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Americana #39
Strange Bedfellow
Every novel in this collection is your passport to a romantic tour of the United States through time-honored favorites by America's First Lady of romance fiction. Each of the fifty novels is set in a different state, researched by Janet and her husband, Bill. For the Daileys it was an odyssey of discovery. For you, it's the journey of a lifetime. Your tour of desire begins with this story set in Rhode Island.
"I went through hell to return to you!" Dina was overcome by guilt when she heard her husband's words. But she couldn't welcome him back with open arms. Blake had been missing in the South American jungle for two years; she had believed he was dead. When he made his dramatic reappearance, she had just become engaged to his best friend. The years had changed her. Blake's savage fight for survival had turned him into a primitive stranger. How could they make their marriage work again?
"I went through hell to return to you!" Dina was overcome by guilt when she heard her husband's words. But she couldn't welcome him back with open arms. Blake had been missing in the South American jungle for two years; she had believed he was dead. When he made his dramatic reappearance, she had just become engaged to his best friend. The years had changed her. Blake's savage fight for survival had turned him into a primitive stranger. How could they make their marriage work again?
128 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1979
47 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Janet Dailey
397 books1,845 followersJanet Anne Haradon Dailey was an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey (her married name). Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide.
Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.
She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.
Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.
She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 22, 2020
"Strange Bedfellow" is the story of Dina and Blake.
What would happen if you lost the love of your life in a plane crash? He went missing, and was then declared dead. You spend years gathering up the pieces, rebuilding not only your life, but also his company. You get engaged to his best friend, finally learning to trust again. And then the husband returns, a changed, uninhibited, wild man..
This concept is explored in this super passionate second chance romance. A possessive and confrontational hero, a confused heroine, a passive best friend, loads of drama, behind the scenes hot lovemaking, realizations, confessions and HEA. I really loved the angst and passion in this one. It was admirable how the heroine gave him a chance, never denying their past and what they shared. She just needed time to get used to this man. It heavily reminded me of "Something Wonderful" and "Wild Card", both of which are my favorites. That being said, the hero WAS chauvinistic, especially when it came to his wife working and managing his company, and that's why, this loses a star.
Recommended!
Safe for me/SWE for some
4.5/5
What would happen if you lost the love of your life in a plane crash? He went missing, and was then declared dead. You spend years gathering up the pieces, rebuilding not only your life, but also his company. You get engaged to his best friend, finally learning to trust again. And then the husband returns, a changed, uninhibited, wild man..
This concept is explored in this super passionate second chance romance. A possessive and confrontational hero, a confused heroine, a passive best friend, loads of drama, behind the scenes hot lovemaking, realizations, confessions and HEA. I really loved the angst and passion in this one. It was admirable how the heroine gave him a chance, never denying their past and what they shared. She just needed time to get used to this man. It heavily reminded me of "Something Wonderful" and "Wild Card", both of which are my favorites. That being said, the hero WAS chauvinistic, especially when it came to his wife working and managing his company, and that's why, this loses a star.
Recommended!
Safe for me/SWE for some
4.5/5
June 24, 2024
In a twist borrowed from the popular daytime soaps of the day, the wife in Strange Bedfellow gets the shock of her life when her husband, officially ruled as having died in a South American airplane crash two and a half years ago, returns home... to find her engaged to his best friend. *cue the dramatic organ music* LOL
If that wasn't shocking enough, it seems that her once courteous, civilized husband has had a personality transplant since the airplane crash, returning home with a savage "Me Tarzan, You Jane" attitude. He promptly and forcefully illustrates this new facet of his personality the very night of his return. The wimpy OM would-be fiance fades into the shadows and the rest of the book is a series of fights and arguments between the wife and the husband. They even fight about the hardness of their mattress lol, which forced the husband to sleep a few nights on the floor of the library. Then, when he replaces his wife's soft bed with a mattress that would rival a slab of granite, it is his wife's turn to have restless nights.
In the absence of her dominant husband, the wife has grown to be independent and self-reliant. She has a career and is her own boss, which she greatly enjoys. So she is none too pleased by the return of her husband, especially not one who prefers to live by the edicts of the Stone Age. She was such a basic bitch, it was kinda funny. Incredibly, the husband, despite all his dubiously consensual seductions, eventually comes off as the more sensitive person. At least, he is trying to fight for his marriage, in his own way.
This was a strange one and I found myself skimming towards the end. The character of the wife was too wishy washy for me. She wasn't sure if she wanted to marry the OM at the beginning. Then she wasn't sure she wanted to stay married to the hero for the rest of the story. She clung to the wimpy OM then to her husband in turn. I think honestly she should have gotten divorced and married her career, it was the only thing that she had a real passion for.
If that wasn't shocking enough, it seems that her once courteous, civilized husband has had a personality transplant since the airplane crash, returning home with a savage "Me Tarzan, You Jane" attitude. He promptly and forcefully illustrates this new facet of his personality the very night of his return. The wimpy OM would-be fiance fades into the shadows and the rest of the book is a series of fights and arguments between the wife and the husband. They even fight about the hardness of their mattress lol, which forced the husband to sleep a few nights on the floor of the library. Then, when he replaces his wife's soft bed with a mattress that would rival a slab of granite, it is his wife's turn to have restless nights.
In the absence of her dominant husband, the wife has grown to be independent and self-reliant. She has a career and is her own boss, which she greatly enjoys. So she is none too pleased by the return of her husband, especially not one who prefers to live by the edicts of the Stone Age. She was such a basic bitch, it was kinda funny. Incredibly, the husband, despite all his dubiously consensual seductions, eventually comes off as the more sensitive person. At least, he is trying to fight for his marriage, in his own way.
This was a strange one and I found myself skimming towards the end. The character of the wife was too wishy washy for me. She wasn't sure if she wanted to marry the OM at the beginning. Then she wasn't sure she wanted to stay married to the hero for the rest of the story. She clung to the wimpy OM then to her husband in turn. I think honestly she should have gotten divorced and married her career, it was the only thing that she had a real passion for.
February 11, 2022
Silly but interesting.
July 4, 2020
Missing presumed dead husband comes back to wife who’s been running his company for over two years in his absence.
She’s a 100% pain in the neck who’s cold, aloof, argumentative.
He’s a domineering chauvinist who kicks her out of the company immediately on his return (he was completely wrong in all handling of this). He lacks communication skills and the ability to compromise.
Their arguing and lack of any sense of romance made for less of a good read than the blurb promised.
She’s a 100% pain in the neck who’s cold, aloof, argumentative.
He’s a domineering chauvinist who kicks her out of the company immediately on his return (he was completely wrong in all handling of this). He lacks communication skills and the ability to compromise.
Their arguing and lack of any sense of romance made for less of a good read than the blurb promised.
Read
December 10, 2023No rating
Pausing or DNF’ing (idk) @ 63%
Marriage-in-Trouble
In short: The H (husband) comes back from the dead and the h (wife) is engaged to his best friend. Oh, the angst!
It’s well-written and I enjoyed what I read but I’ve suddenly lost all interest. I’m fickle like that. I need more angst and this couple is constantly at each other’s throats…started to get old.
Pausing or DNF’ing (idk) @ 63%
Marriage-in-Trouble
In short: The H (husband) comes back from the dead and the h (wife) is engaged to his best friend. Oh, the angst!
It’s well-written and I enjoyed what I read but I’ve suddenly lost all interest. I’m fickle like that. I need more angst and this couple is constantly at each other’s throats…started to get old.
September 11, 2011
Blake returns after surviving a plane crash and living in the jungle for 2 years. He's a changed man (duh), but Dina changed as well, and is engaged to someone else.
Fights! Sparks! Stubbornness! Hard beds!
I liked that Dina evolved into a business savvy person, and wasn't willing to let go her position of power in the company. For a 70s Harlequin, it's quite feminist. Blake definitely falls under the overbearing obnoxious alpha harlequin hero type, but I liked how he empowered the heroine despite all that.
It's still a 70s HP, so it's all very traditional male/female roles, but it was ok.
Fights! Sparks! Stubbornness! Hard beds!
I liked that Dina evolved into a business savvy person, and wasn't willing to let go her position of power in the company. For a 70s Harlequin, it's quite feminist. Blake definitely falls under the overbearing obnoxious alpha harlequin hero type, but I liked how he empowered the heroine despite all that.
It's still a 70s HP, so it's all very traditional male/female roles, but it was ok.
November 14, 2023
"Strange People" would be a better title! There was nothing appealing about any of them, the h in particular. The expression 'cold as ice" fits her to a tee! If Dina had a heat, I'm convinced it was in the form of an iceberg. She looked through her (supposedly) late husband's belongings without emotion, she got engaged to his best friend without emotion, she discovered the presumed dead H was still alive (when she came face-to-face with Blake) without emotion, she heard of all he had gone through during the two years he was lost in a jungle after a plane crash that killed the other passengers without emotion, she gives the OM, Chet back his ring without emotion, and the only time she shows any emotion is when Blake decides to get back to work as CEO of the family business, and then she throws a hissy fit! (She and Chet had been running the company, since they needed a family member to take over and keep it from going under and there was no one else available, so she had the name and Chet had the experience.) Instead of being glad her husband was back from the dead, she has the nerve to start whining about it being "her office, her secretary, her job", etc.! Ironically, for someone who wanted to come across as a mature businesswoman, she sounded like a spoiled teenager!
To make matters worse, later she wants to meet with Chet of all people, to have a good bitch and cry fest! Glad he didn't show up and sent Blake instead!
Blake was no saint, either! almost as soon as he got home, he started going on about how horny he was! He went from demanding to know if Dina had slept with Chet (she hadn't) to demanding she sleep with him! As for work, while I can't blame him for wanting to be in charge again, Dina had managed to do a good job, and he only thanked her as an afterthought, and didn't give her prior warning that he was taking over again until she showed up to work and he was already there!
As for sex, she needed time to adjust, he was too impatient, they end up going at it like animals in heat (which surprised me, since they both seem such cold people, especially Dina), but she regrets it because there was lust, not love and he resents her attitude.
The other characters aren't so great, either. Blake's mother wears mourning like a badge of honor, and after Blake's return, continues to wear her black outfits because her husband's still dead, even if her son's alive! (My aunt showed her love for my late uncle by never getting married or sleeping with another man again, not by going around in perpetual gloom, looking miserable, and forgetting how to enjoy life.)
Chet was a real sycophant, who likes to be where the power is and bask in its glory, hence his friendship with Blake and engagement to Dina. He accepted his ring back without a problem, because in truth, with Blake back in power he didn't need marriage to Dina anymore. Yet, he still wanted to be friends with them both, and why neither one kicked him to the curb is anyone's guess.
This couple's "love" seemed as genuine as a seven-dollar bill, counterfeit all the way! They were two self-centered people, who both wanted to be the alpha boss! The two of them needed a quick trip to divorce court, as their having a HEA was a joke!
So was this book!
To make matters worse, later she wants to meet with Chet of all people, to have a good bitch and cry fest! Glad he didn't show up and sent Blake instead!
Blake was no saint, either! almost as soon as he got home, he started going on about how horny he was! He went from demanding to know if Dina had slept with Chet (she hadn't) to demanding she sleep with him! As for work, while I can't blame him for wanting to be in charge again, Dina had managed to do a good job, and he only thanked her as an afterthought, and didn't give her prior warning that he was taking over again until she showed up to work and he was already there!
As for sex, she needed time to adjust, he was too impatient, they end up going at it like animals in heat (which surprised me, since they both seem such cold people, especially Dina), but she regrets it because there was lust, not love and he resents her attitude.
The other characters aren't so great, either. Blake's mother wears mourning like a badge of honor, and after Blake's return, continues to wear her black outfits because her husband's still dead, even if her son's alive! (My aunt showed her love for my late uncle by never getting married or sleeping with another man again, not by going around in perpetual gloom, looking miserable, and forgetting how to enjoy life.)
Chet was a real sycophant, who likes to be where the power is and bask in its glory, hence his friendship with Blake and engagement to Dina. He accepted his ring back without a problem, because in truth, with Blake back in power he didn't need marriage to Dina anymore. Yet, he still wanted to be friends with them both, and why neither one kicked him to the curb is anyone's guess.
This couple's "love" seemed as genuine as a seven-dollar bill, counterfeit all the way! They were two self-centered people, who both wanted to be the alpha boss! The two of them needed a quick trip to divorce court, as their having a HEA was a joke!
So was this book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2020
It started off fine, but then fell short by a long shot. The heroine actually STARTS to have a backbone for a while, but then becomes a useless, angry git halfway through. Spoilers, but they don't really even work out their differences other than to say this is going to forever be an issue. Just imagine explaining that one to your kids; "We fight because we love each other so much..." Not a stable or very romantic ending tbh.
And, don't get me started on the attempt at bringing in The Feminine Mystique concepts, and then following WAY short of even that concept. Sorry, but this one did not do it for me.
And, don't get me started on the attempt at bringing in The Feminine Mystique concepts, and then following WAY short of even that concept. Sorry, but this one did not do it for me.
Read
November 23, 2023Added the only book I could vaguely remember from this series even though I could swear I read three or four (or more) of these. Tbh I credit these books into turning me against romance as a young teen. Lol. I like angst and I’ve definitely read worse, but the way Janet Dailey portrays relationships in this series—the women are just so self-effacing. I was definitely hate-reading most of these. (My older sister was the one buying the books) But maybe it’s due for a reread?
July 2, 2019
This book was a big disappointment for me. The h had been lost in the jungle for two years following a plane crash. His devoted wife has fallen in love with his best friend. When h returns to town, rumors are abuzz. There is a lot of angst and unsolved issues that need to be dealt with.
January 30, 2023
The H and h are married. He has been missing for only two years and when he comes back, his wife is already engaged to his best friend (of all people on the planet 🙄).
December 2, 2024
A very interesting story well told.
Blake💜💜💜
Blake💜💜💜
December 17, 2013
This was part of a series of books with this one located in Rhode Island yet other than them going to Block Island there really was nothing about that state. Good storyline of Blake coming back from being missing and being a changed more savage type man especially about sleeping. Surprised at how her very recent replacement fiancé behaved. Dina showed signs of being a modern woman by taking charge of company.
January 11, 2015
Americana series # 39
Boy, you sure tell this book was written in the 70s. Blake's plane crashed in South America and was presumed dead. The company tanked and his wife Dina took control of it.
Two and a half years later, she is engaged to best friend. She seems a little reluctant. The next day she comes home to find that her long lost husband is back from the dead! They are both strangers now. Will they get back what they once had?
This was a cute book. Not a bad no brainer.
Boy, you sure tell this book was written in the 70s. Blake's plane crashed in South America and was presumed dead. The company tanked and his wife Dina took control of it.
Two and a half years later, she is engaged to best friend. She seems a little reluctant. The next day she comes home to find that her long lost husband is back from the dead! They are both strangers now. Will they get back what they once had?
This was a cute book. Not a bad no brainer.
January 20, 2021
"I went through hell to return to you!"
Dina was overcome by guilt when she heard her husband's words. But she couldn't welcome him back with open arms.
Blade had been missing in the South American jungle for two years; she had believed he was dead. When he made his dramatic reappearance, she had just become engaged to his best friend.
The years had changed her. Blake's savage fight for survival had turned him into a primitive stranger. How could they make their marriage work again?
Dina was overcome by guilt when she heard her husband's words. But she couldn't welcome him back with open arms.
Blade had been missing in the South American jungle for two years; she had believed he was dead. When he made his dramatic reappearance, she had just become engaged to his best friend.
The years had changed her. Blake's savage fight for survival had turned him into a primitive stranger. How could they make their marriage work again?
October 29, 2014
this was really gud but i hated dina's attitude! i dunt think she ever loved blade bcoz this was not the behaviour of a woman who had gotten the man she loved back. i cud find no fault in blade. he was still true to her.
Read
July 31, 2011Story with a nice and unusual twist to it.
June 8, 2015
Read it as a teenager. Still remember it. Typical 70s.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews