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Landon's Legacy #2
Guardian Groom
When a will leads to a wedding...
This is Grant's story:
"What a legacy for my father to leave me. Crista Adams--my ward! But the woman is no more a child than I am. In fact, with her lifestyle, I doubt Crista ever was a child. Why is it, then, that I, who've never let a woman get under my skin, am so jealous of every man in Crista's life? That's why I've decided to really act as her guardian. I've demanded that she move in with me. But that's surely the craziest idea I've ever had! Now I have the feeling that nothing in my life will ever be the same again...."
This is Grant's story:
"What a legacy for my father to leave me. Crista Adams--my ward! But the woman is no more a child than I am. In fact, with her lifestyle, I doubt Crista ever was a child. Why is it, then, that I, who've never let a woman get under my skin, am so jealous of every man in Crista's life? That's why I've decided to really act as her guardian. I've demanded that she move in with me. But that's surely the craziest idea I've ever had! Now I have the feeling that nothing in my life will ever be the same again...."
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1995
20 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Marton
582 books542 followersI've been a writer, one way or another, all my life. Before I could read, I made up poems and my mom wrote them down for me. In elementary school, my teachers almost always let me write poems or stories instead of requiring me to do art projects. Always, I dreamed of becoming a published writer...and that dream came true! I write novels about sexy, powerful men and independent-minded women, and what happens when they find each other and fall in love. My books are sexy and romantic, and they've very often full of romantic suspense. I write the kinds of books I love to read, and I hope that makes my readers happy.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 26, 2018
Re Guardian Groom - Sandra Marton's second book of Landon's Legacy gives us the old skool Guardian/Ward trope.
It also includes all the attendant old skool tart shaming and leering, pervy nematode H tropes too and honestly, I was pretty much squicked out.
Like the previous book, this one gives us A LOT of H POV. SM probably shouldn't have bothered cause this H needed his brain washed with soap.
His thoughts about the h were below the sub sewer level, as he compared her to his long, long, list of lady buffet samples and then turned around and judged her on how tarty he imagined her to be, to pacify his guilty conscience instead of how she really was.
(It was the old "she was asking for it routine" and it just did not work for me.)
Needless to say the h is continually judged by him to be the Harlot of Greenwich Village and the sheer misogynistic sexism that is rampant in this book made me ill.
(I never got over the sensation that the H was a borderline pedophile predator. Some of his thoughts came perilously close to what a person like that probably thinks like and I wasn't feeling the love or the Lurve Force Mojo.)
So take what follows with a grain of salt, because mileage varies and I was pretty much squicked and disgusted almost all the way through this.
SM opens again with the high priced lawyer H concluding a business deal with a lovely lady. After negotiations are finished, the lady he is negotiating with hitches her skirt up enough to flash some black lace stocking and the H charges right over to do a full groping session as they discuss after hours propositions. The descriptive groping is fairly explicit, tho the H manages to keep his hands above the waist for the most part.
Then he has to rush because he has to meet his current lover, but he is congratulating himself on being faithful, for as long as the affair lasts anyhow.
(I was kinda in awe of his definition of fidelity that included feeling up another lady's chest, but maybe they don't use the Oxford English Dictionary at NYC law firms.)
The H's evening seduction or be seduced plans are interrupted by the news of his father's death. So he flies back to the family estate, decides with his brothers that he wants to sell off his father's conglomerate and keep his little sister cozied up in the huge, ugly family home.
We learn that the previous H is dispatched to save the oil business, the other brother is sent to sort some Hollywood venture and the H is now the guardian of a 12 year old girl who lives in NYC. The H did not love his father and has no sense of family responsibility. He and his brothers are close, but they are also all pretty close in age and probably in their mid thirties.
So the H gets back to NYC and sets up a meet with the lawyer of the child he is now the guardian of, figuring he will have to find a boarding school and sign some checks and all will be groovy. Along the way to the meeting, he knocks a woman over in the pouring rain.
The woman is dressed in a leather skirt with knee high boots and a tight t-shirt. The H is making tarty tramp assumptions as he has to carry the lady into the lawyer's building because she broke her heel off her boot and is unsteady on her feet.
The woman the H ran into is the h. She is 20 years old, will be 21 in three months, has a one-eared cat called Sweetness and is a really nice person. She left her evil uncle's house years earlier and designs silver jewelry in the hopes of starting her own business.
For right now she works in a bar, hence the tight t-shirt and leather skirt with boots uniform, and she has a muscle-bound male roommate that she is absolutely NOT romantically interested in, but he is great at keeping the undesirable predators away.
The h knows her uncle is dead, but since he was very disparaging of both the h as a child and even more disparaging about her dancer mother, the h isn't really that bothered by it. The uncle was determined that the h's mother was little better than a prostitute, tho the woman actually worked on Broadway until her death.
The h is artistic too and her more liberal upbringing and manners completely infuriated the hidebound dinosaur uncle. When the h finally had enough of the hypocritical behavior of being ugly and hiding behind a social mask, she moved out and got a job and went about her life. Her uncle claimed he would disinherit her from the family millions, but the h doesn't care.
As it turns out, per the exceedingly pervy lecherous family lawyer of the uncle's, the h will inherit all the family money when she turns 21, until then the H is her guardian by way of being his father's son. But the lecherous slime snot lawyer is fine with becoming the h's guardian himself, if the H wants to abdicate.
Since the first meeting between the H and h included him assaulting her with his lips and groping her in the elevator on the way up, the H is pretty horrified that the h is the 'child' he is supposed to guardian to.
The h is no fool and can see the drool dripping from both mouths of the H and the pervy lawyer and she doesn't care about the money anyways. So after some verbal dressing down, she goes off to work and leaves them to wipe their own slime up. Later on the h's roommate tells her to think about not giving up her inheritance.
She can support a lot of places she volunteers at, like the soup kitchen and the animal shelter and she could also afford to start her own jewelry business with the money too. The h is thinking she should reconsider when the H shows up.
He instantly assumes the h's roommate is her lover and the h doesn't try to clarify things, she realizes that gleam in the H's eye isn't cause he wants to help her choose a nice design school. Then the H, who has been thinking the h needs someone to just sign checks if she needs money, loses his everlovin' mind.
He gets so infuriated at the roommate being there with the h that he tells her that she has to move in with him for the next three months. It is a total and complete lie. He also tries to make her leave her cat, but the h isn't having any of that and tells him to stuff it.
So the H and h and Sweetness all move in together and then we all go to Palm Beach so the cat fur doesn't invade the H's fancy penthouse apartment. (Sweetness gets confined to the guest room and I was pretty outraged.) There we are subjected to bouts of the H's tart shaming and verbal sexism, interspersed with full on roofie kisses.
There is a dramatic almost drowning puppy rescue and the H loses his mind again at the danger to the h and they wind up revoking unicorn grooming licenses. The h is in love, the H has to mentally compare the h to every woman he ever got busy with and it is a week or two of lurve on the beach and anywhere else the H can think of.
Eventually they have to go back to NYC and overnight the H turns into a nematode slime pustule again. He gets mad about the h's puppy, now named Annie, and he still hates the cat. Then he keeps saying really nasty tarty tramp comments to the h and tells her to take herself shopping for a beige dress to go to some society thing she doesn't want to be at.
The h ignores the H's dictates and does the things she was planning on doing, with makes her late for the society event with the H. The H makes even more tarty tramp comments and now we are up to gang bang harlotry. The dress the h wears is not conservative like the other women's at the dance and the H is enraged with all the men that are ogling the h.
It all goes boom on the dance floor when the H flat out accuses the h of trying to lure every man in the place for a multi bang extravaganza in her bed. The h finally has enough and slaps him full in the face and walks out.
There is a little time jump of a few months and the h has an new guardian who is very nice and not interested in picking up 20 yr olds. The H is miserable and his brother from the first book shows up to tell the H that he is in love.
The H figures out his brother is right and he goes to find the h. He tells her he loves her, she loves him back and tells him about her former unicorn petting status and the H magnanimously offers to have his penthouse redesigned to accommodate cat and dog hair for the HEA.
The H never really apologizes for his assumptions or for the all the times he called the h a tart. He never seems to really resolve his unreasonable jealousy or his assertions that she is a tramp, so I am very uncertain that this is any kind of long term HEA.
Plus, this H really is too old and disgusting for the h. She wasn't a doormat at all, but she was a nice person and his thoughts especially made him seem like a very pervy predator.
The h was just going about doing her things and being herself and being nice. The H was going about plotting how to ravish her one minute, then thinking about ladies from his past and then thinking about how young she was.
It was a very bad juxtaposition in thought processes and it did not build a case for the H's love, it came off more as mid-life obsession. The whole thing was just yuck and so I wasn't feeling the lurve on this one and don't really recommend this as an interesting HPlandia outing.
Next up, we go to Hollywood for yet more tart shaming I am sure, but we have to wait for book three with the last unwed brother standing to get the full brunt of it.
It also includes all the attendant old skool tart shaming and leering, pervy nematode H tropes too and honestly, I was pretty much squicked out.
Like the previous book, this one gives us A LOT of H POV. SM probably shouldn't have bothered cause this H needed his brain washed with soap.
His thoughts about the h were below the sub sewer level, as he compared her to his long, long, list of lady buffet samples and then turned around and judged her on how tarty he imagined her to be, to pacify his guilty conscience instead of how she really was.
(It was the old "she was asking for it routine" and it just did not work for me.)
Needless to say the h is continually judged by him to be the Harlot of Greenwich Village and the sheer misogynistic sexism that is rampant in this book made me ill.
(I never got over the sensation that the H was a borderline pedophile predator. Some of his thoughts came perilously close to what a person like that probably thinks like and I wasn't feeling the love or the Lurve Force Mojo.)
So take what follows with a grain of salt, because mileage varies and I was pretty much squicked and disgusted almost all the way through this.
SM opens again with the high priced lawyer H concluding a business deal with a lovely lady. After negotiations are finished, the lady he is negotiating with hitches her skirt up enough to flash some black lace stocking and the H charges right over to do a full groping session as they discuss after hours propositions. The descriptive groping is fairly explicit, tho the H manages to keep his hands above the waist for the most part.
Then he has to rush because he has to meet his current lover, but he is congratulating himself on being faithful, for as long as the affair lasts anyhow.
(I was kinda in awe of his definition of fidelity that included feeling up another lady's chest, but maybe they don't use the Oxford English Dictionary at NYC law firms.)
The H's evening seduction or be seduced plans are interrupted by the news of his father's death. So he flies back to the family estate, decides with his brothers that he wants to sell off his father's conglomerate and keep his little sister cozied up in the huge, ugly family home.
We learn that the previous H is dispatched to save the oil business, the other brother is sent to sort some Hollywood venture and the H is now the guardian of a 12 year old girl who lives in NYC. The H did not love his father and has no sense of family responsibility. He and his brothers are close, but they are also all pretty close in age and probably in their mid thirties.
So the H gets back to NYC and sets up a meet with the lawyer of the child he is now the guardian of, figuring he will have to find a boarding school and sign some checks and all will be groovy. Along the way to the meeting, he knocks a woman over in the pouring rain.
The woman is dressed in a leather skirt with knee high boots and a tight t-shirt. The H is making tarty tramp assumptions as he has to carry the lady into the lawyer's building because she broke her heel off her boot and is unsteady on her feet.
The woman the H ran into is the h. She is 20 years old, will be 21 in three months, has a one-eared cat called Sweetness and is a really nice person. She left her evil uncle's house years earlier and designs silver jewelry in the hopes of starting her own business.
For right now she works in a bar, hence the tight t-shirt and leather skirt with boots uniform, and she has a muscle-bound male roommate that she is absolutely NOT romantically interested in, but he is great at keeping the undesirable predators away.
The h knows her uncle is dead, but since he was very disparaging of both the h as a child and even more disparaging about her dancer mother, the h isn't really that bothered by it. The uncle was determined that the h's mother was little better than a prostitute, tho the woman actually worked on Broadway until her death.
The h is artistic too and her more liberal upbringing and manners completely infuriated the hidebound dinosaur uncle. When the h finally had enough of the hypocritical behavior of being ugly and hiding behind a social mask, she moved out and got a job and went about her life. Her uncle claimed he would disinherit her from the family millions, but the h doesn't care.
As it turns out, per the exceedingly pervy lecherous family lawyer of the uncle's, the h will inherit all the family money when she turns 21, until then the H is her guardian by way of being his father's son. But the lecherous slime snot lawyer is fine with becoming the h's guardian himself, if the H wants to abdicate.
Since the first meeting between the H and h included him assaulting her with his lips and groping her in the elevator on the way up, the H is pretty horrified that the h is the 'child' he is supposed to guardian to.
The h is no fool and can see the drool dripping from both mouths of the H and the pervy lawyer and she doesn't care about the money anyways. So after some verbal dressing down, she goes off to work and leaves them to wipe their own slime up. Later on the h's roommate tells her to think about not giving up her inheritance.
She can support a lot of places she volunteers at, like the soup kitchen and the animal shelter and she could also afford to start her own jewelry business with the money too. The h is thinking she should reconsider when the H shows up.
He instantly assumes the h's roommate is her lover and the h doesn't try to clarify things, she realizes that gleam in the H's eye isn't cause he wants to help her choose a nice design school. Then the H, who has been thinking the h needs someone to just sign checks if she needs money, loses his everlovin' mind.
He gets so infuriated at the roommate being there with the h that he tells her that she has to move in with him for the next three months. It is a total and complete lie. He also tries to make her leave her cat, but the h isn't having any of that and tells him to stuff it.
So the H and h and Sweetness all move in together and then we all go to Palm Beach so the cat fur doesn't invade the H's fancy penthouse apartment. (Sweetness gets confined to the guest room and I was pretty outraged.) There we are subjected to bouts of the H's tart shaming and verbal sexism, interspersed with full on roofie kisses.
There is a dramatic almost drowning puppy rescue and the H loses his mind again at the danger to the h and they wind up revoking unicorn grooming licenses. The h is in love, the H has to mentally compare the h to every woman he ever got busy with and it is a week or two of lurve on the beach and anywhere else the H can think of.
Eventually they have to go back to NYC and overnight the H turns into a nematode slime pustule again. He gets mad about the h's puppy, now named Annie, and he still hates the cat. Then he keeps saying really nasty tarty tramp comments to the h and tells her to take herself shopping for a beige dress to go to some society thing she doesn't want to be at.
The h ignores the H's dictates and does the things she was planning on doing, with makes her late for the society event with the H. The H makes even more tarty tramp comments and now we are up to gang bang harlotry. The dress the h wears is not conservative like the other women's at the dance and the H is enraged with all the men that are ogling the h.
It all goes boom on the dance floor when the H flat out accuses the h of trying to lure every man in the place for a multi bang extravaganza in her bed. The h finally has enough and slaps him full in the face and walks out.
There is a little time jump of a few months and the h has an new guardian who is very nice and not interested in picking up 20 yr olds. The H is miserable and his brother from the first book shows up to tell the H that he is in love.
The H figures out his brother is right and he goes to find the h. He tells her he loves her, she loves him back and tells him about her former unicorn petting status and the H magnanimously offers to have his penthouse redesigned to accommodate cat and dog hair for the HEA.
The H never really apologizes for his assumptions or for the all the times he called the h a tart. He never seems to really resolve his unreasonable jealousy or his assertions that she is a tramp, so I am very uncertain that this is any kind of long term HEA.
Plus, this H really is too old and disgusting for the h. She wasn't a doormat at all, but she was a nice person and his thoughts especially made him seem like a very pervy predator.
The h was just going about doing her things and being herself and being nice. The H was going about plotting how to ravish her one minute, then thinking about ladies from his past and then thinking about how young she was.
It was a very bad juxtaposition in thought processes and it did not build a case for the H's love, it came off more as mid-life obsession. The whole thing was just yuck and so I wasn't feeling the lurve on this one and don't really recommend this as an interesting HPlandia outing.
Next up, we go to Hollywood for yet more tart shaming I am sure, but we have to wait for book three with the last unwed brother standing to get the full brunt of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2012
Grant is the oldest Landon sibling and a lawyer and after his father's death he has been left guardianship of Crista. He thinks she is a twelve year old when in reality she is almost twenty one.
Their first meeting is accidental and doesn't end well and both are aghast at being saddled with each other, she walks out and he has every intention of turning the guardianship down but when he goes to tell her that and sees her with her room-mate who he presumes is her lover, in a fit of anger he agrees and makes her move in with him.
As usual he acts like a jerk so that he isn't tempted to kiss her but he somehow keeps doing that. He also seems to have lot of mis-understandings about her and needs a nudge from his family to figure it out that he is in love, all in all typical Marton.
Their first meeting is accidental and doesn't end well and both are aghast at being saddled with each other, she walks out and he has every intention of turning the guardianship down but when he goes to tell her that and sees her with her room-mate who he presumes is her lover, in a fit of anger he agrees and makes her move in with him.
As usual he acts like a jerk so that he isn't tempted to kiss her but he somehow keeps doing that. He also seems to have lot of mis-understandings about her and needs a nudge from his family to figure it out that he is in love, all in all typical Marton.
April 16, 2021
The billionaire’s virgin ward. When his late father appointed him guardian, Grant Landon expected his ward to be a child—not the sexy woman he’s just shared a spontaneous and passionate kiss with! Christa Adams is irresistible and infuriating in equal measure, so brooding bachelor Grant decides they should keep out of each other’s way. But when Christa’s home is damaged in a storm she must call on her guardian for help. Her purity and her spirit soon slip past Grant’s defences, and it’s not long before Christa finds herself at the mercy of her desire for her powerful protector…
September 9, 2024
I didn't like it. Heroine was good, but hero was not my favorite.
I didn't really like the introduction of hero. He was in meeting with a woman and she let him know she wanted to sleep with him and he got up and and started groping her breast (he didn't sleep with her), all while he had a lover lined up for that night (he also didn't sleep with her because his father died and he had to leave). He then had the audacity to think of himself as faithful to his partners while he was having an affair with them. Then at the end of book he almost went on a date with that woman after a one month seperation from heroine.
I did not enjoy hero's first interaction with the heroine. I quite disliked him thinking she was a whore just because of how she was dressed and then kissing her against her will in the elevator.
I also disliked how throughout the story he would kiss her, have thoughts about the other men he thought she had been with, then reject her and basically call her promiscuous. Np.
There was no epilogue but Crista and Grant appeared in another book after a few years of being married in "Marriage on the Edge". They have twin toddler daughters and Christa is unhappy in her marriage, he questions where she goes and who she's hanging out with.
She takes their daughters and leaves him for awhile, then they reconcile and plan on several romantic trips. Basically how he was in this book towards her was exactly how he was years into their marriage. I do believe they love each other, I don't foresee them divorcing, just constantly a push and pull of same issues for rest of their lives.
I didn't really like the introduction of hero. He was in meeting with a woman and she let him know she wanted to sleep with him and he got up and and started groping her breast (he didn't sleep with her), all while he had a lover lined up for that night (he also didn't sleep with her because his father died and he had to leave). He then had the audacity to think of himself as faithful to his partners while he was having an affair with them. Then at the end of book he almost went on a date with that woman after a one month seperation from heroine.
I did not enjoy hero's first interaction with the heroine. I quite disliked him thinking she was a whore just because of how she was dressed and then kissing her against her will in the elevator.
I also disliked how throughout the story he would kiss her, have thoughts about the other men he thought she had been with, then reject her and basically call her promiscuous. Np.
There was no epilogue but Crista and Grant appeared in another book after a few years of being married in "Marriage on the Edge". They have twin toddler daughters and Christa is unhappy in her marriage, he questions where she goes and who she's hanging out with.
She takes their daughters and leaves him for awhile, then they reconcile and plan on several romantic trips. Basically how he was in this book towards her was exactly how he was years into their marriage. I do believe they love each other, I don't foresee them divorcing, just constantly a push and pull of same issues for rest of their lives.
July 1, 2022
3,5 stars
No wedding. No baby/ies. No definitive HEA. Just a semi proposal that actually can't be called proposal. Overall an okay read.
No wedding. No baby/ies. No definitive HEA. Just a semi proposal that actually can't be called proposal. Overall an okay read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2023
Anyone else think that this couple don’t make it? Me too. Their personalities are just not compatible. Skip cause this couple breaks up.
January 23, 2026
Short, sweet, average Mills & Boon book. 3.5⭐.
I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the pace. It was a nice, relaxing read.
I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the pace. It was a nice, relaxing read.
November 3, 2016
4 Stars! ~ Grant Landon had rebelled against his father's control and left Denver for New York. After earning his law degree with a track scholarship, he's now one of the New York big time lawyers. When his father dies, he's called back to Denver and finds there are a few loose ends to deal with before he and his siblings can sell off the family corporation. Grant's assignment is back in New York, a twelve year old girl that his father had guardianship over until she reached 21. Grant knows nothing about kids but he's confidant that out of all the loose ends, his will be a breeze. Until that fateful, rainy, everything-goes-wrong morning; and suddenly 12 year old Crista Adams is not only 20 years old, but totally delectable and Grant is way way over his head. And when Grant learns from the old family attorney that Crista had been a rebellious teen and was lacking in morals, Grant sees that he'll have to take Crista in hand and try to tame her or she'll spend her inheritance in no time. Only Crista doesn't want a Guardian, and though she has a proud temper, she's no where near the harlot Grant believes her to be.
It's totally delightful the way Ms. Marton gives us Grant's thoughts. He's always been so rigidly in control of his emotions, but somehow this fiesty 20 year old has gotten totally under his skin and he can't seem to behave himself. It's marvelous to see him battle his confusing feelings. Crista's equally confused. No man has ever affected her like Grant. And no man has hurt her more when Grant questions her ability to be faithful. Crista gave a great exit, one that really knocked Grant down a peg or two. This is a fun read with some really great emotion. Both Grant and Crista are very likeable and I thoroughly enjoyed their journey to a HEA.
It's totally delightful the way Ms. Marton gives us Grant's thoughts. He's always been so rigidly in control of his emotions, but somehow this fiesty 20 year old has gotten totally under his skin and he can't seem to behave himself. It's marvelous to see him battle his confusing feelings. Crista's equally confused. No man has ever affected her like Grant. And no man has hurt her more when Grant questions her ability to be faithful. Crista gave a great exit, one that really knocked Grant down a peg or two. This is a fun read with some really great emotion. Both Grant and Crista are very likeable and I thoroughly enjoyed their journey to a HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2019
Sandra Marton recycles several elements in a rather familiar novel.
A wealthy patriarch demands his children bow to him? Check.
Three-way phone call between brothers? Check.
Copious hero POV? Check.
Misunderstandings leading to the hero treating the heroine cruelly? Check.
I was firmly on the heroine's side this entire slap-slap-kiss-kiss ride, and there was enough remorse and change from the hero that I didn't hate their inevitable HEA. But maybe I should stick to rereading the Barons series (which I loved) and not spoil it forever by finding out they're made from a uniquely Marton cookie cutter.
A wealthy patriarch demands his children bow to him? Check.
Three-way phone call between brothers? Check.
Copious hero POV? Check.
Misunderstandings leading to the hero treating the heroine cruelly? Check.
I was firmly on the heroine's side this entire slap-slap-kiss-kiss ride, and there was enough remorse and change from the hero that I didn't hate their inevitable HEA. But maybe I should stick to rereading the Barons series (which I loved) and not spoil it forever by finding out they're made from a uniquely Marton cookie cutter.
January 24, 2017
Meh. I usually really dig the guardian trope. But this wasn't really that. Yeah, he was appointed her guardian, but really, there was guarding going on. This started off strongly, hello love in an elevator, but fizzled out shortly after. Boo.
Read
August 1, 2016Miniseries: Landon's Legacy
August 3, 2013
Sweet story but a bit slow. Nothing special!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews