The Sugar Dragon

by Victoria Gordon

He rose from the sea like a bronzed god

And Verna Grant, experienced editor, thought the man was fantasy. In one moment on the dark predawn beach he had captured her heart—and then disappeared.

Just as suddenly, Con Bradley arrived. As a columnist for Verna's newspaper, he caused her anxiety and anger. As a friend, he was irresistibly warm.

Con wanted only friendship. Verna wanted his heart. And somehow when she thought about Con and the fantasy man, the two seemed to merge in the strangest way....

Genres: Romance, Harlequin

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 12, 1980

About the author

Gordon Aalborg was born on February 5, 1942 in Alberta, Canada. He began his writing career as a reporter, columnist and bureau chief at The Edmonton Journal in his native Alberta. He wandered off to Australia in the '70s as a freelance journalist and radio/tv broadcaster.

The best-selling romance author, Victoria Gordon born in response to the publisher's claim that "no man" could write Harlequin category romance (Gordon is widely believed to be the first man to seriously meet the challenge) , and she survives after more than twenty novels published throughout the world.

Gordon Aalborg is married to mystery writer Denise Dietz, who helped him in his book Finding Bess.

Reviews

[Margo · Rating 2 out of 5]

UGH. The H of this was a psychologically damaged game-player who was downright sadistic to the h. So why the two stars, you ask, instead of a much merited one-star rating? Why? Because she walks away from him and he grovels piteously, but also, and this is the thing that made this into a thing of beauty for me: she sics her dog on him and he gets a nasty bite as a result. A right-thinking dog like this deserves a star. Good dog! Then of course everything goes to hell because she takes him back, but for one brief shining moment, her dog mauled him and that made all the difference.

[Nals · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I wanted to try reading an older romance novel to see if I could learn something about that time period while having a little light-hearted fun.

Well. What I learned is that the male love interest in a romance novel could probably slaughter a small village or kill kittens as long as he was attractive. Con Bradley writes a column on his restaurants. He has full powers over content due to a deal with the publisher, so he uses that power to slander his editor as a "Dragon Lady" with terrible table manners after they have a work dinner one night. Verna's boss makes her publish it, telling her she can't take a joke. Later, she goes out to dinner with someone work and he writes another unflattering, cruel article on her. He laughs at her when she's hurt by it. But she should be hurt! The entire town thinks this unassuming woman is a sloppy bitch. People perpetually reference it around her. She can't eat out without getting stared at. People laugh at her in the street. He's taken away her right to a dignified fresh start in a new town. Like, at this point, she could literally sue for libel. But that isn't the worst of it.

In the first chapter, Con Bradley sexually harasses/assaults the main character. I'll put what he does under a spoiler. He's naked on the beach because Verna's dog steals his pants post-skinny dipping (which he takes way too seriously—he swears vehemently and acts as if Verna maliciously set her dog to steal his trousers). After some back-and-forth, he comes out of the water and holds her firmly to him from behind, trapping her. He is an angry stranger. She thinks he's going to rape her. He speaks suggestively and makes fun of her for being a virgin. He lets her go eventually, and it's all alright in-universe because.... he's hot and the hero, and she liked it. Obviously, that's fucked. He threatens her with rape and then leaves in order to write libel about her, and he's the hero. I just wanted to see him rotting in prison the entire time.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fluffy, fun.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can read for free with Kindle Unlimited.

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Clean