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Loser Take All
Win or lose--It was marriage
Nicholas Curzon didn't exactly win Cara for his unwilling bride in a poker game. He won her father's two Charter fishing boats--the source of the family's precarious livelihood. But in the end it was the same thing.
Having done the family business accounts for years, Cara knew it was fruitless to try to negotiate with the high roller from Nevada.
There was only one thing that would save her family from financial ruin and make Nicholas change his mind--and that was Cara herself!
Nicholas Curzon didn't exactly win Cara for his unwilling bride in a poker game. He won her father's two Charter fishing boats--the source of the family's precarious livelihood. But in the end it was the same thing.
Having done the family business accounts for years, Cara knew it was fruitless to try to negotiate with the high roller from Nevada.
There was only one thing that would save her family from financial ruin and make Nicholas change his mind--and that was Cara herself!
187 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1986
1 person is currently reading
117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 24, 2016
Re Loser Takes All - this is a classic HP - and I will paraphrase seton here and say this has all the classic tropes, cause as all HPlandians know - true love in HPLandia doesn't come for free, it ALWAYS requires blackmail, coercion, objectification and rape or it just isn't an HP kinda love.
Now you know the worst and if you are still in the running for the story, here it is.
The h is a typical downtrodden Cinderelly waiting hand and foot on her father and three older brothers who are fishermen. Her mum is ill with cancer and her youngest brother in age is her only friend. She thinks she wants to be a nun, but as this isn't Shakespeare there will be no hieing to a nunnery allowed.
Instead we get the casino owner H who has been covetously eyeing the h for some years now on his annual chartered fishing trip with the h's dad. One night things get outta hand with the booze and the gambling and the h's dad loses his boats' titles to the H in a poker game. Not to worry, the H will tear up those title holding pages straight away, as soon as the h agrees to marry him and sacrifice her virginity on the altar of his tower of power, - she is utterly repulsed by the idear - but as we all know by now, resistance is futile.
The h and H marry, he is all set to exercise his lustful desires and the h agrees not inhibit his manly impulses - except he is getting into swinging the lurve club and she is throwing up - apparently emptying one's stomach contents with a narrow miss of the H's chest is an excellent way to avoid unwanted marital intimacies.
So win for the h on that one, she has a purgatorial experience every time he draws near, and since toothpaste was in short supply, the H just isn't going there and the h retires nightly to her virginal boudoir alone.
Outside of the bedroom the h and H gradually limp along with the H setting people straight about being nice to his badly dressed wife when she wants to shop, and encouraging her when she decides to fill her time with volunteering at the local church day care. Tho being a Bride of God is off the agenda, the h still finds comfort in her parish attendance in between bouts of nausea and condemning the H's gambling business.
Until the night of the H's X-mas party, the h learns to dance and the requisite OW jumps in to cut her out. The h has no clue about fighting for a man she doesn't want anyway, but does get a little perturbed at the lingering mistletoe obligatory tonsil swallowing that occurs between the H and OW over the course of the evening.
Finally the h gets it, she is feeling some lust and decides that if the OW can dress like THAT and get some tonsil hockey action, she should too, but the H reads it as if she is going to dress like a tart, he may as well treat her like one, and the inevitable marital rape ensues. (Some reviewers were shocked at this, but it really was inevitable from the first pages when the H states he will take the h as he pleases and he will make sure she will like it -- eventually, after the usual lurve clubbing battering mojo charm kicks in. {this only works in HPlandia})
The next morning the H has removed himself from the situation, leaving a note and a box and of course the h is leaving him - she packs only the pathetic rags of clothing she arrived in and willfully refuses to read either the note or open the box.
Except she really can't leave the daycare on short notice and when she calls dear old mum - who willfully sold the h off via guilt tripping - the mum's cancer isn't getting any worse and she won't be home anyway, the H is providing top flight care and housekeeping, so mum is kickin' it in another town for a while with the h's favorite brother.
Besides, mum tells her the best thing for her is the H anyways, and she ALWAYS listens to her mum. So the h doesn't leave and eventually curiosity overrides good sense, or maybe a ticket to Tahiti and a Mai Tai on the beach since she has a large checking account balance, and she reads the note. Which turns out to be a very nicely written apology, (Miss Manners would approve,) and the box holds the titles to her dear old dad's boats - made out to her.
Now she is all ready to jump on board the H's lurve train, as he has amply demonstrated that he too can use and abuse just like the rest of her family, she feels so at home now and when he finally arrives back from his "business trip", the h is decked out in his wedding night virgin sacrifice, er, gift of lingerie and ready to ride the thunder.
Passion ensues and it is The Best Ever. The H admits he is has been in love with her since she was 14 (no- I am just not going there,) he panicked when her dad stated her Nunhood aspirations so he forced the card game and proudly admits that she will never meet his OW cause he has been so discrete while waiting for her to be ready to bully, er, come around to his way of thinking.
The h can now celebrate her martyrdom in true HP style and the status quo of HPLandia is safe once again. Another successful lurve clubbing effect has battered down the walls of resistance for the HEA win, and proves the mojo of the mighty club is the most powerful force throughout HPlandia.
For obvious reasons, this book is really only recommended for the die hard HP veteran - and RH is actually pretty mild, she just doesn't have Sara Craven's forced seduction talents, but RH gives it a good college try and it all works out in the end. I did appreciate the unique h method of evading the H, nausea and vomiting as seduction avoidance is such a rarely used ploy that the story is worth reading for that alone.
Now you know the worst and if you are still in the running for the story, here it is.
The h is a typical downtrodden Cinderelly waiting hand and foot on her father and three older brothers who are fishermen. Her mum is ill with cancer and her youngest brother in age is her only friend. She thinks she wants to be a nun, but as this isn't Shakespeare there will be no hieing to a nunnery allowed.
Instead we get the casino owner H who has been covetously eyeing the h for some years now on his annual chartered fishing trip with the h's dad. One night things get outta hand with the booze and the gambling and the h's dad loses his boats' titles to the H in a poker game. Not to worry, the H will tear up those title holding pages straight away, as soon as the h agrees to marry him and sacrifice her virginity on the altar of his tower of power, - she is utterly repulsed by the idear - but as we all know by now, resistance is futile.
The h and H marry, he is all set to exercise his lustful desires and the h agrees not inhibit his manly impulses - except he is getting into swinging the lurve club and she is throwing up - apparently emptying one's stomach contents with a narrow miss of the H's chest is an excellent way to avoid unwanted marital intimacies.
So win for the h on that one, she has a purgatorial experience every time he draws near, and since toothpaste was in short supply, the H just isn't going there and the h retires nightly to her virginal boudoir alone.
Outside of the bedroom the h and H gradually limp along with the H setting people straight about being nice to his badly dressed wife when she wants to shop, and encouraging her when she decides to fill her time with volunteering at the local church day care. Tho being a Bride of God is off the agenda, the h still finds comfort in her parish attendance in between bouts of nausea and condemning the H's gambling business.
Until the night of the H's X-mas party, the h learns to dance and the requisite OW jumps in to cut her out. The h has no clue about fighting for a man she doesn't want anyway, but does get a little perturbed at the lingering mistletoe obligatory tonsil swallowing that occurs between the H and OW over the course of the evening.
Finally the h gets it, she is feeling some lust and decides that if the OW can dress like THAT and get some tonsil hockey action, she should too, but the H reads it as if she is going to dress like a tart, he may as well treat her like one, and the inevitable marital rape ensues. (Some reviewers were shocked at this, but it really was inevitable from the first pages when the H states he will take the h as he pleases and he will make sure she will like it -- eventually, after the usual lurve clubbing battering mojo charm kicks in. {this only works in HPlandia})
The next morning the H has removed himself from the situation, leaving a note and a box and of course the h is leaving him - she packs only the pathetic rags of clothing she arrived in and willfully refuses to read either the note or open the box.
Except she really can't leave the daycare on short notice and when she calls dear old mum - who willfully sold the h off via guilt tripping - the mum's cancer isn't getting any worse and she won't be home anyway, the H is providing top flight care and housekeeping, so mum is kickin' it in another town for a while with the h's favorite brother.
