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The Perfect Crightons #7
The Perfect Father (The Crightons)
In a moment of weakness, Samantha Miller had confessed to the man she'd loved for years her deep-felt secret -- she yearned to become a wife and mother. Having carefully kept Samantha at arm's length, Liam is surprised at his response. He'd always thought her impetuous nature made them an unlikely match. But suddenly Liam finds himself wanting to succumb to her tantalizing sensuality, and wanting to become the father of her babies . . .
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published March 1, 2000
14 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,127 books670 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 1, 2019
Re The Perfect Father - Penny Jordan does book seven of her The Perfect Crightons Series and has a colossal mess up of the organization of the various US governments while she is at it.
There is the usual cast of characters from the other books as follows:
BEN CRIGHTON: Proud patriarch of the family, a strong-minded character in his eighties, determined to see his dynasty thrive and prosper.
RUTH REYNOLDS: Ben’s sister, a vibrant woman now happily reunited with Grant, the man from whom she was tragically separated during the Second World War.
JON AND JENNY CRIGHTON: Steady, family-oriented couple. Jon keeps the Crighton law firm running smoothly.
LOUISE AND KATE: Twin daughters of Jon and Jenny. Louise is happily married to Gareth, while Kate feels more and more isolated among all the married couples.
BOBBIE AND LUKE CRIGHTON: American Bobbie came to expose the truths in Ruth’s past, and stayed in England when she fell in love and married charismatic Luke, part of the Chester branch of the Crighton family.
JAMES CRIGHTON: Luke’s brother, successful, goodlooking—and single.
MADDY AND MAX CRIGHTON: Maddy has blossomed since the reconciliation with her husband, Max, who has finally proved himself a loving, family man.
SAMANTHA MILLER: Searching for happiness in marriage, she has come to visit her twin, Bobbie, hoping to find a gorgeous Crighton husband for herself.
LIAM CONNOLLY: He’s known Samantha since she was a gangly teenager—with a gigantic crush on him. He needs to understand just why he’s followed her to England
Normally, I wouldn't say anything about an English author trying to understand the way the various governments in the US are organized, but PJ makes this such a HUGE part of the story that the misclassification kept throwing me out of the story.
The h in this one is Samantha, who is the twin sister of Bobbie from The Perfect Seduction and Bobbie is married to Luke Crighton. Sam and Bobbie's father is a US governor - tho PJ calls it a county.
I think, based on the various excited utterances that both Sam's father and the H, Liam, come up with during the story, PJ was thinking of Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, due to the way that PJ writes a state gubernatorial job description as being done primarily in Washington DC, I am pretty sure PJ really wanted Sam's father to be a US Senator.
So for any US reader's sanity's sake over the course of the story, just completely ignore any Real World divisions between the US local, state and federal governments. Cause PJ blows them all to the substrata of HPlandia in this one.
When this one starts, after a good gossip between the various English Crightons' about what has been going on in the last few books, Samantha decides she needs to find a man to have a baby with.
Poor Samantha's bio clock is a ticking bomb and since Bobbie has invited her over to England for a month and Sam is getting her annual holiday, (just roll with it peeps,) she decides Luke's brother James will be the perfect father material to fall in love with.
But before she can hop that Concorde, we have to meet Liam and learn that Liam spends a lot of his time, (when he isn't running for governor to replace Sam's father,) thinking about Sam's very voluptuous chest and statuesque over six ft figure.
In fact, there is a LOT of commenting about Sam's chest in this one and I thought it was a bit squicky, cause even the female characters were getting in on the action. There was a;so a very rousing argument about Sam's sexual desirability over dinner in front of Sam's parents.
But after a big roofie kiss at the airport, Liam sees Sam off to England and Sam sets up her pursuit of James, only to be thwarted by some engaged tart named Rosemary. Who has just qualified as GP and before setting up her practice, comes to visit James' and Luke's parents.
Rosemary is the typical PJ snotty OW that might be a character in a latter book in this series, she makes snide remarks to Sam, hones in on Sam's and James' dates and manages to get herself into a full blown snogfest with James when she shows up in the middle of Sam and James' big romantic 'time to see where this is going; date.
That is okay tho, really. Because Liam has been told that he has to be married to be a governor and was even presented with an appropriate potential spouse. However the future potential Mrs. Liam doesn't have Sam's chest size - so Liam takes off to England to try and nab Sam.
Sam sees Rosemary and James going at it like rabid bunnies and then she runs into Liam. Liam takes her back to his suite and Sam proceeds to get drunk and then hop on Liam for some tower of power rides.
Then Bobbie, Sam's twin sister, barges into Liam's hotel room and makes a huge fuss. Mainly because she has James' and Luke's mother with her and before you can say "Drunken one night mistake", Bobbie is all about how Liam and Sam are getting married and EVERYBODY is going on about how Sam will make a horrible governor's wife because she isn't the stand behind your man and wear beige type.
There is ENDLESS snark about how Sam is too controversial in her beliefs to be a good wife to Liam and NO SNARK about how James is slime snot gulper of the lowest sub sewer for abandoning his date for a public risque snog with a trampy, engaged tart.
(James and the tart Rosemary don't get a book, tho I think PJ was building up to it, they apparently hate each other, but just can't keep their tongues separated for long periods of time.)
Sam is really feeling even worse about herself after all of this and wants to end the fake engagement that she only agreed to because she did not want her sister Bobbie to lose face with the rest of the seriously messed up English Crightons.
But Liam eventually declares that he really loves her and he makes a really good speech about it being a modern world and women can have their own careers and be liberated and things. Sam is all for that female liberty idear and she loves Liam too. They go back to the US and Liam wins the election and Sam and he marry and start working on the big baby bonus in the governor's estate.
So we finally get to the end of this one for the big HEA and we can anxiously await the next installment of the Crightons - where yet ANOTHER twin, Katie (sister of the Tarty Twit OW Louise from The Perfect Lover nurses a seekrit crush on Louise's husband, Garth, and gets her own HEA.
There is the usual cast of characters from the other books as follows:
BEN CRIGHTON: Proud patriarch of the family, a strong-minded character in his eighties, determined to see his dynasty thrive and prosper.
RUTH REYNOLDS: Ben’s sister, a vibrant woman now happily reunited with Grant, the man from whom she was tragically separated during the Second World War.
JON AND JENNY CRIGHTON: Steady, family-oriented couple. Jon keeps the Crighton law firm running smoothly.
LOUISE AND KATE: Twin daughters of Jon and Jenny. Louise is happily married to Gareth, while Kate feels more and more isolated among all the married couples.
BOBBIE AND LUKE CRIGHTON: American Bobbie came to expose the truths in Ruth’s past, and stayed in England when she fell in love and married charismatic Luke, part of the Chester branch of the Crighton family.
JAMES CRIGHTON: Luke’s brother, successful, goodlooking—and single.
MADDY AND MAX CRIGHTON: Maddy has blossomed since the reconciliation with her husband, Max, who has finally proved himself a loving, family man.
SAMANTHA MILLER: Searching for happiness in marriage, she has come to visit her twin, Bobbie, hoping to find a gorgeous Crighton husband for herself.
LIAM CONNOLLY: He’s known Samantha since she was a gangly teenager—with a gigantic crush on him. He needs to understand just why he’s followed her to England
Normally, I wouldn't say anything about an English author trying to understand the way the various governments in the US are organized, but PJ makes this such a HUGE part of the story that the misclassification kept throwing me out of the story.
The h in this one is Samantha, who is the twin sister of Bobbie from The Perfect Seduction and Bobbie is married to Luke Crighton. Sam and Bobbie's father is a US governor - tho PJ calls it a county.
I think, based on the various excited utterances that both Sam's father and the H, Liam, come up with during the story, PJ was thinking of Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, due to the way that PJ writes a state gubernatorial job description as being done primarily in Washington DC, I am pretty sure PJ really wanted Sam's father to be a US Senator.
So for any US reader's sanity's sake over the course of the story, just completely ignore any Real World divisions between the US local, state and federal governments. Cause PJ blows them all to the substrata of HPlandia in this one.
When this one starts, after a good gossip between the various English Crightons' about what has been going on in the last few books, Samantha decides she needs to find a man to have a baby with.
Poor Samantha's bio clock is a ticking bomb and since Bobbie has invited her over to England for a month and Sam is getting her annual holiday, (just roll with it peeps,) she decides Luke's brother James will be the perfect father material to fall in love with.
But before she can hop that Concorde, we have to meet Liam and learn that Liam spends a lot of his time, (when he isn't running for governor to replace Sam's father,) thinking about Sam's very voluptuous chest and statuesque over six ft figure.
In fact, there is a LOT of commenting about Sam's chest in this one and I thought it was a bit squicky, cause even the female characters were getting in on the action. There was a;so a very rousing argument about Sam's sexual desirability over dinner in front of Sam's parents.
But after a big roofie kiss at the airport, Liam sees Sam off to England and Sam sets up her pursuit of James, only to be thwarted by some engaged tart named Rosemary. Who has just qualified as GP and before setting up her practice, comes to visit James' and Luke's parents.
Rosemary is the typical PJ snotty OW that might be a character in a latter book in this series, she makes snide remarks to Sam, hones in on Sam's and James' dates and manages to get herself into a full blown snogfest with James when she shows up in the middle of Sam and James' big romantic 'time to see where this is going; date.
That is okay tho, really. Because Liam has been told that he has to be married to be a governor and was even presented with an appropriate potential spouse. However the future potential Mrs. Liam doesn't have Sam's chest size - so Liam takes off to England to try and nab Sam.
Sam sees Rosemary and James going at it like rabid bunnies and then she runs into Liam. Liam takes her back to his suite and Sam proceeds to get drunk and then hop on Liam for some tower of power rides.
Then Bobbie, Sam's twin sister, barges into Liam's hotel room and makes a huge fuss. Mainly because she has James' and Luke's mother with her and before you can say "Drunken one night mistake", Bobbie is all about how Liam and Sam are getting married and EVERYBODY is going on about how Sam will make a horrible governor's wife because she isn't the stand behind your man and wear beige type.
There is ENDLESS snark about how Sam is too controversial in her beliefs to be a good wife to Liam and NO SNARK about how James is slime snot gulper of the lowest sub sewer for abandoning his date for a public risque snog with a trampy, engaged tart.
(James and the tart Rosemary don't get a book, tho I think PJ was building up to it, they apparently hate each other, but just can't keep their tongues separated for long periods of time.)
Sam is really feeling even worse about herself after all of this and wants to end the fake engagement that she only agreed to because she did not want her sister Bobbie to lose face with the rest of the seriously messed up English Crightons.
But Liam eventually declares that he really loves her and he makes a really good speech about it being a modern world and women can have their own careers and be liberated and things. Sam is all for that female liberty idear and she loves Liam too. They go back to the US and Liam wins the election and Sam and he marry and start working on the big baby bonus in the governor's estate.
So we finally get to the end of this one for the big HEA and we can anxiously await the next installment of the Crightons - where yet ANOTHER twin, Katie (sister of the Tarty Twit OW Louise from The Perfect Lover nurses a seekrit crush on Louise's husband, Garth, and gets her own HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2017
Interesting and enjoyable book. I read it all in one sitting! :)
December 30, 2011
Did not like this at all. I really thought it was going to be a story of a couple who had been too far apart in age at 14 and 21 who were finding each other as a 30 year old woman and a 37 year old man. I also thought that the "baby hunger" element was interesting and valid since this was a very real phenomenon but the story only gave brief lip service to both elements. I didn't really care for either the hero and the heroine. This book was only workman like and didn't call forth any real emotion from me as the reader.
Plus, it was weird the way that the heroine was American but didn't seem American. Her father was the governor of some state on the east coast but which one was never mentioned. But practically every time it was mentioned it was mentioned as "he was State Governor". Go ahead and pick a state. I don't think anyone is really going to go "Hey! That's guy's not really the Governor of Connecticut!" It just felt awkward. Plus they kept mentioning the government of the County of New Wiltshire. That's just weird. As far as I'm aware county governments in the US are not major players along side those peeps in DC. Also governors live in mansions not residences.
Plus, it was weird the way that the heroine was American but didn't seem American. Her father was the governor of some state on the east coast but which one was never mentioned. But practically every time it was mentioned it was mentioned as "he was State Governor". Go ahead and pick a state. I don't think anyone is really going to go "Hey! That's guy's not really the Governor of Connecticut!" It just felt awkward. Plus they kept mentioning the government of the County of New Wiltshire. That's just weird. As far as I'm aware county governments in the US are not major players along side those peeps in DC. Also governors live in mansions not residences.
April 11, 2021
"The Perfect Father " is the story of Samantha and Liam.
God.
Hero and heroine have been attracted to each other for years. Both have been with OP in the interim, and ignored it. That is until, the heroine starts feeling pangs of motherhood, and hero needs a political wife. Both check out other prospective candidates, until fate leads them to each other's beds. Are they still having feelings for each other?
Honestly, I do not like plots where couples who like each other sleep with OP. So not for me.
Unsafe
2/5
God.
Hero and heroine have been attracted to each other for years. Both have been with OP in the interim, and ignored it. That is until, the heroine starts feeling pangs of motherhood, and hero needs a political wife. Both check out other prospective candidates, until fate leads them to each other's beds. Are they still having feelings for each other?
Honestly, I do not like plots where couples who like each other sleep with OP. So not for me.
Unsafe
2/5
September 9, 2018
Definitely one of the weaker entries in the Crighton saga. I didn't like how Samantha pursued another man instead of the hero, Liam. It also didn't help that Liam only expressed romantic interest in Samantha after she left for England (to realize her dreams of marriage and motherhood).
Penny Jordan wrote some of THE BEST besotted heroes, so having Liam act less than that felt disappointing. Liam did rally once Samantha left, but it was a case of too little, too late for me by that time especially since their courtship ran for such a brief period.
For readers who are interested, try The Perfect Lover or A Perfect Night (The Crightons) (both received 4.0-4.5 stars from me) for more romantic examples of the author's Crighton novels.
Penny Jordan wrote some of THE BEST besotted heroes, so having Liam act less than that felt disappointing. Liam did rally once Samantha left, but it was a case of too little, too late for me by that time especially since their courtship ran for such a brief period.
For readers who are interested, try The Perfect Lover or A Perfect Night (The Crightons) (both received 4.0-4.5 stars from me) for more romantic examples of the author's Crighton novels.
June 25, 2014
Samantha Miller in a moment of weakness she tells her secret crush one of her much kept secrets. She wants to be a mother and wife. She decides that she needs to find someone to make that dream come through.
Liam has always kept Samantha at arms length, but after he hears her confession he can't stop thinking about it. He knows that he will make a good father and starts seeing himself.
I enjoyed watching a guy want a woman after he thought they had nothing in common.
Liam has always kept Samantha at arms length, but after he hears her confession he can't stop thinking about it. He knows that he will make a good father and starts seeing himself.
I enjoyed watching a guy want a woman after he thought they had nothing in common.
March 14, 2019
I think I’ve read this book before but I didn’t remember much of it so that was ok. I enjoyed reading this and despite being published in 2000 it generally holds up. I rushed through this one. The hero and the heroine was well sketched though the emphasis generally remains on the heroine. Ms. Jordan continues to write intense characters, so the leads fight and snipe each other. But unlike some of her other series, none of the drama is mean or particularly harsh which I appreciated.
As the 7th book in a series, there was a little too much emphasis on the other Crighton family relationships which will lost me as I haven’t read the other series. I did like the friendship amongst the heroine and her sister though. (Though, I think I’ve read Max’s book on one rainy afternoon in Borders in England ... I really must get my hands on that and re-read that).
What I found interesting was that there is little interaction between Liam and Sam till about Chapter 6. She spends more time with James, the third wheel, which set him up as a legitimate threat. Ms Jordan knows her craft - this decision set up emotional conflict which felt real unlike manufactured third party conflict like blackmail, mystery etc.
Recommended highly for Ms. Jordan fans and people looking for a intense but not OTT romance.
As the 7th book in a series, there was a little too much emphasis on the other Crighton family relationships which will lost me as I haven’t read the other series. I did like the friendship amongst the heroine and her sister though. (Though, I think I’ve read Max’s book on one rainy afternoon in Borders in England ... I really must get my hands on that and re-read that).
What I found interesting was that there is little interaction between Liam and Sam till about Chapter 6. She spends more time with James, the third wheel, which set him up as a legitimate threat. Ms Jordan knows her craft - this decision set up emotional conflict which felt real unlike manufactured third party conflict like blackmail, mystery etc.
Recommended highly for Ms. Jordan fans and people looking for a intense but not OTT romance.
May 4, 2022
Sabe aquele tipo de livro que tem que ser lido duas vezes para se ter certeza de que há de fato uma história? Aquele tipo que passada uma semana, você nem lembra mais o nome do casal principal. Pois é... é esse.
A história é morna e a motivação dos personagens é fraca. Basicamente, o casalzinho se encontra, se apaixona perdidamente e em duas semanas já são o comentário de toda a família Crighton.
Samantha, embora seja descrita de forma diversa da irmã - que é a protagonista de outro volume - não chama a atenção. É como uma versão aguada que está lá apenas para que seu par, Liam, caia na real.
A propósito, a própria motivação de Liam é estranha; bastou um comentário da heroína para que ele próprio se visse assolado com pensamentos de "e se...?" o que se torna problemática quando o desenvolvimento é tão atropelado que fica difícil simpatizar.
A história é morna e a motivação dos personagens é fraca. Basicamente, o casalzinho se encontra, se apaixona perdidamente e em duas semanas já são o comentário de toda a família Crighton.
Samantha, embora seja descrita de forma diversa da irmã - que é a protagonista de outro volume - não chama a atenção. É como uma versão aguada que está lá apenas para que seu par, Liam, caia na real.
A propósito, a própria motivação de Liam é estranha; bastou um comentário da heroína para que ele próprio se visse assolado com pensamentos de "e se...?" o que se torna problemática quando o desenvolvimento é tão atropelado que fica difícil simpatizar.
August 1, 2018
Would've been a better story without the history lesson. I liked both characters. She was in denial but he had loved her for a long time (even though he didn't believe himself).
May 8, 2020
The usual weak female character
October 21, 2024
Good ending to series
October 14, 2013
i actually loved it very much n the book had great potential 4 a 5 star. but mrs jordan focused too much on other characters. she described at length how samantha intended 2 seduce james. infact, sam had more contact wid james than liam throughout the book. der were many flashbacks n change of POVs which were absolutely confusing !! this book is meant 4 some1 interested or following the crightons saga
July 21, 2020
Likable heroine
Sam is a likable heroine. On the verge on turning 30 she needs more a father to sire her baby than a husband and this desire will embark her on a journey where at the end she will be lucky enough to find love.
Sam is a likable heroine. On the verge on turning 30 she needs more a father to sire her baby than a husband and this desire will embark her on a journey where at the end she will be lucky enough to find love.
April 19, 2017
First read: 2009
Second read: 2017
I'd forgotten I'd read this. I very, very slightly liked it better the second time around, but not enough to change the original 2 star rating.
Second read: 2017
I'd forgotten I'd read this. I very, very slightly liked it better the second time around, but not enough to change the original 2 star rating.
July 24, 2012
Grade: D-
Silly.
Silly.
February 13, 2014
Güzel ve sevimli bir hikaye idi. Çok iyi bir yazar.
April 19, 2014
The book got more interesting near the end.
January 6, 2016
Héro trop têtu, héroïne trop soumise (+idiote)= harlequin un peu pourri -_-
November 16, 2016
Idenya oke, tapi terlalu banyak karakter sehingga membingungkan.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews