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Lady with a Past
His face, his voice branded her soul.
It was the sort of mad unbelievable coincidence that one swore could never happen. Through her devotion to Maud, Josey had blundered into her worst enemy!
Six years ago, Josey had pinned her last desperate hope for justice on brilliant trial lawyer T.J. Macallan, only to be dragged down for the sake of his guilty client. Now he didn't even recognize the innocent he'd helped put behind bars.
Much to his dear Aunt Maud's delight, however, Thorne took note of Josey's animosity. In fact, he found her resistance irresistible....
It was the sort of mad unbelievable coincidence that one swore could never happen. Through her devotion to Maud, Josey had blundered into her worst enemy!
Six years ago, Josey had pinned her last desperate hope for justice on brilliant trial lawyer T.J. Macallan, only to be dragged down for the sake of his guilty client. Now he didn't even recognize the innocent he'd helped put behind bars.
Much to his dear Aunt Maud's delight, however, Thorne took note of Josey's animosity. In fact, he found her resistance irresistible....
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
October 14, 2021
Another man in pursuit who knows how to ruin his woman's date with other man and send the latter running the opposite way. 🙏🏻
If only Josey had been more bloodthirsty and executed the revenge Thorne clearly deserved... I'd have given the story trillion stars. Nevertheless, it was too deliciously angsty and edgy to complain.
At least the heroine had enough wit and backbone to engage in amusing banter to distract me from her betraying body syndrome. 🤪
Warning: a brief non-con scene.
If only Josey had been more bloodthirsty and executed the revenge Thorne clearly deserved... I'd have given the story trillion stars. Nevertheless, it was too deliciously angsty and edgy to complain.
At least the heroine had enough wit and backbone to engage in amusing banter to distract me from her betraying body syndrome. 🤪
Warning: a brief non-con scene.
January 1, 2016
Re Lady With A Past - Welcome to neo-noir HPlandia style. With all due respect to Raymond Chandler, I have to say LC does a credible noir pastiche without all the messy gun battles, murders and ruthless thuggery- outside of the H's behavior, of course. It just wouldn't be HPlandia without those punishing kisses and this H takes it new levels.
Our story starts with the sadly maligned but innocent h. Six years earlier she was a beautiful young orphan who dyed her nutmeg tresses to a golden blonde, and with a pocketful of dreams and a song in her heart, made her to way to the wicked bad city. In this case it was Atlanta, Georgia. (Yes, I know that true gritty noir happens in the big coastal cities of New York or Los Angeles, but this is HPlandia and even noir gets a rosy glow.)
She has a golden voice that just quite didn't make the audience roar, and as time went on she began to rely more and more on her somewhat dubious only friend. A young man with his hair slicked back with a dab of brylcreem, an aggressive smile and somewhat shifty eyes. He took her out for meals and lent her money for rent and naturally the day came when he felt a return on favors granted was overdue.
The h, still a wide eyed innocent, refused to offer payment in kind - so the sly young man asked her to hold on to a box of "mementos" for him. Naturally, the silly little virgin was eager to do the favor, and thus was completely lost when the coppers showed up later that evening and arrested her for holding a box full of money that has mysteriously gone missing from the young man's employer's safe.
The whole nasty situation went to trial, and with a shabby public defender recommending the h throw herself on the mercy of the court instead of presenting herself to a jury, things went down hill fast. There was one moment of brightness before the dark came crashing down. The H makes an appearance as the attorney for the young man. The h felt the hope at his magnificent appearance and competent demeanor slide into her heart like a hot knife slicing through butter. Then the H began to speak and her world ended.
The H tells the court that the shifty eyed young man was misled by a cruel and greedy, brassy haired woman. She tempted and tormented with her beauty and cold responses until the young man was driven out of his mind by unrequited love. So he stole the money in order to buy her expensive but morally cheap favors. The h was sentenced to 6 months in prison, but as she was dragged out of the courtroom in chains, she screamed out her agony over the betrayal and vowed to hate the H forever.
She quietly served her sentence, resumed her mahogany lustrous curls and changed her name to escape her parole after her release. Then a bright spot appeared in her life. She met a nice lady, 40 years her senior, who helped her find a live-in job with a nice elderly book writer. The lady, sensing the deep wounds that tormented our lovely songbird's soul, became her best friend. So when the elderly book writer moved to a new plane of existence, our h's older but still sprightly BFF offers a job as her assistant. (The BFF is a romance author herself.)
Over the years the h had heard all about BFF's nephew, apparently he was rich but had a lonely childhood with a possessive father who taught him all about the evils of the fairer sex after the H's mum abandoned them both for a life of lurid parties and luxury yachts. The h has never met the man, but the BFF is very concerned as her intrepid nephew has a taste for the sophisticated beauties who like to make you pay before you play.
The BFF manipulates a social dinner for the h, herself and the nevvy- who is bringing his latest high-class bimbo, in an attempt to ward off the aggressive penthouse popsie and save her nevvy from himself. The h walks into the exclusive party with her BFF and sees the H, fortunately he doesn't appear to recognize her from her previous court appearance. However he does take her to task for grifting reclusive elderly male writers and offering total house services in the physical sense as well.
The h had inherited a tidy amount when the elderly writer passed on, to the consternation of his miserly sisters - who were convinced that no girl who looked like her could be anything but a bed-hopping opportunist. While the H is pretty sure his aunt stays on the opposite gender side of the street, he too doesn't think that a girl who looks like her can be anything but trouble, the really expensive kind. He is determined to run her off, but he would like to buy a taste of her favors before he banishes her for good.
The BFF aunt is delighted - her astrologer predicts it will be lurve and heavenly cohabitation for the H and h, after a period of trial and travail, and by her own estimation, the stars never lie. The OW is seen off in a classy mocking style by the aunt and she too vows revenge against our beautiful young h who has usurped her place in the H's dark desires.
The H begins a determined pursuit, but the h has some experience now and she's a good girl, she is - so despite a perfectly nice young man to escort her around and because the H's fiery brutal kisses make her head explode- she demands marriage as her price to open the gates of delight and the H knocks the ground from beneath her feet when he accepts her proposal. She gets a nice lifestyle and all the passion she can handle and he gets a beautiful new toy who makes other things besides his head explode.
They marry and the first passionate consummation doesn't go very well, in fact for her it is pretty horrible and it looks like the uncharted waters of physical lurve will be abandoned forever more - the h asks for a divorce. The H is somewhat astonished that the gate was locked to the tunnel of love, but he knows his skillz and soon has the h begging for more.
Thus begins a marathon of physical proportions. The H is demanding and he starts all kinds of little fights in a demand to make her trust him. The h is bewildered, initially she married the H for revenge. She had planned to marry him and then announce to all and sundry that she was an escaped parole ex-con, but the bug of love bit her in the hiney and now she is caught in her own trap.
She can't confess her past because the H is so fine and morally magnificent, (in spite of a taste for wild dolls of the expensive kind,) that if he knew about her sordid story he would throw her out of his life forever. She is now a junkie with a taste for the essence of the H and if he rejected her, the withdrawal process would probably kill her.
She just adapts to whatever he wants and he seems to want a lot, but only in the limited physical submission of the h to his mighty lance of lust. This hurts the h inside, but the h bravely endures the barren land of desire with no return on love - she just can't bring herself to walk away.
The H works all day in the rarefied corridors of power and at night he wields the mighty club of lurve on the h. The former women in his life are all still pining for the rush of his clubbing and the insults and taunts fly at the h with monotonous regularity. Until the day the H comes home to tell the h that he is leaving on a big business trip to save his biggest client's company from a takeover.
The h begs to go along but the H harshly refuses. He remarks that surely she can control her (admittedly enjoyable) bodily urges for a week or so. The h sadly sees her emotionally distant lover off, and then runs into the no-longer-handsomely-young man who got her into this mess to begin with. He now sees how much more beautiful the songbird has grown, and he devises a wicked plan of blackmail to get his hands on the body he coveted so many years earlier.
The h will have none of it, after a sneaky but public rendezvous where the evil OM makes his nasty demands, the h decides to walk away from the fiery passions of love. She just wants to save the H's public reputation.
She tells the evil one where to go and prepares to leave, but then the H gets home in rage of fury. Another evil wanna be other woman, the trophy wife of his client, had called the H to inform him that the h was out exercising her sensual skillz with another man. Indignant and brutal in his outraged possessiveness, he angrily sets off to find and destroy the insidious worm - after telling the h she can work out her punishment in his bed.
The h calmly sells a painting she had bought for the H as a wedding present, and take the bus back to her small hometown. She finds a place to rent from an old acquaintance who is now a widower, and her sympathetic understanding of his distress helps her cope with her own. She spends a lot of time wandering the highways and byways of her youth, trying to plot her new life path. She returns to her lonely little cottage to find the H lying in wait in her favorite chair.
The explanations and reunions now begin. With a surge of remorse and self blame for is miserable behavior, the H explains that he found the OM, and that he knows the h is innocent. He has also known all along that the h was the woman from 6 years earlier. The evil OM finally admitted he framed her when he was caught embezzling again. The H was so distressed that he quit criminal law for the corporate takeover battle ground --after he got the h completely cleared of all charges.
The h explains that the money she got from the elderly writer was used to set up a pension for his aged housekeeper and that she was afraid the H wouldn't want her if he knew her past. This astounds the H cause he figured a hot dame like her was only interested in him for his lurve club expertise. (Thus explaining the H's economy size stock of male enhancers) He kept pushing and bullying her to make her trust him with her story, he estimated that if she did so voluntarily, he would know she TRULY lurved him.
They both leap into each others arms, the misunderstandings dissolved, and cast themselves together upon the transcendent shores of passionate love. Then the h announces she is hungry, the H offers to find an all night burger stand, and the bustle of life goes on with a million stories in the big city - enhanced by the hazy glow of the light of HPLandia.
Overall this was a good one, the H's brutality is a bit shocking, but we HP voyagers know that true love can turn the hardest thug into a tender warrior and the mighty lurve club can be tamed by the virtuous yet passionate kiss of a true HP h. Give it a go when you need some drama or just want a ring-side seat in the taming of an arrogant, bully H who gets exactly what he deserves in the continuing annals of HPlandia.
Our story starts with the sadly maligned but innocent h. Six years earlier she was a beautiful young orphan who dyed her nutmeg tresses to a golden blonde, and with a pocketful of dreams and a song in her heart, made her to way to the wicked bad city. In this case it was Atlanta, Georgia. (Yes, I know that true gritty noir happens in the big coastal cities of New York or Los Angeles, but this is HPlandia and even noir gets a rosy glow.)
She has a golden voice that just quite didn't make the audience roar, and as time went on she began to rely more and more on her somewhat dubious only friend. A young man with his hair slicked back with a dab of brylcreem, an aggressive smile and somewhat shifty eyes. He took her out for meals and lent her money for rent and naturally the day came when he felt a return on favors granted was overdue.
The h, still a wide eyed innocent, refused to offer payment in kind - so the sly young man asked her to hold on to a box of "mementos" for him. Naturally, the silly little virgin was eager to do the favor, and thus was completely lost when the coppers showed up later that evening and arrested her for holding a box full of money that has mysteriously gone missing from the young man's employer's safe.
The whole nasty situation went to trial, and with a shabby public defender recommending the h throw herself on the mercy of the court instead of presenting herself to a jury, things went down hill fast. There was one moment of brightness before the dark came crashing down. The H makes an appearance as the attorney for the young man. The h felt the hope at his magnificent appearance and competent demeanor slide into her heart like a hot knife slicing through butter. Then the H began to speak and her world ended.
The H tells the court that the shifty eyed young man was misled by a cruel and greedy, brassy haired woman. She tempted and tormented with her beauty and cold responses until the young man was driven out of his mind by unrequited love. So he stole the money in order to buy her expensive but morally cheap favors. The h was sentenced to 6 months in prison, but as she was dragged out of the courtroom in chains, she screamed out her agony over the betrayal and vowed to hate the H forever.
She quietly served her sentence, resumed her mahogany lustrous curls and changed her name to escape her parole after her release. Then a bright spot appeared in her life. She met a nice lady, 40 years her senior, who helped her find a live-in job with a nice elderly book writer. The lady, sensing the deep wounds that tormented our lovely songbird's soul, became her best friend. So when the elderly book writer moved to a new plane of existence, our h's older but still sprightly BFF offers a job as her assistant. (The BFF is a romance author herself.)
Over the years the h had heard all about BFF's nephew, apparently he was rich but had a lonely childhood with a possessive father who taught him all about the evils of the fairer sex after the H's mum abandoned them both for a life of lurid parties and luxury yachts. The h has never met the man, but the BFF is very concerned as her intrepid nephew has a taste for the sophisticated beauties who like to make you pay before you play.
The BFF manipulates a social dinner for the h, herself and the nevvy- who is bringing his latest high-class bimbo, in an attempt to ward off the aggressive penthouse popsie and save her nevvy from himself. The h walks into the exclusive party with her BFF and sees the H, fortunately he doesn't appear to recognize her from her previous court appearance. However he does take her to task for grifting reclusive elderly male writers and offering total house services in the physical sense as well.
The h had inherited a tidy amount when the elderly writer passed on, to the consternation of his miserly sisters - who were convinced that no girl who looked like her could be anything but a bed-hopping opportunist. While the H is pretty sure his aunt stays on the opposite gender side of the street, he too doesn't think that a girl who looks like her can be anything but trouble, the really expensive kind. He is determined to run her off, but he would like to buy a taste of her favors before he banishes her for good.
The BFF aunt is delighted - her astrologer predicts it will be lurve and heavenly cohabitation for the H and h, after a period of trial and travail, and by her own estimation, the stars never lie. The OW is seen off in a classy mocking style by the aunt and she too vows revenge against our beautiful young h who has usurped her place in the H's dark desires.
The H begins a determined pursuit, but the h has some experience now and she's a good girl, she is - so despite a perfectly nice young man to escort her around and because the H's fiery brutal kisses make her head explode- she demands marriage as her price to open the gates of delight and the H knocks the ground from beneath her feet when he accepts her proposal. She gets a nice lifestyle and all the passion she can handle and he gets a beautiful new toy who makes other things besides his head explode.
They marry and the first passionate consummation doesn't go very well, in fact for her it is pretty horrible and it looks like the uncharted waters of physical lurve will be abandoned forever more - the h asks for a divorce. The H is somewhat astonished that the gate was locked to the tunnel of love, but he knows his skillz and soon has the h begging for more.
Thus begins a marathon of physical proportions. The H is demanding and he starts all kinds of little fights in a demand to make her trust him. The h is bewildered, initially she married the H for revenge. She had planned to marry him and then announce to all and sundry that she was an escaped parole ex-con, but the bug of love bit her in the hiney and now she is caught in her own trap.
She can't confess her past because the H is so fine and morally magnificent, (in spite of a taste for wild dolls of the expensive kind,) that if he knew about her sordid story he would throw her out of his life forever. She is now a junkie with a taste for the essence of the H and if he rejected her, the withdrawal process would probably kill her.
She just adapts to whatever he wants and he seems to want a lot, but only in the limited physical submission of the h to his mighty lance of lust. This hurts the h inside, but the h bravely endures the barren land of desire with no return on love - she just can't bring herself to walk away.
The H works all day in the rarefied corridors of power and at night he wields the mighty club of lurve on the h. The former women in his life are all still pining for the rush of his clubbing and the insults and taunts fly at the h with monotonous regularity. Until the day the H comes home to tell the h that he is leaving on a big business trip to save his biggest client's company from a takeover.
The h begs to go along but the H harshly refuses. He remarks that surely she can control her (admittedly enjoyable) bodily urges for a week or so. The h sadly sees her emotionally distant lover off, and then runs into the no-longer-handsomely-young man who got her into this mess to begin with. He now sees how much more beautiful the songbird has grown, and he devises a wicked plan of blackmail to get his hands on the body he coveted so many years earlier.
The h will have none of it, after a sneaky but public rendezvous where the evil OM makes his nasty demands, the h decides to walk away from the fiery passions of love. She just wants to save the H's public reputation.
She tells the evil one where to go and prepares to leave, but then the H gets home in rage of fury. Another evil wanna be other woman, the trophy wife of his client, had called the H to inform him that the h was out exercising her sensual skillz with another man. Indignant and brutal in his outraged possessiveness, he angrily sets off to find and destroy the insidious worm - after telling the h she can work out her punishment in his bed.
The h calmly sells a painting she had bought for the H as a wedding present, and take the bus back to her small hometown. She finds a place to rent from an old acquaintance who is now a widower, and her sympathetic understanding of his distress helps her cope with her own. She spends a lot of time wandering the highways and byways of her youth, trying to plot her new life path. She returns to her lonely little cottage to find the H lying in wait in her favorite chair.
The explanations and reunions now begin. With a surge of remorse and self blame for is miserable behavior, the H explains that he found the OM, and that he knows the h is innocent. He has also known all along that the h was the woman from 6 years earlier. The evil OM finally admitted he framed her when he was caught embezzling again. The H was so distressed that he quit criminal law for the corporate takeover battle ground --after he got the h completely cleared of all charges.
The h explains that the money she got from the elderly writer was used to set up a pension for his aged housekeeper and that she was afraid the H wouldn't want her if he knew her past. This astounds the H cause he figured a hot dame like her was only interested in him for his lurve club expertise. (Thus explaining the H's economy size stock of male enhancers) He kept pushing and bullying her to make her trust him with her story, he estimated that if she did so voluntarily, he would know she TRULY lurved him.
They both leap into each others arms, the misunderstandings dissolved, and cast themselves together upon the transcendent shores of passionate love. Then the h announces she is hungry, the H offers to find an all night burger stand, and the bustle of life goes on with a million stories in the big city - enhanced by the hazy glow of the light of HPLandia.
Overall this was a good one, the H's brutality is a bit shocking, but we HP voyagers know that true love can turn the hardest thug into a tender warrior and the mighty lurve club can be tamed by the virtuous yet passionate kiss of a true HP h. Give it a go when you need some drama or just want a ring-side seat in the taming of an arrogant, bully H who gets exactly what he deserves in the continuing annals of HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2017
Really good story of a heroine who was falsely jailed because of the lawyer hero's actions. Several yeas later the heroine meets him again at his aunt's house and he doesn't recognize her. He is attracted. She resists until she can't anymore.
They marry and the heroine is on knife edge waiting for her past to be revealed. Finally the guy who framed her tries to blackmail her. The hero thinks she's having an affair and says terrible things to her. She runs away.
The hero realizes what's going on - finally - and puts a stop to the blackmail before tracking down the heroine. He does a great grovel - both for putting her in jail the first time, and for the suspicions he had about her. He knew about the jail time and was waiting for her to tell him and it never occurred to him that she was worried he wouldn't stand by her.
Both the H/h were damaged people, but they were entertaining in their damage. Heroine had a quick wit and could hold her own with all the beautiful people. Hero was a poor little rich boy and -
as his servant told the heroine - he was a one woman man. It was obvious he needed the heroine for his happiness.
An intense read with a believable, satisfying HEA
They marry and the heroine is on knife edge waiting for her past to be revealed. Finally the guy who framed her tries to blackmail her. The hero thinks she's having an affair and says terrible things to her. She runs away.
The hero realizes what's going on - finally - and puts a stop to the blackmail before tracking down the heroine. He does a great grovel - both for putting her in jail the first time, and for the suspicions he had about her. He knew about the jail time and was waiting for her to tell him and it never occurred to him that she was worried he wouldn't stand by her.
Both the H/h were damaged people, but they were entertaining in their damage. Heroine had a quick wit and could hold her own with all the beautiful people. Hero was a poor little rich boy and -
as his servant told the heroine - he was a one woman man. It was obvious he needed the heroine for his happiness.
An intense read with a believable, satisfying HEA
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2025
Ah, my old enemy, we meet again
In general, the heroines in HQs hate their heroes because they
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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In general, the heroines in HQs hate their heroes because they
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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November 10, 2015
I tracked this one down through Abe Books, after a friend recommended it on Goodreads, and very glad I did. This is a crazy old book with a mean hero and a secretly ex-con heroine.
19 year old Josey leaves her small town to pursue her dream of being a singer. Unfortunately she can’t sing loud enough, and she’s starting to run out of money. When she gets involved with a creepy guy she starts feeling guilty about taking his money without sexing him, so she agrees to his request to keep a ‘box of mementoes’ at her place. Turns out the box is full of stolen money, and Josey’s in big trouble.
Huge trouble actually, because her public defender is hopeless and creepy guy’s lawyer throws her under the justice bus, and she’s sentenced to two years in prison.
The Big House doesn’t change Josey. She spends her time reading quietly and avoiding drama. If ever I was incarcerated for a crime I didn’t commit, that would be my plan too, so it’s reassuring that it’s possible to go to jail without being shanked or forced to take up smoking.
Josey gets out on parole and changes her name. She’s kind of nervous about that, given it’s illegal. She makes friends with a nice rich lady, and starts work as a rich guy’s private secretary. Eventually the rich guy dies and leaves Josey some money, which she deals with in typical romance heroine fashion. She gives most of it away, and then is forced to endure people thinking she did sex things for cash.
Rich lady invites Josey to come and stay with her. She wants Josey to break up her nephew and the scheming hussy the nephew is currently seeing. It turns out the nephew is the horrible lawyer Josey once vowed she would kill/make pay for sending her to prison.
Josey now looks completely different so the lawyer doesn’t recognise her. What he does recognise, is that she’s super fine.
The lawyer’s name is Thorne, which is very clear indication that we’re back in another romance era. As are his anger management issues, and the fact that he likes to tell the heroine that she’s a bitch, and occasionally a slut. His seduction technique is to invade a girl’s personal space and growl: you will sleep with me now, bitch! It’s been super successful so far. He’s got a string of evil hussy women desperate to get him back to prove it.
He is SUCH a charmer and it’s no surprise Josey immediately falls for him. Josey, however, is no push over. Sure, she wants to sleep with Thorne because he’s so hot, but she’s a bit conflicted about how she hates him for being such a bastard to her when she went to prison, and how much of a bastard he’s being to her now. See, he suspects that she’s a gold digging ho out for everything she can get. Josey has no time for his stupid, so she just rolls her eyes about it, and tries to ignore most of the name calling. When he gets really insistent about the sex stuff, she delivers her ultimatum: she wants a wedding ring.
This is a great plan: either he’ll back the hell off, or he’ll go for marriage. And if he goes for marriage, when she gets really angry at him, she can reveal that she was marrying him for revenge, suck it! So much win for Josey.
They get married and head off to the Bahamas for a savage deflowering. See, Josey chooses to start the ‘I have a hymen’ conversation just as Thorne is ready to explode, and he doesn’t take well at all to Josey calling a time out. ‘Spread ‘em, slut!’ he growls. Ok. Not quite. Actually, he’s a bit more brutal about how Josey has been stringing him along, and she really ought to have started conversations before they started sex.
He’s sort of remorseful about her first experience being so rough, but Josey’s a trooper about it. They work it out and have lots of great sex. Which would be fine, if Thorne didn’t also insist on introducing Josey to a succession of awful people. The only people Thorne knows are awful people, which probably reinforces his world-view that everyone is horrible, especially women.
I really hope that after Josey and Thorne have their love declaration happy ending that they ditch everyone Thorne knows and get nicer friends. Oh, and Thorne gets counselling or something for his anger problems.
This was such an entertaining read! Josey was feisty Thorne was over the top mean. It’s not quite possible to like Thorne, but he was amusing, and he turns out to be almost sweet at the end.
19 year old Josey leaves her small town to pursue her dream of being a singer. Unfortunately she can’t sing loud enough, and she’s starting to run out of money. When she gets involved with a creepy guy she starts feeling guilty about taking his money without sexing him, so she agrees to his request to keep a ‘box of mementoes’ at her place. Turns out the box is full of stolen money, and Josey’s in big trouble.
Huge trouble actually, because her public defender is hopeless and creepy guy’s lawyer throws her under the justice bus, and she’s sentenced to two years in prison.
The Big House doesn’t change Josey. She spends her time reading quietly and avoiding drama. If ever I was incarcerated for a crime I didn’t commit, that would be my plan too, so it’s reassuring that it’s possible to go to jail without being shanked or forced to take up smoking.
Josey gets out on parole and changes her name. She’s kind of nervous about that, given it’s illegal. She makes friends with a nice rich lady, and starts work as a rich guy’s private secretary. Eventually the rich guy dies and leaves Josey some money, which she deals with in typical romance heroine fashion. She gives most of it away, and then is forced to endure people thinking she did sex things for cash.
Rich lady invites Josey to come and stay with her. She wants Josey to break up her nephew and the scheming hussy the nephew is currently seeing. It turns out the nephew is the horrible lawyer Josey once vowed she would kill/make pay for sending her to prison.
Josey now looks completely different so the lawyer doesn’t recognise her. What he does recognise, is that she’s super fine.
The lawyer’s name is Thorne, which is very clear indication that we’re back in another romance era. As are his anger management issues, and the fact that he likes to tell the heroine that she’s a bitch, and occasionally a slut. His seduction technique is to invade a girl’s personal space and growl: you will sleep with me now, bitch! It’s been super successful so far. He’s got a string of evil hussy women desperate to get him back to prove it.
He is SUCH a charmer and it’s no surprise Josey immediately falls for him. Josey, however, is no push over. Sure, she wants to sleep with Thorne because he’s so hot, but she’s a bit conflicted about how she hates him for being such a bastard to her when she went to prison, and how much of a bastard he’s being to her now. See, he suspects that she’s a gold digging ho out for everything she can get. Josey has no time for his stupid, so she just rolls her eyes about it, and tries to ignore most of the name calling. When he gets really insistent about the sex stuff, she delivers her ultimatum: she wants a wedding ring.
This is a great plan: either he’ll back the hell off, or he’ll go for marriage. And if he goes for marriage, when she gets really angry at him, she can reveal that she was marrying him for revenge, suck it! So much win for Josey.
They get married and head off to the Bahamas for a savage deflowering. See, Josey chooses to start the ‘I have a hymen’ conversation just as Thorne is ready to explode, and he doesn’t take well at all to Josey calling a time out. ‘Spread ‘em, slut!’ he growls. Ok. Not quite. Actually, he’s a bit more brutal about how Josey has been stringing him along, and she really ought to have started conversations before they started sex.
He’s sort of remorseful about her first experience being so rough, but Josey’s a trooper about it. They work it out and have lots of great sex. Which would be fine, if Thorne didn’t also insist on introducing Josey to a succession of awful people. The only people Thorne knows are awful people, which probably reinforces his world-view that everyone is horrible, especially women.
I really hope that after Josey and Thorne have their love declaration happy ending that they ditch everyone Thorne knows and get nicer friends. Oh, and Thorne gets counselling or something for his anger problems.
This was such an entertaining read! Josey was feisty Thorne was over the top mean. It’s not quite possible to like Thorne, but he was amusing, and he turns out to be almost sweet at the end.
October 6, 2021
Thorne Macallan was deeeeee-lish. 😍😍😍
He's cold, mean, pushy, bulldozery, not at all afraid to take what he wants, not afraid to get physical or go for the forced seduction. 😈 He's obsessed and determined to get Josey however he has to. 😈 He's jealous and possessive, and he lays down the law on other men. And when the h doesn't tow the line, he has no problem at all date-crashing and creating a scene. So... in other words, he's my fictional dream hero. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
This was my first book by this author, and now I'm wondering if this was a one-off masterpiece, or if she has other books that are exactly my flavor. 🤔 I guess I'll have to take one for the team and read her entire back catalogue to find out. 🤷🏼♀️🤡
Even though it's written in the mid-80's it had more steam than I've come to expect in the vintage Harlequins. It's definitely not erotica, but I appreciated the bumped up steam. It was a nice bonus. 🔥
Was there anything I didn't like?
- well, I could have done with a little more OW drama... I felt like it was slightly unresolved. 😬
Bottom Line? I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - the H is involved with another woman when the book starts... it seems like a pretty lopsided relationship, with her being the chaser, and him being slightly annoyed by her - she's evil and snobby and he dispatches her quickly after she insults the h. There are OW interested in him and not afraid to make waves, but he never returns their interest.
- OM drama - the h has a friend she spends time with who the H is very jealous of - the H also assumes the h is gold-digging whore, and has been involved with multiple OM - there are several OM sniffing around the h and it makes the H CRAZY
- dubcon/nocon - the H forces several embraces on the h that eventually the h becomes an active enthusiastic participant in, and their first time is by force while he is in a rage because the h says she wants a divorce
- h (25) is a virgin - this is discovered The Old Fashioned Way 😏
- H (36) is experienced... if not a manwhore, maybe a serial monogamist 🤷🏼♀️
- no condoms or talk of sexual safety of any kind (published in 1984)
He's cold, mean, pushy, bulldozery, not at all afraid to take what he wants, not afraid to get physical or go for the forced seduction. 😈 He's obsessed and determined to get Josey however he has to. 😈 He's jealous and possessive, and he lays down the law on other men. And when the h doesn't tow the line, he has no problem at all date-crashing and creating a scene. So... in other words, he's my fictional dream hero. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
This was my first book by this author, and now I'm wondering if this was a one-off masterpiece, or if she has other books that are exactly my flavor. 🤔 I guess I'll have to take one for the team and read her entire back catalogue to find out. 🤷🏼♀️🤡
Even though it's written in the mid-80's it had more steam than I've come to expect in the vintage Harlequins. It's definitely not erotica, but I appreciated the bumped up steam. It was a nice bonus. 🔥
Was there anything I didn't like?
- well, I could have done with a little more OW drama... I felt like it was slightly unresolved. 😬
Bottom Line? I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - the H is involved with another woman when the book starts... it seems like a pretty lopsided relationship, with her being the chaser, and him being slightly annoyed by her - she's evil and snobby and he dispatches her quickly after she insults the h. There are OW interested in him and not afraid to make waves, but he never returns their interest.
- OM drama - the h has a friend she spends time with who the H is very jealous of - the H also assumes the h is gold-digging whore, and has been involved with multiple OM - there are several OM sniffing around the h and it makes the H CRAZY
- dubcon/nocon - the H forces several embraces on the h that eventually the h becomes an active enthusiastic participant in, and their first time is by force while he is in a rage because the h says she wants a divorce
- h (25) is a virgin - this is discovered The Old Fashioned Way 😏
- H (36) is experienced... if not a manwhore, maybe a serial monogamist 🤷🏼♀️
- no condoms or talk of sexual safety of any kind (published in 1984)
September 27, 2018
4.75🌟
The ending was so good better than I anticipated. Left me feeling that warm fuzzy feeling it was great. Added to the keeper list!
The ending was so good better than I anticipated. Left me feeling that warm fuzzy feeling it was great. Added to the keeper list!
September 27, 2018
Second part was better and because of the final I gave 4 stars. @Boogenhagen ‘s review was detailed and great as usual. So if you want spoilers, read hers.
I just want to say that this book proved one more time that in Harveyland revenge is nearly impossible if you are a heroine. Lol
I just want to say that this book proved one more time that in Harveyland revenge is nearly impossible if you are a heroine. Lol
October 7, 2022
This is a good oldie from 1985.
She’s a virgin, he’s a cruel, besotted, possessive alpha male lawyer. The story has a good pace so it doesn’t get boring. For an 80’s romance, it’s pretty steamy. All good.
Because of the h it is 4 stars and not 5. She is often dumbstruck and she just goes along with everything other people want her to do. She lies a lot, for instance that she was the mistress of her former employer.
And who is so utterly brainless to expect the lawyer of the other party to defend her instead of his own client after she had confessed to committing the crime? Well, this h is.
She’s a virgin, he’s a cruel, besotted, possessive alpha male lawyer. The story has a good pace so it doesn’t get boring. For an 80’s romance, it’s pretty steamy. All good.
Because of the h it is 4 stars and not 5. She is often dumbstruck and she just goes along with everything other people want her to do. She lies a lot, for instance that she was the mistress of her former employer.
And who is so utterly brainless to expect the lawyer of the other party to defend her instead of his own client after she had confessed to committing the crime? Well, this h is.
December 28, 2021
Fabulous read. A straight 4.5 stars!
Josey is convicted of a petty crime that she didn’t commit. Thanks to the high profile lawyer she has to do some time with 2 years on parole. Thankfully she works her way around and makes a run with changing her identity and moving states. One fine eve she makes friends with a friendly older writer lady and things take a positive dip for her.
Finally Josey has a confidante, a friend and a mothering hen figure in this lady. I loved how Maud was outspoken and snarky in her pushy ways to hook up Josey with her charming nephew.
It’s only when Josey meets this man after years of avoiding it that she realizes he’s the same man who wrongly had Josey convicted. What takes on is a toe-curling absolute dream boat of a hot romance between the h and H.
Thorne is the stuff of every woman’s dreams. He instantly falls for Josey who is a far cry from the clingy women around him. Josey is scared that if he knew her reality he’d prolly run the other way but Thorne isn’t like other pu$$y men out there. He’s hot on her toes as a raging possessive bull and doesn’t leave her alone to have any second thoughts about him. With his heart and mind on her, he proposes marriage with a forever kind of a premise.
Josey could pretty much get away with anything and Thorne would still hold her and put her up on a pedestal. I’d say they had a beautiful marriage. Both the h and H were kind and respectful of each other. Thorne was a patient husband who’d never get mad at Josey and always be waiting for her with his arms wide open.
Of course this was an HEA that could never be lost. Perfect book for a dowdy winter day if you want to be all warm and fuzzy.
Josey is convicted of a petty crime that she didn’t commit. Thanks to the high profile lawyer she has to do some time with 2 years on parole. Thankfully she works her way around and makes a run with changing her identity and moving states. One fine eve she makes friends with a friendly older writer lady and things take a positive dip for her.
Finally Josey has a confidante, a friend and a mothering hen figure in this lady. I loved how Maud was outspoken and snarky in her pushy ways to hook up Josey with her charming nephew.
It’s only when Josey meets this man after years of avoiding it that she realizes he’s the same man who wrongly had Josey convicted. What takes on is a toe-curling absolute dream boat of a hot romance between the h and H.
Thorne is the stuff of every woman’s dreams. He instantly falls for Josey who is a far cry from the clingy women around him. Josey is scared that if he knew her reality he’d prolly run the other way but Thorne isn’t like other pu$$y men out there. He’s hot on her toes as a raging possessive bull and doesn’t leave her alone to have any second thoughts about him. With his heart and mind on her, he proposes marriage with a forever kind of a premise.
Josey could pretty much get away with anything and Thorne would still hold her and put her up on a pedestal. I’d say they had a beautiful marriage. Both the h and H were kind and respectful of each other. Thorne was a patient husband who’d never get mad at Josey and always be waiting for her with his arms wide open.
Of course this was an HEA that could never be lost. Perfect book for a dowdy winter day if you want to be all warm and fuzzy.
October 24, 2021
3.5 stars
January 25, 2020
2.5 rounded to 3.
The young heroine is wronged by the Hero who is the lawyer of her scumbag boyfriend, who has just framed her. Because of this she goes to jail.
Now, several year later, they meet up again. The Hero doesn’t recognize her, so she marries him for revenge. But then she falls in love with him, i dont know why, he continued to treat her nastily, possibly from all the good sex they were having, so now she is afraid to tell him about her past conviction.
Lots of angst and lust in their relationship. The Hero didnt even really woo her, he just married her to get into her pants, and thinks she married him for his money, so even if the sex is great, it still seems like a marriage made in hell.
I didn’t like how they were such slaves to their bodies, like they had no control whatsoever, so that despite hating each other, they still could not resist each other.
Hmmm maybe i just was not in the mood.
The young heroine is wronged by the Hero who is the lawyer of her scumbag boyfriend, who has just framed her. Because of this she goes to jail.
Now, several year later, they meet up again. The Hero doesn’t recognize her, so she marries him for revenge. But then she falls in love with him, i dont know why, he continued to treat her nastily, possibly from all the good sex they were having, so now she is afraid to tell him about her past conviction.
Lots of angst and lust in their relationship. The Hero didnt even really woo her, he just married her to get into her pants, and thinks she married him for his money, so even if the sex is great, it still seems like a marriage made in hell.
I didn’t like how they were such slaves to their bodies, like they had no control whatsoever, so that despite hating each other, they still could not resist each other.
Hmmm maybe i just was not in the mood.
April 27, 2023
Lots of drama and angst in this story but the quality of the relationship relayed was clear!y an abusive one, one that i personally didn't like at all. I mean that the hero and the heroine have a complex relationship...she was "bitch" to him and he was "bastard" to her. The MCs often use abusive epithets for each other and the angst level is high most of the the duration. Despite having been victimised in her past, I also sensed a certain slyness in the heroine as i felt she was never completely honest with anyone. As for the hero, who has been neglected by his mother in his childood, it seems there is always going to be some abusive element in this relationship between them . So i'm not giving this relationship too much hope. However it is really the riveting style of LC, that makes this book a fascinating read in my opinion even if the characters don't measure up to my taste.
September 9, 2021
Found this on Zlibrary. The blip on the back of the cover gives you the premise. Basically, the heroine ends up falling in love then marriage with the hero who is partly responsible for her getting thrown in jail. Presently, the h(Josey)is 25 ish and H(Thorne)is 35ish. Thorne’s aunt Maud is responsible for the hook up. Here are some of the things I enjoyed about the story.
The h(Josey) has matured from the 19 year old girl who was bamboozled into a jail term. The book doesn’t spend a lot of time on her younger self, but the woman she has become is not going to take things lying down.
In one example, the evil jealous ow, Eve, while sitting on the Hero’s arm rest(after he moved away from her on the couch where she plastered herself against him), tries to get the h to share her most personal secrets. The h’s response:
“Josey looked at her frowningly, seeing the spite behind the innocent questions. This was the sort of thing she had been getting from Thorne all afternoon, and she was damned if she was going to take it any longer!
Drawing a deep breath, she asked blandly, 'Let's see, Mrs Sanders, are you a widow—or divorced?'
'I'm divorced, if that's any of your
'Oh-h!' Josey cooed. 'I'd love to hear the details! Were you sexually incompatible? Did you quarrel? What about? How much did you receive in your divorce settlement?!
Thorne choked.” The ow is gone the next day. She said a few more things, got a little loose with playing her hand, and the H dismissed her.
This isn’t the only time in the book where the h makes sure that the people who try to tear her down have their work cut out for them. She is going to control her own narrative, even if it leads to her own heartbreak. She isn’t going to let anyone else break it though!
The other thing I like about the book….we get snippets of other people’s thoughts along the way. It is done so easily, and quickly. We see the ow’s thoughts, and I always enjoy seeing what is going on in their beady little brains.
This book has a variety of colorful characters, most of which are not developed, but there is just enough about each of them that you get a sense of who they are.
One of the most colorful characters is the Aunt. Aunt Maud, is over the top delicious and has had an astrologer on retainer for years. She despises the ow, and purposely put the h in the path of the ow and H so he could see the light. She has no qualms about taking the ow to task in front of everyone. Sadly, once the H and h marry we do not see the Aunt anymore and this is 1/2 way through the book.
I just think that LC did a great job with making you wonder about some of the other minor characters in the story.
Thorne, the hero, is typical of most of the HP heroes, however, he wasn’t as cruel as some. In fact, he turns out to be a really good guy, who was able to correct many wrongs that the h doesn’t find out about until the end. It is obvious early on that his lust for the h was more than lust. He was basically a confirmed bachelor, and even the h said she would have ended up in bed with him eventually. When the h dropped the gauntlet and basically said nothing would induce her to sleep with him short of marriage, she was shocked when he picked the gauntlet up and was like OK!(the wedding night wasn’t very sweet, but he ended up fixing that too!)
The H did a good grovel in the end. There is no doubt he is a one woman man as indicated by other characters. These two have lots of passion, and I am sure he will fall in love with her even more when he gets to hear her sing lullabies to their future children.(She originally came to the big city to be a singer, so we can assume she has a beautiful voice.)
This is my second LC book, and looking ahead it appears that there are only a couple more out there. This is a shame as I have enjoyed both books.
For a truly hilarious and thorough review of this, check out Dianna’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The h(Josey) has matured from the 19 year old girl who was bamboozled into a jail term. The book doesn’t spend a lot of time on her younger self, but the woman she has become is not going to take things lying down.
In one example, the evil jealous ow, Eve, while sitting on the Hero’s arm rest(after he moved away from her on the couch where she plastered herself against him), tries to get the h to share her most personal secrets. The h’s response:
“Josey looked at her frowningly, seeing the spite behind the innocent questions. This was the sort of thing she had been getting from Thorne all afternoon, and she was damned if she was going to take it any longer!
Drawing a deep breath, she asked blandly, 'Let's see, Mrs Sanders, are you a widow—or divorced?'
'I'm divorced, if that's any of your
'Oh-h!' Josey cooed. 'I'd love to hear the details! Were you sexually incompatible? Did you quarrel? What about? How much did you receive in your divorce settlement?!
Thorne choked.” The ow is gone the next day. She said a few more things, got a little loose with playing her hand, and the H dismissed her.
This isn’t the only time in the book where the h makes sure that the people who try to tear her down have their work cut out for them. She is going to control her own narrative, even if it leads to her own heartbreak. She isn’t going to let anyone else break it though!
The other thing I like about the book….we get snippets of other people’s thoughts along the way. It is done so easily, and quickly. We see the ow’s thoughts, and I always enjoy seeing what is going on in their beady little brains.
This book has a variety of colorful characters, most of which are not developed, but there is just enough about each of them that you get a sense of who they are.
One of the most colorful characters is the Aunt. Aunt Maud, is over the top delicious and has had an astrologer on retainer for years. She despises the ow, and purposely put the h in the path of the ow and H so he could see the light. She has no qualms about taking the ow to task in front of everyone. Sadly, once the H and h marry we do not see the Aunt anymore and this is 1/2 way through the book.
I just think that LC did a great job with making you wonder about some of the other minor characters in the story.
Thorne, the hero, is typical of most of the HP heroes, however, he wasn’t as cruel as some. In fact, he turns out to be a really good guy, who was able to correct many wrongs that the h doesn’t find out about until the end. It is obvious early on that his lust for the h was more than lust. He was basically a confirmed bachelor, and even the h said she would have ended up in bed with him eventually. When the h dropped the gauntlet and basically said nothing would induce her to sleep with him short of marriage, she was shocked when he picked the gauntlet up and was like OK!(the wedding night wasn’t very sweet, but he ended up fixing that too!)
The H did a good grovel in the end. There is no doubt he is a one woman man as indicated by other characters. These two have lots of passion, and I am sure he will fall in love with her even more when he gets to hear her sing lullabies to their future children.(She originally came to the big city to be a singer, so we can assume she has a beautiful voice.)
This is my second LC book, and looking ahead it appears that there are only a couple more out there. This is a shame as I have enjoyed both books.
For a truly hilarious and thorough review of this, check out Dianna’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
November 2, 2012
4 Stars ~ Though there are forty years between their ages, there's not a thing in this world Josey wouldn't do for her friend Maud. So when Josey got the call that Maud was ill and that her nephew was threatening to have put in a nursing home, she went running to her side, only to discover Maud had faked her out to get her there. Maud's a very popular historical romance writer and she has a flare for the dramatic. She's set Josey up to help her get rid of an unscrupulous woman from her nephew's life. Over the year's Maud had deftly kept Josey and Thorne apart and they have yet to meet. Maud had led Josey to believe that Thorne was an ideal rich man who played with women. Much to her shock, the man she meets is far from that, in fact, he's the lawyer that helped seal her fate six years ago, and seen her sent to prison for six months totally innocent of any crime. Josey's relieved that he doesn't recognize her, hoping her changed name and the fact she's no longer the dyed blond will keep it that way. Thorne immediately attacks her, letting her know that he knows she's only out to earn her way into Maud's will. With her hatred for this man renewed, Josey fights back which only flares up the sexual attraction between them. When Thorne demands that she become his mistress proving that he could easily seduce her, she throws out that she's not the mistress sort, only marriage will do. He immediately agrees, and three days later they're married. Having fallen in love with her arrogant husband, Josey is even more afraid of how he'll react when he learns of her past.
This is a compelling love story. I'm rather fond of the wrongfully accused heroine stories and I couldn't help feeling outraged for Josey and hating Thorne. He came across rather like a bully and though I came to like him he didn't quite win me over. I admired Josey's courage in standing up to him and then her courage to walk away. She comes across as a very strong heroine though she allows her insecurities from her past to eat away at her confidence. I'd have loved a little more grovel out of Thorne and perhaps a few more hints throughout the book that Josey meant more to him than just a bedmate. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Cheatham and I really enjoyed it
This is a compelling love story. I'm rather fond of the wrongfully accused heroine stories and I couldn't help feeling outraged for Josey and hating Thorne. He came across rather like a bully and though I came to like him he didn't quite win me over. I admired Josey's courage in standing up to him and then her courage to walk away. She comes across as a very strong heroine though she allows her insecurities from her past to eat away at her confidence. I'd have loved a little more grovel out of Thorne and perhaps a few more hints throughout the book that Josey meant more to him than just a bedmate. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Cheatham and I really enjoyed it
Read
September 20, 2022This deserves to have no ratings because it was truly terrible in my opinion. Like erm WHYYYY does it have so many positive reviews. Like I respect all of their opinions but personally I hated it. 😭😭😭 There was truly nothing redeemable about the H, every action of his was sooo bad and as much as he tried justifying his actions to the h at the end, it was sooo baseless. 😫🤚😑
Anyways never again will I read this book. I'm keeping it brief, it was a no for me. 🤚🤨👋
Anyways never again will I read this book. I'm keeping it brief, it was a no for me. 🤚🤨👋
July 14, 2026
“Lady with a past” is the story of Josey and Thorne.
Oh we are so back!
If you like angsty romances with a heroine on the run, lying her way through life and traumatized by the hero.. a ruthless hero who then gets obsessed with the heroine who is hell bent on pushing him away.. insane jealousy from both sides, bruising kisses, dub con sex and a volatile passionate relationship marred by past injustice and new feelings- this is the book for you.
He was insane, she was addicted, they were both messy and obsessed! I did enjoy it.
Unsafe
4/5
Oh we are so back!
If you like angsty romances with a heroine on the run, lying her way through life and traumatized by the hero.. a ruthless hero who then gets obsessed with the heroine who is hell bent on pushing him away.. insane jealousy from both sides, bruising kisses, dub con sex and a volatile passionate relationship marred by past injustice and new feelings- this is the book for you.
He was insane, she was addicted, they were both messy and obsessed! I did enjoy it.
Unsafe
4/5
December 1, 2010
His face, his voice branded her soul
It was the sort of mad unbelievable coincidence that one swore could never happen. Through her devotion to Maud, Josey had blundered into her worst enemy!
Six years ago, Josey had pinned her last desperate hope for justice on brilliant trial lawyer T.J. Macallan, only to be dragged down for the sake of his guilty client. Now he didn't even recognize the innocent he'd helped put behind bars.
Much to his dear Aunt Maud's delight, however, Thorne took note of Josey's animosity. In fact, he found her resistance irresistible....
It was the sort of mad unbelievable coincidence that one swore could never happen. Through her devotion to Maud, Josey had blundered into her worst enemy!
Six years ago, Josey had pinned her last desperate hope for justice on brilliant trial lawyer T.J. Macallan, only to be dragged down for the sake of his guilty client. Now he didn't even recognize the innocent he'd helped put behind bars.
Much to his dear Aunt Maud's delight, however, Thorne took note of Josey's animosity. In fact, he found her resistance irresistible....
October 25, 2022
The beginning of this story was very similar to the Without Trust from Penny Jordan. I honestly thought for a moment the plot will be the same, but the angst convinced me it won't.
The angst itself is what it makes this Harlequin novel so much better than the one from PJ. There's nothing like the "80's a-hole Hero" and Harlequin writers know how to do it so right!!!
Though, I was a bit dissappointed at the end when everything got explained (almost everything), because apparently the H's behavior towards h wasn't as it seemed. However, at the same time a few things didn't quite match, so it made me feel like the author started with not having a clear vision how it should end, and then just made Hero as dreamy as possible.
The Hero was ok, but the heroine was more or less doormat throughout the whole book. Being her, I would pack my stuff and left his ass much earlier. Being treated as a gold digger would be reason enough...
April 9, 2021
Honestly this has so be one of the best endings I have read in my M&B history so far, not only did it resolve all the points of contentions and misunderstandings between the leads but the grovel and apology by the ML was the cherry on the top.
I can't live without you. I'm not even a whole man when I'm away from you. It's as though I've lost a vital part of my body and I walk around in pain, unable to function. I need you to live.'
The ML was a bit ott possessive for me but overall I really liked their chemistry and definitely would re-read this gem again.
I can't live without you. I'm not even a whole man when I'm away from you. It's as though I've lost a vital part of my body and I walk around in pain, unable to function. I need you to live.'
The ML was a bit ott possessive for me but overall I really liked their chemistry and definitely would re-read this gem again.
March 1, 2022
The ending was wrong. The writer started it one way and then ended it differently.
It kind of ruined it all.
How was it that all of a sudden the H knew all the while who the h was. And had known the truth before he married her.
He mistreated her all the while knowing he was guilty.
Had he known that he wouldn't gave done all those mean things. The writer got confused and changed the ending.
What a waste!
It kind of ruined it all.
How was it that all of a sudden the H knew all the while who the h was. And had known the truth before he married her.
He mistreated her all the while knowing he was guilty.
Had he known that he wouldn't gave done all those mean things. The writer got confused and changed the ending.
What a waste!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2020
There IS a good story in here, I know it! But it's too convoluted to appear. What happened to the hero's aunt? He knew the truth the whole time? Just...it's there! It just needs to be edited to be good.
Read
October 8, 2021Little boring. Really unappealing H
November 6, 2021
Excellent story with several outstanding minor characters, including a near perfect copy of auntie Mame
H is sometimes hard to read because what he says and does don’t add up but that’s because he is nearly out of his mind for her
H is sometimes hard to read because what he says and does don’t add up but that’s because he is nearly out of his mind for her
October 12, 2021
2.5 stars
October 6, 2025
Not bad- this has some angst, a bit of abuse, but overall was satisfying in both the H's amount of angst/woman-hating/antagonism for the heroine, and his amount of grovel at the end of the book, in which he straight up confesses, not even grudgingly, his undying love for the heroine in unstinting, believable words, and apologizes full-throatedly for how badly he treated her, both in the distant past and the recent past.
Also, the last words of the novel were great: "'On the other hand, I can eat soup anytime. We have all night for soup.'" and that's it. The end. lol.
The h had the body-betrayal syndrome a bit too much for my taste, but she did have a backbone and didn't let OW(omEN) walk all over her; in fact, she chases off the main OW almost immediately and throws her thinly veiled arrows back on her. She was definitely deceptive at times and did the dumb heroine thing of lying to the heroine about being more sexually experienced than she was and being other people's """"mistresses""" (y'all mistresses weren't really a thing in the 80s even unless a man was married and kept the "mistress" in a house and gave her money and stuff otherwise it's just lovers or affair partners jeez.).
But the ending was more satisfying than some of these dreary angstfests I've read lately where the Hero, with smoke-wrinkled, stiff angry lips, grudgingly admits that he's maybe a little bit fond of the h, sometimes on an odd Thursday, so could she see her way clear to maybe staying with him even though he will probably keep abusing/assaulting/insulting/demeaning her for as long as they both shall live??
Also, the last words of the novel were great: "'On the other hand, I can eat soup anytime. We have all night for soup.'" and that's it. The end. lol.
The h had the body-betrayal syndrome a bit too much for my taste, but she did have a backbone and didn't let OW(omEN) walk all over her; in fact, she chases off the main OW almost immediately and throws her thinly veiled arrows back on her. She was definitely deceptive at times and did the dumb heroine thing of lying to the heroine about being more sexually experienced than she was and being other people's """"mistresses""" (y'all mistresses weren't really a thing in the 80s even unless a man was married and kept the "mistress" in a house and gave her money and stuff otherwise it's just lovers or affair partners jeez.).
But the ending was more satisfying than some of these dreary angstfests I've read lately where the Hero, with smoke-wrinkled, stiff angry lips, grudgingly admits that he's maybe a little bit fond of the h, sometimes on an odd Thursday, so could she see her way clear to maybe staying with him even though he will probably keep abusing/assaulting/insulting/demeaning her for as long as they both shall live??
October 11, 2025
5 stars even though I had some doubts, but it all came together in the end. the mmc gets the fmc thrown into jail at the start of this book. she hates him, but when they meet years later, he deliberately causes an uncontrollable attraction in her even though she still hates him. he doesnt recognise her, but thinks she's a golddigger out to con his rich aunt, and yet he badly wants her physically. he is relentless despite their mutual dislike of each other. relentless to the point of outrageous. domineering. breaking her boundaries in a hot dubcon way. intensively jealous and possessive. it was HOT. there is even some OW drama with a manipulative bitch or two who want him, and some OM drama done right, because quite frankly I usually hate OM drama. anyway, this was one passionate emotional angsty hot read. he was so unbelievably swxually domineering and I loved it. the steam wasn't as explicit as I'd have liked but there was enough description to really paint that hotness.
SPOILER
the only thing that I don't quite get is why he continued to be so nasty to her after he found out the truth about her. his explanation that he dis that stuff to get her to spill the truth from her lips doesn't quite explain some of the horrid stuff he called her. even so, have suspended my disbeleif enough to give 5 stars because his horrid words created such good angst. we love an icy king who redeems himself and he really did redeem himself and feel his own angst in the grovel. iw ill be rereading this one. I would defs read more by this author.
SPOILER
the only thing that I don't quite get is why he continued to be so nasty to her after he found out the truth about her. his explanation that he dis that stuff to get her to spill the truth from her lips doesn't quite explain some of the horrid stuff he called her. even so, have suspended my disbeleif enough to give 5 stars because his horrid words created such good angst. we love an icy king who redeems himself and he really did redeem himself and feel his own angst in the grovel. iw ill be rereading this one. I would defs read more by this author.
September 4, 2023
Actually, the "past" is an undeserved one, though the h, Josey was guilty of naivete, assuming it would be easy to get a singing career going without either money, connections or extraordinary talent, then trusting the wrong man and being set up for a crime she didn't commit and sent to jail.
Later, a kind, eccentric (to say the least) elderly woman helps get her back, on her feet and arranges for her to help an elderly scholar with his work, but the outside world (always ready to think dirty) gets the wrong idea about them, especially when he dies and leaves Josie provided for. She has no intends to use it for a worthy cause, and ends up working for Maud (who writes romances, and with her vivid imagination that figures), who had the ulterior motive of fixing Josie up with her playboy nephew, Thorne, who she thinks should change his ways and settle down.
It so happens that Thorne was the lawyer for the prosecution on her case, who she somehow got the idea was sympathetic to her (yes, a bit of an airhead) but because her hair is now back to its natural color instead of blonde and styled different (plus it's been a few years) he doesn't recognize her. That doesn't mean he thinks any better of her. In fact, he assumes she's a gold-digger, who was the old author's mistress and now is after the money in his family. She's determined to live her life and the hell with what he thinks!
The rest is entertaining, but really over-the-top. Despite inviting one of his many women over to his aunt's (who's determined to get her away from her nephew ASAP), he resents Josey's interest in Brian, a guy from a prominent local family, whom she likes as a friend, but who wants more, enough to invite her to the local country club to meet his parents. Thorne's determined to sabotage things and makes a claim on Josie, who despite herself, is very attracted to him (or rather, tells herself that's all it is). Brian's a real wimp, so no great loss there.
When Thorne makes it clear he wants her in his bed, she makes it clear her price is marriage. She's thinking how he's in for a surprise when he finds out his wife's an ex-con! Naturally, everything backfires, and it doesn't help when Tony, who made her his unwilling partner-in-crime, resurfaces after his own stint in jail, to cause her more troubles.
Yes, it's entertaining, if far-fetched, and Maud was just too out-there to be believed, but it's all in fun, and does have a sweet ending. Not a bad way to spend some free time.
Later, a kind, eccentric (to say the least) elderly woman helps get her back, on her feet and arranges for her to help an elderly scholar with his work, but the outside world (always ready to think dirty) gets the wrong idea about them, especially when he dies and leaves Josie provided for. She has no intends to use it for a worthy cause, and ends up working for Maud (who writes romances, and with her vivid imagination that figures), who had the ulterior motive of fixing Josie up with her playboy nephew, Thorne, who she thinks should change his ways and settle down.
It so happens that Thorne was the lawyer for the prosecution on her case, who she somehow got the idea was sympathetic to her (yes, a bit of an airhead) but because her hair is now back to its natural color instead of blonde and styled different (plus it's been a few years) he doesn't recognize her. That doesn't mean he thinks any better of her. In fact, he assumes she's a gold-digger, who was the old author's mistress and now is after the money in his family. She's determined to live her life and the hell with what he thinks!
The rest is entertaining, but really over-the-top. Despite inviting one of his many women over to his aunt's (who's determined to get her away from her nephew ASAP), he resents Josey's interest in Brian, a guy from a prominent local family, whom she likes as a friend, but who wants more, enough to invite her to the local country club to meet his parents. Thorne's determined to sabotage things and makes a claim on Josie, who despite herself, is very attracted to him (or rather, tells herself that's all it is). Brian's a real wimp, so no great loss there.
When Thorne makes it clear he wants her in his bed, she makes it clear her price is marriage. She's thinking how he's in for a surprise when he finds out his wife's an ex-con! Naturally, everything backfires, and it doesn't help when Tony, who made her his unwilling partner-in-crime, resurfaces after his own stint in jail, to cause her more troubles.
Yes, it's entertaining, if far-fetched, and Maud was just too out-there to be believed, but it's all in fun, and does have a sweet ending. Not a bad way to spend some free time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2024
Is this book supposed to be a joke? A parody of romance books? Is this author even real? What the hell did I just read? What was even remotely romantic about this disaster? I know this is an oldschool cheap romance by written by aged old woman author who basically have no real life experiences with romance to begin with which they can reflect in their books but I have read old school authors like Michelle Reid, Emma Darcy and Penny Jordan but even they are not so bad. This book was so bland and boring with extra sprinkling of abuses and insults. Where the hell was “love” and “romance”? And the only sex scene was literally rape.
I seriously don’t want to waste my words and energy in the review of this pathetic excuse of a romance book. Even for HP/M&B standards this was a heaping garbage.
The premise had potential. What a waste.
I seriously don’t want to waste my words and energy in the review of this pathetic excuse of a romance book. Even for HP/M&B standards this was a heaping garbage.
The premise had potential. What a waste.
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