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Forgotten Sins
Aline was in bed with a handsome stranger! He claimed she'd made love to him. Her mind couldn't remember a thing, but her body was on fire.
Jake accused Aline of conveniently faking her amnesia, of deliberately holding something back. However, his passion for her was undeniable, and if he really believed she was keeping a guilty secret, why did he tell her that he would always be there for her? Did his body know a truth his mind denied?
Jake accused Aline of conveniently faking her amnesia, of deliberately holding something back. However, his passion for her was undeniable, and if he really believed she was keeping a guilty secret, why did he tell her that he would always be there for her? Did his body know a truth his mind denied?
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
12 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Robyn Donald
448 books148 followersRobyn Elaine Donald was born on 14 August 1940 in Northland, New Zealand. She was the oldest child in her family, and as a child, she thrilled her four sisters and one brother with bloodcurdling adventure tales, usually very like the latest book she'd borrowed from the library.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 27, 2020
Re Forgotten Sins - Robyn Donald goes the unusual HP route of having the h of this book be the OW of one of her previous books. Interestingly, this heroine is the OW of The Devil's Bargain AND works for the H of that book still.
(But of course this h is now the BFF of the Devil's Bargain h and they are the closest of mutually supportive compadres during this story.)
So can we all scream Tackiness Typhoon! right out of the gate? We sure can, cause RD doesn't pull any punches in making this former OW, now a repressed and widowed heroine, crawl right through the muck to a very dubious HEA.
We learn the backstory of this heroine is that she was married to a world famous yachtsman, who died three years prior to start of this story - after setting up a charitable foundation that the h has no part in running, but can cosign checks for.
The book opens with the H, the h and dead husband's mistress all at the christening of the baby who is the offspring of the H and h from Devil's Bargain.
RD gives us some of the H's thoughts as he is stalking the h around the after christening party, it is clear he is obsessed-not necessarily in a good way- and the h isn't responding to him the way he would like.
Our h is very repressed emotionally and a financial genius. The explanation for that is explained as her father had no sons, but his daughter proved to be brilliant. So the father pushed the h to follow into his high finance footsteps, when she really wanted to be a doctor.
(Naturally, the h has to suppress all her natural femininity to do this, because this is HPlandia and therefore she can't be a big time High Finance Boss in her own right - she has to work for an HP Alpha Male, cause the tropes just roll that way.
We also learn that the h slept with the H of Devil's Bargain when she had a bad moment after her husband died. Apparently it did not do a lot for either of them and that H went on to marry the h of that book.)
Anyhows, the drama really hits the fan in the second chapter while we are still wandering around the christening. The woman the H is hanging with during the party corners the h and announces that she was the h's dead husband's beloved mistress. There is a tell all book coming out in a week, with a super special supplement in this Sunday's paper.
The mistress goes on and on about how she is soooo happpy the world will finally know how much the dead husband loved his mistress tart on the side and for some reason the mistress believes that this 500 page expose of their epic love is going to enhance the dead husband's benevolent posthumous reputation.
The h is literally blindsided by this information and the H is quick to take advantage. (He is a big time prosecutor and we soon learn that he has another reason for stalking the h - he thinks she is in on swindling innocent people's money via her dead husband's charitable foundation.)
So the H manages to get the h to go away with him to a private island to escape the publicity. Lurve club events happen in the aftermath of the h's shock. (She had no clue her marriage was anything other than a happy lovefest on both sides and pretty much falls into bed with the H with the subtlest of encouragement - which the H later blames on her for pushing for it.)
The h had hit her head a few times during the day of the big revelations, so after the night of purple passion moments, she wakes up with amnesia. The H believes she is faking it, so various contretemps and nasty remarks ensue.
This goes on for a bit, but the h manages to get her memory back and realize that she is in love with the H. However, the h is also certain the H is only in it for a boudoir bounce or two, because she is so obviously a pathetic, useless sort of woman.
Then the h gets a bee in her bonnet about her dead husband's charitable trust manager and his financial schemes using the trust's money illegally. The h wants to start doing some checking and the H decides to help her with this.
The h figures something is wrong and soon several million dollars are found to be missing. Right on cue, the h overhears the H talking with one of his own investigators and the h realizes that the H has been playing her and sleeping with her to prove she was in on the embezzlement.
The h storms out after the H tells her he has no problems continuing to sleep with her, at least until she is sent to jail. A few months pass while RD has the H find out that the h was entirely innocent and then the h from Devil's Bargain does her secondary character duty to pimp the h out to the H.
The h from Devil tells the h to crawl back to the H and beg for forgiveness for not wanting to be involved with a man who essentially slept with her to prove she was a criminal. Again, as this is HPlandia, the h does go back to the H and beg for whatever scraps he wants to give her.
The H claims he was going to come find her, but I wasn't buying that bridge and after a very sad declaration of humility and subjugation from the h, the H decides she has learned her place under his feet and decides he will marry her for the very black HEA.
This was not one of RD's best, although the H was up there on the Robyn Donald Nematode Slime Pustule scale.
I just had a hard time finding the love in this one. The h seemed to be in a state of reactionary trauma and the H was just a sewer slurper who seemed to have an uncomfortable need to denigrate any woman that he perceived as being better than him.
None of that makes for a very happy HP outing, but if you like the true snot snarfing hero trope, this one has it in spades.
(But of course this h is now the BFF of the Devil's Bargain h and they are the closest of mutually supportive compadres during this story.)
So can we all scream Tackiness Typhoon! right out of the gate? We sure can, cause RD doesn't pull any punches in making this former OW, now a repressed and widowed heroine, crawl right through the muck to a very dubious HEA.
We learn the backstory of this heroine is that she was married to a world famous yachtsman, who died three years prior to start of this story - after setting up a charitable foundation that the h has no part in running, but can cosign checks for.
The book opens with the H, the h and dead husband's mistress all at the christening of the baby who is the offspring of the H and h from Devil's Bargain.
RD gives us some of the H's thoughts as he is stalking the h around the after christening party, it is clear he is obsessed-not necessarily in a good way- and the h isn't responding to him the way he would like.
Our h is very repressed emotionally and a financial genius. The explanation for that is explained as her father had no sons, but his daughter proved to be brilliant. So the father pushed the h to follow into his high finance footsteps, when she really wanted to be a doctor.
(Naturally, the h has to suppress all her natural femininity to do this, because this is HPlandia and therefore she can't be a big time High Finance Boss in her own right - she has to work for an HP Alpha Male, cause the tropes just roll that way.
We also learn that the h slept with the H of Devil's Bargain when she had a bad moment after her husband died. Apparently it did not do a lot for either of them and that H went on to marry the h of that book.)
Anyhows, the drama really hits the fan in the second chapter while we are still wandering around the christening. The woman the H is hanging with during the party corners the h and announces that she was the h's dead husband's beloved mistress. There is a tell all book coming out in a week, with a super special supplement in this Sunday's paper.
The mistress goes on and on about how she is soooo happpy the world will finally know how much the dead husband loved his mistress tart on the side and for some reason the mistress believes that this 500 page expose of their epic love is going to enhance the dead husband's benevolent posthumous reputation.
The h is literally blindsided by this information and the H is quick to take advantage. (He is a big time prosecutor and we soon learn that he has another reason for stalking the h - he thinks she is in on swindling innocent people's money via her dead husband's charitable foundation.)
So the H manages to get the h to go away with him to a private island to escape the publicity. Lurve club events happen in the aftermath of the h's shock. (She had no clue her marriage was anything other than a happy lovefest on both sides and pretty much falls into bed with the H with the subtlest of encouragement - which the H later blames on her for pushing for it.)
The h had hit her head a few times during the day of the big revelations, so after the night of purple passion moments, she wakes up with amnesia. The H believes she is faking it, so various contretemps and nasty remarks ensue.
This goes on for a bit, but the h manages to get her memory back and realize that she is in love with the H. However, the h is also certain the H is only in it for a boudoir bounce or two, because she is so obviously a pathetic, useless sort of woman.
Then the h gets a bee in her bonnet about her dead husband's charitable trust manager and his financial schemes using the trust's money illegally. The h wants to start doing some checking and the H decides to help her with this.
The h figures something is wrong and soon several million dollars are found to be missing. Right on cue, the h overhears the H talking with one of his own investigators and the h realizes that the H has been playing her and sleeping with her to prove she was in on the embezzlement.
The h storms out after the H tells her he has no problems continuing to sleep with her, at least until she is sent to jail. A few months pass while RD has the H find out that the h was entirely innocent and then the h from Devil's Bargain does her secondary character duty to pimp the h out to the H.
The h from Devil tells the h to crawl back to the H and beg for forgiveness for not wanting to be involved with a man who essentially slept with her to prove she was a criminal. Again, as this is HPlandia, the h does go back to the H and beg for whatever scraps he wants to give her.
The H claims he was going to come find her, but I wasn't buying that bridge and after a very sad declaration of humility and subjugation from the h, the H decides she has learned her place under his feet and decides he will marry her for the very black HEA.
This was not one of RD's best, although the H was up there on the Robyn Donald Nematode Slime Pustule scale.
I just had a hard time finding the love in this one. The h seemed to be in a state of reactionary trauma and the H was just a sewer slurper who seemed to have an uncomfortable need to denigrate any woman that he perceived as being better than him.
None of that makes for a very happy HP outing, but if you like the true snot snarfing hero trope, this one has it in spades.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2021
UPDATE JULY 2021
I just reread The Devil's Bargain in which the “heroine” of Forgotten Sins was the vicious, stalkerific, condescending, cruel bitch of an OW to that book’s innocent and classy heroine. So I am upping my original star rating from 1 to 5 stars because the vicious cow deserved an Epic SuperComeuppance of Volcanic Proportions. In this sequel of sorts, she finally gets her just desserts, and I couldn’t feel more shadenfreude for her than if I was God looking down at Nietsche’s coffin after he dared to claim that I was dead.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
This poor woman let everyone walk all over her: her dad who didn’t love her, her schmuck cheating bastard husband who made fun of her behind her back with his mistress, her husband’s mistress who she felt SORRY for after the woman humiliated her publicly, her schmuck of an employer who used her for a one-night stand, and her current “hero” who was lusting after her even as he was investigating her for fraud and embezzlement. If this train wreck isn’t epic enough for you, the heroine falls in and out of amnesia at the speed of a yo-yo. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2013
The story was good, albeit incomplete in my mind. I couldn't help but feel as if we were missing a huge chunk when it came to the end of the novel.
April 29, 2024
Trite. Banal. Non starter
The story made such an amazing start. There is a moment when the heroine is holding a baby and the hero squats in front of her to talk to the baby and their eyes meet. Brilliant.
But.
After that the author lost the plot.
She did not know where to go.
So she took the hero and heroine to an island.
Again. What to do next?? Ok. Give the heroine amnesia.
It was all so stupid.
I did not even skim. I leapt and bounded to the end.
There was some subplot about embezzlement from a trust fund.
This was one of the books where there was slightly too much mention of all the heroine’s past lovers.
She was the other woman from another book. Therefore.
I don’t want to read about a heroine I feel dislike for. But
Again that same mistake I saw in another Robyn book. There are other side characters who were main characters in another book. Please. Don’t make them take away the limelight. But they do.
There is actually a man on the pages. Her boss. With whom she had a one night stand. He is tall, handsome, sexy, powerful.
Excuse me. I want her to end up with him!!
The hero somehow never seemed at all heroic in anyway.
So basically I never felt any sympathy or affection for the two main characters.
Sorry. It is a no star read. Almost.
The story made such an amazing start. There is a moment when the heroine is holding a baby and the hero squats in front of her to talk to the baby and their eyes meet. Brilliant.
But.
After that the author lost the plot.
She did not know where to go.
So she took the hero and heroine to an island.
Again. What to do next?? Ok. Give the heroine amnesia.
It was all so stupid.
I did not even skim. I leapt and bounded to the end.
There was some subplot about embezzlement from a trust fund.
This was one of the books where there was slightly too much mention of all the heroine’s past lovers.
She was the other woman from another book. Therefore.
I don’t want to read about a heroine I feel dislike for. But
Again that same mistake I saw in another Robyn book. There are other side characters who were main characters in another book. Please. Don’t make them take away the limelight. But they do.
There is actually a man on the pages. Her boss. With whom she had a one night stand. He is tall, handsome, sexy, powerful.
Excuse me. I want her to end up with him!!
The hero somehow never seemed at all heroic in anyway.
So basically I never felt any sympathy or affection for the two main characters.
Sorry. It is a no star read. Almost.
August 16, 2021
I have not read the first book. In this story, the chemistry between the main characters was evident early even though the h, now a widow, attempted to suppress and deny. It was obvious that a lot of drama had occurred prior to the marriage of her best friend to her current employer and that those issues had been resolved among the 3. At the christening of her BFF's child, the h and other attendees were 'entertained' by the proclamation of the h's dead husband's mistress that she was his true love and had been long before his death and that she had lost their love child following his accident. She hated the h and gleefully announced that there was a soon to be released tell all book about her and the h's husband to present his 'goodness' in a proper prospective.
She is 'rescued' from the resulting media circus by the H who is also investigating fraud and theft charges surrounding the dead husband's charity foundation. I liked how the revelations of the OW pushed the h to finally release her grief and move on with her life. I liked how she and the H were very attracted to each other but did not let that obscure other important happenings in their lives. I liked how the h finally embraced herself as a successful, feminine creature who no longer had to please either daddy dearest or her dead husband.
She is 'rescued' from the resulting media circus by the H who is also investigating fraud and theft charges surrounding the dead husband's charity foundation. I liked how the revelations of the OW pushed the h to finally release her grief and move on with her life. I liked how she and the H were very attracted to each other but did not let that obscure other important happenings in their lives. I liked how the h finally embraced herself as a successful, feminine creature who no longer had to please either daddy dearest or her dead husband.
Read
November 20, 2019The amnesia plot was beyond stupid, but the real unacceptable nit was the ending. After everything she wents through she was the one who had to grovel. Really unacceptable for me.
Read
May 13, 2024Old reads
August 25, 2024
Boring.
own-but-wont-read-or-wallbanger
January 28, 2019Aline was in bed with a handsome stranger! He claimed she'd made love to him. Her mind couldn't remember a thing, but her body was on fire.
Jake accused Aline of conveniently faking her amnesia, of deliberately holding something back. However, his passion for her was undeniable, and if he really believed she was keeping a guilty secret, why did he tell her that he would always be there for her? Did his body know a truth his mind denied?
Jake accused Aline of conveniently faking her amnesia, of deliberately holding something back. However, his passion for her was undeniable, and if he really believed she was keeping a guilty secret, why did he tell her that he would always be there for her? Did his body know a truth his mind denied?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews