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Number one
"Nobody can beat you--except yourself, Joanna."
After the accident no one was offering Joanna Lake any hope that she would ever walk again--let alone play professional golf-no one, that is, except Reid Armstrong. Manipulative and arrogant he might be, but he alone was on her side ....
"You'll not only walk again, but you'll play golf--and win! " Reid promised, positively radiating health and handsome strength. "And you'll be the first woman to design a championship golf course. "
Reid had more than enough confidence for them both; it was his obvious self-interest that Joanna found disturbing ....
After the accident no one was offering Joanna Lake any hope that she would ever walk again--let alone play professional golf-no one, that is, except Reid Armstrong. Manipulative and arrogant he might be, but he alone was on her side ....
"You'll not only walk again, but you'll play golf--and win! " Reid promised, positively radiating health and handsome strength. "And you'll be the first woman to design a championship golf course. "
Reid had more than enough confidence for them both; it was his obvious self-interest that Joanna found disturbing ....
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 25, 2015
Re Number One - DH's second outing in HPlandia is just as different as her first one, but this time she provides a much better H. He is aggressively Alpha when it comes to pursuing the h, yet very supportive when he gets her, and when she is threatened by outside evil forces, he turns that aggression to defeating her enemies and fighting for her cause.
Yet the biggest battle in the book is within the h herself. She is a LPGA professional golfer and is ranked as one of the most skilled and analytical players in the country, yet has only won 3 major tournaments. She consistently loses to more aggressive, competitive players and so usually comes in second. She is seems to be subconsciously sabotaging herself when it comes to other players, she has too much empathy to actually beat them. She is also a single, divorced mum who had the good sense to get out of a bad marriage even though she had just discovered she was preggers.
She meets the H when he imposes his company on her after she lost a major tournament to her biggest competition, a woman recovered from kidney failure who wants to win 50 LPGA titles and has currently won 47. He wants the h to be the architect to design a major, professional class golf course. In the storyline, there weren't any professional courses designed by women and the H is determined that the h will be the first.
Apparently there is a big difference in a course designed for male golfers as opposed to one for female players, and the H wants the h to design one that both sexes can compete on and will find a challenge. After he assures the h he will persist until she agrees, the h gets into a big car accident that severely damages her knee.
The H leaps into action to get her the best sports medicine help available, but while he believes in her, the rest of the world and indeed her own doctors, think that because she is so pretty and nice she should just write her career off. The H makes friends with her daughter and brings the H to his home to recover and design the course. Of course he is courting her during her recuperation and eventually she falls in love.
Then her really nasty ex-husband (who totally abandons his daughter - he has never seen her) tells her that she has lost the golf course commission and hands her a letter from her former golf coach to prove it. The h, thinking the H has betrayed her, kicks him out of her life and then decides she is going for a big golf tournament title.
No one thinks she can win, and her first efforts are not good, but the last chapter describing the tournament is almost as nail biting as watching Richie Mccaw go for a final shot over the goal in a tied World Cup final. The h takes all her grief, pain and rage over the H's supposed betrayal and focuses on winning the tournament. Her big competition is the lady working on her 50 titles. She eventually does win the tournament in a very nerve wracking scene making an impossible shot and then she is advised that she will be designing the new golf course as well. The H twisted arms and got sponsors and got her the commission.
She hunts down the H and apologizes and then a big reunion with an HEA. This is a pretty intense story in terms of a likable, professional athlete making a comeback from a career killing injury and finding the self confidence to become a champion. The tension and the descriptions of the golf tournaments almost made me want to actually grab my hubby's clubs and do more on the green than drink Bellini's and drive the golf cart.
DH does an excellent job of putting the reader into the mind of a professional athlete, the kind of drive, concentration and skill it takes to win, plus she does a great job with a lonely h finding her way into a very caring and supportive romance. Give this one a try even if you don't like golf, it is a nice story and a great way to get a happy feeling without bingeing on the triple fudge turtle cookies.
Yet the biggest battle in the book is within the h herself. She is a LPGA professional golfer and is ranked as one of the most skilled and analytical players in the country, yet has only won 3 major tournaments. She consistently loses to more aggressive, competitive players and so usually comes in second. She is seems to be subconsciously sabotaging herself when it comes to other players, she has too much empathy to actually beat them. She is also a single, divorced mum who had the good sense to get out of a bad marriage even though she had just discovered she was preggers.
She meets the H when he imposes his company on her after she lost a major tournament to her biggest competition, a woman recovered from kidney failure who wants to win 50 LPGA titles and has currently won 47. He wants the h to be the architect to design a major, professional class golf course. In the storyline, there weren't any professional courses designed by women and the H is determined that the h will be the first.
Apparently there is a big difference in a course designed for male golfers as opposed to one for female players, and the H wants the h to design one that both sexes can compete on and will find a challenge. After he assures the h he will persist until she agrees, the h gets into a big car accident that severely damages her knee.
The H leaps into action to get her the best sports medicine help available, but while he believes in her, the rest of the world and indeed her own doctors, think that because she is so pretty and nice she should just write her career off. The H makes friends with her daughter and brings the H to his home to recover and design the course. Of course he is courting her during her recuperation and eventually she falls in love.
Then her really nasty ex-husband (who totally abandons his daughter - he has never seen her) tells her that she has lost the golf course commission and hands her a letter from her former golf coach to prove it. The h, thinking the H has betrayed her, kicks him out of her life and then decides she is going for a big golf tournament title.
No one thinks she can win, and her first efforts are not good, but the last chapter describing the tournament is almost as nail biting as watching Richie Mccaw go for a final shot over the goal in a tied World Cup final. The h takes all her grief, pain and rage over the H's supposed betrayal and focuses on winning the tournament. Her big competition is the lady working on her 50 titles. She eventually does win the tournament in a very nerve wracking scene making an impossible shot and then she is advised that she will be designing the new golf course as well. The H twisted arms and got sponsors and got her the commission.
She hunts down the H and apologizes and then a big reunion with an HEA. This is a pretty intense story in terms of a likable, professional athlete making a comeback from a career killing injury and finding the self confidence to become a champion. The tension and the descriptions of the golf tournaments almost made me want to actually grab my hubby's clubs and do more on the green than drink Bellini's and drive the golf cart.
DH does an excellent job of putting the reader into the mind of a professional athlete, the kind of drive, concentration and skill it takes to win, plus she does a great job with a lonely h finding her way into a very caring and supportive romance. Give this one a try even if you don't like golf, it is a nice story and a great way to get a happy feeling without bingeing on the triple fudge turtle cookies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2016
I read this book because the storyline seemed unique. The heroine is a golf pro who gets injured and the hero is her road to recovery and love. It's a good premise, but I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters. The hero is concerned and caring towards the heroine, a bit bullying, but it was just so ambiguous. He assumed the role of a good friend who gave her a place to convalesce, which is not a bad thing, it just didn't feel very romantic or lover-like. It certainly didn't seem like he was in love with her, it could just as easily have been because he wanted her to finish designing his golf course. Which was the reason he approached her in the start.
Joanna, the heroine is very introspective, maybe that was the point of the author, we only see her POV, but we never even get a hint of what the hero feels. As the reader, we are not privy to their conversations, aside from remarks about her injured knee, or how he believes she can be number one, we don't get much more from him. It's another person that points out to the heroine that "he has it bad for her". Seriously, the heroine couldn't see it and neither could the reader.
The story was better off as a sports come-back than a romance. Her come back tournament had more tension filled moments than their so-called relationship. I also had a problem with the writing style. It seemed old-fashioned, and makes for a boring read.
If you see this book and have nothing else to read, then go ahead, I wouldn't bother hunting around old book shops for it.
Joanna, the heroine is very introspective, maybe that was the point of the author, we only see her POV, but we never even get a hint of what the hero feels. As the reader, we are not privy to their conversations, aside from remarks about her injured knee, or how he believes she can be number one, we don't get much more from him. It's another person that points out to the heroine that "he has it bad for her". Seriously, the heroine couldn't see it and neither could the reader.
The story was better off as a sports come-back than a romance. Her come back tournament had more tension filled moments than their so-called relationship. I also had a problem with the writing style. It seemed old-fashioned, and makes for a boring read.
If you see this book and have nothing else to read, then go ahead, I wouldn't bother hunting around old book shops for it.
September 13, 2013
I think I liked A Stranger To Love better. Both follow strong women and supportive men but ASTL was more thrilling for me. This felt like a full length novel waiting to happen.
December 5, 2022
I am not a golf fan so my eyes sort of glazed over most of the golfer heroine’s strategies and scoring on the grass but this was good writing overall and I enjoyed the story. I like reading about a dedicated female pro athlete for a change as this is usually reserved for heroes especially in 1980s HPlandia. An additional interesting point of the plot is that the hero recruits heroine to be the first female golf course designer in the US and it’s not only because he believes in her, which he does, but because he wants to shake up the good old boys network that sits on the boards of these moneyed, conservative country clubs and “break the ice” for other female architects who will come after the heroine. I chuckled at the line, thinking that “breaking the glass ceiling” was what the hero was planning. Good story with likeable protagonists, a suitably evil villain, good and believable world building and secondary characters. I wish there were more of this author’s books available on openlibrary. The other one is titled “Intimate” in which she tackles sexual harassment in the workplace very realistically but the so-called hero in that story is so vomit-inducing that I could not like that one :(
April 25, 2023
Intense emotions. The h is foolish and graceless, doesn’t thank H for his care.
October 19, 2013
Took a while to get to the action, and the hero was maybe a little too enigmatic, but overall this was a very nice story. Some good drama at the end.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews