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Darling Deceiver
A girl's joy turned to a woman's sorrow
In her very 1st moment of passion, Carissa had yielded to Cade Fernand. He was a famous singer, handsome--& blind. Her love was a beautiful dream--& a bad mistake.
It took 8 years for Carissa to forget. Then suddenly, Cade was back--no longer blind, still as attractive as ever, & hiding from a killer. Carissa, working for the agent handling his tour, was assigned to help him.
But even the threat to his life couldn't take Cade's mind off the woman Carissa had become....
In her very 1st moment of passion, Carissa had yielded to Cade Fernand. He was a famous singer, handsome--& blind. Her love was a beautiful dream--& a bad mistake.
It took 8 years for Carissa to forget. Then suddenly, Cade was back--no longer blind, still as attractive as ever, & hiding from a killer. Carissa, working for the agent handling his tour, was assigned to help him.
But even the threat to his life couldn't take Cade's mind off the woman Carissa had become....
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
60 people want to read
About the author
Daphne Clair
122 books64 followersDahpne Clair is one of many pseudonyms of Daphne de Jong, a New Zealand writer who also uses the names Laurie Bright, Claire Lorel and Clarissa Garland. She is the winner of the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America Rita Award more than once.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 10, 2018
This book was going fairly well and I quite like it up until a couple of chapters from the end
July 14, 2019
3 1/2 Stars ~ On a tour in Australia, famous singer Cade boards a plane to his next venue and finds himself seated beside a charming young woman. Blinded in a gang fight at 18, Cade doesn't realize how young the woman is, and he finds himself greatly attracted and wanting to spend more time with her. Having only two days in Sydney, he persuades her to come to his concert and then to spend the next day with him. After a day of touring the sights, he invites her back to his hotel. He thinks she's just rather shy, not realizing that her shyness is innocence. Discovering she's a virgin shocks him, and he lashes out at her for deceiving him. When she admits that she's only 17, he treats her rather badly. Eight years pass, and Carrisa is now a personal assistant to the owner of a successful entertainment agency. When her employer tells her that she's needed to look after a potentially new client who requires the seclusion of his lake cottage, she's shocked to discover it's Cade. He's being stalked and his life has been threatened. And while the police are hunting those after him, he'll be hiding out with Carrisa posing as newlyweds. Much to Carissa's relief, Cade doesn't seem to remember her, and much to her surprise he`s no longer blind. The tension between them though is quite strong, and Carissa does everything she can to keep him at arms length. However, Cade is insistent on seducing her. While she can't deny she desires Cade, she`s determined not to give in again. He admits that he remembers their night in Sydney, and she`s shaken to her core. And when he learns that she's only had one lover, him, he realizes how badly he'd hurt her eight years ago.
The beginning to this story is Cade at thirty meeting Carissa at seventeen. Thankfully, Ms. Clair wrote this part from Cade's point of view as the blind man. It made the fact that he seduced a 17 year old more palatable. While he had no idea Carissa was so young, he still was rather arrogant in how he seduced her and then rather cruelly rejected her. With their meeting again, Carissa is now 25, and the story takes on from her point of view. She's always been able to put off the advances of men, but Cade immediately gets under her skin and she finds it hard to fight his determination to seduce her. I rather disliked his persistence, though Ms. Clair did show he was deeply shaken when he realized how badly he'd affected Carissa's view of men. For much of the book, he's very arrogant and as Carissa keeps throwing at him, always having to have his way. I was cringing with every love scene where she was saying an emphatic "No" and he kept forcing her to respond -- thankfully Carissa escaped each time. While he did redeem himself, I thought he needed to suffer a bit more.
This story was compelling. And though there were times where I really disliked both of the characters, I found I couldn't stop reading ... I just had to know what was going to happen next.
The beginning to this story is Cade at thirty meeting Carissa at seventeen. Thankfully, Ms. Clair wrote this part from Cade's point of view as the blind man. It made the fact that he seduced a 17 year old more palatable. While he had no idea Carissa was so young, he still was rather arrogant in how he seduced her and then rather cruelly rejected her. With their meeting again, Carissa is now 25, and the story takes on from her point of view. She's always been able to put off the advances of men, but Cade immediately gets under her skin and she finds it hard to fight his determination to seduce her. I rather disliked his persistence, though Ms. Clair did show he was deeply shaken when he realized how badly he'd affected Carissa's view of men. For much of the book, he's very arrogant and as Carissa keeps throwing at him, always having to have his way. I was cringing with every love scene where she was saying an emphatic "No" and he kept forcing her to respond -- thankfully Carissa escaped each time. While he did redeem himself, I thought he needed to suffer a bit more.
This story was compelling. And though there were times where I really disliked both of the characters, I found I couldn't stop reading ... I just had to know what was going to happen next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2022
HAIKU BOOK REVIEW: Darling Deceiver, by Daphne Clair
Sadistic, rapey
formerly blind singer tor-
-tures spineless doormat.
Sadistic, rapey
formerly blind singer tor-
-tures spineless doormat.
Read
May 4, 2021He repeatedly harassed her even after she said no. He slapped her. He’s rude and had a bad and explosive temper. He seduced her into bed when she was 17 and blamed her. He met her again 8 years later and tried to seduce her again. He did not think about her in 8 years. He came back to test if he succeed in forgetting her. He cared more about her sister than her. He confessed. She found out he’s not married and they confessed and HEA. He’s a dangerous man who could not control his temper and blamed her often. She should run rather than marry him!
March 1, 2018
Just Meh. Meh. Meh. Mih. Moh. Moooh.
November 10, 2023
Well this was a queer fish. I couldn't take to hard case singer Cade, who started off blind and had a mini-groupie night with 17 year old Carissa. Admittedly he thought she was early 20s but he was so unnecessarily horrible to her when he discovered her virginity. Then ofc she is celibate for the next 8 years (🙄) when she is pa to a promoter who then reunites her with Cade whose life is under threat due to some criminal gang activity. They are put in a safe house with security guards in the grounds. There's a lot of hard kissing and treacherous body but no sex. There's stupid misunderstanding about an OW, Rita, which was plain as the nose on your face. At one point he slaps Carissa's face. All in all he was a no from me and the story dragged.
November 23, 2020
I liked it better than most reviewers apparently. It's a rather charming story of a spoiled successful singer and a girl who sleeps with him at 17 (he's blind so didn't realize she was so young) and later has to pretend to be his wife while he hides out from a killer. He has a very hard time accepting he loves her and she's a little scarred from earlier and doesn't make it easy for him either.
October 14, 2020
this is sooo baddddddd. wh do I keep hoping for some angst but still a normal plot from these old ones? I guess they just do not age well
June 6, 2023
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April 29, 2018A girl's joy turned to a woman's sorrow
In her very 1st moment of passion, Carissa had yielded to Cade Fernand. He was a famous singer, handsome--& blind. Her love was a beautiful dream--& a bad mistake.
It took 8 years for Carissa to forget. Then suddenly, Cade was back--no longer blind, still as attractive as ever, & hiding from a killer. Carissa, working for the agent handling his tour, was assigned to help him.
But even the threat to his life couldn't take Cade's mind off the woman Carissa had become....
In her very 1st moment of passion, Carissa had yielded to Cade Fernand. He was a famous singer, handsome--& blind. Her love was a beautiful dream--& a bad mistake.
It took 8 years for Carissa to forget. Then suddenly, Cade was back--no longer blind, still as attractive as ever, & hiding from a killer. Carissa, working for the agent handling his tour, was assigned to help him.
But even the threat to his life couldn't take Cade's mind off the woman Carissa had become....
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews