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Distant Shadows
Will past wrongs destroy their love?
Although Fay Danby had worked hard to establish her small interior decorating business, was crumbling before her eyes. And then the attractive Richard Ellerby crashed into her life--offering an important restoration job that could spell the difference between bankruptcy and success.
Until Fay learned that Richard's father was the man who'd ruined her father's business years before. Suddenly she found it impossible to accept Richard's money--or his love--even if that meant losing not only the company but her own chance for happiness.
But Richard persisted. And Fay learned that past events weren't always what they seemed....
Although Fay Danby had worked hard to establish her small interior decorating business, was crumbling before her eyes. And then the attractive Richard Ellerby crashed into her life--offering an important restoration job that could spell the difference between bankruptcy and success.
Until Fay learned that Richard's father was the man who'd ruined her father's business years before. Suddenly she found it impossible to accept Richard's money--or his love--even if that meant losing not only the company but her own chance for happiness.
But Richard persisted. And Fay learned that past events weren't always what they seemed....
- GenresHarlequin Romance
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
12 people want to read
About the author
Alison York
21 books7 followersChristopher Robin Nicole was born on 7 December 1930 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), where he was raised. He is the son of Jean Dorothy (Logan) and Jack Nicole, a police officer, both Scottish. He studied at Queen's College in Guyana and at Harrison College in Barbados. He was a fellow at the Canadian Bankers Association and a clerk for the Royal Bank of Canada in Georgetown and Nassau from 1947 to 1956. In 1957, he moved to Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom, where he currently lives, but he also has a domicile in Spain.
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 20, 2020
Stupid premise. Unlikable characters. Disappointing romance.
Heroine is a restorer of antique ceiling mouldings. She is hired by hero to restore his Georgian mansion. They are attracted to each other, though they mask it at first with hostile banter. Then heroine discovers hero is the son of her father's ex-business partner. Before his death, heroine’s father confided to her that his business partner treacherously swindled him out of their partnership and consequently ruined his life. Her father never made a success of any other business he tried his hand at. Her mother had to take in lodgers to supplement their income and wore herself out doing it. Heroine feels that the ruthless actions of hero’s father pushed her own parents into their early graves. Now, she intends visiting the sins of the father on the son.
The rest of the story is heroine clinging to her grudge while hero, for some obscure reason besotted with the irrational heroine, attempts to pacify her by acting Sir Galahad: rescuing hikers trapped in caves; helping old ladies secure the rights to their cottages; taking over the lease of heroine's failing business, etc.
In the end, the heroine finds out that the real reason for the collapse of the business partnership was the emotional affair between her mother and hero's father. Both the h’s mom and the H’s dad agreed that though they loved each other, they couldn't bring themselves to physically consume their affair and that eventually, their secret longing would result in breaking up both families and scarring their respective spouses and small children. So they conspired to find a way to break up the business partnership that tied their two families together, and thus effectively remove temptation.
Heroine’s mom and her lover concocted a scheme to distract the heroine’s dad in order for her lover to swoop in and force a hostile take-over of the company. The poor, clueless, cuckolded schmuck never realized what was happening until it was too late. He was flabbergasted that his friend had betrayed him like that nor did he realize what possible motivation he would have had other than pure greed. So he ended his friendship with his ex-business partner, moved to another part of the country with his family, took up farming, and never laid eyes on his former partner again.
It was all so stupid! And so very tacky. I don't know how the author expects us to view heroine's mother as some sort of saintly figure. Her husband worked TEN YEARS of backbreaking sweat, blood and tears to build up his business. His wife betrayed him, not only through an emotional affair with his business partner, best friend, and husband of HER best friend, but she actually conspired with her lover to take the dream of her husband away from him. It ruined his life because he never got his confidence back to succeed in any other venture plus the poor sap was feeling guilty about not providing a comfortable enough life for his wife. He died thinking he failed his family. This woman was terrible!
Her daughter, the heroine of the piece, was not much better. Based on flimsy evidence of a business dispute from a generation ago, she tried and convicted the hero of all sorts of sins, swindling her dad, ruining her parents' lives, forcing them into an early grave etc., even though hero was a ten year old boy at the time with no inkling of what was going on.
I hated this story and I am so disappointed :(
Heroine is a restorer of antique ceiling mouldings. She is hired by hero to restore his Georgian mansion. They are attracted to each other, though they mask it at first with hostile banter. Then heroine discovers hero is the son of her father's ex-business partner. Before his death, heroine’s father confided to her that his business partner treacherously swindled him out of their partnership and consequently ruined his life. Her father never made a success of any other business he tried his hand at. Her mother had to take in lodgers to supplement their income and wore herself out doing it. Heroine feels that the ruthless actions of hero’s father pushed her own parents into their early graves. Now, she intends visiting the sins of the father on the son.
The rest of the story is heroine clinging to her grudge while hero, for some obscure reason besotted with the irrational heroine, attempts to pacify her by acting Sir Galahad: rescuing hikers trapped in caves; helping old ladies secure the rights to their cottages; taking over the lease of heroine's failing business, etc.
In the end, the heroine finds out that the real reason for the collapse of the business partnership was the emotional affair between her mother and hero's father. Both the h’s mom and the H’s dad agreed that though they loved each other, they couldn't bring themselves to physically consume their affair and that eventually, their secret longing would result in breaking up both families and scarring their respective spouses and small children. So they conspired to find a way to break up the business partnership that tied their two families together, and thus effectively remove temptation.
Heroine’s mom and her lover concocted a scheme to distract the heroine’s dad in order for her lover to swoop in and force a hostile take-over of the company. The poor, clueless, cuckolded schmuck never realized what was happening until it was too late. He was flabbergasted that his friend had betrayed him like that nor did he realize what possible motivation he would have had other than pure greed. So he ended his friendship with his ex-business partner, moved to another part of the country with his family, took up farming, and never laid eyes on his former partner again.
It was all so stupid! And so very tacky. I don't know how the author expects us to view heroine's mother as some sort of saintly figure. Her husband worked TEN YEARS of backbreaking sweat, blood and tears to build up his business. His wife betrayed him, not only through an emotional affair with his business partner, best friend, and husband of HER best friend, but she actually conspired with her lover to take the dream of her husband away from him. It ruined his life because he never got his confidence back to succeed in any other venture plus the poor sap was feeling guilty about not providing a comfortable enough life for his wife. He died thinking he failed his family. This woman was terrible!
Her daughter, the heroine of the piece, was not much better. Based on flimsy evidence of a business dispute from a generation ago, she tried and convicted the hero of all sorts of sins, swindling her dad, ruining her parents' lives, forcing them into an early grave etc., even though hero was a ten year old boy at the time with no inkling of what was going on.
I hated this story and I am so disappointed :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review