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Secrets & Sins / Hearts of Fire #1
Seduction & Sacrifice
Dark secrets, forbidden desires, scandalous discoveries…
Welcome to a glittering new six-part saga set in Australia. This, and every novel to come, features a gripping romance that stands by itself, as the passions, scandals and hopes that exist between two fabulously rich families are revealed. But you’ll also find yourself hooked throughout the series as Gemma Smith searches for the secret of her true identity and fights for ruthless seducer Nathan Whitmore’s love…
Everyone warned Gemma about Nathan, but she believed he wasn’t heartless-just heartbroken. Clearly he was still in love with his ex-wife, Lenore, so Gemma tried to hide her attraction to him…. However, Lenore knew loving a woman wasn’t one of Nathan’s talents. Not like Zachary Marsden-loyal, handsome, protective, he was the perfect husband, and Lenore had secretly loved him for years. Only, she also knew that her ideal man would never leave his wife….
Welcome to a glittering new six-part saga set in Australia. This, and every novel to come, features a gripping romance that stands by itself, as the passions, scandals and hopes that exist between two fabulously rich families are revealed. But you’ll also find yourself hooked throughout the series as Gemma Smith searches for the secret of her true identity and fights for ruthless seducer Nathan Whitmore’s love…
Everyone warned Gemma about Nathan, but she believed he wasn’t heartless-just heartbroken. Clearly he was still in love with his ex-wife, Lenore, so Gemma tried to hide her attraction to him…. However, Lenore knew loving a woman wasn’t one of Nathan’s talents. Not like Zachary Marsden-loyal, handsome, protective, he was the perfect husband, and Lenore had secretly loved him for years. Only, she also knew that her ideal man would never leave his wife….
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
14 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Miranda Lee
815 books235 followersMaureen Mary was born on 1945 at Port Macquarie, a popular seaside town on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is the youngest of four children. Her sister was the novelist Wendy Brennan (Emma Darcy). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. When Miranda was ten, her father was transferred to Gosford, another coastal town in the countryside, much closer to Sydney. After leaving her convent school, she briefly studied the cello before moving to Sydney, where she embraced the emerging world of computers. Her career as a programmer ended after she married, had three daughters and bought a small acreage in a semi-rural community. Following this, she attempted greyhound training, as well as horse and goat breeding, but was left dissatisfied.
Miranda yearned to find a creative career from which she could earn money. When her sister suggested writing romances, it seemed like a good idea. She could do it at home, and it might even be fun! It took a decade of trial and error before her first romance, After the Affair, was accepted and published. At that time, Miranda, her husband Tony, and her three daughters had moved back to the Central Coast, where they could enjoy the sun and the surf lifestyle once again. Not long into her writing career, Miranda committed herself to writing a six-book series entitled, The Hearts of Fire, with a deadline of just nine short months. Bravely, her husband left his executive position to stay home and support Miranda’s writing career. He learned to cook and to clean, two invaluable household skills. Numerous successful stories followed, each embodying Miranda’s trademark style: pacy and sexy rhythms; passionate, real-life characters; and enduring, memorable story lines. She has one credo when writing romances: Don’t bore the reader! Millions of fans world-wide agree she never does.
Miranda was the sister of the late author, Emma Darcy.
Miranda yearned to find a creative career from which she could earn money. When her sister suggested writing romances, it seemed like a good idea. She could do it at home, and it might even be fun! It took a decade of trial and error before her first romance, After the Affair, was accepted and published. At that time, Miranda, her husband Tony, and her three daughters had moved back to the Central Coast, where they could enjoy the sun and the surf lifestyle once again. Not long into her writing career, Miranda committed herself to writing a six-book series entitled, The Hearts of Fire, with a deadline of just nine short months. Bravely, her husband left his executive position to stay home and support Miranda’s writing career. He learned to cook and to clean, two invaluable household skills. Numerous successful stories followed, each embodying Miranda’s trademark style: pacy and sexy rhythms; passionate, real-life characters; and enduring, memorable story lines. She has one credo when writing romances: Don’t bore the reader! Millions of fans world-wide agree she never does.
Miranda was the sister of the late author, Emma Darcy.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 15, 2016
This book starts a most amazing series by ML but it is not for everyone.
The hero was married before and he tries to hook up with his ex but finds he wants the heroine.
He fights it all the way as she is innocent and he feels like he is too much for this young girl.
To messed up and too jaded!
He is not good enough for her!
Time would tell because right or wrong he wants it all and he is going to try to make her happy.
Enjoyable read and maybe the best ML book I have ever read 4.5 stars.
Side note: after reading the whole series and getting the hero's complete story. I found he was very much like Christian Grey from FSOG. Honestly, it was very similar to me.
The hero was married before and he tries to hook up with his ex but finds he wants the heroine.
He fights it all the way as she is innocent and he feels like he is too much for this young girl.
To messed up and too jaded!
He is not good enough for her!
Time would tell because right or wrong he wants it all and he is going to try to make her happy.
Enjoyable read and maybe the best ML book I have ever read 4.5 stars.
Side note: after reading the whole series and getting the hero's complete story. I found he was very much like Christian Grey from FSOG. Honestly, it was very similar to me.
July 29, 2018
Re Seduction and Sacrifice - Miranda Lee does the utmost of HP HPness in this seven book mini-series about two rival houses competing in the Australian Opal Market.
Think the HPlandia version of James Clavell and his epic Asian Saga, think Dynasty, think Dallas- super glam and glitzy high society denizens doing all sorts of dubious and nefarious things as we get a bird's eye view of their lives and loves.
But more than anything else, this series probably had a profound impact E L James - shades of all kinds of this series characterizations will show up in her works two decades later and these stories may have been where it all began.
So grab a comfy reading spot, stock up on the TimTams and the Adult Beverages and prepare to be swept away on an epic HPlandia multi part outing that is the epitome of the HP line at this time in glitz, glamour and exotic settings.
As with all epic HP mini-series we get a list of the main players in each book
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK
GEMMA SMITH: On her father's death Gemma discovers a magnificent black opal worth a small fortune and an old photograph which casts doubt about her real identity. In quest of the truth and a new life, she goes to Sydney.
NATHAN WHITMORE: Adopted son of Byron Whitmore, Nathan is acting head of Whitmore Opals and a talented playwright. After a troubled childhood and a divorce, he is ruthless and utterly emotionally controlled.
LENORE LANGTRY: Talented stage actress, ex-wife of Nathan Whitmore and mother of Kirsty, Lenore hides her unrequited love for successful solicitor Zachary Marsden behind a tough exterior.
ZACHARY MARSDEN: Married with two sons, Zachary has always been attracted to Lenore but has so far stayed faithful to his wife.
KIRSTY WHITMORE: The wayward fourteen-year-old daughter of Nathan and Lenore, who has never come to terms with their divorce.
JADE WHITMORE: The spoilt and wilful daughter of Byron and the late Irene Whitmore, Jade can't have the one man she wants —her adopted brother, Nathan.
BYRON WHITMORE: Recently widowed, Byron is the patriarch of the Whitmore family, and a stranger to love.
MELANIE LLOYD: Housekeeper to the Whitmores, Melanie is emotionally dead since the tragic deaths of her husband and only child.
AVA WHITMORE: Byron's much younger sister, Ava struggles with her weight, her spinsterhood and her fear of failure.
So we start with 20 yr Gemma, who has just attended her father's funeral in the Australian Black Opal region of Lightning Ridge. Gemma and the man who claimed to be her father did not get along and Gemma was frightened of him. Gemma has never known her mother, her father claimed she died when she was born.
With the help of Ma, a local fossicker and mother figure, Gemma is getting ready to make her way to the big city of Sidney. In clearing out her dugout home in order to turn it over to Ma, Gemma comes across an old picture of her mother and father and also finds a truly stunning huge black opal.
Gemma knows she is holding a fortune in her hands, she wants to get it valued, but she is hesitant to do it in the local area. Not all of the miner and fossickers are good people and Gemma has already had some problems with one of the men in the area, she thinks he might even have poisoned her beloved dog at the start of the book.
But Gemma does have other smaller opals she needs to sell to put towards her cash stash to get her to Sydney, so after Ma warns her about the dangers of big city men and compliments her on losing her baby fat, Ma sends Gemma to meet the Whitmore opal buyer.
Whitmores is the Premier Australian Opal dealer and the man Gemma meets utterly and completely astounds her with is handsomeness and strong virility when he comforts her after she breaks down about the changes in her life and the scary guy who may be stalking her. It turns out Gemma is meeting Nathan, the divorced playwright son of the head of Whitmores, who is temporarily standing in for his adopted father, Byron.
Byron, the CEO of the Whitmore empire, is in hospital following an accident that killed his witch of a wife Irene- who busted up the relationship of her own sister to steal her sister's man and marry him.
Nathan and Gemma are both instantly attracted and while nothing happens, Nathan urges Gemma to look him up if she needs assistance getting settled in Sydney. As it happens, Nathan's ex wife Lenore needs help with Kirsty - her and Nathan's very troubled 14 yr old daughter, who is angry that her parents have divorced.
Nathan decides that Kirsty can come live with him at Byron's house, Belleview. Nathan is dwelling there temporarily while acting for his father and Lenore agrees. Her marriage to Nathan was emotionally barren and Nathan's messed up, drug addicted parents managed to scar him for life before they died. Lenore married Nathan on the rebound of her rejection by the married true love of her life Zachary, who is the Whitmore attorney.
Lenore found out that Nathan is very emotionally distant and unsupportive- except when he is getting his groove on. So after Kirsty reached teen-hood, Lenore divorced Nathan to both pursue her acting career and hopefully find a truly compatible partner - if she can just get over her obsession with the married Zachary - who has no intention of playing around on his ill-matched wife and mother of his sons.
Eventually Gemma makes her way to Sydney and goes to see Nathan at the Whitmore main office. When she pulls out the humongous black opal she found in her father's things, she is told that the opal was one that was stolen over 20 years earlier from the H's father, but that there will be a finder reward for it. There is also some question over Gemma's mother, who she was and how old Gemma really is, so Nathan decides to send out inquiries on that.
Nathan, whose lurve force mojo overpowers his good sense, offers Gemma a position in the family manse, Belleview, as a companion for Kirsty while Gemma learns Japanese to become a sales girl one of the retail branches of Whitmores.
Lenore isn't too keen on that arrangement at first, she knows Nathan has bed warming duties on his mind. But Gemma is really sweet, manages to build a nice rapport with Kirsty, Byron's sister Ava and the Belleview housekeeper, Melanie and even the spoiled party girl Jade seems to get on well with her.
Byron then bribes Lenore, by offering her the lead in Nathan's next play, into helping Gemma shop for appropriate clothes to wear in the Whitmore social circles. (He wants Nathan to marry sweet little compliant Gemma for his empire dynasty prospects, as he feels Lenore let him down badly and Nathan needs to be married and having heirs.) The stage is now set for the seduction of Gemma to begin.
In the midst of Lenore pimping Gemma out to Nathan at Byron's behest, she also runs into Zachary. After an evening out together, the two of them can no longer contain the effects of the Lurve Force Mojo and a torrid Purple Passion Adulterous Affair is begun. Then they have a dramatic separation, as Zachary knows it is wrong to be cheating on his wife.
Gemma and Kirsty and Ava and Melanie have more bonding moments, we learn that Melanie is tragically not recovered from the loss of her husband and child and Ava is a pudgy, procrastination prone, spineless mess. Kirsty is a typical rebellious teen and Gemma finds kind ways to help them all.
Then Nathan proposes a big weekend at the Whitmore beach house and Zachary and Lenore reunite, after it comes to light that Zachary's wife is also having an affair and wants a divorce. Zach and Lenore agree to keep their relationship quiet until Zach's son graduates from high school and we return to Nathan putting the lurve mojo moves on Gemma at the beach.
There is a little ML pubic service announcement about the STD related dangers of promiscuity, the dangers of smoking weed and how important it is to wear sunscreen.
We also learn that Gemma's birth certificate is actually legitimate, but there is no record at all of the woman listed as her birth mother - it also appears that Gemma's vital statistics are off a by a few years - making her 20 instead of 18 - so for some reason the man she thinks is her father lied.
Finally Nathan and Gemma come together in a fiery conflagration of Fierce Love Force Mojo Transcendent Bliss and Nathan promises to marry Gemma, but for now their engagement is seekrit, tho Nathan is determined to marry Gemma right away.
We leave the two of them lurvin' it up on a purple cloud of passion, as we wait anxiously for the next installment of Hearts of Fire...
Think the HPlandia version of James Clavell and his epic Asian Saga, think Dynasty, think Dallas- super glam and glitzy high society denizens doing all sorts of dubious and nefarious things as we get a bird's eye view of their lives and loves.
But more than anything else, this series probably had a profound impact E L James - shades of all kinds of this series characterizations will show up in her works two decades later and these stories may have been where it all began.
So grab a comfy reading spot, stock up on the TimTams and the Adult Beverages and prepare to be swept away on an epic HPlandia multi part outing that is the epitome of the HP line at this time in glitz, glamour and exotic settings.
As with all epic HP mini-series we get a list of the main players in each book
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK
GEMMA SMITH: On her father's death Gemma discovers a magnificent black opal worth a small fortune and an old photograph which casts doubt about her real identity. In quest of the truth and a new life, she goes to Sydney.
NATHAN WHITMORE: Adopted son of Byron Whitmore, Nathan is acting head of Whitmore Opals and a talented playwright. After a troubled childhood and a divorce, he is ruthless and utterly emotionally controlled.
LENORE LANGTRY: Talented stage actress, ex-wife of Nathan Whitmore and mother of Kirsty, Lenore hides her unrequited love for successful solicitor Zachary Marsden behind a tough exterior.
ZACHARY MARSDEN: Married with two sons, Zachary has always been attracted to Lenore but has so far stayed faithful to his wife.
KIRSTY WHITMORE: The wayward fourteen-year-old daughter of Nathan and Lenore, who has never come to terms with their divorce.
JADE WHITMORE: The spoilt and wilful daughter of Byron and the late Irene Whitmore, Jade can't have the one man she wants —her adopted brother, Nathan.
BYRON WHITMORE: Recently widowed, Byron is the patriarch of the Whitmore family, and a stranger to love.
MELANIE LLOYD: Housekeeper to the Whitmores, Melanie is emotionally dead since the tragic deaths of her husband and only child.
AVA WHITMORE: Byron's much younger sister, Ava struggles with her weight, her spinsterhood and her fear of failure.
So we start with 20 yr Gemma, who has just attended her father's funeral in the Australian Black Opal region of Lightning Ridge. Gemma and the man who claimed to be her father did not get along and Gemma was frightened of him. Gemma has never known her mother, her father claimed she died when she was born.
With the help of Ma, a local fossicker and mother figure, Gemma is getting ready to make her way to the big city of Sidney. In clearing out her dugout home in order to turn it over to Ma, Gemma comes across an old picture of her mother and father and also finds a truly stunning huge black opal.
Gemma knows she is holding a fortune in her hands, she wants to get it valued, but she is hesitant to do it in the local area. Not all of the miner and fossickers are good people and Gemma has already had some problems with one of the men in the area, she thinks he might even have poisoned her beloved dog at the start of the book.
But Gemma does have other smaller opals she needs to sell to put towards her cash stash to get her to Sydney, so after Ma warns her about the dangers of big city men and compliments her on losing her baby fat, Ma sends Gemma to meet the Whitmore opal buyer.
Whitmores is the Premier Australian Opal dealer and the man Gemma meets utterly and completely astounds her with is handsomeness and strong virility when he comforts her after she breaks down about the changes in her life and the scary guy who may be stalking her. It turns out Gemma is meeting Nathan, the divorced playwright son of the head of Whitmores, who is temporarily standing in for his adopted father, Byron.
Byron, the CEO of the Whitmore empire, is in hospital following an accident that killed his witch of a wife Irene- who busted up the relationship of her own sister to steal her sister's man and marry him.
Nathan and Gemma are both instantly attracted and while nothing happens, Nathan urges Gemma to look him up if she needs assistance getting settled in Sydney. As it happens, Nathan's ex wife Lenore needs help with Kirsty - her and Nathan's very troubled 14 yr old daughter, who is angry that her parents have divorced.
Nathan decides that Kirsty can come live with him at Byron's house, Belleview. Nathan is dwelling there temporarily while acting for his father and Lenore agrees. Her marriage to Nathan was emotionally barren and Nathan's messed up, drug addicted parents managed to scar him for life before they died. Lenore married Nathan on the rebound of her rejection by the married true love of her life Zachary, who is the Whitmore attorney.
Lenore found out that Nathan is very emotionally distant and unsupportive- except when he is getting his groove on. So after Kirsty reached teen-hood, Lenore divorced Nathan to both pursue her acting career and hopefully find a truly compatible partner - if she can just get over her obsession with the married Zachary - who has no intention of playing around on his ill-matched wife and mother of his sons.
Eventually Gemma makes her way to Sydney and goes to see Nathan at the Whitmore main office. When she pulls out the humongous black opal she found in her father's things, she is told that the opal was one that was stolen over 20 years earlier from the H's father, but that there will be a finder reward for it. There is also some question over Gemma's mother, who she was and how old Gemma really is, so Nathan decides to send out inquiries on that.
Nathan, whose lurve force mojo overpowers his good sense, offers Gemma a position in the family manse, Belleview, as a companion for Kirsty while Gemma learns Japanese to become a sales girl one of the retail branches of Whitmores.
Lenore isn't too keen on that arrangement at first, she knows Nathan has bed warming duties on his mind. But Gemma is really sweet, manages to build a nice rapport with Kirsty, Byron's sister Ava and the Belleview housekeeper, Melanie and even the spoiled party girl Jade seems to get on well with her.
Byron then bribes Lenore, by offering her the lead in Nathan's next play, into helping Gemma shop for appropriate clothes to wear in the Whitmore social circles. (He wants Nathan to marry sweet little compliant Gemma for his empire dynasty prospects, as he feels Lenore let him down badly and Nathan needs to be married and having heirs.) The stage is now set for the seduction of Gemma to begin.
In the midst of Lenore pimping Gemma out to Nathan at Byron's behest, she also runs into Zachary. After an evening out together, the two of them can no longer contain the effects of the Lurve Force Mojo and a torrid Purple Passion Adulterous Affair is begun. Then they have a dramatic separation, as Zachary knows it is wrong to be cheating on his wife.
Gemma and Kirsty and Ava and Melanie have more bonding moments, we learn that Melanie is tragically not recovered from the loss of her husband and child and Ava is a pudgy, procrastination prone, spineless mess. Kirsty is a typical rebellious teen and Gemma finds kind ways to help them all.
Then Nathan proposes a big weekend at the Whitmore beach house and Zachary and Lenore reunite, after it comes to light that Zachary's wife is also having an affair and wants a divorce. Zach and Lenore agree to keep their relationship quiet until Zach's son graduates from high school and we return to Nathan putting the lurve mojo moves on Gemma at the beach.
There is a little ML pubic service announcement about the STD related dangers of promiscuity, the dangers of smoking weed and how important it is to wear sunscreen.
We also learn that Gemma's birth certificate is actually legitimate, but there is no record at all of the woman listed as her birth mother - it also appears that Gemma's vital statistics are off a by a few years - making her 20 instead of 18 - so for some reason the man she thinks is her father lied.
Finally Nathan and Gemma come together in a fiery conflagration of Fierce Love Force Mojo Transcendent Bliss and Nathan promises to marry Gemma, but for now their engagement is seekrit, tho Nathan is determined to marry Gemma right away.
We leave the two of them lurvin' it up on a purple cloud of passion, as we wait anxiously for the next installment of Hearts of Fire...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2018
I am sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with Boogenhagen. Don’t bother with the Tims Tams, the Captain or any other alcoholic beverages. Just go straight for the anti-nausea medicine.
I am not even going to bother with the summary as Boogehagen and StMargarets have already done the heavy lifting.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fun to read as you watch the hair you've pulled out float to the floor, and this is merely the first of six (?) seven (?) books. I am just going to cast the book. Movies are in parenthesis.
Published in 1990s, it is squarely set in my mind in the 70s, 80s at best. The male characters are too strongly chauvinistic, selfish and mysogynistic to be worthwhile.
The heroine (The Graduate)
Gemma is an Outback hayseed and comes to Sydney wide-eyed and wondering. All she’s missing is Toto and her wicker basket.
She becomes all too concerned about the state of her breasts in the presence of the hero contemplating crossed arms, bras, sweaters… Barf. Pass the Pepto. Please!
The hero (The Carpetbaggers)
Nathan is blonde. That says it all right there, but if that’s not enough to go on, he’s a cold-hearted charmer with a dead, potentially sexually abusive mother and he has eyes on the heroine’s breasts at all times. Remember…chauvinists! I see a HEA in their future. Yeah, right.
The H’s ex-wife (Valley of the Dolls)
Lenore, wannabe actress, bed and wed the H on the rebound since the married love of her life rejected her. It’s 15 years later and she still carries a torch for theasshole man. She’s actually a decent person if you exclude the fact she wants a married man.
The H’s chauvinistic adoptive father aka Patriarch
Old school chauvinist. Oink.
The H’s over-sexed step-sister (Dorothy Malone in Written in the Wind. Watch this movie for no other reason than her OTT totally evil OW-ness. It also has Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall, but nothing detracts from Malone's performance.)
Bad news for everybody. Jade goes braless so I am not sure why the H doesn’t like her as she seems like his kind of gal.
H’s daughter (Trouble with Angels)
Kirsty is 14 and…well 14. Her mother can’t deal with her so she’s staying with the dad, and the h is her companion
The H’s other, nice step-sister
Ava, the H’s other stepsister is scatty and plump.
The housekeeper (Adams Family TV)
Initially there were references to Mrs. Danvers regarding Melanie, but she’s younger and prettier and has a tragic past.
Zachary
Hyp-O-crite. Wants his cake and eat it too, or in other words, he finally decides he wants to have sex with Lenore and she can suck it up as he is going to stay married to his wife. Ironic as he has quietly sneered at Lenore's love/obsession all these years.
I am not even going to bother with the summary as Boogehagen and StMargarets have already done the heavy lifting.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fun to read as you watch the hair you've pulled out float to the floor, and this is merely the first of six (?) seven (?) books. I am just going to cast the book. Movies are in parenthesis.
Published in 1990s, it is squarely set in my mind in the 70s, 80s at best. The male characters are too strongly chauvinistic, selfish and mysogynistic to be worthwhile.
The heroine (The Graduate)
Gemma is an Outback hayseed and comes to Sydney wide-eyed and wondering. All she’s missing is Toto and her wicker basket.
She becomes all too concerned about the state of her breasts in the presence of the hero contemplating crossed arms, bras, sweaters… Barf. Pass the Pepto. Please!
The hero (The Carpetbaggers)
Nathan is blonde. That says it all right there, but if that’s not enough to go on, he’s a cold-hearted charmer with a dead, potentially sexually abusive mother and he has eyes on the heroine’s breasts at all times. Remember…chauvinists! I see a HEA in their future. Yeah, right.
The H’s ex-wife (Valley of the Dolls)
Lenore, wannabe actress, bed and wed the H on the rebound since the married love of her life rejected her. It’s 15 years later and she still carries a torch for the
The H’s chauvinistic adoptive father aka Patriarch
Old school chauvinist. Oink.
The H’s over-sexed step-sister (Dorothy Malone in Written in the Wind. Watch this movie for no other reason than her OTT totally evil OW-ness. It also has Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall, but nothing detracts from Malone's performance.)
Bad news for everybody. Jade goes braless so I am not sure why the H doesn’t like her as she seems like his kind of gal.
H’s daughter (Trouble with Angels)
Kirsty is 14 and…well 14. Her mother can’t deal with her so she’s staying with the dad, and the h is her companion
The H’s other, nice step-sister
Ava, the H’s other stepsister is scatty and plump.
The housekeeper (Adams Family TV)
Initially there were references to Mrs. Danvers regarding Melanie, but she’s younger and prettier and has a tragic past.
Zachary
Hyp-O-crite. Wants his cake and eat it too, or in other words, he finally decides he wants to have sex with Lenore and she can suck it up as he is going to stay married to his wife. Ironic as he has quietly sneered at Lenore's love/obsession all these years.
February 14, 2018
Re Scandalous Seduction - Miranda Lee does a lighthearted romp with a repressed virgin h and a playboy writer H who buys property in the h's small town.
This book is seriously funny and the banter is excellent. The h is 26 and still repressing herself and her 'smouldering sensuality' in the aftermath of her fiance running off to America with her sex bombe younger sister.
The h is more lean couture in her appearance and the sister is more Marilyn Monroe. The h spent a few years in Sydney after the great escape, but since the men there only wanted sex and not a relationship, she feels her womanly confidence has taken a dive.
Then her estate agent dad invites the H over for dinner. The h's June Cleaver mum is all about snagging the h a husband and the h is all about how hot the H looked on his TV interview. The H writes Harold Robbins type bonkbusters, tho the h is pretty sure he could be more literary if he really tried.
So the H shows up at the appointed time for dinner and he is dressed like a total bum. The h is shocked and intrigued and deeply mortified when her mum tries to pimp her out as good wife material and also as a writer. The h is a teacher by day and a budding playwright by night.
Three guesses what the story line of her play is and the first two don't count.
The H offers to read the h's play if she will come over to his new house and help him unpack his books. The h thinks he is just spinning a line, but he is really serious, so she agrees. She wonders how much of his fictional character is really autobiographical and then the h figures she is safe, cause if his ex lady love is anything to go by, the h is nowhere near interesting enough for the H.
Hope springs eternal tho, and the h has a flutter in lower regions when she turns up at the H's house the next day. There is some witty banter and mutual teasing and it is clear that the H and h are very compatible on the mental and intellectual levels.
(I have to approve of this H in one respect, he has a ton of books. As he and the h are unpacking them, he tells her that he meant to take some of them to a secondhand shop, but he couldn't decide which ones, so he just bought another book case and packed them all. I applauded that attitude.)
So the h and H have a good time and there is a kitten rescue. (I had to down grade here, the kitten rescue was great. But the reason the kittens had to be rescued from starving under the house was that the H ran over their mother the day before and killed her. I was not happy about that.)
So the h and H have no time to care for kittens, (which was another downgrade for me,) but there is a nice grandmotherly type called Mrs. Gallagher who is more than happy to save them. (Thankfully, Mrs. G was a total cat staffer professional and she was my favorite character in the book.)
The H thinks Mrs. G should write a book about cats, she knows her stuff and he gives her a typewriter and promise to push it through his publisher. So while the H is a cat killer, at least he is a nice person to help a lonely little lady with horrible children. Tho I had to frown again as the h picked out a kitten for the H to keep after it got rescued. These people should not be given the responsibility of a cat.
The next time the H and h meet, the H has read her play and he tells her it is too anachronistic, it reads like a story out of the fifties. The h asks why and the H pretty bluntly tells her that 22 yr olds don't get engaged and never have sex and nobody is a 26 yr old virgin anymore. The h chokes on her dinner and asks the H why not? She is.
That is when the H realizes that the play really IS autobiographical and the h confesses the story about her little sister and her fiance. The H is very angry on the h's behalf. The h is furious and mortified and the H tells her he is going to help her out. He explains that he does sex and fun, not love and commitment and that he is going to teach the h how to get her groove on.
And they do, in multiple places and positions, including the hood of the h's car. Then the H overhears Mrs. G tell the h she thinks the h is in love and the H starts backing off rapidly and dumps the h. The h doesn't want to be dumped and we find out that the H was married at 21, but his wife was ill a lot and died very young and the grief stricken H threw away the husband mold and went playboy writer style after her death.
The h thinks she can turn that around, but the H is adamant about no emotional commitment, so the h is dumped. Then her sister comes home. The h's ex-fiance and the little sister have been living together in the US while he teaches at a California college. But the ex-fiance has been cheating on little sis with his students. The little sister is also preggers and worried cause all anybody ever sees in her is good looks and sex.
The h, who got a few really good put down digs in on her little sister, before realizing that her sister was as jealous of the h's intelligence as the h was about little sis's looks and male magnetism, remembers that her sister is her sister and she helps her sister cry things out. The little sister felt that no one recognizes she has a brain, tho she is intelligent and that the only way to fit in was to be a vamp femme fatale, so that is what she did.
Even the h's fiance was susceptible, because he had very little lurve club experience and what he did have went very badly, until the little sister seduced him and ran off with him. But the little sister fell in love and now he is behaving badly and they aren't married and she is preggers. So the h listens and tells the sister she is going to have to work things out one way or the other.
The H shows up in the midst of little sister drama and he can't stand the woman. He wanders off again and while the h's mum and sister are out, the h's ex-fiance shows up and he is trying to pick up on the h.
She isn't having any of that, cause the h is in love with the H and the ex is her sister's baby daddy and duh - he dumped her- but she does get some ego boosting digs in. But when the H shows up to tell the h to come get the kitten, as he is going back to Sydney and can't take it with him, he sees the ex-fiance and he punches him the stomach for being a sewer slurping nematode snot.
The ex-fiance tells the h to go after the H, because he is obviously head over heels in love and the h does. When she gets to the H's house, she gets deviously sneaky and asks the H if she should sleep with her ex. The H gets really crafty back, because he loves the h.
But he had a vasectomy when he was married, as it would have endangered his first wife's health even more to have kids and he feels he would be denying the h a complete life without them.
The h takes a leap and tells the H she knows he loves her. Then she confesses that she was never going to do anything with the ex because the H is the only man for her. The H gets very excited when the h tells him if they aren't together, she won't be having kids anyway and he confesses he loves her. Then he tells her he called all over and did research and the vasectomy can be reversed.
So the h and H decide to marry, cause they have a lot of lurve mojo passion and they love each other. The little sister and the ex-fiance go back to America to get married and have their baby too and the h's parents are happy, the h is plotting to reunite the H with his family and the H is complaining that the h is a bossy boots for the big HEA.
This one was cute and really I would have rated it higher. Except for the cat staffing problems and the fact that that they left the kitten in the car by herself with no cooling system and no kitten taxi. Plus there was the whole senseless running over of a mother cat and I hate that. In my version of HPlandia, dead cats don't happen, except sometimes from extreme old age and they get a full state funeral and eloquent eulogies and nobody EVER runs over anybody feline either.
But mileage varies and I do have a bias, so give this one a go if you run into it. It was really funny, really well done and it was entertaining to see the h bloom into a woman who was self-confident enough to get her groove on. For once the evil baddies got some decent comeuppance and the H was mostly okay, overall it was a pretty good outing to HPlandia.
This book is seriously funny and the banter is excellent. The h is 26 and still repressing herself and her 'smouldering sensuality' in the aftermath of her fiance running off to America with her sex bombe younger sister.
The h is more lean couture in her appearance and the sister is more Marilyn Monroe. The h spent a few years in Sydney after the great escape, but since the men there only wanted sex and not a relationship, she feels her womanly confidence has taken a dive.
Then her estate agent dad invites the H over for dinner. The h's June Cleaver mum is all about snagging the h a husband and the h is all about how hot the H looked on his TV interview. The H writes Harold Robbins type bonkbusters, tho the h is pretty sure he could be more literary if he really tried.
So the H shows up at the appointed time for dinner and he is dressed like a total bum. The h is shocked and intrigued and deeply mortified when her mum tries to pimp her out as good wife material and also as a writer. The h is a teacher by day and a budding playwright by night.
Three guesses what the story line of her play is and the first two don't count.
The H offers to read the h's play if she will come over to his new house and help him unpack his books. The h thinks he is just spinning a line, but he is really serious, so she agrees. She wonders how much of his fictional character is really autobiographical and then the h figures she is safe, cause if his ex lady love is anything to go by, the h is nowhere near interesting enough for the H.
Hope springs eternal tho, and the h has a flutter in lower regions when she turns up at the H's house the next day. There is some witty banter and mutual teasing and it is clear that the H and h are very compatible on the mental and intellectual levels.
(I have to approve of this H in one respect, he has a ton of books. As he and the h are unpacking them, he tells her that he meant to take some of them to a secondhand shop, but he couldn't decide which ones, so he just bought another book case and packed them all. I applauded that attitude.)
So the h and H have a good time and there is a kitten rescue. (I had to down grade here, the kitten rescue was great. But the reason the kittens had to be rescued from starving under the house was that the H ran over their mother the day before and killed her. I was not happy about that.)
So the h and H have no time to care for kittens, (which was another downgrade for me,) but there is a nice grandmotherly type called Mrs. Gallagher who is more than happy to save them. (Thankfully, Mrs. G was a total cat staffer professional and she was my favorite character in the book.)
The H thinks Mrs. G should write a book about cats, she knows her stuff and he gives her a typewriter and promise to push it through his publisher. So while the H is a cat killer, at least he is a nice person to help a lonely little lady with horrible children. Tho I had to frown again as the h picked out a kitten for the H to keep after it got rescued. These people should not be given the responsibility of a cat.
The next time the H and h meet, the H has read her play and he tells her it is too anachronistic, it reads like a story out of the fifties. The h asks why and the H pretty bluntly tells her that 22 yr olds don't get engaged and never have sex and nobody is a 26 yr old virgin anymore. The h chokes on her dinner and asks the H why not? She is.
That is when the H realizes that the play really IS autobiographical and the h confesses the story about her little sister and her fiance. The H is very angry on the h's behalf. The h is furious and mortified and the H tells her he is going to help her out. He explains that he does sex and fun, not love and commitment and that he is going to teach the h how to get her groove on.
And they do, in multiple places and positions, including the hood of the h's car. Then the H overhears Mrs. G tell the h she thinks the h is in love and the H starts backing off rapidly and dumps the h. The h doesn't want to be dumped and we find out that the H was married at 21, but his wife was ill a lot and died very young and the grief stricken H threw away the husband mold and went playboy writer style after her death.
The h thinks she can turn that around, but the H is adamant about no emotional commitment, so the h is dumped. Then her sister comes home. The h's ex-fiance and the little sister have been living together in the US while he teaches at a California college. But the ex-fiance has been cheating on little sis with his students. The little sister is also preggers and worried cause all anybody ever sees in her is good looks and sex.
The h, who got a few really good put down digs in on her little sister, before realizing that her sister was as jealous of the h's intelligence as the h was about little sis's looks and male magnetism, remembers that her sister is her sister and she helps her sister cry things out. The little sister felt that no one recognizes she has a brain, tho she is intelligent and that the only way to fit in was to be a vamp femme fatale, so that is what she did.
Even the h's fiance was susceptible, because he had very little lurve club experience and what he did have went very badly, until the little sister seduced him and ran off with him. But the little sister fell in love and now he is behaving badly and they aren't married and she is preggers. So the h listens and tells the sister she is going to have to work things out one way or the other.
The H shows up in the midst of little sister drama and he can't stand the woman. He wanders off again and while the h's mum and sister are out, the h's ex-fiance shows up and he is trying to pick up on the h.
She isn't having any of that, cause the h is in love with the H and the ex is her sister's baby daddy and duh - he dumped her- but she does get some ego boosting digs in. But when the H shows up to tell the h to come get the kitten, as he is going back to Sydney and can't take it with him, he sees the ex-fiance and he punches him the stomach for being a sewer slurping nematode snot.
The ex-fiance tells the h to go after the H, because he is obviously head over heels in love and the h does. When she gets to the H's house, she gets deviously sneaky and asks the H if she should sleep with her ex. The H gets really crafty back, because he loves the h.
But he had a vasectomy when he was married, as it would have endangered his first wife's health even more to have kids and he feels he would be denying the h a complete life without them.
The h takes a leap and tells the H she knows he loves her. Then she confesses that she was never going to do anything with the ex because the H is the only man for her. The H gets very excited when the h tells him if they aren't together, she won't be having kids anyway and he confesses he loves her. Then he tells her he called all over and did research and the vasectomy can be reversed.
So the h and H decide to marry, cause they have a lot of lurve mojo passion and they love each other. The little sister and the ex-fiance go back to America to get married and have their baby too and the h's parents are happy, the h is plotting to reunite the H with his family and the H is complaining that the h is a bossy boots for the big HEA.
This one was cute and really I would have rated it higher. Except for the cat staffing problems and the fact that that they left the kitten in the car by herself with no cooling system and no kitten taxi. Plus there was the whole senseless running over of a mother cat and I hate that. In my version of HPlandia, dead cats don't happen, except sometimes from extreme old age and they get a full state funeral and eloquent eulogies and nobody EVER runs over anybody feline either.
But mileage varies and I do have a bias, so give this one a go if you run into it. It was really funny, really well done and it was entertaining to see the h bloom into a woman who was self-confident enough to get her groove on. For once the evil baddies got some decent comeuppance and the H was mostly okay, overall it was a pretty good outing to HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2018
Fun courtship story that manages to be sweet without being cloying. (A hard act to pull off). Virgin heroine is still a virgin at 26 because her fiance ran off with her younger bombshell sister four years before. She is an English teacher and has written an unplublished play about the experience. The hero is a best-selling author who moved to their rural area to write the great Australian novel. The H/h meet when her parents invite him to dinner. The attraction is mutual - the conflict/drama comes from the hero's inability to commit and the heroine's chip on her shoulder about men.
Boogenhagen has all the details, so I won't go into each plot point. What bumped this up to a four star rating:
The banter between the H/h was well done.
The trajectory of the H/h romance was realistic - they didn't fall into bed on their first meeting, but they didn't waste a lot of time, either.
The hero was a nice guy as shown by his interactions with the cat lady.
The heroine's sister got her comeuppance - like whoa. She is stuck with that cheater d-bag. Heroine dodged a serious bullet.
Triggers: cat death off page.
Boogenhagen has all the details, so I won't go into each plot point. What bumped this up to a four star rating:
The banter between the H/h was well done.
The trajectory of the H/h romance was realistic - they didn't fall into bed on their first meeting, but they didn't waste a lot of time, either.
The hero was a nice guy as shown by his interactions with the cat lady.
The heroine's sister got her comeuppance - like whoa. She is stuck with that cheater d-bag. Heroine dodged a serious bullet.
Triggers: cat death off page.
February 5, 2012
Series: #1 of the six-part Heart of Fire series
Altho this was a Presents, it didnt feel like it. It read like the beginning of a glitzy Danielle Steele saga like Jewels with the setting up of a large cast of tempestuous characters to be starred in future bks in the series. If I wanted to read a Steele novel, I would just do so.
Technically, there is a primary romance that I wasnt too interested in since the H was 16-17 yrs older than the h. Very unbalanced relationship. Their story will be resolved in the last bk - Marriage and Miracles (Hearts Of Fire, #6) - after much dwamah.
The secondary romance, which features the H's ex-wife, is intense since it features her carrying the torch for her married lover for 15 yrs.
Obviously, I am feeling very meh bc, altho it didnt end with a cliffhanger, it had a very To Be Continued feel to it.
Tropes: adultery, older man
Altho this was a Presents, it didnt feel like it. It read like the beginning of a glitzy Danielle Steele saga like Jewels with the setting up of a large cast of tempestuous characters to be starred in future bks in the series. If I wanted to read a Steele novel, I would just do so.
Technically, there is a primary romance that I wasnt too interested in since the H was 16-17 yrs older than the h. Very unbalanced relationship. Their story will be resolved in the last bk - Marriage and Miracles (Hearts Of Fire, #6) - after much dwamah.
The secondary romance, which features the H's ex-wife, is intense since it features her carrying the torch for her married lover for 15 yrs.
Obviously, I am feeling very meh bc, altho it didnt end with a cliffhanger, it had a very To Be Continued feel to it.
Tropes: adultery, older man
June 2, 2017
This is the first story in a seven part saga. The main romance is between Gemma, an orphaned girl of the Outback who first meets the hero when she sells the opals that her drunken father left behind after he died. The hero is divorced with a 14 year-old girl. He married when his wife got pregnant, but they never loved each other. The hero helps run his adoptive father's opal company and he is a successful playwright. When his adoptive father and mother are in a boating accident that killed the mother and injured the father, he puts his plans of writing full time on hold. When he discovers that the h has the Heart of Fire opal in her possession (that originally belonged to his adoptive father), he brings into the family home and helps her enroll in a Japanese language class so she can eventually work in one of their stores.
Heroine is 18 or 20 - she doesn't know for sure because her birth certificate can't be authenticated. The hero hires her to "mind" his daughter who has been getting into to trouble lately. The heroine enchants the over weight auntie, the hero's ex-wife, the hero's daughter, the housekeeper, and finally the hero himself.
The story ends with the H/h going to bed and becoming secretly engaged. The heroine has been warned off the hero by everyone, but she truly sees him as her savior and she is head over heels. Since the saga is all about the ups and downs of their relationship, this will have to do as an up. This is a true May/December romance with the heroine only four to six years older than the H's daughter. She is very green in this one and I'm happy to report that she does grow and change in the other two books I've read so far in the saga. Hero is a consistent alpha jerk through them all.
The second romance is the sacrifice portion of a our title and revolves around the Hero's ex and the man she has been in love with since she had rejection sex with the hero and got pregnant. The object of her affections is a lawyer who was attracted to the h, but never acted on it because he was already married with kids. Now that his kids are grown, his wife is neglecting him, and the h is divorced, he asks her out to attend a play with him. One thing leads to another and they have sex. He is wracked with guilt. He breaks it off for awhile until his wife confesses that she has been having an affair and wants a divorce. They agree to keep it a secret for six months until their youngest boy has qualified for some sort of pilot's program. The heroine takes this as good news and considers herself engaged even though she can't tell anyone and has to sneak around for six months. I don't know about you, but that isn't a happy ending.
I don't know if I had read this one first if I would have continued with the series. Adultery really turns me off - even if concerns side characters. Still, I probably would have persisted just to make sure the poor country girl got a ring on it. (She does in book two).
Heroine is 18 or 20 - she doesn't know for sure because her birth certificate can't be authenticated. The hero hires her to "mind" his daughter who has been getting into to trouble lately. The heroine enchants the over weight auntie, the hero's ex-wife, the hero's daughter, the housekeeper, and finally the hero himself.
The story ends with the H/h going to bed and becoming secretly engaged. The heroine has been warned off the hero by everyone, but she truly sees him as her savior and she is head over heels. Since the saga is all about the ups and downs of their relationship, this will have to do as an up. This is a true May/December romance with the heroine only four to six years older than the H's daughter. She is very green in this one and I'm happy to report that she does grow and change in the other two books I've read so far in the saga. Hero is a consistent alpha jerk through them all.
The second romance is the sacrifice portion of a our title and revolves around the Hero's ex and the man she has been in love with since she had rejection sex with the hero and got pregnant. The object of her affections is a lawyer who was attracted to the h, but never acted on it because he was already married with kids. Now that his kids are grown, his wife is neglecting him, and the h is divorced, he asks her out to attend a play with him. One thing leads to another and they have sex. He is wracked with guilt. He breaks it off for awhile until his wife confesses that she has been having an affair and wants a divorce. They agree to keep it a secret for six months until their youngest boy has qualified for some sort of pilot's program. The heroine takes this as good news and considers herself engaged even though she can't tell anyone and has to sneak around for six months. I don't know about you, but that isn't a happy ending.
I don't know if I had read this one first if I would have continued with the series. Adultery really turns me off - even if concerns side characters. Still, I probably would have persisted just to make sure the poor country girl got a ring on it. (She does in book two).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
February 26, 2018Skimmed and DNF although I did like the fact the fiancee stealing sister had lost her figure, was starting to sag AT 23, and the fiancee cheated on her with a younger student.
August 28, 2015
Επιτέλους μετά από χρόνια το ξεκινάω...Καμία σχέση με όσα διάβασα. Κεντρικός πυρήνας ένα ζευγάρι ΤΖΕΜΑ -ΝΕΙΘΑΝ και δίπλα τους εξελίσσονται παράλληλα άλλες ιστορίες. Απορώ πως εκδόθηκε και μόνο του.Το μόνο σίγουρο αν δεν έχεις τη συνέχεια που είναι άλλα 5 βιβλία έχεις μείνει στη μέση...Το πρώτο βιβλίο έχει να κάνει με 2 παράλληλες ιστορίες ενώ στο δεύτερο που έχω ήδη ξεκινήσει η μία από τις 2 ιστορίες συνεχίζεται, ενώ βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη μια καινούργια.Κάτι μου λέει ότι θα λατρέψω αυτή την σειρά. Δικαίως μου έχουν φάει τα αυτιά κάποιες!!!
October 11, 2024
I didn't like it at all.
The h came across as really desperate.
I didn't like it that she went into the relationship accepting it will be casual then fell in love and was determined that she will make the H fall in love too.
I mean why not go outside the world and seek someone who is equally invested and also i didn't like her thoughts at all the certain prudish way she had.
H was ok not sure if he loves her i mean i didn't feel the vibes.
Her parents were ok i suppose non caring and the bitch sister well was easily forgiven it seems.
The h came across as really desperate.
I didn't like it that she went into the relationship accepting it will be casual then fell in love and was determined that she will make the H fall in love too.
I mean why not go outside the world and seek someone who is equally invested and also i didn't like her thoughts at all the certain prudish way she had.
H was ok not sure if he loves her i mean i didn't feel the vibes.
Her parents were ok i suppose non caring and the bitch sister well was easily forgiven it seems.
November 3, 2024
"Seduction & Sacrifice" is a complex tale of multiple characters between Whitmore and Campbell family.
I had genuinely got this whole series to binge read but it was so complex and convoluted I got a headache.
Primarily revolves around two couples and multiple characters. There's divorce and cheating and ex wives and cheating and seduction and drama and an abrupt ending.
I found it too confusing and it didnt even find the ending satisfactory as one of the heroes came off too predatory.
Unsafe
1.5/5
I had genuinely got this whole series to binge read but it was so complex and convoluted I got a headache.
Primarily revolves around two couples and multiple characters. There's divorce and cheating and ex wives and cheating and seduction and drama and an abrupt ending.
I found it too confusing and it didnt even find the ending satisfactory as one of the heroes came off too predatory.
Unsafe
1.5/5
July 19, 2018
I read this when I was like fourteen and boy was it not as I remembered it.
Either was hell of a lot lost in translation, or my taste have drastically changed.
It's horrifying.
The male leads are all abusive assholes who see women as something for their entertainment and the females are whimpering ninnys without an original thought in their empty heads
Hated it
Either was hell of a lot lost in translation, or my taste have drastically changed.
It's horrifying.
The male leads are all abusive assholes who see women as something for their entertainment and the females are whimpering ninnys without an original thought in their empty heads
Hated it
February 12, 2021
I’m lucky I even finished this book. I did not take to the characters, their interaction. I basically cringed the whole time. It was so very wrong.
May 18, 2024
I love it
September 2, 2019
Stranger than fiction
Small-town schoolteacher meets handsome author—they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Only in fairy tales. And Harriet Weatherspoon had stopped believing in those when her sister ran off with her fiance.
And though Brad Barrington—famous throughout Australia for his sexy blockbusters and his beautiful women—might be her new neighbor, she had his number. Like those male characters in his books, he played the seduction game on automatic pilot.
But how long could Harriet hide behind her cool aloofness when Brad used every opportunity to warm her up?
Small-town schoolteacher meets handsome author—they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Only in fairy tales. And Harriet Weatherspoon had stopped believing in those when her sister ran off with her fiance.
And though Brad Barrington—famous throughout Australia for his sexy blockbusters and his beautiful women—might be her new neighbor, she had his number. Like those male characters in his books, he played the seduction game on automatic pilot.
But how long could Harriet hide behind her cool aloofness when Brad used every opportunity to warm her up?
December 8, 2020
So so. Hated that old fiancé what a freaking tool. Cheats on both sisters? Yeah, go lay down in traffic my man. Hero was a kinda normal guy, didn't think we needed his entire no kids backstory. Kittens always a good addition. Read it if you are tapped out, but not a must read immediately.
April 21, 2012
Titre vf : Les brûlures du destin (saga Secrets et scandales 1 )
March 21, 2013
i felt like the story could not stand on its own
September 26, 2013
Enjoyed the first saga, now on to Book No 2...
April 17, 2017
Trip down memory lane...
Read
May 21, 2016في شرك الحب - ميراندا لي
August 28, 2018
لا أكاد أصدق أنني كنت أقرأ هذه التفاهات في سن مبكرة ولا حتى كيف كنت أجدها متوفرة و أنا حديثة عهد بالقراءة !
May 6, 2021
This didn’t have a lot of depth. It still kept me interested.
July 14, 2011
ceritanya terlalu lambaaattt............
own-but-wont-read-or-wallbanger
March 13, 2018Welcome to a glittering new six-part saga set in Australia. This, and every novel to come, features a gripping romance that stands by itself, as the passions, scandals and hopes that exist between two fabulously rich families are revealed. But you'll also find yourself hooked throughout the series as Gemma Smith searches for the secret of her true identity and fights for ruthless seducer Nathan Whitmore's love….Everyone warned Gemma about Nathan, but she believed he wasn't heartless�just heartbroken. Clearly he was still in love with his ex-wife, Lenore, so Gemma tried to hide her attraction to him…. However, Lenore knew loving a woman wasn't one of Nathan's talents. Not like Zachary Marsden�loyal, handsome, protective, he was the perfect husband, and Lenore had secretly loved him for years. Only, she also knew that her ideal man would never leave his wife….
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