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Enchantment
Monique was hurt when Miles told her that they had to hide their engagement if she was to follow him to his new job on Grand Cayman Island.
It seemed to foreshadow the end of the engagement, and her fears were quickly realised once they reached the island. Yet in Dirk Anderson, Miles' new boss, Monique sensed a potent cure for the ills of her heart.
But was he free . . . or pledged to the same woman who held Miles in thrall? Would Monique taste true love, only to have her dreams trampled once more?
It seemed to foreshadow the end of the engagement, and her fears were quickly realised once they reached the island. Yet in Dirk Anderson, Miles' new boss, Monique sensed a potent cure for the ills of her heart.
But was he free . . . or pledged to the same woman who held Miles in thrall? Would Monique taste true love, only to have her dreams trampled once more?
- GenresHarlequin
189 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1982
2 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Anne Hampson
150 books154 followersAnne Hampson was born on 28 November 1928 in England. At age six she had two ambitions: to teach and to write. Poverty after WWI deprived her of an education and at 14 she was making Marks & Spencer's blouses at one shilling (5p) each.
She retired when she married. Later, when her marriage broke up, she was homeless with £40 in her purse. She went back to the rag trade and lived in a tiny caravan. But she never forgot her two ambitions, and when Manchester University decided to trial older women she applied, and three years later had achieved one ambition, so set her thoughts on number two.
In 1969, her first novel, Eternal Summer, was accepted five days from posting and she soon had a contract for 12 more. From the caravan she went to a small stately home, drove a Mercedes and sailed on the QE2. From the first book, came over 125 more written for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette. Alan Boon (the Boon of Mills & Boon) and she came up with the title for 'Harlequin Presents' over lunch at the Ritz. She suggested to Alan that they have a historical series. He told her to write one - it was done in a month, entitled Eleanor and the Marquis under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. She has the distinction of being number one in Harlequin Presents, Masquerade and Silhouette. Many of "Presents" have been reprinted many times (some as many as 16) and are now fetching up to $55, being classed as "rare" books.
She has had 3 awards, one at the World Trade Centre where she received a standing ovation from her American fans, who had come from many states just to meet her.
She was retired, but in 2005 she wrote two romance and crime novels, both of which were published by Severn House.
She passed away on 25 September 2014. She has been written her autobiography, entitled Fate Was My Friend.
She retired when she married. Later, when her marriage broke up, she was homeless with £40 in her purse. She went back to the rag trade and lived in a tiny caravan. But she never forgot her two ambitions, and when Manchester University decided to trial older women she applied, and three years later had achieved one ambition, so set her thoughts on number two.
In 1969, her first novel, Eternal Summer, was accepted five days from posting and she soon had a contract for 12 more. From the caravan she went to a small stately home, drove a Mercedes and sailed on the QE2. From the first book, came over 125 more written for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette. Alan Boon (the Boon of Mills & Boon) and she came up with the title for 'Harlequin Presents' over lunch at the Ritz. She suggested to Alan that they have a historical series. He told her to write one - it was done in a month, entitled Eleanor and the Marquis under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. She has the distinction of being number one in Harlequin Presents, Masquerade and Silhouette. Many of "Presents" have been reprinted many times (some as many as 16) and are now fetching up to $55, being classed as "rare" books.
She has had 3 awards, one at the World Trade Centre where she received a standing ovation from her American fans, who had come from many states just to meet her.
She was retired, but in 2005 she wrote two romance and crime novels, both of which were published by Severn House.
She passed away on 25 September 2014. She has been written her autobiography, entitled Fate Was My Friend.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 28, 2023
Edited to add: It didn’t register with me until the most recent reading , but this is an interracial romance. Quite unusual for the time.
In the 1980s Anne Hampson books, premarital sex starts becoming an option for the h, and it definitely changes the dynamic between the main characters.
In the 1980s Anne Hampson books, premarital sex starts becoming an option for the h, and it definitely changes the dynamic between the main characters.
January 28, 2025
This romance was more interesting to me as a piece of genre romance history rather than as a stirring romance. It has some modern elements, including an interracial couple, which was much harder to find in early 1980s romances than today. However, the dynamics of the couple also harkened back to older romances I've read. The book features a stern, imposing hero who is clearly a man of the world. And this hero falls head over heels with a lovely young doormat who childlike innocence charms him.
In some ways, it felt very Cartland-esque. However, to be fair to the heroine in this book, she does speak in complete sentences and Ms. Hampson did not fill the dialogue with endless ellipses. The story focuses on Monique, a secretary, who is engaged to Miles, a young architect. When Miles is offered a job that will take him to the Cayman Islands for at least a year, he insists Monique come along. However, since the Very Intimidating Boss indicated that he wanted a young, single employee with lots of time to devote to the project, Miles insists Monique conceal their engagement.
Predictably, things do not go as planned. Both Miles and Monique fall for other people. While it's handled surprisingly well in this book, if cheating is an absolute dealbreaker for you, this novel may not be your cup of tea.
Also, as you may have guessed, there's quite an age gap between the hero and the heroine. Dirk Anderson, the hotel developer who is also Miles' boss, is 38, while Monique is 22. The age gap feels even larger as the author several times emphasizes Monique's very youthful appearance while also talking about Dirk's grey hairs and maturity. Having been 38, I can say with confidence that the author writes Dirk more like he's approaching 58.
Even with those quibbles, I did find this an interesting read. Even though it definitely would feel dated to a modern reader, I did enjoy the story. It had more drama than I would want to live out in real life, but it was entertaining to read.
In some ways, it felt very Cartland-esque. However, to be fair to the heroine in this book, she does speak in complete sentences and Ms. Hampson did not fill the dialogue with endless ellipses. The story focuses on Monique, a secretary, who is engaged to Miles, a young architect. When Miles is offered a job that will take him to the Cayman Islands for at least a year, he insists Monique come along. However, since the Very Intimidating Boss indicated that he wanted a young, single employee with lots of time to devote to the project, Miles insists Monique conceal their engagement.
Predictably, things do not go as planned. Both Miles and Monique fall for other people. While it's handled surprisingly well in this book, if cheating is an absolute dealbreaker for you, this novel may not be your cup of tea.
Also, as you may have guessed, there's quite an age gap between the hero and the heroine. Dirk Anderson, the hotel developer who is also Miles' boss, is 38, while Monique is 22. The age gap feels even larger as the author several times emphasizes Monique's very youthful appearance while also talking about Dirk's grey hairs and maturity. Having been 38, I can say with confidence that the author writes Dirk more like he's approaching 58.
Even with those quibbles, I did find this an interesting read. Even though it definitely would feel dated to a modern reader, I did enjoy the story. It had more drama than I would want to live out in real life, but it was entertaining to read.
February 18, 2019
One of the most stupid, doormat-ish and spineless heroines ever!
The heroine is persuaded by her fiancé, against her better judgement, to accompany him to his new job in the Grand Caymans, but he intends to keep their engagement a secret. She is to arrive as his secretary. She doesn’t want to go, she is happy with her life in London, but of course he manages to convince her, since she has no backbone.
Once there, she is miserable since her fictional secretarial job doesn’t actually have enough for her to do, plus her fiancé is increasingly spending time with the attractive (OW) interior designer who he works with. Since she cannot reveal their relationship she just feels more despondent. The Hero is the boss of the fiancé and when he sees that the attractive heroine is at a loose end, he tries to seduce her, and she allows him! Though, they don’t go all the way, he actually gets pretty far along several times. This woman is supposed to be engaged, even if it’s a secret and this is definitely cheating on her part. Though her fiancé was cheating w the OW too. Why it took the whole book to for them to resolve anything, I don’t know.
The Hero is definitely a slime ball. He is the usual much older, experienced playboy type and he is perceptive enough to see the heroines feelings for her fiancé. It doesn’t take him long to ferret out her secret, but this doesn’t stop him and he makes the moves on her anyway. He is very attracted to her though, and obviously wants to keep her around, so he finds odd jobs for her like companion to his 19year old niece. However, it feels more like he just wants her for an affair, and even the heroine senses this.
The OW is actually a former girlfriend of the Hero and it turns out that she had been trying to make him jealous by paying attention to the fiancé. However, it backfired and the Hero just became interested in the heroine instead. The only good parts were actually seeing the OW getting a bit of comeuppance from the heroine since she was constantly jealous of her. The OW does also get a bit comeuppance from the Hero at the end, but it happens off page.
The niece then starts falling for the now ex-fiancé, and he for her! Too much WTF coincidences for my taste. I’m just imagining this side development is a temporary aberration 🙄 can’t imagine what their family gatherings would be like though.
It ends when the idiot heroine gets a weepy moment, flies off to go back to London, but the Hero pursues her, and catches her at her stop over hotel. Convenient for him, but she gets a kind of half hearted sounding ILY, which is apparently enough for her, and some bits of explanation so they get their HEA.
Frankly it seemed more to me that he was old (38), he probably felt it was time to be married, and who better than a beautiful, young and easy to manipulate dodo.
The heroine is persuaded by her fiancé, against her better judgement, to accompany him to his new job in the Grand Caymans, but he intends to keep their engagement a secret. She is to arrive as his secretary. She doesn’t want to go, she is happy with her life in London, but of course he manages to convince her, since she has no backbone.
Once there, she is miserable since her fictional secretarial job doesn’t actually have enough for her to do, plus her fiancé is increasingly spending time with the attractive (OW) interior designer who he works with. Since she cannot reveal their relationship she just feels more despondent. The Hero is the boss of the fiancé and when he sees that the attractive heroine is at a loose end, he tries to seduce her, and she allows him! Though, they don’t go all the way, he actually gets pretty far along several times. This woman is supposed to be engaged, even if it’s a secret and this is definitely cheating on her part. Though her fiancé was cheating w the OW too. Why it took the whole book to for them to resolve anything, I don’t know.
The Hero is definitely a slime ball. He is the usual much older, experienced playboy type and he is perceptive enough to see the heroines feelings for her fiancé. It doesn’t take him long to ferret out her secret, but this doesn’t stop him and he makes the moves on her anyway. He is very attracted to her though, and obviously wants to keep her around, so he finds odd jobs for her like companion to his 19year old niece. However, it feels more like he just wants her for an affair, and even the heroine senses this.
The OW is actually a former girlfriend of the Hero and it turns out that she had been trying to make him jealous by paying attention to the fiancé. However, it backfired and the Hero just became interested in the heroine instead. The only good parts were actually seeing the OW getting a bit of comeuppance from the heroine since she was constantly jealous of her. The OW does also get a bit comeuppance from the Hero at the end, but it happens off page.
The niece then starts falling for the now ex-fiancé, and he for her! Too much WTF coincidences for my taste. I’m just imagining this side development is a temporary aberration 🙄 can’t imagine what their family gatherings would be like though.
It ends when the idiot heroine gets a weepy moment, flies off to go back to London, but the Hero pursues her, and catches her at her stop over hotel. Convenient for him, but she gets a kind of half hearted sounding ILY, which is apparently enough for her, and some bits of explanation so they get their HEA.
Frankly it seemed more to me that he was old (38), he probably felt it was time to be married, and who better than a beautiful, young and easy to manipulate dodo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2018
5 totally jobless people. Falling in and out of love amongst themselves. That's the only thing that happens in the book !!
A naive, jobless 22 year old girl accompanies so-called fiance to the exotic Caribbean, for work !
But she walks off with a much much older hero, a 38 year old womanizer. And the fiance takes up with the heroes ex !!
Add another character in the form of the heroes niece to this conundrum and the mess is complete !!
Lousy, pointless story telling. 2 stars, barely.
A naive, jobless 22 year old girl accompanies so-called fiance to the exotic Caribbean, for work !
But she walks off with a much much older hero, a 38 year old womanizer. And the fiance takes up with the heroes ex !!
Add another character in the form of the heroes niece to this conundrum and the mess is complete !!
Lousy, pointless story telling. 2 stars, barely.
Read
August 12, 2021Book was well written and entertaining. But Will I read this book again? No because it has cheating; plain and simple. The author had sugar coated the fall out but still I had a bad taste through out. The hero had known that she was in love with him and that may not be engaged to other guy still but till the very end what he wanted was just an affair. Blah ... not my idea of romance at all. Only friend the Monique made in this story was Lucie and she goes hard for Miles as soon as Monique returns the ring back to him... where is the Girl code..? That was too fast for my liking. No mention of his possible entanglement with another woman would have been better.
March 5, 2022
I’m not very fond of a bossy H and a rather submissive heroine who is sixteen years his younger. There was some OW/OM drama though that made the story more interesting. I agree with the OW assessment of the heroine. As for the H- the OW seemed high maintenance and the heroine as a wife will make his life easier.
June 3, 2025
Dull characters, no tension and a lack of chemistry. Heroine is a weird one. Totally not my cup of tea. DNF and do not recommend.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews