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Hold Close the Memory
PAPERBACK
188 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1985
30 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
About the author
Heather Graham
595 books6,993 followersAlso published as Heather Graham Pozzessere and Shannon Drake.
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 2, 2019
In the vernacular of the time this was written in - Gag Me With a Smurf.
I read this book way back in 1985 and let me share that time and a complete re-edit HAS NOT improved this at all.
Even keeping mind that Candlelight Romance is like K-mart compared to the Saks Fifth Avenue that is HPlandia, and also recognizing that this is only Heather Graham's 9th or 10th book, this book is so low that even nematode parasites are having to wear hundred pound weights to sink down to it.
The plot is pretty simple and was a big deal for about a decade back in the 70's and 80's. The H went to Vietnam, he got captured, the h was told he was dead and she had to make a life for herself and her twin sons for the next 12 years.
Then SURPRISE - the H did not die, his best friend did. So the H comes back to be an utter coprophagic snot barnacle of the sleaziest cock womble pond scum in the most rancid cesspool you can find.
The h is on the verge of getting closer to the new man in her life - after TWELVE years- and the H, who has had a Vietnamese 'wife' and a child with her, (they both died,) and ALSO did an emergency love club injection with his dead BFF's wife - who is also dating another man she hopes to marry- comes back and has a Godzilla and Gargantuan sized hissy fit that the h managed to carry on and did not just flop herself into the nearest sub sewer and drown.
There is the flaunting of the H's BFF widow one nighter IN THE HOUSE that that h lives in with her kids. There is the kids not realizing that Daddy was so anxious to come home to them that he stopped off to go give tower of power rides to his BFF's widow and the kids feeling bad cause Mommy isn't prostrating herself at daddy's feet to welcome him.
There is toned down from the original but still VERY forced seduction and my head is spinning because even re-edited, I forgot just what a slime sucking sub sewer piece of mushroom fertilizer fed protozoa barnacle this man really is.
No wonder I love HPlandia so much, I read both these lines from their first publications and HPlandia is like Paradise, the Elysian Fields and Nirvana compared to this.
Needless to say, the h has a few pouty and mopey moments, but in the end she totally quivers down to a jelly blobule and puts her nice clothes away. She goes for sturdily woven gunny sacks as her everyday attire instead - all the better to keep the boot drag marks the H leaves behind from being so obvious after stomping all over her.
Look, the Vietnam war was a real thing and there were POW's and there were a lot of PTSD problems with the men returning home back in the day. There was a lot of heartbreak and there were soldiers who were treated very, very badly with almost no support.
But this whole interaction between the H and h was just too much to ask anyone to take. Did I mention in his mad rush to get home to his family, not only does the H stop to shag the dead BFF's wife, he manages to write and publish a best selling book too?
I know we liked our various adult entertainments back in the day, but reading this now I can only conclude that somebody must have been sneakin' shroom's into our Pepsi Taste Test Challenge.
Cause that is the only way anyone could read this and believe that the h giving up her job, agreeing to have another child when she really was done with babies and following the H wherever he decided they were going after over a decade of mental, financial and emotional independence was any type of HEA.
I read this book way back in 1985 and let me share that time and a complete re-edit HAS NOT improved this at all.
Even keeping mind that Candlelight Romance is like K-mart compared to the Saks Fifth Avenue that is HPlandia, and also recognizing that this is only Heather Graham's 9th or 10th book, this book is so low that even nematode parasites are having to wear hundred pound weights to sink down to it.
The plot is pretty simple and was a big deal for about a decade back in the 70's and 80's. The H went to Vietnam, he got captured, the h was told he was dead and she had to make a life for herself and her twin sons for the next 12 years.
Then SURPRISE - the H did not die, his best friend did. So the H comes back to be an utter coprophagic snot barnacle of the sleaziest cock womble pond scum in the most rancid cesspool you can find.
The h is on the verge of getting closer to the new man in her life - after TWELVE years- and the H, who has had a Vietnamese 'wife' and a child with her, (they both died,) and ALSO did an emergency love club injection with his dead BFF's wife - who is also dating another man she hopes to marry- comes back and has a Godzilla and Gargantuan sized hissy fit that the h managed to carry on and did not just flop herself into the nearest sub sewer and drown.
There is the flaunting of the H's BFF widow one nighter IN THE HOUSE that that h lives in with her kids. There is the kids not realizing that Daddy was so anxious to come home to them that he stopped off to go give tower of power rides to his BFF's widow and the kids feeling bad cause Mommy isn't prostrating herself at daddy's feet to welcome him.
