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Full Circle
"I will give you your freedom."
Sara turned painfully away from the cold finality of Steve's words.
Yet wasn't this why she had returned to Florida after five years of separation? Wasn't it she who had demanded a divorce in the first place?
She should have been ecstatic--now she would be able to marry Paul Kenton. But Sara had made a startling discovery. She was still irresistibly attracted to her lean, handsome husband. And he wanted nothing more to do with her....
Sara turned painfully away from the cold finality of Steve's words.
Yet wasn't this why she had returned to Florida after five years of separation? Wasn't it she who had demanded a divorce in the first place?
She should have been ecstatic--now she would be able to marry Paul Kenton. But Sara had made a startling discovery. She was still irresistibly attracted to her lean, handsome husband. And he wanted nothing more to do with her....
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
1 person is currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Kay Thorpe
181 books65 followersKay Thorpe was born on 1935 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK. An avid reader from the time when words on paper began to make sense, she developed a lively imagination of her own, making up stories for the entertainment of her young friends. After leaving school, she tried a variety of jobs, including dental nursing, and a spell in the Women's Royal Airforce from which she emerged knowing a whole lot more about life - if only as an observer.
In 1960, she married with Tony, but didn't begin thinking about trying her hand at writing for a living until she gave up work some four years later to have a baby, John. Having read Mills & Boon novels herself, and done some market research in the local library asking readers what it was they particularly liked about the books, she decided to aim for a particular market, and was fortunate to have her very first, completed manuscript accepted - The Last of the Mallorys, published in 1968. Since then she has written over seventy five books, which doesn't begin to compare with the output of some Mills & Boon authors, but still leaves her wondering where all those words came from.
Sometimes, she finds she has become two different people: the writer at her happiest when involved in the world of books and authors; and the housewife, turning her hands to the everyday needs of husband and son. Once in a while, she finds it difficult to step from one role to the other. She likes cooking, for instance, but she finds that it can be an irritating interruption when she's preoccupied with work on a novel, so the quality of her efforts in the kitchen tend to be a little erratic. She says, "As my husband once remarked, my writing gives life a fascinating element of uncertainly: one day a perfect coq au vin, the next day a couple of burned chops!"
Luckily Kay has daily professional help with her housework, and that leaves her time to indulge in her hobbies. Like many other Mills & Boon authors, she admits to being a voracious consumer of books, a quality she shares with her readers. She likes music and horseback riding, which she does in the countryside near her home. But her favorite hobby is travel - especially to places that will make good settings for her books.
Kay now lives on the outskirts of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, along with husband, Tony, and a huge tabby cat called Mad Max, her one son having flown the coop. Some day she'll think about retiring, but not yet awhile.
In 1960, she married with Tony, but didn't begin thinking about trying her hand at writing for a living until she gave up work some four years later to have a baby, John. Having read Mills & Boon novels herself, and done some market research in the local library asking readers what it was they particularly liked about the books, she decided to aim for a particular market, and was fortunate to have her very first, completed manuscript accepted - The Last of the Mallorys, published in 1968. Since then she has written over seventy five books, which doesn't begin to compare with the output of some Mills & Boon authors, but still leaves her wondering where all those words came from.
Sometimes, she finds she has become two different people: the writer at her happiest when involved in the world of books and authors; and the housewife, turning her hands to the everyday needs of husband and son. Once in a while, she finds it difficult to step from one role to the other. She likes cooking, for instance, but she finds that it can be an irritating interruption when she's preoccupied with work on a novel, so the quality of her efforts in the kitchen tend to be a little erratic. She says, "As my husband once remarked, my writing gives life a fascinating element of uncertainly: one day a perfect coq au vin, the next day a couple of burned chops!"
Luckily Kay has daily professional help with her housework, and that leaves her time to indulge in her hobbies. Like many other Mills & Boon authors, she admits to being a voracious consumer of books, a quality she shares with her readers. She likes music and horseback riding, which she does in the countryside near her home. But her favorite hobby is travel - especially to places that will make good settings for her books.
Kay now lives on the outskirts of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, along with husband, Tony, and a huge tabby cat called Mad Max, her one son having flown the coop. Some day she'll think about retiring, but not yet awhile.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 26, 2024
My God! He cheated on his bride of 9 months and wasn't even sorry about it. Not then, not now, and presumably not in the future.
She got away once, found Mr. Nice Guy who worshipped her and instead of divorcing this piece of dried up turd, she dumps Mr. Nice Guy and goes back to the unrepentant cheater.
These two deserved each other. Garbage!
She got away once, found Mr. Nice Guy who worshipped her and instead of divorcing this piece of dried up turd, she dumps Mr. Nice Guy and goes back to the unrepentant cheater.
These two deserved each other. Garbage!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2015
This book sucked. It was boring and I had to struggle my way through it, lots of detail about the scenery and extraneous stuff instead of the core relationship. Insufficient dialogue so what was there really stood out. Hero marries a young girl, big age difference, he's used to doing what he wants and she gets whiny probably because she wants more attention. He deems any demands made on him to be unacceptable. He has been flirting and making moves on other women since their honeymoon. But then cheats with a semi-pro type, but then when he sees heroine with another man (she knew he cheated and wanted to hurt him back with a rival) the marriage ends. (His double standard was hit and he feels betrayed because she "must" have feelings for other dude). 5 years later, she's dating a really nice guy and feels she needs to ask for divorce in person. Really dumb chick. Falls back into bed with H so believes that is love. Hero keeps lying and gaslighting her about the cheating. Blames their break up on her suspicious mind and keeps implying he didn't really cheat. When you learn the truth and go back and reread his earlier comments, you can only think "what a lying piece of shit."
Heroine learns for sure from original OW that hero did cheat. Hero then tells heroine he loves her and asks her to say, and since she knows from OW the truth, hero says that OW didn't even have to try very hard to get him into bed, men are opportunistic. Hero wants that acknowledged because he doesn't intend to pledge fidelity...and why should he if he can con heroine into accepting his cheating? Aww, he sets out his grand plan in such a humble way, acknowledging that maybe it's unreasonable to expect that he can cheat while asking his wife to stay faithful, but.... Heroine agrees with his version of acceptable cheating (ok for man, but she finishes his "but" with "women are different" and accepts his worldview). She so accepts it that learning he cheated means she has to assure him she never did and spent 5 years apart on ice, so she can show him she loves him and won't ever touch another man no matter how much he cheats. Bernie Madoff has nothing on this con artist.
Really sad that she will bring children into this arrangement and ensure they will never have a chance at a healthy view of being valued and viewing fidelity as a part of marriage. My ideal epilogue is them in 25 years, she's in her 40s and he's late 50s, has ED and she has a hot young lover.
Heroine learns for sure from original OW that hero did cheat. Hero then tells heroine he loves her and asks her to say, and since she knows from OW the truth, hero says that OW didn't even have to try very hard to get him into bed, men are opportunistic. Hero wants that acknowledged because he doesn't intend to pledge fidelity...and why should he if he can con heroine into accepting his cheating? Aww, he sets out his grand plan in such a humble way, acknowledging that maybe it's unreasonable to expect that he can cheat while asking his wife to stay faithful, but.... Heroine agrees with his version of acceptable cheating (ok for man, but she finishes his "but" with "women are different" and accepts his worldview). She so accepts it that learning he cheated means she has to assure him she never did and spent 5 years apart on ice, so she can show him she loves him and won't ever touch another man no matter how much he cheats. Bernie Madoff has nothing on this con artist.
Really sad that she will bring children into this arrangement and ensure they will never have a chance at a healthy view of being valued and viewing fidelity as a part of marriage. My ideal epilogue is them in 25 years, she's in her 40s and he's late 50s, has ED and she has a hot young lover.
avoid
May 28, 2017He cheated. Wasn't sorry about it. Felt that was his entitlement. But dumped his wife because he felt SHE cheated on his cheating ass. even though he has never had or ever will offer fidelity. Her fidelity has to be ironclad. It was non negotiable. He WOULD sleep around. She would faithfully wait for him. Because he needs variety in the female body department and because he's so grownup MAN he knows how to keep penis and heart seperate. His wife is to female and naive, her heart lives in her vagina, and vice versa. And of course there is the universally known truth that it is only a mans prerogative to cheat or be polygamist or have physical attraction for multiple partner.
June 16, 2011
This is a really interesting book. Sara and Steve split up because she was 18 to his 30 when they married and she was very immature. Steve got fed up and had an affair with a "professional" mistress. Sara retaliates by making it appear she is being unfaithful with a man Steve hates. Five years on, Sara wants a divorce because she has been dating a man she feels is more compatible in every way, except for the wild passion she has with Steve. She goes to ask Steve for a divorce but they are still in lust and so he says no and wants to try again.
To Steve, who is firmly convinced Sara committed adultery, a woman like Sara can't have sex with a guy unless she is in love with him. He knows his fling did not mean anything to him but he is angry and hurt that Sara had one. Just to be clear, Sara just wanted to piss Steve off, she only kissed the OM and there was no adultery on her part. KT does a really good job of pitting male and female attitudes towards sex and infidelity against each other in this book. Steve just wants Sara to be there and have passionate sex. Sara is convinced that passion alone can't make a marriage and Steve needs to stop being a workaholic and share some of his life with her outside of bed.
Steve is the old fashioned Alpha Male type, Sara is the more equality modern thinker type and the juxtaposition really works well for a book written in 1979. They do get back together and I did believe the HEA, although readers under 30 might feel that Sara compromised too much in the end. I think Sara was light years ahead of her time and I was surprised at how well Ms. Thorpe was able to convey the differences between how men and women think all without any Steve POV except his conversation.
To Steve, who is firmly convinced Sara committed adultery, a woman like Sara can't have sex with a guy unless she is in love with him. He knows his fling did not mean anything to him but he is angry and hurt that Sara had one. Just to be clear, Sara just wanted to piss Steve off, she only kissed the OM and there was no adultery on her part. KT does a really good job of pitting male and female attitudes towards sex and infidelity against each other in this book. Steve just wants Sara to be there and have passionate sex. Sara is convinced that passion alone can't make a marriage and Steve needs to stop being a workaholic and share some of his life with her outside of bed.
Steve is the old fashioned Alpha Male type, Sara is the more equality modern thinker type and the juxtaposition really works well for a book written in 1979. They do get back together and I did believe the HEA, although readers under 30 might feel that Sara compromised too much in the end. I think Sara was light years ahead of her time and I was surprised at how well Ms. Thorpe was able to convey the differences between how men and women think all without any Steve POV except his conversation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2016
I waffled between one and two stars and settled on two because at no time was I bored with the story. However, the main characters were so annoying that I think by the end I was reading to see how they were going to stay paired off to spare any other character having to put up with them.
So, on to the nuts and bolts of this second chance story: 24 year-old heroine is returning to Florida to ask her estranged husband for a divorce so that she can marry OM. She hasn't seen hero in six years when she caught him cheating with an OW at the hotel he owns. At the time she was 18 and angry, so she staged a scene where it looked like she was having an affair with one of his enemies. That was the final nail in the proverbial relationship coffin.
I think my biggest problem with the storyline was that I didn't see a lot of personal growth in either of the characters. The hero's infidelity wasn't explained/justified to my liking - the guy was 30 at the time, married to an 18 year-old, he knew what he was doing. The heroine was kind of a blank, hormonal slate. We're told she was a good secretary and a hard worker, but we never see it because all of the action we're shown takes place either sailing, at parties, or eating fancy dinners.
Further, it was the hero who cheated, but we are shown a scene where the heroine turns down an affair, which proves nothing about how the hero will handle temptation going forward. The author did a lot of *telling* about changes of heart, but she never really *showed* their relationship working out of bed. The domestic bliss they'er planning at the end, just doesn't seem plausible.
So, on to the nuts and bolts of this second chance story: 24 year-old heroine is returning to Florida to ask her estranged husband for a divorce so that she can marry OM. She hasn't seen hero in six years when she caught him cheating with an OW at the hotel he owns. At the time she was 18 and angry, so she staged a scene where it looked like she was having an affair with one of his enemies. That was the final nail in the proverbial relationship coffin.
I think my biggest problem with the storyline was that I didn't see a lot of personal growth in either of the characters. The hero's infidelity wasn't explained/justified to my liking - the guy was 30 at the time, married to an 18 year-old, he knew what he was doing. The heroine was kind of a blank, hormonal slate. We're told she was a good secretary and a hard worker, but we never see it because all of the action we're shown takes place either sailing, at parties, or eating fancy dinners.
Further, it was the hero who cheated, but we are shown a scene where the heroine turns down an affair, which proves nothing about how the hero will handle temptation going forward. The author did a lot of *telling* about changes of heart, but she never really *showed* their relationship working out of bed. The domestic bliss they'er planning at the end, just doesn't seem plausible.
January 17, 2018
I love reunited marriage in peril stories. Hero married heroine when she was very young and immature she thought he was cheating, she leaves him and years later she comes back to ask for divorce cause she met a great guy she wants to marry.
I really don’t get all the bad reviews about this one. It’s actually not clear if hero cheated or not but even if he did saying that a book sends a bad message to women about relationships is as moronic as saying Batman and The Punisher send a bad message to little boys about how it's okay to be a violent vigilant who takes the law into his own hands. It's fiction. It's fantasy.
I really don’t get all the bad reviews about this one. It’s actually not clear if hero cheated or not but even if he did saying that a book sends a bad message to women about relationships is as moronic as saying Batman and The Punisher send a bad message to little boys about how it's okay to be a violent vigilant who takes the law into his own hands. It's fiction. It's fantasy.
April 23, 2016
Lying cheating scum for a "hero" and a pathetic "heroine" I really don't like any of this author's books!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2019
Well, this book certainly went around in circles. The HEA is a joke. It's only a matter of time before one tosses the other off their luxurious yacht into the unforgiving, deep seas.
It’s going to sound like I hated this book but I didn’t. I’ve got to hand it to Thorpe. 40 years on, and the gender-biased views she puts forth about cheating still ring true today.
H and h married in haste, and regretted at leisure for 5 years. She was too young at 18 and he, at 31, should have known better.
The marriage deteriorated because she was supposedly immature. Except I didn't understand what was immature about a young bride feeling insecure and neglected with him spending all his time at work and then talking to a beautiful model about his passion for sailing instead of her.
She acted out her anxieties and he got tired of her tantrums. She sees him out with the OW and does a little tit-for-tat by kissing another man in front of him. They call it quits in anger.
During their separation she finds herself a career, falls in love with the boss's son and comes to H for a divorce. Her request shocks him as we get the impression he never stopped loving her, just giving her space to grow up.
He says he will consider it if she and her partner will join him on a yacht for a few days with some friends. Neither she nor the OM like this but they want the divorce so they roll with it.
There's another couple on board, and a woman the H is likely dating. Thorpe is careful to make it seem like a platonic relationship but the girl has nothing to do with this drama and is put in the awkward situation of sharing the cruise and a cabin with the estranged wife. Strike one against H.
Sparks continue to fly between H and h as she realizes she is hardly immune to H and now doubts her feelings for the OM who is trying hard to be understanding and supportive of a volatile situation.
Cruise is cut short when OM has an urgent business crisis overseas and naively leaves h behind. She gives in to her strong feelings and attraction for H and sleeps with him. Strike one against h.
She knows she has betrayed a decent man and despite H’s protests, goes to OM knowing he deserves an explanation. OM places blame squarely on the H for taking advantage of her but she owns her part and tells him women have sexual urges too. Again, quite progressive of Thorpe, given the time period.
OM admits H had told him to his face on the cruise that he will never let his wife go. She realizes that OM’s choice in leaving her behind was a sign; he may not have thought her worth fighting for unlike the H.
She and H decide to give the marriage a second chance and have some honest conversations and sexy times (1978 style, nothing explicit) but old wounds start resurfacing.
There’s some brutal moments in their bitter exchanges as they rehash their parting 5 years ago. Since he knows sex for her is an emotional connection, he assumed she had stopped loving him when he saw her kissing someone else. She felt he had checked out of the marriage and had an affair.
Though they try to work through their problems, it was a challenge to connect with this couple. She seemed to have lost the spine she gained during their separation and he seemed to have gone back ten years in maturity.
It didn’t help that they were constantly at lavish dinner parties, in luxurious hotels and cruising on their yacht. At some point, I started thinking, first world problems.
The OW shows up again and H seems smitten again. His high-handedness and impatience with h’s insecurity doesn’t help. She gets back at them by having a little flirtation of her own with the OW’s wealthy tycoon boyfriend who is enamored with her.
Talk about history repeating itself.
OW has a little heart-to-heart with the h. She explains that the affair with H was one-sided; she had pursued H because she was in love with him but he had sent her packing, saying there was no future for them, he only loved his wife.
Despite this revelation, the h can’t seem to get it together with the H and they decide to call it quits forever. He catches her in tears while she is packing to leave and suddenly, HEA declarations.
Right until then, I thought the h was mistaken about the affair. He seemed besotted with the h and celibate during their separation. But when she finally asks a direct question about whether he cheated with the OW, he admits, "We indulged a mutual need, that's all."
Whatever “mutual need” meant, for a HEA revelation that just killed it for me. Especially since she had to earlier reassure him over and over that she never cheated on him. Worst of all, she seems to blame herself for being a “childish bride”.
He, on the other hand, reassures the h by speaking disparagingly of the OW as an opportunist going for the highest bidder. The h doesn’t correct this impression, deciding it is a fitting punishment for the OW for ruining her marriage and that it was safer for them if he never found out the OW’s true feelings.
So, for all her self-deprecating claims of having no scruples, the OW had more empathy in her little finger than any of them. She still held a candle for H but played down his part on their affair so he would have a better chance at reconciliation with his wife.
Thorpe adeptly showed the double standards of that time. OW was still being judged, five years later, for pursuing the H. But the OW’s tycoon BF wasn’t, for pursuing the h, a married woman. H is forgiven because he is a man, they have needs, as long as it wasn’t emotional cheating. The h is forgiven because she never physically cheated. And let's not forget people who were lecturing her, but never him, to be more mature.
The romance felt realistic in portraying a couple struggling to recover from the toxicity of infidelity. It lacked the escapism factor I look for in HPs but still, no regrets, it was a compelling read. It would have been an easy 4 stars if there were less luxury travelogues and the MCs more likeable.
It’s going to sound like I hated this book but I didn’t. I’ve got to hand it to Thorpe. 40 years on, and the gender-biased views she puts forth about cheating still ring true today.
H and h married in haste, and regretted at leisure for 5 years. She was too young at 18 and he, at 31, should have known better.
The marriage deteriorated because she was supposedly immature. Except I didn't understand what was immature about a young bride feeling insecure and neglected with him spending all his time at work and then talking to a beautiful model about his passion for sailing instead of her.
She acted out her anxieties and he got tired of her tantrums. She sees him out with the OW and does a little tit-for-tat by kissing another man in front of him. They call it quits in anger.
During their separation she finds herself a career, falls in love with the boss's son and comes to H for a divorce. Her request shocks him as we get the impression he never stopped loving her, just giving her space to grow up.
He says he will consider it if she and her partner will join him on a yacht for a few days with some friends. Neither she nor the OM like this but they want the divorce so they roll with it.
There's another couple on board, and a woman the H is likely dating. Thorpe is careful to make it seem like a platonic relationship but the girl has nothing to do with this drama and is put in the awkward situation of sharing the cruise and a cabin with the estranged wife. Strike one against H.
Sparks continue to fly between H and h as she realizes she is hardly immune to H and now doubts her feelings for the OM who is trying hard to be understanding and supportive of a volatile situation.
Cruise is cut short when OM has an urgent business crisis overseas and naively leaves h behind. She gives in to her strong feelings and attraction for H and sleeps with him. Strike one against h.
She knows she has betrayed a decent man and despite H’s protests, goes to OM knowing he deserves an explanation. OM places blame squarely on the H for taking advantage of her but she owns her part and tells him women have sexual urges too. Again, quite progressive of Thorpe, given the time period.
OM admits H had told him to his face on the cruise that he will never let his wife go. She realizes that OM’s choice in leaving her behind was a sign; he may not have thought her worth fighting for unlike the H.
She and H decide to give the marriage a second chance and have some honest conversations and sexy times (1978 style, nothing explicit) but old wounds start resurfacing.
There’s some brutal moments in their bitter exchanges as they rehash their parting 5 years ago. Since he knows sex for her is an emotional connection, he assumed she had stopped loving him when he saw her kissing someone else. She felt he had checked out of the marriage and had an affair.
Though they try to work through their problems, it was a challenge to connect with this couple. She seemed to have lost the spine she gained during their separation and he seemed to have gone back ten years in maturity.
It didn’t help that they were constantly at lavish dinner parties, in luxurious hotels and cruising on their yacht. At some point, I started thinking, first world problems.
The OW shows up again and H seems smitten again. His high-handedness and impatience with h’s insecurity doesn’t help. She gets back at them by having a little flirtation of her own with the OW’s wealthy tycoon boyfriend who is enamored with her.
Talk about history repeating itself.
OW has a little heart-to-heart with the h. She explains that the affair with H was one-sided; she had pursued H because she was in love with him but he had sent her packing, saying there was no future for them, he only loved his wife.
Despite this revelation, the h can’t seem to get it together with the H and they decide to call it quits forever. He catches her in tears while she is packing to leave and suddenly, HEA declarations.
Right until then, I thought the h was mistaken about the affair. He seemed besotted with the h and celibate during their separation. But when she finally asks a direct question about whether he cheated with the OW, he admits, "We indulged a mutual need, that's all."
Whatever “mutual need” meant, for a HEA revelation that just killed it for me. Especially since she had to earlier reassure him over and over that she never cheated on him. Worst of all, she seems to blame herself for being a “childish bride”.
He, on the other hand, reassures the h by speaking disparagingly of the OW as an opportunist going for the highest bidder. The h doesn’t correct this impression, deciding it is a fitting punishment for the OW for ruining her marriage and that it was safer for them if he never found out the OW’s true feelings.
So, for all her self-deprecating claims of having no scruples, the OW had more empathy in her little finger than any of them. She still held a candle for H but played down his part on their affair so he would have a better chance at reconciliation with his wife.
Thorpe adeptly showed the double standards of that time. OW was still being judged, five years later, for pursuing the H. But the OW’s tycoon BF wasn’t, for pursuing the h, a married woman. H is forgiven because he is a man, they have needs, as long as it wasn’t emotional cheating. The h is forgiven because she never physically cheated. And let's not forget people who were lecturing her, but never him, to be more mature.
The romance felt realistic in portraying a couple struggling to recover from the toxicity of infidelity. It lacked the escapism factor I look for in HPs but still, no regrets, it was a compelling read. It would have been an easy 4 stars if there were less luxury travelogues and the MCs more likeable.
Read
September 30, 2018Read this a long time ago and my stomach hurts just thinking about it. This is one of the worst cheaters ever. I wish I hadn't see this book again. I think I burned the copy I had! I am so unstable!!!😘
August 22, 2012
Sure I get that Sara was childish in some of her actions and reactions from the past as well as during the course of the story, but then so was Steve. Yet he would call her on it and reluctantly admit that he held a smidgen of blame in some instances, but first he must blame others. Sara now seems to want more of a balance in their lives and perhaps Steve is now willing to compromise more instead of always calling the shots. However, neither seems capable of trusting the other.
My problem is the whole did he cheat or didn’t he cheat question. First I’m thinking not because he claims that she has a “suspicious mind” as well as a “considerable imagination”. Besides wouldn’t there be evidence in his apartment? He wasn’t expecting Sara there. Sara admits that Steve didn’t deny having an affair – perhaps he did then. The way things turned out was largely to your suspicious mind, he tells her, he couldn’t even look at another woman w/out her seeing him in bed w/ her – makes think he didn’t cheat. “I could have a woman w/out it meaning a thing to me beyond the basic satisfaction. I said COULD not DID.” “Any more than you’re likely to believe that my r/s w/ Ailsa (OW) was anything else but what you suspected.” There was never anything concrete b/w him and OW that she witnessed. Sara just assumes things and doesn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, and later he tells her to believe what she wants. If there were something going on b/w him and OW would he have been so open about it? I keep wondering if Bill’s comment on Steve’s rep colored Sara’s whole perception of him from then on and she looked for things to support it.
When did he meet up w/ the Italian man? So Italian wanted Sara and OW had wanted Steve, but he didn’t want her, OW. Perhaps I’m reading too much into that. Why would Steve want to talk to OW if he told her there was no future in hanging around and that she was largely the cause of Sara going out to find some “solace” of her own? Can men and women be friends or will it cross a line? What went on b/w OW and Steve when they were together? Was she just talking to him and Sara jumped to conclusions? Sara seemed to think the worst of Steve when she saw him talking to another woman. It sounded like OW went out of her way to encourage Sara’s jealousy –perhaps she isn’t at all what this Italian man thinks of her. OW is just good at playing a games, she would be as she seems to lack morals by her own claim. Short lived “affair”, yet there is no beginning to this affair mentioned in the book, just a so called ending for when OW was told no future. He wonders if all that matters to her is if there were emotions involved b/w him and OW – wasn’t this his whole problem w/ her and OM? Nope all bothers her but may hurt less to hear there wasn’t. Then it sounds as though he confirmed they were involved just not emotionally. Which makes him less of a H and more of a POS!
My problem is the whole did he cheat or didn’t he cheat question. First I’m thinking not because he claims that she has a “suspicious mind” as well as a “considerable imagination”. Besides wouldn’t there be evidence in his apartment? He wasn’t expecting Sara there. Sara admits that Steve didn’t deny having an affair – perhaps he did then. The way things turned out was largely to your suspicious mind, he tells her, he couldn’t even look at another woman w/out her seeing him in bed w/ her – makes think he didn’t cheat. “I could have a woman w/out it meaning a thing to me beyond the basic satisfaction. I said COULD not DID.” “Any more than you’re likely to believe that my r/s w/ Ailsa (OW) was anything else but what you suspected.” There was never anything concrete b/w him and OW that she witnessed. Sara just assumes things and doesn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, and later he tells her to believe what she wants. If there were something going on b/w him and OW would he have been so open about it? I keep wondering if Bill’s comment on Steve’s rep colored Sara’s whole perception of him from then on and she looked for things to support it.
When did he meet up w/ the Italian man? So Italian wanted Sara and OW had wanted Steve, but he didn’t want her, OW. Perhaps I’m reading too much into that. Why would Steve want to talk to OW if he told her there was no future in hanging around and that she was largely the cause of Sara going out to find some “solace” of her own? Can men and women be friends or will it cross a line? What went on b/w OW and Steve when they were together? Was she just talking to him and Sara jumped to conclusions? Sara seemed to think the worst of Steve when she saw him talking to another woman. It sounded like OW went out of her way to encourage Sara’s jealousy –perhaps she isn’t at all what this Italian man thinks of her. OW is just good at playing a games, she would be as she seems to lack morals by her own claim. Short lived “affair”, yet there is no beginning to this affair mentioned in the book, just a so called ending for when OW was told no future. He wonders if all that matters to her is if there were emotions involved b/w him and OW – wasn’t this his whole problem w/ her and OM? Nope all bothers her but may hurt less to hear there wasn’t. Then it sounds as though he confirmed they were involved just not emotionally. Which makes him less of a H and more of a POS!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2018
So this is a story about marrying in haste and repenting in leisure. The MC’s got married a month after meeting each other. Nine months later they separated. Five years after that, the h is back asking for a divorce. She’s met a new man and wants to marry him. The H refuses the divorce, convinced her to give it another try. Two weeks later, things fall apart yet again.
These were the most unlikeable characters I have ever come across. The h was 18yrs old and the H was 30 when they married. If she were a mature 18 year I would have understood. But she was immature, spoiled and annoying af!
The H was a pig. You married a child and expected her to grow up overnight because she’s wearing your ring and has had sex with you? And when, in her immaturity, she tries to explain herself, you take offense and have an affair?!
And now, you want her back in your life, but at the same status quo? And the OW is still around? How is the h not supposed to feel insecure, unsure, jealous? How is she not supposed to want to bash your head in?
The H treated the h like an idiot. He and his friends attitudes about his infidelity was waaaay to blasé. The h was an idiot to leave the guy who loved her to return to her husband. The end of the book gave the promise of communication and clarity, but with the H’s ease of cheating, I see a rough future for her. Once a cheat, always a cheat.
I detested every character in this book. The author kept the story interesting but her characters are all vile. Never again, with this book. This one deserves to be burned!
These were the most unlikeable characters I have ever come across. The h was 18yrs old and the H was 30 when they married. If she were a mature 18 year I would have understood. But she was immature, spoiled and annoying af!
The H was a pig. You married a child and expected her to grow up overnight because she’s wearing your ring and has had sex with you? And when, in her immaturity, she tries to explain herself, you take offense and have an affair?!
And now, you want her back in your life, but at the same status quo? And the OW is still around? How is the h not supposed to feel insecure, unsure, jealous? How is she not supposed to want to bash your head in?
The H treated the h like an idiot. He and his friends attitudes about his infidelity was waaaay to blasé. The h was an idiot to leave the guy who loved her to return to her husband. The end of the book gave the promise of communication and clarity, but with the H’s ease of cheating, I see a rough future for her. Once a cheat, always a cheat.
I detested every character in this book. The author kept the story interesting but her characters are all vile. Never again, with this book. This one deserves to be burned!
October 12, 2018
Five years ago, the heroine pretended she was intimate with her husband’s enemy to punish her husband for sexing up another woman to punish the heroine for...being too young, I guess. The cheating husband doesn’t subscribe to goose/gander theories of equality, and his tarnished wifey left Florida to return home to England. Now she’s ready to marry a man who maybe won’t use infidelity as a form of one-upmanship and is back in Florida to ask for a divorce.
When they married, the 18-year-old h was in love with love; the 30-year-old H was in love with sex. When they split, it was because men can sleep with women without their feelings being involved, so his little slips should be ignored, while women can’t have sex without being in love (wut??), so she shredded their relationship and all hope of future happiness with her shenanigans. Shame on her.
But forget them. They are nothing. Their “romance” is singularly stupid, painful, and lacking in romance. The best part of this book is Ailsa, the other woman. Ailsa knows where her towel is at. She is a professional mistress with a retirement plan. She might have been willing to give it all up for Steve (I just can’t respect a hero named “Steve”) if he had been interested, which would have supported Steve’s stereotyped viewpoint of female sexuality if he had been aware of her lurve, but she’s not moping and broken-hearted. Ailsa’s moved on with Rico and doesn’t bat an eyelash when Rico offers to make the heroine his mistress as well (for the month he’s in Nassau)...I think this may be the only Harlequin in existence where the heroine gets an offer to be a second-best mistress.
When they married, the 18-year-old h was in love with love; the 30-year-old H was in love with sex. When they split, it was because men can sleep with women without their feelings being involved, so his little slips should be ignored, while women can’t have sex without being in love (wut??), so she shredded their relationship and all hope of future happiness with her shenanigans. Shame on her.
But forget them. They are nothing. Their “romance” is singularly stupid, painful, and lacking in romance. The best part of this book is Ailsa, the other woman. Ailsa knows where her towel is at. She is a professional mistress with a retirement plan. She might have been willing to give it all up for Steve (I just can’t respect a hero named “Steve”) if he had been interested, which would have supported Steve’s stereotyped viewpoint of female sexuality if he had been aware of her lurve, but she’s not moping and broken-hearted. Ailsa’s moved on with Rico and doesn’t bat an eyelash when Rico offers to make the heroine his mistress as well (for the month he’s in Nassau)...I think this may be the only Harlequin in existence where the heroine gets an offer to be a second-best mistress.
June 28, 2016
One star is extremely generous for this book. Cheating is apparently okay for the man but not the woman. This is a nasty point of view that the author is endorsing.
June 9, 2020
I never expect much with this trope, we all know what we are usually in for, Stone Age misogyny, double standards and ridiculous drama. But, this booked was the worst! The double standards were ridiculous, the characters all thoroughly horrible, and a pointless tale. Sara is a spineless doormat of epic proportions. At first it seemed she might have some fire as when she found out her husband had a mistress, she kissed his enemy for revenge, than went on to get engaged to someone else. But, alas no, any hope for a heroine with character soon washed away as she dumped her poor boyfriend and went crawling back to her cheating scumbag ex. But, you see it’s all ok, because the hero was well within his rights to cheat! Because, obviously men can have sex with another woman and it means nothing! They are built to appreciate women! The heroine however, was so out of line to kiss another man in revenge as women can not leave feelings out of it! This was just ludicrous reasoning, that apparently was acceptable! He hero also had a right to cheat as well because, shock of all shocks, the 18 year old woman he married, who happened to be 12 years his junior, happened to be immature! Who would have thought his child bride might not be perfect? She wanted him to work less and spend more time with her! What a witch! How unreasonable! Why wouldn’t he take a mistress! This book was a mess! It also tried in the beginning to present the whole mysterious idea of he might not have actually cheated, for us all to realise later on that no, there is no saving him, he did have an affair! But, we are meant to respect him as he gave the mistress the boot when the heroine left! Be still my beating heart! This book takes on the ridiculous as the hero and heroine reunite and go on holiday together,
Only to bump into the shameless mistress and her bedmate. As apparently it doesn’t matter the hero cheated with the mistress and it causes the heroine pain seeing her, they go on to hang around with her! It was just ridiculous. We are meant to believe the hero loves the heroine, and does not have contact with the mistress, yet they holiday where she does and he spends time with her. We then have to listen to this Sage old whore give the wife advice and tell her that she deserved to be cheated on, and that the hero deserved better! It was just absurd! I had no real feeling the hero would stay faithful, as even before his affair, when the couple were on their honeymoon he was flirting with and perving on a model at the beach! On their honeymoon! But, as he tells his wife men are built to appreciate women and of course he fancy’s other women! He was disgusting, and the heroine was disgusting for allowing it! She also was a cow to the man she dumped out of nowhere, for the ex love rat! This book is horrific, and I don’t care when it was written it is everything that is wrong with female authors, and allowing men to do what they want as women have to accept everything thrown at them! This author is a no go! (less)
Only to bump into the shameless mistress and her bedmate. As apparently it doesn’t matter the hero cheated with the mistress and it causes the heroine pain seeing her, they go on to hang around with her! It was just ridiculous. We are meant to believe the hero loves the heroine, and does not have contact with the mistress, yet they holiday where she does and he spends time with her. We then have to listen to this Sage old whore give the wife advice and tell her that she deserved to be cheated on, and that the hero deserved better! It was just absurd! I had no real feeling the hero would stay faithful, as even before his affair, when the couple were on their honeymoon he was flirting with and perving on a model at the beach! On their honeymoon! But, as he tells his wife men are built to appreciate women and of course he fancy’s other women! He was disgusting, and the heroine was disgusting for allowing it! She also was a cow to the man she dumped out of nowhere, for the ex love rat! This book is horrific, and I don’t care when it was written it is everything that is wrong with female authors, and allowing men to do what they want as women have to accept everything thrown at them! This author is a no go! (less)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2012
"Maybe it's unreasonable to expect a wife to honour her wedding vows if a man's not prepared to do the same, but it's different for a man"
wth?!?!Was people's mentality that screwed at the time?!
The story was great actually, they reunited quite early in the book and they even went on a second honeymoon to see if it would be different,etc...
wth?!?!Was people's mentality that screwed at the time?!
The story was great actually, they reunited quite early in the book and they even went on a second honeymoon to see if it would be different,etc...
March 22, 2022
I will give you your freedom."
Sara turned painfully away from the cold finality of Steve's words.
Yet wasn't this why she had returned to Florida after five years of separation? Wasn't it she who had demanded a divorce in the first place?
She should have been ecstatic--now she would be able to marry Paul Kenton. But Sara had made a startling discovery. She was still irresistibly attracted to her lean, handsome husband. And he wanted nothing more to do with her..
Sara turned painfully away from the cold finality of Steve's words.
Yet wasn't this why she had returned to Florida after five years of separation? Wasn't it she who had demanded a divorce in the first place?
She should have been ecstatic--now she would be able to marry Paul Kenton. But Sara had made a startling discovery. She was still irresistibly attracted to her lean, handsome husband. And he wanted nothing more to do with her..
September 28, 2020
WTF!!!! Why did everyone blame the h for his f$#king infidelity?! He cheated, cheated, cheated! But no, let's all blame the former unicorn groomer 18-year-old for seeking petty revenge on his sleeping with the OW (a professional mistress) and subsequently leaving his ass. Apparently, she was supposed to just put up with it and not have walked out of their marriage...! Sure, she had jealousy issues and didn't trust him but he cheated!!! She was right not to trust the cheating bastard. He slept with the OW despite having a young, willing wife. The absolute worst book ever...I should have listened to GRs and avoided this but I stupidly kept hoping for an apology from the H for his infidelity. Didn't happen. Ugh! Avoid this book. Both MCs sucked. The h for remaining a doormat and not forcing him to grovel for cheating on her and taking him back at all and the H for being a misogynistic, sexist jerk who saw nothing wrong with sticking his penis in another woman bc he only had emotions for the h. Unbelievable!!!! Ugh, I hated this so much!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2022
I love a story where there is groveling and he really loves her afterall, and that other woman is nobody to him. This wasn't that. He cheated. There was no groveling. The hero is a big giant ahole who makes his very young wife feel stupid and then he cheats on her. And 5 years pass and he's as big of an ahole still making her feel stupid. Hated it. I read the whole thing quickly hoping for a happy revelation and instead got an ending talking about his affair. Eff that. And the heroes last remarks? Let's make babies. Cause that fixes everything!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2023
They deserve each other.. and I mean that in the worst way!
June 23, 2023
Sweet jezuz what an unhappy and pathetic writer is this one! She thinks men can’t be faithful and are attracted always to beautiful women, turned on she says… how pathetically sad…
The hero married a 18 yo heroine, he was 32 and a manwhore and never stopped, he had an affair with ow and the heroine pretended to have an affair with his worst enemy, so they broke up. After five years she goes to him and asks him for a divorce, her mistake is to ask him personally, she should have sent her solicitor, so the manho manages to persuade her not to marry a perfectly honorable and decent man and to go back to him, after of course, humiliating her repeatedly by smashing in her face his women, plural, among whom there’s also the first woman he cheated on her and admitted to.
Hypocrisy is the name of this book, double standard is the rule.
It’s so sad that these poor writers were so low in their self esteem to think there was no chance for them to attract a decent man and they think they don’t deserve to be treated decently.
It’s sad that sex is considered a male thing, because only whores enjoy it and wives can appreciate it to a certain extent.
It’s sad that she thinks no man is capable of fidelity and no woman is able to inspire a love that has exclusive sex in it.
This book is written after sexual liberation but it seems to me there’s still so much frustration and repression in it, so many prejudices and self-demeaning that I’m not sure I can’t even feel any angst.
The female character is resigned that her husband will never be faithful but it’s only physical which means she’s a lousy lay… or that she is unable to enjoy it fully.
I’m no prude and I accept that women enjoy sex as much as men and can have it without love, which the author excludes categorically considering that only a certain kind of women can do it without love while the good ones can’t.
It’s so untrue.
The repressed ones can’t enjoy sex without love.
Technically whores don’t enjoy sex at all…
The dichotomy Madonna/ whore and man/woman with the unavoidably different capacity to enjoy the phisycal act is so wrong and so linked to a past time when women were usually condemned if they enjoyed sex, and it’s a debasement of true love that the author keeps on saying that men are turned on by attractive women always and anyway, something that makes me believe that women like this author only knew poor and unsatisfactory relationships where they were considered as a commodity. The wife at home and the mistress out of it.
Debasing sex and making it a pure physical reaction and a basic outlet, always, demeans the sexual act when it’s done inside a relationship where there are love and respect and where sex turns into a different kind of union, both of mind and body, where the partners give themselves to each other fully, cementing their relationship and this always prevents them from desiring to have sex with other partners, both man and woman.
Of course the author never knew this kind of bliss and I can only be sad and sorry for her.
The hero married a 18 yo heroine, he was 32 and a manwhore and never stopped, he had an affair with ow and the heroine pretended to have an affair with his worst enemy, so they broke up. After five years she goes to him and asks him for a divorce, her mistake is to ask him personally, she should have sent her solicitor, so the manho manages to persuade her not to marry a perfectly honorable and decent man and to go back to him, after of course, humiliating her repeatedly by smashing in her face his women, plural, among whom there’s also the first woman he cheated on her and admitted to.
Hypocrisy is the name of this book, double standard is the rule.
It’s so sad that these poor writers were so low in their self esteem to think there was no chance for them to attract a decent man and they think they don’t deserve to be treated decently.
It’s sad that sex is considered a male thing, because only whores enjoy it and wives can appreciate it to a certain extent.
It’s sad that she thinks no man is capable of fidelity and no woman is able to inspire a love that has exclusive sex in it.
This book is written after sexual liberation but it seems to me there’s still so much frustration and repression in it, so many prejudices and self-demeaning that I’m not sure I can’t even feel any angst.
The female character is resigned that her husband will never be faithful but it’s only physical which means she’s a lousy lay… or that she is unable to enjoy it fully.
I’m no prude and I accept that women enjoy sex as much as men and can have it without love, which the author excludes categorically considering that only a certain kind of women can do it without love while the good ones can’t.
It’s so untrue.
The repressed ones can’t enjoy sex without love.
Technically whores don’t enjoy sex at all…
The dichotomy Madonna/ whore and man/woman with the unavoidably different capacity to enjoy the phisycal act is so wrong and so linked to a past time when women were usually condemned if they enjoyed sex, and it’s a debasement of true love that the author keeps on saying that men are turned on by attractive women always and anyway, something that makes me believe that women like this author only knew poor and unsatisfactory relationships where they were considered as a commodity. The wife at home and the mistress out of it.
Debasing sex and making it a pure physical reaction and a basic outlet, always, demeans the sexual act when it’s done inside a relationship where there are love and respect and where sex turns into a different kind of union, both of mind and body, where the partners give themselves to each other fully, cementing their relationship and this always prevents them from desiring to have sex with other partners, both man and woman.
Of course the author never knew this kind of bliss and I can only be sad and sorry for her.
August 18, 2023
If you can make it through the boring first half you are in for a treat.
I almost gave up more than once.
I'm glad I didn't because when the drama kicks in it doesn't hold back!
I almost gave up more than once.
I'm glad I didn't because when the drama kicks in it doesn't hold back!
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