Return to Arkady

by Jeneth Murrey

Tomorrow she would be in Corfu again. Joanna had fled the sun-drenched island with proof that her husband, Arkady St. Vlastos, had been unfaithful. And she'd been carrying Arkady's child. Now Arkady was back in England, demanding custody of his son and forcing Joanna to an agonizing decision. Either she return to Corfu with him and live under the same roof as his mistress, Ilone, or Arkady would take her baby. Did Joanna really have any choice?

Genres: Harlequin Romance, Second Chance, Hqn

190 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a marriage in trouble story, set in Greece, with a hero who is 14 years older than the h, and whose household consists of a teenage daughter, a beautiful cousin of his dead wife, and a housekeeper who may or may not burn the food according to mood.

No wonder the pregnant heroine ran back to England when the spiteful teenager told her the beautiful, infertile cousin was her father's mistress and he only married the h to have a boy to inherit all his worldly goods.

The story begins a year later with the hero showing up at h's dingy bedsitter and threatening to take the baby away from her if she doesn't return to Corfu.

The heroine does return. The OW is still in residence. The daughter is much nicer, but still managing to get herself into trouble with a Peeping Tom photographer. The cook is still burning the food according to her mood ring.

Eventually, change does occur when the hero finally starts to unpack why the h left (he thinks it's because she was so much younger - he had no idea about the cheating accusations) and when the heroine decides she needs to cultivate her own interests (photography) rather than submersing herself in love for the hero.

There's a sub-plot about the daughter and the Peeping Tom photographer that goes on to long. And the OW is finally dispatched with little ceremony (or reasons for her awful behavior), but those are small quibbles.

This is a solid story, but it lacks the banter and snarkiness of some of Jeneth Murrey's other works.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole incident with the h witnessing the H kissing a distant relative of the family who has been living with him since his late wife passed away gets glossed over. Considering that is the reason she leaves him and has her baby alone doesn’t quite figure in.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy the “old” HQN’s! This one is no different. The story of second chance love after major communication issues edged on by other characters in the book (it’s a Harlequin, the universe of communication problems).

I liked the main characters for the most part but have a hard time with the arrogance and expected submissiveness by the main male character (Greek).

Now I know this comes from experience with this type of overbearing male but really the whole “Me Tarzan, you Jane, I make the rules and you have the babies” is just to much for this self sufficient female.

It was a great read and once you start the story, you don’t want to put it down.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marriage in trouble, reunion romance. I love this trope and both hero and heroine were faithful. Which is sort of a spoiler as the heroine JOanna suspects the hero Arkady of being unfaithful with Ilone who is a relative of his first wife and cared for his teenage daughter.

It is a year since Joanna returned to England and now Arkady is back to collect his three month old son and incidentally his wife. Of course she can't resist him but it takes some work and the clarification of some misinformation before things can head for the happy ending they deserve.

For some reason I hadn't heard of this author but have recently collected a few of her books and have been enjoying them.

[RomLibrary]

Tomorrow she would be in Corfu again. Joanna had fled the sun-drenched island with proof that her husband, Arkady St. Vlastos, had been unfaithful. And she'd been carrying Arkady's child. Now Arkady was back in England, demanding custody of his son and forcing Joanna to an agonizing decision. Either she return to Corfu with him and live under the same roof as his mistress, Ilone, or Arkady would take her baby. Did Joanna really have any choice?

[More Books Than Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author is one of the best at writing strong, dominant men who are completely in love, but this one doesn’t work well for me. He threatened to take their son, a common HP threat that is disgusting.

[Mary-jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly, I didn't grasp some parts..perhaps because of the copy of the book or because i'm a bookworm beginner or english is not my native language.
Because of this, i didn't get whether the hero really loved the heroine and it felt incomplete.