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Τα Βάσανα του Έρωτα - Χρυσά Άρλεκιν #223
Είναι αληθινό μαρτύριο να είσαι ερωτευμένη μ' έναν άντρα σαν τον Ντάμιεν, σκεφτόταν η Τζέσικα. Ο κυνισμός του δεν είχε όρια. Μετά από τρία χρόνια συμβίωσης της ανακοίνωσε πως τα συμφέροντά του επέβαλλαν να παντρευτεί μια άλλη. Και το χειρότερο, είχε την απαίτηση να είναι ερωμένη του και μετά το γάμο του!
Ε όχι, δεν θα του γινόταν το χατίρι. Όλα είχαν τελειώσει μεταξύ τους και δεν το είχε σκοπό να μείνει ούτε μια μέρα ακόμα μαζί του. Αλλά ο Ντάμιεν δεν θα εγκατέλειπε τη μάχη τόσο εύκολα. Ήταν ένας άντρας που αποκτούσε πάντα ότι ήθελε και ήθελε τη Τζέσικα ...
Ε όχι, δεν θα του γινόταν το χατίρι. Όλα είχαν τελειώσει μεταξύ τους και δεν το είχε σκοπό να μείνει ούτε μια μέρα ακόμα μαζί του. Αλλά ο Ντάμιεν δεν θα εγκατέλειπε τη μάχη τόσο εύκολα. Ήταν ένας άντρας που αποκτούσε πάντα ότι ήθελε και ήθελε τη Τζέσικα ...
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1984
9 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Carpenter
37 books44 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) resides in northern California. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.
She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child. Her graduate degrees are in Philanthropic Studies and Library Information Science, but her first love has always been writing fiction. She's back with her paranormal Elder Races series under the pseudonym Thea Harrison.
Amanda Carpenter (aka Thea Harrison) resides in northern California. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.
She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child. Her graduate degrees are in Philanthropic Studies and Library Information Science, but her first love has always been writing fiction. She's back with her paranormal Elder Races series under the pseudonym Thea Harrison.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
November 8, 2015
Re Raging Passion -- if the last book in the HP series was a bit low on the drama side, this one makes up for it in spades. It sorta reminds me of the old saw "Men are like busses, wait 10 minutes and another comes along" except this would be wrecky dramas in HPlandia, just pick up the next book in the line.
Cynical sayings aside, RP really is an outstanding, ground breaking book in the HP line - it deserves a read no matter your tastes and though it is a bit dated in terms of social issues, AC does something amazing with this one.
We all know the rules in HPLandia by now:
1. The h is ALWAYS responsible for the bad behavior of the H, no matter that she was thousands of miles away and knitting socks for homeless children in a knitting group of nuns, as one Lynne Graham H put it "If certain standards of behavior are not set, how will I have any goals to live up to."
2. The h is ALWAYS an innocent, she may not be a virgin (rape and widowhood are acceptable) but she should not be glamorously beautiful, sophisticated or in any way savvy and skillful in the bedroom, that is strictly the province of the OW in HPlandia - and as we know OW are ALWAYS the exact opposite of the h.
Which leads us up to:
3. Sophisticated, sexually savvy OW can NEVER be the h in HPLandia, they have too much skill and knowledge to be tying themselves to such an anachronistic Alpha Male that is the required H specimen, unless of course they need the H to continue to finance their high profile, designer infused lifestyle- OW wanting to marry for money is perfectly acceptable.
4. The other canon of HPlandia is that any marriage made for business merger reasons is ALWAYS going to wind up with the H madly in love and totally devoted to the other half of that business merger, no matter how un-manicured, badly dressed or ordinary looking such a girl may be.
These are the rules and while I did not make them, I certainly acknowledge them in my journeys around this particular domain - (I don't count the more recent HP's in this list, I just mourn the day I answered a HQN survery asking which series Fifty Shades reminded me most of - to my everlasting remorse I commented that both FSOG and Twilight reminded me of very badly written HP's and what do you know, they actually took my word for it, and we got the FSOG fog intruding all over the place, up to and including some rather dubious bed scenes. Not that a lot of these H's weren't halfway there to begin with but still..,)
Soap box aside, AC manages to take this h, who indeed did start out a virgin and make her the epitome of the evil HPlandia OW. She is glamorously beautiful- just check out the description of the dress she wears to an evening cocktail party. She is sexually savvy, she has been the H's mistress in a no-strings relationship for over three years. She is very, very sophisticated - she is a high fashion model and makes a great living and she holds her own in the New York sophisticate set. She is the epitome of all that is rejected for an h in this world and she is also madly in love with the H.
Madly in love but not stupid with it. She wants more from him, but given that she agreed to be a booty call, she can't seem to move herself away from that point. Until that is, the H announces that he is considering marriage to an 18 year old plain looking, badly dressed innocent to merge his company with her father's. He fully expects this to work out to his satisfaction. He will marry for business, getting a pure devoted wife and mother for potential heirs and still keep his fascinating mistress on the side.
He explains this to the h, thinking she will complacently go along with his idea and then gets the shock of his smug, self-satisfied ego driven life. She is not having ANY of it, in fact, she changes the locks on her apartment, goes home from the party with another man, and decides to help the innocent potential wife get some dress sense and some confidence with a complete makeover. She also decimates most of her porcelain knicknack collection throwing it at him, shatters her glass balcony doors in a fury while telling him off and firmly kicks him out of her life.
He reluctantly takes his leave, thinking to come back at a later date and then breaks her apartment door down when she reiterates her refusal to continue to see him and he finally accepts that she really, really is DONE. Drama wreckiness violence aside, it is a very satisfying HP moment to see an jerky H finally get a decent conge'.
The h, knowing now the H will not give up, decides to leave town to see her aging dad. Along the way she swerves to avoid hitting a puppy and gets into a very serious car wreck. She is permanently scarred by glass cutting her face and instead of mourning her lost career, is delighted that she has a scar to make her more of a pirate with experience and the opportunity to reassess her goals in all areas of her life.
But her new start is torpedoed when the H shows up at her dad's house. What follows the is biggest H reversal in HPlandia. All of the sudden the H is talking, sharing his life experience and being really, really nice. He confesses he is in total and complete love with her, wants more in his life too and proposes marriage. One drunken h scene later and with some serious life confessions on the H's part (including one that he has been faithful to her for over two years), the h happily agrees to marry him and they return to NYC for a new life together based on shared experiences, maturity and love.
The h is very happy with the H, they all forget she is facially scarred and the 18 year old innocent is happily engaged to young man her own age. All in all a really satisfying ending for everyone and probably the only book in HPLandia where the h really should be the OW, dismissed to the ether in favor of a young moldable innocent, but instead gets the man and a very happy, fulfilled life to boot.
The whole story is twist that very few HP writers could actually pull off and this book firmly establishes AC/Thea Harrision as one of the HPlandia greats.
Cynical sayings aside, RP really is an outstanding, ground breaking book in the HP line - it deserves a read no matter your tastes and though it is a bit dated in terms of social issues, AC does something amazing with this one.
We all know the rules in HPLandia by now:
1. The h is ALWAYS responsible for the bad behavior of the H, no matter that she was thousands of miles away and knitting socks for homeless children in a knitting group of nuns, as one Lynne Graham H put it "If certain standards of behavior are not set, how will I have any goals to live up to."
2. The h is ALWAYS an innocent, she may not be a virgin (rape and widowhood are acceptable) but she should not be glamorously beautiful, sophisticated or in any way savvy and skillful in the bedroom, that is strictly the province of the OW in HPlandia - and as we know OW are ALWAYS the exact opposite of the h.
Which leads us up to:
3. Sophisticated, sexually savvy OW can NEVER be the h in HPLandia, they have too much skill and knowledge to be tying themselves to such an anachronistic Alpha Male that is the required H specimen, unless of course they need the H to continue to finance their high profile, designer infused lifestyle- OW wanting to marry for money is perfectly acceptable.
4. The other canon of HPlandia is that any marriage made for business merger reasons is ALWAYS going to wind up with the H madly in love and totally devoted to the other half of that business merger, no matter how un-manicured, badly dressed or ordinary looking such a girl may be.
These are the rules and while I did not make them, I certainly acknowledge them in my journeys around this particular domain - (I don't count the more recent HP's in this list, I just mourn the day I answered a HQN survery asking which series Fifty Shades reminded me most of - to my everlasting remorse I commented that both FSOG and Twilight reminded me of very badly written HP's and what do you know, they actually took my word for it, and we got the FSOG fog intruding all over the place, up to and including some rather dubious bed scenes. Not that a lot of these H's weren't halfway there to begin with but still..,)
Soap box aside, AC manages to take this h, who indeed did start out a virgin and make her the epitome of the evil HPlandia OW. She is glamorously beautiful- just check out the description of the dress she wears to an evening cocktail party. She is sexually savvy, she has been the H's mistress in a no-strings relationship for over three years. She is very, very sophisticated - she is a high fashion model and makes a great living and she holds her own in the New York sophisticate set. She is the epitome of all that is rejected for an h in this world and she is also madly in love with the H.
Madly in love but not stupid with it. She wants more from him, but given that she agreed to be a booty call, she can't seem to move herself away from that point. Until that is, the H announces that he is considering marriage to an 18 year old plain looking, badly dressed innocent to merge his company with her father's. He fully expects this to work out to his satisfaction. He will marry for business, getting a pure devoted wife and mother for potential heirs and still keep his fascinating mistress on the side.
He explains this to the h, thinking she will complacently go along with his idea and then gets the shock of his smug, self-satisfied ego driven life. She is not having ANY of it, in fact, she changes the locks on her apartment, goes home from the party with another man, and decides to help the innocent potential wife get some dress sense and some confidence with a complete makeover. She also decimates most of her porcelain knicknack collection throwing it at him, shatters her glass balcony doors in a fury while telling him off and firmly kicks him out of her life.
He reluctantly takes his leave, thinking to come back at a later date and then breaks her apartment door down when she reiterates her refusal to continue to see him and he finally accepts that she really, really is DONE. Drama wreckiness violence aside, it is a very satisfying HP moment to see an jerky H finally get a decent conge'.
The h, knowing now the H will not give up, decides to leave town to see her aging dad. Along the way she swerves to avoid hitting a puppy and gets into a very serious car wreck. She is permanently scarred by glass cutting her face and instead of mourning her lost career, is delighted that she has a scar to make her more of a pirate with experience and the opportunity to reassess her goals in all areas of her life.
But her new start is torpedoed when the H shows up at her dad's house. What follows the is biggest H reversal in HPlandia. All of the sudden the H is talking, sharing his life experience and being really, really nice. He confesses he is in total and complete love with her, wants more in his life too and proposes marriage. One drunken h scene later and with some serious life confessions on the H's part (including one that he has been faithful to her for over two years), the h happily agrees to marry him and they return to NYC for a new life together based on shared experiences, maturity and love.
The h is very happy with the H, they all forget she is facially scarred and the 18 year old innocent is happily engaged to young man her own age. All in all a really satisfying ending for everyone and probably the only book in HPLandia where the h really should be the OW, dismissed to the ether in favor of a young moldable innocent, but instead gets the man and a very happy, fulfilled life to boot.
The whole story is twist that very few HP writers could actually pull off and this book firmly establishes AC/Thea Harrision as one of the HPlandia greats.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2016
This is 4 star quality OTT old school Harlequin.
Jessica the h is a rarity in HarleyLand; she's a vase throwing, fit pitching red-haired vixen with a temper to match, dahling. If I had a dollar for every time the H or the h said Darling I'd be rich. Okay, maybe a $100, but that's a lot for one book. Oh yeah, she's not a virgin either. It's odd that these old school Harlequins were more progressive and realistic than the ones being written now and in the last decade. Food for thought.
But back to this train wreck. Jessie, a successful model, has been in a long term, passionate affair with Damian, the wonder businessman, who blows hot and cold. He's gone sometimes for weeks or months, and she knows he has other women.
Crisis number one comes early in the book when she finally admits to herself that his plans to marry the mousey daughter of a fellow b-man aren't going to fly with her. She kicks him out, dresses to the nines in a pseudo grecian slave outfit with ankle bracelets, and has her male BF take her to the cocktail party he's escorting Miss Mouse to. In order to avoid the some angsty fallout she stays at the BF's apartment only to come home to an enraged Damian the next day.
Crisis number two comes when she pitches a fit like no other Harley heroine, throws stuff and breaks her glass door. The crux is he doesn't understand why she won't accept the game plan of him marrying another woman. It was at this point I hated the hero. It made me wonder if at the heart of this story and too many other romances is the question, do our heroines need to win the hero after all? The h's may love the rat bastards, but wouldn't they be happier with someone else, or SHOCK, just be by themselves! Jessica is actually one heroine who navel-gazes enough to contemplate this possibility.
Jessica changes the locks on her Fifth Avenue apartment, and the H breaks it down. Along the path of emotional destruction she faces some home truths. One, he has to pay for the door, but more importantly, although she loves the jackass, Jessica hasn't been happy for a long time with Damian, their relationship or her life. She also offers some makeover advice to Miss Mouse that is surprisingly sound.
Crisis number three comes when she decides to visit her Dad in Vermont. Swerving to avoid hitting a puppy, her car rolls and she's scarred. It's reparable, but in the spirit of change she's going to live with it and quit modeling.
Damian shows up and more fits are pitched, items thrown or kicked, she gets plastered on brandy, and is distressed her father doesn't kick the H's butt. Male bonding. Not only is she cranky and snarky, this chick has a temper that won't quit. It's quite refreshing really.
Damian has realized the error of his ways and wants to marry Jessica because he needs her. Not good enough, but they end up having passionate sex, and she realizes that need may be as good as it gets.
After a quick drive-by to look at where her car rolled over and a glance at what's left of her car, they get back to New York. Epiphany as Damian admits some home truths about himself and love that kind of redeem him. There had been no cheating. His absences were his feeble attempt to wean himself from her to no avail.
Yes, it is 4 star quality, but not as much fun as some of the other wackadoodles that I've read under the HP line. Why Because this plot has more than a hint of reality. At one point, Jessica admits she's a little crazy but wouldn't mind being a friend to herself. She was right. She's a little crazy, very emotional, honest, principled and probably a lot of fun. I liked her and my eye rolling at her behavior was kept to a minimum. Her friendship with the kind of pathetic mousey girl is very sweet. Damian the arrogant H is slightly more Harlequin stock H, but he grows.
Jessica the h is a rarity in HarleyLand; she's a vase throwing, fit pitching red-haired vixen with a temper to match, dahling. If I had a dollar for every time the H or the h said Darling I'd be rich. Okay, maybe a $100, but that's a lot for one book. Oh yeah, she's not a virgin either. It's odd that these old school Harlequins were more progressive and realistic than the ones being written now and in the last decade. Food for thought.
But back to this train wreck. Jessie, a successful model, has been in a long term, passionate affair with Damian, the wonder businessman, who blows hot and cold. He's gone sometimes for weeks or months, and she knows he has other women.
Crisis number one comes early in the book when she finally admits to herself that his plans to marry the mousey daughter of a fellow b-man aren't going to fly with her. She kicks him out, dresses to the nines in a pseudo grecian slave outfit with ankle bracelets, and has her male BF take her to the cocktail party he's escorting Miss Mouse to. In order to avoid the some angsty fallout she stays at the BF's apartment only to come home to an enraged Damian the next day.
Crisis number two comes when she pitches a fit like no other Harley heroine, throws stuff and breaks her glass door. The crux is he doesn't understand why she won't accept the game plan of him marrying another woman. It was at this point I hated the hero. It made me wonder if at the heart of this story and too many other romances is the question, do our heroines need to win the hero after all? The h's may love the rat bastards, but wouldn't they be happier with someone else, or SHOCK, just be by themselves! Jessica is actually one heroine who navel-gazes enough to contemplate this possibility.
Jessica changes the locks on her Fifth Avenue apartment, and the H breaks it down. Along the path of emotional destruction she faces some home truths. One, he has to pay for the door, but more importantly, although she loves the jackass, Jessica hasn't been happy for a long time with Damian, their relationship or her life. She also offers some makeover advice to Miss Mouse that is surprisingly sound.
Crisis number three comes when she decides to visit her Dad in Vermont. Swerving to avoid hitting a puppy, her car rolls and she's scarred. It's reparable, but in the spirit of change she's going to live with it and quit modeling.
Damian shows up and more fits are pitched, items thrown or kicked, she gets plastered on brandy, and is distressed her father doesn't kick the H's butt. Male bonding. Not only is she cranky and snarky, this chick has a temper that won't quit. It's quite refreshing really.
Damian has realized the error of his ways and wants to marry Jessica because he needs her. Not good enough, but they end up having passionate sex, and she realizes that need may be as good as it gets.
After a quick drive-by to look at where her car rolled over and a glance at what's left of her car, they get back to New York. Epiphany as Damian admits some home truths about himself and love that kind of redeem him. There had been no cheating. His absences were his feeble attempt to wean himself from her to no avail.
Yes, it is 4 star quality, but not as much fun as some of the other wackadoodles that I've read under the HP line. Why Because this plot has more than a hint of reality. At one point, Jessica admits she's a little crazy but wouldn't mind being a friend to herself. She was right. She's a little crazy, very emotional, honest, principled and probably a lot of fun. I liked her and my eye rolling at her behavior was kept to a minimum. Her friendship with the kind of pathetic mousey girl is very sweet. Damian the arrogant H is slightly more Harlequin stock H, but he grows.
dnf
July 9, 2017The fact that he was NOT faithful to her AND also kept on demanding fidelity from her was off putting.
But the first fact is distasteful and disgusting.
I just could NOT continue with the book after that book.
I ended at 50% where the heroine has irrevocably dumped this piece of irredeemable shit.
====
Still a DNF, however from his declaration of over 2 years of fidelity, what I PERSONALLY interpreted: he didn't even try with any other woman for over two years, but I have a feeling he was always faithful to her BUT he TRIED for the first year to practice the no strings but failed miserably. Just a personal interpretation of what he meant. We have no way to verify.
Also disappointed, she was once again: virgin.
He gets lots. She gets: him!
Me:
But the first fact is distasteful and disgusting.
I just could NOT continue with the book after that book.
I ended at 50% where the heroine has irrevocably dumped this piece of irredeemable shit.
====
Still a DNF, however from his declaration of over 2 years of fidelity, what I PERSONALLY interpreted: he didn't even try with any other woman for over two years, but I have a feeling he was always faithful to her BUT he TRIED for the first year to practice the no strings but failed miserably. Just a personal interpretation of what he meant. We have no way to verify.
Also disappointed, she was once again: virgin.
He gets lots. She gets: him!
Me:
May 14, 2021
Reread 5/13/2021: I still like this one...
Hero and heroine have been together for 3 years in a "no strings attached" relationship, and he's considering marrying, only not her. He's got his sights on the not so attractive daughter of a potential business partner. So, he plans to get married and continue to keep the heroine on the side. He's got no problem telling her all of this as he's self involved d!ck, obnoxious beyond words.
So we've got a d!ck hero, a mistress and a young ingénue .
Where do most HP readers expect this one to go?? We'd expect him to fall for the young ingénue and kick the mistress to the curb....
Oh, but no, our intrepid heroine is done with this hot mess and flips the story. She kicks him to the curb in spectacular fashion, throws one raging temper tantrum to get rid of him, changes the locks on her apartment and goes out of her way to befriend the little miss, helping her become all that she can be. Because as sweet as the little miss may be, she's not right for the d!ck and the heroine wants to make sure the he completely understands this.
When she's completely done with him, she takes her broken heart leaves NYC for her home town, has a horrific car accident, leaving her with a scarred face. She's not remotely upset by this, it makes her feel more real and less physically perfect. He follows, and grovels and shares his childhood backstory (as if this is enough to explain why he's the way he is) and asks her marry him. But she's not trusting him and he has to beg.
Is it enough? Probably not, but this is HP and HEA is guaranteed.
Old review... I went with 3 stars as I’m not sure how to rate this. The heroine comes across as a disillusioned super model, who dumps her lover of 3 years because he plans to marry someone else and keep her on the side. Their breakup is one spectacular temper tantrum on her part and it’s fantastic, after that the book just seems to peter out. I added the extra star on a reread, the temper tantrum alone is worth it 😜
Hero and heroine have been together for 3 years in a "no strings attached" relationship, and he's considering marrying, only not her. He's got his sights on the not so attractive daughter of a potential business partner. So, he plans to get married and continue to keep the heroine on the side. He's got no problem telling her all of this as he's self involved d!ck, obnoxious beyond words.
So we've got a d!ck hero, a mistress and a young ingénue .
Where do most HP readers expect this one to go?? We'd expect him to fall for the young ingénue and kick the mistress to the curb....
Oh, but no, our intrepid heroine is done with this hot mess and flips the story. She kicks him to the curb in spectacular fashion, throws one raging temper tantrum to get rid of him, changes the locks on her apartment and goes out of her way to befriend the little miss, helping her become all that she can be. Because as sweet as the little miss may be, she's not right for the d!ck and the heroine wants to make sure the he completely understands this.
When she's completely done with him, she takes her broken heart leaves NYC for her home town, has a horrific car accident, leaving her with a scarred face. She's not remotely upset by this, it makes her feel more real and less physically perfect. He follows, and grovels and shares his childhood backstory (as if this is enough to explain why he's the way he is) and asks her marry him. But she's not trusting him and he has to beg.
Is it enough? Probably not, but this is HP and HEA is guaranteed.
Old review... I went with 3 stars as I’m not sure how to rate this. The heroine comes across as a disillusioned super model, who dumps her lover of 3 years because he plans to marry someone else and keep her on the side. Their breakup is one spectacular temper tantrum on her part and it’s fantastic, after that the book just seems to peter out. I added the extra star on a reread, the temper tantrum alone is worth it 😜
September 2, 2017
Heroine is a top model and the hero's "mistress." When the hero announces he is going to marry for business purposes, but plans on keeping the heroine around for sex, she loses it. What I mean by "loses it" is throwing things, putting her hand through a glass door, hitting the hero, etc. . . And not all of these things happen in one scene - no our heroine has tantrum after tantrum for the entire story.
The hero also has a temper and he breaks down her door once and physically restrains her many times. These are passionate people who are terrified of loving each other. The hero explains at the end that he only brought up marrying another because he was afraid he was getting too close the heroine.
The story is split into two parts. In New York where they both wear their sophisticated masks and then in Vermont where a near-death experience and a facial scar changes the heroine's attitude. This change in attitude allows the hero to be more candid about his past and his feelings. The heroine still doesn't trust that she could possibly have a happy ending - hence more tantrums - but the hero finally mans up with an "I love you."
It's a satisfying ending of a rather exhausting read. I'm not a big fan of violence to show passion or any other positive spin an author wants to put on it. Violence is violence, period. This heroine was out of control several times and that was frightening to read. Same with the hero when he was breaking her door down. It felt very realistic - I have to give the author kudos for that - but it was unsettling at times.
I did enjoy watching the heroine, as the OW, give the 18 year-old girl a make over in the hopes she would have enough self-esteem to reject the hero's marriage proposal.
The hero also has a temper and he breaks down her door once and physically restrains her many times. These are passionate people who are terrified of loving each other. The hero explains at the end that he only brought up marrying another because he was afraid he was getting too close the heroine.
The story is split into two parts. In New York where they both wear their sophisticated masks and then in Vermont where a near-death experience and a facial scar changes the heroine's attitude. This change in attitude allows the hero to be more candid about his past and his feelings. The heroine still doesn't trust that she could possibly have a happy ending - hence more tantrums - but the hero finally mans up with an "I love you."
It's a satisfying ending of a rather exhausting read. I'm not a big fan of violence to show passion or any other positive spin an author wants to put on it. Violence is violence, period. This heroine was out of control several times and that was frightening to read. Same with the hero when he was breaking her door down. It felt very realistic - I have to give the author kudos for that - but it was unsettling at times.
I did enjoy watching the heroine, as the OW, give the 18 year-old girl a make over in the hopes she would have enough self-esteem to reject the hero's marriage proposal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2017
The first half of the book was much better than the second half. Somehow things just seemed to lose their steam..and become repetitive. Especially, when she agrees to marry him...Same old reservations. If the second half weren't so clunky, I would have rated it a 5 star read..
July 9, 2017
1.5 stars.
Crap!! I had high expectations for this one 😡
The title, the blurb and lots of my goodreads friend love it.
The idea to read a heroine who wanted to get even to the hero who has done her wrong sounds delicious.
I'm so looking forward to read a heroine who will behaved like the heroines in Gypsy or Temptation , even a heroine like the one in Crescendo will be ok for me.
But what did I get? A pathetic woman who doesn't love herself enough, the knowledge that she is gorgeous and have a successful career as a model made me pity her more.
Let's say, 3 stars for her efforts to stay away from him and 1 stars for the reality.
She keep falling apart around the bastard, her feeling is too painful for me to read, sigh.
The guy practically can do all horrible things, she find an excuse to forgive and took him back.
Seriously, this girl need a massive therapy.
😡😣🙄
Crap!! I had high expectations for this one 😡
The title, the blurb and lots of my goodreads friend love it.
The idea to read a heroine who wanted to get even to the hero who has done her wrong sounds delicious.
I'm so looking forward to read a heroine who will behaved like the heroines in Gypsy or Temptation , even a heroine like the one in Crescendo will be ok for me.
But what did I get? A pathetic woman who doesn't love herself enough, the knowledge that she is gorgeous and have a successful career as a model made me pity her more.
Let's say, 3 stars for her efforts to stay away from him and 1 stars for the reality.
She keep falling apart around the bastard, her feeling is too painful for me to read, sigh.
The guy practically can do all horrible things, she find an excuse to forgive and took him back.
Seriously, this girl need a massive therapy.
😡😣🙄
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October 28, 2023
As a book, just fine - the hero and heroine have been having an affair for three years but are knocked out of their complacency when he decides to enter a MOC with a business partner's daughter, while still keeping the supermodel heroine as his mistress. She realises what a rut they've been in and leaves him.
Solid idea, meh on the execution. There's also some question marks around whether he was faithful to her in the first year of their relationship, which was admittedly no strings attached.
Solid idea, meh on the execution. There's also some question marks around whether he was faithful to her in the first year of their relationship, which was admittedly no strings attached.
September 24, 2025
Поредната сладкодумна луда бабка! Божичко, проклетата жена има такова страхотно чувство за ирония, че е разтапящо!
История за бутилки с тапи и за отнеснели рамки. Бутилки със заприщени, експлозивни емоции, които не смеем да си признаем пред себе си, камо ли да изразходваме, докато тапата не изхвърчи и взривът не помете всичко на три километра околовръст.
И рамки, в които слагаме себе си и близките си, а ако те откажат да си седят в рамката, бързо ги завръщаме и пак ги наместваме в нея - как така смеят да я чупят?
Героят пръв счупи рамката - машалла! - а на мацката и трябваше цяла книга да се оправи със собствената си бутилка… Но пък бяха динамит заедно!
————————————
“One can't exist in this world, […], with a simplistic view of life”
“Haven't you realised yet that a "nostrings" relationship just doesn't exist?”
“It was too much pressure on one individual, to be the focus of so much need”
“Love gave one a kind of dignity and purpose, whether it was an altruistic love of mankind or a personal romantic love, and all types of caring had a common bond of both selflessness and selfishness, and a certain amount of joy and pain.”
История за бутилки с тапи и за отнеснели рамки. Бутилки със заприщени, експлозивни емоции, които не смеем да си признаем пред себе си, камо ли да изразходваме, докато тапата не изхвърчи и взривът не помете всичко на три километра околовръст.
И рамки, в които слагаме себе си и близките си, а ако те откажат да си седят в рамката, бързо ги завръщаме и пак ги наместваме в нея - как така смеят да я чупят?
Героят пръв счупи рамката - машалла! - а на мацката и трябваше цяла книга да се оправи със собствената си бутилка… Но пък бяха динамит заедно!
————————————
“One can't exist in this world, […], with a simplistic view of life”
“Haven't you realised yet that a "nostrings" relationship just doesn't exist?”
“It was too much pressure on one individual, to be the focus of so much need”
“Love gave one a kind of dignity and purpose, whether it was an altruistic love of mankind or a personal romantic love, and all types of caring had a common bond of both selflessness and selfishness, and a certain amount of joy and pain.”
July 23, 2013
heroine refuses to be mistress. she ends up getting scarred in a wreck and grows as a person, embraces inner beauty, blah blah... Hero realizes he's loved her all along, scar or not. HEA.
That's all well and good for real life, but not what I want in a romance.
That's all well and good for real life, but not what I want in a romance.
May 13, 2020
Heroine and her backbone was great but I didn't like his more than 2 years fidelity while their relationship was for 3 years.
June 29, 2011
Really really liked the book,this is my first book by this author,definetely not the last will try more books by her
Jessica one strong woman,she is independent,confident,strong,brave,knows exactly what she wants in her life and works hard and achieves it,she is really head strong woman.In the starting few pages i really disliked the way Jessica took Damien's treatment just cause of her fear of losing him but then she remembers her vow that she made to herself never to marry without love,she will never settle for less,she wants all 3 things that are very necessary in a relationship love,fidelity,trust,then she acts accordingly takes decisions and sticks to it,my respect for her went really high after her accident and way she looks at her scar,today where many men/woman go under needle for any reason here she decided not to go under the needle as it makes her feel more human actually liked this line a lot
Damien is a self made man,actually disliked him a lot but as latter we get to know why is he is mistrustful towards woman and his beliefs about love all came from past not so good experiences,he actually had nothing but yet he worked so hard and attained so much success,as i got to know his character my anger started to melt away,had my issues about him controlling everything but then all self-made people are controlling,some try to control their work and some both work and relation
Really liked Jessica-Will's relation and Justin-Jessica's friendship a lot and in the end even Damien-Justin accept each other and are trying out their new friendship
Two things i disliked a lot was the slapping in the fight,i firmly believe "No matter what the provocations physical violence is never the answer" second thing was both Damien's and Jessica's temper,it really irritated me, one minute they are talking next minute tempers flare things are broken words are hurled at each other and it continues......
a scene where Jessica gets drunk that is one funny scene and liked the ending scene where that other model Caroline purposely is rude to Jessica and taunts her about the scar
Overall a good read
Jessica one strong woman,she is independent,confident,strong,brave,knows exactly what she wants in her life and works hard and achieves it,she is really head strong woman.In the starting few pages i really disliked the way Jessica took Damien's treatment just cause of her fear of losing him but then she remembers her vow that she made to herself never to marry without love,she will never settle for less,she wants all 3 things that are very necessary in a relationship love,fidelity,trust,then she acts accordingly takes decisions and sticks to it,my respect for her went really high after her accident and way she looks at her scar,today where many men/woman go under needle for any reason here she decided not to go under the needle as it makes her feel more human actually liked this line a lot
Damien is a self made man,actually disliked him a lot but as latter we get to know why is he is mistrustful towards woman and his beliefs about love all came from past not so good experiences,he actually had nothing but yet he worked so hard and attained so much success,as i got to know his character my anger started to melt away,had my issues about him controlling everything but then all self-made people are controlling,some try to control their work and some both work and relation
Really liked Jessica-Will's relation and Justin-Jessica's friendship a lot and in the end even Damien-Justin accept each other and are trying out their new friendship
Two things i disliked a lot was the slapping in the fight,i firmly believe "No matter what the provocations physical violence is never the answer" second thing was both Damien's and Jessica's temper,it really irritated me, one minute they are talking next minute tempers flare things are broken words are hurled at each other and it continues......
a scene where Jessica gets drunk that is one funny scene and liked the ending scene where that other model Caroline purposely is rude to Jessica and taunts her about the scar
Overall a good read
June 22, 2011
The first part of this book deserves 5 stars! It was very entertaining! The second part took a turn I wasn't expecting and although it had substance I was disappointed in where it ventured. I wished the author would have spent some time on giving the reader a little back story of how the hero and heroine met and developed their relationship in the beginning of their courtship, instead of spending so much time on the hero groveling. Don't get me wrong, I like the hero groveling, but not for half of the book. I still recommend this book since it's better than the average HP.
February 18, 2017
An old alphajerk hero and a seeming walkover heroine. Until the hero Damien pushes her too far and she explodes.
Jessica was already unhappy with her no-strings relationship with Damien when he informed her he was thinking of marrying the 18 year old daughter of a business colleague.
For years she has kept the status quo, afraid to be demanding, afraid to push for what she wants because she knows Damien will walk away.
His announcement that he intended to marry, but expected her to stay on is too painful and she has a meltdown.
From there we see both of them trying to adjust to a new reality. Jessica struggling to push Damien away, Damien determined to keep her.
Both have a lot of soul searching to do and when Jessica is injured in an accident that could have been fatal, it clarifies a lot of things for both of them.
A good angsty read with both characters developing.
Reread once I realised Amanda Carpenter is the same Thea Harrison going to the ARRA 2017 conference. It was still a good read. For some reason I found it more emotional this time.
Jessica was already unhappy with her no-strings relationship with Damien when he informed her he was thinking of marrying the 18 year old daughter of a business colleague.
For years she has kept the status quo, afraid to be demanding, afraid to push for what she wants because she knows Damien will walk away.
His announcement that he intended to marry, but expected her to stay on is too painful and she has a meltdown.
From there we see both of them trying to adjust to a new reality. Jessica struggling to push Damien away, Damien determined to keep her.
Both have a lot of soul searching to do and when Jessica is injured in an accident that could have been fatal, it clarifies a lot of things for both of them.
A good angsty read with both characters developing.
Reread once I realised Amanda Carpenter is the same Thea Harrison going to the ARRA 2017 conference. It was still a good read. For some reason I found it more emotional this time.
April 3, 2014
i absolutely loved the 1st part (before jessica's accident),which was sensational! i adored it! thought it was going 2 be either a 4 or 5 star. however, after her accident, the book seemed 2 drag on n got ridiculous! jessica actually like being scarred bcoz it made her more human !? i guess she needed therapy at dat point!
July 29, 2020
There is nothing attractive about this book, I didn't care about the heroine and didn't feel the love between her and the hero and couldn't care about anything that happened to any of them
January 25, 2021
Boogenhagen, Vintage, and StMargarets did great reviews so just some thoughts.
This book has a lot of emotion in it — it’s a well-named book. The h has been suppressing her emotions and they spew out with a vengeance. And the H deserves all she can throw at him (and she literally and figuratively does throw quite a bit).
This is a story where I guess we should be happy the h is happy. Unfortunately, despite his end-of-book ILY declaration, there was still some residual sadness on reflection in knowing that he had treated her pretty poorly all along.
He’d often disappeared from her life for weeks and months with no explanations. He called the shots and picked up with her at his convenience. She realized this was unacceptable at the story’s start, so even though she loved him, she knew she had to give up false hope and move on. It was too painful to continue.
She’d been a virgin before him (at approx age 24 or 25), and he knew it, but he was still with OW for the first year of their three years together. He called her a simpleton for not realizing he hadn’t been with another women for the last two years. Apparently since it was supposedly a “no strings relationship,” she was supposed to be grateful he was faithful 66% of their time together. One year is a long time to be unfaithful... and he’d never once indicated to her that he had stopped sleeping with OW at all, leaving her insecure and afraid of rocking the boat the last two years.
Furthermore, he was still escorting another (young) woman, Mary, he was openly considering marrying. So even if he wasn’t intimate with Mary, it’s hard to congratulate him on his sense of fidelity. He seemed to think dating and potentially marrying someone else was still okay behavior.
The annoying thing was, he claimed he was damaged from his past history because of a horrible mother. But the h hadn’t done anything bad or unfaithful, only HE did. So why he decided women were the problem when he was behaving like a self-absorbed pig is really weird logic. I didn’t sympathize with his backstory enough to excuse him.
So, just the unusual (for HP) dynamics made this a worthy read.
Her BFF Justin was a good and loyal guy who adored her, and in a just world, he and the h would’ve ended up together. Sadly, we can only hope Justin found another true love in the HP mists.
There were two positives unusual to this book. One, the H got down on his knees in front of her to talk to her. She deserved to see him humble himself, and his speech was a good one. Second, he pointed out that he could afford just about anything she smashed up. :)
The h is really on an emotional roller coaster, but it’s an interesting journey with her. I just wish it left a bit better feeling on completion.
This book has a lot of emotion in it — it’s a well-named book. The h has been suppressing her emotions and they spew out with a vengeance. And the H deserves all she can throw at him (and she literally and figuratively does throw quite a bit).
This is a story where I guess we should be happy the h is happy. Unfortunately, despite his end-of-book ILY declaration, there was still some residual sadness on reflection in knowing that he had treated her pretty poorly all along.
He’d often disappeared from her life for weeks and months with no explanations. He called the shots and picked up with her at his convenience. She realized this was unacceptable at the story’s start, so even though she loved him, she knew she had to give up false hope and move on. It was too painful to continue.
She’d been a virgin before him (at approx age 24 or 25), and he knew it, but he was still with OW for the first year of their three years together. He called her a simpleton for not realizing he hadn’t been with another women for the last two years. Apparently since it was supposedly a “no strings relationship,” she was supposed to be grateful he was faithful 66% of their time together. One year is a long time to be unfaithful... and he’d never once indicated to her that he had stopped sleeping with OW at all, leaving her insecure and afraid of rocking the boat the last two years.
Furthermore, he was still escorting another (young) woman, Mary, he was openly considering marrying. So even if he wasn’t intimate with Mary, it’s hard to congratulate him on his sense of fidelity. He seemed to think dating and potentially marrying someone else was still okay behavior.
The annoying thing was, he claimed he was damaged from his past history because of a horrible mother. But the h hadn’t done anything bad or unfaithful, only HE did. So why he decided women were the problem when he was behaving like a self-absorbed pig is really weird logic. I didn’t sympathize with his backstory enough to excuse him.
So, just the unusual (for HP) dynamics made this a worthy read.
Her BFF Justin was a good and loyal guy who adored her, and in a just world, he and the h would’ve ended up together. Sadly, we can only hope Justin found another true love in the HP mists.
There were two positives unusual to this book. One, the H got down on his knees in front of her to talk to her. She deserved to see him humble himself, and his speech was a good one. Second, he pointed out that he could afford just about anything she smashed up. :)
The h is really on an emotional roller coaster, but it’s an interesting journey with her. I just wish it left a bit better feeling on completion.
October 9, 2022
WOWZERS! you can't beat a good old temper and boy did our h let rip with hers here and rightly so! she'd been totally mugged off by the H for 3 years and the fact he wanted his cake and to eat it to was the last straw for this girl. (he was considering marrying another woman)
Good on her she kicked his scummy ass to the kerb and stuck to her guns when he came chasing/raging after her. He may have realised what he lost after the fact and yeah yeah like all H's he'd had a tough upbringing but that did not excuse his crappy behaviour over the 3 years enough for me.
Before she leaves town she meets up with the potential new wife who is all mousy and offers her beauty tips and a makeover and generally befriends her because shes still a child basically and needs the help.
Then off she takes herself to her dads so that she is away from the H but on the way there she has a horrific car accident that she is lucky to walk away from considering this is the days before crumple zones, airbags and safety glass because she gets an excellent facial scar which makes her seem a bit piratical. I Love a h who can love herself scars and all in fact shes happy because she thinks she won't be judged by her looks anymore and shes kinda sick of modelling anyway.
I did like it when the h got sozzled and suffered the after effects good on her in fact I digested this book over an entire bottle of prosecco to myself, though my discomfort is much milder than our poor h's.
She was much kinder to him than he deserved tbh as she seemed to shoulder half the blame for the relationship falling apart and I just don't see that it read to me as though the h just didn't announce her love for fear of losing the H so he got off lightly I reckon. She agrees to marry him and they head off back to the city. When he sees where she crashed and the wreck of her car he suddenly realises how easily he could have lost her and his love declarations come pouring out. Seems like he was a sampler of the ladies for the first 12 months of the relationship too so he is losing a * from me.
I did enjoy this story though and would like to see her friend Justin get his own HEA as well.
Good on her she kicked his scummy ass to the kerb and stuck to her guns when he came chasing/raging after her. He may have realised what he lost after the fact and yeah yeah like all H's he'd had a tough upbringing but that did not excuse his crappy behaviour over the 3 years enough for me.
Before she leaves town she meets up with the potential new wife who is all mousy and offers her beauty tips and a makeover and generally befriends her because shes still a child basically and needs the help.
Then off she takes herself to her dads so that she is away from the H but on the way there she has a horrific car accident that she is lucky to walk away from considering this is the days before crumple zones, airbags and safety glass because she gets an excellent facial scar which makes her seem a bit piratical. I Love a h who can love herself scars and all in fact shes happy because she thinks she won't be judged by her looks anymore and shes kinda sick of modelling anyway.
I did like it when the h got sozzled and suffered the after effects good on her in fact I digested this book over an entire bottle of prosecco to myself, though my discomfort is much milder than our poor h's.
She was much kinder to him than he deserved tbh as she seemed to shoulder half the blame for the relationship falling apart and I just don't see that it read to me as though the h just didn't announce her love for fear of losing the H so he got off lightly I reckon. She agrees to marry him and they head off back to the city. When he sees where she crashed and the wreck of her car he suddenly realises how easily he could have lost her and his love declarations come pouring out. Seems like he was a sampler of the ladies for the first 12 months of the relationship too so he is losing a * from me.
I did enjoy this story though and would like to see her friend Justin get his own HEA as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2024
I liked it! It was an enjoyable read. I loved the Heroine, she was strong.
February 17, 2022
This starts of with the kind of arch sophistication that wears thin after awhile. But sticking with it ended up being a surprisingly rewarding experience.
Jessica is awesome. Her story arc and character development is so good. When we first meet her, she’s playing off the depth of her hurt feelings as she decides to break it off with Damien, who is contemplating marriage to another, more “suitable” woman. While she has her moments of being emotional and torn, she won’t dishonor herself or anyone’s marriage by continuing an affair with a married man, so she resolutely sets her mind against him. She also, unbelievably, takes the potential wife under her wing. Mary is a plain, sheltered young girl and Jessica is genuinely kind to her and helps her to attain some self-esteem.
Obviously, being HP-land these things aren’t without their problematic moments, like Damien being over the top jealous and freaking breaking down doors to speak to her. And the first thing Jessica does with Mary is put her on a diet, though it’s briskly and not hugely offensively done, and Jessica’s modeling background lends some weight to that. She is sincere in her efforts with Mary, however, and treats her with respect and positivity, even through her own pain.
The book then has a dramatic car accident, followed by Damien coming to find her and realizing he might have lost her. I was so turned off by his temper (she admittedly has one, too—though hers is more enjoyable, and more justified) and callousness early on that I didn’t think his redemption arc would be convincing, but it really was. The hints dropped about his true emotions early on, his opening up to her, their willingness to communicate more, and his finally acknowledging his feelings were extremely satisfying. I still side-eye some of his behavior and his “I haven’t been with anyone else in two years,” (they’ve been together for much longer than that), but I was convinced he’d come around by the end.
It’s to the author’s credit that all the melodrama is well-balanced by depth of feeling—and on top of that, Jessica’s strength of character. We get told plenty that Harlequin heroines are good and moral and wonderful, but I can’t think of any instance where the story proves it so thoroughly in her actions.
Jessica is awesome. Her story arc and character development is so good. When we first meet her, she’s playing off the depth of her hurt feelings as she decides to break it off with Damien, who is contemplating marriage to another, more “suitable” woman. While she has her moments of being emotional and torn, she won’t dishonor herself or anyone’s marriage by continuing an affair with a married man, so she resolutely sets her mind against him. She also, unbelievably, takes the potential wife under her wing. Mary is a plain, sheltered young girl and Jessica is genuinely kind to her and helps her to attain some self-esteem.
Obviously, being HP-land these things aren’t without their problematic moments, like Damien being over the top jealous and freaking breaking down doors to speak to her. And the first thing Jessica does with Mary is put her on a diet, though it’s briskly and not hugely offensively done, and Jessica’s modeling background lends some weight to that. She is sincere in her efforts with Mary, however, and treats her with respect and positivity, even through her own pain.
The book then has a dramatic car accident, followed by Damien coming to find her and realizing he might have lost her. I was so turned off by his temper (she admittedly has one, too—though hers is more enjoyable, and more justified) and callousness early on that I didn’t think his redemption arc would be convincing, but it really was. The hints dropped about his true emotions early on, his opening up to her, their willingness to communicate more, and his finally acknowledging his feelings were extremely satisfying. I still side-eye some of his behavior and his “I haven’t been with anyone else in two years,” (they’ve been together for much longer than that), but I was convinced he’d come around by the end.
It’s to the author’s credit that all the melodrama is well-balanced by depth of feeling—and on top of that, Jessica’s strength of character. We get told plenty that Harlequin heroines are good and moral and wonderful, but I can’t think of any instance where the story proves it so thoroughly in her actions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2017
I read Rage purely because I was curious to see what Thea Harrison was writing back in the 80's under the name Amanda Carpenter.
Rage has some hardcore 80's soap opera stuff happening throughout the story. Glasses are getting shattered dramatically, people are slapping each other's faces all over the place, and the rich protagonists are going around calling each other droll. Now, I love a crazy melodramatic book once in a while but this one did not work for me. Mostly because the story didn't go far enough into the ridiculous for me to enjoy it. There was no rich male stripper with a heart of gold and pet owl (see Lightning That Lingers) or evil twin. Instead, the underlying plot was fairly interesting and believable. It was just the characters' reactions to things that were overblown and that's what made the book annoying. The tone of the plot and character's actions didn't match-up for me. On top of that, the stereotypical snobby rich tone of the dialog was grating on my nerves.
This book was interesting to see how far Thea Harrison has come as a writer. However, if you're thinking about reading this because you're a fan of her recent work, I would recommend you skip it.
Rage has some hardcore 80's soap opera stuff happening throughout the story. Glasses are getting shattered dramatically, people are slapping each other's faces all over the place, and the rich protagonists are going around calling each other droll. Now, I love a crazy melodramatic book once in a while but this one did not work for me. Mostly because the story didn't go far enough into the ridiculous for me to enjoy it. There was no rich male stripper with a heart of gold and pet owl (see Lightning That Lingers) or evil twin. Instead, the underlying plot was fairly interesting and believable. It was just the characters' reactions to things that were overblown and that's what made the book annoying. The tone of the plot and character's actions didn't match-up for me. On top of that, the stereotypical snobby rich tone of the dialog was grating on my nerves.
This book was interesting to see how far Thea Harrison has come as a writer. However, if you're thinking about reading this because you're a fan of her recent work, I would recommend you skip it.
June 17, 2015
As I read this I became pretty sure I've read it before but I didn't remember it well enough to ruin my enjoyment of it this time around. It was a fun romance about lovers who agree to no strings but fall into a committed relationship anyway. Of course the hero denies it to both himself and her and problems ensue. I enjoyed the heroine. She was pretty strong except for her love for him which caused her to roll over for him a bit more than she should have. She was also pretty kind and caring. She tried to help the other girl the hero was thinking about marrying and she genuinely wanted the hero to be happy no matter who he was with. A nice book.
January 16, 2023
Digital reprint of Amanda Carpenter’s Raging Passion—full review on the original.
Though dated (originally published in 1984}, the story still works.
Still like that it’s not a typical HP. The heroine and hero have a no strings relationship. He’s thinking about marrying elsewhere for business connections, and she wants no part of being the OW in this dynamic and dumps him in a raging meltdown.
Raging Passion review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Though dated (originally published in 1984}, the story still works.
Still like that it’s not a typical HP. The heroine and hero have a no strings relationship. He’s thinking about marrying elsewhere for business connections, and she wants no part of being the OW in this dynamic and dumps him in a raging meltdown.
Raging Passion review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
March 2, 2021
I can read these oldies simply for the enjoyment of the authors' writing style and their use of the english language. These books may be dated, the heroines can be more than a tad tstl, the heroes are elegant sardonic enigmatic gorgeous OTT possessive/jealous neanderthals, but (and) the work is well edited.
This particular book is full of "UNPCness" which is typical of older books in this genre. They don't pull their punches (literally), these two
This particular book is full of "UNPCness" which is typical of older books in this genre. They don't pull their punches (literally), these two
August 16, 2022
3.5 overwrought stars. I'm rounding to 4, but on another day I might have given it 3.
Jessica and Damien have been together in a "no strings" relationship for (I think) 3 years -- I feel like the book also said 4 years at one point. This was written in the early-to-mid 80s (I forget exactly the year, but I feel like it was 1984) and it shows. The dialogue and the plot are very overwrought. There is a lot of speechifying that in no way sounds like how human beings speak to each other.
Regarding the stuff I liked, Jessica was mostly pretty great. She's a model, natch (wasn't everyone in the 80s?) although other than one reference to her photographer being irritated at her, she doesn't seem to do much other than hang out at her place and shop, and the man she has been in love with for years indicates he plans to marry someone else and keep her on the side as his mistress. Even though she accepts it calmly at first, it doesn't take long for her to blow the fuck up, complete with airborne breakables. She realizes this isn't tenable and breaks it off with Damien, though he isn't cool with that. One quick warning: thinking she is hysterical, at one point Damien slaps her. The cool part is, she slaps him back and then throws a bunch of fragile objects at his head, which is admittedly OTT, but also, something I generally want from any woman who is slapped by her MMC. Let's be real -- obviously, I'd prefer a No Hitting in general rule, but this isn't that kind of book. 80s dramas loved their slaps.
At some point, there's a party and like any good OW, Jess even manages to be a little catty and jealous , before she turns it on its head and befriends Mary, even going so far as to give her a makeover and (rather terrifying) diet plan (the 80s were nobody's friend when it came to healthy eating). Then Jessica flounces off to take a vacation because Damien keeps coming around and making her throw things at his head.
It really did feel like two different books at this point because Jess goes home to her father and on the way gets into a life-threatening accident. At this point, she's scarred up and that modeling career she was apparently so in-demand for is over. And she is here for it. She's all "Fuck surgery!" and "I hated modeling anyway." There isn't any whining about how her life will change, or how she isn't the "model" of perfection she was before, which was nice. But also, there aren't even any thoughts about what she'll do for a living now or where she will live, but that would have breathed some realism into this story about a model and her millionaire boyfriend and we can't have that. Of course, Damien comes back into the story at this point, a changed man and actually... pretty sweet. He makes constant efforts to control his temper, even when Jessica is losing hers, and just does his best to be there.
This wasn't great. Like I said before, the dialogue was pretty unnatural, and Jess's destruction of valuables got a little childish (use your words, lady!). Also, there was cheating. They've been together at least three years, but when all is said and done, in his final declarations of love, Damien tells her he loves her so much he hasn't been with anyone else in two whole years!. I was kind of okay with it since he was always direct with her about getting some on the side (I'm sorry everyone, but if they're honest about it, I don't consider that cheating -- that's giving the FMC the rules and giving her the choice to stay in the relationship from the outset), but those of you for whom cheating during the romantic relationship is in any way is a deal-breaker, will want to stay away from this one. (It is pretty gross to have unprotected sex with the FMC and do who-knows-what with who-knows-who for the first year of the relationship, so I'm just going to pretend condoms were involved all around. Practice free love, but wear a glove!)
But my enjoyment came from the fact that (at least in the beginning) we were essentially seeing a normal Harley with the manwhore MMC and his mistress, who is usually portrayed as sophisticated and scheming and catty, even while being "more than" the "mousy" heroine physically. Only what's that? In this case, the (yes, in the beginning, she is a little) catty mistress is actually the heroine of the story, but she's not so bad and she's going to befriend the heroine. Boogenhagen's review talks about this in a lot more detail and a lot less ineptly than I am, but you know how in "Once Upon A Time" Regina was the EEEEEEVIL Queen and committed mass genocide, including murdering the season 1 love interest (sorry, I still prefer the Sheriff to Christian Grey), only then in season 4, she has a whole redemption arc and we are supposed to kind of root for her? It felt just a little like that. Similar amount of drama, but less epic.
Not sure how much I'll revisit it, but I am definitely glad I picked it up. It was a lot of (exhausting) fun.
Jessica and Damien have been together in a "no strings" relationship for (I think) 3 years -- I feel like the book also said 4 years at one point. This was written in the early-to-mid 80s (I forget exactly the year, but I feel like it was 1984) and it shows. The dialogue and the plot are very overwrought. There is a lot of speechifying that in no way sounds like how human beings speak to each other.
Regarding the stuff I liked, Jessica was mostly pretty great. She's a model, natch (wasn't everyone in the 80s?) although other than one reference to her photographer being irritated at her, she doesn't seem to do much other than hang out at her place and shop, and the man she has been in love with for years indicates he plans to marry someone else and keep her on the side as his mistress. Even though she accepts it calmly at first, it doesn't take long for her to blow the fuck up, complete with airborne breakables. She realizes this isn't tenable and breaks it off with Damien, though he isn't cool with that. One quick warning: thinking she is hysterical, at one point Damien slaps her. The cool part is, she slaps him back and then throws a bunch of fragile objects at his head, which is admittedly OTT, but also, something I generally want from any woman who is slapped by her MMC. Let's be real -- obviously, I'd prefer a No Hitting in general rule, but this isn't that kind of book. 80s dramas loved their slaps.
At some point, there's a party and like any good OW, Jess even manages to be a little catty and jealous , before she turns it on its head and befriends Mary, even going so far as to give her a makeover and (rather terrifying) diet plan (the 80s were nobody's friend when it came to healthy eating). Then Jessica flounces off to take a vacation because Damien keeps coming around and making her throw things at his head.
It really did feel like two different books at this point because Jess goes home to her father and on the way gets into a life-threatening accident. At this point, she's scarred up and that modeling career she was apparently so in-demand for is over. And she is here for it. She's all "Fuck surgery!" and "I hated modeling anyway." There isn't any whining about how her life will change, or how she isn't the "model" of perfection she was before, which was nice. But also, there aren't even any thoughts about what she'll do for a living now or where she will live, but that would have breathed some realism into this story about a model and her millionaire boyfriend and we can't have that. Of course, Damien comes back into the story at this point, a changed man and actually... pretty sweet. He makes constant efforts to control his temper, even when Jessica is losing hers, and just does his best to be there.
This wasn't great. Like I said before, the dialogue was pretty unnatural, and Jess's destruction of valuables got a little childish (use your words, lady!). Also, there was cheating. They've been together at least three years, but when all is said and done, in his final declarations of love, Damien tells her he loves her so much he hasn't been with anyone else in two whole years!. I was kind of okay with it since he was always direct with her about getting some on the side (I'm sorry everyone, but if they're honest about it, I don't consider that cheating -- that's giving the FMC the rules and giving her the choice to stay in the relationship from the outset), but those of you for whom cheating during the romantic relationship is in any way is a deal-breaker, will want to stay away from this one. (It is pretty gross to have unprotected sex with the FMC and do who-knows-what with who-knows-who for the first year of the relationship, so I'm just going to pretend condoms were involved all around. Practice free love, but wear a glove!)
But my enjoyment came from the fact that (at least in the beginning) we were essentially seeing a normal Harley with the manwhore MMC and his mistress, who is usually portrayed as sophisticated and scheming and catty, even while being "more than" the "mousy" heroine physically. Only what's that? In this case, the (yes, in the beginning, she is a little) catty mistress is actually the heroine of the story, but she's not so bad and she's going to befriend the heroine. Boogenhagen's review talks about this in a lot more detail and a lot less ineptly than I am, but you know how in "Once Upon A Time" Regina was the EEEEEEVIL Queen and committed mass genocide, including murdering the season 1 love interest (sorry, I still prefer the Sheriff to Christian Grey), only then in season 4, she has a whole redemption arc and we are supposed to kind of root for her? It felt just a little like that. Similar amount of drama, but less epic.
Not sure how much I'll revisit it, but I am definitely glad I picked it up. It was a lot of (exhausting) fun.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2023
I wasn't quite sure how to rate this, but it involved me so much that I think it deserves the 4 *'s I gave it. Jessica isn't your "typical" HQP heroine- she has a violent temper, has been in a 3-year affair with Damien who seems to be all show and no go (no depth) and yet isn't afraid to help Damien's prospective fiance to reach her full potential. In a way, Jessica reminded me of many of the "other women" in HQP books, but she reveals depths that those villainesses don't have.
Several others have written great reviews, including Vintage
Original title: Raging Passion
Current title: Rage
Several others have written great reviews, including Vintage
Original title: Raging Passion
Current title: Rage
May 9, 2012
4.5 stars -- this was really well done, I like this author. Often I don't totally love this plotline, where the hero doesn't think the heroine-mistress is marriage material. Good angst in that plot, but I don't like thinking that the hero doesn't respect the heroine enough to marry her, and I don't like waiting forever for him to realize that he loves her. This one really worked for me though because the hero turned around really, really quickly. Not so obviously that the tension was gone, but enough that you suspected he was already in love with her and realized he had made a giant mistake, and he spent a lot of the novel coaxing her back. So anyway, a very good read.
June 8, 2021
To the casual onlooker, Jessica King appeared to have everything: sophistication, a high-paying modeling career, a fabulous penthouse apartment in New York, and Damien Kent. But appearances were deceiving. Jessica had agreed to Damien's no-strings relationship. And for fear of losing him, she'd borne his frequent absences and lack of commitment with the patience of a saint. But when he announced his plan to marry for convenience and keep Jessica for his mistress her pent-up frustration and anger began seething inside of her. And when Jessica finally exploded, Damien didn't know what had hit him.
February 8, 2022
I suppose for a harlequin book that was published 37 years ago, this could be counted as daring? Still I wish that after bringing the hero to his knees she could’ve turned and seen the light and ended up with Justin.
I hated the way she whimpered and moaned and generally was such a limp dish cloth around the stupid callous hero, whose utter bewilderment at her volte-face I do not buy for even a second.
Also why was she so servile towards him? It gave me the creeps. To be with someone for three years and not even be certain if they were exclusive? And writhe and squirm before daring to ask for fidelity in marriage? The hero deserved a round of skilletting and the heroine needed lobotomy.
I hated the way she whimpered and moaned and generally was such a limp dish cloth around the stupid callous hero, whose utter bewilderment at her volte-face I do not buy for even a second.
Also why was she so servile towards him? It gave me the creeps. To be with someone for three years and not even be certain if they were exclusive? And writhe and squirm before daring to ask for fidelity in marriage? The hero deserved a round of skilletting and the heroine needed lobotomy.
December 20, 2018
I really love this story. The h is a bona fide tantrum-throwing OW-type who gets her man, and I love her.
The H is a titweasel who holds her to a no-strings affair and expects her to be okay with him marrying someone else.
Lovely h does not take that lying down and china is thrown, glass doors broken, and locks changed as she forces the H to chase after her.
The H is a titweasel who holds her to a no-strings affair and expects her to be okay with him marrying someone else.
Lovely h does not take that lying down and china is thrown, glass doors broken, and locks changed as she forces the H to chase after her.
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