At First Glance

by Margaret Pargeter

(Harlequin)

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Romance, Romance

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

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

Reviews

[Ivy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

That seems to be this heroine's motto throughout the story since she makes one dumb decision after another and it all creates a ridiculous misunderstanding where the H ends up thinking she's a gold digging, husband stealing skank ! And, what's worse is that she never attempts to explain the truth or dissuade him form his misconceptions about her because of her undying loyalty to her undeserving relatives. I don't even know why the author named this heroine "Gay" because she was one of the most pitiful, morose, martyred heroines I've read about. She seemed to revel in her martyrdom too.

The novel had an exciting start, because the author threw in a huge dose of obsessive insta-lust from the moment the H Luke got all hot and horny when he saw Gay at first glance...
It was sexy actually, because he was driving along and minding his own business when he glimpsed Gay walking on the side of the road. Luke's not the type to pick up hitchhikers but he was so spellbound by what he had seen that he just forgot where he was going and stopped right there:



In his eyes, Gay was:




In fact, he even tells her so himself:

"You're very beautiful," his fingers explored her delicate features.

"You'll have to excuse me—this is the first time I've ever done anything like this, but I never thought to find anything quite so perfect."

Now, in real life this might be kinda scary because this guy has only know her for about half an hour before he tells her this. So, maybe it's a tacky pick up line or he's been bitten by insta-love. Since this is set in HPlandia, I will go with the insta-love option. Or, maybe it's really insta-lust since later on it becomes apparent that it's actually Luke's penis that thinks the heroine is "perfect". His brain, on the other hand, thinks she's the last woman on earth he'll ever want for a wife. And he even told her that at one point when he described the kind of high society female he has in mind for the vaulted position. The irony of the situation is that Gay belongs the very same "high society" circles but he doesn't discover that until it's late in the story. Luke's the self made tycoon whose ancestors were all from the working class so he's got a chip on his shoulder about this and thinks that only a wife with the right social pedigree will enhance his image. He even has a couple of these women in mind ! And, he's so cynical that he's well aware that it won't be a love match:


She considered his marriage with a kind of morbid curiosity.

"Have you anyone in mind?"

"One or two," he watched Gay's face with a kind of brooding intensity,

"I haven't come to any definite decision." As his eyes returned to the road, Gay released a deep breath.

"I suppose you take it for granted that, whoever the fortunate lady is, she'll accept you?"

He smiled cynically. "She might might resist me, but not my money."



There's no indication that he's banging any of these ladies, though, since he's primarily obsessed with getting into the heroine's panties throughout the novel.

The big misunderstanding that got on my nerves was all linked to a stupid role playing act that the heroine's cousin's wife asked her to do. Katrina was the spoilt and lazy wife of the heroine's cousin David. Katrina and David had invited the H to have dinner at their house but they wanted to impress him with their wannabe high society la di da ways. The social climbing Katrina, who was such a taker and a selfish user, asked Gay to pretend to be their maid/housekeeper/chef/nanny for the evening ! I honestly think the heroine should've refused because this was so contrived and the chance for disaster was huge. But, Katrina was a bit of a passive aggressive bully who wheedled her way into getting what she wanted. This is what I wished the heroine should've said to Katrina:




Or better yet, since Katrina was so obviously the epitome of a lazy and selfish user/taker :




The big misunderstanding occurred when the H saw David winking at Gay and later on hugging her. Luke obviously believed that the heroine was a marriage wrecking skank and Gay didn't tell him the truth since it would make David and Katrina look like the foolish social climbers that they are. Things started to go a little downhill from this point because the H's obsession with a woman he saw as a skanky gold digger, seemed to fill him with self loathing. He alternated between chasing her and giving her the cold shoulder after another big misunderstanding where he thought that she was the live-in lover of her stepbrother ! These MC's drove me crazy and that's why I had to pause in the middle of reading this book ( a LONG pause that lasted more than a week ! Lol ) before returning to finish it. They both wanted each other and she even realized she loved him but neither was willing to communicate honestly or make the necessary sacrifices to have a healthy adult relationship:


"Please," she murmured distractedly, as he lowered his mouth to her breasts, "Luke, you'd better stop."

He raised his head, shaking it absently. "Why?" he demanded huskily.

On a half sob, she whispered, "You know why ... I mean nothing to you."

"You drive me mad, while other women leave me cold," he muttered thickly, his eyes glittering down on her, obviously hating her because of this. "You only have to look at me," he groaned, "and I'm on fire. You make me burn—don't you understand?"

This is the H, Luke:




This is the heroine, Gay:



The last third of the novel was a bit of a downer though. I grew a bit disappointed the H when he suddenly seemed willing to marry her only after he found out that her parents were from the upper class and held the important titles of "Sir and Lady Fenton". The author did manage to keep me interested a bit with the H's continuing jealous angst over every male that hovered around the heroine, but the emotional impasse between the MC's went on for too long. In the end, it wasn't even Gay who cleared up the entire big misunderstanding about David, Katrina and the heroine's stepbrother Maurice. If it hadn't been for the heroine's mother, then Luke might have had to wait a long time to find out the truth about the stupid role playing situation that had caused all the trouble between the MC's. And the H himself never cleared up the truth about the OW he'd been planning to propose to. It was the OW herself, Lily Dalmonte, who revealed that the H had dumped her. That's why these MC's irritated me: if it had been up to them, then nothing would've been resolved because they were too proud and/or stupid.

This wasn't Margaret Pargeter's best but it wasn't the worst I've read from her. I think it could've been a lot better if the big misunderstanding hadn't dragged on for such an intolerably long time.

Safety: No sex and no cheating. Both MC's were celibate during their short separation. The H himself said that he'd been unable to want another woman since he'd first seen the heroine. The H had been dating the OW because he'd been planning to propose since she seemed "suitable" but he dumped her after he became obsessed with the heroine. There's a wannabe OM called Nigel who was infatuated with the heroine but she only saw him as a friend and the H soon got rid of him anyway.

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"At First Glance" is the story of Gay and Luke.

A book filled with preconceptions and prejudices, this is just a bundle of misunderstandings. The hero and heroine fight with each other on every turn, make rash judgments only to regret them later, snipe and make accusations, go mad with jealousy- yet cannot let go of each other and legit cry with yearning. If only they could have been honest from the beginning- but then we wouldn't have had this story.

So..

Safe
3/5

[Diya✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful cover, adore it so sad the book's promising start didn't end on same note.
This had best beginnings I have read

[MissKitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was totally annoying. The main characters were a couple of idiots.

The heroine was a truly dim bulb but she’s 19 so it’s forgivable. She spends her time mooning and crying over the Hero. She drives her mom’s car into a river and almost drowns, but her biggest worry is how she will explain it to mummy. Author did a really good job of portraying an angsty teenager, too scared to face her parent, so H has to buy mummy a new car.

The Hero had no excuse, he is 36yrs old. He’s a bully and a world class snob. He is super attracted to the heroine “at first glance” but he won’t even consider her because he thinks she is a maid. As soon as he finds out she is from a socially prominent family, he proposes! And this is also only after the OW has thrown him over. What a jerk! The heroine was clearly second choice.

I didn’t believe his declaration that he loved her “at first glance”! Why couldn’t he have told her when he proposed. Why did he fuel her misery, making her believe that he wants to marry her now because of her social status and that she is still second best to his first choice?

Not recommended.

[Booklover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay read both H/h irritated me,it seemed sometimes that they both deliberately insulted each other and jumped to conclusions which created misunderstandings.

[RomLibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

He would never love someone like her!
They met accidentally--total strangers, but sparks of awareness and antagonism flew between them.

It was later, under very different circumstances, that Gay discovered him to be Luke Ashley, the self-made millionaire. And if their first encounter seemed strangely promising, their second promised nothing!

Gay couldn't chastise herself enough for falling in love with him. For there was no way the wide gap between them could ever be bridged .

[sbf20112011 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story here was ok, but not tons of excitement or action.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The H is a snob and the h is a naive, but good-hearted, flake. He draws many inaccurate conclusions. She flees him constantly. The H was super-intense and had icy-volcano possibility, but there was too much back and forth for it to materialize.

[Myrna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pargeter is famous for her meanest male characters. Self-righteous jerks who are treating the female characters like dirt.

The h is pretending to be a maid to impress her cousin's boss who happens to be the stranger she's met that morning and who's made such an impression on her.

The H is disgusted as he suspects the h is making a play for her married boss - aka cousin.

The H is keeping insulting the h and shoving his aristocratic girlfriend in the h’s face (the H has no idea the h actually comes from an important family herself). He’s blowing hot and cold, until the h runs away to Wales.

There in a faraway secluded cottage I’ve fully expected the H to confess his love and propose, but Pargeter has other plans and the torture continues.

[Bea Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I weirdly enjoyed this one, even though the h & H spend the entire book lying to themselves/each other and languishing under one big misunderstanding after another. I usually loath those kinds of romances - but this one had the kind of H I can't resist - the 'utterly smitten and furious' guy who from the get-go is floored by how much he loves the h and so he fights it every step of the way. I just love watching him flounder, rage and fume against his feelings before finally giving in. I also enjoyed how the h gave him a proper telling off and he offered up a so-so grovel which for M&B is a rare thing indeed.

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I read Margaret pargeter in order to hate on the absolutely awful heros. They are misogynistic, selfish, simply horrible pigs whom no real woman could admire, much less love. But I enjoyed this book. He's clearly as miserable as she is, probably more, but just can't keep himself away. She really gives him a good run for his money and I believed that they would ultimately be happy, despite the 17 year age gap and her total lack of life experience.

[PAINTED BOX]

He would never love someone like her!
They met accidentally--total strangers, but sparks of awareness and antagonism flew between them.

It was later, under very different circumstances, that Gay discovered him to be Luke Ashley, the self-made millionaire. And if their first encounter seemed strangely promising, their second promised nothing!

Gay couldn't chastise herself enough for falling in love with him. For there was no way the wide gap between them could ever be bridged ...