ΑΣΗΜΕΝΙΑ ΦΛΟΓΑ ΣΥΛΛΟΓΗ 518

by Margaret Pargeter

If only she could recover her memory!
When Jane awoke in the hospital after the plane crash, she had no recollection of her previous life. That included her marriage to Colin Denyer, who had died in the crash.

But his forceful brother, Paul, obviously knew enough about her to dislike her as soon as they met. Jane couldn't understand either his contempt or her powerful attraction to him.

What did he know that made him hate her so intensely?

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Romance, Contemporary, Enemies To Lovers, Harlequin Presents

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Margaret Pargeter was a popular writer of 50 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1975 to 1986.

Reviews

[SandraIsAMoodyCowWhenSheCan'tRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

1986 mistaken-identity amnesia flick, chock full of loopholes but decent enough if you need a quick non-cerebral read.

Jane is a passenger in an aeroplane sitting next to a couple whose loud arguments are reaching epic proportions, the type that would have people scurrying for their phones to record furtively had it happened today. Jane attempts to ignore them while she thinks it's kind of funny that she and the crazy wife share the same first name. Well, it won’t be so funny in a while.

In a sudden fit of hysterics, the wife tosses her wedding ring to Jane, screaming that she can have it all, her rings, her money, her husband, her marriage. Jane shrinks away in protest, flabbergasted at being pulled into their debacle and maybe not too impressed by the offer. Perhaps husband did not resemble Sexiest Man Alive 1986 (Mark Harmon. I checked)

As the wife gets more hysterical, Not-Mark-Harmon begs Jane to please, please just wear the rings for a second while he tries to calm down his wife. Jane thinks, what the heck, poor guy, what’s the worst that could happen and puts them on. The next moment, the plane crashes.

She wakes up in a hospital, sees Hero by her bedside and latches on to him like a floatation device since she’s drowning in disorientation. Apparently, the poor couple had died while Jane manages to retain all her body parts, her beautiful face and only suffers from amnesia from a minor head bump.

Everyone assumes she is the widow of the H’s brother since she’s wearing the brother’s signet ring a.k.a ID badge in good old 1986. Simpler times back then, no need for fingerprints, blood tests.

Anyway, the couple had a whirlwind marriage so no one’s ever met her. Since she has no clue about her previous life, her “in-laws” take her in, treating her like their own while H regards her, brooding and suspicious as his brother had confided he wanted out of his marriage.

Jane is intensely attracted to H and confused since she is supposed to be the grieving widow. H on his part, has done some digging around and finds out “Jane” is a bigamist. He concludes she’s a mercenary bitch pretending amnesia, hoping for some kind of widow’s windfall. He treats her like crap while his penis, of course, has a mind of its own and wants to tango.

I’ve never known a Hero able to handle blue balls like this one. He blows hot and cold throughout the book while Jane tries to stands her own against his crap. Trigger warning for the sensitive reader: He slaps her once in the name of calming her hysteria then apologises. Ironic because you know, Guess Who caused that bout of hysterical tears.

Oh, Pargeter. I think she has a checklist when she writes, one of the item being Slap Heroine For No Apparent Reason.

The best part of the book is when Jane recovers her memory. She never asks anyone for handouts though she’s pretty much destitute and penniless. She pulls herself together, walks out on H, who continues to believe the worst of her and figures out a way to deal with her dire situation.

Says a lot doesn't it, when I consider that the best bit of the book.

But unfortunately, they meet up again. H persists in his dick moves (literally too) while she despises/loves him. This Hero remains pretty much irredeemable till the HEA. Between the two’s OTT reactions to each other, depending on your mood, this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But I was in the mood for amnesia vintage-style so I didn't mind their antics.

[Grrrrace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was a fun return to 1983 Harleys, with a very cruel and demeaning hero, an innocent and misunderstood waifish heroine who vacillates between doormat and spitfire, amnesia, mistaken identity modeling, misunderstandings, and a HEA that even the hero and heroine have to wonder about.

Our lost-lamb heroine, Jane, wakes up in the hospital with no memory of who she is but plenty of nightmares about a plane crash. She is told that her husband died in the crash, but she survived with a handbag and rings proving that she was his wife. The hero, Paul, who we believe is her brother-in-law, whom she has never met, is there to comfort her (but is not super nice about it most of the time), and she imprints on him like a little baby bird. That's the only explanation that I can come up with for her insta-love for him in the face of his continual slut-shaming, accusations that she is a liar and a cheat, rough treatment, and refusal to believe anything she says.

Released from the hospital, his parents take her into their manor house and she soon has won their hearts. She is already head-over-heels in love with Paul, despite his hot-and-cold treatment of her. There are many smoldering gazes and burning gazes and punishing kisses, one "hysteria"-ending slap (that he does apologize for), and some surprisingly explicit almost-sex scenes, with the typical-of-the-time euphemisms (such as "hardening thighs," hee). She spends a lot of time bruised from kisses and confused and upset at his hot and cold behavior.

Before long, she recovers her memory and immediately realizes that she is not who they all thought she was. She was on the plane with the now-dead brother and his wife, and the couple were quarreling the entire trip, and at some point, the wife took her rings off and hysterically demanded the heroine put them on instead and the exasperated husband begged her to go along until he could calm his wife down). Whatever: Jane IMMEDIATELY tells Paul that she has recovered her memory and she is not his sister-in-law and she feels terrible about the misconception and the fact that his parents have been so kind to her. She is actually an orphan/typist (70s and 80s Harleys being littered them) and sometimes model. The hero, who had previously discovered she wasn't his brother's wife (he saw photos of them), refuses to believe she wasn't pulling some kind of scam and is generally an ass to her, punishing her with hard kisses and handsy groping. She gives him the rings back and turns to leave (although she's down to her last 5 pounds), and he calls her harsh names and demands to know her address so he can send her some money so that her defrauding mythical "accomplices" don't ring her neck (or so he claims). She tells him she doesn't want his money and flees into the London night, returning to the flat she shared with some girls before her amnesia, only to find that her orphanage friend, Beth, has gotten married and her other flatmate has let her scuzzy boyfriend move in. So our heroine has nowhere to stay.

But Jane is used to hard knocks--she lost her parents at 10 and was in a group home until she was 18 and has spent the past three years (she is 21) working office jobs when she could get them and modeling here and there. So she pulls up her big-girl britches, spends the night at a youth hostel, and goes to see the modeling agency owner she sometimes works for the next day, who is able to find her some work and a place to stay.

Before long, our heroine is hired for a makeup advertising campaign--she has the waifish look they want. The ad agency is owned by none other than our hero. He is pretty awful to her repeatedly, either treating her coldly with disdain and scorn or getting super handsy (at work and outside of work). He warns her not to see other men but makes it clear he considers her soiled goods and not worthy of anything but the occasional groping session.

The heroine is a victim of her own desires and baby-bird imprinting on him and, despite her virginal fears, is pretty much unable to resist his manly attractions any time he touches her. There are a few near-consummations but he always pulls back at the last minute (this guy has amazing self control for a Harley hero, rejecting her not once but twice at the most, er, penetrating moments). I will say that for all her tears and submission to him, she does at least try to fight back verbally and otherwise occasionally, and generally just gets on with surviving.

She's invited to stay with his parents for the weekend, and decides to go because he says he isn't going with her (and she is very fond of them and does love feeling part of a family, something she never had). But he does show up--with OW Leonora, whom he passes off as his fiance. Leona is actually engaged to his brother, but Paul deliberately deceives the heroine, because he is a cruel and jealous jerk and wants to punish her because he saw her out with some guys she is friendly with from work. (This guy, no red flags at all, uh-uh.) During the course of the weekend, she asks his mother if she has any advice about morning sickness (she really is asking for a friend, hee). The mother assumes she is pregnant, but the heroine doesn't pick up on that and goes off to visit her preggers friend up in Scotland. She is pretty heartbroken at the prospect of the hero getting married but knows she needs to get away from him now that he's committed to someone else.

He tracks her down in Scotland and tells her that he will marry her and raise the nonexistent baby-by-another-man as his own. She explains that she isn't pregnant and has never "belonged" to any man, but is moved that he would do that for her (I think he probably would have made her life a living hell, but whatever). There are explanations and avowals of love and some pretty good groveling from the hero, but I still think that she will be walking on eggshells with this guy as her husband the rest of her life, given that he distrusted her on the flimsiest of evidence throughout the entire book and really just looked for reasons to abuse her mentally and physically (mainly through punishing kisses in classic old-skool Harley fashion). So...HEA? In the old-school way.

Some surprisingly explicit heat and classic tropes and hero/heroine types in this. I was curious about the title and think it's from a line by Keats: And as she spake, into her face there came Light, as reflected from a silver flame. (How I love the fancy old titles.) Enjoyable crazy-train outing with lots of unlikely, dramatic, fun old tropes.

[JennyG · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure how to rate this. I couldn't stop reading it despite the plot and the hero's behaviour being ridiculous. Heroine wasn't any better.
I usually enjoy reading about the cruel hero as long as I am shown that the hero is vulnerable to the heroine in some way and he isn't too abusive. This one left me feeling uncomfortable and wanting to tell the heroine to run the other way.
I think I'll give it three stars just because it was memorable and it didn't bore me like many of today's HPs do.

[Diya✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hero was just SO cruel and I pretty much detested him throughout reading this. He was not redeeming in any way. I read many books where the hero is cruel but still likeable. It was barrage of insult after insult. Left me feeling pretty uncomfortable. I was intrigued to find out about the past but ending just didn't make sense!

[Margo · Rating 1 out of 5]

In 2018, I wrote that he was the worst hero ever. I hadn't read much vintage romance. He's garden-variety Pargeter.

[Booked · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my very favorite MP book. Usually the premise wouldn't capture me, but I thanked god I had one of those moments of whim. It's beautifully written with more substance in 1/4 of the book than any book I've ever read. Could easily a contender of my top ten favorites. The internal conflicts that both characters exudes were off the charts. It was definitely proved to be worthwhile for me. An awesome solid book!

[RomLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only she could recover her memory!
When Jane awoke in the hospital after the plane crash, she had no recollection of her previous life. That included her marriage to Colin Denyer, who had died in the crash.

But his forceful brother, Paul, obviously knew enough about her to dislike her as soon as they met. Jane couldn't understand either his contempt or her powerful attraction to him.

What did he know that made him hate her so intensely? (less)

[Fre06 Begum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read but another pathetic weak female lead!

[Lynsey A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this took me back! It's been awhile since I read an 80's Harlequin. I forgot what total asshats the heroes were written as back then.

Paul was horrible to Jane through the majority of the book. As usual it was because he was jealous, etc., etc.

Now, having said that I will admit he did some pretty nice groveling at the end of this one. He actually admitted what a jerk he was to her. He may have even said that word to describe himself.

The story felt rushed and I just didn't see any reason why Jane would fall in love with him. He was hardly nice to her except for brief times while she was in the hospital after the original crash. However, even then he wasn't always the nice guy.

Anyway, I would say perhaps a 2.5 star read for me as Paul did improve in the end. However, it really wasn't soon enough to bring it up a whole star.

[sbf20112011 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, this hero was a serious jerk. I can tolerate a lot of cruel hero behavior, but this guy was an idiot -- it became more and more clear how innocent the heroine was, but he kept coming up with insane reasons to accuse her of being a whore. And then, at the end when he believes she is pregnant with another man's child, he suddenly decides he's going to marry her? Zero explanation for that sudden change of mind. Anyway, it's readable, but silly.

[JillyB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 3rd in my Margaret Pargeter binge and has some similarities with the Mrs. Winterbourne movie. No surprises to a Pargeter fan but we have yet another cruel hero who has no reason to be so cruel. He keeps it up til the end, of course in between all of his cruelness he has to strip the h half naked and punish her with kisses. His cruelness feeds my angst bank, so I am pleased. I have to say, MP does some of the most passionate lead ins to sex without the sex actually happening. She really knows how to write some very hot kissing scenes. So let’s see who are players are in this story.

Jane, 21-She is involved in a plane crash where there are very few survivors. She was jostled around quite a bit and has temporary amnesia. She happens to be wearing the wedding rings of another woman. When she rouses from her sleep in the hospital, she is being comforted by a strange but very attractive man.

Paul, 36- He believes Jane is his sister-in-law(or does he?). His brother died in the plane crash, and the heroine was found wearing the wedding rings, one which was the brother’s signet ring. Everything else in the crash was destroyed. Paul never got to meet his sil, as she and his brother married hurriedly in Italy. However, he does know that the brother was unhappy in his marriage to Jane.

The story continues with the H bringing her to his distraught parents house. They need the h as she was the last one with their youngest son. Mark, the other brother is also on hand. Everyone is very welcoming to the h except for the H who seems to dislike her yet will hold her all night long when she has nightmares. Now, our poor h can’t remember the dead brother Colin, and feels a pull towards the H. She knows this is bad, as her supposed husband just died.

After a few close encounters with the angry H, her memory comes back. She goes to him to tell him her news and that she is not the wife of his dead brother. He is already aware of this and decides that she is a modern day charlatan who saw an opportunity, stole the rings, and was ready to cash in on the wealthy family’s grief.



I mean come on. Have you seen a plane crash? I doubt even a hardened criminal is looking to loot the plane that just crashed and killed almost everyone on it. That is also assuming that you are even alert. I know that it is strange that the h was wearing someone else’s rings but I would accept almost any reason for that then what the H is proposing. (Maybe a very delightful magic trick was performed by a traveling magician to calm the passengers as they descend into almost certain death…it’s a thought)

Anyhoo, the H informs the h(you know the one he keeps grabbing and kissing) that she is to leave and never show her face around him or his family again. He offers to give her money, but our h has some pride. She goes back to the apartment she shared with 2 other gals. One of them was Beth, her bff, she was actually flying to attend her wedding. Well, the old roommate Pat has moved in her skivy toad of a boyfriend and informs the h that she can’t stay. (The h doesn’t like the bf, but it is more likely that the roommate probably thinks the bf would see it as an opportunity to engage in a ménage. )

Our h ends up in a hostel. She then looks up a friend she did some modeling for. Although she is not model ready, she knows how to type etc so the friend gives her a job. A modeling gig comes up and so far all the models submitted have been declined. The friend has the h go to try out, and she is exactly what the cosmetics guru Olive wanted. The company handling the account happens to be the Hero and his brother’s company. She can’t back out as it would wreck her career and hurt her friend who has been the only one to help her since the H kicked her to the curb.

So, the story continues. The H makes demands such as the h not being able to date others as she is under contract. He continues to slut shame her, grab her, kiss her, 1/2 undress her , and in fact they are so close to doing the deed I was shocked when the H pulled back. I mean they were literally centimeters away!!! He tells her to stay away from his mom and dad, but the mom keeps calling and she eventually goes there for dinner. She then gets roped into attending the weekend there with the H.

The next part contains spoilers, so 🛑 reading now if you do not want SPOILERS SPOILERS 🛑🛑🛑

The h has captured the eye of many a gentlemen, and does manage to go out a few times. On one outing she runs into the H with a very curvaceous chatty blonde. Later she finds out they are engaged. The h who somehow ended up falling in love with the H between his belittling and kissing, is heartbroken. She goes to the family estate. The H arrives the next day with his blonde fiancée. He gets called away, and the h gets a call from Olive telling her that she wants her to take the week off. The h decides to go to Scotland to see her pregnant ex roommate Beth. Beth has been having lots of morning sickness. The h tries to get some advice from the H’s mom about any remedies for morning sickness for a “friend”…but they get interrupted. The h then goes to Scotland and visits her friend. The friend sees that she is heartsick. The friend and husband left to go somewhere. Then the h thinks they came back but instead it is a frantic H. First off, he is not engaged to the blonde. His brother is. However, he let the h squirm knowing she thought he was the intended. He was going to tell her the truth, but then got called away. He is here now. He tells the h he plans on marrying her and doesn’t care that the baby she is carrying is someone else’S(His mom mistakenly thought the h was pregnant by the H and the “friend” was a ruse. He doesn’t tell his mom that the child is not his and instead tells his mom that the h and he are marrying. )He is upset he wasn’t her first, but damn it all he is going to be her last. If the father comes around to claim her, he will kill him. The h corrects his mistake. There are avowals of love. He tells her they are marrying in 2 days as he already got the license. They never consummate the relationship as the H says he can wait at least 2 more days. He doesn’t mind if she keeps working, but since she has never had a family(orphan) she really just wants to be a wife and mother. Our MP heroes love to hear that!!!! They love nothing more than a doting heroine.

So, Yeah I like the cheesy ending. I am happy the h has a family. Even though the H was quite an ass for most of the story he actually comes from good stock, so hopefully the h will help him get in touch with that.

[Carmen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible hero ... so verbally abusive I am shocked this was published even in 1984. I rarely rate a book one star because I revere authors and bringing forth a story is like birthing a baby and people telling you it is ugly. In this case the editor should have stepped in and requested changes.

[أجمل زهرة · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I love 80's Harlequin books, they make me remember many beautiful things from the past.
Second, WOW. I hate how Jane is weak and without any self-respect even if she loves Paul soooo much. In fact most of M.P's heroines are like that and I hate it. Paul was a total jerk and he doesn't have any clear reason why he was like that.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously dated.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more like 2 1/2 stars. I've only read a couple books by this author before and I do not like how cruel and possessive her heroes are.

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate amnesia plots and this one was done poorly.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars⭐️⭐️I didn't like the H or the h! H was unnecessarily mean and hateful most of the book. Ana h was a quivering, shaking, almost fainting jellyfish. Neither held my interest