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Color Love Blue
New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer delivers a classic tale of finding love in the most unexpected places.
Bumping headlong into sexy stranger Nick Scarpelli shakes artist Jolana Shannon’s head out of the clouds. He’s drop-dead gorgeous and incredibly arrogant, and surrendering to passion with him is utter bliss. But when Nick makes it clear he doesn’t want forever with Jolana, it breaks her heart. Still, memories of Nick linger—until one day he resurfaces in her life. Could the man who walked away offer her everything she’s ever wanted?
Bumping headlong into sexy stranger Nick Scarpelli shakes artist Jolana Shannon’s head out of the clouds. He’s drop-dead gorgeous and incredibly arrogant, and surrendering to passion with him is utter bliss. But when Nick makes it clear he doesn’t want forever with Jolana, it breaks her heart. Still, memories of Nick linger—until one day he resurfaces in her life. Could the man who walked away offer her everything she’s ever wanted?
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First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
Diana Blayne
12 books53 followersDiana Blayne is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle. Susan Kyle also writes under the pseudonyms Katy Currie and Diana Palmer.
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
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July 12, 2024
Jolana was a 27 year old New York artist. She've had a traumatic upbringing and was now alone in the world.
She was doing well in her artistic career and it was in those circles that she'd met Nick Scarpelli a wealthy publisher and art gallery owner.
Nick, 40, grew up in poverty but managed to become rich and successful. His mother had married a rich man so the family moved up in the world.
Nick asked Jolana to accompany him to a party that his mother was giving. He wanted, he told her,
to disabuse a woman that thought he still carried a torch for her.
At the party Jolana met Margery and her husband Andrew.
Apparently Nick and Margery were neighbours when she was 15 and he 17. They were each other's first love. Nick was busy trying to make it big in the world and some ten years ago Margery had married Andrew and had a son.
Nick and Margery continued, though, to carry a torch for each other and l figured that played a big part in Andrew's drinking problem. There was a visible bad blood between the two men.
Margery pointed out to Jolana that night that she had married the wrong man ten years ago.
Nick insinuated that it might be some physical violence going on in the couple's relationship.
Jolana told him that Margery did not have to stay with Andrew. We are victims only if we allow ourselves to be. Jolana herself, had run away from an abusive situation when she was a teenager.
During the next few weeks Nick insinuated himself into Jolana's life. They'd do everything together, they had a lot in common.
The more she'd know him the more she'd like him. He was charming and charismatic, strong but at the same time sensitive and emotional.
She was head over heels in love with him.
They would have make out sessions but never went all the way as Jolana was not ready.
The only irritating habit was his frequent references to Margery and that began to crate on Jonala's nerves.
One day, right after he had praised Margery once again, he had tried to kiss her and Jolana told him that she didn't want to be substitute for his beloved Margery. If he wanted Margery then he should go for it. She would not be second best.
They fought and he stormed off.
She hadn't seen him for days till she'd found him waiting for her. He'd asked her to accompany him to another party and she accepted. He told her he'd missed her.
At the party he danced with Margery and then Jolana saw them disappear into the kitchen.
When he came back he danced with Jolana who've noticed that he was aroused.
They had sex in the car and later on at Jolana's apartment. Nick admitted to himself that he never shared anything this wonderful with anybody, not even Margery.
Jolana told him she loved him. He told her he wanted to marry her, wanted to spend all his life with her.
The next day as he hadn't call her, she called his apartment. Margery answered and Jolana hanged up
in apprehension.
The following day he knocked on her door. He told her that the night of the party Margery and him got each other hot in the kitchen. He wanted her to the point of madness and as he couldn't have her, he had Jolana instead. When he got home that night Margery and her son were there waiting for him.
She'd broken up with Andrew.
They were staying with him now and he'd take care of them.
He loved Margery, always did.
Jolana asked him to leave.
At this point l am furious with Nick.
She had given herself to him in love and trust. Not only he did not love her but he had used her to assuge the lust Margery had aroused in him.
The pain was unbearable and she started drinking, taking tranquillisers with it. She wanted to die.
Her friend Tony (Nick's cousin) saved her, she was taken to the Hospital.
When released from the Hospital, she fled to Paris to stay with her college friend. Jolana married her friend's brother (who was an aristocrat) ,on the rebound and soon found out she was pregnant.
Five months after Nick's betrayal, Jolana was sitting at a Cafe in Paris when, to her astonishment, saw Nick approaching her.
He told her he loved her. It took him months to track her down.
He said, that night, when he had returned to his apartment Margery was there. She said Andrew kicked her out. She had nowhere else to go.
He had promised her long ago that if in need he would take care of her.
He wanted Margery for so long but after the night he had spent with Jolana he knew that he loved her.
He knew then that what he had with Margery years ago had died.
He was too honourable to throw Margery into the streets. So he had to make Jolana hate him.
When Margery kissed him in the kitchen at the party, that fateful night, all he could think was Jolana.
He told Jolana that he had used her that night but it was a lie. He regretted it straight away but it was too late.
He called his cousin to check on her and luckily he had thwarted her suicide attempt.
He did not love Margery, he couldn't even kiss her. Andrew agreed to get help and they got back together.
Jolana told him it was too late.
She got up and he saw she was pregnant. He saw the rings as well.
He was left astonished and devastated.
Not long after that incident, Jolana's husband died at the races. He was a race driver.
Nick was there to pick up the pieces.
In the meantime he had dispatched his investigative journalists and they've found out that her husband was unable to father a child. He knew then that the child was his.
A long period of time followed where Nick was doing everything in his power to get to Jolana's good graces.
Never before a Hero had grovelled so much and for so long.
He did pay direly for his lack of justment and his stupidity.
His love and devotion managed finally to make Jolana's heart trusting again.
What Nick did to Jolana was cruel. I believe he was misguided and made a tragic mistake which he had regretted. He had redeemed himself.
She was doing well in her artistic career and it was in those circles that she'd met Nick Scarpelli a wealthy publisher and art gallery owner.
Nick, 40, grew up in poverty but managed to become rich and successful. His mother had married a rich man so the family moved up in the world.
Nick asked Jolana to accompany him to a party that his mother was giving. He wanted, he told her,
to disabuse a woman that thought he still carried a torch for her.
At the party Jolana met Margery and her husband Andrew.
Apparently Nick and Margery were neighbours when she was 15 and he 17. They were each other's first love. Nick was busy trying to make it big in the world and some ten years ago Margery had married Andrew and had a son.
Nick and Margery continued, though, to carry a torch for each other and l figured that played a big part in Andrew's drinking problem. There was a visible bad blood between the two men.
Margery pointed out to Jolana that night that she had married the wrong man ten years ago.
Nick insinuated that it might be some physical violence going on in the couple's relationship.
Jolana told him that Margery did not have to stay with Andrew. We are victims only if we allow ourselves to be. Jolana herself, had run away from an abusive situation when she was a teenager.
During the next few weeks Nick insinuated himself into Jolana's life. They'd do everything together, they had a lot in common.
The more she'd know him the more she'd like him. He was charming and charismatic, strong but at the same time sensitive and emotional.
She was head over heels in love with him.
They would have make out sessions but never went all the way as Jolana was not ready.
The only irritating habit was his frequent references to Margery and that began to crate on Jonala's nerves.
One day, right after he had praised Margery once again, he had tried to kiss her and Jolana told him that she didn't want to be substitute for his beloved Margery. If he wanted Margery then he should go for it. She would not be second best.
They fought and he stormed off.
She hadn't seen him for days till she'd found him waiting for her. He'd asked her to accompany him to another party and she accepted. He told her he'd missed her.
At the party he danced with Margery and then Jolana saw them disappear into the kitchen.
When he came back he danced with Jolana who've noticed that he was aroused.
They had sex in the car and later on at Jolana's apartment. Nick admitted to himself that he never shared anything this wonderful with anybody, not even Margery.
Jolana told him she loved him. He told her he wanted to marry her, wanted to spend all his life with her.
The next day as he hadn't call her, she called his apartment. Margery answered and Jolana hanged up
in apprehension.
The following day he knocked on her door. He told her that the night of the party Margery and him got each other hot in the kitchen. He wanted her to the point of madness and as he couldn't have her, he had Jolana instead. When he got home that night Margery and her son were there waiting for him.
She'd broken up with Andrew.
They were staying with him now and he'd take care of them.
He loved Margery, always did.
Jolana asked him to leave.
At this point l am furious with Nick.
She had given herself to him in love and trust. Not only he did not love her but he had used her to assuge the lust Margery had aroused in him.
The pain was unbearable and she started drinking, taking tranquillisers with it. She wanted to die.
Her friend Tony (Nick's cousin) saved her, she was taken to the Hospital.
When released from the Hospital, she fled to Paris to stay with her college friend. Jolana married her friend's brother (who was an aristocrat) ,on the rebound and soon found out she was pregnant.
Five months after Nick's betrayal, Jolana was sitting at a Cafe in Paris when, to her astonishment, saw Nick approaching her.
He told her he loved her. It took him months to track her down.
He said, that night, when he had returned to his apartment Margery was there. She said Andrew kicked her out. She had nowhere else to go.
He had promised her long ago that if in need he would take care of her.
He wanted Margery for so long but after the night he had spent with Jolana he knew that he loved her.
He knew then that what he had with Margery years ago had died.
He was too honourable to throw Margery into the streets. So he had to make Jolana hate him.
When Margery kissed him in the kitchen at the party, that fateful night, all he could think was Jolana.
He told Jolana that he had used her that night but it was a lie. He regretted it straight away but it was too late.
He called his cousin to check on her and luckily he had thwarted her suicide attempt.
He did not love Margery, he couldn't even kiss her. Andrew agreed to get help and they got back together.
Jolana told him it was too late.
She got up and he saw she was pregnant. He saw the rings as well.
He was left astonished and devastated.
Not long after that incident, Jolana's husband died at the races. He was a race driver.
Nick was there to pick up the pieces.
In the meantime he had dispatched his investigative journalists and they've found out that her husband was unable to father a child. He knew then that the child was his.
A long period of time followed where Nick was doing everything in his power to get to Jolana's good graces.
Never before a Hero had grovelled so much and for so long.
He did pay direly for his lack of justment and his stupidity.
His love and devotion managed finally to make Jolana's heart trusting again.
What Nick did to Jolana was cruel. I believe he was misguided and made a tragic mistake which he had regretted. He had redeemed himself.
September 2, 2025
He’s been in love with his friend’s wife, The Bovine One, for ten years. The Bovine One was his girlfriend first, before she dumped him for his friend. But ever since, The Bovine One has stayed in hero’s life as that great Harlequin euphemism of “family friend.” She loves to torture her husband and her ex-lover every chance she gets, playing them off against each other at every family function, dinner, holiday, etc. She just LOVES being the center of all the drama and the hero LOVES playing at the noble knight loving his lady fair from afar.
This Zero-Hero dates heroine as a shield against his obsessive love for The Bovine One and lets the heroine know it. The heroine falls in love/lust with him despite the fact that all he can talk about on their dates is The Bovine One. They eventually have sex one night and Zero promises they will marry and have children, even though he can’t really love her back. The heroine thinks her love will be enough for the both of them. *face palm*
But The Bovine One has figured out by now that there might be a chance that heroine can make Zero fall in love with her and finally forget The Bovine One, and she isn't about to let that happen. So The Bovine One decides this is the perfect time to abruptly leave her husband, the same night that Zero and heroine have decided to get married. The Bovine One shows up at Zero’s doorstep and tells him she left her husband. Zero wastes no time dumping the heroine, upping the cruelty when he actually tells the heroine he banged her that one and only time because The Bovine One made him hot. After that brutal pump and dump, Heroine tries to kill herself.
Heroine's suicide attempt is thankfully thwarted. However, the emotional wounds run deep, especially when she hears that Zero and The Bovine One have moved in together and waiting for the divorce to get married. Heroine wisely leaves the country and decides to go to France to visit her friends. There, she ends up meeting and marrying a charming French asshole. The French asshole is a gambler, liar, spendthrift, and womanizer, but he is still better than the zero hero of this tale!
Heroine is sitting in a French cafe looking glamorous but feeling miserable when lo and behold, Zero tracks her down all the way from America. Why? Because he realized he loved the heroine? Because he found out his love for The Bovine One was just an illusion? Because he had regrets and remorse and wanted to atone for his horrible treatment of the heroine? Nope, no, nada, null. The only reason that Zero came back with his tail between his legs is that he got dumped again! The Bovine One, satisfied that she broke up Zero and heroine for good, has gone back to her husband, ready to continue her sick mind games with her spouse and her would-be lover in order to feed her endless ego. I guess that was the final straw for Zero. SUPPOSEDLY. I, for one, wasn’t convinced.
His "grovel" was a pathetic pack of justifications and gaslighting, which was not even thick enough to cover up his still existing, ongoing obsession with The Bovine One. It was all about prioritizing The Bovine One and being bound by his sense of honor. Notice he didn’t start looking for heroine until The Bovine One dumped him again. But here, I will let you judge for yourself:
“I messed everything up. I got back to my apartment that night, andMargery The Bovine One was there with the boy, waiting for me.” He ran a hand through his thick, wavy hair. “I went crazy. I had too much responsibility, too quickly, I’d given Margery The Bovine One my word that if she got into trouble, she could come to me and I’d take care of her. It was a question of honor, I suppose. I couldn’t go back on my word. So I made you hate me, and I pushed you away. Almost too far,” he added bitterly. “But I swear to God, all along it was you I wanted, not her. There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t missed you like hell.”
He couldn’t get back on his word for the Bovine One but he easily went back in his word to the heroine. Because the Bovine one was, is, and always will be the most important woman in his life. If she whistles, he will come, like a good dog.
That would have mattered five months before, but she couldn’t let it matter now, although she did wish her heart would calm itself. She toyed with her napkin. “You came thousands of miles to tell me that?”
“No,” he said harshly. “I came thousands of miles to tell you that I love you.”
Her eyes searched his. “Do you, really?” she asked, trying her best to sound unconcerned.
His face froze. “Didn’t you hear me?”
Please insert my cackle here. Yeah, she heard you bozo. Did you think this dubious love declaration while on the rebound from being dumped YET AGAIN by The Bovine One is going to be enough for the heroine to fall to her knees in gratitude?
“Yes, I heard you.” She finished her coffee and put the cup back in its saucer. “Five months ago, after you left my apartment, I might have gone on my knees to hear you say that.” She stared at him. “What doesMargery The Bovine One think about your sudden change of heart?”
“Listen,” he said urgently, dragging her hands into his without looking at them, or at the rings that told her marital state, “Margery The Bovine One’s gone back to Andrew. He dried out and he’s being good to her. It’s what she wanted, what she really wanted. Running to me had just become a habit. When she left him, she realized how much she loved him.”.
Notice how he’s still protecting the Bovine One, excusing her, lying for her, casting her in the role of the poor little helpless victim with only good intentions? None of it is her fault!
“And what did you realize?” she asked him warily, narrowing her eyes. “When did it come to you that you didn’t love her—when she told you she was going back to him?”
He hesitated.
HE HESITATED! HA!!! That hesitation tells so much! Cause the truthful answer was YES, he only came back to the heroine cause The Bovine One dumped his hiney. But he wasn't about to admit that so he had to quickly come up with a cover story and boy is it a good one *sarcasm*
“I’ve known it since the night we shared together.” He stared at her face. “For God’s sake, listen!” he said harshly, when he saw the indifference in her dark eyes. “Jolana,Margery The Bovine One was my first girl. We were close all through our childhoods. We loved each other.
Yuck, still going down memory lane...And still holding on to the delusion that they "loved" each other and she was "his" girl when she was so callous and unfeeling that she not only dumped him but left him for his best friend LOL.
”I made the mistake of thinking that I still felt that way about her. The reason I dated you in the first place was to try to show her that there was no future with me, that her place was with Andrew.” He laughed shortly. “I felt noble, as if I were making the supreme sacrifice. And then it backfired. She kissed me...dammit, and all I could think of was you.
What????!!!! How disgusting is this guy. First, he claims he had sex with the heroine cause The Bovine One made him hot. Now he’s telling her he kissed The Bovine One cause the heroine made him hot. Can he just NOT concentrate on the woman he’s with?!!!
”And that night, when we got to the car...”
She flushed, averting her eyes as the erotic memory of that night made her heart go crazy.
“Anyway,” he sighed heavily, “I was already beginning to doubt what I thought I wanted fromMargery The Bovine One.
Oh, how big of you!!! You were just beginning to doubt ten years of obsession while pursuing the heroine, trying to get her into bed with you but with no strings attached? Yeah RIGHT!
“But she was jealous of you,...
#FACTS. I’m surprised he had enough insight to see it, let alone admit it.
....and Andrew had ignored her. When she showed up at my apartment I remembered you and what I’d told you. And God help me, I was looking for a way out. I was half-drunk... I knew if I told you I’d been thinking ofMargery The Bovine One when we made love that it would turn you off. It was the lever I needed. But after I said it, I got sick all over. Especially when you threw me out and I got a look at your eyes.” He drew in a shaky breath. “I thought I’d go crazy worrying. When I called Tony, to see if he knew anything, he said you were okay and hung up. I assumed that meant you’d decided you were well off without me. I meant to call you myself... But all at once, I was up to my ears in trouble. Margery The Bovine One moved in with me, with the boy. Andrew was making all kinds of threats. It took time to straighten it all out. Tony said you were okay, so I didn’t push it. I... I gave him the portrait you’d done of me, because it was hurting me to see it, to remember what I did to you. I concentrated on Margery The Bovine One.
Finally, the only truth that came out of his sorry mouth: Admitting that he just kind of brushed heroine aside and concentrated on The Bovine One. Because his ENTIRE PERSONALITY is being obsessed with The Bovine One. God, I could make a drinking game out of the number of times he brings up The Bovine One’s name and we'd all end up plastered by the end. Yeah, we get it, asshole, she was your priority. No need to repeat!
And then it hit me that I didn’t love her. That what I felt for her was a kind of brotherly concern with a little leftover passion mixed up in it.
A little left-over passion... for your sister? LOL This guy is absolutely incredible. Just amazing. Brotherly love with a sprinkle of passion in it? Ummm I think that’s what Cersei and Jamie Lannister had.
I couldn’t even kiss her after that night I spent with you.” He clasped her hands tighter. “She didn’t seem to want that, anyway.
Translation: I tried desperately to kiss her but she rejected me. Doofus! She was planning to go back to her husband the whole time, as soon as her little game was over, and she didn't want to actually cheat on her husband or give him any reason to divorce him. And she knew she had you wrapped around Her Bovine Finger anyway, because you, as opposed to her, were prepared and ready and in fact did dump your girlfriend that you had committed yourself to marry, just based on The Bovine One crooking Her Bovine Finger at you. What. A. Dumbass.
She mourned Andrew, she worried about him. Finally, she went to talk with him and he agreed to have therapy. It worked. She and the boy went home. And then I spoke to Tony and he let me have it.”
He studied her face, wondering if it might help his case if he admitted that he’d put Tony up to it. But she looked waxen. Utterly lifeless. She wasn’t the lighthearted, laughing woman he’d known in New York. She’d changed in ways that frightened him. It wasn’t going to be easy, winning back her respect, her trust. But he was going to do it. He was going to show her how much he cared. He was going to court her. Perhaps in time, she could give him once again the love he’d thrown so carelessly aside months earlier. He’d make sure he appreciated its value this time.
Promises, promises... It’s all hogwash because in the next breath, when she tells him he is wasting his time, he gets ANGRY that she doesn’t instantly fall at his feet.
“I’m sorry you had a wasted trip, Nick,” she said as she tugged her hands free and finished her coffee. “But I wish you well. No hard feelings. It’s all in the past now.”
He stared in rigid comprehension as she picked up her purse and left several francs on the table.
“Jolana, please listen to me,” he said, feeling almost angry that he should have to plead with her. Didn’t it mean anything that he’d relentlessly tracked her down, that he’d cared enough to follow her all the way to France?
NO YOU AWFUL AWFUL MAN, IT MEANS NOTHING, LESS THAN ZERO, ZILCH, NADA THAT YOU CONDESCENDED TO TRACK YOUR ONE NIGHT STAND DOWN AFTER THE REAL OBSESSION OF YOUR LIFE DUMPED YOUR HINEY AGAIN AND THEN YOU STILL COULDNT STOP TALKING ABOUT, EXCUSING, JUSTIFYING, OBSESSING AND CITING THE BOVINE ONE’S NAME AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!!!!
This Zero-Hero dates heroine as a shield against his obsessive love for The Bovine One and lets the heroine know it. The heroine falls in love/lust with him despite the fact that all he can talk about on their dates is The Bovine One. They eventually have sex one night and Zero promises they will marry and have children, even though he can’t really love her back. The heroine thinks her love will be enough for the both of them. *face palm*
But The Bovine One has figured out by now that there might be a chance that heroine can make Zero fall in love with her and finally forget The Bovine One, and she isn't about to let that happen. So The Bovine One decides this is the perfect time to abruptly leave her husband, the same night that Zero and heroine have decided to get married. The Bovine One shows up at Zero’s doorstep and tells him she left her husband. Zero wastes no time dumping the heroine, upping the cruelty when he actually tells the heroine he banged her that one and only time because The Bovine One made him hot. After that brutal pump and dump, Heroine tries to kill herself.
Heroine's suicide attempt is thankfully thwarted. However, the emotional wounds run deep, especially when she hears that Zero and The Bovine One have moved in together and waiting for the divorce to get married. Heroine wisely leaves the country and decides to go to France to visit her friends. There, she ends up meeting and marrying a charming French asshole. The French asshole is a gambler, liar, spendthrift, and womanizer, but he is still better than the zero hero of this tale!
Heroine is sitting in a French cafe looking glamorous but feeling miserable when lo and behold, Zero tracks her down all the way from America. Why? Because he realized he loved the heroine? Because he found out his love for The Bovine One was just an illusion? Because he had regrets and remorse and wanted to atone for his horrible treatment of the heroine? Nope, no, nada, null. The only reason that Zero came back with his tail between his legs is that he got dumped again! The Bovine One, satisfied that she broke up Zero and heroine for good, has gone back to her husband, ready to continue her sick mind games with her spouse and her would-be lover in order to feed her endless ego. I guess that was the final straw for Zero. SUPPOSEDLY. I, for one, wasn’t convinced.
His "grovel" was a pathetic pack of justifications and gaslighting, which was not even thick enough to cover up his still existing, ongoing obsession with The Bovine One. It was all about prioritizing The Bovine One and being bound by his sense of honor. Notice he didn’t start looking for heroine until The Bovine One dumped him again. But here, I will let you judge for yourself:
“I messed everything up. I got back to my apartment that night, and
He couldn’t get back on his word for the Bovine One but he easily went back in his word to the heroine. Because the Bovine one was, is, and always will be the most important woman in his life. If she whistles, he will come, like a good dog.
That would have mattered five months before, but she couldn’t let it matter now, although she did wish her heart would calm itself. She toyed with her napkin. “You came thousands of miles to tell me that?”
“No,” he said harshly. “I came thousands of miles to tell you that I love you.”
Her eyes searched his. “Do you, really?” she asked, trying her best to sound unconcerned.
His face froze. “Didn’t you hear me?”
Please insert my cackle here. Yeah, she heard you bozo. Did you think this dubious love declaration while on the rebound from being dumped YET AGAIN by The Bovine One is going to be enough for the heroine to fall to her knees in gratitude?
“Yes, I heard you.” She finished her coffee and put the cup back in its saucer. “Five months ago, after you left my apartment, I might have gone on my knees to hear you say that.” She stared at him. “What does
“Listen,” he said urgently, dragging her hands into his without looking at them, or at the rings that told her marital state, “
Notice how he’s still protecting the Bovine One, excusing her, lying for her, casting her in the role of the poor little helpless victim with only good intentions? None of it is her fault!
“And what did you realize?” she asked him warily, narrowing her eyes. “When did it come to you that you didn’t love her—when she told you she was going back to him?”
He hesitated.
HE HESITATED! HA!!! That hesitation tells so much! Cause the truthful answer was YES, he only came back to the heroine cause The Bovine One dumped his hiney. But he wasn't about to admit that so he had to quickly come up with a cover story and boy is it a good one *sarcasm*
“I’ve known it since the night we shared together.” He stared at her face. “For God’s sake, listen!” he said harshly, when he saw the indifference in her dark eyes. “Jolana,
Yuck, still going down memory lane...And still holding on to the delusion that they "loved" each other and she was "his" girl when she was so callous and unfeeling that she not only dumped him but left him for his best friend LOL.
”I made the mistake of thinking that I still felt that way about her. The reason I dated you in the first place was to try to show her that there was no future with me, that her place was with Andrew.” He laughed shortly. “I felt noble, as if I were making the supreme sacrifice. And then it backfired. She kissed me...dammit, and all I could think of was you.
What????!!!! How disgusting is this guy. First, he claims he had sex with the heroine cause The Bovine One made him hot. Now he’s telling her he kissed The Bovine One cause the heroine made him hot. Can he just NOT concentrate on the woman he’s with?!!!
”And that night, when we got to the car...”
She flushed, averting her eyes as the erotic memory of that night made her heart go crazy.
“Anyway,” he sighed heavily, “I was already beginning to doubt what I thought I wanted from
Oh, how big of you!!! You were just beginning to doubt ten years of obsession while pursuing the heroine, trying to get her into bed with you but with no strings attached? Yeah RIGHT!
“But she was jealous of you,...
#FACTS. I’m surprised he had enough insight to see it, let alone admit it.
....and Andrew had ignored her. When she showed up at my apartment I remembered you and what I’d told you. And God help me, I was looking for a way out. I was half-drunk... I knew if I told you I’d been thinking of
Finally, the only truth that came out of his sorry mouth: Admitting that he just kind of brushed heroine aside and concentrated on The Bovine One. Because his ENTIRE PERSONALITY is being obsessed with The Bovine One. God, I could make a drinking game out of the number of times he brings up The Bovine One’s name and we'd all end up plastered by the end. Yeah, we get it, asshole, she was your priority. No need to repeat!
And then it hit me that I didn’t love her. That what I felt for her was a kind of brotherly concern with a little leftover passion mixed up in it.
A little left-over passion... for your sister? LOL This guy is absolutely incredible. Just amazing. Brotherly love with a sprinkle of passion in it? Ummm I think that’s what Cersei and Jamie Lannister had.
I couldn’t even kiss her after that night I spent with you.” He clasped her hands tighter. “She didn’t seem to want that, anyway.
Translation: I tried desperately to kiss her but she rejected me. Doofus! She was planning to go back to her husband the whole time, as soon as her little game was over, and she didn't want to actually cheat on her husband or give him any reason to divorce him. And she knew she had you wrapped around Her Bovine Finger anyway, because you, as opposed to her, were prepared and ready and in fact did dump your girlfriend that you had committed yourself to marry, just based on The Bovine One crooking Her Bovine Finger at you. What. A. Dumbass.
She mourned Andrew, she worried about him. Finally, she went to talk with him and he agreed to have therapy. It worked. She and the boy went home. And then I spoke to Tony and he let me have it.”
He studied her face, wondering if it might help his case if he admitted that he’d put Tony up to it. But she looked waxen. Utterly lifeless. She wasn’t the lighthearted, laughing woman he’d known in New York. She’d changed in ways that frightened him. It wasn’t going to be easy, winning back her respect, her trust. But he was going to do it. He was going to show her how much he cared. He was going to court her. Perhaps in time, she could give him once again the love he’d thrown so carelessly aside months earlier. He’d make sure he appreciated its value this time.
Promises, promises... It’s all hogwash because in the next breath, when she tells him he is wasting his time, he gets ANGRY that she doesn’t instantly fall at his feet.
“I’m sorry you had a wasted trip, Nick,” she said as she tugged her hands free and finished her coffee. “But I wish you well. No hard feelings. It’s all in the past now.”
He stared in rigid comprehension as she picked up her purse and left several francs on the table.
“Jolana, please listen to me,” he said, feeling almost angry that he should have to plead with her. Didn’t it mean anything that he’d relentlessly tracked her down, that he’d cared enough to follow her all the way to France?
NO YOU AWFUL AWFUL MAN, IT MEANS NOTHING, LESS THAN ZERO, ZILCH, NADA THAT YOU CONDESCENDED TO TRACK YOUR ONE NIGHT STAND DOWN AFTER THE REAL OBSESSION OF YOUR LIFE DUMPED YOUR HINEY AGAIN AND THEN YOU STILL COULDNT STOP TALKING ABOUT, EXCUSING, JUSTIFYING, OBSESSING AND CITING THE BOVINE ONE’S NAME AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!!!!
September 5, 2021
The H has been in lust with his sil for 10 years.
Really???
He uses h to keep ow away from him- and him from temptation.
They have sex and he proposes.
Ow leaves hubby and goes to H and he’s awful and tells the h he only had sex with her because he was horny for ow.
The h almost kills herself.
Then h goes to France, marries a guy and finds out she’s pregnant.
H comes back because he loves her and not ow, he only wanted to protect her. The best moment in the book is where he finds out she’s married and pregnant.
Oh joy! Revenge is sweet!
Unfortunately h’s hubby dies and she’s back with H again.
No, I don’t think he really loved her.
He had a choice and he didn’t choose her.
He only came back because ow went back with his brother.
What happens when she leaves her husband again? Will H leave h and their 5 sons to be with the stupid woman?
It was awful the way he treated her, but I give two stars instead of one because she really moved on, married another and had wonderful sex with him, not the usual celibate marriage that often we have in hp.
And if her husband hadn’t died she would have stayed with him.
Bye bye hero, this time it’s you second best!
Really???
He uses h to keep ow away from him- and him from temptation.
They have sex and he proposes.
Ow leaves hubby and goes to H and he’s awful and tells the h he only had sex with her because he was horny for ow.
The h almost kills herself.
Then h goes to France, marries a guy and finds out she’s pregnant.
H comes back because he loves her and not ow, he only wanted to protect her. The best moment in the book is where he finds out she’s married and pregnant.
Oh joy! Revenge is sweet!
Unfortunately h’s hubby dies and she’s back with H again.
No, I don’t think he really loved her.
He had a choice and he didn’t choose her.
He only came back because ow went back with his brother.
What happens when she leaves her husband again? Will H leave h and their 5 sons to be with the stupid woman?
It was awful the way he treated her, but I give two stars instead of one because she really moved on, married another and had wonderful sex with him, not the usual celibate marriage that often we have in hp.
And if her husband hadn’t died she would have stayed with him.
Bye bye hero, this time it’s you second best!
July 4, 2020
If you like typical Diana Palmers and buy into the model of virginal h who can only be awakened by the awful H she loves, you will not like this book. However, I enjoyed it a lot because the h does manage to move on and it is the H's turn to suffer, which he deserves to do. This was a VERY strong grovel, using both words and unselfish actions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2016
Ok for those of you who like Diana's traditional virgin holding out for true love of marriage this one is not for you. And truthfully it should and could have been its almost as if the publisher made her do it way. It's nuts because the story would have made more sense if she had been. I love how he makes it up to her and how kind and gentle he is. Some reviewer wrote they hated that she slept with her husband loving the hero but after almost killing herself over him I think she was desperate for someone to love. This was so powerful a love on both their side. I really liked it and I am surprised because when I hear that one partner is unfaithful it's the end for me. However in this case he has sex with her tell her he loves and wants to marry her then tells her he was using her as a sup for his first and only love. Omg I can't imagine how hearing that must have felt like. Her husband cheating on her however was too much for me. She is just so accepting of this like of course he needs his mistresses and that's cool!!! Wtf and she cried at his funeral!!!! I hated that she should have left the asshole she was strong and independent this did not make sense to me. Other then that it was good.
February 7, 2025
2.5 stars
In spite of all the ridiculousness, it was kinda entertaining to read.
The asshole H and the stupid tstl h, i loved her initially when she gave back to the H as good but then she fell in love and lost her brain cells.
Also with the french asshole the manipulations continued and how she keeps blaming herself for her husband's infidelity, gambling and stuff, i even felt like slapping that friend of hers who kept encouraging her friend with her brother knowing the asshole he is. She is as guilty of trying to smooch of the h.
Also the way it was easy for h to switch her emotions from grief to lust , i mean give yourself sometime to grieve women,
The H was an A grade asshole i am still not sure of his love for the h. I mean for your stupid honour you humiliated and broke the h's heart and frankly if he would have left the OW and came to h i would have accepted his love and explanations.
All in all an entertaining stupidity to read.
In spite of all the ridiculousness, it was kinda entertaining to read.
The asshole H and the stupid tstl h, i loved her initially when she gave back to the H as good but then she fell in love and lost her brain cells.
Also with the french asshole the manipulations continued and how she keeps blaming herself for her husband's infidelity, gambling and stuff, i even felt like slapping that friend of hers who kept encouraging her friend with her brother knowing the asshole he is. She is as guilty of trying to smooch of the h.
Also the way it was easy for h to switch her emotions from grief to lust , i mean give yourself sometime to grieve women,
The H was an A grade asshole i am still not sure of his love for the h. I mean for your stupid honour you humiliated and broke the h's heart and frankly if he would have left the OW and came to h i would have accepted his love and explanations.
All in all an entertaining stupidity to read.
August 26, 2025
Now and Forever
4 stars
I purchased a copy of the book Now and Forever, containing the books
Dark Surrender and Color Love Blue by Diana Palmer, and this review was given freely.
Color Love Blue
I read this in my 20 or 30’s as a paperback. There are many steamy scenes, and it is a sad and at times, frustrating story of heartbreak with a happy ending.
An intercontinental story of broken trust, misguided loyalty, and heartache that spans close to 1 year and reunites the couple from the beginning.
A series of coincidences leads to 1 first-time New York gallery show painter, Jolana Shannon being blackmailed by wealthy magazine owner Nick Scarpelli, a one-night stand with unknown consequences, and Jolana trying to rebuild her life in France with her best friend’s brother, the reckless and unreformable Comte Phillipe Vinchy-Cardins.
4 stars
I purchased a copy of the book Now and Forever, containing the books
Dark Surrender and Color Love Blue by Diana Palmer, and this review was given freely.
Color Love Blue
I read this in my 20 or 30’s as a paperback. There are many steamy scenes, and it is a sad and at times, frustrating story of heartbreak with a happy ending.
An intercontinental story of broken trust, misguided loyalty, and heartache that spans close to 1 year and reunites the couple from the beginning.
A series of coincidences leads to 1 first-time New York gallery show painter, Jolana Shannon being blackmailed by wealthy magazine owner Nick Scarpelli, a one-night stand with unknown consequences, and Jolana trying to rebuild her life in France with her best friend’s brother, the reckless and unreformable Comte Phillipe Vinchy-Cardins.
April 4, 2021
This story was a bit different from others from this author in that the heroine slept with the hero and married another man when the hero pushed her away. Her marriage was not one of love nor was it a good one. The story took us from New York to Paris and back. The hero is a millionaire and the heroine made a nice living as an artist. This was a story that I have come to expect from the author and it was good.
September 14, 2019
Finally found Color Love Blue in e-PUB format! If anyone's looking it was recently re published in an omnibus titled "For Now And Forever" by Diana Palmer. Enjoyable read.
June 21, 2020
The first part was ok, the last part was ok but the middle sucked.
Want to read
November 24, 2021El color del amor
July 4, 2020
I'd like to say I liked it, but I didn't. And I didn't like it on so many levels. What bothered me most though, was the fact that the heroine seemed a bit... intellectually challenged to say the least. She had unprotected sex with two different guys over the course of a few weeks. I'm not judging of course, but it seems a little irresponsible. It was mid-eighties, I get it, but she couldn't even tell that she was pregnant. She had been missing her period for like 3 months, her breasts were swollen and sore plus she was tired all the time and she still couldn't read the signs. I mean, really? This is basic middle-school biology class. Then it got even better. She was convinced she had been pregnant for no more than a month or two even though the baby had alerady started moving. There were some other issues with the book, like the fact that the hero was a complete macho-jerk for at least a quarter of the book and she didn't mind of course because she was also so big, muscular and hairy of all things.
September 5, 2019
Loved this book it had so many ups and downs in it they started out not liking each other than they did like each other became friends and lovers he loved her but he was still in love with someone else she loved him with her whole heart than he hurt her really bad that she leaves and married someone else that didn't last because he was killed and finally she figured out that she wasn't pregnant with her husband's baby but with the guy she still loved can't wait to read more books by this author
October 23, 2019
3.5- OM scenes with h give mixed feelings
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