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Storm Force
Jay Delaney, on camera, had a dynamic appeal. Off screen, his blend of magnetism was even more potent. Not that Maggie was interested. She'd had enough problems in her life recently, and the last thing she wanted was an uninvited guest to disturb the peace and quiet of her solitary hideaway. But she didn't have much choice, and despite her wary feelings of Jay, Maggie found herself drawn to him. "It's not wise to start something you can't finish," Jay warned her. But there was no way Maggie could know how their encounter would end...
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1989
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Sara Craven
493 books266 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 30, 2017
Re Storm Force - Never say Sara Craven has no sense of irony. In this one she brings us a romance editor h who is a victim of earlier molestation and pairs her with an actor H accused of rape. Considering SC has never met a rape/forced seduction scene she did not like, I can only marvel at her choice of subject for this one. (Naturally the H in this one did not do it, or at least SC wants us to believe that.)
The book starts with the 24 yr old h on her way to Mauritius with her boyfriend. Except the boyfriend's mum is not letting go of the reins anytime soon and the poor, scared baby has to hold mummy's hand while she fakes a heart problem. The h's chance to finally get some luvin' for her oven in the hot sun with a man she trusts is tossed out half baked and she decides to go to her country cottage instead.
Unfortunately her brother in law, a PR specialist for big stars, stole her cottage keys and installed the H. The H is on the lam because he has been publicly accused of rape in the newspaper. The h's brother in law had mentioned he was representing the man during their brief info dump visit before the h left for her trip, so we know that the H and a nightclub hostess were at a cast wrap up party where the woman claims she was sleeping off too much to drink and was forced by the H.
The h was in vehement affirmation of the H's guilt during this little info-fest, while the brother in law was all things misogynistic, cause the girl in question is a dubious nightclub hostess after all and she delivered a tell-all to the newspapers instead of the police. So in the BIL's estimation the girl is lying, while the h is equally convinced that a frequent sampler of the lurvely lady buffet would have no problems forcing a girl if she told him no, his TV series and his publicity pieces seem to indicate that he thinks he is King of the World and entitled to take what he wants after all.
So the h goes to her cottage to recover from her probably now ex-boyfriend's major dump without the pump. There is a really bad storm brewing and the h makes it to her retreat in a hail of furious storm. When she gets there she finds she isn't alone, the H - accused actor on the lam- is naked in her bed and hiding out.
The h freaks out, which is an understandable reaction, and the H decides to take insult at her outrage and backs her up against a wall in a move reminiscent of forced seduction since SC started writing in HPlandia. The h is outraged at the move, but she is strangely warm and tingly too, so we know we are getting the body will betray her trope. The h decides to leave, since the H - who is trespassing- won't, but the storm knocks down a tree and the h crashes into it.
The H and h spent the next few days in a bickerfest with the H being the most obnoxious harasser he can be, and since the storm was bad and shut everything down, there is no way for either of them to leave. There is a skeevy guy who works at the neighboring farm and we get the hint that he might be spying on the h when she is having a bath in the kitchen and a fuzzy face appears at the window. The h freaks out and the H comes rushing in. He doesn't find anyone, but the h is rattled. Thereafter we get the h's backstory and it turns out that when she was a teenager, her mother's new husband tried to molest her. We don't all that happened at this point, but the h still has nightmares from it.
The H meanwhile, mends the h's roof tiles, tho he is afraid of heights and because the h has sparse furniture, he is continually putting his hands on the h and forcing her to sit in his lap when she clearly and distinctly tells him to stop. He doesn't listen and does it anyways and then tells the h that they will become lovers, in spite of her stated wishes and her distinct physical rejection at his repeated touchings of her.
He tries to get into bed with her after her nightmare and she tries to attack him with a knife when he won't leave. He disarms her, she has a breakdown and he carries her off to his bed anyhow, where she finally passes out in exhausted sleep.
(I had to wonder at this point, just why were we supposed to believe the H when he denied the accusations of rape? Sure the h had a physical response, but she clearly was saying no and the H was clearly touching her anyways - it wasn't hard to picture that going further and these continued scenes really destroyed the story's credibility.)
Then the H and h get flushed out to the tabloids by the local skeevy guy Peeping Tom and the h's brother in law shows up. Always willing to pimp his sister in law out, the BIL convinces the h that the only way to save her the shame of being labeled the H's tart is to announce her and the H's engagement. The h doesn't want to, but the thought of the tabloid rumors has her pale with horror and she is worried that it could affect her job.
The BIL and the H are quite quick to latch onto the positive publicity spin that the h and H have a long term seekrit engagement and that the h is 'standing by her man' to defeat the vicious lies about his supposed act of rape. As far as the BIL and the H are concerned, the h is the perfect respectable candidate to promote the H's image that he is a nice and upright guy and they intend to exploit it to the max.
So the h goes along with the story and hopes everything will just go away soon. She does tell the press that she believes the H is innocent and couples that with a passionate kiss for the cameras. She and the H part on lukewarm terms and the h realizes how lonely she is and acknowledges that she has a physical thing for the H. Then she gets stuck going to the Bahamas to sort her best selling romance author's latest mess of a manuscript.
The lady is a man eater and the H invites himself along under the pretense that they are still engaged. His accuser was shown to be lying and the H will not be charged - there is quite a little rant in there about greedy women who will say anything for money, tho the H supposed the woman's boyfriend who gambles could have put her up to it. The h doesn't want the H to go to with her on her trip, but the H is mockingly insistent that he has to keep her safe.
So we all go to the Bahamas, the h and H are put in the same room and the h is ready to protest but the H won't let her move to a hotel. The h becomes withdrawn and the H immediately hooks up with the h's author. He starts spending tons of time with the OW and the h, who is trying to get the book done and wants a rest, doesn't go out with them.
The h figures the H got what he wanted when he got the opportunity to hang out with the author, as he himself says he prefers a woman who knows and goes after what she wants. The h does have a breakdown moment when she is sleeping on the beach and the H comes up and starts putting oil on her and it sends her into a flashback. Her stepfather did the same thing when she was home alone one day and the h started screaming when he was attacking her and the neighbor came and saved her. Her mother did not believe the accusations though and married the man anyway and the h and her mother have been estranged ever since.
The H decides that kissing the h and groping her will magically cure her, so we get another mini-seduction scene where the H puts more oil on her then takes off to go swim. The h is in trouble, cause now she is in love with the H and she knows he is going to leave her. The h attempts a seduction during one of the H's rare moments away from the OW. But he puts the kibosh on it and rejects the h, telling her that he is staying with the OW author - he claims he isn't the woman's lover -but implies that he will be. Then he asks the h if she wants him to apologize. The h knows the whole thing is over and tells the H to get her BIL to announce the end of their engagement and gets ready to go home.
The h gets back to England with the finished manuscript a few days later and drops it off, then goes to her cottage to try and mend her broken heart. The h is alone in her cottage that night and is startled when she realizes she did not lock the door. Too late, the H has already gotten in and after scaring her hair white, he hands her a press release.
The H is going to star as the male lead in a movie of the romance author's best selling book. (So essentially he was using the h and her author connection to seduce the OW into getting him a part.) Since the h hasn't broken the engagement via her BIL, the H claims he wants to marry her because he wants a chance to court her as he was planning to do before the whole tabloid thing started. He sorta apologizes, then claims that he had to hang out with he OW cause he was her guest. The H says he loves her and the h is so desperate she buys into it. The ending scene is him carrying her off to bed with the h's eager compliance.
Irony, thy name is Sara Craven. I found this book to be completely ludicrous in pretty much every scenario. There is no way I was buying what she tried to sell me here and the HEA was not convincing. Even the Captain and two turtle brownies weren't giving me a fuzzy enough brain to see a rosy glow on this one.
Either the H is a callous user or an attempted rapist, for all the verbal vehement denials to the contrary. How could I believe that the H was innocent when he consistently put his hands on the h against her stated and quite clear wishes. You can not grope your way into a claim of innocence in this situation and no man who had been accused of rape and had a public image to protect would carry on as the H did, especially when the h threatened further accusations.
While the h had problems and trauma from the mother's second husband's attack, followed by her mother's betrayal - the solution to that isn't to be forced to accept a strange man's roofie kisses up against a wall, no matter how spine tingling an H's touch is reputed to be.
I also did not like the whole manner in which the rape accusations were presented. SC makes a point of saying that just because the woman was a night club hostess doesn't mean she wasn't telling the truth, then she deliberately goes out of her way to destroy the woman's credibility and implies that because of her position in life, a false accusation is only what you can expect from woman like that.
The other HUGE problem I had is with the H, who claims at the end that he only wanted to court and woo the h. But he deliberately goes off with a woman he freely admits he is more attracted to. If he really wanted to court the h, why wasn't he spending his time with her instead of probably sleeping with a woman who can get him a major movie role? Then he accuses the h of pushing him into a liaison with the OW, but if his love was as true and upstanding as he claimed, why wasn't he right there pushing to be with the h as much as he earlier pushed to keep groping her?
The whole press release scene was absurd, because he hands it to the h as a explanation for his behavior and what that told us is that the H is willing to do anything to get a part and get out of trouble. I have doubts that this pair will actually make it to the altar. If they do it will be because the H will need a cover for his illicit behavior with the OW authoress - he figures the h is a doormat whom he can easily divorce with minimum output and the aggressive OW will make a great lover while he is filming her book, but would be a tough adversary when it came to the splitting up, so the h is route of easiest goal achievement.
Overall this story just did not work for me, but other people thought the H was great and the h was a basket case. So don't be afraid give it a go and come to your own conclusions about this most interesting and speculative voyage into HPlandia.
The book starts with the 24 yr old h on her way to Mauritius with her boyfriend. Except the boyfriend's mum is not letting go of the reins anytime soon and the poor, scared baby has to hold mummy's hand while she fakes a heart problem. The h's chance to finally get some luvin' for her oven in the hot sun with a man she trusts is tossed out half baked and she decides to go to her country cottage instead.
Unfortunately her brother in law, a PR specialist for big stars, stole her cottage keys and installed the H. The H is on the lam because he has been publicly accused of rape in the newspaper. The h's brother in law had mentioned he was representing the man during their brief info dump visit before the h left for her trip, so we know that the H and a nightclub hostess were at a cast wrap up party where the woman claims she was sleeping off too much to drink and was forced by the H.
The h was in vehement affirmation of the H's guilt during this little info-fest, while the brother in law was all things misogynistic, cause the girl in question is a dubious nightclub hostess after all and she delivered a tell-all to the newspapers instead of the police. So in the BIL's estimation the girl is lying, while the h is equally convinced that a frequent sampler of the lurvely lady buffet would have no problems forcing a girl if she told him no, his TV series and his publicity pieces seem to indicate that he thinks he is King of the World and entitled to take what he wants after all.
So the h goes to her cottage to recover from her probably now ex-boyfriend's major dump without the pump. There is a really bad storm brewing and the h makes it to her retreat in a hail of furious storm. When she gets there she finds she isn't alone, the H - accused actor on the lam- is naked in her bed and hiding out.
The h freaks out, which is an understandable reaction, and the H decides to take insult at her outrage and backs her up against a wall in a move reminiscent of forced seduction since SC started writing in HPlandia. The h is outraged at the move, but she is strangely warm and tingly too, so we know we are getting the body will betray her trope. The h decides to leave, since the H - who is trespassing- won't, but the storm knocks down a tree and the h crashes into it.
The H and h spent the next few days in a bickerfest with the H being the most obnoxious harasser he can be, and since the storm was bad and shut everything down, there is no way for either of them to leave. There is a skeevy guy who works at the neighboring farm and we get the hint that he might be spying on the h when she is having a bath in the kitchen and a fuzzy face appears at the window. The h freaks out and the H comes rushing in. He doesn't find anyone, but the h is rattled. Thereafter we get the h's backstory and it turns out that when she was a teenager, her mother's new husband tried to molest her. We don't all that happened at this point, but the h still has nightmares from it.
The H meanwhile, mends the h's roof tiles, tho he is afraid of heights and because the h has sparse furniture, he is continually putting his hands on the h and forcing her to sit in his lap when she clearly and distinctly tells him to stop. He doesn't listen and does it anyways and then tells the h that they will become lovers, in spite of her stated wishes and her distinct physical rejection at his repeated touchings of her.
He tries to get into bed with her after her nightmare and she tries to attack him with a knife when he won't leave. He disarms her, she has a breakdown and he carries her off to his bed anyhow, where she finally passes out in exhausted sleep.
