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Passion's Far Shore
He preferred experienced women
And that Dorothy wasn't. The trip to Japan wasn't her main reason for accepting the job as little Pearl's governess. Quite simply her warm heart had gone out to the motherless child.
She hadn't known then, however, that the cynical, devastatingly handsome Calum Hescott hadn't wanted a governess in the first place. He saw Dorothy as nothing more than an unwelcome intrusion.
Until, that is, he decided that she needed the necessary experience to complete her education.. . .
And that Dorothy wasn't. The trip to Japan wasn't her main reason for accepting the job as little Pearl's governess. Quite simply her warm heart had gone out to the motherless child.
She hadn't known then, however, that the cynical, devastatingly handsome Calum Hescott hadn't wanted a governess in the first place. He saw Dorothy as nothing more than an unwelcome intrusion.
Until, that is, he decided that she needed the necessary experience to complete her education.. . .
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 8, 2018
The hero was an insufferable jerk who was horrid to the heroine from the moment she arrived at his house with his daughter. He was rude, condescending, harassed her, mocked her! I wish she had left the ass behind and gone back home. Of course he says he did all of that like a juvenille coz he liked her and was jealous of the attention she gave to HIS daughter, which is what she was employed for.
May 31, 2011
What an amazing book. I was literally struck dumb when I read some of the text. So not what you'd expect from a book written in 1989. The way it's written, I could just about smell, taste and see what Japan was like. I really wanna go there now...well, after the earthquake I'm not sure if it's safe but still. This book was funny, poignant, lecturing, full of ignorance and a lesson in love. The mention of the food, the geishas, the dressup, the expectations from foreigners have been well-depicted. The child in the story is also well developed for a minor character.
I started missing the skiing trip that I've been on and also my lovely friends. I have now officially become MK's fan. I've read 3 of 'her' books and they've all been keepers. It's amazing that almost all of my fave main stream authors have been men (Emma Darcy, Emma Goldrick) and now MK too
*sigh*
I started missing the skiing trip that I've been on and also my lovely friends. I have now officially become MK's fan. I've read 3 of 'her' books and they've all been keepers. It's amazing that almost all of my fave main stream authors have been men (Emma Darcy, Emma Goldrick) and now MK too
*sigh*
June 11, 2021
3-3.5 stars...This book took me a few days to read. It was a nice enough story for passing the time, but it wasn’t riveting enough for me to forsake everything in my life including sleep to finish it.
Actually it came at a good time as I was finishing up end of the school year things.
Heroine: Dot is 25 years old, no family, works as a governess. She is employed by the hero’s aunt to work as a governess for his young daughter who recently lost her mom. Our heroine isn’t so sure she wants to work in Japan where the hero is currently employed and is ready to say no until the plot moppet is paraded in front of her and the heroine realizes the little girl needs her.
Plot Moppet- Pearl is 4 years old. Her parents divorced when she was 1 and she has had little contact with her dad(mom makes it difficult). Her situation reminds me of a young Drew Barrymore, in that she was treated as a little grown up. Her mom liked the exciting life, and flitted from parties to parties with child in tow exposing her to all. Pearl is described as highly intelligent, beautiful, loving and difficult!
Hero-Calum, 35 top designer of computer circuits, The best thing about the hero is his name. He is a jerk for most of the book. First off he is bitter over his ex wife and the way she kept his daughter from him. So now that he has a chance to get his daughter, he is not interested in having a governess thwart him. He shows up late picking the heroine and his daughter up from the airport(this is explained why later) He is angry that his daughter was given some sort of sedative, and makes it clear that there will be no drugs in the future(mom was a pill popper). He is insulting to the h. He is very acclimated to the Japanese way of life, and expects that she should be too, starting with the Japanese bath. Now we are not talking about a soap and tub type of bath, we are talking about pools of water heated by the earth’s core. Our heroine goes to this bath and steps into very hot water only to find that the H is already lounging in the bath. He can’t seem to understand why she is so uptight naked in front of her employer and basically says this is what is done in Japan and there is nothing sexual about it. He refers to her as Mary Poppins, and basically lets her know that he doubts she will last long in Japan and he will be glad when she leaves.
So basically this is the story. He is mean. She does have a backbone and does fight back. Somewhere along the way she falls in love with him. Of course, he has been fighting his love for her all along. There is some angst along the way. At one point in the story they get very hot and heavy but our heroine pulls back as she is a virgin and she doesn’t just want to be a boy toy. He gets angry thinking she is a tease(finds out later that she is a virgin). In another part of the story, he plans on taking Pearl skiing without the h and Pearl ends up throwing a huge tantrum with mental anguish wherein she is given a sedative from him. He ends up taken his aggressions out on the h by playing a mean game of squash bruising the h in the process.
The ski trip comes near the end of the story, and our virgin h and H are going to a costume party. She dresses up as a geisha and decides that she ready to turn in her V card to him. It is here where we get all the reasons for his cruelty. He has been celibate since she arrived in Japan and he saw her naked at the communal bathing pool(I guess mr impersonal was touched after all!!) He tells her how crazy in love with her he is, and the loving commences. Now the loving is tame compared to today’s standards, but the undressing her from the geisha garb was sexy. (Where is the child? I guess they have top notch baby sitting services at this ski resort) There is a nice HEA where the h and H are relocated in America.
On another note: This story has a lot of information about late 1980’s Japan. I found some of it very informative and interesting. It was also interesting because this was a time where computers were starting to be used in schools. The hero was talking about how they were replacing the room size computer with one the size of a copy machine which would hold even more information. He even indicated that technology would be getting even faster and smaller holding even more information. (Looking at my iPhone) He referred to the Silicon Valley where everything was happening. I guess I got a little nostalgic here as I remember this was the time where I worked on the Apple 2E computer at college, floppy discs and all!!!
So overall, interesting and entertaining story, but won’t be on my list of go to romances for a 2nd read!
Actually it came at a good time as I was finishing up end of the school year things.
Heroine: Dot is 25 years old, no family, works as a governess. She is employed by the hero’s aunt to work as a governess for his young daughter who recently lost her mom. Our heroine isn’t so sure she wants to work in Japan where the hero is currently employed and is ready to say no until the plot moppet is paraded in front of her and the heroine realizes the little girl needs her.
Plot Moppet- Pearl is 4 years old. Her parents divorced when she was 1 and she has had little contact with her dad(mom makes it difficult). Her situation reminds me of a young Drew Barrymore, in that she was treated as a little grown up. Her mom liked the exciting life, and flitted from parties to parties with child in tow exposing her to all. Pearl is described as highly intelligent, beautiful, loving and difficult!
Hero-Calum, 35 top designer of computer circuits, The best thing about the hero is his name. He is a jerk for most of the book. First off he is bitter over his ex wife and the way she kept his daughter from him. So now that he has a chance to get his daughter, he is not interested in having a governess thwart him. He shows up late picking the heroine and his daughter up from the airport(this is explained why later) He is angry that his daughter was given some sort of sedative, and makes it clear that there will be no drugs in the future(mom was a pill popper). He is insulting to the h. He is very acclimated to the Japanese way of life, and expects that she should be too, starting with the Japanese bath. Now we are not talking about a soap and tub type of bath, we are talking about pools of water heated by the earth’s core. Our heroine goes to this bath and steps into very hot water only to find that the H is already lounging in the bath. He can’t seem to understand why she is so uptight naked in front of her employer and basically says this is what is done in Japan and there is nothing sexual about it. He refers to her as Mary Poppins, and basically lets her know that he doubts she will last long in Japan and he will be glad when she leaves.
So basically this is the story. He is mean. She does have a backbone and does fight back. Somewhere along the way she falls in love with him. Of course, he has been fighting his love for her all along. There is some angst along the way. At one point in the story they get very hot and heavy but our heroine pulls back as she is a virgin and she doesn’t just want to be a boy toy. He gets angry thinking she is a tease(finds out later that she is a virgin). In another part of the story, he plans on taking Pearl skiing without the h and Pearl ends up throwing a huge tantrum with mental anguish wherein she is given a sedative from him. He ends up taken his aggressions out on the h by playing a mean game of squash bruising the h in the process.
The ski trip comes near the end of the story, and our virgin h and H are going to a costume party. She dresses up as a geisha and decides that she ready to turn in her V card to him. It is here where we get all the reasons for his cruelty. He has been celibate since she arrived in Japan and he saw her naked at the communal bathing pool(I guess mr impersonal was touched after all!!) He tells her how crazy in love with her he is, and the loving commences. Now the loving is tame compared to today’s standards, but the undressing her from the geisha garb was sexy. (Where is the child? I guess they have top notch baby sitting services at this ski resort) There is a nice HEA where the h and H are relocated in America.
On another note: This story has a lot of information about late 1980’s Japan. I found some of it very informative and interesting. It was also interesting because this was a time where computers were starting to be used in schools. The hero was talking about how they were replacing the room size computer with one the size of a copy machine which would hold even more information. He even indicated that technology would be getting even faster and smaller holding even more information. (Looking at my iPhone) He referred to the Silicon Valley where everything was happening. I guess I got a little nostalgic here as I remember this was the time where I worked on the Apple 2E computer at college, floppy discs and all!!!
So overall, interesting and entertaining story, but won’t be on my list of go to romances for a 2nd read!
December 31, 2017
"Hero"is a jerk-off who justifies treating the lady badly because he just wants her so much but you know, women just can't be trusted. The heroine is super competent and super classy and doesn't take his bs sitting down, so rating up a bit.
I must say though, a white lady wearing a geisha costume (at least it was not a costume in a package but a real kimono and stuff) to a fancy dress party in actual Japan strikes me as incredibly tasteless and if it had occurred in a more recently written book I would be much less forgiving.
I must say though, a white lady wearing a geisha costume (at least it was not a costume in a package but a real kimono and stuff) to a fancy dress party in actual Japan strikes me as incredibly tasteless and if it had occurred in a more recently written book I would be much less forgiving.
April 10, 2018
I didn’t like it much. The Hero ruined it for me. Nasty, mean and cruel and all because he was fighting an attraction to her. Of course he couldn’t have tried to be nice, compassionate and thoughtful, that would be asking too much!
Maybe there really is something to be said for girls always falling for the bad boys. Often enough this is the scenario in these romances. The Hero in this story was definitely “bad boy” who treated the heroine like c**p. It’s of note that during a costume ball they attend, he chooses a disreputable ‘biker thug’ type costume.
Maybe there really is something to be said for girls always falling for the bad boys. Often enough this is the scenario in these romances. The Hero in this story was definitely “bad boy” who treated the heroine like c**p. It’s of note that during a costume ball they attend, he chooses a disreputable ‘biker thug’ type costume.
April 4, 2023
Front cover - so awful I almost didn't read it.
The rest - well blow me down, I loved it! h was my ideal, she was sensible and had solid boundaries, she stood up for herself, said no and meant it, spoke honestly and was free to admit when she was uncertain or plain wrong about something. Yes she put up with a lot of shit, but did so with her professional game face on so I dig it.
H was a douchebag, naturally, what I think of as an 'alpha baby' in that he's all bullish but constantly having tantrums and being mean because he's unable to have an emotion. Basically he's crazy in love and blowing up at her every five mins because, I dunno, he's confoozed.
BUT - there are wonderful moments hen they sit down... and ACTUALLY TALK. As in, they talk about how they feel and why... dear reader I'm as stunned as you, communication in M&B? Yesssss I love it.
I'll absolutely be reading more by this author, I be liking the cut of her jib.
The rest - well blow me down, I loved it! h was my ideal, she was sensible and had solid boundaries, she stood up for herself, said no and meant it, spoke honestly and was free to admit when she was uncertain or plain wrong about something. Yes she put up with a lot of shit, but did so with her professional game face on so I dig it.
H was a douchebag, naturally, what I think of as an 'alpha baby' in that he's all bullish but constantly having tantrums and being mean because he's unable to have an emotion. Basically he's crazy in love and blowing up at her every five mins because, I dunno, he's confoozed.
BUT - there are wonderful moments hen they sit down... and ACTUALLY TALK. As in, they talk about how they feel and why... dear reader I'm as stunned as you, communication in M&B? Yesssss I love it.
I'll absolutely be reading more by this author, I be liking the cut of her jib.
July 30, 2022
2,5 stars!
Let me tell you that I hate governess or nanny stories. They're so unrealistic. The kids are always sweet, too wise for their ages and are only misbehaving when it's convenient for the authors.
Nevertheless, I like the setting of this story. Japan fascinates me. I even had to google some things mentioned in the story.
The female protagonist is cute. And the male protagonist is crude and intolerable. We're told of course it's the love and the fear of rejection which make him so harsh. Really?
Let me tell you that I hate governess or nanny stories. They're so unrealistic. The kids are always sweet, too wise for their ages and are only misbehaving when it's convenient for the authors.
Nevertheless, I like the setting of this story. Japan fascinates me. I even had to google some things mentioned in the story.
The female protagonist is cute. And the male protagonist is crude and intolerable. We're told of course it's the love and the fear of rejection which make him so harsh. Really?
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
August 8, 2022He preferred experienced women
And that Dorothy wasn't. The trip to Japan wasn't her main reason for accepting the job as little Pearl's governess. Quite simply her warm heart had gone out to the motherless child.
She hadn't known then, however, that the cynical, devastatingly handsome Calum Hescott hadn't wanted a governess in the first place. He saw Dorothy as nothing more than an unwelcome intrusion.
Until, that is, he decided that she needed the necessary experience to complete her education.
And that Dorothy wasn't. The trip to Japan wasn't her main reason for accepting the job as little Pearl's governess. Quite simply her warm heart had gone out to the motherless child.
She hadn't known then, however, that the cynical, devastatingly handsome Calum Hescott hadn't wanted a governess in the first place. He saw Dorothy as nothing more than an unwelcome intrusion.
Until, that is, he decided that she needed the necessary experience to complete her education.
October 25, 2025
“The author is actually a straight white man” should have been a content warning.
This was exactly as bad as i expected it to be. 10/10
This was exactly as bad as i expected it to be. 10/10
December 28, 2016
4 Stars ~ Dorothy was reluctant to take the governess position which entailed accompanying the newly motherless little girl to join her father in Japan. The child needed a mother's love, but Dot worried not only for Pearl becoming too attached, but herself as well. But the child's aunt managed to convince Dot that it was best for Pearl is she took her on. From the moment she met Calum when he picked them up at Tokyo's airport, Dot knew she was in for a rocky nine months, the period of her contract. Calum had a full house of staff with house women more than capable of taking care of Pearl, so he rather resented his aunt's insistence that Pearl have a real governess. No matter how hard Dot tried to earn Calum's approval he refused to give it, so she decided it was time she stood up for herself. The more spunk she showed, the more Calum pushed her buttons. And when he admitted he desired her, Dot wanted him too, however she knew he had vowed never to marry again.
This is the first book I've read by this author and I'm already looking forward to reading others. The characters are richly developed, the locale comes to life, and the dialogue is often witty and fun. The hero and heroine clash from their first meeting and it was a delight to read their turbulent journey to HEA.
This is the first book I've read by this author and I'm already looking forward to reading others. The characters are richly developed, the locale comes to life, and the dialogue is often witty and fun. The hero and heroine clash from their first meeting and it was a delight to read their turbulent journey to HEA.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews