At the End of the Day

by Betty Neels

Was there any hope for her love? Having worked on Women's Medical for some time, Julia Mitchell had trouble accepting the arrogant, domineering attitude of Professor van der Wagema. It was only when she got to know him that an entirely different man emerged - and one that she had difficulty disliking Yet how could her heart betray her when she had Nigel - and what hope was there for her anyway when the Professor was already engaged to someone else?

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Harlequin Romance, Hqn, Harlequin, Medical, Contemporary Romance

286 pages, Hardcover

First published July 12, 1985

About the author

Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years.(This stood her in good stead later for the tribulations to come with the Second World War). She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho

Reviews

[Grrrrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A Delightfully Romantic Story Set in a Busy Hospital” proclaims the M&B cover blurb for At the End of the Day (1985). The title page blurb exposits: “It was Sister Mitchell on duty days and Julia when they were outside the ward…but what would Lauris’ fiancee say if she knew about their relationship?” Of course, Sister Mitchell is really the one with the inconvenient fiancé for more than half the book, but I guess that plot point/main conflict is easily overlooked? And that cover…what’s with our heroine’s weird face? Nice dress detail though….

This is one of Betty’s “heroine engaged to OM” stories. Although the OM fiancé in this one lingered for a little too long, I liked AtEotD quite a lot, mainly for the sparks of temper and mutual attraction between our MCs. Lauris and Julia are well matched both as adversaries and eventual mates.

AtEotD begins with our gorgeous redhaired heroine, Julia Mitchell, crossing that threshold that every BN heroine dreads: she’s turned 30! She wants marriage and kids but fiancé Nigel is dragging his feet. And that’s not the only problem: she’s begun to realize the thrill is gone. Nigel takes her so for granted that he doesn’t even remember that it’s her birthday, and she feels affection for him but little else, although it takes her a while to admit it.

Julia is a medical ward nurse at the hospital where Nigel is a resident surgeon. The thorn in Julia’s side is Professor Lauris van der Wagema, the cold and cutting, irritable and demanding Rich Dutch Doctor who serves as medical consultant. In the almost four years they’ve worked together, Julia and Lauris have frequently clashed, despite respecting one another professionally. The arrogant and acerbic hero has a knack for getting Julia’s back up as no one else does. Other than that, Julia has never really thought much about the doctor and knows almost nothing about him—she’s had Nigel, after all.

Betty doesn’t reveal much about Lauris’ and Julia’s early acquaintance, before Nigel came on the scene. Based on comments from other characters, it appears there was mutual antipathy from the start and neither recognized the sparks between them as anything but dislike. As one minor character notes, Julia could be just as unbending as our RDD. Immovable object, meet unstoppable force.

As the story begins, Julia is starting to realize that “the magic was missing” from her relationship with Nigel. Simultaneously, her old nemesis, Professor Lauris van der Wagema, is showing signs of thawing slightly from his usual (at best!) chilly, remote professionalism, and she finds herself wondering about him on a personal level.

Her confusing interest in Professor van der Wagema aside, all is not well on the engagement front. Fiance Nigel is pursuing a job in Bristol and keeps pushing their vague wedding plans back more and more, with his mother’s encouragement. None of his plans fits Julia’s wishes for a country home and babies asap, and her discontent is growing although she’s still reassuring herself that of course she still loves him. She’s feeling very unsure about her future as she waves him off from Waterloo Station en route to his interview.

Julia runs into Lauris at the station, where he’s putting his plot moppet on the train back to Hogwarts school (I know, I know, Hogwarts Express goes from King’s Cross). She’s greatly surprised when he hails her as “Julia” (a first!) and invites her out for coffee. Our RDD is typically private and reserved, so Julia had no idea previously that Lauris has an 11-year-old son, Nicholas. She gets the impression that he’s married when he casually refers to someone named Martha at home. Her imagination takes flight: [His wife] would be mouselike with wispy hair and no dress sense and always do exactly what he wanted. Poor soul…She would have to talk about something else before she got too indignant.

Although he mostly continues being chilly and sarcastic at work, our hero begins to show a friendlier side to Julia when they occasionally run into each other off duty. Cryptic remarks, gleaming eyes—signals of clear intent and pursuit in Betty’s world. Things continue to deteriorate on the Nigel front, meanwhile, when he tells her that he wants to postpone getting married for at least another year. Nigel mentions, too, that Professor van der Wegema is old Cambridge chums with his prospective new Bristol boss. (Betty never says if our RDD has a hand in his rival’s new post far from London, but we can speculate….)

Julia’s unsettled and needs a break—a thought echoed by Lauris when he runs into her and tells her she looks tired. She tells him she’s planning to go home, near Salisbury, for 10 days. He pumps her subtly for information about her family until she finally realizes and balks, thinking to herself “they had known each other for … almost four years and never once had he evinced any interest in her as a person.” And while she’s always squelched any interest in him in return, “it was a shock to realize that the only person who knew of her occasional flashes of rage was the Professor—and that was because he was invariably the cause of them.” Hee.

As for Lauris, he reveals something of his misperceptions about Julia when he drives her home during a rainstorm and discovers that she, like so many BN heroines, is afraid of thunder and lightning: “it’s a sop to my ego that I’ve at last discovered a chink in your armor of chilly calm…The ideal ward sister in person, you wear the image like a second skin. I wonder what’s underneath?”

She’s surprised he viewed her that way, and after he leaves, finds herself wondering even more about him: Natural curiosity, she told herself, quite forgetting that until just lately she hadn’t been in the least curious about him, but then it was only just lately that he had ever bothered to talk to her. There had always been talk of a professional nature, of course, and polite nothings….He might be quite a different person, she considered, if one could get to know him and he wasn’t so rude. The faint suspicion that he was rude to her on purpose to annoy her crossed her mind and was instantly dispelled for there was no sense in it. Soon she finds herself thinking that she doesn’t really dislike him at all, she quite likes him, really, even if he is sometimes rude and infuriating.

Julia goes home for the weekend, and finds Lauris hanging out with her dad! He has arranged for her schoolmaster father to tutor Nicholas, who goes to school nearby (providentially). Her mother asks Lauris if he’s married, and he reveals that his wife died eight years before. Martha, his housekeeper, takes care of them, he tells her, staring down Julia, who is quietly indignant that he deliberately gave the impression Martha was his wife. Left alone, Julia says to him “How strange—I didn’t know a thing about you all these years at St Anne’s and then Mother asks a couple of questions….” He says that he realizes he knew nothing of her either—the real Julia. “Making pastry and keeping an eye on the roast.” He paused. “And I think that’s the real you, isn’t it?” She agrees it is, although she likes her work—but there’s so much more.

And he quietly agrees, saying “I like my work too, but as you say, there’s so much more. And at the end of the day (titular reference!) you know what that is, Julia? To love and be loved. Just that.” (Was Betty listening to Nature Boy by Nat King Cole when she came up with this passage? “The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return.”)

Julia finally decides to break off her engagement to Nigel--not a decision she makes lightly because she thinks she really did love him at first. She tells Lauris when he asks yet again if she’s heard from Nigel, and he insists that if it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly. He drives her down to Bristol since he has an appointment there anyway. To his credit, he encourages her to fight for her relationship if it still means something to her and to try to work things out. But Julia knows that she and Nigel have lost that loving feeling, and only her pride truly seems hurt when he is clearly more relieved than upset when she returns his ring.

What follows then for our second act is our wily hero playing his hand close as he give Julia time to get over her broken engagement and figure out her feelings for himself. She soon knows she’s in love with him, but he hints he’ll be married soon--she thinks to the pretty blond she’s seen him with once or twice. Our RDD doesn’t contradict her; he is, after all, planning to get married soon. To her.

We have a pretty hot (to me anyway) rescue scene, when our MCs get caught up in a demonstration, and he shields her from the angry crowd with his vast hotness (and let me just say that I wouldn’t mind being pressed up against a brick wall by an RDD whatever the circumstances!) He nurses her through a cold, too, and even offers to wash her hair (fanning myself!), which she stupidly doesn’t take him up on, hee. Her heart beats Lauris…Lauris…Lauris…

Nicholas and his father have become frequent visitors at the Mitchell family home, and Lauris arranges for Julia’s brothers to visit his home in The Netherlands. He convinces Julia to come along to help. She agrees, happy to spend time with him but despairing of any future since she thinks he has a fiancee tucked away somewhere. She’s surprised and dismayed to find the gulf between them even wider when Lauris’ family home turns out to be a small castle with pepperpot towers, brightly painted shutters at the windows, and funny little windows its steep roof. .

We get a nice little travelogue of Friesland, of course, and even learn a little of the Frisian anthem : “Frisian blood, rise up and boil!” (I prefer the rousing oath from Tempestuous April.) The heroine is vetted by our hero’s approving mother.

All that remains is the hero’s deliberate Big Misunderstanding about his pending nuptials to clear up: just who is he planning to marry? Lauris has bided his time, making sure that she’s over her broken engagement. We get the sense that he’s been waiting patiently for a long time.

And Julia’s been pretty transparent about her feelings about Lauris for a while, and our RDD decides he’s waited long enough. Julia wakes early one morning and heads out to the garden to escape her unhappy thoughts. Lauris is there—somehow he knew she’d come down early, he tells her, and was waiting for her. He proposes, all impediments are removed, and our heroine tells him that what she felt for Nigel was but a pale shadow of what she feels for him. We have mutual avowals of love forevermore and, finally, a very satisfying HEA between two MCs who are nicely matched.

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauris and Julia make for an odd pair and are very unlike Betty Neel's traditional couples.

First of all, it is hate at first sight (versus love at first sight). These two are constantly bickering with each other at the workplace to the point where everyone else moves out of their way. (she is the ward sister, he is the consultant). Yet they seem to respect and enjoy each other's company outside work hours. At work, the hero is mean, stuffy and caustic. However, after hours, he turns into a princely gentleman. The heroine is no mouse and has a temper to match her fiery red hair. She takes on the good doctor and conveniently puts him in his place whenever he tends to get out of line.

This would normally be the case of opposites attract, except she happens to be engaged to another doctor at the hospital. (That might explain Lauris' nasty brooding temper). So instead of OW we have OM.

I loved how we got glimpses into Lauris' true feelings and his machinations to put himself front and center in her life. In spite of all the quibbling, I never doubted the good doctor's intentions. I just wandered how he would pull it all off. It made for a very entertaining read.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favourites. The heroine is tall and attractive, and a little older (30 - gasp!), but she's not poor. She has a fiance, but he's clearly a self-absorbed twerp, and she dusts her hands of him in a reasonable amount of time. Though, before she does so, she is rather more mannerly towards him and his overbearing mother than they deserve. (But what can you expect? Betty Neels heroines almost never verbally sock it to the people who deserve it.)

The hero, a rich Dutch doctor, is attentive and not mystified by his interest in the heroine, and frequently does little things to make his interest clear, such as getting his young son tutored in Latin by the heroine's father so that he can further his acquaintance with her family.

It takes the heroine awhile to figure things out, and in the meantime, the hero frequently talks about his beloved future bride, and we all know who that is! *swoon* Of course our modest heroine doesn't, but those of us who know Betty know that Betty never packs too much in the heroines' brain box. Because then they might get tired of their future in flower arranging and silent needlework.

But, as Babe Bennet would say, I'm just goofin' around. Despite my comments, this is a sweet romance.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. Julia Mitchell is 30, redheaded and green-eyed and Ward Sister of Women’s Medical. She has been engaged to Nigel Longman, a senior houseman at St. Anne’s, for about 2 years, and since she is 30 years old, she is ready to get married and start a family. Nigel isn’t nearly as bad as Humphrey from Heidelberg Wedding; just a bit of a narcissist and determined to put his career first (and he is encouraged in this view by his mother, who is clearly not the ideal MIL for a Betty heroine.
The senior consultant on Women’s Medical is Lauris van der Wagema, the senior consultant. Julia can’t stand him in spite of his good looks and charming bedside manner. Likewise, he is rude and appears to deliberately provoke her.
Nigel is in the process of taking a position in Bristol. Julia wants to get married right away and go with him. Nigel avoids talking about their future. Over the next few weeks, Julia comes to realize she does not love Nigel anymore (and eventually sees that she never really did, once she falls in love for reals). Julia is also surprised during this time that Professor van der Wagema is a lot nicer than she thought – she sees him away from the ward several times; indeed, it seems that he goes out of his way to help her during the rough patch of breaking up with Nigel. Hmmmm. . . wonder why?
Lauris has an eleven year old son, Nicholas, from a previous marriage. Julia’s father is a semi-retired schoolmaster who tutors boys in Greek and Latin. Nicky wants some tutoring. Julia’s brothers also go to the same school. Ta-Da! It’s a happy coincidence and they all become friends. Lauris and Nicholas spend quite a bit of time at Julia’s home, where he is liked and welcomed by her parents. By this time, we know that Lauris is using this as further excuse to spend time with Julia.
He proposes that the boys accompany him and Nicky to the family home in Holland and of course, Julia needs to go along as extra supervisory support. It’s a ploy, of course, so Julia can be introduced to her completely delightful future mother-in-law and stately future home (a small castle!). Declaration is made and accepted.
There are some really lovely bits in this book. The scenes from Julia’s home are delightful. I loved Julia’s rescue of Wellington, the stray kitten. Lauris’s speech about “at the end of the day” is wonderfully romantic. One can imagine any number of future school holidays of skating and sailing with Nicholas, Jason and Gregory.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our Betty is not one to waste a plot. And if I hadn't to have read the two books back to back I'm not sure I would have realized how alike they were.
This is a variation of 'Once for All Time'. This time though, the fiance is a nice enough guy, rather than a cad. She's the one to break it off because she's come to realize that she's fallen for the Doctor in a very big way!
There is no scheming other woman--just the doctor being vague about exactly who he is going to marry!
If you liked Once for All Time, you will like this one.
Conversely, if you liked this one--go ahead and read the other.
Either way--several hours of enjoyment await.
Neither is top of the line Betty, but not bad either.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Neels, though the heroine is a bit older here and there isn't really a "bad guy" or OW. The best part of this was watching the heroine's feelings slowly change from dislike to love. And seeing how the hero enjoyed teasing her with his intentions. :)

[Bookworman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Another future re-read to look forward to enjoying again.

[Hopefulpuffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 featuring a Rolls.

Julia is one of Betty's well-adjusted, attractive, successful heroines. She's got a fiancée but realizes she can't marry him because they don't really love each other and Nigel keeps postponing the wedding. Well, Julia's not getting any younger - she's 30! (Could she be the oldest Neels' heroine?)

Lauris is a cantankerous RDD. He and Julia are virtually always at loggerheads in the hospital. Outside the hospital it's another story. Of course Lauris, at 42, has been married before to a bad wife who ran off to America and died of some viral infection. He's played a patient waiting game and is finally ready to make his move.

His son happens to attend the same school as Julia's younger brothers. He (the son) gets tutoring by Julia's father. There are cats, dogs, horses, a donkey, a trip to the Netherlands, a head cold, soup, and the inevitable HEA.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun, older Betty - this time the nurse is beautiful, older (30 as the story opens, egad!), and has a feisty temper. She and her tetchy, sarcastic Dutch doctor boss (Lauris), constantly strike sparks off each other, which made for a fun read. For once there is no evil Other Woman - rather our heroine is engaged to a decent enough (if self-involved and clueless) younger doctor. It's a lot of fun to watch how Lauris moves into our girl's life as she comes to realize - shock! - she's been in love with him all along! As usual with Betty, an enjoyable couple of hours of fun escapist fluff (wonderful in this case for re-reading during a long car trip, bless her).

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reseña #44 At the End of the Day y #45 A Winter Love Story

Betty Neels se ha convertido en un clásico de mi fin de semana.
Despues de una semana laboral ajetreada, nada mejor que para descansar un poco la mente es leer, y por lo menos un día del fin de semana lo dedico a leer a esta escritora romántica.

Estos dos títulos los leí en un suspiro, las novelas son cortas y facilísimas de leer. Las historias son típicas. La primera “Al final del día”, es la historia de Lauris y Julia. Trabajan juntos desde hace 3 años pero cuando empieza la novela es que recién se dan cuenta de la existencia del uno y del otro. Lauris parece que le ha echado el ojo a Julia quien está comprometida. Pero eso no impide que logre meterse de a poco en su vida, y cuando ella termina con su novio, él está ahí para contenerla, lo demás es totalmente predecible.

“Una historia de amor en invierno” es un Neels muy típico, Claudia y Thomas los protagonistas tienen un matrimonio de conveniencia en el inicio de la novela y desde la mitad más o menos se pasan el resto de la historia enamorándose uno del otro. No hay mucha trama, pero no me importa, y por supuesto que nuestra modesta heroína es bastante simple y tierna, la verdad que Betty nunca intelectualiza demasiado el cerebro de sus heroínas, me refiero a que son chicas bondadosas, tiernas, prácticas y nobles si fueran demasiados intelectuales podrían cansarse ante la perspectiva de un futuro lleno de arreglos florales, bordados, tejidos, niños o en su calidad de esposa y socialité de un prestigioso doctor. También hay que tener en cuenta la epoca de origen de la escritora y que el feminismo apenas se asomaba por aquellos años en los cuales enarmorarse (o no), casarse bien y tener hijos era mas importante que ser una profesional independiente.



Una vez más nos encontramos con protagonistas que son en este caso enfermeras y ellos doctores holandeses. Neels escribe grandes detalles sobre el entorno y como siempre los protagonistas son buenos para comer, hay muchos desayunos y cenas, mucho té y café a mediodía, muchos tortas y emparedados, ropa (las protagonistas se la pasan comprando prendas de buena calidad) hay descripciones de vestidos y accesorios (¿como hacen estas chicas para saber comprar justo los vestidos que necesitan para cada ocasión?) y autos (Rolls Royce en el caso de los protagonistas). En el caso de Claudia su vida transcurre entre compras, mañanas o tardes de té con señoras organizando eventos benéficos, teje o borda, lee, y por supuesto recogen ya sea gatitos o perritos abandonados (esto demuestra el corazón bondadoso de Betty Neels, nunca falta la mascota simpática que es rescatada por los protagonistas), ambos siempre son amantes de los animales ya sea perros, gatos y gustan de cabalgar.

Betty Neels fue una prolífica autora británica, y todos sus libros son absolutamente limpios(no hay erotismo), sobrios, muy similares, y de ritmo uniforme. Las tramas están ubicadas en la Inglaterra contemporánea y en los Países Bajos Holanda principalmente, por lo que nunca faltan los lugares y pueblos bonitos ya sea en Holanda o Inglaterra (siempre googleo los lugares viendo fotos y mapas) por lo que los protagonistas van de paseo o de viaje a idilicos lugares, siempre hay desayunos o meriendas en hoteles encantadores… y en mi caso disfruto bastante con tooodas estas descripciones de ropa, ciudades,autos,comidas, etc.

Leer los libros de Betty N. es como retroceder a una época más tranquila y amable, sin grandes sobresaltos. Quizás sus historias no son muy novedosas y bastante repetitivas que nos hablan mucho de la rutina de las protagonistas y de un amor tranquilo, pero como ya he comentado tienen algo que a mi me gustan y he creado adición con sus novelas.

No son las mejores historias pero como de costumbre con Betty Nells me ha entregado un par de horas de diversión escapista con dos romances tiernos y muy, muy a la antigua.

[Aarathi Burki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was slightly different from other Betty novels. The hero Lauris, even though a Dutch, is very much settled in England and only goes to Holland during vacations. I liked heroine Julia too, who doesn't hesitate to speak and give her opinion. The story progresses at a good speed, and we see a lot of scenes of hero and heroine spending quality time with each other.I also liked Julia's parents, who were very supportive of her.

[Barty · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars. I struggled to enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed other betty books even though the writing was fine and the events of the book were pretty much what you would expect from Betty Neels. The problem was that I couldn’t really feel a proper connection between the characters, I struggled to relate to the fmc for how long she was hung up on the OM, and also the book didn’t show me how much these characters needed to be together. Betty usually does a good job of showing how two characters fill the gaps in each other's lives and hearts much better than this one did. It’s a pity because it just needed to stretch a little further to achieve that, the hints were too subtle, plus the ending was rushed and completely underwhelming, alas.

I guess it was too much of a gently ambling read for me. I prefer something with a bit more angst and two characters who really pine for or really need each other. Oh, also, while we got to see these two working together a lot, we didn’t get to see a lot of them really helping each other out in a crisis type situation. He mostly helped her out of getting over the OM once she had decided to ditch him, but their bonding outside of that was pretty lackluster.

THE STORY

Julia (30) is a big beautiful nurse working at a hospital with the prof, Lauris (41), an RDD based in England for several years now. He is known to be a bit moody at work and they don’t really get along, yet he is beloved by his patients and worshipped by the other staff. He’s a mysterious sort and no one seems to know much about him. Julia just knows that he scowls a lot at her and is often chilly and impatient.

She has been engaged to Nigel, a doctor at the hospital, for two years now, and is concerned about setting a date because she has now turned 30, but Nigel is too focussed on getting a new job at a Bristol hospital which will forward his career. he recently forgot her 30th bday. And even after he gets the job, he continues dragging his feet and tells her he doesn’t want to get married for ages yet, at least 8 months, and that she should keep working until then. He doesn’t care that she wants to marry soon and have a family and be a homemaker. His parents are lukewarm to her as well. Plus Nigel cares nothing for taking her with him to Bristol yet, not even to visit. he didn't even call her to let her know he got the job. The poor girl is wracked with doubts, yet in all her spare time she enjoys cooking for him while he harps on and on about his work and avoids any mention of wedding plans.

In the meantime, she sees the prof outside work one day, dropping his 11 year old son off at the train station for school and she is shocked to know he has a son. He sees her too and sweeps her along to take her out to tea and they end up chatting. This develops into an intermittent friendship and chatting whilst he often reverts to being his cold aloof self at work. However, she does find herself enjoying their chats. He asks her quite often about Nigel and about her plans to marry and move to Bristol and it embarrasses her to have him see how careless of her Nigel really is.

SPOILERS AHEAD

When the prof discovers that her father teaches at his son’s school, he turns up at her home one weekend to discuss extra tuition for the boy with the father. And this leads to him coming over a few more times too, being invited for family meals or to stay overnight, thus getting deeper involved in her personal life, and they also spend more time together because he drives her home and takes her out for meals etc..

She has seen him out on a date with a blonde girl earlier in the book and at first, assumes he is married (because of the son) but then learns he is a widower. but later on, something he says about planning to marry soon makes her think he is engaged.

About 60% into the book, the prof drives her back to London after a visit at her parents home and then they enjoy a lovely meal together, and then she suddenly realises she is in love with the prof and has fallen out of love with Nigel. That she cant bear the thought of a future with Nigel and that she would be unhappy. This gives her a sleepless night. The prof immediately spots that she looks unwell at work the next day and demands to know what is wrong. she ends up telling him that she wants to break things off with Nigel. He says she should give it some thought and not throw away her future. she says that she is certain of what she wants.

He says he is going to Bristol for work so she may as well come along and go to talk to Nigel. He drives her there, stays with her until Nigel is available to talk. Nigel is a bit miffed at being dumped but overall he is relieved, which makes her feel crap about herself.

After this she sees the prof more, but now she is in love with him she is overthinking everything, plus is plagued by the idea that he is engaged to another woman and surely the other woman would hate her spending time with Lauris at dinners etc? He assures her the woman he wants to marry wouldn’t mind, and she feels worse because his fiancée seems to be a trusting woman.

There is no rescue or tragedy scene in this book. instead, we get a scene where he is walking her home and they get swallowed up in a mob and he protects her with his big body by keeping her up against a wall and being her shield. Which is nice, but sadly isnt a touch on the car crash or fire or earthquake or bomb dramas we get in other betty books, alas.

Lauris then arranges for her two younger brothers to go on a visit to holland with his son, but asks her to come along to help him with the boys. She agrees to go along because she is cajoled into it. She assumes his fiancée is dutch and that she will meet the girl over there and feels dread.

ENDING SPOILER

i found it a lackluster ending. She goes to holland, sees that he lives in a little castle there, meets his mom who is eager to meet her. When he goes out for the evening, she assumes he has gone to see his fiancée. He comes home alone. She cant bear it. Goes for a walk in garden to clear her head. He comes to find her. She tells him she cant bear it and that she thought she would be meeting his fiancée by now. He says he knows that she is in love with him. He tells her she is the one he loves but that he couldn’t tell her earlier until she got over her ex. THE END.

It was really odd for this ending to come out of nowhere, as if betty got bored with the book and decided to conjure up an ending all of a sudden. I found it completely underwhelming.. Plus I was expecting him to tell her that he’d loved her all along and that was the reason he was so grouchy at work, but nope, nothing. After spending all that time reading a book I wasnt too keen on, I at least expected some emotional gratification in the ending and I didn’t even get that.

HEROINE HARD TO SYMPATHISE WITH, HERO SO SO

She is a beauty with no financial troubles. nothing much to root for. and for a 30 year old woman, I was a bit annoyed at how long she lets the mundane Nigel get away with neglecting her. FFS woman, get a blooming backbone and tell the leech to sod off. In my view, a man in that era who drags a 30 year old woman along whilst using up her time and enjoying her homemaking/cooking efforts and her affections and her support and gives nothing back is nothing more than a leech and user. I was peeved how long she clung to the moron, for 60% of the book! Until she suddenly realised she was in love with the prof and dumped Nigel’s ass. It just took far too long, and I lost my sympathy with her long before then. In fact, what was so great about her really? She didn’t have the oomph or the being a resilient underdog traits that make us love other Betty heroines so much. I found her not so interesting. yeah, she had some virtues, but they didn't get displayed enough in the book thus we never got to see her shine. she just dappily went though life with no major troubles but mildly feeling sorry for herself over her love life.

Plus, the hero was both difficult to understand and he didn’t have the depth of loneliness or heartache or past trauma highlighted that make us root for a betty hero. He had a fairly cushy life and other than the old “it would be nice to have a mother for my son but he doesnt need her really” there were no gaps in his life. We couldn’t even be sure that his heart was lost to the heroine thus causing him angst early on. I assumed he was grumpy because he liked the heroine but she was going to marry someone else, but this was never actually stated in the book. He never said how long he had been in love with her for. So maybe he was grumpy just because he is a grumpy sort?

CONCLUSION

TBH I cant see why this h and H fell in love. There was nothing to dislike about the book and it did have plenty of plot, but none of it worked for me. The heroine was a bit wishy washy and not so emotionally mature for a 30 year old. The heroes moody grouchiness was all wasted because it didn’t seem to be in response to anything particular – it should have been in response to the woman he loves being all oved up with the OM for instance, but it was random. And the ending was just awful tbh. Thos one was just not for me, and yet I give it a generous 3.4 stars because it wasn’t terrible, it has lots going for it that other readers might like, but it just didn’t work for me.

[Mudpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25* 1985

I absolutely love this story! Almost an enemies to lovers tale, the Profeessor/Lauris and our Junoesque 'Olivia' heroine Julia just struck sparks off each other without knowing. ..Both had worked together really well but outwardly it seemed both did not get along! Not sure when he had his dawning realisation but she had hers when her engagement with Nigel the Ninny seemed to be more a millstone around her neck than her HEA.

I adore all the visits to her parents' country home. All the children and animals were delightful and it's amazing how an 11-year old Nicky could keep his secrets so well! RDD's mother seemed a great future MIL and it's funny how her face and voice could go as bland as her son's! Or should I say her son inherited it from her?!

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS



Not to say the ending was abrupt, but it took me by surprise because I really enjoyed reading everything especially when they got to Friesland, I wanted more! Then we had the love declaration and it's rather well done. I could feel the love and romance...and it's all done without the usual trappings like ring and champagne. Just a cold morning walking arm in arm and sincerest love declarations. Aww...

I am glad the Professor became Lauris when her feelings for him deepened. ..The way he realised her feelings for Nigel must have changed and he wasted no time offering to drive her to Bristol was so funny! It might seem uncool but he did play fair; he clearly told Julia to clarify things and work it out with Nigel.

When she was down with a cold he was so sweet to visit! HE OFFERED TO WASH HER BEAUTIFUL RED HAIR. *swoon* The home cooked meal he brought her was meant to be a proposal meal but smart guy did not proceed as planned...Love of her life or not, if he had proposed to her looking at her worst, Julia would kill him! or bash him over with a pan for sure LOL!

Our Lauris sure knew how to grab the opportunity by getting more Latin classes for his son from Julia's father.

I have a feeling Julia and Lauris would be married in England by Special Licence when they returned before Christmas, and by Old Year's Day when he brought her back to Friesland she'd be his mevrouw! Aww...

Are Julia and Lauris the oldest Neels couple? She turned 30 and he's 41 going on 42. Ooh and now Julia could indulge in her love for high heels!

That demonstration scene when he protected her with his vast body?! *fan fan*

Book title derived from:
'Oh, my darling, I said once that at the end of the day all we need is to love and be loved. I promise you that I will love you till the end of my days.’

Julia's right hand woman was Staff Nurse Pat Down...LOL

Re-read 8 Feb 2022: still 4.25* loving it!

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the titles of Betty Neel's books. They always mean something and often it's quite romantic. This is a paraphrase from the song that would have been around back in the day. Quoted by the hero, it's a great pointer about where things are going.

Julia has been engaged to Nigel for two years and looking forward to marriage and settling down as she is thirty and seeing her future dwindling. Nigel is very ambitious and heading off to take up a position in Bristol with it's own flat. An excellent opportunity for them to get married and start their life together. Only Nigel doesn't see it that way. He wants to settle in and for Julia to join him later, a point of view supported by his mother who doesn't particularly approve of Julia.

In the background we have Lauris, the consultant on Julia's ward who strikes sparks off her constantly. He is a widower with a young son at boarding school, conveniently close to Julia's family home. Somehow, he starts to encroach on her life outside the hospital, at the same time as Nigel is becoming increasingly hard to pin down. And the Professor is surprisingly nice outside the hospital.

This is a very sweet story with the suitably naive heroine and the hero in pursuit. Being enigmatic and talking of a future bride that everyone but the heroine knows is her.

[Helen Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of TGB's very best. Wonderful lead characters with prickly chemistry. One gets the impression that the RDD has been waiting for the PBN to figure it all out.

[Readitnweep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slower paced, clean romance including a few details on visiting Holland. I welcomed the soothing pace and lack of graphic sex. Lack of any sex, really. Only at the very end were the male protagonist's feelings revealed as those more of the heart, though the Narrator was omni presence and there were many dips into the heads of both main characters, which I also enjoyed as these were light touches - the depth of emotion or desire never expressed until the end.

Some might find the female lead far too demure and self-effacing. This was explained as being due to her family - I thought that worked, especially given when the book was published.

This was my first Betty Neels book, and I'll look for more. It was a relaxing, gently romantic read. The protagonist was a bit too obvious for me, but I liked the rest of it so much as to easily over look her.

[Tausha Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

At The End of the Day

Wow!! That was a great story of Julia and Lauris!! It is funny, and confusing, and romantic, and all the things. I didn't really like Nigel. He's okay, but he treated Julia like she was there for his amusement and at his convenience. Everything was about him and what he wanted, and it was just too bad if Julia wanted something different. It's really interesting how Lauris just calmly goes about getting to know her better. Of course, Julia eventually realizes she's in love with Lauris and the real problems start from there.... problems that she has made up, of course. Anyway, the story keeps you guessing until the very end. I hope you'll read it and that you like it as much as I did.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked that the heroine and hero were both a little older (30 and 42, I think). The professor is quite patient waiting for Julia to realize that her fiancé is not the right man for her. Meanwhile, he treats her with a cold professionalism while they are working together. I enjoyed the boys, his son and her brothers, got along so well. Julia was just a bit slow on the uptake. She should have been a little more suspicious of Lauris's actions. Nigel was an arrogant, self-centered git, in my opinion.

[Gogol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been on a roller coaster of BN binge reading, and so far I have come upon more than one instance where I’m certain the heroes have chosen heroines they could deliberately trod upon, very disappointing romantic wise, this one is one of the old versions of BN that made one fall in the rabbit hole. Not one of her wonderful slow burns mind you, but it’s gentle and sweet and you know the hero really cares.

[Caro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Es la primer novela de Betty que no me gusta para nada.
Tiene el peor topico de todos : Ella "Julia "está de novia y comprometida.Ademas de jefa de enfermeras,es bonita y una atractiva pelirroja 😒
Entonces el médico holandés la quiere para él 🙄🤌🏻 Él es viudo y tiene un hijo,su mujer lo abandonó y murió. Otro de los tópicos que menos me gustan.
Es dentro de todo una novela corta.Y se agradece.

[mary glynn stelmack · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good but not my favorite betty

This is you're typical neels and nurse I just didn't like the coldness of the hero and how long it too for them to get together! Its great when they finally do

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good Betty Neels, the heroine is older (30)! and we are told more about her nursing job. The doctor hero never tells her he likes her and is very grumpy almost dual personality but of course it’s all fine in the end!

[Helen Moulden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed all the way through. Loved it. Older man for a change. But who was the pretty girl he was with at the Movies???????

[Maria Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Betty Neels

I am an avid Betty Neels fan. I read as many of her books as I can download. I wish I had a list of her books.

[Brandielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooo I liked this one. I wish there’d been more of the professors son in it.

[Monique E. Lacroix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Such a blessedly simple story. I had the greatest time reading it. I basically love all Betty Neels books but this one stands high on my list.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Julia thought how pleasant life could be, even when things weren't going jut as one would like."

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pat Down is probably the worst Betty name I've ever seen

[Nenya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only about a third done. So this isn't really about this book, but Betty Neels' in general. I am so grateful to Kathy for recommending this author. It's the small things, the social conventions, conversations and relationships that make it so comforting, because what's truly important is connecting with people. It is still fantasy... most of the stories have the H rescuing h from some situation, but I realize, at the end of the day, we go through life rescuing people, and being rescued in turn... it is part of life, part of society... Anyway, in general, her books are soothing and relaxing (unless an OW pops up; i'm not a big fan of those.)

[Marybelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a simple story, but so very satisfying. I love the characters and how they interact. Sometimes one needs a gentle love story to read on a rainy afternoon with a sweet happily ever after; it counteracts all of the stress and demands of modern life.