Trust In Summer Madness

King-Hamilton #1

by Carole Mortimer

This man should have been her husband

Jarrett King had walked out on Sian three years before, breaking their engagement and leaving her devastated. Now he was back, expecting her to come to him.

He had a wife. He was dating Sian's sister. He claimed to be in love with Sian. What sort of man was he?

And what sort of woman was she, she wondered, that a week before her marriage to another man she could still feel such a passion for Jarrett?

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Presents, Romance, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

190 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 4, 2012

About the author

I 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

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

It you approach Trust In Summer Madness like it was a stage comedy from Shakespeare’s time, then you can enjoy the partner shuffling and the web of misunderstandings the wide-eyed heroine must endure before everyone is paired off and all’s well that ends well.

The Setting: A provincial town in merry olde England full of gossips, fornicators and adulterers who all attend the same church services.

The players:

Heroine: 22, is engaged to Veterinarian, yet is still haunted by her broken engagement to H three years previously.
Sister: Is 18 going on 30 and doesn’t think the 36 year-old hero is too old for her.
Father: Always has a cup of coffee before bed. He’s in the recliner in the middle of the stage for most of the play, offering no advice and answering the phone when the plot requires it.
Veterinarian: 30, engaged to heroine but they’ve never had sex. Is a mama’s boy.
Hero: 36. Has been in America for three years after leaving in a huff when heroine caught him kissing the local barmaid at his stag party the day before their wedding. He’s back in town, building himself a house, a shopping center and a harem. Sure he’s had a lot of women since his broken engagement but they were merely “vessels” that accepted the love he was pouring out for the heroine.
Local Barmaid: still a bitch, still insisting she and H are getting it on.
Vamp with Same Last Name as Hero: Has rings on every finger

At home:
Sister: The H is back in town.
Heroine: What?
Sister: He asked me out. That’s not weird at all.
Heroine: What?
Father: Can you get me a cup of coffee? My 18 year old is going out all night with STD riddled hero who broke my other daughter’s heart, but I need my beauty sleep.
Heroine: What?

In the field where they had sex for the first time:
Hero: Have sex with me or I’ll have sex with your sister.
Heroine: What?
Hero: You didn’t trust me. It’s your fault I have STDs from poking every vessel in America.
Heroine: Wait a minute, what?
Hero: Only you have normal human emotions in this play.
Heroine: What?

At home:
Veterinarian: Your sister looks upset.
Heroine: Well the H is back and now your mother thinks I’m .. .
Veterianarian: I’d better go to her.
Heroine: What?


At Pub:
Local barmaid: H still wants me.
Heroine: No, he’s going out with my sister
Vamp with same last name: Hey you two H’s rejects, didn’t you notice I have the same last name as the H?

At Home:
Father: I sure could use some coffee before bed.
Heroine: I’ll make it even though I’m eating my heart out over the H loving up my sister and building a house where we first had sex.
Father: Why are Veterinarian and your sister sitting on the couch kissing passionately?
Heroine: What?

At home:
Father: I forgot. H called a few weeks ago while you were moping after the Veterinarian and your sister married.
Heroine. You forgot?
Father: He didn’t have an affair with barmaid. I believe that we all overreacted.
Heroine: I’ll go to New York and grovel.
Father: Sounds like a plan. Make me coffee first?

New York Office Penthouse:
Hero: You have to grovel more because you believed I was married to Vamp with the Same Last Name until this very moment when I told you she was my aunt by marriage.
Heroine: What?
Hero: I told you. You are the only one in this play with normal emotions, but now you’re going to have to turn them off if you want to live the rest of your life surrounded by women I have had sex with.
Heroine: (Breathlessly) I'll never ask another question. Grovel. Let's have four children so we’ll have a next generation of dysfunction.


Come for the crazy. Stay for the crazy. Remember it for the crazy.

[Azet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all other books by Carole,i couldn`t put this one down.

This book is about a hero fighting to win his heroine back,and stopping her from marrying the wrong man.
Jarret King was a man full of aggression when angry and jealous,and a man full of passion when it comes to love..and KISSING!
I just loved every scene with his and Sian,and i wish she could have broke up with Chris sooner when it was so obvious that she didn`t love him.

There was many misunderstandings between the hero and heroine,and i am glad when the hero gave her a final push,so that she would prove her love for him.

***

Edit 2022.02.28

This review definitely doesn`t count now when i absolutely detest even the memory of this book. I just can`t wrap my head around how the 16 year old me loved this book. Have to re-read and rant about this book someday.

[Raffaella · Rating 1 out of 5]

It would have been three stars for the entertaining plot and the light and pleasant writing style typical of CM.
Sadly the hero is one of the worst you could find in hp even in the 80s.
The heroine saw him at his tag party while he was making out with his ex gf, passionately making out, and she left in distraction.
His ex told her they were and had always been lovers and he wanted to remain such even after their marriage. So she broke up with the hero.
The hero went to America and came back three years later to stop the heroine from marrying om.
He chooses then, just to make him trust again, to flirt with her younger sister, her 19 yo bitch of a sister.
Because hey, when you have basically cheated on your fiancée the day before your wedding and she left you, the best thing you can do to get her trust is to flirt with another woman and who’s better than her own sister?
Then another woman turns up and she tells everyone she’s the hero’s wife so the heroine now thinks he wants to have her as a mistress while he still married to ow2.
And what about her sister?
Oh, it’s harmless flirt, and he admits it was nothing only a couple of date and a couple of kisses to make the heroine trust him again. Really??? Man where have you studied? At the school for low iq heroes?
The heroine is just not convinced that he’s reliable and faithful thank god for small mercies, so she decides to stay with her fiancée.
But guess what?
Her really slutty sister decides that she’s in love with her fiancée, after basically dating her ex fiancée, and eventually the heroine’s fiancé declares he’s in love with her sister.
My compliments for the worst sister ever!
That first flirts with the same man who hurt awfully her sister then steal her husband to be! I wish she died!
I always knew.
Better to have brothers or to be only child!
Sisters are no good.
What about the hero.
Not a prize.
It seems he never slept with ow1, the ex from the past. She only asked him a goodbye kiss and he gave her one, the one the heroine saw. No big deal. Really? You’re getting married and you make out with another woman and your fiancée should accept it because it was a stag party? What is this thing? Is this really acceptable? Because IMO it is not.
Then he tells her he’s been faithful to her for three years and no, he was never married and ow2 was his uncle’s widow.
Ok, this one could be accepted. After all its ow word against his.
And her bitch whore of a sister?
No, he never wanted her, he only kissed her a couple of times just because, but he never did anything more. Lucky heroine!
And no, he never had ow in three years of separation. Mmmm yeah right.
Actually he confess that he was with countless ow but he was never with other women because he dreamed of her when he was sleeping with them. Oh romance is not dead!
This is what every woman wants to hear about the man who cheated on her the week before their marriage!
How romantic. I’ve no words.
Where is this prize of a man? I want one to use as a toilet paper when I don’t have my favorite brand.
The poor heroine took him back because since the men around her seems to be of a very poor quality she decides to settle for the one who came back for her eventually, when he apparently felt tired of making out with who knows how many women.
Worst sister even and greatest ass***e of a cheating hero ever. A man with way tooooo many women around him, not my style anyway. Especially since he seems to have a wandering eye.
IMO the heroine should have smashed his sorry ass the first time she saw him with ow, and she should have broken all her four legs, four yes because cows have four legs.
Anyway cute story with very bad characters,

[Fre06 Begum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Storyline was good but he was a cheat whichever way u look at it and no all those other women in their three years apart and imagining they were her did not make it it better!

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Train wreck 5; romance 1

Sian is engaged to marry the much older Jarrett. Two days before the wedding they are having their little parties. She and her friends decide to go to his private stag party. Sian finds Jarrett in a corner w/ his ex (before he got involved with Sian) and they were kissing w/ his shirt UNDONE and her hands on him. Sian runs out and won’t listen to his explanations. Guess she listened to the OW though and she confirmed that she and Jarrett were having an affair and it would continue. It really looked bad then, because Jarrett then left w/ the OW and didn’t return for three years. Jarrett kept tabs on the immature Sian, a real woman would have trusted him after all, and when he discovers she is set to get married he returns and pulls out all the stops. Jarrett thinks it is a fabulous idea to date Sian’s sister to get back w/ Sian and offers to break it off w/ much YOUNGER sis if Sian will come back to him!

This guy was a complete POW who liked to play games, acted immature, possessive, jealous, wouldn’t take no for an answer and apparently didn’t respect an engagement. Oh yes and he really is into playing word games. He tells Sian there had been no “other women”, but later he tells her he can’t begin to tell her how many women had her face. I think we are to be cooing at this time that this guy can just pretend w/ ALL these other women and no one even wonders about diseases. LOL! Since he pretended they were all her then there weren’t any "other women" – I’m sorry but not even those glasses are helping here. This just seems so warped and messed up.

It would appear that he blames her for the broken engagement, claiming she was young and it was just a kiss. He didn’t want the other woman, and he took the OW out of town w/ him because Sian had caused such an up-roar in rumors that OW couldn’t hang around. Did he consider how Sian had felt considering she still lived there and had to face all these people in this small town? Nope! Does he even consider that her sister is around the same age as she was and he feels it’s all good to play around w/ her in order to get to Sian? Nope!

Jarrett didn’t seem too thrilled to see Sian kissing her fiancé, never mind that she is engaged to marry him. I couldn’t believe Sian’s sister and what she ended up doing to Sian and how even their father was all good w/ that. Why do all the males feel they shouldn’t talk to Sian to explain things, but instead explain them to her father? Are they courting him? This is a freaking book from the 80’s not the 1800’s!

Another instance where Sian doesn’t trust Jarrett comes into play, but not ONCE does he explain that and he already knows she doesn’t trust him as it is. Besides it was a natural conclusion on her part given what she already believed of him. She did believe him when he said he would seduce her younger sister as well – of course we are later told he has never lied to her.

I so loved how her friend who hadn’t been there three years previous – btw where were those other friends that went to the stag party and how come her very own sister completely forgot about Sian’s pain from that broken engagement– writes off the whole stag party thing as though it was the mantra of the Vegas stuff. NOT! She wasn’t even there, she didn’t even know the full story Jarrett didn’t even know what the OW had gotten up too. How naïve was he? Her father didn’t seem to like Jarrett for what he did years ago, but he soon jumps on Jarrett’s bandwagon – guess he couldn’t trust that his daughter knew something else that neither Jarrett nor daddy dearest knew. How could Sian not wonder about her fiancé and his running after her sister? I thought this was a small town so why didn’t Sian know before?

Jarrett wanted Sian to come to him to stay w/ him of her own free will – um blackmailing her by threatening to seduce her younger sister is not free will. It was all Sian’s fault her own insecurities, lack of trust, misconstruing a kiss, believing the OW – oh wait he didn’t know about that, he didn’t even explain about the latest woman on the scene either. Just believed she knew and I would like to know how he thought she knew to begin w/?

He said, “I was going to be your husband for the rest of our lives, I didn’t think you would begrudge her one little kiss.” – um sorry didn’t sound like one little kiss idiot and he certainly got pissed seeing her kiss her fiancé!!!! His shirt was unbuttoned they were off by themselves. Sian was a child then, she would have seen through OW’s lies if she had been older, more experienced. She needed time to mature to become the woman he needed for wife. Wait a minute – he didn’t see through this woman��s machinations and he knows the other one on the scene now is pretty manipulative, but again he doesn’t say or do anything to let Sian know the r/s b/w him and other woman. I can’t believe how quickly she forgives her sister and where the hell was that conversation w/ her fiancé?

I swear some of his conversations w/ Sian and trying to get her away from her fiancé seemed like something that OW from past would have been saying to him and he supposedly held strong, NOT – sounded more like foreplay there - and Sian did as well for the most part but she felt horrible for coming close but not sealing the deal.

“…decided to give me a second chance, that you’d decided to forgive and forget. Only there was nothing for you to forgive, and plenty for me to forget—namely your lack of trust throughout our relationship!” I can NOT believe the gall of this guy. Nothing is his fault everything is someone else’s fault. I believe he suffers from the dangly thing syndrome!!

As a romance . . . yeah not; he is definitely obsessed w/ her and seems a bit overbearing, possessive, controlling and a touch psycho, but as a train wreck I could NOT look away from it.

[Julz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I stayed mad the whole time I read this. The H was totally incorrigible and did/threatened things that would make me kick him out the door. His "innocent" crime that caused their initial breakup was in fact a valid reason to tell him to suck rocks. Her sister? Give me a break! If I had a sister like her, I'd become an only child. The h was a floor mat for everyone in the story. Who could have such bad luck? It was a total train wreck that was amusing in a horrifying way.

[Melanie♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is not a good rating for this crazy book. It gets 3 stars just because I had a good time hating the "hero." I was totally frustrated with the heroine for not moving on. He does not grovel...he expects her to, though! Grrrrr.

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think we women want to read about a H who in one chapter claims to have been celibate and not have had any other woman for 3 years and in the next chapter admits that he is thinking of h while making love to every woman he has had for the last 3 years!

[Diya✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not get over fact the sister and fiancé got together. It was all left field and did not see it coming. Ruined it for me especially with younger sister going after her sister first love too. What ever happened to sisterhood ?!

[3meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG this was bad...I usually like the stories about reunited lovers, but this stresses the bounds of credibility beyond this romance readers limit. The 'wife' seriously didn't convince anyone, the fact that he held a torch for her this whole time he was gone was completely unbelievable under the circumstances of his eventual return - he would not have left it so late. And the 2 completely unforgivable parts - the H tells the h that he had been faithful to her because every woman he had slept with he pretended were her, SERIOUSLY??? and the finally wrap up with the fiancé was just too much, actually just creepy!!! And this is just the really unforgivable parts.....

[Hemavathy DM Suppiah-Devi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. The so called hero was boorish, rude and violent. Yes violent. And he kissed a lot of girls. A lot. And our heroine was in running for matyr of the year. Heroine's younger sister was a sexed up 17-year-old that hero couldn't keep his hands off as well. Save yourself the stress; if you have this book, burn it.

[JillyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

How could I not read this? Did you read the blurb? There was no way I was passing up a story that was more keyed up than my students were after Halloween. Madness is appropriate for this story. Although, not everything in the blurb is completely accurate, to avoid weight gain and inebriation lock up Ben and Jerry and your alcohol reserves. Stmargarets gives an absolutely fun and accurate review of this story here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Seriously, I shouldn’t write anymore on it after reading her review, but I need to as sort of a cathartic exercise. I will say if you like ott in love older heroes with dubious ways of showing their love, heroines who keep getting it wrong, om’s who get their own happy ending and Carole Mortimer’s style, then you will enjoy this with some eye rolling.


3 years previously the heroine Sian(19)broke off her engagement 2 days before her wedding to the Hero Jarrett(33) when she found him kissing his previous girlfriend at his stag party in a bar. She refused to listen to him. He left for London the next afternoon bringing the ex girlfriend with him to London. The ex girlfriend came back within a couple of weeks. The hero went off to America to help his Uncle with the building business which is now worth millions.

The hero is now back. The h is engaged to the local vet. She hears about him coming back but doesn’t see him until she is on a date with her fiance. He walks into the restaurant with her 19 year old enthralled sister Bethany on his 36 year old arm. He is angry to see her with her fiancé. He almost comes to blows with her fiancé Chris in the restaurant. Which is very unusual for our heroes to lose their cool. Like cats, they often like to play with their prey before the kill.

The fiancé takes the h home and he has a jealous fit. He finds out that the H was the h’s first lover(she is waiting til the wedding night with the fiancé). She feels a little guilty about this and lets the fiancé feel her up more than usual. The fiancé also doesn’t like that the h’s sister is dating the H either. He leaves to go home and the h waits up for her sister to talk with her. The H brings the sister back and they h tries to talk with her. The sister is like “we are just having fun, I’m not in love with him, and I will most likely marry a local boy and give him my goodies!”

So, let me try and sum the rest of the story up.
The H makes his intentions clear at the get go. He loves the h. He is here to get her, the business reason is a red herring. He will kill her fiancé if she goes through with the wedding. In the meantime, he will date her sister as a means of blackmail to get the h to be with him. She allows him to date her sister, until one night when the sister says she is going to London with him overnight to see a play. The h hightails it to his hotel to throw herself at his mercy only to run into Mrs. King, Arlette, who she is told is his wife. It gets messier. He ended up not taking the sister to London, and when she gets to the house with her fiance, she ends up making coffee with the H while the fiance tells the sister about the hero. The H at this point is unaware that Arlette is in town. He finds out from the h and insists he will marry the h but has to handle Arlette. The way he talks you would think Arlette is his wife, but in actuality she is his Uncle’s beautiful widow who wouldn’t mind taking on the nephew. So, since communication is minimal, the h believes Arlette is his wife, and the H has no idea she is thinking this. Then to top it off, there is only a couple of weeks until the h is to marry the om and her sister is acting all dodgy and weepy. The h thinks it is because she is distraught over losing Jarrett, but in actuality the sister is feeling guilty at the moment. You see, come to find out, the h’s fiance was very jealous over Jarrett, but not because of the h, but because of the h’s sister. Yep! The fiance and the sister have found out that they actually love each other and although they were trying to fight it, it is no use.

The H is sick of the h not trusting him. How could she think he would actually seduce her sister? How could she think he would be married to another and pursue her? He takes off for NYC to deal with the rest of his aunt’s inheritance, so he can finally be rid of her. Meanwhile, the h is happy for her own sister as she marries Chris the now ex fiancé 5 weeks later. The h has an epiphany and goes after her own man in NYC and will offer herself up on a platter. He can have her anyway he wants as long as he has her.

Was this a story a mess? Well, the empty bags of chips and wine bottles at my feet support that theory(joking but only because there was no junk food or wine where I am currently dog sitting).

I am going to leave this review with the highlights of the H’s love for the heroine.


How do I love thee, let me count the ways…..
1) At 33, I dumped my current girlfriend to be with 19 year old you. We made love copious amounts of time, got engaged(no rings), and at my stag party I let the gf give me a goodbye kiss with my shirt unbuttoned to the navel.
2) I went after you, tried to reason with you, but less than 24 hours later I went to London with my ex gf to allow you to grow up.
3) Hero: I moved to America to become a millionaire. There has never been anyone since you.
Heroine: Really? I am shocked. I mean you had quite the sex drive…It is nice to know I wasn’t the only one not having sex the last 3 years and……wait what was that?
Hero: I said you misunderstood me. I had copious amounts of sex the last few years, but I could only do so picturing you in their place. I mean it is a type of celibacy, because I saw you when I was with them.
Heroine: I see, so yeah I am going to need you to make a Dr’s appt ……
4) I would get the local newspaper sent to me in America. When it announced your engagement, I started tying up loose ends in America, so I could get the business operations moved to England to stop your wedding. I thought I would have more time, I can’t believe you are engaged after only 3 years apart(Yeah, buddy, well some of us were not having faceless sex with others)
5) I bought the land where we would have sex and talk about our future dreams. I am having our dream house built per your previous specifications, including rooms for our 4 future children. This was going to be your wedding gift 3 years ago…but you broke my heart by not listening to me.
6) I dated your sister to get you to come to me. No worries, I kissed her lightly a couple of times, but was only using her to get to you. I know she will be happy as punch to get me as her brother in law!
7) I called your dad to explain that whole pesky Nina thing…he understood the whole stag party craziness, and I also told him about leaving for London with her. I was only giving her a lift, that is all. She needed to escape this small town because of all the chaos you caused at the bar during my stag party.
8) Oh and I’m only in NYC to finish up business, my intention was to come back and claim you.

I think you owe me a good grovel for all of your jumping to conclusions, accusations, and basically your immaturity.



The heroine: (BTW before I grovel, and I will grovel, I want to mention a few things about your above statements)

First of all, I was 19!!! It is my god given right to be as immature as I want to be! I shudder to think what you were like when you were 19, but since I was 5 at the time, we won’t go into it.

Since I was 19, don’t you think you should have tried a little bit harder to win me back. I saw you kissing your ex two days before our wedding(with no engagement ring btw). Yes it was your stag party. However, less than 24 hours later you were in your car with the ex sitting next to you off to London. Look, I may be naive. I may be immature. However, I have read books. I have seen movies. I know that running off to London is not the way to win back the girl. Where are my flowers? This might have been a good time to show me the deed to the property you bought…You were 33…you should have known better.

Oh, and just so you know, Nina told me you two were having an affair. That the affair was going to continue after the marriage. You driving off with her only confirmed what she said. But of course, I am obviously at fault.

Then there was Arlette. Arlette also led me to believe you were lovers. She oozed and dripped all over you. Again, I am sorry I didn’t realize she was nothing to you. Had you introduced her properly as your Uncle’s widow, many things would have been cleared up.

Seriously, my sister??? I don’t care that you only gave her a kiss or two. You were using my sister!! How old are you? What if my sister had developed feelings for you instead of my fiancé(ok wait my sister and I probably should talk a little bit more about sisterly love and boundaries) At least my ex fiancé is getting a fresh virgin, since my virginity was given to you at the age of 19.(You know, when you were 33!!!)

Oh and thank you for thinking only of me as you screwed those American women. In the future, please pick up a card at Hallmark to show me you care instead..

I am only 22. I have only lived in this small town. I have been in charge of my sister and father since my mother died. You are the most exciting thing to ever happen to me, so yes I am going to grovel to get you back! Now show me if you learned any new moves on all of those fake me’s you had to practice on!


I love my train wrecks! The ridiculousness of the situations were so ott I really couldn’t help but eat this one up.

[Poonam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The H was a jerk and it was the h that was grovelling in the end.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of any romance where a sibling (or even a best friend) starts dating the heroines ex. In this book Sian was going to marry Jarrett 3 years previously. They were lovers when her sister was age 16. They split up and haven't seen each other in 3 years and in that time Sian has become engaged to another man and they are to be married within a month.

When Sian's sister finds out Jarrett has returned she's giddy with excitement and wants to date him. Sian does try to talk her out of it more because she is worried Jarrett will hurt her. If that was me I would have said 'no way are you dating my ex lover and ex fiance'! Jarrett sees a way to blackmail Sian into coming back to him by threatening to sleep with her sister. He doesn't sleep with her but does later admit he kissed her a few times!

Jarrett has returned as he still loves Sian. He comes back all guns blazing as he had heard she was engaged. He left her 3 years ago as she didn't believe him when he said nothing happened between him and an ex lover on his stag night even though Sian saw them kissing each other. He eventually admits yes he did kiss said woman but he doesn't see what's wrong with that?!

Sian and her fiance have not had sex but she does enjoy his love making?! Presumably his kisses and caresses? Jarrett demands to know if they have had sex and when she asks him how many lovers he has had in the last 3 years he says none but then later admits there were lots of women but only because they reminded him of Sian but they didn't live up to her!

It's a ridiculous storyline that goes from bad to worse. The worst been that Sian's current fiance then falls in love and starts having an affair with her sister while still planning his wedding to her. Then within a month of Sian finding out her ex and her sister get married!

It's not a romance. It's a farce. No wonder it's called Summer Madness as they're all mad!

[Kalyee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Girl meets man, girl lusts for man, man and girl get engaged. Que stag party where girl sees man kissing an old flame, a few nasty words from old flame later and let the drama ensue.

I read that other reviewers had an issue with Jarrets lack of groveling, however that was something that I didn't mind. In fact, I was kinda on his side. Yes, Jarret kissed his ex. However, our heroine doesn't allow him to explain and she never tells him of the OW's lies. She childishly decides to never speak to him again and ignores his calling and coming by until he gives up and leaves. He comes back 3 years later and is a total open book with her. He tells her up front hes back because he loves her and throughout the book goes out of his way to let her know how he feels and what he wants. While our heroine is always making assumptions instead of just talking to him and refuses to be honest with, well everyone including herself.

The reason this is a 2 star instead of 3 is actually because of our heroines sister. I didn't buy it. What kind of sister thinks its ok to go out with your sisters ex fiancé? The silly chit actually seemed indignant that her sister should object!? I also needed some sisterly groveling. Not only does she date and kiss her sisters ex fiancé but shes caught kissing her sisters current fiancé and declares they are in love?!. No. I don't buy that.... the glossing over of that so that everything is a tidy bow. I wanted the" I'm so sorrys," and the betrayal our heroine should have felt etc etc.

[Veronica WordsAreMyDrinkOfChoice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jarrett (terrible name), is an asshole and Bethany is a piece of shit.

[sbf20112011 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for some fun craziness. But man, this was a whacked story. The hero was TERRIBLE. The heroine ends up having to grovel to him because she "didn't trust him" when she saw him kissing his ex at his stag party, on the eve of his wedding to the heroine. And the excuse wasn't that he didn't kiss his ex or that the kiss was involuntary or something, it was that the heroine was making too big a deal out of a kiss.

And then to get back at the heroine he starts dating her sister, AND kisses her several times. Enough that the sister is all rumpled from kissing. And that too is also not supposed to bother the heroine, because the hero only did it to force the heroine to come to him.

The end takeaway from this story is that apparently kissing and making out with other people when you're engaged/in love with someone else is no big deal, and you have to beg to have your hero take you back if you make an issue of it. How terribly romantic. :-)

Anyway, overall this was still an engaging enough read, even if it did make you want to murder all the characters.

[Booked · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man should have been her husband

Jarrett King had walked out on Sian three years before, breaking their engagement and leaving her devastated. Now he was back, expecting her to come to him.

He had a wife. He was dating Sian's sister. He claimed to be in love with Sian. What sort of man was he?

And what sort of woman was she, she wondered, that a week before her marriage to another man she could still feel such a passion for Jarrett?

[Vivian Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

0.5 stars.

um no, just no. her sister has no "sister code" and would be one of those girls who steal their friends' bfs.
if she had a sister code, she wouldn't have gone out with jarret never mind seeing her sisters fiance behind her back.

awful sister and I can't believe the heroine is so easy to forgive what her sister and ex fiance did.

awful.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too convoluted of a story. Everyone treats the heroine like shit and it got annoying. I say skip it.

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Trust In Summer Madness" is the story of Sian and Jarrett.

This book is messy with a capital M, but oh so enjoyable.

Heroine is engaged and soon to be married to OM. Her ex, who she presumes cheated on her few weeks before their marriage returns after three years, and causes havoc. The hero claims he still loves her and will not let her marry another man. Her fiance is jealous, and then starts behaving distant. Her sister goes out with her ex, and then has a breakdown every time she sees her with her fiance. There's a catty OW and a concerned father. Confused? Makes for a fun ride.

Did I enjoy hearing that the hero moved on with multiple OW who were "all the heroine" in his mind? No. Did he spend years obsessing over her? Yes. Sadly these co-existed but the book was enjoyable.

Unsafe
3/5

[Martha B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange story that made me scratch my head a couple of times. I didn’t buy how the stag party incident was explained and I was bewildered that the H felt he didn’t do anything to need to be forgiven for. He seemed a bit conceited to expect that “it’s not what it looks like” would be easy to accept. The heroine wasn’t much better leaping into conclusions without confronting the H about what the OW said. Three years of radio silence from the H and suddenly all this determination? The heroine was going to marry another man despite her feelings towards the H. But the sister really took the prize. On the other hand I would feel sorry for the OM if not for the twist so she had her purpose in the plot.

[Elena Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fa parte dei libri che vado a cercare e (dopo aver letto deludenti e volgari romanzi moderni che mi rifiuto di recensire) riescono ad emozionare in modo pulito e romantico.
Bello come i tantissimi altri che ho letto di questa autrice.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed most of this book. It was hard to follow.

[Eliana]

"If I had a sister like her, I'd become an only child." I agree with this reviewer, the heroine had the worst sister from hell!!!

[ANGELIA · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Madness" is right! Ms. Mortimer must have been temporarily insane to write this crap book!

[Andrea .... e suas cafonices. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eu realmente acho que algumas autoras escrevem coisas como essa depois de consumir algo estragado.... Meh

[April Brookshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this one. The hero and heroine both made mistakes 3 years ago. The hero took off to America and the heroine is now engaged to someone else. The hero comes back to England for his woman. And this man seems to really, really love her. Unlike most harlequin heroes he says all the right things from the beginning, being upfront about his deep feelings for her. The only thing that bothered me about the book was how at the end the heroine book took all the blame for both of their past mistakes.

[RomLibrary]

In bed with her ex!

Three years ago, Jarrett King walked out on Sian Morrissey, breaking their engagement and leaving her completely devastated. Now he’s returned and is expecting Sian to hop back in his bed! Jarrett is certainly living up to his playboy reputation. But Sian still feels a passion for him that she can’t deny…

[Adanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The heroine greatly annoyed me, it was all I can do to not throw the book againt the wall and leave it where it fell for weeks! She just couldnt leave well enough alone...talmbout 'the car had a mind of its own', puhlease!