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The Imperfect Bride
"Life isn't a always perfect."
Parker Adams had tried to make Eve understand that. "No matter how well you plan, no matter how much money or power you have, life still demands adjustments," he'd told her.
But Eve hadn't listened to Parker—she'd called off their wedding rather than compromise in any way. It was a decision she now regretted. She never expected to have a second chance.
Yet now, on the Caribbean island of St. Barlow, she'd run into Parker. Eve was no longer a spoiled, selfish girl—she was prepared to try again. But was it possible for them to forget the past?
Parker Adams had tried to make Eve understand that. "No matter how well you plan, no matter how much money or power you have, life still demands adjustments," he'd told her.
But Eve hadn't listened to Parker—she'd called off their wedding rather than compromise in any way. It was a decision she now regretted. She never expected to have a second chance.
Yet now, on the Caribbean island of St. Barlow, she'd run into Parker. Eve was no longer a spoiled, selfish girl—she was prepared to try again. But was it possible for them to forget the past?
187 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 1992
About the author
Karen van der Zee
94 books39 followersI always wanted to write, ever since I was a child growing up in Holland. I was a dreamer, reading books and making up my own stories. I had notebooks full of stories which I illustrated with crayon drawings. My brothers burned the notebooks in the attic one day, fortunately not burning down the house. They don’t remember this now, but I do!
I also always wanted to travel. Holland is very flat and I wanted to see mountains and coconut palms and tropical beaches and deserts. I wanted to meet interesting people and learn about different cultures and see how people lived their daily lives. And then I wanted to write adventurous stories set in these exotic places
I got lucky and fell in love with a globetrotting American. I met him in Amsterdam, he asked me to marry him in Rome, and we tied the knot in a ten-minute ceremony in Kenya, East Africa, where he was a Peace Corps Volunteer. Some wedding that was! Not the stuff of romantic dreams, but really good for a laugh.
After Kenya we lived in the States for a while, then four years in Ghana, West Africa where not only our first daughter was born, but my first Mills & Boon romance as well. It took me a year to write, which is three months longer than it takes to have a baby. It was set in Ghana, and I called it SWEET NOT ALWAYS, a slogan found on a big colorfully decorated truck that transported people, goods, and live chickens.
I continued writing romances and loved the creativity of it, although it was, and is, never easy. Later we also lived in Indonesia, Ramallah (Palestine), then another three years in Ghana, and most recently six years in Armenia, which lies east of Turkey and north of Iran. Along the way we acquired a couple more kids, so now we have three.
I’ve written over thirty books now, many set in exotic locations such as Bali, Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Kenya and Ghana, as well as Holland and the US. Writing as Mona van Wieren, I received a RITA for a Silhouette Romance entitled RHAPSODY IN BLOOM.
I love the challenge of living in a foreign country where the food is different, the people interesting and life gives me endless inspiration for my writing. So, I’ll just keep going for a while.
I also always wanted to travel. Holland is very flat and I wanted to see mountains and coconut palms and tropical beaches and deserts. I wanted to meet interesting people and learn about different cultures and see how people lived their daily lives. And then I wanted to write adventurous stories set in these exotic places
I got lucky and fell in love with a globetrotting American. I met him in Amsterdam, he asked me to marry him in Rome, and we tied the knot in a ten-minute ceremony in Kenya, East Africa, where he was a Peace Corps Volunteer. Some wedding that was! Not the stuff of romantic dreams, but really good for a laugh.
After Kenya we lived in the States for a while, then four years in Ghana, West Africa where not only our first daughter was born, but my first Mills & Boon romance as well. It took me a year to write, which is three months longer than it takes to have a baby. It was set in Ghana, and I called it SWEET NOT ALWAYS, a slogan found on a big colorfully decorated truck that transported people, goods, and live chickens.
I continued writing romances and loved the creativity of it, although it was, and is, never easy. Later we also lived in Indonesia, Ramallah (Palestine), then another three years in Ghana, and most recently six years in Armenia, which lies east of Turkey and north of Iran. Along the way we acquired a couple more kids, so now we have three.
I’ve written over thirty books now, many set in exotic locations such as Bali, Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Kenya and Ghana, as well as Holland and the US. Writing as Mona van Wieren, I received a RITA for a Silhouette Romance entitled RHAPSODY IN BLOOM.
I love the challenge of living in a foreign country where the food is different, the people interesting and life gives me endless inspiration for my writing. So, I’ll just keep going for a while.
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November 3, 2017
Re The Imperfect Bride - Karen van der Zee brings us a rarely used but always interesting trope in HPlandia - the h that has to accept another woman's seekrit child with the man she loves.
This one has been done a few times with different effects in HPlandia, but KvdZ complicates this with an h who has to deal with her own disability from a car crash and some intense h angsting.
The story is pretty straightforward, the h is rich and currently lives at an exclusive resort owned by her father on a Caribbean Island. We see some guest appearances by the h of Kept Woman, as she and her H live on the island too and are good friends with the h.
Five years earlier the h used to be a shallow socialite who cancelled her wedding to the H four days before it was supposed to occur. It is clear she feels tremendous guilt for this, but we aren't privy to the reason why. She took up with another shallow guy shortly afterwards and then was involved in a bad car accident where she almost lost her leg and it took months of rehab to get her back on her feet. She has a very bad limp and the experience changed her outlook on life and herself.
She spent so much time in rehab that when she recovered as much as she could, she went back to school and became a physiotherapist. She now lives at her father's super luxurious resort and works with a small island orphanage that takes in special needs children. She and the wealthy plantation owners on the island get the kids as adjusted as they are able to be and then try to find them homes.
When the story gets going, the H has shown up on the island with a blonde lady and small boy. The boy is the H's son and everyone assumes by the way the blonde hangs on the H that she is his wife.
The h and H meet and the h is very disturbed. She still loves the H and regrets her actions in jilting him, but the H's feelings for her are more ambiguous. Anyhows the h spends oodles of time in the orphanage and having mopey moments about jilting the H. Eventually KvdZ clues us in on what happened.
The h was 21 and set to marry the H, a Philadelphian venture capitalist, when a seekrit three year old son pops up from a prior relationship of the H. His mother is dead, never told the H she was preggers -which was decidedly odd as they had been in a long term relationship- and now the H is responsible for the child. He wants his son and he expects the h to happily stand by him.
The h, whose immediate life plans do not include children, doesn't want to be a mother. So she gives the H an ultimatum and the H gives her one back and the h cancels the wedding and life moves on. It is all highly dramatic in the retelling and the h's anger and demands are highlighted.
The h feels bad now that she was so shallow that she just did not jump on the stepmother bandwagon and she regrets that she lost the love of her life because she was so unwilling to 'adapt to a change in plans' as the H put it.
The h tries to avoid the H while he is on the island, but of course the place is small and the H seems to be seeking her out. The blonde warns the h off the H, but the h really isn't trying anything with him and eventually when the blonde, who is preggers, leaves the island, the truth comes out.
The H seeks the h out on the day that would have been their fifth wedding anniversary. The H seems to want to punish the h and when the H comes over to her cottage that night, we find out the blonde is the sister of the H's son's dead mother and that she is married to someone else. After some verbal battling, the H and h wind up having anger mojo passion poundings on the beach.
The h and H have another fight the next day and the h goes back to her mopey moments while the H continues his moody broodiness. Eventually the H seeks the h out to apologize for being rude and he hopes that the h will let him know if she is preggers from the unintended beach moment.
The h is not preggers and because the H's son is eight and likes to play with the orphanage kids, the H and h are forced to spend time together. There is an H/h dinner date or two and the h announces that as soon as she can find replacement for herself at the orphanage to do the therapy for the kids, she is moving back to the States and setting up a house to bring the children that need medical care over for treatment and then try and find them homes.
The H and h still are attracted to each other, so they wind up having more passion moments and we find out that the H is on the island because of the h's father's behind the scenes manipulation. He liked the H five years earlier and he knew that was the only man his daughter ever loved, so he tried to bring them back together. The h realizes that tho she and the H have a great physical passion, her actions in cancelling the wedding and the ultimatum about his son have probably killed any more intimate feelings for her and she tells the H that the affair is off.
Then a big storm hits the island and the h has the feeling that the orphans are in danger. She drives a manual transmission van through the storm, which has downed large trees all over and it makes it difficult going, to try and to get the kids to a safer location. A tree blocks the final approach to the orphanage, so the h has to hike in with her bad leg and get eight children, two nuns and carry one of the babies through the storm to get them to one of the island's sturdier homes.
Finally everyone gets back in the van and the h gets everyone to one of her island friend's estates safely when the H comes rushing up. A big tree hit the orphanage and if the h hadn't gotten everyone out, the children would have been harmed. This near miss convinces the H to let go of the past and forgive the h. He and the h vow true love forever and plan an impromptu wedding to suit the h's tolerance now for an imperfect life with imperfect people for the big HEA.
This one isn't bad and the emo drama is high as only KvdZ can do. My complaint is that I have never understood why the H thinks what the h did is so terrible. I realize the idealized version of HPlandia femininity has h instant adaptation to motherhood as a woman's highest calling and that if you aren't a mum or willing to be a mum in HPlandia you are an evil OW.
But honestly, even back in the 90's I questioned the assumption that an immature 21 yr old, with no experience around children, should be automatically assumed to be ready to leap into the breach and mother an unknown kid. Especially one from a prior relationship with the H and the h only has a few days in which to adjust to it. I did not blame her for dumping the H, it was a reasonable thing to do as this wasn't "a slight alteration in plans", this was a major life adaptation - tho perhaps the h could have been more diplomatic about it.
She wasn't wrong to get out, what was wrong IMO, is that the H obviously expected her to be the care taking parent and most of his anger in the current time is that she 'abandoned' her motherly duties to go do her own thing and he had to rely on his ex's family to provide physical care for the child.
Even thirty years ago I realized that it was his baby and his job to do the heavy lifting of kid care parenting. The boy wasn't the h's child and why should she have to alter her entire life to lift the H's burdens. Especially since the h wasn't completely convinced that he wasn't just marrying her cause she was hot, good in bed and came with a really influential wealthy father.
I still fret about the HQN double standard that makes it such a scandal when the H has to accept another man's child who isn't the H's or a blood relation and the H is a saint if he does so, yet the h is a terrible sewer slurper if she doesn't leap into adoring motherhood with whatever random kid that comes along. It also really surprises me that KvdZ actually took that line for this book, because she has one of the more feminist outlook on things in usual HP outings.
This book is a nicely written story, but it has too many standard outcome by rote tropisms to make it outstanding. Still the HEA is believable cause the h wanted it so badly and the H isn't any worse than another HP H and probably quite a bit nicer, so don't be afraid to take this one out for a little HP outing.
This one has been done a few times with different effects in HPlandia, but KvdZ complicates this with an h who has to deal with her own disability from a car crash and some intense h angsting.
The story is pretty straightforward, the h is rich and currently lives at an exclusive resort owned by her father on a Caribbean Island. We see some guest appearances by the h of Kept Woman, as she and her H live on the island too and are good friends with the h.
Five years earlier the h used to be a shallow socialite who cancelled her wedding to the H four days before it was supposed to occur. It is clear she feels tremendous guilt for this, but we aren't privy to the reason why. She took up with another shallow guy shortly afterwards and then was involved in a bad car accident where she almost lost her leg and it took months of rehab to get her back on her feet. She has a very bad limp and the experience changed her outlook on life and herself.
She spent so much time in rehab that when she recovered as much as she could, she went back to school and became a physiotherapist. She now lives at her father's super luxurious resort and works with a small island orphanage that takes in special needs children. She and the wealthy plantation owners on the island get the kids as adjusted as they are able to be and then try to find them homes.
When the story gets going, the H has shown up on the island with a blonde lady and small boy. The boy is the H's son and everyone assumes by the way the blonde hangs on the H that she is his wife.
The h and H meet and the h is very disturbed. She still loves the H and regrets her actions in jilting him, but the H's feelings for her are more ambiguous. Anyhows the h spends oodles of time in the orphanage and having mopey moments about jilting the H. Eventually KvdZ clues us in on what happened.
The h was 21 and set to marry the H, a Philadelphian venture capitalist, when a seekrit three year old son pops up from a prior relationship of the H. His mother is dead, never told the H she was preggers -which was decidedly odd as they had been in a long term relationship- and now the H is responsible for the child. He wants his son and he expects the h to happily stand by him.
The h, whose immediate life plans do not include children, doesn't want to be a mother. So she gives the H an ultimatum and the H gives her one back and the h cancels the wedding and life moves on. It is all highly dramatic in the retelling and the h's anger and demands are highlighted.
The h feels bad now that she was so shallow that she just did not jump on the stepmother bandwagon and she regrets that she lost the love of her life because she was so unwilling to 'adapt to a change in plans' as the H put it.
The h tries to avoid the H while he is on the island, but of course the place is small and the H seems to be seeking her out. The blonde warns the h off the H, but the h really isn't trying anything with him and eventually when the blonde, who is preggers, leaves the island, the truth comes out.
The H seeks the h out on the day that would have been their fifth wedding anniversary. The H seems to want to punish the h and when the H comes over to her cottage that night, we find out the blonde is the sister of the H's son's dead mother and that she is married to someone else. After some verbal battling, the H and h wind up having anger mojo passion poundings on the beach.
The h and H have another fight the next day and the h goes back to her mopey moments while the H continues his moody broodiness. Eventually the H seeks the h out to apologize for being rude and he hopes that the h will let him know if she is preggers from the unintended beach moment.
The h is not preggers and because the H's son is eight and likes to play with the orphanage kids, the H and h are forced to spend time together. There is an H/h dinner date or two and the h announces that as soon as she can find replacement for herself at the orphanage to do the therapy for the kids, she is moving back to the States and setting up a house to bring the children that need medical care over for treatment and then try and find them homes.
The H and h still are attracted to each other, so they wind up having more passion moments and we find out that the H is on the island because of the h's father's behind the scenes manipulation. He liked the H five years earlier and he knew that was the only man his daughter ever loved, so he tried to bring them back together. The h realizes that tho she and the H have a great physical passion, her actions in cancelling the wedding and the ultimatum about his son have probably killed any more intimate feelings for her and she tells the H that the affair is off.
Then a big storm hits the island and the h has the feeling that the orphans are in danger. She drives a manual transmission van through the storm, which has downed large trees all over and it makes it difficult going, to try and to get the kids to a safer location. A tree blocks the final approach to the orphanage, so the h has to hike in with her bad leg and get eight children, two nuns and carry one of the babies through the storm to get them to one of the island's sturdier homes.
Finally everyone gets back in the van and the h gets everyone to one of her island friend's estates safely when the H comes rushing up. A big tree hit the orphanage and if the h hadn't gotten everyone out, the children would have been harmed. This near miss convinces the H to let go of the past and forgive the h. He and the h vow true love forever and plan an impromptu wedding to suit the h's tolerance now for an imperfect life with imperfect people for the big HEA.
This one isn't bad and the emo drama is high as only KvdZ can do. My complaint is that I have never understood why the H thinks what the h did is so terrible. I realize the idealized version of HPlandia femininity has h instant adaptation to motherhood as a woman's highest calling and that if you aren't a mum or willing to be a mum in HPlandia you are an evil OW.
But honestly, even back in the 90's I questioned the assumption that an immature 21 yr old, with no experience around children, should be automatically assumed to be ready to leap into the breach and mother an unknown kid. Especially one from a prior relationship with the H and the h only has a few days in which to adjust to it. I did not blame her for dumping the H, it was a reasonable thing to do as this wasn't "a slight alteration in plans", this was a major life adaptation - tho perhaps the h could have been more diplomatic about it.
She wasn't wrong to get out, what was wrong IMO, is that the H obviously expected her to be the care taking parent and most of his anger in the current time is that she 'abandoned' her motherly duties to go do her own thing and he had to rely on his ex's family to provide physical care for the child.
Even thirty years ago I realized that it was his baby and his job to do the heavy lifting of kid care parenting. The boy wasn't the h's child and why should she have to alter her entire life to lift the H's burdens. Especially since the h wasn't completely convinced that he wasn't just marrying her cause she was hot, good in bed and came with a really influential wealthy father.
I still fret about the HQN double standard that makes it such a scandal when the H has to accept another man's child who isn't the H's or a blood relation and the H is a saint if he does so, yet the h is a terrible sewer slurper if she doesn't leap into adoring motherhood with whatever random kid that comes along. It also really surprises me that KvdZ actually took that line for this book, because she has one of the more feminist outlook on things in usual HP outings.
This book is a nicely written story, but it has too many standard outcome by rote tropisms to make it outstanding. Still the HEA is believable cause the h wanted it so badly and the H isn't any worse than another HP H and probably quite a bit nicer, so don't be afraid to take this one out for a little HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2023
“Do you have any idea what it meant for me to lose you, any idea at all? I would lie in bed thinking of you, wanting you, needing you, hating you.”
“I’ve missed you so. I kept dreaming you’d come back some day. I thought I was over you, but I am not.”
I love a smitten, frustrated H who doesn’t hide his feelings for the h.
“I’ve missed you so. I kept dreaming you’d come back some day. I thought I was over you, but I am not.”
I love a smitten, frustrated H who doesn’t hide his feelings for the h.
October 15, 2017
Genre: Category Romance
Sensuality: PG
Tags: handicapped h, second chance romance
Sensuality: PG
Tags: handicapped h, second chance romance
June 18, 2021
3.5 ⭐️ rounded to 4. In this story we see our h/H Kept Woman. They also make an appearance in the story Passionate Adventure which I read several months ago and never did a review. Ok back to the story.
The heroine(EVE) made a mistake 5 years earlier when she dumped the hero 4 days before the wedding. OR was it a mistake. I am very doubtful the Eve of 5 years ago would have made a very good wife. She was selfish, immature, and quite the party socialite. She was young without much practical life experience. She admits this and can reflect back now and wonder why the Hero(Parker) even loved her to begin with, but he did. He did and he was very hurt by her abandonment when he needed her most. This story is about two people who love each other, have passion for each other, but may never be able to move on from the event 5 years earlier. Trust and forgiveness are two very hard things to truly and sincerely embrace once it has been lost. Now for the SPOILERS 🛑 STOP NOW IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS 🛑 Don’t forget, Boogenhagen has another really great review!
Eve, lives on the island of St. Barlow. After leaving the H five years earlier, she was briefly engaged to a party boy(rebound), got in a car accident and was severely injured. Party boy left(good riddance). She almost lost her leg, but she is a fighter. After multiple surgeries, sitting in a wheelchair, rehabilitation, she was able to walk again.. Her leg is severely scarred and she has a very permanent limp that prevents her from the activities she once adored such as dancing, skiing etc… However, in the midst of it all she went back to school and became a physiologist . She now works for free at the local orphanage where many of the children have disabilities. She uses her physiology degree to work with the children. She loves the children, and they love her. Which is ironic given the circumstances of her break up with the H.
The H, 4 days before the wedding, finds out he is the father of a 3 year old boy. It was from a previous relationship. The relationship ended amicably, but he believes the OW never told him about the child as he would insist on marriage. Neither of them loved each other that way. His ex is now dead. He goes to the h and tells her. He is looking for support. He is looking for understanding. He is looking for the woman who has sworn that she loves him. Instead he gets a young woman whose perfect little world has just blown up in her face. She basically tells him to leave the kid with the grandparents, since he doesn’t know the H. Parker is like no, this is his child and he is going to take over the responsibility of raising him. Our h basically tells him it’s his kid or her. He chooses the son. The h dumps him, takes up with a good time boy, gets engaged and then gets in the serious accident that changes her life.
It is hard to like the young h. I do like how she explains some of her thought processes later on. For example, she wanted to be the mother of the h’s kids. It was part of her dream. To realize that someone else has given him the gift of his first child is disappointing to her. She is young, and she wanted to have some years with the H before a family even became part of the equation. Well, here she is now an instant stepmother who will have to compete for the affection of the H and have to deal with inlaws that are technically not inlaws. I can empathize somewhat with the h. With a marriage 4 days away, it was a lot to process. Had she gotten the news 4 months earlier, or maybe even 4 weeks earlier, she may have warmed up to the idea, especially if she loved the H. Yet her youth and the timing of the announcement was too overwhelming to someone who has lived a very pampered indulgent life. I think their marriage would have had a very tough time of it given the circumstances.
So, here we are 5 years later. It ‘looks’ like the H has moved on an gotten married to a cute blonde, his son and the in-laws are with him on St. Barlow. Yet he is very interested in the h. What has she been doing all these years?(he did not realize that she did not marry the om or that she had a serious accident) There is a lot of tension. The h feels awful and regretful about what she did 5 years earlier. She is not the same person anymore. He was the great love of her life, but it is too late now.
There is an island Dr. that comes to town every couple of weeks, they go out to dinner and the H is obviously put off by this. Yet he is “married”. She confides to the dr, and a couple of her friends about what she did 5 years ago. They are understanding and assure her that she is not the same person anymore. She sets up things for the Hero’s son to do with some of the other kids on the island and through her orphanage. We see the h and H going back and forth. The H’s “wife” warns the h to back off, because she is having an unsettling effect on the H. She and her parents are leaving to go back as she is having lots of morning sickness. The h feels even worse, as she feels the H is taunting her with his new life. Then it comes out that the ow is not his wife, she is the sister of the dead ex. She is married to someone else. However, she and her parents were there for the H when the h walked out on him 5 years earlier. So the warning from the ow to the h was more of sisterly concern. She has no designs on the H.
A little pass the 1/2 way mark in the book, the h and H finally succumb to their passions on the beach. Yet, it leaves the h feeling more alone then ever. The sex they had on the beach was lacking the love and caring of their previous love making 5 years earlier. She leaves the H naked on the beach and goes back to her cottage. There is some awkwardness between them, but eventually the h and H resume sexual relations. However, the h starts to feel that their times together are not good enough. The H is constantly holding back. She brings up the past and tells him she is sorry and regrets what she has done. However, she cannot keep feeling guilty all the time. She is not the same person. The H leaves her place. It takes a bad storm to bring them back together. She goes out to rescue the orphaned children, and he goes out to follow her. When they get back to the resort, it becomes time for declarations of love and plans for a very simple wedding on the island asap.
As I read over the synopsis, I realize this was a pretty good book. I could really see the POV of the h and the H. Even thought I think it was wrong what the h did to the H, their marriage would have been disastrous. The H never stopped loving the h, but he really had to let go of the hurt so he could move on with her! Our h will also be a good step mom, because she has proven with the orphaned kids that you can easily love a child that is not biologically yours.
The heroine(EVE) made a mistake 5 years earlier when she dumped the hero 4 days before the wedding. OR was it a mistake. I am very doubtful the Eve of 5 years ago would have made a very good wife. She was selfish, immature, and quite the party socialite. She was young without much practical life experience. She admits this and can reflect back now and wonder why the Hero(Parker) even loved her to begin with, but he did. He did and he was very hurt by her abandonment when he needed her most. This story is about two people who love each other, have passion for each other, but may never be able to move on from the event 5 years earlier. Trust and forgiveness are two very hard things to truly and sincerely embrace once it has been lost. Now for the SPOILERS 🛑 STOP NOW IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS 🛑 Don’t forget, Boogenhagen has another really great review!
Eve, lives on the island of St. Barlow. After leaving the H five years earlier, she was briefly engaged to a party boy(rebound), got in a car accident and was severely injured. Party boy left(good riddance). She almost lost her leg, but she is a fighter. After multiple surgeries, sitting in a wheelchair, rehabilitation, she was able to walk again.. Her leg is severely scarred and she has a very permanent limp that prevents her from the activities she once adored such as dancing, skiing etc… However, in the midst of it all she went back to school and became a physiologist . She now works for free at the local orphanage where many of the children have disabilities. She uses her physiology degree to work with the children. She loves the children, and they love her. Which is ironic given the circumstances of her break up with the H.
The H, 4 days before the wedding, finds out he is the father of a 3 year old boy. It was from a previous relationship. The relationship ended amicably, but he believes the OW never told him about the child as he would insist on marriage. Neither of them loved each other that way. His ex is now dead. He goes to the h and tells her. He is looking for support. He is looking for understanding. He is looking for the woman who has sworn that she loves him. Instead he gets a young woman whose perfect little world has just blown up in her face. She basically tells him to leave the kid with the grandparents, since he doesn’t know the H. Parker is like no, this is his child and he is going to take over the responsibility of raising him. Our h basically tells him it’s his kid or her. He chooses the son. The h dumps him, takes up with a good time boy, gets engaged and then gets in the serious accident that changes her life.
It is hard to like the young h. I do like how she explains some of her thought processes later on. For example, she wanted to be the mother of the h’s kids. It was part of her dream. To realize that someone else has given him the gift of his first child is disappointing to her. She is young, and she wanted to have some years with the H before a family even became part of the equation. Well, here she is now an instant stepmother who will have to compete for the affection of the H and have to deal with inlaws that are technically not inlaws. I can empathize somewhat with the h. With a marriage 4 days away, it was a lot to process. Had she gotten the news 4 months earlier, or maybe even 4 weeks earlier, she may have warmed up to the idea, especially if she loved the H. Yet her youth and the timing of the announcement was too overwhelming to someone who has lived a very pampered indulgent life. I think their marriage would have had a very tough time of it given the circumstances.
So, here we are 5 years later. It ‘looks’ like the H has moved on an gotten married to a cute blonde, his son and the in-laws are with him on St. Barlow. Yet he is very interested in the h. What has she been doing all these years?(he did not realize that she did not marry the om or that she had a serious accident) There is a lot of tension. The h feels awful and regretful about what she did 5 years earlier. She is not the same person anymore. He was the great love of her life, but it is too late now.
There is an island Dr. that comes to town every couple of weeks, they go out to dinner and the H is obviously put off by this. Yet he is “married”. She confides to the dr, and a couple of her friends about what she did 5 years ago. They are understanding and assure her that she is not the same person anymore. She sets up things for the Hero’s son to do with some of the other kids on the island and through her orphanage. We see the h and H going back and forth. The H’s “wife” warns the h to back off, because she is having an unsettling effect on the H. She and her parents are leaving to go back as she is having lots of morning sickness. The h feels even worse, as she feels the H is taunting her with his new life. Then it comes out that the ow is not his wife, she is the sister of the dead ex. She is married to someone else. However, she and her parents were there for the H when the h walked out on him 5 years earlier. So the warning from the ow to the h was more of sisterly concern. She has no designs on the H.
A little pass the 1/2 way mark in the book, the h and H finally succumb to their passions on the beach. Yet, it leaves the h feeling more alone then ever. The sex they had on the beach was lacking the love and caring of their previous love making 5 years earlier. She leaves the H naked on the beach and goes back to her cottage. There is some awkwardness between them, but eventually the h and H resume sexual relations. However, the h starts to feel that their times together are not good enough. The H is constantly holding back. She brings up the past and tells him she is sorry and regrets what she has done. However, she cannot keep feeling guilty all the time. She is not the same person. The H leaves her place. It takes a bad storm to bring them back together. She goes out to rescue the orphaned children, and he goes out to follow her. When they get back to the resort, it becomes time for declarations of love and plans for a very simple wedding on the island asap.
As I read over the synopsis, I realize this was a pretty good book. I could really see the POV of the h and the H. Even thought I think it was wrong what the h did to the H, their marriage would have been disastrous. The H never stopped loving the h, but he really had to let go of the hurt so he could move on with her! Our h will also be a good step mom, because she has proven with the orphaned kids that you can easily love a child that is not biologically yours.
January 1, 2024
I’ve also think h was not guilty of leaving H&his son but loved the angst.
November 17, 2013
Very beautifully done second-chance story. Reminds me of Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (except of course that was written later).
October 7, 2018
Sweet story
October 13, 2022
Boogenhagen already wrote an extremely detailed and excellent review of this book and its issues but I also needed to catalogue my thoughts so I don't accidentally reread this. Sadly I only read it last week and already I've forgotten most of it.
The setup is interesting because it deals with a handicapped heroine, which is always a rarity in HP, but the biggest scars she owns are internal. Somehow she can't forgive herself because she didn't step up, as the saying goes, when her ex-fiance springs on her the news that he's got a three year old that he's solely responsible for. Oh, and he does this four days before the wedding.
Weirdly enough, throughout the entire book, with all the people she told her history to, not one person held up a hand and said, "Hol' up, he did WHAT?" Which I honestly think would be the STANDARD reaction of most people, friends, coworkers, even random bystanders eavesdropping on the conversation. Taking care of a kid is no joke. It's a full-time time occupation, Karen van der Zee, and I'll be dashed if I'm made out to be a villain for not suddenly making the guest bedroom up and getting out picture books to read to this new child that I'll be responsible for for the rest of my life.
Weirdly enough, as Boogenhagen said, this is a theme that's repeated in every corner of the mainstream romance industry. I mean Loretta Chase's bestseller Lord of Scoundrels features a heroine whose greatest deed is taking in the bastard her husband unknowingly sired and making him face up to his responsibilities (an odd and very historically inaccurate feature, I now feel). Is it that these books are now horrifically dated? Or is this kind of theme still encouraged? I may be out of the loop.
Anyway, by the very end of the book, our heroine has been cajoled out of her belief that she's a selfish monster and urged to forgive herself. Not a word is uttered about the hero's proclamation at the eleventh hour and how he never even came back to try to persuade her into accepting that boy into her life (if he really wanted to, couldn't he have manufactured a meeting? Begged a little harder instead of getting angry about it?) Honestly I'm still a bit angry on the heroine's behalf and am pretty steamed about her lack of self-esteem purely based on this incident alone. Geez, the world is just a terrible place for women if even women are writing books like this.
The setup is interesting because it deals with a handicapped heroine, which is always a rarity in HP, but the biggest scars she owns are internal. Somehow she can't forgive herself because she didn't step up, as the saying goes, when her ex-fiance springs on her the news that he's got a three year old that he's solely responsible for. Oh, and he does this four days before the wedding.
Weirdly enough, throughout the entire book, with all the people she told her history to, not one person held up a hand and said, "Hol' up, he did WHAT?" Which I honestly think would be the STANDARD reaction of most people, friends, coworkers, even random bystanders eavesdropping on the conversation. Taking care of a kid is no joke. It's a full-time time occupation, Karen van der Zee, and I'll be dashed if I'm made out to be a villain for not suddenly making the guest bedroom up and getting out picture books to read to this new child that I'll be responsible for for the rest of my life.
Weirdly enough, as Boogenhagen said, this is a theme that's repeated in every corner of the mainstream romance industry. I mean Loretta Chase's bestseller Lord of Scoundrels features a heroine whose greatest deed is taking in the bastard her husband unknowingly sired and making him face up to his responsibilities (an odd and very historically inaccurate feature, I now feel). Is it that these books are now horrifically dated? Or is this kind of theme still encouraged? I may be out of the loop.
Anyway, by the very end of the book, our heroine has been cajoled out of her belief that she's a selfish monster and urged to forgive herself. Not a word is uttered about the hero's proclamation at the eleventh hour and how he never even came back to try to persuade her into accepting that boy into her life (if he really wanted to, couldn't he have manufactured a meeting? Begged a little harder instead of getting angry about it?) Honestly I'm still a bit angry on the heroine's behalf and am pretty steamed about her lack of self-esteem purely based on this incident alone. Geez, the world is just a terrible place for women if even women are writing books like this.
December 11, 2025
It was okay. I could see the POV of both the H and h, and they both made the mistake of expecting too much too fast.
The h reminded me of an episode of the old "Love Boat" show where one of the characters falls for a widower with children and he asks her to marry him, but she was in her early or mid 20's and she'd have to be stepmom to school kids when she wanted to be a wife first, then a mom a few years later. Part of me wanted her to marry him anyway, while at the same time I could understand her being so overwhelmed.
But she knew the situation from the start, didn't have a kid sprung on her unexpectedly, days before her wedding, like the h did.
How come they didn't take a break, postpone the wedding and see how it went? That would have made sense to me.
Maybe if it had been a baby instead of a three-year-old it would have been different, easier to adjust.
Anyway, if the h was selfish, she sure redeemed herself with the work she was doing after the car accident.
Like I said, it was okay, but not one of my favs.
The h reminded me of an episode of the old "Love Boat" show where one of the characters falls for a widower with children and he asks her to marry him, but she was in her early or mid 20's and she'd have to be stepmom to school kids when she wanted to be a wife first, then a mom a few years later. Part of me wanted her to marry him anyway, while at the same time I could understand her being so overwhelmed.
But she knew the situation from the start, didn't have a kid sprung on her unexpectedly, days before her wedding, like the h did.
How come they didn't take a break, postpone the wedding and see how it went? That would have made sense to me.
Maybe if it had been a baby instead of a three-year-old it would have been different, easier to adjust.
Anyway, if the h was selfish, she sure redeemed herself with the work she was doing after the car accident.
Like I said, it was okay, but not one of my favs.
November 18, 2024
Different in a good way. She jilted her fiancé 4 days before wedding when he tells her he discovered his ex girlfriend had his baby but now the ex is dead so he has the 3 yo boy. You can feel for the h, true she sees herself as selfish, and maybe she is, but I can certainly understand not being thrilled to take on a kid with no advance notice along with a husband. She loved the fiancé but that is a lot for anyone to take on board. She could/maybe should have asked to postpone wedding, but she dumped him then regretted it for years.
January 24, 2026
A brilliant heroine.
Also, the "adjustment" everyone thought she should do was a major life change and not something that anyone could get used to in a matter of hours. If she had cold feet after agreeing to raise the child, that would have been a bigger issue.
The sheer courage heroine displayed while rescuing vulnerable children at the end was admirable.
She should have found someone else.
Overall, 4 stars as it kept me interested through the end.
Also, the "adjustment" everyone thought she should do was a major life change and not something that anyone could get used to in a matter of hours. If she had cold feet after agreeing to raise the child, that would have been a bigger issue.
The sheer courage heroine displayed while rescuing vulnerable children at the end was admirable.
She should have found someone else.
Overall, 4 stars as it kept me interested through the end.
March 17, 2023
Good book. I totally enjoy it but I didnt get that 5 star feeling. 😊
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