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On September Hill
His proposal was far from flattering — Under the circumstances, Carey had no alternative but to accept Brandon Scott's marriage proposal. Otherwise, her younger sister would find herself out of a job and facing criminal charges. — Brandon arrogantly admitted that he wanted a wife with poise and intelligence to run his house, host his parties and not fly off in a jealous rage when, occasionally, a rare and interesting woman would catch his fancy.
In return, Carey would have all the trappings of wealth -- jewelry, fashions, servants, power -- and a husband who was not above blackmail.
In return, Carey would have all the trappings of wealth -- jewelry, fashions, servants, power -- and a husband who was not above blackmail.
189 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 1984
25 people want to read
About the author
Leigh Michaels
351 books172 followersLeigh Michaels is the pseudonym used by LeAnn Lemberger (b. July 27 in Iowa, United States), a popular United States writer of over 85 romance novels. She has published with Harlequin, Sourcebooks, Montlake Romance, Writers Digest Books, and Arcadia Publishing. She teaches romance writing at Gotham Writers' Workshop (www.writingclasses.com) She is the author of On Writing Romance.
When Leigh was fifteen she wrote her first romance novel and burned it. She burned five more complete manuscripts before submitting to a publisher. The first submission was accepted by Harlequin, the only publisher to look at it, and was published in 1984.
Michaels was born in Iowa, United States. She received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, after three years of study and maintained a 3.93 grade-point average. She received the Robert Bliss Award as top-ranking senior in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and won a national William Randolph Hearst Award for feature-writing as an undergraduate.
She is married to Michael W. Lemberger, an artist-photographer.
When Leigh was fifteen she wrote her first romance novel and burned it. She burned five more complete manuscripts before submitting to a publisher. The first submission was accepted by Harlequin, the only publisher to look at it, and was published in 1984.
Michaels was born in Iowa, United States. She received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, after three years of study and maintained a 3.93 grade-point average. She received the Robert Bliss Award as top-ranking senior in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and won a national William Randolph Hearst Award for feature-writing as an undergraduate.
She is married to Michael W. Lemberger, an artist-photographer.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 1, 2018
Como últimamente me cuesta encontrar libros de romance que me gusten, he decidido leer algunas novelas cortas que tengo en casa como ésta. Teniendo en cuenta que solo tiene 126 páginas, no esperaba el romance del año, pero sí que me esperaba una historia de amor en la que los protagonistas tuvieran más química.
Carey trabaja de administrativa en una aerolínea y parece estar más o menos conforme con su vida. El problema viene cuando Brandon Scott, uno de sus jefes, le comunica que su hermana es sospechosa de haberle intentado robar un collar a una pasajera. Para no denunciarla, Brandon chantajea a Carey y le dice que olvidará lo de su hermana a cambio de que se case con él. Sus obligaciones serán ser la perfecta anfitriona en las fiestas, gestionar todos los asuntos del hogar y hacer que él se sienta querido al volver a casa después de un día duro de trabajo. Sé que suena fatal y que parece que Brandon es el típico que quiere a una esposa para que sea su esclava, pero no es así, Carey tendrá personal a su servicio y “encargarse de la casa” es básicamente dar órdenes. Además, tendrá acceso a todos los caprichos que desee y plena libertad. Os aseguro que Carey simula escandalizarse, pero yo no la vi muy incómoda con la oferta.
El gran fallo de este libro es que Carey y Brandon no tienen ninguna complicidad y ni siquiera son capaces de tener una conversación medianamente larga. Carey es una auténtica insoportable que no sabe lo que quiere. Si Brandon la ignora, se enfada, y si Brandon se le acerca demasiado, también se pone furiosa. No digo que Brandon sea un hombre adorable, porque no lo es, es un creído y resulta irritante en algunos momentos, pero al menos es más directo que Carey. Hay escenas apasionadas, pero son muy pocas y Carey se encarga de cargárselas insinuando que lo que Brandon hace es prácticamente un delito, algo que para mí es grave, ya que ella lo desea y todo lo que hacen es voluntario.
Resumiendo: no me creí el amor de los protagonistas porque el 95% de sus conversaciones son discusiones y ni siquiera se esmeran en conocerse en profundidad. La parte final fue la que más me agradó, pero tampoco es que me entusiasmara en exceso. En una historia para pasar el rato y poco más.
Carey trabaja de administrativa en una aerolínea y parece estar más o menos conforme con su vida. El problema viene cuando Brandon Scott, uno de sus jefes, le comunica que su hermana es sospechosa de haberle intentado robar un collar a una pasajera. Para no denunciarla, Brandon chantajea a Carey y le dice que olvidará lo de su hermana a cambio de que se case con él. Sus obligaciones serán ser la perfecta anfitriona en las fiestas, gestionar todos los asuntos del hogar y hacer que él se sienta querido al volver a casa después de un día duro de trabajo. Sé que suena fatal y que parece que Brandon es el típico que quiere a una esposa para que sea su esclava, pero no es así, Carey tendrá personal a su servicio y “encargarse de la casa” es básicamente dar órdenes. Además, tendrá acceso a todos los caprichos que desee y plena libertad. Os aseguro que Carey simula escandalizarse, pero yo no la vi muy incómoda con la oferta.
El gran fallo de este libro es que Carey y Brandon no tienen ninguna complicidad y ni siquiera son capaces de tener una conversación medianamente larga. Carey es una auténtica insoportable que no sabe lo que quiere. Si Brandon la ignora, se enfada, y si Brandon se le acerca demasiado, también se pone furiosa. No digo que Brandon sea un hombre adorable, porque no lo es, es un creído y resulta irritante en algunos momentos, pero al menos es más directo que Carey. Hay escenas apasionadas, pero son muy pocas y Carey se encarga de cargárselas insinuando que lo que Brandon hace es prácticamente un delito, algo que para mí es grave, ya que ella lo desea y todo lo que hacen es voluntario.
Resumiendo: no me creí el amor de los protagonistas porque el 95% de sus conversaciones son discusiones y ni siquiera se esmeran en conocerse en profundidad. La parte final fue la que más me agradó, pero tampoco es que me entusiasmara en exceso. En una historia para pasar el rato y poco más.
August 8, 2011
Better title: Conniption on September Hill
I'd give the autumnal description of the hero's mansion September Hill an A+ but the heroine? I'd give her an F.
She was too self-absorbed, so woe-is-me! She resented that she had to clean up her sister’s mess yet she wouldn’t defend herself against her sister’s exploitation. Then, when the hero stepped in to warn off her sister from ever bugging her about money, she attacked him instead.
I should have paid more attention to the details about her in the first chapter -- she had close childhood ties with her boss and surrogate “father,” but she never went out of her way to get to know the woman he loved because she felt betrayed by his marriage. That was a give-away on her character because in her own marriage-of-convenience, it was all about her, too, and how she felt coerced into marrying the hero.
She sent mixed signals. She didn’t like the hero to fawn over her yet she didn’t like it either when he showed interest over somebody else. She would exchange passionate kisses with him one minute then hurl invectives the next. The guy made overtures already but she dismissed them as emotional blackmail and then sulked when he didn’t come home at nights. I mean, what did she expect? He already swallowed his pride; he wasn’t a glutton for rejection. Why WOULD he want to come home?
She was passive-aggressive. She agreed to the marriage-of-convenience where she would act as glorified housekeeper, social secretary and hostess but then, she resented being treated like a glorified housekeeper, social secretary and hostess. And I cringed during their wager at the pool game. She had asked for a diamond bracelet while the guy simply asked for a whole day of being treated civilly like a human being. How pathetic is that?
To me, she never really fulfilled her role in the MOC because she was superfluous and relied lazily on the help to complete her task. She was just in essence a decorative vase. I cheered for the hero when he asked rhetorically what was there to complain about when she was “living in a mansion, with a butler, a staff, and a personal maid, with charge accounts at every shop in town – and [does she know] how to use them! – and a private income three times what [she was] earning before.”
I think the better ending would have been if it was the hero who got kidnapped and she was the one worrying for his safety and regretting her actions. That would've served her right.
Pah! Odds of their HEA lasting are 0.0000001.
I'd give the autumnal description of the hero's mansion September Hill an A+ but the heroine? I'd give her an F.
She was too self-absorbed, so woe-is-me! She resented that she had to clean up her sister’s mess yet she wouldn’t defend herself against her sister’s exploitation. Then, when the hero stepped in to warn off her sister from ever bugging her about money, she attacked him instead.
I should have paid more attention to the details about her in the first chapter -- she had close childhood ties with her boss and surrogate “father,” but she never went out of her way to get to know the woman he loved because she felt betrayed by his marriage. That was a give-away on her character because in her own marriage-of-convenience, it was all about her, too, and how she felt coerced into marrying the hero.
She sent mixed signals. She didn’t like the hero to fawn over her yet she didn’t like it either when he showed interest over somebody else. She would exchange passionate kisses with him one minute then hurl invectives the next. The guy made overtures already but she dismissed them as emotional blackmail and then sulked when he didn’t come home at nights. I mean, what did she expect? He already swallowed his pride; he wasn’t a glutton for rejection. Why WOULD he want to come home?
She was passive-aggressive. She agreed to the marriage-of-convenience where she would act as glorified housekeeper, social secretary and hostess but then, she resented being treated like a glorified housekeeper, social secretary and hostess. And I cringed during their wager at the pool game. She had asked for a diamond bracelet while the guy simply asked for a whole day of being treated civilly like a human being. How pathetic is that?
To me, she never really fulfilled her role in the MOC because she was superfluous and relied lazily on the help to complete her task. She was just in essence a decorative vase. I cheered for the hero when he asked rhetorically what was there to complain about when she was “living in a mansion, with a butler, a staff, and a personal maid, with charge accounts at every shop in town – and [does she know] how to use them! – and a private income three times what [she was] earning before.”
I think the better ending would have been if it was the hero who got kidnapped and she was the one worrying for his safety and regretting her actions. That would've served her right.
Pah! Odds of their HEA lasting are 0.0000001.
January 26, 2026
Sorry, but the whole story just doesn't ring true. I didn't like the h (she seemed to have a bad attitude half the time, was too quick to judge people, had a blind spot when it came to her selfish mess of a sister and seemed to enjoy leading guys on), the H was no prize (he blackmailed the h into marrying him, and then came on to his ex-girlfriend to try and get her jealous), and that whole kidnapping thing was pretty lame.
Usually in these books, by around the middle of the story the h knows she loves the H, even if she feels she has to keep that to herself, but in this case, you never get that impression. For almost the entire book you can honestly believe she doesn't care for him at all (except for a physical attraction she resents feeling) and is waiting for the chance to be free of him. Then she's kidnapped and suddenly it's, "I Love him! I want to stay with him, have his children and I don't care if he doesn't love me, I'll except that just to be with him!" It was like the h disappeared and a lookalike with a different personality took her place.
I find it hard to accept a couple who can get so violent (he forces a kiss on her after she's been leading the OM on yet again, she bites his lip, then he pulls her hair) can be in love. More like a couple into pain for a thrill maybe, but NOT love!
This book was too unbelievable to be believed.
BTW: there was a secondary character (the h's BFF) who seemed interesting as well as likeable, and I'd have rather the book been about her. That's always a bad sign, when secondary characters outshine the main ones.
Skip this one and you won't be missing a thing.
Usually in these books, by around the middle of the story the h knows she loves the H, even if she feels she has to keep that to herself, but in this case, you never get that impression. For almost the entire book you can honestly believe she doesn't care for him at all (except for a physical attraction she resents feeling) and is waiting for the chance to be free of him. Then she's kidnapped and suddenly it's, "I Love him! I want to stay with him, have his children and I don't care if he doesn't love me, I'll except that just to be with him!" It was like the h disappeared and a lookalike with a different personality took her place.
I find it hard to accept a couple who can get so violent (he forces a kiss on her after she's been leading the OM on yet again, she bites his lip, then he pulls her hair) can be in love. More like a couple into pain for a thrill maybe, but NOT love!
This book was too unbelievable to be believed.
BTW: there was a secondary character (the h's BFF) who seemed interesting as well as likeable, and I'd have rather the book been about her. That's always a bad sign, when secondary characters outshine the main ones.
Skip this one and you won't be missing a thing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2020
This was a surprisingly good little Harlequin. At first I thought I was going to hate it because the heroine was such a b****. She agreed to a marriage of convenience with her handsome, young, wealthy boss (you poor thing), then she proceeded to be sarcastic and mean to him all the time, claiming she was in a cage, living in misery, blah-blah-blah. He wasn't much better, especially since we didn't know anything from his point of view--it was all her. But as time went on, both started to grow up a bit and think more about what they wanted and what they had. Then things got exciting, and I was really caught up in the story. It all turned out happily, of course, but it was a quick and enjoyable read, especially considering the time period in which it was written (1980's).
July 31, 2022
I read it when I was like 12 so it was a 4 star for me then.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews