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Alien Vengeance
Mills & Boon proudly presents THE SARA CRAVEN COLLECTION. Sara’s powerful and passionate romances have captivated and thrilled readers all over the world for five decades making her an international bestseller.
There was no excuse for her response
The ruthless Andreas Nikolaides had lured Gemma to his remote villa in Crete with a single purpose in mind: to punish and humiliate her in revenge for her brother's seduction of a local girl.
He was a man Gemma had cause only to hate–a man who was using her as the instrument of a vengeance she could barely understand.
And yet within hours she was falling into his arms, begging him to make love to her–exactly as Andreas had so arrogantly promised she would!
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 10, 1992
About the author
Sara Craven
494 books270 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 15, 2015
Much, much less traumatic for me than Dark Summer Dawn. This was what I expect from a SC. Problem is, it's too much of what I expect from SC (I can't be pleased, apparently).
Seriously, there are at least 3 or 4 of her novels that are almost exactly the same. The first one I read I rated a 4, because it was fresh with the crazy and yay! After that I've been giving them 3's since the similarities are so striking and the differences so minor. Who knows which of those is really the best. I think it depends on which one you read first. *shrugs*
I honestly believe I can give you the basic rundown without particularly spoiling this or any of the other novels in particular. Just the basic plot will be spoiled, but nothing identifiable to any particular SC.
Seriously, there are at least 3 or 4 of her novels that are almost exactly the same. The first one I read I rated a 4, because it was fresh with the crazy and yay! After that I've been giving them 3's since the similarities are so striking and the differences so minor. Who knows which of those is really the best. I think it depends on which one you read first. *shrugs*
I honestly believe I can give you the basic rundown without particularly spoiling this or any of the other novels in particular. Just the basic plot will be spoiled, but nothing identifiable to any particular SC.
January 5, 2016
Re Alien Vengeance - what would HPlandia be like if we had no H's vowing eternal revenge? Probably several thousand books smaller. As the title indicates SC brings us a Greek who is intent on vengeance on the behalf of a his village friend's daughter. It seems the young lady was being passed off to an arranged marriage but the plans fall to the wayside when it is discovered the good Cretan lass is preggers. As the only one seen with her recently was a young English lad renting the H's local house who has since disappeared, the outraged father appeals to his good friend the H to help gain vengeance.
This English lad happens to a have sister who is coming out to visit. The H finds out about this by intercepting a letter telling the sister to delay her arrival as the lad has gone off with friends. So the h shows up and can't find her brother. The H arranges to meet and then kidnap the h and carries her off to the remote Cretan village. He explains that her brother impregnated his friend's daughter and the H plans to keep her, seduce her and then leave her in an interesting condition herself.
Well our feisty but innocent h is having none of that. There is various plottings and escape plans but they all seem to fail when the H kisses the living daylights out of her. Our innocent is a modern girl but she is also virtuous - only virtuosity is hard to hold on to when just looking at the H makes her weak in the knees and even an attempt to stab the H turns into an unexpected trip to passion.
The h resists as long as she can but this IS HPlandia and no one who looks like her is going to resist a man like him (and vice versa) for more than three or four chapters. They finally wind up in a mutual conflagration of passion and the H is likin' his lurvin' A LOT so the h gets to wander around with him while he checks on things.
Turns out our hot blooded Crete isn't a local villager at all, he is an international hotel chain owner and he is squarely in the sights of a German heiress with a much larger bikini top size than the h. Naturally the h is addicted to the love by this point and the little green imp of jealousy takes a ride on her shoulder. Not to worry tho, the H is just as besotted but then tragedy happens.
The village girl lied, the h's brother was not the covert seed planter at all - nope it was a half-Turkish lad, who happened to have a bike, from a village up the road. The girl confesses, the brother shows up and the H makes arrangements to send our h home. He does feel a bit badly and unusually for the time, he even attempts a sorta AlphaManly apology to the h. The h grabs one last night of love for the memory book and prepares to leave Crete behind.
She is terribly mopie about it though and the brother knows his lil' sis well - he can tell the bite of lurve bug when he sees it. So he arranges for the H and h to drive to the airport together and once again the H changes his mind. His sneaky lil' love plan was to let the h go and then follow her home, like a stray puppy, to court her and present himself to her parents as a really rich and suitable suitor. However that last night of love really fuddled his brains so he is just going to take her home to his mum and marry her instead.
The h throws some protestations out about careers and lives and different social strattas - but the H informs her that her only career from now on will be to worship at the altar of his manliness and have his little heirs and heiresses. In return he will give her the moon, stars and what ever else her little heart desires along with the eternal flame of his passionate love.
With lots of Agape Mou's and other passionate exclamations the two take off to the H's mum's - vowing not to reveal that they have somewhat anticipated the wedding night by a wide margin and both hoping the h won't have a telling bump before the wedding can be arranged.
Yet another pleasant outing exploring the perimeters of vengeance and true love in HPlandia as only SC can do. For once rape doesn't come into play and that alone makes it a rarity - especially with SC's backlist of forced seduction stories that lead to true love or Stockholm syndrome.
This English lad happens to a have sister who is coming out to visit. The H finds out about this by intercepting a letter telling the sister to delay her arrival as the lad has gone off with friends. So the h shows up and can't find her brother. The H arranges to meet and then kidnap the h and carries her off to the remote Cretan village. He explains that her brother impregnated his friend's daughter and the H plans to keep her, seduce her and then leave her in an interesting condition herself.
Well our feisty but innocent h is having none of that. There is various plottings and escape plans but they all seem to fail when the H kisses the living daylights out of her. Our innocent is a modern girl but she is also virtuous - only virtuosity is hard to hold on to when just looking at the H makes her weak in the knees and even an attempt to stab the H turns into an unexpected trip to passion.
The h resists as long as she can but this IS HPlandia and no one who looks like her is going to resist a man like him (and vice versa) for more than three or four chapters. They finally wind up in a mutual conflagration of passion and the H is likin' his lurvin' A LOT so the h gets to wander around with him while he checks on things.
Turns out our hot blooded Crete isn't a local villager at all, he is an international hotel chain owner and he is squarely in the sights of a German heiress with a much larger bikini top size than the h. Naturally the h is addicted to the love by this point and the little green imp of jealousy takes a ride on her shoulder. Not to worry tho, the H is just as besotted but then tragedy happens.
The village girl lied, the h's brother was not the covert seed planter at all - nope it was a half-Turkish lad, who happened to have a bike, from a village up the road. The girl confesses, the brother shows up and the H makes arrangements to send our h home. He does feel a bit badly and unusually for the time, he even attempts a sorta AlphaManly apology to the h. The h grabs one last night of love for the memory book and prepares to leave Crete behind.
She is terribly mopie about it though and the brother knows his lil' sis well - he can tell the bite of lurve bug when he sees it. So he arranges for the H and h to drive to the airport together and once again the H changes his mind. His sneaky lil' love plan was to let the h go and then follow her home, like a stray puppy, to court her and present himself to her parents as a really rich and suitable suitor. However that last night of love really fuddled his brains so he is just going to take her home to his mum and marry her instead.
The h throws some protestations out about careers and lives and different social strattas - but the H informs her that her only career from now on will be to worship at the altar of his manliness and have his little heirs and heiresses. In return he will give her the moon, stars and what ever else her little heart desires along with the eternal flame of his passionate love.
With lots of Agape Mou's and other passionate exclamations the two take off to the H's mum's - vowing not to reveal that they have somewhat anticipated the wedding night by a wide margin and both hoping the h won't have a telling bump before the wedding can be arranged.
Yet another pleasant outing exploring the perimeters of vengeance and true love in HPlandia as only SC can do. For once rape doesn't come into play and that alone makes it a rarity - especially with SC's backlist of forced seduction stories that lead to true love or Stockholm syndrome.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2016
ok my Q is this...if the H abducts and forces himself on the h all in the name of honour n greek vendetta, and i still find him sweet n caring ,do i need to visit a shrink?
And on top of it, if i also find the book a 'sweet n light' read even though the 'i love him' epiphany comes to the h just seconds after he coldly n mechanically rids her of her virginity?
or maybe don't answer it! *smh*
And on top of it, if i also find the book a 'sweet n light' read even though the 'i love him' epiphany comes to the h just seconds after he coldly n mechanically rids her of her virginity?
or maybe don't answer it! *smh*
June 21, 2013
This story takes place in the beautiful Greek island of Crete. The hero thinks the heroine's brother is a bastard who seduced and left pregnant a local innocent village girl. The hero seeks vengeance for poor Maria's honor. He kidnaps the heroine, seduces her and hopes to impregnate her. The feisty but already in lust heroine tries to escape a few times but she fails and she is back in her prisoner's arms.
She thinks he is a poor islander when in reality he owns several hotels in many Greek islands. He even takes her to one of his hotels where a sexy German heiress flirts shamelessly with him and of course the heroine is crazy with jealousy and realizes she is in love with her captor. When the hero finds out the heroine's brother is innocent, therefore his revenge needless he wants to lets her go but he can't because he has fallen head over heels for sweet innocent Gemma.
I really loved this book. It is so intense, full of emotions and angst and two very interesting passionate characters. Its on my keepers list!!!
She thinks he is a poor islander when in reality he owns several hotels in many Greek islands. He even takes her to one of his hotels where a sexy German heiress flirts shamelessly with him and of course the heroine is crazy with jealousy and realizes she is in love with her captor. When the hero finds out the heroine's brother is innocent, therefore his revenge needless he wants to lets her go but he can't because he has fallen head over heels for sweet innocent Gemma.
I really loved this book. It is so intense, full of emotions and angst and two very interesting passionate characters. Its on my keepers list!!!
April 1, 2018
All my Goodreads heroes (and you know who you are) keep blowing me away with their in depth reviews of hard to find Harlequins from way back in the day. So finally, after ransacking the junk heap behind the public library where I work, I found . . . this piece of junk!
Really, it's not all bad. I mean, the title. Come on, THE TITLE! "Alien Vengeance??" Really? I was so hoping for flying saucers, ray guns, and some bad ass reporter shouting "watch the skies! watch the skies!"
But no, some sour, dyspeptic, English broad goes on vacation to Crete in the Mediterranean. She's looking for her charming, weak-willed brother who's seemingly gone MIA in the back country of the rugged Cretan hills. Have to say, the author was a little TOO realistic here. I always pictured Crete the way it was around 1500 BC, with bare-breasted priestesses dancing and tons of precious treasure coming in from Egypt and everyone just enjoying life till the volcano next door explodes. But no, this is modern Crete -- and Sara Craven describes it like it's one big trailer park. You know, not too much running water, roads are terrible, people are strange, when you're a stranger, faces look ugly, when you're alone. And then it gets worse!
The heroine's useless brother, in time honored fashion, has outraged the hero by (supposedly) seducing a local girl. So the hero announces he must take "vengeance" by seducing the heroine! I could have really enjoyed this premise, but Andreas was just petty and nasty about the whole thing, like you also have to make dinner every night and clean up after me while I lie around and make like Big Joe Turner. ("Well fix my supper don't want no talking back!") So the heroine tries to run away -- one of my favorite tropes -- but it doesn't go very far. And then she's trapped, and even the hero's dog pushes her around! So now stop because I'm going to do SPOILERS!
Finally, the whole thing is revealed to be a big misunderstanding. The goofy little brother didn't really sleep with anyone! The hero grovels to the heroine, sort of. Everyone thinks it's great that things have worked out fine. Looking back, I think the book really "peaked" before the hero shows up in chapter one, where the heroine falls asleep in a lounge chair and has a really sexy dream about being an ancient Greek princess being served up to a hunk in a Minotaur bull mask.
I wish I could have read THAT book. And please don't mention Mary Renault to me, because she totally and completely sucks.
Really, it's not all bad. I mean, the title. Come on, THE TITLE! "Alien Vengeance??" Really? I was so hoping for flying saucers, ray guns, and some bad ass reporter shouting "watch the skies! watch the skies!"
But no, some sour, dyspeptic, English broad goes on vacation to Crete in the Mediterranean. She's looking for her charming, weak-willed brother who's seemingly gone MIA in the back country of the rugged Cretan hills. Have to say, the author was a little TOO realistic here. I always pictured Crete the way it was around 1500 BC, with bare-breasted priestesses dancing and tons of precious treasure coming in from Egypt and everyone just enjoying life till the volcano next door explodes. But no, this is modern Crete -- and Sara Craven describes it like it's one big trailer park. You know, not too much running water, roads are terrible, people are strange, when you're a stranger, faces look ugly, when you're alone. And then it gets worse!
The heroine's useless brother, in time honored fashion, has outraged the hero by (supposedly) seducing a local girl. So the hero announces he must take "vengeance" by seducing the heroine! I could have really enjoyed this premise, but Andreas was just petty and nasty about the whole thing, like you also have to make dinner every night and clean up after me while I lie around and make like Big Joe Turner. ("Well fix my supper don't want no talking back!") So the heroine tries to run away -- one of my favorite tropes -- but it doesn't go very far. And then she's trapped, and even the hero's dog pushes her around! So now stop because I'm going to do SPOILERS!
Finally, the whole thing is revealed to be a big misunderstanding. The goofy little brother didn't really sleep with anyone! The hero grovels to the heroine, sort of. Everyone thinks it's great that things have worked out fine. Looking back, I think the book really "peaked" before the hero shows up in chapter one, where the heroine falls asleep in a lounge chair and has a really sexy dream about being an ancient Greek princess being served up to a hunk in a Minotaur bull mask.
I wish I could have read THAT book. And please don't mention Mary Renault to me, because she totally and completely sucks.
May 4, 2013
This should have been the worst book ever....and yet I liked it.
This is the typical Greek vengeance for the honor of a village girl.Supposedly seduced and pregnant by the h's brother. It's encumbent upon the local lord to seek retribution by seducing and hopefully empregnating the h to bring shame upon the brother and his family.
The H is confident that altho he has kidnapped the h he won't have to rape her. He's determined to seduce her and she's determined to resist. She tries to escape and she even tries to cut him with a knife but in the end she's determined to be ...seduced.
Ooooops!! There's been a mistake (the heroine told him her brother wasn"t guilty) the brother wasn't guilty. Now what? Should the h's family exact revenge on the H? Oh well you know the rest of the story..HEA.
This is the typical Greek vengeance for the honor of a village girl.Supposedly seduced and pregnant by the h's brother. It's encumbent upon the local lord to seek retribution by seducing and hopefully empregnating the h to bring shame upon the brother and his family.
The H is confident that altho he has kidnapped the h he won't have to rape her. He's determined to seduce her and she's determined to resist. She tries to escape and she even tries to cut him with a knife but in the end she's determined to be ...seduced.
Ooooops!! There's been a mistake (the heroine told him her brother wasn"t guilty) the brother wasn't guilty. Now what? Should the h's family exact revenge on the H? Oh well you know the rest of the story..HEA.
September 28, 2019
"Alien Vengeance" is the story of Gemma and Andreas.
Our h is a independent career woman who travels to the Greek Island of Crete to meet her brother. Instead she is lured by the hero to a remote Island for revenge! The reason- her brother apparently impregnated a local village girl and vanished, and the hero wants payback by seducing the heroine.
He is pretty straightforward about his intentions and traps her. The heroine "tries" to run away, but ultimately gives into his seduction. But when the actual truth reveals itself as her brother returns, will the heroine choose the hero, or walk away?
Average read, hot lovemaking, super alpha hero and an easily seduced heroine.
Safe
3/5
Our h is a independent career woman who travels to the Greek Island of Crete to meet her brother. Instead she is lured by the hero to a remote Island for revenge! The reason- her brother apparently impregnated a local village girl and vanished, and the hero wants payback by seducing the heroine.
He is pretty straightforward about his intentions and traps her. The heroine "tries" to run away, but ultimately gives into his seduction. But when the actual truth reveals itself as her brother returns, will the heroine choose the hero, or walk away?
Average read, hot lovemaking, super alpha hero and an easily seduced heroine.
Safe
3/5
October 30, 2014
I've never had a culture come so alive for me in a book as with this, and I've read many an attempt. Ms. Craven made the place (Crete) and the customs of the people almost as much a character as our H and h. She even, I believe intentionally, had a way of having Gemma refer to our H (since Gemma didn’t know his name for a good part of the book) as ‘the Cretan’ which I took for a pun on the word cretin.
Anyway, those are the finer points. The bigger issues are: the book was quite emotive, and yet, quite ridiculous. We are supposed to read HP’s, especially the older ones, with our disbelief waiting, willing and wanting to be suspended. I am usually VERY apt at this. However, though I’ve read this kind of scheme before, I found it a bit ludicrous that Andreas thought he would exact his plan and still have his actions be honourable. He is GOING to ‘take’ her (don’t you love these no longer used euphemistic action words), to even the score for what her brother was accused of doing. He hoped to make her pregnant, just like the young village girl who’d started it all, and then, would finally send her away to live alone with the shame and taint on her family. Oh, all of this after making her work for him as a barefoot, nearly-naked (she resorted to wearing a shirt of his) servant.
I also had to string my disbelief, and my common sense, way up in the rafters (let’s pretend that’s what the phrase suggests), where I couldn’t reach it in an emergency, when she started to fall in love with him. Now, it is all beautifully, and oddly enough, believably conveyed (I was choked up on a few occasions, but I’m a sap). Still, I had to turn my back when thoughts of Stockholm Syndrome came knocking.
It ended, inevitably, how I thought it would . But even with my stated problems where reasoning was concerned, and even with my knowing just how things would turn out, it didn’t cease to be quite a good read, and well worth the four stars.
Anyway, those are the finer points. The bigger issues are: the book was quite emotive, and yet, quite ridiculous. We are supposed to read HP’s, especially the older ones, with our disbelief waiting, willing and wanting to be suspended. I am usually VERY apt at this. However, though I’ve read this kind of scheme before, I found it a bit ludicrous that Andreas thought he would exact his plan and still have his actions be honourable. He is GOING to ‘take’ her (don’t you love these no longer used euphemistic action words), to even the score for what her brother was accused of doing. He hoped to make her pregnant, just like the young village girl who’d started it all, and then, would finally send her away to live alone with the shame and taint on her family. Oh, all of this after making her work for him as a barefoot, nearly-naked (she resorted to wearing a shirt of his) servant.
I also had to string my disbelief, and my common sense, way up in the rafters (let’s pretend that’s what the phrase suggests), where I couldn’t reach it in an emergency, when she started to fall in love with him. Now, it is all beautifully, and oddly enough, believably conveyed (I was choked up on a few occasions, but I’m a sap). Still, I had to turn my back when thoughts of Stockholm Syndrome came knocking.
It ended, inevitably, how I thought it would . But even with my stated problems where reasoning was concerned, and even with my knowing just how things would turn out, it didn’t cease to be quite a good read, and well worth the four stars.
February 4, 2016
I think I've read this before. :) Not this story exactly, but this Sara Craven scenario. The outlines of a good revenge story were there, but not one character felt sustained highs or lows. The heroine was upset until she discovered sex was good. The hero felt a little guilty until he gave her another orgasm. Plus, the heroine fell in love way too quickly and the hero didn't angst enough about his mistake.
What was I looking for? An apology from the lying liar who lied about the heroine's brother. An escape by the heroine that shook up the hero - maybe an injury thrown in for him to feel remorse. Fisticuffs between brother and hero.
Instead we get a lighthearted description of a Greek wedding, a trip to a luxury hotel with an OW thrown in. Where's my Stockholm syndrome? Where's my anguish at the villagers turning a blind eye to the young Englishwoman? Sigh. Stop pulling your punches, SC!
King of Swords by the same author did this scenario with much more intensity. (Although the reasons for his revenge weren't the same)
What was I looking for? An apology from the lying liar who lied about the heroine's brother. An escape by the heroine that shook up the hero - maybe an injury thrown in for him to feel remorse. Fisticuffs between brother and hero.
Instead we get a lighthearted description of a Greek wedding, a trip to a luxury hotel with an OW thrown in. Where's my Stockholm syndrome? Where's my anguish at the villagers turning a blind eye to the young Englishwoman? Sigh. Stop pulling your punches, SC!
King of Swords by the same author did this scenario with much more intensity. (Although the reasons for his revenge weren't the same)
June 22, 2013
I think I am in the minority on this one, but I can barely give this 3 stars.
I know you can't read these books for gripping glimpses into reality, but the implausibility of this one took the cake. Top it off with a horrible hero that no one in their right mind could ever love and you have the makings of a rather shallow love story.
I also felt that the "rape" scene was particularly gruesome, where he himself admits to behaving like an animal. Yet the heroine not only turns around and jumps right back into bed with him making like a sex starved rabbit, but claims that he didn't rape her. If the author had played this angle slightly differently and created a different time line, I think this could have been a much more credible and entertaining read. I just can't buy into the romance when a man sets out to seduce you, impregnate you so that he can cast you aside and have you carry the shame all your life. What a guy.
I know you can't read these books for gripping glimpses into reality, but the implausibility of this one took the cake. Top it off with a horrible hero that no one in their right mind could ever love and you have the makings of a rather shallow love story.
I also felt that the "rape" scene was particularly gruesome, where he himself admits to behaving like an animal. Yet the heroine not only turns around and jumps right back into bed with him making like a sex starved rabbit, but claims that he didn't rape her. If the author had played this angle slightly differently and created a different time line, I think this could have been a much more credible and entertaining read. I just can't buy into the romance when a man sets out to seduce you, impregnate you so that he can cast you aside and have you carry the shame all your life. What a guy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2024
Honestly these 80s HPs that we lapped up, with their insane kidnap plots and deflowering of a relative as tit for tat vengeance. I do like to muse on how this fantasy situation provided the self-sacrificial necessary free pass to having the absolute pre-marital ride of your life. It's ok girls, you can have unmarried screaming orgasms at the hands of a wealthy Adonis with skillz because you're his prisoner and you're doing it for your family. Nothing wrong with a bit of fantasy. SC excels at this hint of gothic batshittery with added Greek (in this case Cretan) local colour and bits of language whose translation accuracy I am led to doubt on occasion. Gemma is an upstanding h who puts up a token fight then goes all in on his muscular bronzed beauty and who can blame her. He keeps her without shoes and clothes so she wears his shirts with outlandish rope belts or sashes (why? Especially with no knickers on you'd want it uncinched surely?!) He sponges her down after the deflowering, when she has bled, he cooks a mean steak and makes salad, he gives marvellous oral, he's a millionaire hotelier. Boxes well and truly ticked. Obviously the brother, botany student Mike, who has supposedly defiled a greek girl (the suitably pert Maria)returns and reveals a misunderstanding and Andreas (our H) proposes marriage. She suffers agonies of self denial as a good HP h should until he says the magic L word. Am I envying these two their future Greek island wedded bliss? Damn straight.
October 22, 2016
Gemma and Andreas the ruthless.
A quintessential harlequin read. There's the domineering, wealthy H being a jerk and jumping to the wrong conclusions. There's the ineffectual yet spunky virginal h who is blindsided by her lust for the H. Plus a small handful of side characters including the wannabe OW.
The plot is crazy OTT and needs a LOT of 'suspension of disbelief' but that's nothing new in harlequis, lol.
Gemma's brother is suspected of getting the local girl pregnant and then running off. In retaliation, the girl's male relatives have turned to her wealthy godfather to enact vengeance/justice...
He lures Gemma to his out of the way villa where she is isolated as the bus only comes once a week. There he intends to do Hammurabi justice aka, an eye for an eye. But really it is just Andreas' lust, using vengeance as an excuse to get Gemma into his bed.
I found this one hard to put down and was up late finishing it, but I do wish there had been more to the ending. An epilogue would have been great. The H is properly contrite and sweet, even apologizing, but I would have liked to see him work harder or longer for his forgiveness. It was a bit annoying that the h didn't try harder to escape. Made her seem a wee bit simple. But then that can be included in the 'suspension of disbelief' I guess.
A quintessential harlequin read. There's the domineering, wealthy H being a jerk and jumping to the wrong conclusions. There's the ineffectual yet spunky virginal h who is blindsided by her lust for the H. Plus a small handful of side characters including the wannabe OW.
The plot is crazy OTT and needs a LOT of 'suspension of disbelief' but that's nothing new in harlequis, lol.
Gemma's brother is suspected of getting the local girl pregnant and then running off. In retaliation, the girl's male relatives have turned to her wealthy godfather to enact vengeance/justice...
He lures Gemma to his out of the way villa where she is isolated as the bus only comes once a week. There he intends to do Hammurabi justice aka, an eye for an eye. But really it is just Andreas' lust, using vengeance as an excuse to get Gemma into his bed.
I found this one hard to put down and was up late finishing it, but I do wish there had been more to the ending. An epilogue would have been great. The H is properly contrite and sweet, even apologizing, but I would have liked to see him work harder or longer for his forgiveness. It was a bit annoying that the h didn't try harder to escape. Made her seem a wee bit simple. But then that can be included in the 'suspension of disbelief' I guess.
June 9, 2020
3.5 stars
February 18, 2019
My favorite kind of Harlequin romance! The hero kidnaps the heroine in some Greek vendetta against her brother. Yes, it's a simple and ridiculous plot, but these kinds of books were why I read romance novels.
November 20, 2014
I don't understand why the heroine is supposedly in love with the hero.
He's a complete creep.
If Harlequin romances had a divorce rate, these two would be getting one once the heroine stopped being pathetic and realized what a creep her husband was.
As a side note, the girl on the cover looks like the school slut from the old movie Peyton Place.
He's a complete creep.
If Harlequin romances had a divorce rate, these two would be getting one once the heroine stopped being pathetic and realized what a creep her husband was.
As a side note, the girl on the cover looks like the school slut from the old movie Peyton Place.
February 15, 2026
When I was younger I used to find it hard to try this book. Gave up in the beginning itself two or three times because the whole premise of the story was bizarre and outlandish.
But I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this time. Perhaps last time i read it I would have given it 3-1/2 stars. I wanted more realism in those days.
This story is set in cloud cuckoo land.
The hero is a hotel magnate. And yet …. He is involved in the plot to avenge the dishonour of the girl next door (in a village home of his grandfather’s.)
How does a billionaire hotelier get the time or the level of pettiness to involve himself in some other family’s vendetta plot??? Seems far fetched to me.
But anyway. The hero who lives far away in other places gets to know that his grandfather’s god daughter has been dishonoured by some Englishman. So the only outcome from this ?? Demand compensation?? No. Of course not. You find out when the Englishman’s sister is visiting and then you lure her to the village home. You then hide her clothes so she’s wandering around barefoot (and bare other things) in shirts belonging to you.
So that’s what the hero does.
He makes her cook for him and sleep with him.
I mean in between his duties as CEO of hotel chain he finds time to go and deflower a hapless young girl as revenge on her brother.
Very modern and cultured.
Anyway. I read it with great interest and they seemed very besotted with each other so that was nice.
Hopefully hero will never have to take revenge on some other family again. (Don’t take that seriously I’m
Joking)
It just seems unlikely that a man of the world will stoop to such behaviour. That too for some village neighbour girl.
If you love Sara Craven’s style of writing do read it. The conversations between hero and heroine are lovely. Full of unspoken attraction. Etc.
She wrote conversations very well always.
What I like about her stories is that the man truly seems to love the woman and he is also a focal part of the story and not just incidental.
I just was not convinced that a man from the upper crust of society would do such a low down deed.
Author could have made it that he owed a debt and was forced to repay it this way.
I think she did write that in The Count’s Blackmail Bargain.
So that’s my review.
But I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this time. Perhaps last time i read it I would have given it 3-1/2 stars. I wanted more realism in those days.
This story is set in cloud cuckoo land.
The hero is a hotel magnate. And yet …. He is involved in the plot to avenge the dishonour of the girl next door (in a village home of his grandfather’s.)
How does a billionaire hotelier get the time or the level of pettiness to involve himself in some other family’s vendetta plot??? Seems far fetched to me.
But anyway. The hero who lives far away in other places gets to know that his grandfather’s god daughter has been dishonoured by some Englishman. So the only outcome from this ?? Demand compensation?? No. Of course not. You find out when the Englishman’s sister is visiting and then you lure her to the village home. You then hide her clothes so she’s wandering around barefoot (and bare other things) in shirts belonging to you.
So that’s what the hero does.
He makes her cook for him and sleep with him.
I mean in between his duties as CEO of hotel chain he finds time to go and deflower a hapless young girl as revenge on her brother.
Very modern and cultured.
Anyway. I read it with great interest and they seemed very besotted with each other so that was nice.
Hopefully hero will never have to take revenge on some other family again. (Don’t take that seriously I’m
Joking)
It just seems unlikely that a man of the world will stoop to such behaviour. That too for some village neighbour girl.
If you love Sara Craven’s style of writing do read it. The conversations between hero and heroine are lovely. Full of unspoken attraction. Etc.
She wrote conversations very well always.
What I like about her stories is that the man truly seems to love the woman and he is also a focal part of the story and not just incidental.
I just was not convinced that a man from the upper crust of society would do such a low down deed.
Author could have made it that he owed a debt and was forced to repay it this way.
I think she did write that in The Count’s Blackmail Bargain.
So that’s my review.
July 23, 2019
What's with the title? Weird. Our hero is dumb, kinda rapes the heroine, and mystically is in love with her?! The reason for the kidnap was nuts and flattened out like the author forgot about it. How many showers does the heroine take? 5? 6? Jeez. Still its a fun trashy read. Don't take it too seriously.
March 8, 2023
Rating: ** 2 stars**
One thing I hate about most M&B revenge stories that ML's start out with the anti-hero element for them to abruptly slide into cheesy shakespearean side-kicks towards the end..
‘Stay with me here, treasure of my life and let me teach you to love me. Let me make up to you for all the bitterness that has been between us.’
‘So, I ask again, Gemma mou , will you marry me. Will you be my life, as I will be yours?’
The only thing that drove me to give 2 stars was the FL. A bit sensible and bearable than the rest.
One thing I hate about most M&B revenge stories that ML's start out with the anti-hero element for them to abruptly slide into cheesy shakespearean side-kicks towards the end..
‘Stay with me here, treasure of my life and let me teach you to love me. Let me make up to you for all the bitterness that has been between us.’
‘So, I ask again, Gemma mou , will you marry me. Will you be my life, as I will be yours?’
The only thing that drove me to give 2 stars was the FL. A bit sensible and bearable than the rest.
December 7, 2021
I really enjoyed this. Standard Sara Craven fare (so 'forced seduction' & threats & such are abound), but I thought the H and h were well-suited & the H wasn't so bad as far as kidnapping revenge plot H's go. Anyway, I felt the chemistry.
Except, because I love romance but I don't think I am a romantic, I think the h should have gotten one free gut punch for having to listen to this gem of a line: "Little wasp. Has no man ever taught you to sweeten your tongue?" Oy vey. *eye roll*
Except, because I love romance but I don't think I am a romantic, I think the h should have gotten one free gut punch for having to listen to this gem of a line: "Little wasp. Has no man ever taught you to sweeten your tongue?" Oy vey. *eye roll*
November 15, 2017
Superb
December 9, 2017
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September 9, 2019
Consent is very much an issue with this one to an extreme degree.
June 16, 2023
Read a while back but still remember mostly because the plot is ghoulish. H thinks h’s brother sinned, therefore H will rape h. That is evil (but makes a good revenge set up).
January 28, 2025
Zero stars actually . What a silly absurd story. Nothing in it justifies them falling in love, even by Hp standards. Nothing in it makes sense also by hp standards. So .. you have been warned.🙃
February 14, 2026
Stockholm syndrome.
January 3, 2016
Creo, mas no estoy segura, ya haber leido algo de Sara Craven.
Lo que me ánimo a leerla fue la sinopsis ya que se veía interesante y me daba la impresión de que habría mucho drama y yo amo el drama, la vida no es nada sin él.
Como dije, leí esta novela por la sinopsis que me había parecido pasable y así pero fue al final de ésta donde me moleste de sobre manera cuando leí que ella terminaba "suplicando que él la tomara".
Es decir, cómo rayos terminas suplicando a tu casi secuestrador una cosa así.
Y digo casi secuestrador porque no la llegó a amarrar ni nada de eso, solo el oculto su equipaje y la dejo vistiendo una toalla...casual.
Y ya que nos encontramos revelando las quejas también me gustaría añadir el hecho de que ella se da cuenta que lo ama cuando tenía menos de tres días con él. Al leerlo me quedé con la boca abierta;
CÓMO RAYOS ES ESO POSIBLE.
Y pese al repentino enamoramiento (de ambos) me gusto mucho la parte final en la que el le dice que sin ella no tiene mundo♥
Sí...soy una romántica.
Finalmente 3/5 estrellas por el drama que hubo al final que de no haber sido por eso la habría dejado con 2/5
Lo que me ánimo a leerla fue la sinopsis ya que se veía interesante y me daba la impresión de que habría mucho drama y yo amo el drama, la vida no es nada sin él.
Como dije, leí esta novela por la sinopsis que me había parecido pasable y así pero fue al final de ésta donde me moleste de sobre manera cuando leí que ella terminaba "suplicando que él la tomara".
Es decir, cómo rayos terminas suplicando a tu casi secuestrador una cosa así.
Y digo casi secuestrador porque no la llegó a amarrar ni nada de eso, solo el oculto su equipaje y la dejo vistiendo una toalla...casual.
Y ya que nos encontramos revelando las quejas también me gustaría añadir el hecho de que ella se da cuenta que lo ama cuando tenía menos de tres días con él. Al leerlo me quedé con la boca abierta;
CÓMO RAYOS ES ESO POSIBLE.
Y pese al repentino enamoramiento (de ambos) me gusto mucho la parte final en la que el le dice que sin ella no tiene mundo♥
Sí...soy una romántica.
Finalmente 3/5 estrellas por el drama que hubo al final que de no haber sido por eso la habría dejado con 2/5
October 13, 2015
Andreas Nikolaides ha attirato Gemma con l'inganno nella sua villa isolata, a Creta, con l'unico scopo di usarla quale strumento di vendetta contro il fratello di lei, colpevole di avere sedotto una ragazza greca.
E Gemma dovrebbe odiare quell'essere alieno, quell'uomo che ha una mentalità tanto diversa dalla sua, invece nello spazio di poche ore il suo odio si trasforma in un sentimento ambiguo, contorto, che la spinge a gettarsi tra le braccia del suo nemico e a pregarlo di consumare la sua vendetta.
E Gemma dovrebbe odiare quell'essere alieno, quell'uomo che ha una mentalità tanto diversa dalla sua, invece nello spazio di poche ore il suo odio si trasforma in un sentimento ambiguo, contorto, che la spinge a gettarsi tra le braccia del suo nemico e a pregarlo di consumare la sua vendetta.
February 8, 2021
There was no excuse for her response
The ruthless Andreas Nikolaides had lured Gemma to his remote villa in Crete with a single purpose in mind: to punish and humiliate her in revenge for her brother's seduction of a local girl.
He was a man Gemma had cause only to hate--a man who was using her as the instrument of a vengeance she could barely understand.
And yet within hours she was falling into his arms, begging him to make love to her--exactly as Andreas had so arrogantly promised she would!
The ruthless Andreas Nikolaides had lured Gemma to his remote villa in Crete with a single purpose in mind: to punish and humiliate her in revenge for her brother's seduction of a local girl.
He was a man Gemma had cause only to hate--a man who was using her as the instrument of a vengeance she could barely understand.
And yet within hours she was falling into his arms, begging him to make love to her--exactly as Andreas had so arrogantly promised she would!
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