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Η ΛΙΜΝΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΔΕΜ ΣΥΛΛΟΓΗ 866
"I'm not having anyone pick my husband:"
Jennifer Raines thought it was time she be allowed to take charge of her controlling shares of the family business. But her stepfather insisted that she marry first--marry a man he approved of.
Attempting to flee family pressures, Jennifer left Vancouver and headed for the remote family cabin, where she thought no one would disturb her. So the last thing she expected was to become stranded with a ruggedly handsome stranger whose small plane had crashed nearby.
And why did Steven Radley this so-called stranger, know her name?
Jennifer Raines thought it was time she be allowed to take charge of her controlling shares of the family business. But her stepfather insisted that she marry first--marry a man he approved of.
Attempting to flee family pressures, Jennifer left Vancouver and headed for the remote family cabin, where she thought no one would disturb her. So the last thing she expected was to become stranded with a ruggedly handsome stranger whose small plane had crashed nearby.
And why did Steven Radley this so-called stranger, know her name?
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 19, 2019
This is a difficult one to rate because the characters aren't what you expect in an HP. Oh, the hero is as horrible as you would expect- ungrateful for the heroine's help after he crashed his plane, believing all the rumors about the heroine, berating and belittling her while they spent a week in an isolated cabin together, etc. . .
What's unusual is that the heroine comes off as an OW in the making at the beginning. She hates her family and is trying to find ways to make their lives uncomfortable. But cracks in her armor start to show - the first being scars on her arms and back.
That's right. Poor little rich girl heroine has some excuses for her acting out and the truth finally comes out when the heroine is triggered by an action of the hero's - and it is painful to read.
So this is an intense, dramatic read, but it's kind of a downer. The evil mom never has her comeuppance and the original abuser is long dead. Plus heroine is selling her legacy and hero quit his job to be a farmer in Saskatchewan. They're living the dream. LOL
Boogenhagen has more details in her excellent review.
What's unusual is that the heroine comes off as an OW in the making at the beginning. She hates her family and is trying to find ways to make their lives uncomfortable. But cracks in her armor start to show - the first being scars on her arms and back.
That's right. Poor little rich girl heroine has some excuses for her acting out and the truth finally comes out when the heroine is triggered by an action of the hero's - and it is painful to read.
So this is an intense, dramatic read, but it's kind of a downer. The evil mom never has her comeuppance and the original abuser is long dead. Plus heroine is selling her legacy and hero quit his job to be a farmer in Saskatchewan. They're living the dream. LOL
Boogenhagen has more details in her excellent review.
May 23, 2016
RE Bitter Legacy - this one is wrecky emo angst and pretty disturbing for the most part. The h is a 22yr old heiress with the stepfather, stepsister and mother from Hades. They live off her inheritance and the SF runs her company - resentfully- and they pretty much make her life a misery. Several toilet seats to the head for all of them would be a big blessing for the overall quality of HPlandia as a whole, srsly.
So the h, who grew up mostly with her grandfather until he died and then her evil mum and SF became her trustees, decides she has had enough of baiting them for a while and takes off to the remote family cabin. She doesn't tell anyone where she is going, she just takes off and is going to use the time to figure out a way to get control of the company. The h actually has a business degree, and graduated at the top of her class. While she is contemplating her life, a plane crash lands and there is the H inside.
He was apparently flying intoxicated, but the h pulls him out and nurses him in her cabin. When the H wakes up the next morning, he makes some suspicious, rapey moves and the h pulls a shotgun on him. (I totally did not blame her, had it been me, I would have used it.) The gun accidentally goes off and the H is pretty rough and handsy taking it away from her.
Then he tells her he knows who she is and he proceeds to berate her character and her morals based on the stories of her skeevy stepsister, mother and stepfather. It is pretty obvious that the H is close to these people, but he doesn't explain how. Since there is no radio, the H and h are stuck there until the plane comes back in three weeks.
The h is pretty feisty, but the H is pretty much a bully. He complains about the food and the h sets some snares. The only problem is she has never actually killed anything before and when she catches a rabbit, the H makes her clean it and eat it and it freaks the h out pretty badly, she usually takes the vegetarian or fish option.
The h really isn't a bad person, the staff that actually know her think she is generous and kind. Tho to hear the other people around her, she is the child of the devil. The H sorta realizes this gradually as he gets to know her better, but his bullying puts her in the position of sleeping under a badly leaking roof and he continues to harass her until she practically keels over from illness. He does take care of her, (not that he had an option, it would have looked really bad for him if she died.) When the h recovers, she seems to think he took advantage of her.
Then the plane comes early and we find out the H works for the h's company under the SF. The SF had a heart attack and the executive that comes needs to be fired first thing, cause he very non-complimentary about the h.
Once again, I was puzzled about all the bad mouthing of her, because aside from some practical jokes against the skeevy step sis when she was younger, and a few almost car wrecks when the h got distracted, the h has not been around all that much. For the guy to have the information he did meant that the SF was doing some serious h character damage to his employee's (and why they should even need to know is strange) and I was pretty much hoping he died.
So the H and h go back to the h's house and the stepsister is all over the H and the h comes up with a plan to say she is preggers and discredit the H for seducing an innocent. It doesn't get very far, but the H decides he is going to marry her when she tells him she is preggers and the SF is out of the hospital.
The h also has these weird little fugue states where she regresses to a child and she has a lot of scarring on her body that everyone else in the family dismisses as the h being accident prone-and they harass her about it often. The H tells the h he is marrying her cause the SF's health is so bad, he will die if he has to keep running the company, and the SF was the H's commanding officer and he will do whatever he needs to do to save him.
The stepsister has more than gone out of her way to insinuate that she and the H are lovers and the h figures he just wants her money. She gets a doctor's note confirming her non pregnancy, but the H is insisting the marriage take place.
In a big dramatic scene later that evening, the H tries to bully the h again the h reacts by slapping a glass out of his hand. He spanks her in front of her mother and stepsister and the h has total meltdown - to the point that she is suicidal.
The mother confesses that she gave the h to the grandfather so he could severely abuse her, all the scars and bruises the h had over the years are from the grandfather's attacks. The mum hated the h's father, her first husband and the h reminds her of that sad time. The mum got a lot of money to let the h be abused, she actually enjoyed watching it. The step sis is horrified and the H threatens to tell the mum's husband. ( I was hoping for that, the SF would probably have another attack, the mum would lose her income and the stepsister would have to sell herself on the street while the h would be able to get away from these disgusting people .)
The h is still in total meltdown and her hand is badly cut, she winds up in the hospital and decides she is glad the SF isn't dead and the step sis keeps coming to visit her because she is ashamed of herself. She lied about the H and her, because she was jealous and she also tells the h that the H really loves her. The mother and SF are gone on a cruise, we can only hope a tidal wave comes by and they drown at sea.
Then the H shows up and confesses he really loves the h, he wants to help her and he knows that she doesn't love him and won't need him forever, but while she does, she can count on him. He is resigning from the h's company and the h has an offer to sell the company to a bigger one, but she will lose control if she does.
That suits the h just fine, she was planning on selling out when she took over anyways, to bury the legacy from her grandfather forever. Since the H was pretty convincing in his big speech, the h declares she loves him back and I guess they will be hitching up once she gets out of the psych ward.
This one was unsettling, the h's fugue states were really weird (the H accuses her using drugs at one point), as was the way the whole meltdown scene happened. I just can't see a 30 yr old spanking a 22 yr old like that and it was just sorta EWWW. The poor h was totally humiliated and devastated and I did not like that.
I did believe the HEA for the most part for at least ten minutes after I read the book, so this one gets a half hearted nod from me. The h was likable for the most part, a bit dramatic-- but the H was really rotten for 90% of the book. There was absolutely no justice for the rest of the characters, and I was really tired from mentally swinging the skillet on them by the time I finished. I may have to set up an altar to the Goddess of Flying Killer Toilet Seats.
I did like the H's big emotional confession at the end, it really was the only thing that saved the book's HEA for even the limited time I believed it. Read this one with caution, or better yet, read after a long stint of Lilian Peake or Margaret Pargeter or a Sally Wentworth h torture session- the book is sure to look a whole lot better when up against the major trainwrecks of HPlandia.
So the h, who grew up mostly with her grandfather until he died and then her evil mum and SF became her trustees, decides she has had enough of baiting them for a while and takes off to the remote family cabin. She doesn't tell anyone where she is going, she just takes off and is going to use the time to figure out a way to get control of the company. The h actually has a business degree, and graduated at the top of her class. While she is contemplating her life, a plane crash lands and there is the H inside.
He was apparently flying intoxicated, but the h pulls him out and nurses him in her cabin. When the H wakes up the next morning, he makes some suspicious, rapey moves and the h pulls a shotgun on him. (I totally did not blame her, had it been me, I would have used it.) The gun accidentally goes off and the H is pretty rough and handsy taking it away from her.
Then he tells her he knows who she is and he proceeds to berate her character and her morals based on the stories of her skeevy stepsister, mother and stepfather. It is pretty obvious that the H is close to these people, but he doesn't explain how. Since there is no radio, the H and h are stuck there until the plane comes back in three weeks.
The h is pretty feisty, but the H is pretty much a bully. He complains about the food and the h sets some snares. The only problem is she has never actually killed anything before and when she catches a rabbit, the H makes her clean it and eat it and it freaks the h out pretty badly, she usually takes the vegetarian or fish option.
The h really isn't a bad person, the staff that actually know her think she is generous and kind. Tho to hear the other people around her, she is the child of the devil. The H sorta realizes this gradually as he gets to know her better, but his bullying puts her in the position of sleeping under a badly leaking roof and he continues to harass her until she practically keels over from illness. He does take care of her, (not that he had an option, it would have looked really bad for him if she died.) When the h recovers, she seems to think he took advantage of her.
Then the plane comes early and we find out the H works for the h's company under the SF. The SF had a heart attack and the executive that comes needs to be fired first thing, cause he very non-complimentary about the h.
Once again, I was puzzled about all the bad mouthing of her, because aside from some practical jokes against the skeevy step sis when she was younger, and a few almost car wrecks when the h got distracted, the h has not been around all that much. For the guy to have the information he did meant that the SF was doing some serious h character damage to his employee's (and why they should even need to know is strange) and I was pretty much hoping he died.
So the H and h go back to the h's house and the stepsister is all over the H and the h comes up with a plan to say she is preggers and discredit the H for seducing an innocent. It doesn't get very far, but the H decides he is going to marry her when she tells him she is preggers and the SF is out of the hospital.
The h also has these weird little fugue states where she regresses to a child and she has a lot of scarring on her body that everyone else in the family dismisses as the h being accident prone-and they harass her about it often. The H tells the h he is marrying her cause the SF's health is so bad, he will die if he has to keep running the company, and the SF was the H's commanding officer and he will do whatever he needs to do to save him.
The stepsister has more than gone out of her way to insinuate that she and the H are lovers and the h figures he just wants her money. She gets a doctor's note confirming her non pregnancy, but the H is insisting the marriage take place.
In a big dramatic scene later that evening, the H tries to bully the h again the h reacts by slapping a glass out of his hand. He spanks her in front of her mother and stepsister and the h has total meltdown - to the point that she is suicidal.
The mother confesses that she gave the h to the grandfather so he could severely abuse her, all the scars and bruises the h had over the years are from the grandfather's attacks. The mum hated the h's father, her first husband and the h reminds her of that sad time. The mum got a lot of money to let the h be abused, she actually enjoyed watching it. The step sis is horrified and the H threatens to tell the mum's husband. ( I was hoping for that, the SF would probably have another attack, the mum would lose her income and the stepsister would have to sell herself on the street while the h would be able to get away from these disgusting people .)
The h is still in total meltdown and her hand is badly cut, she winds up in the hospital and decides she is glad the SF isn't dead and the step sis keeps coming to visit her because she is ashamed of herself. She lied about the H and her, because she was jealous and she also tells the h that the H really loves her. The mother and SF are gone on a cruise, we can only hope a tidal wave comes by and they drown at sea.
Then the H shows up and confesses he really loves the h, he wants to help her and he knows that she doesn't love him and won't need him forever, but while she does, she can count on him. He is resigning from the h's company and the h has an offer to sell the company to a bigger one, but she will lose control if she does.
That suits the h just fine, she was planning on selling out when she took over anyways, to bury the legacy from her grandfather forever. Since the H was pretty convincing in his big speech, the h declares she loves him back and I guess they will be hitching up once she gets out of the psych ward.
This one was unsettling, the h's fugue states were really weird (the H accuses her using drugs at one point), as was the way the whole meltdown scene happened. I just can't see a 30 yr old spanking a 22 yr old like that and it was just sorta EWWW. The poor h was totally humiliated and devastated and I did not like that.
I did believe the HEA for the most part for at least ten minutes after I read the book, so this one gets a half hearted nod from me. The h was likable for the most part, a bit dramatic-- but the H was really rotten for 90% of the book. There was absolutely no justice for the rest of the characters, and I was really tired from mentally swinging the skillet on them by the time I finished. I may have to set up an altar to the Goddess of Flying Killer Toilet Seats.
I did like the H's big emotional confession at the end, it really was the only thing that saved the book's HEA for even the limited time I believed it. Read this one with caution, or better yet, read after a long stint of Lilian Peake or Margaret Pargeter or a Sally Wentworth h torture session- the book is sure to look a whole lot better when up against the major trainwrecks of HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2021
Well, that was different and pretty dark. Our heroine has full-on PTSD, complete with manic episodes, irrational thinking, and fixations on getting back at people (including the hero) who are not responsible for her trauma. She comes off as very immature and volatile, and the hero makes all kinds of missteps in dealing with her, particularly when they are stuck together in a remote cabin for a couple of weeks after he crashes his plane (nice detail on the cover of the heroine tending to him after the crash). The heroine is pretty much a closed-down mess until the end, and I wasn't convinced in a HEA that comes about before she has dealt openly with her issues. I also didn't really understand why the hero comes to love her, given how immature she is in her dealings with him--she seemed very emotionally stunted in how she deals with her family and with him, and his love seemed more like pity to me. He's also not a great match for our very damaged heroine--he's often bullying and quick to anger, and I just didn't see him as having the patience or understanding to help her through what will be some intense times and intensive therapy to finally deal with her trauma. The author tries to sell major life changes as the cure-all (they will leave everything behind and move back to his family farm, which he'll co-manage in a career change that will also let her escape the ties that bind her to her old life), but it didn't work for me.
Boogenhausen has the deets in full. This one didn't work for me as a romance, but it was an interesting departure from your typical Harley outing, and it was a compelling read in its way. Would have been a LOT better with comeuppance for the villains of the piece, but alas, as we know, no bad deed goes punished in HPLandia.
Boogenhausen has the deets in full. This one didn't work for me as a romance, but it was an interesting departure from your typical Harley outing, and it was a compelling read in its way. Would have been a LOT better with comeuppance for the villains of the piece, but alas, as we know, no bad deed goes punished in HPLandia.
July 6, 2018
Boogenhagen gives an excellent description of this book and I have to agree with her that none of the characters except the h comes out of this book looking good.
The H's mum and stepsister were cows, the step father clearly didn't really care as long as his and his daughters needs were getting met otherwise he would have asked questions and the H was a tyrannical bully.
As for the H. He is clearly a crap pilot as he crash lands the plane and he is also ungrateful about the h saving his life. Not only that what gives him the right to just turn up and use her property? She has every right to be there and he is ungrateful, rude and embarrassed about her kindly offered hospitality. You know what mate? you tell us about 50 times in the story how you served in the army with her stepfather so show us some of those skills by rescuing your supplies or doing something a bit more useful than fishing with her gear she brought anyway!
He seems to think he had no part in her breakdown at the end when in actual fact he was the catalyst that caused it by spanking her in the first place. She even admits to herself she was testing him to see if he was different from the rest of her parasite family but he fails by doing exactly the same as her grandfather. He is very quick to blame her mother though and doesn't seem to take any responsibility for his actions.
Even his grovel kinda sucked because though on the surface it seems genuine and grovelly if he really loved her as much as he stated he would have been at the hospital to see her instead of arranging to leave his job. This stinks to me more of guilt than love.
The h's years of beatings have clearly caused her psychological harm and I felt sorry for her stuck with the bully H and her waste of oxygen family. She is actually a beautiful, smart, intelligent, independent, resourceful and kind woman but her family and the H don't see that or appreciate her.
Justice would have been selling up, becoming incredibly rich and meeting some sweet rich guy (after lots of therapy) and she could ride off in her jag with while flipping the bird over her shoulder to all the assholes left behind. After whupping the H's ass at target shooting
The H's mum and stepsister were cows, the step father clearly didn't really care as long as his and his daughters needs were getting met otherwise he would have asked questions and the H was a tyrannical bully.
As for the H. He is clearly a crap pilot as he crash lands the plane and he is also ungrateful about the h saving his life. Not only that what gives him the right to just turn up and use her property? She has every right to be there and he is ungrateful, rude and embarrassed about her kindly offered hospitality. You know what mate? you tell us about 50 times in the story how you served in the army with her stepfather so show us some of those skills by rescuing your supplies or doing something a bit more useful than fishing with her gear she brought anyway!
He seems to think he had no part in her breakdown at the end when in actual fact he was the catalyst that caused it by spanking her in the first place. She even admits to herself she was testing him to see if he was different from the rest of her parasite family but he fails by doing exactly the same as her grandfather. He is very quick to blame her mother though and doesn't seem to take any responsibility for his actions.
Even his grovel kinda sucked because though on the surface it seems genuine and grovelly if he really loved her as much as he stated he would have been at the hospital to see her instead of arranging to leave his job. This stinks to me more of guilt than love.
The h's years of beatings have clearly caused her psychological harm and I felt sorry for her stuck with the bully H and her waste of oxygen family. She is actually a beautiful, smart, intelligent, independent, resourceful and kind woman but her family and the H don't see that or appreciate her.
Justice would have been selling up, becoming incredibly rich and meeting some sweet rich guy (after lots of therapy) and she could ride off in her jag with while flipping the bird over her shoulder to all the assholes left behind. After whupping the H's ass at target shooting
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2016
The heroine was abused as a child and has grown up with all kinds of emotional problems. Her mother hated her although she hid it carefully from the h. The h thought for years that the reason she was left with her grandfather was because her step-father didn't want her around. When the truth came out it was in reality her mother who couldn't stand to be around her. Apparently the h's father had been abusive to her mother and the girl reminded her of him so she transferred her hate for him unto her daughter. She knew her daughter was being abused by her grandfather but left her in that situation. None of this is made known to the reader until nearly the end of the story. The h's actions and crazy behavior are better understood after this is revealed. There is a HEA of sorts but the heroine is still an emotional mess at the end of book and in dire need of psychiatric help.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2017
Leído el 17/05/2010
RESUMEN: Jennifer decidió pasar tres semanas de soledad en la cabaña cercana al lago. Por eso, la llegada de Steven Radley no fue de su agrado y aún peor fue compartir las provisiones con ese hombre.
La actitud de Jenny era poco amigable, así que el comportamiento sarcástico de Steven no resultaba sorprendente. Y el descubrir que él trabajaba para su padrastro, que dirigía SU compañía, provocó en ella el deseo de tramar una venganza que lo desacreditara por completo.
Mas las cosas no marchaban como ella planeó, y peor aún, sus sentimientos comenzaban a cambiar... ¿ocurriría lo mismo con los de él?
RESUMEN: Jennifer decidió pasar tres semanas de soledad en la cabaña cercana al lago. Por eso, la llegada de Steven Radley no fue de su agrado y aún peor fue compartir las provisiones con ese hombre.
La actitud de Jenny era poco amigable, así que el comportamiento sarcástico de Steven no resultaba sorprendente. Y el descubrir que él trabajaba para su padrastro, que dirigía SU compañía, provocó en ella el deseo de tramar una venganza que lo desacreditara por completo.
Mas las cosas no marchaban como ella planeó, y peor aún, sus sentimientos comenzaban a cambiar... ¿ocurriría lo mismo con los de él?
September 20, 2022
Well, this was different. Not romantic, because she acted some kind of crazy. And the crazier she acted, the sterner he became.
The scene with the hare, I can understand his motive to be stern with her. The hare had suffered and lost his life because of her doing and she would have just walked away from it. Her excuse is that she hadn’t thought about it. She lost all my sympathy there. She’s 24.
The scene with the hare, I can understand his motive to be stern with her. The hare had suffered and lost his life because of her doing and she would have just walked away from it. Her excuse is that she hadn’t thought about it. She lost all my sympathy there. She’s 24.
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