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أرحل وحدي
زواج مع وقف التنفيذ ، إنه الزواج الذي جمع ويلما و مارتن.
ويلما الباحثة الإجتماعية تعتقد أن الحب هو مجرد رغبة جسدية لا يصمد أمام اختبارات الزمن لكنها تزوجت بضغط ظروف اختها الخائفة على زوجها منها.
مارتن المهندس الزراعي ، أرمل محبط و أب لطفلين فقد الثقة بالنساء و بالحب ، لكنه تزوج لتوفير الرعاية لولديه ..
فهل ينجح زواج تحكمه قوانين الإحباط و الكراهية؟
هل تفشل نظرية ويلما، فتغرق في حب لا يد لها فيه أم تحاربه و تهرب؟
وهل يتمسك مارتن بعالمه الزجاجي الأسود؟
ويلما الباحثة الإجتماعية تعتقد أن الحب هو مجرد رغبة جسدية لا يصمد أمام اختبارات الزمن لكنها تزوجت بضغط ظروف اختها الخائفة على زوجها منها.
مارتن المهندس الزراعي ، أرمل محبط و أب لطفلين فقد الثقة بالنساء و بالحب ، لكنه تزوج لتوفير الرعاية لولديه ..
فهل ينجح زواج تحكمه قوانين الإحباط و الكراهية؟
هل تفشل نظرية ويلما، فتغرق في حب لا يد لها فيه أم تحاربه و تهرب؟
وهل يتمسك مارتن بعالمه الزجاجي الأسود؟
148 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 1986
15 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,125 books668 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 11, 2018
Well, this was different. Heroine decides to marry through a newspaper ad because she is worried about her pregnant sister thinking she is having an affair with her brother-in-law. Heroine is supposed to be psychologist with two books under her belt, but she can't get rid of the handsy brother in law any other way. She also thinks by getting married she'll be able to validate the thesis of her next book - hence the title. *rolls eyes*
Hero is a doctor who was left with two boys after his ex-wife died stepping into traffic after they argued. (That is not good foreshadowing, y'all)
So heroine marries the hero in a MOC (she explains she has a low sex drive - LOL) and promptly starts to turn the sullen boys around. The hero is pretty much a jerk from start to finish but his behavior is explained away:
1. He's a country doctor and tired.
2. His ex made him bitter
3. He is attracted to the h and loved her all along, but had to keep his hands to himself. (Except those two times they had sex)
4. He is insanely jealous of the OM always pawing the heroine
5. He is "sensitive" just like his boys - his behavior mirrors theirs.
If you buy any or all of the explanations for Mr. Grumpypants, then you'll believe the HEA. I buy the sexual frustration and the heroine's ridiculous inability to knee brother in law in the groin. The rest? Not so much. He's always going to be grumpy and hard to live with. His two boys will make great next generation alphas, though!
Also, brother-in-law never gets his comeuppance and heroine's sister is criminally stupid for staying with that asshat.
Hero is a doctor who was left with two boys after his ex-wife died stepping into traffic after they argued. (That is not good foreshadowing, y'all)
So heroine marries the hero in a MOC (she explains she has a low sex drive - LOL) and promptly starts to turn the sullen boys around. The hero is pretty much a jerk from start to finish but his behavior is explained away:
1. He's a country doctor and tired.
2. His ex made him bitter
3. He is attracted to the h and loved her all along, but had to keep his hands to himself. (Except those two times they had sex)
4. He is insanely jealous of the OM always pawing the heroine
5. He is "sensitive" just like his boys - his behavior mirrors theirs.
If you buy any or all of the explanations for Mr. Grumpypants, then you'll believe the HEA. I buy the sexual frustration and the heroine's ridiculous inability to knee brother in law in the groin. The rest? Not so much. He's always going to be grumpy and hard to live with. His two boys will make great next generation alphas, though!
Also, brother-in-law never gets his comeuppance and heroine's sister is criminally stupid for staying with that asshat.
June 30, 2016
Re Research into Marriage - PJ is on the dance to the beat of her own drum roll again with this one. The h is a 26 yr old psychologist researcher who has written two books about the effects of broken homes on children.
She also has a mental case sister who is married to a gropey hands man and the skeevy nematode keeps trying to seduce the h. The sister walked in on them when the nematode was trying to force an embrace on the h and she went hysterical. She insists the h has to be married for her to believe that she wasn't coming on to her husband. So the h takes out an ad in the paper, looking for a business like marriage, to get herself a husband.
(This is what I mean by the PJ beat of her own drum, this h is a total feminist and she KNOWS her sister is manipulating her. Cause srsly who reacts like her sister did when confronted with the scene she walked in on? The h is totally assertive all over the place and yet can't pick up skillet and knock the nematode hubby on his back end? In fact, who continues to put up with such a whacked sister when it is obvious she is totally deranged? PJ gives the reason as the sister is pregnant with a difficult pregnancy, but this h is supposed to be a psychological professional, especially with kids, and she thinks it is great idear to bring a child into such a dysfunctional relationship with a nematode father and a sister who is totally messed up and a bad mother to the child she already has to boot? I know, it is PJ so we just roll with it, but the PJ latitude was straining my tolerance on this one. )
So the h has an ad and she gets a response. An overworked physician with two sons writes her and the h makes an appointment to see him. Except it wasn't the physician H who answered the ad. It was his all too conniving and managing sister who wants the H's sons out of her house.
It seems the budding Hannibal Lectors tied their cousin up to a stake in a bonfire and were on the verge of lighting it. The sister bullies the H into meeting the h, she states it is because the kids need a parent and she doesn't like them and can't continue to help her brother out. (PJ has just lovely sisters in this one.)
The H reluctantly agrees to the bullying, he hated his first wife and when they divorced she got custody of the kids she never wanted. (Apparently H's getting custody of the kids only happens when the h is the mum in PJ"s HPlandia.) The H has been too busy being a doctor to be a parent and so his kids hate him too.
He and the h initially meet when she is blocking the road to his house and she points out his zipper is undone when he is yelling at her. Then she shows up at his house and he is highly antagonistic but the h explains she has to marry to put her fragile mentally deranged sister's mind at rest and plus she thinks she can help his kids. The H decides he can handle a business arrangement, so they marry.
The H's sister comes over to the h's house and expounds upon the situation, rather than throwing the conniving skunk out, the h actually likes her. Then she involves herself in rag rolling, being the bestest HP step-mum ever and massaging the H's head when he gets a migraine. She also runs around after her sister whose whining could drown out a hurricane and putting up with the H's bossy cow of a sibling. The h is reluctantly attracted to the H but thinks he is in love with his first wife, who conveniently died so he got the kids and they wind up in bed - as you do in a PJ novel.
Then the whiny sister winds up in hospital, cause her pregnancy blood pressure is too high. The h agrees to watch her son until his nematode parent returns. The nematode parent insists that the h is using the H for research and that they are lovers, the h doesn't do anything to claim differently, and the H kicks her out.
A few weeks go by, with the H's sons visiting and complaining about missing the h. The h is in a hotel room, cause her flat was rented out for a few months and the H shows up to say he wants the h back. He really can't care for his own kids and they love her.
The h says she can't return because she loves him and was never having an affair with the nematode. The H explains that he never loved his first wife, she made him miserable and he never wanted to marry after the divorce, but his sister made him for the boys. He supposedly loves the h too and they like playing hide the lurve club, so it is HEA's all around.
I don't recommend this one unless you really like PJ and are willing to drink the PJ kool-aid. The whole thing requires multiple leaps of believability and large amounts of Captain Morgan to get through. The h and H hardly develop any relationship, the h actually spends more time with the budding sociopath sons than she does the H.
The nematode husband of the sister gets no comeuppance and the sister is pretty much a plot device, once she is in hospital, she disappears, as does her son. However if you like making great leaps of imagination or rag rolling paint, doing the garden and an h who thinks she will be happier with domestic engineering than continuing her career, this story might be a good choice.
She also has a mental case sister who is married to a gropey hands man and the skeevy nematode keeps trying to seduce the h. The sister walked in on them when the nematode was trying to force an embrace on the h and she went hysterical. She insists the h has to be married for her to believe that she wasn't coming on to her husband. So the h takes out an ad in the paper, looking for a business like marriage, to get herself a husband.
(This is what I mean by the PJ beat of her own drum, this h is a total feminist and she KNOWS her sister is manipulating her. Cause srsly who reacts like her sister did when confronted with the scene she walked in on? The h is totally assertive all over the place and yet can't pick up skillet and knock the nematode hubby on his back end? In fact, who continues to put up with such a whacked sister when it is obvious she is totally deranged? PJ gives the reason as the sister is pregnant with a difficult pregnancy, but this h is supposed to be a psychological professional, especially with kids, and she thinks it is great idear to bring a child into such a dysfunctional relationship with a nematode father and a sister who is totally messed up and a bad mother to the child she already has to boot? I know, it is PJ so we just roll with it, but the PJ latitude was straining my tolerance on this one. )
So the h has an ad and she gets a response. An overworked physician with two sons writes her and the h makes an appointment to see him. Except it wasn't the physician H who answered the ad. It was his all too conniving and managing sister who wants the H's sons out of her house.
It seems the budding Hannibal Lectors tied their cousin up to a stake in a bonfire and were on the verge of lighting it. The sister bullies the H into meeting the h, she states it is because the kids need a parent and she doesn't like them and can't continue to help her brother out. (PJ has just lovely sisters in this one.)
The H reluctantly agrees to the bullying, he hated his first wife and when they divorced she got custody of the kids she never wanted. (Apparently H's getting custody of the kids only happens when the h is the mum in PJ"s HPlandia.) The H has been too busy being a doctor to be a parent and so his kids hate him too.
He and the h initially meet when she is blocking the road to his house and she points out his zipper is undone when he is yelling at her. Then she shows up at his house and he is highly antagonistic but the h explains she has to marry to put her fragile mentally deranged sister's mind at rest and plus she thinks she can help his kids. The H decides he can handle a business arrangement, so they marry.
The H's sister comes over to the h's house and expounds upon the situation, rather than throwing the conniving skunk out, the h actually likes her. Then she involves herself in rag rolling, being the bestest HP step-mum ever and massaging the H's head when he gets a migraine. She also runs around after her sister whose whining could drown out a hurricane and putting up with the H's bossy cow of a sibling. The h is reluctantly attracted to the H but thinks he is in love with his first wife, who conveniently died so he got the kids and they wind up in bed - as you do in a PJ novel.
Then the whiny sister winds up in hospital, cause her pregnancy blood pressure is too high. The h agrees to watch her son until his nematode parent returns. The nematode parent insists that the h is using the H for research and that they are lovers, the h doesn't do anything to claim differently, and the H kicks her out.
A few weeks go by, with the H's sons visiting and complaining about missing the h. The h is in a hotel room, cause her flat was rented out for a few months and the H shows up to say he wants the h back. He really can't care for his own kids and they love her.
The h says she can't return because she loves him and was never having an affair with the nematode. The H explains that he never loved his first wife, she made him miserable and he never wanted to marry after the divorce, but his sister made him for the boys. He supposedly loves the h too and they like playing hide the lurve club, so it is HEA's all around.
I don't recommend this one unless you really like PJ and are willing to drink the PJ kool-aid. The whole thing requires multiple leaps of believability and large amounts of Captain Morgan to get through. The h and H hardly develop any relationship, the h actually spends more time with the budding sociopath sons than she does the H.
The nematode husband of the sister gets no comeuppance and the sister is pretty much a plot device, once she is in hospital, she disappears, as does her son. However if you like making great leaps of imagination or rag rolling paint, doing the garden and an h who thinks she will be happier with domestic engineering than continuing her career, this story might be a good choice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2018
Great arranged marriage story filled with angst and misunderstandings. Loved the sweet heroine and jealous hero. I love and miss Penny Jordan so much. She is my favorite Harlequin author.
July 8, 2019
Lyle's character seemed underdeveloped. He and Jessica also didn't spend much quality time together so I didn't really feel the love between the two. This resulted in giving the book a cold tone, which is ironic since Jessica's reason for marriage was based on scientific pursuit. The positive in all of this is that the amount of time focused on Lyle's boys wasn't excessive at all.
November 21, 2009
Research psychologist marries, after one meeting, a widower with two troubled children. Why? To stop her crazy sister from thinking she's having an affair with her brother-in-law. Of course her crazy new husband immediately assumes she's having an affair with her brother-in-law. One of those mindbogglingly implausible plots you'd only find in a Harlequin, full of WTF? moments. But a pretty good read if you enjoy Jordan's particular brand of whack.
October 29, 2012
The story of a woman who as a psychologist doesn't believe in love being a good basis for marriage. She has a sister who is fragile mentally and who thinks that Jessica, the heroine, is sleeping with her husband. To convince her sister otherwise Jessica decides to put her money where her mouth is and make an arranged marriage. She marries a country doctor who has two preteen sons who have just come to him after his ex wife's death. They iron out the terms of their marriage of convenience but trouble soon starts as they fall in love with each other and begin to get jealous and needy. This of course is against the rules of their marriage so neither tells the other.
The book was well written and I liked all the characters. There was a middling level of angst and some drama. Nothing OTT. It was quite enjoyable. Its only real problem was the ending. It was too short, everything resolved in about 4 pages. There just wasn't nearly enough discussion and resolving of issues and only the barest admission of true love. This book truly needed an epilogue or at the very least about 4 more pages.
The book was well written and I liked all the characters. There was a middling level of angst and some drama. Nothing OTT. It was quite enjoyable. Its only real problem was the ending. It was too short, everything resolved in about 4 pages. There just wasn't nearly enough discussion and resolving of issues and only the barest admission of true love. This book truly needed an epilogue or at the very least about 4 more pages.
July 16, 2025
The story started well with h and H entering into marriage of convenience but after which there was not much story in it as a whole. The h didn't believe in physical attraction but she couldn't stop lusting for Hero.
All in all a lame story.
All in all a lame story.
November 14, 2012
A decent Penny Jordan. A little too much focus on the kids for my taste.
November 8, 2012
3.5 stars. I enjoyed the relationship between the hero and heroine in this one, but I though there was a little too much focus on the kids.
November 12, 2023
The main character's sister drove me up the wall within the first few chapters and turned me off so much I put the book down. Not sure if I will bother to pick up again. May be a DNF for me.
November 14, 2022
At least 3 people in this mess need serious mental help, and 2 of them might be criminally insane. What would you call it when two boys p, 10 and 12, tie up their young cousin and make a bonfire under him? Her sister is bonkers, hysterical and convinced h is having affair with sis’s disgusting husband.
The monsters’s dad refuses to spank or send them to a strict school, instead he decides he should round up some unsuspecting, possibly desperate lady to marry in a MOC. Then he continually yells at her that she disgusts him because she’s having affair with brother in law and nothing h says gets through to hm.
Same novel as the Garnett Marriage Pact
The monsters’s dad refuses to spank or send them to a strict school, instead he decides he should round up some unsuspecting, possibly desperate lady to marry in a MOC. Then he continually yells at her that she disgusts him because she’s having affair with brother in law and nothing h says gets through to hm.
Same novel as the Garnett Marriage Pact
November 24, 2025
The concept was so compelling, and the first half was so good but it just kept losing stars as I kept reading. Why did Jessica have a complete personality shift towards the end of the book? She was behaving so erratically it made me dislike her.
Lyle was so mean it actually infuriated me and we never got any moments of them softening up to each other them falling in love is so unbelievable.
The kids were great though.
Lyle was so mean it actually infuriated me and we never got any moments of them softening up to each other them falling in love is so unbelievable.
The kids were great though.
April 10, 2024
This would have been better as a TV movie than a book. Also, I couldn't stand the h's sister and brother-in-law; she was TSTL to the extreme, and he was unbelievably creepy.
Not one of Ms. Jordan's best.
Not one of Ms. Jordan's best.
May 2, 2023
2.5
Love the h & the kids but the H is asshole and jerk he dosen't deserve the h
Love the h & the kids but the H is asshole and jerk he dosen't deserve the h
January 29, 2015
I read this on a train upon the return journey from a particularly depressing meeting. It was late at night, I was tired, there was an ignorant girl sat opposite me who kept kicking me and putting her feet up on the seat next to me; and this book STILL made this a pleasant journey. This is a bit different from your usual Jordan romance. The heroine (Jessica) is undertaking research on “Love in Western Culture” and decides, that in the interests of research, she’ll arrange herself a marriage. A small ad in the personal columns later and she meets Lyle – a man who needs a mother for his two psychotic children (whom we first meet when they are trying to burn their cousin alive “playing Guy Fawkes”) and whom their own father describes as “little horrors who would try the patience of a saint”. Of course, as soon as Jessica meets Lyle she can chuck all her research out the window because she predictably falls in love with him and finds that such a thing as Love does exist after all. It’s an incredible premise for a story but it has a real old fashioned charm this one – and I couldn’t help but enjoy it. What Jessica finds is that she’s an old-fashioned girl at heart – soon she’s forgetting all about the deadline for her latest book and getting into “rag-rolling the kitchen in a delicate shade of peach” (oh yes, this is a book from the 1980s alright) and doing the garden. The kids turn out to be not all bad (I’m sure you could have said the same of Jack the Ripper) and it turns out that Lyle (despite being a typical Jordanesque hero in that he’s overly critical and a bit distant) loves her after all. To be fair, Lyle is a bit too distant – even Jessica can’t believe it when he reveals his feelings for her: “‘I can’t believe this,’ Jessica whispered staring at him. ‘I can’t believe you love me.” (Loc 2252) I found myself entertaining the same doubts after the way he’s treated her. There are flaws in this book – careless editing, such as where the hero insists in his male chauvinist way of driving them both in her car to the wedding and then somehow magically drives himself home in his car, leaving her to follow him (perhaps his car is like Herbie and can drive itself). Jessica is an undergraduate when her research is published and doesn’t seem to have any other academic qualifications – it sounds a bit unlikely to me and she’s hardly a genius from the way she comes across in the story. Lyle is a brain surgeon who reluctantly gives up his high flying job to look after his kids when his first wife dies. There’s a really old-fashioned attitude to women who are reflected as needing to give up their careers as soon as they marry and live off their husbands, keep themselves busy by spending their time stopping the kids murdering the neighbours and rag-rolling the kitchen. The sex scenes were of the usual Jordan quality but it struck me that this is another area where women never take the lead – they tend to just lie back and have things done to them. It’s hardly a feminist text but for a bit of light entertainment (and to take your mind off a horrible day) I rather enjoyed it.
May 15, 2017
A bit slow at times, very implausible, but not too bad a read for an afternoon. It's definitely- as another reviewer said - PJ's brand of wacky.
Independent psychologist heroine with money and means of her own marries neurosurgeon-turned-country-doctor with two kids so she can convince her neurotic sister that she's not having an affair with sister's philandering husband. Heroine meets Hero via a personal ad she placed in the paper. Very implausible and far-fetched, but let's go with it.
Independent heroine with career of choice, money to spare marries country doctor and moves into his ramshackle, badly furnished home/surgery and proceeds to turn into Miss Suzy Homemaker who finds unexpected fulfillment in gardening, cooking, cleaning, and motherhood. Nothing wrong with being a career minded woman or a stay-at-home mom - but this had a touch of that 80's PJ sexism where it's strongly hinted that the latter is more fulfilling and natural than the former.
Heroine is very research-minded, very analytical in her thinking and how she approaches plans and problems. Hero is busy, harassed, stressed doctor-dad who can't connect with his two kids after their mother's death. More time is spent on the heroine's thinking processes and transformation from thinking being to a more emotional one than on getting to know the hero. Hero is present, but there is minimal interaction between he and the heroine for a good 50% of the story. This made things feel unbalanced and odd at first when they finally started to act on the tension between them.
Still - this was angst-light compared to many other HP stories and I enjoyed the heroine's journey to self-discovery. I also liked that her interaction with the two troubled kids wasn't all super-sugary. She interacted with them as if they had minds and thoughts of their own and didn't push them to like or accept her. She let them make the first moves towards accepting her as their stepmother.
Independent psychologist heroine with money and means of her own marries neurosurgeon-turned-country-doctor with two kids so she can convince her neurotic sister that she's not having an affair with sister's philandering husband. Heroine meets Hero via a personal ad she placed in the paper. Very implausible and far-fetched, but let's go with it.
Independent heroine with career of choice, money to spare marries country doctor and moves into his ramshackle, badly furnished home/surgery and proceeds to turn into Miss Suzy Homemaker who finds unexpected fulfillment in gardening, cooking, cleaning, and motherhood. Nothing wrong with being a career minded woman or a stay-at-home mom - but this had a touch of that 80's PJ sexism where it's strongly hinted that the latter is more fulfilling and natural than the former.
Heroine is very research-minded, very analytical in her thinking and how she approaches plans and problems. Hero is busy, harassed, stressed doctor-dad who can't connect with his two kids after their mother's death. More time is spent on the heroine's thinking processes and transformation from thinking being to a more emotional one than on getting to know the hero. Hero is present, but there is minimal interaction between he and the heroine for a good 50% of the story. This made things feel unbalanced and odd at first when they finally started to act on the tension between them.
Still - this was angst-light compared to many other HP stories and I enjoyed the heroine's journey to self-discovery. I also liked that her interaction with the two troubled kids wasn't all super-sugary. She interacted with them as if they had minds and thoughts of their own and didn't push them to like or accept her. She let them make the first moves towards accepting her as their stepmother.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2011
Ok, had to grade this one on a curve...
I don't like Harlequins but I DO love Penny Jordan books so I read all of her stuff and if it happens to be a Harlequin, so be it. I've read a few other Harlequins of hers and some I like, some I hate, and some are really pretty good, but not most. This book, for me. was one of the better ones.
Jessica is writing a book about marriage and dealing with a sister with mental issues and somehow ends up deciding to marry a guy (Lyle) who placed an ad for a wife to help care for his 2 hellions. Well, actually, his sister placed the ad without him knowing and he's NOT happy about this at all. But because his bad little boys tried to burn their little cousin alive via a bonfire (can you believe that???), Lyle decides it's probably for the best. In the meantime, Jessica continues to rebuke her brother-in-law, David, for continually coming on to her even though his wife, Jessica's sister, is pregnant with their 2nd child. David was a real creep. I wanted the sister, Andrea, to wise up and kick him to the curb. That was one aspect of this story that was totally unfulfilling.
I also found it quite unbelievable that due to Lyle's guilt about his ex wife dying in a car crash, he has no sexual desire.
I know this all sounds pretty stupid. And it is. But somehow, it was still interesting and just an overall quick and fun read. Again, I graded this one on a curve!!
I don't like Harlequins but I DO love Penny Jordan books so I read all of her stuff and if it happens to be a Harlequin, so be it. I've read a few other Harlequins of hers and some I like, some I hate, and some are really pretty good, but not most. This book, for me. was one of the better ones.
Jessica is writing a book about marriage and dealing with a sister with mental issues and somehow ends up deciding to marry a guy (Lyle) who placed an ad for a wife to help care for his 2 hellions. Well, actually, his sister placed the ad without him knowing and he's NOT happy about this at all. But because his bad little boys tried to burn their little cousin alive via a bonfire (can you believe that???), Lyle decides it's probably for the best. In the meantime, Jessica continues to rebuke her brother-in-law, David, for continually coming on to her even though his wife, Jessica's sister, is pregnant with their 2nd child. David was a real creep. I wanted the sister, Andrea, to wise up and kick him to the curb. That was one aspect of this story that was totally unfulfilling.
I also found it quite unbelievable that due to Lyle's guilt about his ex wife dying in a car crash, he has no sexual desire.
I know this all sounds pretty stupid. And it is. But somehow, it was still interesting and just an overall quick and fun read. Again, I graded this one on a curve!!
October 24, 2016
Penny Jordan hozta a tőle megszokott színvonalat, és egy aranyos történetet hozott nekünk, melynek szereplői: egy pszichológusnő, aki sokkal inkább hisz a megegyezésen alapuló, mint a szerelmi házasságokban; és egy özvegy, mogorvának tűnő orvos, aki elhidegült a nőktől. Na és ne feledkezzünk el a két rosszcsont, ám szeretni való gyerekről. :)
Igaz, a történet vége egy kissé össze lett csapva, de ettől függetlenül – mivel mostanában sok átlagos ilyen történetet olvastam – megkapja tőlem az 5 csillagot. :)
Igaz, a történet vége egy kissé össze lett csapva, de ettől függetlenül – mivel mostanában sok átlagos ilyen történetet olvastam – megkapja tőlem az 5 csillagot. :)
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June 29, 2013أرحل وحدى
زواج مع وقف التنفيذ ، إنه الزواج الذى جمع ويلما و مارتن ..
ويلما الباحثة الاجتماعية تعتقد أن الحب هو مجرد رغبة جسدية لا يصمد أمام اختبارات الزمن لكنها تزوجت بضغط ظروف اختها الخائفة على زوجها منها ..مارتن المهندس الزراعى ، أرمل محبط و أب لطفلين فقد الثقة بالنساء و بالحب ، لكنه تزوج لتوفير الرعاية لولديه ..فهل ينجح زواج تحكمه قوانبن الإحباط و الكراهية ؟ هل تفشل نظرية ويلما ، فتغرق فى حب لا يد لها فيه أم تحربه و تهرب ؟
وهل يتمسك مارتن بعالمه الزجاجى الأسود ؟
زواج مع وقف التنفيذ ، إنه الزواج الذى جمع ويلما و مارتن ..
ويلما الباحثة الاجتماعية تعتقد أن الحب هو مجرد رغبة جسدية لا يصمد أمام اختبارات الزمن لكنها تزوجت بضغط ظروف اختها الخائفة على زوجها منها ..مارتن المهندس الزراعى ، أرمل محبط و أب لطفلين فقد الثقة بالنساء و بالحب ، لكنه تزوج لتوفير الرعاية لولديه ..فهل ينجح زواج تحكمه قوانبن الإحباط و الكراهية ؟ هل تفشل نظرية ويلما ، فتغرق فى حب لا يد لها فيه أم تحربه و تهرب ؟
وهل يتمسك مارتن بعالمه الزجاجى الأسود ؟
September 25, 2012
Wow I really liked this book. It was very well done. It was sweet but not overly so and just great for my taste!!
Want to read
July 29, 20132*(2)
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