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Virgin for the Billionaire's Taking
Jay was a maharaja's heir and billionaire businessman, and he'd hired Keira as his interior designer. But why did she turn from hot to cold and then back again? Was she a manipulating gold digger who was using the red-hot chemistry between them to try to increase her financial reward?
Then Jay discovered that Keira was a virgin! And, according to his code, the cost of taking virginity was marriage. Was he prepared to pay the price?
Then Jay discovered that Keira was a virgin! And, according to his code, the cost of taking virginity was marriage. Was he prepared to pay the price?
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2008
17 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,125 books666 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 16, 2009
This was so awful. I read this before I went to bed and now of course I can't sleep because I'm still pissed off.
Jay is a rude, loathsome, foul little beast. Death is too good for this illogical and judgmental fiend from hell. Who in their right mind could ever love this guy, much less want to be around him?! Instead of the rather nauseating descriptions of their lovemaking, I think I would have preferred scenes of CBT. Yes, for those of you who know, you just read that correctly. And I don't mean the fun and games type. I mean, "scream for me, you mother*bleep*!!"
No, I am not overexaggerating. He's a d*ck to the bitter end.
And about that heroine, Keira. Or as I like to call her, the brainless wonder. "Look Ma! It doesn't have a brain yet it's still moving!" At first I felt soooo bad for her. Jay came out of left field and just kept pounding on her emotionally again and again. I wanted to gather her up in my arms and protect her. Then I realized what an idiot she was and then I started fantasizing about murder and mayhem. Ugh. After that stupid morning after scene, she's still thinking of that cretin? Where's a fricken rubber hose when you need one....
Why oh why did I read this??????
I'm really tired and will probably regret this review in the morning but for right now I'm sticking by this baby. Cheers.
Jay is a rude, loathsome, foul little beast. Death is too good for this illogical and judgmental fiend from hell. Who in their right mind could ever love this guy, much less want to be around him?! Instead of the rather nauseating descriptions of their lovemaking, I think I would have preferred scenes of CBT. Yes, for those of you who know, you just read that correctly. And I don't mean the fun and games type. I mean, "scream for me, you mother*bleep*!!"
No, I am not overexaggerating. He's a d*ck to the bitter end.
And about that heroine, Keira. Or as I like to call her, the brainless wonder. "Look Ma! It doesn't have a brain yet it's still moving!" At first I felt soooo bad for her. Jay came out of left field and just kept pounding on her emotionally again and again. I wanted to gather her up in my arms and protect her. Then I realized what an idiot she was and then I started fantasizing about murder and mayhem. Ugh. After that stupid morning after scene, she's still thinking of that cretin? Where's a fricken rubber hose when you need one....
Why oh why did I read this??????
I'm really tired and will probably regret this review in the morning but for right now I'm sticking by this baby. Cheers.
May 17, 2011
Harlequin Presents made a big deal out of this book featuring their first hero from India. Apparently that was as much innovation as they could stand, because not only is he indistinguishable from Western heroes other than frequently mentioning the "Kama Sutra" -- see? See how Indian he is? He mentioned the Kama Sutra! -- but he is in the classic highly old-fashioned Presents mode, thinking the heroine is a whore every time another man blinks at her. Add in a highly unsatisfying ending, in which the hero reforms completely off-stage, becoming the perfect loving man without us seeing any of the process it at all, and the book is a complete disaster.
June 15, 2015
Short version:
Keira is in India for a wedding and to take up an interior design job when she encounters Jay, who is immediately and firmly convinced that she is a hooker. Surprisingly, this is not a deal-breaker to their romance.
Long version:
At twenty-eight, Keira has her own successful interior design business, and she’s in the fictional city of Ralapur in India to attend the wedding of two university friends, and to start work on a property development in the area. At her friend’s wedding she bumps into Jay, and feels an immediate and powerful attraction towards him.
Jay feels the same way. Jay has problems with women because his dad the Maharaja took a mistress and it made Jay’s mum sad and then she died. Jay left in protest when he was eighteen. To avoid being taken in by a terrible woman, he hooks up with mostly married ladies and when he’s done with them, he gives them a pat on the head and buys them a nice diamond. He notes that they all seem happy with this approach.
Keira’s mum, who died when she was twelve, was a prostitute and a drug addict. Keira has physically moved far away from her past, and worked hard to shed her northerner English accent and sound posh, and to build up her business. She successfully networked her way into a lot of rich clients through her university friends and has done really well, except for her last job where her client sexually harassed her and then publically complained about how rubbish she was at her job. She’s lived with this underlying fear that she will some day turn out to be exactly like her mother. She’s still a virgin.
Jay’s really not very pleasant about Keira. When he sees a man give her money his immediate and unshakeable belief is that it’s in exchange for sex. If Keira smiles at any man between the ages of sixteen and fifty, she’s shamelessly attempting to sleep with him. When he discovers during sex that she’s a virgin (which, admittedly, isn’t a great way to find that out), he spends his post-coital time seething about how strategic Keira has been, and how he’s not going to propose to her, and she’s wasted her hymen on him, and he’s going to make sure she knows it.
The only thing that made him acceptable was that I thought he was hilarious. When he first sees Keira, he’s thinking about her naked within five seconds. And not just naked, he’s thinking specifically about her vagina. He has somewhat baffling vagina visions. Keira’s vagina, according to Jay, will flutter in the breeze, and from the way he describes it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought it had some sort of mechanisms controlling a lot of shifting and rotating inner parts. He knows all about vaginas because he’s super into the ‘Kama Sutra.’
Until they actually get to it, he thinks every second word out of Keira’s mouth is innuendo, which is also funny. I swear, she’ll be talking about curtains and he’ll make this oblique reference to how he wants to get her naked and that’ll fly completely over her head and she’ll keep talking about curtains and he’ll be all ‘well played, our sexy chess gambit strategy thing continues’ in his head.
I am not even going to pretend that I have any idea of what’s actually in the ‘Kama Sutra.’ My understanding is that it’s about sex positions, but maybe also spirituality. Also, there are illustrations of people sitting on cushions and pointing at their genitals. I’m sure it’s made a lot of people very happy – either through applied knowledge with satisfactory results, or giggling at naughty bits. Jay is right into it, and introduces Keira to it as well, and then they go off book and make up their own stuff. Penny Jordan leaves all positional learnings and inventions to the reader’s imagination, but I read an article recently about positions most likely to cause serious injury, so my imagination went there instead.
Since I never really liked Jay, I mostly felt sorry for Keira. She seemed like a great person who would have benefited from some counselling, and a romance with a gentle man she could learn to trust, and who didn’t remind her of how emotionally damaged she’d felt growing up.
Jay’s attitude toward Keira kept reinforcing Keira’s hang-ups, which meant she didn’t trust that she could be completely open with him, which meant he didn’t open up to her about his underlying issues.
Unfortunately, while I get that Jay was hot, and building a mini-town is really impressive, and he’s royal, it’s impossible not to spend the whole book thinking that Keira has made a terrible mistake.
Keira is in India for a wedding and to take up an interior design job when she encounters Jay, who is immediately and firmly convinced that she is a hooker. Surprisingly, this is not a deal-breaker to their romance.
Long version:
At twenty-eight, Keira has her own successful interior design business, and she’s in the fictional city of Ralapur in India to attend the wedding of two university friends, and to start work on a property development in the area. At her friend’s wedding she bumps into Jay, and feels an immediate and powerful attraction towards him.
Jay feels the same way. Jay has problems with women because his dad the Maharaja took a mistress and it made Jay’s mum sad and then she died. Jay left in protest when he was eighteen. To avoid being taken in by a terrible woman, he hooks up with mostly married ladies and when he’s done with them, he gives them a pat on the head and buys them a nice diamond. He notes that they all seem happy with this approach.
Keira’s mum, who died when she was twelve, was a prostitute and a drug addict. Keira has physically moved far away from her past, and worked hard to shed her northerner English accent and sound posh, and to build up her business. She successfully networked her way into a lot of rich clients through her university friends and has done really well, except for her last job where her client sexually harassed her and then publically complained about how rubbish she was at her job. She’s lived with this underlying fear that she will some day turn out to be exactly like her mother. She’s still a virgin.
Jay’s really not very pleasant about Keira. When he sees a man give her money his immediate and unshakeable belief is that it’s in exchange for sex. If Keira smiles at any man between the ages of sixteen and fifty, she’s shamelessly attempting to sleep with him. When he discovers during sex that she’s a virgin (which, admittedly, isn’t a great way to find that out), he spends his post-coital time seething about how strategic Keira has been, and how he’s not going to propose to her, and she’s wasted her hymen on him, and he’s going to make sure she knows it.
The only thing that made him acceptable was that I thought he was hilarious. When he first sees Keira, he’s thinking about her naked within five seconds. And not just naked, he’s thinking specifically about her vagina. He has somewhat baffling vagina visions. Keira’s vagina, according to Jay, will flutter in the breeze, and from the way he describes it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought it had some sort of mechanisms controlling a lot of shifting and rotating inner parts. He knows all about vaginas because he’s super into the ‘Kama Sutra.’
Until they actually get to it, he thinks every second word out of Keira’s mouth is innuendo, which is also funny. I swear, she’ll be talking about curtains and he’ll make this oblique reference to how he wants to get her naked and that’ll fly completely over her head and she’ll keep talking about curtains and he’ll be all ‘well played, our sexy chess gambit strategy thing continues’ in his head.
I am not even going to pretend that I have any idea of what’s actually in the ‘Kama Sutra.’ My understanding is that it’s about sex positions, but maybe also spirituality. Also, there are illustrations of people sitting on cushions and pointing at their genitals. I’m sure it’s made a lot of people very happy – either through applied knowledge with satisfactory results, or giggling at naughty bits. Jay is right into it, and introduces Keira to it as well, and then they go off book and make up their own stuff. Penny Jordan leaves all positional learnings and inventions to the reader’s imagination, but I read an article recently about positions most likely to cause serious injury, so my imagination went there instead.
Since I never really liked Jay, I mostly felt sorry for Keira. She seemed like a great person who would have benefited from some counselling, and a romance with a gentle man she could learn to trust, and who didn’t remind her of how emotionally damaged she’d felt growing up.
Jay’s attitude toward Keira kept reinforcing Keira’s hang-ups, which meant she didn’t trust that she could be completely open with him, which meant he didn’t open up to her about his underlying issues.
Unfortunately, while I get that Jay was hot, and building a mini-town is really impressive, and he’s royal, it’s impossible not to spend the whole book thinking that Keira has made a terrible mistake.
March 3, 2022
Update
March 3rd/2022
March 3rd/2022
I have just read other readers' reviews and I felt ashamed of myself and surprised of how many one (1) stars has this book 😳 I really don't remember anything about this story, or any special scene or whatever, I hope to reread it and let see what I found out. What I'm sure is that was several years ago.
May 17, 2011
If you must read this -- and I don't recommend it -- get a print copy. The ebook formatting has so many unnecessary hyphens, it’s like reading a romance novel written by Tik-Tok of Oz.
Classic Jordan -- scared virgin meets hero with instant, extremely inaccurate Whore-dar. Unfortunately, this was written in 2008 not 1978, and was supposed to be somewhat innovative, since it features an Indian hero. (A Maharajah’s son, of course -- this is still a modern Harlequin Presents!)
This was an accidental reread and I'm not going to bother to finish it.
Classic Jordan -- scared virgin meets hero with instant, extremely inaccurate Whore-dar. Unfortunately, this was written in 2008 not 1978, and was supposed to be somewhat innovative, since it features an Indian hero. (A Maharajah’s son, of course -- this is still a modern Harlequin Presents!)
This was an accidental reread and I'm not going to bother to finish it.
April 15, 2014
What.The.F**k.Did i just read? SPOILERSSSSSS! sorry for the obscenity but it's late and NEVER has a book pissed me off this much that I HAD to finish it and then Rant in a review.
http://img.pandawhale.com/post-32980-...
Its after 2 in the morning and I just finished reading this monstrosity. Who the hell published this and whyyy? The hero was a complete asshole, i kept waiting for him to stop but the ENTIRE time he was a complete d**k! and then suddenly she's in love? like wtf are you even in love with? This guy has done nothing but call you a whore, before you even opened your mouth, he told himself you are a whore! because another guy speaks to you, he thinks you're a whore! he CALLS you a whore the entire time! are you a masochist? WHAT FOR F**k's sake are you in love with? oooh girlfriend, you got some issues. He seemed like the kind of guy who will end up being abusive because another man looks at his wife. His miraculous character change made no sense... it happened so abruptly...like ooo i got in an accident, that means I was wrong and she is not a whore. WHAT???? I think even the fictional God in this books was so sick of his BS that he tried to run him off the road. like omg. and don't even get me started on the heroine.... are you serious about life? The guy calls u a whore one minute then in the same moment kisses you... and you melt? WTF!!! This is supposed to be sappy romance, at this point I rather watch porn! I could not even read the sex scenes because i was too busy cursing the these two shitheads. Never have I wanted to burn a book before, if it was a hard copy I might have. FAIL!!!!
http://img.pandawhale.com/post-32980-...
Its after 2 in the morning and I just finished reading this monstrosity. Who the hell published this and whyyy? The hero was a complete asshole, i kept waiting for him to stop but the ENTIRE time he was a complete d**k! and then suddenly she's in love? like wtf are you even in love with? This guy has done nothing but call you a whore, before you even opened your mouth, he told himself you are a whore! because another guy speaks to you, he thinks you're a whore! he CALLS you a whore the entire time! are you a masochist? WHAT FOR F**k's sake are you in love with? oooh girlfriend, you got some issues. He seemed like the kind of guy who will end up being abusive because another man looks at his wife. His miraculous character change made no sense... it happened so abruptly...like ooo i got in an accident, that means I was wrong and she is not a whore. WHAT???? I think even the fictional God in this books was so sick of his BS that he tried to run him off the road. like omg. and don't even get me started on the heroine.... are you serious about life? The guy calls u a whore one minute then in the same moment kisses you... and you melt? WTF!!! This is supposed to be sappy romance, at this point I rather watch porn! I could not even read the sex scenes because i was too busy cursing the these two shitheads. Never have I wanted to burn a book before, if it was a hard copy I might have. FAIL!!!!
January 25, 2012
He is an abusive, domineering slimebag and she's a messed up, self-flagellating doormat. This book could be useful as a spotter's guide for disrespectful and harassing behaviour, but it doesn't work for me as a romance. Not even a little bit.
February 4, 2015
Worst hero and heroine ever. Coming off romance for a while cause this book truly disgusted me.
March 14, 2014
I adore Penny Jordan but this book's characters were too one-dimensional.
Read
September 1, 2015I would not recommend it there's nothing Indian about this book nor does it anywhere describe India except in the name of the characters like jay arjun etc.
Im not usually this blunt. But i wish to save a few hours of your life that u wont get back, i only wish i had read the reviews before i reac this book. My only excuse is that the author has delighted me and most of her stories and I did not expect this of her.
This book is horrible. If you start to read it, and I recommend that you do not read it, you will not be able to stop your self from finishing it in one go . This book is so bad it's like driving by an accident it's so horrible but you can't stop looking at it.
The story is a copy / paste of any 1960s mills and bones. The guy and I would not call him a hero, is one dimensional mention jerk, no matter how Jaded he is because of his childhood, I refuse to believe that Roamans hero should see you woman in only one way ie as a sex object/ whore. It is one thing to not believe in love, but to be so disrespectful of women in general, and this woman who is his employee in particular is disgusting. Indian man, educTed and well traveled on not like that !
The woman and I refuse to call her a heroin is equally dull, stupid and hung up and one dimensional to a fault. There is no love story in this book but a punishment.
All 11 chapters of food with such utter rubbish, nonessential rot. there is no story no sense no anguish! One would not identify with the characters, incidences, the story which has no humor just hate and self-loathing and oppression
Review rightly says this is a book on how to recognize abuse.
Dont read it
It has no redeeming qualities
Not one
October 14, 2014
This was so bad! He's an abuser and asswipe and she is a victim. I kept waiting for Keira to self injure herself because of the amount of emotional and mental abuse she experienced as a child and the lasting trauma of it into her adulthood.
There are certain tropes of romance that I thought had ended. The guy who thinks that you are less than dirty cannot be someone you fall in love with. How do you fall in love with someone who treats you like crap from your first meeting? He thinks she's a prostitute because women can't have jobs that make them money! Even when she sets him straight he still thinks that she's uses her body to get ahead with men. This is call misogyny. If the man that get's you all hot and bothered hates you then you should see a therapist if you pursue him.
Also if you are so hot and bothered, go take care of your needs solo. You do not need a man to get off. You have to like people to get involved with them and none of us are slaves to our bodies. I would like to just through this tired tropes out the window. I truly believe that anyone still writing with these tropes should not be allowed to published because they aren't even realistic fantasy material. Even if your kinky ran into humiliation scenes, this book would still not work for you. It's not consensual in anyway.
Also how do you get with someone who literally tried to pay you for having sex with them just because you decided to leave when your work was done? There's no forgiveness for how he treated her. I hate that in the end she thought that she wasn't worthy of him because of her background. WTF? Seriously? If I had read the reviews I wouldn't have read this novel.
There are certain tropes of romance that I thought had ended. The guy who thinks that you are less than dirty cannot be someone you fall in love with. How do you fall in love with someone who treats you like crap from your first meeting? He thinks she's a prostitute because women can't have jobs that make them money! Even when she sets him straight he still thinks that she's uses her body to get ahead with men. This is call misogyny. If the man that get's you all hot and bothered hates you then you should see a therapist if you pursue him.
Also if you are so hot and bothered, go take care of your needs solo. You do not need a man to get off. You have to like people to get involved with them and none of us are slaves to our bodies. I would like to just through this tired tropes out the window. I truly believe that anyone still writing with these tropes should not be allowed to published because they aren't even realistic fantasy material. Even if your kinky ran into humiliation scenes, this book would still not work for you. It's not consensual in anyway.
Also how do you get with someone who literally tried to pay you for having sex with them just because you decided to leave when your work was done? There's no forgiveness for how he treated her. I hate that in the end she thought that she wasn't worthy of him because of her background. WTF? Seriously? If I had read the reviews I wouldn't have read this novel.
November 12, 2010
A disappointment.
This is one of those annoying Harlequin stories that are a waste of time. The further I read it my heart clenched and hoped that things would get better. I didn't like the characters, they only think with their bodies and everything was based on lust. I hated Jay he's such an overbearing and demeaning hero it's a wonder why the heroine is attracted to him at all aside from his physical qualities.
The author wasn't able to justify the attraction other than the devotion to ambitions and lust, everything's about how they're aware of each other - sexually, how the sexual tension ratchets up with a single touch, and how they can't control themselves around each other. I totally hated it and there wasn't even any romance! Jay insulted her 98% of the time and she's just a dirt rag. I do admire the times she talks back but it's not enough, if I were here I'd bitch slap him and shove some smelly socks in his mouth.
The reason I gave it a star is because of the sex, this author writes hot ones so that's the only credit I could give. As usual, in the end they must end up together and so with little effort in the hero's part, no matter how rude and an ass he was, he's always forgiven and they always get married. Sucked!
This is one of those annoying Harlequin stories that are a waste of time. The further I read it my heart clenched and hoped that things would get better. I didn't like the characters, they only think with their bodies and everything was based on lust. I hated Jay he's such an overbearing and demeaning hero it's a wonder why the heroine is attracted to him at all aside from his physical qualities.
The author wasn't able to justify the attraction other than the devotion to ambitions and lust, everything's about how they're aware of each other - sexually, how the sexual tension ratchets up with a single touch, and how they can't control themselves around each other. I totally hated it and there wasn't even any romance! Jay insulted her 98% of the time and she's just a dirt rag. I do admire the times she talks back but it's not enough, if I were here I'd bitch slap him and shove some smelly socks in his mouth.
The reason I gave it a star is because of the sex, this author writes hot ones so that's the only credit I could give. As usual, in the end they must end up together and so with little effort in the hero's part, no matter how rude and an ass he was, he's always forgiven and they always get married. Sucked!
December 7, 2015
If I could give it negative starts then I would have liked that! Well, to be honest I didnt read further than the paragarph where the author mentions that the hero liked to have married women as his lovers because they came with low maintenance.
I read this books because they provide you with a hero, a man but not a Jerk, what kind of moral is that he prefers married women? totally sick!!! even more, I am totally disappointed. being an Indian, I really hated that point. This kind of jerk have never featured in penny books, and I was rather hoping some altogether different story where, the hero relates to my world, rather than her!
Maybe I am overreacting a bit, but after reading almost every of her books and finding this unacceptable behaviour of hero in her book where the hero is Indian, is totally unacceptable for me! because, I have hardly seen extra marital affairs in my country less, a man interested in one!
Sorry, miss Penny, this will be the last book of yours that I read!!!!!!!!!
I read this books because they provide you with a hero, a man but not a Jerk, what kind of moral is that he prefers married women? totally sick!!! even more, I am totally disappointed. being an Indian, I really hated that point. This kind of jerk have never featured in penny books, and I was rather hoping some altogether different story where, the hero relates to my world, rather than her!
Maybe I am overreacting a bit, but after reading almost every of her books and finding this unacceptable behaviour of hero in her book where the hero is Indian, is totally unacceptable for me! because, I have hardly seen extra marital affairs in my country less, a man interested in one!
Sorry, miss Penny, this will be the last book of yours that I read!!!!!!!!!
November 6, 2015
Él es un poco histérico y ella una pobre chica zarandeada por los sentimientos de este jeque implacable. Engancha bastante y la tensión sexual es buena. Ya hacia el final me daban ganas de darle una patada al prota, pero bueno, lo superé xD.
July 1, 2013
Horribly written story. This book was almost torture to read. Would not recommend.
August 14, 2013
Jay is an ass and Keira is so messed up. she has absolutely no self respect, the characters in this book were poorly developed, the only goo thing was the sexual tension it kept you hook.
March 26, 2016
This book is "so bad it's amusing", thus the two star.
I know that sexist hero is nothing new in HP series. But seriously, this is the first book I read where every time the hero talks to the heroine he would always blurt a sexist comment. EVERY. FRICKIN. TIME. At first I was like "what the heck's wrong with this man????" but after several pages it becomes amusing. VERY AMUSING. Add to it the fact the world (every side character, every dialog) seem to conspire to put the wrong message into the hero's already sexist mind. I was like "oooh another mis-dialog. Bring it on, Jay! Comment on it!" seriously you can make a drinking game out of it. On the "good" side, despite his comments, the hero doesn't mistreat the heroine physically. At least not like that Jerk from The Devil's Bride (harlequin).
The heroine doesn't help either. As usual, she could only deny, deny, and deny but without any smart reply. Too bad, because I actually liked her at the start because she seems educated and independent. Her back story is actually interesting too (although melodramatic).
Overall, I would recommend this book for those who want a good laugh. This book did it to me. Sarcastic laugh, of course.
I know that sexist hero is nothing new in HP series. But seriously, this is the first book I read where every time the hero talks to the heroine he would always blurt a sexist comment. EVERY. FRICKIN. TIME. At first I was like "what the heck's wrong with this man????" but after several pages it becomes amusing. VERY AMUSING. Add to it the fact the world (every side character, every dialog) seem to conspire to put the wrong message into the hero's already sexist mind. I was like "oooh another mis-dialog. Bring it on, Jay! Comment on it!" seriously you can make a drinking game out of it. On the "good" side, despite his comments, the hero doesn't mistreat the heroine physically. At least not like that Jerk from The Devil's Bride (harlequin).
The heroine doesn't help either. As usual, she could only deny, deny, and deny but without any smart reply. Too bad, because I actually liked her at the start because she seems educated and independent. Her back story is actually interesting too (although melodramatic).
Overall, I would recommend this book for those who want a good laugh. This book did it to me. Sarcastic laugh, of course.
October 12, 2015
I didn't think Jay was that horrible a hero, I've read of worse. He definitely needed to apologize for his horribly wrong assumption about Keira, whom I liked. There were good doses of passion, chemistry, and angst to keep my attention. I thought the ending was good.
Note: Jay's proposal didn't play a crucial part in moving the plot forward as the synopsis indicated.
Note: Jay's proposal didn't play a crucial part in moving the plot forward as the synopsis indicated.
June 16, 2016
Oh Jay I know you did almost everything you could to make her hate you, but instead she fell in love with you... Seriously...
I laughed a lot (for the wrong reasons but I did laugh) so it deserved an extra star
I laughed a lot (for the wrong reasons but I did laugh) so it deserved an extra star
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September 3, 2021Pride & Consequence was about His Highness Prince Jayesh "Jay" of Ralapur and Keira, an interior designer.
Attending her friends' wedding, Keira met Jay and they shared a passionate kiss. Later in the evening, Jay witnessed another man handing her a wad of money and took her to be a prostitute, and threw money her way to "pay" for the kisses they had shared. When they met the following day under different circumstances, Jay was unwilling to let go of the image he had created of her sleeping with multiple men and, therefore, couldn't say a single nice thing to her without constantly insulting her by insinuating that she was paid for sex. Any time Keira showed any passion for her work, Jay had to "punish her" for making him desire her. He believed she was deliberately blowing hot and cold to entice him. He wasn't willing to admit to his jealousy whenever Kiera was in the company of any man other than him. He believed it to just be sexual frustration.
Kiera had been hoping to secure an interior design position that would benefit her business portfolio and give her a leg up in the design world. When she realized she would be working with Jay, it made things difficult, especially as he had made it clear he believed her to be a woman who sold her sexual favors to anyone willing to pay.
While the blurb above stated that, "According to his code, the cost of taking virginity is marriage..." that wasn't exactly what happened. In fact, it was entirely the opposite. Once Jay had bedded Kiera, he told her, in no uncertain terms, that there would be no marriage offer...not that she was seeking one.
For all the attraction and passion that were apparent in this book, the angst and drama were just as prevalent. However, the characters were a bit lacking. Jay's character lacked compassion and even a smidge of kindness. He was too haughty, too arrogant, and too mean-spirited towards Kiera at every turn. I mean, he called her a whore every single time they talked. Kiera, for her part, was a milksop. She gave in too easily and let her emotions...mainly desire for Jay)...run roughshod over her. Jay didn't deserve to be forgiven as easily and quickly as Kiera did. So as time passed after their last encounter, all he had to do was show up, spout a few things...and all was forgiven. Yeah, that's not acceptable. The author expects the reader to accept Jay has changed...but all the "changing" was done behind the scenes and the reader never got to witness any of it.
No stars and no adding to the Keeper for the Shelves collection for this short story. No one wants a bully for a hero, and no one wants a wuss for a heroine. It's generally nice to see the hero have a softer side, but Jay never did. It's also nice to see the heroine stand up for herself and not allow others to use her for their own gain and knock her down in return.
Attending her friends' wedding, Keira met Jay and they shared a passionate kiss. Later in the evening, Jay witnessed another man handing her a wad of money and took her to be a prostitute, and threw money her way to "pay" for the kisses they had shared. When they met the following day under different circumstances, Jay was unwilling to let go of the image he had created of her sleeping with multiple men and, therefore, couldn't say a single nice thing to her without constantly insulting her by insinuating that she was paid for sex. Any time Keira showed any passion for her work, Jay had to "punish her" for making him desire her. He believed she was deliberately blowing hot and cold to entice him. He wasn't willing to admit to his jealousy whenever Kiera was in the company of any man other than him. He believed it to just be sexual frustration.
Kiera had been hoping to secure an interior design position that would benefit her business portfolio and give her a leg up in the design world. When she realized she would be working with Jay, it made things difficult, especially as he had made it clear he believed her to be a woman who sold her sexual favors to anyone willing to pay.
While the blurb above stated that, "According to his code, the cost of taking virginity is marriage..." that wasn't exactly what happened. In fact, it was entirely the opposite. Once Jay had bedded Kiera, he told her, in no uncertain terms, that there would be no marriage offer...not that she was seeking one.
For all the attraction and passion that were apparent in this book, the angst and drama were just as prevalent. However, the characters were a bit lacking. Jay's character lacked compassion and even a smidge of kindness. He was too haughty, too arrogant, and too mean-spirited towards Kiera at every turn. I mean, he called her a whore every single time they talked. Kiera, for her part, was a milksop. She gave in too easily and let her emotions...mainly desire for Jay)...run roughshod over her. Jay didn't deserve to be forgiven as easily and quickly as Kiera did. So as time passed after their last encounter, all he had to do was show up, spout a few things...and all was forgiven. Yeah, that's not acceptable. The author expects the reader to accept Jay has changed...but all the "changing" was done behind the scenes and the reader never got to witness any of it.
No stars and no adding to the Keeper for the Shelves collection for this short story. No one wants a bully for a hero, and no one wants a wuss for a heroine. It's generally nice to see the hero have a softer side, but Jay never did. It's also nice to see the heroine stand up for herself and not allow others to use her for their own gain and knock her down in return.
August 10, 2025
So this man goes up to a total stranger at his family's wedding in India, and although she's English, and an interior designer, he assumes she is 'a harlot' just like some relative's girlfriend. He has no reason whatsoever to think this way, but he fantasises from the moment he sets eyes on her about having relations with her. She doesn't even wear bright red lipstick, which he considers a giveaway. He promptly kisses her and grabs her hand to put it on his body, then, when she pulls away and says no, he offers her money.
There is no point in reading this book. Men with such appalling attitudes don't deserve wives or girlfriends. By page 85 he is accusing her again of being a prostitute because she bought photographs from a young boy. While he is thinking of nothing but sex all the time he is near her, while she is trying to do some work. (Hint: there are plenty of designers in India.) And I imagine by the end he will be proposing marriage to the interior designer, just because he's discovered she's inexperienced. Can we stop with the dual standards for men and women. Can we stop even putting this kind of crass attitude into main character portrayals.
The second story is called The Mistress Purchase. From the title I do not expect any improvement. This one is about perfumes in France. People are being lied to, etc. but it's all in the name of business.
There is no point in reading this book. Men with such appalling attitudes don't deserve wives or girlfriends. By page 85 he is accusing her again of being a prostitute because she bought photographs from a young boy. While he is thinking of nothing but sex all the time he is near her, while she is trying to do some work. (Hint: there are plenty of designers in India.) And I imagine by the end he will be proposing marriage to the interior designer, just because he's discovered she's inexperienced. Can we stop with the dual standards for men and women. Can we stop even putting this kind of crass attitude into main character portrayals.
The second story is called The Mistress Purchase. From the title I do not expect any improvement. This one is about perfumes in France. People are being lied to, etc. but it's all in the name of business.
May 18, 2019
Many other one-star ratings have commented on the unacceptable aspects of this book. I just want to highlight poor writing and editing, something I have gotten used to NOT seeing in a Harlequin product.
“Jay’s shirt was clinging to his torso, so sodden that it had become virtually opaque.” ??!!!!!? Was it translucent before getting wet and opaque after?
The title of the book shows the problem, I guess! My library’s rating was higher and I just went with it instead of checking on Goodreads first. My mistake!
“Jay’s shirt was clinging to his torso, so sodden that it had become virtually opaque.” ??!!!!!? Was it translucent before getting wet and opaque after?
The title of the book shows the problem, I guess! My library’s rating was higher and I just went with it instead of checking on Goodreads first. My mistake!
March 20, 2020
To be honest, this is one of Penny Jordan’s worst books, mostly because the hero truly was ‘that’ bad! After reading the reviews, I was skeptical, I thought, surely it couldn’t be that bad? It could, and it was.
The hero never really redeems himself, he was a judgmental prick for the entire book, except the last few rushed pages.
The heroine wasn’t much better, but she at least ‘grew up’ somewhere along the line. If you’re a PJ fan, read it just because, otherwise, avoid it. It wasn’t worth it.
The hero never really redeems himself, he was a judgmental prick for the entire book, except the last few rushed pages.
The heroine wasn’t much better, but she at least ‘grew up’ somewhere along the line. If you’re a PJ fan, read it just because, otherwise, avoid it. It wasn’t worth it.
August 7, 2022
This is essentially every non Indian person’s (screwed up) idea of India. Boring as a story with little by way of romance, what turns me off it most is that it is clearly written by someone who has probably never visited India. Calling wedding attire “costumes” and not actually describing any place or situation makes for a very blah read. I would not recommend.
February 26, 2018
The hero of this book was *so* frustrating! Even when it was obvious that his assumptions about the heroine were wrong, he insisted on continuing to believe it until he couldn't anymore. It made the book really hard to take. I wouldn't recommend this one.
September 7, 2019
Not the greatest read - for me. I got to the stage where I was skimming the pages for something interesting. Jay judged all women by the mistress his father had. Keira didn't want to live up to the expectations her mother and great Aunt said would be her future.
July 21, 2020
Este libro te transporta a la India 🇮🇳 con sus sabores, olores y especias. Allí, Jay, multimillonario y hermano del maharajá, y Keira, diseñadora de interiores, se encuentran y arden, aunque intentan resistirse, con el fuego de la pasión 🔥
April 30, 2018
I think this was one of the worst Penny Jordan books that I have ever read. It would have been the worst contemporary book I have ever read except for the fact that I have read Dark Summer Dawn.
April 30, 2019
A usual Penny Jordan tale with a HEA.
October 15, 2021
Oh the angst! Both had misconceptions of the other. Enjoyable Read
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