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Elusive Lover
Erin had a profound distrust of all men
Nothing in her life had persuaded her to think otherwise--from her father to the men she met in her daily routine.
Was Josh Hawke any different? His proposition indicated not, but he had recognized her need for human warmth and had responded with kindness and comfort.
Her situation was desperate and left her with little choice but to accept it. Then why was he so angry when she did, accusing her of a lack of self-respect?
Nothing in her life had persuaded her to think otherwise--from her father to the men she met in her daily routine.
Was Josh Hawke any different? His proposition indicated not, but he had recognized her need for human warmth and had responded with kindness and comfort.
Her situation was desperate and left her with little choice but to accept it. Then why was he so angry when she did, accusing her of a lack of self-respect?
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 27, 1982
30 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Carole Mortimer
1,296 books907 followersI have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 17, 2022
Nice cover by Tom Bjarnason in the soft focus style he seems to have reserved for Harlequin. The male lead is described wearing a cowboy hat and it's fitting for the world famous Cowboy artist and painter of masterworks such as Sunset and Indian Land right?
I love HP art world stories: the asinine male artists; their goofy statements and motivations; the descriptions of cheesy art; the transparent ploys to get the heroine to model naked*. CM gave Elusive Lover all of this but then ruined it with a pathetic hero who totally fails the Gross is as gross does test:
If a strange guy I'd rate a 5 behaves like ___ and it is terrible then a guy who's a 10 behaving in the exact same sh*tty way is equally terrible.
It's a matter of character and it can't be fixed—not by anyone—including you small & feisty virgins who may have been given the wrong idea about your curative properties.
Erin is too desperate in her miserable job and then too bamboozled by hormones to think things through but she'll learn eventually. Probably once they're married when she catches Josh lounging on the hotel bed in his boots and sexually harassing the cleaning staff while she's supposedly sunbathing by the pool. Fond flashback to the way they met.
*I'm handing out free advise today. This knob Josh and a surprising number of HP authors seem to think that modelling for artists in the altogether is both super sexy and that any woman who does it has no respect for herself. Wrong! It's kind of boring and you may notice random spots that want scratching the moment you get into a pose but I guarantee you'll be ogled less than wearing a bikini on the beach or cleaning bedrooms in seedy motels.
I love HP art world stories: the asinine male artists; their goofy statements and motivations; the descriptions of cheesy art; the transparent ploys to get the heroine to model naked*. CM gave Elusive Lover all of this but then ruined it with a pathetic hero who totally fails the Gross is as gross does test:
If a strange guy I'd rate a 5 behaves like ___ and it is terrible then a guy who's a 10 behaving in the exact same sh*tty way is equally terrible.
It's a matter of character and it can't be fixed—not by anyone—including you small & feisty virgins who may have been given the wrong idea about your curative properties.
Erin is too desperate in her miserable job and then too bamboozled by hormones to think things through but she'll learn eventually. Probably once they're married when she catches Josh lounging on the hotel bed in his boots and sexually harassing the cleaning staff while she's supposedly sunbathing by the pool. Fond flashback to the way they met.
*I'm handing out free advise today. This knob Josh and a surprising number of HP authors seem to think that modelling for artists in the altogether is both super sexy and that any woman who does it has no respect for herself. Wrong! It's kind of boring and you may notice random spots that want scratching the moment you get into a pose but I guarantee you'll be ogled less than wearing a bikini on the beach or cleaning bedrooms in seedy motels.
January 6, 2020
"Elusive Lover" is the story of Erin and Josh.
Hmm. Disappointed.
The book begins with our h working hard as a cleaner at a cheap motel, struggling to make ends meet while fighting off the pervy boss. She soon meets the new hotel guest, our H, who immediately propositions her. A set of circumstances leads to her being fired, and him offering her escape in lieu of her body. Initially expecting her to be worldly, he is soon shocked and intrigued by her innocence, yet frustrated by her stubbornness. The h on the other hand finds the H's true identity, yet cannot resist his manly charm..
Soon we have loads of drama, pursuit, natural disasters, cute doggos, some running away and HEA.
I have to say the H was kinda weird. He was possessive, yet a eccentric artist ready to paint the h nude?! He was worried about her weight, yet was OK when she had food related tantrums?! Wanted to protect her but didnt mind all the pushing away?! Make up your mind dude.
The h was stubborn and stupid.
Average at its best.
Safe
2.5/5
Hmm. Disappointed.
The book begins with our h working hard as a cleaner at a cheap motel, struggling to make ends meet while fighting off the pervy boss. She soon meets the new hotel guest, our H, who immediately propositions her. A set of circumstances leads to her being fired, and him offering her escape in lieu of her body. Initially expecting her to be worldly, he is soon shocked and intrigued by her innocence, yet frustrated by her stubbornness. The h on the other hand finds the H's true identity, yet cannot resist his manly charm..
Soon we have loads of drama, pursuit, natural disasters, cute doggos, some running away and HEA.
I have to say the H was kinda weird. He was possessive, yet a eccentric artist ready to paint the h nude?! He was worried about her weight, yet was OK when she had food related tantrums?! Wanted to protect her but didnt mind all the pushing away?! Make up your mind dude.
The h was stubborn and stupid.
Average at its best.
Safe
2.5/5
January 23, 2020
She was 19 so her being silly is quite normal but he was 34, H should be more mature and self confident! On the other hand, he is a man, what can I expect? LOL
August 9, 2021
Heroine: Erin, 19-year old petite English girl, alone with no real family, stuck in Canada, working as a motel maid trying to save up for a return flight home
Hero: Josh, 34-year old artist who saves the heroine from the sexual attack of her married boss only to then offer her to stay with him for two weeks to clean/cook and warm his bed, all for the price of a plane ticket to London
What happens: Heroine agrees to heroes conditions for her to stay with him, but then later admits she is a virgin in the throws of passion so that the hero would stop. Hero changes the agreement to ask her to pose nude for him to paint her. She agrees and he purposely treats her a bit callously during the nude modeling session to prove a point that the heroine does not respect herself. 'Degrading yourself? Have you had enough of that, Erin?' he asked tautly.
Afterwards, they ignore each other a bit, with the hero spending a lot of time alone in his studio. A lightening storm brings them together, followed by the hero dropping her off with his neighbors/friends so he can go fight fires caused by the lightening. At the end of two weeks, the hero takes her to a random rodeo-like event in town (hence the wagons on the cover) and then they go off to London. Heroine sneaks away and gets a job. Hero finds her, asks her to come to his art show. She sees the painting he did of her, called Elusive Lover, and wants to dash again, but they make-up when the hero tells her it was painted out of love.
Thoughts: It was a little weird for me. While the "Elusive Lover" actually refers to the heroine, I found the hero quite elusive in character. One minute he's acting like he cares for the heroine and then a second later he is trying to get in her pants or prove a point to her. Also, he makes a big show about wanting the heroine to learn to respect herself and her body, yet he still paints her nude and includes it in his art exhibit for anyone to see. There is an unnecessary backstory of the hero's sister having suffered (and passed away from) anorexia, so he is obsessive over how often/much the heroine eats. Lastly, it was hard to picture the hero as this famous artist while also having the image of a country guy who drives a truck, rides horses, mows his lawn with a tractor, and prefers a quiet life alone at home.
And, what's up with the cover art? Beyond a couple of horseback rides, this book is not a western. The image of the carriage is from a very small, insignificant scene in the story. An image of a painting or easel would have made more sense.
Hero: Josh, 34-year old artist who saves the heroine from the sexual attack of her married boss only to then offer her to stay with him for two weeks to clean/cook and warm his bed, all for the price of a plane ticket to London
What happens: Heroine agrees to heroes conditions for her to stay with him, but then later admits she is a virgin in the throws of passion so that the hero would stop. Hero changes the agreement to ask her to pose nude for him to paint her. She agrees and he purposely treats her a bit callously during the nude modeling session to prove a point that the heroine does not respect herself. 'Degrading yourself? Have you had enough of that, Erin?' he asked tautly.
Afterwards, they ignore each other a bit, with the hero spending a lot of time alone in his studio. A lightening storm brings them together, followed by the hero dropping her off with his neighbors/friends so he can go fight fires caused by the lightening. At the end of two weeks, the hero takes her to a random rodeo-like event in town (hence the wagons on the cover) and then they go off to London. Heroine sneaks away and gets a job. Hero finds her, asks her to come to his art show. She sees the painting he did of her, called Elusive Lover, and wants to dash again, but they make-up when the hero tells her it was painted out of love.
Thoughts: It was a little weird for me. While the "Elusive Lover" actually refers to the heroine, I found the hero quite elusive in character. One minute he's acting like he cares for the heroine and then a second later he is trying to get in her pants or prove a point to her. Also, he makes a big show about wanting the heroine to learn to respect herself and her body, yet he still paints her nude and includes it in his art exhibit for anyone to see. There is an unnecessary backstory of the hero's sister having suffered (and passed away from) anorexia, so he is obsessive over how often/much the heroine eats. Lastly, it was hard to picture the hero as this famous artist while also having the image of a country guy who drives a truck, rides horses, mows his lawn with a tractor, and prefers a quiet life alone at home.
And, what's up with the cover art? Beyond a couple of horseback rides, this book is not a western. The image of the carriage is from a very small, insignificant scene in the story. An image of a painting or easel would have made more sense.
January 24, 2019
Firstly, I love the title of this book. I wish the new HP’s had wonderful titles like this one instead of the long, extremely wordy titles. Titles like “The Italian Boss’ Secretary Mistress” are ridiculous! And that may or may not be a real title. I have no idea. It’s just so OTT.
Now on to the book.
This wasn’t my favorite Carole Mortimer, but I liked it because it was based in Canada. I haven’t read too many books based in Canada.
The H was a traditional, overbearing, alpha male that expected the woman in his life to know his ever thought and act like he expects a woman to act.
The h was a nineteen year old whose mom recently died and her stepfather basically kicked her out shortly after. He bought her a ticket to go visit her birth father in Canada. A one way ticket. Bastard!
She gets to her dad and learns that he has another family and wants nothing to do with her. So she gets a job a a cheap motel. The sleazy owner and his wife treats her like a slave and the owner keeps hitting on her when his wife isn’t around.
She meets the H when he stays at the hotel and circumstances cause her to lose her job so he offers her and indecent proposal. Desperate to earn money to return to England, she accepts and moves in with him for two weeks.
This was a pretty standard story. My biggest complaint was the H’s lack of, well .... everything. What adult male makes a proposal like his to a teenager?! Ok. He’s a guy so maybe I’m wishing for too much here. Then he just runs hot and cold constantly. Yeah, he’s a temperamental artist but sheesh!
The h was young and stupid. How the heck do you agree to a proposal like that? Dude could be a murderer! I don’t remember being that clueless at nineteen. But that was a looong time ago so my memories may not be accurate anymore. :)
Overall, it was an enjoyable book. Not a winner by any means, but a decent read.
Now on to the book.
This wasn’t my favorite Carole Mortimer, but I liked it because it was based in Canada. I haven’t read too many books based in Canada.
The H was a traditional, overbearing, alpha male that expected the woman in his life to know his ever thought and act like he expects a woman to act.
The h was a nineteen year old whose mom recently died and her stepfather basically kicked her out shortly after. He bought her a ticket to go visit her birth father in Canada. A one way ticket. Bastard!
She gets to her dad and learns that he has another family and wants nothing to do with her. So she gets a job a a cheap motel. The sleazy owner and his wife treats her like a slave and the owner keeps hitting on her when his wife isn’t around.
She meets the H when he stays at the hotel and circumstances cause her to lose her job so he offers her and indecent proposal. Desperate to earn money to return to England, she accepts and moves in with him for two weeks.
This was a pretty standard story. My biggest complaint was the H’s lack of, well .... everything. What adult male makes a proposal like his to a teenager?! Ok. He’s a guy so maybe I’m wishing for too much here. Then he just runs hot and cold constantly. Yeah, he’s a temperamental artist but sheesh!
The h was young and stupid. How the heck do you agree to a proposal like that? Dude could be a murderer! I don’t remember being that clueless at nineteen. But that was a looong time ago so my memories may not be accurate anymore. :)
Overall, it was an enjoyable book. Not a winner by any means, but a decent read.
May 21, 2016
The heroine met the hero when she was cleaning his room in a hotel. After fighting off sexual advances from her boss, the hero wanted her to come to his home to be his mistress. Being alone in a big city and far from her childhood home in England, she agreed.
Although the hero treated her appallingly at times he was secretly falling in love for her. Not knowing she was a virgin, he had plans to take her to bed. When he found out, he decided to bring her back to England and leave her alone. Except one night, a storm got the best of them.
After the one night stand, the heroine felt offended because the hero had said sorry for taking her virginity. When the hero and heroine got off the plane in England, the heroine took off on him to get away from him and get a job. When the hero caught up with her, he confessed his love and they all lived happily ever after.
It was a short book and for some reason I found it rather boring. I didn't like how there was no villain except for themselves and I really didn't care or how fast it went along, leaving out some details. Overall it was an okay story to read but not something I'd particular read again!
Although the hero treated her appallingly at times he was secretly falling in love for her. Not knowing she was a virgin, he had plans to take her to bed. When he found out, he decided to bring her back to England and leave her alone. Except one night, a storm got the best of them.
After the one night stand, the heroine felt offended because the hero had said sorry for taking her virginity. When the hero and heroine got off the plane in England, the heroine took off on him to get away from him and get a job. When the hero caught up with her, he confessed his love and they all lived happily ever after.
It was a short book and for some reason I found it rather boring. I didn't like how there was no villain except for themselves and I really didn't care or how fast it went along, leaving out some details. Overall it was an okay story to read but not something I'd particular read again!
March 21, 2021
"Elusive Lover" is such a beautiful and sweet love-story with two lonely characters that find each other one day in a cheap hotelroom.Erin and Josh Hawke has that instant connection that soon deepens to insane attraction and powerful love.I enjoyed their conversations and their chemistry was great.They were both adorable and sexy together and the steamy scenes between i throughly enjoyed very much,Josh really is a sexy hero.The way they were afraid to show their love just made it so bittersweet but i was glad that Josh were determined to never let Erin go even if he thought she didn`t love him.I also adore the cover and the romance between Erin and Josh were so wonderfully sensual,loved them desperately together and the ending just made me grin of happiness!
June 11, 2023
Io mica lo so cosa ho letto!
Di sicuro una storia che non sta in piedi neanche con gli stuzzicadenti, per quanto è assurda :/
Peccato, perché l'autrice è una delle mie preferite per quanto riguarda gli Harmony old style...
1 stella + 1 stella al protagonista, che è un bel vedere :P
Di sicuro una storia che non sta in piedi neanche con gli stuzzicadenti, per quanto è assurda :/
Peccato, perché l'autrice è una delle mie preferite per quanto riguarda gli Harmony old style...
1 stella + 1 stella al protagonista, che è un bel vedere :P
March 11, 2018
It wasn't great or fantastic. It was horrible and boring.... no, it was veeeeery boooooring.
It became better at the last two chapters. The hero was bossy and insensitive jurk. I think that Erin explained why I hated Josh:
‘I think you’re the lowest, most contemptible creep I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.'
It became better at the last two chapters. The hero was bossy and insensitive jurk. I think that Erin explained why I hated Josh:
‘I think you’re the lowest, most contemptible creep I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.'
December 2, 2020
CM is a fantastic writer-one who spins off a good story using very different and unusual circumstances within her books. I really enjoyed this one and I liked the depiction of Canada and the Canadian hero....
December 12, 2017
What would i say? I hate the hero, he was so bossy, bossy, and bossy.
October 5, 2022
First few chapters were great but than heroine transforms from the neglected and abused waif to a raging shrew. The cover is the best thing about this book.
September 18, 2025
This guy needs help.
May 29, 2016
An older harlequin. Erin is a very young and naive heroine, so she gets into bad situations. The hero Josh rescues her from a boss that sexually harasses her and takes her to his home. Josh is attracted to Erin and at first thinks she is more experienced, so he proposes a sexual relationship. Seems like he is harassing her as well. But he is also charming and protective towards her. It's a cute read and Erin Is a bit of a ninny so one can imagine how Josh feels he needs to run her life for her. Not much angst, no other women or men to complicate things, just Erin misunderstanding all the signs.
August 29, 2015
Erin had lost all hope from life suddenly finding Josh was kind of very much of too much for her to take.
We girls have a tendency to underestimate ourselves so did she !!
But nevertheless she came with Josh on his terms and got her travel ticket in return . Ultimately she discovered the love for him.. and he loved her from the very beginning since he saw her .
Both of them accepted and the story ended !! #StillLovedIt
We girls have a tendency to underestimate ourselves so did she !!
But nevertheless she came with Josh on his terms and got her travel ticket in return . Ultimately she discovered the love for him.. and he loved her from the very beginning since he saw her .
Both of them accepted and the story ended !! #StillLovedIt
September 8, 2019
Erin had a profound distrust of all men
Nothing in her life had persuaded her to think otherwise--from her father to the men she met in her daily routine.
Was Josh Hawke any different? His proposition indicated not, but he had recognized her need for human warmth and had responded with kindness and comfort.
Her situation was desperate and left her with little choice but to accept it. Then why was he so angry when she did, accusing her of a lack of self-respect?
Nothing in her life had persuaded her to think otherwise--from her father to the men she met in her daily routine.
Was Josh Hawke any different? His proposition indicated not, but he had recognized her need for human warmth and had responded with kindness and comfort.
Her situation was desperate and left her with little choice but to accept it. Then why was he so angry when she did, accusing her of a lack of self-respect?
October 14, 2012
Loved it!!
October 21, 2023
Erin had travelled from England to Calgary to reunite with her birth father. Too bad he wasn't interested. While working in a motel she meets Josh Hawke, famous artist.
September 24, 2014
this was not bad!but so boring! i also found the story rather naive; how erin went with a total stranger and they both fell in love! fairytale types like dat do not really exist:P
Read
September 6, 2015Its aBeautiful story
June 2, 2020
Enjoyable read at the time.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews