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زواج بالاكراه
Leon was just a familiar stranger
Roselle's marriage to Leon five years earlier had had a bizarre beginning. Now, it seemed, it would have an equally strange end.
Her visit to Leon's vineyard in southern France was merely to ask him for a divorce. After all, they'd never lived together as man and wife -- except, of course, for those few wonderful months in London.
But that was long ago, and Roselle knew Leon didn't really want a wife. Why, then, had this reunion -- and her request -- sparked such a violent and passionate reaction?
Roselle's marriage to Leon five years earlier had had a bizarre beginning. Now, it seemed, it would have an equally strange end.
Her visit to Leon's vineyard in southern France was merely to ask him for a divorce. After all, they'd never lived together as man and wife -- except, of course, for those few wonderful months in London.
But that was long ago, and Roselle knew Leon didn't really want a wife. Why, then, had this reunion -- and her request -- sparked such a violent and passionate reaction?
Unknown Binding
First published July 1, 1980
3 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Flora Kidd
136 books34 followersFlora Mildred Cartwright was born on 1926 in Liverpool, England, UK. The youngest of four children, Flora and her family lived in the same house until she was a teen. In 1949, she graduated from Liverpool University, where she met Robert Kidd, her husband. They moved to her beloved Scotland, where she began teaching, writing, and raised their four children: Richard, Patricia, Peter and David.
Flora Kidd published her first novel, Visit To Rowanbank, in 1966 at Mills & Boon. In 1977, the family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where she continued her romance career with Mills & Boon until 1989, when she retired. In 1994, she published the first of the The Marco Polo Project novels, to support a project to build a replica of the 19th century ship Marco Polo.
Flora Kidd passed away on March 19, 2008 at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
Flora Kidd published her first novel, Visit To Rowanbank, in 1966 at Mills & Boon. In 1977, the family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where she continued her romance career with Mills & Boon until 1989, when she retired. In 1994, she published the first of the The Marco Polo Project novels, to support a project to build a replica of the 19th century ship Marco Polo.
Flora Kidd passed away on March 19, 2008 at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 25, 2024
This story was too bizarre and the characters too off-putting for me, yes, EVEN in the crazy-town known as HPlandia.
The h and H were married while he was on his sickbed, feverish with malaria. This was arranged by the h's Godmother, who is also H's Grandmother, for murky reasons that she keeps to herself.
He recovers and leaves for his winery in the South of France, without any word to his new wife...because he didn't remember the marriage ceremony!
That didn't seem to bother h at all, who goes off to London to pursue her ballet career.
Two years pass. Still no word. Because Godmother/Grandmother refuses to give h her husband's address. Not that h is in hot pursuit.
Godmother/Grandmother croaks so h finally gets H's address in the old lady's papers. She writes him. He shows up. They have a 2 months honeymoon of sorts in London before he decides he needs to get back to work at the winery.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. He does tell her she is welcome there anytime the ballet game slows down but there is no hurry. He may or may not have 1 or several mistresses keeping his bed warm back in France.
Okay so now again, fast forward 2-3 years later. h gets a marriage proposal from some older dude who tends to fetishize ballerinas. So of course she MUST go to H's chateau for the first time in their strange relationship so they can "talk" and start the divorce process.
Well, whaddya know? She arrives at her husband's winery and mistress/housekeeper is there to greet her, all sugar and honey. Husband takes this personal visit as a cue to rekindle their sex life so Yaddi Yadda yadda, a forced seduction later, and they are both naked in bed.
She wakes up all outraged demanding a divorce and accusing him of adultery. Is this the cue for hero to deny the accusations? Nope, not at all. He is "his own man" after all and she has no right to nag. As for the divorce, he doesn't have the cash flow to go through with it currently. Otherwise, he gives the impression that he had totally run out of bleeps to give where she is concerned.
This is very paint-by-the-numbers HPLANDIA stuff and at another time, in another mood, I may have gone through with it but at the present time, I ran out of patience. There was nothing spectacular or even interesting for the writing to hold me to this weird story, as these vintage HPS often do.
I may take it up at another time but frankly, the chances of that are slim. h was too doormatty and H waaaaaayyyy too wishy washy. Why am a reading a Harlequin if not for the crazed, Alpha, possessive, mine-mine-mine, over-the-top lover? This aloof Frenchman, with all his bored shrugs, take-it-or-leave-it attitude, and penny-counting, did not appeal.
The h and H were married while he was on his sickbed, feverish with malaria. This was arranged by the h's Godmother, who is also H's Grandmother, for murky reasons that she keeps to herself.
He recovers and leaves for his winery in the South of France, without any word to his new wife...because he didn't remember the marriage ceremony!
That didn't seem to bother h at all, who goes off to London to pursue her ballet career.
Two years pass. Still no word. Because Godmother/Grandmother refuses to give h her husband's address. Not that h is in hot pursuit.
Godmother/Grandmother croaks so h finally gets H's address in the old lady's papers. She writes him. He shows up. They have a 2 months honeymoon of sorts in London before he decides he needs to get back to work at the winery.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. He does tell her she is welcome there anytime the ballet game slows down but there is no hurry. He may or may not have 1 or several mistresses keeping his bed warm back in France.
Okay so now again, fast forward 2-3 years later. h gets a marriage proposal from some older dude who tends to fetishize ballerinas. So of course she MUST go to H's chateau for the first time in their strange relationship so they can "talk" and start the divorce process.
Well, whaddya know? She arrives at her husband's winery and mistress/housekeeper is there to greet her, all sugar and honey. Husband takes this personal visit as a cue to rekindle their sex life so Yaddi Yadda yadda, a forced seduction later, and they are both naked in bed.
She wakes up all outraged demanding a divorce and accusing him of adultery. Is this the cue for hero to deny the accusations? Nope, not at all. He is "his own man" after all and she has no right to nag. As for the divorce, he doesn't have the cash flow to go through with it currently. Otherwise, he gives the impression that he had totally run out of bleeps to give where she is concerned.
This is very paint-by-the-numbers HPLANDIA stuff and at another time, in another mood, I may have gone through with it but at the present time, I ran out of patience. There was nothing spectacular or even interesting for the writing to hold me to this weird story, as these vintage HPS often do.
I may take it up at another time but frankly, the chances of that are slim. h was too doormatty and H waaaaaayyyy too wishy washy. Why am a reading a Harlequin if not for the crazed, Alpha, possessive, mine-mine-mine, over-the-top lover? This aloof Frenchman, with all his bored shrugs, take-it-or-leave-it attitude, and penny-counting, did not appeal.
December 27, 2017
67 - زواج بالاكراه
من روايات عبير الجديدة
لتسعد روزيل جدتها التي تحبها كثيرا , وافقت مكرهة على الزواج الذي دبرته لها من حفيدها ليون شوفيتي .
لكن لكل واحد فيهم ارتباطات مسبقة في اماكن اخرى و روزيل لم ترد التخلي عن مهنتها كراقصة..ومن اهتمامات ليون الأولية اعادة تنظيم مؤسسته في بوغندي.
لذا تم التباعد من اول فترة علاقتهما , لكنه لم يكن ابدا زواجا حقيقيا , او يمكن القول عن حب خاص من جهة ليون.
الآن حان الوقت لوضع نهاية لكل ذلك فورا وللأبد لكن هل هذا ما سيحدث بالفعل ؟ ام سيطرأ عليهم شيء يغير لهم مجرى حياتهم وخططهم ...؟
من روايات عبير الجديدة
لتسعد روزيل جدتها التي تحبها كثيرا , وافقت مكرهة على الزواج الذي دبرته لها من حفيدها ليون شوفيتي .
لكن لكل واحد فيهم ارتباطات مسبقة في اماكن اخرى و روزيل لم ترد التخلي عن مهنتها كراقصة..ومن اهتمامات ليون الأولية اعادة تنظيم مؤسسته في بوغندي.
لذا تم التباعد من اول فترة علاقتهما , لكنه لم يكن ابدا زواجا حقيقيا , او يمكن القول عن حب خاص من جهة ليون.
الآن حان الوقت لوضع نهاية لكل ذلك فورا وللأبد لكن هل هذا ما سيحدث بالفعل ؟ ام سيطرأ عليهم شيء يغير لهم مجرى حياتهم وخططهم ...؟
priority
May 24, 2020Roselle's marriage to Leon five years earlier had had a bizarre beginning. Now, it seemed, it would have an equally strange end.
Her visit to Leon's vineyard in southern France was merely to ask him for a divorce. After all, they'd never lived together as man and wife -- except, of course, for those few wonderful months in London.
But that was long ago, and Roselle knew Leon didn't really want a wife. Why, then, had this reunion -- and her request -- sparked such a violent and passionate reaction?
Her visit to Leon's vineyard in southern France was merely to ask him for a divorce. After all, they'd never lived together as man and wife -- except, of course, for those few wonderful months in London.
But that was long ago, and Roselle knew Leon didn't really want a wife. Why, then, had this reunion -- and her request -- sparked such a violent and passionate reaction?
September 22, 2017
Not good at all. Roselle married Leon at her godmother's request while he was delirious. The marriage was not one at all, with Roselle pursuing her passion for ballet & Leon works to bring his family winery back to its glory days. They lived together briefly (and consummated the marriage though it was implied rather than described), but chose to live apart. When an older man proposed to Roselle, she needed to travel to France to ask Leon for a divorce.
I never got into this at all. Their relationship never evolved more than he could excite her sexually, and even that was fairly mild compared to modern HQP books. There just wasn't anything between them, and the story was pretty boring. Roselle was so immature & irritating! As for Leon, he was no prize, either. He was always so cold to his so-called wife and even when he supposedly declared his love for her, he wasn't sure if he actually did.
I never got into this at all. Their relationship never evolved more than he could excite her sexually, and even that was fairly mild compared to modern HQP books. There just wasn't anything between them, and the story was pretty boring. Roselle was so immature & irritating! As for Leon, he was no prize, either. He was always so cold to his so-called wife and even when he supposedly declared his love for her, he wasn't sure if he actually did.
October 21, 2024
Extremely lukewarm romance. Where is thee love?
I will never approve and really get the ‘you’re so ugly you are cute!’ lines or in this instance he tells her ‘you are not pretty, your mouth too wide and face too thin, but one day you will be beautiful.’ What the heck, dude?! Just say she’s sexy? Or is she actually ugly? Unattractive? Idk, backhanded compliments and dubious comments? What do you mean, author?! I thought, I hoped, hero had unrequited love but at the end he says he ‘thinks’ he loves her. Sigh, so disappointing.
I will never approve and really get the ‘you’re so ugly you are cute!’ lines or in this instance he tells her ‘you are not pretty, your mouth too wide and face too thin, but one day you will be beautiful.’ What the heck, dude?! Just say she’s sexy? Or is she actually ugly? Unattractive? Idk, backhanded compliments and dubious comments? What do you mean, author?! I thought, I hoped, hero had unrequited love but at the end he says he ‘thinks’ he loves her. Sigh, so disappointing.
August 29, 2025
I quite enjoyed this read although it deeply frustrated me. First of all, while I do understand the emotions of the female protagonist, I personally could not accept the way the male protagonist kept acting, he was almost more childish despite being what, 10 years older? The beginning was intriguing where she had to explain to whom and how she ended up married but then it just got so annoying. Felt spineless. But it was still fast paced at least and a short read.
April 23, 2013
long ago but good
December 5, 2014
This is the story of two young people who were married for five years but because they hadn't really lived together they remained strangers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews