What do you think?
Rate this book
Barrera Infranqueable
¡Los dos ocultaban algo!
Sara Bertell, famosa cantante de música moderna, había estado a punto de sufrir un ataque de nervios. Y bajo el nombre de Sara Carmichael, re recluyo en una aislada cabaña en las playas del lago Michigan para analizar su vida.
Cuando conoció a Greg Pierson, Sara temió que la reconociera. Pero Greg se mostraba aún más temeroso que Sara del mundo exterior. Ella comprendía su extraña actitud y, a pesar de ello, ignoro la barrera que Greg había levantado entre los dos.
Sara Bertell, famosa cantante de música moderna, había estado a punto de sufrir un ataque de nervios. Y bajo el nombre de Sara Carmichael, re recluyo en una aislada cabaña en las playas del lago Michigan para analizar su vida.
Cuando conoció a Greg Pierson, Sara temió que la reconociera. Pero Greg se mostraba aún más temeroso que Sara del mundo exterior. Ella comprendía su extraña actitud y, a pesar de ello, ignoro la barrera que Greg había levantado entre los dos.
126 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1984
4 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Carpenter
37 books44 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) resides in northern California. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.
She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child. Her graduate degrees are in Philanthropic Studies and Library Information Science, but her first love has always been writing fiction. She's back with her paranormal Elder Races series under the pseudonym Thea Harrison.
Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) resides in northern California. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.
She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child. Her graduate degrees are in Philanthropic Studies and Library Information Science, but her first love has always been writing fiction. She's back with her paranormal Elder Races series under the pseudonym Thea Harrison.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 14, 2025
If you like your heroines neurotic, OCD, delusional, narcissistic, and probably on the verge of a psychotic breakdown, Amanda Carpenter's alleged romance, The Wall is going to be your cuppa.
Our story begins as our disillusioned, secret-virgin, international singing superstar, takes refuge in a cabin by the lake because she just can't deal anymore with the demands of her career: the nights filled with boring, mandatory celebrity parties, the long recording sessions into the wee hours, the constant traveling and touring, the crazed fans, the media attention etc.
The breaking point comes when her unscrupulous manager tries to coax her into doing speed so she can stay up to finish her fourth (!) album of the year. She has finally had enough and decides to get the hell out of dodge, lose herself in a quiet corner, and reevaluate her life.
Well, after one whole week of solitude, she decides to trespass on her neighbour's property, as all reclusive stars in need of privacy and anonymity would do, and basically impose herself on him, even though it is quite clear he is perfectly content to live his hermit life, alone in his lakeside house, with his adorable Doberman Pinscher Beowulf.
Just like Superman was able to disguise himself as Clark Kent simply by donning a pair of glasses onto his chiselled, square-jawed face, this chick thinks she can pass herself off as the girl next door by opting out of her "glamorous" makeup and go au naturel and dress in casual clothes instead of her stage costumes.
As reluctant as the hero is to get sucked into her vortex of doom, she leaves him no choice when she shows up on his doorstep in the middle of the night with a story of a break-in that I am convinced has absolutely no basis in reality and was just the result of her warped mind.
Anyhoo, the neighbour resigns himself that there is no escape and invites the lunatic to move into his house temporarily until the police has investigated the phantom menace that disturbed her sleep in her own cottage. He is so nice too. Bandaging her feet, waiting on her hand and foot, and of course giving her swoonworthy kisses.
The first item on heroine's agenda is to reorganize the hero's entire house from his bookshelves to his kitchen cupboards WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION !!! She can't stand items that are not in alphabetic order. Total Houseguest Fail.
h is obsessed with penetrating the fortress that H has built around his heart. She wants to pierce through and find out all his deep, dark secrets. So she pulls out all the stops, vamping it up in one of her glam outfits (so much for anonymity), making him a romantic dinner, basically orchestrating a whole seduction. H succumbs and the two of them have an amazing night of passion....
...until h wakes up and decides she needs distance NOW and promptly flies back to Hell-ay and her slimy manager. She stays there long enough to sign a new contract for a TV special that is supposedly going to catapult her to even more fame and fortune. So much for reevaluating and purifying her life.
The H is devastated. He thinks she has used him as a ONS.
But h does return to H, and pretty much falls at his feet not because she wants to avow her undying love but because she caught the flu on her trip.
He nurses her patiently through fever, chills, hallucinations, and delusions for three days of sheer hell, with h alternatively confusing him for her long dead dad, her skeevy manager, or her imaginary stalker.
When she recovers, instead of gratitude and appreciation, she snaps, yells, and insults the H at every turn, for absolutely no reason other than she is a basic bitch. Poor H!
Anyhow, after h gets better, H tells her he actually knows her SEEKRET IDENTITY because DUH, and he has fallen in love with her but he can't abide the public life she leads because he has a Deep, Dark, Seekret of his own that has forced him into a hermit life and he shudders to get back to the limelight.
He confesses that he had previously been married to a batshit crayzee, adulterous, unbalanced woman who committed suicide solely to set him up for her murder.
Accused of murdering his wife, he was vilified in the press, lost his job and "friends", was hounded mercilessly by his father-in-law, and came this close to ending up in the electric chair for a crime he was innocent of, but he was miraculously able to prove his innocence or at least that the circumstantial evidence did not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
His disillusionment and pain at the evil of people who condemned him without mercy has led him to this remote, frugal life and he has been guarding his privacy fiercely ever since, until the heroine barreled into his life and forced him to open his heart up again.
Do you think the heroine takes a minute to feel any compassion for this knight in shining armor who has saved her hiny several times, who has exposed his vulnerable side to her, and who confessed his love for her? Do you think she has any empathy for his doubts and uncertainty about whether he can survive being placed under the public microscope for a second time?
If you think yes, you need to go back to the HPlandia Manual, especially the chapter entitled "Irrational and selfish, and proud of it" which is usually the domain of the male protagonists but in this case, fits our heroine to a tee.
Not only does she scream at him some more for his monstrous selfishness in asking her to pick him over her superstardom lifestyle, a lifestyle, mind you, that had driven her to extreme exhaustion and depression and that she was supposedly trying to escape, but she leaves him right away to fly back to L.A.
She is on the airport escalator when the desperate hero, elbowing his way through the crowds, screams his love for her and begs her to stay.
Her reaction? She can't reciprocate because she needs HIM to make the first move. OMG!!! I was so glad this was the last page because I was about to tear my hair out at this point.
After some more groveling by the hero, heroine finally deigns to retrace her steps and accept the hero's undying love. The book ends with her stepping onto the stage for another glam concert while the hero gazes adoringly at her from the audience.
Poor Beowulf is nowhere to be seen and probably locked in a damp dog kennel somewhere :(
Poor, poor, hero. Though I suppose, if you are sick of all the abuse heaped onto HPlandia heroines by unrepentant, arrogant and easily forgiven asshole heroes, this might just strike you as sweet revenge. I, for one, felt too sorry for the hero and the dog to relish in any karmic retribution :(
Our story begins as our disillusioned, secret-virgin, international singing superstar, takes refuge in a cabin by the lake because she just can't deal anymore with the demands of her career: the nights filled with boring, mandatory celebrity parties, the long recording sessions into the wee hours, the constant traveling and touring, the crazed fans, the media attention etc.
The breaking point comes when her unscrupulous manager tries to coax her into doing speed so she can stay up to finish her fourth (!) album of the year. She has finally had enough and decides to get the hell out of dodge, lose herself in a quiet corner, and reevaluate her life.
Well, after one whole week of solitude, she decides to trespass on her neighbour's property, as all reclusive stars in need of privacy and anonymity would do, and basically impose herself on him, even though it is quite clear he is perfectly content to live his hermit life, alone in his lakeside house, with his adorable Doberman Pinscher Beowulf.
Just like Superman was able to disguise himself as Clark Kent simply by donning a pair of glasses onto his chiselled, square-jawed face, this chick thinks she can pass herself off as the girl next door by opting out of her "glamorous" makeup and go au naturel and dress in casual clothes instead of her stage costumes.
As reluctant as the hero is to get sucked into her vortex of doom, she leaves him no choice when she shows up on his doorstep in the middle of the night with a story of a break-in that I am convinced has absolutely no basis in reality and was just the result of her warped mind.
Anyhoo, the neighbour resigns himself that there is no escape and invites the lunatic to move into his house temporarily until the police has investigated the phantom menace that disturbed her sleep in her own cottage. He is so nice too. Bandaging her feet, waiting on her hand and foot, and of course giving her swoonworthy kisses.
The first item on heroine's agenda is to reorganize the hero's entire house from his bookshelves to his kitchen cupboards WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION !!! She can't stand items that are not in alphabetic order. Total Houseguest Fail.
h is obsessed with penetrating the fortress that H has built around his heart. She wants to pierce through and find out all his deep, dark secrets. So she pulls out all the stops, vamping it up in one of her glam outfits (so much for anonymity), making him a romantic dinner, basically orchestrating a whole seduction. H succumbs and the two of them have an amazing night of passion....
...until h wakes up and decides she needs distance NOW and promptly flies back to Hell-ay and her slimy manager. She stays there long enough to sign a new contract for a TV special that is supposedly going to catapult her to even more fame and fortune. So much for reevaluating and purifying her life.
The H is devastated. He thinks she has used him as a ONS.
But h does return to H, and pretty much falls at his feet not because she wants to avow her undying love but because she caught the flu on her trip.
He nurses her patiently through fever, chills, hallucinations, and delusions for three days of sheer hell, with h alternatively confusing him for her long dead dad, her skeevy manager, or her imaginary stalker.
When she recovers, instead of gratitude and appreciation, she snaps, yells, and insults the H at every turn, for absolutely no reason other than she is a basic bitch. Poor H!
Anyhow, after h gets better, H tells her he actually knows her SEEKRET IDENTITY because DUH, and he has fallen in love with her but he can't abide the public life she leads because he has a Deep, Dark, Seekret of his own that has forced him into a hermit life and he shudders to get back to the limelight.
He confesses that he had previously been married to a batshit crayzee, adulterous, unbalanced woman who committed suicide solely to set him up for her murder.
Accused of murdering his wife, he was vilified in the press, lost his job and "friends", was hounded mercilessly by his father-in-law, and came this close to ending up in the electric chair for a crime he was innocent of, but he was miraculously able to prove his innocence or at least that the circumstantial evidence did not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
His disillusionment and pain at the evil of people who condemned him without mercy has led him to this remote, frugal life and he has been guarding his privacy fiercely ever since, until the heroine barreled into his life and forced him to open his heart up again.
Do you think the heroine takes a minute to feel any compassion for this knight in shining armor who has saved her hiny several times, who has exposed his vulnerable side to her, and who confessed his love for her? Do you think she has any empathy for his doubts and uncertainty about whether he can survive being placed under the public microscope for a second time?
If you think yes, you need to go back to the HPlandia Manual, especially the chapter entitled "Irrational and selfish, and proud of it" which is usually the domain of the male protagonists but in this case, fits our heroine to a tee.
Not only does she scream at him some more for his monstrous selfishness in asking her to pick him over her superstardom lifestyle, a lifestyle, mind you, that had driven her to extreme exhaustion and depression and that she was supposedly trying to escape, but she leaves him right away to fly back to L.A.
She is on the airport escalator when the desperate hero, elbowing his way through the crowds, screams his love for her and begs her to stay.
Her reaction? She can't reciprocate because she needs HIM to make the first move. OMG!!! I was so glad this was the last page because I was about to tear my hair out at this point.
After some more groveling by the hero, heroine finally deigns to retrace her steps and accept the hero's undying love. The book ends with her stepping onto the stage for another glam concert while the hero gazes adoringly at her from the audience.
Poor Beowulf is nowhere to be seen and probably locked in a damp dog kennel somewhere :(
Poor, poor, hero. Though I suppose, if you are sick of all the abuse heaped onto HPlandia heroines by unrepentant, arrogant and easily forgiven asshole heroes, this might just strike you as sweet revenge. I, for one, felt too sorry for the hero and the dog to relish in any karmic retribution :(
September 3, 2020
I loved reading "The Wall" by Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) which was more modern in the way it was executed although it had the same angst i am used to in this genre.Sara Bertelli is a famous singer on a vacation and meets her neighbour,the mysterious Greg Pierson.Both are lonely souls who are trying to escape from their painful pasts,and finds solace in each other.Their relationship to me flowed so naturally and i love how Greg took care of Sara despite being so wary of strangers,but he let Sara into his heart and that was so wonderful!
This author knows how to write (i also loved her "Waking Up") and make you feel all sorts of emotions.Most of all she succeeded in making me believe that Sara and Greg are made for each other.That scene at the airport in the end made me feel like i was watching a movie,it was so emotional and romantic!
This author knows how to write (i also loved her "Waking Up") and make you feel all sorts of emotions.Most of all she succeeded in making me believe that Sara and Greg are made for each other.That scene at the airport in the end made me feel like i was watching a movie,it was so emotional and romantic!
July 25, 2020
“Goodbye, Greg.”
She didn’t see his face, for he was turned away from her, and so she was unaware of the silent tears that streamed down his granite-hard face, of the lips that were drawn back tight over teeth clenched with pain. She hadn’t seen his fists, drawn down by his sides, and didn’t know that his knuckles were white and the fingers bloodless from the tension of his tight grip. She was in the hall after saying goodbye, and the words he mouthed were a bare thread of sound anyway, so she wasn’t to know that he whispered hopelessly, “Don’t go. Sara, don’t go. Sara!” But he didn’t call after her, and she trudged upstairs with a heavy heart.
"The Wall" is the story of Sara and Greg.
This one will definitely tug at your heartstrings.
A tired and depressed musician retreating at a remote cabin comes across a brooding and cynical stranger, their life takes a new turn. We had pushy agents, cute big dobermans, beautiful lakes, sandcastles, break ins, hidden identities, past traumas, exhaustion and reckless demands to entertain us. However, the crux of the book is the blooming and very pure love between our hero and heroine, who have both been hurt by different things, and how they navigate that with their prejudices and feelings.
High on angst, sweet on romance and dog love, one well written lovemaking scene and a one very public display of affection.
Totally loved it!
Safe
4.5/5
She didn’t see his face, for he was turned away from her, and so she was unaware of the silent tears that streamed down his granite-hard face, of the lips that were drawn back tight over teeth clenched with pain. She hadn’t seen his fists, drawn down by his sides, and didn’t know that his knuckles were white and the fingers bloodless from the tension of his tight grip. She was in the hall after saying goodbye, and the words he mouthed were a bare thread of sound anyway, so she wasn’t to know that he whispered hopelessly, “Don’t go. Sara, don’t go. Sara!” But he didn’t call after her, and she trudged upstairs with a heavy heart.
"The Wall" is the story of Sara and Greg.
This one will definitely tug at your heartstrings.
A tired and depressed musician retreating at a remote cabin comes across a brooding and cynical stranger, their life takes a new turn. We had pushy agents, cute big dobermans, beautiful lakes, sandcastles, break ins, hidden identities, past traumas, exhaustion and reckless demands to entertain us. However, the crux of the book is the blooming and very pure love between our hero and heroine, who have both been hurt by different things, and how they navigate that with their prejudices and feelings.
High on angst, sweet on romance and dog love, one well written lovemaking scene and a one very public display of affection.
Totally loved it!
Safe
4.5/5
June 17, 2024
I really liked her A Solitary Heart but this one had the same tone as Perfect Chance (certain American things just aren't my vibe). I did finish it, although latterly at a skim. I'm never keen on plots featuring an intruder, nor am I keen on either lead being a singer / pop star. In this case it's the h, Sara, a 28 year old virgin (alright then 😶). Greg the H was fine although I personally wouldn't fancy a bloke who "wishes he'd been a virgin too". No Greg, it's nice when you've had a bit of practice 😂
The dog Beowulf was lovely though. Two things I did like were the h not giving up her career and this rather nice passage:
"She was soon in a very strange state, almost surrealistic. The ribbon of the road was coming towards her continually, and threading under the car to disappear behind her. She was oddly alone and yet not, at the same time. She felt free to think her most private and closely guarded thoughts as if she were by herself, but she had none of the sense of loneliness that usually accompanied such thoughts. From time to time she glanced sideways at the strange and strangely familiar man next to her and found him silent, concentrating on the road and yet...it felt as if they were two separate manifestations of the same being."
Come for the passion, stay for the blessed intimacy of being able to be companiably silent, mentally apart and yet completely happy and comfortable together. Ladies and gentlemen, that's love that is.
The dog Beowulf was lovely though. Two things I did like were the h not giving up her career and this rather nice passage:
"She was soon in a very strange state, almost surrealistic. The ribbon of the road was coming towards her continually, and threading under the car to disappear behind her. She was oddly alone and yet not, at the same time. She felt free to think her most private and closely guarded thoughts as if she were by herself, but she had none of the sense of loneliness that usually accompanied such thoughts. From time to time she glanced sideways at the strange and strangely familiar man next to her and found him silent, concentrating on the road and yet...it felt as if they were two separate manifestations of the same being."
Come for the passion, stay for the blessed intimacy of being able to be companiably silent, mentally apart and yet completely happy and comfortable together. Ladies and gentlemen, that's love that is.
July 4, 2021
Thea Harrison is one of my favourite authors. I have never read any of the her romance novels written under the name of Amanda Carpenter. It's different, but just as enticing.
Greg lives as a recluse after having been dealt a painful blow in the past. He doesn't welcome strangers and has little to no trust in anyone.
Sara is a famous singer who escapes the life of an artist, even for a little while, to find herself.
When the two of them meet, they have reservations about each other. Despite Greg's aloof demeanour he makes allowances for Sara's intrusion. They have secrets which they don't divulge during their interactions. Then feelings start to surface, and now they have to decide if they have to divulge their secrets. Will those secrets make or break them?
Greg is very caring, although he has built a wall around himself. Sara goes over the top with her reactions sometimes. The scenery is very well described. There is a lot of angst before the happy ending. An epilogue would have been most welcome, otherwise a good romance.
Greg lives as a recluse after having been dealt a painful blow in the past. He doesn't welcome strangers and has little to no trust in anyone.
Sara is a famous singer who escapes the life of an artist, even for a little while, to find herself.
When the two of them meet, they have reservations about each other. Despite Greg's aloof demeanour he makes allowances for Sara's intrusion. They have secrets which they don't divulge during their interactions. Then feelings start to surface, and now they have to decide if they have to divulge their secrets. Will those secrets make or break them?
Greg is very caring, although he has built a wall around himself. Sara goes over the top with her reactions sometimes. The scenery is very well described. There is a lot of angst before the happy ending. An epilogue would have been most welcome, otherwise a good romance.
July 17, 2023
Finally a heroine who does not give up her career for the hero!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
kindle-hq
November 23, 2021They both had something to hide
Sara Bertelli, famous pop singer, had been on the verge of emotional collapse. So, as Sara Carmichael, she retreated to an isolated cabin on the shores of Lake Michigan to rethink her life.
When she first met Greg Pierson, Sara was afraid that he would recognize her. But Greg was ever more wary than Sara was of the outside world. She empathized with his strange mixture of politeness and bitterness, of cynicism and real concern
Right from the start Sara ignored Greg's "no trespassing" signals in fact, she found them enticing.
Sara Bertelli, famous pop singer, had been on the verge of emotional collapse. So, as Sara Carmichael, she retreated to an isolated cabin on the shores of Lake Michigan to rethink her life.
When she first met Greg Pierson, Sara was afraid that he would recognize her. But Greg was ever more wary than Sara was of the outside world. She empathized with his strange mixture of politeness and bitterness, of cynicism and real concern
Right from the start Sara ignored Greg's "no trespassing" signals in fact, she found them enticing.
April 19, 2015
Was fun to read and would have been a 4 star except for the following factors:
- A worldwide phenomenon pop singer who is a heavy smoker? Smoking pretty much destroys your lung capacity, for one, and gives you a smoker's cough and so on.
- A heavy smoker who just quits cold turkey without any further thoughts of it thereafter?
- The ending didn't seem like a compromise at all--seemed like the guy bending entirely for the girl.
- A worldwide phenomenon pop singer who is a heavy smoker? Smoking pretty much destroys your lung capacity, for one, and gives you a smoker's cough and so on.
- A heavy smoker who just quits cold turkey without any further thoughts of it thereafter?
- The ending didn't seem like a compromise at all--seemed like the guy bending entirely for the girl.
November 11, 2012
Why is it very difficult to find this book here.. Hahaha
Sara Carmichael, tired by the demands of her career as a popular singer, took a vacation on a her hometown. There he meet Greg who seem guarded and doubtful.
In the end, they fall in love, get together and who knows next. Hahahahahaha
I just hope these Mills and Boon bookshave their Epilogues.
Quick and fun read.
Sara Carmichael, tired by the demands of her career as a popular singer, took a vacation on a her hometown. There he meet Greg who seem guarded and doubtful.
In the end, they fall in love, get together and who knows next. Hahahahahaha
I just hope these Mills and Boon bookshave their Epilogues.
Quick and fun read.
December 16, 2012
Rating 3.5 stars
March 8, 2013
this book was sweet i loved the characters role play
August 14, 2013
Read my review on RomanceJunkies.com by clicking on the link below:
http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artm...
http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artm...
October 4, 2017
nothing like her Thea Harrison books - these early books under her pseudonym aren't as entertaining
January 8, 2013
review to follow
read this while on Jury Duty in November forgot to review
read this while on Jury Duty in November forgot to review
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews