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Winter Destiny
He was unscrupulous - and she wanted him.
Rich. Reclusive. Ruthless. Courtenay West thought the tabloids had been far too kind in their assessment of Vancouver's powerful shpping magnate, Graydon Winter.
She had made the mistake of loving Gray's brother - and had paid dearly. Not dearly enough, judging by the contempt and determination in Gray's eyes. With or without her, he would claim the family's legacy - Courtenay's daughter.
There was nothing she could do but endure his wrath and conviction that she was a scheming seductress. Their dislike was mutual and intense - only intensifying the raw desire that drove them to a destiny neither one wanted...or could control.
189 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1991
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December 26, 2017
Re Winter Destiny - Grace Green brings us another great HPlandia h overcome by her inner meltiness for the H and once again an epic fail on the H with this one - unless you like the ruthless, revenge/lust conflicted verbally abusive and manipulative Alpha H type.
The h is 28 and has a nine and half year old daughter that is the result of an unwitting affair with the H's brother. She is rather poor, but getting by and for once used the appropriate social services for help when her baby was young, as her disinterested father totally abandoned her to her shame.
The h is tracked down by the H and blackmailed into returning to his house with her daughter to help his depressed mother, who recently lost her younger son, the h's ex and his wife. He buys the company the h works for and gets her fired to start. Then he tries to buy the h's daughter and threatens the h with bankruptcy because without her job she won't be able to pay her bank loan or her rent.
The H believes that the h seduced his brother and that she is a sleazy tart of massive proportions and treats her accordingly, including threatening her custody of her daughter. However in a rare shining h moment, the h tells the H where to jump, even if she winds up destitute and homeless.
In an un-rare moment of pure HP H slimehood, the H threatens to tell the little girl that the h really despises the girl's father. ( Thus shattering the illusion that the h worked hard to foster so her daughter would not be ashamed of her origins, but also to ruin the daughter's trust in her mother in the process.) Unless the h agrees to let the H claim to his mother that the h is a massive gold digger tart who seduced his pure and virtuous brother away from his wife and tried to trap him with a child.
The daughter is excited over meeting her grandmother, so the h reluctantly and under coercion agrees to let the H lie, and agrees to take her daughter to see the old woman for two weeks, the old lady who is so depressed she can't even arrange for the painting of the front hall of the H's majestic manor home.
Roofie kisses, the H's girlfriend's conniving and slut shaming of the h ensue. The H is clearly interested in a lurve club moment with the h and resenting that she is such a tarty tartlett at the same time. Completely disregarding that technically he is involved with a woman himself.
As apparently in this family, apples really don't fall far from the tree.
Eventually the h manages to get a word in edgewise and explain that the the real story is the married brother saw her when she was 17, tried to seduce her, she said no and so he set up a fake marriage ceremony and pretended to marry her and then dumped her later. She found out she was preggers and never said anything, cause really what is there TO say to a man who would do something like that?
The H naturally says the h is lying, but really the h is a very nice person and even kind to the H's mother, who raised not one but TWO lying, cheating specimens of outstanding sub-par humanity and now wants a shot at ruining another in the form of the h's daughter while either snubbing or just plain ignoring the h. (After delivering her snide, condescending the h-is-a-tart-soiling-the pristine-purity-of-her-house speech to the h, in their first conversation.)
Through the sheer proximity of the living in the same house and with the h being such a caring and empathetic person, the h starts to believe that she and the H can have a peaceful co-existence. The H even seems willing to believe that there might be more to the situation than what his brother claimed.
His brother claimed he met the h as a cheap little blonde in a bar, the h supposedly got clingy and he only continued with the h to keep her from telling his wife. Until the H stepped in and made him stop or he would cut him out of the family business, as the H was very concerned about his brother's wife. Then the brother's wife started drinking and she was unknowingly preggers and miscarried. This was a terrible blow as she had been trying to get preggers for years. (The H cried about it too, which made me wonder if the miscarried baby was really his brother's or if he 'consoled' his brother's wife in her distress and that doubled his obvious devastation until he saw a picture of the h.)
The h's daughter gets sick with a virus, forcing the h to continue to stay in the H's home and her temptation to melt into the H becomes almost unbearable, there is lot of angst and yearning. Then the H's girlfriend stops by to un-invite the h to her party for the girlfriend's returning from the Amazon brother - the girlfriend tries to tell the h that the H only had her invite the h to be polite. The h, who can't resist throwing some gas on the fire, explains that she will be delighted to attend the girlfriend's party with such a handsome and virile man as the H.
Then a thought hits her that the fake minister who married her might show up there too and the h can prove her story to the H. However the H has another scheme in mind for taking the h to the party and the h is unsure she really should go. But the H gets a nurse for the h's daughter and with reluctance but a smidgen of hope, the h agrees to wear the dress the H bought for her and pay him back for it. Even tho she will probably only wear it once and then spend years working to reimburse him for it. There is a little H seduction attempt when he walks in on the h trying to get dressed, but eventually we all set off for the party where the H's sneaky little plan unfolds.
We get to the party and the H's plan is ready to be sprung, with a small interruption as the h starts searching for the fake celebrant who married her to the H's brother. The H starts snapping at her cause he thinks she is on the pull for another married man to have a tawdry affair with. He makes the usual nasty tart remarks and the h explains that she is trying to see if the brother's friend is present as she plans to make him explain what he did all those years ago in setting the h up. The H tells her to ask for more Perrier water when she sees the fake celebrant, but the h looks for quite a while in vain, the man is not there.
She is depressed and the H is making noises that she is a liar, when she wanders into the solarium and has a little nap. The h is awoken by the sound of the H and his girlfriend breaking up. The H's girlfriend was engaged to him at one time and he really loved the girlfriend. But the H was relatively poor and the girlfriend married a rich older man who gave her big diamonds instead. Now she is a merry widow and wants to reinstate her betrothal to the now wildly rich H. He doesn't want to tho and when the girlfriend blames the h for the H's attitude and calls the h a whore, the h loses her temper and stands up, surprising the H and girlfriend both.
The h tersely states that she was tricked and used, she is NOT a whore. But the girlfriend certainly falls into that category cause the H loved her, yet the girlfriend sold herself out for a handful of diamonds. The H suddenly get all handsy and loverly with the h in front of the now ex-girlfriend as they walk out. On the way to the car, the ex-girlfriend's brother shows up and the h recognizes him as the fake marriage celebrant. She tells the H she would like some Perrier when the man asks the H who the hot chick is and the H sends the h home while he and the man talk.
The H returns to see the h later, he now realizes that his entire family has pretty much used, abused and debased the h and that they are all nematode slime swillers. To the h's credit, she tries to dissuade the H from explaining things to his supposedly fragile mother and the H is in awe of the h's willingness to martyr herself.
He insists that the h be vindicated and we find out that the h met the H's brother when he snapped her picture in the park when she was just seventeen and then proceeded along the fake marriage route. The H gets a funny look when the h mentions the picture, but she quickly forgets when the H admits that he made the h go to his ex-girlfriend's party to flaunt her in his ex's face and cause a breakup.
(It is debatable that the H and ex were partners, but really if they were not, why drag the h to a place she really did not want to be and tried several times to refuse to go to? I would think a simple, "You dumped me for flash and cash, you lose and I don't want you" would be enough of a statement to get rid of his girlfriend. Unless of course he had been leading her on and enjoying some piking poky revenge. Then to compound the situation and humiliate his ex even more, he flaunted a woman that he and the ex both called a whore and worse, right in front of the woman and all her friends.)
When the H makes his big confession of using her, just like his brother, the h finally loses some of her martyrdom complex and tells the H off, he and his brother treated her abominably - par for the family course. The next morning, the H's mother makes her apology and sadly the h doesn't take the opportunity to expose just what a hypocrite the deceptively fragile snot is, but graciously allows that she wants her daughter to continue to have a relationship with the woman. The H's mother declares that the h is in love with the H and the h, instead of denouncing her for raising a plethora of sub sewer slime swillers, starts crying cause she just realized she loves the H.
Later on the H shows up as the h is walking along the beach and he asks to court and visit the h, cause he thought and TELLS the h - just EXACTLY like his brother- that the h's picture at seventeen was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. The H has been carrying around the h's picture that the brother took in his wallet for years.
He hired detectives to track her down, (but strangely couldn't read the part where she had been celibate for yonks and not involved with any men, except maybe as a replacement daughter for her elderly boss,) because he wanted a shot at that pop tart of sexy fun and didn't mind paying for it. Then he found out about his niece and decided he wanted the girl for therapy for his mother and in the meantime he could sate himself in the h. Now he tries to humble himself for ten seconds to plead his case for marriage after courtship with the h.
The h thinks for about half a second and agrees to let the H visit, it is pretty clear they are in love - or at least she is and he is out of mind with yearning lust, so the book ends with the intention but the not the actuality of a happily wedded HEA - which to my mind was a good thing cause the h still has time to recover from her brain virus and get a restraining order against these people.
This is one of the few HP's that doesn't end in a bona fide HP certified married HEA - tho the implication is there and strangely enough, it works really well for this one. The H isn't totally a slime slurper for the latter half of the book, until his ploy with the girlfriend comes to light, but even that is almost excusable.
What ruins it for me and knocks it down to well done and angsty but not great, is the deliberate use of same wording the brother used about the picture to the h. It also gives me great concern, because the underlying implication is that the H had a thing for his brother's sloppy seconds - first he is consoling the wife and then he is pursuing the h- after admitting that his brother never got over leaving the h and that everyone knew it and after the H himself saw the h's picture and figured his brother had one-upped him in the lady lurve department once again.
I got a creepy feeling and the mother's continual manipulative blindness over her sons and the spoiling of the h's daughter while trying to estrange the h was just another straw on the tinderbox really. A child is not therapy for depression - period.
These were really not nice people, I wanted the h to allow for a very distant relationship with very infrequent supervised visits -- as who wants their child exposed to the moral bankruptcy these people are all about and continue to practice.
Still the angst in this one is immense and the h is really a nice person who gets some solid stand up moments for herself. I was just entirely regretting the spine dissolution and melting innards every time the H was in proximity - cause she really deserved better and that lack of a quality H made this a sorta unsatisfactory, but not really terrible angst ladden HPlandia outing.
The h is 28 and has a nine and half year old daughter that is the result of an unwitting affair with the H's brother. She is rather poor, but getting by and for once used the appropriate social services for help when her baby was young, as her disinterested father totally abandoned her to her shame.
The h is tracked down by the H and blackmailed into returning to his house with her daughter to help his depressed mother, who recently lost her younger son, the h's ex and his wife. He buys the company the h works for and gets her fired to start. Then he tries to buy the h's daughter and threatens the h with bankruptcy because without her job she won't be able to pay her bank loan or her rent.
The H believes that the h seduced his brother and that she is a sleazy tart of massive proportions and treats her accordingly, including threatening her custody of her daughter. However in a rare shining h moment, the h tells the H where to jump, even if she winds up destitute and homeless.
In an un-rare moment of pure HP H slimehood, the H threatens to tell the little girl that the h really despises the girl's father. ( Thus shattering the illusion that the h worked hard to foster so her daughter would not be ashamed of her origins, but also to ruin the daughter's trust in her mother in the process.) Unless the h agrees to let the H claim to his mother that the h is a massive gold digger tart who seduced his pure and virtuous brother away from his wife and tried to trap him with a child.
The daughter is excited over meeting her grandmother, so the h reluctantly and under coercion agrees to let the H lie, and agrees to take her daughter to see the old woman for two weeks, the old lady who is so depressed she can't even arrange for the painting of the front hall of the H's majestic manor home.
Roofie kisses, the H's girlfriend's conniving and slut shaming of the h ensue. The H is clearly interested in a lurve club moment with the h and resenting that she is such a tarty tartlett at the same time. Completely disregarding that technically he is involved with a woman himself.
As apparently in this family, apples really don't fall far from the tree.
Eventually the h manages to get a word in edgewise and explain that the the real story is the married brother saw her when she was 17, tried to seduce her, she said no and so he set up a fake marriage ceremony and pretended to marry her and then dumped her later. She found out she was preggers and never said anything, cause really what is there TO say to a man who would do something like that?
The H naturally says the h is lying, but really the h is a very nice person and even kind to the H's mother, who raised not one but TWO lying, cheating specimens of outstanding sub-par humanity and now wants a shot at ruining another in the form of the h's daughter while either snubbing or just plain ignoring the h. (After delivering her snide, condescending the h-is-a-tart-soiling-the pristine-purity-of-her-house speech to the h, in their first conversation.)
Through the sheer proximity of the living in the same house and with the h being such a caring and empathetic person, the h starts to believe that she and the H can have a peaceful co-existence. The H even seems willing to believe that there might be more to the situation than what his brother claimed.
His brother claimed he met the h as a cheap little blonde in a bar, the h supposedly got clingy and he only continued with the h to keep her from telling his wife. Until the H stepped in and made him stop or he would cut him out of the family business, as the H was very concerned about his brother's wife. Then the brother's wife started drinking and she was unknowingly preggers and miscarried. This was a terrible blow as she had been trying to get preggers for years. (The H cried about it too, which made me wonder if the miscarried baby was really his brother's or if he 'consoled' his brother's wife in her distress and that doubled his obvious devastation until he saw a picture of the h.)
The h's daughter gets sick with a virus, forcing the h to continue to stay in the H's home and her temptation to melt into the H becomes almost unbearable, there is lot of angst and yearning. Then the H's girlfriend stops by to un-invite the h to her party for the girlfriend's returning from the Amazon brother - the girlfriend tries to tell the h that the H only had her invite the h to be polite. The h, who can't resist throwing some gas on the fire, explains that she will be delighted to attend the girlfriend's party with such a handsome and virile man as the H.
Then a thought hits her that the fake minister who married her might show up there too and the h can prove her story to the H. However the H has another scheme in mind for taking the h to the party and the h is unsure she really should go. But the H gets a nurse for the h's daughter and with reluctance but a smidgen of hope, the h agrees to wear the dress the H bought for her and pay him back for it. Even tho she will probably only wear it once and then spend years working to reimburse him for it. There is a little H seduction attempt when he walks in on the h trying to get dressed, but eventually we all set off for the party where the H's sneaky little plan unfolds.
We get to the party and the H's plan is ready to be sprung, with a small interruption as the h starts searching for the fake celebrant who married her to the H's brother. The H starts snapping at her cause he thinks she is on the pull for another married man to have a tawdry affair with. He makes the usual nasty tart remarks and the h explains that she is trying to see if the brother's friend is present as she plans to make him explain what he did all those years ago in setting the h up. The H tells her to ask for more Perrier water when she sees the fake celebrant, but the h looks for quite a while in vain, the man is not there.
She is depressed and the H is making noises that she is a liar, when she wanders into the solarium and has a little nap. The h is awoken by the sound of the H and his girlfriend breaking up. The H's girlfriend was engaged to him at one time and he really loved the girlfriend. But the H was relatively poor and the girlfriend married a rich older man who gave her big diamonds instead. Now she is a merry widow and wants to reinstate her betrothal to the now wildly rich H. He doesn't want to tho and when the girlfriend blames the h for the H's attitude and calls the h a whore, the h loses her temper and stands up, surprising the H and girlfriend both.
The h tersely states that she was tricked and used, she is NOT a whore. But the girlfriend certainly falls into that category cause the H loved her, yet the girlfriend sold herself out for a handful of diamonds. The H suddenly get all handsy and loverly with the h in front of the now ex-girlfriend as they walk out. On the way to the car, the ex-girlfriend's brother shows up and the h recognizes him as the fake marriage celebrant. She tells the H she would like some Perrier when the man asks the H who the hot chick is and the H sends the h home while he and the man talk.
The H returns to see the h later, he now realizes that his entire family has pretty much used, abused and debased the h and that they are all nematode slime swillers. To the h's credit, she tries to dissuade the H from explaining things to his supposedly fragile mother and the H is in awe of the h's willingness to martyr herself.
He insists that the h be vindicated and we find out that the h met the H's brother when he snapped her picture in the park when she was just seventeen and then proceeded along the fake marriage route. The H gets a funny look when the h mentions the picture, but she quickly forgets when the H admits that he made the h go to his ex-girlfriend's party to flaunt her in his ex's face and cause a breakup.
(It is debatable that the H and ex were partners, but really if they were not, why drag the h to a place she really did not want to be and tried several times to refuse to go to? I would think a simple, "You dumped me for flash and cash, you lose and I don't want you" would be enough of a statement to get rid of his girlfriend. Unless of course he had been leading her on and enjoying some piking poky revenge. Then to compound the situation and humiliate his ex even more, he flaunted a woman that he and the ex both called a whore and worse, right in front of the woman and all her friends.)
When the H makes his big confession of using her, just like his brother, the h finally loses some of her martyrdom complex and tells the H off, he and his brother treated her abominably - par for the family course. The next morning, the H's mother makes her apology and sadly the h doesn't take the opportunity to expose just what a hypocrite the deceptively fragile snot is, but graciously allows that she wants her daughter to continue to have a relationship with the woman. The H's mother declares that the h is in love with the H and the h, instead of denouncing her for raising a plethora of sub sewer slime swillers, starts crying cause she just realized she loves the H.
Later on the H shows up as the h is walking along the beach and he asks to court and visit the h, cause he thought and TELLS the h - just EXACTLY like his brother- that the h's picture at seventeen was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. The H has been carrying around the h's picture that the brother took in his wallet for years.
He hired detectives to track her down, (but strangely couldn't read the part where she had been celibate for yonks and not involved with any men, except maybe as a replacement daughter for her elderly boss,) because he wanted a shot at that pop tart of sexy fun and didn't mind paying for it. Then he found out about his niece and decided he wanted the girl for therapy for his mother and in the meantime he could sate himself in the h. Now he tries to humble himself for ten seconds to plead his case for marriage after courtship with the h.
The h thinks for about half a second and agrees to let the H visit, it is pretty clear they are in love - or at least she is and he is out of mind with yearning lust, so the book ends with the intention but the not the actuality of a happily wedded HEA - which to my mind was a good thing cause the h still has time to recover from her brain virus and get a restraining order against these people.
This is one of the few HP's that doesn't end in a bona fide HP certified married HEA - tho the implication is there and strangely enough, it works really well for this one. The H isn't totally a slime slurper for the latter half of the book, until his ploy with the girlfriend comes to light, but even that is almost excusable.
What ruins it for me and knocks it down to well done and angsty but not great, is the deliberate use of same wording the brother used about the picture to the h. It also gives me great concern, because the underlying implication is that the H had a thing for his brother's sloppy seconds - first he is consoling the wife and then he is pursuing the h- after admitting that his brother never got over leaving the h and that everyone knew it and after the H himself saw the h's picture and figured his brother had one-upped him in the lady lurve department once again.
I got a creepy feeling and the mother's continual manipulative blindness over her sons and the spoiling of the h's daughter while trying to estrange the h was just another straw on the tinderbox really. A child is not therapy for depression - period.
These were really not nice people, I wanted the h to allow for a very distant relationship with very infrequent supervised visits -- as who wants their child exposed to the moral bankruptcy these people are all about and continue to practice.
Still the angst in this one is immense and the h is really a nice person who gets some solid stand up moments for herself. I was just entirely regretting the spine dissolution and melting innards every time the H was in proximity - cause she really deserved better and that lack of a quality H made this a sorta unsatisfactory, but not really terrible angst ladden HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2016
Yay! An old skool revenge story with just enough misery for the heroine to satisfy my masochistic tendencies and enough page time devoted to the hero's change of heart in the other direction, so that the ending was satisfying enough. (I would have enjoyed more grovel, of course. And an epilogue with the daughter would have been nice).
The real enjoyment was in the revenge the hero set up for our single-mom heroine who had an affair with hero's married brother when she was 17. She thought she was married to the brother because he staged a fake ceremony. Brother walked out on heroine when hero threatened him. Heroine had a baby daughter without the family knowing. Now, ten years later, the brother is dead and hero had heroine investigated after seeing an old picture of her in his brother's possessions. Now that he knows there was a child, he's determined to bring the heroine's 9 year-old daughter to his depressed mother for Christmas.
I liked the heroine in this one. When the hero asks her how she managed during and after her pregnancy she tells him she went on welfare. Finally, a heroine who remembered that there is a safety net (this is set in Canada). Yes, her situation was bad, but it wasn't dire. In fact, she's a happy person at the beginning of the story even though a man had done her wrong.
The real enjoyment was in the revenge the hero set up for our single-mom heroine who had an affair with hero's married brother when she was 17. She thought she was married to the brother because he staged a fake ceremony. Brother walked out on heroine when hero threatened him. Heroine had a baby daughter without the family knowing. Now, ten years later, the brother is dead and hero had heroine investigated after seeing an old picture of her in his brother's possessions. Now that he knows there was a child, he's determined to bring the heroine's 9 year-old daughter to his depressed mother for Christmas.
I liked the heroine in this one. When the hero asks her how she managed during and after her pregnancy she tells him she went on welfare. Finally, a heroine who remembered that there is a safety net (this is set in Canada). Yes, her situation was bad, but it wasn't dire. In fact, she's a happy person at the beginning of the story even though a man had done her wrong.
January 12, 2018
This is the usual revenge trope with some difference. The H, thinking that the h had seduced his happily married younger brother and almost ruined his marriage, wants to teach her a lesson. Only thing is that the apparent seducing happened ten years ago, the brother and his wife are now dead, and the h has a 9 years old daughter who resembles his brother.
The h is a ‘sexy blonde’ with whom the brother had been obsessed and had lied to her in order to get her in bed, only to dump her later. She gets pregnant but carries on, on her own for all these years, and is reasonably happy without a man in her life until the H shows up with his vile threats and blackmail. He doesn’t believe her and sneers at her version of the story.
He gets her thrown out from her job and then uses her daughter to make her come stay with him and his mother in Vancouver. She complies, as the little girl is understandably excited at discovering an uncle and a grand mom.
What brings huge angst is how long and how much she has been wronged and now also humiliated.
I teared up at few places, as her situation was very heartbreaking. All these years the H had known about her as the brother had painted her as a lolita who seduced him. And in the present, the H presents the h in a similar light to his mother and threatens her to not even try and show herself in the victim’s role because that would distress his mother as she had still not recovered from the bereavement. So the older woman mostly ignores her and the H insults her whenever he can. All this happens around Christmas, so is all the more heartbreaking.
Added to all this is a nasty ex/wannabe ow who is incorporated in the story credibly. And later it is all wrapped up nice and proper.
A last minute shocker/ick factor- the H uses the exact same words as his brother in describing his obsession with the h, objectifying her as a sex object, which horrified me. I was thinking why this, at the end?
The ending seems incomplete by HP standards but after reading it a few times, I actually liked the way the author wraps it up in the last paragraph or two. That was unique and immensely sweet. In any other book, it would draw a dissatisfied moue from me but here it was befitting.
All in all, a lovely book with an unforgettable angst and execution.
*Some ETA
The h is a ‘sexy blonde’ with whom the brother had been obsessed and had lied to her in order to get her in bed, only to dump her later. She gets pregnant but carries on, on her own for all these years, and is reasonably happy without a man in her life until the H shows up with his vile threats and blackmail. He doesn’t believe her and sneers at her version of the story.
He gets her thrown out from her job and then uses her daughter to make her come stay with him and his mother in Vancouver. She complies, as the little girl is understandably excited at discovering an uncle and a grand mom.
What brings huge angst is how long and how much she has been wronged and now also humiliated.
I teared up at few places, as her situation was very heartbreaking. All these years the H had known about her as the brother had painted her as a lolita who seduced him. And in the present, the H presents the h in a similar light to his mother and threatens her to not even try and show herself in the victim’s role because that would distress his mother as she had still not recovered from the bereavement. So the older woman mostly ignores her and the H insults her whenever he can. All this happens around Christmas, so is all the more heartbreaking.
Added to all this is a nasty ex/wannabe ow who is incorporated in the story credibly. And later it is all wrapped up nice and proper.
A last minute shocker/ick factor- the H uses the exact same words as his brother in describing his obsession with the h, objectifying her as a sex object, which horrified me. I was thinking why this, at the end?
The ending seems incomplete by HP standards but after reading it a few times, I actually liked the way the author wraps it up in the last paragraph or two. That was unique and immensely sweet. In any other book, it would draw a dissatisfied moue from me but here it was befitting.
All in all, a lovely book with an unforgettable angst and execution.
*Some ETA
January 13, 2018
Can’t go wrong with a Young Frankenstein moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Wap...
Well done cruel hero/duped heroine/secret baby/revenge romance.
The h was duped by the evil, now dead, brother into a fake marriage because she wouldn’t put out. The cruel H other brother tracks her and her nine year old daughter down after the brother and HIS WIFE die. He knows she is an evil home-wrecking, gold digger. Yep, she’s the worst kind of home-wrecking gold digger as she has been biding her time barely making ends meet as a working single mother FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS.
Yeah okay. She ends up in the cool mansion in the sky because the cruel H says he will destroy her relationship with her daughter. Not so implausible as the daughter takes to the high life like a duck to water.
The h is humiliated and slut-shamed for being the evil OW to the sainted dead brother by the H and his mother as well as goes weak at the knees whenever the hero gropes and/or kisses her. Standard heroine weak knees and exploding body parts. Pretty awful and was looking at this…**.
However, several points saved this.
Spine of steel and sass
The heroine takes no guff off the real evil woman who is slithering around after the H. In fact, tells the hero the evil OW is a bitch and calls her on her own gold-digging whorish ways. Well done h!!!!
Groveling and apologizing
The truth comes out, and the hero goes into a horrified decline, and grovels over his cruelty and stupidity. The mother of the H and the dead creep apologizes for her rudeness as well which was nice to see. Well, it is set in Canada and we, south of the border, give thanks for the good manners of our northern neighbors. And our southern ones too!
Surprise, surprise, surprise
The final reason this is a solid three star is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Wap...
Well done cruel hero/duped heroine/secret baby/revenge romance.
The h was duped by the evil, now dead, brother into a fake marriage because she wouldn’t put out. The cruel H other brother tracks her and her nine year old daughter down after the brother and HIS WIFE die. He knows she is an evil home-wrecking, gold digger. Yep, she’s the worst kind of home-wrecking gold digger as she has been biding her time barely making ends meet as a working single mother FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS.
Yeah okay. She ends up in the cool mansion in the sky because the cruel H says he will destroy her relationship with her daughter. Not so implausible as the daughter takes to the high life like a duck to water.
The h is humiliated and slut-shamed for being the evil OW to the sainted dead brother by the H and his mother as well as goes weak at the knees whenever the hero gropes and/or kisses her. Standard heroine weak knees and exploding body parts. Pretty awful and was looking at this…**.
However, several points saved this.
Spine of steel and sass
The heroine takes no guff off the real evil woman who is slithering around after the H. In fact, tells the hero the evil OW is a bitch and calls her on her own gold-digging whorish ways. Well done h!!!!
Groveling and apologizing
The truth comes out, and the hero goes into a horrified decline, and grovels over his cruelty and stupidity. The mother of the H and the dead creep apologizes for her rudeness as well which was nice to see. Well, it is set in Canada and we, south of the border, give thanks for the good manners of our northern neighbors. And our southern ones too!
Surprise, surprise, surprise
The final reason this is a solid three star is
January 11, 2018
Oh, so very angsty!! I was tearing up at 42 pages in. These are the kinds of Harlequins I live for. They're hard to come by unless you get lucky with an old one. The new ones are so disappointing.
And all those "You're doing it again." moments were so understatedly sexy.
However, the last pages SUCKED. Still a five star read though.
And all those "You're doing it again." moments were so understatedly sexy.
However, the last pages SUCKED. Still a five star read though.
“Your perfume. . .' His tone held a faint hint of surprise. 'I'd somehow expected you to wear something more. . .sultry. I don't recognize this fragrance.'
'It's new," Courtenay said tersely. 'It's called Get Lost. You've probably never encountered it before.”
July 6, 2021
Liked it! But it’s one of those books, where you need to read twice because you don’t know the secret until the very end.
Spoiler
- this book doesn’t have any love scenes, which I honestly hate in a romance novel.
- the big secret is that the H has been obsessed with her since seeing her picture. The whole getting his niece for his depressed mom was a cover to see her. So now that I know that he’s been obsessed, I can go back and read it as such, because he sure didn’t act like an obsessed man to me.
- the ow was the Hero’s first and only love ( ugh I hate this trope, I wouldn’t have read this if I had known) and they were secretly engaged before she married a rich man. When they were engaged, he was poor, and because of what she did, he refused to marry or trust another. The ow was after the H since she’s now a widow, but he wouldn’t take her back because of what she did.
- honestly, I didn’t like the way this book ended. I’m not a fan of HFN romance and it left too many things open ended, but I did like all the characters in the story.
Spoiler
- this book doesn’t have any love scenes, which I honestly hate in a romance novel.
- the big secret is that the H has been obsessed with her since seeing her picture. The whole getting his niece for his depressed mom was a cover to see her. So now that I know that he’s been obsessed, I can go back and read it as such, because he sure didn’t act like an obsessed man to me.
- the ow was the Hero’s first and only love ( ugh I hate this trope, I wouldn’t have read this if I had known) and they were secretly engaged before she married a rich man. When they were engaged, he was poor, and because of what she did, he refused to marry or trust another. The ow was after the H since she’s now a widow, but he wouldn’t take her back because of what she did.
- honestly, I didn’t like the way this book ended. I’m not a fan of HFN romance and it left too many things open ended, but I did like all the characters in the story.
December 11, 2022
Rating is for intensity and memorability. The H behaves so badly I was riveted to see how he would last out next.
January 29, 2012
One of my favorite books that I reread at least once a year. Felt the need to revisit the characters last night. Such a great story.
October 23, 2018
Courtney fell in love with Patrick at the naive 17 years of age. A virgin who didn't want to have premarital sex while they were in courtship. So he compromised and they marry and ofc he got what he wanted. On the day she found out she was pregnant,her 'husband' revealed that their marriage was invalid and he was already a married man. Broken hearted Courtney made herself independent and created a nest for her daughter and herself.
Nine years later, Patrick and his wife,Beth died in a an accident. Patrick's elder brother, Glaydron Winter found them. He manipulated her boss to lay her off from her job so he can manipulate them to leave and spend the Christmas holidays with his mother,Alanna. The story was angstalicious and they both battled each other. The passion was deep and sizzling, the it connection electrified with a touch, a whisper of breath and kisses. I have never read a passionate MC like these two.
Ofc the truth came out and there was some remorse and groveling. I love the realistic ending which allowed the hero to redeem himself and even though she didn't say she loved him he knew....now that's a connection!
Nine years later, Patrick and his wife,Beth died in a an accident. Patrick's elder brother, Glaydron Winter found them. He manipulated her boss to lay her off from her job so he can manipulate them to leave and spend the Christmas holidays with his mother,Alanna. The story was angstalicious and they both battled each other. The passion was deep and sizzling, the it connection electrified with a touch, a whisper of breath and kisses. I have never read a passionate MC like these two.
Ofc the truth came out and there was some remorse and groveling. I love the realistic ending which allowed the hero to redeem himself and even though she didn't say she loved him he knew....now that's a connection!
October 1, 2022
My heart went out for this heroine. She lost her mother as a toddler. Grew up with a distant, absent and uninterested father. She was longing for love and affection which she never got.
Father remarried in her teenage years to a stepmother no better than the father. They made it clear to her that when she turned 17 she must move out and make her own way in life, which she did.
She moved to a different place and got a job. She met a man at a park who was a visitor in that town. The man got obsessed and in lust with her as the h was very beautiful and naturally sexy. Apparently men were very interested in her.
He pursued her over several weeks. He wanted to be intimate but the h didn't believe in premarital sex
, so he married her.
What the h did not know at the time was that the ceremony was a sham.
The brother of the man ( the H ) suspected that his brother was having an affair and threatened him to end it.
The man portrait himself as the victim of a cheap seductress. He then revealed to the h that he is already married, the wedding was a sham and left her for good.
The h found herself pregnant and in desperation went back to her father who showed her the door. She went on welfare and had a little daughter who looked exactly like the man who impregnated her.
Ten years later the h was raising her daughter who meant everything to her, she had a secretarial job and lived in a basement apartment.
She avoided relationships with men as ones burned twice shy.
The father of her daughter died in an accident along with his wife which never had children. The H was going through his dead brother's things when he found a picture of the h dedicated to the brother from ten years before.
The H never saw a more beautiful woman and he sets out to meet her.
What happened next? Well you have to read the book.
The h had to go through more pain and humiliation to come to her HEA. Poor thing she so much deserved it.
Father remarried in her teenage years to a stepmother no better than the father. They made it clear to her that when she turned 17 she must move out and make her own way in life, which she did.
She moved to a different place and got a job. She met a man at a park who was a visitor in that town. The man got obsessed and in lust with her as the h was very beautiful and naturally sexy. Apparently men were very interested in her.
He pursued her over several weeks. He wanted to be intimate but the h didn't believe in premarital sex
, so he married her.
What the h did not know at the time was that the ceremony was a sham.
The brother of the man ( the H ) suspected that his brother was having an affair and threatened him to end it.
The man portrait himself as the victim of a cheap seductress. He then revealed to the h that he is already married, the wedding was a sham and left her for good.
The h found herself pregnant and in desperation went back to her father who showed her the door. She went on welfare and had a little daughter who looked exactly like the man who impregnated her.
Ten years later the h was raising her daughter who meant everything to her, she had a secretarial job and lived in a basement apartment.
She avoided relationships with men as ones burned twice shy.
The father of her daughter died in an accident along with his wife which never had children. The H was going through his dead brother's things when he found a picture of the h dedicated to the brother from ten years before.
The H never saw a more beautiful woman and he sets out to meet her.
What happened next? Well you have to read the book.
The h had to go through more pain and humiliation to come to her HEA. Poor thing she so much deserved it.
Read
February 6, 2023The h was in love with the H’s brother when she was 17. She slept with his brother and got pregnant by him. His brother dumped her when she told him about her pregnancy.
The ‘keeping-it-in-the-family’ trope, sleeping with two brothers or with two sisters, gives me the creeps. I can’t imagine ever having sex with my sister’s husband. Brrrr.
The ‘keeping-it-in-the-family’ trope, sleeping with two brothers or with two sisters, gives me the creeps. I can’t imagine ever having sex with my sister’s husband. Brrrr.
May 9, 2020
ohhhhhkay. Uh when and where did the hero and heroine fall in love? Didn't see it. They kissed a few times but love? No where to be found. Not even the side characters where very interesting. How awful was the brother? Whew glad he died. Wished his poor wife lived though. Skip.
June 10, 2016
One of those books where all grand passion and deep love happens in such short duration of a week!!!
October 3, 2022
Sweet ending! My first time reading this author!
November 6, 2022
Wow. H is an unmitigated jerk. Apparently it never occurred to him that if niece is 9 then the Evil Harlot Homebreaker h was 17 when his Poor Misguided Seduced by Evil Harlot brother was about 30. Hmm. Seems to me the seducer here is not likely to be the teenager no matter how blonde or well-stacked she is.
But of course the Harlot Tramp not only tried to break up innocent brothers marriage she also entertains all sorts of married men after putting daughter to bed. Oh the horror!!!
This is the first HP I recall where H admits right away he has no legal right to niece, usually the H asserts he’s taking kid and mom can go pound sand.
I’d have liked this better with less treacherous body syndrome but it is a good story. I’ll look for more by this author.
But of course the Harlot Tramp not only tried to break up innocent brothers marriage she also entertains all sorts of married men after putting daughter to bed. Oh the horror!!!
This is the first HP I recall where H admits right away he has no legal right to niece, usually the H asserts he’s taking kid and mom can go pound sand.
I’d have liked this better with less treacherous body syndrome but it is a good story. I’ll look for more by this author.
February 25, 2022
I think I'd like a second glass of Perrier
June 14, 2015
It's a 3.75 stars book. A little too dramatic, but I understood the characters very well. I felt it ended too abruptly. Would have wished for a few more pages.
Read
May 2, 2018Un Frío Destino (Su Destino)
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