Denim and Lace

by Diana Blayne, Diana Palmer

THEY LIVE IN TWO SEPARATE WORLDS, BUT SHARE THE SAME DESIRE

Bess Samson was raised in privilege, but always had a thing for Cade Hollister, the rough-and-tumble cowboy next door, even ignoring her controlling, class-conscious mother's warning to stay away from him. But he turned her down--hard. Humiliated, she grew up and moved on, but never truly gave up hope.

Cade has secretly always adored Bess--but is filled with disdain for the Samsons' wealth. Once, the families had been friends, until dark secrets and scandal caused a bitter rift, and now her family won't let him forget his blue-collar roots. But when an accident nearly costs Bess her life, the proud rancher must finally fight for the love he's never forgotten.

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Second Chance, Adult Fiction, Audiobook

348 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1989

About the author

Diana Blayne is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle. Susan Kyle also writes under the pseudonyms Katy Currie and Diana Palmer.

Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.

She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.

Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.

In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.

Reviews

[Chantal ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since there is no other review in English for this book I will try to make this review as detailed as possible without giving the whole thing away.
The storyline is this: Bess a sweet and innocent rich girl who only wants to love Cade the hard hearted cowboy next door.
Her whole life is thrown into a tail spin when her father dies leaving no money for her mother (who is spoiled and a shopaholic).
Therefore, she gets a job and tries to support her mothers habits and paying for her basic needs. However, after they disagree, her mother goes to live with Cade's mother.
Cade can't stand her or her mother and tell Bess that she needs to take care of her responsibilities.
Wow, what an ass, her father just died here!
Show some sensitively!
He also drops the bomb that he thinks her mother had slept with his father (big lie). She gets into an accident when she runs from him and almost dies.
He feels guilty (and he should) and he wants her to come back home so he can take care of her.
He seduces her, and then tell her they are getting married because of course she could be pregnant.
Little did he know that her accident made it almost impossible for her to have kids. He talked about this and how he wants like 6 and wants them right away.
She knows this but she loves him so she takes a risk and hope that her love will be enough.
She desperately tries to make it work anyways.
He finds out that she can't have kids after they are married, and he throws her out. He tells her that he will be getting divorced so he could find a real woman to have kids with.
MAJOR ASSHAT!
I won't tell you how it ends however I can say I loved the one liner she gave the jerk when he came up to see her in town at a fashion show.
So powerful!
I felt her anger and her vindication as she told him she was having his baby and that now he would never know it cause he threw her out.
Holy good God did it feel good to hear her stand up for herself finally!
You go girl!
Give it your best shot and hit him where it hurts!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much angst, passion and melodrama, plus a very sweet romantic ending. I couldn't stop smiling! Diana Palmer is my queen!

[Aou · Rating 4 out of 5]

“a child would cement their relationship, a child born of her love for him and his deep, hungry affection for her.”
(...)
“Bess would be a good mother, too, once she had this independent streak of hers cured by some warm loving. She was class all the way, a real lady. Her family lineage would give his children a social acceptability that he’d never had. It would open doors for them and give them pride in their heritage. She’d teach them the beautiful manners that she had, and the shame of poverty he’d always felt so keenly wouldn’t exist for them.”
Aaarrgghhhh, I hated him. Yes, heroine should tell about the fertility problem and she was selfish and not trustworthy but his logic of wanting children from her??? (Rolling eyes)

They married, he felt trapped and she felt guilty.
“You’ve been looking for an excuse to send me away, but you couldn’t find one. Now you have it. You want children and I can’t give them to you.” She lowered defeated eyes to the bare wood floor. “I’m sorry.”

After separation she poured out her heart to a friend:
“Because he won’t be my husband in a few weeks, and right now he’s on his way to spend some time with a redhead in California who wants to marry him.”
“What?!”
“Oh, it gets better,” Bess assured her with kindling anger. “He wants children, and we didn’t think I could have any. So he’s going to divorce me and marry this redhead so that he can have an heir. But I’m pregnant, and he won’t let me tell him.”
“Bess!” Nell leaned back against the door and caught her breath. “For God’s sake, get down there and make him listen!
“So he’ll stay married to me out of guilt, or for the baby?” Bess asked with a sad smile. “We married for the wrong reasons in the first place.”
He said that bullshit about the redhead because his pride was injured when the sheriff served divorce papers. (Rolling eyes madly)

“She reached down and pulled the gown tight across her swollen belly. She didn’t say a word.
He scowled. “So, they put a pillow in to make you look—”
She moved closer, grabbing his hand and suddenly putting it flat right over their child. The expression on his dark face was worth every tear, every sleepless night, every anguished word, every miserable day since he’d asked her to leave.
“Oh, my God,” he whispered, and his voice faltered. The lean fingers on her belly shook, pressing down, feeling, caressing. “Bess, my God...!”
She moved away from him in one swift step, her eyes hating him. “Take that back to Lariat with you and see how well you sleep now. You should have waited a few more weeks. Miracles still happen, you know. Then you’d have had the child you wanted, even if you didn’t want his mother!”
She said these words in front of the supposed OW. (Clapping hands excitedly)

Anyway he grovelled, she didn’t forgive him first, then HEA with another miracle 6 years later.

3,5 stars because I loved the angst.

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Cold comfort in your old age. She’s a selfish, cruel little opportunist with an eye to the main chance and her own comfort. Given a choice between you and a luxurious lifestyle, she’d dump you like yesterday’s garbage.”

“As you can feel, little rich girl, you don’t even arouse me. But once we get your clothes out of the way, maybe you can stir me up enough to give you what you want.”

It was odd that he’d never married, because she knew of at least two women he’d been involved with over the years. The most recent, just before her twentieth birthday, had been a wealthy divorcée.

“Don’t flatter yourself, honey,” he said bitingly. “You’re hardly enough to make a man drunk with passion.”

“You’re too young and too green for me, Bess,” he said coolly, forcing the words out. “Go home to Mama.”

“Do you? Was that why you begged for my mouth? Because you hate me?”

Nice, Bess thought as she went to her own room. Nice, but thick as a plank.

“She’ll never let go. She’s like a leech. She’ll suck you dry and leave you the first time some rich man dangles a diamond over her head.”

The women are running all the risks, and the men are getting everything they want without the responsibilities of marriage.”

A tall, elegant brunette came around the corner before she could open her mouth and took Cade’s arm with a familiarity that made Bess weak in the knees. No wonder he hadn’t written.

“I’m sorry, I’d forgotten my purse, Cade,” she said. Her eyes went to Bess and she smiled. “Hello. I’m Kitty.”

He took the brunette’s arm, smiling down at her in a way he’d never yet smiled at Bess, and led her down the street and through the door of a very expensive French restaurant.

She teased and tempted him until he betrayed my mother for her. She killed him, all right. My poor mother didn’t even know, until I accused Gussie in front of her. She went white in the face, but she never denied it. Not once.”

But if Ryker’s had you, there’s no reason I can’t, is there?” he bit off, jerking her against him. “No reason at all...”
The only reason I held back this long was because you were a virgin.”

“I can’t marry someone like you—especially not with the past between us—but there’s no reason we can’t have each other. Not now that you’re earning your money the hard way. And to think I believed you that first night you went out with Ryker,” he added coldly.

I need a tigress, not a sparrow.

“I’ll probably keep saying them, too, but once in a while I get hungry for a soft mouth under mine and the warmth of a woman’s body.”

“It took me years to get over Daisy. I can’t imagine why, now. She was nothing but a tramp apparently.”

“A nipple this hard could make a man conceited,” he breathed roughly, his dark eyes holding her embarrassed ones.

“Do you like it?” he whispered roughly. “Or are you afraid of my teeth? I won’t hurt your nipple.”

She tore the buttons away with trembling hands and then caught her breath at the pure sensual feast of his chest with its bronzed muscles and the black hair that curled over them.

[Mtve41 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Toxic. When will I just stop torturing myself with some real depressing DP nonsense. How would anyone describe the MCs to their brain to be accepting of their relationship and HEA. The MCs are erratic and confused and just about go to any extent and then back track without pondering on the consequences.

The h is TSTL and miserably in love with their poor neighbors’ son. The H is the oldest son and not from a wealthy family like the h. There is bitter history between their parents and much lies and deceit.

The h is beyond needy and clingy. She’s dying at any given chance to rip off her clothes and get on with the H: whatever she can get. First base, second base, home run. Anything goes as long as she can get her raging hormones attended to from this man.

There’s a lot of back and forth between the h and H and their various financial situations. The H is aggressive and judgemental. The h is clingy and just cannot look beyond that state of life. She eventually gets a job and some exposure to how the real world works but her personal integrity is non existential.

They get married and the h at this time has a MAJOR HANDICAP and she out right does not divulge that information to the H. This was unforgivable. Her point that if she told the H of her condition, he wouldn’t marry her. Damn right. But the h, as I’ve said several times, was too sexually needy to face rejection.

Eventually she tells the H of her condition and he’s enraged. All she offers for comfort is that she thought he loved her beyond the physical. NOT ONCE by now had the H confessed to loving her.

So she cheats a perfectly fine gentleman and him on the other hand is hot and cold all through the book. He keeps pushing her away because she has money, or had money, or that she’s a virginal lamb and too much in love with him. Other places he’s being jealous and persistent.

I regret being duped one more time by DP and her trolling tales.

[Raffaella · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the hell have I just read. I think this author hates women like no other. There's so much chauvinism, prejudice and sexism in this book to last for a lifetime. The cruelty of this z-hero is without limit. I don't know where to begin. The young heroine is in love with the hero since forever. when she's still a teenager she tries to "seduce" the hero who enjoys in slut shaming her and scaring her to death. This is for her sake of course, because there were no other ways to let her know that she was still too young for him. But don't worry, he only acted like this because he is very much in love with her and wants to marry her. She's from a rich family that snubs the hero, but it her father loses all the money so she has to go to work. Since she's going out with a friend (male) the hero thinks she sleeps with him and tries to forcibly have sex with her because he was glad to wait for her and marry her when he thought she was a virgin but since she's no virgin any more she's good only for sex. Really??? Really. Here we have the old and good (sarcastically speaking) dicotomy that says a woman can be w***e or saint: a woman you marry is a saint, a woman you have sex with is a slut. And him, the hero. He's a man of honor, with moral principles, he goes to church every sunday (Really...) and of course his mum is his heroine and ideal woman (Freud? where are you?) Then, when the still virgin heroine runs from him because she's scared of his seduction she has an accident and almost die. The doctor tells her that it will be very difficult for her to have babies. And what does she do? She becomes a pirana and takes his head off telling him it is only his fault if she almost died and won't have babies making him feel guilty and the lowest for of life? No! She obviously doesn't tell this to the hero, because she's not only a saint but a martyr too, and she knows he would never marry her if she cannot have children since he wants to have a large family (so the wife is only good for one thing: have babies, forever pregnant and barefoot) The hero marries her thinking they will have many babies and still she doesn't tell him about her problem because she doesn't want to lose him. She tries to make him love her, becoming a sex bomb. Her idea of sex bomb is seducing him in outside the bedroom, for example, in his office. Obviously he's very happy and satisfied. No! Of course he's not! Because she's a wanton and he feels emasculated by her impudence. Becasue a man is a man and it's a man's task to seduce his wife. My god. When he finds out she lied about her fertility he obviously asks her to see other doctors to have further opinions. No! Of course not! He leaves her and asks for a divorce. And guess what. She's pregnant. So, when they meet at a party where she is a model for maternity dresses, he's with another woman who he says is his new woman, is very fertile and will give him many children. After he caused her accident and her loss (not true in the end) of fertility, he also shames her with this last one. When he realizes she's pregnant he comes back and she takes him back immediately of course. It turns out that the ow was his brother's fiancee and not his new woman. Because he only loves her. yeah, right. Is it enough? It is. No comment.

[Cheesecake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bess the afflicted by/with Cade the man who can't make up his mind.
This one was like a roller coaster with a lot of loops. Each loop was Cade changing his mind again. But at least Bess wasn't a doormat... well she is for the first 25%.
Not my fave by this author but it was a good read. Cade was a total ass (although not all the time) but he does grovel.
Bess has been raised as the unassuming daughter of a vain socialite and her father who tries his best to pay for all his wife's expenses. Then tragedy strikes and it's just Bess and her immature mother and no money. Cade runs the ranch next door and is 10 years older. She has crushed on him since her early teens but he has made it PAINFULLY clear that she doesn't turn his crank. He's lying of course.
On the bright side, he's not a man-ho and the characters are all flawed. I also like that both MCs aren't really 'beautiful' people. Some characters grow through the story, as Beth and her mother do, and some just can't seem to make the effort to (like Cade).
Cade finally make a move but almost as soon as he sees her, he changes his mind. Any excuse he can make up, all of which are wrong of course. She's too rich, she's just like her mother, she's a slut. And he's a real bastard whenever he lays into her about his bogus assumptions.
The whole book was just a rinse and repeat.
Safety Other than a few brief flings several years ago, he has been celebate. He does however encourage her to believe that a couple different women she sees him with are his latest 'women'. He's trying to make her jealous so she'll come back to him...wth??? I began to doubt his intelligence at this point from this little bit of faulty, screwed up reasoning.
warning for those who hate to find out this stuff 50% into a story, like me Half way through the story, he berates her til she runs off and gets into a car accident. inexplicably, she has not broken any bones but manages to damage her uterus and can no longer have kids... But fear not, miracles do happen in DP books! She married him without telling him this. So yeah, she's not my fave DP MC either.

[thevintagechronicles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever disliked a hero more.

the heroine too was so sad.

add to that the repetitive and contradictory writing, and all together, ugh!

I kept hoping it would get better. sadly it did not.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic Diana Palmer that I absolutely adored. This book was a perfect example of why I fell in love with her in the first. Lots of juicy angst. Heighten, gut wrenching emotions and powerful and very steamy and sensual lovemaking scenes that have come synonymous with the Diana Palmer brand. There were some tears shed and heart breaks in this story for sure. I felt so much while I read this book. It hurt so much yet it hurt so good. The pain between the couple was totally worth it in the end. And when happiness finally came the heart burst with so much joy I could barely contain it.

Diana Palmer fans would love this book for sure. I know I loved it.

[amanda s. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, good but somehow it's waaaay too dramatic.

I don't know, I guess it's because I'm passed my Diana Palmer age. I was so in love with Diana Palmer's type of story back then I can't stop reading HQ and M&B. But somehow when I read this now, I can't stop cringing at how 'dominative' and arrogant the Hero is. He won't even back down and apologize, which is darn annoying to me. How I got off with this type of Hero is unbelievable. ><

But still I enjoyed this book and reading this definitely brought up some memories. Look forward to read more and I hope Diana Palmer is healthy!

[Ana M. Román · Rating 2 out of 5]

Siempre me han gustado las historias de Diana Palmer y sus rudos vaqueros pero de un tiempo a esta parte, si bien me siguen gustando, me molestan (hurra yo y mis contradicciones).

La autora al inicio de esta edición, que es una reedición de la de 1990, dice lo siguiente:

“Cade is one of my favourite heroes, because you can see the insecurities and the flaws along the sterling character he projects.”

Ella debió haber construido un personaje en su mente y escribir sobre otro o yo no he debido estar en todos mis sentidos mientras leía porque sinceramente no es el Cade que yo me he encontrado.

ATENCIÓN QUE ARRANCO CON LOS SPOILERS COMO SI NO HUBIERA UN MAÑANA

Cade no es que esté lleno de inseguridades es que no tiene ni idea de lo que quiere.

Primero no quiere acercarse a Bess porque vienen de mundos completamente diferentes, porque él es pobre y ella rica, porque ella no está acostumbrada a la dura vida de presupuestos apretados que él puede darle.

Luego, cuando ella acaba en la ruina no la quiere cerca porque quiere que lo vea como quien verdaderamente es y no como el héroe salido de sus más salvajes sueños que es como considera que ella lo mira, quitando que además no soporta a la madre de Bess y le aterra la idea de tener que cargar con ella.

Después, ella es exactamente todo lo que él siempre ha soñado describiendo a la pobre Bess como una purasangre ideal para darle a él y a sus futuros hijos (medio equipo de fútbol) la respetabilidad y el abolengo de los que él carece.

Por supuesto, al final todo lo que quiere es a ella porque la ama, cosa que hubiera quedado más creíble si se lo hubiera dicho antes de tratarla como una yegua lista para darle hijos de raza, antes de echarla de su casa y pedirle el divorcio al enterarse de que es estéril por un accidente en el que él tuvo gran parte de culpa (vale que él no supiera que era debido al accidente y que ella hubiera debido decírselo mucho antes pero sigue siendo culpa suya ser tan tonto como para no sumar dos y dos, su esterilidad y el reciente accidente con sagrados internos y la cicatriz en su abdomen) e incluso antes de que él se entere que ella iba a darle el hijo que el tanto quería.

Lo siento pero no. Tampoco ayuda que la gran concesión que él hace a su “tremendo” amor es asegurarle que a partir de ahora no se va a comportar como un asno cuando ella lleve la iniciativa en cuestiones de sexo. Sí, no lees mal el pobre Cade se cree menos hombre si es ella la que toma la iniciativa en lugar de él. Se enfurruña, la ignora y no se le acerca ni con un palo. Estoy poniendo los ojos tan en blanco que podrían incrustárseme en el cerebro y causarme graves daños en el futuro.

Por cierto, Cade fuma como un carretero. Me tenía harta con tanto cigarro. No sé si en otros tiempos un tipo con un cenicero en la barriga después del sexo echando humo como una chimenea mientras con el otro brazo la rodea a ella se consideraba sexy (o si aún sigue pareciéndole sexy a alguien porque sobre gustos…) pero desde luego a mí no me parece nada sexy. Es más, me hubiera gustado coger el cenicero y darle en la cabeza para ver si así al menos entre calada y calada le entraba algo de sentido común.

Mi otro problema en esta historia ha sido Bess y lo rápido que se rinde a los encantos de Cade, de hecho en palabras de él:

“I had planned to start courting you again (aquí en realidad debía haber quitado el “again” porque su único cortejo fue llevársela a la cama pero en fin...). Flowers, fancy dinners, phone calls at two in the morning… All those romantic evenings. And here you fling yourself at me the first night and drag me into bed with you”

¡Y es que literalmente se le tira encima después de haberle dicho que se iba a buscar a otra que le diera hijos porque ella le resultaba inservible! Eso es too much para ser resuelto simplemente porque se pasee desnudo delante suya. Como mínimo habría tenido que pedirle perdón de rodillas (ya en lo de vestido o desnudo no entro jajaja).

Además, no sé si es porque es la primera vez que he leído una historia de DP directamente en inglés y si eso ha podido influir pero he sentido que se repetían situaciones, ideas y pensamientos lo que tampoco ha ayudado a que la historia me gustara más.

[Kathy Reader]

Typical DP novel hero was an ass and heroine was a virgin. I would have given it only 3 stars but I loved angst in it. 3 stars were for the archaic views he had, it was like he was from the 1950's. I did love how he came around by the end of the book! What was with all the damned smoking ugh I swear he chain smoked.

[Lori ◡̈ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 55%. Well, the one thing that I like about Diana Palmer books are that her heroes are gruff, slightly rude and borderline asshole'ish, which makes for a great romantic turnabout as they slowly loosen up and fall in love and redeem themselves. I get that lots of readers aren't fond of asshole heroes... but honestly, tons of guys out there act like this and are assholes. But I love to watch them reform and redeem themselves in romance books (because we don't get to see it too often in real life!).

But what I did not enjoy in this particular story is that each chapter seemed to switch from one angst to another. He was angry and refusing to be in a relationship with her when she was begging, then the next chapter the heroine suddenly had a reason to refuse him when he finally decided that being together was a good idea. Back and forth. It just took away from any good feels for me, way too much anger, fighting and hurt feelings. (a little toooo realistic maybe).

I'm hoping to find the perfect balance in one of Diana Palmer books though, not giving up!

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic DP read..and this one leaves me happy!
It had all the typical elements- sweet virgin, hairy cowboys, loads of misunderstandings, him acting like a HUGE dbag, her being all sweet and sacrificial, him convincing her with some sweet lovemaking and a HEA.
The best part of this book was the intro by the author. I did enjoy Bess, and how the character of the mother changed. Cade was totally meh, hot and cold all at once, but he was a quintessential DP hero (a tortured grump).
did not liking him being an ass and throwing her out at the "barren" scene. DP heroes REALLY need to learn to treat their heroines better- and cherish them more. Not that I havent read similar scenes in dozens of her other books ive read, but as I grow older, my tolerance for the decreases.Just wanted to whine!
Overall a good read (as things do work out and Im a sucker for that)- and such an adorable epilogue!
Safe read
4/5

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cade and Bess. If you like Diana Palmer's book, you'll probably like this one as well. It's just like all her others. Young, innocent woman has been in love with the hero forever. He did something a few years ago to try to scare her off. He's constantly verbally abusive and she's a doormat. And kissing him after he's been smoking? ewwww!

[Pam Walker]

Left to share at Bangkok airport lounge

[Corandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diana Palmer is my guilty pleasure. If you are looking for angst, drama, alpha heroes, heroines who grew from doormat to adult, love and HEA then this is the book for you. Great writing, strong editing and a story that just flows. The h's mother would have given anyone a headache early in the story and even she grew up.

As is typical with many Palmer heroes, Cade was over bearing, suppressed his emotions and pushed the heroine away before being unable to contain/control himself and his feelings for her any longer. Yup, even this strong cowboy grew up.

[Mum · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to be abused, marry this despicable hero. If you want this story to end with ANY redeeming grace, when the heroine moves to San Antonio, it’s time to move on, build a real life and find someone who respects and values her for the person she is, rather than the abused child she was!!!!!

[Rogetwhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The H was a butthead but most DP heroes are so I don’t really pay attention to that when I’m rating one of her books. I didn’t like the fact that he really wouldn’t have come back if she wasn’t pregnant and that he threw her out because he thought she couldn’t have children. He was partially to blame for her accident!!!

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams)]

It was Bad, so bad! DNF at 60%

[T from Istria &#x1f49b;&#x1f49a; · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely horrible. Worst hero and heroine ever.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1990 and very much a product of its time, which is why I'm upping my rating to 2.5/3 stars. Cade is an alpha male who seems to think he's actually caring and protective, and Bess is a shy woman who thankfully develops quite a bit in this story. Their romance reflects a lot of now-outdated social mores (slut shaming, man as head of household, etc), but I like Bess's story arc.

Some of the things Cade does that I absolutely hated and can only somewhat excuse by thinking this may have been more acceptable when the book was first published:
- annoyed by Bess's flirty crush on him, Cade throws her on a pile of hay, straddles her, cruelly pretends that he WILL have sex with her, then laughs coldly and says that as she can feel, she doesn't even arouse him at all, but maybe she can try harder. This whole time, she's pale with humiliation, and honestly, he is such an asshole and this is sexual assault. He later explains this as the only way he can think of to cure her of her crush and thereby protect her from him, and like, fuck you, Cade. (Worse, I had the impression that Bess was only a teen at this point, but based on a later scene which said it happened only three years ago, maybe she was already a twenty-year-old? Either way, she's definitely at least 10 years younger and less experienced than him, and he knows it.)
- constantly accuses Bess of being "a kept woman" and sleeping with rich men to live an opulent lifestyle
- slut shames Bess for stripping in front of him to seduce him (this is when they're already together, so fuck you, Cade)
- emotionally manipulates Bess by switching back and forth between telling her he wants her then being super cold/cruel to drive her away (I'm fine with romance heroes having issues and struggling to communicate, but seriously!)
- wants to impregnate Bess so she'd have to marry him
- hopes that marriage will "cure" Bess of her independent, working woman streak
- when he learns that an ex-girlfriend cheated on him, he calls her a tramp

Cade's faults are probably emphasized by Bess's very traditional views on romance and marriage. She constantly "moans" and "wails" about how she can't help staying in love with him no matter how he treats her, and the juxtaposition between her tears and Cade's "cold" and "mocking" responses felt more disturbing than romantic.

That being said, I did think Bess's development from a shy woman unable to stand up for herself to a successful advertising executive was wonderful, and I also kinda liked her sweet, old-fashioned desire to wait for marriage before having sex. (Even for a 1990s book, she admitted this wasn't "modern.") I didn't fully understand her love for Cade and honestly thought that his friendly brother Robert was more appealing. It was also interesting to read an old-fashioned romance and see how love can develop in a different way from what I'm used to reading.

If this was written and published today, I don't think I could've it. Since it was written at and for a different time, I'll give it a pass and 2.5/3 stars.

[Virginia Muñoz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard for me to like this book, and I usually like every book I read. I've read other by this author and enjoyed them, but something was off with this one. I'm not sure if it was because it was originally written in 1990 so some social aspects of this book were different. The female characters were spineless and passive aggressive. I found the main female character Bess irritating because she was so weak spirited. Even after she found her strength she would instantly loose it the minute Cade showed her any type of affection. The other thing that I found a distaste for was how the character Cade constantly had a cigarette. It was actually what prompted me to look for the original publishing date. Cade chain smoked everywhere (the hospital, restaurants, you name it and he had one). I know smoking was more socially acceptable then, but it drove me nuts.

[Shelby · Rating 1 out of 5]

The way that time passing is addressed throughout was absolutely awful. I haven’t got a clue how much time passed through most of it because one paragraph to the next could be days, weeks, or months later and if it was addressed at all it was done so very poorly. I disliked how quickly they passed over what should have been major plot points to push the story along, like Bess’ father’s suicide, while spending tons of time focusing on things that could have been addressed once or twice. It was obnoxious the number of times it was mentioned how iN lOvE Bess was with Cade throughout, but especially the first couple of chapters. We got it, she’s loved him forever, it didn’t need to be said in every paragraph. That seemed to be one of her only personality traits in the beginning. She was sweet, naive, and soooo in love with Cade. I never did figure out why she loved him. He treated her like absolute garbage. I know this was written in the late 80’s/published in 1990 so I really did try to keep that in mind. I did not find Cade to be a likable character at all and that never changed throughout the book. I really did not enjoy this book. I found it difficult to get immersed in the story. I’ve read romance novels so that was not the issue, I can handle and appreciate cheesiness. This one was just incredibly cringey and not in an appealing or endearing way. More in a… this story sounds like it was written by a teenager writing fan fiction who has no real concept of romantic relationships.

[Lynden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Diana's books but this one frustrated me most of the time while reading it.

Many things seemed so far-fetched and I couldn't root for the hero, Cade, and the heroine, Bess, did something which grated on me badly- she hid that she would have very slim chances of conceiving when Cade had emphasized how he wanted to have 6 children. The storyline was intriguing for me but truth be told, the story seemed to go back and forth so much that it dragged on far too long for my taste.

Things I disliked:
- Cade changing his mind so often.
- How Bess seemed so devotional when Cade was an ass.
- Bess's mother, a brat!
- Cade's quick jumping to conclusions and slut-shaming Bess.
- Bess hiding the fact that she would have fertility problems and Cade giving up their marriage way too fast!

I did like:
- The rich girl, struggling financially boy trope.
- The long time crushing and the apparent -but not really- unrequited love.
- The fact there was no OM/OW drama.
- The oneness Cade describes he feels when they make love. SUPER!!!
- That they did get pregnant not once but twice!!!

All in all, I cannot give it more than 3 stars for this one, but I'm not gonna stop reading more from this author, for now at least.

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bess Samson has had a crush on her neighbor, Cade Hollister, forever, but he has made a career of rebuffing her, for reasons she doesn't understand. But after her father commits suicide, Bess moves away and gets a job, kicks her mother out, and sets about becoming an adult who creates in Cade a desire for her that he can't ignore. Certain elements in his backstory that come out later help to explain some of his reticence, but it remains for his mother to make other things clear to Bess after Cade loses his battle to avoid falling in love with Bess.

They marry, but her secret fear that she can never become pregnant and have the children Cade wants so badly begins to get in the way. Ironically, just after they have a fight that propels her to leave, she discovers she's pregnant. A miracle, but is it too late for them now that they're headed for divorce? And what will Cade do if he finds out?

[Stacey Houllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic read highly recommend this book so much to readers who like reading romances because Diana Palmer is great another who writes about a cattle man Cade who falls for a rich wealthy young woman and fights with her at every chance as he knows they can never be.
Bess the rich young woman has always love Cade from a far and knows he is the only man for her but when father committed suicide things change for Bess and her mum they are no longer rich and have to sell their home and assets to survive.
Bess get a job in San Antonio while sh tries to change her mother's selfishness of spending money and needing her. She has to pay Cade back as he was one of the investors so she offers her aunts pearls. Cade gives it back. But gives her a ring saying one day he will explain.
There are many hurdles for them both to overcome to find there way to happy ending.

[CANDEN333 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another train wreck of a romance book one just can’t put down!
So we have the 23 yr old doormat virgin heroine of course! She does get a job and tries to redeem herself into an independent woman. But she’s constantly dogged by her idiot mother and bigger idiot hero! And I smelled this guy through the book! Sweat, stale cigarette smoke, and cows! Along with bad plumbing in his poor dilapidated house!
What this ex-debutante sees in him is a mystery! What anyone sees in him is a mystery!
I think his is either a substance abuser or in need of psychiatric help. He’s definitely emotionally abusing the heroine with all his back and forth indecision!
I hope no woman ever thinks this kind of behavior is normal or romantic!

[Catherine L. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Denim and Lace

I don’t know the last time I read a book that turned me off more. I’ve never checked the publishing date before but I will from now on. This was published in 1990. Cade was the most chauvinistic character. He was just stern in the beginning but gradually his true personality came through. Ugh! Another turn off was his constant smoking! He was more of a chain smoker —even in bed. He’d take a puff and then kiss Bess. Disgusting! And no one said anything to him. Once Bess did say something about smoke in his mouth and he replied “well, now you have smoke in your mouth, too” or words to that affect. Not a hero in my book!