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Substitute Wife
He must never guess her true feelings.
As far as Adam was concerned, their marriage was a businesslike arrangement. Both had suffered the pain of rejection, and both had vowed to avoid any future emotional ties or commitment.
"Our marriage stands a better chance of succeeding than one blinded by passion, " he had claimed, and his logic had convinced Julia.
But somewhere along the way she fell in love with him and, knowing he could never return her feelings, was forced to act out a role that contradicted her loving nature.
As far as Adam was concerned, their marriage was a businesslike arrangement. Both had suffered the pain of rejection, and both had vowed to avoid any future emotional ties or commitment.
"Our marriage stands a better chance of succeeding than one blinded by passion, " he had claimed, and his logic had convinced Julia.
But somewhere along the way she fell in love with him and, knowing he could never return her feelings, was forced to act out a role that contradicted her loving nature.
186 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1982
12 people are currently reading
466 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Lindsay
84 books64 followersRachel Lindsay is the pen name of an author who also published as Roberta Leigh, Janey Scott, and Rozella Lake. See the "Roberta Leigh" entry for full biographical information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 16, 2017
This story was also published under the title Second Best Wife. So I’m issuing Vintage a Second Best Wife challenge in hopes of another fine review/rant. Read if you dare if only to see just what a wacked-out moral compass this H/h had.
The premise: H is an international lawyer. Heroine has been his robot secretary for four years. The hero has been having an adulterous affair with his client’s wife for several months. The client has finally died and the wife will be free to marry the hero, who is obsessed.
The client knew what his wife was up to so his will stipulated that in order to inherit his estate she would have to stay unmarried for four years. Hero balks at this – he’s 36 and wants children and he doesn’t want to be 40 to start having them. OW offers to shack up and have illegitimate children, but the hero breaks it off.
Robot heroine finds herself engaged to a Dry Stick who is going to Canada for a promotion and will have his robot follow when he is established. Dry stick worries that Robot is too beautiful for him (she’s a smokin’ hot redhead) and wishes she could wear the veil rather than have other men look at her. Robot thinks this is kind of weird, but she has typing to do and doesn’t let it bother her.
The only time Robot shows signs of humanity is when Dry Stick sends her a “Dear John” letter from Canada. He found a Canadian Mouse to marry. Robot doesn’t turn up for work and hero feels bad for her because he just broke up with his adulteress. When he is invite to the opera and it’s assumed he’ll bring Adulteress, he decides to take the Robot instead. He wants the Adulteress to feel jealous and maybe she’ll change her mind about marrying him. The Robot shows up in a colourful dress and her hair down and the hero realizes he missed an opportunity to chase her around his desk all of these years.
One thing leads to another and the H/h marry. The hero wants kids and the Robot is programmed to obey him or something. It was all so weak. The hero does tell the heroine he won’t cheat once he’s married. It was his prerogative to be a playboy while single. He conveniently dismisses the idea of emotionally cheating by marrying the heroine while still in love with Adulteress.
They go for a month-long honeymoon in India, but the heroine doesn’t want to have sex with him yet. They move in to his house and the heroine amuses herself by renovating a breakfast room, shopping, and listening to the office gossip with her fellow secretary. Seems the Adulteress is dropping in on the hero all the time. The hero asks the Robot to throw a dinner party and invite the Adulteress so everyone will know he’s over her. Robot goes ahead with the dinner party.
At this point she kind of cares about the Adulteress, but she hasn’t been programmed to love yet. Sure, the Dry Stick is back (it didn’t work out with mouse). But now she’s see the hero is a better deal (and taller). The heroine only realizes she loves the hero when he forcibly seduces her. His jealously gets the best of him when he sees her with Dry Stick. She continues to let him in her bed, but doesn’t respond because she doesn’t want to give her feelings away.
RL totally whiffed the angst here because we get the hero’s thoughts instead of the heroine’s. He’s full of remorse for forcing her, but just can’t quit his Robot. Now he realizes he loves the heroine and finds he has a stalkerific OW on his hands. He tries to make amends by getting the heroine a cat named Princess – but this storyline goes no where – since Princess is never mentioned again – not even when she is contemplating leaving the hero.
The hero works more and more. The Robot spends more and more time with Dry Stick. The Adulteress follows the hero to Rome.
Meanwhile, heroine is pregnant. She hopes this will bring them together, but hero nobly decides to let her go so she can marry Dry Stick. He will put her happiness over his own. Heroine has a few days while he’s gone to find a new place. Heroine happens to run into H’s friend (the guy with the opera tickets) and finds out why hero is so hung up on public appearances and getting ahead. (Evil grandfather). She decides to stay. When H returns they each declare their love. Heroine is now a real woman and not a robot and will respond to the H in bed.
I’m sure the H/h’s offspring will be a Benadryl kid* - if their treatment of the cat is any indication. The bones of this story are good – but the characters are all pretty horrible and the H/h seem to spend just as much time with the OW and OM than they do with each other. I hate when married h’s go off with other men – even if it’s just dinner. No – just no. The hero had his own moral code which involved a lot of mental contortions to think adultery was okay, but he had to break it off when the OW didn't want to be made an honest woman. This is not real life, thank goodness.
*A kid who conveniently sleeps or finds another occupation while the H/h do their H/h stuff.
The premise: H is an international lawyer. Heroine has been his robot secretary for four years. The hero has been having an adulterous affair with his client’s wife for several months. The client has finally died and the wife will be free to marry the hero, who is obsessed.
The client knew what his wife was up to so his will stipulated that in order to inherit his estate she would have to stay unmarried for four years. Hero balks at this – he’s 36 and wants children and he doesn’t want to be 40 to start having them. OW offers to shack up and have illegitimate children, but the hero breaks it off.
Robot heroine finds herself engaged to a Dry Stick who is going to Canada for a promotion and will have his robot follow when he is established. Dry stick worries that Robot is too beautiful for him (she’s a smokin’ hot redhead) and wishes she could wear the veil rather than have other men look at her. Robot thinks this is kind of weird, but she has typing to do and doesn’t let it bother her.
The only time Robot shows signs of humanity is when Dry Stick sends her a “Dear John” letter from Canada. He found a Canadian Mouse to marry. Robot doesn’t turn up for work and hero feels bad for her because he just broke up with his adulteress. When he is invite to the opera and it’s assumed he’ll bring Adulteress, he decides to take the Robot instead. He wants the Adulteress to feel jealous and maybe she’ll change her mind about marrying him. The Robot shows up in a colourful dress and her hair down and the hero realizes he missed an opportunity to chase her around his desk all of these years.
One thing leads to another and the H/h marry. The hero wants kids and the Robot is programmed to obey him or something. It was all so weak. The hero does tell the heroine he won’t cheat once he’s married. It was his prerogative to be a playboy while single. He conveniently dismisses the idea of emotionally cheating by marrying the heroine while still in love with Adulteress.
They go for a month-long honeymoon in India, but the heroine doesn’t want to have sex with him yet. They move in to his house and the heroine amuses herself by renovating a breakfast room, shopping, and listening to the office gossip with her fellow secretary. Seems the Adulteress is dropping in on the hero all the time. The hero asks the Robot to throw a dinner party and invite the Adulteress so everyone will know he’s over her. Robot goes ahead with the dinner party.
At this point she kind of cares about the Adulteress, but she hasn’t been programmed to love yet. Sure, the Dry Stick is back (it didn’t work out with mouse). But now she’s see the hero is a better deal (and taller). The heroine only realizes she loves the hero when he forcibly seduces her. His jealously gets the best of him when he sees her with Dry Stick. She continues to let him in her bed, but doesn’t respond because she doesn’t want to give her feelings away.
RL totally whiffed the angst here because we get the hero’s thoughts instead of the heroine’s. He’s full of remorse for forcing her, but just can’t quit his Robot. Now he realizes he loves the heroine and finds he has a stalkerific OW on his hands. He tries to make amends by getting the heroine a cat named Princess – but this storyline goes no where – since Princess is never mentioned again – not even when she is contemplating leaving the hero.
The hero works more and more. The Robot spends more and more time with Dry Stick. The Adulteress follows the hero to Rome.
Meanwhile, heroine is pregnant. She hopes this will bring them together, but hero nobly decides to let her go so she can marry Dry Stick. He will put her happiness over his own. Heroine has a few days while he’s gone to find a new place. Heroine happens to run into H’s friend (the guy with the opera tickets) and finds out why hero is so hung up on public appearances and getting ahead. (Evil grandfather). She decides to stay. When H returns they each declare their love. Heroine is now a real woman and not a robot and will respond to the H in bed.
I’m sure the H/h’s offspring will be a Benadryl kid* - if their treatment of the cat is any indication. The bones of this story are good – but the characters are all pretty horrible and the H/h seem to spend just as much time with the OW and OM than they do with each other. I hate when married h’s go off with other men – even if it’s just dinner. No – just no. The hero had his own moral code which involved a lot of mental contortions to think adultery was okay, but he had to break it off when the OW didn't want to be made an honest woman. This is not real life, thank goodness.
*A kid who conveniently sleeps or finds another occupation while the H/h do their H/h stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2018
This is yet another one of my less than stellar memories. Where does one start with this ?
Here goes:
I hated the H Adam. He was so p****y whipped by his married mistress Erica. It was so distasteful. The guy is a lawyer and he has been having an affair with this tall really skinny blonde called Erica Dukes. She was married to a really old man who is also a millionaire. Erica's the queen of gold diggers but Adam still loves the mercenary bitch. It sucks to read about a H who has no pride that he would settle for sloppy seconds knowing full well that she's gonna return to kiss and cuddle up to her sugar granddaddy. The novel opens with news that the sugar granddaddy has died so the gold digger is now gonna be free to marry the H. Somebody hand me a barf bag please...
What I hated most about Adam was the fact that he always knew how much Erica loved money but he still adored the tramp. Well, love is indeed blind - or in his case, lacking in logic and common decency. I laughed so hard when Erica basically rejected his marriage proposal because her ancient dead husband had stated in his will that she will lose her inheritance if she married before 3 years. Erica really showed Adam that ( and I am gonna put this in an economist's jargon because it seems so apt for a gold digger ) he was her "opportunity cost." Adam's pride was dented by this but unfortunately his feelings for the greedy tart didn't go away. He then comes up with a plan to marry his secretary Julia ( the heroine ) just to say "checkmate" to Erica. Whatever. I hated Julia too, so I didn't even feel sorry for her.
Julia's really stupid. She was engaged to this stuffy prig called Roy who controlled her clothing choices and how much make up she wore ( or didn't wear as was the case ). What kind of woman allows a man to dictate her wardrobe ? I should think that as long as her panty line, butt cheeks and nipples aren't showing then she's good to go. Roy was so insecure it was funny. At the start of the story Julia got dumped by Roy because he went to work in Canada and his penis happened to find itself inside some Canadian woman's vagina. I figured stuffy old Roy was probably a virgin and so he got all obsessed with his first foray into sex and dumped poor Julia.
This dumbfest continued with Adam and Julia getting married. Julia gets a make over and we have the old theme of the plain duckling syndrome where the H sees suddenly that she's a beauty. Sigh...
The marriage is platonic for the most of the novel and the MC's even go to India for a honeymoon and we are given little snippets of information about them on a little house boat in Kashmir. That part was more interesting than the non romance between Adam and Julia. When they return to England, Julia is a lady of leisure since she can no longer work as a mere secretary to her husband. Erica is still omnipresent and making trouble. Adam even has the audacity to tell Julia that she must invite the skinny witch to a dinner party. Wtf ? It seemed as if Adam spent more time trying to play his game of one upmanship with Erica; his efforts to prove that he had moved on were kinda lame because he took too long to tell Erica to get the F out of his face. I really was getting fed up of all the nice polite interaction among this sordid threesome. Seriously.
Then Roy's ass gets dumped by his lover in Canada ( probably because he had a pencil dick and sucked in bed. Or maybe the real problem was that he didn't "suck" in bed. Lol. Who knows ? More importantly, who the F cares at this point ? ). Then I think Adam forces himself on Julia. It appears to be a rape/seduction situation but I think the scene faded to black and I can't be bothered to go double check. The relationship between the MC's worsen for a while and Julia starts hanging out with Roy again because Adam still hasn't told Erica to F off. All these characters seemed more concerned with trying to one up each other. Julia realizes she's fallen in love with Adam and then the latter apparently starts to love her too. Adam's so called love only started happening around the 80% marker of the story line so that was lame as well. Erica, who had been hounding Adam, realizes that he loves Julia and she tries to interfere by being spiteful to the heroine. Then what ? Oh yeah. Adam goes ballistic with jealousy over Julia's friendship with the irritating Roy. Then blah blah blah happens and the MC's declare their love. The end. This is definitely never going to be on my "re read" list and Adam wasn't really a sexy hero in my opinion. I think Rachel Lindsay's heroes are always a little lacking in the oomph hunky alpha male department.
Before I forget, this book was published under another title as well: Substitute Wife.
Here goes:
I hated the H Adam. He was so p****y whipped by his married mistress Erica. It was so distasteful. The guy is a lawyer and he has been having an affair with this tall really skinny blonde called Erica Dukes. She was married to a really old man who is also a millionaire. Erica's the queen of gold diggers but Adam still loves the mercenary bitch. It sucks to read about a H who has no pride that he would settle for sloppy seconds knowing full well that she's gonna return to kiss and cuddle up to her sugar granddaddy. The novel opens with news that the sugar granddaddy has died so the gold digger is now gonna be free to marry the H. Somebody hand me a barf bag please...
What I hated most about Adam was the fact that he always knew how much Erica loved money but he still adored the tramp. Well, love is indeed blind - or in his case, lacking in logic and common decency. I laughed so hard when Erica basically rejected his marriage proposal because her ancient dead husband had stated in his will that she will lose her inheritance if she married before 3 years. Erica really showed Adam that ( and I am gonna put this in an economist's jargon because it seems so apt for a gold digger ) he was her "opportunity cost." Adam's pride was dented by this but unfortunately his feelings for the greedy tart didn't go away. He then comes up with a plan to marry his secretary Julia ( the heroine ) just to say "checkmate" to Erica. Whatever. I hated Julia too, so I didn't even feel sorry for her.
Julia's really stupid. She was engaged to this stuffy prig called Roy who controlled her clothing choices and how much make up she wore ( or didn't wear as was the case ). What kind of woman allows a man to dictate her wardrobe ? I should think that as long as her panty line, butt cheeks and nipples aren't showing then she's good to go. Roy was so insecure it was funny. At the start of the story Julia got dumped by Roy because he went to work in Canada and his penis happened to find itself inside some Canadian woman's vagina. I figured stuffy old Roy was probably a virgin and so he got all obsessed with his first foray into sex and dumped poor Julia.
This dumbfest continued with Adam and Julia getting married. Julia gets a make over and we have the old theme of the plain duckling syndrome where the H sees suddenly that she's a beauty. Sigh...
The marriage is platonic for the most of the novel and the MC's even go to India for a honeymoon and we are given little snippets of information about them on a little house boat in Kashmir. That part was more interesting than the non romance between Adam and Julia. When they return to England, Julia is a lady of leisure since she can no longer work as a mere secretary to her husband. Erica is still omnipresent and making trouble. Adam even has the audacity to tell Julia that she must invite the skinny witch to a dinner party. Wtf ? It seemed as if Adam spent more time trying to play his game of one upmanship with Erica; his efforts to prove that he had moved on were kinda lame because he took too long to tell Erica to get the F out of his face. I really was getting fed up of all the nice polite interaction among this sordid threesome. Seriously.
Then Roy's ass gets dumped by his lover in Canada ( probably because he had a pencil dick and sucked in bed. Or maybe the real problem was that he didn't "suck" in bed. Lol. Who knows ? More importantly, who the F cares at this point ? ). Then I think Adam forces himself on Julia. It appears to be a rape/seduction situation but I think the scene faded to black and I can't be bothered to go double check. The relationship between the MC's worsen for a while and Julia starts hanging out with Roy again because Adam still hasn't told Erica to F off. All these characters seemed more concerned with trying to one up each other. Julia realizes she's fallen in love with Adam and then the latter apparently starts to love her too. Adam's so called love only started happening around the 80% marker of the story line so that was lame as well. Erica, who had been hounding Adam, realizes that he loves Julia and she tries to interfere by being spiteful to the heroine. Then what ? Oh yeah. Adam goes ballistic with jealousy over Julia's friendship with the irritating Roy. Then blah blah blah happens and the MC's declare their love. The end. This is definitely never going to be on my "re read" list and Adam wasn't really a sexy hero in my opinion. I think Rachel Lindsay's heroes are always a little lacking in the oomph hunky alpha male department.
Before I forget, this book was published under another title as well: Substitute Wife.
July 7, 2010
Be careful what you wish for. When a person makes decisions without considering the emotional cost of those decisions, they usually backfire. Such was the case with Adam's decision to marry his secretary, Julia. He was trying to show his lover that he wasn't her whipping boy, content to continue in their affair indefinitely so she could get her inheritance as dictated by her late husband's will. Julia was dealing with her own hurt feelings after she was dumped by her fiance shortly after he took a job in Canada. She had no expectations for her marriage to Adam, and she didn't want a love match anyway. However, they both end up falling in love, and are afraid to show their feelings for each other.
This was a subtle book, with a lot of intense undercurrents. I was kind of surprised that the hero had been having an affair with a married woman. And how she was willing to live with him and even have children with him out of marriage for the time period until her husband's will allowed her to marry. This was written in the early 80s, and it is a Harlequin--so that was an eye-opener. But, the way that the author deals with these unconventional aspects is so matter-of-fact, it doesn't really come off as risque. I liked that the heroine is the more self-controlled out of the couple. The hero isn't a lit fuse, but he does let emotions dictate his behavior to a larger extent than Julia does. He truly is susceptible to his ex-lover for a significant part of this book, although he doesn't cheat on Julia. It was nice to see how he realizes that his feelings towards Julia are much more right and intense than his feelings for his sex-girlfriend were. There's a bit of his POV, but his actions towards Julia reveal when he falls in love with her, outside of his POV. Of course, Julia is oblivious, thinking that she's just a mere substitute for the woman that Adam truly wants. Her father was a womanizer who continually left her mother and made her life miserable, so she has no faith in a strong emotional attachment to a man, especially one who is dynamic and virile, like Adam. However, she falls deeply in love with him, even knowing it's the worst thing she could do. Finally, she gets the epiphany that makes her want to fight for his love. Will it be too late? Of course not. This is Harlequin, where the endings are always happy. And I'm always glad for it. Recommended to readers who enjoy vintage books.
This was a subtle book, with a lot of intense undercurrents. I was kind of surprised that the hero had been having an affair with a married woman. And how she was willing to live with him and even have children with him out of marriage for the time period until her husband's will allowed her to marry. This was written in the early 80s, and it is a Harlequin--so that was an eye-opener. But, the way that the author deals with these unconventional aspects is so matter-of-fact, it doesn't really come off as risque. I liked that the heroine is the more self-controlled out of the couple. The hero isn't a lit fuse, but he does let emotions dictate his behavior to a larger extent than Julia does. He truly is susceptible to his ex-lover for a significant part of this book, although he doesn't cheat on Julia. It was nice to see how he realizes that his feelings towards Julia are much more right and intense than his feelings for his sex-girlfriend were. There's a bit of his POV, but his actions towards Julia reveal when he falls in love with her, outside of his POV. Of course, Julia is oblivious, thinking that she's just a mere substitute for the woman that Adam truly wants. Her father was a womanizer who continually left her mother and made her life miserable, so she has no faith in a strong emotional attachment to a man, especially one who is dynamic and virile, like Adam. However, she falls deeply in love with him, even knowing it's the worst thing she could do. Finally, she gets the epiphany that makes her want to fight for his love. Will it be too late? Of course not. This is Harlequin, where the endings are always happy. And I'm always glad for it. Recommended to readers who enjoy vintage books.
October 16, 2012
This was published in 1982..under two different titles, Second Best Wife and Substitute Wife. Whichever copy you can get your hands on, I highly recommend giving this one a try. This is one of those traditional older HP's that have made category romances so popular. Yet it is also has some refreshing elements to it, that make it stand out.
Adam and Julia work together. She has been his faithful secretary for four years. Adam has been madly in love with OW, who happens to be the wife of a respected client. When said client suddenly dies, Adam proposes marriage only to be told that he must wait four years to marry her because hubby has left a "Will" stipulating wife loses everything ($3M pounds) if she marries within four years. Seems hubby wasn't so cool about their affair after all. Julia, on the other hand, has just been jilted by her fiancé and is devastated to find herself alone. Adam decides since OW thinks money is more important than him, he needs to move on with his life. He proposes to Julia...since they admire and respect each other. After all, this is more than most happy couples have to start with. Who needs love?
What happens next is a very interesting journey. You definitely get lots of Adam's POV and you see both of them committed to a marriage while still in love with someone else. It becomes a journey of realization and it is fraught with potholes and pitfalls along the way.
I actually found that Adam's POV made a tremendous difference to the story. Normally, I would have found him not worthy of hero, yet the author penned a great character. Having the story told mostly from his point of view was a different experience. I actually found myself liking him better than the heroine, who sometimes came off a little immature and selfish.
I must warn you that there is some nonconsensual marital relations in the book, that might turn some readers off.
Adam and Julia work together. She has been his faithful secretary for four years. Adam has been madly in love with OW, who happens to be the wife of a respected client. When said client suddenly dies, Adam proposes marriage only to be told that he must wait four years to marry her because hubby has left a "Will" stipulating wife loses everything ($3M pounds) if she marries within four years. Seems hubby wasn't so cool about their affair after all. Julia, on the other hand, has just been jilted by her fiancé and is devastated to find herself alone. Adam decides since OW thinks money is more important than him, he needs to move on with his life. He proposes to Julia...since they admire and respect each other. After all, this is more than most happy couples have to start with. Who needs love?
What happens next is a very interesting journey. You definitely get lots of Adam's POV and you see both of them committed to a marriage while still in love with someone else. It becomes a journey of realization and it is fraught with potholes and pitfalls along the way.
I actually found that Adam's POV made a tremendous difference to the story. Normally, I would have found him not worthy of hero, yet the author penned a great character. Having the story told mostly from his point of view was a different experience. I actually found myself liking him better than the heroine, who sometimes came off a little immature and selfish.
I must warn you that there is some nonconsensual marital relations in the book, that might turn some readers off.
January 26, 2016
35 yr old lawyer enters into a MOC with his 23 yr old secretary after the woman he loves refuses to marry him.
The book was all misunderstandings and bickering. As Danny Glover liked to say in Lethal Weapon - "I'm too old for this shit." I found BOTH H/h unlikable in their immaturity and self-absorbtion.
Rating: 2.5
Sensuality: PG
Tags: OW, OM, MOC, Older man (12 yrs), Dubious consent
The book was all misunderstandings and bickering. As Danny Glover liked to say in Lethal Weapon - "I'm too old for this shit." I found BOTH H/h unlikable in their immaturity and self-absorbtion.
Rating: 2.5
Sensuality: PG
Tags: OW, OM, MOC, Older man (12 yrs), Dubious consent
November 3, 2011
This was a good read,adored Julia-Adam,liked the way their MOC slowly blossoms into MOL(Marriage Of Love) yet the fear of rejection and their exes hovering around they keep their feeling to themselves leading to misunderstandings,Julia comes to know about Adam's childhood and she takes her chance and stays,Adam was surprised to see Julia still there but then they talk and confess their feelings and have their HEA
Recommend it
Recommend it
May 21, 2017
Slow book plus cold heroine.
January 27, 2016
I found this book terribly dry and telly not showy. It was slow and not real interesting. The heroine needed a knock upside the head. She had her mind made up and refused to change it. Not to mention her whole hesitation to sleep with him was sort of dumb. She was married to him and it's not like she didn't love him or that she found him repulsive. Hmm... I guess I didn't like it much.
January 7, 2015
The hero was a hypocrite; having a long affair with his friend and clients wife, then giving her /mistress a long speech about upholding the values of marriage...wtf! Also, you work closely with someone for 3 years and never see her as more than a 'shadow', but suddenly when her hair is down and she has mascara on you notice that she is a drop-dead beauty.
Not to mention all his thoughts contradicting his actions - come to me when you are ready to make this a real marriage - sorry I raped you, I couldn't resist, it won't happen again...but it does.
Not to mention all his thoughts contradicting his actions - come to me when you are ready to make this a real marriage - sorry I raped you, I couldn't resist, it won't happen again...but it does.
August 10, 2017
The story of two people scorned in love, entering a marriage of convenience only to find themselves in love with each other but unable to confess it. I liked how the characters were portrayed, where they become friends falling in love. I found Julia to be a very admirable heroine who refused to stand on the side lines and tolerate everything wordlessly. She is assertive enough to challenge Adam when she feels that he is wrong. This is something that most heroines in the old harlequins lack.
I liked Adam, which came as a shock because firstly he is in love with another woman and then he does something that under any other circumstance would have made me despise him. I think his POV helped me get an insight into his mind and made me want to believe that what happens is the result of the intensity of emotions they both feel which leaves them raw. I found myself actually rooting for Adam. His guilt over the cruelty of his behaviour towards Julia does redeem him a little in that aspect. I rather presume that Adam just didn’t know how else to show his love, and from his POV one can deduce as much that he wasn’t the sort to take advantage if he had seen another course of action.
Also, the author gives a very accurate description of India, especially the houseboat in Kashmir. It brought back my memories of Kashmir. A recommended book for harlequin lovers.
I liked Adam, which came as a shock because firstly he is in love with another woman and then he does something that under any other circumstance would have made me despise him. I think his POV helped me get an insight into his mind and made me want to believe that what happens is the result of the intensity of emotions they both feel which leaves them raw. I found myself actually rooting for Adam. His guilt over the cruelty of his behaviour towards Julia does redeem him a little in that aspect. I rather presume that Adam just didn’t know how else to show his love, and from his POV one can deduce as much that he wasn’t the sort to take advantage if he had seen another course of action.
Also, the author gives a very accurate description of India, especially the houseboat in Kashmir. It brought back my memories of Kashmir. A recommended book for harlequin lovers.
October 25, 2012
What I really liked about this book was how human the hero was. We're all used to the regular HP H's flaws, but this one seemed a bit more regular whilst still being prideful to the point of near destruction. Thanks Leona for the rec, I think I'm going to find more Rachel Lindsay's now.
March 20, 2015
emotional cheating
June 6, 2024
This one mostly notable for a disappearing Burmese cat called Princess (gifted from H to h then never mentioned again. I guess because this pair already had staff to be staff for it) and also for a baked potato in the microwave only taking 6 minutes. 6 minutes! Amazing new technology 😂 That aside these two were a couple of queer fishes with somewhat dodgy moral compasses. Adam, a corporate lawyer, had been in an obsessive adulterous relationship with a gold digger type whose husband cleverly stuck a clause in his will depriving her of his millions if she married within 4 years. She's fine to live over the brush but Adam's pride sees him bin her off and propose to his secretary, the mouse/Titian Goddess (she apparently scrubs up really well) Julia, herself recently jilted by Roy who's found a new love while over in Canada. The OM and OW keep popping up like a whack a mole and also offputting was the non consensual sex where she refuses to respond (fair enough) but he keeps hammering away night after night hoping for a love declaration while she still thinks he loves Erica. It wasn't a whole lot of fun tbh but she writes well.
will-not-read
March 21, 2023Did Not Read. Refuse to Read. Not My Cuppa. ("Hero" had an affair with his client's wife.) If a man (or woman) has no problem having an affair with a married woman (or man), but then refuses to marry that person when their spouse dies because they don't want to wait years for them (a stupid will stated the widow had to stay unmarried for several years before she could marry again, but the "hero" of the book didn't want to wait to have kids, so he chose to marry the secretary "heroine" instead), doesn't it figure that somewhere along the way, that person who cheated might cheat again? This was such a stupid storyline. Definitely not someone I'd place in the role of either a "hero" or "heroine" of a story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2012
I enjoyed this one fairly well, though I never love plot lines that have the hero thinking he's in love with another woman (at least here the hero realized reasonably early on that he wasn't in love with the OW). I also wish the heroine had enjoyed at least some of the sex with the hero -- of course the book implies that she was purposefully holding back, but that means we never get to hear about any mutually enjoyable sex between them. Overall though, an angsty read with a satisfying conclusion.
August 15, 2023
3.00 Stars
This H is the carbon copy of the H in Temporary Wife by Roberta Leigh aka Rachel Lindsay and the book also are similar to Secretary Wife also by Rachel Lindsay. There is no surprise that the hero is a week wimp twisted by the OW's little finger like all her Hs are. They always have love/obsession for the gold-digger sluts of the OWs no matter what, and they always knew that the OWs are greedy and evil but still love/obsess them. And the tepid love that they felt for the heroines is always almost in the end of the book, at least in this book he found out that he loved the h about 2/3 of the book almost at the same time that the h found out, but I don't believe in his thoughts that what he felt for the h is more than he felt for the OW, past books are a prime example, that he found out after raped/forced, suddenly that what he felt for the h makes what he felt for the OW was paltry annd shallow is not credible after the way he was obsessed for the OW and loved her even with her evil ways and a heart of gold-digger. If the h wasn't really a good beautiful girl with a heart of gold he wouldn't want her besides taking her body while he loved the OW with all her flaws, the truly shows that the Hs loved the OWs much more. That took him more than 4 years to see what kind of girl she is after the makeover and after that the OW didn't want to get married to him. If she married him he would continue worshipping and loving the cow until the very end, the qualities that the h have he didn't matter to him before instead he much preferred an adulterous slut gold-digger. To me as a reader, that the Hs always loves the OWs regards their flaws makes them weak and shallow and they deserved the OWs. The author's heroines are also second best or worst. The only positive thing in her books are that some of her heroines are strong but I also thought that RL always hate her hs but love her OW, if she could write the OW as hs I bet she would. The power/hold that the OWs have over the Hs are always strong and powerful. RL's Hs besides being a wimp and weak, even one of them was a alpha ( Business Affair) was weak and wimp towards the OW for whom he lusts and have deep feelings and he is an hypocrite in all the book when he also pursued the h at the same time because he loved the h (one of the few books of RL that the H had earlier feelings for the h), in that one, what kind of shallow and hypocrite love is that if in 99% of the book he was sleeping with the OW and was marrying her until he found out that the she was a cheater, even then he didn't believe the OM and the punched the OM because of the OW and not because the h, Hello? This just shows that they only truly care about the OW in Rachel Lindsay/Roberta Leigh's universe.
That he started to see the h as attractive after the makeover, just shows that he is blind and shallow, even the OM knew she was hot, hence why he is always controlling what she wears. After he raped/forced the h, even if he thought he loved the h, he himself said he felt that he was having sex with a doll, I recuse the use to call love. How can I believe that he truly desired her after this, when RL's heroes are easily aroused by the memory or by the scent of the OWs, they don't have even one tenth of desire/attraction for the hs and certainly they don't get aroused just by the memory and scent of the hs. He acknowledge there wasn't a shared ecstsay, and tenderness after the passion, only his only release and passion spent, that shows that what he had with the OW is much more intense with ecstasy and tenderness and love.
The only difference in these story, is that the OW accepted to have children, illegitimate children, most of the OWs won't have children because they will alter their figure.
This H is the carbon copy of the H in Temporary Wife by Roberta Leigh aka Rachel Lindsay and the book also are similar to Secretary Wife also by Rachel Lindsay. There is no surprise that the hero is a week wimp twisted by the OW's little finger like all her Hs are. They always have love/obsession for the gold-digger sluts of the OWs no matter what, and they always knew that the OWs are greedy and evil but still love/obsess them. And the tepid love that they felt for the heroines is always almost in the end of the book, at least in this book he found out that he loved the h about 2/3 of the book almost at the same time that the h found out, but I don't believe in his thoughts that what he felt for the h is more than he felt for the OW, past books are a prime example, that he found out after raped/forced, suddenly that what he felt for the h makes what he felt for the OW was paltry annd shallow is not credible after the way he was obsessed for the OW and loved her even with her evil ways and a heart of gold-digger. If the h wasn't really a good beautiful girl with a heart of gold he wouldn't want her besides taking her body while he loved the OW with all her flaws, the truly shows that the Hs loved the OWs much more. That took him more than 4 years to see what kind of girl she is after the makeover and after that the OW didn't want to get married to him. If she married him he would continue worshipping and loving the cow until the very end, the qualities that the h have he didn't matter to him before instead he much preferred an adulterous slut gold-digger. To me as a reader, that the Hs always loves the OWs regards their flaws makes them weak and shallow and they deserved the OWs. The author's heroines are also second best or worst. The only positive thing in her books are that some of her heroines are strong but I also thought that RL always hate her hs but love her OW, if she could write the OW as hs I bet she would. The power/hold that the OWs have over the Hs are always strong and powerful. RL's Hs besides being a wimp and weak, even one of them was a alpha ( Business Affair) was weak and wimp towards the OW for whom he lusts and have deep feelings and he is an hypocrite in all the book when he also pursued the h at the same time because he loved the h (one of the few books of RL that the H had earlier feelings for the h), in that one, what kind of shallow and hypocrite love is that if in 99% of the book he was sleeping with the OW and was marrying her until he found out that the she was a cheater, even then he didn't believe the OM and the punched the OM because of the OW and not because the h, Hello? This just shows that they only truly care about the OW in Rachel Lindsay/Roberta Leigh's universe.
That he started to see the h as attractive after the makeover, just shows that he is blind and shallow, even the OM knew she was hot, hence why he is always controlling what she wears. After he raped/forced the h, even if he thought he loved the h, he himself said he felt that he was having sex with a doll, I recuse the use to call love. How can I believe that he truly desired her after this, when RL's heroes are easily aroused by the memory or by the scent of the OWs, they don't have even one tenth of desire/attraction for the hs and certainly they don't get aroused just by the memory and scent of the hs. He acknowledge there wasn't a shared ecstsay, and tenderness after the passion, only his only release and passion spent, that shows that what he had with the OW is much more intense with ecstasy and tenderness and love.
The only difference in these story, is that the OW accepted to have children, illegitimate children, most of the OWs won't have children because they will alter their figure.
November 22, 2023
This is another version of the author's much better Temporary Wife written under her other nom de plume Roberta Leigh. A man is hopelessly in love with a married golddigging hall of famer and waiting patiently for her decrepit old husband to die. But SUPRISE, SURPRISE! Once he croaks, it turns out that his will forbids his merry widow to marry for at least 4 years after his demise. Nice joke from beyond the grave for the cuckold husband, glad he had the last laugh. The merry widow doesn't want to give up her millions, so she suggests they continue to shag without strings but the petty hero wanted marriage so he gets into a snit and decides to propose to his mousy secretary as revenge.
Of course the mousy secretary, the heroine of the piece, is actually a luscious redhead bombshell who was simply hiding all her spice under dull clothes and a tight bun, as many heroines of the genre and the era did, to great hilarity. It isn't long before her husband of convenience salivates over his wife and forgets the merry widow. Unfortunately, like many of the heroes of the era, he decides to force himself on his wife (who is Seekretly in love with him but thinks he is just using her hot bod as a stand in for the merry widow) hoping with great logic that his magic penis will make her fall in love with him too. Many Great Big Terrible Misunderstandings later, some of them engineered by the merry widow, some by a limp lettuce leaf OM, the husband and wife finally confess their true feelings and to put a cherry on top, a baby is soon to complete their happiness.
It was a pretty good story, led by a heroine with backbone, very well-written world building and some fun dialogues. However, I did not rate it as high as Temporary Wife which was the superior book because of its wry humor and the fact that the hero finally told off the OW on page in a rather humiliating scene and groveled to his wife a lot whereas here the hero was too wishy washy with the OW and too easily gave up on his wife. The dual POVs did not help matters because the scenes where he is physically comparing his wife and his ex-mistress were truly barftastic. I am happy that he came to his senses at the end and did suffer a lot for his unrequited love, and I am happy that the heroine is happy. But read Temporary Wife, it is the better version of this story :)
Of course the mousy secretary, the heroine of the piece, is actually a luscious redhead bombshell who was simply hiding all her spice under dull clothes and a tight bun, as many heroines of the genre and the era did, to great hilarity. It isn't long before her husband of convenience salivates over his wife and forgets the merry widow. Unfortunately, like many of the heroes of the era, he decides to force himself on his wife (who is Seekretly in love with him but thinks he is just using her hot bod as a stand in for the merry widow) hoping with great logic that his magic penis will make her fall in love with him too. Many Great Big Terrible Misunderstandings later, some of them engineered by the merry widow, some by a limp lettuce leaf OM, the husband and wife finally confess their true feelings and to put a cherry on top, a baby is soon to complete their happiness.
It was a pretty good story, led by a heroine with backbone, very well-written world building and some fun dialogues. However, I did not rate it as high as Temporary Wife which was the superior book because of its wry humor and the fact that the hero finally told off the OW on page in a rather humiliating scene and groveled to his wife a lot whereas here the hero was too wishy washy with the OW and too easily gave up on his wife. The dual POVs did not help matters because the scenes where he is physically comparing his wife and his ex-mistress were truly barftastic. I am happy that he came to his senses at the end and did suffer a lot for his unrequited love, and I am happy that the heroine is happy. But read Temporary Wife, it is the better version of this story :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2025
Neither the h or H were appealing main characters.
A immediate turn-off was the fact that the hero had no qualms - ever - about his affair with the OW while her husband, his client, was still alive. He repeatedly self-justified his morally dubious behaviour as ok because the OW’s marriage had broken down. Once his client was dead, the H wanted to immediately marry the OW (no living in sin!), primarily because a) what will his friends think if they don’t and b) he didn’t want to wait too long to have kids. Yet, one presumes that he wouldn’t have objected to continuing their adulterous relationship kid-free if the old bugger hadn’t died, so hmm?
The H can be characterized as a petulant, emotionally-stunted man-child. The kicker - once married, he rapes the virgin h because he is in a fit of jealousy that she went to dinner with her ex. Is he remorseful? Yes, but in a continuation of his ever-twisted logic, the H decides he can’t give up sex and will go on forcing himself on her. This, he reasons, is ok since he will ensure he is pleasuring her and is thereby demonstrating how much he loves her. Oy ve.
As to the h, I initially liked how she was outspoken and willing to take the H to task. However, as the book went on, she often crossed the line into downright meanness. Plus, for someone who kept bemoaning how bored she was and intended to get a job/learn the law, all she did was shop for expensive clothes and redecorate rooms. Finally, I hate the h’s absurd logic of ‘ I love him so much, but he doesn’t love me, ergo I must leave him and keep our baby a secret’, a prevalent trope in these 80s/90s harlequins.
Again, not the most endearing of couples….
A immediate turn-off was the fact that the hero had no qualms - ever - about his affair with the OW while her husband, his client, was still alive. He repeatedly self-justified his morally dubious behaviour as ok because the OW’s marriage had broken down. Once his client was dead, the H wanted to immediately marry the OW (no living in sin!), primarily because a) what will his friends think if they don’t and b) he didn’t want to wait too long to have kids. Yet, one presumes that he wouldn’t have objected to continuing their adulterous relationship kid-free if the old bugger hadn’t died, so hmm?
The H can be characterized as a petulant, emotionally-stunted man-child. The kicker - once married, he rapes the virgin h because he is in a fit of jealousy that she went to dinner with her ex. Is he remorseful? Yes, but in a continuation of his ever-twisted logic, the H decides he can’t give up sex and will go on forcing himself on her. This, he reasons, is ok since he will ensure he is pleasuring her and is thereby demonstrating how much he loves her. Oy ve.
As to the h, I initially liked how she was outspoken and willing to take the H to task. However, as the book went on, she often crossed the line into downright meanness. Plus, for someone who kept bemoaning how bored she was and intended to get a job/learn the law, all she did was shop for expensive clothes and redecorate rooms. Finally, I hate the h’s absurd logic of ‘ I love him so much, but he doesn’t love me, ergo I must leave him and keep our baby a secret’, a prevalent trope in these 80s/90s harlequins.
Again, not the most endearing of couples….
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2023
Very well, I'm a slave to this trope, I know, I know. I couldn't help comparing it to other books with the same theme. Maybe it's close to Magnolia or Temporary Wife. The H's pov is truly a delightful addition. Usually, I tend to cheer whenever the H gets punished for his sin. In this book, I cheer whenever the h gets punished for her pettiness. DAMN WHAT AN UNYIELDING SHREW. I know it was her trauma at first, but she just carried it to a different level, so it became totally different things. Talk about insecurities and distrust. And the gal said that the H didn't know what love truly was while, she too, was blind as a bat...... Well, that is the usual vicious circle. I thought the book was okay, but maybe I like it more than that. I have never bothered to write a long review before.
May 25, 2020
Adam and Julia decided to get married because both of them were jilted by their betrothed. Both belive the other is in love with other people and don't let their relationship grow. And so it goes until everything explodes, they decide to get divorced but Julia discover that she's pregnant and that he refused to marry his old flame. So when he comes back from a trip to New York, she is still at home and speaks up.
This author is really old fashioned and conservative. All her heroines are virgins and divorce takes 2 years. Oh, and the secretary writes on a typewriter instead of in a computer.
This author is really old fashioned and conservative. All her heroines are virgins and divorce takes 2 years. Oh, and the secretary writes on a typewriter instead of in a computer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2021
Too much OM and OW drama. She had gone into this marriage with her eyes open and still complain a lot. She is the one often talk about the OW than the hero. Heroine is a good for nothing, brooding bitch whose goal is to make hero life miserable.
January 28, 2018
Quick angsty old school read.
July 24, 2019
For a story where the other woman featured so prominently, there was almost no angst but it was still a decent read.
January 12, 2020
This was a pretty decent read, but I got annoyed towards the end by their lack of communication. I almost wished for more drama so that they could argue more and maybe let it all out sooner.
September 20, 2020
Can anyone explain the sexual dynamic between the hero and heroine to me? I just finished this book and I'm so confused. Did she enjoy it or not?
November 10, 2020
It meanders too much into boring stuff.
April 18, 2021
One of my favorite harlequin's ever since I first read it in high school. The female on the cover always stood out in my memory. I'll keep this book in my collection forever.
December 8, 2022
Very easy read, definitely dated, but I’m a sucker for the fake/pretend relationship trope, and this is kind of a that and the convenience marriage trope blended together.
August 9, 2023
One of my old faves mills and boon
Read
August 17, 2024Terrible book! My goodness they were stupid smh.
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