Harry Boyle’s genius IQ has failed him. The alpha geek stupidly followed relationship advice from Invertary’s resident evil mastermind—eighty-seven year old Betty. That’s how he ended up trapped in an abandoned mine waiting to be rescued by his high school crush. The same crush he still loves. The one he’s come back to town to claim.
Magenta Fraser doesn’t want to be claimed—what is this? The Stone Age? The sarcastic Goth with a fondness for hitting first and asking questions later has been avoiding Harry. He’s her Kryptonite. Around him she loses her badass powers and becomes a pathetic giggling girl. As the local caving expert, she has no choice but to rescue the man. But that doesn’t mean she has to talk to him. Or touch him. Or do any of the other X-rated things that keep popping into her mind. All she has to do is resist him, rescue him and then run from him—before he uncovers her secret.
Janet grew up in Scotland but now lives in New Zealand. Among other things, she’s been an artist, a teacher, a security guard at a castle, a magazine editor, and a cleaner in a drop in center for drug addicts (NOT the best job!). When she isn’t living in her head and writing about the people she finds there, she raises two kids, one husband, and several random animals. She survives on chocolate and caffeine.
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This year, I became a huge Henderson fan when I discovered the first Invertary book, Lingerie Wars. And since then, I think I've read just about everything that Ms. Henderson has available.
Magenta Mine is a novella that takes place right after the 2nd Invertary book, Goody Two Shoes. As I'm eagerly awaiting book 3, Magenta Mine was a nice filler novella to temporarily appease my reading appetite.
Magenta, lingerie shop owner Kirsty's assistant, has an unrequited love from her childhood: Harry. Harry went to Uni around age 16 because he was a boy genius, leaving Magenta behind to fend for herself.
Harry comes back to Invertary, being very open about his unrequited love for Magenta, and he is having a hard time trying to figure out why the woman he loves doesn't want anything to do with him. So, he follows the horrible advice of the town gossip and trouble-maker, old Betty, and gets stuck in a cave mine. And guess who the local caving expert is?
When Magenta goes to rescue Harry, she begins to face feelings that she's buried for a long time. And it doesn't help that this boy wonder has grown into a sexy powerhouse of a man. If her heart can't be won over, then it's very possible her libido will betray her.
As Harry and Magenta face obstacles in trying to figure out what they truly want, the whole town (naturally) gets involved in the latest love affair, which brings us readers some pretty hilarious scenes.
As usual, Ms. Henderson's writing style drew me deep into the story and gave me some good laughs. I am hooked, and would enthusiastically recommend this novella, along with the entire series. I can't wait until the next book is out! Do yourself a favor and read these books!
3 ½ stars. I wasn’t laughing like I did in the first book, but it had a humorous feel. I enjoyed it.
Magenta refuses to acknowledge her feelings for Harry. She avoids him. I love how he pursues her and loves her even though she makes it difficult for him. She is not a good student but she is smart and competent in other ways. Harry was genius IQ and early to college. I liked reading about both of them.
Early in the story, Magenta’s mother asked Magenta to help her with her neighbor. That was skipped. I wanted to see it. I also wanted to see more with the evil mother.
THE SERIES: Book 6 will be published in 2016. Each book is a stand alone romance about people living in the small town of Invertary in the northern Scotland Highlands. Main characters in one book have small roles in other books. My ratings are:
5 stars. Lingerie Wars Bk 1 3 ½ stars. Goody Two Shoes Bk 2 3 ½ stars. Magenta Mine Bk 3 (novella) 4 stars. Calamity Jena Bk 4 (not read) Bad Boy Bk 5 (not read) Caught Bk 6
DATA: Narrative mode: 3rd person. Kindle count length: 2,244 (198 pages). Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 2. Setting: current day Invertary, Scotland. Copyright: 2014. Genre: contemporary romance.
Betty's face was pure mischief. She was clearly up to something. --> And when Betty is up to something you run away or you prepare tissues for tears of laughter.
It was a funny, hot love story, but more a novella than a novel. Yeah, it could have been a greater (full-length) romance, but Janet Elizabeth Henderson decided it would be a speedy version.
I like it, but besides one or two of Betty's actions and a lot of "I am not worthy of him"/"she is mine, I must win her" - there wasn't much more.
PS Why every IT programmer in a romance has to be a genius and to know every aspect of programming and the Internet? In the real world, one is rather specialized. This legend of rich brilliant geeks is a bit annoying. Fortunately, I know that there are books when an IT person isn't a genius (I read at least one or two of them).
A full-bodied romance in the space of a novella. Ms. Henderson, you hit it out of the ball-park with this one!
I love the best-friends to lovers trope and I especially love it when the romance gives me goose-bumps because it is just THAT good - and for me, Magenta Mine was all that and more. The love scenes were hot and sexy but sensual at the same time. I've always loved Lake since meeting him in Lingerie Wars, but Harry has leapfrogged him to become my favourite of the Invertary men. The combination of brains, brawn, humour and downright sexy talk had me under his spell from the moment he was introduced on the page. The dynamics between Magenta and Harry were wonderful, the banter entertaining and unexpected, making for a delightful read.
In Magenta mine we have: • A goth and a Nerd • a Small town and their funny neighbors • He knows what he wants • FUNNY read
About the book: I find this book series refreshing, is funny, cute and their characters have very concrete personalities. Magenta and Harry are friends since forever and they have a hard crush in each other. If you live in Europe you know there is always this noisy old woman in your town meddling and putting her nose in every situation. So you can find her easily in this book haha. Sex scenes aren't very explicit and the book is SAFE.
Overall A funny read, people in Invertary could easily hang out with the vincent someday, honestly... what a town.
I couldn’t fully give it 5 stars because the read was so short and the story was exceedingly simple without resolution between mother and daughter for behaviors but it was good nonetheless
I read the previous novel in this series, so I thought I'd give this one a try to. I was pretty disappointed.
This novel moves at a LIGHTNING pace.
Magenta and Harry were best friends throughout childhood. Harry is incredibly smart, and three years older than Magenta. So when he goes to College early, he leaves Magenta behind, and when he returns he finds her completely changed. She's now a goth teenager who wants nothing to do with him. But, Harry has been in love with Magenta for as long as he can remember, so her rejection stings. Fast forward many years and Harry and Magenta are adults in their early 20s. Harry is a successful businessman, having just sold a computer program to the government, and Magenta is working in their home town at the local lingerie store. Harry has never forgotten or gotten over Magenta, so he returns to their hometown to woo her and hopefully stay permanently.
Magenta wants nothing to do with Harry, because she thinks she's dumb. Literally. That is why these two characters 'can't' be together; Magenta thinks she is too dumb to be with Harry. Ugh. Okay. Harry comes back, and he knows Magenta used to be in love with him too (she used to write her name with his last name all over her notebooks the first year he was at college), and he's determined to show Magenta that they were destined to be together. Magenta repeatedly blows him off, so he gets himself stuck in a mine so that Magenta and him can spend some time together. Magenta loves exploring the local mines and has become an expert at it. Knowing this, one of the kooky locals tells him she's going to be photographing the mine, and then traps him in there. Since Magenta is the only one who can save him, Harry gets his time with Magenta, even if it's not how he pictured it.
This is when the novel moves at lightning pace. They are stuck in the mine, Magenta has previously said she's not interested in rekindling their relationship, but Harry is determined. So, Harry starts telling her he can tell by her body language that she is just as interested in him as he is in her. Insert some playful banter, and then suddenly Harry is uh, performing digital sex on Magenta. They obviously have some chemistry and Magenta ends up giving in to her desire to be with him, and they spend a nice night in a tent in a cave together. Oh. But did I forget to mention? Half the town is sitting outside of the mine, and can hear EVERYTHING going on inside. Harry knows this but does not tell Magenta.
They get out of the mine, Magenta is pissed about everyone hearing it and Harry knowing they could, and stops talking to him. Then, Magenta and her two best friends decide to play a prank on Harry as revenge. The prank is successful, and again leads to Magenta and Harry being left alone for a period of time. This is when Magenta reveals that she pushed him away because she thinks she's stupid (not stupid, it turns out she's just dyslexic) and didn't think Harry would like her because of it. It's a very juvenile reason to not be with someone, and is very much rooted in her insecurity from her childhood/teenage years when she was frequently made fun of. Understandable, but still a pretty small barrier to them being together. Once she reveals this, they are just together, just like that.
Usually there is more of a slow build up in novels like this. A bit of tension between the two characters makes it more satisfying when they finally but away their differences or issues and get together. Magenta and Harry are together within like the first 25% of the novel, so the rest of the novel and the MINOR issue they do have is just boring. When they were very much together in the mine there was nothing else to look forward to. The only thing left to do was for them to make it 'official', which wasn't done in a very exciting way either.
Overall, disappointed with this novel, especially after really enjoying the previous one in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I absolutely LOVED this book. Magenta has been kicked down all her life, but Harry, the geeky alpha plans to stop that. He may have left for uni, but he's back now. His IQ could make a phone number look small, but he lacks all common sense. Luckily, or unluckily, Betty steps in to save the day. I am a HUGE Janet fan. I have LOVED everything I've come across written by her. Seriously, if you haven't given her a try, or it's been awhile, go get one. You'll be in for a good laugh, that you won't soon be forgetting.
Another great adventure in Invertary, but you should be warned this is the shortest book of the series. It still tells a great story and the characters are fun, but it isn't as fleshed out as the other books. We get to find out why Magenta is such a grumpy goth and we get to meet Harry, who is a great character. The only off note is that it's hard to understand why Rachel is such a toxic bitch. It seems like she might be jealous, but in a later book we find out she really views Harry as her younger brother. At least she is an amusing toxic bitch. There isn't a developed subplot like the other books, so you really just get a straightforward account of Harry helping Magenta get past her self esteem issues and into a place where she can admit she's crazy about him. I find her motivation a little hard to believe (surely it's something Harry would have known about before he left, and the school system would have to be pretty bad if only one of her teachers thought she needed testing). But if you turn off your doubts the story is enjoyable. It's great getting to spend more time with the terrible twins Claire and Megan.
This book, just like all of Janet Elizabeth Henderson's previous books, is clever, comical, and just a lot of fun to read.
Magenta is a very capable woman who has a lot of knowledge of caving, but truthfully because she has a reading disability she will put on a good show, but has very low self-esteem. When she has to rescue Harry Boyle, her childhood friend and the man she is avoiding like he had the plague, from a mine cave in things start to happen, all to the enjoyment of the whole town.
I love this book and I enjoy reading over and over again.
As always I lol all the way, the Donaldson twins are freaking funny, Betty is a wise ass her bad advises serves its purpose, hope you've a story for Rachel. Think she's interesting too. Magenta and Harry are so cute, their love story is so adorable and geeky through and through. Well done once again!
The H is super smart, and the h rejected him because she is complete opposite. Story continues a series of mad-cap adventures in Scottish village, so I liked the setting, plot and characters. The writing is good and it all flowed very well despite elements of mad-cap silly humour. Good story.
The premise is cute, but none of the characters were likeable (not even ones I enjoyed in the previous book). I had to DNF it at about 60% because of how our "hero" never respected anything Magenta told him. Instead he played games with her head. I presume he eventually "figures out" she has dyslexia, which somehow magically erases all her trauma so she can love him, but all I saw was a manipulative/borderline abusive man taking advantage of a woman still dealing with an abusive mother and the fallout from the horrible bullying she experienced as a teen. I had been really looking forward to a cute romance. The previous book was adorable. Instead I felt sick almost from the first interaction between them. And no, her "enjoying" the kissing and sex does NOT mean it was even a little bit okay for him to force himself on her. It's not actual consent if he works to get a physical response with the express purpose of muddying her cognition, and then makes her beg him to continue. No more than if he'd gotten her drunk, drugged her, or just waited until she fell asleep to take advantage of her. Ugh
3 and a half stars. A short trip back to Invertary in a novella-length book. The same fun vibe and the familiar characters from the two previous stories, but without much storyline.
Harry met Magenta when they were little and became best friends. He is a computer whiz and went to uni at age 15. Magenta was a few years younger and struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia. She spent her whole life being told she was stupid and so purposefully ruined her friendship with Harry because she felt they had no future. Even so,they both always loved the other.
Years have passed and Harry is back in town. He wants to know why Magenta said what she did all those years ago and he isn't taking no for an answer.
Not much character development here. Magenta has serious anger management issues. Harry is too self-assured. It is clear that they do care deeply for each other though, which allows for the HEA once the misunderstandings are cleared up.
The writing was okay, but this rubbed my feminist sensibilities all kinds the wrong way. Harry, the male protagonist, is super-smart. Cool. Love a super-smart dude. But this guy ignored everything the girl he supposedly loved said. You know, for her own good, because he knew better than she did herself what she needed.
Just no.
The guy even goes so far as to physically force her to be near him, with the excuse that he can read her physical cues and knows that she secretly wants to be pressed up against him. No, no,no. He even "saves" her in the end by figuring out what should have been obvious to pretty much everyone her problem.
If you don't have issues with consent or female agency, then you might enjoy this book. For me, it didn't work.
Book 3 of the series puts Megenta, the sarcastic Goth sales clerk introduced in Lingerie Wars with Harry, the billionaire tech geek who was mentioned in previous books, but who now returns back to his hometown to reconnect with the love interest from his teenage days.
Magenta's sarcasm combines well with the inherent comedic quirkiness of the small Scottish town but ultimately, this is a story of Megenta's journey of discovering her self worth, helped by the man who won't give up on her.
A good combination of funny and sexy, Megenta Mine delivers a heartwarming conclusion.
3 stars - I liked it with nits. This was a cute childhood friends reconnecting for HEA romance. I liked the sexy nerd pursuing the goth girl who froze him out when they were teens. Where i had nits: 1st the reconnection was quick and didn't really address the way people grow in the years they were apart. But 2nd - a bigger one- was that there were places where he pushed her, even though she was trying not to let him back into her life and it kept me out of the moment waiting to see whether she'd actually consent.
This was a really heartwarming and touching story! Harry was a wonderful caring man, just the kind of person Magenta needed in her life after years of being put down and believing it. It was a sweet and steamy romance but it also made, in a subtle way, how easy it is to judge others when you don't know the whole story of what they have faced in their lives. There were some really laugh out loud moments in this book .... I especially loved the "rock throwing contest" it was so hilarious! I really enjoyed the entire book and highly recommend it. 😇
Magenta hasn't had it easy. She dropped out of school at the age of 13 and to fight for everything she has. Harry has an IQ off the charts, he move away and went to college when he was 16. Now he's returned to claim what he feels is his, Magenta! Magenta protected the nerdy Harry when they were children, now it's Harry's turn to protect her, or is it. Once again the the has give the reader a hilarious, Fun and romantic comedy.
Harry was a geek; smarter than any of the other kids could even relate to, Magenta had befriended him. She too had always felt that she was on the outside, but when Harry left for college, she had truly been alone. Now Harry's home and it's not just his brain that's impressive, so is his body. And he's worth lots of money! This humorous story will keep you laughing.
You know, I really liked this story. I felt, at the end, that it was missing something but I don't know what. This book is 125 pages shorter than Book 2, Goody Two Shoes, but Book 2 could have used some paring down some. I do really like both Magenta and Harry and I kinda wanted to see Harry confront Magenta's mother.
One of the funniest, laugh out loud books I have ever read and re-read and re-read. It is the third in a series about the inhabitants of a small Scottish town and the hilarious things that happen to the people there. All of the books in the series are fantastic, light-hearted and fun. Well worth the read, especially if you need cheering up. My go-to books if I need a pick-me-up.
Magenta (Maggie) and Henry were friends but all that changed when boy genius went off to uni. When he came back things had changed. He had been away a while but decided to come back for her.. he needs her to know that she is all he thinks about and he wants to know what happened between them?
Some laugh out loud moments but I wasn’t a fan of her
What a nice short story to learn about Magenta and Harry. I have read through the Benson Security books and then backtracked and started the Invertary series. I’m kinda glad I did it that way because I’m not sure I could have handled Rachel and her attitude, lol. I love how all the women are kick-ass and crazy (in a good way) and the men get cave man alpha.
I really liked the characters and the story. It wasn't your usual love story so it was interesting and the characters were likable. The story pulls you right in and I couldn't put it down. I can not wait to read more books by this author.
I enjoyed this cute love story. It felt quite close to what would happen in the real world which made it more enjoyable.
I like that the geek is also hot and not just cute and geeky like they are in most stories. I also like how the scary goth is actually quite soft underneath.