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Like Enemies
Robin Dale didn't trust worldly, successful men, but she had taught herself to beat them at their own game; her successful interior decorating business was proof of that. She didn't trust Guy Gerrard either, but she decorated his house for him and then — quite without warning — found herself wanting him. It was only when he proposed that she should marry him and make a stable home for his rebellious young sister that Robin began to realise that desire might not be enough to make their marriage work!
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 11, 1986
2 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Weston
182 books42 followersJenny Haddon was born in London, England, where she always returns after the travels that she loves. When she was small, her mother couldn't bear reading aloud, so her mother taught her to read at an appallingly precocious age. She wrote her first book with her own illustrations at the age of four but was in her 20s before she produced her first romance as Sophie Weston.
She studied English Language and Literature at university. Choosing a career was a major problem. It was not so much that she didn't know what she wanted to do, as that she wanted to do everything. So she filed and photocopied and experimented. She worked as consultant at the Bank of England and all the time she drew on her experiences to create her Mills & Boon books. She edited press releases for a Latin American embassy in London (The Latin Afffair); lectured in the Arabian Gulf (The Sheikh's Bride); waitressed in Paris (Midnight Wedding); and made herself hated by getting under people's feet asking stupid questions under the grand title of consultant all over the world (The Millionaire's Daughter). She also is an active member of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association's Committee, and was its twenty-three Chairman (2005-2007).
Jenny has one house, three cats, and about a million books. She writes compulsively, Scottish dances poorly, grows more plants than she has room for, and makes a mean meringue.
She studied English Language and Literature at university. Choosing a career was a major problem. It was not so much that she didn't know what she wanted to do, as that she wanted to do everything. So she filed and photocopied and experimented. She worked as consultant at the Bank of England and all the time she drew on her experiences to create her Mills & Boon books. She edited press releases for a Latin American embassy in London (The Latin Afffair); lectured in the Arabian Gulf (The Sheikh's Bride); waitressed in Paris (Midnight Wedding); and made herself hated by getting under people's feet asking stupid questions under the grand title of consultant all over the world (The Millionaire's Daughter). She also is an active member of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association's Committee, and was its twenty-three Chairman (2005-2007).
Jenny has one house, three cats, and about a million books. She writes compulsively, Scottish dances poorly, grows more plants than she has room for, and makes a mean meringue.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 15, 2016
Re Like Enemies - fasten your seat belts HP voyagers, it is going to be a bumpy ride! Usually in the regularly scheduled outings of HPness we get emotionally distant Alpha males paired with innocent and sweet but highly emotive feminine h's. SW is out to change all that with LE.
The h is a 28 yr old interior decorator. Make no mistake, this woman is an Alpha through and through - she isn't mean about it- she is very polite, but very reserved. Her colleagues and staff can't seem to understand her, she is very beautiful, (though she doesn't rate her looks that highly,) and very talented, (which she knows, as she won several awards and is a director of the design firm she works for,) but she has no social life, refuses to date her co-workers or clients and is never seen with any other man.
Amusingly, this causes a lot of resentment in her office. The one female secondary office worker with a speaking part is rather intrusive and nasty towards the h. The men are all in love and moping and the h doesn't care at all. She is courteous and in charge and interestingly, they don't challenge her much. Though her secretary would have been out of a job if she was working for me.
However, the snide remarks roll off the h's back like water and she is happily toodleing along with her nice flat and her comfortable life style. She just has these little twinges of restlessness every once in a while, but she is sure she will get over it.
Until her junior design assistant begs to be excused from going back to their most illustrious client to date to work on his house. The h's boss and owner of the firm is on vacation, so the h tries to find out what went wrong. It seems the young design assistant was subjected to some kind of assault by the client. She won't describe what happened, but the h is concerned enough to consider turning the job away.
The nasty secretary accuses the h of over reacting, claiming that the h is a man-hater and she should take over the job herself, (only in HPLandia is sexual harassment not only NOT taboo, but actively hoped for and encouraged by all manner of people.) All the while secretly thinking that an assault on the h would be good for her. (I kid you not, I would have fired this women the second time she opened her mouth and I wouldn't have been nice about it either.)
So the h goes to the H's home and meets with him. He has a list of changes he wants in the interiors and the h is very professional about it. This H is the charming rogue hiding a core of titanium type and it is mentioned that his father bankrupted the family firm, then died when the H was 18 or 19 and the H single-handedly saved it and became incredibly rich in the process.
Then the H asks the h out to dinner, it is obvious he is interested and he and the h have some polite verbal sparring going on the whole time. It is equally obvious that he expects a heated refusal and he is going to pull the "I-am-the-client-so-you-have-too" card.
The h throws him off when she agrees to go, (done with style too, so major h points here,) he has said he has limited time and she will accommodate him - he is paying for this after all. The H does some not-so-subtle probing to find out if there are any significant others in her life and she deflects him pretty easily. He also notes that the h seems to dislike him and she does - she just won't say why.
(The h really does dislike him, for two reasons. One is that he assaulted an employee - apparently this girl isn't very easily frightened and she is a bit of a flirt- but she was genuinely terrified in the h's estimation. The other reason is that this h has AN INCIDENT IN HER PAST, where she was attacked at 17 and there was tremendous press coverage about it - with the accusations being leveled at HER for being an underage Lolita putting the aggressive moves on a married man and then attacking him.
In reality, she was the one attacked, but it is very obvious she was traumatized. SW does a great job of providing very scarce background details and then showing how this affected the h via her actions and responses - the whole thing has made the h very distant, very wary and very controlled.)
So the H and h go to dinner, they actually have a nice time and then he takes her back to his borrowed flat to go over the changes he wants. Things are proceeding nicely, then the H kisses her and she gets a rush to the brain and goes to bed with the H. She sneaks out the next morning without seeing the H.
The H freaks out, he had been insinuating that she was some kind of seductive femme fatale, using men and then discretely discarding them. In actuality, she was a 28 yr old virgin. The H is all eager to be with her, but she tells him they are done. It was a one-time burst to the brain and she is not interested in anything else. The H takes his dismissal somewhat ungracefully, but he doesn't bother her again.
Instead he interrogates all her friends and gets her surrogate father, (her own dad was a theatrical legend and has been dead since she was a small child and the H thought the SF at first was really her lover, but now he is puzzled by the relationship,) to invite him and the h to a cocktail party so the H can corner the h.
The H threatens a full scale security investigation if the h doesn't go with him and tell him about her past, so she reluctantly goes. She gives a bare bones description of the attack at 17 and then the H tells her she is going to marry him. He needs a wife so that his half sister can live with them, apparently her antics are driving his stepmother mad but she wants the H to be married before the step-sis can be under his roof.
She is having none of that, so he seduces her and gets the h to say h yes by tormenting her at a sensitive moment, (We can all guess when that was, but it was tastefully done.) Then he takes off for business in Europe without saying goodbye to the h the next morning, he does thoughtfully have the engagement notice printed in all the papers.
The h is deeply shocked and worried. Everything this man does is exactly how her hated stepfather acted and she is not willing to go there again. Then she meets the step-sister, who came to be the h's moral support when she overheard the woman she thinks is the H's current lover -not the h- telling everybody the engagement is a farce.
The h likes the sister, and she doesn't care about the gossip columns, but the H's OW concerns her. This man is starting to look more like her stepfather every day. She keeps her cool however, deals with the press, avoids getting photographed and throws herself into her work.
Then the H comes back a day early, the h has actually been missing him a bit and can't seem to keep her hands off of him. The H tells her that was why he left like he did and did not call, when she berates him for dumping her and throwing her to the wolves of the press.
They are in a compromising position when the doorbell rings, the H discretely removes himself to the bedroom and the h opens the door to the OW. The OW then proceeds to make nasty and cutting remarks that are only cut short when the H comes out of the bedroom in a state of undress.
