A Gentle Awakening

by Betty Neels

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN COME SNEAKING BACK HERE IF YOU ARE EVER OUT OF A JOB!"

Florina's father was furious when, after a lifetime of drudgery, she finally developed the courage to rebel. But there was no danger of her returning home. Florina loved her new job as cook in the household of eminent consultant William Sedley. And it wasn't long before she realized that she loved her employer, too. But she had no chance of attracting his attention when he was engaged to the glamorous Wanda!

Betty Neels:
- She is a USA Today bestselling author.
- Her series novels consistently rank #1 in their month, averaging 16 percentage points above other titles.
- The Best of Betty Neels titles have performed very well to date, with several achieving close to 60% NSR.
- Since 1996 Betty published 21 consecutive #1 Harlequin Romance titles, including the most recent, A Good Wife (7/03).
- Her novel Emma's Wedding (5/02) had a 61% NSR.
- Betty wrote 134 books during her career with Harlequin Books and boasts over 30 million copies of her books in print.

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Romance, Slow Burn, Clean Romance

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

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

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the one where the H is English and the h is half-Dutch. Way to think outside-but-pressed-right-up-against-the-box, TGB! (credit to TBBT)

Florina is small and thin with ginger hair and a trained Cordon Bleu cook. She's been working at a hotel in nearby Wilton until she hears of an opening for a cook at a private home nearby. Florina's father is a whiny hypochondriac who treats Florina like a drudge.

So Florina goes to work for Sir William Sedley. It is a delightful job and soon she decides to live in. Sir William has a young daughter, Pauline, who is adorable and precocious. Pauline becomes very fond of Florina and Florina, in turn, teaches her how to cook.

Sir William is an eminent pediatrician. He is in favor of Pauline learning the housewifely arts. However, he is engaged to marry the gorgeous but snooty Wanda Fortesque, who has never had even a nodding acquaintance with a dust cloth. Sir William is very kind to Florina and treats her, as he does all his servants, more as a friend. Wanda, however, dislikes all of Sir William’s household help and makes open threats to dismiss them all when she and William are married.

Florina becomes good friends with Miss Frobisher, the elderly Nanny. Nanny becomes aware that Florina is in love with Sir William and is also convinced that Sir William is far from indifferent to Florina. However, there is the matter of his engagement. He deliberately exposes Wanda to the rougher side of the country life. She insists that they live in London and that he sell the house. He refuses. She wants to send Pauline to boarding school. He refuses. Craftily, he has introduced Wanda to a rich American. Wanda decides to break off the engagement and marry the rich American.

Having worked things out to his satisfaction, Sir William makes his declaration and proposal to Florina. It's obvious they will be happy ever after.

This was really delightful. I've left out a lot of details, including Florina’s trip to Holland to the wedding of a cousin and the acquaintance of a Leo. The scenes of country life, the delicious meals Florina cooks, and all the fun activities with Pauline make this book something special. Five stars! *note: I've upgraded from 4 to 5 stars on my latest reread. I really couldn't find anything to dislike.*


The beginning of William’s Declaration:
"The likelihood of my not marrying Wanda once I had met you became a foregone conclusion."

"You mean Wanda doesn't want to marry you? She jilted you?"

"Yes, with a little help from circumstances."

She cast a quick look at him; he looked smug. "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing really – a long country walk, rather a muddy one, I'm afraid – and the nettles at this time of year. Nanny and Mrs. Deakin cooked dinner, and I refused to sell Wheel House and live forever and ever in London."

7/20/17 - Rereading my review, I just realized I didn't mention the Lemonade Incident - how remiss of me. In one scene, Wanda is being particularly nasty to Florina, who picks up the pitcher of lemonade and pours it over Wanda's tinted hair!

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betty really is the best Prozac read. This is the story of Florina who is a drudge in her father's house, working as a cook in a hotel. The hero is an eminent consultant...of course...Sir William Sedley. English. Yes gentle reader, not Dutch although he has Dutch colleagues. It is Florina who has a Dutch connection on her deceased mother's side.

Sir William has purchased a house in Florina's village so his daughter Pauline can experience country living. Which is always desirable. Florina applied for the job as cook and Pauline takes a shine to her. All looking good. Until the necessarily evil fiancee, Wanda appears and immediately recognises Florina as a threat.

Sir William wanders around being enigmatic (tick)
Florina suddenly realises she has loved him all along (tick)
Wanda shows her true colours at every opportunity (tick)

Happy Ending Guaranteed.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this Betty, the heroine Florina (for reals), is a trained chef and has been stuck at home with a full time job while also catering to her terrible father (seriously terrible). When her father gets a good report on his health, Florina breaks free and gets a job working for a famous doctor, Sir William Sedley, and his young daughter Pauline at their house in the country town where Florina lives. Sir William's old nanny joins the household and she becomes a delightful character after Florina wears down her initial frostiness. Alas, Sir William is engaged to a truly frightful OW named Wanda whom Pauline does not like (hint hint, Sir W!).

A Gentle Awakening is unique in the Betty canon in some ways. Both the heroine and hero are English, but the heroine is half Dutch and speaks the language fluently. We get to meet some of her Dutch relatives about halfway through the book, which is super fun. Florina churns out an amazing number of delectable dishes in this book and Betty gives us so many great foodie details. I am here for it! Florina also uses something she makes in her domain to get satisfying revenge on the OW. Wanda makes a lot of fuss about Florina being only a Cook, and I enjoyed that class element to the plot that gets subverted. It's not often that the hero has a child, too, and I thought Pauline's presence added a lot to the story.

This is definitely a Betty I'd return to, even though the selfishness of the father and OW are on the egregious side. Just take me to The Wheel House when Florina is cooking, and I'll be a happy camper.

[Grrrrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet read from Betty with a heroine who is a Cordon Bleu chef, not a nurse, and one of Betty's nicer heroes--no cold stares or sneers from our Rich British Doctor, Sir William Sedley! This is one of Betty’s “hero engaged to another woman” stories, a trope she used often.

Sir William Sedley is a sweetheart with a young daughter (who, like her dad, is smitten with our half-Dutch heroine Florina from the start) and a bitchy, social-climbing fiancee who, to give her her due, is probably right to be enraged by and suspicious of Sir William's lovestruck new cook. (We can argue whether the hero's engagement to another woman makes the heroine the OW, but since Betty's heroines never pursue the heroes and do their best to keep their feeling under wraps, I don't think it's really fair to categorize them as such. And anyway Betty makes the grasping and unloving fiancees so awful and so wrong for the heroes that it's hard to feel any sympathy for them.)

This is the second BN book from 1987 I’ve reviewed this week, and the second from that year (out of her usual 4 books/year) with a non-nurse heroine, so she was already moving away from them--she’d been out of nursing almost 20 years at this point. Sir William is a little different from Betty’s more typically remote heroes—he’s more good-natured and easy going, likes a pint at the local pub and tea in the kitchen, and while he’s prominent professionally and in social standing, seems more down to earth than many other BN heroes. He’s perfect for our sweet, sensible, kind-hearted heroine—too bad he’s engaged to the awful Wanda. And therein lies the tale.

Sir William, like many a BN hero before him, has allowed himself to be caught by just the type of woman who made his first marriage (he is a widower) so miserable. Betty’s heroes, so busy and preoccupied with their work, really are clueless about the true natures of the women they become affianced to, partly because they are convenient and “suitable” socially, pretend to like the homebased lifestyles the heroes desire in a wife--and the heroes don't seem to care that much; WORK is important, everything else (before the heroine’s advent and to a large extent afterward!) is secondary. In this case, though, Sir William is mostly clueless—although becoming aware—that he couldn't have picked a worse stepmother for his daughter, Pauline, who makes no secret of her dislike of the awful Wanda and is upset that he's marrying her. Nanny, who is now the housekeeper, doesn't like her either and knows that Wanda will get rid of her and shunt Pauline off to boarding school once she's landed her man at the altar.

Enter Florina to set everything at odds in her quiet, unassuming, unintended way and make the hero realize exactly what it is he really wants: her. His daughter feels the same: this is as much a love story between daughter Pauline and Florina as between Florina and Sir William! And it makes the story all the richer--Pauline is an amusing and engaging plot moppet who at times appears more worldly and (in her words) “with it” than our 27-year-old heroine, and the relationship that grows between them is close and sweet. It's pretty clear what Pauline's wants; she even names the cat and kitten they adopt "Mother and Child" ("because that's what they are," hee), and Florina is just the mama she wants—warm and kind; patient and attentive.

Florina’s sweet nature flourishes in her new environment, once she escapes the typically crappy homelife that Betty inflicts on so many of her heroines. Florina has put up with a lot in her life--her father is a bitter malingerer who treats her like an unpaid servant, and she’s stayed home out of familial duty following the death of her mother and her father’s mild heart attack. To her credit, Florina decides enough is enough when the family doctor tells her that dad is quite capable of taking care of himself, so she takes a position as live-in cook to Sir William, finally escaping her unloving and constantly carping father. She’s happy in Sir William’s beautiful country home, winning the regard of all the FFRs, who soon see that she’s perfect for their employer and resolve to call her “Miss Florina” to get the message across. No one, not Sir William, not Pauline, not jealous and spiteful Wanda, and most certainly not the FFRs, see Florina as “Cook”—she is most definitely what Betty’s FFRs would call “a proper lady,” whatever her financial circumstances.

There’s some OM drama when a stalkerish young man whom Florina had rejected on a visit to Holland shows up to cause trouble with Wanda’s help, but the main impediment to our MC’s romance is Wanda. Our MCs are clearly perfect for each other and mutually attracted, but honorable Sir William has to extricate himself from his commitment to Wanda before he can woo Florina. And in BN’s world, it’s the woman who has to end the engagement, although the heroes usually manage to engineer circumstances—usually in the form of an American millionaire much more suited to their erstwhile fiancees—to get them to do so. In Sir William’s case, he not only introduces Wanda to the requisite American millionaire who’s as addicted to the bright lights as Wanda is, William also reinforces how unsuited they are by making it clear to her the kind of “buried in the country” life she can expect (and detest) as his wife. That’s enough for Wanda to cry quits finally.

But while he’s ordering his universe to his liking in that quietly and utterly determined way of Betty’s heroes, he needs to remove the temptation and distraction that is Florina. Circumstances have upset her anyway, Wanda has humiliated her by sneering to Sir William that his cook is in love with him (“I know,” he says quietly), and Florina’s thinking of leaving anyway, so when Sir William makes arrangements for her to take over temporarily for a Dutch colleague’s au pair, she thinks it’s a precursor to his firing her at Wanda’s behest, and although she’s sad, she agrees to go to Holland, where she decides she may stay and find work permanently and forget him to the best of her ability.

Of course, that’s not his intention at all: Sir William, having disposed of Wanda finally, comes to retrieve our heroine and, free now to do so, confesses his love and intention to marry her and live happily ever after. And so, we are sure, they do.

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and fast paced. I enjoyed that the heroine really disliked OW and it made for some funny, over the top moments. The ending was a bit too rushed for my taste and somethings seemed to contradict earlier parts of the story. But overall an enjoyable read and if you are a fan of Betty Neels, you will enjoy this one.

[Teri-K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like this one quite as well as I expected to. I did appreciate that the heroine stood up for herself against the OW. But she didn't communicate with the hero at all, even when he asked her questions. And there didn't seem to be any good reason for her not to tell him, for instance, that she wasn't interested in the other man. Since I dislike books where one or two explanations could have cleared everything up, I wasn't crazy about this one. Too bad. :(

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is it about Betty Neels? I have read this book at least three times. It's such a cozy, warm read. Very sweet. For some reason, it works for Neels. I love this book.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Too much lack of communication for my taste. Also, the MMC was way too enigmatic for no good reason. His refusal to be straightforward caused a lot of distress for people he should have been concerned about protecting.

I’m still willing to try more books by the author, with the hopes that she doesn’t consistently rely on the lack of communication trope for her stories.

[Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traducido por Harlequin como” El sabor del amor “ leyendo esta novelita quedé 😳🤭😍🤤impresionada! Literalmente mis ojos no podían dar crédito a lo que leía! Yyyyyy finalmente descubrí que el texto original había sido alterado en su traducción, sufriendo cambios notables que cambiaron varios pasajes de la novela.Lo que sigue a continuación es mi review tal cual lo escribí cuando terminé el libro.en otras palabras fue como leer una versión de 50 sombras de Grey pero de la mano de Betty Neels😂Finalmente Betty Neels lo hizo( por lo menos para mí) y puso a andar el SEXO en una novela !Cuando jamás creí q sucedería😭La historia es la siguiente:La chica en cuestión es Florina Payne es una excelente cocinera de 26 años,virgen, inexperta en cuestiones del amor y bajo la dura y crítica tutela de un padre amargado.Ella se muestra sumisa y melancólica en esa vida rural.Aun así trabaja de cocinera en un hotel. Es regresando camino del trabajo(y en bicicleta)cuando se topa casualmente al Dr en pediatría William Sedley, un hombre alto, de 35 años,de pelo negro y ojos azules,un hombre deslumbrante del que quedara prendida. Apenas intercambiarán un par de palabras (sobre cómo seguir un camino hacia algún albergue)para que ambos queden prendidos uno de otro. Es interesante leer como Betty logra ponernos en situación de ambos puntos de vista, no solo el de la heroina. No voy a contar muchos detalles más.solo agregaré que los besos en esta novelita casi perfecta y novedosa de Betty no son los besos que has leído otras veces, son besos con lengua, casi jadeos( bueno esta última parte por ahí me la inventé)pasión,deseo, y necesidad.Preparate para un desarrollo rápido y una insinuante posible escena de cama como nunca antes leíste en Betty.Si no la leíste búscala yaaaaaa y devorala.

[Aarathi Burki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
According to me this is one of the best novels of betty neels. I Really liked how the story progresses and the character sketch of hero William and heroine Florina. It was a delight to read the book,it simply captivated me.
The heroine Florina is a splendid cook and also a wonderful human being,she is kind,hard working and good at heart. It's these characters that melts the heart of William and his household.
I would recommend this book as a must ro all BN fans and romance readers in general

[Susan Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books you just like to read over and over. I'm not sure why I like this book so much, as the father and docs girlfriend are so annoying, but maybe it's the soothing water sounds and her attitude that makes this a annual read for me.

[Nell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourites, I wanted to live in that house and feed swans on my patio - sigh

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for its kind hero and skilled though poor and plain heroine. The villainous father and snotty other woman were rather over the top, but only detracted somewhat.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very typical of Betty Neels, so if you like her general style, you will like this. Of particular charm for me -- the h is a ginger professional chef, which gives her more clout in the household than many BN heroines. Also, the food descriptions are very appealing.

[CindySR · Rating 2 out of 5]

This prolific author has a big fan base but I was not impressed. Might try another title some day just to make sure. The best parts were the country house and the pets.

[Mudpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5* 1988

Food, glorious food! When the heroine was a Cordon Bleu chef, that's to be expected!

In a twist, The Great Betty Neels had given our plain heroine Florina the Dutch connection! Her mother was Dutch, and made sure Florina was totally fluent in the language and cooking! Awesome!

But the most lovely was still the charming Wheel House, which our RBD Sir William had bought, and Florina ended up cooking there.

Life there was pretty perfect after Florina escaped from her despotic and useless father. Except in every Garden of Eden, there's a serpent! Wanda the Witch. She was the typical grasping Veronica, who got her hooks into Sir William after months of chasing and scheming. She's obnoxious from the first to the last scene in which she appeared and there was a most epic scene in which Wanda insulted and threatened Florina; she talked back and the Witch slapped Florina! *gasp* But our awesome heroine told Wanda to "cool off" and upended a full jug of cold lemonade on top of her head! According to Sir William, it had a disastrous effect on tinted hair, and little Pauline had not been able to stop laughing when she overheard Wanda complaining to Sir William!

In this story, what was the most enjoyable part was normally our heroine would be too "cool" to offer her side of the story and defend herself against the Veronica, but our Florina here was blessed to have the faithful family retainers all on her side! They were on hand to witness such goings on, and did not hesitate to jump to Florina's defense! Thank God! Jolly and Nanny were the fairy godfather and godmother bringing Florina and Sir William together! Hehe! Their POV offered us valuable insights into Sir William 's mind.

I had wondered how on earth a supposedly smart doctor like him could have ever chosen Wanda for a wife and stepmother to his adorable little girl! But in the break up scene, Wanda admitted she had lied about loving him and wanting children in order to attract him...good riddance to her!

~~~~~

She became aware that he was slowing the car into the slow lane and she looked at him.‘If I tell you that I love you—am in love with you, and have been since the moment I saw you, my darling, will you be content to leave it at that until we are home? I can’t kiss you adequately in the fast lane, and nothing else will do!’ He smiled at her with a tenderness which made her gulp. All she could do was nod, and he reached out and caught her hand for a moment. ‘We will marry as soon as it can be arranged. Now sit quiet and think about the wedding cake while I drive.’

~~~~~

It was so funny how Sir William schemed to get rid of Wanda while Florina was broken hearted in Holland nannying... it's summarised here:

‘You mean Wanda doesn’t want to marry you? She jilted you?’‘Yes, with a little help from circumstances.’She cast a quick look at him; he looked smug. ‘What did you do?’‘Oh, nothing really—a long country walk, rather a muddy one, I’m afraid—and the nettles at this time of year. Nanny and Mrs Deakin cooked dinner, and I refused to sell Wheel House and live for ever and ever in London.’

Oh and Mrs Deakin served them instant coffee, not the proper brew Florina made! LOL

Not sure how old Pauline was but if she's only just starting school and Nanny just retired, I'm guessing around seven years old? Her precociousness and mature insights into Wanda was incredible. She said Wanda would not have been interested in her father if he had been a mere "Mr Sedley". Wow!

Sir William was pretty amazing, rising to the occasion like hoovering the carpet during the Measles Crisis! And coming to their rescue, helping out with Jolly. I was so afraid he'd be angry with Florina when Pauline got concussion!

The only reason I'm not quite giving this a 5* because I really had thought Sir William had already broken off his engagement with Wanda the Witch by the time Pauline had the concussion. He had kept asking why was Wanda at his house(but we knew from Jolly/Nanny/Pauline that Wanda was always in and out of Sir William 's London home as though it was already hers, treating all the staff shabbily). And when Wanda sought to humiliate Florina by telling William Florina loved him, and him admitting "he knew"! I felt that part not well handled. Instead of talking about it he packed her off to Holland. I guessed he couldn't propose when he was still engaged to Wanda...the fact that she was his cook never matttered!

Still this is easily one of my top five favourite BN novel!

[Helen Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the feels from TGB. Florina lives with her uncaring and brutish father and works as a cook in a local hotel. Half-Dutch, she has always been discounted and disliked by her faux invalid parent. Mom is long dead with family still remaining in Holland. She escapes her father by getting a job for a RBD widower who buys a house in her village and needs a cook. She enchants his daughter simply by paying attention to her, and slowly earns the confidence of the FFR, Nanny, who runs the house. Sir William is friendly yet distant and encumbered by a disastrous fiancé, Wanda. Lots of plot here, great characters and real feels are to be had. Florina's HEA is hard earned and well deserved.

[Marybelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. The main characters are well developed, however only the female protagonist, Florina, shows any real growth. Sir William kind of knows where he's at and where he's going, but he doesn't let the rest of us know it. He’s actually kind of mean for leaving Florina in the dark about his feelings for so long. But there’s no doubt that he loves her. I would have really liked to have seen a confrontation between Sir William and Felix who really needed to be brought down a peg. I also wish Sir William had put Florina's father in his place.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice book but i was thinking how dated it is firstly if your boss however good looking kissed you he could be done for sex harassment
But all Betty Neels books I have read there is a gentleness of a time gone by without being Victorian & becoming a historical book as I can actually

[Patricia schmit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Little too Gentle

Although I like anything written by Betty Neels, this story is really not as good as it should be. The plot is a bit contrived, I think, but still, is a good "light" read.

[Brandielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was going to go on my list of favorites (mean family AND a mean fiancé to defeat!) but then the last line was about them sending the kid to board at school, the VERY THING we had been trying to avoid the entire book!!! Ridiculous.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fine. I was glad that the cook stood up for herself. I felt the ending was a bit rushed.

[Aayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one where she's the cook.

[Teresa cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

its ok.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Rating: ★★½☆☆

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were so many pages of mundane happenings in this book. Very boring and quite frustrating at times too. There are better BN's books that one can read. NEXT.

[Gogol]

As much as I enjoy the, as Grrrrace puts it, temporal wormhole which Betty Neels books create to transport you to another universe of gone by gentility and almost Edwardian mores, try as I might I can’t not see this one as a fanfiction written by someone who wishes to re-write a particularly bitter story or even personal experience of unrequited love and turn it into one with a happy ending.
To put it bluntly the heroine in this one is an uneducated OW young girl from the village who cooks very well and is hired as the professor hero’s new cook and promptly falls in love with her older man, engaged employer (and his lovely house it must be said). Of course the employer’s fiancée would sense this and dislike her, of course she’d not tolerate the bossy nanny and would want her retired, and of course she’d rather have the step daughter shipped to boarding school. From the fiancée’s point of view, it all makes sense. Posh British boarding schools are a brilliant option for young girls and hardly torture sentences.
Tensions reach such a high point where the hero basically sends the “heroine” away to become au pair to a Dutch friend of his. In the real world this would be a gentle precursor to gaining some distance from the potentially stalker-ish younger woman in phases and in due course letting her go by ideally finding her some employment as far away as possible, however from behind Betty’s rosy lenses, this is only so that he may extricate himself from the engagement to his fiancée and collect the heroine from where he had safely stowed her and cue their happily ever after in the lovely house by the stream. Oh and the hero’s daughter is happy to be a weekly boarder this time around.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pleasant “what a wonderful world” kind of classic. Single dad meets cordon-bleu cook. She’s half-Dutch. He’s all English. This is a rare twist for the great dame of medical romance. The setting is near Salisbury, a place I have actually visited. The Wheel House is described in detail. So much so that I think it was based on a real place the author visited, given her interest in architecture.

I especially enjoyed little Pauline, who detests her father’s vile fiancée for all the right reasons, and hides in the kitchen with cook, learning to bake dubious cakes which her loving father obligingly devours.

Favorite bits - The lemonade scene LOL 😂! The measles scenes with William washing dishes for the FIRST TIME EVER. “We need a dishwasher. Order one, Jolly.” Florina, finally departing her destestable daddy dearest. The rescue scene with hand-holding.

Worst bits — When the doctor’s horrid fiancée tells him “she’s in love with you!” — right in front of poor Florina. I cringed. Really I did. I also cannot get excited about the ending. Seriously! Who proposes while speeding down the motorway?