Τυφλή Αγάπη - Άρλεκιν Συλλογή #1784

by Lee Wilkinson

Η Ότομ έπρεπε οπωσδήποτε να δει τον Σολ Κρέσγουελ. Ήταν ανάγκη να τον συναντήσει για μια ακόμα φορά, για να διαπιστώσει μόνη της ότι ο άντρας που αγαπούσε σ' όλη της τη ζωή τη μισούσε!

Ήξερε ότι η απόφαση της ήταν ριψοκίνδυνη και το σχέδιο της παράτολμο, γιατί υπήρχε πάντα η πιθανότητα να καταλάβει ο Σολ ποια ήταν. Και τότε θα έπρεπε ν' αντιμετωπίσει την οργή του μια και τη θεωρούσε αποκλειστική υπεύθυνη για το ατύχημα που του είχε στερήσει το φως του.
Αλλά η Ότομ έπρεπε να το επιχειρήσει, γιατί πίστευε ότι η αγάπη της ήταν δυνατότερη από το δικό του μίσος ...

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Second Chance, Contemporary, Enemies To Lovers, Friends To Lovers

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 1995

About the author

Lee Wilkinson was born in Nottingham, the only child of loving parents. She was educated at an all-girls' school, and after leaving, tried her hand at several jobs, including modeling swimwear.

At 22 she met and married her husband, Denis. They had a traditional white wedding and a honeymoon in Italy, and have been happily married ever since. They have two children, a son and a daughter—both now grown up and married—and four lovely grandchildren.

Lee's writing career began with short stories and serials for magazines and newspapers before going on to novels. She has had more than 20 Mills and Boon romance novels published to date.

Amongst her hobbies are reading, gardening, walking, and cooking. Traveling is her main love, and teaming up with her daughter and American son-in-law, she and her husband spent a year going round the world, taking in India, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the States.

Last year she rented a palazzo in the heart of Venice, followed by a quick hop aboard the Orient Express. Lee is currently saving up for a whirlwind tour of Japan, a romantic and exotic destination she has wanted to visit since childhood.

At present she lives with her husband in a 300-year-old stone cottage in a picturesque Derbyshire village, which gets cut off by snow most winters

Reviews

[⚔Irunía⚔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Him pretending to be blind in front of her for half of the book was simply iconic. They don't write 'em like this anymore. 💀

Rtc

[KatieV · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to woman. It is a dimension half occupied by private Greek islands and as timeless as infinity. It is the place where no rich, handsome man is responsible for his own behavior, where there's no limit to a woman's martyrdom, and it lies between the pit of misunderstanding and the summit of the traitorous body. This is the dimension of pure insanity. It is an area which we call "HPLandia".

--Sincere apologies to Rod Serling

Lol. This was cray-cray. Old school shenanigans all around.

4 years earlier when the heroine was 18 and the hero heading toward 30, there is a "bit of bother" on her birthday.

She and the hero are family friends who've known one another for years. They are drinking champagne to celebrate her bday and he gives her an expensive opal necklace. Autumn is buzzed and thinks that
the gift is a sign that she should express her undying love for Saul, so she strips down buck nekkid and gives him the come on.

Oops, in walks the hero's girlfriend (who the H intended to propose to that night).

GF walks out and Saul is seriously pissed at Autumn. She tries to convince him that she is the one who really loves him (the OW is a shallow shrew) and offers her body again. In a fit of anger, Saul takes her up on the offer but deliberately does not make it a pleasant first time.

He then buttons his britches and proceeds to speed off after the gf.

Poor guy wrecks his car AND goes blind from it. Obviously this is ALL Autumn's fault. Nearly 30 year old men have no responsibility to act like adults and I dunno.... NOT DRIVE when tempted by teenagers and after guzzling champagne. And we won't mention deliberately giving a young virgin a nasty first experience out of spite.

Anyway... moving along. Autumn, feeling dejected and guilty (she fully buys into the same ideas of personal responsibility as Saul) goes off to America to start a new life.

Four years later her parents die in a car wreck and she comes back to England, mostly to see Saul. She hopes to get a job for him as his secretary just so she can see/be near him. She's using a false name and hoping he won't recognize her voice and since he's blind he won't be able to recognize her by sight.

Surprise! It's all a setup.

Now Saul will have his vengeance and that evil temptress Autumn will pay... on her back. Mwa ha ha!!

Not going to spoil any of the twists and turns. Just know it's crazy and that Autumn is one of HPLandia's leading contenders for most martyred heroine.

[Raffaella · Rating 2 out of 5]

The hero basically raped the heroine when she was 18 because she told his fiancee they were lovers, then he went out with his car and smashed against another car and was blind for some time.
His fiancee left him and after 4 years he traces the heroine and kidnaps her because he wants retribution.
For what?
For saving him from a glod-digger bitch who left him because he was blind?
Oh, and he's not even blind any more.
But she feels guilty so she accepts to be used as a subsitute for his ex.
And he keeps reminding her his ex was better than her.
Then the heroine cuts her hair for penance.
How many psychiatrists are necessary here? Two? Three?
Who's the most idiot of the two?
A man who blames a teenager because he behaved like a swine and then smashed himself like an a**? Who was driving his car?
And the heroine who blames herself for his accident?
He was 10 years older, not a child!
And in the end he tells her he wanted to apologize for raping her soon after his accident, but she left and went to America with her parents. Thank god.
Evil ow told the heroine he didn't want to see her any more and she believed her.
No, I really couldn't stand those two, and I really couldn't feel the angst because I can't be symphatetic to tstl people. And those two deserves each other.
And I didn't feel any love from him anyway. Until the end I felt he was only using her and if his bitchy fiancee had married him he would have never come back to the heroine.
So, nope.

[Dora Koutsoukou · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 🙄😤⭐️s

The personalities of the mcs were unappealing and their behaviours intolerable.

[Melluvsbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars 🙌🏻

This was loads of fun. It read more like an late 70s-early 80s harlequin, but it looks like the earliest publishing date is 1995.

This had an sweet, terribly impulsive, hopelessly devoted heroine 🥺 and a Scoundrel hero intent on revenge. 😈 He’s underhanded, manipulative, a little stalker-y, sometimes cruel, a little rapey, and a lot kidnap-y. So basically my fictional dream man. 😍😍😍

This book was a delight for my personal tastes. (IYKYK 🤡) If you’re a fan of vintage Charlotte Lamb, you’ll like this. 😉


Not a full 5-stars because I was a little underwhelmed with his final declaration. 😒 Not sure why he couldn’t use his Big Boy Words and give her a full-throated ILY, “after all he’d put her through” but I still believed their HEA. 🤷🏼‍♀️



⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️

- no cheating or sharing

- 4 year separation

- dubcon - I didn’t feel we got quite to noncon but we certainly skated up to the line. The hero certainly thinks his actions were noncon, but I don’t think the heroine would characterize it that way YMMV

- h is 18 and v in the past and 22 in the present and is only with the H

- H is 28 in the past and 32 in the present and is not depicted as a manwhore but does have a fiancé when he takes the h’s v-card - when they reunite he has been celibate for most (all??) of the time they’ve been separated

- OW drama - the H’s fiancé is an evil b*tch 😈 and she caused harm in the past and causes angst in the present

- OM drama - the H is jealous about the h’s recent fiancé

- no condoms or discussion of protection or sexual history - they both assume the other has had other partners during the separation

[SandraIsAMoodyCowWhenSheCan'tRead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the first half was definitely a 4star read. Good angst, bitter hero with a disability, sweetheart heroine, great writing, nice build-up of suspense and amazing chemistry between the leads, I just couldn't drag myself away from it.

Then it felt like the writer brainstormed with a group of ditzy 15-year-old boys on what could constitute a good reason for a grown man to blame an 18-year-old girl for him losing his eyesight in a car crash and the author went with the popular vote. Then perhaps she realised it wasn't quite a good idea, regretted it, got drunk and asked the 15-year-old with the best grade in English to write the rest of the book for her.

So it catapulted down to 2 stars for me. But I’m a minority here. Many others liked this book so do check out other reviews. The rest of this is mostly spoilers for the second half on why I disliked it.



H is neighbour to h for many years, growing up like brother and sister. She plays piano, he paints. It’s all nice and sweet for a while. But the young h starts harbouring serious romantic fantasies of a HEA with H. He in turn, though attracted to her says nothing, as being 9 years older, probably has some inkling of what happen to pervs in prison.

She turns 18 and wants him see her as a woman. He is going steady with a gold-digging slut but still takes h out for a birthday dinner. They have a great time. They go home and he gives her quite a bit of wine and bubbles. She tries to seduce him and they make out big time. He comes to his senses, tells her to put her clothes back on and she goes off to the room heartbroken and crying, trying to fix herself. Girlfriend walks in and h has the 15-year-old A-ha moment. She strips naked and goes out to call him like they’re having sex. Girlfriend gets flipping mad and walks off.

Now H is super mad but she throws her naked self at him begging to be loved. Then comes his 15-year-old moment. He loses control and with no foreplay, no prep, he penetrates her. Just like that. I can’t call it rape. Clumsy, selfish sex I guess. And she gets into it valiantly trying to enjoy a 10 second ride of what should have been a special moment in her life. 100% consent to bad sex.

Then comes the 1-star scene. He tells her he loves the gold-digging slut and has a ring in his pocket with the intention to propose to her. He has cheated on his gf, taken advantage of a young girl and is beside himself with rage. Against her!

Now you’d think a grown man would know not to drive in this state but he does so anyway and being mentally unfocused, is involved in an accident that robs him off his sight. He spends the next few years plotting cold revenge against a hapless 18-year-old who he feels is responsible for this.

Never mind that he plied her with alcohol, made out with her and chose to get in the car in a compromised state. Worse of all, years later, even with the maturity of age, she still chooses to take responsibility for having ruined his lifet!

For once they got the title right. He is blind to his obsession for her since they were young when he’s watched her play the piano, to the point that he has monitored her every move since the accident. She in turn, is obsessed with him to the point of being blind to his faults.

I wish I could give this a 4 star rating but the momentum was unsustained and the writing deteriorated. The h started to grate on my nerves with her tiresome whining and wallowing in self-pity. And the pathetic excuse for revenge just rubbed me the wrong way. It became pointless and boring. Just couldn't enjoy it.

[Clarice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 solid stars

Thank you Irunia and Sahara for encouraging me to read this! I really, really loved it. This had everything that I look for in a romance: Gothic/British edginess, obsession, and a completely unhinged MMC, Saul, that will do anything to get his "revenge" on the FMC, Autumn (in a sexy way).

I can't believe how well this HQ was written. It never felt rushed or even too slow, the pacing was just right. The flashbacks weren't confusing either and added a lot to the story.

I will be trying more books from this author in the future.

Side note: There's this scene where Autumn is looking out on the moors and she mentions to Saul that she thought she saw Cathy and Heath Cliff or someone like them standing out on the moors. I'm not explaining it well, but it really heightened the gothic-ness of the story. Also Saul and Autumn gave me big Cathy and Heath Cliff vibes, so it really packed a punch when she mentioned it.

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been looking for a train wreck and I finally found one that satisfies. The title, first of all, is perfect. Our hero is blind and he is obsessed with getting revenge on the heroine. Four years before, when heroine was besotted with the H, she made her moves to seduce him on her 18th birthday. The OW shows up early and the heroine overhears her berate the hero and disparage her. So she takes off her clothes and gets into the hero’s bed. The OW storms off. The hero is angry. The heroine is convinced that if hero just has sex with her that he will realize the OW is all wrong for him.

The hero takes her virginity and then jumps in his car to go after the OW. A drunk driver hits him and he looses his vision. He tells the h he blames her and never wants to see her again. The h haunts the hospital for three days, but they won’t let her see him. The OW tells her they are getting married, so the h moves to the States with her musician parents.

Now, four years later the heroine has lost her parents, her job, and her apartment in NY. She sees an ad for a secretary for the hero and can’t resist seeing him one last time. She feels guilty about the accident and accepts that the hero is justified in hating her.

Can you guess how this is going to go?

Of course you can. The blind hero offers her a job. They drive to a remote house in the Yorkshire moors. (They mention Heathcliff and Cathy and their soul-bonding). After a few days of cat and mouse – the hero reveals his revenge by orgasm plan as well as the fact that he is no longer blind.

After a few days of orgasm revenge, the hero offers marriage because he wants to tie her to him forever (for – er- revenge – yes, that’s it). There is a last minute OW moment when she realizes the hero can see again and she’s in between divorces and wants him back. Finally, the H hears the lies the OW told both of them when he was in the hospital. They declare their love and the world is safe from these two wrecking havoc because their soul bonded super powers are now in an endless feedback loop.

[Aayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added 1 star because of the wonderful ending, and the heart wrenching angst that came before it.

This really felt so much like an old-school Harley, it's hard to believe that it's a modern one!
I just went and checked - it was originally published in 1995, and this current edition is a reprint. No wonder! It seemed so dated and oh-so-poignant and angsty and beautiful :')

This story packed one hell of a heart-wrenching, gut-ripping punch. The way the heroine thought she was to blame, that she deserved all the horrid treatment, broke my heart!

This story is about neighbours, in flashbacks we come to know that H is 9 years older than h, and h has been in love with H since she was a kid. When she turns 18, he takes her out, and when she confronts him about his current gf and how she's not right for him, and gf walks in on them and thinks there's something going on between them, and breaks up with H and leaves, H rapes h. Then he gets angry, storms off, crashes his car in an accident that leaves him blind. h goes to visit him in the hospital, but he refuses to see her, sending a message through the nurse for her to leave, and that if he sees her again, dot dot dot.

Story starts 4 years later, with h coming back to England after her parents' death, and she tries to see the hero again, because she is still in love with him, pretending to be a secretary applying for a job, and changing her name.

Hero knows it is her, and is bent on revenge because - well, I don't want to spoil anything, but because he believes she deserves it, for being the fault of him being blind.

And that is how it goes. I could not get into the story in the beginning, for some reason I didn't like it ('some reason' probably being that h was engaged to someone else back in America, until he broke up with her). But I can't deny, the last third of the book was amazing. I loved it so much! Thank you Preeti for rec'ing it to me ♥

[Crazy About Love 💕 · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ four stars -

I’m giving this old-school-style Harlequin read four stars - just for the og train-wrecky goodness - complete with a heroine that should probably be under the care of a psychiatrist (at least in the beginning, anyway).

Wow! What a fun rollercoaster this read was! All the angst, drama, and one certifiably crazy heroine. The beginning of the story is about our heroine, Autumn, and HER obsession with the Hero, Saul. Autumn has been obsessed with Saul since her early teens. She’s a lonely teenager who latches on to the attentions of her friendly (hot) neighbor, and it morphs into a crush, which changes into an (unhealthy) obsession as she grows into a young woman.

A lot of the action in the beginning of the book centers around our heroine’s obsession. I found it so out-there, that it was amusing. She just turns eighteen and decides she’s going to sleep with Saul, our Hero (unbeknownst to him) and she goes out and buys lacy lingerie to plan her seductive evening (she’s a mere child! I just laughed outright at this). After their nice dinner out (he’s a friendly neighbor to her lonely angsty teen persona) she strips buck naked once the OW shows up so she (Autumn) can stake her claim on the Hero. It’s almost like slapstick, it’s so outrageous. I kept thinking that all she needed to do was boil a bunny to complete her transformation into complete nutter.

What happens next is the catalyst for the plot. Saul rapes her (og Harley-style), he leaves her cold, he gets into a car accident on his way to make amends with the OW, and he ends up in an accident where he loses his sight. This brings on the rest of the story where our heroine is kept away from the hospital bed of the injured H by the evilly scheming OW (all very soap opery, which I love haha), and Autumn ends up leaving England for the States.

Four years pass and our heroine ends up back in England and falls into the nefarious clutches of Saul. A lot of planning and scheming on his part goes toward the main meat of the book. This moves the story into HIS obsession. His devious machinations to ensure she becomes his captive out in the isolated Moors of Yorkshire speak to his need to exact his revenge on what he perceives as our poor heroine’s misdeeds. Is it really her fault that he left her too distraught to drive (after his rape of her four years ago) and he gets in an auto accident? Hmmmm, I would say “no”, but this is basically a soap opera, so…

What happens next is a lot of Alpha-male activity goodness. I loved it! He’s cruel, bossy, hell-bent on retribution, and it’s all very un-pc, old-school dark romance. All yummy HQ goodness for this reader. I just ploughed right through the latter half of the book.
* note: this book was originally published in 1995, so not too old, but it still satisfies with that og HQ style 💗

I loved all of the descriptions of the very rural Moors, and I thought this setting made for a very nice out-of-box read. Really, this is one of the reasons I enjoy reading older Harlequins; they do a good job of throwing in settings that aren’t the norm in most of today’s modern romance (office romance over and over again gets pretty boring). Wilkinson adds a nice touch here of a Heathcliff and Cathy comparison, which I just loved! How could I not appreciate this? Heathcliff… *le sigh
* fun fact about me: “Wuthering Heights is one of my all-time favorite books 📚 my review for that classic romance can be found here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Overall, I enjoyed this for the darker romance, angsty plot; complete with Alpha male. I thoroughly enjoyed Wilkinson’s ability to weave the tale, and feel that she’s a very competent storyteller of romance. I will be seeking out her other HQ titles for my next easy-to-read romance (anyone that follows me will note that I’ve mentioned that I read a lot of HQ’s - often in-between reads or while I’m reading something else, since I often read more than one book at a time).

This has a nice hea that didn’t feel too rushed (given the restraints of the HQ page count), and we end up with a smitten Hero who won’t let our heroine leave him. I just loved this final scene. It satisfied my little romantic heart, and I felt that elusive little pitter-patter; hence the four stars 👌.

Do recommend for my fellow og HQ reader, when you’re in the mood for something on the darker side of romance.

Four stars.

[Lori ◡̈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an emotional love story! It was written in 2003, so it definitely has the bodice ripper, dub-con feel to it that some people might not enjoy.

This is a second chance love story of friends-enemies-lovers set in England when people had no cell phones and carried around their check books to go shopping.

The heroine developed a crush on her neighbor friend when she was 13, he was around 22. (He thought of her as a little sister/friend). Her parents were always away, she was lonely and they slowly bonded over her love to play the piano and his love of music and painting.

The hero eventually understood that she hero-worshipped him and assumed it was an innocent crush that she had on him. Until her 18th birthday. The heroine intentionally causes drama btwn the hero and his gold-digger girlfriend, they all get in a huge argument, he drives off angry and gets in a car crash that leaves him blind.

The story starts as they meet again 4 years later. Due to lies told, misunderstandings and a build-up of resentment he felt because he was left blind after the car accident that the heroine’s actions set in motion, he is determined to exact revenge on the heroine by humiliating and crushing her spirit. (and he misses her, but he won’t admit it)

He grinned devilishly. “So you've decided to fight back. Well, that should make things even more... interesting”

To be his wife was what she'd always wanted. Her dream come true. But not like this. Not hating and despising her. Not just to gratify an obsession. Not for revenge.

During those years of physical separation, one of her most piercing regrets had been that she would die without ever having known the delight of falling asleep in his arms and waking with her head on his shoulder.

I feel this story was unique in that I’ve never read this plot before, but I feel it would be even better if a modern author were to take it and tweak it. It was not closed door sex scenes, the door was open, but by no means was it descriptive. This set-up could have been perfect for the ‘full of angry hurt feelings but I love you’- sex scenes. This story relied on the emotions instead. (Which is fine.)

I love an obsessed bulldozer hero, but this guy would often insult the heroine out of his built-up anger and I would cringe for her. He was at least true to his character until the misunderstandings from 4 years ago were straightened out. The heroine… sigh… she honestly loved him so much and felt horrible guilt that he was hurt in the car accident because of her actions, so she took his insults and mistreatment as paying her debt for her wrong doings. I wanted her to walk away soooo bad, and let him come find her and apologize.

**Heroine was a virgin, was never with another during separation. It alludes to the hero being celibate during the separation as well. No condoms, No cheating, OW tries to cause drama but gets shut down. **

[Grrrrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread and went a full five stars--loved it! Very un-PC revenge porn from LW with the H's vengeance taking the form of sexual payback and "own you body and soul" antics. For fans of super D/s-y dub-con Harleys (I'm unapologetically one such), this is a keeper. This one has quite the bag of tropes:

- Blindness
-Abduction (kind of )
-Forced seduction
-A martyred, guilt-stricken h
-A very Dommy hero out for revenge
-Long-planned life-altering vengeance
-Vengeful but hot sex
-More vengeful, hot sex
-Forced engagement
-The Yorkshire moors (but alas, no amnesia causing pony encounters)

The H and h had grown up next door to one another, and she'd been in love with him throughout her teens although he treats her as a nice little sister. He is 9 years older than she is. On her 18th birthday, she tries to seduce him, and he is furious, particularly when his gf (to whom he was planning to propose) walks in and finds the h naked (she deliberately took her clothes off when the gf arrived and made it seem like she was waiting for the H--she was convinced he loved her because *fate* and just needed to be shown she was an adult now). The fiancee leaves, and the H loses his cool completely and forcibly seduces the h (she doesn't much enjoy it but isn't unwilling) and then kicks her out and goes after his gf. He is in a car crash and loses his sight. The h tries to see him in the hospital but is told he doesn't want to see her. Soon after, ashamed and guilty, she moves to New York with her parents.

Four years later, LW has killed off her parents with ruthless efficiency and the h, having just lost her apt and her fiance, decides to move back to England. On the plane, someone points out an article about the H, who is a bestselling author (the only kind that exists in Harleyland), and who is advertising for an assistant. The h decides she must see him one last time so applies for the job under an assumed name. She gets the job.

Knowing she is being crazy, she tries to back out, but he deftly manipulates events so that next thing she knows, she is in a remote house on the Yorkshire moors, playing Cathy to his Heathcliffe. She tries to leave while he's out for a walk with his seeing-eye dog, but sprains her ankle.

He has been subtly tormenting her all this time, so that she is not sure if he is really blind, if he knows who she really is, and whether it's all a setup. It is: he had her under surveillance for the 4 years she was away and decided to put his obsessive plan for revenge in motion when he found out her parents had died (down to purchasing her apt and having her evicted, forcing her move back, and hiring the guy on the plane who showed her the job description--this is one thoroughly vengeful H!). He has had an operation that restored his sight and is out for revenge through sex-on-demand, that bulwark of pre-PC Harleys.

The tension and build up of suspense to this point are executed beautifully--definitely kept me turning the pages!

The H has spent the four years since his last disastrous encounter with the h writing a worldwide bestseller, replaying the events of the night he crashed endlessly in the dark, and planning his vengeance against the h. He remembers every detail of the night she tried to seduce him, down to her short haircut. When he leaves the room momentarily, our crazy h hacks off her hair in penance for her actions that they both agree (why?) led to his blindness. He's angry when he comes back and still determined on his vengeance, and forces her to recreate the night of her birthday, plying her with champagne, making her put on the pendant he'd given her (which she had left behind), and making her strip naked for him. She does her best to freeze him off, telling him she won't respond, but LW writes a blazing seduction scene and both the heroine and I succumb with just a whimper or two.

Over the next few days, he continues to have sex with her, seducing her objections away. She goes along with it thinking that she owes it to him to help free him of his bitterness and obsession, and to assuage her guilt, and also because she's a melting puddle of lust and feelings, in lo-hove and not not very good at saying no. They both enjoy the sex but she's pretty unhappy afterward that she succumbs so easily and that it is all just his means of revenge, with no love on his side. She is still in love with him and always has been (and has never been able to have relations with other men) but when he asks her if she is still in love with him, she denies it, knowing he'll use the information to torture her.

A storm is heading their way, so he tells her they are going to return to London and that he has changed some of his plans. Part of his revenge strategy was to marry her once his novel was finished, forcing her to take the place of the fiancee he lost as a result of her actions (the OW decided she didn't want to marry a blind man). He is moving up the wedding. Our weak-willed h is horrified but then decides she owes it to him and her secret love might help make up for what she had done (although I'm not sure why she takes such responsibility for his blindness--he's the one who tore off in a rage after borderline raping her--she did consent so technically it wasn't but it came close).

He does make it clear that he thinks they can have a good life together; they were good friends with lots of shared interests growing up and the sexual chemistry between them is as good as it gets. So she initially goes along with it...

After buying her an engagement ring, he takes her out to lunch, and the OW, who is a model, shows up (in a hilariously tacky outfit--she's in a gold tunic with a gold turban and a miniskirt, like something Patsy or Edina would wear in Ab Fab, hahahah). The H is snarky with the OW but not very nice to the h either, throwing money in her lap and telling her to go shopping while he goes to a meeting and takes off, sharing a cab with the OW. The h is upset and walks around for a long time, then goes back to his apartment to shower. The OW shows up and basically tells her that the H is going to dump her now that the OW is free and wants him and he is having dinner with her that night at her flat. The h stupidly accepts all of that at face value (conveniently forgetting his obsession with her?) and decides to leave once the OW takes off. She packs and leaves, but runs into the H into the lobby, and he's furious she was walking out on him again and takes her back up to his apartment.

Once there, he hustles her into the bedroom and tells her to take off her clothes, he is taking out another installment on the debt she owes him. (This is like the 3rd scene where she is told to strip for him; I find it pretty hot so I don't mind, but she should really invest in a pole and some sexy, easily discarded clothing for their future together, because this H really has a thing for making her strip for him). She refuses and he strips her himself and gets her onto the bed. She starts crying because even though her resistance to similar scenes was pretty short lived, she finally has had enough of the revenge-sex (even if it always ends up being great for both of them). He 180s and comforts her, and they finally get around to talking and avowals of love, clearing up misunderstandings (she did come to see him in the hospital; he did want to see her but an overzealous ward nurse told her differently b/c the OW told her to, etc.), and finally reach their HEA.

LW does good suspenseful buildup in this one, and the descriptions of the Yorkshire moors location has a nice Wuthering Heights feel to it. I always like an alpha out for revenge (and this is one hot vengeful alpha, whew!) but if sex-for-revenge old-skool tropes squick you, this one is pretty intense in that regard. Dub-con sex all over the place, mental terrorizing, and some wrist-gripping (one scene, when she realizes he is "making it clear that he was the master and it would pay to obey him." Your response to that sentence is a good indication of whether you want to read this one or not.) Wonderfully intense and trainwrecky with some great sturm and drang and a gothic feel. LW delivers a fantastic old-skool-crazy revenge trope. For me, a hot, crazy read!

[AvidReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars ⭐️.
There are some books that you just wanna read and read, that makes you completely incognizant of your surroundings. Unfortunately whenever such books happens I will have a million things to do.
This was one of ‘these’ which I found in one of ‘those’ days.

Wow.. what a beginning. I was completely blown away by the story and emotions. Their love was realistic, fierce and passionate. I loved that heroine owned up to her mistakes and for some reasons those mistakes didn’t make me hate her. I felt so much for the hero. But the way he he took control of his life and ultimately conquered all he ever wished was impressive.
There was some spooky scenes that was written very well. Also loved the way story unfolded.
The intriguing plot and mystique that surrounded hero and his motives was fantastic.
The reason I didn’t give this full 5 stars was the other woman. She grated on my nerves. It also didn’t work that it was other woman who broke up first during separation. There was no comeuppance for her machinations in the past. And the lack epilogue.
Recommended.

Safety during separation wasn’t properly clear in hero’s case. He was engaged to the OW but whether he slept with her or not wasn’t clear (atleast it wasn’t to me). He said he was obsessed with heroine and her thoughts at that time.

[Vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Katie V review, I had to hunt this bad boy down and read it. Happily, I was not disappointed. It was as angsty as I had been promised.

I'll forgo the plot redux, and just mention one thing I was surprised to feel as I read this. No surprise that the hero is out for revenge, but Lee Wilkinson created some incredibly spooky tension. Of course, I was reading the damn book way too late with one eye on the clock and one eye on the angsty antics, but darn if I didn't actually wonder what the hero was going to do. In a romance and a Harlequin at that where plot points are as obvious as sign posts, that is saying something.

[Romance_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the crazier revenge-story harlequins I've read in recent times with some mad plotting and manoeuvring on the H's side to bring the h to heel. but what really bugged me, was how weak the h (Autumn) was. Granted she was pretty desperately in love with the hero (Saul); most times, she behaved like a carpet who was only too happy to be trod on. Saul on the other hand, is supposed to be an author, but does little else than lust after Autumn and seduce her into paying her 'debts' to him.

But what's really baffling is how Autumn could have ever thought he was blind when everything he did pointed to the fact that he could see pretty well.

What finally redeemed this for me though, was the chemistry between the characters. There was some real angst here; even though, it wasn't all justified and the h and H did have an intense attraction to one another which made for a steamy read. Also, the story - as outlandish as it is- was kind of interesting. So three stars!

[niteskycs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

something about super problematic vintage hp revenge plots just give me that rush.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Както беше написала друга читателка - колко психиатри са нужни тук? Двама, трима? Поредното кукувиче гнездо на Арлекин, което си има чара. И не надвишава 200 страници.

3,5⭐️

[Aou · Rating 4 out of 5]

He laughed harshly. 'It's high time you learnt the difference between
love and lust. What we did had nothing to do with love. That was sex,
pure and simple... and I only wish to God it had never happened.'

After his so-called love and to-be-fiancee left him because of heroine's deceit, he had bedded with h brutally and then talked like that! And supposedly love heroine as a sister? JERK!

He was vengeful and she was martyr, both were dumbs but I admired the silly h when she said :
'When you say things like that it makes you sound little better than a whore.'
Coldly, she said, 'But that's all I am. That's what you've made me. Except that I'm using my body not to earn money but to pay off a debt.'

It was a good and angsty HP and I've read without a break.

P.S. I' ve read the book while listenning the music the h played.
https://youtu.be/pBx-tr1FDvY
https://youtu.be/_Od7gx3Dc-U

[Corandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Los besos robados"

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Autumn takes the chance of seeing Saul Cresswell one more time she hopes he wont recognise her. Because it's her fault he had the accident that left him blind and ended his career as an artist. Somehow she finds herself working for him as his secretary on a new book he's writing. A book about revenge. Somehow it all starts to come too close to home. How these two former friends who were torn apart by the tragedy of one night of mistakes could overcome their history of anger and bitterness and tremendous guilt makes for an intrigueing tale. Saul is gorgeous and Autumn is feisty when not overcome by repentance at her mistake. I like a bit of angst and a dark hero so enjoyed this very much.
Saul is the type for a faithful hero.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

StMargarets review captures everything perfectly. So much drama! Confusion! Revenge! It’s a lot of fun.

[RomLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A desperate desire...
Autumn Milski had to see Saul Cresswell just one more time before she could reconcile herself to the fact that the man she loved hated her....It was a reckless decision. Despite her assumed name, there was always a danger that Saul would recognize the girl she'd once been. A girl he blamed for the accident that had robbed him of his sight -- and whom he would clearly never forget or forgive

[Debby]

I stopped at page 86 where the h takes off her clothes and she walks completely naked to the H who is talking to another woman. She wanted to get rid of the other woman by making her jealous.

At that point the h and H weren’t in a relationship and he had never seen her naked before. He tries to send her away, but nude and all, she begs him to let her stay.

She is TSTL and has no pride or dignity. DNF, so no rating.

[Sahara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this quite some time ago, but I remember enjoying it very much. Definitely recommend if you're in the mood for something toxic.

[Mtve41 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply satisfying and sweet second chance story of a young love embittered by one wrong move made out of desperation. I couldn’t predict how it would play out but was pleasantly surprised. My only gripe seems to be recurrent with this writer and that is the length of the book. It isn’t exactly long but it gets boring and stretchy midway.

The h is young and in love with a guy who she knows since she was a teen. He was with her in her ups and downs and she assumes that he loves her just as much as she hero worships him. The H is however just about past his teens and motivated to do good in life. He was about to get married to OW but the h, needy for attention, makes a desperate failed attempt to show the OW that they were sleeping together. This riles up the H and he sadly rapes her.

In rage the H then drives away from the scene of crime and has a car crash that leaves him blind. The h tries to go see him but is rudely sent packing by OW. Giving up on life she moves to NYC with her parents.

Years later the h has lost her parents and her job. She’s also evicted from her apartment and she realizes that this is the time for her to move back. On her plane ride she meets a man who assists her in getting a job, similar to the one she had and of all the men she could meet at her workplace, it is the H. The h considers to work for him and assist him in life, now that he’s blind, and make things right the way she wronged them. Each day she’s suspicious if he can actually see but she has to be wary incase he figures out it’s her whom he hired.

This played out really well. The H was demanding and threw his weight around and the h was sweet but not much sparring happened between them. She could’ve been a notch meaner to him to heat up things but she accepted how much damage she’d caused to his life and was here to pay for it. It would’ve been an HEA all along if the h had been patient and not chased away her man for life. Nice reading and recommend.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

He wants to be mean but love gets in the way. She was far less to blame than H was for car accident that lost him his sight and fiancée but she did have a small share of responsibility and it was all her fault that she lost his good opinion.

H was older and he chose to drive when angry and after a couple drinks. He blamed her entirely for the accident and for break up with OW. He was way out of line for shoving all blame on h and even more wrong for seeking revenge.

I can see why she blamed herself and thought she “owed” but she certainly did not owe him her chastity.

Only in HP land do we get these wonderful stories that in the cold light of common sense are ridiculous but oh so enjoyable while we read them and share in her and his feelings and lives.

Reread 6 months later and it’s still 5 stars.

[Tatiana Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy Mother of God the H was a mean son of a bitch. I couldn't even read it and I kept skimming and skimming hoping to see goodness in the H and finally I skipped to the end and even the explanations were extremely stupid. I felt really sorry for the H - she really was used and abused!! I was going to give it 1 star but changed it to a 2 because the story had me guessing and it was a little unpredictable (when I was reading it intently that is until I couldn't take meanness of the H anymore and had to skim)

[Arryns · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 🌟s

Saul is an enraging (endearing) lunatic and I'm here for it. And Autumn?? The girl is a power house lol
I wasn't expecting it. She knew what she wanted and wasn't above using subterfuge to get it, up until it all blew up in her face she was gleeful with her work 💅🏽😭

[Sowmya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow....After so long, since most of the books frustrated me to no end, I have to admit this book sucked me right into its depths.

I usually avoid old school British books as I get bored most of the times with its overly descriptive, stretched out, monotonous "classic" writing, but this book rekindled my likeness for that gentlemanly yet unconventional (dark) old school romances again.

In Blind Obsession we see Autumn and Saul's love story of how they started out as friends, then strangers, to enemies and how they finally admitted their love for each other by overcoming all their insecurities, vengeance, anger, hurt, jealousy, guilt and pain to reach their HEA. What started out as manipulation & revenge plan quickly turned into burning passion for these two.

I really enjoyed that push and pull between our MCs, and Saul my god though I won't say that I'm a huge fan of him, I liked him quite well and his cynical indifferent revenge attitude towards Autumn was cherry on the top. His bitterness and vengeance towards her, but also that carefully hidden feelings for Autumn all made the plot more catchy and intriguing.
When it comes to the heroine Autumn, again I won't say I'm fond of her or something, cuz I couldn't connect with her on any personal level, but still all the angst held my attention and their sexual tension and chemistry was off the charts.

The writing style though it felt like I'm reading a book from an old era even though it's only from 90s, had this kind of poetic novelty, some sweetness to it despite it being a revenge romance, and with a touch of skillful proficiency it made the story more addictive. This is one of the things I kind of miss in the books of recent times.

I'm not sure whether I'll indulge myself again with harlequin's old romances, but I definitely savored this particular one.

[Lady Raven RAVE! · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS WASSSS GOOD

at first i thought ok don't think i wanna read about a blind man doesn't really sound interesting...But i was glad i did read it was something a little just a little different for me


DON'T WANNA SPOIL IT by telling you about it so just get the book and read it ....
won't disappoint you