There is a sad moment when the OW is pleading with the H and the h is appalled at how callously the H dismisses her. She wonders when the H will dismiss her like that and it isn't a comforting thought. The H realizes that she is not in the mood and leaves.
Things get rather distant between them and her boss takes her to task for it. The h is working a lot and the boss wonders what is going on, the H is her friend and she doesn't want him to be hurt. The h has no idear why the H is acting hurt around his friends, in her mind he wants her body and he is marrying her out of practicality.
She tells her boss they aren't in love and it isn't a big romance, but she doesn't say he needs a wife for his sister. The boss figures out they became lovers and she thinks the H offered to marry the h to recompense her for her virginity, she asks if the h is out for revenge - the h denies this but the boss doesn't really believe it. The h doesn't say anything more, but later on she figures out she is in love with the H and she also figures things are going to get bad, cause she hasn't told the H the full story.
The H and h go to one of his step-mother's parties later that night. The rejected OW is there and she is drunk and she makes a scene from which the H has to haul her out of the room. The OW also found the press cuttings from after the h's attack and she gives them to the H. The H is angry and accuses the h of being out for revenge-just like her boss told him, cause all wealthy men like him are all the same. There is a very forced seduction and the h is hurt that he thinks she isn't a fit person to be around his sister and gives him his ring back. Then she takes off for a friend's house to hide out.
(The whole story is that the step-father was the one who attacked her when she was almost 18. He and her mother had bullied her into acting for a year - supposedly to hold the theatrical family's reputation up - she did not want to do it, she didn't like acting but the step-father was a glory hound and wanted to capitalize on the family name.
The mum and the stepfather were pretty manipulative in getting the h on stage and the step-father used the play, ( an Elizabethan rape/fight drama) to terrorize the h. He finally cornered her in her dressing room one night and in the struggle a glass broke, he cut himself grabbing a shard to use on her but the h's mum walked in. The mum is the one who went to the press with the Lolita accusations and this went on for almost a year in the press, the h had literally disappeared.)
The h ran away to the surrogate dad, a famous painter, and he helped her find her current career and helped her change her name and hide from the mum. She never told anyone but the H the story, the surrogate dad helped her cause she was his best friend's child and her mum was a total loss in the parenting department. The h was really, really traumatized by the whole thing and has kept everyone at a distance, mostly because she wants to stay incognito, so she can't risk personal details being splashed around. Her step-father is the type to start to stalk her again.
The h is hiding out and trying to figure out where she can go and how she can get over loving the H when he tracks her down. She isn't pleased to see him, but he is very, very apologetic and he tells her he fell totally in love with her and she completely rejected him and he went nuts.
She acidly disagrees with him, she also points out all the things he said and he is abashed, cause he did say these things but she heard them differently than what he meant them. He does a pretty decent job of explaining himself, getting himself off the hook, and he also admits he doesn't have to marry for his sister's sake. He just couldn't think of any other way to tie the h to him.
He is pretty convincing in his persuasion and he firmly avows that he wants to marry the h. She is pretty harsh about his OW, but he explains that he never slept with or even dated the OW who outed the h. It was all in her drunken fantasy and the h feels bad for the woman. She finally admits she loves the H back and it is a pink sparkly HEA with the h being rather aggressive in her turn at seduction.
Overall this was a pretty good book. If you don't like unpc forced seduction, you might want to skip it. SW does a great job of keeping the tension on the boil and gradually revealing the h's backstory. She also does a fairly good besotted H and a totally blind h - though she gives plenty of room for the reader to doubt too. There is a lot of second guessing on this one, is the H really besotted or is he really sneaky and it was lots of fun trying to figure it out.
The h is enigmatic enough that we aren't sure how messed up she is until the very end, and by that time, she is almost completely recovered. SW also does a GREAT job of show instead of tell and the whole book is a very tightly paced and riveting read with a few surprises.
The h jumping into bed with the H so fast was one, but it was done so well that it seemed highly believable and it actually fit in with the character of the h, but she did not come across as neurotic or a damaged nympho - the h is almost as bewildered by her actions as everyone else - and it is great fun in getting to the understanding of why she acted as she did.
The HEA is believable too and the Big Misunderstanding trope was very effective to keep the plot humming. Definitely read this one if you like HPlandia crazy wrecky drama done with exceptional taste. You won't be disappointed and it makes this a book for the keeper shelf.
The h is a 28 yr old interior decorator. Make no mistake, this woman is an Alpha through and through - she isn't mean about it- she is very polite, but very reserved. Her colleagues and staff can't seem to understand her, she is very beautiful, (though she doesn't rate her looks that highly,) and very talented, (which she knows, as she won several awards and is a director of the design firm she works for,) but she has no social life, refuses to date her co-workers or clients and is never seen with any other man.
Amusingly, this causes a lot of resentment in her office. The one female secondary office worker with a speaking part is rather intrusive and nasty towards the h. The men are all in love and moping and the h doesn't care at all. She is courteous and in charge and interestingly, they don't challenge her much. Though her secretary would have been out of a job if she was working for me.
However, the snide remarks roll off the h's back like water and she is happily toodleing along with her nice flat and her comfortable life style. She just has these little twinges of restlessness every once in a while, but she is sure she will get over it.
Until her junior design assistant begs to be excused from going back to their most illustrious client to date to work on his house. The h's boss and owner of the firm is on vacation, so the h tries to find out what went wrong. It seems the young design assistant was subjected to some kind of assault by the client. She won't describe what happened, but the h is concerned enough to consider turning the job away.
The nasty secretary accuses the h of over reacting, claiming that the h is a man-hater and she should take over the job herself, (only in HPLandia is sexual harassment not only NOT taboo, but actively hoped for and encouraged by all manner of people.) All the while secretly thinking that an assault on the h would be good for her. (I kid you not, I would have fired this women the second time she opened her mouth and I wouldn't have been nice about it either.)
So the h goes to the H's home and meets with him. He has a list of changes he wants in the interiors and the h is very professional about it. This H is the charming rogue hiding a core of titanium type and it is mentioned that his father bankrupted the family firm, then died when the H was 18 or 19 and the H single-handedly saved it and became incredibly rich in the process.
Then the H asks the h out to dinner, it is obvious he is interested and he and the h have some polite verbal sparring going on the whole time. It is equally obvious that he expects a heated refusal and he is going to pull the "I-am-the-client-so-you-have-too" card.
The h throws him off when she agrees to go, (done with style too, so major h points here,) he has said he has limited time and she will accommodate him - he is paying for this after all. The H does some not-so-subtle probing to find out if there are any significant others in her life and she deflects him pretty easily. He also notes that the h seems to dislike him and she does - she just won't say why.
(The h really does dislike him, for two reasons. One is that he assaulted an employee - apparently this girl isn't very easily frightened and she is a bit of a flirt- but she was genuinely terrified in the h's estimation. The other reason is that this h has AN INCIDENT IN HER PAST, where she was attacked at 17 and there was tremendous press coverage about it - with the accusations being leveled at HER for being an underage Lolita putting the aggressive moves on a married man and then attacking him.
In reality, she was the one attacked, but it is very obvious she was traumatized. SW does a great job of providing very scarce background details and then showing how this affected the h via her actions and responses - the whole thing has made the h very distant, very wary and very controlled.)
So the H and h go to dinner, they actually have a nice time and then he takes her back to his borrowed flat to go over the changes he wants. Things are proceeding nicely, then the H kisses her and she gets a rush to the brain and goes to bed with the H. She sneaks out the next morning without seeing the H.
The H freaks out, he had been insinuating that she was some kind of seductive femme fatale, using men and then discretely discarding them. In actuality, she was a 28 yr old virgin. The H is all eager to be with her, but she tells him they are done. It was a one-time burst to the brain and she is not interested in anything else. The H takes his dismissal somewhat ungracefully, but he doesn't bother her again.
Instead he interrogates all her friends and gets her surrogate father, (her own dad was a theatrical legend and has been dead since she was a small child and the H thought the SF at first was really her lover, but now he is puzzled by the relationship,) to invite him and the h to a cocktail party so the H can corner the h.
The H threatens a full scale security investigation if the h doesn't go with him and tell him about her past, so she reluctantly goes. She gives a bare bones description of the attack at 17 and then the H tells her she is going to marry him. He needs a wife so that his half sister can live with them, apparently her antics are driving his stepmother mad but she wants the H to be married before the step-sis can be under his roof.
She is having none of that, so he seduces her and gets the h to say h yes by tormenting her at a sensitive moment, (We can all guess when that was, but it was tastefully done.) Then he takes off for business in Europe without saying goodbye to the h the next morning, he does thoughtfully have the engagement notice printed in all the papers.
The h is deeply shocked and worried. Everything this man does is exactly how her hated stepfather acted and she is not willing to go there again. Then she meets the step-sister, who came to be the h's moral support when she overheard the woman she thinks is the H's current lover -not the h- telling everybody the engagement is a farce.
The h likes the sister, and she doesn't care about the gossip columns, but the H's OW concerns her. This man is starting to look more like her stepfather every day. She keeps her cool however, deals with the press, avoids getting photographed and throws herself into her work.
Then the H comes back a day early, the h has actually been missing him a bit and can't seem to keep her hands off of him. The H tells her that was why he left like he did and did not call, when she berates him for dumping her and throwing her to the wolves of the press.
They are in a compromising position when the doorbell rings, the H discretely removes himself to the bedroom and the h opens the door to the OW. The OW then proceeds to make nasty and cutting remarks that are only cut short when the H comes out of the bedroom in a state of undress.
There is a sad moment when the OW is pleading with the H and the h is appalled at how callously the H dismisses her. She wonders when the H will dismiss her like that and it isn't a comforting thought. The H realizes that she is not in the mood and leaves.
Things get rather distant between them and her boss takes her to task for it. The h is working a lot and the boss wonders what is going on, the H is her friend and she doesn't want him to be hurt. The h has no idear why the H is acting hurt around his friends, in her mind he wants her body and he is marrying her out of practicality.
She tells her boss they aren't in love and it isn't a big romance, but she doesn't say he needs a wife for his sister. The boss figures out they became lovers and she thinks the H offered to marry the h to recompense her for her virginity, she asks if the h is out for revenge - the h denies this but the boss doesn't really believe it. The h doesn't say anything more, but later on she figures out she is in love with the H and she also figures things are going to get bad, cause she hasn't told the H the full story.
The H and h go to one of his step-mother's parties later that night. The rejected OW is there and she is drunk and she makes a scene from which the H has to haul her out of the room. The OW also found the press cuttings from after the h's attack and she gives them to the H. The H is angry and accuses the h of being out for revenge-just like her boss told him, cause all wealthy men like him are all the same. There is a very forced seduction and the h is hurt that he thinks she isn't a fit person to be around his sister and gives him his ring back. Then she takes off for a friend's house to hide out.
(The whole story is that the step-father was the one who attacked her when she was almost 18. He and her mother had bullied her into acting for a year - supposedly to hold the theatrical family's reputation up - she did not want to do it, she didn't like acting but the step-father was a glory hound and wanted to capitalize on the family name.
The mum and the stepfather were pretty manipulative in getting the h on stage and the step-father used the play, ( an Elizabethan rape/fight drama) to terrorize the h. He finally cornered her in her dressing room one night and in the struggle a glass broke, he cut himself grabbing a shard to use on her but the h's mum walked in. The mum is the one who went to the press with the Lolita accusations and this went on for almost a year in the press, the h had literally disappeared.)
The h ran away to the surrogate dad, a famous painter, and he helped her find her current career and helped her change her name and hide from the mum. She never told anyone but the H the story, the surrogate dad helped her cause she was his best friend's child and her mum was a total loss in the parenting department. The h was really, really traumatized by the whole thing and has kept everyone at a distance, mostly because she wants to stay incognito, so she can't risk personal details being splashed around. Her step-father is the type to start to stalk her again.
The h is hiding out and trying to figure out where she can go and how she can get over loving the H when he tracks her down. She isn't pleased to see him, but he is very, very apologetic and he tells her he fell totally in love with her and she completely rejected him and he went nuts.
She acidly disagrees with him, she also points out all the things he said and he is abashed, cause he did say these things but she heard them differently than what he meant them. He does a pretty decent job of explaining himself, getting himself off the hook, and he also admits he doesn't have to marry for his sister's sake. He just couldn't think of any other way to tie the h to him.
He is pretty convincing in his persuasion and he firmly avows that he wants to marry the h. She is pretty harsh about his OW, but he explains that he never slept with or even dated the OW who outed the h. It was all in her drunken fantasy and the h feels bad for the woman. She finally admits she loves the H back and it is a pink sparkly HEA with the h being rather aggressive in her turn at seduction.
Overall this was a pretty good book. If you don't like unpc forced seduction, you might want to skip it. SW does a great job of keeping the tension on the boil and gradually revealing the h's backstory. She also does a fairly good besotted H and a totally blind h - though she gives plenty of room for the reader to doubt too. There is a lot of second guessing on this one, is the H really besotted or is he really sneaky and it was lots of fun trying to figure it out.
The h is enigmatic enough that we aren't sure how messed up she is until the very end, and by that time, she is almost completely recovered. SW also does a GREAT job of show instead of tell and the whole book is a very tightly paced and riveting read with a few surprises.
The h jumping into bed with the H so fast was one, but it was done so well that it seemed highly believable and it actually fit in with the character of the h, but she did not come across as neurotic or a damaged nympho - the h is almost as bewildered by her actions as everyone else - and it is great fun in getting to the understanding of why she acted as she did.
The HEA is believable too and the Big Misunderstanding trope was very effective to keep the plot humming. Definitely read this one if you like HPlandia crazy wrecky drama done with exceptional taste. You won't be disappointed and it makes this a book for the keeper shelf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2016
This was an intense story with a prickly career gal heroine and an obsessed tycoon hero. The heroine has an interesting backstory which explains her distrust of men. The hero has a complicated family, lots of business deals, a spiteful wannabe OW, and the paparazzi to make his courtship of the heroine all that more difficult.
There are lots of vintage tropes the author turns upside down:
If you like obsessed heroes, you'll like this one. His grovel/declaration at the end is lovely. Warning - there are discussions about sexual assault that are cringey - and the H/h have different ideas about consent than what's out there nowadays. Nevertheless, the heroine is positive that she has no regrets about any of her or the hero's actions - just the misunderstandings.
There are lots of vintage tropes the author turns upside down:
If you like obsessed heroes, you'll like this one. His grovel/declaration at the end is lovely. Warning - there are discussions about sexual assault that are cringey - and the H/h have different ideas about consent than what's out there nowadays. Nevertheless, the heroine is positive that she has no regrets about any of her or the hero's actions - just the misunderstandings.
July 7, 2019
This was a hot mess for me. Nothing made sense. Why someone who has been traumatized and lived in perpetual fear of sex and resentment towards men for ten long years would just fall into a one night stand with a man she doesn't know or particularly like. Why an independent, savvy, smart woman would let herself be bamboozled into an engagement/marriage of convenience. How she could just open up after ten years of silence and reveal her traumatic past all in one breath to a man she virtually knows nothing about and has not shown himself to be trustworthy. And I didn't understand the point the author was hammering me over the head with that the pushy, rapey hero of the piece was any different from the pushy, rapey stepfather who traumatized the heroine. I mean, he liked to punish women, whether it's the heroine or her young co-worker, by "making love to them" ? WTF? I am sure this story will appeal to many but I, for, one, am left scratching my head.
2 points cause the OW was humiliated TWICE and I thought it was funny that the hero's teenaged niece was an 80s era punk, at least fashion-wise. That ought to have been developed more, she was an endearing character :)
2 points cause the OW was humiliated TWICE and I thought it was funny that the hero's teenaged niece was an 80s era punk, at least fashion-wise. That ought to have been developed more, she was an endearing character :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
January 28, 2018“She rejected him and he went nuts so he raped her” is as romantic as hero having a blowjob from sharks.
This toxic entitlement makes me want to really throttle the authors to begin with!
This toxic entitlement makes me want to really throttle the authors to begin with!
May 18, 2020
Robin Dale didn't trust worldly, successful men, but she had taught herself to beat them at their own game; her successful interior decorating business was proof of that. She didn't trust Guy Gerrard either, but she decorated his house for him and then — quite without warning — found herself wanting him. It was only when he proposed that she should marry him and make a stable home for his rebellious young sister that Robin began to realise that desire might not be enough to make their marriage work!
March 22, 2020
It was okay.
There were just some things that bothered me too much so i couldn’tate it higher.
The H is a client of the heroine, an interior designer. The book opens when a young associate threatens to quit because of the Hero, implying that he made a hard pass at her. The heroine is upset so this colors her impression of him.
Later the Hero does admit to her that he got annoyed at the crush that the young associate had on him so he sexually harassed her until she got frightened! What!!! Why not tell her off! Or reprimand her?!
Anyway the heroine dislikes the “kind of man” he is. Apparently he is like her step father who constantly sexually harassed her and almost raped her. The heroine is so traumatized by this that doesnt date at all and dedicates herself to her career. However, this dedicated virgin, manages to fall into bed w the Hero the first night they have dinner together, disguised as a meeting!! 🙄
After which it just became silly. The Hero apparently falls in love w her at first sight but does nothing at all to woo her properly. As is usual.
After much misunderstanding is cleared up they finally do get their HEA.
Scum bag step father never gets any comeuppance.
There were just some things that bothered me too much so i couldn’tate it higher.
The H is a client of the heroine, an interior designer. The book opens when a young associate threatens to quit because of the Hero, implying that he made a hard pass at her. The heroine is upset so this colors her impression of him.
Later the Hero does admit to her that he got annoyed at the crush that the young associate had on him so he sexually harassed her until she got frightened! What!!! Why not tell her off! Or reprimand her?!
Anyway the heroine dislikes the “kind of man” he is. Apparently he is like her step father who constantly sexually harassed her and almost raped her. The heroine is so traumatized by this that doesnt date at all and dedicates herself to her career. However, this dedicated virgin, manages to fall into bed w the Hero the first night they have dinner together, disguised as a meeting!! 🙄
After which it just became silly. The Hero apparently falls in love w her at first sight but does nothing at all to woo her properly. As is usual.
After much misunderstanding is cleared up they finally do get their HEA.
Scum bag step father never gets any comeuppance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2021
3.5 stars
October 30, 2024
Storyline was great. Very much liked the descriptions/ layout of evoking imagery to the reader. It’s one of my favorites. Will read again!
August 9, 2014
I quite enjoy Sophie Weston's intense romances, and this is one I enjoyed when I was much younger, and enjoyed rereading now.
It's got some bits that I'm not terribly fond of, but which are fairly standard for HPs - the heroine being a virgin, the hero being a jerk over a Big Misunderstanding - but other elements save it for me.
Basically, I kind of love the trope where the heroine is prickly and emotionally unavailable, and the hero is desperately trying every scheme to get her to commit. That's what this book has in spades. 3.5 stars
It's got some bits that I'm not terribly fond of, but which are fairly standard for HPs - the heroine being a virgin, the hero being a jerk over a Big Misunderstanding - but other elements save it for me.
Basically, I kind of love the trope where the heroine is prickly and emotionally unavailable, and the hero is desperately trying every scheme to get her to commit. That's what this book has in spades. 3.5 stars
July 10, 2024
Refreshingly different, no too-gorgeous bazillionaires, although H is both rich and good looking. The h has been standoffish to all, especially to men, hiding from her creepy stepfather who intended to rape her. The H has some of stepdad's qualities but h falls for him right away although H doesn't quite realize it or believe his luck.
April 15, 2015
A lovely read. not very standout but quite good in its way.
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