Infatuation

by Charlotte Lamb

She couldn't steal another woman's man.

Judith wasn't the type to lose her head over a man, especially not a man who was engaged to an old friend.

But Luke Doulton was irresistble. He was a financial genius who wasn't afraid to work with an equally talented woman like Judith. Judith couldn't help falling in love with him any more than she could change the circumstances that denied her a chance at love.

Luke wasn't free. He was going to marry Baba. Judith forced herself to remember those two things every time Luke came near her.

Genres: Harlequin Presents, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Romance, Contemporary, Hqn

189 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy

Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good oldy but goodie. There are some elements here that are missing from the newer Harlequin Presents. For one, the heroine is not a lower status, lower education woman like a lot of the newer romance feature. Also, she is not drop dead gorgeous and model beautiful. And the hero is not Italian, Greek, Latin, or Middle Eastern. He's actually half American and half English. Although Judith does go to work for Lucas, she is a very valued employee with a keen knowledge of finance and the ability to run an empire for him. I really appreciated that. Lucas looks through her at first, but over the course of the book, falls in love with her mind, her humor, her capability, and her spirit. In essence, he sees the woman inside of her and he falls for her. Lucas is engaged to Judith's friend Baba (short for Barbara) who is initially presented as a sweet girl who would never hurt a fly. Time reveals that she is somewhat self-absorbed and manipulative, but she's not the evil other woman like we commonly see in this series of books. I liked this book, and appreciated Judith for her strengths and her integrity. She falls in love with Lucas, but her loyalty to her friend, even though she comes to see that Baba is not worthy of Lucas, is unassailable. I admired Lucas because he does have the good sense to see what a treasure Judith is (even if she isn't the usual sort of woman to get his attention), and I liked that things worked out without any back-stabbing or sneaking around occurring. Ah, I miss the old Harlequin Presents.

[Naksed · Rating 2 out of 5]

CL does the office romance very well and I had no problem gobbling up this book but in the end, the heroine was so down on herself and fixated on her lack of supermodel looks that it destroyed all the goodwill she had generated through her smart, spunky career woman persona. The hero was sufficiently arrogant and Alpha with a healthy dose of sensitivity and grovel but in the end, he was too passive for my taste. For all the Great, Big, Lurve they professed for each other, neither of them would have had the guts to go for it if it was not for the OW breaking off her engagement to the hero. I really didn't like that their getting together hinged on a third party being assertive while they sat around passively, wallowing in their misery. This story had great potential but it petered out quite wimpily in its conclusion.

[boogenhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re Infatuation - the h in this is probably one of CL's most insecure h's ever. She is very derogatory about her looks, but she has a brilliant financial mind. The H in this one is a typical CL Alpha H but he is probably one of her most vocal about being in love with the h. The story goes that h meets H when her bank is trying to take over one of his companies (he calls her office furniture), since the H is a rear kicking commando in the boardroom, it doesn't happen but when he next meets the h, he gives her boss earry faces and completely disregards the h. He is with a hot redhead of course. h winds up meeting H again when her best friend's sister introduces H as her fiance and of course the lil sis is actress type gorgeous. H eventually gets the h to work as his PA and then proceeds to fall in lurve with her brilliant financial mind.

The h fends him off, even tho she is lovin' him back cause she is a lady with integrity and she wouldn't poach bf's lil' sis's man. The lil sis is living it up in Hollywood, trying to get a staring movie role while the h is fending off the passionate advances of H and running his company for him. Eventually sweet lil sis comes back and we find out that she isn't so sweet. She wants h to break off her engagement with the H but h FINALLY gets a backbone and tells her to do her own dirty work.

H shows up a bit later and passionate HEA ensues.

This is definitely one of the more conservative HP's in the CL canon. The h is very insecure about her looks and that is the biggest drawback of the book, how she keeps putting herself down for her lack of snazz - it is almost but not quite overboard and I sorta did not get it when it was obvious the H was wildly, wildly attracted to her. He does steal a few kisses but he is a far cry from CL's usual snatch and grab H. He frequently confesses his love and how she is beautiful to him and CL does a good job of showing how her brain and her manner totally work for him and that boosts her attraction and his passion for her by a ton. This is truly a romance where the H is all about loving her for her mind.

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Infatuation" is the story of Judith and Luke.

Smart, confident heroine meets the hero in her line of work, and he ignores her. They meet again when she moves cities and he gets engaged to her best friend's very beautiful sister. She dislikes him, he offers her a job instead. Soon sparks fly and we see the hero falling for the "not so beautiful" (his words) heroine. But she has principles, and pushes him away. The drama is provided by the super selfish fiancé, to some extent by OM but their mother/ grandmother are sweet.

Things spontaneously resolve due to a decision made by the fiancé- and NOT the hero/ heroine- and book ends in a HEA.

A lot of things peeved me but it wasnt a bad book.

SWE
3/5

[Verity · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was utterly bored by the first 145 pages. I couldn't see why H/h fell in luv. If I were engaged to a superficial Marilyn Monroe wanna-be with a sheep-like nickname Baba, I would drop her like a hawt potato too. No offense to chicks out there with the same pet name, of course. This snoozeville needed more H/h interactions and a higher dose of dwama. Wot is the point of reading CL if there is no intense conflict ? Her office affair books are too lame for my taste.

[Aou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course OW should have broken the engagement, otherwise our h would have been an OW! lol

[Yesmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant surprise this book was ^_^ ^_^

The plot is something that interested me from the get-go: FMC doesn't like MMC. She believes he's morally skewed. He thinks she's judgmental and uptight.

The only common thing between them is their brains and their love for banking and investment. So they work brilliantly together if they manage to not fight over personal stuff.
Oh, another thing they have in common: MMC is the fiancé of the FMC's friend.
And the catch: MCs who started off on an animosity note seem to be falling for each others.

Checking the box of: A romance written before 1990 in my 2025 Bingo Challenge.

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[Grace*dnfing books since 2022* · Rating 1 out of 5]

On the surface of this book, Charlotte Lamb seemed to have done something different from the run of the mill Harlequins of the day, and yet I think she failed utterly with this one. I gave it a good second go on account of Leona's review and recommendation, but on a second read, I still disliked the heroine too much.

The only good thing in this book was the hero. He was well-established, well-worked out, and his multiple confession scenes were really very delicious and "awww"-inspiring.

Yet they did nothing for me because I honest to goodness hated the heroine so much. Several of the reviews on here claimed that she had low self-esteem, which very well may be, but she was essentially just a malicious chick at her core. What Luke claimed was a kinship based on her little downward smiles to herself when she heard funny things were just her laughing at other people in plain sight but trying to still seem demure. She was angry and resentful, and alright, I get that she got unfavorably compared to her friends when she was young, but she was such a high-powered career woman that I honestly could not understand why she still had a hangup about it years later.

The characterization in this book was really very shoddily done by Charlotte Lamb, but maybe it was because she was still having a hard time transitioning from her helpless beautiful blond sprites or cool and together beautiful blond sprites. I found myself frowning several times at the inconsistencies, because the characterization language was all over the place. Luke's mother, who was described as once being a business dynamo with a mind like a steel trap was essentially a dotty old woman who befriends anyone. She claimed at one point that Judith was trustworthy because she had honest eyes and spoke her mind but then said that Luke's ex-assistant didn't have straightforward eyes--which, well, there could not have been a more straightforward person than that woman, since she basically propositions Luke in front of his fiancee. Luke also says Judith is straightforward and that they think alike, then in the next chapter claims he never knows what she's thinking. Hmm... someone should have edited this book for something other than grammar.

The biggest issue I found with the book was in the villainization of Baba. I really, really hate it when cheating is made out to be alright just because the person cheated on is a big biatch (or asshole). That is shoddy characterization, and completely without depth. Still, it is a very common device, and so I won't harp on too much on that.

Except the villainization was done exceptionally poorly. Most of the "bad stuff" that later comes out about Baba was done in a "tell, not show" sort of way to the point where I did not trust the heroine at all. Everything in the book is very internally rooted in Judith's POV, and initially she had said, twice, mind you, that Baba was as good as she looked, and therein lay Judith's jealousy of her. Later, we're led to believe that Baba was now a villain because she was choosing her career over marriage (to a possible cheater!) and that she was selfish and unloaded problems on Judith without a care, and always brought the conversation topic back to herself. If this were all true, this should have been presented much earlier in a way that would have been much more relatable to the reader. Instead, at the beginning, all Baba did was tell her bestie (Judith) that she was going off to LA for an interview, and she really wanted to try acting in films, and please not to tell Luke because Baba was afraid that Luke wouldn't be happy about this.

At the very end of the book, this conflict is seen as the root of all evils, as in Baba was a liar and possibly cheating on Luke out in LA (her eyes were gleaming whenever she talked about LA), and maybe she was sexing up the director she was staying with (but wait, no, he had a wife), and why, she's so selfish for wanting a career because she should stay home and have kids like Luke wanted (even though Judith wholeheartedly supported this in the beginning as well).

If this book were an in-depth look at a very unlikable character, then kudos, it succeeded. I hated Judith. She wasn't funny; she was malicious. She dated plenty and had boyfriends, but she secretly just wanted what her friend had. She could have not taken the job with Luke, but she did it because secretly she wanted to. On the whole, she was a jealous person with a black heart for No Reason At All, and Luke came off kind of an idiot for thinking he was seeing a kindred spirit but actually liking this mean-hearted woman.

What added to the inexpert characterization was the liberal usage of adverbs that reinforced this unlikable image of Judith. When she thought of her grandmother falling ill, she considered the situation "coolly." When Baba made an insensitive comment, Judith angrily bit back a retort but coolly replied that she was fine. These two adverbs were used so often on Judith that she came off like an angry faker to me.

Really kind of a fail.

[Em (semi-hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shockingly enjoyable! Loved the angst and banter, but the abrupt ending robbed me of an HEA. The heroine was quick to judge, though she always had a point, and at times she could be entertaining and very relatable.

[Wendy Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual HP because:

— She’s a very successful, confident career woman who works in finance

— She is not drop-dead gorgeous

— He truly falls for her as a person (!!!!) and doesn’t just want to take her to bed

— He behaves pretty honorably for the most part despite the sticky situation; I am a fan of people behaving with integrity, even under difficult circumstances (I know it’s weird that I am also so fond of super angsty Harlequins, haha)

— Their mutual attraction of minds and personalities and then bodies is believably built up. His confession of his feelings also came before I expected it, and there’s such great angst that comes from their not being able to be together because of his engagement.

It would have been rated higher, but for:

— she is so terribly self-conscious about her lack of beauty and puts herself down so much, it’s hard to read

— he reassures her about that somewhat (and is definitely attracted to her), but it could have been done more strongly/often

— her taking a job as his PA could have been explained better, in that yes, highly placed assistants learn the ins and outs of a company and handle a lot of important jobs and often gain great experience that leads to great prospects. But her previous job was so interesting and she was so good at it/independent/etc that to go to this position where she is also—let’s face it—probably getting his coffee or whatever seems like a step down? Unless PA just meant something entirely different then/there.

— I also didn’t love that the resolution relied upon the fiancé solving the problem for them. Be honorable, yes, but take a little initiative, too. This situation wasn’t so impossible (like in Melinda Cross’ What’s Right, for example) that they needed to sacrifice everything. Plus it seemed pretty out of character for both of them to not be able to find a reasonable solution.

But! I really liked it overall. Satisfying melodrama with good emotional payoff. A Lamb book I’ll definitely come back to again.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte Lamb no defrauda. Seca para estas historias de amor lacrimógenas, difíciles y que parecen imposibles.
Tiene casi todos los estereotipos y lugares comunes de las novelas rosas(lo que agradezco)y digo casi porque la protagonista no es una hermosura, es seria y profesional y eso le da un plus al bello, muy inglés y ricachón machote del que se enamora porque él parece admirar su inteligencia y personalidad por sobre el físico, si bien no es fea, ella no es el tipo de mujer que él acostumbre conquistar. Puntos para él y para la escritora.
Es una novela angst donde conocemos los sentimientos de la protagonista que piensa que ama sin ser correspondida, a pesar que la autora va dejando huellas, detalles que hacen vislumbrar que él siente algo por ella, que se empieza a enamorar.
Escrita en los años '80 no contiene largas y tediosas maratones sexuales entre los protagonistas. Es la clásica historia en que cuando se van a la cama se termina la historia (algo que yo agradezco).
Estas novelas cortas y facilonas son ideales para destrabar un bajón literario.


3/5

[Azet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, this was a lovely and quite sensual slow burn romance between the smart but romantic at heart heroine Judith and the charismatic and oh so charming hero Luke Doulton who initially is engaged to her best friend’s beautiful sister Baba. I loved that Luke really saw into her soul the moment he fell in love with her, and could not shake her off his mind and heart. While she may not have had the classic beauty (most Lamb’s heroines usually have, making the ML go loca) but she was so intelligent, passionate,innocent and so darn self less and refused to step away from her principles.Luke knew he had found a gem in her!The chemistry was oh damn smoldering hot between them as only Lamb writes.

[Sahara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heroine was very smart and intelligent which I liked. The hero was an ass at the beginning but he slowly turned into a somewhat decent human being. I hated Baba, she was a shallow and inconsiderate character not to mention the fact that her nickname is Baba! Just abnoxious. I like the flow and the writing style but I wasn't convinced of the main characters love for each other. The chemistry just wasn't there hence the 3 stars.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually fell a bit in love with the hero at the end, because he laid himself at the heroine's feet (about time). But then the plot and emotional conflicts were pretty weak to begin with. There was potential in this story; it could have been a LOT better.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book. Finally we get a wonderful heroine who has a career and is not beautiful at all costs. I loved Judith's irony and intelligence. This is definitely one of Lamb's best books, along with Crescendo and Secret Intimacy.

[AA C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe one of my fave books of all time is rated this low.

I love Judith. She's smart, a loyal friend, and honestly it didn't bother me at all that she keeps saying that she isn't beautiful. I usually hate heroines with low self esteem coz they tend to feel sorry for themselves, envious of others, and tolerates abuse. But Judith isn't like that at all. She's kind, feisty and though she's not a striking beauty, she knows how to make the best of her looks and charms you further with her brilliant mind and witty banter.

And Luke, my book husband, is just amazing. He fell hard for Judith. He was such a besotted fool spouting over-the-top declarations like:

I want to be with you all day.
I would die of missing you if you resign.
You came to my life like a tidal wave. I am still thrashing about.
I would've blown off multimillion business deals if I couldn't hear your voice.

I mean, what the hell, Luke! Why are you such a dramatic, adorable bear?! So obviously, it worked for me. And I was truly disappointed that this was such a "chaste" book. Wish I read what Luke felt and looked like when he first discovers what it's like to make love and not just share bodies. Guess that's what my imagination is for. *Helpless sigh*

I also liked that Baba wasn't a total bitch.

I've read this book like 10x and still comes back to it from time to time.

[E Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book. Initial impressions of the H are that he is arrogant and extremely mannerless but within a short space of time he redeems himself and has no hesitation in admitting well before the end to the h that he has fallen madly in love with her.

Judith is a good heroine. She's average looking and has a bit of a hang-up about that (which is fair enough when her friend is absurdly beautiful), super intelligent and of course she and the H suit each other perfectly. You just know their marriage will last. When he declares his love, because he's foolishly got engaged to her friend, she goes through a bit of a noble " I can't be with you, let's just have three people miserable instead of only one" phase and can't believe that she should be so lucky as to get a man like him.

Baba is not evil or a real bitch, unlike many OWs in these books, but she is all looks, no substance, self-centred and a tad manipulative. Fortunately for our happy couple Baba realises the engagement is no go and tells the H just before he's about to break it to her that it's off.

Good supporting characters in grandma and especially H's lovely mother. A happy ending all around. I just adored this one.

[WakeUpAndRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less OTT than a lot of CL romances, this is a story of emotional and mental attraction between the H and h, complicated by the H's engagement to a gorgeous, though very one-dimensional OW, who doesn't excite or challenge the H like the h does. It's a slow burn of a story, but you really believe the emotional connection that grows between the MCs. The h is described as plain, but she was attractive enough to have no shortage of boyfriends. She felt insecure about her looks because she couldn't compete with the H's Marilyn Monroe-type fiancee in the beauty stakes. She didn't really see her other qualities as being enough to seriously attract the H, so as a reader, I had trouble with her believing that and got a little frustrated with her being so down about her looks. I really liked both the MCs and thought they were really an ideal match. I would've given 5 stars but I like more drama and angst of a physical nature between the MCs than this story had. Still loved it, though!

[RomLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

She couldn't steal another woman's man

Judith wasn't the type to lose her head over a man, especially not a man who was engaged to an old friend.

But Luke Doulton was irresistible. He was a financial genius who wasn't afraid to work with an equally talented woman like Judith. Judith couldn't help falling in love with him any more than she could change the circumstances that denied her a chance at love.

Luke wasn't free. He was going to marry Baba Judith forced herself to remember those two things every time Luke came near her.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this enough to give it four stars but I think that was partly timing. The story starts slowly and the pace remains slow but relentless and we can see the final destination but the main characters can only hope.

She is similar to the heroine in Obsession, which I read a couple days ago, but somehow this one is more believable because she liked the hero. (The Obsession heroine did not like him much at all which makes it hard to believe in lasting love.)

[Debby]

3,5 stars. He loves her, but he doesn’t come across as smitten. He wasn’t into her from the very beginning. He looks at another woman while she is there with him. I didn’t like that.

Charlotte Lamb’s h’s are usually very beautiful and they’re blondes. The h in this story isn’t beautiful (as is emphasized throughout the book which became a bit annoying at times) and she has brown hair. The OW on the other hand is beautiful - and of course she is a blonde. 🙄

[Marzia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would've been a 5 stars read if the ending wasn't so abrupt

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the idea but the love affair was a bit quick for me

[Martha B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book . The story checked many of my boxes. We have the wrong first impression with the H disregarding the heroine, the relatively plain but smart heroine who isn’t voluptuous, has straight hair and has some brains. The H is engaged to OW. I was very hopeful.
The execution of the book was rather good but it was sometimes slow and a little boring. I skimmed through some descriptions. I wish it was more subtle how some characters were drawn. For example: H’s mother was slightly overdone. But it was a minor concern. I didn’t like that the sympathetic OM was put in the mix. I also would like more confrontation about H’s behavior in the past. He didn’t remember that he met the heroine before and found her beneath his standard. The heroine named it just once and the H said it wasn’t important because he loved her now. He still checked other women when he took her for lunch in the beginning( before she started to work for him). For me he did too quickly 180 from a jerk to a nice guy.
I also found the book was a bit too predictable. I felt some angst in the beginning but not enough later despite that the H was engaged to the wrong woman through the book which served him right by the way.
The OW who seemed so nice and genuine in the beginning revealed herself as more and more self centered and ruthless in how she used people .
I gave it three stars at first reading but after reading I changed it to four (with some reservations).

[Anuradha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars I'd say.

Well, the girl is a geeky finance whiz, but carries a huge inferiority complex about her looks.

The guy, now, we can't compromise with him, can we. He is a finance tycoon, and drop dead gorgeous.

Just a small hitch, he is engaged to a pretty bimbo, who happens to be the heroines not so friendly friend.

He has a penchant for falling for women within a month of meeting them it seems. First he proposes to the bimbo on impulse.

And the heroine walks into his life the very next minute. Of course, bound by honor, the author doesn't allow the hero to two time his girls. So the bimbo is promptly packed off to Hollywood !!

By the time the bimbo gets back, the romance between the leads is simmering, waiting to explode.

Thankfully no histrionics at the end. Bimbo prefers Hollywood, hero is grinning from ear to ear and the brainy heroine gets her man, without compromising on her ethics.

Sweet, good fun to read !

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a big disappointment! It lacked the CL drama and felt flat. I skimmed basically the whole book. I just couldn't connect with the characters. On reason could be that I never got to know the main characters age. It felt like all other characters age where mentioned. I don’t know why, but it irks me when I don’t get no know that.