There is toned down from the original but still VERY forced seduction and my head is spinning because even re-edited, I forgot just what a slime sucking sub sewer piece of mushroom fertilizer fed protozoa barnacle this man really is.
No wonder I love HPlandia so much, I read both these lines from their first publications and HPlandia is like Paradise, the Elysian Fields and Nirvana compared to this.
Needless to say, the h has a few pouty and mopey moments, but in the end she totally quivers down to a jelly blobule and puts her nice clothes away. She goes for sturdily woven gunny sacks as her everyday attire instead - all the better to keep the boot drag marks the H leaves behind from being so obvious after stomping all over her.
Look, the Vietnam war was a real thing and there were POW's and there were a lot of PTSD problems with the men returning home back in the day. There was a lot of heartbreak and there were soldiers who were treated very, very badly with almost no support.
But this whole interaction between the H and h was just too much to ask anyone to take. Did I mention in his mad rush to get home to his family, not only does the H stop to shag the dead BFF's wife, he manages to write and publish a best selling book too?
I know we liked our various adult entertainments back in the day, but reading this now I can only conclude that somebody must have been sneakin' shroom's into our Pepsi Taste Test Challenge.
Cause that is the only way anyone could read this and believe that the h giving up her job, agreeing to have another child when she really was done with babies and following the H wherever he decided they were going after over a decade of mental, financial and emotional independence was any type of HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2018
I found this gem from a GR front-page conversation between Charlie and Boogenhagen. It's free in KU. Yea me.
Yikes. These two were made for each other as in match made in hell. The hero and heroine not Charlie and Boogenhagen.
Two stars instead of just one for the sheer can't-take-my-eyes-from-the-car-wreck story.
Yikes. These two were made for each other as in match made in hell. The hero and heroine not Charlie and Boogenhagen.
Two stars instead of just one for the sheer can't-take-my-eyes-from-the-car-wreck story.
July 4, 2020
Oh geez
I read this way back in the 80’s. It’s been produced in Ebook format with a new cover.
I loved it back then and most probably would have given it a 4* rating.
Way before I became a book reviewer!
In this subject matter I’ve read books like this again. Some better than this one as it’s updated but I can see people from my generation liking it, but this generation not so much because the bloke in this is a jerk. It simply wouldn’t go like that now, things have changed. Although emotions haven’t, so that’s my take on it.
It’s historical because of the times it was written, but not “historical fiction” in the usual form.
I read this way back in the 80’s. It’s been produced in Ebook format with a new cover.
I loved it back then and most probably would have given it a 4* rating.
Way before I became a book reviewer!
In this subject matter I’ve read books like this again. Some better than this one as it’s updated but I can see people from my generation liking it, but this generation not so much because the bloke in this is a jerk. It simply wouldn’t go like that now, things have changed. Although emotions haven’t, so that’s my take on it.
It’s historical because of the times it was written, but not “historical fiction” in the usual form.
April 23, 2023
Един от онези любовни романи, които са страшно нереалистични, но звучат истински. Нещо като филмите от златните години на Холивуд (40-те - 70-те, с много добри попадения от 80-те и 90-те), само че за друг жанр. По онова време авторките - личи си - са чели доста читави и разнообразни теми и са имали много добра обща култура, и не са се престаравали с крясъци, мафия, арогантна тъпота и безумен фалш. Тук няма нито едно от тях, и е чудесно.
3,5⭐️
——
Пусто любопитство, зачудих се защо оценката тук в ГР е толкова ниска и зачетох ревютата. Досмеша ме. Всичко е заради формата на облака. Аз си обожавам розовите облаци, но знам, че са облаци и искам да са облаци - даже ако в един момент са буреносни (защото няма страшно, накрая ще са розови). Но в много случаи читателките не очакват облак, а само розовкото… И ако това розовко не е наситено, и - о, ужас - нещо напомня на истинско природно явление, бягат с писъци. За сметка на това високопарните поучения пък се харчат - явно много читателки обичат чувството за “праведност”, което това носи, даже в този жанр (явно е приятно разнообразие и допълнение към телевизионните проповедници), или просто блокират, ако не е повторено и потретено кой е добрият, кой е лошият, и че междинно положение не се позволява (брр, къш, къш!). Неблагодарни жанрове са трилърите и любовните романи, спор няма 😆
——
“It hurt, badly. But I love you, and whatever I have to learn to live past, I will. Neither of us has hurt the other purposely. Jealousy is a normal emotion. So is pain; so is anger. They come with living.”
“the world is always full of ifs, and I don’t think any of us can ever say for certain what would have happened if things had gone another way. We never know what we would do in a certain circumstance unless we are faced with that circumstance. ”
“I don’t want you worrying about your priorities or about yourself. You have been hit by a brick wall. It’s very normal that you feel the way that you do.”
“But where does that leave us?”
“Moving slowly,” he said quietly, “trying. No one can really do more.”
3,5⭐️
——
Пусто любопитство, зачудих се защо оценката тук в ГР е толкова ниска и зачетох ревютата. Досмеша ме. Всичко е заради формата на облака. Аз си обожавам розовите облаци, но знам, че са облаци и искам да са облаци - даже ако в един момент са буреносни (защото няма страшно, накрая ще са розови). Но в много случаи читателките не очакват облак, а само розовкото… И ако това розовко не е наситено, и - о, ужас - нещо напомня на истинско природно явление, бягат с писъци. За сметка на това високопарните поучения пък се харчат - явно много читателки обичат чувството за “праведност”, което това носи, даже в този жанр (явно е приятно разнообразие и допълнение към телевизионните проповедници), или просто блокират, ако не е повторено и потретено кой е добрият, кой е лошият, и че междинно положение не се позволява (брр, къш, къш!). Неблагодарни жанрове са трилърите и любовните романи, спор няма 😆
——
“It hurt, badly. But I love you, and whatever I have to learn to live past, I will. Neither of us has hurt the other purposely. Jealousy is a normal emotion. So is pain; so is anger. They come with living.”
“the world is always full of ifs, and I don’t think any of us can ever say for certain what would have happened if things had gone another way. We never know what we would do in a certain circumstance unless we are faced with that circumstance. ”
“I don’t want you worrying about your priorities or about yourself. You have been hit by a brick wall. It’s very normal that you feel the way that you do.”
“But where does that leave us?”
“Moving slowly,” he said quietly, “trying. No one can really do more.”
May 8, 2018
I think this book has scarred me if I could burn its electrical manifestation I whole heartedly would. The "H" and that is a title I'm loathe to give him loves his wife but gets some random Vietnamese woman pregnant, names his daughter after his wife and expects to ship daughter and mistress home to the US to play happy families when he's freed/escapes from a POW camp. When he gets back home to the motherland does he head home to the wife he's missed so terribly? Nope he goes and sleeps with his mates widow first. Oh and then he brings said widow round to their house for a cuppa. What a prince! And the icing on the cake? His wife is in the wrong for being angry at him!!!! If someone knows how I can remove the knowledge of this book from my brain please advise because I am genuinely raging at this. -1000000 stars**** May God have mercy on my soul
Ps I'm not even mad she slept with another man she thought her husband was dead and its 12 years later but basically he had no excuse arrrrggghhh SOOOO ANGRY!!!!
***edit*** I had to create a whole new shelf for horrifying which this now holds pride of place in.
Ps I'm not even mad she slept with another man she thought her husband was dead and its 12 years later but basically he had no excuse arrrrggghhh SOOOO ANGRY!!!!
***edit*** I had to create a whole new shelf for horrifying which this now holds pride of place in.
May 31, 2013
The novel was really bittersweet. I was bothered by it greatly considering the hero claims such love and wanting to get back to the heroine yet, he fucked another chick and got her pregnant, then they both died and slept with his army buddys wife before coming home to his own wife. For twelve years, she thought he was dead, so she had the right to move on but he knew all along she was alive and well state side, so he has no excuse. I wanted to punch him in the balls. The hero didn't deserve her, he should of had to beg for her back. Biggest asshole ever!
June 27, 2013
Hold Close the Memory was originally published in the mid eighties. Open Road Media has released the book in digital format with a new nice new updated cover. I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and review it.
Kim married at eighteen. Brian was the absolute love of her life. She got pregnant accidently soon after the marriage and had twin boys. But, Brian was drafted and went to Vietnam. Before she knew it Kim was a told her husband was dead. A body was brought back and a buried. Kim got a job as a commercial photographer and raised her two boys single handedly. Then she met Keith. After three years of dating, Keith has finally convinced Kim to at least move in with him even though he really wants to them to marry.
But, the day before she is set to make the big move, her husband shows up at her house alive and well. The body that had been buried was his army friend. After long months of red tape he was finally declared alive again. Now he wants to meet his boys and resume his marriage to Kim.
This theme has been explored countless times. It is always thought provoking. I have to imagine myself in that position. For Kim it was just a shock and frankly Brian didn't really give her a chance to absorb the situation fully before he just barged in and demanded she make a choice between him and Keith.
One thing to remember though is that this book was written in the eighties and so some of the male characters in romance novels published in that time would be considered jerks today.
So, for me Brian came on way too strong and he was a big fat hypocrite as well. He does soften up a little when Kim confronts him about his actions during the time he was a prisoner in Vietnam and with some of the things he had done when he had returned home as well.
To me Brian was wrong in so many ways that I just never warmed up to him. I did try to see things from his perspective and could understand some things, but he had a double standard. Kim never betrayed him because the whole time he was gone she thought he was dead. That should have counted for something in Brian's eyes. But, he never really apologized for the things he did and never even seemed remorseful about it.
Kim's situation was much easier to understand and I felt empathy for her. I understood her choice in the end and was hopeful that there was be a HEA for everyone.
This was not my favorite Heather Graham novel. It was emotional and made you think about things. I just didn't like the way some things were handled which put a damper on the end result for me.
The story is compelling and I do urge you to try out these older titles that are being released in e book form. Just keep in mind the time period the book was written in and don't let the male attitudes taint the story for you. Overall I would give this one a B-/C+
Kim married at eighteen. Brian was the absolute love of her life. She got pregnant accidently soon after the marriage and had twin boys. But, Brian was drafted and went to Vietnam. Before she knew it Kim was a told her husband was dead. A body was brought back and a buried. Kim got a job as a commercial photographer and raised her two boys single handedly. Then she met Keith. After three years of dating, Keith has finally convinced Kim to at least move in with him even though he really wants to them to marry.
But, the day before she is set to make the big move, her husband shows up at her house alive and well. The body that had been buried was his army friend. After long months of red tape he was finally declared alive again. Now he wants to meet his boys and resume his marriage to Kim.
This theme has been explored countless times. It is always thought provoking. I have to imagine myself in that position. For Kim it was just a shock and frankly Brian didn't really give her a chance to absorb the situation fully before he just barged in and demanded she make a choice between him and Keith.
One thing to remember though is that this book was written in the eighties and so some of the male characters in romance novels published in that time would be considered jerks today.
So, for me Brian came on way too strong and he was a big fat hypocrite as well. He does soften up a little when Kim confronts him about his actions during the time he was a prisoner in Vietnam and with some of the things he had done when he had returned home as well.
To me Brian was wrong in so many ways that I just never warmed up to him. I did try to see things from his perspective and could understand some things, but he had a double standard. Kim never betrayed him because the whole time he was gone she thought he was dead. That should have counted for something in Brian's eyes. But, he never really apologized for the things he did and never even seemed remorseful about it.
Kim's situation was much easier to understand and I felt empathy for her. I understood her choice in the end and was hopeful that there was be a HEA for everyone.
This was not my favorite Heather Graham novel. It was emotional and made you think about things. I just didn't like the way some things were handled which put a damper on the end result for me.
The story is compelling and I do urge you to try out these older titles that are being released in e book form. Just keep in mind the time period the book was written in and don't let the male attitudes taint the story for you. Overall I would give this one a B-/C+
November 29, 2015
This was short but not sweet story heavily biased towards the H. My sympathy was with the h and even her vacillating between her returned husband and the om seemed understandable. This was in stark contrast to the behavior of the H, with the OW that the H had in his life. That was simply and infuriatingly explained away by 'I didn't love them I loved you'. Spare me please!
April 25, 2019
The 3 stars is for a well written book, because despite the story line it does make you finish it. But its a no reread for me, its too unfair. The husband is presumed dead in war and buried and mourned by his family. the heroine is left a young widow with two kids that she now has to raise on her own, which she does for the next 12 years. She was a widow and single mother all this time and it made her very independent. She and the husband did not break up, he died and she moved on, both financially and romantically in the form of a new serious boyfriend. So she changed, a lot, in the last 12 years. She had her own struggles.
And then you have the husband that was captured and held prisoner for all this time. He lived through his own personal hell of torture and imprisonment. But he also had a romantic relationship there that produced a child (which he felt was justified) and when he came back he did not go to his wife right away but went to visit the wife of the man that they buried thinking it was him. Again he has an affair. He feels a bit resentful that his wife moved on with other men and he was captured.
Its iffy for me, no one is right and no one is wrong. I support her choice of moving on because her husband was dead, she had every right. But i get him a bit resentful about choices that were taken away from him, that he now is taking out on the wife and telling her to deal with it cause he went to war and she didnt. Its not fair for or from either of them and that makes this book for me uncomfortable to read.
And then you have the husband that was captured and held prisoner for all this time. He lived through his own personal hell of torture and imprisonment. But he also had a romantic relationship there that produced a child (which he felt was justified) and when he came back he did not go to his wife right away but went to visit the wife of the man that they buried thinking it was him. Again he has an affair. He feels a bit resentful that his wife moved on with other men and he was captured.
Its iffy for me, no one is right and no one is wrong. I support her choice of moving on because her husband was dead, she had every right. But i get him a bit resentful about choices that were taken away from him, that he now is taking out on the wife and telling her to deal with it cause he went to war and she didnt. Its not fair for or from either of them and that makes this book for me uncomfortable to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2013
Loved it. Gave me hearts and flutters. Romance at its best. Every woman's prayer and nightmare wrapped into one. Losing the one you love only to have them return to you at the worst moment. A tale of second chances that most never get.
March 14, 2024
This was pretty good, and more realistic than the ones where neither has slept with anyone else after being apart for 12 years. However, the H's one-night stand with another woman whose husband was also MIA (and actually dead) before coming back to the h was a bit crummy but considering that the h had moved on and had been sleeping with the OM, it doesn't seem so terrible. (That doesn't mean I approve of what they did, since he was returning to the h and his kids, and she had met a man she was getting serious about. But then again, I also didn't approve of the h almost sleeping with a real creepy guy before she met the OM, especially since she had no real feelings for him, any more than the H had for that woman.)
Also, it's not so shocking that he would have gotten involved with a Vietnamese woman during those years and it was awful that she and their little daughter were killed, but I noticed none of the reviewers take the circumstances and the fact that he was a POW into consideration, they're just ready to condemn him. No compassion whatsoever!
And BTW: being a POW is no day at the beach, and people have to do anything they can to survive and keep their sanity, and maybe some human comfort helps, but do readers consider that? NO WAY!! They're ready to condemn him for his "infidelity" in a highly abnormal situation. What should he have done, stayed true and faithful to a woman who had moved on and was busy having orgasms in another man's bed???? (And he understood that she had moved on, after all it had been 12 years, not 6 months.)
Would they have been just as ready to condemn the h if she had slept with another man if she were a prisoner somewhere, and not sure if she'd ever see the H again? I'm guessing they'd make an excuse for her. (And what if he were the one at home with the kids, thinking she was dead, and then he found a girlfriend? Would he be condemned for that, too?) I'm getting tired of these double standards. It's so hypocritical! I guess they'd prefer him to fall to the floor, beg her forgiveness for his "infidelity", then kiss her toes and tell her they smell like a rose?
And hers sure didn't, the way she dumped the OM over the phone! A man she planned to live with and later marry! He was a good guy who wanted to make a life with her and understood (though he didn't like) her conflicted feelings, and maybe he was a bit pushy at times, telling her she couldn't possibly still love the H after all those years, but he loved her and didn't want to lose her and what does he get? A "Dear John" phone call. Talk about crappy!
To tell the truth, I didn't have much feeling one way or another for the h, as she got along fine without the H, made a good life for herself and the twins, and had moved on to another man, so it's not like she was suffering much all those years. If the H hadn't come back, she'd have done just fine. Yet, so much sympathy is on her side, as if she were Penelope, waiting for Odysseus! Penelope never moved on. The h had. Twelve years is a long time, especially in the modern world, where fidelity is pretty old-fashioned (sad to say), even among couples who claim they're soulmates and are never separated.
So why hold the H to impossible standards???? How many of those condemning reviewers would be faithful to their significant others in similar circumstances???
Another thing: after having fun between the sheets the past few years, would the h really want a H who was awkward and nervous after being deprived for over a decade? I doubt it!!
BTW: the twin sons got on my nerves! They were too excepting of everything for their age, like their mom ready to move in with the OM, their dad suddenly home and their immediate acceptance of him, as if he'd been away on a business trip for a day or two, and not seeming to care at all that the OM (who was planning to be their stepdad) is now history. It just didn't ring true.
Also, it's not so shocking that he would have gotten involved with a Vietnamese woman during those years and it was awful that she and their little daughter were killed, but I noticed none of the reviewers take the circumstances and the fact that he was a POW into consideration, they're just ready to condemn him. No compassion whatsoever!
And BTW: being a POW is no day at the beach, and people have to do anything they can to survive and keep their sanity, and maybe some human comfort helps, but do readers consider that? NO WAY!! They're ready to condemn him for his "infidelity" in a highly abnormal situation. What should he have done, stayed true and faithful to a woman who had moved on and was busy having orgasms in another man's bed???? (And he understood that she had moved on, after all it had been 12 years, not 6 months.)
Would they have been just as ready to condemn the h if she had slept with another man if she were a prisoner somewhere, and not sure if she'd ever see the H again? I'm guessing they'd make an excuse for her. (And what if he were the one at home with the kids, thinking she was dead, and then he found a girlfriend? Would he be condemned for that, too?) I'm getting tired of these double standards. It's so hypocritical! I guess they'd prefer him to fall to the floor, beg her forgiveness for his "infidelity", then kiss her toes and tell her they smell like a rose?
And hers sure didn't, the way she dumped the OM over the phone! A man she planned to live with and later marry! He was a good guy who wanted to make a life with her and understood (though he didn't like) her conflicted feelings, and maybe he was a bit pushy at times, telling her she couldn't possibly still love the H after all those years, but he loved her and didn't want to lose her and what does he get? A "Dear John" phone call. Talk about crappy!
To tell the truth, I didn't have much feeling one way or another for the h, as she got along fine without the H, made a good life for herself and the twins, and had moved on to another man, so it's not like she was suffering much all those years. If the H hadn't come back, she'd have done just fine. Yet, so much sympathy is on her side, as if she were Penelope, waiting for Odysseus! Penelope never moved on. The h had. Twelve years is a long time, especially in the modern world, where fidelity is pretty old-fashioned (sad to say), even among couples who claim they're soulmates and are never separated.
So why hold the H to impossible standards???? How many of those condemning reviewers would be faithful to their significant others in similar circumstances???
Another thing: after having fun between the sheets the past few years, would the h really want a H who was awkward and nervous after being deprived for over a decade? I doubt it!!
BTW: the twin sons got on my nerves! They were too excepting of everything for their age, like their mom ready to move in with the OM, their dad suddenly home and their immediate acceptance of him, as if he'd been away on a business trip for a day or two, and not seeming to care at all that the OM (who was planning to be their stepdad) is now history. It just didn't ring true.
August 2, 2024
I'ma gonna go with 3 stars for this one, only because the writing and Audible availability are above average.
The sheer lack of adequate explanation provided for the Zero's actions while held prisoner, and again, when he arrived stateside made my blood boil. The heroine essentially remained celibate for the first 10 of the 12 years.
SPOILERS:
When did he start sleeping w the Vietnamese woman his captors provided for them? Was it a year, two, or five? Who the hell knows? Couple this with the fact he gets her pregnant and they have a child and if they wouldn't have died, he intended to move heaven and hell to bring them both home to live with his wife and kids??? He finally makes it stateside and free, instead of going home...1st, goes to his parents and hears his wife is engaged and about to move in with her new man and 2nd, he seeks out the widow whose husbands body was mistaken for his sleeps with her because they are both so broken and need to comfort one another (it was only one time, so it didn't mean anything), but he was able to tell her all about his past 12 years of life in captivity like his dead lover and child, even his future hopes with wife like wanting another child since he missed the entire 12 with twin sons who were just infants when he left. I outrage came not from the above, but letting the widow come and stay at their home (they are exhuming the zero's grave with her dead husbands body) and golly she needs a place to stay. However, he doesn't mention that he slept with her to wifey and allows wifey to play hostess. When it all comes out later, our zero calls her immature because she doesn't understand!!!!??
Did not like the way the lack of fall out and explanation handled.
Keep in mind, our heroine believed our zero to be legally dead for the last I forget 5 - 7 years and the zero KNEW he was still married the whole time and still chose to sleep with others, regardless of his circumstances.
The sheer lack of adequate explanation provided for the Zero's actions while held prisoner, and again, when he arrived stateside made my blood boil. The heroine essentially remained celibate for the first 10 of the 12 years.
SPOILERS:
When did he start sleeping w the Vietnamese woman his captors provided for them? Was it a year, two, or five? Who the hell knows? Couple this with the fact he gets her pregnant and they have a child and if they wouldn't have died, he intended to move heaven and hell to bring them both home to live with his wife and kids??? He finally makes it stateside and free, instead of going home...1st, goes to his parents and hears his wife is engaged and about to move in with her new man and 2nd, he seeks out the widow whose husbands body was mistaken for his sleeps with her because they are both so broken and need to comfort one another (it was only one time, so it didn't mean anything), but he was able to tell her all about his past 12 years of life in captivity like his dead lover and child, even his future hopes with wife like wanting another child since he missed the entire 12 with twin sons who were just infants when he left. I outrage came not from the above, but letting the widow come and stay at their home (they are exhuming the zero's grave with her dead husbands body) and golly she needs a place to stay. However, he doesn't mention that he slept with her to wifey and allows wifey to play hostess. When it all comes out later, our zero calls her immature because she doesn't understand!!!!??
Did not like the way the lack of fall out and explanation handled.
Keep in mind, our heroine believed our zero to be legally dead for the last I forget 5 - 7 years and the zero KNEW he was still married the whole time and still chose to sleep with others, regardless of his circumstances.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2018
Good book, listened on audible. Book written in the mid-1980's, but enjoyed story; understood how the wife felt, the husband was very reticent about telling her what happened and I couldn't understand why, because he seemed to tell others everything and left her out of the loop. If I were her, I would be very angry and hurt. Very believable feelings/thoughts by the main characters. I've read many of this authors books over the years and had never heard of this one before so it was a good find.
June 26, 2020
I read some of the spoilers on this book. I like to know what to expect. But what I HATE is when reviewers get it wrong. Things that happened between H and OW were understandable. A POW for 12 years!
December 7, 2024
Read this years ago. One of my all time faves. I gave this a 5 star because I like to read it over and imagine how I’d be as the main female character and throw some muy thai at this guy. He’s such an egotistical jerk. What rating do you give a subpar book that you like to read over and over?
December 26, 2019
The book appeals to all the sensory organs
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2013
This was definitely not your typical romance novel. While I have read other novels where the husband who was declared dead by the military returns home, none have been quite like this. After being a widow for 12 years, Kim has moved on with her life and is about to embark on a new chapter by moving in with her boyfriend Keith. However, on the night before the big move, her dead husband shows up at the door. Torn with dealing with her feelings for Keith, and her love for Brian, not to mention the happiness her twins have found with their father, Kim has a lot to deal with. And none of the men in her life are exactly patient and willing to wait for her to make a decision. If you are just looking for fluff, you should not read this one. Heather Graham really makes you wonder if there will be a Happily Ever After in this one and who will it be with???
May 30, 2013
I like the new cover better than the original.
A widow who has had to bury her military husband finds love and a father for her 2 sons. When all seems to be going her way the un-imiginable happens. Her husband comes back from the grave. What can she do now?
The trials of loosing your love and finding a new one only to have the rug pulled out from under you when in walks your husband. So beliiveable and heart wrenching read. Kim is lost between her first love and the father of her boys and the man who has helped her get over the loss and move on with her life.
Does she hold those memorys and move on or fall back to the comfortable life she had before?
A widow who has had to bury her military husband finds love and a father for her 2 sons. When all seems to be going her way the un-imiginable happens. Her husband comes back from the grave. What can she do now?
The trials of loosing your love and finding a new one only to have the rug pulled out from under you when in walks your husband. So beliiveable and heart wrenching read. Kim is lost between her first love and the father of her boys and the man who has helped her get over the loss and move on with her life.
Does she hold those memorys and move on or fall back to the comfortable life she had before?
July 2, 2012
Titre vf : Les fils de l'amour
December 27, 2016
A few mistakes but great story
There were a couple of mistakes in the book. Usually that turns me off of a book. But this story was too good to not love. Heartbreaking, but good.
There were a couple of mistakes in the book. Usually that turns me off of a book. But this story was too good to not love. Heartbreaking, but good.
January 17, 2017
It was decent. I expected more drama though. Dude comes back after 12 years ... there has to be more drama. The end was expected
October 23, 2023
I thought Anne Mather was the queen of skeeze
I was wrong.
I needed a shower after reading this.
(Shudder)
I was wrong.
I needed a shower after reading this.
(Shudder)
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