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Tattered Loving
'What is more important to you - the happiness of your children or your own fulfilment?'
Sapphy knew there was only one answer to her estranged husband's question. She would do anything to ensure the welfare and happiness of her beloved twins. In the circumstances, she couldn't turn down Thane's unusual offer, since it enabled her to stay close to the twins. But it also put her right back in Thane's vicinity...
Sapphy knew there was only one answer to her estranged husband's question. She would do anything to ensure the welfare and happiness of her beloved twins. In the circumstances, she couldn't turn down Thane's unusual offer, since it enabled her to stay close to the twins. But it also put her right back in Thane's vicinity...
285 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
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October 6, 2017
Re Tattered Loving - Post natal depression, adultery and an old skool Greek H who name means lord or master and who has immense turgid thighs is the subject of AW's second HP outing.
The book opens with the 23 yr old h walking to her former martial home to tell her husband that she won't be taking custody of the female half of her fraternal twins. She and the H have gotten a formal separation since he won't agree to a divorce, (he has too much fun ordering her about and too much pride to admit he failed at anything,) and the judge gave each of them custody of one twin. The h, who has been hospitalized for severe untreated post partum depression that lasted over 18 months, has made the decision that she can't separate her children, it would be too damaging for them.
The H, who is obviously irritated that his little doormat isn't willing to continue to be trod upon, insists that the h goes with him and the children to a sea side holiday. Then he claims poverty and that his highly successful computer firm can't handle the financial output required to support his own household and a small flat for the h, so they have to share the family home.
The h is reluctantly guilted into this arrangement for the sake of her children and gradually more details emerge as the h does her best to avoid the H during the week and at the H's insistence, they share one co-parent day on Sundays.
It seems the h met the H at 17 when her brother brought him home for Christmas. She fell headlong into lustful infatuation and managed to seduce the H on the parlor floor. Then her brother walked in and the H claimed they were getting married and the h thought it was true love forever.
So at 17 to the H's 30, the h goes to Greece and gets to live in an alien environment where she doesn't speak the language, has no family support and the H treats her like a recalcitrant child he likes to pound the mattress with, but that is about it. Then the h gets preggers and develops eclampsia and has to be on bedrest in hospital for several months.
She comes home to a nanny that has no English and that she did not choose, in fact she gets no say about much of anything in this book. Eventually things get so bad that after several shouting matches about the widow the H is escorting to social events instead of the h, combined with his statement that the list of women he is sleeping with is not available to the h since he isn't sleeping with her, the h goes into full meltdown when she sees her sister and the H in an intimate embrace.
Then her sister came at the H's behest and the h finds them in each other arms and goes ballistic. She has to go stay in an asylum for several months and eventually makes a friend of an English woman who helps her rebuild her fragile self esteem and regain some self respect. This h has a ton of guilt, remorse and shame and she makes a PJ h look like a well-adjusted extrovert. Eventually all this leads to a forced H seduction of the h that ends in tears when the H sees the scar from her c-section and rejects her in horror. The h flees the H, moves in with her English friend, asks for a divorce and gets a legal separation instead with a restraining order, tho the H ignores that whenever he wants.
Which brings us up to the house sharing situation and eventually the H's OW shows up with a kitten for the kids and the proceeds to berate the h for not agreeing to business socialize with the man she is separated from as the H had asked her to attend a business dinner cause the OW couldn't make it.
(She also claims she isn't shagging the H, but I wasn't buying that one. Maybe she no longer was after the H's guilt kicked in when the h was committed, in fact he probably had to cross more than a few names off his list, but he flat out said he was and he supposedly never lied. I did believe he did not sleep with the sister, but as this is HPlandia, I am sure that would have occurred eventually as this book is so old skool tropy with everything else. )
The h is suitably chastened by the Tart OW and goes clothes shopping and gets her hair cut to boost her self confidence, then goes to the business dinner with the H. He assumes she is there because he had promised to show her graphic art portfolio to a friend so she could find employment and she is doing a little quid pro quo by supporting his business meeting.
The h also wears her wedding/eternity rings to maintain the wedded bliss fictitious front and the H just thinks she is greedy as the rings are valuable and she hasn't thrown them away. The h is terribly hurt by his remarks, but martyredly endures the H's roofie kiss to "thank" him for giving her a gaudy eternity ring, which I presume was some sort of childbirth gift. The evening goes okay otherwise, tho the h has a mopey moment or two cause she loves the H and he is disgusted by her.
The h is rather relaxed over the later course of the evening, so the H is quick to get her booked into the hotel they are dinning at and the inevitable moment of passion occurs, in all AW's considerable aubergine descriptive glory.
After the big night of the love, the H tells the h he will agree to a divorce and give her custody of the kids cause he can't keep his word and she is more willing to sacrifice for them and he is never home anyways. The H is feeling a major guilt trip because he realizes that he seduced a schoolgirl, isolated her in a strange country, got her preggers where she became ill and then he did not even recognize when she had serious problem and he blamed her for it all too boot. So the big sacrifice the H will make is a divorce and to give up custody of the children he can't really care for as he has better things to do.
The h doesn't understand and the H explains that he was so jealous of everyone and every thing around the h that he kept her locked up. He figures she doesn't love him and so he will let her go. He only did the separation route because he figured he scared her when he forcibly seduced her and that he could eventually bully her back into doormat status, but then his conscience kicked in that he was mean to the mother of his kids and he still loves her.
The H admits that he manipulated and played upon her guilt feelings to maneuver her back into his life. He even arranged for her English friends to get a better offer in Athens, so he would have the h all to himself. He claims he never slept with other women, but then again he states his whole purpose in isolating the h from her English friends was so that he could be the h's support, during the very rare times he is actually around to see her. (Most of the book they don't see each other except on Sundays with the kids and special occasions.)
The h had a severe blow to the head or some really good drugs, cause she rejects that offer of a divorce and custody, she just can't leave the H as she has been pining and despising her unsightliness for the last 150 pages. Of course the h had to claim every thing was her fault for being so immature and selfish and now she doesn't want a divorce because she loves him back. So they ditch the separation and the divorce idear and lurve it up together and plan a trip to see the h's much maligned sister in England for the HEA.
This one was pretty average and terribly tropy in the best old skool Greek H traditional HPlandia outing. If bossy, enigmatic and domineering Greek H's are your thing, this could be a good one to check out.
The book opens with the 23 yr old h walking to her former martial home to tell her husband that she won't be taking custody of the female half of her fraternal twins. She and the H have gotten a formal separation since he won't agree to a divorce, (he has too much fun ordering her about and too much pride to admit he failed at anything,) and the judge gave each of them custody of one twin. The h, who has been hospitalized for severe untreated post partum depression that lasted over 18 months, has made the decision that she can't separate her children, it would be too damaging for them.
The H, who is obviously irritated that his little doormat isn't willing to continue to be trod upon, insists that the h goes with him and the children to a sea side holiday. Then he claims poverty and that his highly successful computer firm can't handle the financial output required to support his own household and a small flat for the h, so they have to share the family home.
The h is reluctantly guilted into this arrangement for the sake of her children and gradually more details emerge as the h does her best to avoid the H during the week and at the H's insistence, they share one co-parent day on Sundays.
It seems the h met the H at 17 when her brother brought him home for Christmas. She fell headlong into lustful infatuation and managed to seduce the H on the parlor floor. Then her brother walked in and the H claimed they were getting married and the h thought it was true love forever.
So at 17 to the H's 30, the h goes to Greece and gets to live in an alien environment where she doesn't speak the language, has no family support and the H treats her like a recalcitrant child he likes to pound the mattress with, but that is about it. Then the h gets preggers and develops eclampsia and has to be on bedrest in hospital for several months.
She comes home to a nanny that has no English and that she did not choose, in fact she gets no say about much of anything in this book. Eventually things get so bad that after several shouting matches about the widow the H is escorting to social events instead of the h, combined with his statement that the list of women he is sleeping with is not available to the h since he isn't sleeping with her, the h goes into full meltdown when she sees her sister and the H in an intimate embrace.
Then her sister came at the H's behest and the h finds them in each other arms and goes ballistic. She has to go stay in an asylum for several months and eventually makes a friend of an English woman who helps her rebuild her fragile self esteem and regain some self respect. This h has a ton of guilt, remorse and shame and she makes a PJ h look like a well-adjusted extrovert. Eventually all this leads to a forced H seduction of the h that ends in tears when the H sees the scar from her c-section and rejects her in horror. The h flees the H, moves in with her English friend, asks for a divorce and gets a legal separation instead with a restraining order, tho the H ignores that whenever he wants.
Which brings us up to the house sharing situation and eventually the H's OW shows up with a kitten for the kids and the proceeds to berate the h for not agreeing to business socialize with the man she is separated from as the H had asked her to attend a business dinner cause the OW couldn't make it.
(She also claims she isn't shagging the H, but I wasn't buying that one. Maybe she no longer was after the H's guilt kicked in when the h was committed, in fact he probably had to cross more than a few names off his list, but he flat out said he was and he supposedly never lied. I did believe he did not sleep with the sister, but as this is HPlandia, I am sure that would have occurred eventually as this book is so old skool tropy with everything else. )
The h is suitably chastened by the Tart OW and goes clothes shopping and gets her hair cut to boost her self confidence, then goes to the business dinner with the H. He assumes she is there because he had promised to show her graphic art portfolio to a friend so she could find employment and she is doing a little quid pro quo by supporting his business meeting.
The h also wears her wedding/eternity rings to maintain the wedded bliss fictitious front and the H just thinks she is greedy as the rings are valuable and she hasn't thrown them away. The h is terribly hurt by his remarks, but martyredly endures the H's roofie kiss to "thank" him for giving her a gaudy eternity ring, which I presume was some sort of childbirth gift. The evening goes okay otherwise, tho the h has a mopey moment or two cause she loves the H and he is disgusted by her.
The h is rather relaxed over the later course of the evening, so the H is quick to get her booked into the hotel they are dinning at and the inevitable moment of passion occurs, in all AW's considerable aubergine descriptive glory.
After the big night of the love, the H tells the h he will agree to a divorce and give her custody of the kids cause he can't keep his word and she is more willing to sacrifice for them and he is never home anyways. The H is feeling a major guilt trip because he realizes that he seduced a schoolgirl, isolated her in a strange country, got her preggers where she became ill and then he did not even recognize when she had serious problem and he blamed her for it all too boot. So the big sacrifice the H will make is a divorce and to give up custody of the children he can't really care for as he has better things to do.
The h doesn't understand and the H explains that he was so jealous of everyone and every thing around the h that he kept her locked up. He figures she doesn't love him and so he will let her go. He only did the separation route because he figured he scared her when he forcibly seduced her and that he could eventually bully her back into doormat status, but then his conscience kicked in that he was mean to the mother of his kids and he still loves her.
The H admits that he manipulated and played upon her guilt feelings to maneuver her back into his life. He even arranged for her English friends to get a better offer in Athens, so he would have the h all to himself. He claims he never slept with other women, but then again he states his whole purpose in isolating the h from her English friends was so that he could be the h's support, during the very rare times he is actually around to see her. (Most of the book they don't see each other except on Sundays with the kids and special occasions.)
The h had a severe blow to the head or some really good drugs, cause she rejects that offer of a divorce and custody, she just can't leave the H as she has been pining and despising her unsightliness for the last 150 pages. Of course the h had to claim every thing was her fault for being so immature and selfish and now she doesn't want a divorce because she loves him back. So they ditch the separation and the divorce idear and lurve it up together and plan a trip to see the h's much maligned sister in England for the HEA.
This one was pretty average and terribly tropy in the best old skool Greek H traditional HPlandia outing. If bossy, enigmatic and domineering Greek H's are your thing, this could be a good one to check out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2025
May, 2020
This earned another star as I re-read. Heroine isn't all that likable, but the author brings up an important topic (post natal depression) and keeps the drama going for the entire book.
This is a marriage-in-trouble story. Hero married heroine when she was 17 and took her back to Greece. She had twins and fell into a post-par tum depression that wasn't acknowledged until the twins were 18 months old. Only when she flew into a jealous rage after seeing her sister and husband embrace, did she get some help. Now, a year and half later she arrives at her former home to tell the hero that she won't break up the twins and he can keep his daughter. (Judge had done a Sophie's choice giving the son to the father and the daughter to the mother.)
There was a lot to like in this story - the conflict was believable, especially because the heroine was so young (17!) and the pregnancy was so difficult. The hero has a lot to answer for, but his grovel was good and the flashbacks to his guilt about her depression and health were well done. The prose is very purple - even for an HP. And the heroine took a long time to clue in.
This earned another star as I re-read. Heroine isn't all that likable, but the author brings up an important topic (post natal depression) and keeps the drama going for the entire book.
This is a marriage-in-trouble story. Hero married heroine when she was 17 and took her back to Greece. She had twins and fell into a post-par tum depression that wasn't acknowledged until the twins were 18 months old. Only when she flew into a jealous rage after seeing her sister and husband embrace, did she get some help. Now, a year and half later she arrives at her former home to tell the hero that she won't break up the twins and he can keep his daughter. (Judge had done a Sophie's choice giving the son to the father and the daughter to the mother.)
There was a lot to like in this story - the conflict was believable, especially because the heroine was so young (17!) and the pregnancy was so difficult. The hero has a lot to answer for, but his grovel was good and the flashbacks to his guilt about her depression and health were well done. The prose is very purple - even for an HP. And the heroine took a long time to clue in.
February 15, 2011
Dwamedy setting : picturesque Greece.
Hero :
Athanasios Stavrolakes. Rather than making a valiant attempt @ twisting my stunted tongue, let’s call the sage-eyed Greek gawd : “Thane – Lord… Liege… Master.” (heroine’s words, not mine)
Heroine :
Sapphira, cyan-eyed Brit & a martyr. Her namesake is biblical – alas, I snored thru’ my lesson – Sapphira is the wife of Ananias. Her bizarre, rapturous tribute to Thane is repeated a gazillion times like a broken recorder from 1st chapter to last line. It’s stupefying how often her train of thought is capped off w/ this classic “Thane – lord – liege – master…”.
<< Her brain filled w/ concern for her son ; just 1 tiny corner remained loyal to the past. Thane, lord, liege, master… >>
<< Her gaze flickered unconsciously upwards, absorbing the rigid line of the back view presented to her, the breadth of shoulder, the powerful, tight hips, the muscular length of his legs not disguised by the expensive suiting which garbed them. Thane : lord… liege… master… >>
In a nutshell :
Sapphy’s giving up her right to custody of baby gal, to preserve bonding w/ twin bro’. Per court decree, each parent is awarded 1 kid & Thane is told : hands off wife or else. Sapphy gets the gal, Thane gets the boy, ‘cuz in Greece, sons are priority, yo. Thane proposes an alternative plan : they’ll share the same house w/ ground rules : separate lives, 1 day / week = family time & no fighting in front of the kids, ‘till they’re ol’ enuff to be told the truth ‘re : The parents’ bickerfest union. Sapphy reluctantly agrees.
Per flashback :
Sapphy’s only 17 y/o (13 yrs younger than Thane) when they 1st met. H/h were caught in flagrante delicto by Sapphy’s bro, so they got hitched. After a verra tough pregnancy (toxemia) & birth (C-section, twins’ confinement in NBICU, Sapphy’s inability to breastfeed) & 5 yrs of marriage, Sapphy’s no longer warm & fuzzy. It’s as obvious as a 5000-kilo purple hippo (my fav pillow pet, irrelevant point), she suffered from undiagnosed severe port-partum depression. In 1991 (when the book was allegedly written), this DX was a foreign concept. Sapphy suspected Thane of having a hanky panky w/ her older sista & hubby’s colleague. Sapphy went off the deep end when hubby & her sista were caught locked in an embrace & Sapphy was rushed to a clinic. After intensive hospitalization, Sapphy asked for a divorce but Thane only agreed to a legal separation.
This has a generic plot but coulda been an angsty, tension-filled marriage-in-peril / reunion story, but unfortunately it was ruined by an overwrought heroine, overwrought purple prose, a truckload of info dump, nonsensical fillers, 1 big mis after anotha. Hormonal imbalance gets the biggest share of the blame game but the childish heroine’s like a zit in my fat ass that I wished I could just pop. Textile design is Sapphira’s passion, so the book’s over-descriptive writing rhymes, down to a pearlized button. I’ll give it Xtra point for consistency. As in, consistently bhad. Peeps are super animated, physical attributes & the locale background are painted so extravagantly that my eyeballs twitched in my sockets like a gymnast on steroids withdrawal. For once I actually felt sorry for the long-suffering dude instead of the dudette. In a reverse twist, the OW turns out to be innocent, competent & benevolent, even gives Sapphy a pep talk & lights a firecracker under her ass to move it or lose her marriage. Sapphy’s sista is the sibling w/ a golden heart .Thane is not the manslut after all. All that twit Sapphy gotta do to prove hubby’s innocence is to read her sista’s letter.
Oh yeah, whazzup w/ her fondness for sockets ?
<< It was his eyes that were her undoing : the irises the soft yellow-green of a tropic river teeming w/ life yet placid in the midday sun, the white clear against the tanned skin, the whole extravagantly lashed & set in deep sockets. >>
<< As for his eyes – a girl could drown in those dark fringed pools & wake up stranded on a far beach w/out visible means of support ! >>
<< Scarcely knowing what she was doing, Sapphira drifted her gaze in a clean sweep downwards, embracing good shoulders encased in a formal white shirt, a firmly muscled chest, a trim waist & legs which possessed a length of thigh she’d ignorantly supposed inapplicable to the Grecian race ! >>
<< Every morning, the mirror in Lorna’s spare bedroom confirmed her complete lack of attractiveness : the gaunt face, the hollows above her breastbone, the scrawny, pale arms that had once been the graceful, curving limbs of a water sprite… >>> (I visualized a female version of Xtian Bale in “The Machinist”)
<< … there was no obvious sign of emasculation in the proud lift of his head or the carriage of his superb body & the expression on his haughty face dared her to take his subjugation as a fact, even while the sweet curves of his sensuous mouth proclaimed it so. >>
<< A quick glance in the mirror showed her a slender girl w/ the facial bones of a 1960 magazine cover beauty, sharp yet delicate, a fragile frame for sensitive, compassionate eyes & a body adequately covered from neck to ankle. >>
<< The blood seemed to be singing in her ears as her nerves clamored in pitiful disorganization. >>
<< … evade the powerful masculine aura of his presence, shun the dominant spirit which lurked inside his beautiful body… >>
<< the shoddy fabric of their relationship exposed to a group of strangers, the tattered threads of their once glorious loving displayed for judgement. >>
<< True, the bones of her face were cleanly cut, her cheekbones sharp, the sockets of her eyes deep, but her neck was no longer corded & as for her shoulders… she touched the warm flesh beneath her top, drifting her fingers across her collarbones : gone were starved waif ; and as for her breasts, their return to form plumpness had been 1 of the 1st changes she had noticed as her bras had begun to fit perfectly once more. >>
<< He was trembling. Not overtly, but deep inside, so that being close to him was like being in contact w/ a mighty generator thrumming away internally. >> (mayhap he forgot to turnoff his vibrator)
<< Like Samson sheared by Delilah, he lay against her, totally vulnerable, unable to move a muscle in the aftermath of passion & her hands reached intuitively to protect his defenselessness, 1 palm protecting the tender nape of his neck, the other closing against his back as if it were threatened by some savage’s arrow. >>
<< Satiated w/ contentment & pleasure, she began to trace circles round the small sturdy nipples adorning his muscled chest. >> (Who needs bloody hangers when your hubby’s pin-sized nipples are sturdy enuff to hang a soggy fur coat ?)
<< Miraculously, the threads of her life were growing strong again, her tattered loving repaired, clothed in the apparel of understanding & forgiveness. >>
<< As his mouth possessed hers w/ strength & purpose, the remaining words she’d wanted to speak could echo only in her mind – lord, liege – master. >>
Honorable mentions :
Mobile mouth, tigerish smile, marvelously virile body, his roving masculine eye, pearly luster…
4 fucq’s sake, puhleaze give it a rest. U’d think this book was set in dark ages. Her docs prolly forgot to tell her ‘bout her meds’ brain-cracking side effect : Delirium.
Oh lord, liege, master, I learned ‘bout cheap ass tatty lines more than I bargained for. Happy V day !
PS : On a side note, the book has loose binding, I had to flip gently, which fits the tatty quality of the content =^2
Hero :
Athanasios Stavrolakes. Rather than making a valiant attempt @ twisting my stunted tongue, let’s call the sage-eyed Greek gawd : “Thane – Lord… Liege… Master.” (heroine’s words, not mine)
Heroine :
Sapphira, cyan-eyed Brit & a martyr. Her namesake is biblical – alas, I snored thru’ my lesson – Sapphira is the wife of Ananias. Her bizarre, rapturous tribute to Thane is repeated a gazillion times like a broken recorder from 1st chapter to last line. It’s stupefying how often her train of thought is capped off w/ this classic “Thane – lord – liege – master…”.
<< Her brain filled w/ concern for her son ; just 1 tiny corner remained loyal to the past. Thane, lord, liege, master… >>
<< Her gaze flickered unconsciously upwards, absorbing the rigid line of the back view presented to her, the breadth of shoulder, the powerful, tight hips, the muscular length of his legs not disguised by the expensive suiting which garbed them. Thane : lord… liege… master… >>
In a nutshell :
Sapphy’s giving up her right to custody of baby gal, to preserve bonding w/ twin bro’. Per court decree, each parent is awarded 1 kid & Thane is told : hands off wife or else. Sapphy gets the gal, Thane gets the boy, ‘cuz in Greece, sons are priority, yo. Thane proposes an alternative plan : they’ll share the same house w/ ground rules : separate lives, 1 day / week = family time & no fighting in front of the kids, ‘till they’re ol’ enuff to be told the truth ‘re : The parents’ bickerfest union. Sapphy reluctantly agrees.
Per flashback :
Sapphy’s only 17 y/o (13 yrs younger than Thane) when they 1st met. H/h were caught in flagrante delicto by Sapphy’s bro, so they got hitched. After a verra tough pregnancy (toxemia) & birth (C-section, twins’ confinement in NBICU, Sapphy’s inability to breastfeed) & 5 yrs of marriage, Sapphy’s no longer warm & fuzzy. It’s as obvious as a 5000-kilo purple hippo (my fav pillow pet, irrelevant point), she suffered from undiagnosed severe port-partum depression. In 1991 (when the book was allegedly written), this DX was a foreign concept. Sapphy suspected Thane of having a hanky panky w/ her older sista & hubby’s colleague. Sapphy went off the deep end when hubby & her sista were caught locked in an embrace & Sapphy was rushed to a clinic. After intensive hospitalization, Sapphy asked for a divorce but Thane only agreed to a legal separation.
This has a generic plot but coulda been an angsty, tension-filled marriage-in-peril / reunion story, but unfortunately it was ruined by an overwrought heroine, overwrought purple prose, a truckload of info dump, nonsensical fillers, 1 big mis after anotha. Hormonal imbalance gets the biggest share of the blame game but the childish heroine’s like a zit in my fat ass that I wished I could just pop. Textile design is Sapphira’s passion, so the book’s over-descriptive writing rhymes, down to a pearlized button. I’ll give it Xtra point for consistency. As in, consistently bhad. Peeps are super animated, physical attributes & the locale background are painted so extravagantly that my eyeballs twitched in my sockets like a gymnast on steroids withdrawal. For once I actually felt sorry for the long-suffering dude instead of the dudette. In a reverse twist, the OW turns out to be innocent, competent & benevolent, even gives Sapphy a pep talk & lights a firecracker under her ass to move it or lose her marriage. Sapphy’s sista is the sibling w/ a golden heart .Thane is not the manslut after all. All that twit Sapphy gotta do to prove hubby’s innocence is to read her sista’s letter.
Oh yeah, whazzup w/ her fondness for sockets ?
<< It was his eyes that were her undoing : the irises the soft yellow-green of a tropic river teeming w/ life yet placid in the midday sun, the white clear against the tanned skin, the whole extravagantly lashed & set in deep sockets. >>
<< As for his eyes – a girl could drown in those dark fringed pools & wake up stranded on a far beach w/out visible means of support ! >>
<< Scarcely knowing what she was doing, Sapphira drifted her gaze in a clean sweep downwards, embracing good shoulders encased in a formal white shirt, a firmly muscled chest, a trim waist & legs which possessed a length of thigh she’d ignorantly supposed inapplicable to the Grecian race ! >>
<< Every morning, the mirror in Lorna’s spare bedroom confirmed her complete lack of attractiveness : the gaunt face, the hollows above her breastbone, the scrawny, pale arms that had once been the graceful, curving limbs of a water sprite… >>> (I visualized a female version of Xtian Bale in “The Machinist”)
<< … there was no obvious sign of emasculation in the proud lift of his head or the carriage of his superb body & the expression on his haughty face dared her to take his subjugation as a fact, even while the sweet curves of his sensuous mouth proclaimed it so. >>
<< A quick glance in the mirror showed her a slender girl w/ the facial bones of a 1960 magazine cover beauty, sharp yet delicate, a fragile frame for sensitive, compassionate eyes & a body adequately covered from neck to ankle. >>
<< The blood seemed to be singing in her ears as her nerves clamored in pitiful disorganization. >>
<< … evade the powerful masculine aura of his presence, shun the dominant spirit which lurked inside his beautiful body… >>
<< the shoddy fabric of their relationship exposed to a group of strangers, the tattered threads of their once glorious loving displayed for judgement. >>
<< True, the bones of her face were cleanly cut, her cheekbones sharp, the sockets of her eyes deep, but her neck was no longer corded & as for her shoulders… she touched the warm flesh beneath her top, drifting her fingers across her collarbones : gone were starved waif ; and as for her breasts, their return to form plumpness had been 1 of the 1st changes she had noticed as her bras had begun to fit perfectly once more. >>
<< He was trembling. Not overtly, but deep inside, so that being close to him was like being in contact w/ a mighty generator thrumming away internally. >> (mayhap he forgot to turnoff his vibrator)
<< Like Samson sheared by Delilah, he lay against her, totally vulnerable, unable to move a muscle in the aftermath of passion & her hands reached intuitively to protect his defenselessness, 1 palm protecting the tender nape of his neck, the other closing against his back as if it were threatened by some savage’s arrow. >>
<< Satiated w/ contentment & pleasure, she began to trace circles round the small sturdy nipples adorning his muscled chest. >> (Who needs bloody hangers when your hubby’s pin-sized nipples are sturdy enuff to hang a soggy fur coat ?)
<< Miraculously, the threads of her life were growing strong again, her tattered loving repaired, clothed in the apparel of understanding & forgiveness. >>
<< As his mouth possessed hers w/ strength & purpose, the remaining words she’d wanted to speak could echo only in her mind – lord, liege – master. >>
Honorable mentions :
Mobile mouth, tigerish smile, marvelously virile body, his roving masculine eye, pearly luster…
4 fucq’s sake, puhleaze give it a rest. U’d think this book was set in dark ages. Her docs prolly forgot to tell her ‘bout her meds’ brain-cracking side effect : Delirium.
Oh lord, liege, master, I learned ‘bout cheap ass tatty lines more than I bargained for. Happy V day !
PS : On a side note, the book has loose binding, I had to flip gently, which fits the tatty quality of the content =^2
August 15, 2019
I love redeemed heroes and grovel even if the H's grovelings were interrupted by the heroines.
3,5 stars
3,5 stars
June 8, 2021
What is more important to you - the happiness of your children or your own fulfilment?'
Sapphy knew there was only one answer to her estranged husband's question. She would do anything to ensure the welfare and happiness of her beloved twins. In the circumstances, she couldn't turn down Thane's unusual offer, since it enabled her to stay close to the twins. But it also put her right back in Thane's vicinity..
Sapphy knew there was only one answer to her estranged husband's question. She would do anything to ensure the welfare and happiness of her beloved twins. In the circumstances, she couldn't turn down Thane's unusual offer, since it enabled her to stay close to the twins. But it also put her right back in Thane's vicinity..
April 9, 2023
idk why i do this to myself, the guy was a misogynistic asshole
January 19, 2018
Okay so it wouldn't win the pulitzer but it was a nice angsty marriage in trouble reunion fest. Sapphy was a child bride at 17 and ill-equipped for a difficult pregnancy in a country far away from family and friends.
Thane, Greek God extraordinaire is still building his business so doesn't have the time to support her.
Result, she gets Post-partum depression and paranoid. Misunderstandings pile up and Thane is fighting a last ditch battle against the divorce Sapphy demands.
His only weapon is the children and he uses them to good effect. Lots of lovely angst and a lovely tortured hero full of guilt and stuff.
I enjoyed it and the ending was lovely even if a bit cliche ridden.
Thane, Greek God extraordinaire is still building his business so doesn't have the time to support her.
Result, she gets Post-partum depression and paranoid. Misunderstandings pile up and Thane is fighting a last ditch battle against the divorce Sapphy demands.
His only weapon is the children and he uses them to good effect. Lots of lovely angst and a lovely tortured hero full of guilt and stuff.
I enjoyed it and the ending was lovely even if a bit cliche ridden.
November 3, 2021
Author forgets what she wrote on the same subject and claims the opposite pages later. e.g. "not that h had much to do with their villa`s decor or orderliness." vs. "she stamped her personality on the villa they bought together after they get married." or "she thought her sister`s unexpected visit was so timely when she needed somebody so desperately' then later in the book the same visit referred as "her sister`s unexpected arrival had confused and upset her"
March 16, 2023
3.5 stars. Not bad for a light reading.
October 27, 2025
There are a few things I didn't like, but one thing I definitely did (very much) was the H and h both having to grovel! That's not so common; usually it's the H, though sometime the h is the who needs to atone, but in this case, they both had things to answer for, they both behaved like jerks some of the time, and they both had to ask for forgiveness and another chance; and I LOVED every minute of it!
Now THAT's equality!
However, that doesn't mean I can accept so easily the h accusing her sister of jumping the H's bones! While it's true, at the time she was ill with a severe case of postpartum depression (and how come no one picked up on this right away????) not to mention a difficult pregnancy, illness and caesarian birth, but afterward, when she recovered, she should have realized her sister would never betray her like that, and it was her own insecurities (combined with believing the H didn't love her) that made her think the worst of an innocent situation. Whether or not her relationship with the H improved, she owed it to her sister to get in touch ASAP and apologize, regardless of the letter her sister wrote (which took her ages to read, more's the pity)!
The H should have had the sense to get in touch with his in-laws, and let them know their daughter wasn't well, as I'm sure her mother would have realized the h needed help, long before all the other blockheads did! And WTF???? Their daughter gives birth to twins and Grandma and Grandpa don't move their asses and visit?????? COME ON!!!!!!
I also realize that, in the HP world, when it comes to true love age is disregarded, but it still bothers me that the h was only 17 when she and the H got naked, and they had only just met! We're supposed to believe that an innocent virgin took one look at the hot Greek guy and became a horndog, just ready to drop her panties! And the H - AT 30 YEARS OLD - should have known better than to unzip and strip, no matter that he knew she was the woman destined to be his wife! AND IN HER HOME, WHERE HE WAS THE GUEST OF HER PARENTS AND BROTHER!!! TALK ABOUT TACKY!!!
Anyone with half a brain would know this girl was too young to be saying "I do", but because her brother caught them in the act (or just after), the H felt the honorable thing had to be done. I wish the author had been more honorable and made the h 19 instead of 17. A 30-year-old man with a 19-year-old young woman isn't so bad, but with 17-year-old kid it's just YUCK!!!!
The author also gives equality to the infidelity accusations, as the h is jealous of his secretary, who's the sister of his business partner (and just a friend), while he in turn is jealous of her best friend/acting therapist's brother (who is also just a friend, though he'd like to change that). Both misunderstand situations (the H taking the "OW" to business/social gatherings that the h wasn't up to attending, the H seeing the "OM" kissing the h, not knowing the kiss was forced on her by his frustration when she admitted she'd never have romantic feelings for him. She should have slapped him, instead of feeling sorry for him, since he was being a jerk.)
There were other issues, like her temper tantrums (due to her illness, but still a pain in the neck) and childish insecurities, his ridiculous jealousy over her attention to the babies, and other things that they both had to take accountability for.
One thing I really liked about the h was how she was ready and willing to take accountability for the things she did wrong when her emotions fully thawed after being on ice for so long (a protective shell). Too many h's keep up this "poor pitiful me" attitude and it just gets to be a bore. She acknowledged the things she did wrong, and was willing to atone for them, without going into doormat mode.
(It was interesting, how she'd think of the H as her liege, her lord and master, and at the same time think of herself as Delilah to his Samson. I think it was her way of admitting how they were both empowered and enslaved by their intense love and wouldn't have it any other way!)
I liked the way they found their way back to each other, but it sure took a heck of a long time to get there!
Also, where children and their custody are concerned, there's no winning, just degrees of losing.
If it hadn't been for the 17/30 age thing, I'd have given it another star, since despite the flaws, it was still pretty good.
Now THAT's equality!
However, that doesn't mean I can accept so easily the h accusing her sister of jumping the H's bones! While it's true, at the time she was ill with a severe case of postpartum depression (and how come no one picked up on this right away????) not to mention a difficult pregnancy, illness and caesarian birth, but afterward, when she recovered, she should have realized her sister would never betray her like that, and it was her own insecurities (combined with believing the H didn't love her) that made her think the worst of an innocent situation. Whether or not her relationship with the H improved, she owed it to her sister to get in touch ASAP and apologize, regardless of the letter her sister wrote (which took her ages to read, more's the pity)!
The H should have had the sense to get in touch with his in-laws, and let them know their daughter wasn't well, as I'm sure her mother would have realized the h needed help, long before all the other blockheads did! And WTF???? Their daughter gives birth to twins and Grandma and Grandpa don't move their asses and visit?????? COME ON!!!!!!
I also realize that, in the HP world, when it comes to true love age is disregarded, but it still bothers me that the h was only 17 when she and the H got naked, and they had only just met! We're supposed to believe that an innocent virgin took one look at the hot Greek guy and became a horndog, just ready to drop her panties! And the H - AT 30 YEARS OLD - should have known better than to unzip and strip, no matter that he knew she was the woman destined to be his wife! AND IN HER HOME, WHERE HE WAS THE GUEST OF HER PARENTS AND BROTHER!!! TALK ABOUT TACKY!!!
Anyone with half a brain would know this girl was too young to be saying "I do", but because her brother caught them in the act (or just after), the H felt the honorable thing had to be done. I wish the author had been more honorable and made the h 19 instead of 17. A 30-year-old man with a 19-year-old young woman isn't so bad, but with 17-year-old kid it's just YUCK!!!!
The author also gives equality to the infidelity accusations, as the h is jealous of his secretary, who's the sister of his business partner (and just a friend), while he in turn is jealous of her best friend/acting therapist's brother (who is also just a friend, though he'd like to change that). Both misunderstand situations (the H taking the "OW" to business/social gatherings that the h wasn't up to attending, the H seeing the "OM" kissing the h, not knowing the kiss was forced on her by his frustration when she admitted she'd never have romantic feelings for him. She should have slapped him, instead of feeling sorry for him, since he was being a jerk.)
There were other issues, like her temper tantrums (due to her illness, but still a pain in the neck) and childish insecurities, his ridiculous jealousy over her attention to the babies, and other things that they both had to take accountability for.
One thing I really liked about the h was how she was ready and willing to take accountability for the things she did wrong when her emotions fully thawed after being on ice for so long (a protective shell). Too many h's keep up this "poor pitiful me" attitude and it just gets to be a bore. She acknowledged the things she did wrong, and was willing to atone for them, without going into doormat mode.
(It was interesting, how she'd think of the H as her liege, her lord and master, and at the same time think of herself as Delilah to his Samson. I think it was her way of admitting how they were both empowered and enslaved by their intense love and wouldn't have it any other way!)
I liked the way they found their way back to each other, but it sure took a heck of a long time to get there!
Also, where children and their custody are concerned, there's no winning, just degrees of losing.
If it hadn't been for the 17/30 age thing, I'd have given it another star, since despite the flaws, it was still pretty good.
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