Collision Course

by Jane Donnelly

Everyone in the village was agog with excitement because Luke Hannay, the world-famous journalist and television personality, was coming to open the new club house.

Everyone, that is, but Rosemary Smith -- and she was determined that her path and Luke Hannay's would never cross again . . .

Genres: Harlequin Romance, Enemies To Lovers

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Jane Donnelly began earning her living as a writer as a teenage reporter. When she married the editor of the newspaper she freelanced for women's mags for a while. After she was widowed she and her 5 year old daughter moved to Lancashire. She turned to writing fiction to make a living while still caring for her daughter, she sold her first Mills & Boon romance novel as a hard-up singleparent in 1965. She wrote over 60 romance novels for Mills & Boon until 2000. Now she lives in a roses-round-the door cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon, with four dogs and assorted rescued animals. Besides writing she enjoys travelling, swimming, walking and the company of friends.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revengeful Harlequin heroes may be big, fat, jerks blundering through ill-informed schemes against innocent heroines, but at least they usually have the gumption to go through with their plans to the bitter end. The rare Harlequin heroine who is bent on revenge, on the other hand, usually falters before the knife is firmly entrenched in the back of her victim. Perhaps the writers fear making their heroines too unlikable, while they believe their readers will forgive their oft irredeemable male protagonists? Double standards everywhere, even in the revenge business!

The heroine in Jane Donnelly's Collision Course has been brainwashed since the age of 12 to believe that the hero drove her father to suicide. Hero is an investigative journalist and back in the day, he supposedly used unscrupulous gutter press tactics to unfairly besmirch heroine's father's name. For ten years, heroine has lived with her grandmother's repeated admonitions never to forget: "Rosemary, for remembrance."

So it was a bit of a bust when the heroine finds herself in a position to spy on and bring down the hero but quickly loses any thoughts or plans of revenge in the face of her great, big, luuuuurrrrvvvve for the handsome dude.

Don't get me wrong. This was a highly readable, enjoyable story with, as usual, complex and poignant character development for our protagonists. But it wasn't exactly the edge-of-your-seat reading that you would expect in a revenge story.

Given the nature of the revenge and degree of betrayal and duplicity involved, the protagonists were overall very polite and stoic. A bit of pepper would have livened up this kind of bland revenge dish.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heroine in this one could give the heroine in Charlotte Lamb’s Temptation a run for her money. At least that heroine had a *personal* reason for revenge. (Hero betrayed her after taking her virginity at 17. ) This heroine (appropriately named Rosemary for remembrance) was raised by her warped grandmother to hate the hero.

What did this hero do that was so awful? He was investigating her father as a local newspaper reporter and uncovered fraud. Heroine’s father drove into a wall before the fraud was ever made public. Granny was convinced hero caused her son’s death and that he was innocent. (narrator: He was not innocent.)

Heroine become obsessed with the hero and has followed his career for years. Scrapbooks and all. When he moves to the manor next to the heroine’s tearoom she quietly freaks out. Then she devises a plan to be the hero’s secretary during the off season so she can find his files on father.

How that was going to slake her thirst for revenge was never addressed, but heroine knew on one level that it was a crazy thing to do.

Long story short, H/h fall in love. The tension mounts as heroine regrets her lies and tries to figure out the best way to confess. It blows up in her face, but hero forgives her after a separation.

Even though the heroine lies and schemes, I did believe their romance. Hero was a great guy.

[Megzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a thin line between love and hate... That sums up this book. How do you go from hating someone for over 10 years to loving them? Gradually, that is the answer. The first 2/3 of the book reads like a mystery novel and only in the last 1/3 you start seeing the elements of romance. As a result, the book has more depth than your average romance novel. The characters are VERY well developed. The book is more character driven but it still holds your attention through out the book. The ending is kind of abrupt.. It needed another 5-10 pages IMHO. Quite an enjoyable read.

Thank you Leona for the recommendation. I am going to try to read few more books by her.

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my very favorites by this author. My only regret is that the ending was a bit rushed.

[DamsonDreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The h, Rosie, blames the H, Luke Hannay, a writer and investigative journalist for the death of her father, a solicitor he'd accused of fraud. The girl had lived with her grandmother after the car accident that killed her father and granny poisoned her against Hannay. When he moves into the big house near her cottage tea room, Rosie is so full of (rather weird) hatred she hatches a plan to avenge her dad. This involved her becoming Luke's secretary and snooping in his files. Of course they fall for each other (it's quite restrained, there's no treacherous body syndrome and frankly, he's very well behaved if a bit grumpy once he finds out who she is.) I read it in a few wet bank holiday hours and I do like this writer's style but it slightly missed for me, though it was entertaining enough.

[Myrna · Rating 4 out of 5]

'There had been a chasm between them, a great distance, but there was no need to build bridges when you could walk on air. '

This is a disturbing premise: a teenager was conditioned by her severely delusional grandmother to experience psychosomatic pain whenever she is in the presence of the H. The grandmother blamed the H for the death of her beloved son, turning their house into a shrine and creating a cult dedicated to the deceased, making the h its priestess. She even changed the h's name.
The h is courageous enough to venture into the world after her grandmother’s death, change her name again, and bury the past.
However, when the H moves to her neighborhood, she is forced to confront her past, and her painful conditioning immediately resurfaces.
Driven by revenge, the h decides to accept the H’s job offer specifically so she can spy on him and bring him to ruin.
As she gets to know the H better, her attitude changes. The H is actually nice and takes genuine care of her.

'Of course I want to make love to you. I've hardly led a monastic life, but I've never been in love before. And I love you enough to marry you just to look at you and talk to you, and wait for you to need me, because I shall never want any other woman as long as I live.
I'm not expecting you to marry me tomorrow. I'm just telling you you're my lady and I'll defend to the death every hair on your head.'

I was really impressed when he takes back his words about her father after the Big Fight. No matter how furious, disillusioned and hurt the H is, he still tries to protect her and her illusion about her father.

'I thought at the time I'd fallen in love with somebody who didn't exist, but I still knew I wanted nobody else.'

Then,' he said, 'you walked in and I asked you to stay.'
'You offered me my job back because I'm efficient', she said gaily.
'Of course,' he agreed. 'It wasn't because the house was empty without you, and so was I, and so was my life.'

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling read. The emotional trauma inflicted on the heroine by her own grandmother, is horrendous. She instilled a hatred so strong that Rosie nearly destroyed herself in seeking the justice that was an illusion. If any heroine ever needed to be in therapy, this is the one. Luke doesn't know that ten years ago, a 13 year old Rosie had been told that he was the reason her father was dead and that he'd been labeled a murderer, and Rosie had been brainwashed to hate him. There are moments where Rosie is so obsessed, that the story is almost uncomfortable and thankfully Ms Donnelly found a way to believably allow Rosie to come to her senses. Their coming together after all the twisty bits, is well done. This is a book I'll not forget anytime soon.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t know why I don’t like this more. Characters and situations are more complex than the typical Harlequin and it is well written.

I disliked the h’s willingness to believe everything grandma told her without following up earlier than she did and the spying bothered me. I wouldn’t believe anyone who told me my Dad was crooked but I would have investigated a little to see why they thought it was true.

Several of Jane Donnelly’s romances strike me this way. I admire the writing and the better characterization but the stories don’t resonate and I don’t have an emotional connection to the characters.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, with depth to the setting and characters, and I definitely enjoyed this! I loved the heroine, even though I was anxious for her - she's not a typical heroine and her revenge strategy was so uncomfortable. I liked the hero more and more as the book goes on. Also, all the additional characters were interesting and did not provide any extra angst - which is a good thing when the heroine is bordering on a breakdown for most of the book.
As other reviewers say, I wish the HEA had been longer, but that's because I was so pleased they were able to overcome the confrontation that took place about 75% in of the book. Wonderful.

[Ann Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He looked at her as though the sight of her pleased him but not as though she disturbed his senses, and she never thought for a moment that she did".

Such beautiful writing!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of Jane Donnelly's unforgettable characters. Hero reminded me of a more cerebral Peter Jennings (deceased newscaster) and the heroine is out to avenge the death of her father -- only that H is not guilty at all. So many scenes that I haven't seen copied in other books. You can see how tender this cynical and world-weary hero becomes in the company of the heroine. Tiny details richly illustrate the turmoil of the characters like when he was proposing and she overfilled her cup and saucer with tea. One of my favs from this author.

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