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Flawless
Now, Carly thought, she'd get her revenge
As a gawky, plain teenager, Carly has suffered bitter disillusion at the hands of Saul Kingsland. And she had waited for the right time.
As an acknowledged beauty arid successful model now, Carly could afford to be generous. But she had no intention of forgiving and forgetting the past. It was time for Saul Kingsland to learn a lesson.
So she laid her plans carefully, put them into action--only then realizing that the price might well be too high for Carly herself to pay...
As a gawky, plain teenager, Carly has suffered bitter disillusion at the hands of Saul Kingsland. And she had waited for the right time.
As an acknowledged beauty arid successful model now, Carly could afford to be generous. But she had no intention of forgiving and forgetting the past. It was time for Saul Kingsland to learn a lesson.
So she laid her plans carefully, put them into action--only then realizing that the price might well be too high for Carly herself to pay...
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
5 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Sara Craven
493 books266 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 8, 2016
Carly North, a beautiful up-and-coming model, is eager to go to a reception party for "Flawless". ("Flawless" is looking for a new face to launch it's make-up campaign.) But Carly has different reasons for wanting to attend. She wants to meet up with Saul Kingsland (a photographer) who hurt her five years ago, and she is planning her revenge.
I can't resist a vengeful heroine so I enjoyed this story. It was a captivating and crazy read. (Even though it wasn't as crazy as Sally Wentworth's plastic surgery/heroine-revenge story "The Judas Kiss". The heroine in that story was even crazier and more ruthless.)
I can't resist a vengeful heroine so I enjoyed this story. It was a captivating and crazy read. (Even though it wasn't as crazy as Sally Wentworth's plastic surgery/heroine-revenge story "The Judas Kiss". The heroine in that story was even crazier and more ruthless.)
January 27, 2020
Another poorly thought-out revenge plot. Fashion model heroine is going to have a tabloid publish nude photos of her to bring down her photographer boyfriend's career. Umm, what? Wouldn’t that have harmed HER career and reputation a lot more than his? We’re talking about an era when public nudity would bring public shame and shunning, not the present time where you would be lucky to make a mark in an ocean of nude reality TV stars with millions of dollars in endorsement deals.
Then, you have the consummation scene that culminates in a discussion about AIDS. One that comes AFTER they have already hopped in the sack without any protection. How romantic. *face palm*
The baddies of the story, consisting of an extended circle of family and friends who treated h horribly during her childhood because she was the ugly duckling in a kingdom of swans, get no comeuppance whatsoever. There is a lot of speculation about an upcoming wedding of the heroine's beautiful-on-the-outside-ugly-on-the-inside sister to a snobby local squire. Now wouldn't it have been nice if h showed up with her glam boyfriend in tow and made the whole lot eat a bit of humble pie after all the crap they put her through?
As it is, all the superficial efforts h has made to change herself, from extensive cosmetic surgery to building a career as a top model, continue to be sneered at by the folks back at home as vulgar and uncouth. They mocked her when she was an awkward child and they mock her now for trying to put on airs. She just can't win with them!
Finally, I did not buy the hero's explanations about a dreadful conversation the heroine overheard him having with a nasty “family friend” when the heroine was an ugly duckling teen. The hero was clearly disparaging heroine's gawky looks and whining about how she wouldn't fit into the pictures he was supposed to take of all the bridesmaids at the family wedding they were all gathered for.
When the heroine finally confronts him with what she overheard him say about her, he tries to gaslight her into believing that he was complimenting her. What he meant was that she was too fresh, authentic and innocent to fit in with a bunch of spoiled, malicious, overly made-up skanks. Sure, sure buddy!
Well, of course, the heroine was only too happy to buy that it had all been a Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstanding. But I didn't buy it. He would never have looked at her twice if she had not done the cosmetic surgery and become a model instead of a dowdy schoolmarm in a quiet English village. So please spare me on his declaration that they have flawless love lol.
Then, you have the consummation scene that culminates in a discussion about AIDS. One that comes AFTER they have already hopped in the sack without any protection. How romantic. *face palm*
The baddies of the story, consisting of an extended circle of family and friends who treated h horribly during her childhood because she was the ugly duckling in a kingdom of swans, get no comeuppance whatsoever. There is a lot of speculation about an upcoming wedding of the heroine's beautiful-on-the-outside-ugly-on-the-inside sister to a snobby local squire. Now wouldn't it have been nice if h showed up with her glam boyfriend in tow and made the whole lot eat a bit of humble pie after all the crap they put her through?
As it is, all the superficial efforts h has made to change herself, from extensive cosmetic surgery to building a career as a top model, continue to be sneered at by the folks back at home as vulgar and uncouth. They mocked her when she was an awkward child and they mock her now for trying to put on airs. She just can't win with them!
Finally, I did not buy the hero's explanations about a dreadful conversation the heroine overheard him having with a nasty “family friend” when the heroine was an ugly duckling teen. The hero was clearly disparaging heroine's gawky looks and whining about how she wouldn't fit into the pictures he was supposed to take of all the bridesmaids at the family wedding they were all gathered for.
When the heroine finally confronts him with what she overheard him say about her, he tries to gaslight her into believing that he was complimenting her. What he meant was that she was too fresh, authentic and innocent to fit in with a bunch of spoiled, malicious, overly made-up skanks. Sure, sure buddy!
Well, of course, the heroine was only too happy to buy that it had all been a Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstanding. But I didn't buy it. He would never have looked at her twice if she had not done the cosmetic surgery and become a model instead of a dowdy schoolmarm in a quiet English village. So please spare me on his declaration that they have flawless love lol.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2017
Re Flawless - Sara Craven is back with a most unusual revenge story. This h is DEDICATED - she spends five years and has cosmetic surgery to get revenge on the H. It isn't often that you see that kind of dedication for revenge in an H OR an h in HPlandia.
And there has never been another h who went out and changed her whole look with surgery outside of Sally Wentworth in the formation of an h's grand plan o' vengeance. Normally HP's don't support the cosmetic surgery decision - our h's usually only need a makeover and some waxing, cause our h's are pure and virtuous girls who would never dream of going under the knife.
However in HPlandia, anything goes in the name of REVENGE - even changing looks to make an h into a top supermodel - and that is exactly what this h sets out to do. (Though I must say that SC is much kinder to her revenge target H than Sally Wentworth was in The Judas Kiss
This story opens with the h planing on will-to-powering herself into the famous photographer H's attention as the next big cosmetic model spokeswoman. To reach that goal, she glams on her warpaint and stares at the H when he belatedly arrives for the cosmetic company's big cattle call party. With one five second stare across the room, she has hooked her fish and is ready to reel him in.
The H notices her and makes a beeline right for her. He tells her he wants her to be his model for the big ad campaign and he wouldn't mind a bit of seduction on the side too - he has a powerful attraction. The h seems to be unsure that she actually wants to do this and her manager's wife is suspecting something fishy is up. But a visit home where she is rejected as a bridesmaid by her jealous sister because of her now fabulous looks, plus when the h realizes her family really doesn't want anything to do with her, firms up her determination.
The H is more than a little attracted to the h, and tho she is still petting unicorns in her spare time, the h is willing to use that attraction to the max. It seems five years earlier, the H was the photographer at yet another wedding of a family member of the h and the h was also a bridesmaid. Except the h was very tall and ungainly looking and there were lots of remarks that she did not fit in and the h felt very rejected.
The H was very kind to her over the weekend and she developed a huge crush. Until the h found him photographing one of the other girls in the garden will little to nothing on. The girl was very provocative with the h and making cruel remarks about how very out of place and ugly the h was. Then the H agreed with her comments, before seeming to acquiesce to the girl's garden seduction. This shattered the h, cause at 16 the H was the only person who seemed to even acknowledge her as a person.
The h's parent's had no time for her, they were all about her older, beautiful sister. When the h inherited a lot of money from a godmother and set out to change her looks and get a modeling career under an alias, her older sister drew away when the h became better looking that she was. Plus the sister's fiance's handsy father tried it on with the h at a New Year's Eve party.
He got shot down hard by the h, but it made the sister's future mother in law angry - and for some reason even tho there is every chance that the sister's fiance will be a lurvly lady buffet sampler just like his dad, the sister thinks it is the epitome of everything to be married to him. When the sister kicked the h out of her wedding, it was the last straw and the h pretty much tells them all to take a hike - just like five years earlier when she claimed she was sick and bailed on that wedding too.
But all those rejections and not fitting in led the h to her current plan of vengeance - she blames the H for all those rejections because he treated her like a person and then went behind her back and admitted it was only pity, he thought she was ugly awful just like everyone else. The h has a lot of rage, so she figures she will ruin his career just like the H ruined her perception of her family and her life. She becomes a model, she wins his interest and now all she has to do is maneuver the situation so that the H takes some naughty photos of her - which she will then have published in the latest scandal paper and ruin the H's professional image and break the cosmetic contract.
(Which I have to wonder at the effectiveness of this scheme - by this point Calvin Klein's Bruce Weber had been doing all kinds of provocative underwear ads, some with partial nudity and everyone called him an artist, I am not sure the H's photos wouldn't have been regarded in the same light. By today's fashion ad standards - most noticeably Tom Ford's - a topless/unclad lady is nothing to get excited about. )
But anyhows, it is SC's revenge story and she is running with it. So the H and h adjourn to a private Greek island and the h manages to get her photos - she also gets lot more of the H than she bargained for when they have their big purple passion moment. (After a discussion about the dangers of profligate lurve clubbings, SC's bid for an HP public safety announcement.)
The h takes off soon after and hands the naughty pics over to a notorious scandal rag publisher, who is an old school friend of her agent. Cue up the big mopey moment when the h realizes that her revenge has just annihilated the big love of her life - cause she is in love with the H and he will hate her forever now.
Except this is an HP and of course our H isn't going to let anything like purloined photos or the loss of a huge cosmetics contract keep him away from his true love h. Plus he managed to get the pictures back and so the whole revenge pot is totally tanked. He manages to track down the h conveniently moping at a pub near the H's grandma's house and after he swears he never said anything bad about the h five years earlier, or had lurve clubbings with that mean girl in the garden and still carries her five year ago picture around in his wallet, he avows his true lurve forever and the h confesses her love back for the big HEA.
This one was okay, the extremes the h was willing to go to was interesting. But the revenge scheme was kinda sub-par for the amount of effort the h had to put into it. However it got her true love and happiness in the end, so that was alright too.
Tho I do wonder if the h will actually invite any of her family for the wedding, the h pretty much wrote them off at the beginning of the book and being in love with the H did not activate the HP automatic happy family restoration bond. Which is unusual, but the book worked anyways and overall is a fun little jaunt in HPLandia.
And there has never been another h who went out and changed her whole look with surgery outside of Sally Wentworth in the formation of an h's grand plan o' vengeance. Normally HP's don't support the cosmetic surgery decision - our h's usually only need a makeover and some waxing, cause our h's are pure and virtuous girls who would never dream of going under the knife.
However in HPlandia, anything goes in the name of REVENGE - even changing looks to make an h into a top supermodel - and that is exactly what this h sets out to do. (Though I must say that SC is much kinder to her revenge target H than Sally Wentworth was in The Judas Kiss
This story opens with the h planing on will-to-powering herself into the famous photographer H's attention as the next big cosmetic model spokeswoman. To reach that goal, she glams on her warpaint and stares at the H when he belatedly arrives for the cosmetic company's big cattle call party. With one five second stare across the room, she has hooked her fish and is ready to reel him in.
The H notices her and makes a beeline right for her. He tells her he wants her to be his model for the big ad campaign and he wouldn't mind a bit of seduction on the side too - he has a powerful attraction. The h seems to be unsure that she actually wants to do this and her manager's wife is suspecting something fishy is up. But a visit home where she is rejected as a bridesmaid by her jealous sister because of her now fabulous looks, plus when the h realizes her family really doesn't want anything to do with her, firms up her determination.
The H is more than a little attracted to the h, and tho she is still petting unicorns in her spare time, the h is willing to use that attraction to the max. It seems five years earlier, the H was the photographer at yet another wedding of a family member of the h and the h was also a bridesmaid. Except the h was very tall and ungainly looking and there were lots of remarks that she did not fit in and the h felt very rejected.
The H was very kind to her over the weekend and she developed a huge crush. Until the h found him photographing one of the other girls in the garden will little to nothing on. The girl was very provocative with the h and making cruel remarks about how very out of place and ugly the h was. Then the H agreed with her comments, before seeming to acquiesce to the girl's garden seduction. This shattered the h, cause at 16 the H was the only person who seemed to even acknowledge her as a person.
The h's parent's had no time for her, they were all about her older, beautiful sister. When the h inherited a lot of money from a godmother and set out to change her looks and get a modeling career under an alias, her older sister drew away when the h became better looking that she was. Plus the sister's fiance's handsy father tried it on with the h at a New Year's Eve party.
He got shot down hard by the h, but it made the sister's future mother in law angry - and for some reason even tho there is every chance that the sister's fiance will be a lurvly lady buffet sampler just like his dad, the sister thinks it is the epitome of everything to be married to him. When the sister kicked the h out of her wedding, it was the last straw and the h pretty much tells them all to take a hike - just like five years earlier when she claimed she was sick and bailed on that wedding too.
But all those rejections and not fitting in led the h to her current plan of vengeance - she blames the H for all those rejections because he treated her like a person and then went behind her back and admitted it was only pity, he thought she was ugly awful just like everyone else. The h has a lot of rage, so she figures she will ruin his career just like the H ruined her perception of her family and her life. She becomes a model, she wins his interest and now all she has to do is maneuver the situation so that the H takes some naughty photos of her - which she will then have published in the latest scandal paper and ruin the H's professional image and break the cosmetic contract.
(Which I have to wonder at the effectiveness of this scheme - by this point Calvin Klein's Bruce Weber had been doing all kinds of provocative underwear ads, some with partial nudity and everyone called him an artist, I am not sure the H's photos wouldn't have been regarded in the same light. By today's fashion ad standards - most noticeably Tom Ford's - a topless/unclad lady is nothing to get excited about. )
But anyhows, it is SC's revenge story and she is running with it. So the H and h adjourn to a private Greek island and the h manages to get her photos - she also gets lot more of the H than she bargained for when they have their big purple passion moment. (After a discussion about the dangers of profligate lurve clubbings, SC's bid for an HP public safety announcement.)
The h takes off soon after and hands the naughty pics over to a notorious scandal rag publisher, who is an old school friend of her agent. Cue up the big mopey moment when the h realizes that her revenge has just annihilated the big love of her life - cause she is in love with the H and he will hate her forever now.
Except this is an HP and of course our H isn't going to let anything like purloined photos or the loss of a huge cosmetics contract keep him away from his true love h. Plus he managed to get the pictures back and so the whole revenge pot is totally tanked. He manages to track down the h conveniently moping at a pub near the H's grandma's house and after he swears he never said anything bad about the h five years earlier, or had lurve clubbings with that mean girl in the garden and still carries her five year ago picture around in his wallet, he avows his true lurve forever and the h confesses her love back for the big HEA.
This one was okay, the extremes the h was willing to go to was interesting. But the revenge scheme was kinda sub-par for the amount of effort the h had to put into it. However it got her true love and happiness in the end, so that was alright too.
Tho I do wonder if the h will actually invite any of her family for the wedding, the h pretty much wrote them off at the beginning of the book and being in love with the H did not activate the HP automatic happy family restoration bond. Which is unusual, but the book worked anyways and overall is a fun little jaunt in HPLandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2016
Carly is a successful model, and seems to be having a pretty nice life. Against her agent’s advice she’s going for a job as the face of a cosmetics campaign. The cosmetics range is called Flawless. The characters will say flawless at each other several million times. You could make a drinking game out of how many times each character says it but means something else entirely.
Whether Carly gets the job or not is entirely in the hands of Saul the photographer. As Saul descends a staircase he spies Carly across a crowd of beautiful women. He must have her for his photos! And his bed too!
Carly’s all: sure thing, let’s go with that. But she has a secret. She’s going to take revenge on Saul. She’s been planning this whole thing out for years.
Once upon a time, Carly was ugly. She was too tall, she wore terrible clothes, her hair was a mess and she had a big nose. She met Saul at her cousin’s wedding, where she was to be a bridesmaid. Saul seemed to like her, but then she came upon him mid-seduction with another bridesmaid, and found out what he really thought of her. Since that moment, she’s been bent on revenge.
This is one of those tragic revenge stories, the type of thing that heroines do, but heroes don’t. Hero revenge stories are about getting enough power so that they can bully anyone who has slighted them in the past. Heroes never do this type of revenge: the type where the character sacrifices everything and will destroy themselves to ensure that her nemesis is brought down. This seems like the proper terrible way to do revenge, and I approve. Basically, I now think hero revengers are all whiny babies for not making a proper commitment to the cause.
Saul is actually pretty lovely. He sort of has to be for this story to work, but I was at least convinced that Carly was going to struggle against her feelings for him, and the sense that he was not the person she expected. Even without his viewpoint, it’s clear that he’s attracted to Carly for more than her looks.
Carly has done something incredibly unusual in romance in her transformation into a model. I won’t spoil it, but I know this is the first time I’ve ever encountered a HP heroine who has done what she’s done, because usually it’s seen as incredibly poor form. I really liked her – mostly because in reading so many Sara Craven books I get a bit sick of heroines who don’t want anything, or start making plans to change their life that they never attempt to make into reality. She’s cursed once again by a horrible family who punish her for the choices she’s made. This works within the revenge plot, but there’s also a sense that she’d have suffered at their hands no matter what she did.
How Carly intends her revenge axe to fall is also nicely subtle – or at least it was subtle enough that it kept me guessing, without making me impatient about how much time she thought about it without thinking the exact thought of how it was going to happen.
Ultimately, setting out on a revenge plot that takes many years and leaves a great deal to chance means that the story isn’t terrible believable. It’s slightly difficult to credit that someone Carly has just met would prompt such an extreme reaction. But if you can get past that, the tension around the revenge plot is built really well, and the characters manage to not too ridiculous as they play it out.
Whether Carly gets the job or not is entirely in the hands of Saul the photographer. As Saul descends a staircase he spies Carly across a crowd of beautiful women. He must have her for his photos! And his bed too!
Carly’s all: sure thing, let’s go with that. But she has a secret. She’s going to take revenge on Saul. She’s been planning this whole thing out for years.
Once upon a time, Carly was ugly. She was too tall, she wore terrible clothes, her hair was a mess and she had a big nose. She met Saul at her cousin’s wedding, where she was to be a bridesmaid. Saul seemed to like her, but then she came upon him mid-seduction with another bridesmaid, and found out what he really thought of her. Since that moment, she’s been bent on revenge.
This is one of those tragic revenge stories, the type of thing that heroines do, but heroes don’t. Hero revenge stories are about getting enough power so that they can bully anyone who has slighted them in the past. Heroes never do this type of revenge: the type where the character sacrifices everything and will destroy themselves to ensure that her nemesis is brought down. This seems like the proper terrible way to do revenge, and I approve. Basically, I now think hero revengers are all whiny babies for not making a proper commitment to the cause.
Saul is actually pretty lovely. He sort of has to be for this story to work, but I was at least convinced that Carly was going to struggle against her feelings for him, and the sense that he was not the person she expected. Even without his viewpoint, it’s clear that he’s attracted to Carly for more than her looks.
Carly has done something incredibly unusual in romance in her transformation into a model. I won’t spoil it, but I know this is the first time I’ve ever encountered a HP heroine who has done what she’s done, because usually it’s seen as incredibly poor form. I really liked her – mostly because in reading so many Sara Craven books I get a bit sick of heroines who don’t want anything, or start making plans to change their life that they never attempt to make into reality. She’s cursed once again by a horrible family who punish her for the choices she’s made. This works within the revenge plot, but there’s also a sense that she’d have suffered at their hands no matter what she did.
How Carly intends her revenge axe to fall is also nicely subtle – or at least it was subtle enough that it kept me guessing, without making me impatient about how much time she thought about it without thinking the exact thought of how it was going to happen.
Ultimately, setting out on a revenge plot that takes many years and leaves a great deal to chance means that the story isn’t terrible believable. It’s slightly difficult to credit that someone Carly has just met would prompt such an extreme reaction. But if you can get past that, the tension around the revenge plot is built really well, and the characters manage to not too ridiculous as they play it out.
March 7, 2012
Interesting read, for sure. I've read a couple of these plastic surgery stories now, and they're quite weird. Of course it's totally unbelievable that all someone needs to turn themselves from very ugly to model beautiful is a little cosmetic surgery. It also affects the love story -- it's hard to believe that the hero is truly in love with HER when she is partly fake. And I also can't help but think of other things, like what about their kids? You can't perform cosmetic surgery on your genes.
Side note that I hope there aren't many English families that are the way they're portrayed in romance novels. The parents and siblings often seem particularly detached, unloving, and uncaring of their children's feelings. Maybe American romance novel families are written the same way (I mostly read English authors and settings), but geez, it paints a picture of some very uncaring familial relationships.
Side note that I hope there aren't many English families that are the way they're portrayed in romance novels. The parents and siblings often seem particularly detached, unloving, and uncaring of their children's feelings. Maybe American romance novel families are written the same way (I mostly read English authors and settings), but geez, it paints a picture of some very uncaring familial relationships.
November 20, 2014
interesting and crazy heroine
this chick had problems and she took things to the extreme
he better not ever cheat on her because I can't imagine what kind of crazy revenge scheme she'd come up with then
I'm always looking for a Harlequin like "The Judas Kiss" and have never found a plastic surgery revenge story as good as that one
this chick had problems and she took things to the extreme
he better not ever cheat on her because I can't imagine what kind of crazy revenge scheme she'd come up with then
I'm always looking for a Harlequin like "The Judas Kiss" and have never found a plastic surgery revenge story as good as that one
February 19, 2012
I usually like the revenge type books but I can't say I was too thrilled with this one. To me, it felt really petty for the revenge she was going after. No ones looks are perfect and usually people grow into them or they don't. It's all in the eyes of the beholder. I think Carly went to great lengths to prove to herself that she was worthy of being beautiful. I also think it was her families ugliness and maliciousness that in fact caused her to feel so bad about herself. Saul must have loved her a great deal in order to forgive what she had done. I'm glad it eventually all sorted itself out but was still shocked about the far lengths she went to go, to just have some peace, that turned out to be hell instead.
March 13, 2021
Unfortunately, it was boring.
August 24, 2011
Carly was devastated when the man she thought she loved said she was an object lesson on how not to look. Destroyed, she vowed to change and make Saul realize how wrong he was. Becoming the Flawless model would be the ideal way to bring him down.
Very nice. Definately shows that a few misspoken words can tear a life apart.
Very nice. Definately shows that a few misspoken words can tear a life apart.
January 13, 2015
Loved the story, but the ending...not so much. It wrapped up too quickly, too neatly, I didn´t have time to assimilate it.
But, it was really good in general.
But, it was really good in general.
June 4, 2018
I think the h in this one is actually ever so slightly unhinged. She gave up on her adolescent dreams, had plastic surgery to change her appearance then went for a whole new career in modelling to gain revenge on the H who although a complete and utter muppet, was certainly not revenge fodder.
Plus he had taken himself off to America for a few years so I'm not sure when she thought she was going to meet him again exactly.
Because this is HPlandia serendipity dictates that of course she gets the opportunity to avenge herself and manipulates things to ensure she meets the H who falls in lust with her at first sight.
What was his big crime you ask? He befriended the teenage h when he was the photographer at her cousins wedding and let her follow him around.
There are 2 types of teens in HPlandia, ugly ducklings who turn into swans and gorgeous but innocent who H's inappropriately lust over. our h is an ugly duckling who transforms via the surgeons knife. Our h wore glasses, braces and was TALL! so sticks out like a sore thumb. she has the typical mean girl family with the parents and aunts, cousins who are all about her pretty sister and she's the not pretty one. (sister gets hella jel of the sis once become prettier) He doesn't seem bothered he feels rather sorry for her and knows she will stick out like a sore thumb though. Plus his befriending of her means that he is the first person to ever give her any attention so she falls in love with him.
He of course doesn't fall in love with her I suspect because hes a man and shes a CHILD her looks don't even count here and hes a fairly decent sort.
However, his fatal mistake is letting one of the bridesmaids take off all her clothes while he takes photos while she trash talks the h. He also trash talks her as well though he says he didn't and we have a fade to black moment where it could be interpreted as the H and OW got it on.
Later in the book he says he didn't but I wouldn't honestly blame him if he did he was young free and single and the h was a child and he wasn't into her.
Anyway because he may or may not have hot up an OW and may or may not have trash talked her- he called her a hot mess more or less - the h changed her appearance, was ostracised more or less from her family and devoted herself to becoming a top model in the name of revenge. Flimsy woman, totes flimsy.
Lets be honest here, the H obvs liked to sample the lady buffet and who could blame him he was a photographer surrounded by women and he was young free and single. He is clearly a bit shallow because he fell for the h's looks first but got to know the and liked her for herself despite suspecting her of having an ulterior motive.
She totally betrayed his trust by doing what she did and to be honest she got off lightly. He was nothing but gentlemanly in his behaviour and he got her out of a ton of crap at the end and forgave her without dragging her over the coals.
Plus he had taken himself off to America for a few years so I'm not sure when she thought she was going to meet him again exactly.
Because this is HPlandia serendipity dictates that of course she gets the opportunity to avenge herself and manipulates things to ensure she meets the H who falls in lust with her at first sight.
What was his big crime you ask? He befriended the teenage h when he was the photographer at her cousins wedding and let her follow him around.
There are 2 types of teens in HPlandia, ugly ducklings who turn into swans and gorgeous but innocent who H's inappropriately lust over. our h is an ugly duckling who transforms via the surgeons knife. Our h wore glasses, braces and was TALL! so sticks out like a sore thumb. she has the typical mean girl family with the parents and aunts, cousins who are all about her pretty sister and she's the not pretty one. (sister gets hella jel of the sis once become prettier) He doesn't seem bothered he feels rather sorry for her and knows she will stick out like a sore thumb though. Plus his befriending of her means that he is the first person to ever give her any attention so she falls in love with him.
He of course doesn't fall in love with her I suspect because hes a man and shes a CHILD her looks don't even count here and hes a fairly decent sort.
However, his fatal mistake is letting one of the bridesmaids take off all her clothes while he takes photos while she trash talks the h. He also trash talks her as well though he says he didn't and we have a fade to black moment where it could be interpreted as the H and OW got it on.
Later in the book he says he didn't but I wouldn't honestly blame him if he did he was young free and single and the h was a child and he wasn't into her.
Anyway because he may or may not have hot up an OW and may or may not have trash talked her- he called her a hot mess more or less - the h changed her appearance, was ostracised more or less from her family and devoted herself to becoming a top model in the name of revenge. Flimsy woman, totes flimsy.
Lets be honest here, the H obvs liked to sample the lady buffet and who could blame him he was a photographer surrounded by women and he was young free and single. He is clearly a bit shallow because he fell for the h's looks first but got to know the and liked her for herself despite suspecting her of having an ulterior motive.
She totally betrayed his trust by doing what she did and to be honest she got off lightly. He was nothing but gentlemanly in his behaviour and he got her out of a ton of crap at the end and forgave her without dragging her over the coals.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2012
BACK COVER: As a gawky, plain teenager, Carly suffered bitter disillusion at the hands of Saul Kingsland. And she had vowed to get her revenge. Now, as an acknowledged beauty and successful model, she could afford to be generous. But she had no intention of forgiving and forgetting the past. It was time for Saul to learn a lesson. But would the price be too high for Carly herself to pay?
MY REVIEW w/ a few *****SPOILERS*****:
So Carly North aka Caroline Foxcroft fell in love w/ Saul when he came to photograph her cousin’s wedding. She was seventeen years old to his 28 and she followed him around helping him out during that weekend a few years ago. She had him cast as her knight until she eavesdropped on a conversation that he has w/ a floozy bridesmaid.
He tells the tart that he dealt w/ the other girls in record time so that he could devote the rest of the afternoon to her. (Why would he say that? Did I miss something?) He says, “I suppose I’m sorry for her. (he is talking about Caroline) For goodness’ sakes, she’s practically an object lesson in how not to look.” Then he wonders how he can hide her away in the wedding group when taking the photos how to camouflage her height. He can’t leave her out of the official photo, but can leave her out of the book. So given what she had overheard I could understand how she could be hurt, but she was devastated so much that she changed her career plan and became a model after some reconstruction. Then she sets out to exact her revenge on Saul. She felt he destroyed her life and she will return the favor.
I found that her family was awful and they didn’t change in the course of the story either. She was never good enough for them and then when she was they were offended that she went to such lengths.
It wasn’t a bad read, but I didn’t care for his smooth explanation of what really happened either. It wasn’t all explained to me. Why did he want to devote so much time to the tart? However, I didn’t like Carly’s reasons for revenge either. I think she should have been seeking those against her numbskull family instead! Perhaps even her future BIL’s father as well!!
I couldn’t believe that Carly could have had those feelings for Saul so quickly back then, but this is HPland and you go w/ the flow here. I tend to think it was more of a case that she was starved for affection and the first to show her some attention would be the one to benefit from her devotion then or be punished by it! However, as they got to know each other later . . . well I felt that Saul really cared for her despite her actions and even though Carly cared for him she still felt she needed her revenge.
MY REVIEW w/ a few *****SPOILERS*****:
So Carly North aka Caroline Foxcroft fell in love w/ Saul when he came to photograph her cousin’s wedding. She was seventeen years old to his 28 and she followed him around helping him out during that weekend a few years ago. She had him cast as her knight until she eavesdropped on a conversation that he has w/ a floozy bridesmaid.
He tells the tart that he dealt w/ the other girls in record time so that he could devote the rest of the afternoon to her. (Why would he say that? Did I miss something?) He says, “I suppose I’m sorry for her. (he is talking about Caroline) For goodness’ sakes, she’s practically an object lesson in how not to look.” Then he wonders how he can hide her away in the wedding group when taking the photos how to camouflage her height. He can’t leave her out of the official photo, but can leave her out of the book. So given what she had overheard I could understand how she could be hurt, but she was devastated so much that she changed her career plan and became a model after some reconstruction. Then she sets out to exact her revenge on Saul. She felt he destroyed her life and she will return the favor.
I found that her family was awful and they didn’t change in the course of the story either. She was never good enough for them and then when she was they were offended that she went to such lengths.
It wasn’t a bad read, but I didn’t care for his smooth explanation of what really happened either. It wasn’t all explained to me. Why did he want to devote so much time to the tart? However, I didn’t like Carly’s reasons for revenge either. I think she should have been seeking those against her numbskull family instead! Perhaps even her future BIL’s father as well!!
I couldn’t believe that Carly could have had those feelings for Saul so quickly back then, but this is HPland and you go w/ the flow here. I tend to think it was more of a case that she was starved for affection and the first to show her some attention would be the one to benefit from her devotion then or be punished by it! However, as they got to know each other later . . . well I felt that Saul really cared for her despite her actions and even though Carly cared for him she still felt she needed her revenge.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2020
Other than The Count of Monte Cristo which is a DIK, I generally avoid revenge plots, though if you're going to go that route don't chicken out at the end. In Flawless, Sara Craven kept her foot firmly on the gas here, and as always her writing is some of the most evocative in HPland.
I did enjoy the slight role reversal, though heroines out for revenge aren't that uncommon, incommensurate rage over relatively minor slights seems more often the HP male's reaction. And in this case though Carly's hurt was extreme and I'm not going to judge the validity of her feelings, the harm was unintentional and her response immature. Though Saul's explanation included too much self-justifying revisionism for my liking, because what he actually said was really jerkish. In the end it left me sort of depressed.
I did enjoy the slight role reversal, though heroines out for revenge aren't that uncommon, incommensurate rage over relatively minor slights seems more often the HP male's reaction. And in this case though Carly's hurt was extreme and I'm not going to judge the validity of her feelings, the harm was unintentional and her response immature. Though Saul's explanation included too much self-justifying revisionism for my liking, because what he actually said was really jerkish. In the end it left me sort of depressed.
January 26, 2021
Another revenge romance, with a twist. She's looking for revenge on him, but it's kind of hard to see why she wants it.
Good characters, back story, romance all excellent; it's only the plot that's a bit stupid.
Good characters, back story, romance all excellent; it's only the plot that's a bit stupid.
May 11, 2022
Ugly duckling who believes herself betrayed and mocked by the photographer she's crushing on at a cousin's wedding seeks revenge by becoming a supermodel. Yes, it's really that nuts. Still, SC can certainly write them and I was swept along for the ride.
June 7, 2021
Una historia muy complicada con personas tóxicas por todos lados, no se ni como sobrevivió a tanta malicia...
February 18, 2013
This was more of 2.5 stars for me. The plot was ok but the lengths that the heroine had to go through (I take it was almost a total facelift-slash-makeover to the point that she was virtually unrecognizable, thanks to the great fortune she inherited) and what she plotted to do for revenge (gave her nude pictures for a sleazy tabloid centerfold and destroy Saul's career in the process) was way too much of a reaction-- even if it was done out of a downtrodden morale. She could have been a loony for all I know. The redeeming factor of the story was Saul's unconditional acceptance of Carly despite the fact that she actually attempted to destroy his career.
February 20, 2013
(repost of my orig entry) This was more of 2.5 stars for me. The plot was ok but the lengths that the heroine had to go through (I take it was almost a total facelift-slash-makeover to the point that she was virtually unrecognizable, thanks to the great fortune she inherited) and what she plotted to do for revenge (gave her nude pictures for a sleazy tabloid centerfold and destroy Saul's career in the process) was way too much of a reaction-- even if it was done out of a downtrodden morale. She could have been a loony for all I know. The redeeming factor of the story was Saul's unconditional acceptance of Carly despite the fact that she actually attempted to destroy his career.
June 8, 2021
Now, Carly thought, she'd get her revenge
As a gawky, plain teenager, Carly has suffered bitter disillusion at the hands of Saul Kingsland. And she had waited for the right time.
As an acknowledged beauty arid successful model now, Carly could afford to be generous. But she had no intention of forgiving and forgetting the past. It was time for Saul Kingsland to learn a lesson.
So she laid her plans carefully, put them into action--only then realizing that the price might well be too high for Carly herself to pay...
As a gawky, plain teenager, Carly has suffered bitter disillusion at the hands of Saul Kingsland. And she had waited for the right time.
As an acknowledged beauty arid successful model now, Carly could afford to be generous. But she had no intention of forgiving and forgetting the past. It was time for Saul Kingsland to learn a lesson.
So she laid her plans carefully, put them into action--only then realizing that the price might well be too high for Carly herself to pay...
January 2, 2025
The whole completely remake her face and body trope is too ridiculous and she was way too hung up on her understandable teenage humiliation...which is an issue for a number of SC s hs in other books. He's not worth it honey.
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