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Return to Yesterday
She never wanted a reconciliation
Six years ago Catlin Loring had stumbled on her husband in bed with another woman. Shattered, she'd fled New Zealand and begun a new life in Australia.
Now, forced to return to Conal for a favor, she was surprised to discover he wanted her back. "All's fair in love and war," he said. "This is both. I'll use any trick I can to get you into my bed."
But she was determined not to surrender her heart to a man--however persuasive and irresistible--who would never be satisfied with merely one woman.
Six years ago Catlin Loring had stumbled on her husband in bed with another woman. Shattered, she'd fled New Zealand and begun a new life in Australia.
Now, forced to return to Conal for a favor, she was surprised to discover he wanted her back. "All's fair in love and war," he said. "This is both. I'll use any trick I can to get you into my bed."
But she was determined not to surrender her heart to a man--however persuasive and irresistible--who would never be satisfied with merely one woman.
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
9 people are currently reading
467 people want to read
About the author
Robyn Donald
448 books148 followersRobyn Elaine Donald was born on 14 August 1940 in Northland, New Zealand. She was the oldest child in her family, and as a child, she thrilled her four sisters and one brother with bloodcurdling adventure tales, usually very like the latest book she'd borrowed from the library.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 26, 2021
Holy. Fuck. How am I supposed to start this review? Firstly, I should probably state the most obvious. This book is scandalous. Disturbing. Depressing. Sad. It is not meant for escapism most romance readers seek for. Other than that, it is scary. The realistic undertones mixed with improbable elements the story displayed dragged me through some weird and polar emotions throughout the book. If I an being honest, I am not that easily impressed and there are only a handful of books that managed to make a strong emotional impact on me. The mere presence of the heartburning events in a book does not guarantee my emotional investment. However, this one definitely belongs to the category of unforgettable reads, thus I'm giving it the rating that reflects my emotional state after finishing Catlin and Conal's story.
I didn't know that much about the madness I was about to delve into, even if I thought I knew enough: the hero cheated on the heroine and he raped her. Understandably, this caused havoc among the readers and the ratings testify the strong sentiment shared by many. These two elements are far off from being the prerequisites for a positive reading experience, even for me who loves cruel anti-heroes.
I've never read a book with such a low rating or this particular combo of repelling tropes so, naturally, where the above mentioned things scared off the others, in my case they arose the morbid curiosity.
The very first thing that rendered me speechless is the writing style. You do not expect that level of writing skills and depth from the author whose average rating is 3.22 (higher than this particular book's rating). It was slightly aloof, a little detached but surprisingly arresting. It gave me the means to vividly picture every scene while not having a drawback of being too explicit or overly descriptive that normally denies the reader to use their own imagination. I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say that every character, minor as his role might be, has a very distinctive and unique personality. Every dialogue and remark serves its purpose and meant to enhance understanding of the storyline or to reveal a new layer to particular situations.
The brutal realism of this story stunned me. Many thoughts and reflections on life in general and human nature in particular astounded me with the precise harshness of their evaluation.
She had thought that because he was in the wrong she would have the upper hand. Thinking of it now, she smiled with wry lack of amusement. Experience had since taught her that there are none so cruel as those in the wrong!
This is one example of a very accurate observation on the heroine's part, who turned from being an extremely shy and helpless in her infatuation with an adult man schoolgirl into a very classy, snarky and sophisticated woman. She was fascinating.
‘I’m afraid Mr Loring is in conference,’ the cool, cultured voice said implacably. ‘If you care to leave a message ...’
‘Ask him to ring this number, please, between four and five this afternoon.’ Ignoring the slight sound of an indrawn breath Catlin gave her number, finishing with, ‘It’s Mrs Loring calling.’
...
Five minutes later, just as she was changing her comfortable skirt and jacket for something a little more sophisticated, the telephone rang. Smiling, Catlin blew it a kiss and thereafter ignored it, until, after a time, it stopped. ‘Good. Let him fume,’ she told her reflection. Her reflection grinned back at her.
She certainly mastered to perfection the art of putting people in their place, making everyone who knew her 6 years ago acknowledge the radical change she had undergone with nervous admiration. Sometimes she was blatantly sarcastic, other times she could be flagrantly rude. Beautifully imperfect as all the human beings are.
As far as Conal is concerned, he is truly one of the most despicable and ruthless heroes I've read about. No words are able to do his actions any justice in that regard. It has all been said before me.
I've collected a few of the things he said to the heroine:
‘I’m your husband. I have the right to touch you.’
...
‘And I’ve apologised. I don’t feel proud of myself for that episode. Now that I’ve seen how it’s affected you—your reaction to my touch is pretty extreme—I feel even less proud. But I refuse to shoulder the entire blame. Perhaps when you admit to yourself just why you goaded me into forcing you that night you’ll be free.’
...
‘I’ll touch you when and where and how I want to. You bitch, smiling, thinking of your lover!’
...
‘Just be a good girl and do as you’re told, and if your figures are anywhere near respectable you’ll have your bookshop.’
...
‘Just call on some self-control, my dear,’ he said, and traced the outline of her lips with a lean brown finger.
...
‘Wherever you went I’d find you.’ He smiled again, sliding his hands up her arms to come to rest across her back. ‘I’d hunt you down,’ he said huskily. ‘You’d never feel safe, Catlin, never stop looking behind you.’
...
‘Are you trying to goad me into losing my temper?’ An involuntary shiver turned her skin cold.
Whatever tf you are thinking about him right now? Forget it. He is a thousand times worse.
He had no qualms about taking advantage of his mother's illness, his daughter's growing affection for Catlin and Catlin's financial dependence on him as a trustee to get her neck deep emotionally involved and to manipulate into doing whatever tf he wanted. If I start listing every disturbing detail of this story, I won't be able to finish anytime soon.
Did Catlin realize what exactly he was doing? Yes, like a smart girl she is. Was she able to resist him? Yes. That is, until the author (seriously, this woman is cruel) landed a mortal blow against Catlin. Alone with the heroine, I felt so numb. Can you imagine someone's realising one moment that their splendid new life that allowed them to rise like a phoenix from the ashes had been actually built on the patronising benefaction of their tormentor?
I do believe that after that she had no chance to oppose Conal. Not him. Even if I put all the other factors aside, he still had too much mental power over her. One thing that didn't change about her, despite her claiming otherwise, was her childhood infatuation. No one describes the person they hate the way she did right at the beginning. It was quite obvious she was lying to herself when she thought that she had got over him. The fact that she did not see a specialist and never got professional help to deal with her emotional trauma after her father's death and all the subsequent events of their turbulent marriage put her at a clear disadvantage. Her daddy dearest, by the way, deserved to burn in hell.
There are three things about Conal that made me take a double take, though. First, his brutal punishing honesty. In that regard, I wholeheartedly agree with boogenhagen's review. Whatever he says, you believe him because he does not give a single flying fuck about other people's opinion. To make matters worse, He is a psychopath at its finest. Second, he never intended to crush the illusions, on which Catlin's new identity was built, especially in the nasty way the author did it (probably because he liked a challenge?). Third, he did not slut-shame her when she convinced him how much "fun" she was having while staying the fuck away from him as she should. I found them atypical of the vintage hero.
So. What their happily ever after believable? I cannot answer that either positively or negatively.
Do I believe that the hero actually loves her and won't cheat on her ever again? I am sure that the word love in its conventional meaning cannot be applied to this person. I believe that he will never be involved with any other woman because, for one, he is an unhinged psychopath who has no reason to lie about it and for two, once he sets his mind on something, there is no turning back.
All in all, the book is traumatising and difficult to stomach even though the writing flowed.
I feel as if someone stabbed me in the chest and twisted the knife there ever so slowly.
At this point I can only be sure about one thing: the author is an extremely gifted writer.
................................. ................................
This trash better be deserving of all the glorious, self-explanatory one star ratings and bashing reviews it has.
I didn't know that much about the madness I was about to delve into, even if I thought I knew enough: the hero cheated on the heroine and he raped her. Understandably, this caused havoc among the readers and the ratings testify the strong sentiment shared by many. These two elements are far off from being the prerequisites for a positive reading experience, even for me who loves cruel anti-heroes.
I've never read a book with such a low rating or this particular combo of repelling tropes so, naturally, where the above mentioned things scared off the others, in my case they arose the morbid curiosity.
The very first thing that rendered me speechless is the writing style. You do not expect that level of writing skills and depth from the author whose average rating is 3.22 (higher than this particular book's rating). It was slightly aloof, a little detached but surprisingly arresting. It gave me the means to vividly picture every scene while not having a drawback of being too explicit or overly descriptive that normally denies the reader to use their own imagination. I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say that every character, minor as his role might be, has a very distinctive and unique personality. Every dialogue and remark serves its purpose and meant to enhance understanding of the storyline or to reveal a new layer to particular situations.
The brutal realism of this story stunned me. Many thoughts and reflections on life in general and human nature in particular astounded me with the precise harshness of their evaluation.
She had thought that because he was in the wrong she would have the upper hand. Thinking of it now, she smiled with wry lack of amusement. Experience had since taught her that there are none so cruel as those in the wrong!
This is one example of a very accurate observation on the heroine's part, who turned from being an extremely shy and helpless in her infatuation with an adult man schoolgirl into a very classy, snarky and sophisticated woman. She was fascinating.
‘I’m afraid Mr Loring is in conference,’ the cool, cultured voice said implacably. ‘If you care to leave a message ...’
‘Ask him to ring this number, please, between four and five this afternoon.’ Ignoring the slight sound of an indrawn breath Catlin gave her number, finishing with, ‘It’s Mrs Loring calling.’
...
Five minutes later, just as she was changing her comfortable skirt and jacket for something a little more sophisticated, the telephone rang. Smiling, Catlin blew it a kiss and thereafter ignored it, until, after a time, it stopped. ‘Good. Let him fume,’ she told her reflection. Her reflection grinned back at her.
She certainly mastered to perfection the art of putting people in their place, making everyone who knew her 6 years ago acknowledge the radical change she had undergone with nervous admiration. Sometimes she was blatantly sarcastic, other times she could be flagrantly rude. Beautifully imperfect as all the human beings are.
As far as Conal is concerned, he is truly one of the most despicable and ruthless heroes I've read about. No words are able to do his actions any justice in that regard. It has all been said before me.
I've collected a few of the things he said to the heroine:
‘I’m your husband. I have the right to touch you.’
...
‘And I’ve apologised. I don’t feel proud of myself for that episode. Now that I’ve seen how it’s affected you—your reaction to my touch is pretty extreme—I feel even less proud. But I refuse to shoulder the entire blame. Perhaps when you admit to yourself just why you goaded me into forcing you that night you’ll be free.’
...
‘I’ll touch you when and where and how I want to. You bitch, smiling, thinking of your lover!’
...
‘Just be a good girl and do as you’re told, and if your figures are anywhere near respectable you’ll have your bookshop.’
...
‘Just call on some self-control, my dear,’ he said, and traced the outline of her lips with a lean brown finger.
...
‘Wherever you went I’d find you.’ He smiled again, sliding his hands up her arms to come to rest across her back. ‘I’d hunt you down,’ he said huskily. ‘You’d never feel safe, Catlin, never stop looking behind you.’
...
‘Are you trying to goad me into losing my temper?’ An involuntary shiver turned her skin cold.
Whatever tf you are thinking about him right now? Forget it. He is a thousand times worse.
He had no qualms about taking advantage of his mother's illness, his daughter's growing affection for Catlin and Catlin's financial dependence on him as a trustee to get her neck deep emotionally involved and to manipulate into doing whatever tf he wanted. If I start listing every disturbing detail of this story, I won't be able to finish anytime soon.
Did Catlin realize what exactly he was doing? Yes, like a smart girl she is. Was she able to resist him? Yes. That is, until the author (seriously, this woman is cruel) landed a mortal blow against Catlin. Alone with the heroine, I felt so numb. Can you imagine someone's realising one moment that their splendid new life that allowed them to rise like a phoenix from the ashes had been actually built on the patronising benefaction of their tormentor?
I do believe that after that she had no chance to oppose Conal. Not him. Even if I put all the other factors aside, he still had too much mental power over her. One thing that didn't change about her, despite her claiming otherwise, was her childhood infatuation. No one describes the person they hate the way she did right at the beginning. It was quite obvious she was lying to herself when she thought that she had got over him. The fact that she did not see a specialist and never got professional help to deal with her emotional trauma after her father's death and all the subsequent events of their turbulent marriage put her at a clear disadvantage. Her daddy dearest, by the way, deserved to burn in hell.
There are three things about Conal that made me take a double take, though. First, his brutal punishing honesty. In that regard, I wholeheartedly agree with boogenhagen's review. Whatever he says, you believe him because he does not give a single flying fuck about other people's opinion. To make matters worse, He is a psychopath at its finest. Second, he never intended to crush the illusions, on which Catlin's new identity was built, especially in the nasty way the author did it (probably because he liked a challenge?). Third, he did not slut-shame her when she convinced him how much "fun" she was having while staying the fuck away from him as she should. I found them atypical of the vintage hero.
So. What their happily ever after believable? I cannot answer that either positively or negatively.
Do I believe that the hero actually loves her and won't cheat on her ever again? I am sure that the word love in its conventional meaning cannot be applied to this person. I believe that he will never be involved with any other woman because, for one, he is an unhinged psychopath who has no reason to lie about it and for two, once he sets his mind on something, there is no turning back.
All in all, the book is traumatising and difficult to stomach even though the writing flowed.
I feel as if someone stabbed me in the chest and twisted the knife there ever so slowly.
At this point I can only be sure about one thing: the author is an extremely gifted writer.
................................. ................................
This trash better be deserving of all the glorious, self-explanatory one star ratings and bashing reviews it has.
April 13, 2017
I like this because this is one of the earliest example's in HPlandia of how to make a cheating H work.
No one likes infidelity, and there is a distinct preference not to have that in a romance. Yet well done infidelity can take an average book from okay to best thing ever and really provide that happy warm glow and HEA believability I read romance for.
What RD knows and what the best HP writers will come to find out, is that if you are going to have a cheating H but provide a convincing HEA, a few things need to happen.
1. The h and H should not be involved in any intimacy - HP infidelity is a whole lot easier to tolerate if the H and h are living apart or in separate wings of the house.
(In RTY the H does rape the h when she is only 17. This in no way detracts from the story. This h needed the impetus to get on with her personal growth, and frankly in the time this was written, many readers may not have defined it as rape - the H and h were married.)
2. If infidelity is discovered, and in this one the h finds out in the most brutal way possible, the h has to leave- do not pass go, do not collect $200.00, just walk out and stay out for YEARS.
(Both the H, h and the reader need that distance, so that the H has time to learn to modify the cheating behavior and the h has time to grow a spine - cause she is going to need one.)
But the MOST IMPORTANT thing an HP writer needs to convey is number 3.
The H has to be brutally honest that he is going to see other woman and he doesn't give a damn about what the h thinks of that.
That is HARSH I know, but it is also necessary, because when the H is honest like that it changes the plot from furtive sneaking around and being a slime slurper to the H who is an honest, but highly arrogant asshat who is going to do what he wants and who cares what anyone else thinks - even the h, cause he isn't screwing her anyways.
An HP HEA needs that kind of arrogantly open H, because that characterization then provides the basis for the believability of the HEA - when the H of the type tells the h he loves her and will love her forever, he means it - therefore the h and the reader can have full confidence that H has redeemed his ways, cause he is just too brutally honest to lie about it.
Lessor HP author's will not understand this all important difference, and thus will never reach the highest heights of HPLandia or give the satisfaction that one well written and plotted trainwreck of an HP with a cheating/rapist H can provide for DECADES.
No one likes infidelity, and there is a distinct preference not to have that in a romance. Yet well done infidelity can take an average book from okay to best thing ever and really provide that happy warm glow and HEA believability I read romance for.
What RD knows and what the best HP writers will come to find out, is that if you are going to have a cheating H but provide a convincing HEA, a few things need to happen.
1. The h and H should not be involved in any intimacy - HP infidelity is a whole lot easier to tolerate if the H and h are living apart or in separate wings of the house.
(In RTY the H does rape the h when she is only 17. This in no way detracts from the story. This h needed the impetus to get on with her personal growth, and frankly in the time this was written, many readers may not have defined it as rape - the H and h were married.)
2. If infidelity is discovered, and in this one the h finds out in the most brutal way possible, the h has to leave- do not pass go, do not collect $200.00, just walk out and stay out for YEARS.
(Both the H, h and the reader need that distance, so that the H has time to learn to modify the cheating behavior and the h has time to grow a spine - cause she is going to need one.)
But the MOST IMPORTANT thing an HP writer needs to convey is number 3.
The H has to be brutally honest that he is going to see other woman and he doesn't give a damn about what the h thinks of that.
That is HARSH I know, but it is also necessary, because when the H is honest like that it changes the plot from furtive sneaking around and being a slime slurper to the H who is an honest, but highly arrogant asshat who is going to do what he wants and who cares what anyone else thinks - even the h, cause he isn't screwing her anyways.
An HP HEA needs that kind of arrogantly open H, because that characterization then provides the basis for the believability of the HEA - when the H of the type tells the h he loves her and will love her forever, he means it - therefore the h and the reader can have full confidence that H has redeemed his ways, cause he is just too brutally honest to lie about it.
Lessor HP author's will not understand this all important difference, and thus will never reach the highest heights of HPLandia or give the satisfaction that one well written and plotted trainwreck of an HP with a cheating/rapist H can provide for DECADES.
November 18, 2011
My god what a Horrible book,this is the first ever book that i have read n cursed myself for reading it(cursed myself cause i have a bad habit that what i ever i start reading i have to read till the end no matter how bad the book may be )so think how i made through the book
This is another one of those stories where you have a violent hero/alpha male, with a very young heroine, I was going to say imature but she's only 17 so she isn't supposed to be mature. Apparently the Hero was attracted to the Heroine when they married but they had to get married because her father was dieing and wanted her settled, he'd just lost his wife whom he loved. Hero was rich and partied with high society, his mother lived with him to help him look after his 2yr daughter. He took is wife home to his hostile mother who was still mourning the hero's wife she was also her goddaughter. This Hero gave her no support, he took her to these parties and let her flounder, not only that he started an affair in front of her nose, with everyone talking about it the humiliation was just too much when she went to see him at their beach house and found him in bed with his mistress/girlfriend. She confronts him and he rapes her, she flees him for 6 years. She comes back because he wants to see her and she wants the money held in trust for her from her father. Now there's no money and the hero has really been supporting her. So much for her self esteem that she'd done everything on her own, which is very important to a rape survivor, you take that away and the walls crumble. Anyway he's asked her to come back, now we are supposed to believe that he loves her etc, etc, but how can we believe that when just before she comes back he starts another affair, you would think after the last time together that he would have finished all his affairs etc before he wrote her to come back so she didn't have to face them in their social group or have nasty women play dirty tricks to put them together to humiliate her, you would think that if he loved her he would go out of his way not to humiliate her again. But no he lets her flounder again only she is tougher stronger this time. This male is no hero he's a violent jerk to threatens her all the time.
What is it with these stories with older males and young females and they use violence to keep them tied to them, they mistreat them and hold them still in their lives but far enough away so that they can continue in their lives bedding everyone and sundry, and when they think it's time to settle in their lives they call back the young still chaste female to carry on their lives, and guess what it happens we are expected to believe that the hero can do whatever he pleases and heroine will walk straight back and forgive and forget the past. That's a favourite with authors the Heroine said it's okay it's in the past - like it's okay for the infidelity and the humiliation and the rape lets forget that your the type of man who does that - the author in the end even has the heroine saying that it wasn't really rape. This hero needs to be in jail and this heroine needs therapy away from him. Rape and violence is not okay it should not be accepted.
The only person this Conal loves is himself.Ciatlin needs a good life of her own. Oh this is the kicker, the supposed Conal takes her back to the beach house to tell Ciatlin he loves her now this is the house that she saw Conal and his mistess on the bed together. Is this guy a jerk or what, he really doesn't care about her feelings. Please don't read it's really not they way love is.
Truthfully, this is the worst romance book I've ever read
Do Not Recommend it
This is another one of those stories where you have a violent hero/alpha male, with a very young heroine, I was going to say imature but she's only 17 so she isn't supposed to be mature. Apparently the Hero was attracted to the Heroine when they married but they had to get married because her father was dieing and wanted her settled, he'd just lost his wife whom he loved. Hero was rich and partied with high society, his mother lived with him to help him look after his 2yr daughter. He took is wife home to his hostile mother who was still mourning the hero's wife she was also her goddaughter. This Hero gave her no support, he took her to these parties and let her flounder, not only that he started an affair in front of her nose, with everyone talking about it the humiliation was just too much when she went to see him at their beach house and found him in bed with his mistress/girlfriend. She confronts him and he rapes her, she flees him for 6 years. She comes back because he wants to see her and she wants the money held in trust for her from her father. Now there's no money and the hero has really been supporting her. So much for her self esteem that she'd done everything on her own, which is very important to a rape survivor, you take that away and the walls crumble. Anyway he's asked her to come back, now we are supposed to believe that he loves her etc, etc, but how can we believe that when just before she comes back he starts another affair, you would think after the last time together that he would have finished all his affairs etc before he wrote her to come back so she didn't have to face them in their social group or have nasty women play dirty tricks to put them together to humiliate her, you would think that if he loved her he would go out of his way not to humiliate her again. But no he lets her flounder again only she is tougher stronger this time. This male is no hero he's a violent jerk to threatens her all the time.
What is it with these stories with older males and young females and they use violence to keep them tied to them, they mistreat them and hold them still in their lives but far enough away so that they can continue in their lives bedding everyone and sundry, and when they think it's time to settle in their lives they call back the young still chaste female to carry on their lives, and guess what it happens we are expected to believe that the hero can do whatever he pleases and heroine will walk straight back and forgive and forget the past. That's a favourite with authors the Heroine said it's okay it's in the past - like it's okay for the infidelity and the humiliation and the rape lets forget that your the type of man who does that - the author in the end even has the heroine saying that it wasn't really rape. This hero needs to be in jail and this heroine needs therapy away from him. Rape and violence is not okay it should not be accepted.
The only person this Conal loves is himself.Ciatlin needs a good life of her own. Oh this is the kicker, the supposed Conal takes her back to the beach house to tell Ciatlin he loves her now this is the house that she saw Conal and his mistess on the bed together. Is this guy a jerk or what, he really doesn't care about her feelings. Please don't read it's really not they way love is.
Truthfully, this is the worst romance book I've ever read
Do Not Recommend it
November 26, 2021
Wow. I didn't think Robyn Donald could pull off a cheating hero who cheats (and rapes) but she did here. I won't go into the plot summary because Katie V did a great job in her review, but here's the basic scenario:
Heroine, 17, was in a marriage of convenience (unbeknownst to her) and discovered the hero having sex with another woman. When she confronts him, he forces himself on her. (They both call this rape – and we don’t see it in real time or in a detailed flashback). She runs away, goes to university and generally grows up. The story opens when the heroine requests money from her trust fund and the hero says that she will have to see him in person for him to release the funds.
So how did Robyn Donald write her way to a HEA with that setup?
1. The heroine really has grown up and we’re shown this in several scenes where the heroine puts potential OWs in their place.
2. The hero owns up to the rape immediately and admits that he never should have forced himself on her. (But then he undermines it by insisting she enjoyed everything leading to the painful penetration)
3. The hero’s subsequent cheating was (a) rare (b) only while they were physically apart. And the hero was brutally honest about his cheating. We get the whys and wherefores (he was imagining the OW as the heroine for instance). It doesn’t make him look good – but that sort of candor is necessary if you’re going to ever trust him.
4. The heroine doesn’t fall into bed with him until they have hashed out everything – the rape, the cheating, his mother’s interference, the lack of money in the trust fund, her relationship with the stepdaughter, the sexual desire they have for each other. Their conversations might end with the hero sneering and the heroine quivering and not being able to sleep, but they do talk and they do come to understand each other better.
5. The heroine only decides to forgive and let go of the past after they have had a lot of conversations and she sees a fatal car crash on the highway. That is believable to me. Life might not seem short when you’re 23 until you see a life snuffed out in an instant.
6. The hero doesn’t let up in his pursuit of her. He's very serious about a reconciliation. Sometimes it’s damaging to the heroine and other times it just what she needs to move forward.
7. There’s a lot of forward motion in their scenes together, which I found refreshing. For instance, the rape is revisited a few times and the language changes and the heroine’s version softens. Whether that’s good or bad in psychological terms, I don’t know – but it does sell her forgiveness to me, the reader. And we actually get to see the OWs more than once. They heroine's reaction toward then the second time is much more nuanced and mature. She's over worrying about these women.
8.. The stepdaughter actually added a lot to the story. The heroine couldn’t act like a tragic figure around her and the hero couldn’t put the heavy seduction moves on while she was present. That constraint sold me on seeing them as a family with a future rather than as hyper-emotional HP characters who could never exist outside the pages of a book.
So she did it. I do believe in the HEA. I think this would have been a solid five stars, but I found the heroine’s insistence on lying about her sexual past off-putting – especially when the hero was being honest. The hero was a neanderthal when it came to sexual "needs" - but hey - this is an HP.
Heroine, 17, was in a marriage of convenience (unbeknownst to her) and discovered the hero having sex with another woman. When she confronts him, he forces himself on her. (They both call this rape – and we don’t see it in real time or in a detailed flashback). She runs away, goes to university and generally grows up. The story opens when the heroine requests money from her trust fund and the hero says that she will have to see him in person for him to release the funds.
So how did Robyn Donald write her way to a HEA with that setup?
1. The heroine really has grown up and we’re shown this in several scenes where the heroine puts potential OWs in their place.
2. The hero owns up to the rape immediately and admits that he never should have forced himself on her. (But then he undermines it by insisting she enjoyed everything leading to the painful penetration)
3. The hero’s subsequent cheating was (a) rare (b) only while they were physically apart. And the hero was brutally honest about his cheating. We get the whys and wherefores (he was imagining the OW as the heroine for instance). It doesn’t make him look good – but that sort of candor is necessary if you’re going to ever trust him.
4. The heroine doesn’t fall into bed with him until they have hashed out everything – the rape, the cheating, his mother’s interference, the lack of money in the trust fund, her relationship with the stepdaughter, the sexual desire they have for each other. Their conversations might end with the hero sneering and the heroine quivering and not being able to sleep, but they do talk and they do come to understand each other better.
5. The heroine only decides to forgive and let go of the past after they have had a lot of conversations and she sees a fatal car crash on the highway. That is believable to me. Life might not seem short when you’re 23 until you see a life snuffed out in an instant.
6. The hero doesn’t let up in his pursuit of her. He's very serious about a reconciliation. Sometimes it’s damaging to the heroine and other times it just what she needs to move forward.
7. There’s a lot of forward motion in their scenes together, which I found refreshing. For instance, the rape is revisited a few times and the language changes and the heroine’s version softens. Whether that’s good or bad in psychological terms, I don’t know – but it does sell her forgiveness to me, the reader. And we actually get to see the OWs more than once. They heroine's reaction toward then the second time is much more nuanced and mature. She's over worrying about these women.
8.. The stepdaughter actually added a lot to the story. The heroine couldn’t act like a tragic figure around her and the hero couldn’t put the heavy seduction moves on while she was present. That constraint sold me on seeing them as a family with a future rather than as hyper-emotional HP characters who could never exist outside the pages of a book.
So she did it. I do believe in the HEA. I think this would have been a solid five stars, but I found the heroine’s insistence on lying about her sexual past off-putting – especially when the hero was being honest. The hero was a neanderthal when it came to sexual "needs" - but hey - this is an HP.
September 10, 2024
SPOILERS
Catlin's mother died when she was a baby. She grew up on her father's sheep station somewhere in New Zealand, and she never went off the place.
She even had correspondence school lessons.
When Catlin was 17 years old, her father had a heart attack and as a result he put the station on the market.
Conal, then 27, bought the place for investment. He was from a wealthy, high society family from the city.
His wife had died a year before, leaving him with a two year old daughter.
He wasn't over her death.
Catlin's father had a second heart attack just after the papers were signed and appointed Conal as Catlin's trustee until she was 25.
Catlin had a secret infatuation with Conal.
Conal felt responsible for her as she had no one in the world.
He married her at her father's bedside just before he'd past away.
Consumed with grief Catlin followed Conal to his great, enormous house in the city, his hostile mother who spurned her, his daughter and his wealthy, worldly friends.
Conal made no attempt to consummate the marriage. He told her she should settle down.
She realised that he wasn't in love with her or anything.
As Catlin was unworldly, shy and clumsy, she knew nothing about city life and high society.
She couldn't cope, she had a culture shock and was consumed with feelings of embarrassment, shame and inferiority which made her even more awkward and stupid.
Conal was aloof with her and barely spoke to her and his friends laughed at her.
It was humiliating for Catlin.
One of his female friends, Belinda, was everywhere they went, draping herself over him, making it so obvious that he and she were "very good friends".
His friends were too eager to tell her, and Catlin wanted to scream with frustration.
That last devastating event happened on a weekend that Conal was spending at his beach house "alone".
Catlin was supposed to be at the house in the city but she decided to go and see him.
To her shock and despair she walked in on him in bed having sex with Belinda.
Catlin left before they realised she was there.
When Conal arrived back home, she confronted him, told him exactly what she thought of him.
She thought that because he was in the wrong she would have the upper hand, but she soon realised that there are none so cruel as those in the wrong.
Conal had revenged himself with brutality, forcing her to accept him as a husband, and yes, the word rape was used in the book.
The next day Catlin saw a lawyer. He sent her to Australia to his sister.
Weeks later she started attending university.
For the first 3 years everything she did was to show Conal just how wrong he was about her, even though she had no intention of ever seeing him again.
He thought she was stupid so she got a degree. He thought she was gauche and naive so she gained sophistication. She learnt how to dress and how to be a hostess, she went to theatres and concerts, she read.
Conal never knew her whereabouts and every contact was made through Catlin's lawyer.
Now six years after her exodus from New Zealand, she wanted to buy a bookshop, it was her dream, and she wanted to have access to her trust fund money.
Her lawyer told her that Conal wouldn't release the money unless she go and see him.
So half-heartedly Catlin returned back to New Zealand.
She met Conal and for the first time she stood up to him as she now had the confidence to do it.
He was apologetic about his behaviour before she left. She had to stay at his house until he released the money.
Conal took her to a party. Many of the attendees were people (his friends) she knew from 6 years ago.
Catlin realised that such an effusive welcome from them, could mean only one thing. Conal's latest mistress was there, and when Catlin saw her, she knew. A beautiful blonde named Moya.
Later, Catlin wondered on to the terrace. She saw two people in the garden. It was Conal and Moya.
"When am l going to see you again?" Moya asked.
"I don't know ".
"How long is she going to stay for heaven's sake?"
"That's none of your business."
"I suppose now she's here you don't want to be bothered with me any more."
"That's hardly the thing to be discussing here, is it?"
Catlin questioned him later. He said he haven't lived an unsullied life since she left.
He slept "a few times " with Moya but never made any promises to her.
Since Catlin's return, Conal would never miss an opportunity to touch, kiss and show her that he desired her but Catlin would always rebuff him even though she really did want him.
Conal's mother offered Catlin money to make her leave. Catlin told her she was only seeking the money her father left for her in the trust fund.
The older woman informed her that her father's estate was swallowed up by death duties and debts.
Catlin have been living off Conal all these years.
Bewildered Catlin realised that her valued independence was false.
Conal told Catlin he would never have told her the truth. He said that she had matured into an intelligent woman with a rare strength of character.
Probably, he said, the best investment he could have made with the money, and she shouldn't feel beholded to him.
He said that he saw Moya that afternoon, to tell her that he wouldn't be seeing her any more.
He told Catlin that he wanted her to stay as his wife and she eventually said yes but under one condition: No more women.
Conal took her to the beach house, (yes, the one Catlin saw him making love to Belinda six years earlier) and told Catlin that he wanted her the first time he saw her on her father's farm, but she was too young.
Then her father had a heart attack and he'd married her but she was so young, totally innocent and unaware, and she looked so frightened of him, he had to keep his distance.
But six years later when he saw her again, he fell in love with her and knew then why he never divorced her and why no mistress had ever give him more than temporary relief.
He said he brought Belinda to the beach house back then to ease his frustration.
One of the reasons he made love to Belinda was because he was terrified that he'd lose control and take Catlin before she was ready.
And he was furious with Catlin that as experienced and sensuous as Belinda was, he had to pretend that she was Catlin before he could make love, and he despised himself and hated Catlin for putting him in such a position, otherwise he wouldn't have reacted so violently toward Catlin that evening.
Oh, that's okay then....
They proceeded to make love on the same bed Catlin saw him in bed with Belinda all those years ago.
Catlin's mother died when she was a baby. She grew up on her father's sheep station somewhere in New Zealand, and she never went off the place.
She even had correspondence school lessons.
When Catlin was 17 years old, her father had a heart attack and as a result he put the station on the market.
Conal, then 27, bought the place for investment. He was from a wealthy, high society family from the city.
His wife had died a year before, leaving him with a two year old daughter.
He wasn't over her death.
Catlin's father had a second heart attack just after the papers were signed and appointed Conal as Catlin's trustee until she was 25.
Catlin had a secret infatuation with Conal.
Conal felt responsible for her as she had no one in the world.
He married her at her father's bedside just before he'd past away.
Consumed with grief Catlin followed Conal to his great, enormous house in the city, his hostile mother who spurned her, his daughter and his wealthy, worldly friends.
Conal made no attempt to consummate the marriage. He told her she should settle down.
She realised that he wasn't in love with her or anything.
As Catlin was unworldly, shy and clumsy, she knew nothing about city life and high society.
She couldn't cope, she had a culture shock and was consumed with feelings of embarrassment, shame and inferiority which made her even more awkward and stupid.
Conal was aloof with her and barely spoke to her and his friends laughed at her.
It was humiliating for Catlin.
One of his female friends, Belinda, was everywhere they went, draping herself over him, making it so obvious that he and she were "very good friends".
His friends were too eager to tell her, and Catlin wanted to scream with frustration.
That last devastating event happened on a weekend that Conal was spending at his beach house "alone".
Catlin was supposed to be at the house in the city but she decided to go and see him.
To her shock and despair she walked in on him in bed having sex with Belinda.
Catlin left before they realised she was there.
When Conal arrived back home, she confronted him, told him exactly what she thought of him.
She thought that because he was in the wrong she would have the upper hand, but she soon realised that there are none so cruel as those in the wrong.
Conal had revenged himself with brutality, forcing her to accept him as a husband, and yes, the word rape was used in the book.
The next day Catlin saw a lawyer. He sent her to Australia to his sister.
Weeks later she started attending university.
For the first 3 years everything she did was to show Conal just how wrong he was about her, even though she had no intention of ever seeing him again.
He thought she was stupid so she got a degree. He thought she was gauche and naive so she gained sophistication. She learnt how to dress and how to be a hostess, she went to theatres and concerts, she read.
Conal never knew her whereabouts and every contact was made through Catlin's lawyer.
Now six years after her exodus from New Zealand, she wanted to buy a bookshop, it was her dream, and she wanted to have access to her trust fund money.
Her lawyer told her that Conal wouldn't release the money unless she go and see him.
So half-heartedly Catlin returned back to New Zealand.
She met Conal and for the first time she stood up to him as she now had the confidence to do it.
He was apologetic about his behaviour before she left. She had to stay at his house until he released the money.
Conal took her to a party. Many of the attendees were people (his friends) she knew from 6 years ago.
Catlin realised that such an effusive welcome from them, could mean only one thing. Conal's latest mistress was there, and when Catlin saw her, she knew. A beautiful blonde named Moya.
Later, Catlin wondered on to the terrace. She saw two people in the garden. It was Conal and Moya.
"When am l going to see you again?" Moya asked.
"I don't know ".
"How long is she going to stay for heaven's sake?"
"That's none of your business."
"I suppose now she's here you don't want to be bothered with me any more."
"That's hardly the thing to be discussing here, is it?"
Catlin questioned him later. He said he haven't lived an unsullied life since she left.
He slept "a few times " with Moya but never made any promises to her.
Since Catlin's return, Conal would never miss an opportunity to touch, kiss and show her that he desired her but Catlin would always rebuff him even though she really did want him.
Conal's mother offered Catlin money to make her leave. Catlin told her she was only seeking the money her father left for her in the trust fund.
The older woman informed her that her father's estate was swallowed up by death duties and debts.
Catlin have been living off Conal all these years.
Bewildered Catlin realised that her valued independence was false.
Conal told Catlin he would never have told her the truth. He said that she had matured into an intelligent woman with a rare strength of character.
Probably, he said, the best investment he could have made with the money, and she shouldn't feel beholded to him.
He said that he saw Moya that afternoon, to tell her that he wouldn't be seeing her any more.
He told Catlin that he wanted her to stay as his wife and she eventually said yes but under one condition: No more women.
Conal took her to the beach house, (yes, the one Catlin saw him making love to Belinda six years earlier) and told Catlin that he wanted her the first time he saw her on her father's farm, but she was too young.
Then her father had a heart attack and he'd married her but she was so young, totally innocent and unaware, and she looked so frightened of him, he had to keep his distance.
But six years later when he saw her again, he fell in love with her and knew then why he never divorced her and why no mistress had ever give him more than temporary relief.
He said he brought Belinda to the beach house back then to ease his frustration.
One of the reasons he made love to Belinda was because he was terrified that he'd lose control and take Catlin before she was ready.
And he was furious with Catlin that as experienced and sensuous as Belinda was, he had to pretend that she was Catlin before he could make love, and he despised himself and hated Catlin for putting him in such a position, otherwise he wouldn't have reacted so violently toward Catlin that evening.
Oh, that's okay then....
They proceeded to make love on the same bed Catlin saw him in bed with Belinda all those years ago.
avoid
January 8, 2018I just, can't even....No!
Please, don't give me a reason why this book is good or acceptable. Because it's not.
He cheats, that there is unacceptable, and unforgivable, and then he rapes her to punish her for HIS shortcomings.
Once again NO.
To make her fall in love with a cheater and rapist is not just sickening, it's insulting to my better senses. You just don't do it.
IN NO UNIVERSE should that be acceptable, and i don't care if he wants her now. No, you are no longer relevant. you lost that option the moment you cheated.
Kill. Me. Now.
P.S. I am expecting a 5 star review from everyone for "marriage under fire".
Please, don't give me a reason why this book is good or acceptable. Because it's not.
He cheats, that there is unacceptable, and unforgivable, and then he rapes her to punish her for HIS shortcomings.
Once again NO.
To make her fall in love with a cheater and rapist is not just sickening, it's insulting to my better senses. You just don't do it.
IN NO UNIVERSE should that be acceptable, and i don't care if he wants her now. No, you are no longer relevant. you lost that option the moment you cheated.
Kill. Me. Now.
P.S. I am expecting a 5 star review from everyone for "marriage under fire".
August 20, 2015
Pretty conflicted on this one. It had some disturbing elements, no doubt. And there were a few quotes from the hero that were hideously 'OMFG, you did not just say that!'. Which, not gonna lie, I sometimes enjoy just for the sheer shock value effect. However, I'd tread lightly if rape and domestic abuse are a trigger.
Overall it's a gripping read, written in the older style of only getting the heroine's point of view. In some ways I prefer the old style, although in certain situations it is nice to get the hero POV. You certainly have to pay more attention to cues about the hero's body language, expressions and dissect what he says. You are forced to draw more of your own conclusions with the single POV. I always feel like I'm more in touch with the heroine and personally immersed in the story when seeing things through her eyes alone. In my amateur opinion, I think it is harder to write single POV than multi POV (if done right).
This was an odd mix of modern ideals and old school sexism which, given the time it was written, is probably more realistic. Men and women were feeling their way around more progressive thinking, IMHO, and conflicting messages were more common. Not that we don't still have those issues, but in the 80's it was worse.
On one hand you have the hero apologizing for raping the heroine and the other he's victim blaming and rationalizing his actions with 'you made me do it' sort of crap. The heroine even drinks that Kool-Aid to a certain extent. Also you see him feeling no remorse for cheating on the h during their separation, yet being almost violently jealous of her fictional lovers. Then again, the HEA is achieved before the revelation that she'd never had other lovers and I felt like he was committed to moving on and not dwelling on the past regardless.
Basic story with spoilers.
Overall it's a gripping read, written in the older style of only getting the heroine's point of view. In some ways I prefer the old style, although in certain situations it is nice to get the hero POV. You certainly have to pay more attention to cues about the hero's body language, expressions and dissect what he says. You are forced to draw more of your own conclusions with the single POV. I always feel like I'm more in touch with the heroine and personally immersed in the story when seeing things through her eyes alone. In my amateur opinion, I think it is harder to write single POV than multi POV (if done right).
This was an odd mix of modern ideals and old school sexism which, given the time it was written, is probably more realistic. Men and women were feeling their way around more progressive thinking, IMHO, and conflicting messages were more common. Not that we don't still have those issues, but in the 80's it was worse.
On one hand you have the hero apologizing for raping the heroine and the other he's victim blaming and rationalizing his actions with 'you made me do it' sort of crap. The heroine even drinks that Kool-Aid to a certain extent. Also you see him feeling no remorse for cheating on the h during their separation, yet being almost violently jealous of her fictional lovers. Then again, the HEA is achieved before the revelation that she'd never had other lovers and I felt like he was committed to moving on and not dwelling on the past regardless.
Basic story with spoilers.
May 15, 2022
I've loved RD in the past and have rated many of her hateful books at 4/5. All due to my past engagements with the books. She writes really horrid Hs- unapologetically abusive and cruel. Works for me but there has to be a give after a while.
If I've to pick up one old harley with the waits-for-her-to-grow-up theme, not necessarily with an moc or cruelty, it'd be The Awakening Flame.
If I've to pick up one old harley with the waits-for-her-to-grow-up theme, not necessarily with an moc or cruelty, it'd be The Awakening Flame.
February 26, 2016
You have to say this about the old skool Harley's, they have convoluted plots. The heroine, Catlin, ran away after two very unfortunate incidents: she caught her husband in bed with ow and then he seduced/raped her. As she was a virgin it hurt. A lot.
Six years later Catlin is back with a spine of steel. She handles her obnoxious MIL, and more importantly she lays out (verbally) the skanky and non-skanky women that have been lurking around her husband. Nice scenes when you compare it the Welcome doormats so often seen on the Land of Harley.
Almost a four star, but not quite.
Six years later Catlin is back with a spine of steel. She handles her obnoxious MIL, and more importantly she lays out (verbally) the skanky and non-skanky women that have been lurking around her husband. Nice scenes when you compare it the Welcome doormats so often seen on the Land of Harley.
Almost a four star, but not quite.
March 26, 2021
Paperback - portuguese edition
CENAS DE UM CASAMENTO
Julia nº256 / Edição de Colecionador nº24
---------------------
The hero is RAPIST, period. No means no!
---------------------
Hero rapes our heroine after she caught him having sex with his mistress. She runs away from home and is forced to return after several years.
He has several lovers during the period in which they were separated. She is traumatized by the rape and is celibate.
Horrible history.
CENAS DE UM CASAMENTO
Julia nº256 / Edição de Colecionador nº24
---------------------
The hero is RAPIST, period. No means no!
---------------------
Hero rapes our heroine after she caught him having sex with his mistress. She runs away from home and is forced to return after several years.
He has several lovers during the period in which they were separated. She is traumatized by the rape and is celibate.
Horrible history.
February 6, 2016
What can I say I love books where the hero is faithful after he messed up big time! In this book they also deal with marital rape and they don't gloss over it like it never happens and she is total devastated by what he did and he recognizes how it effected her and it destroys him. They have some power struggles but mostly he was very guilty ridden man who wanted to help a girl he had the hots for and did not know how to deal with her. It was a great read and I loved it.
January 9, 2018
Catlin wants to buy a bookshop, but the only way she can get the funds released from her inheritance is go home to Auckland and face Conal, the husband she hasn’t seen for more than 6 years.
It’s going to be brutal.
Catlin was 17 when she married Conal, shortly after her father’s death left her an orphan with a farm and no one else to turn to. He took her to the city, where his mother pointed out that Catlin in no way measured up to Conal’s first wife, who died only a very short time ago. Conal has a little girl, and his mother is parenting her. Conal’s friends all make Catlin feel like a big stupid hick, and Conal doesn’t help much - he’s cold and mean and angry all the time.
Then, Catlin starts hearing whispers that Conal has a mistress. It’s confirmed when she finds them in bed together in Conal’s beach house. When Conal returns home, Catlin throws the truth of his infidelity at him. There’s a huge argument and Catlin leaves. She makes her way to Sydney, goes to university and gets an accounting degree, goes to modelling school to learn poise, learns how to sail, how to cook, dress, do her hair, the whole deal, as a big ‘f u’ to the man who made her feel so awful about herself. All of this, Catlin covers in an exposition-heavy explanation to her roommate in Sydney, before she sets off for Auckland.
On the plane ride over, she exposits the final chapter. After the argument, before she left, Conal raped her.
I think the most positive thing I can say about this book is that it does take a step in the direction of acknowledging that rape happens in marriages. And Conal apologises. And Donald writes these wonderful Punk Cinderella heroines. They suffer social humiliation, are often treated with indifference or as sacrifices by their family, and always pull through without any emotional support or protection from their heroes. They have backbones of steel, and have satisfying scenes where they prove their alpha female selves and make all those stinking, rotten nasties who mocked and sneered and poked at them in the past retreat in the face of their shining awesomeness.
And then, Donald gives you a good perspective on what motivated some of her flawed secondaries to be so awful, and better relationships are tentatively formed.
It’s all very satisfying and wonderful, and it’s why I read these type of romances with a great deal of enjoyment, but it has some awfully problematic elements.
Catlin was infatuated with Conal as a teenager, and while she starts out the book happy and successful, the plot is all about breaking her down again. She’s still infatuated with Conal, in love with him in fact. Her big emotional conflict is what will happen to her if she stays and if he cheats.
I can’t really be bothered much with Conal, he’s your basic plastic action figure. He’s a handsome, entitled, wealthy male, he barks orders, gets grabby, and his bitchy sniping is all said silkily. Catlin’s his property, etc etc. There’s no attempt to really drill into what has made him an abuser, but then, it’s not really about him, is it?
Catlin thinks that he can’t love again because he lost his first wife, the love of his life, so young (Conal is 26 when he marries Catlin). He tells Catlin he wouldn’t have been so angry if she hadn’t been so scared/cold around him. He does tack on a small ‘I blame myself’ but blah blah, manipulators always know to throw one of those in occasionally so their ‘you made me this way’ will still mostly sound authentic. It works so well.
He doesn’t matter because it’s all about Catlin. But who she’s become, what she’s made of herself is nothing compared to her emotions and her desires, and Donald spells all of that out, and it made me so frustrated AGAIN with romance and this ‘love is more important than YOU’ message. Can’t we just stick to sniping at bitches, and balancing it out by finding the good in some of the secondaries?
Worse, though, is how Catlin’s ‘You raped me’ statement transforms at the end of the book to Catlin and Conal both agreeing: ‘it started out as rape,’ with the implication that this doesn’t matter because during the rape they both ‘forgot’ and it became consensual, and that the biggest problem in the end was that Catlin found sex the first time painful. While Donald wasn’t necessarily walking back on the encounter being rape, she’s still telling a story about abuse being a journey with a happy ending, rather than a cycle, where if there’s an ending it’s likely to be violent. It’s a dangerous fantasy.
Donald sets up Catlin as an abuse survivor, someone who got away, who didn’t let Conal’s emotional abuse, and then the rape, beat her down. He’s financially abusing her at the beginning of the book - holding what she believes to be her rightful inheritance money to ransom, to force her to do his bidding. This plot has its wish fulfilment elements, with Catlin staring down those who were cruel to her in the past, and that’s great in theory. She learns that, for the most part, people are more willing to accept her now that she’s more ready to state her boundaries. Catlin is a kind generous person, and will she has her alpha bitch ‘win’ moments, she has empathy and comes off as likeable.
And if that were all, ok. But it’s also about Catlin undertaking further trials to prove herself to be strong, and her ‘prize’ is her abuser transforming into a loving faithful husband, the end, close the book, forget that this isn’t the way abuse works.
And I know I’m looking at this book with 2018 eyes, with more information than I had when I first started reading Donald 20 years ago, when the owner of the 2nd hand bookshop where I worked recommended her. I can’t remember if I read this one, but I know my reaction then would have been the same. Which is that Catlin would have a better life going after her bookshop dream in Sydney, than taking up with Conal. It’s one thing to forgive him. It’s another thing altogether to think their strong emotional connection and physical attraction will make everything ok.
And If you’re here, considering reading a book that will take a bit of effort to track down because you like a vintage and Punk Cinderella in an angsty quest for some social vengeance is your jam, Donald delivers. She also lovingly delivers her beautiful and unique New Zealand. She’s worth taking the uncomfortable wrong-headed crap that will keep coming back to you long after you’ve finished the book. I’m still hunting down something of hers I read 20 years ago and want to find (all I’ve got to go on is a jezebel heroine, a nasty family, an OW relative, maybe a bank loan and definitely a storm almost destroying a Bach in the Coromandel area, and the feeling I’m probably vaguely mixing a couple of books, and maybe it was Susan Napier rather than Robyn Donald anyway). If ever I find it I’m going to be so happy, but I’ll absolutely HATE it at the same time.
I think Donald’s great, and I’m comfortable enough both liking and hating her plots, mostly ignoring her heroes, ranting but still reading, and wondering just what was going on in her head most of the time.
It’s going to be brutal.
Catlin was 17 when she married Conal, shortly after her father’s death left her an orphan with a farm and no one else to turn to. He took her to the city, where his mother pointed out that Catlin in no way measured up to Conal’s first wife, who died only a very short time ago. Conal has a little girl, and his mother is parenting her. Conal’s friends all make Catlin feel like a big stupid hick, and Conal doesn’t help much - he’s cold and mean and angry all the time.
Then, Catlin starts hearing whispers that Conal has a mistress. It’s confirmed when she finds them in bed together in Conal’s beach house. When Conal returns home, Catlin throws the truth of his infidelity at him. There’s a huge argument and Catlin leaves. She makes her way to Sydney, goes to university and gets an accounting degree, goes to modelling school to learn poise, learns how to sail, how to cook, dress, do her hair, the whole deal, as a big ‘f u’ to the man who made her feel so awful about herself. All of this, Catlin covers in an exposition-heavy explanation to her roommate in Sydney, before she sets off for Auckland.
On the plane ride over, she exposits the final chapter. After the argument, before she left, Conal raped her.
I think the most positive thing I can say about this book is that it does take a step in the direction of acknowledging that rape happens in marriages. And Conal apologises. And Donald writes these wonderful Punk Cinderella heroines. They suffer social humiliation, are often treated with indifference or as sacrifices by their family, and always pull through without any emotional support or protection from their heroes. They have backbones of steel, and have satisfying scenes where they prove their alpha female selves and make all those stinking, rotten nasties who mocked and sneered and poked at them in the past retreat in the face of their shining awesomeness.
And then, Donald gives you a good perspective on what motivated some of her flawed secondaries to be so awful, and better relationships are tentatively formed.
It’s all very satisfying and wonderful, and it’s why I read these type of romances with a great deal of enjoyment, but it has some awfully problematic elements.
Catlin was infatuated with Conal as a teenager, and while she starts out the book happy and successful, the plot is all about breaking her down again. She’s still infatuated with Conal, in love with him in fact. Her big emotional conflict is what will happen to her if she stays and if he cheats.
I can’t really be bothered much with Conal, he’s your basic plastic action figure. He’s a handsome, entitled, wealthy male, he barks orders, gets grabby, and his bitchy sniping is all said silkily. Catlin’s his property, etc etc. There’s no attempt to really drill into what has made him an abuser, but then, it’s not really about him, is it?
Catlin thinks that he can’t love again because he lost his first wife, the love of his life, so young (Conal is 26 when he marries Catlin). He tells Catlin he wouldn’t have been so angry if she hadn’t been so scared/cold around him. He does tack on a small ‘I blame myself’ but blah blah, manipulators always know to throw one of those in occasionally so their ‘you made me this way’ will still mostly sound authentic. It works so well.
He doesn’t matter because it’s all about Catlin. But who she’s become, what she’s made of herself is nothing compared to her emotions and her desires, and Donald spells all of that out, and it made me so frustrated AGAIN with romance and this ‘love is more important than YOU’ message. Can’t we just stick to sniping at bitches, and balancing it out by finding the good in some of the secondaries?
Worse, though, is how Catlin’s ‘You raped me’ statement transforms at the end of the book to Catlin and Conal both agreeing: ‘it started out as rape,’ with the implication that this doesn’t matter because during the rape they both ‘forgot’ and it became consensual, and that the biggest problem in the end was that Catlin found sex the first time painful. While Donald wasn’t necessarily walking back on the encounter being rape, she’s still telling a story about abuse being a journey with a happy ending, rather than a cycle, where if there’s an ending it’s likely to be violent. It’s a dangerous fantasy.
Donald sets up Catlin as an abuse survivor, someone who got away, who didn’t let Conal’s emotional abuse, and then the rape, beat her down. He’s financially abusing her at the beginning of the book - holding what she believes to be her rightful inheritance money to ransom, to force her to do his bidding. This plot has its wish fulfilment elements, with Catlin staring down those who were cruel to her in the past, and that’s great in theory. She learns that, for the most part, people are more willing to accept her now that she’s more ready to state her boundaries. Catlin is a kind generous person, and will she has her alpha bitch ‘win’ moments, she has empathy and comes off as likeable.
And if that were all, ok. But it’s also about Catlin undertaking further trials to prove herself to be strong, and her ‘prize’ is her abuser transforming into a loving faithful husband, the end, close the book, forget that this isn’t the way abuse works.
And I know I’m looking at this book with 2018 eyes, with more information than I had when I first started reading Donald 20 years ago, when the owner of the 2nd hand bookshop where I worked recommended her. I can’t remember if I read this one, but I know my reaction then would have been the same. Which is that Catlin would have a better life going after her bookshop dream in Sydney, than taking up with Conal. It’s one thing to forgive him. It’s another thing altogether to think their strong emotional connection and physical attraction will make everything ok.
And If you’re here, considering reading a book that will take a bit of effort to track down because you like a vintage and Punk Cinderella in an angsty quest for some social vengeance is your jam, Donald delivers. She also lovingly delivers her beautiful and unique New Zealand. She’s worth taking the uncomfortable wrong-headed crap that will keep coming back to you long after you’ve finished the book. I’m still hunting down something of hers I read 20 years ago and want to find (all I’ve got to go on is a jezebel heroine, a nasty family, an OW relative, maybe a bank loan and definitely a storm almost destroying a Bach in the Coromandel area, and the feeling I’m probably vaguely mixing a couple of books, and maybe it was Susan Napier rather than Robyn Donald anyway). If ever I find it I’m going to be so happy, but I’ll absolutely HATE it at the same time.
I think Donald’s great, and I’m comfortable enough both liking and hating her plots, mostly ignoring her heroes, ranting but still reading, and wondering just what was going on in her head most of the time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2020
1. He’s a cheating rapist. She’s 18 and in an unconsummated marriage, she catches her husband in bed with an OW, and somehow her anger goads him into rape?
2. She runs away, grows up. 6 years later, she wants money from her trust fund to purchase a bookshop. Of course he controls the trust fund.
3. He forces her to come back to discuss the situation and uses his daughter (he’s a widower) and his mother’s health to “force” her to stay.
4. He apologizes for the rape, but it’s not a full apology, hey she was enjoying it until she wasn’t. She flinches away from him whenever he comes close. He has some guilt, but not enough to leave her alone.
5. She tells him she’s had other lovers (this is HP, so of course, this is a lie). Plus point... he doesn’t slut shame her.
6. She puts one actual and one potential OW in their place. During the 6 years apart he’s had sex, but the women weren’t mistresses or affairs, so it’s pointed out that this is okay, he’s a man, the need a sexual outlet. Really?
7. He won’t “force” her but pushes until he gets his way, she gives in. He admits he always desired her. Apparently, she was too young and unhappy when they were first married, he chose to slack his need with the OW, but the only way he could do this was by imagining it was his young bride... right!
8. She admits she desired him and in her anger she goaded him into the rape. What??
9. In the end, he says when he sees her again that he’s always loved her. Right, that’s why you raped her.
10. He does not deserve her and she should never have allowed herself to be manipulated again.
1 star for being well written, the 2nd is for him semi-apologizing and feeling guilt and her growing up and having some semblance of a backbone.
2. She runs away, grows up. 6 years later, she wants money from her trust fund to purchase a bookshop. Of course he controls the trust fund.
3. He forces her to come back to discuss the situation and uses his daughter (he’s a widower) and his mother’s health to “force” her to stay.
4. He apologizes for the rape, but it’s not a full apology, hey she was enjoying it until she wasn’t. She flinches away from him whenever he comes close. He has some guilt, but not enough to leave her alone.
5. She tells him she’s had other lovers (this is HP, so of course, this is a lie). Plus point... he doesn’t slut shame her.
6. She puts one actual and one potential OW in their place. During the 6 years apart he’s had sex, but the women weren’t mistresses or affairs, so it’s pointed out that this is okay, he’s a man, the need a sexual outlet. Really?
7. He won’t “force” her but pushes until he gets his way, she gives in. He admits he always desired her. Apparently, she was too young and unhappy when they were first married, he chose to slack his need with the OW, but the only way he could do this was by imagining it was his young bride... right!
8. She admits she desired him and in her anger she goaded him into the rape. What??
9. In the end, he says when he sees her again that he’s always loved her. Right, that’s why you raped her.
10. He does not deserve her and she should never have allowed herself to be manipulated again.
1 star for being well written, the 2nd is for him semi-apologizing and feeling guilt and her growing up and having some semblance of a backbone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2018
“Rage mixed with terror whitened her face.
‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he said with soft emphasis, speaking soothingly like a man trying to calm a panic-stricken animal. ‘It’s all right, Cat. You have to get over this. Don’t you see, while you’re so frightened of me you’ll always be in my power.”
(...)
“I meant what I said. You will never be free of me if I terrify you into losing your wits as I do now. There are different kinds of bondage, you know. Great love is one kind, physical fear another.
(...)
“You’re as possessive about me as I am about you—otherwise why would you have got rid of my women so quickly and efficiently? You made it quite clear that there’s no future for either Moya or Angela. Because you’re so bloody jealous, that’s why. Sheer, sexual jealousy!’
He smiled insolently as a tidal wave of colour rushed over her skin. ‘You’re hot for me,’ he said softly. ‘Greedy for me, craving for me, Catlin. Oh, don’t try to deny it, I can see for myself. Your body betrays you whenever I come near you. I’d like to take you, see if I can sate you, but I’m not going to.
(...)
“I’d hunt you down,’ he said huskily. ‘You’d never feel safe, Catlin, never stop looking behind you. And when I found you I’d show you exactly what that beautiful body was made for, wring the last amount of pleasure from my domination of you, reduce you to a mindless slave to my will.’
Although she shivered, white-faced, defiance still glittered in her gaze. ‘You couldn’t do it,’ she whispered.
‘Do you think not?’ He sounded amused, so calm as if they were discussing a book both had enjoyed, but there was a dark intensity of passion in his eyes. ‘You don’t know yet what you’re capable of feeling, my darling. The idea of submission fills you with horror, but I promise you it will be a willing capitulation.”
OMG, he was ruthlessly manipulative. I loved to hate him.
‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he said with soft emphasis, speaking soothingly like a man trying to calm a panic-stricken animal. ‘It’s all right, Cat. You have to get over this. Don’t you see, while you’re so frightened of me you’ll always be in my power.”
(...)
“I meant what I said. You will never be free of me if I terrify you into losing your wits as I do now. There are different kinds of bondage, you know. Great love is one kind, physical fear another.
(...)
“You’re as possessive about me as I am about you—otherwise why would you have got rid of my women so quickly and efficiently? You made it quite clear that there’s no future for either Moya or Angela. Because you’re so bloody jealous, that’s why. Sheer, sexual jealousy!’
He smiled insolently as a tidal wave of colour rushed over her skin. ‘You’re hot for me,’ he said softly. ‘Greedy for me, craving for me, Catlin. Oh, don’t try to deny it, I can see for myself. Your body betrays you whenever I come near you. I’d like to take you, see if I can sate you, but I’m not going to.
(...)
“I’d hunt you down,’ he said huskily. ‘You’d never feel safe, Catlin, never stop looking behind you. And when I found you I’d show you exactly what that beautiful body was made for, wring the last amount of pleasure from my domination of you, reduce you to a mindless slave to my will.’
Although she shivered, white-faced, defiance still glittered in her gaze. ‘You couldn’t do it,’ she whispered.
‘Do you think not?’ He sounded amused, so calm as if they were discussing a book both had enjoyed, but there was a dark intensity of passion in his eyes. ‘You don’t know yet what you’re capable of feeling, my darling. The idea of submission fills you with horror, but I promise you it will be a willing capitulation.”
OMG, he was ruthlessly manipulative. I loved to hate him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2014
When I started reading this book, I thought the hero was a jackass and by the the time I finished, yeah, he was still a jackass.
November 1, 2021
Second -chance romance for Caitlin and Conal. I don’t usually like cheating shenanigans in my soapy romance, there were a couple of factors that made it easier for me to swallow, but this won’t be for everyone., so I wouldn’t recommend it for readers concerned with safety preferences.
SPOILERS- The book starts after the separation. The couple had an unconsummated marriage (I took it that Conal was open about his mistress), when Caitlin walked in on him and the mistress. This part confused me, but there’s a rapey situation afterwards. Confusing because they both call it rape, it’s described as BBS not forcing, and later she says she was in to it, so your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, she left, and he was with others while separated (not a ton but occasionally). This will be too much for a lot of readers so FYI.
Bottom Line- I’m not going to take a ton of time with this as there’re several spoiler reviews out there. The mistress isn’t around for the book, and there’s minimal OW drama… two wannabes that aren’t meddling. I liked it, I felt they both matured, and he was very honest about his behavior. He owned up and took responsibility for his actions which I needed to become convinced of his sincerity. Conal isn’t husband goals, but lays the foundation for angst, and room to grow.
SPOILERS- The book starts after the separation. The couple had an unconsummated marriage (I took it that Conal was open about his mistress), when Caitlin walked in on him and the mistress. This part confused me, but there’s a rapey situation afterwards. Confusing because they both call it rape, it’s described as BBS not forcing, and later she says she was in to it, so your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, she left, and he was with others while separated (not a ton but occasionally). This will be too much for a lot of readers so FYI.
Bottom Line- I’m not going to take a ton of time with this as there’re several spoiler reviews out there. The mistress isn’t around for the book, and there’s minimal OW drama… two wannabes that aren’t meddling. I liked it, I felt they both matured, and he was very honest about his behavior. He owned up and took responsibility for his actions which I needed to become convinced of his sincerity. Conal isn’t husband goals, but lays the foundation for angst, and room to grow.
December 2, 2023
*Yawn*
2 Stars
2 Stars
March 21, 2013
2.5 stars. Here’s my problem with this book and a lot of Harleys with this theme. I hate it when the author start telling the story of reunited couples after all of the angst is over. They always start when the couple meet up again and pass up all the misery of the pass relationship that had caused the H/h to break up in the first place, which is the best part IMO. That’s the part I want to read. That’s the part that makes the book interesting. I want to experience all the horridness of the cheating hero, or the hateful mother, or the naive young spineless virgin growing into the fire cracker from the beginning of the relationship. I want to see it all! And that’s why I think this book failed me. Our hero cheated on the spineless heroine while letting his mother and friends walk all over her and she goes away for six years and comes back swinging. That’s all good but…. boring if I can‘t get to see all the sordid details from the start.
April 13, 2022
Triggers for cheating and rape.
There were quite a few things that were so baloney in this, it made me infuriated that we were expect to swallow that rubbish.
1) Hero rationalizes his cheating by saying he was imagining the OW was his wife while having sex with her. Whhhhaat? Seriously if my husband ever cheated and gave me that excuse he would get divorce papers so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. Also, even if the hero really did that, it's a horrible way to treat a woman, OW or not. So despicable to use someone in that way. What an a-hole.
2) He claims he didn't rape his wife after she confronted him about his cheating. He said she enjoyed it up to the painful penetration. What a steaming pile of ....
I simply cannot image that after a wife sees her husband physically having sex with another woman, that she is overcome with lust and has sex with him shortly after. The emotional tsunami for that kind of betrayal covers agonised hurt, rage, nausea, humiliation, disbelief, shock and everything else (see for example Michelle Reid's iconic 'The Ultimate Betrayal), but not lust. Unless there is something seriously wrong with the one being cheated on of course. What's the female equivalent of a cuckhold - someone who gets turned on by watching their spouse have sex with someone else?
(On a side note, what kind of guy has sex with both his mistress and wife within hours of each other. Maybe he should have gone for a threesome to save time).
3) It takes unbelievably gross insensitivity to take her back to the place where she saw him having sex with some one else. I really doubt that that is any part of therapy to address the trauma of betrayal, just sweeping it under the carpet, and 'putting in good memories' to cover it up.
Pretty loathsome story. Maddening too.
There were quite a few things that were so baloney in this, it made me infuriated that we were expect to swallow that rubbish.
1) Hero rationalizes his cheating by saying he was imagining the OW was his wife while having sex with her. Whhhhaat? Seriously if my husband ever cheated and gave me that excuse he would get divorce papers so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. Also, even if the hero really did that, it's a horrible way to treat a woman, OW or not. So despicable to use someone in that way. What an a-hole.
2) He claims he didn't rape his wife after she confronted him about his cheating. He said she enjoyed it up to the painful penetration. What a steaming pile of ....
I simply cannot image that after a wife sees her husband physically having sex with another woman, that she is overcome with lust and has sex with him shortly after. The emotional tsunami for that kind of betrayal covers agonised hurt, rage, nausea, humiliation, disbelief, shock and everything else (see for example Michelle Reid's iconic 'The Ultimate Betrayal), but not lust. Unless there is something seriously wrong with the one being cheated on of course. What's the female equivalent of a cuckhold - someone who gets turned on by watching their spouse have sex with someone else?
(On a side note, what kind of guy has sex with both his mistress and wife within hours of each other. Maybe he should have gone for a threesome to save time).
3) It takes unbelievably gross insensitivity to take her back to the place where she saw him having sex with some one else. I really doubt that that is any part of therapy to address the trauma of betrayal, just sweeping it under the carpet, and 'putting in good memories' to cover it up.
Pretty loathsome story. Maddening too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2017
It was well-written and I wanted to like it, truly I did, but I'm forced to realize that cheating heroes are my trigger. It takes a LOT for me to get past infidelity and this one just couldn't get me through it. The hero kept, to the very end, referring to his extramarital affairs as "my women" and talked about how he "made love" to his mistress (why couldn't he just call it sex?). Maybe Catlin learned to be impervious in the end but it was all daggers to my heart. Couldn't enjoy it.
May 15, 2022
4( I must be out of my mind )`stars!!! Thanks to the insightful reviews by Boogenhagen and Stmargarets which was able to guide me through this quagmire of a book. IF one were to start reading a Robyn Donald book, I would not recommend this one to start. One needs to be eased into her style before boarding this train wreck. Her writing has the ability to raise my stress level and keep it up for the duration. One never knows what to expect from her heroes, but they take the whole book to show how devious they are until the last chapter.
The 17 year old h is left alone in the world when her father dies. He was sickly so before he died, he met with the 26 year old hero to sell his property. He was so taken with the hero that he made the H be in charge of the h’s trust fund. T0 put the man’s mind at ease, the H married the h at his death bed.
So the H takes the h to his estate in New Zealand. She is like a fish out of water. His friends are more sophisticated and make polite digs that she more than understands, his mother is demeaning to her, and her husband refuses to sleep with her. When she catches him with his lover, she is angry, confused, and distraught. They have a very verbal/physical confrontation and the h leaves without a trace or word. She gets in touch with a lawyer who assures the H that she is safe and she is given supplements from her inheritance. She moves to Australia. She gets a degree in accounting, and she does a lot of growing up. She is now 24 and wants access to all her money to buy a bookshop. The H says he will not relinquish the money til she comes to him. This is where our story opens and it begins the 2nd chance phase of the book. Now it is RD’s job to convince me if this non celibate cheating H deserves the 2nd chance or not. Oh and on top of that he is widowed with a daughter. He loved his first wife who died at the age of 22. The h is pretty sure that his heart was buried with his wife.
The breakdown of atrocities is in the spoilers:
It is obvious as the book progressed, that the H was intent on making his marriage stick with the new and improved h. She has bonded well with his daughter and she now has the ability to make ow’s quake with her artfully veiled belittling comebacks to them. It is often remarked that his ow material, although very beautiful, are not all that smart. I would say as the case is with most of RD’s heroes, is that once they have truly connected with their heroine they will stay deeply connected. So, I do not fear that the H will stray over the years, making the HEA believable.
The 17 year old h is left alone in the world when her father dies. He was sickly so before he died, he met with the 26 year old hero to sell his property. He was so taken with the hero that he made the H be in charge of the h’s trust fund. T0 put the man’s mind at ease, the H married the h at his death bed.
So the H takes the h to his estate in New Zealand. She is like a fish out of water. His friends are more sophisticated and make polite digs that she more than understands, his mother is demeaning to her, and her husband refuses to sleep with her. When she catches him with his lover, she is angry, confused, and distraught. They have a very verbal/physical confrontation and the h leaves without a trace or word. She gets in touch with a lawyer who assures the H that she is safe and she is given supplements from her inheritance. She moves to Australia. She gets a degree in accounting, and she does a lot of growing up. She is now 24 and wants access to all her money to buy a bookshop. The H says he will not relinquish the money til she comes to him. This is where our story opens and it begins the 2nd chance phase of the book. Now it is RD’s job to convince me if this non celibate cheating H deserves the 2nd chance or not. Oh and on top of that he is widowed with a daughter. He loved his first wife who died at the age of 22. The h is pretty sure that his heart was buried with his wife.
The breakdown of atrocities is in the spoilers:
It is obvious as the book progressed, that the H was intent on making his marriage stick with the new and improved h. She has bonded well with his daughter and she now has the ability to make ow’s quake with her artfully veiled belittling comebacks to them. It is often remarked that his ow material, although very beautiful, are not all that smart. I would say as the case is with most of RD’s heroes, is that once they have truly connected with their heroine they will stay deeply connected. So, I do not fear that the H will stray over the years, making the HEA believable.
April 30, 2012
The hero married the heroine when she was just seventeen. When one night the heroine encounter her husband, the hero having sex with his mistress, she freaked out. The hero being goaded into it by her aggressiveness, in turn raped her. After her humiliating "rape" she left the comforts of New Zealand for Australia and remained there for six years. Now it's time the heroine faces the hero and her past and when it all comes together, it will surprise you!
I love love love this novel, it was great. It had intense passion and chemistry, not to mention angst and fierce love. It was an absolute delight to read and I love that it was an older book because it just seemed so modern and new. It could of literally be released yesterday and it would fit in with all the new Mills & Boon/Harlequins.
I love love love this novel, it was great. It had intense passion and chemistry, not to mention angst and fierce love. It was an absolute delight to read and I love that it was an older book because it just seemed so modern and new. It could of literally be released yesterday and it would fit in with all the new Mills & Boon/Harlequins.
June 28, 2016
screw this one! i never enjoyed reading robyn donald's novels. but somehow i always read it out of curiosity of how crazy robyn's novel going to be. and it's always crazy.
she always makes her heroes as a cheating bastard and made every damn excused to make the heroine then saw the cheating as not that important, coz the hero needs to release his sexual frustation bcoz the heroine is either too young, not ready or he's confused.
this one is no execption. what logic does make sense to bring back your wife to the house that she saw her husband and his mistress in sexual action years ago that makes her ran away from you, as a reason to erased that bad memory with a happier one which he made tons of sex with his now stupid wife that still magically loves her cheating husband? if that wife was me, i'll BURN the house down and build a church or a zoo. heck no i was gonna to lie in the bed that i saw my husband having sex w/his mistress. it's demeaning. where's my gun??
what a wrecked
she always makes her heroes as a cheating bastard and made every damn excused to make the heroine then saw the cheating as not that important, coz the hero needs to release his sexual frustation bcoz the heroine is either too young, not ready or he's confused.
this one is no execption. what logic does make sense to bring back your wife to the house that she saw her husband and his mistress in sexual action years ago that makes her ran away from you, as a reason to erased that bad memory with a happier one which he made tons of sex with his now stupid wife that still magically loves her cheating husband? if that wife was me, i'll BURN the house down and build a church or a zoo. heck no i was gonna to lie in the bed that i saw my husband having sex w/his mistress. it's demeaning. where's my gun??
what a wrecked
April 5, 2016
If you're looking for a book where the hero marries a 17yr old, cheats on her with a very visible mistress and then rapes her when she confronts him about it ....then this is the book for you. Pretty horrible story. The heroine runs away for 17 yrs makes herself over to be more sophisticated. Then gets called back to the homestead. Where the hero has his newest mistress floating around the scene. He's a douche bucket. The hero did keep her distance for awhile though which was good. It's only a romance if you think heading your husband tell you why are you so jealous about his women?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2020
RD was on some kind of roll with this one ... and she was going well when she decided to chicken out
I mean, why white-wash what the H did? he was willing to admit he raped the h ... h was all for telling H he raped her ... and then, as the book went on, I see the H letting h know she enjoyed herself ... and then the h admitting the same and by the end, it becomes a case of not rape, rather out of control sex which ended poorly for her as she was a virgin ... this sneaky tactic makes me knock off one star ...
I did like the new version of the h ... but I was just not too impressed with the H ...
and what is with RD always having H getting angry and possibly punishing h for being cheeky with the OW? while these same H's are happy with the OW's cattiness?
I mean, why white-wash what the H did? he was willing to admit he raped the h ... h was all for telling H he raped her ... and then, as the book went on, I see the H letting h know she enjoyed herself ... and then the h admitting the same and by the end, it becomes a case of not rape, rather out of control sex which ended poorly for her as she was a virgin ... this sneaky tactic makes me knock off one star ...
I did like the new version of the h ... but I was just not too impressed with the H ...
and what is with RD always having H getting angry and possibly punishing h for being cheeky with the OW? while these same H's are happy with the OW's cattiness?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2015
Couldn't warm up to the writing style.
October 20, 2022
I just don't know what to say about this one. It is one of the worst cases of a cheating H in the history of cheaters in romance books.
I kinda loved the h I am so glad she left his cheating ass and made a life for herself. All the stars are for her she also held her own on her return by being totally awesome and making the H wait until she was ready.
As for the cheating skunk of a H he is lucky that the h forgave him after she caught him red handed in bed with another woman. It wasn't even a she tricked me drunk accident it was a full on he took her to their beach house and other places for that express purpose. What does he do when she catches and confronts him? He forces her to consummate their marriage the same night. I wanted to throw up at his tackiness and possible spreading of his no doubt prolific STD's. He allegedly suffers when she runs away and cannot be traced but not enough to stop shagging other women up until the h returns for her money and a divorce 6 years later. It is like he just didn't learn his lesson when she left him the first time.
This H has been married and in love before but she died and left him holding the baby. The h has had it drilled into her by her MIL that the dead wife was perfect and she wasn't. Not much else is said about the wife other than the H confesses he did love her and grieved her passing but did not bury his heart with her. However the h is now kinda expected to raise his daughter and do wifey things.
What I hate about this type of book is that she has to do it in "their" house(as in the H and his previous wifes.) To add insult to injury he takes her away to the beach house where he was caught shagging his OW - Yuck.
Is it just me or does the h at the very least need to burn it to ashes to get rid of the memories or could he not have had the good grace to sell it and buy one without the memories attached? He is not exactly poor. I feel for these poor h's that have to move into family homes that someone else has made their own I honestly don't think I could do that I would want someplace I could imprint myself on.
I had to read this twice just for the shock!
I kinda loved the h I am so glad she left his cheating ass and made a life for herself. All the stars are for her she also held her own on her return by being totally awesome and making the H wait until she was ready.
As for the cheating skunk of a H he is lucky that the h forgave him after she caught him red handed in bed with another woman. It wasn't even a she tricked me drunk accident it was a full on he took her to their beach house and other places for that express purpose. What does he do when she catches and confronts him? He forces her to consummate their marriage the same night. I wanted to throw up at his tackiness and possible spreading of his no doubt prolific STD's. He allegedly suffers when she runs away and cannot be traced but not enough to stop shagging other women up until the h returns for her money and a divorce 6 years later. It is like he just didn't learn his lesson when she left him the first time.
This H has been married and in love before but she died and left him holding the baby. The h has had it drilled into her by her MIL that the dead wife was perfect and she wasn't. Not much else is said about the wife other than the H confesses he did love her and grieved her passing but did not bury his heart with her. However the h is now kinda expected to raise his daughter and do wifey things.
What I hate about this type of book is that she has to do it in "their" house(as in the H and his previous wifes.) To add insult to injury he takes her away to the beach house where he was caught shagging his OW - Yuck.
Is it just me or does the h at the very least need to burn it to ashes to get rid of the memories or could he not have had the good grace to sell it and buy one without the memories attached? He is not exactly poor. I feel for these poor h's that have to move into family homes that someone else has made their own I honestly don't think I could do that I would want someplace I could imprint myself on.
I had to read this twice just for the shock!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2023
This would have been 5-star if the hero had actually taken responsibility for all he had put his teenage wife through. Instead they both seemed to blame her immaturity. And I guess the answer to this was to let her go “find herself” for 6 years while the hero continued on as if he wasn’t married… and from all accounts never intended to change that situation. I didn’t like that the heroine was the one who had to do all the heavy lifting. She had to put his various mistresses and would be mistresses in their place, and she had to accept staying with him BEFORE he declared himself or provided her explanations for their painful past. The way he and his mother and friends treated her was never addressed besides again blaming the TEENAGER. She even decided his asshole friends who were completely monstrous to a young girl were actually kinda ok once they decided she was their equal… so I guess they are just snobby pretentious ass hats?? Okie dokie. 🫤 I also noticed that through all the lovey dovey stuff at the end he never actually promised her he’d be faithful… she’s just old enough now to deal with him…. 🫤
So why is it 4-stars? The drama and angst was top notch. 🤷🏼♀️
🤣🤣🤣🤣
So why is it 4-stars? The drama and angst was top notch. 🤷🏼♀️
🤣🤣🤣🤣
March 28, 2013
it was written in 1983, and had a very different term to it...but since I grew up in the Luke and Laura era when i originally read it...it did not read the same way. Now I am older and while i remembered why i was more accepting of it then..not so much now. They prettied it up or the writer tried... but he raped her and he threatened most of the book to do it again if she ..."pushed him" he became only likeable at the very end and that was only because he got what he wanted. so i like dit enough to read again to remind me of why i would not read it a third time.
January 26, 2024
Deal breakers for me-
Spousal rape (though the author tried to "whitewash" it later by having the h say that she ultimately enjoyed it.
Spousal cheating during the marriage, both when the H & h were together and while they were separated- as admitted by the so-called H- with no apology. In fact, after the h found the H in bed with his mistress, the H's answer was to rape his wife (see above).
I know others have praised this book, but for me I just couldn't accept it. I couldn't even call it a romance.
Spousal rape (though the author tried to "whitewash" it later by having the h say that she ultimately enjoyed it.
Spousal cheating during the marriage, both when the H & h were together and while they were separated- as admitted by the so-called H- with no apology. In fact, after the h found the H in bed with his mistress, the H's answer was to rape his wife (see above).
I know others have praised this book, but for me I just couldn't accept it. I couldn't even call it a romance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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