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Claiming His Mistress
When hotshot financier Carver Dane attends a masked ball, he isn't expecting a fiery encounter with a woman who ignites the same compelling desire he once knew with Katie Beaumont.
Katie is stunned by her response to a sexy stranger. The last time she felt such intense longing was ten years ago, in the arms of a man she was forced to give up. When the masks come off, and the past comes alive, Carver is determined to claim Katie. But as his mistress or more?
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
15 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Emma Darcy
643 books332 followersEmma Darcy is the pseudonym created by the married writing team of Wendy (1940-2020) and Frank Brennan (1936-1995). Their life journey has taken as many twists and turns as the characters in their stories, whose international popularity has resulted in over sixty-million book sales. With more than a hundred titles, Emma Darcy appeared regularly on the Waldenbooks bestseller lists in the U.S.A. and in the Nielson BookScan Top 100 chart in the U.K.
Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia. Her sister was the novelist Maureen Mary (Miranda Lee). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. She obtained an Honours degree in Latin and initially worked as a high school English/French teacher. She married Frank Brennan, an Australian businessman born in 1936. She changed careers to computer programming before marriage and motherhood settled her into a community life. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.
As voracious readers, the step to writing their own books seemed a natural progression and the challenge of creating exciting stories was soon highly addictive. They were published since 1983. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrotes books on her own. She lived in a beachside property on the central coast of New South Wales, and liked to travel extensively to research settings and increase her experience of places and people.
Wendy Brennan passed away on December 21, 2020. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sister, writer Miranda Lee.
Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia. Her sister was the novelist Maureen Mary (Miranda Lee). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. She obtained an Honours degree in Latin and initially worked as a high school English/French teacher. She married Frank Brennan, an Australian businessman born in 1936. She changed careers to computer programming before marriage and motherhood settled her into a community life. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.
As voracious readers, the step to writing their own books seemed a natural progression and the challenge of creating exciting stories was soon highly addictive. They were published since 1983. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrotes books on her own. She lived in a beachside property on the central coast of New South Wales, and liked to travel extensively to research settings and increase her experience of places and people.
Wendy Brennan passed away on December 21, 2020. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sister, writer Miranda Lee.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 23, 2019
Re Claiming His Mistress - Emma Darcy does her bit to expand the Lurve Club Mojo Event Boundaries in this one.
But in the race to produce more jaw-dropping HP lurve club extravaganzas, ED has to sacrifice her usual detailed plot and characterizations and gives us a very stereotyped and tart shamming misogynistic HP outing.
The basics of this HP voyage are that the H and h were young lovers ten years earlier when the h was 19. She was the only child of a controlling, uber wealthy domineering widower father and the H was the only child of a not rich, controlling, domineering widowed mother.
When the h's father found them in flagrante delicto all those years ago, he attacked the H and broke his jaw. The horrified h then got the biggest nasty smackdown of her life from the H's mother as the poor, terrified girl waited for news of the health status of the H.
(The H's mother went on and on and on about how the h was ruining the H's life and distracting him from his life's ambition to be a surgeon.)
The h felt so bad and despised her father so much that she took herself off to England and Europe for the next ten years. The h became a nanny, forsaking her Australian home to try and forget the only man who owns her heart.
The h is in super duper HP mopey moment mourning when the story starts, because a few years earlier, she got an extremely delayed delivery letter from the H. He wanted to see her and try for a second chance at their romance.
Unfortunately, the h got the letter six months after the H wrote it. When she went to find him and start again, she learned the H was married and had a child. The h took it as a metaphorical slap to the face and tried to move on with her life.
(All this is the back story of the H and h, it comes into the story as the recollections of both the H and h are related to the reader in inner monologues.)
Chapter one has the h back in Australia and looking for non parental financing to start a kid's taxi service for busy parents. But before we get to that part, ED has us and the h attending a masquerade ball at the invitation of the h's matchmaking BFF.
The h meets a tall, dark, pirate stranger who stalks her outside to the balcony. In a very risque scene for the HP line at the time, they proceed to have a major lurve club event.
( It is, of course, the H that the h is having stranger exhibitionist purple passion moments with, but for all intents and purposes - these two have an outdoor hook up at a charity ball with a huge risk of public exposure.)
The next day the h goes to a meeting she arranged with a venture capitalist group to see if they will finance her kid taxi idear. To her great surprise, the H is now one of the senior directors of the group and when he sees the h in the elevator, he finagles it so that she has to see him to ask for the financing.
We learn that the H became a venture capitalist instead of a doctor. The surgeon thing was his mother's dream and the H finally cut the cord on her controlling ways a few years earlier, then had to provide his mother with a home and medical assistance after she had a partially paralyzing stroke.
The now widowed H is all about getting the h as his seekrit lurve club relaxation opportunity and the h is so desperate to reconnect with him that she allows it - after the H gives her the financing she wants to start her business.
There are pages and pages of boudoir and wall banging moments, the h wants to ask for more from their relationship, but the H uses the excuse of her starting her business and his daughter to keep her in his closet.
It all comes to a boil as the h's meddling, busybody BFF invites the H and his daughter and the h to the same party with the intent of matchmaking - while firmly lecturing the h on accepting that the H has a child with another woman because the h is such a natural with children and they adore her. The BFF, who knows the history between the H and h, thinks the h should just latch on to the H as fast as she can.
To the h's huge surprise, the H's daughter asks the h if she is her mum. (Mainly cause the little girl looks a lot like the h does in coloring and physical shape.) The h is horrified, but everyone else thinks it is marvelous that the h and the H's daughter look so similar.
The h ends up leaving the party after yet another H beratement and rejection. Then the H decides that having a mother for his child and a sex toy on tap is only to the good - now that he has knocked the h down to the appropriate sub sewer level emotionally - so he hunts the h down and they agree to try meeting each other's families.
The h has been gradually mending fences with her father and since the father respects business acumen, he is now fine with the H shagging his daughter. The H's mother still has to start some smack tho. When the h shows up at the H's house at his invitation, the H's mother does apologize for her past treatment.
Then the woman decides to play the martyr route by insisting that if the H marries the h, the mother will leave the H's home and go into care. The h tries to nip that in the bud by explaining that if the mother leaves, the H will believe the h is a heartless monster, so the mother makes the h swear never to tell the H about the extent of the mother's manipulations ten years earlier.
The pathetic h agrees to keep the passive aggressive snot gulping mother's behavior a seekrit and sets about proving that she is fine with being a sloppy second for the H and will be a doormat for his daughter.
This willingness to be trampled upon inspires the H to propose marriage and since the h only wants to be a devoted throw rug forever more, the h accepts.
We then learn that the H only slept with his daughter's mother in a drunken one nighter cause the woman looked like the h, married the woman to keep her from having a termination and was in the process of divorcing her when she died.
Also, the H's mother confessed her reprehensible behavior towards the h ten years earlier and the H is peeved that he has no grounds to keep berating the h anymore.
Anyhows, the upshot of all this confessing is that the H and h have great passion, maybe might love each other and the daughter needs a mum - so they are going to get married and let the BFF take the credit for a successful match up in another day at the HP office.
But in the race to produce more jaw-dropping HP lurve club extravaganzas, ED has to sacrifice her usual detailed plot and characterizations and gives us a very stereotyped and tart shamming misogynistic HP outing.
The basics of this HP voyage are that the H and h were young lovers ten years earlier when the h was 19. She was the only child of a controlling, uber wealthy domineering widower father and the H was the only child of a not rich, controlling, domineering widowed mother.
When the h's father found them in flagrante delicto all those years ago, he attacked the H and broke his jaw. The horrified h then got the biggest nasty smackdown of her life from the H's mother as the poor, terrified girl waited for news of the health status of the H.
(The H's mother went on and on and on about how the h was ruining the H's life and distracting him from his life's ambition to be a surgeon.)
The h felt so bad and despised her father so much that she took herself off to England and Europe for the next ten years. The h became a nanny, forsaking her Australian home to try and forget the only man who owns her heart.
The h is in super duper HP mopey moment mourning when the story starts, because a few years earlier, she got an extremely delayed delivery letter from the H. He wanted to see her and try for a second chance at their romance.
Unfortunately, the h got the letter six months after the H wrote it. When she went to find him and start again, she learned the H was married and had a child. The h took it as a metaphorical slap to the face and tried to move on with her life.
(All this is the back story of the H and h, it comes into the story as the recollections of both the H and h are related to the reader in inner monologues.)
Chapter one has the h back in Australia and looking for non parental financing to start a kid's taxi service for busy parents. But before we get to that part, ED has us and the h attending a masquerade ball at the invitation of the h's matchmaking BFF.
The h meets a tall, dark, pirate stranger who stalks her outside to the balcony. In a very risque scene for the HP line at the time, they proceed to have a major lurve club event.
( It is, of course, the H that the h is having stranger exhibitionist purple passion moments with, but for all intents and purposes - these two have an outdoor hook up at a charity ball with a huge risk of public exposure.)
The next day the h goes to a meeting she arranged with a venture capitalist group to see if they will finance her kid taxi idear. To her great surprise, the H is now one of the senior directors of the group and when he sees the h in the elevator, he finagles it so that she has to see him to ask for the financing.
We learn that the H became a venture capitalist instead of a doctor. The surgeon thing was his mother's dream and the H finally cut the cord on her controlling ways a few years earlier, then had to provide his mother with a home and medical assistance after she had a partially paralyzing stroke.
The now widowed H is all about getting the h as his seekrit lurve club relaxation opportunity and the h is so desperate to reconnect with him that she allows it - after the H gives her the financing she wants to start her business.
There are pages and pages of boudoir and wall banging moments, the h wants to ask for more from their relationship, but the H uses the excuse of her starting her business and his daughter to keep her in his closet.
It all comes to a boil as the h's meddling, busybody BFF invites the H and his daughter and the h to the same party with the intent of matchmaking - while firmly lecturing the h on accepting that the H has a child with another woman because the h is such a natural with children and they adore her. The BFF, who knows the history between the H and h, thinks the h should just latch on to the H as fast as she can.
To the h's huge surprise, the H's daughter asks the h if she is her mum. (Mainly cause the little girl looks a lot like the h does in coloring and physical shape.) The h is horrified, but everyone else thinks it is marvelous that the h and the H's daughter look so similar.
The h ends up leaving the party after yet another H beratement and rejection. Then the H decides that having a mother for his child and a sex toy on tap is only to the good - now that he has knocked the h down to the appropriate sub sewer level emotionally - so he hunts the h down and they agree to try meeting each other's families.
The h has been gradually mending fences with her father and since the father respects business acumen, he is now fine with the H shagging his daughter. The H's mother still has to start some smack tho. When the h shows up at the H's house at his invitation, the H's mother does apologize for her past treatment.
Then the woman decides to play the martyr route by insisting that if the H marries the h, the mother will leave the H's home and go into care. The h tries to nip that in the bud by explaining that if the mother leaves, the H will believe the h is a heartless monster, so the mother makes the h swear never to tell the H about the extent of the mother's manipulations ten years earlier.
The pathetic h agrees to keep the passive aggressive snot gulping mother's behavior a seekrit and sets about proving that she is fine with being a sloppy second for the H and will be a doormat for his daughter.
This willingness to be trampled upon inspires the H to propose marriage and since the h only wants to be a devoted throw rug forever more, the h accepts.
We then learn that the H only slept with his daughter's mother in a drunken one nighter cause the woman looked like the h, married the woman to keep her from having a termination and was in the process of divorcing her when she died.
Also, the H's mother confessed her reprehensible behavior towards the h ten years earlier and the H is peeved that he has no grounds to keep berating the h anymore.
Anyhows, the upshot of all this confessing is that the H and h have great passion, maybe might love each other and the daughter needs a mum - so they are going to get married and let the BFF take the credit for a successful match up in another day at the HP office.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2011
I have standards.
And I’m old. Since there are so many good and still-unread Harlequins out there, I’ve made this sliver rule for myself. If something objectionable occurs in the first 1/7th of the book (or roughly the first two chapters) I’m pitching it.
And this is exactly what happened with this book. Even almost a decade after I first encountered this book, it takes just one glance at the cover page for me to remember where exactly I left off: the second chapter.
Listen up, romance writers! There is nothing even remotely romantic about sex in the balcony with a stranger you’ve just met two minutes ago at a masquerade ball. (That’s just kink.) Even if said stranger turned out to be your ex. (That’s just dumb luck.) Even if you didn’t end up with a social disease after the encounter. (That’s just Russian roulette.)
I have standards; I wish the hero and heroine did too.
And I’m old. Since there are so many good and still-unread Harlequins out there, I’ve made this sliver rule for myself. If something objectionable occurs in the first 1/7th of the book (or roughly the first two chapters) I’m pitching it.
And this is exactly what happened with this book. Even almost a decade after I first encountered this book, it takes just one glance at the cover page for me to remember where exactly I left off: the second chapter.
Listen up, romance writers! There is nothing even remotely romantic about sex in the balcony with a stranger you’ve just met two minutes ago at a masquerade ball. (That’s just kink.) Even if said stranger turned out to be your ex. (That’s just dumb luck.) Even if you didn’t end up with a social disease after the encounter. (That’s just Russian roulette.)
I have standards; I wish the hero and heroine did too.
December 5, 2017
Meh. The emotional tension and angst levels were low. Katie and Carver's connection was based more on sex than emotion. And I hate it when there's evidence to show the hero moved on from the heroine while separated, if you know what I mean. They had broken up, but still.
November 11, 2011
Bu kitap daha değişikti tam bir mistress olayı yoktu. :D Konusu ise: iki eski sevgili olan Carver ile Kate birbirinden habersiz bir şekilde maskeli bir baloda karşılaşırlar ve oracıkta mercimeği fırına verirler :D Maskelerin altındakinin birbirleri olduğunu anladıklarında ise eski aşkları yeniden alevlenmeye ve gerçekler su yüzüne çıkmaya başlar.
June 20, 2017
Leído el 23/10/2012
January 27, 2013
Wasn't too bad at all. I wished there was more clarification about the hero and heroines past, however I did think it was a rounded and well thought out novel.
March 31, 2024
Since I’ve decided long ago that double standard will have one star rating I won’t bother.
The hero and the heroine dated when teenagers, he was beaten to a pulp by her father who didn’t think he was good enough for his lil girl and ended in hospital. Rough. His mother was a dragon too and slayed the heroine telling she was a burden for the hero’s plan to become a doctor. She left not only the town, but the continent.
Six years later she received a letter from the hero but read it six months later because her aut forgot to give it to her, when she tried to call him she found out he was married and expecting a child.
We are now ten years after their separation she’s back in the land down under and she meets and has a ONS with him at a masked ball. So they don’t recognize each other.
He meets her afterwards and proposes to become his mistress. Not in this words but he thinks she left him and never came back even after the letter, so he thinks he doesn’t have any more serious chances with her.
The hero and the heroine dated when teenagers, he was beaten to a pulp by her father who didn’t think he was good enough for his lil girl and ended in hospital. Rough. His mother was a dragon too and slayed the heroine telling she was a burden for the hero’s plan to become a doctor. She left not only the town, but the continent.
Six years later she received a letter from the hero but read it six months later because her aut forgot to give it to her, when she tried to call him she found out he was married and expecting a child.
We are now ten years after their separation she’s back in the land down under and she meets and has a ONS with him at a masked ball. So they don’t recognize each other.
He meets her afterwards and proposes to become his mistress. Not in this words but he thinks she left him and never came back even after the letter, so he thinks he doesn’t have any more serious chances with her.
August 3, 2019
I would like to give this story more than three stars but I really was disgusted by the beginning. They had only met, for the first time (or so they thought), about 10 minutes earlier and then he had her on outside behind the bushes. Talk about Wham Bam thank you Mam. The rest of the story was OK, the ending needed a bit more and really I have to admit that the beginning put me off the whole story. I am so fed-up with the theme "Mistress". What does that make him? He did say something about a Gigolo.
May 17, 2020
Claiming His Mistress
This story was ten years in the making. They had lived each other ten years ago. With family members who were jealous that their own child had someone else caused so much damage. They were torn apart. He married someone else who his mother approved of. She went on without her father's money and help. When they meet again the chemistry is still there. But the trust has been broken. Can two torn and broken lovers get their own happy ending?
This story was ten years in the making. They had lived each other ten years ago. With family members who were jealous that their own child had someone else caused so much damage. They were torn apart. He married someone else who his mother approved of. She went on without her father's money and help. When they meet again the chemistry is still there. But the trust has been broken. Can two torn and broken lovers get their own happy ending?
October 8, 2022
This Was A Great Reunion Story. It Has 2 Powerfully Interesting Characters And The Story Has A Good Pace. The Screen On The Balcony Was A Little Crude But Once You Move From That It Works. I Would Have Given It 5 Stars, But I Felt It Really Needed An Epilogue.
March 8, 2024
Eh, alot going on but none of it deep enough to feel invested. We have evil parents who suddenly aren't evil. I don't know, just not enough for me. Skip it.
September 12, 2024
Terrific read
August 23, 2013
no me gusto el final :P
June 6, 2016
Love has no time
Great story about how love has no time limit. The heroin and the hero both fight for that love list and win!
Great story about how love has no time limit. The heroin and the hero both fight for that love list and win!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews