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Game of Love
His game, her rules
Tasha couldn't refuse to help--not when_ her favorite cousin's happiness was at stake! But pretending to be someone she wasn't was risky business.... Especially when it involved trying to fool Luke Templecombe.
And Luke was fooled. In fact, he found Tasha's act so convincing he expected to become her lover. What he couldn't believe was that she turned him down.
Tasha wasn't interested in just an affair. With Luke, she wanted more. But was this too much to ask of a man who only played games of love?
Tasha couldn't refuse to help--not when_ her favorite cousin's happiness was at stake! But pretending to be someone she wasn't was risky business.... Especially when it involved trying to fool Luke Templecombe.
And Luke was fooled. In fact, he found Tasha's act so convincing he expected to become her lover. What he couldn't believe was that she turned him down.
Tasha wasn't interested in just an affair. With Luke, she wanted more. But was this too much to ask of a man who only played games of love?
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1992
12 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,125 books666 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 18, 2017
Re Game of Love - PJ is back with the classic h is mistaken for a tart thanks to the lies of a relative trope. While the H, no choirboy himself in the lady buffet department, alternately pursues and despises the h for being such a tempting, tormenting tease.
This one opens with the less than pristine cousin of the h begging the h to lie and say it was the h who was coming out of a dubious male's house early one morning. The h's cousin was spotted by her fiance's cousin after she had spent the night there and the cousin is afraid that if her fiance finds out she spent all night at another guy's house, the wedding will be off and she will be up the duff without a get out clause. (PJ tries to tell us it is cause the cousin is majorly in love, but really she was just a manipulative tart who wanted her cake and to eat it to.)
The h doesn't agree to any deceptions, but the cousin just barges ahead anyways and takes all the h's clothes so she is forced to wear the cousin's extremely tarty dress to the pre-wedding dinner. The tart cousin wants the h in the dress that she was caught coming out of the OM's house in, that way she can claim it was the h who was there all night. The h's cousin's plan works and the H is convinced it was the h coming out of the dubious guy's house and that the h is available to anyone who wants to sample the niblets.
The h is a certified unicorn groomer, but her passionate response to the H's roofie kisses makes him believe otherwise. He pursues the h on one hand and the berates her on the other. Apparently this H had been abandoned as a child by his mother for her lover after she had an affair, drove his father to suicide and then left the H for pastures new. Therefore the H really hates all the ladies, tho he isn't averse to multiple samples of the lady buffet.
The h sells ecclesiastical fabrics through her father's textile business and she frequently travels to Europe to do research and commission fabric for customers. PJ tells us that the h's fabrics are similar to the old textiles that were in used in earlier periods of history, so if you are redoing an ancient manor house, ecclesiastical tapestries and brocades are your best bet for getting something with some historical accuracy.
The h and H are thrown together by a commission on a house that belongs to the H's friend. The H does art and the h does fabrics and the owner of the house is actually courting the h's aunt who does gardens. The H assumes that it is the h the house owner is courting and yet this doesn't stop him from trying to seduce her and berate her for being a tart at the same time because she reacts to his kisses and he thinks she is doing her own multiple manly buffet sampling herself.
There is a lot of tart shaming and back and forth and the h has inner angst cause she is in love with the H and he only physically wants her but doesn't even like her. Tho the h has the usual PJ inner angst, she does deliver a very good verbal smack down when the H goes too far in the tart shaming territory and the h points out that there is nothing wrong with being physical with someone you care about, but that you do need to actually care about them. (PJ strikes a blow against tart shaming there and makes the H a bit sorry too.)
Finally the H goes nuts with jealously when he thinks the h is marrying the house owner and there are punishing kisses and the H yelling at the h. Until the h's aunt shows up and points out that she is marrying the house owner, not the h. The h is humiliated and hurt and runs off to the garden, where the H eventually tracks her down and admits that he has been unfairly punishing women for his mother's actions and that he is madly in love with the h and would she please give him a chance. The h is happy the H has finally gotten his head out of his posterior and gladly avows true love back for the big HEA.
This one is classic PJ and while not the most exciting or the most wrecki thing she has written, it is a pretty standard PJ HPlandia outing and worth the read if PJ is your cuppa. I liked the h, she was a bit stronger and more assertive than the usual PJ h. The H was okay and it was easy to see that his jealousy was just messing his brain up over the h, so I found the HEA pretty believable by the end.
This one opens with the less than pristine cousin of the h begging the h to lie and say it was the h who was coming out of a dubious male's house early one morning. The h's cousin was spotted by her fiance's cousin after she had spent the night there and the cousin is afraid that if her fiance finds out she spent all night at another guy's house, the wedding will be off and she will be up the duff without a get out clause. (PJ tries to tell us it is cause the cousin is majorly in love, but really she was just a manipulative tart who wanted her cake and to eat it to.)
The h doesn't agree to any deceptions, but the cousin just barges ahead anyways and takes all the h's clothes so she is forced to wear the cousin's extremely tarty dress to the pre-wedding dinner. The tart cousin wants the h in the dress that she was caught coming out of the OM's house in, that way she can claim it was the h who was there all night. The h's cousin's plan works and the H is convinced it was the h coming out of the dubious guy's house and that the h is available to anyone who wants to sample the niblets.
The h is a certified unicorn groomer, but her passionate response to the H's roofie kisses makes him believe otherwise. He pursues the h on one hand and the berates her on the other. Apparently this H had been abandoned as a child by his mother for her lover after she had an affair, drove his father to suicide and then left the H for pastures new. Therefore the H really hates all the ladies, tho he isn't averse to multiple samples of the lady buffet.
The h sells ecclesiastical fabrics through her father's textile business and she frequently travels to Europe to do research and commission fabric for customers. PJ tells us that the h's fabrics are similar to the old textiles that were in used in earlier periods of history, so if you are redoing an ancient manor house, ecclesiastical tapestries and brocades are your best bet for getting something with some historical accuracy.
The h and H are thrown together by a commission on a house that belongs to the H's friend. The H does art and the h does fabrics and the owner of the house is actually courting the h's aunt who does gardens. The H assumes that it is the h the house owner is courting and yet this doesn't stop him from trying to seduce her and berate her for being a tart at the same time because she reacts to his kisses and he thinks she is doing her own multiple manly buffet sampling herself.
There is a lot of tart shaming and back and forth and the h has inner angst cause she is in love with the H and he only physically wants her but doesn't even like her. Tho the h has the usual PJ inner angst, she does deliver a very good verbal smack down when the H goes too far in the tart shaming territory and the h points out that there is nothing wrong with being physical with someone you care about, but that you do need to actually care about them. (PJ strikes a blow against tart shaming there and makes the H a bit sorry too.)
Finally the H goes nuts with jealously when he thinks the h is marrying the house owner and there are punishing kisses and the H yelling at the h. Until the h's aunt shows up and points out that she is marrying the house owner, not the h. The h is humiliated and hurt and runs off to the garden, where the H eventually tracks her down and admits that he has been unfairly punishing women for his mother's actions and that he is madly in love with the h and would she please give him a chance. The h is happy the H has finally gotten his head out of his posterior and gladly avows true love back for the big HEA.
This one is classic PJ and while not the most exciting or the most wrecki thing she has written, it is a pretty standard PJ HPlandia outing and worth the read if PJ is your cuppa. I liked the h, she was a bit stronger and more assertive than the usual PJ h. The H was okay and it was easy to see that his jealousy was just messing his brain up over the h, so I found the HEA pretty believable by the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2019
I read this and got to the end with the feeling of bewilderment that the heroine was really in love with the hero. They barely spent time getting to know each other in a friendly way. They were hostile towards each other during most of their interactions. They rarely interacted. In fact the heroine's aunt found a hea quicker than the heroine.
The heroine spent more time naval gazing about her feelings for the hero than with the hero. And more time was spent describing the castle, the heroine's job and the heroine traveling than on developing the heroine and hero's relationship.
I've read better Penny Jordan older romances. This one is a fail.
The heroine spent more time naval gazing about her feelings for the hero than with the hero. And more time was spent describing the castle, the heroine's job and the heroine traveling than on developing the heroine and hero's relationship.
I've read better Penny Jordan older romances. This one is a fail.
September 5, 2012
It was an alright book but not something I personally would ever read again. I found the hero to be annoying, pathetic and unintelligent. I like my heroes with a lot more character. The ending was pretty stupid as well.
April 20, 2014
It's back to the 1990s with this classic Jordan romance, where the heroine, Natasha, has got to be the most old-fashioned 27 year old in history. She doesn't drink, doesn't go out with boys and doesn't do anything really except mess about with ecclesiastical fabrics (whatever they are, I'm not entirely convinced you could make a living out of them...) She meets Luke, an artist, who is completely arrogant and utterly unpleasant. Also on the original cover of the novel which I own, he's sporting a mullet. (Wisely, HM&B have updated this to a woman cavorting in her negligee for the Kindle edition). It's an era where men were men, got pissed even though they're supposed to be driving and women were oppressed and wore sleeveless polo neck shirts for the only date they go on with the hero before deciding they're in love with them and want to marry them.
This has got to be one of the more ridiculous of Jordan's novels and as a result it's a classic of nostalgia, although the premise is extremely unlikely. Natasha and Luke hardly spend any time together at all (again, wisely on Natasha's part, because I've got to say he comes across as a bit of a knob). This is even something that Natasha acknowledges when she agrees to marry him, telling herself that "he's always going to have an arrogant streak" and she won't be able to change him entirely. By the time page 132 rolls around and Natasha realises (with a shudder of ice down her spine) and she acknowledges she is in love with him, I could only think that they'd actually spent about 20 minutes in each other's company; and most of that was spent arguing. The rest of the time, Natasha is away from him, just daydreaming about him, in between dusting off her ecclesiastical curtains.
There's lots of familiar Jordan tropes in this one - most of the action takes place in gardens (a familiar feminine space for the heroines to have their moments) and it takes a wiser, older aunt to interfere in Luke and Natasha's relationship and ultimately bring them together (although even she says she wouldn't like to see Natasha get involved with him).
Utter crap - so crap, in fact, it's actually quite good. I spent a good ten minutes laughing at the cover illustration alone (that's from the original HM&B version - not the Kindle edition with the woman writhing in her nightie). I loved the one and only date they manage to go on - to a riverside restaurant specialising in fresh water fish. During the trout mousse, Natasha keeps telling herself it's not a date and she doesn't care that Luke has spent most of the time drinking a bottle of wine to himself whilst staring at the woman behind her. Why does she fall in love with him? Why? I could only think that some of the dust mites from those ecclesiastical fabrics have got into her brain. Not to be missed for the endless comedy value in this one.
This has got to be one of the more ridiculous of Jordan's novels and as a result it's a classic of nostalgia, although the premise is extremely unlikely. Natasha and Luke hardly spend any time together at all (again, wisely on Natasha's part, because I've got to say he comes across as a bit of a knob). This is even something that Natasha acknowledges when she agrees to marry him, telling herself that "he's always going to have an arrogant streak" and she won't be able to change him entirely. By the time page 132 rolls around and Natasha realises (with a shudder of ice down her spine) and she acknowledges she is in love with him, I could only think that they'd actually spent about 20 minutes in each other's company; and most of that was spent arguing. The rest of the time, Natasha is away from him, just daydreaming about him, in between dusting off her ecclesiastical curtains.
There's lots of familiar Jordan tropes in this one - most of the action takes place in gardens (a familiar feminine space for the heroines to have their moments) and it takes a wiser, older aunt to interfere in Luke and Natasha's relationship and ultimately bring them together (although even she says she wouldn't like to see Natasha get involved with him).
Utter crap - so crap, in fact, it's actually quite good. I spent a good ten minutes laughing at the cover illustration alone (that's from the original HM&B version - not the Kindle edition with the woman writhing in her nightie). I loved the one and only date they manage to go on - to a riverside restaurant specialising in fresh water fish. During the trout mousse, Natasha keeps telling herself it's not a date and she doesn't care that Luke has spent most of the time drinking a bottle of wine to himself whilst staring at the woman behind her. Why does she fall in love with him? Why? I could only think that some of the dust mites from those ecclesiastical fabrics have got into her brain. Not to be missed for the endless comedy value in this one.
October 25, 2021
His game, her rules
Tasha couldn't refuse to help--not when_ her favorite cousin's happiness was at stake! But pretending to be someone she wasn't was risky business.... Especially when it involved trying to fool Luke Templecombe.
And Luke was fooled. In fact, he found Tasha's act so convincing he expected to become her lover. What he couldn't believe was that she turned him down.
Tasha wasn't interested in just an affair. With Luke, she wanted more. But was this too much to ask of a man who only played games of love? (less)
Tasha couldn't refuse to help--not when_ her favorite cousin's happiness was at stake! But pretending to be someone she wasn't was risky business.... Especially when it involved trying to fool Luke Templecombe.
And Luke was fooled. In fact, he found Tasha's act so convincing he expected to become her lover. What he couldn't believe was that she turned him down.
Tasha wasn't interested in just an affair. With Luke, she wanted more. But was this too much to ask of a man who only played games of love? (less)
March 27, 2019
3.5 stars
October 13, 2023
1.5 stars
Honestly, goodness gracious, this one was horrible. I can’t believe PJ wrote this. Sounds more like Sara Craven wrote this...because seriously what’s up with the heroine? Like what is she? A masochism? This woman literally lives rent free in her head, making up fantasies & such painful scenarios around the clock regarding the hero. Okay, queen of monologues. Also, the hero was barely even in the picture. He was missing in action for too long. Well, besides the fact that he was randomly running through her head 24/7…
This heroine is so dramatic. She’s comical without the intention to be. She can truly hold deep conversations by herself. She went on & on about him. How it will hurt to have an affair with such a man. This is a hard pass. Other reviewers did not lie. Do not recommend.
Honestly, goodness gracious, this one was horrible. I can’t believe PJ wrote this. Sounds more like Sara Craven wrote this...because seriously what’s up with the heroine? Like what is she? A masochism? This woman literally lives rent free in her head, making up fantasies & such painful scenarios around the clock regarding the hero. Okay, queen of monologues. Also, the hero was barely even in the picture. He was missing in action for too long. Well, besides the fact that he was randomly running through her head 24/7…
This heroine is so dramatic. She’s comical without the intention to be. She can truly hold deep conversations by herself. She went on & on about him. How it will hurt to have an affair with such a man. This is a hard pass. Other reviewers did not lie. Do not recommend.
July 20, 2021
Newly-engaged Emma is seen by her fiance's cousin Luke leaving her former boyfriend's house early in the morning. She begs her cousin Natasha to pretend it was her.
Luke and Natasha start off on the wrong foot.
Slightly disappointed. The characters spend most of the novel apart and then suddenly it's a marriage proposal.
Luke and Natasha start off on the wrong foot.
Slightly disappointed. The characters spend most of the novel apart and then suddenly it's a marriage proposal.
Read
October 27, 2023Okay picture this, would this limp story be considered 'romance' if the 'hero' was ugly and fat and smelly? NOOOOOO. This is awful, how many times did the heroine escape his gross grasp? 5?! Skip! Not even fun bad.
July 6, 2022
Ok story but repetitive
June 28, 2014
Not to be too critical about this book I will say that I read it, the female character is thinking too much thus lack of 'action'...
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews