The Devil's Bride

by Margaret Pargeter

"Pretend to be his fiancee! I couldn't!"

Sandra was shocked at the suggestion. And yet penniless and out of work with no one to turn to, she finally, reluctantly, agreed to her cousin's crazy scheme.

She and Stein had never been demonstrative, Alexandra explained, and now that he was blind from the accident, he would never know the difference.

But Stein discovered the fraud instantly when he kissed Sandra. Even worse, he insisted that she carry on with the charade!

Genres: Harlequin, Marriage Of Convenience, Harlequin Romance, Revenge, Romance

187 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Margaret Pargeter was a popular writer of 50 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1975 to 1986.

Reviews

[SandraIsAMoodyCowWhenSheCan'tRead]

Let me try to set the tone for this book. Blind Hero carries heroine up the long sprawling staircase to her bedroom. Yes, he's blind and no, she doesn't freak out about being carried by up the huge stairs by someone who can't see. And before you go aww, it's kinda sweet, let me say that it was not the closing scene of a sweet HEA of love-conquers-all disability book.

No, this happens in the middle of the book where there seems to be an electric blackout just before this brave stair-climbing feat. Granted that since H is blind, he is probably better equipped to manage in the dark than us lesser mortals. But still, I would have taken my chances fumbling around for the banister than letting a blind man carry me up a huge staircase. But I've digressed and will come back to this later.

Background story:
Heroine's mercenary cousin has come up with the wacko plan that the h can take her place and pretend to be the fiancee of the H who has recently lost his eyesight in an accident. Guess she was hoping he lost some intelligence as well. Cousin is a skinny model/actress and too selfish to be saddled with a disabled man especially since being a writer, he wants her to go with him to a remote rugged Greek island and help type his book.

She's not too thrilled with this lifestyle especially since she can't type to save her life. Plus, she has already hooked up with a millionaire who is willing to pay the h to help ease the sting of H losing both his eyesight and his fiance within weeks.

Conveniently for the scheming hussy, our h is already half-fallen in love with H after seeing one picture of him some time ago. His plight tugs her heartsrings and she wants to compensate for her cousin's lack of morals and since she needs the money and can type without squealing "Broken nails!" she goes along with the plan. Though to her credit, she did try to convince the cousin to grow some boobs and tell the H the truth.

Now our H is an asshat who I suspect took on more asshat characteristics since losing his sight. After one brief meeting with h where he fixed her a drink, kissed her and included a quick grope, he realises she is not the anorexic, alcoholic, cold bitch he was supposed to marry. Like most Pargeter's heroes, blindness notwithstanding, he bullies her to continue to be his fake fiance, then real fiance then MOC then real wife. He's only half-Greek so he went about it progressively.

After meeting his cold nasty grandmother, some bitchy family friends, and the conniving OW, our h is feeling quite overwhelmed. Seemingly, his recent blindness itself is not much of a challenge because in Pargeter-romance land, losing your eyesight does not mean devastation. No, he functions fine without sight. Not once does he stumble or bump into anything. He reaches for the pot of coffee and pours confidently without needing to feel for the cup or burn himself, he can mix cocktails and even .. wait for it, promises to take a look at the faulty generator that fateful blackout day.

Honestly, I should have just dumped this after the first chapter. But I have this love-hate relationship with Pargeter as in I love the campy high-drama angst she creates between her main characters and hate myself once I finish reading it.

Some of the writing was awful, the pace uneven and the final events taxed even my high tolerance for low-IQ vintage romances. But the magical tread up to steps did lead to some nice first time sex though the poor h got a little unfair slam down to earth the next morning.

Not a bad offering considering it's a 1979 Pargeter.

[StMargarets]

What more can you want from a vintage story than a plain, martyred heroine who takes her vampy cousin’s place as a fiancé to a blind man?

Just look what MP throws into the mix:
*A trip to Greece.
*Hostile relatives.
*Penance by typing/secretarial work.
*A marriage of convenience.
*An OW.
*Surgery to repair the blindness.
*A last minute car accident for the heroine.
All the vintage cliches! – including Devil in the title.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

[*CJ*]

"The Devil's Bride" is the story of Sandra and Stein.

Absolute stupidity.

Our wuss of a heroine not only gets coerced by her namesake cousin to fool her blind fiance for a couple of bucks, but also then discovered, blackmailed, whirled away, seduced, and become a punchbag by the aforementioned fiance. I could not believe the amount of fear and reluctance she had when it came to the hero, who was the most efficient visually impaired hero ever, and equally cruel. All he did was mock the weak heroine, whisk her around and humiliate her again and again, and the heroine just cried wah wah. He was a horrible man.

Pathetic book.

SWE
1/5

[Margo]

This H was the king of the relentless spirit-breaking minor cruelties. The h never really pushed back, so it was hard to buy the HEA even wearing Pargeter-colored glasses.

[Melluvsbooks]

Entertaining but too much bitter hostility for too long. We never saw a softening which was desperately needed to get us to a believable HEA.

[Fre06 Begum]

I really don't like this author's heroines they are way tstl but I can't take away the fact that MP's writing is so compelling I always come back for more!

[Aayesha]

*review to come*

That is, if I have time, what with exams and all -.-

[Meg Usta]

I gave it a chance. I hated it. I never thought I'd ever see a cast of such unlovable characters. I read the first part, thinking "Okay, this looks like a potential Diana Palmer-esque book..." Which, if anyone here has read any Diana Palmer book, is TOTALLY different.

Okay, so the H was mean. But mean THROUGHOUT the book? What? And the h, taking it like a whipped puppy. Don't get me wrong,I don't want her to be the strong, independent, smart-alec type heroine that seems to be so popular nowadays. So many times in the book she could have explained her circumstance, but noooo. It was a far drawn out book of frustrating misery where the H is an a**hole and the h a 20 year old doormat at cattle ranch, in the middle of the rainy season.

I know I shouldn't be making comparisons, but how can I help myself compare this book to Diana Palmer books when it basically falls into that genre of mean hero and misunderstood, timid heroine. Same characters, but not so same. For one, the H was hurtful. Genuinely hurts the heroine physically and not even sorry about it! It went on and on till the last three pages of the book! WTF!? I have never been so frustrated in my life as I have been when I was reading this book.

I wanted to put it down and burn it, but I can never really put down any romance novel I started reading.

Gah! How disappointed I was when halfway along the book I realized the H had no intention of showing remorse for his wretched treatment of the h. No apologies, no remorse, no regret, no tenderness...GAH! It made me hate the heroine even more that there wasn't even a chapter of decent grovelling. Any self respecting woman would expect to be grovelled upon during the circumstances...

As it is I find it even hard to see what the h saw on the H that she managed to love him, mean d**chebag that he is. GAH! So frustrating.

[Fiona Marsden]

Oh dear. One of those old fashioned forceful males. But the heroine liked it so I think we can live with that.
This is one of the typical forced marriage books so popular in the 70's. The heroine, Sandra, fell in love with the blind author Stein Freeman almost before she met him. With a Greek Grandmother the hero had plenty of excuse to be one of those dominating males who don't take no for an answer. And they were very feeble and ambivalent no's in any case.
This is quite a well written story with a feisty heroine who is often quite modern in her resistance to the hero and also quite modern in her response to him. The story line is well paced and the ending very satisfying. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Grrrrace]

This is the story of an innocent and easily swayed h, Alexandra Weir, and a blind and perpetually angry H, Stein Freeman (points off for name), who is an up-and-coming author. The H is a standard-model Margaret Pargeter dark and dangerous alpha, and the h is a nitwit to put up with what she does. Classic old-skool Harley fans who appreciate brutal heroes and martyred heroines: this one’s for you.

On page 1, we learn that there are two Alexandra Weirs:
• Our 21 year old h, known as Sandra, who is an innocent-yet-sexy country girl who is impulsive and a little quick-tempered, who has spent the last five years taking care of her granny.
• Our h’s almost-30-year old cousin, known as Alexandra, who is coolly sophisticated, and a model, so we know she must be bad (since only heroines can be models with morals).

Their grandmother has died, leaving very little money. Cousin Alexandra wants to break her engagement to the newly-blind H and marry a rich guy, but she wants Sandra to do the dirty work for her by masquerading as Alexandra. Alexandra’s new millionaire boyfriend will pay the nearly destitute h around 20K in today’s money if she does.

Sandra is tempted, because she had seen a picture of Stein at some point and had become imprinted like a baby bird on infatuated by this man she has never met. She also desperately needs the money. MP sets up the basic premise for this masquerade by page 3, with admirable economy: --well done, MP!

Sandra agrees to do it, convincing herself that she will be doing him a good turn and also have a chance to spread her own wings. Despite qualms and just a couple of days of coaching, we are off to London to meet Stein! MP shovels in some plothole-filler to explain why none of Stein’s acquaintances will know that Sandra is not Alexandra. The h gets that Harley staple: a new wardrobe! Our h remains reluctant but goes along with the crazy and very unlikely deception.
We meet Stein. He is tall, very dark, arrogant, and intimidating: a typical “tigerish” MP alpha H despite his blindness. There’s a spark between them. Sandra makes mistakes from the start (e.g., she makes his coffee wrong). There are passionate kisses and gropey hands, and our wily, cynical H is not fooled at all; he knows she’s an imposter, mainly because Alexandra is a cold fish with a skinny model body and Sandra succumbs easily to his hard kisses and has a bodacious bod. Even a blind man can tell the difference! He punishes her with some bruising kisses and more gropey hands and gets the truth out of her. Just like that, the implausible plot is scuppered, and our crazytrain has switched tracks and is on route to a different wreck than the one we were expecting. And it’s not even chapter 3! Well played, MP!

The H insists she will come with him to Greece for that staple of classic Harleys, punitive secretarial work, and also to be his pretend fiancé in front of his Greek granny. And it’s off to Greece we go! A brief stop in Athens, with a glimpse of its most famous tourist sites, and then onto Corfu!
He is instantly bossy bossy pants and unkind, especially when she tries to help him with things too quickly. The H is going through his own trauma: he has black moods dealing with his blindness, and treats any sympathy with contempt and anger. But our h shows some spirit and refuses to let him tread her into the earth and tells him that Alexandra may be well rid of him because he’s a jerk most of the time.

On Corfu, they stay with his grandmother, who is gray-haired and austere and talks about the h as a broodmare (as the h thinks to herself). Sandra speaks up for herself, and the H gets mad because allowances must be made for granny, because she is old and he cares about her (and has only contempt for the duplicitous h). She gets ANOTHER wardrobe makeover, because he doesn’t appreciate her deception-money wardrobe from her cousin.

Sandra wants to swim in the wild sea, not the “flaccid” pool, so she climbs down the cliff face to the beach, shredding her hands. He helps her clean and bandage them (by touch) but is angry because she won’t be able to type up his dictation for his novel for a few days. The writing isn’t going well anyway—his grandmother has a continual flow of visitors, including some ladies who have long set their sights on the H, not least of whom is potential OW Sophy.

We don’t get the H’s POV, but it’s made pretty clear through his words and actions. He is an MP H, so he is big on the punishing and the name calling and slut shaming. He actually likes working with the h though—she is quick and bright and they work well together. He likes her pretty voice, although she is pretty quiet except when she gets nervous or loses her temper. He seems to like to make her lose her temper, even if he is compelled to shut her down quickly. He continually reminds himself and her that she is the little cheat who accepted payment to trick him. There are a lot of insults—she’s a bitch and a cheat and a liar and a hussy--but he sure likes getting handsy with her. It’s a our h wonder falls more deeply for this ahole even if she does feel sorry for him a lot of the time.

He decides that he and the h will go to Kalnos, a remote Greek island where he has a house and can write. But his servants have died in a boating accident, and he can’t live alone—so for propriety’s sake, she will have to marry him. She asks if he is crazy; he had promised to let her go after a few weeks and now he is ordering her to marry him. But he is determined, and because she can’t stand to think of him there on his own (and she suffers from noodle spine most of the time), she goes along with it. He promises a MoC.

They go to the island. He continues to be a jerk to her most of the time, but she longs for him because she is an MP martyr h. For the most part, he keeps his hands to himself. But then he has a nightmare one night and she goes to him, offering comfort. They almost consummate their marriage, but he pushes her away at the last minute, accusing her of a deliberate seduction attempt to prevent an annulment. During the ensuing argument, he admits that it was a stab of pain near his eyes that shocked him out of the purple-passion moment.

Bicker bicker, argue argue. She tries to slap him at one point and he warns her he’ll slap back (because MP can’t let a book go by without at least mentioning the H slapping the h—while it doesn’t happen in this book, he is a typical MP hero who threatens violence a lot and leaves her bruised from rough handling quite a few times).

One sleepless night, while the h is getting a hot drink, the lights go out and she screams, afraid of the dark. He comes to her aid (he is always in the dark and so can traverse stairs and such with apparent ease, I guess?) and calms her down. She asks if she can stay in his room because she is afraid. He checks the lights and determines that it was just a bulb (he says he can make out the diff between full darkness and light), and again accuses her of setting up the whole thing in an attempt to seduce him. This time, she can finish what she started!

Forcible seduction, another classic Harley staple. She is overpowered by his savage-yet-irresistible technique pretty quickly, “floating in some way-out universe which frightened but also beckoned with promises of ultimate fulfilment…” She’s not prepared for the “searing pain” and doesn’t end up enjoying the experience much. He apologizes curtly and says she should have told him (well, she did try and it probably should have been obvious, given how she has acted the entire time; no one is that good an actress). She is all disillusioned: “I had no idea it would be like that!” He tells her it will be better next time, and when she wants to leave, insists that “some things are repeated straight away.” Impressive powers of recovery, H! She gets back on the horse, so to speak, at his command, and actually ends up having a good time this time (“long moments of perfect culmination”).

The next morning, he’s still asleep, and she’s watching him, feeling the love but knowing the heartbreak will come. And so it does, as he moans “Sophy” in his sleep. Nonetheless, they continue to spend passionate nights together, despite the h’s despair that he will never love her. He continues to be a cruel ratbastard, reminding her continually of her deception and that their relationship will be physical only and of short duration. Sad pale jellyfish h can’t resist his manly attractions, but isn’t sure how much longer she can endure his treatment. Ugh, I hate the spitfire/doormat model heroines of vintage Harleys; they all could have used spine-implants, and it’s a shame some enterprising Harley surgeon (perhaps one of Betty Neels’ “splendid” Hs) didn’t come up with one, because he would have made a fortune and been hailed by Harley hs for all time.

Out of the blue, Stein tells the h he’s going to London for an operation that might restore his sight. She’d rather he didn’t have the operation if it’s risky, and she wouldn’t mind staying on the island with him forever. He mocks her for the offer, and she is even more hurt and humiliated. He tells her she won’t be coming; he is leaving her like unwanted baggage (a serviceable but battered rucksack, no doubt) at his grandmother’s house in Corfu. Back on Corfu, Sophy is a regular visitor.

The H and h continue to snipe at one another but end up making love again. The next day, he is gone without a goodbye other than a note that says that while their marriage had been more “pleasant” than he’d expected, “most things have to come to an end.” She shouldn’t follow him, and everything he’s said previously (about ending their marriage) still stands, and he’ll be in touch soon —but hey! Thanks for everything!

She’s bitter and heartbroken, but her first concern is how soon she can call the hospital to check on his condition. His grandmother says to wait a day or so and asks why she wasn’t more insistent about going with him. He didn’t want her to, our h says, and granny says that nothing but nothing would have stopped her from going to her own husband in such a situation.

This gets the h thinking. She is determined to follow him, despite orders! But, alas, crazy Greek drivers, so she gets into a crash on the way to airport and spends the next little while recovering. Granny tells her that Sophy has flown to London to be with Stein in his hour of need, and asks if Sandra loves the H. She admits she does, and granny advises her to get her fanny to London—after all, didn’t the h give him her “Pandora’s box” when she married him? Hahahaha! But it’s not an anatomical euphemism after all; she just means that there’s hope left.

The h arrives in London and goes to his flat. Sophy is there. Stein comes out of the bathroom, having just showered. He looks at the h directly and she realizes he can see, but he doesn’t know who she is, having never seen her before. When he realizes it’s her, he’s very scornful and angry, because she took her time getting there (nevermind that he specifically ordered her not to and explicitly told her they were through—she should magically KNOW it was a test!). Sophy takes off, telling the H that she will leave him to sort out his affairs and he knows where to find her.

The H is angry—when is he not? Since she has chased Sophy off, he insists that the h will stay with him until he is fully recovered so he can have his pound of flesh, now that he can see her and really enjoy said flesh, and then they’ll go somewhere for a quickie divorce when he’s had enough. She tells him he must be mad to think he can treat her this way, and he says she must be mad to think he couldn’t. She doesn’t know how she can defend herself because common sense flies out of her head as soon as he touches her, and baby birds are defenseless after all, and it’s hard to walk away when you have no spine and just flop about helplessly.

They dine and he torments he by telling her that Alexandra came to visit him in the hospital. She assumes he still feels something for her cousin. He starts making moves on her afterward, and she asks what he’s punishing her for now, how can he do this when he seems to love both Sophy and Alexandra and pretty much anyone who is not the h. He says that maybe he was just trying to make her jealous, appease his ego by making her crawl (he has had a boatload of ‘appeasement” over the course of this book). He looks pale and our tender-headed h worries, but he says it has more to do with her than his operation—she “makes him see red” every time he looks at her. He thought she was beginning to love him. She makes him want her until he “feared [he] might kill her.” He’s angry she didn’t come to him in London sooner, and she tells him about her car accident, and then he’s angry she didn’t tell him about it sooner. She admits her love for him. He’s angry she didn’t tell him that sooner! This guy is just always angry!

But “love” prevails. As usual, there are promises of eternal devotion and fidelity; he never loved Sophy and she just stayed at the apartment while he was in the hospital; he never loved Alexandra and just pretended to be engaged to her because someone on the movie set was being stalky, but then she continued the pretense when he got injured because she wanted the publicity of being the fiancée of the tragic blind author. Having wrapped up the OWx2 neatly, they move onto clearing up a few minor details and HEA, The End.

Whew, what a ride! Old-skool wrecky, with the angry misogynist type of H that was the Harley Standard Model for many of the 70s/early 80s authors. I loved these stories in my formative years (godhelpme), but reading them now (and likely even then) raises some uncomfortable feelings about how subversive and squicky this framing of violence and patriarchy-as-love can be. There’s a reason modern alpha/gamma heroes are given backstories and POVs and a softening into protectiveness rather than overt dominance. On the flip side, there’s also a reason why BDSM “romantic” erotica is so popular now. All fodder for an interesting discussion but this probably isn’t the place for it.

There are a TON of triggers in MP’s books for modern-day readers: her H’s were OTT, even at the time, in their brutality and their overt misogyny. And I’m not sure I can say that I really enjoy MP’s stories, because they go deep into that dark side of punishment tales. But this is a very dramatic, even melodramatic, book that is definitely a wild ride through vintage Harleyland and a good example of some vintage tropes and attitudes, so if that’s your particular bent, this one might scratch the itch.

[Kelli]

I was actually shocked that I couldn't put it down. It kept you interested and it wasn't very long, so it was an easy read. I highly suggest the old Harlequin's if you're into that sort of thing.

[Ritsky]

The hero deserves to be shot. period.

[Aou]

Absolute silliness but i liked the angyst.

[Barty]

2 stars

At one point I genuinely thought The Devil's Bride was heading towards four stars. I enjoyed the setup, I liked the prolonged misunderstanding, and for much of the first half I was perfectly happy with Stein being angry, bitter and deliberately difficult with Sandra. Unfortunately, as the book progressed, their endless arguments increasingly made them feel like two teenagers having a prolonged spat. Sandra became particularly frustrating: whiny, helpless and painfully lacking in backbone.

Even then, I could have forgiven a great deal if the ending had delivered the emotional reckoning the story desperately needed.

It didn't.

Instead, the final sequence was so badly thought out and so emotionally unsatisfying that it made me regret the hours I had spent reading the book. A poor ending really can ruin the entire experience of a romance, and this one did.

Sandra is only twenty-one and has recently lost the grandmother who raised her after she was orphaned. She has no money, no real work experience and nowhere obvious to go. She has spent her adult life caring for her grandmother and running their home, so when her older cousin Alexandra offers her paid work in London, she reluctantly agrees.

Both cousins are actually named Alexandra after their grandmother, but the older, beautiful model goes by Alex or Alexandra, while our heroine uses Sandra.

Unfortunately, Alexandra's proposed "job" is completely insane.

Alexandra has been engaged for a year to Stein, a half-British, half-Greek writer who was recently blinded in a car accident. She now wants to marry another wealthy man, but doesn't want to look heartless by abandoning her blind fiancé—particularly if Stein subsequently harms himself in despair and her new fiancé discovers what she has done.

Her solution is to have Sandra impersonate her.

Apparently Sandra is supposed to gradually extricate "Alexandra" from the engagement so gently that Stein never realises his real fiancée has simply abandoned him for another man.

Naive Sandra allows herself to be bullied into this ridiculous scheme partly because she needs the money, but also because she has previously seen a photograph of Stein and has already developed romantic feelings for him. She cannot bear the thought of him being brutally discarded while still struggling with his blindness.

So she goes to meet him.

Stein is angry, bitter and tense, and Sandra immediately discovers how impossible the deception is going to be. She doesn't know how Alexandra normally behaves with him. She doesn't even know whether she is supposed to kiss him hello. When Stein pours her whisky, Sandra has to secretly dispose of it in a flower vase because she doesn't drink it.

Worse, Stein kisses her, and Sandra responds rather more warmly than the real Alexandra ever did.

Sandra rapidly decides she cannot continue. She returns to Alexandra intending to insist that she deal with her own mess, only to discover that her cousin has already disappeared with her new fiancé and left Sandra a letter telling her that she will simply have to carry on.

Except Stein isn't fooled for long.

By Sandra's second visit, he knows perfectly well that she isn't Alexandra.

Her reaction to his kiss was wrong. Her habits are wrong. She doesn't drink the same things. She even made his coffee differently. He confronts her and demands the truth.

Sandra confesses.

Stein is furious.

He assumes that Sandra is every bit as mercenary and dishonest as her cousin: a conniving little liar who was willing to take money to deceive a blind man.

Yet instead of sending her away, he insists that Sandra continue publicly pretending to be his fiancée. He refuses to return to Greece and face the humiliation and pity of everyone knowing that his fiancée abandoned him after he lost his sight. He also needs someone to type his latest book.

So Sandra goes to Greece with him.

At this point the story was still working very well for me.

Stein's grandmother dislikes Sandra and would much rather see her grandson with a suitable Greek woman. In particular, she continually encourages the beautiful Sophy to visit and spend time with him.

Stein, meanwhile, blows hot and cold towards Sandra. In public she must play the affectionate fiancée. In private he remains bitter, suspicious and frequently cruel. He taunts her, uses her as his secretary, neglects her in his own home and goes out with Sophy while leaving Sandra behind to work.

And I actually enjoyed much of this.

I like a hero who believes the heroine has seriously wronged him and therefore remains angry with her rather than immediately melting because he finds her attractive. I liked Stein continuing to punish Sandra for what he believed were her crimes while simultaneously becoming increasingly physically drawn to her.

What I needed, however, was for the emotional dynamic eventually to evolve.

SPOILERS

If Stein's cruelty was partly being driven by the fact that he was falling for Sandra against his will, I needed that to emerge. I needed hints that he resented wanting a woman he believed was mercenary and dishonest. I needed little moments of involuntary tenderness. I needed growing jealousy, possessiveness or fear that Sandra didn't actually care for him.

And eventually, after treating her so badly, I needed him to go too far. Break her. Make Sandra finally say: enough. Then let him discover what it feels like to lose her.

Instead, the book increasingly became two immature people bickering while Sandra behaved like a useless nincompoop who couldn't resist Stein no matter how badly he treated her. The body-betrayal element particularly annoyed me because Sandra never seemed to develop the backbone I kept waiting for.

Stein makes her marry him under the pretence of it being a fake marriage so that she can accompany him to his remote island home without need of a chaperone, which his traditional grandmother would insist on. Sandra gives in to this demand

On the island he continues treating her coldly, but then accuses her of trying to sleep with him to really trap him into marriage. (Which makes no sense by the end becasue it turns iut he's not even rich. Was the author even using her logic when she wrote the book?)

Eventually Stein seduces her. And discovers that Sandra is a virgin.

Surely this should force him to reconsider some of the horrible things he has accused her of being?

Apparently not.

There is no meaningful remorse. No moment of horror as he realises how badly he has misjudged her. Sandra has been in considerable pain from her first sexual experience and Stein's response is essentially that the best thing to do after a bad first time is to do it again immediately.

And Sandra, naturally, cannot resist him.

Wonderful.

The following morning, Sandra wakes up feeling all loved-up beside the man she adores.

And Stein murmurs Sophy's name in his sleep.

Now that should have had consequences.

Sandra is understandably devastated and gets out of bed. Stein wakes, discovers her gone and becomes angry with her.

And then the whole Sophy incident is essentially forgotten.

Why did he say Sophy's name immediately after spending the night with Sandra? Was he dreaming about her? Was there some innocent explanation? Who knows? The book never bothers resolving it.

Sandra and Stein continue having a passionate physical relationship while apparently making almost no progress towards treating one another like functional adults outside the bedroom.

Then Stein decides to undergo an operation that might restore his sight.

Sandra wants to accompany him.

He refuses.

After one final passionate night together, Sandra wakes the following morning to discover that Stein has already left without even saying goodbye.

Instead, he leaves her a nasty little note effectively terminating their marriage and telling her to wait until she can confirm she isn't pregnant. He'll contact her again in a couple of weeks.

After everything that has happened between them, that is how he leaves her.

At this point, I desperately needed Sandra finally to acquire some self-respect.

Instead, she decides she must chase after him.

Of course she does.

She cannot possibly allow Stein to undergo his operation without her, even though he explicitly refused to let her accompany him and then sneaked away without saying goodbye.

So Sandra sets off for the airport with the chauffeur. On the mountainous road they crash.

Sandra suffers a concussion, remains unconscious for several days and then spends about a week in hospital. Stein's grandmother assures her that she has contacted him and that his operation has been successful.

Eventually Sandra returns to England.

And even at this ridiculously late stage, I was still hoping the book might salvage itself.

I thought Sandra would reach Stein, discover Sophy with him, finally decide she had suffered enough and walk away. Stein could then discover what had happened to Sandra, realise how monstrously he had treated her and have to go after her.

Finally, some consequences.

Finally, fear of loss.

Finally, a grovel.

No.

Sandra arrives at Stein's flat.

Sophy is there.

Sophy smugly taunts Sandra about finally bothering to turn up and implies that she has been the woman comforting Stein throughout his recovery. Stein is apparently in the bath.

Then Stein emerges wearing a tiny silk bathrobe.

With Sophy in his flat.

What the fuck is going on here?

Stein can now see, of course, and looks at Sandra without recognising her. Rather than let Sophy discover the humiliating fact that Stein has never actually seen his own wife before, Sandra rushes over, cozies up to him and greets him affectionately until he realises who she is.

Then Sophy announces that she's leaving.

With her suitcases. Which have been in Stein's bedroom. Again: what the fuck?

Sophy has been implying to Sandra that Stein wants a divorce and that she herself is the woman he really wants. She leaves with every implication that she'll simply speak to Stein again once he has disposed of his inconvenient wife.

So surely Sandra finally tells Stein to fuck off?

No.

Sandra grovels to him.

Stein is still angry with her.

He is still taunting her. He essentially tells her that if she's here, he might as well continue using her for sex until he grows tired of her.

And Sandra responds by desperately explaining that she did try to come to him. She didn't abandon him in his darkest hour! She wanted to be beside him! It wasn't her fault! She had a car accident!

Stein is somewhat concerned to learn that she has been injured, but nowhere near concerned enough to compensate for the sheer awfulness of everything else.

Then Sandra tells him how much she loves him.

And eventually Stein reveals that he loves her too.

That's it.

After everything he put her through, she has to reassure him. She has to pander to the ego of this never-ending manchild.

No meaningful remorse.

No proper apology.

No reckoning with his treatment of her.

No grovel.

No real explanation for Sophy.

And then the book delivers one final revelation that somehow manages to make the entire preceding story make less sense.

Apparently Stein was never in love with Alexandra. Their engagement wasn't even real.

He had originally agreed to pretend to be engaged to her because Alexandra was being stalked by a man and needed Stein's protection. Alexandra then latched onto him and refused to end their fake engagement.

Even after Stein was blinded, she still wouldn't end it. In fact, Stein apparently exaggerated the severity of his condition in the hope that Alexandra would finally go away.

And eventually she did, sending Sandra in her place.

Excuse me?

Then what exactly was Stein so bitter about?

The original setup made emotional sense if Alexandra was a woman Stein had genuinely loved who abandoned him after he became blind. That would explain a deep wound. It would explain his bitterness and mistrust. It would provide an emotional foundation for why he might then lash out at Sandra, particularly while becoming increasingly attracted to her.

But apparently he didn't want Alexandra at all.

He was actively trying to get rid of her.

So Alexandra finally disappears—which is precisely what he wanted—and Stein responds by dragging her innocent little cousin to Greece and tormenting her instead?

Why?

What is driving this man's behaviour?

The revelation destroys rather than deepens his emotional journey.

And the Sophy situation is scarcely better.

Stein insists he never cared about Sophy either.

Really?

This is the woman whose name he murmured in his sleep immediately after having sex with Sandra for the first time.

The woman he repeatedly went out with while neglecting Sandra.

The woman who apparently spent his recovery at his bedside.

The woman Sandra finds in his flat.

The woman whose suitcases are in his bedroom.

And we are simply supposed to accept, "Oh, Sophy? She meant nothing"?

No.

By the end, Stein came across less like the powerful, wounded, bitter hero I thought I was reading about and more like a petulant 14-year-old trying to punish a girlfriend.

Sandra was scarcely better.

She continually thinks that Stein cannot be allowed to treat her this way—and then proceeds to encourage him to treat her exactly that way. Every opportunity she has to establish some dignity or demand better treatment dissolves because she is overwhelmed by how much she wants him.

And when the story finally reaches the point where Stein should have been forced to confront the consequences of his behaviour, Sandra does the emotional labour for him.

She chases him.

She explains herself.

She reassures him.

She declares her love.

She makes sure he understands that she never abandoned him.

Where was his reckoning?

Where was the moment when he understood that he had driven away a woman who had actually done nothing to deserve his cruelty?

Where was his horror at discovering that she had tried to reach him after his operation and ended up unconscious in hospital?

Where was his explanation for using Sophy to hurt her?

Where was his remorse for abandoning Sandra after sleeping with her and leaving that revolting little note?

Where was his fear that this time he had finally gone too far and lost her?

Most importantly: where was the bloody grovel?

Normally I enjoy a hero behaving badly when the story understands that his behaviour creates an emotional debt that eventually has to be paid. In fact, Stein's anger and mistrust were part of what made the first half so enjoyable for me.

But the worse a hero behaves, the greater the emotional payoff I need when he finally falls.

Stein never properly falls.

Sandra simply crawls back to him.

That completely ruined the romance for me.

Neither of these people seems to grow up. Neither learns how to communicate properly. Neither develops much emotional maturity. They spend the book fighting, misunderstanding one another, sleeping together and then fighting again. Stein doesn't learn to treat Sandra with respect, and Sandra doesn't learn to demand it.

By the final pages I wasn't thinking, Thank God, these two finally found their way to each other.

I was thinking: this pair of train wrecks deserve each other.

At one point this genuinely had four-star potential for me. The setup was good. Margaret Pargeter can write, and I enjoyed Stein's hostility during the earlier sections because I expected it eventually to produce exactly the sort of emotional reversal I love: the cruel, mistrustful hero discovering that he has horribly misjudged the heroine, falling desperately in love and then having to face what his own behaviour has cost him.

Instead, the ending provided virtually the opposite.

The heroine who had already endured far too much humiliation became an even bigger doormat, while the hero who desperately needed humbling barely had to account for anything.

I know Margaret Pargeter can write much better than this, which probably makes the disappointment worse. I feel almost cheated by the amount of promise in the earlier story because I kept reading in expectation of the emotional payoff all that bitterness and cruelty surely had to be building towards.

It never came.

A pathetic slap in the face of an ending after hours spent waiting for the romance to finally deliver.

[RomLibrary]

"Pretend to be his fiancee! I couldn't!"

Sandra was shocked at the suggestion. And yet penniless and out of work with no one to turn to, she finally, reluctantly, agreed to her cousin's crazy scheme.

She and Stein had never been demonstrative, Alexandra explained, and now that he was blind from the accident, he would never know the difference.

But Stein discovered the fraud instantly when he kissed Sandra. Even worse, he insisted that she carry on with the charade!

[Parparak Pink]

Stein is one hell of cruel hero, but it made me like him even more. Sandra real innocent heroine, sometimes made me angry, but really loved her overall. The story couldn't be written better and I really enjoy it.

[Tonya Warner]

This is an excellent story. Sandra and Stein make for a very combative couple. The tension is typical Greek on his part.

[Jacqueline J]

Whoops! just bought a second copy of this. I need to take a list to the everything is 10 cents store.

[Bukcrz]

Typical HP of its time. Damsel in distress, rich and brooding hero and a lot of misunderstanding, interfering/meddling Greek family, the other woman, and more misunderstanding.

[Carmen]

Stein is blinded in an accident. Alexandra, his fiance, doesn't want to marry him any longer. Sandra, her cousin, takes her place.

[Tricia Murphy]

Sometimes I enjoy these old school harlies for the chance to rewrite them in my head. Have the Heros go to jail, destroy their arrogance, etc. But this one was just too dumb.

[Tricia Murphy]

Dumb dumb dumb. Blind a**hole H, naive h, ridiculous situation, but dull for all that. Skip it.

[Annarose]

Alexadra, aka Sandra, was in a fix. She was left untrained for any job and soon would both be penniless and homeless after the death of of her grandmother. It seemed her only solution was to get along with her scheming cousin's devious plan in taking her place as a fiancee to the writer Stein who was recently blinded due to an accident. Her cousin had the same name and recently had a new lover whom she wanted to marry and therefore she was dumping Stein. But, because her new lover didn't want her to see Stein anymore, she had to make Sandra take her place!

Sandra sympathized with Stein and was atrracted to him long before she actually met him. She was hesitant to follow her cousin's plan first, but she had to stay with Stein against her well when Stein discovered her ploy and forced her to marry him out of revenge!

As a story written in the late seventies, it is enjoyable enough - albiet predictable. The heroine would seem tame and boneless to some readers in her role, yet I think she is accaptable as she was described of having no real life of her own before meeting the hero. The only real setback against the story is that none of the main characters important life details were revealed to each other till the very end, so no way would they have had a real bond to base their love upon. If this was tuckled by the writter along with the heroine personality development and eventful plot, I honestly think this book would have been one of THE most memorable ones.

[Trenchologist]

2+

I finished this a few weeks ago but didn't add it to GR. I reread the final pages again to get the gist and... ah yes.

Domineering, mean, angry-because-he-is-forced-to-have-actual-feelings hero.
Doormat, too worthy, love-him-so-for-reasons-not-really-known heroine.
Misunderstandings built on a lie built on imperiled health built on a remote Greek island.

In the titles by Pargeter I've read, she enjoys putting her leads through the wringer. These leads weren't likable enough for me to appreciate that. And there were too many sidesteps and padding to the plot for me to get fully immersed in their wringing out. Questionable consent sex, but once sexed the timid heroine can't get enough (sometimes this works for me sometimes not and you guessed it, here was a not). Toss in that it was a contrivance cleared up with the heroine standing up for herself & explaining or the hero not being a bullheaded jerkface for two pages, and it didn't send me.

[Diedre]

An exasperating story none the less. The epitome of communication angst. Frustrating yet kind of mesmerizing. Ready to rip out the pages then crawl back to it. It wasn't as hokey as some reviewers have written. He was an absolute boar. And she was unnerving to say the least. But I guess that was supposed to be endearing. Well, it ended well!

[ReadToBreathe]

I read this book years ago so I can't remember much, but I do know the hero got on my nerves

[Keriboo]

2.5 H too mean throughout. Unbelievable that he loved h after the way HR behaved.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams)]

Awful! This was very hard to read. A very cruel abusive H and a total doormat h. I should have DNF'd it.

[More Books Than Time]

If I were rating based on my opinion about the characters this would be a big zero. Instead I rate all my books on how much I enjoyed reading. I didn’t enjoy reading his incredibly nasty and contradictory comments but the story is compelling.

Reread. This H is almost as conceited, contradictory, petulant, whiny and unwilling to take responsibility as the even jerkier H in Odds Against and that’s saying something. Example: obviously his wife h pretended to be afraid of the dark to get in his bed, then h had the gall not to remind H about birth control because she wanted to trap him. Of course let’s not forget that he wrote her a note not to come see him in London hospital and reminded her he was divorcing her as fast as possible. Then he’s angry and wants revenge when she isn’t at the hospital for him.

Still compelling although doormat h is irritating.

[AlexandraB95]

very dated and boring....