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Tangled Threads
It was an explosive situtation.
Penny was trapped in an isolated, snowbound cottage with Mike Wolfe, an angry stranger itching to get his hands on her brother. In fact, she had no idea where Pete was, but it was evident he'd been up to something and Mike was intending to sort him out. All Penny could do now was to practise self-defence and pretend to this ruggestly attractive man that she was Pete's wife - things were volatile enought, without encouraging the intense physical attraction between them.
Penny was trapped in an isolated, snowbound cottage with Mike Wolfe, an angry stranger itching to get his hands on her brother. In fact, she had no idea where Pete was, but it was evident he'd been up to something and Mike was intending to sort him out. All Penny could do now was to practise self-defence and pretend to this ruggestly attractive man that she was Pete's wife - things were volatile enought, without encouraging the intense physical attraction between them.
- GenresHarlequin Presents
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Susanne McCarthy
92 books67 followersI'm a Londoner, though now I live in Devon, a twenty-minute walk from the sea. I love nothing more than walking my pretty Cavapoo on the beach in the rain (well, OK, I don't object to the sun, but when it's raining we usually have the whole beach to ourselves.)
Back in the day I had 25 novels published by Mills&Boon. After a long gap doing other things I found my love of writing again, and self-published three new novels.
But I knew that to reach more readers I needed an established publisher. Step in Joffe Books. They were top of my list so I was delighted when they accepted the first novel I sent them.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Back in the day I had 25 novels published by Mills&Boon. After a long gap doing other things I found my love of writing again, and self-published three new novels.
But I knew that to reach more readers I needed an established publisher. Step in Joffe Books. They were top of my list so I was delighted when they accepted the first novel I sent them.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 11, 2017
Re Tangled Threads - "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.." - Marmion by Sir Walter Scott. Or in Geordie - "What a tangled web wi weave when forst wi practice te deceive". Which, interestingly the first time I spoke with a young lad from Newcastle upon Tyne, I thought he was Scottish - to the American ear, a Geordie accent might be mistaken for one.
Why does that matter? Because in TT Susanne McCarthy gives us one of the few Geordie H's in all of HPlandia. He is a long haul lorry driver and tho he has amassed a transportation empire to qualify for HP H status, he has a definite flavor to his words that let you know you aren't dealing with the typical HP- tho fortunately the dialect in this one isn't anywhere near the Geordie Shore.
In fact this book is pretty quirky overall and I warn you now, you will need to have a mind more open than a 24 hour deli for the latter half of it. (But evilly of me, I am not spoiling this one until later in the post :P)
So the story on this one is the h is a 20 yr old orphan whose only family, an older brother who is 29, calls her up at her grotty bedsit in London and asks her to come look out for his cute rescue dogs and his cottage for a while. He has to make a sudden trip and since the h is between temporary jobs and her brother loved her enough to keep her out of foster care when their parents died when she was 12, the h will pretty much do anything for him. But she isn't a doormat by any means and she is pretty hot too, so she has been more than a bit careless with the hearts of infatuated males in the past - our h is definitely a bit of a flirt, tho unicorns are still being groomed on a regular basis.
She gets to her brother's cottage, he is a caretaker for a beach side caravan site near Liverpool. The only thing the h knows is that she is to watch out for a big 35 yr old Geordie lorry driver, if he shows up she is to tell him that she is her brother's wife and doesn't know where her brother is. Which seems a bit odd, but the h really doesn't know where her brother has gone and if he wants her to fib that she is married, well she can do that.
The h gets settled in and soon is disturbed by the engine of a 38 ton big red truck. It seems the Geordie lorry driver has arrived and he is NOT in a good mood. The h is scared and grabs a knife, he easily disarms her after he searches the very small cottage and the dogs are very happy to see him - they aren't very good guard dogs, unless you count putting feet to sleep from excessive laying on them or licking someone to pieces. The h feels a niggle of attraction that turns into a full fledged flush when he touches her. It is pretty easy to see where this is going - especially when the H gives the "I want you too but I am not a cradle robber" vibes back.
The h tells the H that she is her brother's wife and the H tells her that he isn't married himself, but that her brother has run off with a woman. The h concludes that her brother has snagged the H's girl and she resolves to keep the H in the dark for as long as she can to give her brother a chance to woo and win the fair lady. The H decides he will wait for the brother to come back to the cottage and then it snows. There is lots of meals and intimate H and h glances, the H finds a letter addressed to the h at her London flat and assumes that she is separated from her husband. The h is fascinated by the H and the way he makes her feel inside and tensions are building up after a few roofie kisses.
She declares that she loves the H to herself after two days of cozy snowed-in sharing and so she cuts the phone line when the H figures out that her brother is calling every few days to check on her. The h finds a phone book that has various hotels in Liverpool marked off and she quickly concludes that her brother and the H's lady are shacked up there. She tries to sneak to the village to start calling hotels to warn her brother, but she gets caught in the storm and the H rescues her when she is almost unconscious from the cold. During the warming up process, other things get warmed up too and the big lurve mojo event gets interrupted when the H has very physical evidence that the h isn't her brother's wife.
It is a big case of mojo interruptus and the very angry H wants some answers. The explains that she is the sister and the H yells that her 29 yr old brother has run off with his 17 yr old daughter. The h is sure her brother's intentions are honourable and the H is just as sure her brother is a gold digger. The h explains her Liverpool theory and the H decides that they will all go to Liverpool to find his daughter. The dogs are left with one of the H's employee's and we get the H's backstory.
When he was 17 and an apprentice lorry driver, he was sleeping at the truck yard and met a 16 yr old local girl. Teens being teens, a baby ensued and the H married the girl, but her Italian family did not approve. They had to live with her parents and it was not good. So the H got them a grotty flat of their own and then got arrested and did prison time for driving a getaway car during a robbery.
When he got out, he couldn't find his wife and his baby daughter until her heard his wife's name bandied about as a party girl and tracked her down. When he got to his wife's place, he found his daughter all alone and crying. He cleaned her up and fed her and settled in to wait for his wife. She showed up hours later drunk and with a guy. The H hit the guy and took the baby and went to the Midlands to his mother's house. From there he bought out a haulage firm with his mum's help and his savings and became a big transportation tycoon that still likes to drive his lorry around.
He was in Africa delivering vaccine for some amount of time as a goodwill gesture and when he returned, he found his daughter had eloped with the h's brother. Then he went to track down the louse who conned his daughter and that led him to the h and it turns out the brother actually works for the H's company - the caravan site is owned by the H and his daughter met the brother when she went for a little holiday.
The h concludes that since the H is very dictatorial and seems to be a workaholic too, he probably had little time for his daughter and then tried to order her around and she wasn't having it. She tries hard to convince the H to listen to his daughter when they find her, but the H doesn't seem to receptive to this advice.
When we get to the H's haulage headquarters, the h gets the opportunity to be jealous over the H's clinging assistant. The assistant, who looks like she just smelled something bad when she sees the h, is affronted in her turn when she finds the H with the towel clad h in his private bathroom. It is a mutual draw in the OW vs the h office competition and then we are off to Liverpool to look for the eloping lovers.
The H and h end up in a hotel suite with only one bedroom and after some arguments and a waiter in a Chinese restaurant who has seen the fleeing couple a few days earlier, the H and h have a blissful night of love that the h instigates. It all comes crashing down the next morning when the eloping couple shows up.
The brother clues in to the h and H's bedtime activities right away, but the daughter is oblivious and she lays out her plans for her wedding to the h's brother. They are going to apprentice at a small hotel and learn the business, then they will buy someplace small and be small hoteliers for their living. The H's wife gave permission for the daughter to marry, so the H's permission isn't needed.
That is right, the H is married and he lied about it. He claims he never wanted a custody battle over his daughter, tho it has been years since he has seen his wife. (Well that does explain his willingness to sleep with a married lady anyway.)
The h is shocked and hurt, she has told the H she loves him several times by this point but the daughter is very careful to point out that she is still eligible for Vestal Virgin duty as the h's brother has been most circumspect - so the H's daughter can be married in the Church and have a white wedding.
The H tries to buy the h's brother off with money and he gets laughed at. Then the brother enquires about the H and h's activities and the h doesn't want to talk about it, so she leaves the room. The upshot is that the eloping couple are going to wait six months until the daughter turns 18. If things are good, they will marry and the H will probably finance a small hotel for them. The h had only asked for one night of lurve, so she and the H part and six months go by.
The h is a pretty good artist and the H suggested she try submitting her work to an agent. The h takes that advice and by the time her brother's wedding rolls around, the h is getting commissions and looks to be a success. She has done her best to pick herself up, but she is still pining for the H and having jealous flashes when she imagines him in the arms of several more sophisticated ladies.
The h goes to Birmingham for the big wedding. She is met by the H's daughter and the H's younger brother, who instantly starts crushing on the h. The h is nervous about seeing the H again. She is still loving him and she heard via the family grapevine that he is now divorced and sowing some oats. The h just knows he is going to show up with some sophisticated date and so she flirts hard with the younger brother to avoid the H.
There is kissing with the OM and the H does indeed show up with a sophisticated lady buffet sample. There is a drunken stag night that wakes the h up on the eve of the wedding and the H keeps asking the h how she is, but she does her best to brush him off. The H's younger brother is pursuing the h hard and she is worried she might have encouraged him too much.
Finally the wedding goes off and everyone is happy but the h. She is wandering around the H's house, it is a huge place where they are having the reception and she runs into the H upstairs and he declares that he has waited six months just like he made his daughter wait and now wants to marry the h. He apparently is madly in love with the h too and no mention of any oat sowing in the interim is discussed. The h is ecstatic and jumps right into bed and they are lurving it up in anticipation of future marital bliss - but the h only wants to go to the registry office cause the H explains that he is now divorced and ineligible for a church wedding.
The younger brother comes across them as they are making out and he says some mean words about the h's tartiness and the H knocks him out. The whole family comes rushing in and the H makes the big engagement announcement. The H's mother is worried the h is too young to stand up to the H, but when she starts going on about big weddings the H is firmly telling her no and the h is amending that to a family party the next weekend, everyone is satisfied the h has gumption to handle the H for the HEA.
This was a strange book, but really kinda realistic in a totally HP way. It needed more dog time, they just disappeared in the middle of the book. It is not everyone's cuppa for sure and the big proposal bit at the end is REALLY abrupt.
I was not sure about the future for these two, but they did seem to be greatly attracted to each other. So they probably did work out, the H was eager to start a second family and the h was certainly just as anxious to get on with baby making too. Both of them are kinda big time liars tho, so in a weird kinda way, they do go together, but I predict a very rocky relationship future for this corner of SMcC's HPlandia and I can't wait for the HP edition of the Birmingham version of EastEnders that is sure to come from this.
Why does that matter? Because in TT Susanne McCarthy gives us one of the few Geordie H's in all of HPlandia. He is a long haul lorry driver and tho he has amassed a transportation empire to qualify for HP H status, he has a definite flavor to his words that let you know you aren't dealing with the typical HP- tho fortunately the dialect in this one isn't anywhere near the Geordie Shore.
In fact this book is pretty quirky overall and I warn you now, you will need to have a mind more open than a 24 hour deli for the latter half of it. (But evilly of me, I am not spoiling this one until later in the post :P)
So the story on this one is the h is a 20 yr old orphan whose only family, an older brother who is 29, calls her up at her grotty bedsit in London and asks her to come look out for his cute rescue dogs and his cottage for a while. He has to make a sudden trip and since the h is between temporary jobs and her brother loved her enough to keep her out of foster care when their parents died when she was 12, the h will pretty much do anything for him. But she isn't a doormat by any means and she is pretty hot too, so she has been more than a bit careless with the hearts of infatuated males in the past - our h is definitely a bit of a flirt, tho unicorns are still being groomed on a regular basis.
She gets to her brother's cottage, he is a caretaker for a beach side caravan site near Liverpool. The only thing the h knows is that she is to watch out for a big 35 yr old Geordie lorry driver, if he shows up she is to tell him that she is her brother's wife and doesn't know where her brother is. Which seems a bit odd, but the h really doesn't know where her brother has gone and if he wants her to fib that she is married, well she can do that.
The h gets settled in and soon is disturbed by the engine of a 38 ton big red truck. It seems the Geordie lorry driver has arrived and he is NOT in a good mood. The h is scared and grabs a knife, he easily disarms her after he searches the very small cottage and the dogs are very happy to see him - they aren't very good guard dogs, unless you count putting feet to sleep from excessive laying on them or licking someone to pieces. The h feels a niggle of attraction that turns into a full fledged flush when he touches her. It is pretty easy to see where this is going - especially when the H gives the "I want you too but I am not a cradle robber" vibes back.
The h tells the H that she is her brother's wife and the H tells her that he isn't married himself, but that her brother has run off with a woman. The h concludes that her brother has snagged the H's girl and she resolves to keep the H in the dark for as long as she can to give her brother a chance to woo and win the fair lady. The H decides he will wait for the brother to come back to the cottage and then it snows. There is lots of meals and intimate H and h glances, the H finds a letter addressed to the h at her London flat and assumes that she is separated from her husband. The h is fascinated by the H and the way he makes her feel inside and tensions are building up after a few roofie kisses.
She declares that she loves the H to herself after two days of cozy snowed-in sharing and so she cuts the phone line when the H figures out that her brother is calling every few days to check on her. The h finds a phone book that has various hotels in Liverpool marked off and she quickly concludes that her brother and the H's lady are shacked up there. She tries to sneak to the village to start calling hotels to warn her brother, but she gets caught in the storm and the H rescues her when she is almost unconscious from the cold. During the warming up process, other things get warmed up too and the big lurve mojo event gets interrupted when the H has very physical evidence that the h isn't her brother's wife.
It is a big case of mojo interruptus and the very angry H wants some answers. The explains that she is the sister and the H yells that her 29 yr old brother has run off with his 17 yr old daughter. The h is sure her brother's intentions are honourable and the H is just as sure her brother is a gold digger. The h explains her Liverpool theory and the H decides that they will all go to Liverpool to find his daughter. The dogs are left with one of the H's employee's and we get the H's backstory.
When he was 17 and an apprentice lorry driver, he was sleeping at the truck yard and met a 16 yr old local girl. Teens being teens, a baby ensued and the H married the girl, but her Italian family did not approve. They had to live with her parents and it was not good. So the H got them a grotty flat of their own and then got arrested and did prison time for driving a getaway car during a robbery.
When he got out, he couldn't find his wife and his baby daughter until her heard his wife's name bandied about as a party girl and tracked her down. When he got to his wife's place, he found his daughter all alone and crying. He cleaned her up and fed her and settled in to wait for his wife. She showed up hours later drunk and with a guy. The H hit the guy and took the baby and went to the Midlands to his mother's house. From there he bought out a haulage firm with his mum's help and his savings and became a big transportation tycoon that still likes to drive his lorry around.
He was in Africa delivering vaccine for some amount of time as a goodwill gesture and when he returned, he found his daughter had eloped with the h's brother. Then he went to track down the louse who conned his daughter and that led him to the h and it turns out the brother actually works for the H's company - the caravan site is owned by the H and his daughter met the brother when she went for a little holiday.
The h concludes that since the H is very dictatorial and seems to be a workaholic too, he probably had little time for his daughter and then tried to order her around and she wasn't having it. She tries hard to convince the H to listen to his daughter when they find her, but the H doesn't seem to receptive to this advice.
When we get to the H's haulage headquarters, the h gets the opportunity to be jealous over the H's clinging assistant. The assistant, who looks like she just smelled something bad when she sees the h, is affronted in her turn when she finds the H with the towel clad h in his private bathroom. It is a mutual draw in the OW vs the h office competition and then we are off to Liverpool to look for the eloping lovers.
The H and h end up in a hotel suite with only one bedroom and after some arguments and a waiter in a Chinese restaurant who has seen the fleeing couple a few days earlier, the H and h have a blissful night of love that the h instigates. It all comes crashing down the next morning when the eloping couple shows up.
The brother clues in to the h and H's bedtime activities right away, but the daughter is oblivious and she lays out her plans for her wedding to the h's brother. They are going to apprentice at a small hotel and learn the business, then they will buy someplace small and be small hoteliers for their living. The H's wife gave permission for the daughter to marry, so the H's permission isn't needed.
That is right, the H is married and he lied about it. He claims he never wanted a custody battle over his daughter, tho it has been years since he has seen his wife. (Well that does explain his willingness to sleep with a married lady anyway.)
The h is shocked and hurt, she has told the H she loves him several times by this point but the daughter is very careful to point out that she is still eligible for Vestal Virgin duty as the h's brother has been most circumspect - so the H's daughter can be married in the Church and have a white wedding.
The H tries to buy the h's brother off with money and he gets laughed at. Then the brother enquires about the H and h's activities and the h doesn't want to talk about it, so she leaves the room. The upshot is that the eloping couple are going to wait six months until the daughter turns 18. If things are good, they will marry and the H will probably finance a small hotel for them. The h had only asked for one night of lurve, so she and the H part and six months go by.
The h is a pretty good artist and the H suggested she try submitting her work to an agent. The h takes that advice and by the time her brother's wedding rolls around, the h is getting commissions and looks to be a success. She has done her best to pick herself up, but she is still pining for the H and having jealous flashes when she imagines him in the arms of several more sophisticated ladies.
The h goes to Birmingham for the big wedding. She is met by the H's daughter and the H's younger brother, who instantly starts crushing on the h. The h is nervous about seeing the H again. She is still loving him and she heard via the family grapevine that he is now divorced and sowing some oats. The h just knows he is going to show up with some sophisticated date and so she flirts hard with the younger brother to avoid the H.
There is kissing with the OM and the H does indeed show up with a sophisticated lady buffet sample. There is a drunken stag night that wakes the h up on the eve of the wedding and the H keeps asking the h how she is, but she does her best to brush him off. The H's younger brother is pursuing the h hard and she is worried she might have encouraged him too much.
Finally the wedding goes off and everyone is happy but the h. She is wandering around the H's house, it is a huge place where they are having the reception and she runs into the H upstairs and he declares that he has waited six months just like he made his daughter wait and now wants to marry the h. He apparently is madly in love with the h too and no mention of any oat sowing in the interim is discussed. The h is ecstatic and jumps right into bed and they are lurving it up in anticipation of future marital bliss - but the h only wants to go to the registry office cause the H explains that he is now divorced and ineligible for a church wedding.
The younger brother comes across them as they are making out and he says some mean words about the h's tartiness and the H knocks him out. The whole family comes rushing in and the H makes the big engagement announcement. The H's mother is worried the h is too young to stand up to the H, but when she starts going on about big weddings the H is firmly telling her no and the h is amending that to a family party the next weekend, everyone is satisfied the h has gumption to handle the H for the HEA.
This was a strange book, but really kinda realistic in a totally HP way. It needed more dog time, they just disappeared in the middle of the book. It is not everyone's cuppa for sure and the big proposal bit at the end is REALLY abrupt.
I was not sure about the future for these two, but they did seem to be greatly attracted to each other. So they probably did work out, the H was eager to start a second family and the h was certainly just as anxious to get on with baby making too. Both of them are kinda big time liars tho, so in a weird kinda way, they do go together, but I predict a very rocky relationship future for this corner of SMcC's HPlandia and I can't wait for the HP edition of the Birmingham version of EastEnders that is sure to come from this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2013
This was decent. Heroine is trapped in her brother's cottage with the hero, while the hero waits for her brother to return. Heroine pretends to be her brother's wife. Hero is very angry at her brother for at-first undisclosed reasons.
This was very readable, but I found it a little long. I prefer a little more angst and drama. Also, based on the hero's physical description and accent I couldn't but picture him as overly beefy and coarse (like a logger or something), which isn't my cup of tea.
Still though, this was a nice, satisfying read.
This was very readable, but I found it a little long. I prefer a little more angst and drama. Also, based on the hero's physical description and accent I couldn't but picture him as overly beefy and coarse (like a logger or something), which isn't my cup of tea.
Still though, this was a nice, satisfying read.
December 4, 2015
35 year old man has sex with 20 year old virgin. . He thinks she is married( her brother has asked her to pose as his wife) but that doesn't bother him because he really IS married. Not that he tells the girl that, she hears it from a third party after she has spent yet another night with this man. He and his wife have been separated for years but he never bothered to divorce her because he was afraid the court would award her custody of their daughter. The daughter is now 17 and is in love with h's 29 year old brother. The dad is livid and is trying to track down his daughter who has run off with her boyfriend..
January 4, 2021
It was an explosive situtation.
Penny was trapped in an isolated, snowbound cottage with Mike Wolfe, an angry stranger itching to get his hands on her brother. In fact, she had no idea where Pete was, but it was evident he'd been up to something and Mike was intending to sort him out. All Penny could do now was to practise self-defence and pretend to this ruggestly attractive man that she was Pete's wife - things were volatile enought, without encouraging the intense physical attraction between them.
Penny was trapped in an isolated, snowbound cottage with Mike Wolfe, an angry stranger itching to get his hands on her brother. In fact, she had no idea where Pete was, but it was evident he'd been up to something and Mike was intending to sort him out. All Penny could do now was to practise self-defence and pretend to this ruggestly attractive man that she was Pete's wife - things were volatile enought, without encouraging the intense physical attraction between them.
August 11, 2016
The events were logical and the story could have been so much developed if it weren't touching a lot of ethics concerning age and relations.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews