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Spencer-Nyle Co #1
Sarah's Child
Even though she longs for a family of her own, Sarah Harper chooses to marry Rome Matthews, the man she has always loved who tragically lost not only his wife but also his two youngs sons, and as they embark on a marriage of convenience, Sarah vows to heal Rome's scarred heart and make him believe in the power of love. Reprint.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1985
464 people are currently reading
2609 people want to read
About the author
Linda Howard
223 books7,169 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Linda S. Howington is an American best-selling romance author writing under the pseudonym Linda Howard. After 21 years of penning stories for her own enjoyment, she submitted a novel for publication which was very successful. Her first work was published by Silhouette in 1982. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America and in 2005 Howard was awarded their Career Achievement Award.
Linda Howard lives in Gadsden, Alabama with her husband, Gary F. Howington, and two golden retrievers. She has three grown stepchildren and three grandchildren.
Linda S. Howington is an American best-selling romance author writing under the pseudonym Linda Howard. After 21 years of penning stories for her own enjoyment, she submitted a novel for publication which was very successful. Her first work was published by Silhouette in 1982. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America and in 2005 Howard was awarded their Career Achievement Award.
Linda Howard lives in Gadsden, Alabama with her husband, Gary F. Howington, and two golden retrievers. She has three grown stepchildren and three grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 533 reviews
March 25, 2015
This is a book you'll either love or hate.
It's about a man who lost his wife and children and found love in the arms of his wife's best friend.
This is a tough one to review because it deals with grief and mourning, which is very personal and different for every individual.
-STORY-
The loss we're talking about here is of a wife and two little boys, which destroyed Rome's life completely. He hasn't been the same man since.
Sarah is his wife's best friend, who's been secretly in love with Rome for years and years, and would give anything to stop his suffering.
One night Rome breaks down and what starts as simple comforting ends up with almost having sex.
Soon after that Rome realises he's always felt comfortable with Sarah and that he can't lose her from his life as well, and they start seeing each other.
-ROME-
A lot of people absolutely hate him, and I get why.
I didn't.
First thing was him
The second part was him
I kind of pictured Rome like a wounded animal. He's hurting and you want to help him, but come closer and he'll rip your head off.
He didn't let anyone help, he was dealing with his pain alone and that was probably a very bad decision because he didn't do well with it.
-SARAH-
She's been in love with Rome before he even met his wife/her best friend. If only she made a move, but oh well.
Anyway, I can't say I'd put up with Rome the way she did. No way.
But she had love and patience and was determined to help him, and in the end it was worth it.
I'm also glad she stood up for herself at one crucial point in the book, even though she loved Rome she wouldn't accept his ultimatum, and bravo for her :))))
-OVERALL-
Mostly I saw people either hating Rome or Sarah for being idiots, for me, I didn't hate either. I felt for both of them and was interested in how their lives would work out after everything that happened.
What didn't work for me:
I would've liked a bit anticipation there in the beginning, for me, their relationship went too fast.
The misunderstandings and lack of communication. I dislike this in every book and I did so here as well.
I loved the ending, it was uber-emotional, it made me cry to see Rome like that, but it was necessary and long overdue.
If you want me to be honest, I can't recommend this one as a definite like, because you could also possibly definitely hate it.
It's your risk to take, if you like heroes that are jerks but suffering, you may like this.
If not, stay away :D
April 2, 2025
What could have been an interesting premise about a widower remarrying the best friend of his late wife unfortunately turned trite, offensive, and ridiculous.
Red flags went up within the first few pages, when widower Rome asks his late wife's best friend Sarah to come over and pick up a box of his late wife's belongings. It has been two years since she and their two children passed away in a tragic car accident, and he finally wants to sell the house and get rid of the painful reminders of his former life. As they reminisce and get emotional, Rome reaches out to Sarah and an embrace of comfort turns into a full on make-out session. Rome pulls away abruptly because he feels so guilty about what is happening between them. Understandable right? But instead of apologizing or at least, being gentle, he full on goes into a rage, cursing Sarah out and basically accusing her of acting the trollop. Real gentleman, right girls? Who wouldn't love him instantly?
The more I find out about Rome, the less I like him. When I read:
He remembered the first time he'd wanted Sarah; it had been at his own wedding.
I had to go back and read again. WTF??? The guy was at his own wedding and that's the first time he lusted after the wife's best friend???
Rome has a real anger problem, actually a rage problem. This was perhaps an attempt to portray him as a dominant, sexy, Alpha male. It came across as psychotic and abusive. I would honestly be scared of this guy if I was anywhere near him because he tends to fly into rages, and spew such disgusting, demeaning put downs, it would take a saint or a total doormat to get with him.
Thankfully for Rome, Sarah is so flat, she makes doormats look like rocky peaks. She is a virgin at 33 years old because this whole time that Rome has been married to her best friend and had children with her, and has mourned their loss, and been a giant jerk to Sarah in the aftermath, and has gone on to manwhore his way through town while not giving her the time of day, she has been pining for him. And only him. Healthy.
And when they finally do the deed, does he accept the glorious gift of her divine virginity that she has been saving for him? Nope.
He swore, a basic Anglo-Saxon word that blasted against her sensitized skin, making her flinch slightly.
(...)
"What did you expect?" He snapped, taking her to the bedroom and placing her on the bed. "Keeping me in the dark was a damned stupid thing to do!"
I hope it was worth it for Sarah to save herself for this guy. Apparently, it is, because it is SHE who ends up apologizing to HIM.
"I'm sorry," she apologized gravely. "I didn't know the procedure."
The procedure? R U FKM???? She is 33 years old and this book takes place in the 1980s, not the 1890s. She is not only a doormat, she does not know basic biology?
Why did I continue with it? Strictly because of the chuckles. I mean with brilliant lines like these:
To a starving woman, half a loaf was better than no bread at all. (referring to Rome's ambiguous feelings towards her)
And
he could smell the sweet perfume of female witchery that came from the velvet curves of her breasts
I had a riotous couple of hours until the drab conclusion of this hot mess.
Red flags went up within the first few pages, when widower Rome asks his late wife's best friend Sarah to come over and pick up a box of his late wife's belongings. It has been two years since she and their two children passed away in a tragic car accident, and he finally wants to sell the house and get rid of the painful reminders of his former life. As they reminisce and get emotional, Rome reaches out to Sarah and an embrace of comfort turns into a full on make-out session. Rome pulls away abruptly because he feels so guilty about what is happening between them. Understandable right? But instead of apologizing or at least, being gentle, he full on goes into a rage, cursing Sarah out and basically accusing her of acting the trollop. Real gentleman, right girls? Who wouldn't love him instantly?
The more I find out about Rome, the less I like him. When I read:
He remembered the first time he'd wanted Sarah; it had been at his own wedding.
I had to go back and read again. WTF??? The guy was at his own wedding and that's the first time he lusted after the wife's best friend???
Rome has a real anger problem, actually a rage problem. This was perhaps an attempt to portray him as a dominant, sexy, Alpha male. It came across as psychotic and abusive. I would honestly be scared of this guy if I was anywhere near him because he tends to fly into rages, and spew such disgusting, demeaning put downs, it would take a saint or a total doormat to get with him.
Thankfully for Rome, Sarah is so flat, she makes doormats look like rocky peaks. She is a virgin at 33 years old because this whole time that Rome has been married to her best friend and had children with her, and has mourned their loss, and been a giant jerk to Sarah in the aftermath, and has gone on to manwhore his way through town while not giving her the time of day, she has been pining for him. And only him. Healthy.
And when they finally do the deed, does he accept the glorious gift of her divine virginity that she has been saving for him? Nope.
He swore, a basic Anglo-Saxon word that blasted against her sensitized skin, making her flinch slightly.
(...)
"What did you expect?" He snapped, taking her to the bedroom and placing her on the bed. "Keeping me in the dark was a damned stupid thing to do!"
I hope it was worth it for Sarah to save herself for this guy. Apparently, it is, because it is SHE who ends up apologizing to HIM.
"I'm sorry," she apologized gravely. "I didn't know the procedure."
The procedure? R U FKM???? She is 33 years old and this book takes place in the 1980s, not the 1890s. She is not only a doormat, she does not know basic biology?
Why did I continue with it? Strictly because of the chuckles. I mean with brilliant lines like these:
To a starving woman, half a loaf was better than no bread at all. (referring to Rome's ambiguous feelings towards her)
And
he could smell the sweet perfume of female witchery that came from the velvet curves of her breasts
I had a riotous couple of hours until the drab conclusion of this hot mess.
December 4, 2013
This book was written in 1985 but I am just discovering it now due to it being released on the Kindle. What a great author this lady is, especially if she can have so many one star reviewers up in arms, giving out about the book. It is fiction - no real people here. Great story. Yes, Rome is an ass .... but I love mean old badass heros anyway, especially when they come up trumps in the end. Had tears in my eyes at the end of it - happy tears. Have read some other books by Linda and hopefully her older stuff will be brought out on Kindle. Suspend the disbelief and enjoy the book .....
October 24, 2024
SPOILERS
Sarah and Diane had been best friends all the way through school. While Diane was dynamo, Sarah was quiet and serene.
Sarah was working at a company where she met Rome, a young executive back then, and secretly fell in love with him.
At a company picnic, Sarah invited Diane and she and Rome took one look at one another and fell in love. They married and had two boys.
Sarah was devastated but kept it to herself and continued to be friends with Diane, and loved the couple's two children.
Eight years went by, Diane and the boys, 7 and 6, lost their lives in a freak accident and that almost destroyed Rome with grief.
Another two years went by, Sarah was now 33. She always wanted love, marriage and children, but she'd devoted herself to her work, because she believed there was nothing else for her that she wanted.
She would casually date but she was still a virgin.
One afternoon she received a phone call from Rome. He was selling the house and boxing Diane's things, would Sarah want to keep some momentos?
So Sarah went back to the house she had not been in for two years.
Sarah and Rome talked about the boys and he talked about Diane.
"I still wake up at night and reach for her. It's a pain that won't go away. I was faithful to Diane for eight years. No one else would do, it had to be her. I had sex with another woman only two months after Diane died and I hated myself for it. There've been a lot of women that I had sex with since, but l can't sleep with them, l'm still Diane's husband and l can't sleep with any woman but her."
He started crying and Sarah put her arms around him, stroking his hair, crying herself.
They started to kiss, they almost made love, almost because at some point Rome rolled away.
"Damn you, you're supposed to be her friend, but you're rolling with her husband in her bed. "
"I don't deserve that. " Sarah told him and left.
Rome had lashed out at her because of his own guilt, for he'd spent years wanting to take Sarah to bed. For years he'd resented her because he'd been lusting after her.
He loved Diane and was totally satisfied with her, but he still wanted Sarah.
If she'd given him the come on, would he have remained faithful to Diane?
He couldn't be certain.
It wasn't a question of love at all. His attraction to her was purely physical.
The next day he asked Sarah to be his friend.
So they started to hang out together and Rome realised that it was more than just physical.
She was intelligent and amusing and he couldn't use her and then toss her aside as he did to all other women, and when they did make love, he was filled with feelings of guilt.
What would Diane say if she knew he'd seduced her best friend?
So he left and Sarah knew that Diane had come between them again.
The next morning he came back to ask Sarah to marry him.
They were both career people and he would be a faithful, loyal husband, but he did not want to have children. After losing the two boys he couldn't bear being around children.
He was offering companionship instead of love.
He did not want children and was a man who would not sleep in the same bed with a woman since Diane's death.
A woman had to be crazy to accept such a proposal.
Crazy in love!
She said yes.
They got married and during the ceremony he found himself thinking of Diane.
Diane had been the sun, warm, shining, while Sarah was the moon, pale and cold and aloof.
But he still wanted Sarah.
That first night, the grief sprang to life again.
He told Sarah he had to be alone.
They each retreated to their own bedrooms.
Sarah had not slept that night.
Rather than celebrating their marriage, Rome was regretting it, because she wasn't the one woman he loved.
He did make amends the next morning.
Time passed, they were getting along, they were passionate, they had their ups and downs, and Rome discovered that Sarah was not cold and aloof at all.
She was shy and wary and she'd have to trust him to let him venture close to her.
He still never stayed the whole night in her bed to sleep and she knew that meant he was still not over Diane.
The day came that he did stay the night with her, and Sarah was hopeful that he was finally recovering from his grief.
"I am pregnant. "
"How could you do this to me? You knew how l felt. Did you make an appointment?"
"I am going to see the doctor in a month's time. "
"I meant an appointment for an abortion. I don't want you to have this baby. "
"Rome, it's your baby too."
"No, l buried my children. I stood by their graves and watched the dirt cover them up. I can't go through that again. I can't accept another child. I love you Sarah. Don't have the baby. If you love me, don't have the baby. "
"I can't. I've loved you for years, before you met Diane. If you can't accept this baby, that's your decision. But l can't destroy it."
"I don't want to leave you. I don't want to know about the baby. I don't want anything to do with it. "
A few weeks before the birth, Rome told Sarah "l don't want the baby between us, Sarah. Take care of it, but when l come home at night, your time becomes mine. I want your attention, all of it, without you jumping and running every time it whimpers."
Sarah gave birth to a little girl.
Rome was visiting her in hospital but he would leave when it was time for the baby to be brought in to her.
Sarah was under a lot of strain in the following weeks. She had the baby in the nursery with the door closed when Rome was home and he never asked about it.
Rome was seized by a painful curiosity about the baby but he couldn't handle another child.
She couldn't replace his sons.
Diane was farther from him, it was more of a remembered love.
His fierce love for Sarah eclipsed the relationship he'd had with Diane.
One night Rome heard the baby crying. Sarah had worn herself out. She would not wake up.
Reluctantly he entered the nursery for the first time.
He picked up the baby and looked at her mesmerised. She was a feminine version of himself.
The baby looked at him with such innocent trust and acceptance.
He'd avoided her, hadn't even held her or looked at her, he'd rejected her but she'd looked at him with acceptance.
He cried!
The next day he told Sarah that she should hate him for what he wanted to do.
She told him he was hurting and wanted to protect himself.
He said the baby was more than he deserved.
He got a second chance all the way around. A second chance and a second miracle.
The first one was Sarah!
I believe Rome needed a prolonged and intensive therapy for what he went through.
His behaviour toward Sarah's pregnancy and his rejection of the baby seemed cruel and unforgivable, but l think the reader should cut him some slack as he was traumatised and justifiably so.
Rome knew Sarah before Diane. He was not interested in Sarah and fell in love with Diane at first sight. Clearly Diane was his first choice.
Being privy to his inner thoughts, we know that he first felt attraction to Sarah on his wedding day to Diane, and he had continued lusting after her for years, even though he really loved Diane physically and emotionally, which raises the question, can someone be so in love with his wife, happy and dandy, and still be so attracted to someone else for years?
Sarah's love for Rome was so deep and genuine and l am amazed at the patience and understanding she'd demonstrated. The patience of a saint. At the end it paid off.
Sarah and Diane had been best friends all the way through school. While Diane was dynamo, Sarah was quiet and serene.
Sarah was working at a company where she met Rome, a young executive back then, and secretly fell in love with him.
At a company picnic, Sarah invited Diane and she and Rome took one look at one another and fell in love. They married and had two boys.
Sarah was devastated but kept it to herself and continued to be friends with Diane, and loved the couple's two children.
Eight years went by, Diane and the boys, 7 and 6, lost their lives in a freak accident and that almost destroyed Rome with grief.
Another two years went by, Sarah was now 33. She always wanted love, marriage and children, but she'd devoted herself to her work, because she believed there was nothing else for her that she wanted.
She would casually date but she was still a virgin.
One afternoon she received a phone call from Rome. He was selling the house and boxing Diane's things, would Sarah want to keep some momentos?
So Sarah went back to the house she had not been in for two years.
Sarah and Rome talked about the boys and he talked about Diane.
"I still wake up at night and reach for her. It's a pain that won't go away. I was faithful to Diane for eight years. No one else would do, it had to be her. I had sex with another woman only two months after Diane died and I hated myself for it. There've been a lot of women that I had sex with since, but l can't sleep with them, l'm still Diane's husband and l can't sleep with any woman but her."
He started crying and Sarah put her arms around him, stroking his hair, crying herself.
They started to kiss, they almost made love, almost because at some point Rome rolled away.
"Damn you, you're supposed to be her friend, but you're rolling with her husband in her bed. "
"I don't deserve that. " Sarah told him and left.
Rome had lashed out at her because of his own guilt, for he'd spent years wanting to take Sarah to bed. For years he'd resented her because he'd been lusting after her.
He loved Diane and was totally satisfied with her, but he still wanted Sarah.
If she'd given him the come on, would he have remained faithful to Diane?
He couldn't be certain.
It wasn't a question of love at all. His attraction to her was purely physical.
The next day he asked Sarah to be his friend.
So they started to hang out together and Rome realised that it was more than just physical.
She was intelligent and amusing and he couldn't use her and then toss her aside as he did to all other women, and when they did make love, he was filled with feelings of guilt.
What would Diane say if she knew he'd seduced her best friend?
So he left and Sarah knew that Diane had come between them again.
The next morning he came back to ask Sarah to marry him.
They were both career people and he would be a faithful, loyal husband, but he did not want to have children. After losing the two boys he couldn't bear being around children.
He was offering companionship instead of love.
He did not want children and was a man who would not sleep in the same bed with a woman since Diane's death.
A woman had to be crazy to accept such a proposal.
Crazy in love!
She said yes.
They got married and during the ceremony he found himself thinking of Diane.
Diane had been the sun, warm, shining, while Sarah was the moon, pale and cold and aloof.
But he still wanted Sarah.
That first night, the grief sprang to life again.
He told Sarah he had to be alone.
They each retreated to their own bedrooms.
Sarah had not slept that night.
Rather than celebrating their marriage, Rome was regretting it, because she wasn't the one woman he loved.
He did make amends the next morning.
Time passed, they were getting along, they were passionate, they had their ups and downs, and Rome discovered that Sarah was not cold and aloof at all.
She was shy and wary and she'd have to trust him to let him venture close to her.
He still never stayed the whole night in her bed to sleep and she knew that meant he was still not over Diane.
The day came that he did stay the night with her, and Sarah was hopeful that he was finally recovering from his grief.
"I am pregnant. "
"How could you do this to me? You knew how l felt. Did you make an appointment?"
"I am going to see the doctor in a month's time. "
"I meant an appointment for an abortion. I don't want you to have this baby. "
"Rome, it's your baby too."
"No, l buried my children. I stood by their graves and watched the dirt cover them up. I can't go through that again. I can't accept another child. I love you Sarah. Don't have the baby. If you love me, don't have the baby. "
"I can't. I've loved you for years, before you met Diane. If you can't accept this baby, that's your decision. But l can't destroy it."
"I don't want to leave you. I don't want to know about the baby. I don't want anything to do with it. "
A few weeks before the birth, Rome told Sarah "l don't want the baby between us, Sarah. Take care of it, but when l come home at night, your time becomes mine. I want your attention, all of it, without you jumping and running every time it whimpers."
Sarah gave birth to a little girl.
Rome was visiting her in hospital but he would leave when it was time for the baby to be brought in to her.
Sarah was under a lot of strain in the following weeks. She had the baby in the nursery with the door closed when Rome was home and he never asked about it.
Rome was seized by a painful curiosity about the baby but he couldn't handle another child.
She couldn't replace his sons.
Diane was farther from him, it was more of a remembered love.
His fierce love for Sarah eclipsed the relationship he'd had with Diane.
One night Rome heard the baby crying. Sarah had worn herself out. She would not wake up.
Reluctantly he entered the nursery for the first time.
He picked up the baby and looked at her mesmerised. She was a feminine version of himself.
The baby looked at him with such innocent trust and acceptance.
He'd avoided her, hadn't even held her or looked at her, he'd rejected her but she'd looked at him with acceptance.
He cried!
The next day he told Sarah that she should hate him for what he wanted to do.
She told him he was hurting and wanted to protect himself.
He said the baby was more than he deserved.
He got a second chance all the way around. A second chance and a second miracle.
The first one was Sarah!
I believe Rome needed a prolonged and intensive therapy for what he went through.
His behaviour toward Sarah's pregnancy and his rejection of the baby seemed cruel and unforgivable, but l think the reader should cut him some slack as he was traumatised and justifiably so.
Rome knew Sarah before Diane. He was not interested in Sarah and fell in love with Diane at first sight. Clearly Diane was his first choice.
Being privy to his inner thoughts, we know that he first felt attraction to Sarah on his wedding day to Diane, and he had continued lusting after her for years, even though he really loved Diane physically and emotionally, which raises the question, can someone be so in love with his wife, happy and dandy, and still be so attracted to someone else for years?
Sarah's love for Rome was so deep and genuine and l am amazed at the patience and understanding she'd demonstrated. The patience of a saint. At the end it paid off.
April 13, 2011
There is not much I can say about this book except that I highly recommend it.
On the other hand that does not stop me from hating the hero.
It was one of those 'yes the heroine got a HEA but with the wrong dude for sure' books.
Sarah,our leading lady was forever in love with the hero.
I usually hate the romances where the heroine is in love with a guy that is living his life...it always turns kind of stalkerish on me.
Well,not in this book.
Sarah liked Rom from the first day they met.And she wished she could like somebody else. But she could not. She never pinned. She was happy for him. She was all in all, a very nice person that deserved more then Rome.
I know this is horrible,but I hated Diane, the dead wife, as much as Rome. She must have been a lame friend if she never realized the dude she went after was somebody Sarah liked. And she sounded creepy because the moment she caught Rome she just gave up all the things she claimed she wanted and became mythic wife/mother!
The story starts of when Rome wants Sarah to get Diana's things so he could sell the house. It has been 2 years since her and his sons died.
Tragic,I know.
But right there in his grief he goes rabid on Sarah, snarls at her and then tries to have sex with her only to snarl again because he feels guilty for always wanting Sarah and not his wife. Because at his wedding day he had a hard on for Sarah.
Give me an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew ,people. Let me hear ya!
Do you feel sorry for Sarah? Sorry that she loves this jerk?
You have seen nothing jet.
They have sex. Then an other man gets an interest in Sarah. Rome gets all he-man and asks her to marry him-for comforts sake. He wants a home to go to.
From that point on he abuses the heroine emotionally to no end.
She is a strong little cookie and lives it all down.
Eventually he comes to realize that he loves her.
But when she gets pregnant-by his fault I might add- he asks her to have an abortion. Because nobody can replace his sons.
Let me explain. This book was something else. It was about hurt and pain. It was very detailed and very strong. But for me,this was a book about Sarah, not Rome.
She lost her best friend.
She married a man who she knew did not love her just so he could be content.
She got his love only to have it subdued with him wanting her to have an abortion and never have kids.
She endured a pregnancy her husband ignored.
She is the one that had no help from him for 9 months.
She is the one that had to give him sex,meals etc while he did not want to sleep in her bed in order to not touch her kicking child.
She is the one that delivered a child without her husband there.
And she is the one he ranted to when he was jealous of his own kid while never wanting to lay eyes on it.
So this is a book about her. And how life gave her bits. And she pulled trough. Not the way I wished her to but still.
Rome was a week man and a prototype of a person that lets pain destroy the people he loves.
Yes,he realizes he was not there for Sarah. Not for a minute.
(and btw, the part where he sees all the thing he did for Diana and compares them with Sarahs pregnancy I cried my eyes out for her)
But still it took him time to even look at his kid and except her.
And frankly I am eating my nails here wondering what will happened if they have a boy next because he kept going on and on how she was a girl (aka not a substitute for his boys but something else) or if he will not let Sarah have more kids.
All in all,very powerful. And very well written.
Go.Read about Sarah!
On the other hand that does not stop me from hating the hero.
It was one of those 'yes the heroine got a HEA but with the wrong dude for sure' books.
Sarah,our leading lady was forever in love with the hero.
I usually hate the romances where the heroine is in love with a guy that is living his life...it always turns kind of stalkerish on me.
Well,not in this book.
Sarah liked Rom from the first day they met.And she wished she could like somebody else. But she could not. She never pinned. She was happy for him. She was all in all, a very nice person that deserved more then Rome.
I know this is horrible,but I hated Diane, the dead wife, as much as Rome. She must have been a lame friend if she never realized the dude she went after was somebody Sarah liked. And she sounded creepy because the moment she caught Rome she just gave up all the things she claimed she wanted and became mythic wife/mother!
The story starts of when Rome wants Sarah to get Diana's things so he could sell the house. It has been 2 years since her and his sons died.
Tragic,I know.
But right there in his grief he goes rabid on Sarah, snarls at her and then tries to have sex with her only to snarl again because he feels guilty for always wanting Sarah and not his wife. Because at his wedding day he had a hard on for Sarah.
Give me an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew ,people. Let me hear ya!
Do you feel sorry for Sarah? Sorry that she loves this jerk?
You have seen nothing jet.
They have sex. Then an other man gets an interest in Sarah. Rome gets all he-man and asks her to marry him-for comforts sake. He wants a home to go to.
From that point on he abuses the heroine emotionally to no end.
She is a strong little cookie and lives it all down.
Eventually he comes to realize that he loves her.
But when she gets pregnant-by his fault I might add- he asks her to have an abortion. Because nobody can replace his sons.
Let me explain. This book was something else. It was about hurt and pain. It was very detailed and very strong. But for me,this was a book about Sarah, not Rome.
She lost her best friend.
She married a man who she knew did not love her just so he could be content.
She got his love only to have it subdued with him wanting her to have an abortion and never have kids.
She endured a pregnancy her husband ignored.
She is the one that had no help from him for 9 months.
She is the one that had to give him sex,meals etc while he did not want to sleep in her bed in order to not touch her kicking child.
She is the one that delivered a child without her husband there.
And she is the one he ranted to when he was jealous of his own kid while never wanting to lay eyes on it.
So this is a book about her. And how life gave her bits. And she pulled trough. Not the way I wished her to but still.
Rome was a week man and a prototype of a person that lets pain destroy the people he loves.
Yes,he realizes he was not there for Sarah. Not for a minute.
(and btw, the part where he sees all the thing he did for Diana and compares them with Sarahs pregnancy I cried my eyes out for her)
But still it took him time to even look at his kid and except her.
And frankly I am eating my nails here wondering what will happened if they have a boy next because he kept going on and on how she was a girl (aka not a substitute for his boys but something else) or if he will not let Sarah have more kids.
All in all,very powerful. And very well written.
Go.Read about Sarah!
February 15, 2017
I picked this up because Linda Howard is one of my favorite authors. Midnight Rainbow, Duncan's Bride, and Son of the Morning were stand-out books. Witty, sexy, entertaining, with strong characters that I grew to love. In other words, those books are everything Sarah's Child is not. Either this is very early work, or the author was having a really bad day. That's just a few explanations I could come up with to explain this truly awful book.
Never before have I been so thoroughly tempted to curse in a review. I don't like writing bad reviews to begin with and I try to be constructive (key word being "try"). It's hard to be constructive when dealing with such a poorly thought out story. I will say from a technical standpoint the writing is clean, even though everything else felt forced. I think the author was trying to convince me the bad behavior was justified; Sarah's by the lack of love in her childhood, Rome's by his overwhelming grief. Instead of being convinced, I felt like a book was being being rammed down my throat. Literally. I simply couldn't suspend belief that people would make life choices based on such ridiculous criteria.
In addition to a bad story, we have lackluster characters. I despised Rome from the start. He was a selfish a-hole with stalking tendencies who used sex to deal with his grief. There was no romance here. No tenderness. Not a single redeeming quality resides in the black soul of this man. I pegged him as a sexual predator early on and it went downhill from there.
I was expecting an angst-fill love story about recovery, second chances, and hope. Instead I got a Sarah...a TSTL, desperate woman who took Rome's abusive behavior with a smile on her face. Yes. I called it abuse. A spade is a spade and Rome's behavior was UN-FOR-GIVABLE!!! I wasn't the least bit surprised by his reaction to the pregnancy, or his continued neglect towards Sarah during the months that followed. I thought Maxwell would've been a better hero at first. Even he went to the dark side and turned creepy. I'd keep my hypothetical daughter far, far away from him.
Sarah had no backbone. She is a total doormat, with no idea what love is really about. Pathetic. At 31 she was still a virgin because she had fallen in love with her BFF's husband as a teen and had martyred herself because he was unavailable. How sad is that!?
Alas, it get's better! Well, maybe that's...worse? (I don't even know what to think.)
Low and behold the wife is killed and we learn that Rome has been lusting after Sarah since his wedding day. His WEDDING day, people. What a gem. I have some advice for Sarah and any potential Sarah wannabies: Run away and GET THERAPY.
If only I could reclaim the time wasted on this book.
Never before have I been so thoroughly tempted to curse in a review. I don't like writing bad reviews to begin with and I try to be constructive (key word being "try"). It's hard to be constructive when dealing with such a poorly thought out story. I will say from a technical standpoint the writing is clean, even though everything else felt forced. I think the author was trying to convince me the bad behavior was justified; Sarah's by the lack of love in her childhood, Rome's by his overwhelming grief. Instead of being convinced, I felt like a book was being being rammed down my throat. Literally. I simply couldn't suspend belief that people would make life choices based on such ridiculous criteria.
In addition to a bad story, we have lackluster characters. I despised Rome from the start. He was a selfish a-hole with stalking tendencies who used sex to deal with his grief. There was no romance here. No tenderness. Not a single redeeming quality resides in the black soul of this man. I pegged him as a sexual predator early on and it went downhill from there.
I was expecting an angst-fill love story about recovery, second chances, and hope. Instead I got a Sarah...a TSTL, desperate woman who took Rome's abusive behavior with a smile on her face. Yes. I called it abuse. A spade is a spade and Rome's behavior was UN-FOR-GIVABLE!!! I wasn't the least bit surprised by his reaction to the pregnancy, or his continued neglect towards Sarah during the months that followed. I thought Maxwell would've been a better hero at first. Even he went to the dark side and turned creepy. I'd keep my hypothetical daughter far, far away from him.
Sarah had no backbone. She is a total doormat, with no idea what love is really about. Pathetic. At 31 she was still a virgin because she had fallen in love with her BFF's husband as a teen and had martyred herself because he was unavailable. How sad is that!?
Alas, it get's better! Well, maybe that's...worse? (I don't even know what to think.)
Low and behold the wife is killed and we learn that Rome has been lusting after Sarah since his wedding day. His WEDDING day, people. What a gem. I have some advice for Sarah and any potential Sarah wannabies: Run away and GET THERAPY.
If only I could reclaim the time wasted on this book.
August 4, 2017
3 stars – Contemporary Romance
I knew going into this that readers tend to have a love or hate reaction to this book and that many consider Rome to be a jackass. I didn’t really love or hate it, and yes, Rome definitely acted like a Grade A asshat for most of the book. What especially turned me off about his character was that he admitted
But what annoyed me most about this book was how much of a spineless doormat Sarah was. I understand that he’s grief-stricken, but damn her internalizing everything and being satisfied with scraps was irritating. I just found her self-sacrificing behavior annoying rather than admirable.
Yes, there was an HEA, but it just wasn’t all that sweet for me when it finally came. 3 stars.
I knew going into this that readers tend to have a love or hate reaction to this book and that many consider Rome to be a jackass. I didn’t really love or hate it, and yes, Rome definitely acted like a Grade A asshat for most of the book. What especially turned me off about his character was that he admitted
But what annoyed me most about this book was how much of a spineless doormat Sarah was. I understand that he’s grief-stricken, but damn her internalizing everything and being satisfied with scraps was irritating. I just found her self-sacrificing behavior annoying rather than admirable.
Yes, there was an HEA, but it just wasn’t all that sweet for me when it finally came. 3 stars.
February 16, 2019
Reread!!!
Oh, my did I forget the angst in this one!!!!!😭
I again loved this as much as the 1st, 2nd, etc.... time I've read this. Truly, a gut wrenching love story.
I know some might have issues with the 1st wife and all the interconnected issues with the hero and heroine. Bothered me some, but the angst and love and love story covered all those issues.
Again, wonderful reread.
Now I'm off to start my Julie Garwood kick. Yep, going to start reading all her books now. 😂 The oldies but goodies, sometimes you just need those fixes. 😬
Oh, my did I forget the angst in this one!!!!!😭
I again loved this as much as the 1st, 2nd, etc.... time I've read this. Truly, a gut wrenching love story.
I know some might have issues with the 1st wife and all the interconnected issues with the hero and heroine. Bothered me some, but the angst and love and love story covered all those issues.
Again, wonderful reread.
Now I'm off to start my Julie Garwood kick. Yep, going to start reading all her books now. 😂 The oldies but goodies, sometimes you just need those fixes. 😬
July 20, 2023
1 Star
Opinion Breakdown
The Good: The premise.
The Not-So-Good: The ending.
The Bad: The H. The h. The lack of connection past sex.
Overall: I have had this in my tbr list for-ev-er, so I'm glad I finally got it off because when I'm looking for an angsty read, this always is popping up. It wasn't even that angsty! Maybe because I didn't like either character!? I didn't feel anything other than annoyance and kind of shock that this famous author thought this was romantic. If you follow me, you know that I like my romances especially when they're in that morally grey area or angsty because they make me feel something and I also don't have many triggers that bother me, but this was ridiculous! I felt TRIGGERED. I am so surprised because I haven't rated a book I've completed this low in a really long time, especially because so many of my GR friends loved it! Ugggh 🥴
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Sarah and Rome's story. Sarah has loved her now dead best friend's husband for years even before they got married, so when they spend more time together and he propositions her, she eagerly accepts. Rome suggests a marriage of convenience and eventually feelings start to develop. There is some heavy baggage, some sexy times, and some sad moments...and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Sarah and Rome in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good until the abrupt ending. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.
Instalove: Kind of because I didn't understand how it progressed from lust to more.
H (Hero) rating: 1 stars. Rome. He was a selfish dick that only thought with his dick.
h (heroine) rating: 2 stars. Sarah. She accepted mere scraps and she was okay with that. I wanted her to have more dignity.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Alright. They have some scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes, though not super descriptive and kind of dated tbh
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: Not IMO
Separation: I'd say yes, at least emotionally
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ends right after their conflict is resolved and I would call it a HEA even though there still felt like a lot of unfinished business.
Safety: This one should be either Safe or Safe with exception for most safety gang readers depending on personal preferences
Opinion Breakdown
The Good: The premise.
The Not-So-Good: The ending.
The Bad: The H. The h. The lack of connection past sex.
Overall: I have had this in my tbr list for-ev-er, so I'm glad I finally got it off because when I'm looking for an angsty read, this always is popping up. It wasn't even that angsty! Maybe because I didn't like either character!? I didn't feel anything other than annoyance and kind of shock that this famous author thought this was romantic. If you follow me, you know that I like my romances especially when they're in that morally grey area or angsty because they make me feel something and I also don't have many triggers that bother me, but this was ridiculous! I felt TRIGGERED. I am so surprised because I haven't rated a book I've completed this low in a really long time, especially because so many of my GR friends loved it! Ugggh 🥴
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Sarah and Rome's story. Sarah has loved her now dead best friend's husband for years even before they got married, so when they spend more time together and he propositions her, she eagerly accepts. Rome suggests a marriage of convenience and eventually feelings start to develop. There is some heavy baggage, some sexy times, and some sad moments...and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Sarah and Rome in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good until the abrupt ending. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.
Instalove: Kind of because I didn't understand how it progressed from lust to more.
H (Hero) rating: 1 stars. Rome. He was a selfish dick that only thought with his dick.
h (heroine) rating: 2 stars. Sarah. She accepted mere scraps and she was okay with that. I wanted her to have more dignity.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Alright. They have some scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes, though not super descriptive and kind of dated tbh
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: Not IMO
Separation: I'd say yes, at least emotionally
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ends right after their conflict is resolved and I would call it a HEA even though there still felt like a lot of unfinished business.
Safety: This one should be either Safe or Safe with exception for most safety gang readers depending on personal preferences
November 26, 2022
Tengo mixed feelings con este libro por una parte me gustó, me mantuvo entretenida, lo leí muy rápido pero por otro lado odié muchas cosas que pasan nada acorde a mis convicciones y ahí está en gran issues del asunto.
Porque en el protagonista es un macho alfa, posesivo, tipo Yo Tarzán, tu Jane, hizo y dijo cosas que yo en lugar de la prota le hubiera dado una patada y que le vaya bien No tengo vocación de tapete.
Ella pues prácticamente se la pasó de tapete y sumisa a las órdenes de él y sus sentimientos.
Pero como les digo no odié el libro ni a los protagonistas y es bien raro
Porque en el protagonista es un macho alfa, posesivo, tipo Yo Tarzán, tu Jane, hizo y dijo cosas que yo en lugar de la prota le hubiera dado una patada y que le vaya bien No tengo vocación de tapete.
Ella pues prácticamente se la pasó de tapete y sumisa a las órdenes de él y sus sentimientos.
Pero como les digo no odié el libro ni a los protagonistas y es bien raro
July 27, 2017
Sooo, stalker h's just don't appeal to me, they were both creeeeepy
I wasn't feelin the lurve, but in terms of general creepyness, they went well together. Plus that whole unrequited love for you BFF's hubby is just soooo EWWW!!!
I wasn't feelin the lurve, but in terms of general creepyness, they went well together. Plus that whole unrequited love for you BFF's hubby is just soooo EWWW!!!
August 4, 2017
Written in 1985??! I wanted Sarah to grow a backbone, my heart went out to her. And Rome?? I'm not sure how to feel about him. A few times I wanted to slap him though.
May 27, 2023
What else could she do, when she’d been foolish enough to fall in love with her best friend’s husband?
Yeah, this explains the whole plot of the book. So melodramatic, so over the top, a soap opera material... Loved it😍
Sarah has been in love with her BEST FRIENDS HUSBAND, since the start. But the actual surprise is he has been wanting to fuck her from the start too.
He remembered the first time he’d wanted Sarah; it had been at his own wedding.
MY GOD, the way I ate this trash up🙌🏻🙌🏻
Well, he wants Sarah, but at the same time he loves putting all the blame on her too. Fuck you, Rome.
“Damn you,” he said thickly, his voice full of disgust. “You’re supposed to be her friend, but you’re rolling with her husband, in her bed.”
The way this dead woman, had this much effect on everyone, Diane is not letting anyone go without making them suffer😭
He was a cruel cruel man at times, the thing is he wasn't even aware of it. He's just a asshole at heart😒
“I’m not Diane.”
Yeah... the whole story is this line.
I'm a trash lover 4 ever.😋
“I loved Diane, but the pain of losing her is gone, because of you. It’s as if Diane prepared me for you, gave me the base to stand on so I could reach you..."
Diane stays on their tongue and mind while being six feet under. Like, this is a three way relationship at this point.😭
If I were Diane I would not be able to rest in my coffin, like what do you mean my best friend is fucking my husband????? HAUNT THEM FOREVER DIANE!!
Yeah, this explains the whole plot of the book. So melodramatic, so over the top, a soap opera material... Loved it😍
Sarah has been in love with her BEST FRIENDS HUSBAND, since the start. But the actual surprise is he has been wanting to fuck her from the start too.
He remembered the first time he’d wanted Sarah; it had been at his own wedding.
MY GOD, the way I ate this trash up🙌🏻🙌🏻
Well, he wants Sarah, but at the same time he loves putting all the blame on her too. Fuck you, Rome.
“Damn you,” he said thickly, his voice full of disgust. “You’re supposed to be her friend, but you’re rolling with her husband, in her bed.”
The way this dead woman, had this much effect on everyone, Diane is not letting anyone go without making them suffer😭
He was a cruel cruel man at times, the thing is he wasn't even aware of it. He's just a asshole at heart😒
“I’m not Diane.”
Yeah... the whole story is this line.
I'm a trash lover 4 ever.😋
“I loved Diane, but the pain of losing her is gone, because of you. It’s as if Diane prepared me for you, gave me the base to stand on so I could reach you..."
Diane stays on their tongue and mind while being six feet under. Like, this is a three way relationship at this point.😭
If I were Diane I would not be able to rest in my coffin, like what do you mean my best friend is fucking my husband????? HAUNT THEM FOREVER DIANE!!
December 14, 2025
Wish fulfillment for those living as second best
This wasn't the usual Linda Howard, this was the demon that takes over and writes things like Cry No More.
And just like Cry No More, I'm not sure that the ending was a HEA or
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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This wasn't the usual Linda Howard, this was the demon that takes over and writes things like Cry No More.
And just like Cry No More, I'm not sure that the ending was a HEA or
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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September 28, 2015
Sarah's Child is the type of story that if other authors wrote this one, I would have DNF it faster than you can say "fuck this book".
But Linda Howard wrote it and I do not DNF a classic Linda Howard book. I wouldn't dare.
Sarah's Child is something that most people would hate because of the plot. I can practically see them sprouting outrage and feeding the author some things about feminism blah-blah-blah and usually I would join them.
But not this time.
I remember reading a review about a book where the hero is a jerk and the heroine loves him and the heroine hopes that the hero would love her back by offering sex to him.
Can you believe that idiocy?
I hated that book by then and I thought I would hate Sarah's Child because the story was a tad too close to that book. But Linda Howard proved that just because you hate the story doesn't mean that it wouldn't touch your heart in a meaningful way.
What if you're in love with a man and you were waiting for him your whole life? He was the pine to your apple, the stipper to your pole, the shoe to your lace and the peanut to your butter. And what if he offered you marriage and you know that he didn't love you? That what he wants is companionship? Would you take offer, pride be damned or would you save the last scrap of dignity that you have and tell him to go fuck himself?
"To a starving woman, a half loaf was better than no bread at all."
You bet your sweet ass that Sarah accepted his offer. I would have been angry because Sarah deserves so much better. Fuck love, you deserve respect from others and respect to yourself.
But Sarah is so much nicer than I am and along the way, I learned to love their story. I even cried a little because Linda Howard books can do that to you.
So here's the moral of the story: Just because you hate the bread that a certain bakery has, it doesn't mean that all breads of that kind are nasty. Some bakery is awesome, some is shitty.
But Linda Howard wrote it and I do not DNF a classic Linda Howard book. I wouldn't dare.
Sarah's Child is something that most people would hate because of the plot. I can practically see them sprouting outrage and feeding the author some things about feminism blah-blah-blah and usually I would join them.
But not this time.
I remember reading a review about a book where the hero is a jerk and the heroine loves him and the heroine hopes that the hero would love her back by offering sex to him.
Can you believe that idiocy?
I hated that book by then and I thought I would hate Sarah's Child because the story was a tad too close to that book. But Linda Howard proved that just because you hate the story doesn't mean that it wouldn't touch your heart in a meaningful way.
What if you're in love with a man and you were waiting for him your whole life? He was the pine to your apple, the stipper to your pole, the shoe to your lace and the peanut to your butter. And what if he offered you marriage and you know that he didn't love you? That what he wants is companionship? Would you take offer, pride be damned or would you save the last scrap of dignity that you have and tell him to go fuck himself?
"To a starving woman, a half loaf was better than no bread at all."
You bet your sweet ass that Sarah accepted his offer. I would have been angry because Sarah deserves so much better. Fuck love, you deserve respect from others and respect to yourself.
But Sarah is so much nicer than I am and along the way, I learned to love their story. I even cried a little because Linda Howard books can do that to you.
So here's the moral of the story: Just because you hate the bread that a certain bakery has, it doesn't mean that all breads of that kind are nasty. Some bakery is awesome, some is shitty.
August 3, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOsAq...
Should have married the Brit.
Should have married the Brit.
July 10, 2017
***Three Stars***
This story was a love/hate relationship for me. I hated that Sarah was the ultimate doormat and took so much shit from Rome, and the sex between the two was not hot at all.
But then again, I'm a total sucker for asshole heroes and mega angst, and this story had both in spades and kept me invested the entire story. I just wish there could have been sufficient groveling or at least some decent ass kissing by Rome in the ending. I guess I didn't hate this story, but I didn't totally end up loving it either.
April 19, 2021
Just marking this as read, since I don't want to reread it for a review. I don't have fond memories of this one. Heroine's unrequited love for her bff's husband for years seems pathetic rather than romantic.
Hero's grief over his wife's death was understandable, but the kind of marriage he offered the heroine was totally self-serving. Same with his attitude toward his only living child. I don't get why hero was such a prize.
There's angst and then there is mental torture. This falls in the latter category.
Hero's grief over his wife's death was understandable, but the kind of marriage he offered the heroine was totally self-serving. Same with his attitude toward his only living child. I don't get why hero was such a prize.
There's angst and then there is mental torture. This falls in the latter category.
November 16, 2020
The truth is I couldn't put this book down but my main problem with it was that I couldn't sympathize with the hero or the heroine. In fact I thought they were too obnoxious and fickle especially Sarah. The tension and the angst were enough to keep me interested though so it was definitely a decent read!
September 16, 2014
Did not like Sarah she was too pathetic!
December 22, 2023
⭐️ one stars -
I normally don’t review a book by specifically rating its points (in my printed reviews, anyway), but I’m going to break down my rating for this book by category here:
Hero ⭐️
Heroine ⭐️
Secondary characters ⭐️⭐️
Sexy times ⭐️
Plot ⭐️
World building ⭐️
Re-read potential ⭐️
Angst level ⭐️⭐️
Let’s delve into the reasons why I’m not going to recommend this book:
1- while this is easy-to-read, it’s most definitely not an enjoyable read. Our two mc’s are wholly frustrating, and it’s these two who pretty much ruin the story. Our h is a total doormat. She’s wasted her life loving this unfortunate H (unfortunate both in circumstances and disposition) and she comes across as a pathetic Plain Jane (by her lack of character and inability to take pride in herself). I did not like her at all. I was also confused as to why her supposed “friend” (the deceased Diane, the H’s first wife) could never tell that she was in love/lust over her husband. What kind of crap friendship do you have where your supposed bff doesn’t ask you about your feelings? Especially when you’re a young female, and this is usually the main topic of conversation? Made zero sense, and all it did was make Sarah look like a pathetic, insecure, sorry excuse for a person.
2- Rome - what a crap Hero. I honestly kept reading this because I was convinced that Howard was going to pull off an emotional payout here. It never happened for me. By the time he gets his head out of his a*# and has an epiphany about his new daughter, I was just so done with him. I felt zero sympathy for his emotions at that point. Too many actions had passed where I had just came to not like him; and I really wanted a story where Sarah just walked out on him.
3- mostly the lack of enjoyment from the story centers around Sarah’s inability to stick up for herself. The fact that she had a baby on her own, while married to this sorry excuse for a man, was just too much to stomach. They close the door on the nursery since Rome can’t tolerate seeing or sensing their baby? Who does that? That’s child neglect to me, and not something I want to read about. What kind of mother contributes toward the abuse of her child? A bad one, in my opinion. This just cemented how I felt about Doormat Sarah at that point. She’s too pathetic to be the heroine of any story.
4- you would think that you’d get some kind of emotional payoff out of this story, given the facts of the H’s backstory - first wife and two young children die tragically in a car accident, but that just doesn’t happen here. What does happen is that the reader will develop a burning aversion to the Hero, Rome. Howard botches his character development so badly, that he’s just not a sympathetic character at all; which is shocking given his backstory.
5- this book is a 1985 trade paperback, published by Harlequin. It’s a somewhat dated story, but the most important factor out of these facts for me is that it’s a HQ, and it lives up to this expectation with its easy-to-read storyline. It’s also important to note this distinction since the majority of the interactions between our two mc’s is all sexual content. It gets boring since this is the only way in which they interact and communicate, even after the child is born; this is their sole connection. Just lazy writing, and this contributes to the boredom factor of this surface-level plot.
6- there were definite glimpses of Howard’s skill as a storyteller here, but they were few and far between; and there were not enough of these moments of competence to pull this story out of the one star category for me. It is nice to see that Howard did morph into a much better storyteller as time went on. Ten years after she wrote this book, she published one of my all-time favorites, “After The Night” (1995 - my review for that amazing story is here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
My verdict is to pass on these earlier Howard publications. She was still honing her craft, and these just aren’t as good as her later works, and they’re simply not worth the time nor the money it takes to read them.
If you’re a die-hard Howard fan and really want to try and make your way through her bibliography (as I have been somewhat doing), then head out to your own local library to try and source them. Don’t waste your hard-earned money reading these lackluster books on your Kindle, the majority of these earlier LH stories are just not worth it, in my own humble opinion. 💁♀️
One frustrated star.
I normally don’t review a book by specifically rating its points (in my printed reviews, anyway), but I’m going to break down my rating for this book by category here:
Hero ⭐️
Heroine ⭐️
Secondary characters ⭐️⭐️
Sexy times ⭐️
Plot ⭐️
World building ⭐️
Re-read potential ⭐️
Angst level ⭐️⭐️
Let’s delve into the reasons why I’m not going to recommend this book:
1- while this is easy-to-read, it’s most definitely not an enjoyable read. Our two mc’s are wholly frustrating, and it’s these two who pretty much ruin the story. Our h is a total doormat. She’s wasted her life loving this unfortunate H (unfortunate both in circumstances and disposition) and she comes across as a pathetic Plain Jane (by her lack of character and inability to take pride in herself). I did not like her at all. I was also confused as to why her supposed “friend” (the deceased Diane, the H’s first wife) could never tell that she was in love/lust over her husband. What kind of crap friendship do you have where your supposed bff doesn’t ask you about your feelings? Especially when you’re a young female, and this is usually the main topic of conversation? Made zero sense, and all it did was make Sarah look like a pathetic, insecure, sorry excuse for a person.
2- Rome - what a crap Hero. I honestly kept reading this because I was convinced that Howard was going to pull off an emotional payout here. It never happened for me. By the time he gets his head out of his a*# and has an epiphany about his new daughter, I was just so done with him. I felt zero sympathy for his emotions at that point. Too many actions had passed where I had just came to not like him; and I really wanted a story where Sarah just walked out on him.
3- mostly the lack of enjoyment from the story centers around Sarah’s inability to stick up for herself. The fact that she had a baby on her own, while married to this sorry excuse for a man, was just too much to stomach. They close the door on the nursery since Rome can’t tolerate seeing or sensing their baby? Who does that? That’s child neglect to me, and not something I want to read about. What kind of mother contributes toward the abuse of her child? A bad one, in my opinion. This just cemented how I felt about Doormat Sarah at that point. She’s too pathetic to be the heroine of any story.
4- you would think that you’d get some kind of emotional payoff out of this story, given the facts of the H’s backstory - first wife and two young children die tragically in a car accident, but that just doesn’t happen here. What does happen is that the reader will develop a burning aversion to the Hero, Rome. Howard botches his character development so badly, that he’s just not a sympathetic character at all; which is shocking given his backstory.
5- this book is a 1985 trade paperback, published by Harlequin. It’s a somewhat dated story, but the most important factor out of these facts for me is that it’s a HQ, and it lives up to this expectation with its easy-to-read storyline. It’s also important to note this distinction since the majority of the interactions between our two mc’s is all sexual content. It gets boring since this is the only way in which they interact and communicate, even after the child is born; this is their sole connection. Just lazy writing, and this contributes to the boredom factor of this surface-level plot.
6- there were definite glimpses of Howard’s skill as a storyteller here, but they were few and far between; and there were not enough of these moments of competence to pull this story out of the one star category for me. It is nice to see that Howard did morph into a much better storyteller as time went on. Ten years after she wrote this book, she published one of my all-time favorites, “After The Night” (1995 - my review for that amazing story is here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
My verdict is to pass on these earlier Howard publications. She was still honing her craft, and these just aren’t as good as her later works, and they’re simply not worth the time nor the money it takes to read them.
If you’re a die-hard Howard fan and really want to try and make your way through her bibliography (as I have been somewhat doing), then head out to your own local library to try and source them. Don’t waste your hard-earned money reading these lackluster books on your Kindle, the majority of these earlier LH stories are just not worth it, in my own humble opinion. 💁♀️
One frustrated star.
March 24, 2015
Both Sarah and Rome are damaged people, she by the cold upbringing dispensed by her parents and he by the tragedy of his wife and son's deaths. While Sarah found a way to compensate for the absence of love, Rome turned his grief into an intense self focus that influenced every personal choice he made.
While I understood Rome's reactions, I found him to be utterly selfish and narcissistic. I'm not sure who Sarah fell in love with as Rome has so few redeeming qualities. Sarah doesn't demand respect so she doesn't receive it.
Very interesting but frustrating story. I fear it may be more realistic than I'd prefer. Both characters need therapy.
While I understood Rome's reactions, I found him to be utterly selfish and narcissistic. I'm not sure who Sarah fell in love with as Rome has so few redeeming qualities. Sarah doesn't demand respect so she doesn't receive it.
Very interesting but frustrating story. I fear it may be more realistic than I'd prefer. Both characters need therapy.
January 29, 2020
==>Re-read December 4, 2016 (add 1 star)
==>Read from December 21 to 22, 2012
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Review in Portuguese and English
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Sarah embarca em um relacionamento completamente fodido.
O herói ainda ama a esposa morta e sofre a perda dos dois filhos pequenos deles.
Ele sente tesão por ela e a pede em casamento assim ele tem sexo e companhia. Ela ama ele desde que o conheceu e ela aceita assim mesmo que ele oferece.
Eles transam e imediatamente ele sai da cama dela e vai pra cama dele dormir sozinho porque ele sente falta da esposa morta. Tudo muito impessoal.
Ele avisa ela desde o início que ele não quer filhos porque nada nem ninguém vai substituir a família que ele perdeu.
Aí o impensável acontece e Sarah engravida.
Ele exige que ela aborte a criança.
Mas ela se recusa e ele a trata como se a criança não existisse e se recusa a saber sobre a gravidez ou a criança. Sarah sofre calada e aceita tudo.
Aqui é o ponto onde eu realmente odiei a atitude dela e a aceitação de toda porcaria que ele fez como se isso fosse a coisa mais normal do mundo.
Eu tive vontade de gritar com ela e demandar uma atitude de coragem e espinha dorsal.
Ela aceita tudo como se o herói tivesse o direito de ignorar a criança, afinal o coitadinho estava sofrendo. Francamente me irritou muito!
E quando ela fica imaginando até colocar a criança para adoção só para não perder o amor do herói. Fiquei muito brava! Que mosca morta!
Mas no final tudo deu certo.
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Sarah embarks on a relationship completely fucked up.
The hero still loves the dead wife and suffer the loss of their two small children.
He feels the hots for her and asks to marry him so he has sex and companionship.
She loves him since he met him and she accepts what he offers. They have sex and immediately he gets out of her bed and goes to his bed to sleep alone because he misses his dead wife. All very impersonal.
He warns her from the beginning that he doesn't want kids because no one will replace the family he lost.
Then the unthinkable happens and Sarah gets pregnant.
He demands that she abort the child.
But she refuses and he treats as if the child did not exist and refuses to know about pregnancy or the child.
Sarah suffers quiet and accepts everything.
This is the point where I really hated her attitude and acceptance of all the crap he did as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
I had the urge to yell at her and demand an attitude of courage and backbone.
She accepts everything as if the hero had the right to ignore the child, after all the poor were suffering. Frankly annoyed me a lot!
And when she wonders to put the child up for adoption to avoid losing the love of the hero. I was very mad! That dead fly!
But in the end it all worked out.
Highlights:
==>Read from December 21 to 22, 2012
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
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Review in Portuguese and English
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Sarah embarca em um relacionamento completamente fodido.
O herói ainda ama a esposa morta e sofre a perda dos dois filhos pequenos deles.
Ele sente tesão por ela e a pede em casamento assim ele tem sexo e companhia. Ela ama ele desde que o conheceu e ela aceita assim mesmo que ele oferece.
Eles transam e imediatamente ele sai da cama dela e vai pra cama dele dormir sozinho porque ele sente falta da esposa morta. Tudo muito impessoal.
Ele avisa ela desde o início que ele não quer filhos porque nada nem ninguém vai substituir a família que ele perdeu.
Aí o impensável acontece e Sarah engravida.
Ele exige que ela aborte a criança.
Mas ela se recusa e ele a trata como se a criança não existisse e se recusa a saber sobre a gravidez ou a criança. Sarah sofre calada e aceita tudo.
Aqui é o ponto onde eu realmente odiei a atitude dela e a aceitação de toda porcaria que ele fez como se isso fosse a coisa mais normal do mundo.
Eu tive vontade de gritar com ela e demandar uma atitude de coragem e espinha dorsal.
Ela aceita tudo como se o herói tivesse o direito de ignorar a criança, afinal o coitadinho estava sofrendo. Francamente me irritou muito!
E quando ela fica imaginando até colocar a criança para adoção só para não perder o amor do herói. Fiquei muito brava! Que mosca morta!
Mas no final tudo deu certo.
-------------------------
Sarah embarks on a relationship completely fucked up.
The hero still loves the dead wife and suffer the loss of their two small children.
He feels the hots for her and asks to marry him so he has sex and companionship.
She loves him since he met him and she accepts what he offers. They have sex and immediately he gets out of her bed and goes to his bed to sleep alone because he misses his dead wife. All very impersonal.
He warns her from the beginning that he doesn't want kids because no one will replace the family he lost.
Then the unthinkable happens and Sarah gets pregnant.
He demands that she abort the child.
But she refuses and he treats as if the child did not exist and refuses to know about pregnancy or the child.
Sarah suffers quiet and accepts everything.
This is the point where I really hated her attitude and acceptance of all the crap he did as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
I had the urge to yell at her and demand an attitude of courage and backbone.
She accepts everything as if the hero had the right to ignore the child, after all the poor were suffering. Frankly annoyed me a lot!
And when she wonders to put the child up for adoption to avoid losing the love of the hero. I was very mad! That dead fly!
But in the end it all worked out.
Highlights:
“You"re thirty-three years old. Why in hell would you still be a virgin?”
"What would Diane say, if she knew he"d just seduced her best friend?"
"He was gone, but then she"d never had him, not in any way that counted. She hadn"t had his trust, or his love."
"He almost groaned aloud, thinking of another wedding, and Diane"s radiant face as she came down the aisle to him, the hunger in the kiss he"d given her at the end of the ceremony. His wife! Diane had been his wife, and he"d never thought an-other woman would occupy that position, bear that title. Until the ceremony had begun, he hadn"t had any doubts about this second marriage, but when the familiar, haunting words reached his ears..."
"He knew that no other woman should be in his mind tonight, but he couldn"t stop thinking about Diane, couldn"t stop comparing her to Sarah."
“I"m sorry,” he said in a low, raw voice. „Things have re-ally hit me hard tonight, and I can"t…I have to be alone tonight. I"m sorry,“ he said again, waiting for her reaction."
"Sarah knew, in his heart his only wife was Diane."
"I can"t accept another child, so don"t…don"t ask me to try."
"I can"t do it. Don"t have the baby. If you love me, don"t…don"t have the baby.”
“I"ll try to keep the baby away from you, out of your way. I"ll never ask you to care for it, or hold it. I swear, Rome, you"ll never even have to know its name if you don"t want to! For all in-tents and purposes, you won’t be a father!”
"But I don"t want to know about the baby,” he said
“I don"t want the baby between us. Take care of it, yes, but when I come home at night..."
July 24, 2017
4.5 STARS
Linda Howard has a way with quiet, but strong heroines, and the alpha males that love them. I loved this book. There was a situation that bothered me concerning Rome and Sarah, though. Without giving anything away, logistically, the solution early on for an unexpected development was ludicrous. That's where my half star was taken off. I understood Rome's position, but it was still a pretty stupid solution. I'm being vague, but anyone's who read this will know. Mind you it all changed and we got a beautiful HEA.
My fave by this author to date remains 'After The Night', but this was excellent and originally published in the eighties! it gave me what recent romances seem to lack.
Linda Howard has a way with quiet, but strong heroines, and the alpha males that love them. I loved this book. There was a situation that bothered me concerning Rome and Sarah, though. Without giving anything away, logistically, the solution early on for an unexpected development was ludicrous. That's where my half star was taken off. I understood Rome's position, but it was still a pretty stupid solution. I'm being vague, but anyone's who read this will know. Mind you it all changed and we got a beautiful HEA.
My fave by this author to date remains 'After The Night', but this was excellent and originally published in the eighties! it gave me what recent romances seem to lack.
May 18, 2020
I’m completely conflicted with this book. The heroine deserved so much more than what she got from the hero. I sympathized with his situation but she should have never accepted his crumbs. But those crumbs were some good crumbs, and I found myself enthralled with their story. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, I kind of liked it and kind of didn’t. There you go.
December 4, 2013
4 Stars! Old school Linda Howard. Different, very emotional, but I enjoyed it!
It's not going to be for everyone, the hero, Rome, has some real issues, however they are warranted. He's having a hard time moving on, everyone grieves differently, so I didn't really judge him too harshly, especially since there were children involved. I wish Sarah would have pushed back a little more, but she was also dealing with the same loss as Rome. I agree with other reviewers, it needed an epilogue.
Thanks to Blacky for bringing this to my attention! You can get a better perspective of the book from her review and Dorsey's too...loved her picture!
Blacky's review
Dorsey's review
June 20, 2025
1.5 stars
At least 100 e-book pages of that jerk grovelling and getting therapy were missing. Plus in my opinion, he doesn’t deserve her- honestly, I don't like her either.
At least 100 e-book pages of that jerk grovelling and getting therapy were missing. Plus in my opinion, he doesn’t deserve her- honestly, I don't like her either.
October 27, 2020
Updated review:
I've revised my opinion and my review for SC after rereading. First, all that wallbanging D/s-y sex was HOT. So awarding extra point for LH patented alpha hotness in the old-skool way. Also, the heroine's backstory really does support a lot of her behavior, opinions, and actions believably. So she seems less doormatty/martyred on a re-read--it's more that she accepts that things will be a certain way--indeed, has agreed to what is essentially a marriage of convenience with benefits--and is determined to stick to the bargain. (Betty Neels' heroines often find themselves in a similar situation and drive the heroes crazy by sticking to the bargain that they won't interfere with the heroes' lives--Sarah does the same thing in SC, more or less.)
YES, it still irks me that Sarah languished around for 8 years, (EIGHT! WTH) nursing a hopeless love for her best friend's husband. Damn, girl, move ON! That's a little too pathetic. But, that aside, on a re-read, I came to view Sarah differently from how I first read her. I always got that LH was going for "calm inner strength" in this heroine, but I bought it more on a second read. It does take a lot of strength to hide your feelings and manage to stay true to a friendship with someone whose relationship with the man you're in love with is quietly killing you inside. Sarah sticks it out quietly, throwing herself into work and bearing up under heartbreak with dignity and resolve. No one ever knows how she feels, she hides it so well. I say tomato, you say martyr, but I'm not sure it was martyrdom here. She survives because her childhood has trained her to accept that love isn't always forthcoming and emotional security is something you have to achieve for yourself. I have to respect that. She keeps doing it, too, even after she marries the hero and makes it obvious that she's in love with him. He stays aloof in various ways, so she manages to find the support and sense of security/family she needs in other ways. That's quietly badass. I love the lack of self-pity, even when there's real heartbreak.
Some things from my original review stand: This should be a way angstier read than it is, given the dramatic plot with grief and healing at its center. But LH’s writing style (and I realize this is an early book by her), while unfussy and clear, involves way too much telling and not showing, so it’s like seeing everything at a distance. And I still think that the agreement they have when she becomes pregnant (not a spoiler given the title!) is ludicrous, but hey, given some of LH's other plotlines (mummified superspy maybe-husbands with amnesia! Time-traveling lusty Guardians of biblical relics who can go all night!), it's not that crazy.
So I've actually come around to liking this book for its old-skool aggressively hot sex scenes, it's high drama, and its character development, because I think both MCs do change and grow and ultimately are able to love one another without guilt. A lot of reviewers really hated Rome but I didn't--I liked that he was so volatile when his formidable control slipped, and I liked that he struggled against his own dominating instincts to give Sarah space and not completely squash her quieter, more reserved self. She was so different from his first wife, and he recognized that and their relationship was far different than his first marriage--and kudos to LH for managing to write such a great second-chance-at-love story without diminishing his first marriage. That's tough to do, and she really pulls it off. I found the HEA believable. The heroine comes off as passive, but I don't think she was really--she was quiet, but also quietly determined to make her nest with or without the hero's help. And that's what she does in the end.
I've revised my opinion and my review for SC after rereading. First, all that wallbanging D/s-y sex was HOT. So awarding extra point for LH patented alpha hotness in the old-skool way. Also, the heroine's backstory really does support a lot of her behavior, opinions, and actions believably. So she seems less doormatty/martyred on a re-read--it's more that she accepts that things will be a certain way--indeed, has agreed to what is essentially a marriage of convenience with benefits--and is determined to stick to the bargain. (Betty Neels' heroines often find themselves in a similar situation and drive the heroes crazy by sticking to the bargain that they won't interfere with the heroes' lives--Sarah does the same thing in SC, more or less.)
YES, it still irks me that Sarah languished around for 8 years, (EIGHT! WTH) nursing a hopeless love for her best friend's husband. Damn, girl, move ON! That's a little too pathetic. But, that aside, on a re-read, I came to view Sarah differently from how I first read her. I always got that LH was going for "calm inner strength" in this heroine, but I bought it more on a second read. It does take a lot of strength to hide your feelings and manage to stay true to a friendship with someone whose relationship with the man you're in love with is quietly killing you inside. Sarah sticks it out quietly, throwing herself into work and bearing up under heartbreak with dignity and resolve. No one ever knows how she feels, she hides it so well. I say tomato, you say martyr, but I'm not sure it was martyrdom here. She survives because her childhood has trained her to accept that love isn't always forthcoming and emotional security is something you have to achieve for yourself. I have to respect that. She keeps doing it, too, even after she marries the hero and makes it obvious that she's in love with him. He stays aloof in various ways, so she manages to find the support and sense of security/family she needs in other ways. That's quietly badass. I love the lack of self-pity, even when there's real heartbreak.
Some things from my original review stand: This should be a way angstier read than it is, given the dramatic plot with grief and healing at its center. But LH’s writing style (and I realize this is an early book by her), while unfussy and clear, involves way too much telling and not showing, so it’s like seeing everything at a distance. And I still think that the agreement they have when she becomes pregnant (not a spoiler given the title!) is ludicrous, but hey, given some of LH's other plotlines (mummified superspy maybe-husbands with amnesia! Time-traveling lusty Guardians of biblical relics who can go all night!), it's not that crazy.
So I've actually come around to liking this book for its old-skool aggressively hot sex scenes, it's high drama, and its character development, because I think both MCs do change and grow and ultimately are able to love one another without guilt. A lot of reviewers really hated Rome but I didn't--I liked that he was so volatile when his formidable control slipped, and I liked that he struggled against his own dominating instincts to give Sarah space and not completely squash her quieter, more reserved self. She was so different from his first wife, and he recognized that and their relationship was far different than his first marriage--and kudos to LH for managing to write such a great second-chance-at-love story without diminishing his first marriage. That's tough to do, and she really pulls it off. I found the HEA believable. The heroine comes off as passive, but I don't think she was really--she was quiet, but also quietly determined to make her nest with or without the hero's help. And that's what she does in the end.
September 18, 2011
You either LOVE this one or HATE it.
June 30, 2017
Linda Howard is one of my Favourite authors, but all I can say about this book is... OUCH.
Mind you, this kind of story is my least liked, and I wouldn't have read it if it had been written by anyone else.
Also should mention that it wasn't just his wife that died but his two little boys as well. They really should mention that in the blurb!
Super Hi-octane angst fest
Mind you, this kind of story is my least liked, and I wouldn't have read it if it had been written by anyone else.
Also should mention that it wasn't just his wife that died but his two little boys as well. They really should mention that in the blurb!
Super Hi-octane angst fest
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