Besides, mum tells her the best thing for her is the H anyways, and she ALWAYS listens to her mum. So the h doesn't leave and eventually curiosity overrides good sense, or maybe a ticket to Tahiti and a Mai Tai on the beach since she has a large checking account balance, and she reads the note. Which turns out to be a very nicely written apology, (Miss Manners would approve,) and the box holds the titles to her dear old dad's boats - made out to her.
Now she is all ready to jump on board the H's lurve train, as he has amply demonstrated that he too can use and abuse just like the rest of her family, she feels so at home now and when he finally arrives back from his "business trip", the h is decked out in his wedding night virgin sacrifice, er, gift of lingerie and ready to ride the thunder.
Passion ensues and it is The Best Ever. The H admits he is has been in love with her since she was 14 (no- I am just not going there,) he panicked when her dad stated her Nunhood aspirations so he forced the card game and proudly admits that she will never meet his OW cause he has been so discrete while waiting for her to be ready to bully, er, come around to his way of thinking.
The h can now celebrate her martyrdom in true HP style and the status quo of HPLandia is safe once again. Another successful lurve clubbing effect has battered down the walls of resistance for the HEA win, and proves the mojo of the mighty club is the most powerful force throughout HPlandia.
For obvious reasons, this book is really only recommended for the die hard HP veteran - and RH is actually pretty mild, she just doesn't have Sara Craven's forced seduction talents, but RH gives it a good college try and it all works out in the end. I did appreciate the unique h method of evading the H, nausea and vomiting as seduction avoidance is such a rarely used ploy that the story is worth reading for that alone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2010
This is a classic/cliched (depending on your viewpoint) story of a handsome 36 yr old millionaire falling in love with the heroine when she was 14 and blackmailing her into marriage (she's 24 by this time) to save her family. In Harlequinworld, there can be no possibility of a true love match if she is willing to marry you for free, as longtime readers know. The only thing remotely fresh to Hammond's approach is that the heroine gets away from putting out by ralphing whenever the hero touches her. It only works for a while before the requisite marital rape/forced sex scene tho.
Grade: B
Grade: B
dnf_abandoned
September 4, 2019I don't know if I want to continue reading about a repressed, convented h who is repelled by the H on the wedding night and actually barfs! Not my idea of romance.
Not that he's such a prize. He blackmails her into marrying him and reviews tell me there's a rape later on. And the h keeps sending mixed signals (true to that period's writing) till the bitter-end/hea (take your pick!).
Also he's apparently been obsessed with her since she was a teenager. Wow!
Not that he's such a prize. He blackmails her into marrying him and reviews tell me there's a rape later on. And the h keeps sending mixed signals (true to that period's writing) till the bitter-end/hea (take your pick!).
Also he's apparently been obsessed with her since she was a teenager. Wow!
January 22, 2014
**Let me give a warning in this review about this book:
If you don't like rape/forced seduction/non-consent scenario, do not read this book. If you tolerate or don't mind this content, then you may like this book despite that material. **
This book was recommended to me on a forum somewhere (perhaps for the objectionable content above). I must have ordered it to see how that was handled. I am curious about how authors were able to approach questionable content and still 1) get published, 2) gain a following, 3)write a book that others will recommend. I think that many readers have enough intelligence and self-awareness to read a book in which questionable content occurs and take it as written and either decide they can deal with the way it was written and treat it as fiction that doesn't espouse or endorse said behavior in real life, or decide that it didn't work for them. As I grow older, I have gotten very intolerant to rape (between the leads) in a romance. Let's face it, back in the 80s, it was hard to avoid this content, so you just dealt with it. Now, it's rare, and I think that is a reflection of the times. I never really liked it, to be honest. ( I am okay with forced seduction, but that does read different in a book. (although in real life, rape is rape) I think it's because the prevalence of violence against women (and the manner in which it is addressed) that occurs in society has sensitized me to this issue. Let me say this here and now: Spousal rape is a real thing, and it is 100% wrong. That's my official stance on it. That doesn't mean that I will give a book 1 star just because it has spousal rape or non-consent sexual encounters without consideration of other factors.
In this book, it was rather shocking to me. Not that it was graphically depicted, but that the writer didn't try to dress it up as anything other than rape. I believe that the author handled the subject matter responsibly and I feel that the hero was both sorry for what he did and realized how serious his action was. He didn't expect forgiveness, although he did ask for it. The heroine didn't accept blame for what happened or write it off, or assume that he had to right to rape her just because he was her husband (and Thank God for that). It was something she had to process emotionally and I was overall okay with the way the characters dealt with it. In the context of a fiction novel, I can see such a situation and deal with it. In reality, no. In my mind, I face the reality of this situation in light of a US senator's recent comment dismissing spousal rape, and it gives me a sick feeling inside. I wonder if that was a coincidence that I read this book a couple of days after seeing what this senator said. Maybe, but since I don't live in a vacuum, I can't really dismiss that coincidence.
So what do I think about this book?
I don't know if it was a very comfortable book to read on many levels.
Normally, I love the marriage of convenience theme, and I like when the heroine is reluctant to fall in love with the hero and he has to woo her. I don't feel this book is a good representation of the timelessness of this theme. First of all, while I could understand Cara's reluctance to warm to her husband, I still feel that her treatment of him was immature and mean-spirited. I am not talking about the rape situation right now, let me be clear. Right now, I am talking about her attitude for the majority of the book. In my mind, she had a choice to marry Nicholas, and she agreed to marry him in good faith. Nicholas treated her kindly, was willing to give her space and room, and he was tolerant of her meanness. The way she treated him made her seem like a big baby and I admit it made her less likable. Considering that he was helping her family out of a situation that her father engineered (although there was definitely some self-interest on his part), she seemed very unbalanced in her enmity towards Nicholas compared to her father and brothers, who were essentially willing to sell their daughter/sister to a man to save their own butts. Not to mention she is used as a dogsbody in the family. There is a lot of unaddressed pathology in this family in the background of this book.
This is one of those books where the term 'enjoying' doesn't really apply. It was a painful situation, because you could see that Nicholas was deeply in love with Cara, but Cara had emotional problems stemming from her childhood that were never addressed or dealt with. I suppose that is an example of carrying baggage into a marriage that makes it very difficult for a marriage to survive. In this case, we have a tidy(ish) ending that makes you hopeful that their marriage will survive. I guess I feel that their chances are good, but in my mind, I feel that Cara and Nicholas both need to go to marriage counseling to deal with their issues and to learn how to communicate. While the rape was a huge issue, it was the tip of the iceberg of the issues they have in their marriage, and one would hope they are able to deal with these issues in a healthy fashion and keep their marriage together.
I guess I would give this book three stars because I wasn't overly satisfied with the subject matter treatment or with the story on an emotional level. I think that the author is a good writer, and it definitely kept me interested, although sometimes it felt like a train wreck about to happen. Sometimes, that kind of fun with Harlequin Presents, but not in this case.
If you don't like rape/forced seduction/non-consent scenario, do not read this book. If you tolerate or don't mind this content, then you may like this book despite that material. **
This book was recommended to me on a forum somewhere (perhaps for the objectionable content above). I must have ordered it to see how that was handled. I am curious about how authors were able to approach questionable content and still 1) get published, 2) gain a following, 3)write a book that others will recommend. I think that many readers have enough intelligence and self-awareness to read a book in which questionable content occurs and take it as written and either decide they can deal with the way it was written and treat it as fiction that doesn't espouse or endorse said behavior in real life, or decide that it didn't work for them. As I grow older, I have gotten very intolerant to rape (between the leads) in a romance. Let's face it, back in the 80s, it was hard to avoid this content, so you just dealt with it. Now, it's rare, and I think that is a reflection of the times. I never really liked it, to be honest. ( I am okay with forced seduction, but that does read different in a book. (although in real life, rape is rape) I think it's because the prevalence of violence against women (and the manner in which it is addressed) that occurs in society has sensitized me to this issue. Let me say this here and now: Spousal rape is a real thing, and it is 100% wrong. That's my official stance on it. That doesn't mean that I will give a book 1 star just because it has spousal rape or non-consent sexual encounters without consideration of other factors.
In this book, it was rather shocking to me. Not that it was graphically depicted, but that the writer didn't try to dress it up as anything other than rape. I believe that the author handled the subject matter responsibly and I feel that the hero was both sorry for what he did and realized how serious his action was. He didn't expect forgiveness, although he did ask for it. The heroine didn't accept blame for what happened or write it off, or assume that he had to right to rape her just because he was her husband (and Thank God for that). It was something she had to process emotionally and I was overall okay with the way the characters dealt with it. In the context of a fiction novel, I can see such a situation and deal with it. In reality, no. In my mind, I face the reality of this situation in light of a US senator's recent comment dismissing spousal rape, and it gives me a sick feeling inside. I wonder if that was a coincidence that I read this book a couple of days after seeing what this senator said. Maybe, but since I don't live in a vacuum, I can't really dismiss that coincidence.
So what do I think about this book?
I don't know if it was a very comfortable book to read on many levels.
Normally, I love the marriage of convenience theme, and I like when the heroine is reluctant to fall in love with the hero and he has to woo her. I don't feel this book is a good representation of the timelessness of this theme. First of all, while I could understand Cara's reluctance to warm to her husband, I still feel that her treatment of him was immature and mean-spirited. I am not talking about the rape situation right now, let me be clear. Right now, I am talking about her attitude for the majority of the book. In my mind, she had a choice to marry Nicholas, and she agreed to marry him in good faith. Nicholas treated her kindly, was willing to give her space and room, and he was tolerant of her meanness. The way she treated him made her seem like a big baby and I admit it made her less likable. Considering that he was helping her family out of a situation that her father engineered (although there was definitely some self-interest on his part), she seemed very unbalanced in her enmity towards Nicholas compared to her father and brothers, who were essentially willing to sell their daughter/sister to a man to save their own butts. Not to mention she is used as a dogsbody in the family. There is a lot of unaddressed pathology in this family in the background of this book.
This is one of those books where the term 'enjoying' doesn't really apply. It was a painful situation, because you could see that Nicholas was deeply in love with Cara, but Cara had emotional problems stemming from her childhood that were never addressed or dealt with. I suppose that is an example of carrying baggage into a marriage that makes it very difficult for a marriage to survive. In this case, we have a tidy(ish) ending that makes you hopeful that their marriage will survive. I guess I feel that their chances are good, but in my mind, I feel that Cara and Nicholas both need to go to marriage counseling to deal with their issues and to learn how to communicate. While the rape was a huge issue, it was the tip of the iceberg of the issues they have in their marriage, and one would hope they are able to deal with these issues in a healthy fashion and keep their marriage together.
I guess I would give this book three stars because I wasn't overly satisfied with the subject matter treatment or with the story on an emotional level. I think that the author is a good writer, and it definitely kept me interested, although sometimes it felt like a train wreck about to happen. Sometimes, that kind of fun with Harlequin Presents, but not in this case.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2020
I was on the league with the H(that was so rare for me) until the needless rape scene. 🤦🏻♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2021
It was first published in 1985. She’s a 24-year old virgin, living at home with her parents and three brothers. Her mother is sick. The h is the maid and the cook and the cleaner for her whole family. And they are never grateful to her. They take her for granted.
Was it really a blackmail from him? He won the two boats of her father fair and square in a poker game. She wanted the two boats back. I think it were her dad and mum who were more or less blackmailing (or ‘urging’) her, not him.
Should he just have given the boats back for free? Nahh, he isn’t a Teletubbie.
There’s a vintage marital rape in it, but not until near the end of the book. Actually the way she was behaving and seeing they were already married for several months, I wanted to slap her. She got on my nerves.
And I was wondering when he would snap. He snapped at page 165 (out of 187 pages). There’s no excuse for a rape. He should have just kicked her out of the house, back to her parents where she could wait on them again without getting any gratitude from them.
Before she marries him, she says to him: “When we’re married, I’ll be your property and you can do what you like with me.”
She’s 24, she goes into the marriage with her eyes wide open. He told her before the marriage that he wanted a normal marriage with sex and having kids together.
He does and says the nicest things to her for months in their marriage.
What he gets in return is a cold wife who dresses in a black wedding dress as if it’s a funeral, who deliberately wears ugly clothes, who gags and vomits when he makes loves to her, who doesn’t want to sleep with him, who bickers all the time and who rejects him again and again.
The title is: ‘The loser take all’. The H is most definitely the loser with such a wife. He should have kept the two boats.
Was it really a blackmail from him? He won the two boats of her father fair and square in a poker game. She wanted the two boats back. I think it were her dad and mum who were more or less blackmailing (or ‘urging’) her, not him.
Should he just have given the boats back for free? Nahh, he isn’t a Teletubbie.
There’s a vintage marital rape in it, but not until near the end of the book. Actually the way she was behaving and seeing they were already married for several months, I wanted to slap her. She got on my nerves.
And I was wondering when he would snap. He snapped at page 165 (out of 187 pages). There’s no excuse for a rape. He should have just kicked her out of the house, back to her parents where she could wait on them again without getting any gratitude from them.
Before she marries him, she says to him: “When we’re married, I’ll be your property and you can do what you like with me.”
She’s 24, she goes into the marriage with her eyes wide open. He told her before the marriage that he wanted a normal marriage with sex and having kids together.
He does and says the nicest things to her for months in their marriage.
What he gets in return is a cold wife who dresses in a black wedding dress as if it’s a funeral, who deliberately wears ugly clothes, who gags and vomits when he makes loves to her, who doesn’t want to sleep with him, who bickers all the time and who rejects him again and again.
The title is: ‘The loser take all’. The H is most definitely the loser with such a wife. He should have kept the two boats.
February 26, 2011
She was a bit of a ninny. Another one where the guy loved her and had no real reason not to put his feelings on the line and tell her and she would probably not have been a ninny so long.
November 23, 2018
[Still reading this so will update and complete full review once done]. Frigid angry spinsters in their mid-twenties don't really do it for me as romantic heroines.
Nor do arrogant men who want to buy a frigid spinster and force her into their bed with no real courtship or bothering to get to know them.
So as you can imagine, this is one brilliant WTF trainwreck of awful characters and some truly ghastly forced seduction.
Eurrgh. I actually felt nauseous reading this. I love a bit of bodice ripping and ravishment, but this is like someone trying to snog a dead fish.
Anyway, it's absolutely gripping! I keep wondering how much worse these two people can get.
Nor do arrogant men who want to buy a frigid spinster and force her into their bed with no real courtship or bothering to get to know them.
So as you can imagine, this is one brilliant WTF trainwreck of awful characters and some truly ghastly forced seduction.
As the kiss deepened and became more demanding, she felt the tip of his tongue against her lips seeking entrance.
Startled, she clamped her mouth firmly shut and tried to pull away from him, but he held her tight.
"Open your mouth to me, Cara," he muttered against her lips.
She jerked her head back. "No," she cried, and looked up at him with hatred flashing in her green eyes.
Eurrgh. I actually felt nauseous reading this. I love a bit of bodice ripping and ravishment, but this is like someone trying to snog a dead fish.
Anyway, it's absolutely gripping! I keep wondering how much worse these two people can get.
March 13, 2012
Goodness, the first sex scenes in this one were novel -- the heroine ends them by getting so nauseated that she has to throw up! That's gotta make a hero feel good. Otherwise, a decent older story. Not tons of action, and also a totally out-of-the-blue rape -- especially jarring because the hero seemed relatively kind and tolerant otherwise, and totally unjustifiable because the heroine was finally willing, yet apparently he preferred a brutal rape instead. Ah, 80's "romance." Still a good resolution.
March 7, 2016
On the whole I liked this book. It's the usual MOC where the H agrees to bail out the heroine's family in exchange for marriage - BUT - throughout the story you can tell that the H loves the h, in fact when he puts in his proposition at the start he already tells her how attracted to her he has always been. That being so, why didn't he just court her throughout the book? He was acting kind and caring to her anyway, why not woo her with flowers and chocolate? She was a sheltered and isolated girl, he totally cheated her out of her first romance!!
Having this in mind, just when she is having a change of heart and accepting him, WHY does he suddenly have to rape her?! This is so unforgivable and beyond comprehension!Added to which is an abrupt ending and not enough groveling so it loses a star. Still upset at the book.
Having this in mind, just when she is having a change of heart and accepting him, WHY does he suddenly have to rape her?! This is so unforgivable and beyond comprehension!Added to which is an abrupt ending and not enough groveling so it loses a star. Still upset at the book.
July 9, 2015
No. Just no. This was not romance. While the writing and pacing was done pretty well, I cannot give the same comment with the characters. Our H is an ass, and that scene with the OW wtheck was that? For someone so mature, Nicholas has definitely gone about his 'love' the wrong way. Our heroine, Cara, definitely wasn't any better- darl, what you're feeling towards him isn't love, you're experiencing Stockholm Syndrome..
November 9, 2015
What A surprisingly good book. He was so tortured with his love for her and when he did that horrible thing to her he said and felt sorry. He did not gloss over his action but acted like a responsible adult. Wish they were more like him. She was my only problem she was mean for really no reason. Her dad lost his book the hero just wanted a way to get to her. Wow I loved it.
September 23, 2013
Didn't work for me at all
July 12, 2020
Sooooo that was a thing. How is this considered remotely romance? We didn't know anything about how the hero felt but he claimed to love the heroine, the poor heroine is just dragged away from her home with a dude she doesn't know because of blackmail. Skip cause there is a rape in here and it is not romantic, them ending up together makes not sense.
April 21, 2018
Él mayor, enamorado de ella, esperando a que crezca y que lo mire con otros ojos... ella, tímida e intimidada por él, con lo que ella cree que es odio por las circunstancias que le hace pasar... dando tiempo y a la vez volviéndose locos. Me ha gustado mucho esta novela! Cortito y clásico.
August 31, 2019
I liked this one but it needed more conversations between the H and the h to keep me interested
July 1, 2020
Lovely romance.
November 27, 2020
The book started a little slow but gradually the tension increased and I was riveted by it.
December 10, 2022
Well written, but romanticises marital rape, which doesn't appeal to me as a millennial/gen Z reader.
Want to read
September 21, 2023DNF
March 15, 2024
This was pretty good, and I would have given it another star, but the author ruined that by having a seduction turn into a rape toward the end of the book. It leads to the H declaring his love and the HEA, but what a way for that to happen! It could have been handled differently, like having him almost rape the h but coming to his senses in time, while she's so shocked she leaves him, he wins back her trust, etc., which would have been a lot better than the H forcing himself on his virgin wife because he's so overcome by desire (and her sexy dress) that he can't help himself!!!
It's like enjoying a bowl of your favorite cereal, only to have the milk go sour.
It's like enjoying a bowl of your favorite cereal, only to have the milk go sour.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2020
Win or lose--It was marriage
Nicholas Curzon didn't exactly win Cara for his unwilling bride in a poker game. He won her father's two Charter fishing boats--the source of the family's precarious livelihood. But in the end it was the same thing.
Having done the family business accounts for years, Cara knew it was fruitless to try to negotiate with the high roller from Nevada.
There was only one thing that would save her family from financial ruin and make Nicholas change his mind--and that was Cara herself!
Nicholas Curzon didn't exactly win Cara for his unwilling bride in a poker game. He won her father's two Charter fishing boats--the source of the family's precarious livelihood. But in the end it was the same thing.
Having done the family business accounts for years, Cara knew it was fruitless to try to negotiate with the high roller from Nevada.
There was only one thing that would save her family from financial ruin and make Nicholas change his mind--and that was Cara herself!
August 29, 2016
It isn't the best I've read, but I guess it was okay.
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