What do you think?
Rate this book
That Devil Love
"I mean to have and own you completely."
Annis Warrener had only agreed to accompany her friend Stephen to an office party out of kindness and was expecting a rather dull evening. So she was taken aback to discover that Stephen's new boss was Zan Power, the man responsible for causing Annis and her family so much unhappiness.
But Zan had no idea who Annis was and made no secret of his attraction to her. Worse, he was prepared to use every weapon -- even blackmail -- to get her into his life....
Annis Warrener had only agreed to accompany her friend Stephen to an office party out of kindness and was expecting a rather dull evening. So she was taken aback to discover that Stephen's new boss was Zan Power, the man responsible for causing Annis and her family so much unhappiness.
But Zan had no idea who Annis was and made no secret of his attraction to her. Worse, he was prepared to use every weapon -- even blackmail -- to get her into his life....
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Lee Wilkinson
260 books39 followersLee Wilkinson was born in Nottingham, the only child of loving parents. She was educated at an all-girls' school, and after leaving, tried her hand at several jobs, including modeling swimwear.
At 22 she met and married her husband, Denis. They had a traditional white wedding and a honeymoon in Italy, and have been happily married ever since. They have two children, a son and a daughter—both now grown up and married—and four lovely grandchildren.
Lee's writing career began with short stories and serials for magazines and newspapers before going on to novels. She has had more than 20 Mills and Boon romance novels published to date.
Amongst her hobbies are reading, gardening, walking, and cooking. Traveling is her main love, and teaming up with her daughter and American son-in-law, she and her husband spent a year going round the world, taking in India, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the States.
Last year she rented a palazzo in the heart of Venice, followed by a quick hop aboard the Orient Express. Lee is currently saving up for a whirlwind tour of Japan, a romantic and exotic destination she has wanted to visit since childhood.
At present she lives with her husband in a 300-year-old stone cottage in a picturesque Derbyshire village, which gets cut off by snow most winters
At 22 she met and married her husband, Denis. They had a traditional white wedding and a honeymoon in Italy, and have been happily married ever since. They have two children, a son and a daughter—both now grown up and married—and four lovely grandchildren.
Lee's writing career began with short stories and serials for magazines and newspapers before going on to novels. She has had more than 20 Mills and Boon romance novels published to date.
Amongst her hobbies are reading, gardening, walking, and cooking. Traveling is her main love, and teaming up with her daughter and American son-in-law, she and her husband spent a year going round the world, taking in India, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the States.
Last year she rented a palazzo in the heart of Venice, followed by a quick hop aboard the Orient Express. Lee is currently saving up for a whirlwind tour of Japan, a romantic and exotic destination she has wanted to visit since childhood.
At present she lives with her husband in a 300-year-old stone cottage in a picturesque Derbyshire village, which gets cut off by snow most winters
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 28, 2021
The man is smitten. Head over heels, totally in love. Some say love is madness and that’s what he is. Wow.
A besotted, jealous alpha male who only has eyes for her. He lies at her feet without giving up his dominance. She doesn’t have to question his feelings for her. He doesn’t hide what she does to him, how much he is into her. He can’t be without her.
Somehow it works. His craziness. His madness. His passion. His obsession. His love. This is a sweep-you-off-your-feet hero.
When he says to the woman that he would rather be unhappy with her than happy with another woman, that is gold.
I’ll keep this book for re-reading in the future. I don’t give 5 stars often. But I would rate this book far more than 5 stars. In my opinion this is a HP masterpiece.
A besotted, jealous alpha male who only has eyes for her. He lies at her feet without giving up his dominance. She doesn’t have to question his feelings for her. He doesn’t hide what she does to him, how much he is into her. He can’t be without her.
Somehow it works. His craziness. His madness. His passion. His obsession. His love. This is a sweep-you-off-your-feet hero.
When he says to the woman that he would rather be unhappy with her than happy with another woman, that is gold.
I’ll keep this book for re-reading in the future. I don’t give 5 stars often. But I would rate this book far more than 5 stars. In my opinion this is a HP masterpiece.
September 25, 2018
The clearly smitten hero was the highlight.
Recommended.
Recommended.
April 28, 2022
If you’re into a wrecky situation that barely culminates when your patience is packing, you might just like it.
The h meets the H who has fallen for her at first sight. He’s totally besotted and lays the world at her feet as well as her family’s. The h’s brother who works for the H, gets an instant promotion and all perks paid for that come with the new post.
The h knows of the H’s nefarious past and refuses to bend despite all this. She keeps bringing up another woman who she knows had been used and abused by the H and so she already hates him.
The H is besotted and keeps pursuing the h. The h keeps shrieking and spewing ugly words at him but neither wants to talk and address the elephant in the room.
My patience waned enough times and I had decided to DNF until I didn’t. Many tedious interludes later -of the h’s spiteful bitchy trolling behaviour - we finally have a climax. No way!!
The train wrecky woman whose past colours the h’s misconceptions of the H is none other than her own ____.
You can take your guesses! What I hated was that Maya was yet another stage actress who was then involved in the whole mess. I absolutely abhor any actor/ model involvement in the books I read because I know how they all sync at the very basics.
So Maya is the big reveal. Also didn’t sit well with me why the H still wouldn’t reveal much more on who slept with who and when.
Finally when all’s been said, I still couldn’t accept a man who hung out with my _______ even if he didn’t sleep with her and it was someone else known to him. Whatevs
It was a long tedious book with the h doing her hateful tantrums which could’ve been avoided early on if they both could exchange a decent word or two on it!! Fail.
The h meets the H who has fallen for her at first sight. He’s totally besotted and lays the world at her feet as well as her family’s. The h’s brother who works for the H, gets an instant promotion and all perks paid for that come with the new post.
The h knows of the H’s nefarious past and refuses to bend despite all this. She keeps bringing up another woman who she knows had been used and abused by the H and so she already hates him.
The H is besotted and keeps pursuing the h. The h keeps shrieking and spewing ugly words at him but neither wants to talk and address the elephant in the room.
My patience waned enough times and I had decided to DNF until I didn’t. Many tedious interludes later -of the h’s spiteful bitchy trolling behaviour - we finally have a climax. No way!!
The train wrecky woman whose past colours the h’s misconceptions of the H is none other than her own ____.
You can take your guesses! What I hated was that Maya was yet another stage actress who was then involved in the whole mess. I absolutely abhor any actor/ model involvement in the books I read because I know how they all sync at the very basics.
So Maya is the big reveal. Also didn’t sit well with me why the H still wouldn’t reveal much more on who slept with who and when.
Finally when all’s been said, I still couldn’t accept a man who hung out with my _______ even if he didn’t sleep with her and it was someone else known to him. Whatevs
It was a long tedious book with the h doing her hateful tantrums which could’ve been avoided early on if they both could exchange a decent word or two on it!! Fail.
November 24, 2023
H was an absolute hunk but h was a neurotic idiot like a PJ’s h!
April 10, 2012
This novel definitely capture my interest. Right away I was pulled into the book and left with questions in my mind. Who was Maya? Why did she hate this man? etc! It was great watching things unravel and my questions being answered one at a time. I was terribly sad when I thought that the hero and heroine were going to be split up forever and then hopefully blissful when that was not the case. The ups and downs were quite fair and methodically thought out. It was certainly a decent read!
July 20, 2025
Good but not real obvious why he fell for her, and she could have had happiness much sooner if she'd told him why she was reluctant to get involved with him.
November 27, 2023
2 - 2.5 stars
It wasn't bad.
But if I had known this is a PG-13 harlequin, I'd never would've picked it.
Live and learn.
What a shame.
It wasn't bad.
But if I had known this is a PG-13 harlequin, I'd never would've picked it.
Live and learn.
What a shame.
April 1, 2025
Well, this is the third time in a row I've read a book by Ms. Wilkinson where someone's seeking revenge for what they think someone did and are totally hoodwinked by the so-called injured party. With the previous two books, it was the H who was fooled and sought revenge on the h, this time it's the h's turn to be vengeful.
In her case, though, she had less of an excuse because, unlike the others, she knew the "victim" (in this case, her mother) was far from innocent. Her mother was mentally unstable, self-centered, addicted to drugs, totally narcissistic and couldn't accept the fact that she was no longer a young hot girl. The h herself admitted she was amoral, yet she viewed her as some tragic heroine in a Victorian melodrama, seduced and abandoned by the evil villain (the H, or so she thought). Her death (brought on by her own stupidity) caused her father (who should win the Simp of the Year award) to kill himself because he couldn't live without her. (Couldn't live without a woman who cheated on him with numerous men, left him and came home again countless times, let him raise the h and her brother because she had no patience or inclination to be a mom (except to buy them expensive gifts and occasionally spend some fun time with them), and yet this dumb ass decides life's not living without her???? It's a wonder he fathered two children - assuming they were his - since his balls must have been the size of raisins!)
Anyway, the h assumes the H was Mommy Dearest's lover due to circumstantial evidence and when h makes it clear how much he wants her (using her brother, sister-in-law, twin nieces and newborn nephews as leverage, financial help for them if the h marries him, trouble for them if she refuses), she decides she'll use his feelings against him, make him want her the way her mother wanted him and then reject him the way he rejected her.
Convoluted? You bet! Since there was a definite hint early on as to who the real "villain" was (and it was more a case of his weakness and her obsession), I knew the H wasn't guilty and didn't deserve her revenge, yet at the same time his coercion tactics to get her to marry him lessened my sympathy.
It goes on too long, with her playing the hot/cold game in order to frustrate him and winding up just as frustrated because she wants him, too. She gives in, regrets it, starts to let herself care, then gets angry at herself for caring and at him for making her care, on and on a bit too much. The H apologized more than once for using her family as leverage to get her to marry him and knows there's more to it than that, and when she FINALLY tells him the story, the H admits he knew her mother but denies being her lover, but not strongly enough for her to believe him. He was such an ASS, because if he had just told her who the lover actually was, the whole mess would have been straightened out.
The way the H and h go through the whole "one step forward, two steps back" in their relationship gets redundant as well as silly, especially the h constantly lamenting how her body is at war with her mind, one wants him, the other loathes him, etc., ad nauseum. Then, all of a sudden it hits her: she loves him! NO!!! YES!!! Really??? I DON'T!!! I do, don't I???? And then the realization that should have been a no-brainer: Mom was a crazy 304 so maybe I've misjudged the H??? YOU THINK?????
And the H's remark that he'd rather be happy with her than unhappy with anyone else may sound romantic but it's hardly original. Ms. Wilkinson obviously paraphrased the old song "I'd rather be blue over you than be happy with somebody else". No one pulls the wool over my eyes!
One interesting point: while the h is contemplating giving in to her desires, and at the same time convinced that the H's only interest in her is sexual, she wonders if she should just enjoy the time they have together (which she assumes will be temporary, until he tires of her body) and accept that it'll end rather than deny herself the pleasure of sleeping with him, even if she ends up miserable when it's over? Should she give up her pride for something that won't last, or keep it and miss out on being with the only man she's ever wanted?
BTW: there's the OM in the story, a likeable guy, though a bit of a wimp when it comes to the h and a bit of a simp when it comes to the H (whom he works for). He loses the girl but gains a great job promotion overseas (arranged by the H to get him out of the way). This guy's a riot when he puts himself down, like calling himself a stupid oaf, as well as a fool for not trying to sweep the h off her feet. Good thing he didn't, as I'll bet that he'd have dropped her, and apologized all over the place for being so clumsy!
As for the guilty party, (her mom's actual lover) I'd hardly call his wife being in the hospital for a time an excuse to get naked with another woman! (Is the word "masturbation" not in his vocabulary?) It served him right that she turned out to be a lunatic who stalked him. And it bothered me that (once the h learned the truth) the three of them agreed to a conspiracy of silence to protect the wife from being hurt. So, they're keeping her in the dark for her own good? That doesn't sit right with me!
By the time the HEA arrives it's like, "Who cares?" I didn't and I doubt you will, either.
I gave the book an extra star for the h's starting a business: a temp agency for different kinds of help: secretarial, nursing, housekeeping, clever and versatile. Too bad it didn't have more to do with the story.
In her case, though, she had less of an excuse because, unlike the others, she knew the "victim" (in this case, her mother) was far from innocent. Her mother was mentally unstable, self-centered, addicted to drugs, totally narcissistic and couldn't accept the fact that she was no longer a young hot girl. The h herself admitted she was amoral, yet she viewed her as some tragic heroine in a Victorian melodrama, seduced and abandoned by the evil villain (the H, or so she thought). Her death (brought on by her own stupidity) caused her father (who should win the Simp of the Year award) to kill himself because he couldn't live without her. (Couldn't live without a woman who cheated on him with numerous men, left him and came home again countless times, let him raise the h and her brother because she had no patience or inclination to be a mom (except to buy them expensive gifts and occasionally spend some fun time with them), and yet this dumb ass decides life's not living without her???? It's a wonder he fathered two children - assuming they were his - since his balls must have been the size of raisins!)
Anyway, the h assumes the H was Mommy Dearest's lover due to circumstantial evidence and when h makes it clear how much he wants her (using her brother, sister-in-law, twin nieces and newborn nephews as leverage, financial help for them if the h marries him, trouble for them if she refuses), she decides she'll use his feelings against him, make him want her the way her mother wanted him and then reject him the way he rejected her.
Convoluted? You bet! Since there was a definite hint early on as to who the real "villain" was (and it was more a case of his weakness and her obsession), I knew the H wasn't guilty and didn't deserve her revenge, yet at the same time his coercion tactics to get her to marry him lessened my sympathy.
It goes on too long, with her playing the hot/cold game in order to frustrate him and winding up just as frustrated because she wants him, too. She gives in, regrets it, starts to let herself care, then gets angry at herself for caring and at him for making her care, on and on a bit too much. The H apologized more than once for using her family as leverage to get her to marry him and knows there's more to it than that, and when she FINALLY tells him the story, the H admits he knew her mother but denies being her lover, but not strongly enough for her to believe him. He was such an ASS, because if he had just told her who the lover actually was, the whole mess would have been straightened out.
The way the H and h go through the whole "one step forward, two steps back" in their relationship gets redundant as well as silly, especially the h constantly lamenting how her body is at war with her mind, one wants him, the other loathes him, etc., ad nauseum. Then, all of a sudden it hits her: she loves him! NO!!! YES!!! Really??? I DON'T!!! I do, don't I???? And then the realization that should have been a no-brainer: Mom was a crazy 304 so maybe I've misjudged the H??? YOU THINK?????
And the H's remark that he'd rather be happy with her than unhappy with anyone else may sound romantic but it's hardly original. Ms. Wilkinson obviously paraphrased the old song "I'd rather be blue over you than be happy with somebody else". No one pulls the wool over my eyes!
One interesting point: while the h is contemplating giving in to her desires, and at the same time convinced that the H's only interest in her is sexual, she wonders if she should just enjoy the time they have together (which she assumes will be temporary, until he tires of her body) and accept that it'll end rather than deny herself the pleasure of sleeping with him, even if she ends up miserable when it's over? Should she give up her pride for something that won't last, or keep it and miss out on being with the only man she's ever wanted?
BTW: there's the OM in the story, a likeable guy, though a bit of a wimp when it comes to the h and a bit of a simp when it comes to the H (whom he works for). He loses the girl but gains a great job promotion overseas (arranged by the H to get him out of the way). This guy's a riot when he puts himself down, like calling himself a stupid oaf, as well as a fool for not trying to sweep the h off her feet. Good thing he didn't, as I'll bet that he'd have dropped her, and apologized all over the place for being so clumsy!
As for the guilty party, (her mom's actual lover) I'd hardly call his wife being in the hospital for a time an excuse to get naked with another woman! (Is the word "masturbation" not in his vocabulary?) It served him right that she turned out to be a lunatic who stalked him. And it bothered me that (once the h learned the truth) the three of them agreed to a conspiracy of silence to protect the wife from being hurt. So, they're keeping her in the dark for her own good? That doesn't sit right with me!
By the time the HEA arrives it's like, "Who cares?" I didn't and I doubt you will, either.
I gave the book an extra star for the h's starting a business: a temp agency for different kinds of help: secretarial, nursing, housekeeping, clever and versatile. Too bad it didn't have more to do with the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2023
A chance meeting (or what appears to be ….) between h and H and suddenly we have:
- insta lust (love) and consequent relentless pursuit by our H
- insane jealousy of ANY man who dares approaching the h
- emotional blackmail to force the h to marriage (it is an old school HP)
- countless attempts to turn the marriage of convenience into a “real” marriage
- angst/misunderstandings
The poor h actually thinks (erroneously of course) all the worst of our H: she resists, she fights…… she gives up the fight and then fights again.
Really enjoyed it!!!
😀
- insta lust (love) and consequent relentless pursuit by our H
- insane jealousy of ANY man who dares approaching the h
- emotional blackmail to force the h to marriage (it is an old school HP)
- countless attempts to turn the marriage of convenience into a “real” marriage
- angst/misunderstandings
The poor h actually thinks (erroneously of course) all the worst of our H: she resists, she fights…… she gives up the fight and then fights again.
Really enjoyed it!!!
😀
dnf
April 4, 2025I rarely dnf harlequins, usually I know exactly what to expect: the patterns are always similar but that's what I want when I read a old school harlequin.
Unfortunately, not all authors have the talent of Charlotte Lamb or Lynne Graham.
The hero is obsessed far too quickly and it came fromage nochers, you feel like you're being thrown into the story when it's already begun.
His obsession is not believable, especially as the heroine is as uninteresting as it gets, but also annoying.
The chemistry just doesn't work, so that's a no for me.
Unfortunately, not all authors have the talent of Charlotte Lamb or Lynne Graham.
The hero is obsessed far too quickly and it came fromage nochers, you feel like you're being thrown into the story when it's already begun.
His obsession is not believable, especially as the heroine is as uninteresting as it gets, but also annoying.
The chemistry just doesn't work, so that's a no for me.
July 30, 2021
The big secret was easily anticipated so the story was predictable. There was too much of a travelogue of San Francisco and Hawaii.
August 4, 2021
Not my cup of tea.
Read
December 17, 2023dnf @ 47%
June 3, 2021
"I mean to have and own you completely."
Annis Warrener had only agreed to accompany her friend Stephen to an office party out of kindness and was expecting a rather dull evening. So she was taken aback to discover that Stephen's new boss was Zan Power, the man responsible for causing Annis and her family so much unhappiness.
But Zan had no idea who Annis was and made no secret of his attraction to her. Worse, he was prepared to use every weapon -- even blackmail -- to get her into his life....
Annis Warrener had only agreed to accompany her friend Stephen to an office party out of kindness and was expecting a rather dull evening. So she was taken aback to discover that Stephen's new boss was Zan Power, the man responsible for causing Annis and her family so much unhappiness.
But Zan had no idea who Annis was and made no secret of his attraction to her. Worse, he was prepared to use every weapon -- even blackmail -- to get her into his life....
April 22, 2016
2.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews