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Περιμένοντας το Αύριο - ΧΡΥΣΑ ΑΡΛΕΚΙΝ SPECIAL #368
Dangerous Game by Margaret Mayo released on Aug 25, 2003 is available now for purchase.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
1 person is currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Mayo
351 books46 followersThere is more than one author with this name
For Children's writer see Margaret Mayo
Jessica R. Mayo was born on February 7, 1936 in Staffordshire, England, and has remained within the county all of her life. It was never her ambition to become a writer, although she always loved reading, even to the extent of reading comics out loud to her twin brother when she was eight years old. In fact her only writing experience was in letters to various pen pals around the world. She unfortunately lost touch with them now and often wonders whether any of them have ever discovered that her chatty letters were the forerunner to her writing career.
She left school to become a secretary, taking a break to have her two children, Adrian and Tina. Once they were at school she started back to work and planned to further her career by becoming a bi-lingual secretary. Unfortunately she couldn't speak any languages other than her native English, so she began evening classes. It was at this time that she got the idea for a romantic short story - to this day she doesn't know where the idea came from or why, but she thanks her lucky stars because it kick-started her career. Margaret, and her mother before her, had always read Mills & Boon romances, and to actually be writing one excited her beyond measure.
'My life began at forty' is another one of her favourite sayings - because that is when her first book was published - two and a half years after she first set pen to paper (that first book was written long before she felt confident enough to send it off).Having those books accepted was the happiest and most exciting day of her life. She waltzed her husband around the room and their two children thought they'd gone mad, until they were told the good news.
Her first two submitted novels were accepted simultaneously, and now she has over sixty-five to her credit. When she looks at them lined up on her bookshelf she wonders how she has managed to write all those millions of words. She is a hopeless romantic who loves writing. She falls in love with every one of her heroes and likes to boast about how many 'love affairs' she's had.
Margaret gets so immersed in her writing that one day - before she made writing her full-time career and did most of her writing at the office (!!) - her daughter phoned to ask whether she could come and meet her out of work. Margaret told her not to be silly because it was foggy. Her daughter said 'But it's sunny here.' And when Margaret looked out of the window the sun was shining. Her hero and heroine were lost out in a sea of fog!
Before she became a successful author Margaret was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to strangers. For research purposes she forced herself to speak to people from all walks of life and now says her shyness has gone forever - to a certain degree. She is still happier pouring her thoughts out on paper.
Copied from Fantastic Fiction
For Children's writer see Margaret Mayo
Jessica R. Mayo was born on February 7, 1936 in Staffordshire, England, and has remained within the county all of her life. It was never her ambition to become a writer, although she always loved reading, even to the extent of reading comics out loud to her twin brother when she was eight years old. In fact her only writing experience was in letters to various pen pals around the world. She unfortunately lost touch with them now and often wonders whether any of them have ever discovered that her chatty letters were the forerunner to her writing career.
She left school to become a secretary, taking a break to have her two children, Adrian and Tina. Once they were at school she started back to work and planned to further her career by becoming a bi-lingual secretary. Unfortunately she couldn't speak any languages other than her native English, so she began evening classes. It was at this time that she got the idea for a romantic short story - to this day she doesn't know where the idea came from or why, but she thanks her lucky stars because it kick-started her career. Margaret, and her mother before her, had always read Mills & Boon romances, and to actually be writing one excited her beyond measure.
'My life began at forty' is another one of her favourite sayings - because that is when her first book was published - two and a half years after she first set pen to paper (that first book was written long before she felt confident enough to send it off).Having those books accepted was the happiest and most exciting day of her life. She waltzed her husband around the room and their two children thought they'd gone mad, until they were told the good news.
Her first two submitted novels were accepted simultaneously, and now she has over sixty-five to her credit. When she looks at them lined up on her bookshelf she wonders how she has managed to write all those millions of words. She is a hopeless romantic who loves writing. She falls in love with every one of her heroes and likes to boast about how many 'love affairs' she's had.
Margaret gets so immersed in her writing that one day - before she made writing her full-time career and did most of her writing at the office (!!) - her daughter phoned to ask whether she could come and meet her out of work. Margaret told her not to be silly because it was foggy. Her daughter said 'But it's sunny here.' And when Margaret looked out of the window the sun was shining. Her hero and heroine were lost out in a sea of fog!
Before she became a successful author Margaret was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to strangers. For research purposes she forced herself to speak to people from all walks of life and now says her shyness has gone forever - to a certain degree. She is still happier pouring her thoughts out on paper.
Copied from Fantastic Fiction
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 14, 2015
Very enjoyable "heroine revenge" book!
June 16, 2019
This book is prime example of what not to write in romance in the 21st century
1. Heroine has before and after look. Before: she was fat, dowdy and meek. Hero felt disgusted by her, not for a minute questioned her guilt and didn’t spare a second to notice her appearance. After: he basically STARTED the recruiting with sexual harassment. Continuously reminds us that Alex, h’s previous self was ugly. Penny, now, is beyond attractive. And he loves attractive women. Not ugly ones. They repulse him. He’d never have even liked Alex, he LOVES penny. Do I want to read about a shallow womaniser who would then be getting the virgin in the end? No. On top of this, his body shaming inner monologues were cringeworthy. The OM was actually somewhat better than him. Yes, he was weak, and was so flattered by the strong OW’s attention that he did cheat on the h, but he never found her unattractive and despite his cheating, still loved the h in his own way, and more importantly just as she is. No, the h didn’t deserve the OM, cause his character is weak. But there ARE other men who loves women just for themselves.
2. I don’t know HOW the author thought she could pull this off. Because she pretty much had the H admit that he was quite sure h was innocent before he proposed. I don’t have Alzheimer’s. So you don’t get to say that and then tell us he proposed despite h’s guilt. He didn’t. The h was spot on. He is a vain shallow man. He’d never have proposed to h if it’d have tarnished his image. If he did then he’d have proposed to her earlier. Not fire her when he knew how hard it’d be for her to get a job. He also tried to seduce her to punish her just before as well.
3. He never cared about ugly Alex’s pleas about her innocence but stunning penny could NOT have committed any crime so he moved heaven and earth to find the real culprit. While ugly Alex had to rot in jail. Losing her only surviving family in process.
4. The book was a series of sexual harassment. Also it is not arousing when a man tells me “i don’t take no for an answer”. It’s scary. It’s not sexy when my employer orders me to join him in the pool and if I refuse threatens to undress me himself. It is scary and disturbing as hell.
5. Stop, please stop the toxic masculinity of “I don’t like women who is interested in me, half the fun is in chasing”. I also don’t like men interested in me, half the fun is in chasing?
Note: this was a recommendation. I hope no offence taken. Our HP preference might be a bit different. My rose tinted glasses had to be put down to make space for my real glasses 🤷🏽♀️
1. Heroine has before and after look. Before: she was fat, dowdy and meek. Hero felt disgusted by her, not for a minute questioned her guilt and didn’t spare a second to notice her appearance. After: he basically STARTED the recruiting with sexual harassment. Continuously reminds us that Alex, h’s previous self was ugly. Penny, now, is beyond attractive. And he loves attractive women. Not ugly ones. They repulse him. He’d never have even liked Alex, he LOVES penny. Do I want to read about a shallow womaniser who would then be getting the virgin in the end? No. On top of this, his body shaming inner monologues were cringeworthy. The OM was actually somewhat better than him. Yes, he was weak, and was so flattered by the strong OW’s attention that he did cheat on the h, but he never found her unattractive and despite his cheating, still loved the h in his own way, and more importantly just as she is. No, the h didn’t deserve the OM, cause his character is weak. But there ARE other men who loves women just for themselves.
2. I don’t know HOW the author thought she could pull this off. Because she pretty much had the H admit that he was quite sure h was innocent before he proposed. I don’t have Alzheimer’s. So you don’t get to say that and then tell us he proposed despite h’s guilt. He didn’t. The h was spot on. He is a vain shallow man. He’d never have proposed to h if it’d have tarnished his image. If he did then he’d have proposed to her earlier. Not fire her when he knew how hard it’d be for her to get a job. He also tried to seduce her to punish her just before as well.
3. He never cared about ugly Alex’s pleas about her innocence but stunning penny could NOT have committed any crime so he moved heaven and earth to find the real culprit. While ugly Alex had to rot in jail. Losing her only surviving family in process.
4. The book was a series of sexual harassment. Also it is not arousing when a man tells me “i don’t take no for an answer”. It’s scary. It’s not sexy when my employer orders me to join him in the pool and if I refuse threatens to undress me himself. It is scary and disturbing as hell.
5. Stop, please stop the toxic masculinity of “I don’t like women who is interested in me, half the fun is in chasing”. I also don’t like men interested in me, half the fun is in chasing?
Note: this was a recommendation. I hope no offence taken. Our HP preference might be a bit different. My rose tinted glasses had to be put down to make space for my real glasses 🤷🏽♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2019
Loved this 'heroine wants revenge' book. Poor hero he was so in love with her but he made a mistake when he sent her to jail and she is determined to make him pay. Very good read I totally recommend.
June 16, 2019
Loved this book! Sooo gooood!!
Will write proper review later.
Highly recommend!
Will write proper review later.
Highly recommend!
August 24, 2020
"Dangerous Game" is the story of Alex/Penny and Adam.
What happened? Nooooo!
The book started out as a delicious revenge tale. Hero is a ruthless businessman, who has destroyed the heroine's life by blaming her for corporate espionage. She goes to jail, loses her mother and gets dumped by her boyfriend and friends. She gets an early release, undergoes a makeover (aka some weight loss, hair cut and dye) and decides to become the hero's disabled mother's companion.
The first half of the book is the hero MOONING over the heroine and her being the cruel/ heartless one and rejecting him. As I was gleefully chuckling in my Ursula cackle, the story flipped and suddenly the hero discovered her deceit and went back to revenge mode.. again. We had a shitty ex, a matchmaking mother and loads of sexual attraction.
I wish the heroine had made him eat her shiz instead of him discovering everything in a very anticlimactic way. Furthermore, I found him shallow, because fat brunette= ugly, skinny blonde= hot. Nah fam. That being said, the showdown at the end where she made the hero almost weep- totally feeling it.
SWE/Unsafe
2.75/5
What happened? Nooooo!
The book started out as a delicious revenge tale. Hero is a ruthless businessman, who has destroyed the heroine's life by blaming her for corporate espionage. She goes to jail, loses her mother and gets dumped by her boyfriend and friends. She gets an early release, undergoes a makeover (aka some weight loss, hair cut and dye) and decides to become the hero's disabled mother's companion.
The first half of the book is the hero MOONING over the heroine and her being the cruel/ heartless one and rejecting him. As I was gleefully chuckling in my Ursula cackle, the story flipped and suddenly the hero discovered her deceit and went back to revenge mode.. again. We had a shitty ex, a matchmaking mother and loads of sexual attraction.
I wish the heroine had made him eat her shiz instead of him discovering everything in a very anticlimactic way. Furthermore, I found him shallow, because fat brunette= ugly, skinny blonde= hot. Nah fam. That being said, the showdown at the end where she made the hero almost weep- totally feeling it.
SWE/Unsafe
2.75/5
June 29, 2019
Their reasons for separation is as silly as the other MCs of HPlandia but I don't like the writing style of MM, so 2,5 stars.
Want to read
July 8, 2019Trampa Peligrosa
June 24, 2019
I love girl-getting-revenge plots and I was very thankful for getting this recommendation from a goodreads friend, but I didn't like this book. It had me doing my classic I-could-not-care-less ritual where I skip to the end and then read backwards from there, depending on how interested I was.
We have Penny who first is interviewed by Adam to be a short-term companion for his mother on a Caribbean get-away for her health. His mother has arthritis and is also a recent widow; she's considered "difficult" and "overbearing" and "demanding," so supposedly it wasn't easy getting a companion for her. Cue Penny's entrance on the scene. There are some instant sparks going on, mostly because Penny is completely Adam's type, being a tall, leggy, confident blonde <-- is this not everyone's type? The first part of the book and how Penny gets hired into Adam's employ is off to a believable, roaring start.
Adam is so entranced with Penny, even though from the reader (and Penny's) point of view, he's arrogant and cold as a prospective employer. He says endearing things like, "You do realise this is a twenty-four hour, seven day a week gig, with no rest in between, right?" I see this book was published in 2003, so I don't know how slave labor was so actively endorsed by the editors. On the other hand, if they were trying to make Adam unlikable, they succeeded with five stars.
As for his mother, she is querulous and demanding for sure and Penny is exhausted getting up at all hours of the night fetching things for her. Penny is not having an easy time of it. She doesn't even have enough time to plan her revenge, although there had to be a revenge in there, right? I mean, they marketed this as a REVENGE book. So, since mother-and-son duo are so annoying and thoroughly deserving of some slaps in the faces, I was really looking for them to get their comeuppance.
Then, I am not sure how it happened, but suddenly Adam the workaholic is so entranced by the thought of Penny and her white jeans (there was a notable scene in the second chapter wherein he ruined her white jeans by startling her) that he drops everything and races to the Caribbean to be by her side. Even though he, the ever-filial son, has never stopped working to go spend more than a few days there with his mother, even though she had been requesting him to for the longest time. Even though she was a recent widow. He makes unwelcome overtures to Penny, who is so devoted to fighting him off and turning a cold shoulder that, again, she has no time to think about revenge. Oh, she thought about it, as in, "Man, I really haven't had time to think about my revenge and giving him the cold shoulder isn't learning me any new, pertinent info," but still she continues to evade him, and he continues to chase after her.
Meanwhile, the mother has gotten a complete personality overhaul and is suddenly winking at Penny and betting with her that Adam is super serious about her and affecting exhaustion and saying that she doesn't need anyone to help her. All of a sudden, that old interfering harridan is rising late and going to bed and conveniently out of the scene by seven o'clock at night--wut? Yes, it was that convenient.
Yadda yadda yadda, you find out that Penny used to be this dumpy, chubby girl with long brown hair and glasses working at Adam's company. Because she was the newest designer (graphics? IC? hardware? software? it's never explained and I really cared about this.), they suspected her when the designs for some new product was leaked to a competing company. When she was brought up before Adam, she pleaded for a second chance and for him to listen to her. He didn't and she was charged and sent to prison for six months (let out in three). Girl has a reason to be upset. Also, her fiance/childhood sweetheart also worked at the same company broke up with her around that time. I would have suspected him and focused my revenge on him, but Penny set her eyes on Adam instead.
Anyway, the problem with this story is that while there is sufficient evidence to sympathise with Penny, it's never developed--we never see the segue from her prison time to her getting a job as Adam's mother's nanny. Contrast this with Judas' Kiss and you will notice that one was crafted by a true master of outlandish revenge plots. Here, also, you never really like Adam. He was overbearing and rude and arrogant and then suddenly we were supposed to want him to be with Penny? As a revenge plot, this one sucked majorly when Penny didn't even have any idea where she was going with this. Even the age-old Harlequin fav seduce-him-and-drop-him wasn't even utilised here. It was just as though Penny completely forgot what the book blurb was egging her on to do. Also, from Adam's pov, I didn't get where the confident, intelligent woman description was supposed to come from, unless it was because she rejected him.
The REAL kicker was the end of the book where they ended up becoming engaged but Penny breaks up with him because he knew she was innocent and shouldn't have served her jail time. This was apparently a deal breaker for her because she wanted him to want her as a CRIMINAL. This would have made sense in another plot, but not this one, because she WAS innocent. She should have wanted him to fight for her innocence! It made no sense to me. The beginning of the book was leading to an entirely different ending altogether, like two different books were mashed together and all the names found-and-replaced to match. Suddenly, by the end of the book, the mother was an endearing old woman who fawned over Penny and Penny missed her a lot--wut.
There was some other bits about Penny's fiance, who was having an affair with the girl who actually did the corporate espionage bit to frame Penny and Penny stayed on really good terms with him, even going on some friendly dates with him--huh? So basically, she focused all her energies on revenge on a man who prosecuted employees who are proven (framed) to have stolen company information and gave a free pass to the man she had grown up with, become engaged to, and also cheated on her with the girl who actually did screw her over. Right.
Nothing in this book made any sense to me and it was a roller coaster ride, but apparently not even an interesting enough of one that made me want to read it linearly. I didn't like any of the characters in this book. Oh, except for the Caribbean couple who were the caretakers of the cabin. They seemed nice. With them around, I don't understand why Penny had to even be around? Like. Really. There were two of them, and the mother also said they could take care of her so that Penny could go on dates with Adam. So...why was Penny even hired?
???????????????????
We have Penny who first is interviewed by Adam to be a short-term companion for his mother on a Caribbean get-away for her health. His mother has arthritis and is also a recent widow; she's considered "difficult" and "overbearing" and "demanding," so supposedly it wasn't easy getting a companion for her. Cue Penny's entrance on the scene. There are some instant sparks going on, mostly because Penny is completely Adam's type, being a tall, leggy, confident blonde <-- is this not everyone's type? The first part of the book and how Penny gets hired into Adam's employ is off to a believable, roaring start.
Adam is so entranced with Penny, even though from the reader (and Penny's) point of view, he's arrogant and cold as a prospective employer. He says endearing things like, "You do realise this is a twenty-four hour, seven day a week gig, with no rest in between, right?" I see this book was published in 2003, so I don't know how slave labor was so actively endorsed by the editors. On the other hand, if they were trying to make Adam unlikable, they succeeded with five stars.
As for his mother, she is querulous and demanding for sure and Penny is exhausted getting up at all hours of the night fetching things for her. Penny is not having an easy time of it. She doesn't even have enough time to plan her revenge, although there had to be a revenge in there, right? I mean, they marketed this as a REVENGE book. So, since mother-and-son duo are so annoying and thoroughly deserving of some slaps in the faces, I was really looking for them to get their comeuppance.
Then, I am not sure how it happened, but suddenly Adam the workaholic is so entranced by the thought of Penny and her white jeans (there was a notable scene in the second chapter wherein he ruined her white jeans by startling her) that he drops everything and races to the Caribbean to be by her side. Even though he, the ever-filial son, has never stopped working to go spend more than a few days there with his mother, even though she had been requesting him to for the longest time. Even though she was a recent widow. He makes unwelcome overtures to Penny, who is so devoted to fighting him off and turning a cold shoulder that, again, she has no time to think about revenge. Oh, she thought about it, as in, "Man, I really haven't had time to think about my revenge and giving him the cold shoulder isn't learning me any new, pertinent info," but still she continues to evade him, and he continues to chase after her.
Meanwhile, the mother has gotten a complete personality overhaul and is suddenly winking at Penny and betting with her that Adam is super serious about her and affecting exhaustion and saying that she doesn't need anyone to help her. All of a sudden, that old interfering harridan is rising late and going to bed and conveniently out of the scene by seven o'clock at night--wut? Yes, it was that convenient.
Yadda yadda yadda, you find out that Penny used to be this dumpy, chubby girl with long brown hair and glasses working at Adam's company. Because she was the newest designer (graphics? IC? hardware? software? it's never explained and I really cared about this.), they suspected her when the designs for some new product was leaked to a competing company. When she was brought up before Adam, she pleaded for a second chance and for him to listen to her. He didn't and she was charged and sent to prison for six months (let out in three). Girl has a reason to be upset. Also, her fiance/childhood sweetheart also worked at the same company broke up with her around that time. I would have suspected him and focused my revenge on him, but Penny set her eyes on Adam instead.
Anyway, the problem with this story is that while there is sufficient evidence to sympathise with Penny, it's never developed--we never see the segue from her prison time to her getting a job as Adam's mother's nanny. Contrast this with Judas' Kiss and you will notice that one was crafted by a true master of outlandish revenge plots. Here, also, you never really like Adam. He was overbearing and rude and arrogant and then suddenly we were supposed to want him to be with Penny? As a revenge plot, this one sucked majorly when Penny didn't even have any idea where she was going with this. Even the age-old Harlequin fav seduce-him-and-drop-him wasn't even utilised here. It was just as though Penny completely forgot what the book blurb was egging her on to do. Also, from Adam's pov, I didn't get where the confident, intelligent woman description was supposed to come from, unless it was because she rejected him.
The REAL kicker was the end of the book where they ended up becoming engaged but Penny breaks up with him because he knew she was innocent and shouldn't have served her jail time. This was apparently a deal breaker for her because she wanted him to want her as a CRIMINAL. This would have made sense in another plot, but not this one, because she WAS innocent. She should have wanted him to fight for her innocence! It made no sense to me. The beginning of the book was leading to an entirely different ending altogether, like two different books were mashed together and all the names found-and-replaced to match. Suddenly, by the end of the book, the mother was an endearing old woman who fawned over Penny and Penny missed her a lot--wut.
There was some other bits about Penny's fiance, who was having an affair with the girl who actually did the corporate espionage bit to frame Penny and Penny stayed on really good terms with him, even going on some friendly dates with him--huh? So basically, she focused all her energies on revenge on a man who prosecuted employees who are proven (framed) to have stolen company information and gave a free pass to the man she had grown up with, become engaged to, and also cheated on her with the girl who actually did screw her over. Right.
Nothing in this book made any sense to me and it was a roller coaster ride, but apparently not even an interesting enough of one that made me want to read it linearly. I didn't like any of the characters in this book. Oh, except for the Caribbean couple who were the caretakers of the cabin. They seemed nice. With them around, I don't understand why Penny had to even be around? Like. Really. There were two of them, and the mother also said they could take care of her so that Penny could go on dates with Adam. So...why was Penny even hired?
???????????????????
July 11, 2013
this book is about the h getting a job with the heros' mother for revenge. she wants to find out something she can use against him.. the h was sent to prison for selling the hero's company's invention to a rival... she got out.. changed her look and her name... (the h's mother died from the shock of the h's arrest and the h's fiancé dumped her)
she goes to work in the Caribbean the heros comes to see his mother and falls for the h. she is hot and cold with him...
he finally figures out she is the embezzler... the mom breaks a hip... the h is sent home to England....
the hero looks her up again... she can't find a job due to the prison record... she hires on again to take care of his mom...
they fall in love... agree to marry... the hero finds out that the h is innocent of the crime but before he can tell her... she finds out and thinks that's the only reason he thought she was good enough to marry was because she was innocent... she breaks up with him...
she has befriended the old fiancé again.... she goes for another job.. the hero is there.. he wants her back... says he loves her... does she love him etc... they decide can't live without each other... get married on original date which is the next day.... the hero canceled nothing... lol..
she goes to work in the Caribbean the heros comes to see his mother and falls for the h. she is hot and cold with him...
he finally figures out she is the embezzler... the mom breaks a hip... the h is sent home to England....
the hero looks her up again... she can't find a job due to the prison record... she hires on again to take care of his mom...
they fall in love... agree to marry... the hero finds out that the h is innocent of the crime but before he can tell her... she finds out and thinks that's the only reason he thought she was good enough to marry was because she was innocent... she breaks up with him...
she has befriended the old fiancé again.... she goes for another job.. the hero is there.. he wants her back... says he loves her... does she love him etc... they decide can't live without each other... get married on original date which is the next day.... the hero canceled nothing... lol..
March 5, 2014
I have read this book many times. The story always excites me. I love it when the h has the upper hand. Usually it's the H planning revenge but this time the jokes on him. And after what she suffered, he surely deserves it. But somehow, they both also deserve their HEA. Glad to see a H that I don't dislike for 3/4 of the book. He was really a decent guy who made a mistake in judgement. It could have happened to anyone. I would love to see more from this author.
June 26, 2021
Yeesh. Listen I love revenge stories and I love ETL when it's done well, but this was...a nope from me.
If you like arrogant male love interests who spend most of the story treating the heroine like shit and/or flagrantly violating her boundaries only to randomly, somehow, decide he loves her with no change in his perspectives or behavior, you may enjoy this.
If you like manipulative old mother figures guilting the heroine into giving the love interest a chance despite the heroine's constant protests and extremely good reasons not to, you may enjoy this.
If you like heroines who seem to have a deeply damaged sense of self and should probably reach out to some friends or a therapist to help unpack her recent traumas but...idk, instead decides she is in love with the frankly awful former-boss who ruined her life, and maybe he is actually an okay dude because he...loves and is nice to his mom??? Reasons?!? Sure. You may enjoy this!
Throw in more than a dash of weird pervasive fat shaming (or idk, just...."vaguely not-skinny" shaming?) and She's All That-style "oh maybe this plain, 'dowdy,' 'dumpy' woman IS worthy of my respect because she is hot now!", and wow, what a ride. Feels like a product of the early 2000s, because it is, but...woof.
The writing itself is fine!
As for me I only started having a good time when I decided to read it as a horror story instead of a romance. For real it would have worked VERY well as a sexy psychological horror story.
If you like arrogant male love interests who spend most of the story treating the heroine like shit and/or flagrantly violating her boundaries only to randomly, somehow, decide he loves her with no change in his perspectives or behavior, you may enjoy this.
If you like manipulative old mother figures guilting the heroine into giving the love interest a chance despite the heroine's constant protests and extremely good reasons not to, you may enjoy this.
If you like heroines who seem to have a deeply damaged sense of self and should probably reach out to some friends or a therapist to help unpack her recent traumas but...idk, instead decides she is in love with the frankly awful former-boss who ruined her life, and maybe he is actually an okay dude because he...loves and is nice to his mom??? Reasons?!? Sure. You may enjoy this!
Throw in more than a dash of weird pervasive fat shaming (or idk, just...."vaguely not-skinny" shaming?) and She's All That-style "oh maybe this plain, 'dowdy,' 'dumpy' woman IS worthy of my respect because she is hot now!", and wow, what a ride. Feels like a product of the early 2000s, because it is, but...woof.
The writing itself is fine!
As for me I only started having a good time when I decided to read it as a horror story instead of a romance. For real it would have worked VERY well as a sexy psychological horror story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
pback-to-read
February 9, 2021From revenge to seduction...
Adam Sterne needed a companion for his mother, and when Penny Brooklyn applied for the job he knew she was perfect. He was almost sure he'd met her somewhere before, but Penny denied it.
By the end of the interview Adam was enraptured and intrigued. So much so that he decided to join Penny and his mother in St. Lucia. But what Adam didn't know was that Penny was out for revenge--until the night Adam finally got her into his arms.... (less)
Adam Sterne needed a companion for his mother, and when Penny Brooklyn applied for the job he knew she was perfect. He was almost sure he'd met her somewhere before, but Penny denied it.
By the end of the interview Adam was enraptured and intrigued. So much so that he decided to join Penny and his mother in St. Lucia. But what Adam didn't know was that Penny was out for revenge--until the night Adam finally got her into his arms.... (less)
April 4, 2017
It was so sweet the way you got to see the H agonizing over the h. You really felt for him. He didn’t understand why the h was so cool towards him when, from his side, it was insta love! The only thing that annoyed me was that she had been with her fiancée for 10 years ( since she was 16) but for some reason, which I never understood, they never slept together, much less lived together! Don't get me wrong, I like the virgin trope, but in this book it felt a bit eighteen hundreds.
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