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Hurricane!
Could the flame of love be rekindled?
When Samantha Brandon agreed to fly some new guests over to the Caribbean hotel operated by her great-aunt, she was shocked to discover her estranged husband, Luke, among the passengers.
Businessman Luke Brandon had been brash and aggressive and too busy to pay attention to his young wife four years ago. But now Samantha had grown into a woman with business interests of her own.
Samantha wanted a divorce-Luke, it seemed, had other plans.
When Samantha Brandon agreed to fly some new guests over to the Caribbean hotel operated by her great-aunt, she was shocked to discover her estranged husband, Luke, among the passengers.
Businessman Luke Brandon had been brash and aggressive and too busy to pay attention to his young wife four years ago. But now Samantha had grown into a woman with business interests of her own.
Samantha wanted a divorce-Luke, it seemed, had other plans.
189 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1989
3 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Mary Lyons
127 books20 followersMary-Jo Wormell, whose nom de plume is Mary Lyons, was a popular British writer of over 40 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1983 to 2001. She was also a Conservative Party parlimentary candidate.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 22, 2016
Re Hurricane! ML brings us the standard very young h married older wealthy H and then walked out on him when their expectations of each other totally missed the mark and things went very far south.
The h was 18 when she married a 30 yr old industrialist, Lives did not mesh very well cause the h wasn't really well versed in being the hostess with the mostest and really not well versed in shopping and spa-ing while the H worked 18 hours days and maybe worked his blonde personal assistant over his desk too. After the said assistant asserted she got overtime under the H one time too many, the h decided hang this marriage for a lark and took herself off to her elderly aunt's Caribbean Hotel.
As per the standard in HPlandia, Antiguan divorce lawyers are a mythical legend. Plus the h is too occupied building a little gift shop empire and flying small aircraft and helping her aunt run her hotel, while the poor dear recovers from breaking her hip in hospital, to file for divorce four years later. Yep, the h's life is very full and there is even the potential for new romance, tho the h isn't really serious about any man after dumping the last one.
When the story opens the h is doing a charter flight favor for her former flying instructor and waiting around for the passengers. To the h's very great consternation, one of the passengers is the H she walked out on, accompanied by a very glamorous companion. The h dons her best bum pilot disguise, and after flying the group over to her island, she has a bit of a word with the local customs official and manages to get away without being recognized.
Or so she thinks, until the H manages to wander into her room while she is having a shower and complains that his companion was rather upset that she and the H were practically stripped searched by custom officials - the h is sorta sorry - NOT! Cause she might have mentioned something about drugs. Anyhoose, the H claims to have business on the island and the h wants a divorce and both subjects get dropped in favor of roofie punishing kisses instead.
We then have the obligatory 'let's humiliate the h with the H and OW' scenes and the usual ML verbal H and h skirmishes, in which the h does manage to hold her own on and some bits are fairly funny. The h manages to get the best of the OW when she has to land on a very tricky runway and the OW has hysterics. There is a bit of comedy with the H and the OM as well and a hunt for pirate's treasure just to show the H isn't a total stick in the mud. The H is also fairly impressed by the h's little mini empire.
The H and h also have real conversation about their expectations in marriage and what went wrong. The h wants a regular husband, and as she points out, the H is a workaholic - irregardless of whatever or whomever he did. The h doesn't want his lifestyle, so no matter how much he postures or bullies and uses roofie kisses, ultimately a marriage with them isn't going to work - they want different things in life and that is really okay.
However there is a real hurricane rapidly approaching and the h has to fly herself back to her island through it after being conscripted to take the H and his OW (who is his architect, the H has bought the aunt's hotel,) to another island and meet up with the H's sister. The H insists on going with the h, she is worried that the guests and staff back at the hotel will need direction for the approaching weather crisis. So we all fly off in a tiny little plane into a very big storm. While flying through it, we get the information that the H never slept with his assistant and since he came to the island to make up with the h, he never slept with his architect either.
(The H remarks that he isn't stupid and wouldn't bring his girlfriend while trying to reunite with his wife. But I did have to wonder about if that was really the case, why did he give that impression re the OW then? A bit of jarring plot device there. )
There is a very dramatic and tense account of the flight. The h manages to land the plane on her island safely, but does knock herself out in the process. The H has to take charge then and make sure all is secure for the hurricane that is coming closer. The storm hits and everybody is safe in the cellar, but the damage is extensive and we find out that the h's aunt prevented the H from coming to see the h in prior four years, (thus conveniently explaining his wife-collecting tardiness.) There is a little kid missing moment and the H gets stuck, the h gets him out and it all ends with a very passionate lurve mojo moment and a mutual declaration of love and mutual marriedness forever for the big HEA.
This one isn't bad, the banter was funny tho bordering on slapstick. The h did appear a bit immature at times, but when things were serious, she was pretty competent. The H is shown to be a bit more dimensional than a workaholic bully Alpha H as well, so I did believe they loved each other. Whether or not they can actually live together is something else entirely different and I wasn't ready to speculate, but it was a very dramatic HP voyage and worth a read if you run into it.
The h was 18 when she married a 30 yr old industrialist, Lives did not mesh very well cause the h wasn't really well versed in being the hostess with the mostest and really not well versed in shopping and spa-ing while the H worked 18 hours days and maybe worked his blonde personal assistant over his desk too. After the said assistant asserted she got overtime under the H one time too many, the h decided hang this marriage for a lark and took herself off to her elderly aunt's Caribbean Hotel.
As per the standard in HPlandia, Antiguan divorce lawyers are a mythical legend. Plus the h is too occupied building a little gift shop empire and flying small aircraft and helping her aunt run her hotel, while the poor dear recovers from breaking her hip in hospital, to file for divorce four years later. Yep, the h's life is very full and there is even the potential for new romance, tho the h isn't really serious about any man after dumping the last one.
When the story opens the h is doing a charter flight favor for her former flying instructor and waiting around for the passengers. To the h's very great consternation, one of the passengers is the H she walked out on, accompanied by a very glamorous companion. The h dons her best bum pilot disguise, and after flying the group over to her island, she has a bit of a word with the local customs official and manages to get away without being recognized.
Or so she thinks, until the H manages to wander into her room while she is having a shower and complains that his companion was rather upset that she and the H were practically stripped searched by custom officials - the h is sorta sorry - NOT! Cause she might have mentioned something about drugs. Anyhoose, the H claims to have business on the island and the h wants a divorce and both subjects get dropped in favor of roofie punishing kisses instead.
We then have the obligatory 'let's humiliate the h with the H and OW' scenes and the usual ML verbal H and h skirmishes, in which the h does manage to hold her own on and some bits are fairly funny. The h manages to get the best of the OW when she has to land on a very tricky runway and the OW has hysterics. There is a bit of comedy with the H and the OM as well and a hunt for pirate's treasure just to show the H isn't a total stick in the mud. The H is also fairly impressed by the h's little mini empire.
The H and h also have real conversation about their expectations in marriage and what went wrong. The h wants a regular husband, and as she points out, the H is a workaholic - irregardless of whatever or whomever he did. The h doesn't want his lifestyle, so no matter how much he postures or bullies and uses roofie kisses, ultimately a marriage with them isn't going to work - they want different things in life and that is really okay.
However there is a real hurricane rapidly approaching and the h has to fly herself back to her island through it after being conscripted to take the H and his OW (who is his architect, the H has bought the aunt's hotel,) to another island and meet up with the H's sister. The H insists on going with the h, she is worried that the guests and staff back at the hotel will need direction for the approaching weather crisis. So we all fly off in a tiny little plane into a very big storm. While flying through it, we get the information that the H never slept with his assistant and since he came to the island to make up with the h, he never slept with his architect either.
(The H remarks that he isn't stupid and wouldn't bring his girlfriend while trying to reunite with his wife. But I did have to wonder about if that was really the case, why did he give that impression re the OW then? A bit of jarring plot device there. )
There is a very dramatic and tense account of the flight. The h manages to land the plane on her island safely, but does knock herself out in the process. The H has to take charge then and make sure all is secure for the hurricane that is coming closer. The storm hits and everybody is safe in the cellar, but the damage is extensive and we find out that the h's aunt prevented the H from coming to see the h in prior four years, (thus conveniently explaining his wife-collecting tardiness.) There is a little kid missing moment and the H gets stuck, the h gets him out and it all ends with a very passionate lurve mojo moment and a mutual declaration of love and mutual marriedness forever for the big HEA.
This one isn't bad, the banter was funny tho bordering on slapstick. The h did appear a bit immature at times, but when things were serious, she was pretty competent. The H is shown to be a bit more dimensional than a workaholic bully Alpha H as well, so I did believe they loved each other. Whether or not they can actually live together is something else entirely different and I wasn't ready to speculate, but it was a very dramatic HP voyage and worth a read if you run into it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2019
30-something tycoon marries a hot, redhead 18 year-old. Leaves her alone. And expects????
Who knows what he was expecting - he got drama. Lots and lots of drama.
Heroine fled to the Caribbean to her Great-aunt. She learned to fly and to help auntie with her hotel. Now it's four years later, auntie is in the hospital and hero has turned up with a blonde OW in tow.
H/h stare at each other and quarrel and have sex and flounce and . . . you know the drill. The black moment/resolution comes during a hurricane (surprise!)
The exclamation mark in the title again shows that the drama is indeed manufactured and real life will not be represented in these pages.
Boogenhagen has all the details.
Who knows what he was expecting - he got drama. Lots and lots of drama.
Heroine fled to the Caribbean to her Great-aunt. She learned to fly and to help auntie with her hotel. Now it's four years later, auntie is in the hospital and hero has turned up with a blonde OW in tow.
H/h stare at each other and quarrel and have sex and flounce and . . . you know the drill. The black moment/resolution comes during a hurricane (surprise!)
The exclamation mark in the title again shows that the drama is indeed manufactured and real life will not be represented in these pages.
Boogenhagen has all the details.
July 17, 2016
Samantha is a very busy woman. At 24, she has her small plane license, owns 5 clothing boutiques and is currently managing her great-aunt’s Caribbean hotel. Oh, and she’s been living separately from her husband, Luke, for the past 4 years.
Luke is a big business tycoon, and they married when Samantha was 18 and he was 30. He got irritated with how marrying a girl of 18 didn’t automatically turn her into a sophisticated woman who knew how to give dinner parties, and she got irritated that a man of 30 running a million-dollar business spent almost every hour of his day at work. Plus, she’s convinced he’s having an affair with his personal assistant. Mostly, because his personal assistant mentioned on several occasions that she was having an affair with her boss.
So one day, Samantha has to fly some people over to the island where her great-aunt’s hotel is, and Luke is on her plane with a very pretty girl. Samantha does her best to not let Luke see her, but of course he does, and pretty soon he’s walking in on her fresh from a shower and feeling her up under her bathrobe. Luke is determined to restart their marriage.
So, Samantha is pretty typical of heroines on the run from their husbands. She’s all about the past pain, and feels all wounded and hardly done by and she wants a divorce but she doesn’t want to talk about it sensibly. Instead, she wants to beat her tiny fists against the hero’s chest and succumb to his punishing kisses. And Luke of course wants her back and eventually there will be rational explanations as to why it’s taken four years to come get her. And there are promises of reduced working hours and eventually convincing arguments refuting his infidelity. These two like getting cranky at each other and then making out, so more power to them.
What really elevates this book is just how awesome Samantha is allowed to be. She flies planes! She has five businesses and she’s incredibly competent. There’s this fantastic point where she tells Luke that she’s boss of the plane and she doesn’t want any arguments, and then he later tells her that he’s boss of organising a hotel full of guests during a hurricane and it’s just so great the way they work together and both get to be competently heroic and be respectful and awed by how awesome the other person is.
While I found Samantha’s emotions a little tiresome, and Luke arrogant and grabby, they did come together beautifully and I really appreciate that Mary Lyons allows her heroines to be strong and competent and to demonstrate that competence without nervously wondering whether it will detract from their femininity.
Luke is a big business tycoon, and they married when Samantha was 18 and he was 30. He got irritated with how marrying a girl of 18 didn’t automatically turn her into a sophisticated woman who knew how to give dinner parties, and she got irritated that a man of 30 running a million-dollar business spent almost every hour of his day at work. Plus, she’s convinced he’s having an affair with his personal assistant. Mostly, because his personal assistant mentioned on several occasions that she was having an affair with her boss.
So one day, Samantha has to fly some people over to the island where her great-aunt’s hotel is, and Luke is on her plane with a very pretty girl. Samantha does her best to not let Luke see her, but of course he does, and pretty soon he’s walking in on her fresh from a shower and feeling her up under her bathrobe. Luke is determined to restart their marriage.
So, Samantha is pretty typical of heroines on the run from their husbands. She’s all about the past pain, and feels all wounded and hardly done by and she wants a divorce but she doesn’t want to talk about it sensibly. Instead, she wants to beat her tiny fists against the hero’s chest and succumb to his punishing kisses. And Luke of course wants her back and eventually there will be rational explanations as to why it’s taken four years to come get her. And there are promises of reduced working hours and eventually convincing arguments refuting his infidelity. These two like getting cranky at each other and then making out, so more power to them.
What really elevates this book is just how awesome Samantha is allowed to be. She flies planes! She has five businesses and she’s incredibly competent. There’s this fantastic point where she tells Luke that she’s boss of the plane and she doesn’t want any arguments, and then he later tells her that he’s boss of organising a hotel full of guests during a hurricane and it’s just so great the way they work together and both get to be competently heroic and be respectful and awed by how awesome the other person is.
While I found Samantha’s emotions a little tiresome, and Luke arrogant and grabby, they did come together beautifully and I really appreciate that Mary Lyons allows her heroines to be strong and competent and to demonstrate that competence without nervously wondering whether it will detract from their femininity.
Read
June 16, 2009Famous tycoon falling for 18 year old! Argh!
Punishing kisses! Argh!
Coincidental meeting. Argh!
Harlequin cliches! Argh!
Punishing kisses! Argh!
Coincidental meeting. Argh!
Harlequin cliches! Argh!
February 22, 2019
I liked this one, the heroine was so kickass! She was a pilot and she owned a little boutique franchise with 5 shops.
She was a very young 18 when she married her much older husband, and she was inexperienced and insecure. Her husband loved her but was a workaholic and neglected her a lot. Plus she felt unable to live up to his sophisticated lifestyle. Her husband didn’t help matters by criticizing her a lot, which just made her lose more self esteem. He also had a very evil PA who convinced the heroine that they were having an affair. She finally had enough and left her unappreciative slime husband.
She has now matured into the competent woman that she is. No thanks to him, but after 4 years he comes looking for her.
I liked how the story developed. How a young insecure girl can be held back by a possessive older man. They both lacked trust in each other so this naturally contributed to the breakdown of their marriage. The husband, oh his part, resented that she treated him like a surrogate father figure, since she had just lost her father, and he felt she was channeling her dependence onto him.
The lost years gave the heroine a chance to mature and gain self esteem, and for the husband to regret his treatment of his young wife. IMHO Four years is too long to wait, but from his explanation, he had been keeping in touch w her aunt and was told to give her time. Also, the aunt deliberately kept them apart.
I felt hopeful for their happy ever after.
She was a very young 18 when she married her much older husband, and she was inexperienced and insecure. Her husband loved her but was a workaholic and neglected her a lot. Plus she felt unable to live up to his sophisticated lifestyle. Her husband didn’t help matters by criticizing her a lot, which just made her lose more self esteem. He also had a very evil PA who convinced the heroine that they were having an affair. She finally had enough and left her unappreciative slime husband.
She has now matured into the competent woman that she is. No thanks to him, but after 4 years he comes looking for her.
I liked how the story developed. How a young insecure girl can be held back by a possessive older man. They both lacked trust in each other so this naturally contributed to the breakdown of their marriage. The husband, oh his part, resented that she treated him like a surrogate father figure, since she had just lost her father, and he felt she was channeling her dependence onto him.
The lost years gave the heroine a chance to mature and gain self esteem, and for the husband to regret his treatment of his young wife. IMHO Four years is too long to wait, but from his explanation, he had been keeping in touch w her aunt and was told to give her time. Also, the aunt deliberately kept them apart.
I felt hopeful for their happy ever after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2022
I love the h sorted herself out and can competently fly a plane and run a business even if she does melt at the end...
The h marries the 30 YO H at 18 and is then promptly neglected as he works all hours. She isn't really cut out to be a trophy wife so after having his skanky co-worker insinuate they be bumping uglies once too often the h takes off and goes to stay with her aunt in the Caribbean to help run her hotel.
This is where she comes into her own. She learns to fly gets a business and matures.
4 years later hubby turns up with another shady lady and the h impresses him with her skills.
He wants a reunion but she doesn't see how it will work because she likes what she's doing now she doesn't really want to get sucked into his world again.
Some hairy scary flying and a hurricane later and these 2 are ready for their HEA!
The h marries the 30 YO H at 18 and is then promptly neglected as he works all hours. She isn't really cut out to be a trophy wife so after having his skanky co-worker insinuate they be bumping uglies once too often the h takes off and goes to stay with her aunt in the Caribbean to help run her hotel.
This is where she comes into her own. She learns to fly gets a business and matures.
4 years later hubby turns up with another shady lady and the h impresses him with her skills.
He wants a reunion but she doesn't see how it will work because she likes what she's doing now she doesn't really want to get sucked into his world again.
Some hairy scary flying and a hurricane later and these 2 are ready for their HEA!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2020
Could the flame of love be rekindled?
When Samantha Brandon agreed to fly some new guests over to the Caribbean hotel operated by her great-aunt, she was shocked to discover her estranged husband, Luke, among the passengers.
Businessman Luke Brandon had been brash and aggressive and too busy to pay attention to his young wife four years ago. But now Samantha had grown into a woman with business interests of her own.
Samantha wanted a divorce-Luke, it seemed, had other plans
When Samantha Brandon agreed to fly some new guests over to the Caribbean hotel operated by her great-aunt, she was shocked to discover her estranged husband, Luke, among the passengers.
Businessman Luke Brandon had been brash and aggressive and too busy to pay attention to his young wife four years ago. But now Samantha had grown into a woman with business interests of her own.
Samantha wanted a divorce-Luke, it seemed, had other plans
October 7, 2025
This one is a breath of fresh air actually. OTT drama at times, but hilariously so, spliced with a hilarious FMC who takes no crap off the MMC, except, OOPS, when he touches her bc she has body-betrayal syndrome big-time.
Just found/finding this one delightful. Haven't gotten to the Hurricane!!!!! part yet, so we'll see how it goes, but yeah this one was actually fun instead of depressing like some of these can get.
EDIT: Okay, they're flying into the Hurricane!!!!!!!, and MMC has just decided to analyze their relationship while FMC is trying to keep them from crashing into any of the other airplanes in the storm. MMC, who arrived at her island with a young, very attractive, blonde architect in tow, has just said this to her question about said architect and his relationship:
-- "Is it likely, when I came to St Pauls for the sole purpose of trying to get you to come back to me, that I'd be stupid enough to bring a girlfriend along to keep me company?"
And I'm over here, like, dude you were stupid enough to bring a young female gorgeous architect along to keep you company while you tried to woo your wife... it's not THAT far of a stretch.
Just found/finding this one delightful. Haven't gotten to the Hurricane!!!!! part yet, so we'll see how it goes, but yeah this one was actually fun instead of depressing like some of these can get.
EDIT: Okay, they're flying into the Hurricane!!!!!!!, and MMC has just decided to analyze their relationship while FMC is trying to keep them from crashing into any of the other airplanes in the storm. MMC, who arrived at her island with a young, very attractive, blonde architect in tow, has just said this to her question about said architect and his relationship:
-- "Is it likely, when I came to St Pauls for the sole purpose of trying to get you to come back to me, that I'd be stupid enough to bring a girlfriend along to keep me company?"
And I'm over here, like, dude you were stupid enough to bring a young female gorgeous architect along to keep you company while you tried to woo your wife... it's not THAT far of a stretch.
April 16, 2023
Not sure what H expected when he married the very young h, but he did nothing to see it materialize. “You are merely required to look beautiful and be waiting in the apartment when I come home” sounds more like a mistress job description than a wife.
H was stupid and demanding the year they were together and h was immature. He seemed to want a wind up bedroom toy not a wife, spent little time with her, and lectured her on how to behave with his older, sophisticated friends. Ugh.
Parts are very funny, ML describes scenes so well we can almost see H dripping lime syllabub and OM walking in on them. Our h has a temper she can’t control around H and never remembers to lock her door.
The dangerous flight through terrible storm and emergency landing on the beach are vivid. He grovels at the end and I loved his statement that he “completely lost his heart to her” at first sight. Hard to believe he then listened to her interfering aunt.
The main downside is they argue so much.
H was stupid and demanding the year they were together and h was immature. He seemed to want a wind up bedroom toy not a wife, spent little time with her, and lectured her on how to behave with his older, sophisticated friends. Ugh.
Parts are very funny, ML describes scenes so well we can almost see H dripping lime syllabub and OM walking in on them. Our h has a temper she can’t control around H and never remembers to lock her door.
The dangerous flight through terrible storm and emergency landing on the beach are vivid. He grovels at the end and I loved his statement that he “completely lost his heart to her” at first sight. Hard to believe he then listened to her interfering aunt.
The main downside is they argue so much.
April 30, 2023
Oh boy, how do I even begin? Samantha finds herself fighting against herself over an old flame that she ran away from, Luke. You can see why sh ran away from him with his toxic traits, which she quickly grew to hate. However, he won’t quit as easy as she did. Throw in a Hurricane in the mix, and you have yourself this story. It was entertaining, though you could tell it is an older book by how it was written. I will say that I do find this relationship to be toxic and not one to pine for. Seems to be a bit of a disappointment from Harlequin, but it was a quick read that can be a palette cleanser.
January 2, 2023
Not bad but boring
The couple gets married the moment the girl is out of school (as he's in love and she is an orphan). The marriage ends in disaster. The girl runs away to a remote island.
Now he's back and determined ti make it work.
The couple gets married the moment the girl is out of school (as he's in love and she is an orphan). The marriage ends in disaster. The girl runs away to a remote island.
Now he's back and determined ti make it work.
March 31, 2022
Read it in 24 hours, it was good
big-age-difference-skip-for-now
July 28, 202218h/30H
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