's always so nice to read any Betty Neel's books and this one is one of my favorite storylines she does. h takes care of H's family member, he is cold towards her indifferent and has this beautiful fiancee. It all works out in the end though :) I just wish these books had epilogues.

Again I found quite a few typos but I'm pretty sure it's a Harlequin re-release thing. Just a heads up :)

[Karen Ireland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good love story always has a good love rival and Betty Neel's has a wonderful way I making you want to slap her. This story was no acceptance, Hannah has a heart of Golden and loves Children when she becomes the nurse to care for small Paul and his mother she never thought it would change her life forever.

Wonderful story telling and I just love how comfortable and cosy this story brings

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una storia graziosa con una trama semplice era proprio quello che ci voleva tra una lettura un po meh e l'altra. Ha fatto l'effetto di una boccata di aria fresca.
Lo stile è fluido, i personaggi ben caratterizzati e non ci si fa molto caso al fatto che è un po' datato, si lascia leggere.
Assolutamente promosso.

[Helen Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps typical BN. RDD, plain but beautiful inside BN and a bitchy OW. But fun to read and Valentjin redeems himself admirably and Hannah is sweet yet feisty.

[Aarathi Burki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet little story and I really liked the character of Hannah who always took life as it came, never cribbing or comparing herself to anyone, very dedicated to her work and quite friendly and frank.

It was a nice story about Hannah nursing a premature baby Paul and eventually falling in love with his god father valentjin a paediatrician almost 15 years elder to her, divorced but engaged to an evil ultra modern women Nerissa. How Hannah wins over him with her simplicity makes the whole story and I enjoyed reading it.
3.5/5

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

#Reseña 51
Review de Hannah de Betty Neels , traducida al título de " Alguien como Tú"

Ya tenía abstinencia de Betty Neels ( lol ) tanto así que me he leído esta historia en una tarde.


Si bien tiene todas las características de las novelas de BN, en esta historia la autora es un poco mas "audaz" en algunos detallitos de la historia.
Me ha gustado mucho el personaje de Hannah, es algo impulsiva a veces pero cálida y encantadora. Es una chica buena manipulada por su madre, pero ella está consciente de las ardides de su superficial madre. Suele a veces ser algo impulsiva y contestona, pero es inteligente y decidida.
Valentín es un protagonista muy en el estilo de BN, es doctor, rico, casi cuarentón, buenmozo, educado pero que también se sale de lo convencional porque a veces es algo arrogante, condescendiente y burlón. Ah! y también pilota su propio avión. Estuvo casado pero esta vez no es viudo, sino ¡divorciado! Y se atreve a besar (con pasión) a Hannah a lo menos 3 veces ...¡¡¡3 veces!!en el novela, algo casi impensable en las historias de BN.
Me gustó la interacción entre ambos y sabemos por algunas pequeñas frases de la novela que él piensa en Hannah y que sus sentimientos están cambiando.
Lo demás es muy típico, una novia hermosa pero interesada y malévola, una madre egoísta, la familia de Valentín acogedora y un mayordomo clever y sensato.

Me ha gustado mucho esta novela y los protagonistas son hasta ahora mis favoritos de todas las novelas que he leído de mi amada BN, Valentín y Hannah resultaron ser un poco mas apasionados (solo un poco mas) con relación a los protagonistas tan convencionales que a veces resultan ser los personajes de BN.
Eso sí, sigue siendo una novela sobria, de amores limpios ,ligeros y muy vintage.

"My dearest darling. I'm so in love with you – I couldn't let you go, I had to come back and talk to you."

Le doy 4.5/5 porque disfruté mucho con esta historia.

[Mirella Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, 3 stars is enough for this novel. I hate both Nerrisa and Hannah's mother. Especially the mother, I can't think why there is a mother such like Mrs. Lang, so selfish and rude even to her own and only daughter.

The story? Well, a bit too boring. May be that's because I don't like harlequin novel with a baby in it, while this story is definitely telling us about Hannah's adventure with baby Paul van Eysink...

[Tonya Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

Hannah takes care of baby Paul and his injured mother. After all the stories about Uncle Valentjin, she was shocked to find he was a tall, handsome man, instead of the drab, pudgy man she expected. Going to Holland to continue with their care, Hannah realizes how strong her feelings are for Valentjin, but he is already engaged to Nerissa, and how can she compete with slim, blonde and beautiful?

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual...sweet story.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do the characters in Betty Neels' books always have to "talk later?" Another good read though I can't imagine living with this characters mother!

[More Books Than Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of The Great Betty’s best. Almost sickly sweet although mother is obnoxious, one of BN’s fluttery, lazy ladies ruthlessly extracting all joy, attention and money from hard working daughters

[Aayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Mudpie · Rating 3 out of 5]

1980 book. 3.75*

RDD Valentijn wasn't very nice when he told his niece he had had more amusing dates before, and Hannah's chatter after too much wine made his head ache! Unfortunately Hannah overheard, and to add insult to injury it was his niece who had asked Valentijn to take her out. But it was so good to see him falling for Hannah unwittingly, feeling bemused, confused and fighting it?

<<'I do mind being called "sir" by you, Hannah. Don't do it again.'

'Oh, sorry--we call consultants "sir" in England.'

'So they do here, or the equivalent of it,' and at her look of bewilderment: 'No, don't try and work that one out.'>>

Poor Hannah needed a break in life; being saddled with a selfish, spendthrift and lazy widow of a mother, who had no qualms scaring off any potential boyfriend of Hannah to ensure she did not marry and "abandon" her. Gosh, she was worse after Hannah came back from her stint in Holland...I wish Hannah would just pack her bags and run away from home! Or her mother could get herself remarried or GASP die in a car crash! She made me so angry and Hannah was a real doormat when it came to her terrible mother! And no, nothing bad came to the mother; though I expect Valentijn to keep her well away from Hannah!

Poor little Paul...he was put through one medical trial after another! I feel his growing pains haha! All because Betty Neels needed reasons for Hannah to hang around.

Valentijn of course came to his senses and realised he needed someone warm like Hannah, rather than someone cool and chic like Nerissa. Poor Hannah though, she was subjected to quite a lot of "abuse" from Nerissa's machinations...that horrible pity date she set up, and those lies she fed Hannah. She got away lightly! But if losing Valentijn and her meal ticket for life was her punishment, then God was fair!

Hannah thought of him as "Uncle Valentijn " which was sweet and funny! Oh Uncle V was divorced and his ex wife lived in America with her current husband! She did not die in a plane or car crash with her lover as was typical of the BN faithless first wife LOL.

Wilrik the butler was a darling, popping up to open all doors for Hannah, arranging for English cakes too!

I still find it icky that an affianced man could kiss other women...that's what always made me uncomfortable with such heroes. Otherwise I'd give this 4*! But I am happy he ended things with Nerissa before declaring his feelings for Hannah and finishing it off with a sweet proposal. The beautiful things he said made me forgive him for not having an heirloom ring with him! He had driven back fr Brussels early because his niece wasn't able to stop Hannah from stubbornly leaving for London!

[LiMa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my top 6 Betties. I love it, I really do. It has a few disturbing elements but for some reason, I just love the story in spite of them. YMMV.

Hannah is a poor British nurse (PBN). She is plain, kind, loving and can be a little snippy when the situation calls for it. Her father has passed away, leaving her to fill in as caretaker of her selfish, narcissistic mother. Hannah works in the “baby unit” of a London hospital and one of her patients is a fragile preemie born much too soon after his Dutch mother was in a car accident while visiting England. While caring for them both, Hannah meets up with the mother’s Uncle Valentijn (pronounced in English as, I believe, Valentine), who just so happens to be a famed pediatrician. As the mother and baby recover, she and Uncle Valentijn talk Hannah into traveling back to Holland with them to care for the baby until he is fully viable. Her stay is extended when the baby becomes ill, and later on when he contracts a life-threatening flu after Hannah returns to England (this baby has had a rough start in life), Uncle Valentijn sets out to bring her back once again since she is the nurse that the baby’s mother (and Uncle Valentijn) loves and trusts the most.

As per usual protocol, Hannah’s relationship with the often arrogant Uncle V. is bumpy, but soon enough he is kissing her in hospital corridors, taking her out for horseback rides and dinners, introducing her to his elderly auntie and conducting the House Tour of Eternal Love (one of Betty’s staple plot devices accurately and hysterically named by the ladies at the Uncrushable Jersey Dress). All this despite the existence of Nerissa. Who is Nerissa? Well, gosh. His fiancée, of all things. The UJD reminds us that Nerissa is Dutch for “sea monster” and she really is awful. Sneaky, underhanded, evil to the core. She puts a spoke in Hannah’s wheel several times since she is a smart lady who can read Valentijn’s mind and knows what he is thinking as he gazes upon Hannah’s Araminta-ish charms and admires her pluck and hard-working fortitude. Hannah, of course, isn’t the type to steal another woman’s man, but she isn’t above handing the baby to Nerissa (a dyed-in-the-wool baby hater) to hold and fake coo over when she knows darn well his diaper is in dire need of a change. Hilarity ensues.

As per usual in Neelsland, eventually rich Dutch doctor (RDD) Valentijn realizes that Hannah is the Araminta of his dreams and the one most likely to produce a clutch of children to be doing their homework around the table when he comes home of an evening. This is a running theme for Betty. The woman who will settle down to hearth and home most happily will always get her man, even if she lacks “beauty.” The Araminta is often plain, sometimes not really, but beauty and the perceived lack of it was a real issue with Betty. Which is honestly just sad. (Every time I read a BN, I wonder whether a good make-up job and a haircut would transform them as we often see on the TikToks these days. Oh well.) As in this book, the Veronica (called Nerissa in this book) is stunningly beautiful, thin and fashionably dressed, no bosom, while bosomy Hannah has to make do with a pleated skirt and blouse and a bunch of mousy hair. La Neels never explicitly says Hannah is bosomy, by the way, but I think a lot of us Betty readers, me included, have decided that the oft-used adjective "plump" is Betty's code for bosomy.

All of this is pretty standard for Betty but maybe does not explain why I like it and think it’s one of her better books. Well, I like Hannah as a character and with perhaps one exception, I appreciate the story. As with most Aramintas, Hannah is quite stoic. Plenty of sad things happen and she’s got quite the difficult row to hoe with her awful mother. (It's my belief that the frequent awful mothers and sisters in Neelsland are just another flavor of the Veronica.) Hannah could easily tip over into martyr territory but she never does. She is strong, forthright, not at all annoying and everyone loves her (except Nerissa). Yet she is not a Mary Sue. Betty did a pretty good job showing how a strong young woman who has been taught (by her POS mother) to drastically underestimate her own looks and charm might realistically behave when faced with a situation like Uncle V. She can’t pretend to herself that she will ever live up to someone like Nerissa in terms of looks, but still, she keeps on keeping on and she does it while remaining a good human being.

As for Uncle V, well, he is hot. He’s not quite my favorite RDD (that would be the other Uncle Valentine in Neelsland, the one who stars in “A Valentine for Daisy”) but he’s for sure high on the list. Uncle V. starts off barely noticing Hannah, brushing her off as basically a nonentity, and in a Pride and Prejudice sort of way, even says something rude about her that she overhears, and which she takes some time to forgive him for. That’s not a bad thing, since it gives him room to appreciate her while she maintains her distance and is determined to keep him at arms’ length.

Finally, here are the things that may bother some readers. They bother me, which is why this is a 4-star read and not a 5-star read. Maybe I should take it down to 3 but despite this stuff, I do truly love the book.

So:
It admittedly takes Uncle V. some time to realize that Hannah is his one and only Araminta. But once he does, he doesn’t actually ditch the evil Nerissa for quite a while. This gives Nerissa plenty of time and scope to torture Hannah (making her believe Uncle V. only pities her, setting her up for a date with an obnoxious toad, outright lying to her). I don’t see that Uncle V. ever takes Nerissa to task, although he is certainly aware of her evil machinations. He’s basically telling Hannah, you’re on your own defending yourself. Second, while he is kissing Hannah in corridors, going horseback riding with her, taking her out to dinner, etc., he waves away Hannah’s suggestion that Nerissa (his fiancée) might mind. But after Hannah confesses her love, he doesn’t reciprocate for several days and leaves her hanging, all because he “has to finish” with Nerissa first. Which he does not explain to Hannah until after he has presumably sent Nerissa packing, and also not until after Nerissa has one more chance to mess with Hannah’s mind. I can’t really see that keeping quiet about breaking up with the sea monster is an honorable or ethical action. I mean, dude, admittedly an Araminta will never (almost never) realize you are in love with her, but you’re already emotionally cheating (kissing in corridors? Dinner dates?), so instead you leave her swimming in shame, embarrassment and emotional turmoil while you go do what you should have done a few chapters ago? Meh.

I still love the book, though.

[Tausha Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Few Twists!

Hannah and Valentijn have more than a few twists to get through before they can finally be together! First, there's always that selfish girl that's engaged to the hero of the story (Valentijn in this story) because she wants to live in comfort. This one, Nerissa, is particularly bad. She's not only manipulative and selfish, she's just an awful person on top of it all. Paul, Hannah's patient, can see that even though he's just an infant. It provides a little bit of comedy because, babies know!

Then, there's Hannah's mother. You have to wonder how she raised such a wonderful and caring daughter. My one and only disappointment with this story is that Hannah didn't ever stand up to her mother. I just wanted Hannah to stand up to her at least once! That woman's manipulative ways really put Nerissa's antics to shame! That is something that would have been interesting! I would have loved a scene where Hannah's mother and Nerissa meet, and Hannah's mother stands up for her daughter for just once in her life! It would have been great to see Nerissa put in her place! There was no opportunity for that, but it would have been epic!

Other people around this couple were fantastic and they worked, in their own ways, to make sure that Hannah and Valentijn would see how well they fit together. Valentijn says some things at the beginning of the story that give Hannah a very good reason not to like him. He is very arrogant, but he gets over that. Hannah will do anything to help the baby and that is very valuable to Valentijn. Of course they eventually fall in love.

This is a very good book and is not as straightforward as some of her others. I like it a lot and I believe others will too.

[Marilyn Upright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though it was published in 1980, Hannah is a very enjoyable book. Hannah Lang considered herself plain. Her father had recently died and every dime she made as a nurse to premature babies went to keep her mother in comfortable lifestyle. In her job as a nurse to preemies she was very responsible for helping little Paul van
Esink and his mother survive the car the car accident that caused baby Paul to be born two months early. Corrina van Esink introduced Hannah to her Uncle Valentijn van Bertes before they hired Hannah to come to Holland to take care of Baby Paul. At first Hannah and Dr. van
Bertes did not get along. As they spent more time together they became closer. Dr. van Bertes was engaged to Nerissa van der Post who was not a very nice women. Hannah broke down and told the doctor that she loved him. He did not
answer her telling her he had to go out of town. When he came back and found her, he told her he loved her too and wanted to marry her.

[Barty · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. a lovely read. another one of those comforting BN reads where a plain, hardworking heroine wins the reluctant heart of a RDD who had foolishly committed to a beautiful but cold woman and eventually learned the error of his ways. it's a 5 star read for me even if I do prefer my heros to be a bit meaner or a bit more elusive. it was clear in this one that he was realising the error of his ways quite early on, thus much of the story conflict really came from the heroines self doubt. its my preference for a lot of the conflict to come from the hero's inner battles with himself, and for it in turn to cause the heroine a lot of angst. a gorl loves what she loves!. however, this was still a gripping read with a tad of angst.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hannah is a British nurse whose dedication and determination save premature baby Paul’s life — three times. He’s the engine that drives this plot, and his illness gets lots of screen time, which was okay. It fit. Hannah is very likable but plain and ordinary looking, with the requisite mousy hair. She’s got absolutely beautiful gray eyes, darkly lashed.

Valentijn is your typical arrogant rich Dutch doctor, recently engaged to a beautiful mannequin. She’s pure poison, of course, but in my opinion Hannah’s mother is the true villain of this story. She gets off too easy. Probably drove her husband to an early grave trying to please her and meet her demands.

[Bea Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite by Betty Neels - so many incredibly sweet, heart melty moments. When he took her out for dinner and dancing to make up for the awful experience she'd had before (and to show her she's lovely and worthy of being in such a place) I cried happy little romance tears. Oh and her love confession in the woods, perfection, I die and go to heaven when heroines are so open and honest about their feelings. Only downside was her rancid mother didn't get her comeuppance, and I feel as though the gross OW should have fallen in the pool or something.

Betty Neels will always be my ultimate comfort read.

[Rongbu]

I started reading but felt bore at first. I picked it up again and found it ok to continue. Heroine when to Holland twice to take care of the baby boy. She’s in love and confessed first but he went away because he had to break up with his fiancé first. She was heart broken because the ex fiancé lied they had spent intimate time together before he left for business. But he rushed back after a call from her niece warning him of the fiancé meeting with her. The spoiled mother was the part that made me angry!