What do you think?
Rate this book
Open to Influence
Was she consigned to a life of a spinster?
Rosemary Stewart loved her orphaned nephew, Kit, as if he were her own son. When Kit's uncle, Nicholas Powers, stated his intention to challenge Rosemary's legal guardianship, she was desperately afraid she might lose to the powerful English millionaire.
So she agreed to sign the outrageous contract Nicholas proposed, believing it was the only way she could ensure that Kit would have all the love and caring a young child needed.
But she hadn't considered that she would ever regret signing away her rights to a life--and love--of her own
Rosemary Stewart loved her orphaned nephew, Kit, as if he were her own son. When Kit's uncle, Nicholas Powers, stated his intention to challenge Rosemary's legal guardianship, she was desperately afraid she might lose to the powerful English millionaire.
So she agreed to sign the outrageous contract Nicholas proposed, believing it was the only way she could ensure that Kit would have all the love and caring a young child needed.
But she hadn't considered that she would ever regret signing away her rights to a life--and love--of her own
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Frances Roding
7 books14 followersAKA Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Penny Halsall, Lydia Hitchcock, Penny Jordan, and Melinda Wright.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 8, 2016
This is a Frances Roding title that reads like a Penny Jordan story. (Frances Roding=Penny Jordan, in case you didn't know). The trope is H/h are aunt and uncle to orphaned toddler. H is an emotionally repressed oil tycoon who owns an 80 square mile valley in the French alps. Here, the Brit martyr h will care for the boy without any contact with any adult males until the boy comes of age and can take over the oil company. The hero is going deaf because of childhood neglect at the hands of his mother and he wants an heir. He trusts no woman,so he won't have a child of his own.
Have we read this before? Yes, we have.
What sets this story apart is
As you can see these are all fun elements - but they didn't come together in a satisfactory way. The pacing was off - too much detail about the carpets and moldings in the chateau - not enough positive interaction between H/h. And there was too much physical pain. A little of that goes a long way for me. I had horrible ear problems as a child and I cringed through all of those scenes. Read if you like winter! Or chateaus! Or indoor pools!
Have we read this before? Yes, we have.
What sets this story apart is
As you can see these are all fun elements - but they didn't come together in a satisfactory way. The pacing was off - too much detail about the carpets and moldings in the chateau - not enough positive interaction between H/h. And there was too much physical pain. A little of that goes a long way for me. I had horrible ear problems as a child and I cringed through all of those scenes. Read if you like winter! Or chateaus! Or indoor pools!
February 1, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed Frances Roding‘s writing and I couldn’t find any Penny Jordanism here but then PJ is a very versatile writer and most of her plots n tropes are unique n different.
*** some spoilers below ***
I loved this story so much but for the penultimate chapter and if only it was done differently. For most of the book, I loved the h, her sweet innocence and also her strength while dealing with the H’s asshatery and even his mistress.
But her self-absorbed and cold reaction, on learning that the H wants to marry her for some practical reasons before a major surgery from which he may not recover, totally ruined it for me. She went from an absolute sweetheart to a cold, dumb chick for me. All she was thinking of was self-preservation and not about the H - who was virtually on his deathbed – critical and unconscious with pain! She is angry with the H, his doctor, his lawyer for putting her in this position rather than understanding the urgency and danger of his situation. Just a day prior the H had put his own life at risk to save hers and that had led to the deterioration of his condition. I would've preferred her to been a source of strength for the whole household or even to have gone to pieces, rather than the way she reacted.
Self-preservation is all good but some situations call for putting the one you supposedly ‘love’ absolutely on top. So this book went from a potential 4.5 stars to a 3.5 for me.
*** some spoilers below ***
I loved this story so much but for the penultimate chapter and if only it was done differently. For most of the book, I loved the h, her sweet innocence and also her strength while dealing with the H’s asshatery and even his mistress.
But her self-absorbed and cold reaction, on learning that the H wants to marry her for some practical reasons before a major surgery from which he may not recover, totally ruined it for me. She went from an absolute sweetheart to a cold, dumb chick for me. All she was thinking of was self-preservation and not about the H - who was virtually on his deathbed – critical and unconscious with pain! She is angry with the H, his doctor, his lawyer for putting her in this position rather than understanding the urgency and danger of his situation. Just a day prior the H had put his own life at risk to save hers and that had led to the deterioration of his condition. I would've preferred her to been a source of strength for the whole household or even to have gone to pieces, rather than the way she reacted.
Self-preservation is all good but some situations call for putting the one you supposedly ‘love’ absolutely on top. So this book went from a potential 4.5 stars to a 3.5 for me.
August 27, 2016
Re Open to Influence - PJ as FR is a kinder, more H POV kinda writer. There are still those famous punishing kisses, but this H isn't nearly as harsh as her H's under the PJ brand of HPlandia and she makes sure to include lots of his POV too.
The h is 24 in OtI and has the legal guardianship of her 3 yr old nephew. Her brother was married to the H's sister and the h became the sole guardian of their child when they died in an airplane crash. The H and his sister were estranged, the H is also estranged from his vindictive and conniving mother, so he is pretty much alone in the world except for his fabulous wealth after he rebuilt the oil company he inherited at his father's death.
The h gets a summons to meet with the H, and he informs her that he wants his sister's child - he offers to pay the h to relinquish custody. The h is suitably outraged and horrified that anyone could think she would be so callous as to sell the guardianship of her brother's child for any amount of money. She refuses categorically.
The H is determined tho, and when the h checks with her solicitor, (quite unusually for HPlandia,) the solicitor informs her that since the H's intention is to make the boy his heir, there is a good chance he could get custody, at the very least the h is looking at a protracted court fight. The H obligingly presents another solution, if she will move to his valley in the High French Alps and forgo any permanent relationships with men until the child is of age, he won't take her to court.
It seem the H is going deaf, and in twenty years will probably not be able to hear anything at all. When he was a child, his mother neglected a very bad ear infection that has become localized to his ear area over the years, then she walked out on him, his sister and his father and tried to ruin his father's oil company by getting control of half of the father's oil fields in the divorce settlement. The H wants the boy for two reasons, to protect his company from his mother in the event of his death or incapacitation and also because he seekritly wants the boy to be safe and cared for and the h doesn't have a lot of financial resources.
His ear infection was never fully resolved, tho it has been dormant for several years, but now every time the H flies, he is subjected to excruciating pain and it seems the infection is starting to advance again. He will require surgery eventually and he has already lost some of his hearing. The h realizes she doesn't have the resources to fight the H financially and she quit her former job because she had a huge infatuation on her married boss and she did not think she could be around him in those circumstances. The h agrees to move with the child to France and she signs a contract stating she won't marry or have a permanent relationship with any man.
People try to talk her out of it, but the h is determined and she loves her nephew, she can't subject him to the same kind of childhood neglect that the H and his sister had. So we all go to France. The H tries to buy the h designer clothes in Paris, but she refuses to purchase any with his money, so he sneaks them into her luggage later and she finds them when she arrives at the H's magnificent historical chateau. They have a bit of a spat about that. The H owns the entire French Alp Valley and it is still listed as an independent principality under the French government, since it is quite isolated, the h is warned that they will be completely snowed in in the winter - it won't even be possible to leave via helicopter because of the weather.
Still, the h and the little nephew settle in happily enough. There is a great deal of historical furnishings and objects d' art in the chateau. We and the h learn quite a bit of history through them regarding Catherine de Medici, who gave the valley as a principality to one of her courtiers. There is a building tension between the H and h and some kisses, but the h determines that the H will not be able to run her off through an affair, so she fights his advances.
The H decides to import his current mistress to stay with them at the chateau and there is also one of his friends that becomes quite enamored of the h. There are a few vicious mistress scenes and both the h and H realize they are in love with the other, but we only see that in their own POV's, they fail to mention that fact to each other. The H can't bring himself to sleep with his mistress, so she and the other man get dismissed by the H and sent from the valley.
The h and H then get into a fight over the h's feelings for the OM, she isn't interested in him but the H was wildly jealous and so they argue and the h winds up running off into a snow storm. The H eventually rescues her, but they have to spend the night in a shepherd's hut and the cold negatively affects the H.
After they get back to the chateau, the H collapses and is going to have to have a specialist operation. He decides to marry the h to have her as his next of kin to thwart his mother's maneuverings in trying to destroy his now wildly successful oil company and to safeguard the guardianship of his young nephew. The h is very reluctant at first, she doesn't see a marriage as a path to wealth, even tho the H's lawyer assures her she will receive a handsome recompense and there is a clause in the marriage contract that allows for annulment. The H's doctor tells the h that the H loves her very much in an inducement to get her consent to the marriage and the doctor tells her she must be supportive of the H with her love, it is critical to his recovery.
The h agrees finally and they marry. Then it is off to the hospital for surgery and hopefully a new drug that will kill off the rest of the H's lingering infection. The surgery is a success with the h being the H's only comfort and while the H is recovering - with only partial hearing loss in one ear, the other is unaffected- there is a big showdown when the H's mother tries to take control of things and the h bars the way.
We find out that the H's mother isn't really his mother, her poor relation cousin and her fiance, (the H's dad,) fell in love and the cheated on woman threatened all kinds of scenes and bad public press if the fiance did not follow through on the marriage. For some reason the man gave in and then tried to divorce the woman when it turned out his lover was preggers. He refused to ever live with the wife or treat her as his wife and this fueled the woman's vindictiveness. The H's mother actually died a few days after he and his sister were born and the H's father forced his wife to accept the children as her own if she wanted to stay married to him. Eventually the position wearied on the father's wife and the woman walked out and the sued for all she could get in the divorce.
The H has never spoken to her since she left him as a child and he doesn't speak to her now. The h corrects the woman in her assumptions and pretty much dismisses her after she gets the full story of her marriage and her abandonment of the children. The H recovers enough to go home and when he suggests that he start the annulment process, the h refuses and then confesses her love. She also explains about the woman he thought was his mother, the H is really happy because now he knows that he isn't unlovable as he thought, but just the casualty of a vindictive and bitter woman. Plus, by admitting that she isn't the H's bio mother, she has pretty much removed herself as kin to the H and is unable to try and assert any rights over his estate or company if something happens to him. Now that the mother issues are settled, the H and h are free to focus on how much they love each other and the big seduction scene is on for the HEA.
This one was good and just different enough from PJ's usual style to make it really interesting in the twists. At first I was a bit amused that no one seemed to care about whether or not the little kid would actually WANT to follow in the H's footsteps and run his company, but I soon realized that the guardianship issue was really just a plot device and since the H and h will probably have a gazillion kids anyways, surely one of them will turn out to be a business genius like his or her father, so the nephew doesn't really have to do anything he doesn't want to. I liked that the H was the first to realize he loved the h in his POV, tho the h tells the H she loves him first, he isn't slow in saying it back once he believes in the h's sincerity.
I recommend this one as a gentler side to Penny Jordan and if you like the drama of HPlandia, this book is a good way to experience it.
The h is 24 in OtI and has the legal guardianship of her 3 yr old nephew. Her brother was married to the H's sister and the h became the sole guardian of their child when they died in an airplane crash. The H and his sister were estranged, the H is also estranged from his vindictive and conniving mother, so he is pretty much alone in the world except for his fabulous wealth after he rebuilt the oil company he inherited at his father's death.
The h gets a summons to meet with the H, and he informs her that he wants his sister's child - he offers to pay the h to relinquish custody. The h is suitably outraged and horrified that anyone could think she would be so callous as to sell the guardianship of her brother's child for any amount of money. She refuses categorically.
The H is determined tho, and when the h checks with her solicitor, (quite unusually for HPlandia,) the solicitor informs her that since the H's intention is to make the boy his heir, there is a good chance he could get custody, at the very least the h is looking at a protracted court fight. The H obligingly presents another solution, if she will move to his valley in the High French Alps and forgo any permanent relationships with men until the child is of age, he won't take her to court.
It seem the H is going deaf, and in twenty years will probably not be able to hear anything at all. When he was a child, his mother neglected a very bad ear infection that has become localized to his ear area over the years, then she walked out on him, his sister and his father and tried to ruin his father's oil company by getting control of half of the father's oil fields in the divorce settlement. The H wants the boy for two reasons, to protect his company from his mother in the event of his death or incapacitation and also because he seekritly wants the boy to be safe and cared for and the h doesn't have a lot of financial resources.
His ear infection was never fully resolved, tho it has been dormant for several years, but now every time the H flies, he is subjected to excruciating pain and it seems the infection is starting to advance again. He will require surgery eventually and he has already lost some of his hearing. The h realizes she doesn't have the resources to fight the H financially and she quit her former job because she had a huge infatuation on her married boss and she did not think she could be around him in those circumstances. The h agrees to move with the child to France and she signs a contract stating she won't marry or have a permanent relationship with any man.
People try to talk her out of it, but the h is determined and she loves her nephew, she can't subject him to the same kind of childhood neglect that the H and his sister had. So we all go to France. The H tries to buy the h designer clothes in Paris, but she refuses to purchase any with his money, so he sneaks them into her luggage later and she finds them when she arrives at the H's magnificent historical chateau. They have a bit of a spat about that. The H owns the entire French Alp Valley and it is still listed as an independent principality under the French government, since it is quite isolated, the h is warned that they will be completely snowed in in the winter - it won't even be possible to leave via helicopter because of the weather.
Still, the h and the little nephew settle in happily enough. There is a great deal of historical furnishings and objects d' art in the chateau. We and the h learn quite a bit of history through them regarding Catherine de Medici, who gave the valley as a principality to one of her courtiers. There is a building tension between the H and h and some kisses, but the h determines that the H will not be able to run her off through an affair, so she fights his advances.
The H decides to import his current mistress to stay with them at the chateau and there is also one of his friends that becomes quite enamored of the h. There are a few vicious mistress scenes and both the h and H realize they are in love with the other, but we only see that in their own POV's, they fail to mention that fact to each other. The H can't bring himself to sleep with his mistress, so she and the other man get dismissed by the H and sent from the valley.
The h and H then get into a fight over the h's feelings for the OM, she isn't interested in him but the H was wildly jealous and so they argue and the h winds up running off into a snow storm. The H eventually rescues her, but they have to spend the night in a shepherd's hut and the cold negatively affects the H.
After they get back to the chateau, the H collapses and is going to have to have a specialist operation. He decides to marry the h to have her as his next of kin to thwart his mother's maneuverings in trying to destroy his now wildly successful oil company and to safeguard the guardianship of his young nephew. The h is very reluctant at first, she doesn't see a marriage as a path to wealth, even tho the H's lawyer assures her she will receive a handsome recompense and there is a clause in the marriage contract that allows for annulment. The H's doctor tells the h that the H loves her very much in an inducement to get her consent to the marriage and the doctor tells her she must be supportive of the H with her love, it is critical to his recovery.
The h agrees finally and they marry. Then it is off to the hospital for surgery and hopefully a new drug that will kill off the rest of the H's lingering infection. The surgery is a success with the h being the H's only comfort and while the H is recovering - with only partial hearing loss in one ear, the other is unaffected- there is a big showdown when the H's mother tries to take control of things and the h bars the way.
We find out that the H's mother isn't really his mother, her poor relation cousin and her fiance, (the H's dad,) fell in love and the cheated on woman threatened all kinds of scenes and bad public press if the fiance did not follow through on the marriage. For some reason the man gave in and then tried to divorce the woman when it turned out his lover was preggers. He refused to ever live with the wife or treat her as his wife and this fueled the woman's vindictiveness. The H's mother actually died a few days after he and his sister were born and the H's father forced his wife to accept the children as her own if she wanted to stay married to him. Eventually the position wearied on the father's wife and the woman walked out and the sued for all she could get in the divorce.
The H has never spoken to her since she left him as a child and he doesn't speak to her now. The h corrects the woman in her assumptions and pretty much dismisses her after she gets the full story of her marriage and her abandonment of the children. The H recovers enough to go home and when he suggests that he start the annulment process, the h refuses and then confesses her love. She also explains about the woman he thought was his mother, the H is really happy because now he knows that he isn't unlovable as he thought, but just the casualty of a vindictive and bitter woman. Plus, by admitting that she isn't the H's bio mother, she has pretty much removed herself as kin to the H and is unable to try and assert any rights over his estate or company if something happens to him. Now that the mother issues are settled, the H and h are free to focus on how much they love each other and the big seduction scene is on for the HEA.
This one was good and just different enough from PJ's usual style to make it really interesting in the twists. At first I was a bit amused that no one seemed to care about whether or not the little kid would actually WANT to follow in the H's footsteps and run his company, but I soon realized that the guardianship issue was really just a plot device and since the H and h will probably have a gazillion kids anyways, surely one of them will turn out to be a business genius like his or her father, so the nephew doesn't really have to do anything he doesn't want to. I liked that the H was the first to realize he loved the h in his POV, tho the h tells the H she loves him first, he isn't slow in saying it back once he believes in the h's sincerity.
I recommend this one as a gentler side to Penny Jordan and if you like the drama of HPlandia, this book is a good way to experience it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2013
When hero claims guardianship of heroine's nephew she is determined to do anything to keep her beloved nephew with her. Even share him with his brooding cold uncle. She agrees to go to France with him, so as to provide a home for little Kit. They fall for each other, she is jealous of his other woman, he is jealous of her flirting with another man, heroine has an accident, hero's condition worsens and angst ensues.
Enjoyable book but nothing special.
Enjoyable book but nothing special.
October 28, 2015
I agree with Eee Jays's review, this was a bit boring. Nothing new or engaging. Felt like a very tired, overused plot.
I was particularly disappointed with the writing style. I'm surprised since Frances Roding is actually Penny Jordan under another pen name and I typically enjoy PJ's writing. However this time, I got bogged down in detail that didn't add value to the story. There was an inordinate amount of space given to details describing wooden stairwells, stone walls, aubusson rugs, plaster cornices, gold trim, etc. etc.
Yawn…….
Character development was also rather weak. Again, rather surprising.
Oh well. …..not my cuppa.
I was particularly disappointed with the writing style. I'm surprised since Frances Roding is actually Penny Jordan under another pen name and I typically enjoy PJ's writing. However this time, I got bogged down in detail that didn't add value to the story. There was an inordinate amount of space given to details describing wooden stairwells, stone walls, aubusson rugs, plaster cornices, gold trim, etc. etc.
Yawn…….
Character development was also rather weak. Again, rather surprising.
Oh well. …..not my cuppa.
February 26, 2023
"Αν υπαρχουν ανθρωποι που τους αρεσει να με μισουν και να με ταπεινωνουν επειδη δεν εχω σεξουαλικες εμπειριες,δεν μπορω να τους σταματησω.Οπως και εκεινοι δεν μπορουν να με σταματησουν απο το να τους μισω ,επειδη προτιμουν την κενοτητα της σωματικης ικανοποιησης απο τον πλουτο της συναισθηματικης δεσμευσης"
Εθισμος απο τις πρωτες σελιδες.
Η ιστορια της Ροσμαρι και του Νικολας ειναι
γεματη πρωτογνωρα συναισθηματα,
ενταση,πονο ,απελπισια ,ανασφαλεια και περηφανια.
Ο λυτρωτικος και καθηλωτικος επιλογος ανεβαζει τους χτυπους της καρδιας φερνοντας δακρυα στα ματια!
Απόλαυσα την καθε στιγμη !
Εθισμος απο τις πρωτες σελιδες.
Η ιστορια της Ροσμαρι και του Νικολας ειναι
γεματη πρωτογνωρα συναισθηματα,
ενταση,πονο ,απελπισια ,ανασφαλεια και περηφανια.
Ο λυτρωτικος και καθηλωτικος επιλογος ανεβαζει τους χτυπους της καρδιας φερνοντας δακρυα στα ματια!
Απόλαυσα την καθε στιγμη !
August 18, 2014
4 Stars ~ Raised by her brother when their parents died and then losing her brother and his wife, left only their three year old son as Rosemary's family. Her sister-in-law, Belle, had been estranged from her twin brother, the billionaire oil tycoon, and so Rosemary had been named quite clearly as Kit's guardian in their will. This isn't a hardship for Rosemary as she adores their little boy. It comes a shock however, when Kit's uncle suddenly shows up and insists that as Kit is his sole heir that Rosemary should release the boy to him. Seeing that Rosemary is attached to Kit, he agrees to allow her to live with the boy at the family chalet in the French alps. Rosemary's solicitor tells her that she'd be wise to accept as Nicolas has the power and wealth to win a court battle.
Nicolas is a hard and bitter man and had Rosemary not known of his horrible childhood and ill-treatment from his mother, she would have deeply despised him. Something in Nicolas reaches out to her and she feels a bond with the man he hides behind his wall of rejection. Nicolas had learnt as a child what it is to have his love spurned, and so as a man he lives alone and he tells himself this is what he prefers. Rosemary's genuine love for Kit touches him and he finds that he resents the love and kisses she showers on the boy. But he tells himself, that even if Rosemary could love him too, he doesn't deserve her and he wouldn't be able to saddle her with a man who is going deaf.
This is the first of seven Harlequin Presents that Penny Jordan penned under the name of Frances Roding. Knowing this, I can definitely see Ms. Jordan's style. Nicolas is the cold and bitter hero and Rosemary is the nurturing wrongfully judged heroine. I really enjoyed the plot and easily could see these two together.
Nicolas is a hard and bitter man and had Rosemary not known of his horrible childhood and ill-treatment from his mother, she would have deeply despised him. Something in Nicolas reaches out to her and she feels a bond with the man he hides behind his wall of rejection. Nicolas had learnt as a child what it is to have his love spurned, and so as a man he lives alone and he tells himself this is what he prefers. Rosemary's genuine love for Kit touches him and he finds that he resents the love and kisses she showers on the boy. But he tells himself, that even if Rosemary could love him too, he doesn't deserve her and he wouldn't be able to saddle her with a man who is going deaf.
This is the first of seven Harlequin Presents that Penny Jordan penned under the name of Frances Roding. Knowing this, I can definitely see Ms. Jordan's style. Nicolas is the cold and bitter hero and Rosemary is the nurturing wrongfully judged heroine. I really enjoyed the plot and easily could see these two together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2011
I'm a fast reader but this was one of those times, where I broke all records. How? Easy peasy - just read the 1st line of each paragraph and you'll get the gist. Not that even that is so interesting. Self-sacrifising heroine (yawn!) - OW/foreign chateau/child's uncle come to claim him (zzzz!). So boring.
The hero was going deaf but that was played more like a soap opera where he's in pain and rejecting the heroine 99% of the time and says je taime on the last page...!
The only thing is: It's really cold here where I'm sitting - the windows are open - and I can truly imagine the alps weather and remember what it felt like when I skied for the 1st time. If you've been to France you'll be on a memory trip remembering Versailles and museums etc.
-The end-
The hero was going deaf but that was played more like a soap opera where he's in pain and rejecting the heroine 99% of the time and says je taime on the last page...!
The only thing is: It's really cold here where I'm sitting - the windows are open - and I can truly imagine the alps weather and remember what it felt like when I skied for the 1st time. If you've been to France you'll be on a memory trip remembering Versailles and museums etc.
-The end-
July 13, 2015
Since Penny Jordan’s tragic and untimely death in 2011, Harlequin M&B have been steadily re-releasing all of her books, including the ones she wrote under the alternative nom-de-plume of “Frances Roding” – Yes, this book, is as much a work of Jordan than any other and you can tell. All of the familiar obsessions are here – grand chateau (this one in its own French valley in the Alps which you can only reach by helicopter), interior design and designer clothing.
In this one, Rosemary (her family – quelle surprise – in Jordan’s work, her heroines are ALWAYS rendered vulnerable and alone – having been wiped out in a plane crash) has been left alone looking after her nephew, Kit. Enter Kit’s Uncle, the millionaire owner of Powers Oil, Nicholas Powers. He doesn’t have an heir (and he doesn’t trust women enough to even think about getting one) so he decides to basically blackmail Rosemary into moving into his French valley with Kit and bringing him up whilst he goes off and does whatever millionaire captain of oil industries do all day. Rosemary – like all naive Jordanian heroines- falls in with his vile machinations all too easily and by chapter 7 she’s in love with him (not sure why because at first he seems to be a horrible, horrible man). However, Jordan is quick to reassure us that the only reason he is horrible is because his own mother deserted him as a child, but not before leaving him too long with an ear infection which has now caused significant health problems (the main one of which seems to be that it causes terrible pain for him whenever he flies – particularly by helicopter). Any normal person would, of course, give up the remote French Valley which can only be reached by helicopter and buy a house in Sheffield (good transport links – and you don’t have to go by air to get there!) but no, Nicholas Powers would rather suffer and then take his bad mood out on everyone around him (including poor Rosemary). From this premise, we’re into normal M&B territory – Rosemary (inevitably) gets lost in the Alpine snow and (equally inevitably) Nicholas has to come and save her (saving her involves removing all her clothes and putting her in front of a romantic log fire – can’t be too careful with hypothermia though). Inevitably (again) Nicholas ends up blackmailing her into marrying him and before you can say “you may kiss the bride” they’re deeply in love and vowing never to part.
All of the above said, there is something different about this book. Nicholas, for all his vile machinations and horrible behaviour to the sweet heroine, is a vulnerable man himself (although it takes Rosemary’s perception to convince the reader of this). Lacking any kind of love in his life he is “a man who has everything, and yet conversely has nothing.” (p. 36). He is afflicted by a disability (he reveals quite early on that it’s likely he’ll be stone deaf in ten years’ time) and feels less of a person (and a burden on Rosemary) as a result of this. Nicholas, in fact, is quite a rounded human being – not at all like those normal two dimensional M&B heroes. In fact, one gets the sense that only Rosemary can save him from himself; in fact, despite all the awful sexist things that Nicholas says, and for all his posturing, this is definitely a feminist text.
There’s some great popular history in here too – where else but in the mid-80s could the heroine get away with donning a blouson skiing jacket in “black and white jungle print” with matching salopettes? And Nicholas’ mother, when she turns up, it seems is only taking a brief break from the set of Dynasty before nipping back to push Krystal down the stairs.
This is a fabulous book with a very satisfying storyline, not too much sex (I guess he didn’t much feel up to it with that persistent ear infection) and nicely vulnerable rounded characters. I don’t know why Nicholas wants to end their relationship because of his deafness though – my husband hasn’t been listening to me for years and he’s not even got a hearing impairment. Give them ten years, and he’ll probably stop listening to her as well.
In this one, Rosemary (her family – quelle surprise – in Jordan’s work, her heroines are ALWAYS rendered vulnerable and alone – having been wiped out in a plane crash) has been left alone looking after her nephew, Kit. Enter Kit’s Uncle, the millionaire owner of Powers Oil, Nicholas Powers. He doesn’t have an heir (and he doesn’t trust women enough to even think about getting one) so he decides to basically blackmail Rosemary into moving into his French valley with Kit and bringing him up whilst he goes off and does whatever millionaire captain of oil industries do all day. Rosemary – like all naive Jordanian heroines- falls in with his vile machinations all too easily and by chapter 7 she’s in love with him (not sure why because at first he seems to be a horrible, horrible man). However, Jordan is quick to reassure us that the only reason he is horrible is because his own mother deserted him as a child, but not before leaving him too long with an ear infection which has now caused significant health problems (the main one of which seems to be that it causes terrible pain for him whenever he flies – particularly by helicopter). Any normal person would, of course, give up the remote French Valley which can only be reached by helicopter and buy a house in Sheffield (good transport links – and you don’t have to go by air to get there!) but no, Nicholas Powers would rather suffer and then take his bad mood out on everyone around him (including poor Rosemary). From this premise, we’re into normal M&B territory – Rosemary (inevitably) gets lost in the Alpine snow and (equally inevitably) Nicholas has to come and save her (saving her involves removing all her clothes and putting her in front of a romantic log fire – can’t be too careful with hypothermia though). Inevitably (again) Nicholas ends up blackmailing her into marrying him and before you can say “you may kiss the bride” they’re deeply in love and vowing never to part.
All of the above said, there is something different about this book. Nicholas, for all his vile machinations and horrible behaviour to the sweet heroine, is a vulnerable man himself (although it takes Rosemary’s perception to convince the reader of this). Lacking any kind of love in his life he is “a man who has everything, and yet conversely has nothing.” (p. 36). He is afflicted by a disability (he reveals quite early on that it’s likely he’ll be stone deaf in ten years’ time) and feels less of a person (and a burden on Rosemary) as a result of this. Nicholas, in fact, is quite a rounded human being – not at all like those normal two dimensional M&B heroes. In fact, one gets the sense that only Rosemary can save him from himself; in fact, despite all the awful sexist things that Nicholas says, and for all his posturing, this is definitely a feminist text.
There’s some great popular history in here too – where else but in the mid-80s could the heroine get away with donning a blouson skiing jacket in “black and white jungle print” with matching salopettes? And Nicholas’ mother, when she turns up, it seems is only taking a brief break from the set of Dynasty before nipping back to push Krystal down the stairs.
This is a fabulous book with a very satisfying storyline, not too much sex (I guess he didn’t much feel up to it with that persistent ear infection) and nicely vulnerable rounded characters. I don’t know why Nicholas wants to end their relationship because of his deafness though – my husband hasn’t been listening to me for years and he’s not even got a hearing impairment. Give them ten years, and he’ll probably stop listening to her as well.
May 19, 2021
Μια πολύ ωραία ιστορία για τη δύναμη της αγάπης!!! Η αληθινή και ανιδιοτελής αγάπη, μπορεί να λιώσει και την πιο σκληρή καρδιά!!! Επίσης, πολύ ταιριαστός και ο τίτλος με την υπόθεση της ιστορίας! Άκρως ρεαλιστική γραφή , πολλές φορές ωμή, αλλά τόσο όμορφα δοσμένη, που μοιάζει με παραμύθι!!! Με συγκίνησε πολύ η ιστορία της Ρόζμαρι και του Νίκολας!!!
July 5, 2022
“He had fought a long battle against loving her, and he was now discovering that it was one he didn’t mind losing at all.” 💘
January 4, 2022
For me this had elements of Beauty and Beast in it(Disney version). Although physically our beast, the hero, looks good, he does have some medical and emotional impairments which make him beastly. He had a sister named Belle as well. The h on the other hand is the beauty. She is self sacrificing to the nth degree. I really enjoyed this story and will go into it with spoilers. Stmargarets gives a 2 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... which brings up some valid shortfalls of this book. I recognize that it definitely has those!
Spoiler Alert !
:
So in the end we have a story of a man who believes that he doesn’t need, want, or should be entitled to love and the woman who proves him wrong.
On another note, I love that the setting is France. It is a place I long to visit. We also get a little bit of history when Catherine De Medici is brought up. Of course I have heard of Catherine de’Medici, but wouldn’t be able to spout facts about her. When this book was first published, I would have had to gone to the library to do research on her. But with the internet the facts were at my fingertips in seconds. I find the old royal families fascinating. I realize the HP’s I read can get pretty outlandish, but when I read about the history’s of Queens and Kings long gone, I realize nothing can top their crazy! Oh, and I am pretty sure that Catherine had her brother in law poisoned 😉!
Spoiler Alert !
:
So in the end we have a story of a man who believes that he doesn’t need, want, or should be entitled to love and the woman who proves him wrong.
On another note, I love that the setting is France. It is a place I long to visit. We also get a little bit of history when Catherine De Medici is brought up. Of course I have heard of Catherine de’Medici, but wouldn’t be able to spout facts about her. When this book was first published, I would have had to gone to the library to do research on her. But with the internet the facts were at my fingertips in seconds. I find the old royal families fascinating. I realize the HP’s I read can get pretty outlandish, but when I read about the history’s of Queens and Kings long gone, I realize nothing can top their crazy! Oh, and I am pretty sure that Catherine had her brother in law poisoned 😉!
April 19, 2020
Trama già "vista" in giro e molto semplice, ma mi ha emozionato proprio per la sua semplicità.
Per passare un pomeriggio con gli occhi a forma di cuore, altrimenti annegato nella noia.
Per passare un pomeriggio con gli occhi a forma di cuore, altrimenti annegato nella noia.
June 8, 2014
Rosemary had been made the legal guardian of her young orphaned nephew, Kit, when she is contacted by the boy’s uncle, Nicholas Powers. Rosemary believed that she had been in love w/ her boss and so she had quickly resigned and is now put in a bind that Nicholas can use to threaten custody of Kit. You know he will, of course. He wants her to sign a contract – dun dun dun – she will, of course! Nicholas is a millionaire and believes that Kit shall be his heir. He is a little snarly w/ her w/ his threats and she is a bit intimidated w/ them too. However, she does say she will have her attorneys look over things!!! That is a big plus!
Nicholas reasons for seeking Rosemary out seem a bit protective in nature but at the heart it’s also to keep his assets safe from another that was bent on destroying everything of his families. He does risk his own comfort a few times for Rosemary and Kit and that was rather nice :) Nicholas really wasn’t a bad guy, his bark worse than his bite if you will. There were a few wrenches tossed in to stir up the growing relationship between Nicholas and Rosemary which added a bit of spice to the story. Nicholas realizes how involved he had become w/ Rosemary, but is unsure of her feelings towards him. That was nice! He even orchestrates another underhanded method to be sure she will be taken care of at a critical point – she didn’t care too much for it, but in the end the gesture was really nice. It was a nice story in the end!
Nicholas reasons for seeking Rosemary out seem a bit protective in nature but at the heart it’s also to keep his assets safe from another that was bent on destroying everything of his families. He does risk his own comfort a few times for Rosemary and Kit and that was rather nice :) Nicholas really wasn’t a bad guy, his bark worse than his bite if you will. There were a few wrenches tossed in to stir up the growing relationship between Nicholas and Rosemary which added a bit of spice to the story. Nicholas realizes how involved he had become w/ Rosemary, but is unsure of her feelings towards him. That was nice! He even orchestrates another underhanded method to be sure she will be taken care of at a critical point – she didn’t care too much for it, but in the end the gesture was really nice. It was a nice story in the end!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2019
Was she consigned to a life of a spinster?
Rosemary Stewart loved her orphaned nephew, Kit, as if he were her own son. When Kit's uncle, Nicholas Powers, stated his intention to challenge Rosemary's legal guardianship, she was desperately afraid she might lose to the powerful English millionaire.
So she agreed to sign the outrageous contract Nicholas proposed, believing it was the only way she could ensure that Kit would have all the love and caring a young child needed.
But she hadn't considered that she would ever regret signing away her rights to a life--and love--of her own
Rosemary Stewart loved her orphaned nephew, Kit, as if he were her own son. When Kit's uncle, Nicholas Powers, stated his intention to challenge Rosemary's legal guardianship, she was desperately afraid she might lose to the powerful English millionaire.
So she agreed to sign the outrageous contract Nicholas proposed, believing it was the only way she could ensure that Kit would have all the love and caring a young child needed.
But she hadn't considered that she would ever regret signing away her rights to a life--and love--of her own
April 30, 2013
Good story. I think I prefer this author's kind heroes to her cruel and angry ones. But still, a decent portrayal of the hero's uncontrollable attraction/feelings for the heroine.
September 22, 2018
So not much happens, like at all. Alot of nice locations but the characters don't really get to explore them. The hero does not change. He is a grump every since scene, wish he could have at least bonded with his nephew more. I did like the heroine she was overly compassionate, strong-willed when it came to the hero tossing money at her, and really just wanted to love her nephew. The villain strides in and strides out with a big bombshell, and that should have been handled differently.
June 17, 2024
Maybe I'm simply not in the mood...
Another spinster taking care of her late brother's child, fighting her late sister-in-law's relative for guardianship, showing the tycoon she can't be bought off and that love is more important than money.
This tycoon is going deaf, mistrusts all women because his mother is a monster who physically abused him and is willing to make his dead sister's child his heir to save his legacy from his vile mother.
Another spinster taking care of her late brother's child, fighting her late sister-in-law's relative for guardianship, showing the tycoon she can't be bought off and that love is more important than money.
This tycoon is going deaf, mistrusts all women because his mother is a monster who physically abused him and is willing to make his dead sister's child his heir to save his legacy from his vile mother.
May 14, 2015
Didn't even bothered to finish this.
October 18, 2009
This was a nice quick read romance!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews