Sarah's dad hadn't seen his only grandson in ten years--hadn't been allowed to. So now that the boy had defied his own father and come to them, Sarah vowed to do everything she could to make their reunion happy and long lasting.
Even if it meant having to face Garrett Kingham again, and that tangle of emotions surrounding his destructive marriage to her late sister. Love, hate and loyalty, were all mixed up in one.
Sarah wanted to run. But she couldn't let anyone else in her family be denied love because of Garrett--or her fear of facing him.
I have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
Re Tangled Hearts - more like Tangled Mess actually. I am not sure what CM was doing here, but the H and h bounced between "I want you desperately" and "I have to leave you" so fast and so often I almost got whiplash. Which doesn't mean the book isn't readable, it is very engrossing - we're all going to hop on the HPlandia crazy express for this one tho, so buckle up HP voyagers.
The book starts with a 15 yr old young man seeing the 26yr old divorced h on the beach, and just like that famous little bird, he asks the ultimate question of questing kids everywhere Are You My Mother?? The h immediately realizes that this is the son of her late sister, who died in a car accident ten years earlier, and joyfully greets the young man as her long lost nephew and her father's grandson. It seems the boy's father took him back to America right after his mother died and hasn't allowed a visit since.
The h, nevvie and grandfather are happily reunioning, when the h asks if the nevvie's father (a famous American film director,) knows where the nevvie is. Since the h is an art teacher, she knows very well that sometimes kids do things and since there is a big air of co-conspiracy between her dad and her nephew, she is betting that the nephew just took off with no note or a message.
This proves to be the case, and the h is a responsible person, so she calls the hotel where the nevvie was staying to leave a message. She gets a surly, angry man who isn't the nevvie's dad and tells him her name and that if the H wants his son, he needs to get his hiney down to their house. Then she hangs up on the guy and the merry reunion continues.
The H shows up a few hours later, when everyone but the h is in bed. There is some arguing and some passionate kissing - which the h mentally rejects but physically can't get enough of. It seems the h and H have had a mutually antagonistic relationship ever since she met the H at ten years old and he bought her the wrong kind of ice cream. (He got vanilla and she wanted chocolate and then she made the H's next few hours miserable - but I don't really blame her for that, I tend to get cranky when I don't get chocolate either.) It seems that the h also blames the H in part for her sister's death.
He did not cause the accident that killed her, but the sister went to Hollywood at 18 to be an actress, got preggers and married the H a few months later and then brought the H home to meet the family and announced they would be having a baby in six months. Some time later, after the h's mum had died, the sister returned home with her child and announced she was divorcing the H. Then she died the next day and the H came and took his son away and left the h and her father very sad. There were no visits, and why isn't really explained, but the h and her dad sent gifts and letters regularly.
(The time line on this is definitely suffering from the HPlandia wormhole effect. CM says the h is 26 and was eight years younger than her sister. Then she says the mum died 12 years earlier and the sister died 10 years ago and the h attacked the H at 16 after the funeral when he was taking his the nephew away. But the ice cream thing happened when the h was 10 and then a few years later the sister was gone, so the h was 13 but jumped through a wormhole and magically turned 16 during the funeral - I gave up on the timeline and just went with it. Technically the H married the sister when he was 22 so theoretically the h is now 26 and the H is 38 for the story, just in case anyone was wondering.)
Anyhows, the h and H are interrupted in the passionate kissing when the h's dad comes downstairs and the H takes off with a promise to return on the morrow. The H comes back the next day and they all take a ride on the family boat. The h and her dad live on the East coast of England by the sea. The H tries to seduce the h into more kissing and stuff but the h backs off - she got married at twenty and then divorced, but she is still a virgin cause she thought she was frigid as she couldn't respond to her husband.
The h does want the H badly, but he was her sister's hubby and supposedly made her sister very unhappy. (The h did not really know her sister that well, she was older and glamorous and the h tended to idolize her as the perfect big sister for a bit.) The H is frustrated and the h is worried and a bit ashamed of herself, but the H agrees that the nevvie can visit with the grandfather for a bit.
The H goes off, the visit goes as planned and on the third day the h notices a guy watching them on the beach. She has seen him around several times and she goes to check him out. The watching guy turns out to be the nevvie's bodyguard and the rude man she left the message for the H with - it was originally thought that the nevvie had been kidnapped instead of on walkabout, so the guy was hostile because he thought the h was a kidnapper.
The H returns while the h is confronting the bodyguard and he carries her off for more kissing, the h rejects him again and the H decides they are all going to California with him, he wants his shot at the h. It is pretty obvious he is wild for the h, but of course she can't see that and thinks the H is trying to punish her for challenging him about the nevvie visit or even worse, the H is trying to use her as a substitute for her sister - everyone seems to think they look a lot alike.
So it is off to Malibu we go, and there we meet the rest of the H's family. The H's dad is a US Senator, his brother is one too and the brother's wife is there - she and the H had thing at one time as well. They were dating and then the H's brother met her and stole her from the H.
The H and h have more passionate kissing, there are linen closet shenanigans, the H's father hates her, the brother keeps trying to touch her and the brother's wife is in a wheelchair but seems to like her. The H decides they need to marry and the h refuses cause she has determined that she has always been in love with the H, but she feels guilty for stealing her sister's hubby - even though the sister is dead and the h and H haven't seen each other for years until eleven days earlier.
There is dramatics with the H storming off and the brother's wife explains about her and the H's prior relationship. Then the big bombshells drop. The nevvie isn't the H's son, he is the brother's son. The brother and the h's sister had a big time affair and the sister taunted the wife about her affair prior to her leaving the H.
The sister married the H cause the brother wouldn't leave his wife, and she was jealous and wanted to be the center of attention. The sister threatened a termination if the H did not marry her and the H was still mad that the brother stole his girl and then had an affair on top of it. He married the sister but never slept with her, the sister left the H because he wouldn't let her be an actress and she wanted a physical relationship with the H but he kept refusing for however long they were married - either a few years or six years, the wormholes were shifting to much to figure it out. The H's brother kept wanting to touch the h because she looked like her sister, tho she did not act like her, and he was still fascinated by the sister -even tho he supposedly loves his wife. The wife loves the brother, but seems to be okay with his obsession.
The H and h finally lurve it up, after the h explains her untouched status and circumstances and the nevvie is good with the H still being his dad even tho the brother is his bio donor. The h's dad is happy that everyone is settled and he can hang with his grandkid. The H and h marry and the epilogue is that the h gets preggers, the H misses the birth because he had to travel and she was three weeks early and the big surprise is that the H and h have triplet girls for the HEA.
This one was pretty lively and at least the h and H don't have to deal with being the sister's sloppy seconds - tho there is the question of the brother having the H's sloppy seconds - CM did not answer that and I was pretty relieved. The plot convolutions were entertaining and so we can call this a win for the HPlandia crazy express cause the HEA was pretty sweet when the ride was over and everyone seems to be with the person they wanted.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3.5 🌟 I already have known some spoilers, so I think that made my reading less "attractive". However, these oldies by Carole Mortimer have crazy tropes, this one made laugh a lot 😌 what a combination of characters! *The villain old sister *The open minded father *A pair of politicians *An art teacher *A film director 🤔 How fast the main characters' feelings grew, wow! I little bit forced, in my opinion. I gave it 3 stars at first, but
P.S.: Something that came to my mind everytime the hero's phisical description was mentioned 👀
"Tangled Hearts" is the story of Sarah and Garrett.
Wow, the title is an understatement of what this was..but I loved it!
Let's start to summarize. The H was married to the h's sister, who died ten years ago, and they have a son who the H kept with him while he went on to work in Hollywood. The h and her father yearned to have a face to face connection, but were only allowed annual letters to their nephew/grandson. The H's dad is a disapproving ahole, his brother is a successful senator. His SIL is his ex girlfriend, and his wife could have been his brother's ex too. Now the H is pursuing the h and she has inhibitions, because she was unhappily married for 6 months and has a secret..Phew.
Anyways, this leads us to a passionate and angsty read in which a couple who is obviously in love with each other works through the mess their relationship is in due to various factors. There is enough drama to keep you engaged, yet I could not help but root for the MC. Even if you feel icky due to some factors, read for some *predictable* revelations because this was a soap opera.
This was a great read. I really loved this book. Garrett pursued Sarah throughout this book. Sarah stubbornly held out all due to Garrett's marriage to her older sister. It got annoying at times but not enough to take away from the over all enjoyment of the story. There were some cute scenes and good quotes in this one.
Although a bit predictable in the true state of Garrett's marriage to her sister, it didn't make me like the book any less.
The ending was awesome! Just the way I like books to end. It was a bit OTT but still made me smile. I forgot how good these old Carole Mortimer books are. Even though this one was a first time read for me, I've read many of her old books and recall enjoying them. This one was no exception.
I don't have anything grand to say about this reading experience. It was pretty good. I liked Garrett a lot. He was actually a very kind, decent man. Sarah was a good person as well. She did a lot of harsh judging of Garrett based on the limited understanding she had of his marriage to her sister. She judged him wrongly, as it turns out, and didn't see her sister realistically. Her young age was actually a factor in that. I'm glad that she did realize the truth in time to give her the chance at love with Garrett. Yeah, I know it's sort of icky on the surface that her sister was married to Garrett, but reading this book takes that sting away. It's one of those books where you have to go with the flow and things will turn out right in the end.
What I thought about specific aspects of the story:
Points for the cute ending!
This one was a 3.5 star read.
A good vintage HP for readers who like a more betaish hero.
What a great story! It sucks that he missed the birth at the end but I like the fact that it has the opening for more to come. So sweet I have no problems believe her explanations at the end of story about her sister I guessed the big reveal early on. And it was awesome second best Carole Mortimer book to me the first being No longer a dream. I loved the pool scene and the closet scene too.
I do love a good Carole Mortimer book. There is a lot of passion involved in this story. Our heroine needs to accept that her beloved dead sister wasn't as wonderful as she thought so that she can claim her love and HEA.
I think i understand why Carole named this book with it`s title "Tangled Hearts"...the hearts were truly tangled through lots of secrets,dramas and sensual passion.
Sarah Crone is a divorsed young woman who gets to meet her nephew Jason again after ten years...and all the while also meeting Jason´s handsome father,the powerful film-director Garret Kingham,who is the one and only man she have ever truly loved.
Garret Kingham is one of my favourite heroes of Carole.He was so honest,so strong and he really did try to win Sarah´s heart.When i got to know the truth about his son i nearly broke down.He had sacrificed so much and i knew he wouldn`t let Sarah go.
I knew why Sarah fell for him,and they both truly have a remarkable sexy chemistry.I truly later on disliked Garetts brother Jonathan,he were weak and a cheating jerk,after cheating on Shelley he still insisted he "loves" her.Gosh,why didn`t Shelley leave him!!!!???
I truly love Garret`s son,Jason Kingham.He was so much like his father and i loved how protective he is of Sarah,and the ending was so utterly adorable,and i smiled like a fool til the end.
I don't know when these two fell in love; when she was 10, thats the only significant time they were in each others proximity, or the one time after her sisters death!?! When they meet in the present it's instant love(I've loved you for ever...I should not complain about credibility). I really hate when the heroine looks exactly like the ex/dead wife or girlfriend. Write the darn book with ex or dead person as the hero/ine then!
Oh and the lengths these authors have to go through to keep the heroines virgins; she could of gone thru 3 husbands but still mangaged to keep her hymen intact, in this case it's just one, poor fictional ex-husband!
A story with Garrett and Sarah. Garrett married Sarah's sister, but she died a long time ago. Now he has his eyes on Sarah. I liked the two main characters. Not my favourite Carole Mortimer, although it was published in 1987. 3☆
Im wavering between a 2.75 and 3 stars. I was leery to read a book where the H s invoked with the h's sister and it just felt so icky that I had no choice but to read some spoiler reviews of that was true. I read just enough to comfort that it may not be as bad as it seems but the story line still seemed tainted to me. So much so that sadly I didn't really get that much pleasure of of the book and their HEA and the fact that they had an epilogue (!) the epilogue seemed a bit ridiculous too. I like that the H was such an upstanding fellow but I something about the whole thing just felt lacking to me.
الصدمه الاولى..اماندا مع جوناثان؟؟؟؟ يعني جيمسون مو ولد غاريث!!!!! صدمههههه الحقير جوناثان طلع يخون شيلي!!!!! اماندا حقيره ولله طلعت أنانيه و جشعه!!! رحمت غاريث و شيلي ، ايش الغباء ذا ساره؟ اكيد ان جوناثان ابو جيمسون اكيد!!! بما ان اختك اساسا تنام معه! غبيه، تكفون ضحكت على رد فعله لما جابت ساره ثلاث بنات😭😭"لا اظن ان هناك مره قادمه" خلاص معد بيجيب ورعان😭😭 كيوت يحاول يتأكد انه هي اول بخير بعيدن بناته🥹 ولا وعد ساره لنفسها انها السنه الجايه تجيب ثلاث عيال😭
الكتاب حول صح تعبت من الترجمه حقته تصدع بس ستل حلو و فرفوش و حبيت محاولة غايث عشان ساره وانه ما استسلم ابد و صداع شوي في حفظ اسماء الشخصيات و اعمراهم فانا تقعدت وانا قاعده احسب الفرق بين عمر غايث و ساره المهم الكتاب حلو يستحق ثلاث تجوم👍👍
Garrette was unhappily married to Sarah’s sister. He has been widowed for some time and hasn’t let his son know his wife’s family. Sarah has been in love with him and feels very disloyal to her sister’s memory. She fights her feelings and him. But love prevails. The previous marriage twists were awesome.
Another bat crap, one! And triplets???? COME ON!!!! That could have been cute, but in this case, it just seemed too forced, like putting hearts over the letter "i".
I've read one too many CM book where the situations are too over-the-top. While I realize HP is part of La La Land, I'd like a little less "La", thank you very much!
Heroine falls for her sister's husband, ten years after her sister's death. Hero falls for her as well.
How does an author turn this squicky premise in a sweet and interesting romance? Not telling. Boogenhagen has all the details if you want to be spoiled.
I don't usually like keeping-it-in-the-family scenarios, but CM really pulled it off.
I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down it was corny and a unusual plot and somewhat easy to figure out but it was well written and it had a quick but an unexpecting ending. I highly recommend this story.
At first I didn’t like that the H is the husband of her late sister.
But when the love story of the h and H begins, the H and h hadn’t seen each other for 10 years and the H has never slept with her sister. That made it less yucky (at least for me), so I could get over it.
Carole Mortimer is an excellent writer. The way she describes how happy the H is when he sees the h. It just made me feel all warm and fuzzy. 🥰
In my opinion this is one of the best HP books that I have ever read. And I’ve been reading HP’s since almost 40 years. This is what romance is all about imo.