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Law of Possession
Sam was certain it couldn't be true
Julia had left Sam everything when she died - her possessions, her cottage and, most importantly, her young son Robert.
So why was Devlin Howe insisting that the cottage belonged to him? "Hadn't you better start packing?" he asked.
It was certainly going to be a white Christmas if he turned Sam and Bobbie out into the snow. Talk about the season of goodwill! Wasn't there anything she could do to thaw Devlin's ice-cold heart?
188 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 29, 2017
Re Law of Possession - Emma Richmond gets the big Dec 1991 Christmas book and it is a seekrit baby that is so seekrit even the h has no clue who the father is combined with a marriage of convenience story. Fortunately for HP reader's sensibilities at the time, the h is NOT the little boy's mother. His mother was her good friend and the h gave up her hotel troubleshooter job and her London life, including her fiance, to nurse her BFF through her final illness and take over the guardianship of the BFF's five year old son.
When the story opens, the h is snugged up with her young charge in what she believes is the boy's mother's country cottage that was willed to her upon her death. The h's former fiance is supposed to be visiting from London, and the h is anxiously awaiting his arrival. When a pounding on the door startles the h, who by now is worn out from anxiously waiting and trying to soothe a fretting five year old, the h is shocked to see a big bohunk of a man storming into what he claims is HIS cottage.
Turns out, it really is his cottage and the h's BFF had only leased it from him for five years. The absent and now returned landlord has been in Canada for almost six years doing engineering things and now he wants the h and the little boy out. He is very blustery and very argumentative and the h is not a shy little flower herself. The two of them manage to argue their way to an agreement that the h and the child can stay until the next day and then the possibility arises that the H may be the little boy's father.
It seems he and the h's BFF had a drunken one night stand right before he left for Canada and the h couldn't get the dying BFF to name the father of her baby. The h is shocked, cause she never dreamed that her sweet, quiet little friend would even DREAM of having a one night stand. The h can't believe the BFF was involved with anyone really, it just wasn't in her character - but there is the little boy, so obviously the BFF must have had at least one experience and the H thinks it was probably him.
The h decides to shelve the big decisions for later, right now she is tired and worn out from worry and argument and she has little money and now no home. When she wakes up the next day tho, a big snow storm came in the night and nobody is leaving to go anywhere, they are all snowed in. This leads to more heated debates and discussion between the H and h and this is pretty much the whole forward motion of the book. This H and h debate and verbally disagree a LOT. But it isn't a bickery bickerfest that goes nowhere.
The H and h are adults in this and they have real world jumbled reactions and mixed emotions and the arguing is really well done in that both of them argue out their individual concerns to resolve and clarify their issues. ER has the brilliant ability to make each heated discussion, (and there are many,) a really great way to bring the H and h closer together and get them into the habit of working as a team in life and parenting. ER gives us really effective debate as a relationship builder and a problem solving tool. And in this book, that technique, coupled with the H and h's underlying attraction, serves to show just how well the two of them bond as a couple and the result is riveting.
The H doesn't really want to be father, he grew up in foster care until he found a mentor who was bigger than him and able to discipline him at around age 14 and the h had a happy childhood but was always judged on her incredible good looks and not her inner persona. Neither one of them are very sure of themselves as the caregivers for a small child and yet through their mutual attempts at parenting, including their arguing about how kids should be raised, they manage to prove that they do indeed have what it takes to raise a responsible child in a loving fashion.
The marriage of convenience part comes in when the H decides to leave for an engineering job in Spain early and let the h and child stay at his cottage until her London flat is open after the h sublet it for a short term lease. The little boy gets sick and is in hospital and the H returns from Spain and decides that he and the h will marry. The h realizes that she doesn't love her ex anymore and she still isn't willing to give up the young boy to marry him as he wanted. Instead the H has begun to take over her heart and so she decides to give marriage to the H a try - while loudly insisting it is for the young boy's sake, as she feels that he might blame her for not facilitating a relationship with the H as his father.
So the H and h marry and the H wastes no time in whisking the h off to the boudoir of lurve. The h is a bit hesitant at first, but she is soon enthusiastically in tune with the lurve club mojo and she is feeling the deep stirrings of love for the H, tho he claims he doesn't believe in it and doesn't want it.
Soon the young boy is back at home and the H and h are trying very hard to create a family unit. But things are awkward as the h isn't sure what the boundaries are in the relationship between doing independent things and 'wifely' things and the H is showing a decided tinge of jealousy cause he thinks the h is a mite to friendly with the nearest married male neighbor. There are more debates as the H and h negotiate child raising rules and then the h discovers a bombshell.
She finds her BFF's diary and discovers that the little boy's father is is a married guy from Germany who basically used the BFF and then tossed her aside. The BFF, in a very sly manipulative fashion, lied to the h repeatedly and then did her best to break up the h's former engagement when the ex fiance wanted the woman to let the h out of raising her son.
(I admit I was rather shocked at how manipulative the BFF turned out to be, the h put it down to being on serious drugs and dying, but I am not so sure that it was that simple.)
Basically the BFF lied to the h and the H, she never slept with the H but she made sure to imply to the h that the H was the boy's father cause she figured the H and h both were decent people and would take care of her son. The BFF also let the H think that they had slept together cause she knew that the H would believe he was boy's father and would at least provide financial assistance and she hoped he would actually marry the h.
She did not like the h's fiance, and so she never told the h about his visit or his request and instead set the h up in the H's cottage, knowing that the h would be financially at her limits and thus more likely to accept the H. For being fatally ill and drugged up, this woman was really, really devious - had she lived, she would have been a great OW.
Well the h gives the H the BFF's diary that details all of the above and the H goes ballistic and accuses the h of setting him up and trying to trap him. The h is still in shock and says nothing to defend herself, so the H storms off. This means that the h stews for several hours of the night and at six am goes to hunt the H down and give him a piece of her mind.
She finds the H at his other house, a hungover mess who is badly verbally conveying that he frequently blows up but he loves the h and wants her to love him back and he wants to be a family, including be a dad to the BFF's son. Since that is what the h wants too, after a bit more debate and a cut to the H's foot from stepping on broken glass later, true lurve is declared by all as the H and h argue their way to the bedroom to set the seal on another HP HEA.
This one was good and the whole back and forth and arguing things out was excellently done. There is not a ton of physical action in this one and the whole book takes place over the course of about six weeks, but the dialog and the resolutions were brilliant. It is a non HP HP, but it works and the HEA was absolutely believable, which makes this an unusual but well worth reading HPlandia Christmas outing.
When the story opens, the h is snugged up with her young charge in what she believes is the boy's mother's country cottage that was willed to her upon her death. The h's former fiance is supposed to be visiting from London, and the h is anxiously awaiting his arrival. When a pounding on the door startles the h, who by now is worn out from anxiously waiting and trying to soothe a fretting five year old, the h is shocked to see a big bohunk of a man storming into what he claims is HIS cottage.
Turns out, it really is his cottage and the h's BFF had only leased it from him for five years. The absent and now returned landlord has been in Canada for almost six years doing engineering things and now he wants the h and the little boy out. He is very blustery and very argumentative and the h is not a shy little flower herself. The two of them manage to argue their way to an agreement that the h and the child can stay until the next day and then the possibility arises that the H may be the little boy's father.
It seems he and the h's BFF had a drunken one night stand right before he left for Canada and the h couldn't get the dying BFF to name the father of her baby. The h is shocked, cause she never dreamed that her sweet, quiet little friend would even DREAM of having a one night stand. The h can't believe the BFF was involved with anyone really, it just wasn't in her character - but there is the little boy, so obviously the BFF must have had at least one experience and the H thinks it was probably him.
The h decides to shelve the big decisions for later, right now she is tired and worn out from worry and argument and she has little money and now no home. When she wakes up the next day tho, a big snow storm came in the night and nobody is leaving to go anywhere, they are all snowed in. This leads to more heated debates and discussion between the H and h and this is pretty much the whole forward motion of the book. This H and h debate and verbally disagree a LOT. But it isn't a bickery bickerfest that goes nowhere.
The H and h are adults in this and they have real world jumbled reactions and mixed emotions and the arguing is really well done in that both of them argue out their individual concerns to resolve and clarify their issues. ER has the brilliant ability to make each heated discussion, (and there are many,) a really great way to bring the H and h closer together and get them into the habit of working as a team in life and parenting. ER gives us really effective debate as a relationship builder and a problem solving tool. And in this book, that technique, coupled with the H and h's underlying attraction, serves to show just how well the two of them bond as a couple and the result is riveting.
The H doesn't really want to be father, he grew up in foster care until he found a mentor who was bigger than him and able to discipline him at around age 14 and the h had a happy childhood but was always judged on her incredible good looks and not her inner persona. Neither one of them are very sure of themselves as the caregivers for a small child and yet through their mutual attempts at parenting, including their arguing about how kids should be raised, they manage to prove that they do indeed have what it takes to raise a responsible child in a loving fashion.
The marriage of convenience part comes in when the H decides to leave for an engineering job in Spain early and let the h and child stay at his cottage until her London flat is open after the h sublet it for a short term lease. The little boy gets sick and is in hospital and the H returns from Spain and decides that he and the h will marry. The h realizes that she doesn't love her ex anymore and she still isn't willing to give up the young boy to marry him as he wanted. Instead the H has begun to take over her heart and so she decides to give marriage to the H a try - while loudly insisting it is for the young boy's sake, as she feels that he might blame her for not facilitating a relationship with the H as his father.
So the H and h marry and the H wastes no time in whisking the h off to the boudoir of lurve. The h is a bit hesitant at first, but she is soon enthusiastically in tune with the lurve club mojo and she is feeling the deep stirrings of love for the H, tho he claims he doesn't believe in it and doesn't want it.
Soon the young boy is back at home and the H and h are trying very hard to create a family unit. But things are awkward as the h isn't sure what the boundaries are in the relationship between doing independent things and 'wifely' things and the H is showing a decided tinge of jealousy cause he thinks the h is a mite to friendly with the nearest married male neighbor. There are more debates as the H and h negotiate child raising rules and then the h discovers a bombshell.
She finds her BFF's diary and discovers that the little boy's father is is a married guy from Germany who basically used the BFF and then tossed her aside. The BFF, in a very sly manipulative fashion, lied to the h repeatedly and then did her best to break up the h's former engagement when the ex fiance wanted the woman to let the h out of raising her son.
(I admit I was rather shocked at how manipulative the BFF turned out to be, the h put it down to being on serious drugs and dying, but I am not so sure that it was that simple.)
Basically the BFF lied to the h and the H, she never slept with the H but she made sure to imply to the h that the H was the boy's father cause she figured the H and h both were decent people and would take care of her son. The BFF also let the H think that they had slept together cause she knew that the H would believe he was boy's father and would at least provide financial assistance and she hoped he would actually marry the h.
She did not like the h's fiance, and so she never told the h about his visit or his request and instead set the h up in the H's cottage, knowing that the h would be financially at her limits and thus more likely to accept the H. For being fatally ill and drugged up, this woman was really, really devious - had she lived, she would have been a great OW.
Well the h gives the H the BFF's diary that details all of the above and the H goes ballistic and accuses the h of setting him up and trying to trap him. The h is still in shock and says nothing to defend herself, so the H storms off. This means that the h stews for several hours of the night and at six am goes to hunt the H down and give him a piece of her mind.
She finds the H at his other house, a hungover mess who is badly verbally conveying that he frequently blows up but he loves the h and wants her to love him back and he wants to be a family, including be a dad to the BFF's son. Since that is what the h wants too, after a bit more debate and a cut to the H's foot from stepping on broken glass later, true lurve is declared by all as the H and h argue their way to the bedroom to set the seal on another HP HEA.
This one was good and the whole back and forth and arguing things out was excellently done. There is not a ton of physical action in this one and the whole book takes place over the course of about six weeks, but the dialog and the resolutions were brilliant. It is a non HP HP, but it works and the HEA was absolutely believable, which makes this an unusual but well worth reading HPlandia Christmas outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2016
I liked this because both characters were honestly confused about their feelings, ended up blurting out things they didn't mean at inopportune times, but then took the time to really listen to each other. They went through this cycle several times - from the first moment the heroine realized that she didn't own the cottage she lived in with her dead friend's son to the moment they both realized they wanted to stay married.
This is a marriage of convenience story where the characters marry for the sake of a child. It's very obvious there's a lot more going on even though we only get the heroine's point of view. The hero shows unexpected gentleness and kindness, as well as jealousy. So when he carries the heroine off to bed the second the wedding is over, breaking his promise about getting to know each other first, it's not surprising - in fact it feels very much in character. Since the reader has been privy to the heroine's thoughts, the fight she puts up before joining in enthusiastically seems like a token one. Some may see it as a forced seduction, because there was no "yes" spoken aloud, but I didn't get that vibe at all - the heroine and hero were pretty happy with themselves the next morning.
I don't usually like arguing couples - but these two do it so well and in the end manage to communicate beautifully with increased intimacy. They both need each other, and I didn't really realize it until the scene with the hero at the end, when he is a vulnerable, hungover mess and yet somehow manages to be endearing. I can understand why the heroine is going to put up with him for the next fifty years.
This is a marriage of convenience story where the characters marry for the sake of a child. It's very obvious there's a lot more going on even though we only get the heroine's point of view. The hero shows unexpected gentleness and kindness, as well as jealousy. So when he carries the heroine off to bed the second the wedding is over, breaking his promise about getting to know each other first, it's not surprising - in fact it feels very much in character. Since the reader has been privy to the heroine's thoughts, the fight she puts up before joining in enthusiastically seems like a token one. Some may see it as a forced seduction, because there was no "yes" spoken aloud, but I didn't get that vibe at all - the heroine and hero were pretty happy with themselves the next morning.
I don't usually like arguing couples - but these two do it so well and in the end manage to communicate beautifully with increased intimacy. They both need each other, and I didn't really realize it until the scene with the hero at the end, when he is a vulnerable, hungover mess and yet somehow manages to be endearing. I can understand why the heroine is going to put up with him for the next fifty years.
December 29, 2016
This started out so awful, with a hero whose heart was three sizes too small...
...but this Grinchy fellow softened under the spell of a feisty heroine...
...and the little urchin who awaited him in a snow-bound, little cottage...
...making it a Christmas Miracle in HPlandia!
...but this Grinchy fellow softened under the spell of a feisty heroine...
...and the little urchin who awaited him in a snow-bound, little cottage...
...making it a Christmas Miracle in HPlandia!
August 21, 2012
4 Stars ~ It's been three months since her best friend died leaving her the guardian of five year-old Robbie. Times have been tough, but thankfully Julie left Sam her cottage as well. Or so she thought. Just two days before Christmas and in with the winter snow comes Devlin, the true owner of the cottage. He'd been away in Canada for the past six years, and is rather surprised to see the cottage still occupied. Julie had only leased the cottage for five years. And then he's faced with Robbie, and what he believes are the consequences of the night before he left. Julia had refused to say who Robbie's father was, and Sam believed Julia was not seeing anyone when Robbie would have been conceived. Devlin has to be Robbie's father, even though there isn't much of a resemblance. Trapped by the snow storm, Devlin and Sam are forced to deal with the situation. His arrogance constantly rubs Sam the wrong way; their heated arguments and undoubted attraction to each other, keep the air in the cottage wrought with tension. Until they call a truce for Christmas. But when the roads open up, Devlin reaches a conclusion that he'd best leave again. He's barely gone a few days, when he returns to find Sam at the hospital, though on the mend now, Robbie had been very ill. When asked why he returned, Devlin says to marry her .. for Robbie's sake of course. Sam is shocked and calls the idea stupid. But Devlin builds his argument and even though Sam feels wrong about rushing into a marriage, without real proof that Devlin is actually Robbie's father; they marry. When Devlin becomes sullen, Sam thinks it's because he's now feeling trapped. And then they make a discovery that tears their tenuous relationship to shreds.
I have a silly habit of skimming through books as I'm organizing them and often find myself engulfed. This was certainly the case with this little gem. From the first pages I found myself pulled in to Sam's world. Somewhat vulnerable after the loss of her friend, and uncertain in her new role of mother to Robbie, she has to pull herself up when Devlin breezes in and shakes up her life all over again. Devlin often comes across as arrogant, but he also reveals his own vulnerability when faced with a son he knew nothing about. This is one of those fast, involving reads that was pleasantly surprising.
I have a silly habit of skimming through books as I'm organizing them and often find myself engulfed. This was certainly the case with this little gem. From the first pages I found myself pulled in to Sam's world. Somewhat vulnerable after the loss of her friend, and uncertain in her new role of mother to Robbie, she has to pull herself up when Devlin breezes in and shakes up her life all over again. Devlin often comes across as arrogant, but he also reveals his own vulnerability when faced with a son he knew nothing about. This is one of those fast, involving reads that was pleasantly surprising.
October 4, 2017
Average read for me. I had an overall dreary feeling while reading it and can't pinpoint why. So 3 stars.
February 6, 2018
Not so bad. I know it's not real, but still, how can you marry someone after you know each other for a week?
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
May 24, 2020Julia had left Sam everything when she died - her possessions, her cottage and, most importantly, her young son Robert.
So why was Devlin Howe insisting that the cottage belonged to him? "Hadn't you better start packing?" he asked.
It was certainly going to be a white Christmas if he turned Sam and Bobbie out into the snow. Talk about the season of goodwill! Wasn't there anything she could do to thaw Devlin's ice-cold heart?
So why was Devlin Howe insisting that the cottage belonged to him? "Hadn't you better start packing?" he asked.
It was certainly going to be a white Christmas if he turned Sam and Bobbie out into the snow. Talk about the season of goodwill! Wasn't there anything she could do to thaw Devlin's ice-cold heart?
February 6, 2021
I didn't really enjoy this book that much. I found Devlin to be super arrogant, Sam overthinks all the damn time! I got really tired of reading about her thinking. The two of them argue a lot, way too much for this whole "romance" to work. I just don't see the chemistry between them.
I found the whole story to be very rushed, with very minimal character development. Predictable and cliched storyline with 2 very annoying charcters.
I found the whole story to be very rushed, with very minimal character development. Predictable and cliched storyline with 2 very annoying charcters.
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June 28, 2018Sam was certain it couldn't be true
Julia had left Sam everything when she died - her possessions, her cottage and, most importantly, her young son Robert.
So why was Devlin Howe insisting that the cottage belonged to him? "Hadn't you better start packing?" he asked.
It was certainly going to be a white Christmas if he turned Sam and Bobbie out into the snow. Talk about the season of goodwill! Wasn't there anything she could do to thaw Devlin's ice-cold heart?
Julia had left Sam everything when she died - her possessions, her cottage and, most importantly, her young son Robert.
So why was Devlin Howe insisting that the cottage belonged to him? "Hadn't you better start packing?" he asked.
It was certainly going to be a white Christmas if he turned Sam and Bobbie out into the snow. Talk about the season of goodwill! Wasn't there anything she could do to thaw Devlin's ice-cold heart?
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