(I had to wonder at this point, just why were we supposed to believe the H when he denied the accusations of rape? Sure the h had a physical response, but she clearly was saying no and the H was clearly touching her anyways - it wasn't hard to picture that going further and these continued scenes really destroyed the story's credibility.)
Then the H and h get flushed out to the tabloids by the local skeevy guy Peeping Tom and the h's brother in law shows up. Always willing to pimp his sister in law out, the BIL convinces the h that the only way to save her the shame of being labeled the H's tart is to announce her and the H's engagement. The h doesn't want to, but the thought of the tabloid rumors has her pale with horror and she is worried that it could affect her job.
The BIL and the H are quite quick to latch onto the positive publicity spin that the h and H have a long term seekrit engagement and that the h is 'standing by her man' to defeat the vicious lies about his supposed act of rape. As far as the BIL and the H are concerned, the h is the perfect respectable candidate to promote the H's image that he is a nice and upright guy and they intend to exploit it to the max.
So the h goes along with the story and hopes everything will just go away soon. She does tell the press that she believes the H is innocent and couples that with a passionate kiss for the cameras. She and the H part on lukewarm terms and the h realizes how lonely she is and acknowledges that she has a physical thing for the H. Then she gets stuck going to the Bahamas to sort her best selling romance author's latest mess of a manuscript.
The lady is a man eater and the H invites himself along under the pretense that they are still engaged. His accuser was shown to be lying and the H will not be charged - there is quite a little rant in there about greedy women who will say anything for money, tho the H supposed the woman's boyfriend who gambles could have put her up to it. The h doesn't want the H to go to with her on her trip, but the H is mockingly insistent that he has to keep her safe.
So we all go to the Bahamas, the h and H are put in the same room and the h is ready to protest but the H won't let her move to a hotel. The h becomes withdrawn and the H immediately hooks up with the h's author. He starts spending tons of time with the OW and the h, who is trying to get the book done and wants a rest, doesn't go out with them.
The h figures the H got what he wanted when he got the opportunity to hang out with the author, as he himself says he prefers a woman who knows and goes after what she wants. The h does have a breakdown moment when she is sleeping on the beach and the H comes up and starts putting oil on her and it sends her into a flashback. Her stepfather did the same thing when she was home alone one day and the h started screaming when he was attacking her and the neighbor came and saved her. Her mother did not believe the accusations though and married the man anyway and the h and her mother have been estranged ever since.
The H decides that kissing the h and groping her will magically cure her, so we get another mini-seduction scene where the H puts more oil on her then takes off to go swim. The h is in trouble, cause now she is in love with the H and she knows he is going to leave her. The h attempts a seduction during one of the H's rare moments away from the OW. But he puts the kibosh on it and rejects the h, telling her that he is staying with the OW author - he claims he isn't the woman's lover -but implies that he will be. Then he asks the h if she wants him to apologize. The h knows the whole thing is over and tells the H to get her BIL to announce the end of their engagement and gets ready to go home.
The h gets back to England with the finished manuscript a few days later and drops it off, then goes to her cottage to try and mend her broken heart. The h is alone in her cottage that night and is startled when she realizes she did not lock the door. Too late, the H has already gotten in and after scaring her hair white, he hands her a press release.
The H is going to star as the male lead in a movie of the romance author's best selling book. (So essentially he was using the h and her author connection to seduce the OW into getting him a part.) Since the h hasn't broken the engagement via her BIL, the H claims he wants to marry her because he wants a chance to court her as he was planning to do before the whole tabloid thing started. He sorta apologizes, then claims that he had to hang out with he OW cause he was her guest. The H says he loves her and the h is so desperate she buys into it. The ending scene is him carrying her off to bed with the h's eager compliance.
Irony, thy name is Sara Craven. I found this book to be completely ludicrous in pretty much every scenario. There is no way I was buying what she tried to sell me here and the HEA was not convincing. Even the Captain and two turtle brownies weren't giving me a fuzzy enough brain to see a rosy glow on this one.
Either the H is a callous user or an attempted rapist, for all the verbal vehement denials to the contrary. How could I believe that the H was innocent when he consistently put his hands on the h against her stated and quite clear wishes. You can not grope your way into a claim of innocence in this situation and no man who had been accused of rape and had a public image to protect would carry on as the H did, especially when the h threatened further accusations.
While the h had problems and trauma from the mother's second husband's attack, followed by her mother's betrayal - the solution to that isn't to be forced to accept a strange man's roofie kisses up against a wall, no matter how spine tingling an H's touch is reputed to be.
I also did not like the whole manner in which the rape accusations were presented. SC makes a point of saying that just because the woman was a night club hostess doesn't mean she wasn't telling the truth, then she deliberately goes out of her way to destroy the woman's credibility and implies that because of her position in life, a false accusation is only what you can expect from woman like that.
The other HUGE problem I had is with the H, who claims at the end that he only wanted to court and woo the h. But he deliberately goes off with a woman he freely admits he is more attracted to. If he really wanted to court the h, why wasn't he spending his time with her instead of probably sleeping with a woman who can get him a major movie role? Then he accuses the h of pushing him into a liaison with the OW, but if his love was as true and upstanding as he claimed, why wasn't he right there pushing to be with the h as much as he earlier pushed to keep groping her?
The whole press release scene was absurd, because he hands it to the h as a explanation for his behavior and what that told us is that the H is willing to do anything to get a part and get out of trouble. I have doubts that this pair will actually make it to the altar. If they do it will be because the H will need a cover for his illicit behavior with the OW authoress - he figures the h is a doormat whom he can easily divorce with minimum output and the aggressive OW will make a great lover while he is filming her book, but would be a tough adversary when it came to the splitting up, so the h is route of easiest goal achievement.
Overall this story just did not work for me, but other people thought the H was great and the h was a basket case. So don't be afraid give it a go and come to your own conclusions about this most interesting and speculative voyage into HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2016
Heroine here is deeply damaged person. She is full of wrong ideas, have numerous psychological problems and as we learn near the end she had a bad experience with a soon-to-be-stepdad. Hero is wronged all the way through the book starting from false accusations, paparazzi hunt and then all the way through the book by heroine. I wonder if he is a little masochistic? Can't think of other reasons of him falling in love with heroine...
June 17, 2011
Do you know that feeling when you're on the edge and you know you're going to fall but you don't know which side you'll fall on or how soon? That's how I feel after reading this book.
To be honest, I think there are two kinds of quick witted people. One are good humored and the other are sarcastic (or caustic, as I call them). I appreciate the wit of the caustic ones but they make me uncomfortable cuz I hate bitchiness and generally avoid such people in real life. Unfortunately, in HQN world, where every book is a surprise, you can't filter them out. So even though the words exchanged were high-class sarcasm, they were still...meant to hurt. Which I didn't like.
On the other hand, there is a genuine reason for the h to hate the H and to convict him of a crime he hasn't committed. Is it justified? Perhaps not but it's understandable and for someone who hasn't been in her position, it's hard to say what a woman would do if she were in the h's place. So where was I again? Ah, yes, the dreaded fence...!
Anyhoo: What this book deals with:
1- Prejudice in rape cases against celebrities (did they/ didn't they?)
2- Child Abuse
I wish I could make up my mind about whether its a 3.5, 3.75, 4 or 4.35 read....
For the issues discussed in the book, the songs are here and here
To be honest, I think there are two kinds of quick witted people. One are good humored and the other are sarcastic (or caustic, as I call them). I appreciate the wit of the caustic ones but they make me uncomfortable cuz I hate bitchiness and generally avoid such people in real life. Unfortunately, in HQN world, where every book is a surprise, you can't filter them out. So even though the words exchanged were high-class sarcasm, they were still...meant to hurt. Which I didn't like.
On the other hand, there is a genuine reason for the h to hate the H and to convict him of a crime he hasn't committed. Is it justified? Perhaps not but it's understandable and for someone who hasn't been in her position, it's hard to say what a woman would do if she were in the h's place. So where was I again? Ah, yes, the dreaded fence...!
Anyhoo: What this book deals with:
1- Prejudice in rape cases against celebrities (did they/ didn't they?)
2- Child Abuse
I wish I could make up my mind about whether its a 3.5, 3.75, 4 or 4.35 read....
For the issues discussed in the book, the songs are here and here
January 14, 2016
Spitfire Maggie is heading off to Mauritius to finally boink her mummy’s boy boyfriend Robin. She’s got herself a heap of bikinis and see-through negligees, and coitus is all but guaranteed.
‘Have fun Ginger,’ her brother in law tells her. He’s only mostly sincere. When he showed up Maggie spent the first ten minutes of his visit telling him that his PR client, sexy Jay Delaney, is for definite sure a rapist. She sees it is immaterial that the victim works in a nightclub and that everyone was drunk in a hotel.
It’s at this point I have to check myself. This is my 12th Sara Craven book this month, and consent hasn’t featured strongly in a significant number of sex sessions been hero and heroine. How do I feel that the one rape I’ve seen actually called out as rape will ultimately resolve itself as a false accusation? Grim. Really Grim.
Robin cancels Mauritius because mummy gets sick, and Maggie sorrowfully realises that she’s not going to be able to make it work with Robin. I am blown away by this piece of introspection: most heroines would rather ignore the signs, or decide that this the fate they deserve to suffer. Maggie decides to go out to the country and lick her wounds in her tiny cottage.
Only, there’s someone there already…
Surprise! It’s accused rapist and TV heartthrob Jay Delaney. Maggie’s brother in law nicked her cottage key when she wasn’t looking, and installed Jay in the house to hide out from the press. He’s all naked in her bed! Maggie rushes off into the howling storm and crashes her car into a fallen tree. She and Jay are trapped in the cottage until someone clears the road.
Maggie is prickly and feisty and a great character. She edits romance books for a living, and I was in complete job envy. She’s had a very bad experience in her past, so she’s very resistant to her attraction to naked Jay. Plus it takes some convincing that he’s not a rapist, and there’s that whole thing about him being famous and probably he flirts with all the ladies, and has dozens of far prettier girlfriends to hang with. Naked Jay does start featuring in her daydreams, and she’s mildly tormented about it.
She responds with snark. Maggie is good at snark, and she’s a departure from the more customary Sara Craven heroine, who drama snarks with crazy eyes. She can sometimes be sadly inarticulate in her crazy teary rages. Sure, Maggie has a bit of crazy drama snarking, but she also has a sense of humour, and seems mildly embarrassed and willing to apologise when she goes too far.
Jay also gives good snark, and manages to get cross without threatening to beat Maggie. He was so refreshing I loved him. He was also really patient and kind with Maggie. He didn’t let her get away with being ridiculous, but he was empathetic enough to pick up queues and back off when needed. Obviously, he wasn’t perfect at it, otherwise this book would have been a lot shorter than it was, but he was a great hero and it was obvious how he felt about Maggie.
My favourite scene is Jay trying to explain Chekov’s gun to an overwrought Maggie. She deals in fiction for a living, so naturally it doesn’t go down well at all.
The plot moves into fake engagement mode when Jay and Maggie are discovered by the press. There’s also a potential rival (a gorgeous rich romance writer) for Maggie to get miserable over. And the romance writer uses a word processor. I took issue in ‘Dawn Song’ about the fancy typewriter fake secretary Meg is forced to use because she should have been using a word processor and printer. ‘Dawn Song’ was published in 1994, and ‘Storm Force’ in 1990. This seems very inconsistent, and I hope any future historian specialising in office tech equipment, and relying on contemporary romance as primary historical records, isn’t too terribly confused.
Even though it still niggles, I got past how much the false rape annoyed me. I totally get that what happens between the hero and heroine isn’t intended as contemporary social commentary. Romantic fiction is a dark place and all that, and transformation always contains suffering, and happy endings have to be earned.
The false rape very quickly tidied away, and the woman who brought the charge is treated sympathetically.
I really liked this book. The characters each had more sensitivity and kindness than most of Sara Craven’s drama crazy couples. While the crazy drama is fun it does get a bit wearing after a while, and I enjoyed this more light-hearted book as a change.
‘Have fun Ginger,’ her brother in law tells her. He’s only mostly sincere. When he showed up Maggie spent the first ten minutes of his visit telling him that his PR client, sexy Jay Delaney, is for definite sure a rapist. She sees it is immaterial that the victim works in a nightclub and that everyone was drunk in a hotel.
It’s at this point I have to check myself. This is my 12th Sara Craven book this month, and consent hasn’t featured strongly in a significant number of sex sessions been hero and heroine. How do I feel that the one rape I’ve seen actually called out as rape will ultimately resolve itself as a false accusation? Grim. Really Grim.
Robin cancels Mauritius because mummy gets sick, and Maggie sorrowfully realises that she’s not going to be able to make it work with Robin. I am blown away by this piece of introspection: most heroines would rather ignore the signs, or decide that this the fate they deserve to suffer. Maggie decides to go out to the country and lick her wounds in her tiny cottage.
Only, there’s someone there already…
Surprise! It’s accused rapist and TV heartthrob Jay Delaney. Maggie’s brother in law nicked her cottage key when she wasn’t looking, and installed Jay in the house to hide out from the press. He’s all naked in her bed! Maggie rushes off into the howling storm and crashes her car into a fallen tree. She and Jay are trapped in the cottage until someone clears the road.
Maggie is prickly and feisty and a great character. She edits romance books for a living, and I was in complete job envy. She’s had a very bad experience in her past, so she’s very resistant to her attraction to naked Jay. Plus it takes some convincing that he’s not a rapist, and there’s that whole thing about him being famous and probably he flirts with all the ladies, and has dozens of far prettier girlfriends to hang with. Naked Jay does start featuring in her daydreams, and she’s mildly tormented about it.
She responds with snark. Maggie is good at snark, and she’s a departure from the more customary Sara Craven heroine, who drama snarks with crazy eyes. She can sometimes be sadly inarticulate in her crazy teary rages. Sure, Maggie has a bit of crazy drama snarking, but she also has a sense of humour, and seems mildly embarrassed and willing to apologise when she goes too far.
Jay also gives good snark, and manages to get cross without threatening to beat Maggie. He was so refreshing I loved him. He was also really patient and kind with Maggie. He didn’t let her get away with being ridiculous, but he was empathetic enough to pick up queues and back off when needed. Obviously, he wasn’t perfect at it, otherwise this book would have been a lot shorter than it was, but he was a great hero and it was obvious how he felt about Maggie.
My favourite scene is Jay trying to explain Chekov’s gun to an overwrought Maggie. She deals in fiction for a living, so naturally it doesn’t go down well at all.
The plot moves into fake engagement mode when Jay and Maggie are discovered by the press. There’s also a potential rival (a gorgeous rich romance writer) for Maggie to get miserable over. And the romance writer uses a word processor. I took issue in ‘Dawn Song’ about the fancy typewriter fake secretary Meg is forced to use because she should have been using a word processor and printer. ‘Dawn Song’ was published in 1994, and ‘Storm Force’ in 1990. This seems very inconsistent, and I hope any future historian specialising in office tech equipment, and relying on contemporary romance as primary historical records, isn’t too terribly confused.
Even though it still niggles, I got past how much the false rape annoyed me. I totally get that what happens between the hero and heroine isn’t intended as contemporary social commentary. Romantic fiction is a dark place and all that, and transformation always contains suffering, and happy endings have to be earned.
The false rape very quickly tidied away, and the woman who brought the charge is treated sympathetically.
I really liked this book. The characters each had more sensitivity and kindness than most of Sara Craven’s drama crazy couples. While the crazy drama is fun it does get a bit wearing after a while, and I enjoyed this more light-hearted book as a change.
November 26, 2017
I've not read that many Sara Craven books as yet, but of them all, this is the worst one I've encountered. The heroine ("Maggie") is let down by her wimpy boyfriend over plans for a holiday to Mauritius. Instead of going there, she heads to her own cottage in East Anglia, only to find her brother in law has installed a TV celebrity in there, who is hiding out after accusations of rape have been levelled against him from one of his fans. It's really quite a topical book for this (despite the fact that it was probably initially published in the 80s).
There's a problem with the hero, I think, in this novel, in the fact that he can't be the autocratic hero that Mills & Boon heroes normally are. He just doesn't have the same agency or power as a TV celebrity (who after all, just does what he's told as he's directed and recites lines which have been written for him for his job). He comes up wanting somehow because of this. Also, the rape accusation is problematic, because when Maggie first encounters him, he pretty much threatens to do the same thing to her. In the age we live in, when so many TV celebrities have been found out abusing their power over fans during the eighties, this doesn't make for an ideal premise for a romantic novel.
Maggie, however, is a typical Craven heroine - full of spirit, old-fashioned vim, and a wicked sense of humour. There's also a really nice twist in the revelation (I won't spoil it) which emerges from the heroine's past, which complicates the story and makes it a more satisfying read. Still, this one just doesn't seem up to the normal Craven quality and was a bit disappointing.
There's a problem with the hero, I think, in this novel, in the fact that he can't be the autocratic hero that Mills & Boon heroes normally are. He just doesn't have the same agency or power as a TV celebrity (who after all, just does what he's told as he's directed and recites lines which have been written for him for his job). He comes up wanting somehow because of this. Also, the rape accusation is problematic, because when Maggie first encounters him, he pretty much threatens to do the same thing to her. In the age we live in, when so many TV celebrities have been found out abusing their power over fans during the eighties, this doesn't make for an ideal premise for a romantic novel.
Maggie, however, is a typical Craven heroine - full of spirit, old-fashioned vim, and a wicked sense of humour. There's also a really nice twist in the revelation (I won't spoil it) which emerges from the heroine's past, which complicates the story and makes it a more satisfying read. Still, this one just doesn't seem up to the normal Craven quality and was a bit disappointing.
August 31, 2025
Maggie felt her boyfriend's mother is ruining her "comfortable" relationship with him so she thought of taking a holiday with him in Mauritius in order to "encourage" him to propose! Unfortunately, the mother ruins the plan as usual so Maggie, hurt and alone, decides to have her solitary holiday in her usual cottage. To her shock, she discovers her brother-in-law had already given the cottage keys to one of his VIP clients; and not any client! He invited Jay Delaney, the devastatingly handsome actor, who was recently accused of rape!! She wanted to get away of the house yet a hurricane made her stranded with him!
Two words to describe this novel: shallow and predictable. Thanks, but no thanks; I'm not going to read it again.
Two words to describe this novel: shallow and predictable. Thanks, but no thanks; I'm not going to read it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2023
An English woman in love with her job is planning to go on vacation with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, her boyfriend is a momma's boy who is being manipulated by his mom. This leads to the vacation being cancelled and her going to her cabin to think things over. Her brother-in-law works for a PR firm and he has put an actor up at her cabin amidst a scandal. When she arrives, she is totally surprised and pissed. From there a hurricane slams England and they are trapped in the cabin and falling in love.
September 16, 2021
What the? All men in this are terrible especially to the heroine. Rando momma's boy, and creepy ass step father(her mother is awful too), and our just kinda act like a tornado hero. Skip. Not fun and you just want the heroine to run away from everyone, since thats the only way I see her being happy.
July 14, 2022
3.5
SC really loves her isolated cottages. H is ladykiller actor, h is missish editor with a stepfather-induced trauma backstory (v yucky). Some good dialogue. A fair bit of faffing about and unsatisfactory final reversal.
SC really loves her isolated cottages. H is ladykiller actor, h is missish editor with a stepfather-induced trauma backstory (v yucky). Some good dialogue. A fair bit of faffing about and unsatisfactory final reversal.
January 2, 2023
I liked it but a few scenes were off kilter.
January 20, 2020
STORM FORCE
Trapped together!
Jay Delaney, on camera, had a dynamic appeal. In person, his blend of magnetism was even more potent. Not that Maggie was interested.
She'd had enough problems recently, and the last thing she wanted was an uninvited guest to disturb the peace and quiet of her solitary hideaway. But she didn't have much choice, and despite her caution, Maggie found herself drawn to Jay. Would she trust him?
"It's wise not to start something you can't finish," Jay warned her. But there was no way Maggie could predict how their encounter would end…
Trapped together!
Jay Delaney, on camera, had a dynamic appeal. In person, his blend of magnetism was even more potent. Not that Maggie was interested.
She'd had enough problems recently, and the last thing she wanted was an uninvited guest to disturb the peace and quiet of her solitary hideaway. But she didn't have much choice, and despite her caution, Maggie found herself drawn to Jay. Would she trust him?
"It's wise not to start something you can't finish," Jay warned her. But there was no way Maggie could predict how their encounter would end…
August 3, 2014
I was in the mood for a "trashy romance". This was fairly typical of the species, a strong hero, the virgin heroine who is fighting her attraction to the hero, another woman who comes in 3 quarters of the way through to drag out the conflict, then the requisite HEA.
An undemanding fluff read.
An undemanding fluff read.
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