The Quiet Professor

by Betty Neels

Her fiance was in love -- but not with her!

Megan Rodner had always longed to fall madly in love... but that never happened. Still, she was happy with her engagement. Her fiance was solid, dependable and kind, and that was enough - wasn't it?

Maybe not. Because when her fiance suddenly fell madly in love with her sister, Megan's heart hadn't broken, although it cracked a little bit. Even though, she deserved a little more sympathy than Professor Jake van Belfeld was giving her!

He was an irritating, unsympathetic, impossible man - so why did he appoint himself her protector? And why, when it was finally her turn to fall madly in love, did she have to choose him?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Fiction, Clean Romance, Contemporary, Slow Burn

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years.(This stood her in good stead later for the tribulations to come with the Second World War). She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho

Reviews

[Grrrrace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Quiet Professor (1992) has a solid first half, a rather too quiet second half, and for me wasn’t particularly memorable outside of a way-too-ready acceptance by everyone of the heroine’s sister and heroine’s fiancé falling in love with one another. A sister written to be sweet and shy and blameless, in fact, with the heroine leaning over backward to avoid distressing her erstwhile fiancé and sister once they meet and our poor heroine is left in the dust (but happily with a much better prospect, our hero, waiting in the wings). Now that’s forgiving!

Yep, this is one of Betty’s “heroine engaged to another man” stories, and as is usually the case, our Rich Dutch Doctor hero, Professor (of pathology) van Belfeld (Jake, as we learn much later) is secretly in love with our heroine, Megan Rodner—one of Betty’s splendidly built, very pretty heroines (and for those who dislike her “mouse” stories featuring so-called “plain” girls, I think that Betty probably had at least as many pretty heroines as she did “mice” overall, so she doesn't just write "plain Janes."). Jake spends most of his time at Megan’s hospital, where he is a consultant, writing pathology reports and scaring all the nurses with his chilly demeanor and insistence on professional perfection, but Megan quite likes him in a casual kind of way—“as much as one could like a person who made no effort to be more than coldly courteous.” She’s mostly focused on her fiancé Oscar, anyway, a nice-enough up-and-coming young doctor with whom she shares an affectionate, if unexciting, relationship but who takes her rather for granted. They have been engaged for six months, our 28-year-old heroine having decided that her dreams of a grand passion are unrealistic and that a solid marriage based on affection and a liking for the same things is what makes successful marriages.

Never mind that “she had endeavored to model herself on Oscar’s ideas of womanhood,” which includes squelching her passion for (i.e., spending on) fashion and dismissing her reluctance to continue to live in London after they are married. And too bad, too, that she and Oscar’s mother don’t hit it off at all, and Oscar thinks it would be a great idea for her to live with his mom and dad after they are married so they can save money until he’s more established in his career—he’ll join her for weekends! That doesn’t sound too great to Megan, but BN’s heroines are sometimes way too passive when it comes to adhering to the wishes of the men in their lives even when they feel strongly otherwise.

But no worries about Megan’s future happiness with Ordinary Oscar; when she brings him home to meet her family, he instantly falls for her little sister and thereafter is making excuses to visit her family home—without Megan. Before long, it becomes clear to everyone that Oscar and sweet, shy Melanie are head over heels in love, and everyone just accepts this without any real concern or recrimination. (I can only imagine how this would have played out in my family—not so civilized, shall we say?) Megan’s parents are all “well, it happens”; Oscar and Melanie feel maybe a tiny but guilty, but Megan returns his ring and then does everything she can to not make them feel bad about the fact that they are now planning to marry and she’s out in the cold. Ummm, okay, that takes selflessness to the next level, but since this has sucked up half the book, I’m ready to move on from Oscar (and so is the hero, who quickly jumps into action).

And so we do, as the Professor takes charge in his high-handed way to keep Megan busy and distracted, taking her out on several occasions, and generally being a good, if sometimes austere and aloof, friend to her. He seems to know exactly what she needs and with his support, the sting of losing her fiance to her sister soon begins to fade, since her feelings were never that deeply involved. Jake insists on driving her home at weekends (arrogantly overriding her attempts to decline his offer, as RDDs do) and becomes a frequent visitor to her apartment, his commanding knock and careful and rather sweet safety checks of the doors and windows in her basement apartment becoming familiar occurrences. Since her neighborhood is a bit dodgy, our kid-magnet professor befriends a handful of neighborhood kids whom he plants inside his fabulous Rolls to safeguard it, to their delight, and whom he pays for their vigilance in spare change, hee.

The Professor and Megan become friends of sorts, but mostly our patient and long-sighted RDD bides his time, giving Megan time to get over her broken engagement. He convinces her, with the help of everyone else around her, that a break from the hospital and a fresh start is just what she needs, and arranges for her to take a temp job at an orphanage in Holland, for which he’s on the board of directors. So Megan is off to Holland, like many a Poor British Nurse before her, and our doctor waits in the wings for her to realize she’s over Ordinary Oscar and in love with himself. He’s quite certain about his feelings for her, but determined not to pursue her actively and thus muddy the waters of her true feelings—she will either come to a realization that she is equally besotted with him or she won’t, and that will be that.

All very admirable, but it makes for a slow and rather lackluster second act in this book. All the lovely momentum of the first half grinds to a near-halt, as Megan seldom sees the hero once she’s in Holland, and while the travelogue of parts of Holland is diverting, it’s no substitute for the main event. But our heroine, who began to realize even in England that her feelings for the hero far eclipsed the lukewarm attachment she had to her ex-fiance, soon does acknowledge that she is hopelessly in love with the hero and spends a lot of her time thinking about him and despairing of a future without him, because he’s done such an excellent job of hiding his own feelings.

Our RDD shows up once or twice at the orphanage, and there is even a kiss or two, but this is a slow burn even for Betty! Mostly, he keeps his distance, determined not to seduce or influence Megan (why I’m not sure, but heaven forbid that an RDD actually do anything in the way of actual wooing, pfftttt.). We have the requisite “working together to save people” scene (an abandoned baby in a howling gale and our hero to the rescue!). Our heroine is vetted by the hero’s elderly grandmother and finds out that he’s no less than a Baron, vastly wealthy, and master of the ancestral family home, so he seems even more out of her reach.

With her orphanage job coming to an end, and her return to England imminent, our heroine decides she has nothing left to lose and confesses her feelings to the hero. I am not a fan of heroine avowals before the hero makes his feelings clear, but given how Betty set up this romance (such as it is), there was really no other feasible resolution. As is usually the case, they are interrupted before the Professor can make his own declarations. He’s waiting for her when she is ready to leave for the night ferry back to England, and sweeps her off home to confess his own feelings, propose to her, and introduce her to his parents. He’s very managing about it all, as RDDs are, and when she asks what he would have done if she had refused to come with him that afternoon, he claims he would have followed her to the station and abducted her (which in RDD terms probably means gently hauling her about by the arm and popping her into the Rolls for the most placid and genteel "abduction" ever). So our happy couple makes it to the HEA finish line at what seemed to be a snail’s pace, even for Betty.

Not a top-tier Betty book for me, but there's lots to like in TQP, particularly our well-matched MCs: the pretty heroine who quite understandably needs time to get over her broken engagement, even if her feelings weren’t all that engaged, and an extremely patient, if “crusty” (as one minor character calls him), RDD who is willing to wait her out.

Betty car porn:

The hero drives a standard-issue Rolls Royce. “Perhaps you would like to take a look at the engine?” he asks the heroine’s father and brother. “There are several things about it…”

Such as, you ask? Well, we’ll assume the Silver Spur, rather than the Silver Spirit (because the former has a longer wheel base, and our vast RDDs likely need the extra leg room.) We know it’s not a Corniche because Jake’s car has a full-sized back seat, just right for heroine cat-baskets and suitcases, and with seating for 4 neighborhood boys who guard the car when Jake visits her flat.
From Wikipedia:

The Silver Spirit II and Silver Spur II were refinements of the original models, introduced at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show. Suspension design saw the most change, with "Automatic Ride Control" introduced, a fully automatic system that adjusted dampers at all four wheels in real time. Other updates included the adoption of ABS and fuel injection as standard for all models and markets….The fuel injection system was now Bosch's MK-Motronic. Originally retaining the three-speed Turbo Hydramatic GM400 transmission from earlier Spirits/Spurs, a four-speed unit (the GM 4L80E) was introduced in the winter of 1991. The size of the petrol tank was also increased, up to 107 L (24 imp gal), meaning that the car's range was now up to well over 500 km (311 mi). Plenty of speed, power, and distance-handling for our busy RDD!


And let's take a final moment to appreciate the lovely cover, featuring the spring-green jacket our clothes-conscious heroine wears during the course of the book, by prolific and distinctive HQN/M&B artist Will Davies (and I have to thank Iris for making the art of HQN such a fascinating additional facet in the appreciation of vintage category romance!).

[reeder (reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am currently buried in Betty. I have 20 Betty Neels romances checked out from my library, and I need to start reviewing or they're all going to fall into a fog of poor/plain British nurses and rich Dutch doctors. Even the ones with pretty nurses and British doctors.

In The Quiet Professor, pretty nurse Megan's engagement to the entirely unsatisfactory Oscar is broken when she takes Oscar to meet her family and he promptly falls in love with her younger, shyer sister. Her sister Melanie is a sweetheart and I'm sure she didn't mean to take the credit for the scones Megan had baked for tea.

We readers, the girls' parents, and the rich Dutch pathologist who is consulting at Megan's London hospital and fell in love with her at first sight all recognize that the broken engagement is for the best. Oscar was an indifferent, self-centered fiancé because he didn't really love Megan, and Megan was settling because she didn't think she would ever fall in love but she wanted a home and children. Given his indifference, I wonder if she had subtly railroaded him into a proposal. Or maybe he just thought it was the right time in his career to take on a wife, although that seems unlikely, given that one glimpse we had of their future was Megan living in the country with his disapproving mother while Oscar maintained rooms in London during his residency (or whatever the next, highly inconvenient stage in his medical career was).

Anyway, while those of us with clearer heads aren't mourning the lost engagement, Megan evidently is. Everyone who feels they have any right at all to comment on her personal life advises her to go away to recuperate. (Although some of this solicitous counsel is coming from people who just feel awkward that Megan is still around, even though she is technically the one who ended the engagement.) I'm kind of feeling bad for her during this avalanche of advice because when I'm hurt, I want to hunker down at home. And if my mother were alive, I would want a lot of hugs and treats. Unfortunately for Megan, Melanie is the at-home daughter, so Megan is expected to pick up stakes.

Of course, the rich Dutch doctor has just the solution in mind: Megan can take a temporary position in an orphanage near his home in Castricum. It's only for six weeks and will involve a pay cut and a steep reduction in responsibilities for Megan, who is currently a ward sister...but since we all know the heroine will give up her work entirely when she marries the RDD, I'm not going to spend a lot of time agonizing over a woman sabotaging her career because her heart has been bruised and her pride injured. Don't you do this, though. Unless you reeeealllly want to see Holland and tend babies, which I would probably find fun for just six weeks.

Safely ensconced in the Netherlands, the heroine gets a tour of the rich Dutch doctor's home, meets his grandmother, and learns that he's a baron, though he doesn't use the title abroad. Naturally, I immediately downgrade all Neels heroes who are not also aristocrats. The heroine goes about her job at the orphanage, where we learn one of the babies she's tending was discovered by the doctor, abandoned in a shopping bag. Betty Neels apparently thinks the Netherlands is suffering from an epidemic of babies being abandoned in carrier bags, since the heroine will also find one during a storm in the book's traditional Neels heroic rescue. Of course, sometime between the house tour and the dramatic rescue, Megan realizes she loves the rich Dutch baron doctor and is completely over that whole Oscar thing. On her last day at the orphanage, she confesses all to the hero, and then goes off to change a baby's diaper.

In typical Neels hero fashion, the rich Dutch doctor/baron/pathologist/professor doesn't immediately follow up on her confession, but waits until the next day to pick her up in his Rolls Royce when she's expecting a car to take her to the train station. While she's kvetching about missing her train, he drives her to his home, proposes, and explains the whole love-at-first sight thing and his stealth courtship. HEA.

I'm going to remember this book for two things (and neither of them are abandoned babies in shopping bags):

1. AIDS! I was comfortably wallowing in the timeless vintage feel of a Betty Neels novel, with the heroine pondering possibly living with her disapproving in-laws after her marriage (which is either vintage or Italian/Greek billionaire in my mind), when a consultant surgeon orders our heroine to have two accident victims checked for AIDS. It was like going through a wormhole.

2. Even when Betty Neels gives me the inscrutable Dutch doctor's POV, he is still inscrutable to me. Here we have his thoughts at the 82% mark (I miss pages; that's the only good thing about OP books I'm forced to read via Open Library):

...he loved her and deep inside him he knew that she loved him although perhaps she didn't know that yet. He had to let her find that out for herself. It might take time but he was a man of patience. ... he had resolved to do nothing to attract Megan. He was aware that he could, if he wished, gain her love -- he was aware too without conceit that he was attractive to women -- but he didn't want that; he would do nothing to encourage her.

First of all, she already loves him at this point, so a little encouragement would get them to a confession and a wedding that much sooner. Second of all, WHAT? What kind of game playing is this? Via what psychic power is she supposed to figure out YOU love HER, Jake? The hero has every advantage: his wealth, his career, his title, they're even playing on his home field. But the heroine has to climb potential rejection mountain to confess her love first. Because...I don't get it. I do like men of patience, though. Patience is sexy.

[Leona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another sweet story by Betty Neels. Megan is a duty nurse at one of the large hospitals in London situated in a rough neighborhood. The Professor, is Dutch and is in research and pathology. He is also a wealthy baron. (f course, this is a Betty Neel's story)

Megan is engaged to Oscar, who finds himself falling in love with her sister. Megan is jilted and needs to come to grips with the fact that her sister will marry her ex-fiance.

The Professor, always seems to be able to anticipate what Megan needs, and frankly, is there for her more than Oscar. The Professor suggests she take a 6 week assignment in Holland to recover from her broken engagement.. Even though Megan knows she was never in love with Oscar, she still feels uncomfortable with the hospital gossip and the pitying looks she gets from the other staff.

Though, I liked the book and truly enjoyed reading Megan's journey...I felt a sort of distance between her and the professor. For some reason, their chemistry just didn't work for me. I also didn't care for the ending..it felt very anticlimactic and didn't stand up to the rest of the book.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5🌟 My first Betty Neels vintage romance! And...I LOVED IT! To be truthful, in the past, I always looked down on Harlequin romances—and I was so wrong to do that! I feel like apologizing to all of the vintage romance readers for years of thinking that these stories were so silly and uninteresting. I'm so sorry!!

Now that I've read some of the older ones (the older, the better...and weirder! lol), I feel slightly addicted. After reading tons of books that highlight the most painful life experiences of women, men and children (which I feel are primarily contemporary books but, not all, of course), it is such a breath of fresh air to read about simple, everyday life. Yes, there are challenges...but the entire book isn't geared towards ripping your heart out and making you feel like giving up life once you finish the book.

This romance was filled with interesting characters, hospital routines, everyday occurrences, friends and losing/finding love. The pacing was perfect—not too slow that I was bored, but not too rushed either. This gave the novel a particularly cozy aspect.

I was really pleasantly surprised and now I'm very excited to read the other vintage Betty Neels books that are on my shelf. Luckily, Audible had a sale on The Quiet Professor and I snapped it up. The narrator was wonderful!

Also, a big shout out to my mom, Karen, for reading Harlequin books in the 70s when I was little (giving me my first glimpse of these iconic covers) and to my lovely friend, Christie (@felines_and_flowers on IG), for recommending Betty Neels to me!

I highly recommend this particular title, but if you have any other favorite Betty Neels titles, please comment below. I'd love to read more soon! Woo!

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, about a young woman whose fiance falls in love with her younger sister. Poor Megan, she may not have been desperately in love, but no one likes to be jilted for her kid sister, even if she does love her a lot. Fortunately Megan is a sensible girl from a lovely family and she tries to handle things well. Still, it's hard to keep running into your ex fiance at work. Enter our RDD, who suggests Megan take a break by working in an orphanage in Holland for a few weeks.

One of the fun things about this book was knowing what the doctor was thinking and how he felt about Megan almost from the beginning. And Megan was a very likable heroine, with realistic feelings but not at all self-centered. I really enjoyed reading about this couple and their unusual courtship. Unfortunately the e-copy I read has an error at the beginning, saying that Jenny, not Megan, is engaged to Oscar. It made things confusing for a bit and required some rereading. If you get that, just disregard that typo. And enjoy the story.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ ⭐️ This has easily become my favorite Betty book to date as it has the kindest RDD with minimum drama, misunderstandings or placid coldness. The audiobook added to the enjoyment. Yay for Jake and Megan! Yay for Meredith the male stray cat! 🎉

P.S. The fiancé and the sister was weird, but all went well in the end.

[Sometime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Betty Neels and I quite liked it. The attitudes are very old fashioned but I liked the characters. It's basically the story about a man whose idea of wooing the woman he loves is to ignore her and wait for her to be the first to declare her love. 😂 I guess it's not titled "The Quiet Professor" for nothing.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading a favorite Betty always makes for a charming palate cleanser between books! This one has grown on me - I used to find the heroine Megan being dumped by her fiancé when he falls in love at first sight with her younger sister creepy - I couldn't help imagining the holiday dinners, ick! But this being a Betty, the formerly engaged couple were lukewarm in their displays of affection, which helps a bit. Also the hero, a grumpy Dutch pathologist, is such an attractive and intriguing character that you soon forget the ickier bits and enjoy his efforts to patiently woo Megan as she gets over her dented ego and cracked (not broken) heart...

The usual Betty travelogue with amazing meals, beautiful homes and scenery, sweet babies, pets and old family retainers, along with a sparky, likeable, attractive and mature couple as leads make this a lovely way to spend a cold and windy autumn afternoon. Recommended to fans of clean, charming, old fashioned romance.

[Bookworman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second read: Thanks to my GR Friend, Lisa, I was reminded how much I love this story. Upgraded from a 3 to a 4-star rating!

OK, I cannot stop reading Betty Neels books! They are all basically the same story with the same characters only with different names but... but... but... they are also exactly the kind of brain candy I've needed over the past few weeks during a challenging business trip.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nearly perfect BN.

[Mandy Sickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan’s life is perfect she’s engaged to a young doctor, she enjoys her job working as a nurse, and she recently acquired a flat of her own away from the other nurses. Yet everything changes on the trip home to introduce her family to her fiancé Oscar. He falls head over heels in love with her shy younger sister. At first Megan just assumes he’s being nice spending time with her family but when the truth comes out she finds she’s not as disappointed by the news as she thought. Her heart is cracked but not broken like any other women who had found out her fiancé had fallen in love with another woman.

Megan has the attention of Professor Jake van Belfield a pathology professor she just doesn’t realize that he’s in love with her. After all he’s a little older quiet, a successful professor what would he see in her. As the professor goes out of his way to visit her, even offering her a chance to work in Holland at an orphanage giving her a much needed change. Megan sees the professor as being very kind and helpful but her mother is sure that he’s in love with her daughter. Will Megan figure out the truth?

I love Megan she’s a strong character not your typical skinny blonde but a real woman with curves. She’s a nurse working in a tough hospital but doesn’t let the laundry guy get the best of her. Even after her engagement ends she handles it better than most. Who doesn’t love a knight in shiny Rolls Royce rolling into save the day. I love the professor he’s just so dreamy and he cares dearly for Megan it’s so sweet.

I’ve been a fan of Betty Neels since I was a teenager thanks to my grandmother leaving me a few boxes of books when she passed away. She left me a good 40 of her books all of which I’ve read before long ago. When I needed a rich character the first to come to mind are the men of Betty Neels books, the girl are always poorer struggling type. They feel like real characters that get a happy ever after. The Quiet Professor is a Harlequin so it’s a fast paced quick sweet romance novel. These books always make me crave toast and tea it’s because of them I’ve become such a tea drinker. Anyway I love the characters, love the sweet unsuspecting romance and just love all of her books. These are perfect for a quick afternoon read. Of course I plan to read this as well as the rest of her books again.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars ~ Megan's a chief nurse at a very busy London hospital and she's engaged to a resident doctor. She'd always thought she'd be swept away when she fell in love, but she's content with the affectionate relationship she has with Oscar. When Megan discovers that Oscar has fallen in love with her younger sister Melanie, she's honest with everyone that though she'd always been very fond of Oscar, her's wasn't a deep passion. As Oscar and Melanie plan their wedding, it becomes difficult for the couple as they feel guilty, and Megan, though happy for them, can't help but feel sad on her own behalf. Professor van Belfield is in charge of the pathology lab at the hospital and has most of the junior nurses afraid of him. He's been enamored with Megan, who is not one bit afraid of him, from the first time he set eyes on her. The Professor recommends Megan find work away from the hospital and all reminders of Oscar, and he finds her a temporary position at an orphanage in Holland and offers to take her there. With quiet determination, he patiently bides his time for Megan to realize that she's falling in love with him, something she must do without his influence. He does have a few shaky moments when it seems she's very friendly with the young doctor who visits the orphanage.

Ms. Neels has a distinct style to her writing allowing her characters to emerge at a gentle pace. Megan is a strong young woman who doesn't run away from uncomfortable situations. She's quick to realize her relationship with Oscar isn't quite right. And though she gets quite riled with the Professor over his often gruff or abrupt treatment of her, she rather likes his take charge ways. As to the quiet Professor, his quiet demeanor hides a man who has deep emotions. He's sure of his own feelings for Megan and though he's confidant that he could bring her to love him, he wants her to come to this on her own. I adored how he automatically protected her and sensed what she needed before she did. Ms. Neels allows her stories to unfold with little in the way of high drama. With each page I was eager to read on to find out what was going to happen next. I thoroughly enjoyed this charming love story.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming and angst-free romance

A charming little story! Our heroine, Megan, is one of the Olivia-type: tall, curvy, beautiful and brunette. She's engaged to a really nice guy, Oscar, but they don't really have any chemistry between them. But Megan is 28 and wants to be married and have a family, so she is looking forward to a wedding. For Oscar, there's plenty of time while he establishes himself as a physician. Until he meets Melanie, Megan's younger sister, with whom he falls in love and she reciprocates.

Soon, Megan realizes what has happened. Professor Jake van Belfeld, a pathologist at the hospital where she is the Accident Ward Sister, lends a friendly ear and shoulder to cry on, driving Megan home and having dinner with her often.

While we don't see much of what's going on inside the Professor's head, TGB allows Megan's mom to tell the reader that Jake is in love with Megan. And with frequent hints like long looks at Megan and little smiles of which Megan is unaware, and of course his continually coming to her aid, we realize that Mum is correct.

Everyone is urging Megan to leave her hospital job and go away for a bit. Jake arranges for her to take a temporary job at an orphanage in Castricum, which is in the province of North Holland. This allows her to clear her head and of course, realize that she loves Jake.

Pretty typical Betty, but with some special bits. I loved Meredith, the cat that came with Megan's flat and who liked to snuggle next to her to sleep. I liked that the OM was a nice guy for a change; the absence of a Veronica also makes this one refreshingly angst-free. And of course, the rescue of the newborn baby girl abandoned in a plastic grocery bag, which Megan finds while lost in a thunderstorm and requires getting rescued by Jake, is particularly memorable. 3.5 stars.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Llegaron los días fríos y, ¿qué mejor que acurrucarse en el bus camino a casa con una novelita de Betty?
Esta heroína "no es tan pobrecita", como diría mi amiga Caro Charmie, pero a su manera lleva una vida triste. Me dio mucha pena verla atravesar por la ruptura con su prometido y hacer cosas tan cotidianas como lavar la ropa en el fregadero. No es de las más preferidas de Betty, pero aun así sin dudas muy entretenida.

[Shallowreader VaVeros · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook version

My full of spoilers review https://shallowreader.com/2016/08/18/...

[Bookworman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second read: Thanks to my GR Friend, Lisa, I was reminded how much I love this story. Upgraded from a 3 to a 4-star rating!

OK, I cannot stop reading Betty Neels books! They are all basically the same story with the same characters only with different names but... but... but... they are also exactly the kind of brain candy I've needed over the past few weeks during a challenging business trip.

[Nefise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betty Neels is one of those writers that comes to my mind when I need hope, or muting my swirl of thinking.
I think it calms me down to read the hardworking, good hearted heroines finding happinies in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

I was in such a mood again today, it felt very good again. Bless your heart Betty Neels, thanks for these lovely stories as l assumes that your heart's beauty poured your stories.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Betty Neels love story! The Professor has been in love with Nurse Megan Rodner for months, but she is engaged. He watches the relationship closely and is ready when her fiancee is less than attentive and helps her pick up the pieces when the engagement crumbles. She of course is grateful for his shoulder to cry on and his "brotherly" advice. He's a very patient man. He bides his time hoping and waiting for her to fall in love with him. It's a lovely story - Megan is a great character and has great courage. After all, when she declares her love for our hero, she has no idea that he's been waiting for her for months...

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Betty Neels, I really do, and this is yet another of her very sweet (without being treacly) romances between a lovely but somewhat ill-used Ward Sister (dumped by her fiance for her sister) and a very large, very sure of himself, very reticent Dutch Professor. After she realises her sister and fiance are in the kind of love he and she are not, the lovely Megan is whisked off to the Netherlands by the Professor to work in an orphanage "for a change". She only realises she is quite in love with the Professor when she thinks she might never see him again, and the day he has been quietly waiting for happens. Le sigh.

[Kitcatscratch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sure this is a good book and has good reviews. But there are a few things I can't stand in stories. One of them is a man who is dating or engaged to one sister and then goes with the other sister. In other words, encouraging one sister while with another sister. Now, I CAN stand it if the sister is conniving and the H is not really interested. But when he does seem to encourage it then I think how if it were me, my hate would have the heat of a thousand suns and there would no longer be family Thanksgiving dinners for me (unless it's like the SNL Ladies Man when he says he goes to Thanksgiving family dinners armed with one of several weapons he normally takes with him...). And family Christmas? It's a shame we don't do telegrams anymore because I'd limit my contact to: Merry Christmas. Stop. Hope you don't choke on the turkey and ham. Stop.

So while I'm sure it was a good book and the H and h were extremely likable, I could NOT understand why the parents were totally ok with her fiance and her younger sister getting together (behind the H's back but in full view of the parents BTW). Like, he snuck off to her parents house to hang out with the younger sister and the dad's like, hey, what happens happens and the mother at least is a TINY BIT concerned about the h's feelings. Then when the h finds out is she angry? No, she's like "no, I can see that you, Younger Sister, love him and you'll be perfect together. I'm totally ok with it and have no bitter or embarrassed feelings." Then of course her family is like "I think you (YOU) should go away for awhile. You know, quit your career and uproot to another country or something for a bit. Not your younger sister who lives at home and is marrying your fiance, oops (titters), ex-fiance." OK. Maybe it didn't go down EXACTLY like that. Or rather it did but with everyone acting super sweet and nice (choke, gag).

Their behavior was SO OUTSIDE my comprehension that I could not really get into the story. It was like reading about aliens on another planet.

[Nancy Crayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the stories being somewhat formulaic, there are exceptions that stand out. This is one of them. The characters are more developed and there are no villains, just realistic disappointments. The disappointment is inevitable for the real romance between Megan and the Professor to happen.
If you are not familiar with Betty Neels' novels, they are old fashioned or "straight-laced" as she puts it. But the attraction between the characters is undeniable. It's closer to Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer than modern romance writers. A close embrace and kisses is as far as it goes.
I enjoy them because you get a picture of the place, the society, the food and fashions. Not just boy meets girl. But they are feel good stories and this one is among my favorites. The romance is very sweet.

[MissKitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost the same scenario as the previous one I read ‘The Course of True Love’, but I liked that one better.

In this story, the heroine is jilted by her fiancé for her younger sister. Since she was not truly in love with him, she had a cracked, instead of a broken, heart. The rich doctor Hero is often around to help her pick up the pieces and finds her a new job in Holland so she can get away from the situation.

He wants to give her time to get over her sadness and realise she loves him instead. HOWEVER, he didn’t do anything to let her know he was interested and his tactics were ridiculous. He didn’t court her or try to win her heart! In fact, he pulled back once they got to Holland. His reasoning; he didn’t want to influence her decision! What!

Also, I didn’t like that she was too forgiving towards her sister and ex-fiancé. She didn’t even let him suffer a little.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Betty Neels books because it is just so romantic. One of those cases where the hero comes to the rescue of the heroine, falls in love with her, and for some reason does nothing to let her know that. Instead, he waits patiently until he is absolutely sure of her feelings. Maybe Jake (Prof. van Belfeld) is used to being pursued for his money and wants to be sure of Megan's motives. They first got involved when Megan was engaged to Dr. Oscar Fielding. They had fallen into a comfortable relationship until Oscar meets Megan's younger sister, Melanie. Jake suggests that Megan go to Holland until things blow over. She works temporarily in an orphanage while another girl takes some time off. I enjoyed the story of the orphans in their home near the sea. A nice, gentle romance.

[Ashleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, couldn't put it down. The Professor was exactly my type of guy and made me wish I was Megan. Great romance without the porn/gratuitous sex of the usual Harlequins. Great read for someone looking for a sappy romance that warms the heart and ends happily.

[Kobie · Rating 5 out of 5]

a betty neels book with a pretty heroine!

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly pleasant Betty Neels novel spoiled only by the fact that the heroine finds a baby in a plastic shopping bag. Oh, and there's a lot of orphanage stuff, which I'm unable to find as idyllic as Neels presents.

[Barty · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars. hmm. the book was well written but the plot wasn't really for me I think. the central conflict comes from the fact the h is heartbroken when her fiance dumps her for her younger sister, meanwhile the H is standing by helping her deal with the trauma... but I was absolutely infuriated that everyone in the damn book seems to think it's fine and dandy that the pathetic fiance and the insipid younger sister secretly stealth-dated each other behind the h's back and even decided they would get married all without talking to the h and telling her that her engagement to the guy was ended. wth! that attitude peeved me off no end. plus as the main source of conflict in the romance, for me it left a lot to be desired. ugh. however the book is well written and never dull.

h Megan is a beautiful 28 yr old nurse who is engaged to the OM, a young doc. she's capable and cheery and nice. H Jake is a RDD and professor and consultant at the London hospital h works at. he's quiet and aloof and all the nurses find him scary except for h who is brave enough to face up to his icy moods. h and her fiance aren't madly in love but are attracted to one another and expect to be happy when they marry. but then fiance meets h's younger sister during a visit to h's parents' home and instantly those 2 fall in love, but apparently they aren't aware at first that they're in love. yuck. they certainly knew enough to be desperate to see each other again for sure.

the h's parents soon realise but they decide it's best to let it play out. wtf! meanwhile h notices fiance is growing distant and senses something is wrong and worries about it. meanwhile H has noticed nobody is helping h when she is moving into her new flat so he goes out of his way to help her move in and she thinks perhaps they will be on frie day terms. but then he proceeds to be icy and aloof at work again.

SPOILERS

h realises at 34 percent that her fiance is in love with her younger sister. This storyline disgusted me. Utter betrayal. The smug bastard. How dare he. and to not confess right away. And her parents were so casual about it. Yuck. And I hated how determined h was to be so nice to her sister and the asshole fiance and forgive them and make sure they felt comfortable and not guilty. wtf. she should have made them suffer, but instead they were painted as helpless victims of circumstance, with everyone being desperate to make things easy for them, including the damn H. it made my blood boil.

H is quick to notice that h looks devastated after her realisation, so he quickly intercedes before she embarrasses herself by confronting her fiancee when she is feeling overemotional. he gives her a shoulder to cry on and acts as confidante and mentor, and advises her to be all cool and responsible about it and not show her emotions and to be the nicer, bigger person etc. it really peeved me off. those two assholes didn't deserve for everyone to pander to them. they betrayed the h. they weren't mortified by their feelings and did not try to stay away from each other in hopes of not betraying the h. they went out of their way to secretly spend time together under the h's parents damn roof. the disrespect was breathtaking! grrrrr!

then after h gently lets them know she's not mad at them (all the while feeling humiliated and wretched and hurt inside), everyone acts like everything is fine and that it's no big deal to discuss the other two's marriage plans with her. everyone tells her she looks tired and she "needs a change". I hated the way everyone kept telling the h she needed a change. It felt like they wanted an excuse to get rid of her while they got on with getting the other two married off. Yuck. Plus the prof did the same, and so he arranged for her to quit her job and go away to holland for a 6 week job in an orphanage that he helps run. And he specifically suggested her going away would give Oscar the ratty fiance some "relief", as if that bastard deserved any bit of consideration! It really peeved me off that h had to uproot her life. She never made that decision herself. She got bullied into it "for her own good". All while the other two traitors harped on about how blissfully happy they were. Quite frankly I wished the treacherous fiance would perish in a ditch and the insipid sister would be miserable ever after.

I suppose H was being supportive during all this and he did a lot to save her pride too. he spent time with her and gave her a shoulder to cry in several times and helped her face up to gossip in her small village by going there with her and hanging out and making her not seem the pathetic rejected dejected loser and he protected her from feeling hurt at her job too etc.

so anyway, h takes herself off to Holland (or rather H takes her there, since he drives her there) and stays overnight at the H's grand home and meets his nice old granny. when H leaves her at the orphanage the next day, she watches him leave without a backward glance, and realises she is in love with him.

meanwhile H avoids her, wanting to give her time to realise her own feelings and make up her mind. he already knows he is in love with her. there is a little bit of OM drama when H thinks h has started seeing the young doc at the orphanage and he is quietly jealous. but that turns out to be nothing because he realises afterwards that the young doc is already engaged to some other girl.

meanwhile he has already given h an icy look and cold shoulder when he thought she was seeing the other man so she is secretly devastated and resolves to try to avoid him and forget him. There is also a tiny bit of tokenistic OW drama. secretly h pines for him and on her day off, she goes to take a glimpse at the teaching place where he gives lectures sometimes.

he spots her from the window smd he bides his time, wanting her to realise if she loves him or not. there is this ridiculous line about "He was an angler and knew the skills of playing his fish would pay off if he had patience." Wtf. We want to see a man pursue his woman! we want him to continue to be there for her, doing acts of service and love. gaargh. instead he waits around, at one point to her rescues her from a storm and then waits around some more, and then 6 weeks have passed and it's time for her to return to UK and she is heartbroken thinking she will never see him again, esp after she learns he's already temporarily gone to UK without her and might be moving to America for a job.

ENDING SPOILERS

but then he turns up to see her just days before she is due to leave. she ends up confessing that she loves him but that she plans to get a job in scotland as far from him as possible and she doesn't want him to feel.awkward about her feelings for him. this gets interrupted by a medical emergency and he walks away, not even responding to her confession. but then when she had packed to leave and is waiting for her ride to the ferry, he turns up as her driver. except he takes her to his family home and confesses his love for her. he says he loved her at first sight but has had to bide his time and hope she would eventually grow to love him. kisses. the end.

CONCLUSION

there was much to like about the book and both main characters were likable too, however the overall story plot lines were dull for me. I didn't find it enjoyable to read about a guy waiting for a girl to recover from a betrayal and broken engagement. I much prefer the types of stories where he is smitten but has to fight his own feelings because past tarima means he never wants to love again, or she is smitten and has to pine for him because he seems emotionally unaffected by her.... so this take just wasn't really for me I guess and yet I did enjoy it, being a betty book, enough for me to finish it and award it nearly 4 stars.

[Jite · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

This book was absolutely wild to me. This isn’t my first time reading it but I believe this is the time I rolled my eyes the most. The premise is that beautiful, and rarely (for a Neelsian heroine) financially-comfortable, Megan, is a a Sister at a London hospital comfortably-engaged to Oscar, a doctor at that same hospital, until he goes home with her and falls in love with her beloved, way, younger sister. Fortunately Rich Dutch Doctor, Professor Jake, is on hand to be the shoulder to cry on and help her figure out her future.

It’s not so much that this book is out of the realm of a Betty book plot wise, it’s the way Megan is surrounded by disloyal people who want her out of the way to make things more comfortable for her sister Melanie and the way Megan herself doesn’t realize how gaslight-y the whole situation is. It’s not as if any of us didn’t see how unsuitable Megan and Oscar’s relationship was at the beginning and first of all, for us to be expected to be happy at two feckless people like “wants-to-be-liked-so-badly” Oscar and “no-backbone-but-it’s-fine-because-everyone-panders-to-her” Melanie is a little much. Then the fact that Oscar and Melanie pretend to care about Megan but carry on behind her back and she has to figure it out herself and then confront both of them and pretend she’s okay with it. Then the fact that immediately she’s the bigger person and gives them her blessing, they have the guts to try to get her to leave her job and go away for let’s be honest the reason that it will be easier for everyone if she’s not there as a reminder that Oscar is not such a nice guy and Melanie is less than an angel. Then the fact that her parents and Jake co-sign this. Then the fact that her sister takes every moment to “oh-so-kindly” RUB HER NEW RELATIONSHIP IN MEGAN’S FACE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE OF EMPATHY OR SELF-REFLECTION OR APPROPRIATENESS. Then the fact that she gaslights herself into believing she’s the one that should leave the career she’s built, and she’s the one that should find ways to avoid Oscar in future who’s literally joining her family and that the solution is to leave the country. The whole thing is just wild to me and I didn’t really enjoy it because I felt she had no one in her corner to allow her to acknowledge that “this was a really 💩-y thing that happened to you,” sorry about that. It’s just beyond strange to me. It’s not about how much she loved or didn’t love Oscar or whether they were well-suited, it’s the lack of empathy and sensitivity with which the aftermath is dealt with. FOR OSCAR of all people to be one of those giving her advice to leave the hospital… my mind is still blown.

[Lucy Gilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is this the only Betty Neels in audio? I need my fix of outdated Dutch doctors!

[Yuvadee Patchon]

ดาวแข่งเดือน วลัย นวาระ



โลกของเดือนนวล ไม่มีวันเหมือนเดิมอีกต่อไปนับตั้งแต่บ้านที่เคยมีแต่ความสุขของเธอเปิดต้อนรับสองแม่ลูกผู้ร้ายกาจ เธอต้องสูญเสียทุกอย่าง แม่ผู้อ่อนหวานแต่อ่อนแอ พ่อที่แสนรักเธอ ไม่เหลืออะไรอีกต่อไป หากแต่การที่เธอได้ก้าวไปสู่อาชีพที่เธอใฝ่ฝันก็เหมือนการเติมเต็มความปรารถนาที่เดือนนวลต้องการ แพทย์หญิงที่แสนมีเกียรติ หากแต่เดือนนวลกลับไม่คิดว่าชะตาอยากเล่นตลกกับเธอเหลือเกิน เมื่อใครๆต่างก็รู้ว่าอาจารย์หมอหม่อมเจ้าอมฤตภุช ท่านทรงไม่ยินดีที่จะมีนักศึกษาแพทย์เป็นสตรี ทว่าเธอกลับต้องมาเป็นนักศึกษาแพทย์ผู้หญิงคนแรกของท่าน



ทั้งๆที่เดือนนวลเตรียมพร้อมที่จะรับมือกับอาจารย์ท่านชายมาอย่างเต็มที่ แต่เธอกลับไม่คิดว่าเพียงแค่แรกพบ เดือนนวลจะเจอบททดสอบที่ทำให้เธอแทบร้องไห้โฮ แม้ว่าทุกอย่างที่เกิดขึ้นจะเป็นความคิดอยากกลั่นแกล้งเธอจากฝีมือใครสักคน แต่มันก็ทำให้เดือนนวลยิ่งต้องหวั่นเกรงอาจารย์ท่านชายมากยิ่งขึ้น แต่สิ่งที่เดือนนวลกลับไม่รู้เลยก็คือ บางอย่างที่ท่านชายทรงทำกับเดือนนวล เป็นที่ร่ำลือว่า หรือนักศึกษาหญิงคนแรกของท่านชายจะเป็นผู้หญิงที่เข้ามาครองพระทัยของท่าน



ใช่ว่าเดือนนวลจะไม่รับรู้ถึงข่าวที่โจษขานกันทั่วโรงพยาบาล แต่มันก็ไม่มีวันเป็นจริง เพราะเธอเป็นเพียงแค่นักศึกษาธรรมดาๆคนหนึ่ง ที่ถูกอาจารย์ท่านชายโขกสับ เหน็บแนม อยู่ตลอดเวลา และที่สำคัญไปกว่านั้น เธอก็มีคู่หมั้นอยู่แล้ว ผู้ชายที่เดือนนวลมั่นใจ เขาคืออีกคนที่จะไม่มีวันหลงในเสน่ห์ของผู้หญิงที่ต้องการแย่งทุกอย่างไปจากชีวิตเธอ แต่มันจะจริงอย่างที่เดือนนวลคิดหรือ



ถ้าจะบอกว่าเธอโง่งมก็คงจะใช่ ผู้ชายที่เดือนนวลคิดว่าเขาเป็นดีที่สุดกลับไม่ใช่เลย เขากล้าทรยศหักหลังเธออย่างเลือดเย็น แต่ไม่ว่าใครก็ตามก็ไม่อาจทำให้เธออบอุ่นใจได้เท่ากับอาจารย์ท่านชายอีกแล้ว และสิ่งที่เดือนนวลนึกไม่ถึง เธอคิดว่าไม่มีวันอาจเอื้อมไปเผลอรักผู้ชายที่สูงศักดิ์กว่าเธอก็ได้เผลอมอบหัวใจรักที่มั่นคง หนักแน่นยิ่งกว่ารักครั้งแรกให้กับหม่อมเจ้าอมฤตภุชจนหมดหัวใจ และครั้งนี้ เดือนนวลก็มั่นใจว่า เธอแสนโชคดีเพียงใดที่ได้เป็นคนรักของพระองค์ ผู้ชายที่หลงรักเธอตั้งแต่แรกพบ และเฝ้าเก็บงำทุกอย่างไว้ภายใต้ความดุ เคร่งขรึม หากแต่แอบแฝงไว้ด้วยความอ่อนโยนและเอาใจใส่เธอนับตั้งแต่วินาทีแรก จนบัดนี้ อ้อมอุระที่มีไว้ให้เธอซบยอมเหนื่อยล้า และคุ้มครองคุ้มภัยให้เดือนนวลเพียงผู้เดียว