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Taken Over
Marriage for a merger...
Joel Howard--arrogant, self-assured and all too aware of his sexual magnetism--reminded Cassie of the unlikelihood of anyone ever loving her.
She would rather have sold her soul to the devil than ally herself with him. So she entertained a proposal from his closest competitor, dangerously underestimating Joel's desire to take over her London-based computer-games company.
"There's only one way I can be sure of your loyalty," Joel told her, "and that's by buying it, the same way Peter Williams intended to buy it--by marrying you."
Joel Howard--arrogant, self-assured and all too aware of his sexual magnetism--reminded Cassie of the unlikelihood of anyone ever loving her.
She would rather have sold her soul to the devil than ally herself with him. So she entertained a proposal from his closest competitor, dangerously underestimating Joel's desire to take over her London-based computer-games company.
"There's only one way I can be sure of your loyalty," Joel told her, "and that's by buying it, the same way Peter Williams intended to buy it--by marrying you."
224 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1998
34 people are currently reading
347 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 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 6, 2016
Re Taken Over- PJ and I have a very long standing relationship, she wrote and I generally adored. Sure there were some bumps in the road, but all good relationship's have a few rocky points and I was always sure we would weather the storm, - I forgave Island of the Dawn and Rules Of The Game, (well after a lot of shots and half a dozen cookies, anyway). But the most tested moment of our long standing partnership came after reading this book. I truly loathed this story and it took a long, long time for me to pick up a PJ after this one.
The h in this one is a 23 year old geekish game designer, very lonely and convinced by a series of indifferent parenting figures plus the rejection of her classmates, that she is plain, boring and destined to be a crazy cat lady living in a basement flat, forced to cling desperately to soliciting religious cult missionaries just to have a bit of human companionship.
(Real world break here - it seems pretty obvious from the h's occupation and the physical description that PJ did some research and based her character on the real world game designer Roberta Williams of Sierra Entertainment - Ms. Williams is the pioneering designer of the graphic adventure game with her King's Quest series. It is because of her that those of us who recall rescuing Zelda or beating our brains out to solve the puzzles in Myst can look back on those memories with fondness. She came up with the code to allow visual graphics with player interaction and thus opened up worlds of gaming adventure with interactive pictures, and she succeeded at that for two decades in a very competitive business.)
Our h owns the number one game designing company in the UK and her titles do outstandingly well. Supposedly, according to her somewhat dodgy accountant, she needs to merge with one of the two leading electronics firms to keep her company safe.
Except that she really doesn't - the accountant keeps trying to push her to merge with the womanizing and misogynistic H who has a big industrial electronics firm that makes various robotic devices and has a game division to generate cash revenue. Since her game company is not publicly traded and her cash flow is good, why should she merge with another company?
She doesn't have a big factory, she has a little office and a secretary, where she designs her games,makes a bunch of floppy disks and then most likely licenses them to various game and pc platforms for sales. In short she has a very lucrative cash business with low overhead and inventory and a small staff.
She doesn't have a board of directors and her work is under her own copyright - in other words taking over her company is pretty much impossible unless she wants to sell. Even then the only thing they would be buying is the game licenses-which have a limited shelf life.
Her real net worth is based on her own talent, and that isn't included in the company's assets, so the accountant's threats that she is in imminent danger of being destroyed is a lie and I can only wonder what kind of commission he is being offered to get the h to merge with the H's company.
The H does try to talk her into a merger but that goes pretty much down hill when he mistakes her for her secretary and is very condescending and rude. She decides that she would rather go with the H's main competitor and duly receives an offer of marriage from the competitor's son. She isn't expecting a love match, but she feels she could have a good relationship and maybe some kids and she can still design her games and run her company.
The H and she get into a few verbal slanging matches where he makes it clear that she a little worm and then he decides to kidnap her and force her to marry him to prevent her marrying his rival. He bribes her secretary to call in sick and then sticks his own secretary in the h's office to ferret out her schedule.
He abducts her in her office building car park. After the kidnapping and the threat of forced drugging the h reluctantly marries him and then gets dumped in the country while the H leases out her flat and lives in his London apartment. He tells her he plans to take her next game and use the revenue to shore up his R & D lab, he figures the marriage will need to last about six months.
The house he takes her to is his country manor which has been in the family since the 16th century. He inherited it when his father died and made him promise to never sell it. He was the younger son and never expected the house, until his older brother died while drunk and chasing after his mother, - she left the H's dad for her lover of ten years and the H's dad also told him there is a question of the H's paternity and that he is probably illegitimate.
Therefore the H really hates all women and sees them as wanton golddiggers - this doesn't stop him from using their bodies or flaunting some arm candy, and he is a very high profile guy with his business and all the socializing he does. He has a girlfriend when he marries the H and the h overhears him telling her about the marriage, but the H doesn't seem to be planning on ending the relationship either. In fact he makes a point of telling the h that if she won't service him as is his right since she is his wife, thousand's will in her place.
Again, I have some serious doubts about the feasibility here - he says he is going to take her game and use the money to finance his groundbreaking micro-surgery robots, but he doesn't buy her company, he doesn't try to contract her for a game design and he doesn't ask for an exclusive license to share in the royalties of her next game release.
A marriage licence doesn't give him any proprietary rights, and the fact that his dad loved the family home and made him promise to never sell it also sheds doubt on the story that he is illegitimate. Why would his dad make him promise to maintain the residence for the family if there was no biological family left?
So the h is on her own and working on her game, the H is rarely around and when he does spend 15 minutes or so, he insults and verbally abuses the H. The h hits her lowest point when a woman calls and asks for the H and when the h offers to take a message, the lady tells her she will see him later. The implication being that they have a hot date. The h starts crying and then is startled when a strange woman appears in her kitchen.
Turns out it is the H's mum, who desperately wants to be acknowledged by her son. The H doesn't talk to her at all since she divorced his dad and moved to Italy, where she married her long term Italian lover. The H comes home and has a temper tantrum worthy of a two year old, and the mum invites the h to stay in Italy with her until the H comes to get her.
The h accepts and off to Italy we go. The mum takes her under her wing and decides to give her a makeover. The h gets beautified on the outside, never hears from the H, and is flirting with the mum's stepson six weeks later when the H shows up and decides to bring her back to England.
The whole forced marriage scenario gets even more ludicrous when he decides that the news of the marriage alone will enable him to keep his investors happy and pouring money into his R & D. Since the h is beautiful now and has learned some social skills, he will just have a big party and invite the people who have money.
Because he still spends most of his time in London, I would think that his continuing appearances in the gossip columns with his arm candy is causing a whole lot of speculation on the stability of the marriage, and what investor is going to want to buy into that situation? Especially since the H still can't bring himself to say anything that isn't an insult whenever he is around the h.
Then the inevitable happens, the H comes to the house with a migraine and takes some serious drugs. The h is massaging his head and neck and while drugged out, he keeps her in the bed where they wind up consummating the marriage. The next morning the h is mortified, for some reason she thinks she loves this guy and is afraid he knows it, so she runs off to her room. The H goes back to London again, but will return for the big party.
The day of the party arrives and for once HPlandia rule #1 is broken. The h isn't going to have a baby after her loss of chastity. She is sad tho, 'cause she would have been happy to have a child, even if she raised it alone.
During the party her ex fiance corners her in her office and tries to kiss her. The H walks in and kicks him out and starts in on the nasty comments again. The h slaps him and tells him that his brother was a wild driver and drinking to boot, he probably would have had an accident no matter what.
She also tells him that he is legitimate and that his father blackmailed the mum into staying until the H was in his twenties by threatening to tell the H he was born to a lover, but the H only has to go see the physical resemblance in the family portrait gallery to know that his dad was lying.
The H takes off and the h falls asleep on the sofa, thinking that the H had been drinking and she might have sent him to his death. The H finally turns up and takes the h to bed. He is getting frisky the next morning when his mum shows up. The H had called her for a big family reconciliation the night before. They go off to have lunch together and the h is packing to go. The H comes back, sees her packing and tells her that she loves him. The h falls for the lust and they go back to bed for the HEA.
At this point I usually throw the book against the wall and shout "SHOW ME THE LOVE!". Really, I do - because for a romance story to work it usually has to be able to suspend belief and HPlandia addict that I am, I have a mind broader than the side of a barn and a more open than a 24 hour deli -- but for all the reasons I wrote about above, I just can't believe there is love in this book.
Every single person from the accountant, to the ex fiance, to the bribed secretary, to the mother who befriended the h to get to her son, to the H himself, who saw the h as little more than a beddable cash cow, used and manipulated this woman. She is very nice and sweet but so, so doormatishly pathetic that it is a good thing she learned to shop, cause the tread marks on her back are very wearing on the clothes.
The H isn't in the story enough for there to srsly BE a romance, and their entire relationship is based on his verbal abuse and put downs until a fourth to last paragraph alien mind transplant. Even then, he is more interested in getting her into bed cause she looks good and has a lot of cash, than actually getting to know and love HER in a marital relationship with shared two-way conversations and communication.
His ladyfriend's are never dismissed or explained and I can't help but think that the living arrangements won't be changing much in the future. He will still be in London doing his thing in multiple beds, the h will be isolated in the country and will probably stupidly just give him her games to the detriment of her own company until the H gets tired of her, she has less revenue generating power or she gets older and he kicks her to the curb.
His last minute sudden acceptance of the female gender is very suspect, there is no indication that he doesn't still hate all women no matter what he sorta implies. I just felt so sad for this woman who only wanted a little love and needed some self-confidence and self-respect.
I usually console myself with cookies at this point, and hope that the lust wears off for the h pretty quickly the next time she sees a gossip column. I also pull out the Captain Morgan to toast to the fact that in my personal story revision, The h gets the marriage annulled for lack of consent and extortion with menaces, goes to the Mediterranean where she meets a former Navy Seal who owns a beach-side bar and adores our lady game designer and they both live happily ever after with a baby, a couple of cats, and a mega fortune from developing the longest running game series of all time.
The H loses his company after his new micro-surgery device goes haywire and he can't afford the loss, which drives him into bankruptcy. Then the house has to go after his second wife claims it as part of her alimony settlement when she dumps him for a new hotshot electronic magnate. He winds up working as sewer cleaner due to his alcoholism destroying his business savvy and living in a damp basement flat with only a family of rats for companionship.
The h in this one is a 23 year old geekish game designer, very lonely and convinced by a series of indifferent parenting figures plus the rejection of her classmates, that she is plain, boring and destined to be a crazy cat lady living in a basement flat, forced to cling desperately to soliciting religious cult missionaries just to have a bit of human companionship.
(Real world break here - it seems pretty obvious from the h's occupation and the physical description that PJ did some research and based her character on the real world game designer Roberta Williams of Sierra Entertainment - Ms. Williams is the pioneering designer of the graphic adventure game with her King's Quest series. It is because of her that those of us who recall rescuing Zelda or beating our brains out to solve the puzzles in Myst can look back on those memories with fondness. She came up with the code to allow visual graphics with player interaction and thus opened up worlds of gaming adventure with interactive pictures, and she succeeded at that for two decades in a very competitive business.)
Our h owns the number one game designing company in the UK and her titles do outstandingly well. Supposedly, according to her somewhat dodgy accountant, she needs to merge with one of the two leading electronics firms to keep her company safe.
Except that she really doesn't - the accountant keeps trying to push her to merge with the womanizing and misogynistic H who has a big industrial electronics firm that makes various robotic devices and has a game division to generate cash revenue. Since her game company is not publicly traded and her cash flow is good, why should she merge with another company?
She doesn't have a big factory, she has a little office and a secretary, where she designs her games,makes a bunch of floppy disks and then most likely licenses them to various game and pc platforms for sales. In short she has a very lucrative cash business with low overhead and inventory and a small staff.
She doesn't have a board of directors and her work is under her own copyright - in other words taking over her company is pretty much impossible unless she wants to sell. Even then the only thing they would be buying is the game licenses-which have a limited shelf life.
Her real net worth is based on her own talent, and that isn't included in the company's assets, so the accountant's threats that she is in imminent danger of being destroyed is a lie and I can only wonder what kind of commission he is being offered to get the h to merge with the H's company.
The H does try to talk her into a merger but that goes pretty much down hill when he mistakes her for her secretary and is very condescending and rude. She decides that she would rather go with the H's main competitor and duly receives an offer of marriage from the competitor's son. She isn't expecting a love match, but she feels she could have a good relationship and maybe some kids and she can still design her games and run her company.
The H and she get into a few verbal slanging matches where he makes it clear that she a little worm and then he decides to kidnap her and force her to marry him to prevent her marrying his rival. He bribes her secretary to call in sick and then sticks his own secretary in the h's office to ferret out her schedule.
He abducts her in her office building car park. After the kidnapping and the threat of forced drugging the h reluctantly marries him and then gets dumped in the country while the H leases out her flat and lives in his London apartment. He tells her he plans to take her next game and use the revenue to shore up his R & D lab, he figures the marriage will need to last about six months.
The house he takes her to is his country manor which has been in the family since the 16th century. He inherited it when his father died and made him promise to never sell it. He was the younger son and never expected the house, until his older brother died while drunk and chasing after his mother, - she left the H's dad for her lover of ten years and the H's dad also told him there is a question of the H's paternity and that he is probably illegitimate.
Therefore the H really hates all women and sees them as wanton golddiggers - this doesn't stop him from using their bodies or flaunting some arm candy, and he is a very high profile guy with his business and all the socializing he does. He has a girlfriend when he marries the H and the h overhears him telling her about the marriage, but the H doesn't seem to be planning on ending the relationship either. In fact he makes a point of telling the h that if she won't service him as is his right since she is his wife, thousand's will in her place.
Again, I have some serious doubts about the feasibility here - he says he is going to take her game and use the money to finance his groundbreaking micro-surgery robots, but he doesn't buy her company, he doesn't try to contract her for a game design and he doesn't ask for an exclusive license to share in the royalties of her next game release.
A marriage licence doesn't give him any proprietary rights, and the fact that his dad loved the family home and made him promise to never sell it also sheds doubt on the story that he is illegitimate. Why would his dad make him promise to maintain the residence for the family if there was no biological family left?
So the h is on her own and working on her game, the H is rarely around and when he does spend 15 minutes or so, he insults and verbally abuses the H. The h hits her lowest point when a woman calls and asks for the H and when the h offers to take a message, the lady tells her she will see him later. The implication being that they have a hot date. The h starts crying and then is startled when a strange woman appears in her kitchen.
Turns out it is the H's mum, who desperately wants to be acknowledged by her son. The H doesn't talk to her at all since she divorced his dad and moved to Italy, where she married her long term Italian lover. The H comes home and has a temper tantrum worthy of a two year old, and the mum invites the h to stay in Italy with her until the H comes to get her.
The h accepts and off to Italy we go. The mum takes her under her wing and decides to give her a makeover. The h gets beautified on the outside, never hears from the H, and is flirting with the mum's stepson six weeks later when the H shows up and decides to bring her back to England.
The whole forced marriage scenario gets even more ludicrous when he decides that the news of the marriage alone will enable him to keep his investors happy and pouring money into his R & D. Since the h is beautiful now and has learned some social skills, he will just have a big party and invite the people who have money.
Because he still spends most of his time in London, I would think that his continuing appearances in the gossip columns with his arm candy is causing a whole lot of speculation on the stability of the marriage, and what investor is going to want to buy into that situation? Especially since the H still can't bring himself to say anything that isn't an insult whenever he is around the h.
Then the inevitable happens, the H comes to the house with a migraine and takes some serious drugs. The h is massaging his head and neck and while drugged out, he keeps her in the bed where they wind up consummating the marriage. The next morning the h is mortified, for some reason she thinks she loves this guy and is afraid he knows it, so she runs off to her room. The H goes back to London again, but will return for the big party.
The day of the party arrives and for once HPlandia rule #1 is broken. The h isn't going to have a baby after her loss of chastity. She is sad tho, 'cause she would have been happy to have a child, even if she raised it alone.
During the party her ex fiance corners her in her office and tries to kiss her. The H walks in and kicks him out and starts in on the nasty comments again. The h slaps him and tells him that his brother was a wild driver and drinking to boot, he probably would have had an accident no matter what.
She also tells him that he is legitimate and that his father blackmailed the mum into staying until the H was in his twenties by threatening to tell the H he was born to a lover, but the H only has to go see the physical resemblance in the family portrait gallery to know that his dad was lying.
The H takes off and the h falls asleep on the sofa, thinking that the H had been drinking and she might have sent him to his death. The H finally turns up and takes the h to bed. He is getting frisky the next morning when his mum shows up. The H had called her for a big family reconciliation the night before. They go off to have lunch together and the h is packing to go. The H comes back, sees her packing and tells her that she loves him. The h falls for the lust and they go back to bed for the HEA.
At this point I usually throw the book against the wall and shout "SHOW ME THE LOVE!". Really, I do - because for a romance story to work it usually has to be able to suspend belief and HPlandia addict that I am, I have a mind broader than the side of a barn and a more open than a 24 hour deli -- but for all the reasons I wrote about above, I just can't believe there is love in this book.
Every single person from the accountant, to the ex fiance, to the bribed secretary, to the mother who befriended the h to get to her son, to the H himself, who saw the h as little more than a beddable cash cow, used and manipulated this woman. She is very nice and sweet but so, so doormatishly pathetic that it is a good thing she learned to shop, cause the tread marks on her back are very wearing on the clothes.
The H isn't in the story enough for there to srsly BE a romance, and their entire relationship is based on his verbal abuse and put downs until a fourth to last paragraph alien mind transplant. Even then, he is more interested in getting her into bed cause she looks good and has a lot of cash, than actually getting to know and love HER in a marital relationship with shared two-way conversations and communication.
His ladyfriend's are never dismissed or explained and I can't help but think that the living arrangements won't be changing much in the future. He will still be in London doing his thing in multiple beds, the h will be isolated in the country and will probably stupidly just give him her games to the detriment of her own company until the H gets tired of her, she has less revenue generating power or she gets older and he kicks her to the curb.
His last minute sudden acceptance of the female gender is very suspect, there is no indication that he doesn't still hate all women no matter what he sorta implies. I just felt so sad for this woman who only wanted a little love and needed some self-confidence and self-respect.
I usually console myself with cookies at this point, and hope that the lust wears off for the h pretty quickly the next time she sees a gossip column. I also pull out the Captain Morgan to toast to the fact that in my personal story revision, The h gets the marriage annulled for lack of consent and extortion with menaces, goes to the Mediterranean where she meets a former Navy Seal who owns a beach-side bar and adores our lady game designer and they both live happily ever after with a baby, a couple of cats, and a mega fortune from developing the longest running game series of all time.
The H loses his company after his new micro-surgery device goes haywire and he can't afford the loss, which drives him into bankruptcy. Then the house has to go after his second wife claims it as part of her alimony settlement when she dumps him for a new hotshot electronic magnate. He winds up working as sewer cleaner due to his alcoholism destroying his business savvy and living in a damp basement flat with only a family of rats for companionship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2020
"Taken Over" is the story of Cassie and Joel.
HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE.
If there's a book which could have every trope I hate, presenting to you- this garbage.
*Rant begins*
Heroine comes from humble beginnings who got orphaned, and made a life for herself by starting a VERY successful gaming company. Fckt@rd 1 (OM) and Fckt@rd 2 aka dbag (Hero) both want it. So instead of being "men" *insert chest thumping noises* how do they go around doing it? Fckt@rd 1 gets engaged to the heroine with intention to steal her company. Dbag hero then kidnaps the heroine by telling her she's ugly and looks like a sack and that her ex was with her because she's pathetic. Ofcourse, spineless doormat heroine takes all the crap while being dusted on by poop filled buttocks and somehow falls in love with dbag hero. And things then get worse- dbag hero uses heroine as a punching bag, using her attraction against her in a verbal humilation fest. He goes to OW- and then Fckt@rd 1 tries to come assault the heroine. Dbag hero's estranged mother then shows up to give the heroine an effing makeover BECAUSE IT WASNT MADE CLEAR A HUNDRED TIMES THAT SHE IS SUPER UNATTRACTIVE AND NOT ONE PERSON VALUES HER BRAINS OR HER HEART. So she has glasses- SO WHAT! And yeah, the heroine liked kissing OM- but the hero confessed of going to OW all the time. I then threw this book in the bin and it's going back to the charity shop.
WHAT THE EVER LOVING DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
Burn in hell book.
*rant over*
Unsafe
-million/5
HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE.
If there's a book which could have every trope I hate, presenting to you- this garbage.
*Rant begins*
Heroine comes from humble beginnings who got orphaned, and made a life for herself by starting a VERY successful gaming company. Fckt@rd 1 (OM) and Fckt@rd 2 aka dbag (Hero) both want it. So instead of being "men" *insert chest thumping noises* how do they go around doing it? Fckt@rd 1 gets engaged to the heroine with intention to steal her company. Dbag hero then kidnaps the heroine by telling her she's ugly and looks like a sack and that her ex was with her because she's pathetic. Ofcourse, spineless doormat heroine takes all the crap while being dusted on by poop filled buttocks and somehow falls in love with dbag hero. And things then get worse- dbag hero uses heroine as a punching bag, using her attraction against her in a verbal humilation fest. He goes to OW- and then Fckt@rd 1 tries to come assault the heroine. Dbag hero's estranged mother then shows up to give the heroine an effing makeover BECAUSE IT WASNT MADE CLEAR A HUNDRED TIMES THAT SHE IS SUPER UNATTRACTIVE AND NOT ONE PERSON VALUES HER BRAINS OR HER HEART. So she has glasses- SO WHAT! And yeah, the heroine liked kissing OM- but the hero confessed of going to OW all the time. I then threw this book in the bin and it's going back to the charity shop.
WHAT THE EVER LOVING DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
Burn in hell book.
*rant over*
Unsafe
-million/5
June 1, 2009
This is a favorite of mine. I like the poignancy of the story. Cassie is a plain jane who doesn't think she's worth more than buying a husband with her successful video game business. Joel is desperate and infuriated that this business rival might get an edge over him by marrying Cassie and gaining control of her business, so he beats him to the punch by kidnapping Cassie and forcing her to marry him. Of course, he doesn't plan to have a real marriage, since Cassie is no beauty. You can guess that he sees her inner beauty, but fights falling in love with her because he doesn't trust women after his mother runs off with her lover. I've read this book several times. I like how Joel's mother takes Cassie back to Italy with her, and she gets a makeover, but Joel was already attracted to her anyway. He comes to fetch her because he misses her. Anyway, I don't want to give the whole plot away. I'm really glad I have a copy of this one.
July 20, 2015
Heroine having erotic thoughts about OM and even kissing him ruined the romance for me. It felt like she was cheating on her husband.
June 10, 2017
With Penny J, I usually know what to expect but this one just didn't live up to my expectations.
It starts of interestingly enough in that she creates video games and has made a great success of her company. Not bad for a male-oriented arena. She is focused on work having accepted her unattractiveness and is practical in her choice of her future husband, knowing he's marrying her to acquire her company. Penny J's strength comes through here in that she makes this sound poignant not pathetic.
Enter alpha male Jake, who mistakes her for a secretarty, doesn't hide his contempt for her choice of clothes or fiance, and is furious that she has turned away his far superior proposal for acquisition and settling for someone clearly unworthy of her. He needs the merger of their company desperately and somehow manages to coerce her into marrying him. Yeah, I don't get how he did that so easily either.
They marry and she stays in his mansion and starts to discover the reason for his cynicism towards women. His mother cheated on his father. In the meantime our h quite content to give up her apartment become lady of the house and work from his manor. And she made that switch without a lot of fuss...hmmm...
Penny J is a good author but I just couldn't connect with this one. There were some nice touches like how Jake sees past her plainness and is obviously attracted to her as how she is and wasn't bowled over by her makeover. As was her quality time with his mother but unfortunately that just dragged on for far too long and I found it weird that she had a real attraction for another man. I guess I like my heroines and heros to stay committed to each other.
It was a so-so read but still adore dear Penny J.
It starts of interestingly enough in that she creates video games and has made a great success of her company. Not bad for a male-oriented arena. She is focused on work having accepted her unattractiveness and is practical in her choice of her future husband, knowing he's marrying her to acquire her company. Penny J's strength comes through here in that she makes this sound poignant not pathetic.
Enter alpha male Jake, who mistakes her for a secretarty, doesn't hide his contempt for her choice of clothes or fiance, and is furious that she has turned away his far superior proposal for acquisition and settling for someone clearly unworthy of her. He needs the merger of their company desperately and somehow manages to coerce her into marrying him. Yeah, I don't get how he did that so easily either.
They marry and she stays in his mansion and starts to discover the reason for his cynicism towards women. His mother cheated on his father. In the meantime our h quite content to give up her apartment become lady of the house and work from his manor. And she made that switch without a lot of fuss...hmmm...
Penny J is a good author but I just couldn't connect with this one. There were some nice touches like how Jake sees past her plainness and is obviously attracted to her as how she is and wasn't bowled over by her makeover. As was her quality time with his mother but unfortunately that just dragged on for far too long and I found it weird that she had a real attraction for another man. I guess I like my heroines and heros to stay committed to each other.
It was a so-so read but still adore dear Penny J.
dnf
October 12, 2021DNF @ 18% - the h goes on and on and on and on about how ugly she is. 🤓 And then the H does the same. About her. He thinks she’s a hideous troll as well. And he won’t shut up about it. Basically she’s so ugly all the other characters in the book practically recoil from her. 👀🙄 And the very unalpha story line that the H is so unconfident in his business skills that he has to abduct this hideous girl and force her to marry him to save his company totally puts me off. So off I went to reviews to discover that he’s MIA through the majority of the book, apparently off catting around while married to the h, and we never get answers or resolution on the OW drama. 😐
Imma save myself some grief and just call it quits here. ✌🏻
Next! 🤡
Imma save myself some grief and just call it quits here. ✌🏻
Next! 🤡
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2023
Wtf was this. The h is tstl beyond imaginable and her situation only gets worse. Her thought process is intense and everything she feels she should’ve said just stays in her head, never makes it to her lips. Plus she has a downcast opinion of herself.
All PJ wrote in this book was how ugly the h was. The h was reluctant to say anything to anyone cuz she ugly. I can’t go over the repetitive ugly at play here- it was just dreadful. What was PJ thinking?
Plus the h defends OM in every situation like he’d been loyal to her. I could also not understand the threat or urgency involved by which the H makes the h marry him! He held no power over her in any way.
Eventually the H’s mother shows up to teach the girl how to feel beautiful. She’s made to attend some kind of confidence school and beauty classes and I was fkn done here.
Do NOT recommend this trolling tale of a book!
All PJ wrote in this book was how ugly the h was. The h was reluctant to say anything to anyone cuz she ugly. I can’t go over the repetitive ugly at play here- it was just dreadful. What was PJ thinking?
Plus the h defends OM in every situation like he’d been loyal to her. I could also not understand the threat or urgency involved by which the H makes the h marry him! He held no power over her in any way.
Eventually the H’s mother shows up to teach the girl how to feel beautiful. She’s made to attend some kind of confidence school and beauty classes and I was fkn done here.
Do NOT recommend this trolling tale of a book!
August 19, 2015
Rating: 4 stars.
Somehow I wasn't into this harlequin as much as I usually am when I read Harles. Probably because I've just read too much in the recent weeks. Regardless, Taken Over by Penny Jordan was an entertaining read, primarily because I liked the heroine.
Cassie is the type of heroine I absolutely adore and can relate to, although I gather that many readers may find her extremely annoying. She's an awkward nerdy wallflower turtle, with very VERY low self esteem (to the point where she literally tries to buy herself a husband because she doesn’t think any man would want to marry her). She loves to put herself down (much to the annoyance and disbelief of the hero) and she eventually blossoms into the woman she's always wanted to be. Cassie is also a highly intelligent and successful businesswoman.
What I liked about Cassie is that she's openly jealous of ow's looks (secretary and hero's women), and that isn't really common in a lot of books. I found it to be quite realistic.
Now onto the hero..
Well.. I don’t really know how to feel about him. He’s been absent for the majority of the book, only appearing 40% throughout it. Sure he was mentioned numerous time due to the hero pining after him, but it would have been great if he had appeared more! I also wished that there was a bit of the hero’s POV, even if just a smidge.
What I did like about Joel though was the fact that he had actually noticed the heroine and was attracted to her at the start, even though he continuously makes numerous jabs at her about her plain looks, which I wasn't exactly too happy about. I hate it when heroes do that, its really hitting below the belt- even for a harlequin, silhouette hero.
Somehow I wasn't into this harlequin as much as I usually am when I read Harles. Probably because I've just read too much in the recent weeks. Regardless, Taken Over by Penny Jordan was an entertaining read, primarily because I liked the heroine.
Cassie is the type of heroine I absolutely adore and can relate to, although I gather that many readers may find her extremely annoying. She's an awkward nerdy wallflower turtle, with very VERY low self esteem (to the point where she literally tries to buy herself a husband because she doesn’t think any man would want to marry her). She loves to put herself down (much to the annoyance and disbelief of the hero) and she eventually blossoms into the woman she's always wanted to be. Cassie is also a highly intelligent and successful businesswoman.
What I liked about Cassie is that she's openly jealous of ow's looks (secretary and hero's women), and that isn't really common in a lot of books. I found it to be quite realistic.
Now onto the hero..
Well.. I don’t really know how to feel about him. He’s been absent for the majority of the book, only appearing 40% throughout it. Sure he was mentioned numerous time due to the hero pining after him, but it would have been great if he had appeared more! I also wished that there was a bit of the hero’s POV, even if just a smidge.
What I did like about Joel though was the fact that he had actually noticed the heroine and was attracted to her at the start, even though he continuously makes numerous jabs at her about her plain looks, which I wasn't exactly too happy about. I hate it when heroes do that, its really hitting below the belt- even for a harlequin, silhouette hero.
January 23, 2018
"Taken Over" is a classic by PJ many loves..and i am now one of them!
It was so interesting to see how both the hero and heroine had this interest for creating computer games.
Joel Howard was one of a hell determined and stubborn hero...to which lengths to have her..and to how he utterly kept himself from falling in love with her,and how he failed.It was so adorable that he had been attracted to her all the time,but he still behaved like a ass many times after their marriage.His mother truly made our Cassie beautiful and more confident after she took her to Florence,and it was so cute of Joel to get her from there,AWW!
"That what?" he prompted softly."That you love me? Is that it, Cassie?"
The soft mockery in his voice drove her beyond the edge of caution.
"Yes ... yes, damn you," she stormed bitterly at him."Yes I love you.. but you needn't think..."
She gasped as the hard pressure of his mouth stemmed her words, his groaned, "Cassie... Cassie, how can you be so intelligent and such a fool," he muttered against her lips, and then he was kissing her as she had dreamed of him doing..
It was so interesting to see how both the hero and heroine had this interest for creating computer games.
Joel Howard was one of a hell determined and stubborn hero...to which lengths to have her..and to how he utterly kept himself from falling in love with her,and how he failed.It was so adorable that he had been attracted to her all the time,but he still behaved like a ass many times after their marriage.His mother truly made our Cassie beautiful and more confident after she took her to Florence,and it was so cute of Joel to get her from there,AWW!
"That what?" he prompted softly."That you love me? Is that it, Cassie?"
The soft mockery in his voice drove her beyond the edge of caution.
"Yes ... yes, damn you," she stormed bitterly at him."Yes I love you.. but you needn't think..."
She gasped as the hard pressure of his mouth stemmed her words, his groaned, "Cassie... Cassie, how can you be so intelligent and such a fool," he muttered against her lips, and then he was kissing her as she had dreamed of him doing..
August 29, 2013
Plain vanilla. Hero looks angry the whole book. Heroine thinks herself too ugly for the hero but is horny anyway. I don't know why this book is in the voting list for the best HPs. I found it a bit boring as there was no real drama.
May 24, 2017
It’s 1985 and we’re right in the thick of the computer games boom which I certainly remember (I pestered and pestered my parents for a Commodore 64, and I think it was probably around Christmas 1985 when I actually got one). As usual, keeping on top of current events, Jordan has created her heroine “Cassie”, a games designer who has had considerable success in the field. Despite appearing like a human calculator (and having a name which is slightly reminiscent of a brand of calculator), there are two men from different games company who are anxious to take over her successful small company and gain access to her new ideas for games. However, instead of going about this in the normal business way and making her a cogent offer, both men seem to feel that they should marry her instead, in order to gain access to her gaming secrets (believe me, as the story unfolds, you will see that they’re not worth unlocking).
As the story commences, she is engaged to the dull, drab Peter Williams, who is so clearly and openly after her money (even indicating that he needs a new car and she should buy him one for a wedding present) as he drives her out on a date in the car which entirely matches his dull, drab personality. However, enter the much more exciting Joel Howard, who, instead of courting her in the traditional sense, actually kidnaps her in his Ferrari, and then zooms off with her to the Cotswolds, before forcing her to marry him.
Yes, this is one of the more ridiculous of Jordan’s offerings for Mills & Boons which I’ve read, and by this stage in the story, the reader cannot help but question why super-human genius Cassie just goes along with it so complacently. Post-wedding ceremony, Cassie is then left behind in his Cotswold’s mansion whilst the odious Joel zips off in his Ferrari again leaving her behind to mull it all over. In fact, Joel hardly makes an appearance in the novel – he spends most of the time roaring off in his Ferrari somewhere (once whilst drunk!), just appearing at opportune moments to save Cassie when Peter Williams arrives in his Datsun Cherry and some Italian chap tries to make a move on her in a garden.
Cassie, despite being left alone for most of the time, decides she’s in love with Joel (why? why?) and writes a new game in his honour (about the trials and tribulations of falling in love). Now, I’ll just pause here to observe, this is one of the real failings of the novel. Jordan clearly knows absolutely nothing about the games industry (unsurprising – she would have been a grown woman at the time of writing this novel and probably not very interested in an industry which was marketed mainly at teenage boys and girls). There is a suspicious lack of detail concerning Cassie’s work (indeed, she embraces the opportunity to ditch all her technological work to organise a cocktail party for Joel’s clients with a strange amount of enthusiasm for a professional woman who is so engrossed in her programming).
Further, when I read about the concept for the “falling in love” game, it made me laugh out loud. Who is this game going to appeal to? I was busy playing Hunchback at this point in my life and swearing my head off because there were no save points at that time in gaming history . Every time one of those little chaps on the wall with their pointy spears spiked Hunchback in the goolies, he fell off the wall, and I had to start again from the beginning. I don’t think I saved Esmerelda once – but I digress. However, when I checked with my husband (who is a games afficionado), he told me that those sorts of games did exist (Leisure Suit Larry or the more recent Catherine). They are not, as Cassie asserted, however, being aimed at a female market (given what the player’s avatar can do with Catherine in the game, I think it’s fair to say that it’s still being aimed at adolescent boys I’m afraid).
Anyway, that point aside, there are also a whole load of other issues about how stupid the supposedly genius level characters are – hardly any of the actions of the novel are even remotely rational but are all driven by self-loathing and lack of confidence.
This book is almost painful to read – one of the ones that fall into the “so bad it’s funny” category in Jordan’s oeuvre.
As the story commences, she is engaged to the dull, drab Peter Williams, who is so clearly and openly after her money (even indicating that he needs a new car and she should buy him one for a wedding present) as he drives her out on a date in the car which entirely matches his dull, drab personality. However, enter the much more exciting Joel Howard, who, instead of courting her in the traditional sense, actually kidnaps her in his Ferrari, and then zooms off with her to the Cotswolds, before forcing her to marry him.
Yes, this is one of the more ridiculous of Jordan’s offerings for Mills & Boons which I’ve read, and by this stage in the story, the reader cannot help but question why super-human genius Cassie just goes along with it so complacently. Post-wedding ceremony, Cassie is then left behind in his Cotswold’s mansion whilst the odious Joel zips off in his Ferrari again leaving her behind to mull it all over. In fact, Joel hardly makes an appearance in the novel – he spends most of the time roaring off in his Ferrari somewhere (once whilst drunk!), just appearing at opportune moments to save Cassie when Peter Williams arrives in his Datsun Cherry and some Italian chap tries to make a move on her in a garden.
Cassie, despite being left alone for most of the time, decides she’s in love with Joel (why? why?) and writes a new game in his honour (about the trials and tribulations of falling in love). Now, I’ll just pause here to observe, this is one of the real failings of the novel. Jordan clearly knows absolutely nothing about the games industry (unsurprising – she would have been a grown woman at the time of writing this novel and probably not very interested in an industry which was marketed mainly at teenage boys and girls). There is a suspicious lack of detail concerning Cassie’s work (indeed, she embraces the opportunity to ditch all her technological work to organise a cocktail party for Joel’s clients with a strange amount of enthusiasm for a professional woman who is so engrossed in her programming).
Further, when I read about the concept for the “falling in love” game, it made me laugh out loud. Who is this game going to appeal to? I was busy playing Hunchback at this point in my life and swearing my head off because there were no save points at that time in gaming history . Every time one of those little chaps on the wall with their pointy spears spiked Hunchback in the goolies, he fell off the wall, and I had to start again from the beginning. I don’t think I saved Esmerelda once – but I digress. However, when I checked with my husband (who is a games afficionado), he told me that those sorts of games did exist (Leisure Suit Larry or the more recent Catherine). They are not, as Cassie asserted, however, being aimed at a female market (given what the player’s avatar can do with Catherine in the game, I think it’s fair to say that it’s still being aimed at adolescent boys I’m afraid).
Anyway, that point aside, there are also a whole load of other issues about how stupid the supposedly genius level characters are – hardly any of the actions of the novel are even remotely rational but are all driven by self-loathing and lack of confidence.
This book is almost painful to read – one of the ones that fall into the “so bad it’s funny” category in Jordan’s oeuvre.
March 24, 2023
i wanna give this 5 stars solely for fitting the mood i was in perfectly and giving me all the tropes i love in one book. but i’ve decided on a generous 4 stars because i haven’t read one of these in a while and so this served the perfect junk meal for me to eat. no crumbs seen.
now, i get the whole ugly duckling turned to beautiful swan vibe but how many times did it have to get shoved down our throats that the h was PLAIN? i checked . 44 times 😭. that detracted a lot from my enjoyment of the story because every time i was engrossed and loving it i suddenly got slapped (she slapped the H twice in this and i was living for it) with continuous emphasis that she was …. say it with me… plain for like the 33rd time and honestly i loved the h in all her glory before the makeover but couldn’t wait for her to get the makeover so the author would stop emphasizing her “plainness” at every turn. there’s no such thing as plain in my opinion it’s what’s inside that counts and the superficiality was getting too much at that point.
overall, this made me miss my era of incessantly binging vintage romance books for no reason. these vintage books are the blueprints for the current dark romance era foreal. gonna find another one that fits my mood perfectly because i need that feeling back asap.
now, i get the whole ugly duckling turned to beautiful swan vibe but how many times did it have to get shoved down our throats that the h was PLAIN? i checked . 44 times 😭. that detracted a lot from my enjoyment of the story because every time i was engrossed and loving it i suddenly got slapped (she slapped the H twice in this and i was living for it) with continuous emphasis that she was …. say it with me… plain for like the 33rd time and honestly i loved the h in all her glory before the makeover but couldn’t wait for her to get the makeover so the author would stop emphasizing her “plainness” at every turn. there’s no such thing as plain in my opinion it’s what’s inside that counts and the superficiality was getting too much at that point.
overall, this made me miss my era of incessantly binging vintage romance books for no reason. these vintage books are the blueprints for the current dark romance era foreal. gonna find another one that fits my mood perfectly because i need that feeling back asap.
April 11, 2012
Joel forces Cassie to marry him because he needs her company in order to ensure his company can get some funding that he needs. Joel saved the plain Jane from a MOC w/ a manipulative OM. However, Cassie agrees to marry Joel and he quickly whisks her away to his other home in the country. Joel believed that if Cassie had married the OM she would destroy all that he worked for. This bothered me because it’s not her fault that his company needs funding or that hers is doing so well. She is just that good!
They will have a MOC for 6 months and he teases and taunts her throughout their time together. Perhaps he is fighting his attraction to her? He informs Cassie that his OW is not prepared to share his bed as long as he is married and Cassie overhears him telling OW that his marriage stands and he doesn’t need to explain his reasons for marrying. Given that his mother left his father for OM, I don’t see Joel cheating on Cassie. I’m thinking he put his company first and figures he can stay celibate for the duration of the marriage. However, he didn’t know how much Cassie would tempt him. Although Cassie doesn’t knowingly tempt Joel as she believes she is so plain and ordinary, but Joel’s estranged mother soon acts as her fairy godmother and swirls up the mixture of Joel and Cassie to add some more drama.
Jealousy of other parties and them being w/ them ensues. Joel allows Cassie to believe he may be tangling up w/ OW too. Cassie needed to see that she really was an attractive woman and she needed some building up of her self-esteem in order to really go toe to toe w/ Joel and she gets that.
It appeared that Joel really cares for Cassie and developed deeper feelings for her as well. She still has fear of him truly caring about her though. He had thought of her as something different than what he later discovers her to be.
Overall it wasn’t a bad read, just okay. There wasn’t a lot of passion/angst for me. I had some moments that needed clarification though. It would appear that Joel doesn’t listen. She tells him that she loves him and then on the very next page he asks her if she loves him. Weren’t you listening? I would have liked more of a clear cut answer as to whether or not he still had something on the side as well. Also he catches Cassie w/ 2 different men on several occasions, but it’s not until later after her transformation that he accuses her of being like his mother. Why didn’t he say something before? Maybe because he is now more involved emotionally than before? Which says what about him then?
They will have a MOC for 6 months and he teases and taunts her throughout their time together. Perhaps he is fighting his attraction to her? He informs Cassie that his OW is not prepared to share his bed as long as he is married and Cassie overhears him telling OW that his marriage stands and he doesn’t need to explain his reasons for marrying. Given that his mother left his father for OM, I don’t see Joel cheating on Cassie. I’m thinking he put his company first and figures he can stay celibate for the duration of the marriage. However, he didn’t know how much Cassie would tempt him. Although Cassie doesn’t knowingly tempt Joel as she believes she is so plain and ordinary, but Joel’s estranged mother soon acts as her fairy godmother and swirls up the mixture of Joel and Cassie to add some more drama.
Jealousy of other parties and them being w/ them ensues. Joel allows Cassie to believe he may be tangling up w/ OW too. Cassie needed to see that she really was an attractive woman and she needed some building up of her self-esteem in order to really go toe to toe w/ Joel and she gets that.
It appeared that Joel really cares for Cassie and developed deeper feelings for her as well. She still has fear of him truly caring about her though. He had thought of her as something different than what he later discovers her to be.
Overall it wasn’t a bad read, just okay. There wasn’t a lot of passion/angst for me. I had some moments that needed clarification though. It would appear that Joel doesn’t listen. She tells him that she loves him and then on the very next page he asks her if she loves him. Weren’t you listening? I would have liked more of a clear cut answer as to whether or not he still had something on the side as well. Also he catches Cassie w/ 2 different men on several occasions, but it’s not until later after her transformation that he accuses her of being like his mother. Why didn’t he say something before? Maybe because he is now more involved emotionally than before? Which says what about him then?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2014
3 throwback stars
Nostalgia is a scary bitch. It's weird how it makes you enjoy and appreciate the angry misogynystic sexual domination of a male chauvinist. *sigh*
Alongside the early Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz and Diana Palmer stories, Penny Jordan was a frequent read for me as a teenager. They all have fairly typical plots involving overbearing, often angry, excessively desirable yet female disdaining heroes and moderately competent, not-too-timid while somewhat withstanding their awesome charms heroines. In real life I would want to slap the woman some sense and punch the man in the balls. But that early conditioning and large consumption of this type of romance has had a lingering affect in my hindbrain. It results in me quite enjoying this type of old school romance and appreciating the aggressive alpha (not always the heroine as much, but heigh ho) male. This book was one of those times but it was slightly detracted by the latter half makeover - I loathe makeovers that result in suddenly showing everybody just how attractive the heroine is. Especially when it coincides with the great reconciliation/sex/revelatory scenes. The other issue was how Cassie seemed to morph from super-programmer to not that fussed about it all combined with lady of the manor. Near the end when she's organising a dinner party my thoughts were confused - how has the socially inept and insecure Cassie gained the social nous to accomplish this?
These quibbles aside I remind myself it's Mills & Boon and moreover it's 1980's Mill & Boon (my how times have changed - mobiles, internet - I thought the mention of computing being a new tech was pretty funny, also being kidnapped is much harder these days with everyone having their own phone!). So it is what it is. I liked it, but it's not the best of it's kind - I sure enjoy an angry shaking of the helpless female followed by a savage kiss and that was sorely lacking here - but it's not the worst either. (And there was a forceful kiss that caused a bloody lip - yummy!)
Nostalgia is a scary bitch. It's weird how it makes you enjoy and appreciate the angry misogynystic sexual domination of a male chauvinist. *sigh*
Alongside the early Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz and Diana Palmer stories, Penny Jordan was a frequent read for me as a teenager. They all have fairly typical plots involving overbearing, often angry, excessively desirable yet female disdaining heroes and moderately competent, not-too-timid while somewhat withstanding their awesome charms heroines. In real life I would want to slap the woman some sense and punch the man in the balls. But that early conditioning and large consumption of this type of romance has had a lingering affect in my hindbrain. It results in me quite enjoying this type of old school romance and appreciating the aggressive alpha (not always the heroine as much, but heigh ho) male. This book was one of those times but it was slightly detracted by the latter half makeover - I loathe makeovers that result in suddenly showing everybody just how attractive the heroine is. Especially when it coincides with the great reconciliation/sex/revelatory scenes. The other issue was how Cassie seemed to morph from super-programmer to not that fussed about it all combined with lady of the manor. Near the end when she's organising a dinner party my thoughts were confused - how has the socially inept and insecure Cassie gained the social nous to accomplish this?
These quibbles aside I remind myself it's Mills & Boon and moreover it's 1980's Mill & Boon (my how times have changed - mobiles, internet - I thought the mention of computing being a new tech was pretty funny, also being kidnapped is much harder these days with everyone having their own phone!). So it is what it is. I liked it, but it's not the best of it's kind - I sure enjoy an angry shaking of the helpless female followed by a savage kiss and that was sorely lacking here - but it's not the worst either. (And there was a forceful kiss that caused a bloody lip - yummy!)
November 12, 2020
What was wrong with all the men in this book? They all acted like slimy creeps and couldn't keep their hands or lips off the 'plain, dreary' heroine. She was cool and I think getting engaged kinda derailed her entire life. She had a business, that every company with a hot ceo needed. But how the heroine got the heroine makes no sense. I don't believe they love each other. And I don't believe the ending. She just needs to keep working on her video games, that were just described as video games...nothing else.
November 30, 2020
I liked this. The plot is a bit silly - it's a romance after all and the author wanted a marriage of convenience plot - but the characters are good.
My long review is here: https://www.morebooksthantime.com/tak...
My long review is here: https://www.morebooksthantime.com/tak...
August 11, 2012
It was a decent book, great quick read.
March 12, 2013
Blackmailed into marriage but her heart already loves him. Good read that me rooting for her to get her man
July 19, 2013
Loved it three years back. Read it more than thrice. Will read it more than ten times again. Will still love it. Penny Jordan sure is one of the best'est' Romance writers in the crowd!
January 27, 2015
I did really like this book but it seemed kind of predictable and it was difficult for me to get into.
July 29, 2017
Spoiler:
Incredibly annoyed with the heroine and her self-esteem issues along with the lack of proper communication between the couple!!
Incredibly annoyed with the heroine and her self-esteem issues along with the lack of proper communication between the couple!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2022
What a singularly stupid, awful book.
July 14, 2024
This wasn't bad, and I liked the whole computer games company background. Here's one story where it makes sense that a young woman in her early 20's could be running a successful business since she was a computer prodigy (or nerd, at least for a time), so she was way ahead of the average person. I get a little tired of these people who aren't geniuses, super wealthy or with loads of connections who somehow make it to the top of the field when they're barely out of college. So, with this story at least my intelligence isn't being insulted.
What I didn't like was the h being so critical of her own looks, without doing anything about it for way too long. (Her transformation happens courtesy of her mother-in-law, who really got on my nerves, which I'll get to later.)
I also didn't like the H judging all women by his mother, who he had the wrong opinion of, because she never bothered to straighten him out, about why she left his father for another man (now her husband). He listened to his father (who was hardly impartial) and took everything he said at face value which, considering Dad's crummy personality, was pretty dumb. (He also blamed her for his older brother's death, which was incredibly ridiculous!) Naturally, he lets his bad opinion of women influence his feelings for the h who - despite theirs being a convenience marriage - fell in love with him, despite his attitude.
I ESPECIALLY didn't like his mother (though wanting to help) interfering, by inviting the h to stay with her and her husband for several weeks and turn her into a pet project, becoming a Professor Higgins of sorts, or a grown woman playing dress-up with a live doll. She actually sends the h to a charm school, as if she's a teenager, NOT an adult of 22 who was running her own computer games company! She even picked out what bras she should wear, for crying out loud! The h was much too passive toward this overwhelming mom-in-law!
To make matters worse, the woman loves to play games! She encourages the h to flirt with another man, in this case her stepson, because he's a real playboy and won't take it seriously, and she'll get some practice on acting the desirable woman part. (Maybe that's good advice for a single girl, but a married one??? Even with the state of her marriage at the time, that still was wrong.) Then, she deliberately arranges for the H to (reluctantly) visit at a time when the h and OM would be alone, and he catches them kissing in the garden! Yes, the old jealousy angle!
Before anyone condemns the h for that kiss, at that point in the story their marriage had yet to be consummated, they weren't on good terms, and the h had reason to believe the H was seeing a former girlfriend on the side. As it turned out, she was thinking about the H while kissing the OM, which is why she responded to his kiss, and once she realized that she pulled asway from him, and that's when the H found them!
Ironically, this virginal h was caught by the H in three compromising positions: with his stepbrother, and twice with the other OM, h's former fiancé, which was a loose term, since he was only after her company. The first time, he was angry that she cheated him out of getting what he wanted by marrying the h and forced kisses on her because he felt she owed him something, he second time he liked her new look and wanted her body, and both times the H caught them! For someone who only wanted the H, this h sure gave a different impression!
This book was just too full of silly stuff to be taken seriously, so it's worth reading for the amusement factor, but it can get a bit annoying, too.
What I didn't like was the h being so critical of her own looks, without doing anything about it for way too long. (Her transformation happens courtesy of her mother-in-law, who really got on my nerves, which I'll get to later.)
I also didn't like the H judging all women by his mother, who he had the wrong opinion of, because she never bothered to straighten him out, about why she left his father for another man (now her husband). He listened to his father (who was hardly impartial) and took everything he said at face value which, considering Dad's crummy personality, was pretty dumb. (He also blamed her for his older brother's death, which was incredibly ridiculous!) Naturally, he lets his bad opinion of women influence his feelings for the h who - despite theirs being a convenience marriage - fell in love with him, despite his attitude.
I ESPECIALLY didn't like his mother (though wanting to help) interfering, by inviting the h to stay with her and her husband for several weeks and turn her into a pet project, becoming a Professor Higgins of sorts, or a grown woman playing dress-up with a live doll. She actually sends the h to a charm school, as if she's a teenager, NOT an adult of 22 who was running her own computer games company! She even picked out what bras she should wear, for crying out loud! The h was much too passive toward this overwhelming mom-in-law!
To make matters worse, the woman loves to play games! She encourages the h to flirt with another man, in this case her stepson, because he's a real playboy and won't take it seriously, and she'll get some practice on acting the desirable woman part. (Maybe that's good advice for a single girl, but a married one??? Even with the state of her marriage at the time, that still was wrong.) Then, she deliberately arranges for the H to (reluctantly) visit at a time when the h and OM would be alone, and he catches them kissing in the garden! Yes, the old jealousy angle!
Before anyone condemns the h for that kiss, at that point in the story their marriage had yet to be consummated, they weren't on good terms, and the h had reason to believe the H was seeing a former girlfriend on the side. As it turned out, she was thinking about the H while kissing the OM, which is why she responded to his kiss, and once she realized that she pulled asway from him, and that's when the H found them!
Ironically, this virginal h was caught by the H in three compromising positions: with his stepbrother, and twice with the other OM, h's former fiancé, which was a loose term, since he was only after her company. The first time, he was angry that she cheated him out of getting what he wanted by marrying the h and forced kisses on her because he felt she owed him something, he second time he liked her new look and wanted her body, and both times the H caught them! For someone who only wanted the H, this h sure gave a different impression!
This book was just too full of silly stuff to be taken seriously, so it's worth reading for the amusement factor, but it can get a bit annoying, too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2021
Stop everything and go read Boogenhagen's review. The poor h was horribly emotionally abused and manipulated by everyone around her, from her parents to her temp fiance to his father to the H.
I refuse to believe that the H who often indirectly hinted that the h wasn't attractive and:
1- Directly asks her on PAGE 24 "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently?",
2- And again an hour after marrying her on PAGE 38, "What do you want me to say, Cassie?’ he asked her expressionlessly. ‘That you’re not a burden? That I DO want you?"
3-‘So you ARE female after all.’ - PAGE 42
4-"... My girlfriend tells me that she is not prepared to share my bed as long as I remain married to you it seems only fair that you should take her place, wouldn’t you say?" - PAGE 42
... actually fell in love with the h. He ignores her after their marriage and only ever gives her some attention after her makeover. The only reason they consummate is cz he was in a drug haze. He was a misogynist who at one point doesn't deny that he may reward his industrial-espionage-ing secretary by sleeping with her, by saying "It's hardly my fault if your sex is so open to bribery."
We do see him get attracted to her after seeing her semi nude, and he often ends up kissing and seducing her when they are together, including him trembling and groaning huskily lol. But I would have been devastated if my guy ever said such words to me.
I love PJ so this was hard for me to write.
I refuse to believe that the H who often indirectly hinted that the h wasn't attractive and:
1- Directly asks her on PAGE 24 "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently?",
2- And again an hour after marrying her on PAGE 38, "What do you want me to say, Cassie?’ he asked her expressionlessly. ‘That you’re not a burden? That I DO want you?"
3-‘So you ARE female after all.’ - PAGE 42
4-"... My girlfriend tells me that she is not prepared to share my bed as long as I remain married to you it seems only fair that you should take her place, wouldn’t you say?" - PAGE 42
... actually fell in love with the h. He ignores her after their marriage and only ever gives her some attention after her makeover. The only reason they consummate is cz he was in a drug haze. He was a misogynist who at one point doesn't deny that he may reward his industrial-espionage-ing secretary by sleeping with her, by saying "It's hardly my fault if your sex is so open to bribery."
We do see him get attracted to her after seeing her semi nude, and he often ends up kissing and seducing her when they are together, including him trembling and groaning huskily lol. But I would have been devastated if my guy ever said such words to me.
I love PJ so this was hard for me to write.
May 24, 2021
The h is an intelligent woman with a talent for maths and she makes computer games. When they meet, she wears glasses and clothes that don’t make her attractive and she has dark hair. She is some sort of plain Jane.
What a relief she is compared to the typical HP h who is blonde, beautiful and has some sort of creative job, like flowers or drawing, or who has some sort of domestic job, like cleaning, cooking, taking care of children.
This h is a woman in a business environment dominated by men and she is succesful. Great!
Anyway, a lot of chemistry between them. He is passionate and the love making scenes are extremely well written, Penny Jordan style. She tells enough to make those scenes steamy without it becoming vulgar. Excellent.
I absolutely love the scene where they are making out and she stops him saying that she doesn’t use birth control. Wow, I can’t remember the last time I read about a h who stops the H in the midst of passion and thought about birth control. Well done, Penny Jordan!
All typical HP h’s nowadays just jump into bed with the H the same day they’ve met him, don’t worry about birth control and just get pregnant.
That birth control scene on its own deserves a million stars and a medal and everything. Thumbs up.
But I give it 4 stars because he was with other women too.
What a relief she is compared to the typical HP h who is blonde, beautiful and has some sort of creative job, like flowers or drawing, or who has some sort of domestic job, like cleaning, cooking, taking care of children.
This h is a woman in a business environment dominated by men and she is succesful. Great!
Anyway, a lot of chemistry between them. He is passionate and the love making scenes are extremely well written, Penny Jordan style. She tells enough to make those scenes steamy without it becoming vulgar. Excellent.
I absolutely love the scene where they are making out and she stops him saying that she doesn’t use birth control. Wow, I can’t remember the last time I read about a h who stops the H in the midst of passion and thought about birth control. Well done, Penny Jordan!
All typical HP h’s nowadays just jump into bed with the H the same day they’ve met him, don’t worry about birth control and just get pregnant.
That birth control scene on its own deserves a million stars and a medal and everything. Thumbs up.
But I give it 4 stars because he was with other women too.
March 30, 2021
3 stars
I don't believe in the H's love for the heroine. He kidnapped her and made her marry him because he wanted her company (she could have said no, this made no sense). He tells her more than once that she's UG-LAY and he's not attracted to her. When she leaves him and goes to Italy with his mother, he doesn't come after her for six weeks and he only came because his mom told him he should. I've never been more glad for a married woman to have the attention of another man. I'm happy he stumbled upon the heroine kissing another man. Kiss more, honey, because you married a toad.
She never had reason to believe his feelings went deeper for her. The HEA came way too easily. I can see why this book is called Taken Over. The heroine is taken over by everyone in her life. She's booksmart and a total nerd but her fiance, her husband, and her MIL all take her over and she just goes along with it.
I don't believe in the H's love for the heroine. He kidnapped her and made her marry him because he wanted her company (she could have said no, this made no sense). He tells her more than once that she's UG-LAY and he's not attracted to her. When she leaves him and goes to Italy with his mother, he doesn't come after her for six weeks and he only came because his mom told him he should. I've never been more glad for a married woman to have the attention of another man. I'm happy he stumbled upon the heroine kissing another man. Kiss more, honey, because you married a toad.
She never had reason to believe his feelings went deeper for her. The HEA came way too easily. I can see why this book is called Taken Over. The heroine is taken over by everyone in her life. She's booksmart and a total nerd but her fiance, her husband, and her MIL all take her over and she just goes along with it.
October 7, 2020
I enjoyed but always do :).
Forced into a loveless marriage (Or so it seemed). Does go on bout how she thinks she's plain and dull but not too much! Which is good.
Nothing to vicious but they did stay away from each other too much, I'd prefer them to have been together more, with still the bonding of Miranda and Cassie.
Again one of those where you wish they'd just talk to each other. (But again the story would be too short)
I just can't seem to put these books down once I pick them up. A good short one day read that makes you go fluffy when they admit there feelings together at the end.
Forced into a loveless marriage (Or so it seemed). Does go on bout how she thinks she's plain and dull but not too much! Which is good.
Nothing to vicious but they did stay away from each other too much, I'd prefer them to have been together more, with still the bonding of Miranda and Cassie.
Again one of those where you wish they'd just talk to each other. (But again the story would be too short)
I just can't seem to put these books down once I pick them up. A good short one day read that makes you go fluffy when they admit there feelings together at the end.
September 27, 2024
Enjoyable story. It featured a nerdy h with a unique occupation and she was a very successful business owner. I'm not sure the business world works like that with buyouts/merges and I kept waiting for a contract to be signed before the marriage but 🤷♀️. I love a good Cinderella moment and wish more books has it but H's reaction was a little lackluster. I was beyond happy for her growth in confidence though and the jealousy came through loud and clear so that was a plus. Everything was wrapped up successfully, thank god for the H's mom though cause these two would still be bumbling around 40 years later if not for her orchestrations.
August 3, 2020
This is my favourite Penny Jordan book. Not tired of reading it over and over again
July 3, 2021
Penny Jordan wrote the hottest short romance stories!
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