Farewell To Love

by Jessica Steele

SO IT WAS ALL A GREAT SHAM

Meredith had loved Ryan Carlisle at first sight and had been swept off her feet in a dream of romance. The miracle was that Ryan loved her, too.

The dream shattered on their wedding day when she accidentally overheard Ryan telling a friend "to own her shares, I'd have married her had she looked like the rear end of a horse. "

Anger spurred her into action. Meredith didn't know where she'd go or what she'd do --- but she could no longer think of living with Ryan ...

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Contemporary Romance, Romance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 9, 1989

About the author

Jessica Steele was born on May 9, 1933 in the elegant Warwickshire town of Royal Leamington Spa. She has two super brothers, Colin and George, and a lovely sister, Elizabeth. She was a delicate child and missed a lot of school. In fact, she left school at aged 14, when she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. At 16, she started work as a junior clerk. In 1967, Jessica married with her husband, Peter and within a very short space of time they had moved from her hometown to the lovely area where they now live. Their house is built into the side of a hill, and has beautiful views over more hills and valleys. Her brothers and her sister are very close and she has plenty of nephews and nieces to make up for the fact that she and her husband have no children of their own. Both she and her husband are more than a little dog-oriented, and their current dog is a Staffordshire bull terrier named Florence. Florence is gorgeous. She loves everybody but, since she is 40 pounds of dynamite and would hurl her boisterous self at everyone she meets - given half a chance - she has to be restrained (as much as possible). She is fun.

Her husband spurred Jessica on to her writing career, giving her every support while she did what she considers her five-year apprenticeship (the rejection years) while learning how to write. She published her first books in 1979. Jessica has tried using a typewriter, but it just doesn't work for her. She is much happier writing in longhand, and in actual fact has a dozen or so fountain pens filled and ready to go at the start of any one session. A friend has a secretarial agency and, after deciphering Jessica's writing, returns an immaculately typed manuscript. To gain authentic background for her books, she has travelled and researched in Greece, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 1 out of 5]

For this review I had to Google the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath because I wanted to describe the hero correctly. I settled on psychopath, since a sociopath has a conscience.

A psychopath doesn’t have a conscience. If he lies to you so he can steal your money, he won’t feel any moral qualms, though he may pretend to.

Scene One: Department store opening
Heroine: I’m a doormat
Hero: I’m a psychopath
Heroine: My elderly great aunt and uncle let me out of the house. I saw the hero and it was love in the elevator at first sight.
Hero: ?
Heroine: I have thousands of shares in that stock you just happened to need for your company
Hero: ?
Reviewer: ?

Scene Two: H/h’s second date
Heroine: Here is my dead father’s will that leaves all my shares to my husband on our wedding day. And here are the share certificates.
Hero: ?
Heroine: Oh dear, I left my important documents in the hero’s car
Reviewer: Help.

Scene Three: Heroine’s wedding day
Heroine: There was no time for me to have a wedding dress, but I’m glad I have this new blue going-away suit. I think I’ll just sit here and think about how much I love this hero.
Hero (talking to his best man): 'But to own those shares I'd have married her had she looked like the rear end of a horse.'
Heroine: *jaw drop*
Reviewer: *jaw drop*
Hero: 'It's a bonus, of course, that she's a biddable little thing'
Heroine: Does he mean doormat?
Reviewer: He means doormat.
Heroine: *mewling doormat noises at the hero*
Hero: You caught me. Oh, well. It would have been fun teaching you “new things.” You can sleep in the spare room.
Heroine: *wonders what those “new things” are*
Reviewer: Are you kidding me – you want to sleep with a psychopath?
Heroine: He’s so hot.

Scene Four: Next morning
Heroine: I’m leaving. *slaps hero*
Hero: *smirks*
Doorman: Can I call you a taxi for the train station?
Heroine: I never thought of going to the train station.
Reviewer: Oh, ffs

Scene Five: Many pages later
Heroine: I just remembered I have an artist friend with an annoying brother who will serve as a quasi-OM. I’ll take that train and spend several chapters apart from the psychopath.
Reviewer: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Scene Six: More pages later
Hero: Your great-uncle is faking another heart attack.
Heroine: You drove all the way to my artist’s friends house to tell me that?
Hero: The author had to get us together somehow.

Scene Seven: At great-uncles’ house
Heroine: I guess that heart attack wasn’t fake
Hero: Let me show you those “new things”
Heroine: Okay
Hero: I’ve never had sex with a doormat before – it’s kind of fun.
Heroine: He didn’t say he loves me. *returns to artist friend*
Reviewer: Oh, ffs

Scene Eight: At the theatre
Heroine: I’m here with the artist’s brother
Hero: I’m here with an OW
Heroine: I’m jealous
Hero: *smirking at heroine* I’d like to hit that again.
Reviewer: Kill them with fire.

Scene Nine: It’s time to wrap this up – Jessica Steele style
Hero: I married you for your shares, but that’s okay - you married me to get out of the house.
Heroine: *mewling doormat noises* I can’t tell him I married for love.
Hero: After I taught you “new things”, I realized I had loved you all along.
Reviewer: Noooooooooooooo! Stop. Just stop.
I will not be sucked into the black hole of absurdity.
LA LA LA LA LA LA
*deep calming breath* Thank God this was too boring to be a trainwreck.
Heroine: But he says he loves me. This is a happy ending!
Reviewer: *claps book shut*
*digs hole*
*throws in Farewell to Love*
*fills in hole*

Alternate Ending:
Reviewer: *claps book shut*
*clicks lighter next to Farewell to Love*
*warms hands on the blaze*

Symbolic Ending:
Reviewer: *picks up all the floor mats in the house*
*hangs them on clothesline*
*beats the dirt out of them*
*realizes they are still floor mats and nothing will change that*

[Kiki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hero REALLY married her for her shares. Was quite unashamed and unfazed when he got caught by her. Tried to play nonchalant thinking since she's quite shy little thing she'd turn into a doormat and he can have the shares AND a good looking wife if he tries to be bossy and aggressive and non caring. And still thought would have a wedding night and can manipulate her with sex.
Heroine didn't give two shits, walked out, and told him in plain English devoid of anything longer than two syllables that she'd be getting a divorce.
Then, ONLY then he decided his ego is dented and he needs to pursue his wife.
His excellent remark to his friend that she overheard was that he would have married her for the shares even if she looked like a horses you know what.
NEVER apologised for it.
Didn't redeem himself at all!
He gave up the shares but that was basically the ONLY way to make her trust him. He tried everything else, this was done as a last resort as she was pretty adamant about tossing him. To be honest, she was happily taking the shares AND tossing him, but I think the author realised this is romance and needs HEA and the OM didn't have enough screen time to replace this f**ker, so abruptly we get one of the MOST unrealistic and unbelievable HEA.
And he REALLY cold-bloodedly married her for the shares so I don't buy his love, i believe my explanation of dented ego more.
Also, what if SHE really was a not so pleasant looking woman? Then she should have deserved the callous treatment and his lack of love would have been valid? Cause he DID fall in love with the "beautiful" woman not a one looking like the horses ass!

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farewell to Writing, more like!
Oh well, it's a Jessica Steele.

'What a nerve!' and ' What a cheek!' is the sum total of the h's newly acquired spine. Oh, and a slap! That's payback enough, I guess, for getting swindled out of shares worth ?millions? And for fuzzy-but-there pretensions of love and romance.
I was more bothered about her getting duped out of her money than the loveless marriage. Materialistic soul that I am.

JS may not write in a user friendly way but sure can come up with original plots and settings for her virginals. And I'm a sucker for evil ulterior motives!
Does anyone else think the woman on the cover resembles Glenn Close of Fatal Attraction?

[Margo · Rating 1 out of 5]

The H is morally bankrupt, and I didn't believe for a minute that he loved her. She's like a duckling who who has imprinted on a thresher -- she's going to be shredded up by this man. It would probably make more sense to compare him to a wolf or tiger, or some such predator, but those animals have integrity.

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

He really marries her out of interest and she's too stupid to live.
The hero sees nothing wrong in his behavior and behaves very stupidly.
All very unbelievable and silly.
I hate myself for reading this book.
Move on!

Not that Ryan had ever said he loved her, but Meredith knew he did—why else would he have married her?

For, 'My stars, Ryan, you must be the jammiest devil I know,' she clearly heard his friend say jovially. 'Not only do you get those shares you've wanted for so long— but the woman you have to take with them just happens to be beautiful!'

But when it quickly dawned on her that he was saying that Ryan had married her not because he loved her but because of the shares, she stayed where she was, sure that Ryan would put his friend right in no uncertain terms.

'It takes the edge off having to marry at all that my bride just happens to be beautiful,' she heard him admit, and, as the colour started to drain from her face, she heard him add, 'But to own those shares I'd have married her had she looked like the rear end of a horse.' Meredith was clutching on to the stair-rail as though her life depended upon it when he tacked on cheerfully, 'It's a bonus, of course, that she's a biddable little thing, and...'

Ryan Carlisle had not married her because he loved her, but because to marry her was the only way in which he could get his hands on her shares.

Because he wasn't nice, and he wasn't kind, and he was a pig! Because she loved him and he didn't love her, and she had kissed him from love and he—he had only kissed her because he had known that her aunt had been watching.

And that was when Meredith, her world falling apart for the second time, knew that Ryan Carlisle would not be ringing her home that night—not unless he did it in the theatre interval, anyhow. Though she could not see him leaving his stunning-looking companion on any such whim!

Only her husband and the person nearest to him—in age as well as physically—stood out, and Meredith saw for herself that he did indeed date other women, his date for this evening in particular being a most attractive and elegantly turned-out dark-haired woman.

And since it seemed you wanted a little romance in your life, I was prepared to play my part there too. Th...' 'How benevolent of you!' Meredith could not resist saying, and was ignored for her trouble.

[RomLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

SO IT WAS ALL A GREAT SHAM

Meredith had loved Ryan Carlisle at first sight and had been swept off her feet in a dream of romance. The miracle was that Ryan loved her, too.

The dream shattered on their wedding day when she accidentally overheard Ryan telling a friend "to own her shares, I'd have married her had she looked like the rear end of a horse. "

Anger spurred her into action. Meredith didn't know where she'd go or what she'd do --- but she could no longer think of living with Ryan

[LLC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too silly and implausible for words. I usually force myself to finish a book to se if the H can redeem himself. In this case I read to the finish to see if the book could redeem it self. It didn't and neither did the H in my opinion
Re-read. Liked it a little better. Really I'm just not mch of Jessica Steele fan.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessica Steele is on auto buy for me, even though she only writes Harlequin Romances and some Hqn Presents. She is now about 80 years old, sad to say.

Steele is one of the worst writers, in terms of syntax, grammar, etc. Her sentence construction is ... unusual. But IMO, she is among the best at Hqn in terms of storytelling and sexual tension.

Her heroines are virgins, and the wanting drives the heroes nuts. But usually, the hero starts off on the wrong foot, thinking the gal did something terrible (embezzle, sleep around, etc), so they are cold and ruthless. Steele's heroes always endure internal conflict, because they are falling in love with a woman without honor, a shady character! So they blow hot and cold and generally mess it all up. Later, when they realize how wrong they've been, they sweat it out! Sometimes they grovel - I like a good grovel. :-)

[Melanie♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Implausible even for a Harlequin.

[girlwithhearteyes]

DNF @ 20%. I found her job as a dedicated window dresser amusing (the book was published in 1990), but the FMC was kind of dumb. Of course he married her for her shares, with the way she carried on about them when they first met and was like "oh hey, I thought you might want to see the share certificates!" 😒

[April Brookshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does anyone else notice how strong the heroine's jaw is on the cover? Even more so than the hero. Makes her look like a drag queen.

It always seems like many of the Harlequin heroes love their heroines in a big part because they're innocent little virgins.

And in the old Harlequins especially because the heroines are so much younger and smitten by the heroes.

Back to the book, it was boring for me. I think I've maybe read one too many Harlequins recently and I need to lay off them for awhile.

Although, I have this other old Jessica Steele book in front of me right now that seems interesting. So, we'll see.

[Fabiola GR · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fairly entertaining read for me, kept reading to know what would happen next.
The thing is, until the last chapters, there just isn’t a lot of romance in the book. In fact, despite the heroine not being able to stop thinking about the hero 24/7, they were together very little time - 95% of which the heroine spent acting woodenly, insulting and distrusting the hero.

That in itself is quite a feat, for Meredith really is somewhat of a doormat, “biddable” and not really thinking things through, just going with the flow. She was so infatuated with the hero at first sight, she just babbles about some shares she inherited from her grandfather (or rather, her future husband will inherit), thinking they’re worthless and just a funny topic. She clearly has no financial troubles, for she doesn’t care to check how much they’re worth in the present day, receive an allowance from her husband, or work for a living. Meredith does spend a lot of time at home though, cooking, making tea, thinking about the hero… not the lazy type. It bothers me though that, of all things, she graduated in Arts, but doesn’t really feel the need to paint (like her friend Tessa) or just create anything, take her mind off the hero.

Anyway, very coincidentally, the hero had been coveting shares from that exact company. So this is really a marriage of convenience story, with the exception that the heroine only happens to find that out on the wedding day. The twist is that Ryan was himself so convinced that he was only in for the shares, busy wanting to speed things up, he didn’t realize he was actually falling in love with her prior to the wedding. Their separation was premature but, despite acting all nonchalant about it, none of them really wanted a divorce.
Ryan never apologises for treating the marriage as a business transaction - for he was even convinced that she had set the whole thing up - yet, for all purposes, he was always very willing to give the marriage a chance, act like a real husband and supporting the heroine when needed, treating her relatives nicely, etc.

I really liked the final scene, when the hero reaches a point of desperation and decides to put the cards on the table, revealing his real feelings and admitting he really doesn’t want a divorce.
This time, Meredith won’t accept nothing less than the 4-letters-word, LOVE, and things almost don’t work out, but finally there’s a happy ending.
The funny part is that, by now, the heroine is totally okay with just being together with him. Forget the crass comments or the shares; she wouldn’t be able to get her hands on the money while the shares were worth anything anyway, and she didn’t really care about what Ryan ended up doing with it - I think Ryan could literally get away with murder. Love at first sight is dangerous like that. Fortunately, the hero had tuned his moral compass and decided to right things by transferring the shares into her name, to gain her trust back and to show that now he knows for sure that what he really wants is her.
Not sure it’s a HEA, but it’s a happy ending with no loose ends.
Now they will start to live together and really get to know each other. At least Meredith is a good cook.

[Trenchologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

2+ Not really sure where to put this one. Wasn't a thrill but didn't make me annoyed or cold.

Plenty of classic Steele tropes, but the plot is quite the spanner. Begins with a marriage that quickly unravels and then has to be rewound.

I'm not convinced the hero redeems himself from outright marrying her for shares (money & control of an empire). I'm not convinced he isn't allowed to have taken her at her not-word that she wanted something in the bargain for those shares that also did not involve love, and then fall for her over the course of the book. I mean, he didn't know her when he proposed aside the shares -- and she never said I <3 you *___* during their whirlwind to the altar -- but then got a lot of lessons and catch-up work in getting to know her and reasons to love her.

I was glad the heroine up and left him -- several times -- immediately upon learning his deception and then throughout at other points. I liked her friendship with Tessa & that Tessa wasn't another sheltered virgin (Steele does love her sheltered virgins). I liked that she cared for others and found ways to stand up for herself, even if I found her love at first sight--and continued weakness for Ryan--inexplicable. Saved her from being a complete wet rag.

This is yet another you cannot read with a mind-on-today. It'd just give you hives. He's too outlandishly controlling* and she's too old-fashionedly naive. I'm not sure if that's good or bad so I tend to take it without value judgment. I also take that I can read and enjoy for what it is and no one else has to accept them on old school terms, so.

Will they have a HEA? I think so. They were through the wringer and 'fell in love' over the course of having a sham marriage almost disintegrate. His having the shares put back in her name helps a lot; the good-grovel always boosts a Steele hero's chances, in the moment and as long-term reformed. And with her elderly family taken care of and what backbone and appreciation for independence she gained in place, she has a chance of holding her own.

*not quite the right word but I'm not hitting on it

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The h tries to have a backbone but it keeps melting the face of the Hs love mojo. She thinks he's nice? He is not. He's a real jerk and a much more interesting book would have seen her get her money out of him and them reunite a few years later.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually like Jessica Steele's books. But for some reason I thought this was boring. Maybe it’s the fact that, for the last half of the book, there isn't a lot of interaction between the h/H.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing like a MOC marriage in trouble to start the day. Meredith fell in love at first sight and Ryan fell in love with the company shares she was babbling about while trying to get his attention.

The hasty marriage was doomed when Meredith finds out on her wedding day that her husband married her for her shares. From then on it was a back and forwards dance as she runs and he pursues. He was aided by the ill health of her elderly relatives and so was she as it gave her a perfect reason to avoid her new husband.

This is a sweet fairly lightweight read with a lovely ending and lots of grovelling.

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looked forward to reading this but was not impressed. It just does not seem logical that a man who is so mercenary and unfeeling would suddenly fall in love with the h and turn the shares over to her. I didn't think that fit his character.

[Bubblegum · Rating 2 out of 5]

i rate this book with two stars as i thought it lacked captivity as it could have been a bit more dramatic and angsty in some scenes.