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Dangerous Deceiver
"Things were never destined to be anything but explosive between us... "
Simon made no secret of the fact that he was still attracted to Martha - even if he did think she was no lady! But Martha knew he was only amusing himself with her.
He'd hurt her once before, and she'd learned that he was a dangerous man to be involved with. Dangerously attractive, dangerously seductive... and dangerously easy to fall in love with!
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
7 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Armstrong
318 books91 followersGillian Smith (alias Lindsay Armstrong) was born in South Africa. She grew up with three ambitions: to become a writer, to travel the world, and to be a game ranger. She didn't achieve the last one, but her fascination for wildlife and that special something about Africa and its big game still remains with her. When she went to work it was in travel, at an agency and an airline, and this started her on the road to seeing the world.
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 26, 2018
Re Dangerous Deceiver - Lindsay Armstrong takes a turn for the trainwreck gothic in this one as she pits an Australian model h against a seriously Heathcliff wanna be H and still manages to pull out an HEA.
The book starts with our 22 yr old h ready to leave for London and trying to comfort her roommate of three years who just got her heart shattered. The h reminisces about the only man who has really turned her Lurve Force Mojo Motor on and broke the h's 19 yr old heart in the process.
We get a flashback where our orphaned h had just arrived in the big city, fresh off the farm with supermodel looks and no real job skills. She got a job catering as a 'party hostess' for various events, complete with skimpy costume and champagne magnums for convenient lecherous grabby guy's refills.
The h doesn't like dressing like a tart, but that is what she is hired to do, she especially doesn't like the handsy objectification she seems to get every time she makes a round with her champagne tray. Just as the h is about to let a lech feel the sharp spike of her cheap stiletto, the H intervenes and words are exchanged.
The H assumes the h is prostitute and the h is so infuriated at that gross misjudgement of an innocent working girl, that she gives the H the full 'I Am Channeling Mae West But You Can't Have Me" treatment. Still the H must have a powerful yen, cause he keeps showing up to take the h out on dates and there is even a roofie kiss or two.
The h gets the feeling that this H is haunted, in fact she kinda thinks she might be paying for another woman's baggage. But before the h can really make sense of the situation, the H announces that his business in Australia is over, (he is a cognac importer amongst other things,) and he is going back to England.
The h is left with a broken heart and fierce desire to become as sophisticated and worldly as she know the obviously upper class H is and someday make him eat his false assumptions that she wasn't good enough for him. The h realizes that is a fantasy, but that doesn't stop her from making the most of what she has got and soon she finds herself climbing the modelling rungs to superstardom.
The h decides to take her shot at the big time in London, because she has English grandparents she can get a work visa and it is off to England we go, tho a tiny part of the h wonders if she might see the H again and if she does will he still have the same affect on her.
The h lucks into a very well paying couture job and it turns out that the fashion designer who loves her look is the H's aunt. Their initial reunion is very fraught. The h almost throws her sherry on him and the H is clearly attracted and antagonized.
Both the H and h are going out with other people, the h is still a unicorn groomer, but she has managed to catch the eye of a young Earl and dates him very casually. The h knows the young Earl isn't ready to settle down and really their going out together is more in the style of the young and beautiful flitting about town.
The H is very insistent that the h is giving him mixed signals and it is very clear the H is having a hard time containing himself, even as his own girlfriend is starting "Keep Off My Man' scenes. Every time these two meet the atmosphere is explosive and the h starts hearing a lot of gossip about the H's dead fiancee from years earlier and how different the h is from her.
There is back and forth verbal baiting and assorted fiery encounters and the h finally has enough of the H and his nasty remarks and firmly tells him off - she confronts him about his very attached girlfriend and the H claims that they need to have a big Lurve Club Event to get each other out of their systems.
The h explains that she is NOT A TART and that the H was too stupid to see it three years earlier. The h also mentions that she doesn't like what is going on between them and he needs to leave her alone. The H sorta agrees and the h is a tiny bit disappointed as he indifferently drives off.
Then the H's aunt gets the idear to send the h to Scotland. As these things are HP author contrived, the h manages to break down and her rescuer is the H. The h ends up staying with the H and the two can hardly communicate with each other without explosive Lurve Force Mojo getting in the way.
The H is going out of his mind, even tho the h manages to beat him at fishing, (tho he denies it,) and the h learns all about what a wonderful and fascinating woman the H's dead fiancee was from the H's substitute mother housekeeper. It is here that the story takes a turn for the Gothic, because the inevitable Purple Passion Explosion happens and the H decides that they will marry.
The h agrees because she is massively in love, tho there is the worrying fact that neither of them know each other very well and the comparisons to the dead fiance are starting to bother her.
The h gets told repeatedly how very different she was from the H's prior marriage prospect and it hurts her, because she is starting to believe that the H will never love her, even tho they have a HUGE Lurve Force Mojo connection.
Gradually, as the marriage starts to mature, the h begins to realize that there is some serious H issues with the dead fiancee, more than what she first thought and the term haunted is used more than once.
The H's former girlfriend shows up at the H and h's house. She has a big hissy fit at the h for stealing her man and the h is very uncomfortable, but does feel sorry for the lady. The OW goes all the way overboard and tells the h that the H will never have a real relationship with her because she is so unlike his Great Love Dead fiancee.
The h manages to keep her cool and calmly tells the wanna be OW that she and the H are married.
Then the h's kind hearted instincts get the better of her, as she soothes the distraught OW with a nice cup of tea. Later on the H explains that he never slept with the former girlfriend. She was a friend of his dead fiancee and over the course of a year, managed to insinuate herself into his life as a 'casual date' when the H needed a companion.
The former girlfriend talked a very good game about them being 'very good friends' and how she wasn't interested in marriage. But the H could tell she was lying and so while he probably should have very direct with woman and broken it off, the H doesn't feel too bad as he told the OW all along that he wasn't in the market for Lurve Clubbings or an intimate relationship with her.
When the h has a nasty confrontation with the dead fiancee's mother and both her new BFF and the H's aunt claim that they despised the woman, the h starts to get a clue that instead of being the dead fiancee's opposite, maybe the H's growing coldness toward her is because he is starting to see too much of a resemblance.
There is a little moment of relief at this part, when the h finds a lost Labrador puppy and she and Puppy Sam have a lovely bonding moment. It is good that Sam makes an appearance tho, because she and the H have an angry Lurve Club Event and then don't speak to each other for a few weeks while living in the same house.
(The H was off on business and the h went out to the movies, so she missed his call and the H came home and accused the h of cheating on him.)
It all culminates in a big blowup where the H makes the h go to a formal dinner he has to attend and the h is sad cause Sam's family came to claim him and the H just CANNOT stop with the icy looks and mean comments.
The h breaks the news that she is dumping the H's hiney, she loves him and he keeps doing his very best to drive her away - she knows the H's parent's marriage was a bad one and she wonders if the H is trying to destroy her spirit and will, just as the H's father did to his mother.
The H finally comes clean that his baggage is from his dead fiancee. The woman really was very fascinating and played a very good game. But the two of them were dead locked into a fatal attraction of sociopathic proportions and both the H and the dead fiancee played continual games where each tried to force the other to their will.
The dead fiancee finally overstepped the mark when she cheated on the H with one of his friends, thinking the H's response would be to fight harder for her and also force him to give into her demands - like a year long world tour honeymoon.
The H finally wakes up to the fact that he totally despised the manipulative woman, he told her to get out and that he wouldn't be marrying her in the next week as was originally planned. The H's ex got really furious and drove off in a fit a rage, she wrecked her car on a bad road and then she died.
When the H met the h, he was completely overwhelmed, but all the bad relationships he has observed and experienced made him really cynical. The h's own angry impersonations clashed with his perception of her inherent kindness and decency and the H was afraid that he was going to get too emotionally involved with her and then she would manipulate him as his exes and his dead parents did.
The H then declares that he really does love her. He knows and has known for a while now that the h really loves him, which is why she tolerated his bad behavior for so long. But if the h is willing to stay, (and of course she is,) the H promises to work very hard on jettisoning his past.
Cause the H has learned the h REALLY IS NOT like his dead fiancee after all and he loves her all the more for it and we leave these two cuddled up and declaring True Love Forevermore for the very believable HP HEA.
This is a very intense book, but it's massive amount of internalization on the h's part makes it a bit hard to read and figure out what is really going on. The h's introspection's don't slow the pace down a bit tho, which makes the underlying motif and plot of the story harder to decipher, even tho the h's character is extremely well written.
LA makes this work tho, the chemistry these two have practically leaps off the page. LA does a great job with the whole "you are the exact opposite of the Great Love Dead Fiancee" red herring and then manages to completely twist that around, while sneakily pulling off a really well done HEA.
So this is a very confusing book at first. Initially the h is supposedly nothing like the dead fiancee and that would seem to be a bad thing. Then the H believes she is almost a carbon copy of her, which is way worse in his estimation, and it leaves the H angry and bitter and wounding because this means his judgement and intuition was wrong, again.
The the big gestalt moment is then allowed to occur and the H can finally see that he choose much better this time around. The H learns that with open and honest communications paving the way, his judgement and his instincts are not at fault, making for a very solid HEA and an HPlandia outing that is worth the read if you have the patience to work your way through it.
The book starts with our 22 yr old h ready to leave for London and trying to comfort her roommate of three years who just got her heart shattered. The h reminisces about the only man who has really turned her Lurve Force Mojo Motor on and broke the h's 19 yr old heart in the process.
We get a flashback where our orphaned h had just arrived in the big city, fresh off the farm with supermodel looks and no real job skills. She got a job catering as a 'party hostess' for various events, complete with skimpy costume and champagne magnums for convenient lecherous grabby guy's refills.
The h doesn't like dressing like a tart, but that is what she is hired to do, she especially doesn't like the handsy objectification she seems to get every time she makes a round with her champagne tray. Just as the h is about to let a lech feel the sharp spike of her cheap stiletto, the H intervenes and words are exchanged.
The H assumes the h is prostitute and the h is so infuriated at that gross misjudgement of an innocent working girl, that she gives the H the full 'I Am Channeling Mae West But You Can't Have Me" treatment. Still the H must have a powerful yen, cause he keeps showing up to take the h out on dates and there is even a roofie kiss or two.
The h gets the feeling that this H is haunted, in fact she kinda thinks she might be paying for another woman's baggage. But before the h can really make sense of the situation, the H announces that his business in Australia is over, (he is a cognac importer amongst other things,) and he is going back to England.
The h is left with a broken heart and fierce desire to become as sophisticated and worldly as she know the obviously upper class H is and someday make him eat his false assumptions that she wasn't good enough for him. The h realizes that is a fantasy, but that doesn't stop her from making the most of what she has got and soon she finds herself climbing the modelling rungs to superstardom.
The h decides to take her shot at the big time in London, because she has English grandparents she can get a work visa and it is off to England we go, tho a tiny part of the h wonders if she might see the H again and if she does will he still have the same affect on her.
The h lucks into a very well paying couture job and it turns out that the fashion designer who loves her look is the H's aunt. Their initial reunion is very fraught. The h almost throws her sherry on him and the H is clearly attracted and antagonized.
Both the H and h are going out with other people, the h is still a unicorn groomer, but she has managed to catch the eye of a young Earl and dates him very casually. The h knows the young Earl isn't ready to settle down and really their going out together is more in the style of the young and beautiful flitting about town.
The H is very insistent that the h is giving him mixed signals and it is very clear the H is having a hard time containing himself, even as his own girlfriend is starting "Keep Off My Man' scenes. Every time these two meet the atmosphere is explosive and the h starts hearing a lot of gossip about the H's dead fiancee from years earlier and how different the h is from her.
There is back and forth verbal baiting and assorted fiery encounters and the h finally has enough of the H and his nasty remarks and firmly tells him off - she confronts him about his very attached girlfriend and the H claims that they need to have a big Lurve Club Event to get each other out of their systems.
The h explains that she is NOT A TART and that the H was too stupid to see it three years earlier. The h also mentions that she doesn't like what is going on between them and he needs to leave her alone. The H sorta agrees and the h is a tiny bit disappointed as he indifferently drives off.
Then the H's aunt gets the idear to send the h to Scotland. As these things are HP author contrived, the h manages to break down and her rescuer is the H. The h ends up staying with the H and the two can hardly communicate with each other without explosive Lurve Force Mojo getting in the way.
The H is going out of his mind, even tho the h manages to beat him at fishing, (tho he denies it,) and the h learns all about what a wonderful and fascinating woman the H's dead fiancee was from the H's substitute mother housekeeper. It is here that the story takes a turn for the Gothic, because the inevitable Purple Passion Explosion happens and the H decides that they will marry.
The h agrees because she is massively in love, tho there is the worrying fact that neither of them know each other very well and the comparisons to the dead fiance are starting to bother her.
The h gets told repeatedly how very different she was from the H's prior marriage prospect and it hurts her, because she is starting to believe that the H will never love her, even tho they have a HUGE Lurve Force Mojo connection.
Gradually, as the marriage starts to mature, the h begins to realize that there is some serious H issues with the dead fiancee, more than what she first thought and the term haunted is used more than once.
The H's former girlfriend shows up at the H and h's house. She has a big hissy fit at the h for stealing her man and the h is very uncomfortable, but does feel sorry for the lady. The OW goes all the way overboard and tells the h that the H will never have a real relationship with her because she is so unlike his Great Love Dead fiancee.
The h manages to keep her cool and calmly tells the wanna be OW that she and the H are married.
Then the h's kind hearted instincts get the better of her, as she soothes the distraught OW with a nice cup of tea. Later on the H explains that he never slept with the former girlfriend. She was a friend of his dead fiancee and over the course of a year, managed to insinuate herself into his life as a 'casual date' when the H needed a companion.
The former girlfriend talked a very good game about them being 'very good friends' and how she wasn't interested in marriage. But the H could tell she was lying and so while he probably should have very direct with woman and broken it off, the H doesn't feel too bad as he told the OW all along that he wasn't in the market for Lurve Clubbings or an intimate relationship with her.
When the h has a nasty confrontation with the dead fiancee's mother and both her new BFF and the H's aunt claim that they despised the woman, the h starts to get a clue that instead of being the dead fiancee's opposite, maybe the H's growing coldness toward her is because he is starting to see too much of a resemblance.
There is a little moment of relief at this part, when the h finds a lost Labrador puppy and she and Puppy Sam have a lovely bonding moment. It is good that Sam makes an appearance tho, because she and the H have an angry Lurve Club Event and then don't speak to each other for a few weeks while living in the same house.
(The H was off on business and the h went out to the movies, so she missed his call and the H came home and accused the h of cheating on him.)
It all culminates in a big blowup where the H makes the h go to a formal dinner he has to attend and the h is sad cause Sam's family came to claim him and the H just CANNOT stop with the icy looks and mean comments.
The h breaks the news that she is dumping the H's hiney, she loves him and he keeps doing his very best to drive her away - she knows the H's parent's marriage was a bad one and she wonders if the H is trying to destroy her spirit and will, just as the H's father did to his mother.
The H finally comes clean that his baggage is from his dead fiancee. The woman really was very fascinating and played a very good game. But the two of them were dead locked into a fatal attraction of sociopathic proportions and both the H and the dead fiancee played continual games where each tried to force the other to their will.
The dead fiancee finally overstepped the mark when she cheated on the H with one of his friends, thinking the H's response would be to fight harder for her and also force him to give into her demands - like a year long world tour honeymoon.
The H finally wakes up to the fact that he totally despised the manipulative woman, he told her to get out and that he wouldn't be marrying her in the next week as was originally planned. The H's ex got really furious and drove off in a fit a rage, she wrecked her car on a bad road and then she died.
When the H met the h, he was completely overwhelmed, but all the bad relationships he has observed and experienced made him really cynical. The h's own angry impersonations clashed with his perception of her inherent kindness and decency and the H was afraid that he was going to get too emotionally involved with her and then she would manipulate him as his exes and his dead parents did.
The H then declares that he really does love her. He knows and has known for a while now that the h really loves him, which is why she tolerated his bad behavior for so long. But if the h is willing to stay, (and of course she is,) the H promises to work very hard on jettisoning his past.
Cause the H has learned the h REALLY IS NOT like his dead fiancee after all and he loves her all the more for it and we leave these two cuddled up and declaring True Love Forevermore for the very believable HP HEA.
This is a very intense book, but it's massive amount of internalization on the h's part makes it a bit hard to read and figure out what is really going on. The h's introspection's don't slow the pace down a bit tho, which makes the underlying motif and plot of the story harder to decipher, even tho the h's character is extremely well written.
LA makes this work tho, the chemistry these two have practically leaps off the page. LA does a great job with the whole "you are the exact opposite of the Great Love Dead Fiancee" red herring and then manages to completely twist that around, while sneakily pulling off a really well done HEA.
So this is a very confusing book at first. Initially the h is supposedly nothing like the dead fiancee and that would seem to be a bad thing. Then the H believes she is almost a carbon copy of her, which is way worse in his estimation, and it leaves the H angry and bitter and wounding because this means his judgement and intuition was wrong, again.
The the big gestalt moment is then allowed to occur and the H can finally see that he choose much better this time around. The H learns that with open and honest communications paving the way, his judgement and his instincts are not at fault, making for a very solid HEA and an HPlandia outing that is worth the read if you have the patience to work your way through it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2018
I really enjoyed this one, but as Boogenhagen points out in her review, it's not easy to anticipate just where this relationship is going.
At first it seems it's the much younger heroine who has to do the growing up for the relationship to work. She is 19 to the hero's 32 when they meet. He thinks she is a prostitute-in-the-making and she encourages that thought since she is both angry he made assumptions about her and she's afraid of her own strong attraction to him.
However, three years and a different hemisphere later, the H/h meet again and this time the reader slowly comes to understand just how wounded the hero is from his ex-fiance's betrayal and subsequent death.
While everyone is commenting about how different the stunningly beautiful heroine is from the hero's fiance, the hero is looking for similarities because he is afraid of his strong feelings for her.
This makes for an engaging and angsty read. Boogenhagen has all in the details, thank goodness. Indepth reviews have to go to the wayside in the days running up to Christmas.
At first it seems it's the much younger heroine who has to do the growing up for the relationship to work. She is 19 to the hero's 32 when they meet. He thinks she is a prostitute-in-the-making and she encourages that thought since she is both angry he made assumptions about her and she's afraid of her own strong attraction to him.
However, three years and a different hemisphere later, the H/h meet again and this time the reader slowly comes to understand just how wounded the hero is from his ex-fiance's betrayal and subsequent death.
While everyone is commenting about how different the stunningly beautiful heroine is from the hero's fiance, the hero is looking for similarities because he is afraid of his strong feelings for her.
This makes for an engaging and angsty read. Boogenhagen has all in the details, thank goodness. Indepth reviews have to go to the wayside in the days running up to Christmas.
April 26, 2017
What did I just read? LOL It was definitely old school. And I swear even after reading it I am like what just happened. The h in the first part of the book just made me want to slap her hard. I mean come on. Acting like a 'tart' and it was just stupid. The H coming on to her and then backing away and I was like this is unbelievable. I almost dnf'd it.
The second part was better but the whole issue of Morag, the dead fiancee, and Sondra, the stupid wannabe OW just made me cringe. So why the 3 stars? Because I actually ended up liking the h and her love for him showed through. The H was so dark and egnimatic and so like the H's of HP's that I read back in the 70's that I regressed for several moments and thought I was 17 again. If he would have hit her, I think I might have given it four stars!!!! NOT!!! LOL just joking but I did put up with that in the 70's and thought it was normal for goodness sake. This took me back. I think I even smelled patchouili oil!!!!
The second part was better but the whole issue of Morag, the dead fiancee, and Sondra, the stupid wannabe OW just made me cringe. So why the 3 stars? Because I actually ended up liking the h and her love for him showed through. The H was so dark and egnimatic and so like the H's of HP's that I read back in the 70's that I regressed for several moments and thought I was 17 again. If he would have hit her, I think I might have given it four stars!!!! NOT!!! LOL just joking but I did put up with that in the 70's and thought it was normal for goodness sake. This took me back. I think I even smelled patchouili oil!!!!
December 15, 2018
I loved the h despite of her silly tart role. She was mature and has dignity. He was not as cruel as I like but has some great issues about trust. She will probably work for their relationship more but I can see the light for them. :)
December 13, 2012
meh...This didn't do much for me. Started off strong, but then went down hill. Seemed that the conflict and the problems between them were really forced. The biggest issue they had, was that she was upset that he married her because she DIDN'T look like his ex fiancé. Really?
August 30, 2023
The other Lindsay Armstrong book I've read felt like the first half of a psychological thriller that would culminate in one of the main characters finally killing the other. The hero in this one is a great hate object for a while but imo LA pulls off the turnaround, so I did want the heroine to make their relationship work more than I wanted her to push him off a cliff. It's not so much a big moment of redemption as a stripping of defenses.
The heroine being a virgin doesn't exactly strain credibility but I don't love it -- there's some emphasis placed on her having only been with one man, which tbf is understandable from her perspective (once you get past the hurdle of her falling for the hero when they first met). Part of the problem for me is that while I enjoy getting indignant about an old skool misogynist assuming our pure and virtuous heroine is a gold-digging slut, I'll always think it would be more interesting if instead of being confronted by how mistaken he was, he actually had to handle falling in love with a woman who really did want to seduce him for financial gain. Her "outrageous tart" act is fun though.
I wonder how many HP exes have
I know next to nothing about fashion but I did enjoy dress descriptions like "a ribbed, knitted oatmeal tube." Were people into oatmeal tubes in the mid-90s? I have no idea.
The heroine being a virgin doesn't exactly strain credibility but I don't love it -- there's some emphasis placed on her having only been with one man, which tbf is understandable from her perspective (once you get past the hurdle of her falling for the hero when they first met). Part of the problem for me is that while I enjoy getting indignant about an old skool misogynist assuming our pure and virtuous heroine is a gold-digging slut, I'll always think it would be more interesting if instead of being confronted by how mistaken he was, he actually had to handle falling in love with a woman who really did want to seduce him for financial gain. Her "outrageous tart" act is fun though.
I wonder how many HP exes have
I know next to nothing about fashion but I did enjoy dress descriptions like "a ribbed, knitted oatmeal tube." Were people into oatmeal tubes in the mid-90s? I have no idea.
December 21, 2018
Very old world HP with shades of Rebecca thrown in. 3.5 stars.
Update:
Didn’t like it nearly as much on my second read. 2.5 stars
Update:
Didn’t like it nearly as much on my second read. 2.5 stars
April 4, 2023
I really liked this. Probably for personal reasons. There was an elusiveness, wryness and emotional complexity to the H, Simon that definitely gave me some wobbles of familiarity from days long gone by. Martha is an orphaned Australian, only 19 and waitressing in dubious attire when she first encounters Simon. There is instant physical attraction, animosity and reluctance on both their parts. Three years later they meet again in London. She's now a model associated with his aunt's couture house. Their sparring and his emotional reticence somehow manages to fill an entire book. His backstory includes a fiancee, Morag, who apparently everyone loved and who is supposedly the polar opposite of Martha. The tumultuous nature of that relationship, it is revealed, brought out the worst in Simon and is at the bottom of his reluctance to commit.
I can see why some people wouldn't enjoy this romance, but it pushed a lot of my buttons. And not just for the polo playing.
A probable reread.
I can see why some people wouldn't enjoy this romance, but it pushed a lot of my buttons. And not just for the polo playing.
A probable reread.
July 25, 2025
I didn’t understand everything as I was reading it, the author jumps around in time and between live action and memory, but it was good with a most unusual heroine matched to a different hero. I will probably have to reread, thus rounding my rating up.
Reread later and didn’t remember but it made more sense and I like very much. The H is still somewhat difficult to wrap my mind around, why did he keep dating h 3 years before if he thought she was a tart? (He wasn’t sure? Or her genuine personality showed through? It was more than he wanted to sleep with her, that’s for sure.). And why did he suddenly start thinking h was manipulating him?
Regardless, this goes in my Very Good shelf where I can reread.
One of my favorites by this author
Reread later and didn’t remember but it made more sense and I like very much. The H is still somewhat difficult to wrap my mind around, why did he keep dating h 3 years before if he thought she was a tart? (He wasn’t sure? Or her genuine personality showed through? It was more than he wanted to sleep with her, that’s for sure.). And why did he suddenly start thinking h was manipulating him?
Regardless, this goes in my Very Good shelf where I can reread.
One of my favorites by this author
June 1, 2015
que pensar de los ires y venires del matrimonio, necesitaba un libro así, donde nos muestran en después del matrimonio y como con un poco de comunicación se llega a una meta
August 23, 2021
What a strange story
They meet ,they marry then he turns funny all very odd and then she acts like a doormat, best character is the dog
They meet ,they marry then he turns funny all very odd and then she acts like a doormat, best character is the dog
February 19, 2022
Hero is a jerk face, and the heroine is all flirty over him which makes no sense. Alot of coincidences, bland backstories, and rushing around. Boring. Skip.
June 17, 2022
"Εκρηκτική Συνάντηση", Lindsay Armstrong, Σειρά Συλλογή, 1760
June 2, 2024
2.5*
I was expecting more.
I was expecting more.
hq-to-read
March 23, 2018Simon made no secret of the fact that he was still attracted to Martha�even if he did think she was no lady! But Martha knew he was only amusing himself with her. He'd hurt her once before, and she'd learned that he was a dangerous man to be involved with. Dangerously attractive, dangerously seductive… and dangerously easy to fall in love with! He married her because she didn’t look like his dead fiancée
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