Remember September

by Joyce Dingwell

Nothing was the same, not even the man!

And Patti, remembering the happy, friendly time she'd had with him last year, grieved over Jerry's death.

Now there was just Magnus - Jerry's hard and unfeeling older brother who refused to believe anything good about her. Why had he brought her to the ranch when he seem to hate her?

If only it didn't matter so much. But even the web of lies and deception between them couldn't hide the fact that Magnus was the man she loved!

Genres: Harlequin Romance, Harlequin

190 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1977

About the author

Enid Joyce Owen Dingwell, née Starr, was born on 1908 in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. She wrote, as Joyce Dingwell and Kate Starr, 80 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1931 to 1986. She was the first Australian writer living in Australia to be published by Mills & Boon. Her novel The House in the Timberwood (1959), was made into a motion picture, The Winds of Jarrah (1983). Her work was particularly notable for its use of the Australian land, culture, and people. She passed away on 2 August 1997 in Kincumber, New South Wales.

Reviews

[Vintage · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, no, NO!

Patti the heroine has a summer friendship with the sweet and lighthearted Jerry. After she accepts a job as house mother to four boys on a horse ranch she finds out Jerry has died and Magnus, the older brother, searched for her and hired her to be house-mother. Oh yeah, she also inherited, maybe, a lot of money or something from Jerry.

She moves in and Magnus gives her a hard time as she may or may not be a gold-digger who took advantage of the very young and sweet Jerry. The h settles into her routine and makes some goo goo eyes at Kip, the ex-trainer, and who is so obviously a badun it made me sick. When the whole crew falls to a virulent flu she gives Kip the keys to the barn so he can help take care of the horses. Magnus is SO IMPRESSED at how the little greenhorn stepped up to the plate to take care of the horses. GR peeps, this heroine would rather lie in the sun than tell the truth in the shade as my dad would say. Lie, lie, lie then dither about lying, lying, lying.

The H takes her out and kisses her, and Kip woos her with some difficulty since he isn't allowed on the farm, ranch whatever. A bitchy evil woman slithers in to cause some havoc. She has an eye on both men, of course.

The four boys are thinly painted but overall a welcome to change from the heroine, and the horses are great. When did it go from scraping a three star to ONE...

When the stupid, stupid heroine catches Kip in the barn with the star racer, Into the Light. She accepts his asinine story that he is just checking on the horse so he will know which one to bet on so they can have enough money to get a good start together. Three days later the horse is dead. Excuse the F out of me? There shall be no animal deaths in a romance! No dogs. No cats. No horses. No ...nothings! The creep didn't mean to kill the horse, just put it of commission. Oh, I feel so much better now.
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The heroine is devastated as are the boys and the poor H. Yeah, he was a jerk at times, but he teared up when a foal was born so Team Jerk here.

The other man leaves the area as does the snotty other woman, and suddenly the dumbest heroine is in love with the hero.

P.S. Could the cover be any worse?

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars really. The heroine is really sweet, but as she states, not as smart as her older sisters, so she decides to be a home mother for fostered children. She ends up at the place of the brother of the boy she had a fun September with the year before - kid fun, not romance - and he believes she led the brother on because of family money and starts off as harsh to her. The problem of this story is the OM, who encourages foolish behaviour in the heroine. He seems very nice to start with, and for him she lies to the hero (a lot), and of course, it comes back to bite her. The OW is needless towards the end, just an unpleasant interlude, but it is the the OM hurting the horse that ruins the story. So very sad.
Triggers: human and animal death (animals should never be hurt in romances!).
But I still really love Joyce Dingwell stories.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams)]

Not in mood for horsey racing book.