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The Maxton Bequest
"Money can't buy everything."
That's what Ros told the arrogant Dan Maxton when he tried to buy the run-down Stables she inherited from his grandfather.
Everything she held dear was wrapped up in the studio she'd established there-and she fought tooth and nail to hang on to her principles.
It wasn't easy--especially when she realized whichever way she turned, her future happiness was at stake. Even more difficult was admitting that she'd fallen for a man who came from such a different world than her own!
That's what Ros told the arrogant Dan Maxton when he tried to buy the run-down Stables she inherited from his grandfather.
Everything she held dear was wrapped up in the studio she'd established there-and she fought tooth and nail to hang on to her principles.
It wasn't easy--especially when she realized whichever way she turned, her future happiness was at stake. Even more difficult was admitting that she'd fallen for a man who came from such a different world than her own!
- GenresHarlequin RomanceRomance
189 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1989
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Alison York
21 books7 followersChristopher Robin Nicole was born on 7 December 1930 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), where he was raised. He is the son of Jean Dorothy (Logan) and Jack Nicole, a police officer, both Scottish. He studied at Queen's College in Guyana and at Harrison College in Barbados. He was a fellow at the Canadian Bankers Association and a clerk for the Royal Bank of Canada in Georgetown and Nassau from 1947 to 1956. In 1957, he moved to Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom, where he currently lives, but he also has a domicile in Spain.
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 25, 2021
Heroine unexpectedly inherits a property from the will of a rich but lonely old man, whom she had befriended in the last years of his life. That property consists of the stables to the old man’s historic English manor. Heroine and her friends quickly convert the stables into living spaces/art studios. They also use it to entertain the disabled children from a nearby boarding school, organizing games and picnics for them etc.
Hero is the nephew and heir of the dearly departed old man. He has inherited the manor and all adjoining properties, except for the stables. He is suspicious that the heroine unduly influenced the old man into letting her move rent-free in his stables and eventually pressured him into making her a beneficiary of his will. He is cynical about the heroine's idealistic, bohemian, philanthropic lifestyle and quite annoyed that she won’t move out because he wants to turn the entire property into a posh hotel. So he offers her a lot of money to buy back the stables, which he would like to convert to a pool house for his guests.
Heroine is horrified at hero's coldhearted scheme to “modernize” a historical English manor and turn it into a playground for vulgar nouveau riche types. She is also very resentful of all his veiled threats and strong-arm tactics. As a result, she is prone to temper tantrums and a lot of hostility. Yet she did not lose my sympathy one bit. All she said and did came from a good place in her heart. She was smart not to let herself be bamboozled by the hero, who very obviously uses his charm, and his money to get what he wants. And in this case, it's the hotel he wants, more than the heroine.
Ensues a long, drawn-out, part-bickerfest, part-courtship, with hero pulling out all the stops to show heroine that money is not the root of all evil. He flies her out to France on his private jet for a surprise visit to Monet's famous garden and water lily pond in Giverny. But then he follows that romantic gesture with the extremely tacky gift of a very expensive designer dress. It's the way an arrogant tycoon would act towards a golddigging, trophy mistress and it is pretty clear this ain't the first time the hero has done his "designer dress" move on a woman he covets. Grrrr.
Heroine tries to make hero understand the old adage that money does not buy happiness. Giving to others less fortunate or riding your bicycle to the top of a hill to admire a luminous sunset can be fulfilling. The hero seems to mellow at that then loses his temper again when he gets a flat tire and decides out of sheer pettiness to break the heroine's bicycle as well, leaving them both stranded miles from nowhere in a mouse-infested old barn overnight.
When the hero realizes he is getting nowhere with the heroine, either in bed or out of it, he brings in a rude pig OW to make the heroine jealous. I couldn't forgive him for that. If he's written heroine off, and wants to go back to his manwhoring ways, fine! But to deliberately bring the mean girl mistress into the heroine's territory to rub her nose in it, even going so far as to phone the heroine to announce the news of his overnight weekend pillow friend was a Typhoon of Tackiness. I didn't blame the heroine one bit for being weary of this man :(
At some point, the hero starts realizing that in the midst of manipulating and cajoling the heroine into selling out her property to him, he has actually “fallen in love” with her. So he kicks the OW out and changes his plans for the manor, ordering his construction crew to restore it to its former glory rather than destroy it in the name of modernity. He proposes to heroine and the reader leaves them to live out their HEA in ye olde English Manor.
Well, the hero never grew on me, and unlike the heroine, I don’t trust his manipulative personality a bit. Overall, this was a compelling story, mostly due to the heroine with a heart of gold and an equally solid backbone, and a well-rounded cast of secondary characters, but not the arrogant, pushy hero.
Hero is the nephew and heir of the dearly departed old man. He has inherited the manor and all adjoining properties, except for the stables. He is suspicious that the heroine unduly influenced the old man into letting her move rent-free in his stables and eventually pressured him into making her a beneficiary of his will. He is cynical about the heroine's idealistic, bohemian, philanthropic lifestyle and quite annoyed that she won’t move out because he wants to turn the entire property into a posh hotel. So he offers her a lot of money to buy back the stables, which he would like to convert to a pool house for his guests.
Heroine is horrified at hero's coldhearted scheme to “modernize” a historical English manor and turn it into a playground for vulgar nouveau riche types. She is also very resentful of all his veiled threats and strong-arm tactics. As a result, she is prone to temper tantrums and a lot of hostility. Yet she did not lose my sympathy one bit. All she said and did came from a good place in her heart. She was smart not to let herself be bamboozled by the hero, who very obviously uses his charm, and his money to get what he wants. And in this case, it's the hotel he wants, more than the heroine.
Ensues a long, drawn-out, part-bickerfest, part-courtship, with hero pulling out all the stops to show heroine that money is not the root of all evil. He flies her out to France on his private jet for a surprise visit to Monet's famous garden and water lily pond in Giverny. But then he follows that romantic gesture with the extremely tacky gift of a very expensive designer dress. It's the way an arrogant tycoon would act towards a golddigging, trophy mistress and it is pretty clear this ain't the first time the hero has done his "designer dress" move on a woman he covets. Grrrr.
Heroine tries to make hero understand the old adage that money does not buy happiness. Giving to others less fortunate or riding your bicycle to the top of a hill to admire a luminous sunset can be fulfilling. The hero seems to mellow at that then loses his temper again when he gets a flat tire and decides out of sheer pettiness to break the heroine's bicycle as well, leaving them both stranded miles from nowhere in a mouse-infested old barn overnight.
When the hero realizes he is getting nowhere with the heroine, either in bed or out of it, he brings in a rude pig OW to make the heroine jealous. I couldn't forgive him for that. If he's written heroine off, and wants to go back to his manwhoring ways, fine! But to deliberately bring the mean girl mistress into the heroine's territory to rub her nose in it, even going so far as to phone the heroine to announce the news of his overnight weekend pillow friend was a Typhoon of Tackiness. I didn't blame the heroine one bit for being weary of this man :(
At some point, the hero starts realizing that in the midst of manipulating and cajoling the heroine into selling out her property to him, he has actually “fallen in love” with her. So he kicks the OW out and changes his plans for the manor, ordering his construction crew to restore it to its former glory rather than destroy it in the name of modernity. He proposes to heroine and the reader leaves them to live out their HEA in ye olde English Manor.
Well, the hero never grew on me, and unlike the heroine, I don’t trust his manipulative personality a bit. Overall, this was a compelling story, mostly due to the heroine with a heart of gold and an equally solid backbone, and a well-rounded cast of secondary characters, but not the arrogant, pushy hero.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2018
Two stars, entirely for the dog, Daks. Daks valiantly attempted to encourage, calm and console the h during all of her annoying snits. He also kept trying to insert himself in between the H and the h during the HEA, knowing that H deserved better.
September 22, 2017
This one was a bit meh to be honest with cardboard cut out stereotype characters. the H was the typical business man who is more or less all money, money, money and our h had experience that basically money is the root of all evil.
Both characters were condescending towards the other and how they managed to fall in lurve is beyond me. out of the 2 characters the H was definitely the better person he was willing to give the h the benefit of the doubt and change his mind when shown a better way. He also learnt to compromise. The h on the other hand was a stubborn, mistrustful wally. she needed to grow up and give people a chance rather than jump to conclusions.
Both characters were condescending towards the other and how they managed to fall in lurve is beyond me. out of the 2 characters the H was definitely the better person he was willing to give the h the benefit of the doubt and change his mind when shown a better way. He also learnt to compromise. The h on the other hand was a stubborn, mistrustful wally. she needed to grow up and give people a chance rather than jump to conclusions.
May 23, 2024
3½ Stars
While the flaws Ms York instills in Ros are often rather annoying, they do add spark to her interactions with Dan, whose point of view is rarely given. All in all, I have enjoyed this romance, some of the banter is rather fun.
While the flaws Ms York instills in Ros are often rather annoying, they do add spark to her interactions with Dan, whose point of view is rarely given. All in all, I have enjoyed this romance, some of the banter is rather fun.
'Wrong!' Something seemed to have snapped in him. He had leapt up as he almost shouted the word, and he was striding to and fro, pacing the length of the kitchen like a caged tiger. 'How is it that a man who has established more than one successful business and found it comparatively simple, a man who has brought off more deals than he can count—and decidedly to his own advantage—how is it that that man can so mishandle dealings with one woman?'
'Mishandle? I think you judged the situation very successfully.' She turned round and leaned against the table, watching him. 'You've admitted as much. Now you can go ahead and build .your precious leisure centre.'
He glared dementedly at her, his hair ruffled, his earlier calm vanished. 'That would be all very well—if I still intended the Dower House to become a hotel.'
Ros felt to be getting more and more enmeshed in something she couldn't understand; an Alice Through the Looking Glass conversation where nothing was as it seemed, nothing made sense.
'Have you been drinking?' she said suspiciously.
That made him hit the roof. 'There isn't a drink strong enough to make a man equal to dealing with a woman like you. You're a mass of prejudice. You're as obstinate as a thousand mules. You misinterpret everything I say to you.' He stopped opposite her. 'I ought to thank the gods above that there's a prospect of getting rid of you.' His hands shot through his hair again
November 12, 2022
Pleasant read.
November 12, 2017
Modern
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews