What do you think?
Rate this book
House of Glass
House Of Glass by Michelle Reid released on Nov 24, 1993 is available now for purchase.
216 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 11, 1993
148 people are currently reading
363 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Reid
388 books638 followersHi, my name is Michelle Reid and I’ve been writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon for the last twenty years, and the crazy part about it is that I only realised it had been twenty years while updating this page!
So, hang on for a minute while I take this huge milestone in....
Twenty years with almost forty books published or in the pipeline ... I know it isn’t a great average when compared with some authors but it sounds pretty good to me!
So what was I doing twenty years ago before I wrote books? Well, I did the all of the usual things, like growing up and attending school, finishing at secretarial college, which I hated, then spent the next several years wandering aimlessly from job to job. Eventually I met my husband, we married and produced two daughters who then grew up and between them presented us with two gorgeous grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Somewhere in between my girls growing up and the grandchildren arriving on the scene, I started writing. To this day I don’t know why, unless it was a natural progression from my never being without a book close by—often several—because books have always been an important part of my life for as far back as I can recall.
So, I started to write, by hand at first, scribbling short stories in notebooks which never saw the light of day. At some point I discovered Mills & Boon Romance books and that was pretty much it for me. I’d found my new love, as in reading romantic fiction and inevitably writing it too.
So twenty years on and almost forty books on, here I am still writing and still loving it!
So, hang on for a minute while I take this huge milestone in....
Twenty years with almost forty books published or in the pipeline ... I know it isn’t a great average when compared with some authors but it sounds pretty good to me!
So what was I doing twenty years ago before I wrote books? Well, I did the all of the usual things, like growing up and attending school, finishing at secretarial college, which I hated, then spent the next several years wandering aimlessly from job to job. Eventually I met my husband, we married and produced two daughters who then grew up and between them presented us with two gorgeous grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Somewhere in between my girls growing up and the grandchildren arriving on the scene, I started writing. To this day I don’t know why, unless it was a natural progression from my never being without a book close by—often several—because books have always been an important part of my life for as far back as I can recall.
So, I started to write, by hand at first, scribbling short stories in notebooks which never saw the light of day. At some point I discovered Mills & Boon Romance books and that was pretty much it for me. I’d found my new love, as in reading romantic fiction and inevitably writing it too.
So twenty years on and almost forty books on, here I am still writing and still loving it!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
June 20, 2020
A hard one to rate.
Michelle Reid concocts of story of a marriage of convenience between the hero’s brother who is gay and the heroine. The brother is deep within the closet and in 1993 that was deemed necessary to keep grandpa from stroking out and for the family’s reputation. In 2017 it’s hard to believe that being out was so risky back then, but MR conveys the homophobia of the day by the hero’s reaction to hearing this info after his brother’s death.
Hero is in denial. Says that the heroine’s revelation “emasculates” his brother’s memory, etc . . . It’s stomach-turning prejudice and bigotry that the hero eventually lets go of – but it’s there and it’s ugly and it is just another damning characteristic of a hero I didn’t like very much to begin with.
The hero is verbally abusive to the heroine throughout the story, yet MR manages to convey how desperately he wants her. Even their big reunion scene at the end is marred by his moodiness because she didn’t contact him first after their six month separation.
The heroine takes all of this abuse and mixed messages from the hero because she feels guilty about the lie that was her marriage. When the hero points out to her that his brother used her quite badly, it’s the first time she realizes she had basically put her life on hold for the cause of helping her parents and her husband. So – um – not the brightest character – she didn’t even know to be resentful.
House of glass refers to wanting to keep up appearances and the damage that does. It is a cultural artefact of how damaging the closet was to everyone – gay and straight.
I didn’t really believe in the romance of the H/h at all – he was way too mean to her (sexual tension and guilt over lusting after his brother’s wife isn’t enough of an excuse) for it to be love. The story is dramatic and has lots of angst, but I couldn’t give it a higher rating because it’s another MR story that leaves a reader feeling more depressed than happy at the ending.
Michelle Reid concocts of story of a marriage of convenience between the hero’s brother who is gay and the heroine. The brother is deep within the closet and in 1993 that was deemed necessary to keep grandpa from stroking out and for the family’s reputation. In 2017 it’s hard to believe that being out was so risky back then, but MR conveys the homophobia of the day by the hero’s reaction to hearing this info after his brother’s death.
Hero is in denial. Says that the heroine’s revelation “emasculates” his brother’s memory, etc . . . It’s stomach-turning prejudice and bigotry that the hero eventually lets go of – but it’s there and it’s ugly and it is just another damning characteristic of a hero I didn’t like very much to begin with.
The hero is verbally abusive to the heroine throughout the story, yet MR manages to convey how desperately he wants her. Even their big reunion scene at the end is marred by his moodiness because she didn’t contact him first after their six month separation.
The heroine takes all of this abuse and mixed messages from the hero because she feels guilty about the lie that was her marriage. When the hero points out to her that his brother used her quite badly, it’s the first time she realizes she had basically put her life on hold for the cause of helping her parents and her husband. So – um – not the brightest character – she didn’t even know to be resentful.
House of glass refers to wanting to keep up appearances and the damage that does. It is a cultural artefact of how damaging the closet was to everyone – gay and straight.
I didn’t really believe in the romance of the H/h at all – he was way too mean to her (sexual tension and guilt over lusting after his brother’s wife isn’t enough of an excuse) for it to be love. The story is dramatic and has lots of angst, but I couldn’t give it a higher rating because it’s another MR story that leaves a reader feeling more depressed than happy at the ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2018
Re House of Glass - Michelle Reid reminds us that people who live in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones.
This book starts with the death of the h's husband. She is in the hospital waiting room, injured and covered in blood. There was a drunk driver and a car crash, her husband died pushing the h out of harm's way.
The H is up next and he comes home to a naked redhead in his bed - the H isn't too interested, we learn he has a thing for the h and punishes the h accordingly -mainly for marrying his younger, weaker brother when the h knows the H wants her badly.
So that is the initial set up. We have a sweet h in trauma and a bully H who just can't quit his obsession with his sister in law and he punishes her tremendously for it. Even worse, his brother knew all about the H's attempts at seduction and the h's responses and he married the h anyways. Completely blaming the H for his bad behavior and estranging himself from his brother until their father died and the h facilitated a reconciliation.
So the H is fiercely resentful and says many, many hurtful things to the h over the two years of the marriage - not least of which is multiple vicious accusations that a mutual friend of the h and the H's brother is actually the h's seekrit lover.
The truth is the H's brother was gay, the very good friend was his lover and because their father was extremely homophobic, the brother married the h under threat of blackmail from another girl he used as a shield to protect his love life from his father.
The H and his father became concerned when the little brother did not follow the H's pattern of sampling the lady buffet, so the brother started dating a stable girl. The girl became obsessed when the little brother eventually blew her off to go to uni and then she blackmailed him for money to keep silent about his sexuality and then she went to the H's father and accused the little brother of "trifling with her affections" - so the father, who was very against any type of public scandal, paid her more.
Then the father declared that unless the little brother married, he wouldn't get the family horse stud. Since the little brother loved his horses and he loved the stud, he got the h to marry him when her mum became ill and her father needed a loan to sort out his declining business.
The h is also highly attracted to the H, she doesn't deny it, but she is a compassionate person and her father needed help and while little brother's lover was against the whole deal, little brother wasn't a pushover in the family mold and got his own way.
But now he is dead and the H and h are thrown together and all that passion has been dammed up and it is now about to burst. There is a ton of passionate conversation and arguments and roofie kisses and guilt on both the h and H's parts.
The H goes to extremes on the tarty gold digger accusations when the h inherits the family stud, instead of some cash and a house that she was originally supposed to get. Finally the h has had enough of the farce and the accusations and decides to go visit her parents, who have emigrated to Australia.
The night before she leaves, the H shows up and they have a big lurve club moment, only to find the h was a unicorn groomer and the H finally has to face up to the fact that his brother was gay. The H is furious, but not as furious as one might think. Mostly cause the H himself had doubts, tho he was quick to dismiss them because he did not want to acknowledge them.
The H makes a big showdown of how the brother wasn't celibate, but the h was - I actually don't think it was a huge issue for the h, mainly cause the only man she wanted was the H and she certainly wasn't going to jump into bed with him while married to his brother.
The h makes a huge statement that people love whom they love and it doesn't change who they are to other people, irregardless of whom they choose to sleep with. (This is actually the definitive statement of the book and it was very well done.)
This speech and six months time mellows the H out enough to demand that the h return to England like she promised and take up with him as his new wife.
The h was originally going to stay in Australia, as she figured the H lost interest when he did not contact her right away and was probably worried about the scandal their union would cause - ironically judging the H based on both the little brother's and the dead father's behavior.
The H doesn't care about glass houses and stones however, he has come to terms with his own blindness and he loves the h and so the two of them reunite for a big MR HP bittersweet HEA.
This is a very intense book. It is also a huge leap on the social progress spectrum for HPlandia. It will seem extremely tame and strange to modern readers, but at the time this was written in 1994, homosexual relations were still considered to be a crime in most areas of the UK.
You could have a same sex partner in your home (in England and Wales) - IF there was only the two of you in it, but any outside parties or any shacking up in a hotel and you and your partner could be arrested. In fact it wasn't until the year 2000 that same sex relations were fully decriminalized. (So just by the h being in the house with the little brother and his lover, they could have all been arrested and prosecuted - and in fact, that had happened in the past.)
In the US today it is technically illegal to have a same gender relationship in Kansas, Texas and Kentucky and in thirteen other states you can still be arrested for any physical act that doesn't involve the missionary position. So the statement MR makes with this book is HUGE.
For the first time a notoriously conservative romance line that touts the values of home, hearth, babies and marriage is saying it is okay to be gay and that discrimination is wrong. Ten years or even five years before 1994, this book would never have seen the light of day and it sure as certain wouldn't be published.
I think what motivated this book and why it was such a strong advocacy statement was that there had been several killings in England of gay men as hate crimes. There were riots about the lack of police response to the killings and as always, the HP editors know social change when they see it. So MR took the topic up and did a really great job on the message.
The romance is actually believable too, MR softens the H enough to make his change in viewpoint understandable and since the obsession the H and h have for each other is palpable even when the book starts, it isn't that great a leap to see them living that obsession out, for as long as the spark may last.
This isn't an easy book, but it is an intense one and the overarching societal message is a worthy one. So if you like MR or if you are curious about attitudes before the current social climate, give this one a go - it makes for a good day at the HP office.
This book starts with the death of the h's husband. She is in the hospital waiting room, injured and covered in blood. There was a drunk driver and a car crash, her husband died pushing the h out of harm's way.
The H is up next and he comes home to a naked redhead in his bed - the H isn't too interested, we learn he has a thing for the h and punishes the h accordingly -mainly for marrying his younger, weaker brother when the h knows the H wants her badly.
So that is the initial set up. We have a sweet h in trauma and a bully H who just can't quit his obsession with his sister in law and he punishes her tremendously for it. Even worse, his brother knew all about the H's attempts at seduction and the h's responses and he married the h anyways. Completely blaming the H for his bad behavior and estranging himself from his brother until their father died and the h facilitated a reconciliation.
So the H is fiercely resentful and says many, many hurtful things to the h over the two years of the marriage - not least of which is multiple vicious accusations that a mutual friend of the h and the H's brother is actually the h's seekrit lover.
The truth is the H's brother was gay, the very good friend was his lover and because their father was extremely homophobic, the brother married the h under threat of blackmail from another girl he used as a shield to protect his love life from his father.
The H and his father became concerned when the little brother did not follow the H's pattern of sampling the lady buffet, so the brother started dating a stable girl. The girl became obsessed when the little brother eventually blew her off to go to uni and then she blackmailed him for money to keep silent about his sexuality and then she went to the H's father and accused the little brother of "trifling with her affections" - so the father, who was very against any type of public scandal, paid her more.
Then the father declared that unless the little brother married, he wouldn't get the family horse stud. Since the little brother loved his horses and he loved the stud, he got the h to marry him when her mum became ill and her father needed a loan to sort out his declining business.
The h is also highly attracted to the H, she doesn't deny it, but she is a compassionate person and her father needed help and while little brother's lover was against the whole deal, little brother wasn't a pushover in the family mold and got his own way.
But now he is dead and the H and h are thrown together and all that passion has been dammed up and it is now about to burst. There is a ton of passionate conversation and arguments and roofie kisses and guilt on both the h and H's parts.
The H goes to extremes on the tarty gold digger accusations when the h inherits the family stud, instead of some cash and a house that she was originally supposed to get. Finally the h has had enough of the farce and the accusations and decides to go visit her parents, who have emigrated to Australia.
The night before she leaves, the H shows up and they have a big lurve club moment, only to find the h was a unicorn groomer and the H finally has to face up to the fact that his brother was gay. The H is furious, but not as furious as one might think. Mostly cause the H himself had doubts, tho he was quick to dismiss them because he did not want to acknowledge them.
The H makes a big showdown of how the brother wasn't celibate, but the h was - I actually don't think it was a huge issue for the h, mainly cause the only man she wanted was the H and she certainly wasn't going to jump into bed with him while married to his brother.
The h makes a huge statement that people love whom they love and it doesn't change who they are to other people, irregardless of whom they choose to sleep with. (This is actually the definitive statement of the book and it was very well done.)
This speech and six months time mellows the H out enough to demand that the h return to England like she promised and take up with him as his new wife.
The h was originally going to stay in Australia, as she figured the H lost interest when he did not contact her right away and was probably worried about the scandal their union would cause - ironically judging the H based on both the little brother's and the dead father's behavior.
The H doesn't care about glass houses and stones however, he has come to terms with his own blindness and he loves the h and so the two of them reunite for a big MR HP bittersweet HEA.
This is a very intense book. It is also a huge leap on the social progress spectrum for HPlandia. It will seem extremely tame and strange to modern readers, but at the time this was written in 1994, homosexual relations were still considered to be a crime in most areas of the UK.
You could have a same sex partner in your home (in England and Wales) - IF there was only the two of you in it, but any outside parties or any shacking up in a hotel and you and your partner could be arrested. In fact it wasn't until the year 2000 that same sex relations were fully decriminalized. (So just by the h being in the house with the little brother and his lover, they could have all been arrested and prosecuted - and in fact, that had happened in the past.)
In the US today it is technically illegal to have a same gender relationship in Kansas, Texas and Kentucky and in thirteen other states you can still be arrested for any physical act that doesn't involve the missionary position. So the statement MR makes with this book is HUGE.
For the first time a notoriously conservative romance line that touts the values of home, hearth, babies and marriage is saying it is okay to be gay and that discrimination is wrong. Ten years or even five years before 1994, this book would never have seen the light of day and it sure as certain wouldn't be published.
I think what motivated this book and why it was such a strong advocacy statement was that there had been several killings in England of gay men as hate crimes. There were riots about the lack of police response to the killings and as always, the HP editors know social change when they see it. So MR took the topic up and did a really great job on the message.
The romance is actually believable too, MR softens the H enough to make his change in viewpoint understandable and since the obsession the H and h have for each other is palpable even when the book starts, it isn't that great a leap to see them living that obsession out, for as long as the spark may last.
This isn't an easy book, but it is an intense one and the overarching societal message is a worthy one. So if you like MR or if you are curious about attitudes before the current social climate, give this one a go - it makes for a good day at the HP office.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2019
8/9/19
I bought the kindle version not knowing i already had it in paperback and I re-read it for some dumb reason. It didn't get better. Same rating.
3/1/17
Okay one of my favorite all time HPs was a book called 'Somewhere to Lay my Head' by Lillian Peake. This is basically the same story but with a twist. I hated the H for most of the book and while this was an okay read for me it just didn't thrill me. Perhaps if I re-read STLMH again I would feel the same now. I might try that.
But come on he was so convinced that she was the one having an affair that he overlooked so many other things that would have told him the shocking (NOT) twist but no he had to keep maligning the poor h and verbally abusing her. Why she kept the secret so long is beyond me. I would have told him right away and throw something hard at his head at the same time.
Another nitpicky thing is I didn't need to hear his thought on how wild and great in bed the OW was and his body reacting to her naked form lying in his bed. Why was that even in there. She contributed nothing to the story at all. Nada so why??? I hate that stuff but again that is just me. Just a stupid pet peeve of mine. But it still annoys me. A lot!!! Lol
Oh well it sounded fascinating and I waited only two days to get it from Amazon and I am glad I got it....out of my system. Never to be read again.
I bought the kindle version not knowing i already had it in paperback and I re-read it for some dumb reason. It didn't get better. Same rating.
3/1/17
Okay one of my favorite all time HPs was a book called 'Somewhere to Lay my Head' by Lillian Peake. This is basically the same story but with a twist. I hated the H for most of the book and while this was an okay read for me it just didn't thrill me. Perhaps if I re-read STLMH again I would feel the same now. I might try that.
But come on he was so convinced that she was the one having an affair that he overlooked so many other things that would have told him the shocking (NOT) twist but no he had to keep maligning the poor h and verbally abusing her. Why she kept the secret so long is beyond me. I would have told him right away and throw something hard at his head at the same time.
Another nitpicky thing is I didn't need to hear his thought on how wild and great in bed the OW was and his body reacting to her naked form lying in his bed. Why was that even in there. She contributed nothing to the story at all. Nada so why??? I hate that stuff but again that is just me. Just a stupid pet peeve of mine. But it still annoys me. A lot!!! Lol
Oh well it sounded fascinating and I waited only two days to get it from Amazon and I am glad I got it....out of my system. Never to be read again.
September 7, 2018
** spoilers **
I liked it. Virgin widow h vs judgy H who thinks she's a whore and golddigger.
The hero had always wanted her, but thought she was a slut, cheating on his brother with his brother's best friend. Doesn't take more than a few pages to figure out the 'best friend' is really the brother's lover and simply a friend of the h's. Their's was a temporary MOC based on the brother being afraid to come out to his ailing grandfather and super studly older brother. She did love him, but not in a wifely sort of way. The heroine's mother was sick and her father's business was failing. She married the brother to make his grandfather happy and he bailed her father out. They planned to divorce after the grandfather died. Then a car wreck make the h a widow before they could divorce.
Some may be offended at the initial shock/horror of the hero and the fact that the entire family was so willfully blind. It is definitely a book of its time as far as the views on homosexuality are concerned. Not that things are perfect now, or so many would not choose to stay in the closet.
The H/h had chemistry, no doubt, but he was always very Jekyll and Hyde with her. I'm not sure why she loved him, but this is HPLandia where you just go with such things. Although I don't feel like enough time was spent with them getting to know one another. too much bickering and nasty accusations from the H and his flip-floppy ways.
I liked it. Virgin widow h vs judgy H who thinks she's a whore and golddigger.
The hero had always wanted her, but thought she was a slut, cheating on his brother with his brother's best friend. Doesn't take more than a few pages to figure out the 'best friend' is really the brother's lover and simply a friend of the h's. Their's was a temporary MOC based on the brother being afraid to come out to his ailing grandfather and super studly older brother. She did love him, but not in a wifely sort of way. The heroine's mother was sick and her father's business was failing. She married the brother to make his grandfather happy and he bailed her father out. They planned to divorce after the grandfather died. Then a car wreck make the h a widow before they could divorce.
Some may be offended at the initial shock/horror of the hero and the fact that the entire family was so willfully blind. It is definitely a book of its time as far as the views on homosexuality are concerned. Not that things are perfect now, or so many would not choose to stay in the closet.
The H/h had chemistry, no doubt, but he was always very Jekyll and Hyde with her. I'm not sure why she loved him, but this is HPLandia where you just go with such things. Although I don't feel like enough time was spent with them getting to know one another. too much bickering and nasty accusations from the H and his flip-floppy ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2010
Michelle Reid's books are usually very readable. This one is not an exception. However, I found Dane very unlikeable. He was mean and judgmental towards Lily from the get-go. He didn't like that he felt so strongly for her, and made her pay for it, especially since she was marrying his brother. Also, he didn't seem to see very well, as Lily told him. I figured out the truth very early on. I think Dane was caught up in his ideas of masculinity and machismo, and didn't see his brother for who he really was. His reaction to his brother's secret was somewhat distasteful. It didn't endear him to me. Also, I think his susceptibiilty to Lily made him want to blame her for everything, when she was really a victim, or a secondary accomplice to the dark secret that Daniel was keeping from his family. The only reason I didn't end up totally hating him was because he really did love Lily, although I think he did a lousy job of showing it. He doesn't really change much by the end of this story. He's still a hard-headed, 'stone-cold' alpha man type. I hope that his love for Lily softens him, and he becomes a more emotionally available man as the time passes. Well-written, but not a favorite by this author.
June 21, 2020
For a brilliant business man, he was really rather stupid. For the life of me, I can't understand why women fall in love with men who are verbally abusive and demeaning. She also, was a little too self-sacrificing for my taste.
I could probably have worked past all of that, had he been forced to openly acknowledge his feelings and work hard to get her back into his life. However, all he does is send a one line command through a fax, and she goes running back. This is a story of he says jump and she asks how high.
I worry when authors write books like this and refuse to acknowledge that abuse can be meted out with more than just fists.
I could probably have worked past all of that, had he been forced to openly acknowledge his feelings and work hard to get her back into his life. However, all he does is send a one line command through a fax, and she goes running back. This is a story of he says jump and she asks how high.
I worry when authors write books like this and refuse to acknowledge that abuse can be meted out with more than just fists.
October 21, 2018
3 stars
Very jealous, possessive, spoiled H.
Very jealous, possessive, spoiled H.
December 23, 2016
Lily sits in a small hospital waiting room. Blood is drying on her face and throat, and she’s ignoring the pain in her arm. She’s alone and she’s waiting. She’s waiting to learn whether her husband, Daniel, has survived the car crash they were in a few hours earlier.
He hasn’t. Lily, in shock, mentally cycles through who the hospital should call. She settles on Daniel’s older brother, Dane.
In another part of London, Dane is arriving home after a flight from New York. There’s a naked redhead in his bed, and Dane is almost equal parts irritated and turned on. Irritated is winning, and because he’s tired and cranky he’s vulnerable and imagining another woman in the redhead’s place. His beautiful blonde bitch of a sister-in-law.
Then Dane gets the call. He goes to fetch Lily from the hospital.
This is one of those emotionally charged and challenging romances. Michelle Reid is a good author so the plot is in safe hands, but I find I really do have to be in the right frame of mind for this sort of thing to work on me.
I am a sucker for an innocent heroine keeping a secret and suffering the hero’s nastiness to spare him some devastating revelation. But: wow. I mean, her husband dies in the first few pages! She’s still covered in his blood when Dane arrives! This is some big emotional trauma. ‘Starts out gloomy and gets gloomier’ doesn’t quite cover it.
Lily’s a sweet person who is trying to do right by everyone, but she fell in love with Dane and chose to marry Daniel. Dane is incredibly bitter about it. He won’t admit he’s in love with her too. When she responded to him sexually and then still went ahead and married his brother, he told Dane that Lily had nearly cheated with him. This backfired when Daniel took Lily’s side. Dane is also bitter about the fact that it was Lily who persuaded Daniel to forgive him. Dane is convinced that Lily married Daniel for his money, and that she openly had an affair with their friend Mark. Dane’s jealous and feels betrayed about Mark in about equal measure to his betrayed feelings over Lily choosing Daniel.
Dane tries to be gentle and kind, even though Lily insists on seeing Mark. But he’s really angry, and when he discovers that Lily is the main beneficiary in Daniel’s will, he’s angrier still. He’s 100% convincing as a man trying to cover feelings he doesn’t want to feel with anger and loathing. I felt a lot of sympathy for him, and really liked how Reid portrayed his caring and his bitterness.
I empathised with Lily as well. This book was published in 1993, and the plot feels dated, although perhaps more because I expect fiction to have moved on to different stories – possibly because romance embraces a lot of same sex relationships, and we seem to have moved on from the cardboard gay BFF cliché. However: the representation here is very much on point for that period. It’s no surprise to the reader that Daniel was gay, and that Mark was his lover and not Lily's. The general mechanics of romance are that, no matter how it might appear, it would be impossible for Lily to have engaged in a sexual relationship with one brother and then move on to another. Reid drops plenty of hints for the reader about Daniel and Mark, and nicely sets up why ‘your brother was gay’ isn’t the first thing out of Lily’s mouth when Dane started calling her names.
The revelation is, of course, handled in the most dramatically possible way. Lily, stressed and sorrowful, is about to leave England for a long stay with her parents in Australia when Dane tracks her down and passionately removes her hymen. He’s bitter and horrible about the discovery that Daniel was gay, and hits all the beats: he’s been raised homophobic, and when that’s out the way, he’s hurt to discover how little he knew his brother, and then angry on Lily’s behalf. He points out that Daniel has used Lily quite selfishly, not only to gain the inheritance his homophobic grandfather would never have left him otherwise, but also to continue his relationship with Mark.
And while Lily and Dane’s emotional journey are the focus of the book, and Mark’s presence is very minor, I was so terribly sad for him. I was still thinking about him weeks later when I saw ‘A Single Man’ for the first time. At least Mark had Lily to understand his grief. And Lily got it, she gives a very impassioned speech in support of Daniel in the face of Dane’s knee-jerk homophobia, but I couldn’t quite get past how devastating it was, that Mark’s pain and loss were so far in the background.
After the revelation, Dane reluctantly lets Lily go to Australia as she originally planned, but demands that she return in twelve month’s time. This allows them both to grieve, and means they don’t have to go through public speculation about their private lives. Still: it’s not going to be easy for them.
I thought this was all very touching and it made me cry and engaged me on so many levels. Reid was making a political point. I love it when I get this kind of read that relates to a time of change that I remember, and when romance does more than just present this strangely idyllic timeless time. This is a perfect book if you’re in the mood for sorrow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2014
MR never cease to amaze me. Although this book is not one of her best, it's clearly show that she has a way with words and passionate story.
This passionate story is about Dane and Lily. A man and his brother's wife. Intriguing, right?
Lily and Dane met at first when Lily's already Daniel's fiancee. At first, cynical as he was, Dane stamped her as a gold-digging whore, but also he wanted her fiercely.
He was so fed up with bitterness he made a mess with his brother and stayed away from them the two years after. He hated her and would do anything for her, confusing I know. That's why our hero hated her more and more, I think that's because of jealousy even though he didn't realize it at the time.
He simply hated her because she didn't choose him with the attraction between them.
What I find exaggerating was her effort about Daniel-Mark's case. I mean, should you try that hard to conceal their secret? Because it seemed one of them was dead and one's wanted it open from the beginning anyway. No matter when you opened it, the result would be the same, right? Dane's a big boy who could endure it.
What I didn't like was Dane too bitter that he's almost like a ridiculous 5 yo child who destroy all toys because he couldn't have one toy he wanted.
What I like was Lily made him work (or should I say, beg) for their relationship (her coming home), unconsciously of course. I love his 'love letter' (by fax! really). I like the way he couldn't help but stand and supported her even tho he believed she's a cheater and something else bad. He's mad, went into rage and I see a man who believed the worst but also scared to believe it about a woman he insanely loved. I felt his fear when she'e eventually come home but still found a need to watch her while she's sleeping so she wouldn't go away again. That's pretty sweet.
'I am insanely in love with you, you know,' Dane huskily confessed as he held her locked beneath him.
'I know.' Lily kissed him softly on the lips.
But Dane jerked away. 'You know?' he repeated. 'But how could you know when I haven't so much as hinted at the word love before?' He looked so disappointed at her perception of him that Lily had to hide a smile.
I found that part pretty endearing. Now he finally had his toy he loved all those time. Sweet passionate story!
This passionate story is about Dane and Lily. A man and his brother's wife. Intriguing, right?
Lily and Dane met at first when Lily's already Daniel's fiancee. At first, cynical as he was, Dane stamped her as a gold-digging whore, but also he wanted her fiercely.
He was so fed up with bitterness he made a mess with his brother and stayed away from them the two years after. He hated her and would do anything for her, confusing I know. That's why our hero hated her more and more, I think that's because of jealousy even though he didn't realize it at the time.
He simply hated her because she didn't choose him with the attraction between them.
What I find exaggerating was her effort about Daniel-Mark's case. I mean, should you try that hard to conceal their secret? Because it seemed one of them was dead and one's wanted it open from the beginning anyway. No matter when you opened it, the result would be the same, right? Dane's a big boy who could endure it.
What I didn't like was Dane too bitter that he's almost like a ridiculous 5 yo child who destroy all toys because he couldn't have one toy he wanted.
What I like was Lily made him work (or should I say, beg) for their relationship (her coming home), unconsciously of course. I love his 'love letter' (by fax! really). I like the way he couldn't help but stand and supported her even tho he believed she's a cheater and something else bad. He's mad, went into rage and I see a man who believed the worst but also scared to believe it about a woman he insanely loved. I felt his fear when she'e eventually come home but still found a need to watch her while she's sleeping so she wouldn't go away again. That's pretty sweet.
'I am insanely in love with you, you know,' Dane huskily confessed as he held her locked beneath him.
'I know.' Lily kissed him softly on the lips.
But Dane jerked away. 'You know?' he repeated. 'But how could you know when I haven't so much as hinted at the word love before?' He looked so disappointed at her perception of him that Lily had to hide a smile.
I found that part pretty endearing. Now he finally had his toy he loved all those time. Sweet passionate story!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2022
Michelle Reid is really hit or miss for me. Her books tend to be really angsty, and some I think have the right balance. Others, like this one, are just too heavy on the bitter arguments and accusations. Most of it the time the hero seems willfully obtuse.
I loved the premise. It’s right up my alley. The H thinks the h is a slutty-mcslutterson tramp married to his brother. He’s been lusting after her and hating her for it for years. Of course, our sweet innocent martyr of an h is the exact opposite of this. She’s got *reasons* for letting him think the worst. Reasons that seemed to grow flimsier and flimsier the farther into the book I got. Then it just seemed like sheer stubbornness.
Anywho, this includes one of my favorite tropes, so it gets 3-stars.
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - the H has some of his past slutty bed buddies hanging about, but he doesn’t return their feelings
- OM drama - the H assumes the h is sleeping with every single man who looks at her
- dubcon-ish - their first time is angry
- h is a surprise virgin
- H is a manwhore but doesn’t sleep with anyone else after the h is available.
- there is some homophobia vibes coming from the H - I think it was the time period it was written in (1993), but I found it a little cringe coming from the H… MR does try to fix it later, but it doesn’t age well. 😬
I loved the premise. It’s right up my alley. The H thinks the h is a slutty-mcslutterson tramp married to his brother. He’s been lusting after her and hating her for it for years. Of course, our sweet innocent martyr of an h is the exact opposite of this. She’s got *reasons* for letting him think the worst. Reasons that seemed to grow flimsier and flimsier the farther into the book I got. Then it just seemed like sheer stubbornness.
Anywho, this includes one of my favorite tropes, so it gets 3-stars.
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - the H has some of his past slutty bed buddies hanging about, but he doesn’t return their feelings
- OM drama - the H assumes the h is sleeping with every single man who looks at her
- dubcon-ish - their first time is angry
- h is a surprise virgin
- H is a manwhore but doesn’t sleep with anyone else after the h is available.
- there is some homophobia vibes coming from the H - I think it was the time period it was written in (1993), but I found it a little cringe coming from the H… MR does try to fix it later, but it doesn’t age well. 😬
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2018
"House of Glass" is the story of Lily and Dane.
When Lily agrees to marry Daniel, she never expects it would cause rift between him and his older brother Dane, or that she would have to ignore the scorching attraction to the latter!
Dane expects the worst of her, and punishes her about her attraction- something that causes the brothers to drift apart until two years later Daniel is killed in a freak accident, and Lily witnesses it..
**MILD SPOILERS AHEAD**
If you dont mind well written stories- who HOWEVER have
-Homophobia
-Extreme slut shaming of a virgin
-Harsh words
-Loads of push and pull
-Angst
This book is for you.
Michelle has a way with words, and I enjoyed reading this one.
SWE
3.5/5
When Lily agrees to marry Daniel, she never expects it would cause rift between him and his older brother Dane, or that she would have to ignore the scorching attraction to the latter!
Dane expects the worst of her, and punishes her about her attraction- something that causes the brothers to drift apart until two years later Daniel is killed in a freak accident, and Lily witnesses it..
**MILD SPOILERS AHEAD**
If you dont mind well written stories- who HOWEVER have
-Homophobia
-Extreme slut shaming of a virgin
-Harsh words
-Loads of push and pull
-Angst
This book is for you.
Michelle has a way with words, and I enjoyed reading this one.
SWE
3.5/5
June 24, 2017
Oh. Wow.
I really didn't expect to like this book. After having read several reviews, and coming across the spoilers, I was almost prepared to dislike it, except that I loved the premise too much to not give it a go.
Consider Lily - a woman who was physically attracted to her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Dane, when she met him the first time at her engagement party. A woman who loved Daniel, her soon-to-be husband, but unable to fully distance herself from her attraction to Dane. And then consider Dane - a man who was equally attracted to his soon-to-be sister-in-law, and yet disgusted with himself for wanting a woman he couldn't have. Any wonder why he struck out with insults and nasty comments? As far as self-defence mechanisms went, it's not the best, but I understood it. For a man who didn't allow himself to even mourn his brother's death, anger was definitely the preferred tact.
The feelings in this book were raw, confronting, and I loved it all.
I really didn't expect to like this book. After having read several reviews, and coming across the spoilers, I was almost prepared to dislike it, except that I loved the premise too much to not give it a go.
Consider Lily - a woman who was physically attracted to her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Dane, when she met him the first time at her engagement party. A woman who loved Daniel, her soon-to-be husband, but unable to fully distance herself from her attraction to Dane. And then consider Dane - a man who was equally attracted to his soon-to-be sister-in-law, and yet disgusted with himself for wanting a woman he couldn't have. Any wonder why he struck out with insults and nasty comments? As far as self-defence mechanisms went, it's not the best, but I understood it. For a man who didn't allow himself to even mourn his brother's death, anger was definitely the preferred tact.
The feelings in this book were raw, confronting, and I loved it all.
February 23, 2023
Rereading: Feb 5th/2023
New rating: 3 stars 🌟
I don't know if it's because my morals and religion, but I didn't find this lovestory very convincing. I don't know and haven't seen a real love story like that, even though it was written by the author's imagination 🤔
I felt more a drama than a romance, and there isn't an epilogue at the end ☹️
P.D.: It took me a few weeks to post this review 😅
________________________________
First reading: 2009
Original rating: 4 stars 🌟
New rating: 3 stars 🌟
I don't know if it's because my morals and religion, but I didn't find this lovestory very convincing. I don't know and haven't seen a real love story like that, even though it was written by the author's imagination 🤔
I felt more a drama than a romance, and there isn't an epilogue at the end ☹️
P.D.: It took me a few weeks to post this review 😅
________________________________
First reading: 2009
Original rating: 4 stars 🌟
March 27, 2012
I would have liked a little more growth on the part of Dane. An apology would have been nice, too. I know he loved her/was tormented by the fact that she was married to his gay brother. He didn't know, but I can't believe the rest of their close knit group bought the story.
September 7, 2018
After reading a couple duds I wanted excitement, drama. And boy did I get it with House of Glass! Michelle Reid has my head spinning with this one.
The book starts with Lily, the h, in hospital waiting for word on her husband’s condition after an accident. They were both in a car, parked, when another car slammed into them. Daniel, her husband, got the brunt of the hit. He died while the doctors were working on him.
In shock, she gave the hospital the name and number of Daniel’s older brother, Dane. She and Dane have a hostile relationship. The passion between them is explosive but Dane hates her because of the other man in her life, Mark. Dane believes she is having an affair with Mark under his brother’s nose and he despises her. He sees her as a cheater, but he still wants her even though she’s his brother’s wife. This makes him excessively cruel to her.
Dane takes Lily home and takes care of everything, including the funeral for his brother. He takes care of her while being just as nasty as he could in between the kisses he steals from her. Poor Lily is in no condition to deal with his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. After settling her business after the reading of the will, she decides to leave England and join her parents in Australia. Distance is needed from Dane.
He finds out and follows her to the airport hotel where she is spending the night before her flight. Dane seduces her, while still thinking the worst of her and her friend Mark, and learns just how wrong he was about her. He also learned some really hard truths that night that turned his arrogant world upside down.
Dane was a total ass to Lily. But he was an ass because he was disgusted with himself for lusting after his brother’s wife. He hates her for wanting him back and for the affair he believed she was having with Mark. The truth came as a devastating shock to him. It forced him to see his brother in a totally different light.
I hurt for Daniel, Mark and Lily and the situation they all found themselves in. Lily’s sacrifice allowed the others their happiness but she got nothing. I’m sure that the twist in this book was shocking at the time it was originally published. Now, it’s something we can all take for granted or accept freely. Well, most of us, anyway.
This book reminded me of a time when the freedom to openly love the one you love was something so many fought and died for. That love had to be hidden and MOC’s made it easy to pretend. Thanks God for progress.
the Glass House is a book well worth reading. I loved every drama and angst filled moment of it. I even came around to liking Dane at the end. And Lily finally got her HEA.
The book starts with Lily, the h, in hospital waiting for word on her husband’s condition after an accident. They were both in a car, parked, when another car slammed into them. Daniel, her husband, got the brunt of the hit. He died while the doctors were working on him.
In shock, she gave the hospital the name and number of Daniel’s older brother, Dane. She and Dane have a hostile relationship. The passion between them is explosive but Dane hates her because of the other man in her life, Mark. Dane believes she is having an affair with Mark under his brother’s nose and he despises her. He sees her as a cheater, but he still wants her even though she’s his brother’s wife. This makes him excessively cruel to her.
Dane takes Lily home and takes care of everything, including the funeral for his brother. He takes care of her while being just as nasty as he could in between the kisses he steals from her. Poor Lily is in no condition to deal with his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. After settling her business after the reading of the will, she decides to leave England and join her parents in Australia. Distance is needed from Dane.
He finds out and follows her to the airport hotel where she is spending the night before her flight. Dane seduces her, while still thinking the worst of her and her friend Mark, and learns just how wrong he was about her. He also learned some really hard truths that night that turned his arrogant world upside down.
Dane was a total ass to Lily. But he was an ass because he was disgusted with himself for lusting after his brother’s wife. He hates her for wanting him back and for the affair he believed she was having with Mark. The truth came as a devastating shock to him. It forced him to see his brother in a totally different light.
I hurt for Daniel, Mark and Lily and the situation they all found themselves in. Lily’s sacrifice allowed the others their happiness but she got nothing. I’m sure that the twist in this book was shocking at the time it was originally published. Now, it’s something we can all take for granted or accept freely. Well, most of us, anyway.
This book reminded me of a time when the freedom to openly love the one you love was something so many fought and died for. That love had to be hidden and MOC’s made it easy to pretend. Thanks God for progress.
the Glass House is a book well worth reading. I loved every drama and angst filled moment of it. I even came around to liking Dane at the end. And Lily finally got her HEA.
June 15, 2013
This was a longer than usual romance with the heroine alienating the hero by marrying his brother despite their strong connection. The story picks up after the death of the brother. The hero blames her, his hatred as fierce as his desire had been, still was.
A net of lies and deceit will have to be untangled before they can see each other clearly. There is a lot of pain and emotional angst in this story and the HEA often seems impossible.
A net of lies and deceit will have to be untangled before they can see each other clearly. There is a lot of pain and emotional angst in this story and the HEA often seems impossible.
June 7, 2021
h's that get involved with brothers always squicks me and I am always left with a nasty taste in my mouth. It doesn't matter if they are besties, gay, impotent or dying its just a hard no from me.
Furthermore, I really disliked the H in this one he not a very nice person.
I don't even want to review this one anymore there are some much better ones on here :)
Sorry :(
Furthermore, I really disliked the H in this one he not a very nice person.
I don't even want to review this one anymore there are some much better ones on here :)
Sorry :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2018
4,5 Estrellas
Este es uno de mis libros favoritos de Michelle Reid. Aunque ya lo había leído hace mucho tiempo me acordaba perfectamente de todo, y aún así he vuelto a disfrutar de la historia de amor entre Dane y Lily, aunque haya más de atracción y deseo que de amor propiamente dicho.
Este es uno de mis libros favoritos de Michelle Reid. Aunque ya lo había leído hace mucho tiempo me acordaba perfectamente de todo, y aún así he vuelto a disfrutar de la historia de amor entre Dane y Lily, aunque haya más de atracción y deseo que de amor propiamente dicho.
September 23, 2020
2 ⭐⭐ - Meh!
=============
O Passado nos Separa - paperback - portuguese edition
Editora Nova Cultural
Sabrina n. 789
=============
O Passado nos Separa - paperback - portuguese edition
Editora Nova Cultural
Sabrina n. 789
May 28, 2014
Like another reviewer said I would have liked a little more growth on the part of Dane which never happened. Still I enjoyed the angsty parts and there is good chemistry between the hero and heroine.
February 21, 2023
5 shiny stars
My god, how I loved this one!
But clearly that is not a read for everyone, especially those who are overly offended by everything.
I am not, though.
And I do understand that life 30 years ago looked completely different from the reality now.
Plus, the angst, the explosive chemistry between Lily and Dane, his complete and utter possessiveness when it comes to her?
Yeah, I'm swooning, y'all!
My god, how I loved this one!
But clearly that is not a read for everyone, especially those who are overly offended by everything.
I am not, though.
And I do understand that life 30 years ago looked completely different from the reality now.
Plus, the angst, the explosive chemistry between Lily and Dane, his complete and utter possessiveness when it comes to her?
Yeah, I'm swooning, y'all!
June 30, 2025
I needed this to be 200 pages longer
June 13, 2018
I chose to read this one for the angst. It seemed a good angsty story but i was disappointed. This guy the wannabe hero is just an asshole who lusts after the heroine the entire story. I wont believe for a second that he is in love with her. Poor heroine. She deserves better.
November 18, 2019
Here’s another book that’s going to be hard for me to not get shouty about because it holds some personal triggers and made me so mad at the so-called hero that I found it hard to forgive him at the end even if he did try to make up for his dickishness. His assholery in this book and his overall boorish behavior toward the heroine are just epic hall of fame stuff, bordering on psychotic, even considering the events that transpire. But then again, it’s a Michelle Reid, so it’s compulsively readable and of course, super angsty.
Dane is mad at Lily because he really, really wants to have sex with her all the time, not just once, ALL THE TIME, but he can’t, because Lily is married to his younger brother, Daniel. He’s extra super-mad at her because he found out Lily is hella into him just before she married Daniel because they made out in his apartment and Lily was really responsive, but she married Daniel, anyway, because she’s a money-grubbing, gold-digging whore and why can’t Daniel see that. UGH, STUPID LILY. She’s the reason why Dane is so mean to women and can’t commit to anyone because Dane only wants Lily and can’t stop thinking about her even after all these years, so he pushes everyone away. UGH, LILY IS SO AWFUL, THAT STUPID HO. And then Daniel did the most unexpected thing: he died in a car accident and now Lily is a widow. Of course, Dane rushes to her side and he’s like, OH DANE, STOP IT WITH YOUR BOY HORMONES, YOUR BROTHER JUST DIED but he can’t help himself because all he wants to do is assault Lily and get all up in her grill, even though Lily is still bloody because she was right next to Daniel when he died and she’s a little bit shell-shocked right now. But Dane is a relentless, angry testosterone machine who will not be appeased. Give her time to grieve, guy. Her husband died just five minutes ago. But Dane wants to know why Lily married Daniel when it was so obvious to everyone that she wanted Dane’s bone so bad and is Lily going to marry the guy she’s having an affair with now that her husband Daniel is dead? Lily and Daniel, as it turned out, were very good friends with a guy named Mark and Dane likes to insinuate that it was a menage a trois. Because he’s a dirty bird.
But Lily is not the Jezebel that Dane paints her to be. Silly reader, they never are. Lily and Daniel had a marriage of convenience, which at the time, seemed to be the perfect solution for both of their problems. For Lily, she needed the money to help her father with the hospital bills for her ailing mother. For Daniel, it was a little bit more complicated. Dane and Daniel’s grandfather owned a dude ranch and they employed a rather loosey-goosey girl who set her sights on Daniel. Daniel, who was trying to prove to their grandfather that he was just as manly as his older brother, began a flirtation with the girl, but it got a little out of a hand when the girl went bunny-boiler on him. The girl threatened to make some trouble for him with his grandfather, so he needed to get married to avoid a scandal and Lily agreed to be his wife, provided that Daniel help her with her mom’s hospital bills. As for Mark, he and Lily are life-long friends, and he attended the same university as Lily and Daniel. Mark is an artist, Daniel a horse-breeder, and along with Lily, the three of them lived on the ranch in harmony until Daniel died. With Daniel gone, Dane is suddenly up in Lily’s face, trying to get her to confront certain truths about herself that she’s not quite ready for and demanding womanly reactions from her that her body wants to say yes to, even though all of her instincts are telling her to run away screaming.
STOP!! BELOW IS WHERE I REVEAL ALL PLOT POINTS!! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!
If you haven’t guessed already, Daniel was gay and Mark was his lover and had been since uni. Lily was their beard. As it turns out, Lily is not the big fat whore that Dane had thought she was all this time because she still possessed the all-important big V, the separator of the whores from the whore-nots. That is, until he angrily deflowered her and treated her like a ha-penny slag. Dane refused to believe this “ugly slur” against his dearly departed brother despite all evidence to the contrary: Lily had a separate bedroom from Daniel, while Daniel and Mark had rooms next to each other with a connecting door in between. Oh and yeah, Lily was a virgin all this time, enduring the most horrible abuse from Dane about her so-called loose morals. Lily tells Dane that Daniel was gay and Dane, upstanding and sensitive guy that he is, basically calls her a lying bitch and accuses her of even nastier things, like shitting on his brother’s grave, just to justify her affair with Mark, who is ALSO GAY, DANE. SWEET CHRISTMAS!! The man is such a thick-headed mule and so obtuse that he’s almost unbearable to read about. I was just so horrified about his reaction to Daniel being gay, like it was a personal affront to him, that I almost did not finish the book. HELL-O, Daniel married Lily so their grandfather would not disown him because the old man had believed Daniel was a girly-man, which was what pushed Daniel to flirt with the psycho farmhand in the first place. WHAT THE FUTZ, Dane?!?
After Dane ravages Lily and she’s basically a shell of her former self in one corner, he tells her they could probably try to have a relationship or something in six months, so people won’t talk and say she’s a whore for moving on so quickly to her dead husband’s brother. Something about people living in glass houses? And suddenly he’s so concerned about her reputation. Lily’s like, whatever, and goes home to her native Australia and tries to forget Dane, which we all know would be impossible because he’s her One True Love, the silly goose. All this time, Mark has been in Hong Kong and Hong Kong is on the way to Australia from London, so Dane’s like, you whore, I knew it. Sweet Christmas, cut it out, Dane. Mark is gay. GAYER THAN THE HAMILTUNES GROUP WHO HANGS OUT AT A COFFEE SHOP IN WEST HOLLYWOOD ON THURSDAY NIGHTS. Ugh. This effin’ guy. Dane told Lily that six months would be the appropriate time apart they would need so people wouldn’t talk, but he didn’t tell Lily that he meant SIX MONTHS TO THE DAY and that he would need to hear from her because she would need to be the one to make the first move. WHY!?! I guess it kind of makes sense because Lily making the first move would signal her readiness to move on from her grief, but when Dane doesn’t hear from her six months to the day, he sends her a fax, demanding that she return to London because he needs her (which kind of made me choke up, to be honest). Lily goes back to London and Daniel is all sorts of mad at her because she blew past the deadline of SIX MONTHS TO THE DAY and he thought she didn’t want him anymore. D’awww. That’s kind of cute (he sent her a frickin' fax!). But Dane is still a humongous prick. And then he tells her he went to Hong Kong to see Mark because he thought she was there and ended up spending time with Mark to get his side of the story and got to know Daniel that way. So now he’s okay with Daniel being gay.
Like I said, this is a Michelle Reid, so it’s compulsively readable and super angsty, but it was really challenging for me in parts because of the triggering anti-gay stuff. It’s funny, I guess, that I tend to project my own values on the hero of the moment, believing that he’d be as progressive as I am: feminist (fat chance), an LGBTQ ally, vegetarian (hah!), a tree-hugger (all those private jets? Yeah, right!), and a lover of animals (umm… all of those HP heroines in the 80s and 90s wearing mink?), but it’s laughable because everyone has their own projection of a hero. As a Liberal American, it gets hard sometimes to reconcile my love of Harlequin Heroes with my own progressive values because 99% are throwbacks to a “golden” age where “men were men” and I get irrationally upset when I come across a “hero” like Dane who is definitely not anyone’s idea of a modern man (he sent her a fax!) and yet, I’m the one who chooses to read these older HPs when “men were men” and actually prefer them over the news ones. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a masochist, or one of these thoroughly modern females who just needs a REAL MAN to show me what’s what. **snort**
Dane is mad at Lily because he really, really wants to have sex with her all the time, not just once, ALL THE TIME, but he can’t, because Lily is married to his younger brother, Daniel. He’s extra super-mad at her because he found out Lily is hella into him just before she married Daniel because they made out in his apartment and Lily was really responsive, but she married Daniel, anyway, because she’s a money-grubbing, gold-digging whore and why can’t Daniel see that. UGH, STUPID LILY. She’s the reason why Dane is so mean to women and can’t commit to anyone because Dane only wants Lily and can’t stop thinking about her even after all these years, so he pushes everyone away. UGH, LILY IS SO AWFUL, THAT STUPID HO. And then Daniel did the most unexpected thing: he died in a car accident and now Lily is a widow. Of course, Dane rushes to her side and he’s like, OH DANE, STOP IT WITH YOUR BOY HORMONES, YOUR BROTHER JUST DIED but he can’t help himself because all he wants to do is assault Lily and get all up in her grill, even though Lily is still bloody because she was right next to Daniel when he died and she’s a little bit shell-shocked right now. But Dane is a relentless, angry testosterone machine who will not be appeased. Give her time to grieve, guy. Her husband died just five minutes ago. But Dane wants to know why Lily married Daniel when it was so obvious to everyone that she wanted Dane’s bone so bad and is Lily going to marry the guy she’s having an affair with now that her husband Daniel is dead? Lily and Daniel, as it turned out, were very good friends with a guy named Mark and Dane likes to insinuate that it was a menage a trois. Because he’s a dirty bird.
But Lily is not the Jezebel that Dane paints her to be. Silly reader, they never are. Lily and Daniel had a marriage of convenience, which at the time, seemed to be the perfect solution for both of their problems. For Lily, she needed the money to help her father with the hospital bills for her ailing mother. For Daniel, it was a little bit more complicated. Dane and Daniel’s grandfather owned a dude ranch and they employed a rather loosey-goosey girl who set her sights on Daniel. Daniel, who was trying to prove to their grandfather that he was just as manly as his older brother, began a flirtation with the girl, but it got a little out of a hand when the girl went bunny-boiler on him. The girl threatened to make some trouble for him with his grandfather, so he needed to get married to avoid a scandal and Lily agreed to be his wife, provided that Daniel help her with her mom’s hospital bills. As for Mark, he and Lily are life-long friends, and he attended the same university as Lily and Daniel. Mark is an artist, Daniel a horse-breeder, and along with Lily, the three of them lived on the ranch in harmony until Daniel died. With Daniel gone, Dane is suddenly up in Lily’s face, trying to get her to confront certain truths about herself that she’s not quite ready for and demanding womanly reactions from her that her body wants to say yes to, even though all of her instincts are telling her to run away screaming.
STOP!! BELOW IS WHERE I REVEAL ALL PLOT POINTS!! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!
If you haven’t guessed already, Daniel was gay and Mark was his lover and had been since uni. Lily was their beard. As it turns out, Lily is not the big fat whore that Dane had thought she was all this time because she still possessed the all-important big V, the separator of the whores from the whore-nots. That is, until he angrily deflowered her and treated her like a ha-penny slag. Dane refused to believe this “ugly slur” against his dearly departed brother despite all evidence to the contrary: Lily had a separate bedroom from Daniel, while Daniel and Mark had rooms next to each other with a connecting door in between. Oh and yeah, Lily was a virgin all this time, enduring the most horrible abuse from Dane about her so-called loose morals. Lily tells Dane that Daniel was gay and Dane, upstanding and sensitive guy that he is, basically calls her a lying bitch and accuses her of even nastier things, like shitting on his brother’s grave, just to justify her affair with Mark, who is ALSO GAY, DANE. SWEET CHRISTMAS!! The man is such a thick-headed mule and so obtuse that he’s almost unbearable to read about. I was just so horrified about his reaction to Daniel being gay, like it was a personal affront to him, that I almost did not finish the book. HELL-O, Daniel married Lily so their grandfather would not disown him because the old man had believed Daniel was a girly-man, which was what pushed Daniel to flirt with the psycho farmhand in the first place. WHAT THE FUTZ, Dane?!?
After Dane ravages Lily and she’s basically a shell of her former self in one corner, he tells her they could probably try to have a relationship or something in six months, so people won’t talk and say she’s a whore for moving on so quickly to her dead husband’s brother. Something about people living in glass houses? And suddenly he’s so concerned about her reputation. Lily’s like, whatever, and goes home to her native Australia and tries to forget Dane, which we all know would be impossible because he’s her One True Love, the silly goose. All this time, Mark has been in Hong Kong and Hong Kong is on the way to Australia from London, so Dane’s like, you whore, I knew it. Sweet Christmas, cut it out, Dane. Mark is gay. GAYER THAN THE HAMILTUNES GROUP WHO HANGS OUT AT A COFFEE SHOP IN WEST HOLLYWOOD ON THURSDAY NIGHTS. Ugh. This effin’ guy. Dane told Lily that six months would be the appropriate time apart they would need so people wouldn’t talk, but he didn’t tell Lily that he meant SIX MONTHS TO THE DAY and that he would need to hear from her because she would need to be the one to make the first move. WHY!?! I guess it kind of makes sense because Lily making the first move would signal her readiness to move on from her grief, but when Dane doesn’t hear from her six months to the day, he sends her a fax, demanding that she return to London because he needs her (which kind of made me choke up, to be honest). Lily goes back to London and Daniel is all sorts of mad at her because she blew past the deadline of SIX MONTHS TO THE DAY and he thought she didn’t want him anymore. D’awww. That’s kind of cute (he sent her a frickin' fax!). But Dane is still a humongous prick. And then he tells her he went to Hong Kong to see Mark because he thought she was there and ended up spending time with Mark to get his side of the story and got to know Daniel that way. So now he’s okay with Daniel being gay.
Like I said, this is a Michelle Reid, so it’s compulsively readable and super angsty, but it was really challenging for me in parts because of the triggering anti-gay stuff. It’s funny, I guess, that I tend to project my own values on the hero of the moment, believing that he’d be as progressive as I am: feminist (fat chance), an LGBTQ ally, vegetarian (hah!), a tree-hugger (all those private jets? Yeah, right!), and a lover of animals (umm… all of those HP heroines in the 80s and 90s wearing mink?), but it’s laughable because everyone has their own projection of a hero. As a Liberal American, it gets hard sometimes to reconcile my love of Harlequin Heroes with my own progressive values because 99% are throwbacks to a “golden” age where “men were men” and I get irrationally upset when I come across a “hero” like Dane who is definitely not anyone’s idea of a modern man (he sent her a fax!) and yet, I’m the one who chooses to read these older HPs when “men were men” and actually prefer them over the news ones. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a masochist, or one of these thoroughly modern females who just needs a REAL MAN to show me what’s what. **snort**
May 28, 2018
The book starts off very emotional and grabbed my interest right away. Lily is sitting in a hospital waiting room covered in blood. She just found out her husband died in the car wreck when a drunk driver hit them. The hospital staff asked her if there was anyone they could call for her. She asked them to call Dane, her husband’s brother. The two shared a love hate relationship. He accused her of being a gold digger. He thought she was cheating on his brother. He was so far from the truth. He was a little slow figuring out what was going on. In the end it turned out to be a good book.
November 21, 2014
Intrigante, pero predecible. El hombre es demasiado gruñón.
June 2, 2022
“Why did you marry him, Lily?’ he murmured huskily. ‘How could you go ahead and marry him when you knew from the very beginning what was happening between me and you?”
The h was married to the late brother of the H. Usually I despise the keeping-it-in-the-family theme, but in this case the circumstances are different.
He was a jerk to her but I don’t hold it against him. Because she had been living a lie with his brother and they purposely deceived him.
The H was right that she hadn’t been faithful to his brother. He was right that she was a mercenary because she married his brother for the money he would give to her father. He was right that she lies and deceives, even though it was done on his brother’s request.
Very well written though. It kept me engaged. 4 stars.
The h was married to the late brother of the H. Usually I despise the keeping-it-in-the-family theme, but in this case the circumstances are different.
He was a jerk to her but I don’t hold it against him. Because she had been living a lie with his brother and they purposely deceived him.
The H was right that she hadn’t been faithful to his brother. He was right that she was a mercenary because she married his brother for the money he would give to her father. He was right that she lies and deceives, even though it was done on his brother’s request.
Very well written though. It kept me engaged. 4 stars.
March 11, 2022
Pretty average story. The “secret” and how the hero reacts to it has NOT aged well. The hero is the problem with this book. He is just mean, rough, and rude and possessive. Remember that random girl at the beginning?! Sheesh. I’d say read if you’re tapped out but skip if you have a list of books to read.
January 25, 2025
The hero was bigoted. He thought his brother being gay was something which should be vehemently denied because being gay was shameful and made the brother less than.
The hero also tried to make the moves on his brother fiancée and was climbing all over her the moment the brother died.
Not a nice human being
I somehow didn’t like either the hero or heroine. I can’t imagine how I had given it a better rating before
I hate the brother/sister of hero/heroine making a move the moment their sibling dies. It’s disgusting.
The hero also tried to make the moves on his brother fiancée and was climbing all over her the moment the brother died.
Not a nice human being
I somehow didn’t like either the hero or heroine. I can’t imagine how I had given it a better rating before
I hate the brother/sister of hero/heroine making a move the moment their sibling dies. It’s disgusting.
January 1, 2019
Pretty decent. The hero was totally in love but a total ass. And not only that but he was blind as a bat and stupid into the bargain about his brother's sexuality. Still I liked how all in he was with her and I liked the end where he sent her away for 6 months to decide if she really wanted him and to give them some time apart after her husband's death. Then went ballistic when she didn't come home on the actual day of the six month time period.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews