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Un soggetto pericoloso
Alice ha giurato a sé stessa di non cadere nella trappola: non permetterà mai a nessuno di dirigere la sua vita, di scegliere per lei. Ma il destino ha deciso altrimenti. Per essersi immischiata in faccende che non la riguardano, è costretta a sposare Julian, un bel soggetto che in pratica non conosce e che quindi non può amare. Lui si comporta come un odioso tiranno, opprimendola con la sua autorità. Tuttavia, quando Alice si ritrova davanti all’ex fidanzato, non sa che partito prendere. Forse, nonostante tutto, Julian…
156 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1971
1 person is currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Anne Hampson
169 books152 followersAnne Hampson was born on 28 November 1928 in England. At age six she had two ambitions: to teach and to write. Poverty after WWI deprived her of an education and at 14 she was making Marks & Spencer's blouses at one shilling (5p) each.
She retired when she married. Later, when her marriage broke up, she was homeless with £40 in her purse. She went back to the rag trade and lived in a tiny caravan. But she never forgot her two ambitions, and when Manchester University decided to trial older women she applied, and three years later had achieved one ambition, so set her thoughts on number two.
In 1969, her first novel, Eternal Summer, was accepted five days from posting and she soon had a contract for 12 more. From the caravan she went to a small stately home, drove a Mercedes and sailed on the QE2. From the first book, came over 125 more written for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette. Alan Boon (the Boon of Mills & Boon) and she came up with the title for 'Harlequin Presents' over lunch at the Ritz. She suggested to Alan that they have a historical series. He told her to write one - it was done in a month, entitled Eleanor and the Marquis under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. She has the distinction of being number one in Harlequin Presents, Masquerade and Silhouette. Many of "Presents" have been reprinted many times (some as many as 16) and are now fetching up to $55, being classed as "rare" books.
She has had 3 awards, one at the World Trade Centre where she received a standing ovation from her American fans, who had come from many states just to meet her.
She was retired, but in 2005 she wrote two romance and crime novels, both of which were published by Severn House.
She passed away on 25 September 2014. She has been written her autobiography, entitled Fate Was My Friend.
She retired when she married. Later, when her marriage broke up, she was homeless with £40 in her purse. She went back to the rag trade and lived in a tiny caravan. But she never forgot her two ambitions, and when Manchester University decided to trial older women she applied, and three years later had achieved one ambition, so set her thoughts on number two.
In 1969, her first novel, Eternal Summer, was accepted five days from posting and she soon had a contract for 12 more. From the caravan she went to a small stately home, drove a Mercedes and sailed on the QE2. From the first book, came over 125 more written for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette. Alan Boon (the Boon of Mills & Boon) and she came up with the title for 'Harlequin Presents' over lunch at the Ritz. She suggested to Alan that they have a historical series. He told her to write one - it was done in a month, entitled Eleanor and the Marquis under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. She has the distinction of being number one in Harlequin Presents, Masquerade and Silhouette. Many of "Presents" have been reprinted many times (some as many as 16) and are now fetching up to $55, being classed as "rare" books.
She has had 3 awards, one at the World Trade Centre where she received a standing ovation from her American fans, who had come from many states just to meet her.
She was retired, but in 2005 she wrote two romance and crime novels, both of which were published by Severn House.
She passed away on 25 September 2014. She has been written her autobiography, entitled Fate Was My Friend.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 25, 2021
For a story about a kidnapping followed by forced marriage, it was pretty boring overall. However, there were some comical scenes that made it slightly enjoyable.
The story starts when our staunchly feminist, commitment-phobe, career woman, "bachelor girl" heroine is hoodwinked by her flighty friend into assisting her in jilting her supposedly abusive fiance. The heroine concocts a story to finnagle her way into his apartment, promptly soaks her dress in whiskey so she has an excuse to disrobe, and is sitting there in her wintercoat waiting for the dress to dry when the flighty friend appears in tow with her aunt to "catch" her and hero in flagrante. I will never forget the instant that heroine flashes the outraged aunt by uncrossing her legs and revealing she is wearing nothing under her coat. How Basic Instinct of her!!! LOL
The engagement is broken and as revenge, the hero kidnaps the heroine to his horrible gothic manor in the midst of nowhere and forced her to marry him. It wasn't 100% clear to me if they consummated the marriage or not. They do sleep together every night but it struck me that it was platonic. The heroine did mention she was "keeping her distance" from him and the bargain they had struck was either forced seduction out of wedlock or wedlock without the forced seduction so...Anyhoo...
Our guy turns out to be a beta hero who cares for his godmother, his brother, his sister-in-law and probably rescues orphaned kittens in his spare time. The flighty friend was lying through her teeth about his abusive ways. She simply fell in love with someone else and wanted to dump the hero but was just too much of a coward to do the jilting herself. Really, the heroine must have been stupid to believe her as the friend was getting engaged and disengaged once a month and was on the 6th fiance by the time the heroine became involved in their affair.
As it becomes clear that hero is really a nice beta guy (despite the kidnapping and forced marriage) and his bark is worse than his bite, the story really loses steam until the very end when the flighty friend returns and tries to vamp the hero again. But even that didn't bring any angst back because the flighty friend is such a comical character, really a caricature sketched for laughs rather than an actual threat, that I didn't have a single doubt that the hero and heroine would find their HEA without any cheating on hero's part or doubts about where his heart truly lay. I would characterize this story as a light farce rather than an Old Skool Trainwreck.
The story starts when our staunchly feminist, commitment-phobe, career woman, "bachelor girl" heroine is hoodwinked by her flighty friend into assisting her in jilting her supposedly abusive fiance. The heroine concocts a story to finnagle her way into his apartment, promptly soaks her dress in whiskey so she has an excuse to disrobe, and is sitting there in her wintercoat waiting for the dress to dry when the flighty friend appears in tow with her aunt to "catch" her and hero in flagrante. I will never forget the instant that heroine flashes the outraged aunt by uncrossing her legs and revealing she is wearing nothing under her coat. How Basic Instinct of her!!! LOL
The engagement is broken and as revenge, the hero kidnaps the heroine to his horrible gothic manor in the midst of nowhere and forced her to marry him. It wasn't 100% clear to me if they consummated the marriage or not. They do sleep together every night but it struck me that it was platonic. The heroine did mention she was "keeping her distance" from him and the bargain they had struck was either forced seduction out of wedlock or wedlock without the forced seduction so...Anyhoo...
Our guy turns out to be a beta hero who cares for his godmother, his brother, his sister-in-law and probably rescues orphaned kittens in his spare time. The flighty friend was lying through her teeth about his abusive ways. She simply fell in love with someone else and wanted to dump the hero but was just too much of a coward to do the jilting herself. Really, the heroine must have been stupid to believe her as the friend was getting engaged and disengaged once a month and was on the 6th fiance by the time the heroine became involved in their affair.
As it becomes clear that hero is really a nice beta guy (despite the kidnapping and forced marriage) and his bark is worse than his bite, the story really loses steam until the very end when the flighty friend returns and tries to vamp the hero again. But even that didn't bring any angst back because the flighty friend is such a comical character, really a caricature sketched for laughs rather than an actual threat, that I didn't have a single doubt that the hero and heroine would find their HEA without any cheating on hero's part or doubts about where his heart truly lay. I would characterize this story as a light farce rather than an Old Skool Trainwreck.
April 5, 2012
I actually didn't mind this book, it was a bit whacky but overall an alright read. The kidnapping was a bit outrageous and I had some serious questions about how possible this "romance" was. I've heard of stockholm syndrome and I had to wonder immensely if this was the case, in this novel. The "villain" Vicky, really through me off though, she was just weird and totally immature. I hope to god that there aren't read women like that out there or our planet is doomed!
January 2, 2018
3.5 stars
This was a revenge plot with a forced marriage. Typical Hampson but far from her most evil (such disappointment ;D). I still enjoyed it though the hero was kind of the dingbat to think some of his smooth moves would entice her closer instead of farther away. If you like alphas...who aren't really alphas, then this is a safe read for you.
This was a revenge plot with a forced marriage. Typical Hampson but far from her most evil (such disappointment ;D). I still enjoyed it though the hero was kind of the dingbat to think some of his smooth moves would entice her closer instead of farther away. If you like alphas...who aren't really alphas, then this is a safe read for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2018
This was another visit to Stockholm, but unlike many of the other Hampson Stockholm Series books where the h has signed on for a life with a brutal sociopath, you get the feeling that this time it will be a pleasant stay because the h really likes pickled herring and the H has promised to make her lingonberry pancakes every Sunday for brunch.
March 7, 2025
nunca mis sentimientos fueron tan cambiantes por un protagonista a medida que leía el libro.
una novelita rosa como cualquiera, mucho machismo, una protagonista boba que perdona todo. En fin, una lectura ligera que no amas pero tampoco odias.
una novelita rosa como cualquiera, mucho machismo, una protagonista boba que perdona todo. En fin, una lectura ligera que no amas pero tampoco odias.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
did-not-finish
August 23, 2025Too ridiculous a plot line! Sorry #25 of first 100, couldn’t take it!
April 30, 2018
The h is Kim Mayfield. She gets a frantic call from her young friend Vicky. She wants to break her engagement to the H,Julian Parnell (This engagement is her fifth!) The h rightfully wonders what’s so different with this engagement, that she can’t just end it like she did the others? Apparently she’s scared stiff of the H. Vicky makes him sound really horrible. Kim comes up with a plan that entails Vicky and Vicky's aunt caching the h and H in flagrante. All goes to plan without the H knowing that Kim and Vicky is in cahoots.
But since she was stupid enough to give him her real name he finds her telephone number. He asks her to come to him and trie to fix things with Vicky. Turns out he has done some scheming himself. He kidnaps her to his remote monastery in Wales, witch he planes to turn in to a hotel. He threatens her sexually (he keeps saying they will spend the night together, and when she ask when he will let her go he says when he’s tired of her). The sexual tension (if you ca call it that) is high to say the least. Then he offers her marriage instead. She reluctantly agrees.
Soooo by the h’s reckoning, it’s better to be raped by a husband then by a stranger? Because that is basically what she does. She gets to not be assaulted by the H that night, but have to sleep with him the rest of her life/marriage? WTF!
Then we cut to several days after they are married, no mention of how the wedding night went. First I thought that the marriage wasn't consummated. But the author just skipped it all. (she frequently does this in her books) The sexual tension and the buildup to “will he, won’t he” was so great that I thought that there would at least be a mention of how it went on the wedding night.
Now, the hero isn't actually so bad as he sounds. He genuinely cares for the h. He wanted to marry to make his dying aunt happy, but since Vicky bailed he took the h instead.
Julian isn't like Anne Hampsons usual heroes, in that he isn’t so alpha male-y (as I said, after the initially threatening behavior he’s actually kind of nice). Maybe because he’s not Greek?
After the marriage not much happens in my opinion. The conversion of the monastery to a hotel goes forward and the H’s brother and his wife comes to live there (their suppose to take over the running of the hotel when it’s finished).
After a lot of conversations with the sister in law and inner monologues, the h realizes she loves the H. witch is good, because it turns out that he married her for love after all! Apparently H fell in love with her at first sight.
But since she was stupid enough to give him her real name he finds her telephone number. He asks her to come to him and trie to fix things with Vicky. Turns out he has done some scheming himself. He kidnaps her to his remote monastery in Wales, witch he planes to turn in to a hotel. He threatens her sexually (he keeps saying they will spend the night together, and when she ask when he will let her go he says when he’s tired of her). The sexual tension (if you ca call it that) is high to say the least. Then he offers her marriage instead. She reluctantly agrees.
Soooo by the h’s reckoning, it’s better to be raped by a husband then by a stranger? Because that is basically what she does. She gets to not be assaulted by the H that night, but have to sleep with him the rest of her life/marriage? WTF!
Then we cut to several days after they are married, no mention of how the wedding night went. First I thought that the marriage wasn't consummated. But the author just skipped it all. (she frequently does this in her books) The sexual tension and the buildup to “will he, won’t he” was so great that I thought that there would at least be a mention of how it went on the wedding night.
Now, the hero isn't actually so bad as he sounds. He genuinely cares for the h. He wanted to marry to make his dying aunt happy, but since Vicky bailed he took the h instead.
Julian isn't like Anne Hampsons usual heroes, in that he isn’t so alpha male-y (as I said, after the initially threatening behavior he’s actually kind of nice). Maybe because he’s not Greek?
After the marriage not much happens in my opinion. The conversion of the monastery to a hotel goes forward and the H’s brother and his wife comes to live there (their suppose to take over the running of the hotel when it’s finished).
After a lot of conversations with the sister in law and inner monologues, the h realizes she loves the H. witch is good, because it turns out that he married her for love after all! Apparently H fell in love with her at first sight.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
pback-to-read
November 19, 2021"What is there in marriage for a woman? I wouldn't marry the best man breathing!" declared Kim Mayfields--and meant it. Married women, she was convinced, were downtrodden, exploited, at the mercy of their selfish husbands, and she wanted no part of it.
So she was ready to lend a sympathetic ear to her friend Vicky, when Vicky begged for her help in ending her engagement to the formidable-sounding Julian Parnell. Kim evolved what she thought was a brilliant plot to corn promise Julian and get Vicky out of the impossible situation; but the plot misfired or a grand scale and instead Kim found herself whisked off to the middle of Wales with Julian, married against her will to a man she scarcely knew and certainly did not care for.
Was Kim's own marriage going to turnout like all those others she so despised?
So she was ready to lend a sympathetic ear to her friend Vicky, when Vicky begged for her help in ending her engagement to the formidable-sounding Julian Parnell. Kim evolved what she thought was a brilliant plot to corn promise Julian and get Vicky out of the impossible situation; but the plot misfired or a grand scale and instead Kim found herself whisked off to the middle of Wales with Julian, married against her will to a man she scarcely knew and certainly did not care for.
Was Kim's own marriage going to turnout like all those others she so despised?
January 28, 2019
Not one of this author`s best efforts.
Plot is full of holes.
There are also gaps in the story (might be my ebook version).
Plot is full of holes.
There are also gaps in the story (might be my ebook version).
October 11, 2018
Liked it at the time.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews