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Raw Silk
Oliver Lee is a man with a shadowed past. He is suspicious of everything and everyone...so when he meets Fliss, he thinks her innocence is an act. Fliss may be innocent, but when Oliver's around she can't help behaving as if she is a woman of the world. Fliss is tempted to throw caution to the winds, because life with Oliver seems to offer such exciting possibilities. The passion he inspires in Fliss is just like raw silk—beautiful, unique and desirable. But like raw silk, it is fragile. Only love will help it survive.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 9, 1994
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Anne Mather
798 books358 followersAnne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson, a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 6, 2018
Re Raw Silk - Anne Mather does HPlandia suspense in this one. Interestingly the majority of the story is in the POV of the H, who is a Vietnam Vet, former junkie and now the American version of James Bond as he is investigating a woman who may or may not be a major heroin smuggler.
The woman he is investigating is his lover and she is not the h. Major warning here: Both the H and h are involved with other people when the story starts - the h is engaged to the H's target's half brother. The H and h do cheat, tho it is a modified HPLandia rule #3-- It isn't cheating if the H is doing his spy master duty to uncover evidence of wrong doing and it doesn't count on the h's side, cause she never sleeps with her fiance.
So with that maybe unsavory morsel out of the way, on with the spoilerizations.
The story opens with H being pressured by his half Asian, Dragon Lady lover to go to England with her. It turns out the H is an undercover American agent, he was recruited by his former Army Commander. The H had a bad time after Vietnam and felt he couldn't go home to practice law in the small town of Maple Hills, Virginia.
His father is a Supreme Court judge and the H was too messed up after the end of the Vietnam war to fit into regular Virginia society. Instead he made his way back to the Far East, had some tough times abusing various substances and then was picked up out of the gutter, cleaned up and offered a job by the Army Commander.
The H has been sleeping with the Dragon Lady for six months, in an attempt to get evidence about the heroin distribution the H is sure is going on in the guise of Asiatic art selling to various parts of the world. He thought at first that the Dragon Lady was the mistress and employee of the man who owns the company.
The man definitely did not like the H and it amused the H to taunt the guy about his and the Dragon Lady's relationship. As it turned out, Dragon Lady is the man's unknowing illegitimate daughter - the man has just died and left Dragon Lady half his worldwide company as well as the new knowledge of her parentage, (she only knew her mother and is estranged from her,) and the fact that she has half siblings in England.
The H's Commander wants the H to accept Dragon Lady's offer of a trip to England while she takes her place as the new head of the family business. The H feels used by the Commander, because the H feels the Commander deliberately set him up to be killed, but he agrees to go.
They don't have enough evidence of drug smuggling yet, but the H is hoping seeing the English side of the operations will bring out the full scale of the drug network's market and then the H plans on quitting such a dangerous lifestyle.
So we all go to England and meet the half-brother, who is a pompous, public school, idle rich slime pustule. The h is the local Vicar's daughter and for some reason can't see what a boil on the backside of a blobfish her fiance is.
The h is in her early twenties and had dropped out of uni when her mother died, she had a career planned, but that went by the wayside as her very nice Vicar dad fell apart and she decided that she needed to stay home and become his helper.
Both the h and her father tend to see only the good things about people, tho the h is a little more wary than her dad, but neither have a lot of world experience and that may be why the h is engaged to the slime pustule. He is nice to her and makes her feel safe and she really wants a home and some children.
The h has had one physical relationship in college and it did not go well, so she thinks she is low on the physical mojo passion scale, but willing to tolerate it if she can start her family. Then she meets the H when he shows up with Dragon Lady at the h's fiance's family mansion.
The h is immediately peaking up in various locations on her body when she meets the H. She is also stunned by the fierce possessive aggression her previously laid back fiance demonstrates about her around the H.
Things get even more heated a few days later, when the H shows up at her father's church and after some verbal baiting of the h, cons his way into an invitation to tea with the h and her father. The father has a great time talking with the H, the h gets outraged when the H demonstrates his roofie kissing skills in the Vicarage kitchen. She is tempted by his Lurve Force Mojo inducing lips, but furious that the H would chase an engaged woman.
Later on the H is with Dragon Lady at her hotel, she is not happy that the H is wandering around and meeting people without her. Especially the h, but as the H is quick to point out, she doesn't tell him what to do and we learn that the H is really mentally obsessing about the h. There may or may not be a lurve club event between the Dragon Lady and the H, AM fades to black when Dragon Lady propositions him.
Which leads us back to the h's side of things. The fiance starts making demands that the h start sleeping with him, in between bouts of temper tantrums about the Dragon Lady's appearance and her take over of her half of their father's business.
The h doesn't really like her fiance's mother either, the woman initially made no bones about propositioning the H, right in front of Dragon Lady, whose response to that goes unrecorded. But the h is now forced into a dinner party with her fiance and the H and Dragon Lady, one that is being given by her fiance's mother and this puzzles the h.
It is completely out of character for the fiance's mother to acknowledge her husband's illegitimate child, so it is something for everybody to ponder while the dinner party from Hades begins. The h's slime pustule is whiny and offensive and drunk. The Dragon Lady is in full on Tarty Witch Mode and the H is laconic and provoking, the Ice Witch mother is pretty witchy too and the h is feeling very beleaguered.
The h is uncomfortable with everyone and starting to get really irritated with the slime pustule's whiny, domineering ways. She is also livid over the Dragon Lady's assertive public fondling of the H. Dinner devolves to a complete farce as the h is embarrassed by the H, the slime pustule, the slime pustule's Ice Witch mother and the Dragon Lady.
After a very uncomfortable dinner, the H tries to corner the h in the lounge and the h has to put up with his aggressive pursuit and the spiteful put-downs of the Dragon Lady. It doesn't improve the h's mood much when the slime pustule gets too drunk to take her home and the Ice Witch forces her to accept a ride with the H and Dragon Lady.
We get another jump in time and switch back to the H's POV. He is madly obsessing about the h and decides to go to her house about ten days after the dinner party. He is also getting closer in his investigation and is trying to surreptitiously find a floppy disk in the Dragon Lady's things that he believes has the details of their drug distribution network on it.
When he shows up at the h's house, she is there alone and the Lurve Force Mojo takes over them both. There is an extended bout of Casting About on the Purple Transcendent Shores of Bliss for both of them. The H realizes that he has totally lost his mind and his objectivity and now has to double down on his investigation.
The h is wracked with guilt, but her slime pustule fiance is acting stranger than ever and the whole thing culminates in a trip to London. The slime pustule insists that the h accompany him overnight to a business dinner and the feels forced to go to support her fiance.
The h doesn't want to go and her father definitely doesn't approve, but the slime pustule just got a seat on the board of his father's company and seems eager for the h to become even further involved with the Dragon Lady and the family business. On the way to the dinner, the slime pustule breaks the news that their wedding will have to be moved up, the Dragon Lady has assigned the slime pustule to run things in Hong Kong.
The h is really having second thoughts about the slime pustule now, she doesn't want to leave her father and go to Hong Kong and she is starting to despise the slime pustule. However, on the road to another uncomfortable dinner party is not the place to have a fight, so she decides to ride out the evening and talk things over with her father the next day.
The H is not looking forward to the evening either. He managed to get his hands on the floppy disk and make a copy of it, he is pretty sure that this will end the drug smuggling and it appears that the Dragon Lady, the slime pustule and the slime pustule's Ice Witch mother are all involved. Tho the H feels sorry for the slime pustule, he only found out about the real family business very recently and the H is sure that the h is going to be very devastated when it all comes out.
The H is also very aware that the h is probably going to hate him even more than she already does, but he really loves her and now he thinks that he has probably ruined any chance with her by seducing her and then there is also his part in the probable imprisonment of the man she thinks she loves.
The dinner party takes place in a dive area of Chelsea and the h is pretty shocked, she is very uncomfortable in the place and has no idear why anyone would pick such a tawdry area to have a business meeting in.
She also meets the two businessmen who are the guests of the Dragon Lady and the Ice Witch mother is there too, warning the h off the H. The whole thing is bizarre and a bit frightening, but the h is starting to obsess about the H.
The H is shocked the h is there at all and tries to subtly warn her, the h thinks he is just worried the Dragon Lady will find out about their Lurve Mojo Event, but the H tells her that is the least of it.
We get another time jump and the h is back in hotel room, totally shocked and ready to be ill. She found out after the dinner that her slime pustule's family business is drug smuggling and it is pretty safe to say there will not be a wedding now, tho the h is unsure about what to do.
She doesn't have any evidence and she is sure that the slime pustule or the Dragon Lady may hurt her if she betrays them. Then the Dragon Lady shows up at the h's hotel and threatens to make a scene if the h doesn't let her in the room. The h, instead of calling down to the concierge and claiming there is a madwoman outside her door, lets the Dragon Lady in.
The Dragon Lady makes all sort of threats against the h and her father and attacks the h. The H comes in as the Dragon Lady is about to really get going and the Dragon Lady shoots him as the police burst into the room. The next thing we know, the h is back with her father and mourning the death of the H.
She is also pregnant and doesn't know how to tell her dad. Her dad is worried about her and the h is getting more stressed out everyday, it has been about four months since the hotel scene and all the major players are now in prison. The h is upset to think that the man she loves and the father of her baby was a drug dealer, she is sure that if he and the Dragon Lady were a couple, that the H must have been guilty too.
When her father goes out for the evening, there is a knock on the door and it is the H. He did not die after the shooting, but it was imperative that the Dragon Lady and the men she bought from believe that he was dead. Now he wants a chance with the h and she is happy to give it to him after he explains his real job of being an undercover agent and that he never slept with Dragon Lady after he met the h.
He also lets her know that he is now going to be an attorney in his home town and we get a pretty good declaration of True Love avowals forever from both the H and the h. The H is thrilled the h is preggers and they happily decide to get married.
We get a little epilogue where the h has a little boy and they name it after the h's father. The H is madly in love with the h and wants to start planning a honeymoon with just the two of them when the baby is old enough to be doted on by his grandparents for the pink sparkly HEA.
This one was pretty interesting, AM did a pretty decent job on the suspense. Tho the H was pretty useless as an undercover agent, his floppy disc turned out to be a dud and the slime pustule's confession was what put all the drug dealers in prison.
The romance on his part was believable and AM gave him a lot more characterization than she did the somewhat TSTL h. So if you like the semi-spy adventure or suspense HPlandia outing, this one is not a bad one to be getting on with.
As a little extra note: this story, Robyn Donald's Dark Fire and Sara Craven's Dark Apollo are all available in one anthology called Dark Seductions which is pretty good reading if you like the authors and a more dubious H type.
The woman he is investigating is his lover and she is not the h. Major warning here: Both the H and h are involved with other people when the story starts - the h is engaged to the H's target's half brother. The H and h do cheat, tho it is a modified HPLandia rule #3-- It isn't cheating if the H is doing his spy master duty to uncover evidence of wrong doing and it doesn't count on the h's side, cause she never sleeps with her fiance.
So with that maybe unsavory morsel out of the way, on with the spoilerizations.
The story opens with H being pressured by his half Asian, Dragon Lady lover to go to England with her. It turns out the H is an undercover American agent, he was recruited by his former Army Commander. The H had a bad time after Vietnam and felt he couldn't go home to practice law in the small town of Maple Hills, Virginia.
His father is a Supreme Court judge and the H was too messed up after the end of the Vietnam war to fit into regular Virginia society. Instead he made his way back to the Far East, had some tough times abusing various substances and then was picked up out of the gutter, cleaned up and offered a job by the Army Commander.
The H has been sleeping with the Dragon Lady for six months, in an attempt to get evidence about the heroin distribution the H is sure is going on in the guise of Asiatic art selling to various parts of the world. He thought at first that the Dragon Lady was the mistress and employee of the man who owns the company.
The man definitely did not like the H and it amused the H to taunt the guy about his and the Dragon Lady's relationship. As it turned out, Dragon Lady is the man's unknowing illegitimate daughter - the man has just died and left Dragon Lady half his worldwide company as well as the new knowledge of her parentage, (she only knew her mother and is estranged from her,) and the fact that she has half siblings in England.
The H's Commander wants the H to accept Dragon Lady's offer of a trip to England while she takes her place as the new head of the family business. The H feels used by the Commander, because the H feels the Commander deliberately set him up to be killed, but he agrees to go.
They don't have enough evidence of drug smuggling yet, but the H is hoping seeing the English side of the operations will bring out the full scale of the drug network's market and then the H plans on quitting such a dangerous lifestyle.
So we all go to England and meet the half-brother, who is a pompous, public school, idle rich slime pustule. The h is the local Vicar's daughter and for some reason can't see what a boil on the backside of a blobfish her fiance is.
The h is in her early twenties and had dropped out of uni when her mother died, she had a career planned, but that went by the wayside as her very nice Vicar dad fell apart and she decided that she needed to stay home and become his helper.
Both the h and her father tend to see only the good things about people, tho the h is a little more wary than her dad, but neither have a lot of world experience and that may be why the h is engaged to the slime pustule. He is nice to her and makes her feel safe and she really wants a home and some children.
The h has had one physical relationship in college and it did not go well, so she thinks she is low on the physical mojo passion scale, but willing to tolerate it if she can start her family. Then she meets the H when he shows up with Dragon Lady at the h's fiance's family mansion.
The h is immediately peaking up in various locations on her body when she meets the H. She is also stunned by the fierce possessive aggression her previously laid back fiance demonstrates about her around the H.
Things get even more heated a few days later, when the H shows up at her father's church and after some verbal baiting of the h, cons his way into an invitation to tea with the h and her father. The father has a great time talking with the H, the h gets outraged when the H demonstrates his roofie kissing skills in the Vicarage kitchen. She is tempted by his Lurve Force Mojo inducing lips, but furious that the H would chase an engaged woman.
Later on the H is with Dragon Lady at her hotel, she is not happy that the H is wandering around and meeting people without her. Especially the h, but as the H is quick to point out, she doesn't tell him what to do and we learn that the H is really mentally obsessing about the h. There may or may not be a lurve club event between the Dragon Lady and the H, AM fades to black when Dragon Lady propositions him.
Which leads us back to the h's side of things. The fiance starts making demands that the h start sleeping with him, in between bouts of temper tantrums about the Dragon Lady's appearance and her take over of her half of their father's business.
The h doesn't really like her fiance's mother either, the woman initially made no bones about propositioning the H, right in front of Dragon Lady, whose response to that goes unrecorded. But the h is now forced into a dinner party with her fiance and the H and Dragon Lady, one that is being given by her fiance's mother and this puzzles the h.
It is completely out of character for the fiance's mother to acknowledge her husband's illegitimate child, so it is something for everybody to ponder while the dinner party from Hades begins. The h's slime pustule is whiny and offensive and drunk. The Dragon Lady is in full on Tarty Witch Mode and the H is laconic and provoking, the Ice Witch mother is pretty witchy too and the h is feeling very beleaguered.
The h is uncomfortable with everyone and starting to get really irritated with the slime pustule's whiny, domineering ways. She is also livid over the Dragon Lady's assertive public fondling of the H. Dinner devolves to a complete farce as the h is embarrassed by the H, the slime pustule, the slime pustule's Ice Witch mother and the Dragon Lady.
After a very uncomfortable dinner, the H tries to corner the h in the lounge and the h has to put up with his aggressive pursuit and the spiteful put-downs of the Dragon Lady. It doesn't improve the h's mood much when the slime pustule gets too drunk to take her home and the Ice Witch forces her to accept a ride with the H and Dragon Lady.
We get another jump in time and switch back to the H's POV. He is madly obsessing about the h and decides to go to her house about ten days after the dinner party. He is also getting closer in his investigation and is trying to surreptitiously find a floppy disk in the Dragon Lady's things that he believes has the details of their drug distribution network on it.
When he shows up at the h's house, she is there alone and the Lurve Force Mojo takes over them both. There is an extended bout of Casting About on the Purple Transcendent Shores of Bliss for both of them. The H realizes that he has totally lost his mind and his objectivity and now has to double down on his investigation.
The h is wracked with guilt, but her slime pustule fiance is acting stranger than ever and the whole thing culminates in a trip to London. The slime pustule insists that the h accompany him overnight to a business dinner and the feels forced to go to support her fiance.
The h doesn't want to go and her father definitely doesn't approve, but the slime pustule just got a seat on the board of his father's company and seems eager for the h to become even further involved with the Dragon Lady and the family business. On the way to the dinner, the slime pustule breaks the news that their wedding will have to be moved up, the Dragon Lady has assigned the slime pustule to run things in Hong Kong.
The h is really having second thoughts about the slime pustule now, she doesn't want to leave her father and go to Hong Kong and she is starting to despise the slime pustule. However, on the road to another uncomfortable dinner party is not the place to have a fight, so she decides to ride out the evening and talk things over with her father the next day.
The H is not looking forward to the evening either. He managed to get his hands on the floppy disk and make a copy of it, he is pretty sure that this will end the drug smuggling and it appears that the Dragon Lady, the slime pustule and the slime pustule's Ice Witch mother are all involved. Tho the H feels sorry for the slime pustule, he only found out about the real family business very recently and the H is sure that the h is going to be very devastated when it all comes out.
The H is also very aware that the h is probably going to hate him even more than she already does, but he really loves her and now he thinks that he has probably ruined any chance with her by seducing her and then there is also his part in the probable imprisonment of the man she thinks she loves.
The dinner party takes place in a dive area of Chelsea and the h is pretty shocked, she is very uncomfortable in the place and has no idear why anyone would pick such a tawdry area to have a business meeting in.
She also meets the two businessmen who are the guests of the Dragon Lady and the Ice Witch mother is there too, warning the h off the H. The whole thing is bizarre and a bit frightening, but the h is starting to obsess about the H.
The H is shocked the h is there at all and tries to subtly warn her, the h thinks he is just worried the Dragon Lady will find out about their Lurve Mojo Event, but the H tells her that is the least of it.
We get another time jump and the h is back in hotel room, totally shocked and ready to be ill. She found out after the dinner that her slime pustule's family business is drug smuggling and it is pretty safe to say there will not be a wedding now, tho the h is unsure about what to do.
She doesn't have any evidence and she is sure that the slime pustule or the Dragon Lady may hurt her if she betrays them. Then the Dragon Lady shows up at the h's hotel and threatens to make a scene if the h doesn't let her in the room. The h, instead of calling down to the concierge and claiming there is a madwoman outside her door, lets the Dragon Lady in.
The Dragon Lady makes all sort of threats against the h and her father and attacks the h. The H comes in as the Dragon Lady is about to really get going and the Dragon Lady shoots him as the police burst into the room. The next thing we know, the h is back with her father and mourning the death of the H.
She is also pregnant and doesn't know how to tell her dad. Her dad is worried about her and the h is getting more stressed out everyday, it has been about four months since the hotel scene and all the major players are now in prison. The h is upset to think that the man she loves and the father of her baby was a drug dealer, she is sure that if he and the Dragon Lady were a couple, that the H must have been guilty too.
When her father goes out for the evening, there is a knock on the door and it is the H. He did not die after the shooting, but it was imperative that the Dragon Lady and the men she bought from believe that he was dead. Now he wants a chance with the h and she is happy to give it to him after he explains his real job of being an undercover agent and that he never slept with Dragon Lady after he met the h.
He also lets her know that he is now going to be an attorney in his home town and we get a pretty good declaration of True Love avowals forever from both the H and the h. The H is thrilled the h is preggers and they happily decide to get married.
We get a little epilogue where the h has a little boy and they name it after the h's father. The H is madly in love with the h and wants to start planning a honeymoon with just the two of them when the baby is old enough to be doted on by his grandparents for the pink sparkly HEA.
This one was pretty interesting, AM did a pretty decent job on the suspense. Tho the H was pretty useless as an undercover agent, his floppy disc turned out to be a dud and the slime pustule's confession was what put all the drug dealers in prison.
The romance on his part was believable and AM gave him a lot more characterization than she did the somewhat TSTL h. So if you like the semi-spy adventure or suspense HPlandia outing, this one is not a bad one to be getting on with.
As a little extra note: this story, Robyn Donald's Dark Fire and Sara Craven's Dark Apollo are all available in one anthology called Dark Seductions which is pretty good reading if you like the authors and a more dubious H type.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2016
I have to say I thought it was ok but it was not a nice read at all. It reads like a Miami vice episode with the drug and the crud sex. She just acted weird when she met him like some big slut and he was already sleeping around so why not and her not sleeping with her fiancée but sleeping with some random guy in university did not make any sense to me at all. She was a Reverends daughter all. Just weird who it went down. Can't say I will read any more from this. Save your money and for these 1980 books of Anne mather. They all seem to read the same cheep and easy.
July 13, 2018
Publishers: Mills and Boon Limited.
Synopsis:
Virgin or wanton...?
Oliver Lee is a man with a shadowed past. He is suspicious of everything and everyone...so when he meets Fliss, he thinks her innocence is an act. Fliss may be innocent, but when Oliver's around she can't help behaving as if she is a woman of the world. Fliss is tempted to throw caution to the winds, because life with Oliver seems to offer such exciting possibilities. The passion he inspires in Fliss is just like raw silk--beautiful, unique and desirable. But like raw silk, it is fragile.... Only love will help it survive.
My review:
As far as a Mills and Boon goes, I believe this one was pretty well constructed. The author has nicely embedded an intricacy through the mystery element in what is otherwise a bland plot line. I think this is the one thing that actually kept me stuck till the end.
Fliss as a character is not someone I admired; I found her too weak-willed and without a spine. And her reaction whenever Oliver was near was too overrated; I know certain things have to be a bit overrated in any romance novel but this, I believe, was just too much. I did enjoy Oliver’s character as well as Rose Chen’s. They were both powerful personalities worth admiring.
Verdict:
I rate this a 2/5 stars. It’s not something I’ll pick up anytime soon!
Synopsis:
Virgin or wanton...?
Oliver Lee is a man with a shadowed past. He is suspicious of everything and everyone...so when he meets Fliss, he thinks her innocence is an act. Fliss may be innocent, but when Oliver's around she can't help behaving as if she is a woman of the world. Fliss is tempted to throw caution to the winds, because life with Oliver seems to offer such exciting possibilities. The passion he inspires in Fliss is just like raw silk--beautiful, unique and desirable. But like raw silk, it is fragile.... Only love will help it survive.
My review:
As far as a Mills and Boon goes, I believe this one was pretty well constructed. The author has nicely embedded an intricacy through the mystery element in what is otherwise a bland plot line. I think this is the one thing that actually kept me stuck till the end.
Fliss as a character is not someone I admired; I found her too weak-willed and without a spine. And her reaction whenever Oliver was near was too overrated; I know certain things have to be a bit overrated in any romance novel but this, I believe, was just too much. I did enjoy Oliver’s character as well as Rose Chen’s. They were both powerful personalities worth admiring.
Verdict:
I rate this a 2/5 stars. It’s not something I’ll pick up anytime soon!
June 21, 2014
this was different from what i usually read and the intrigue plot was very well done! it did not interfere wid the romance ! the chemistry between the hero and heroine hit the charts! the hero oliver was a sex bomb and though it was mentioned dat felicity was not conventionally pretty, i still got a picture of her being stunning in my mind! as she attracted men like a magnet (robert and oliver) and they just cud not wait to get into her pants!
August 14, 2012
Read in May 2010.
Decent read and definitely a struggle for the characters.
Decent read and definitely a struggle for the characters.
April 22, 2016
Really liked this one. Good plot. Kept the pages turning. Finished it in 1 sitting.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews