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Lion Of Darkness
He was fallible where she was concerned
After her father's death Cassie summoned the courage to leave home, where she'd been both sheltered and deprived. She turned to an exclusive New York clinic for her only chance for the future.
But Wyatt Field, the remarkable doctor who'd helped so many patients learn to cope with blindness in a sighted world, found himself confounded by Cassie.
Unlike her, he couldn't see the irony of demanding the near impossible of her while denying the force of an attraction that overshadowed their doctor-patient relationship.
After her father's death Cassie summoned the courage to leave home, where she'd been both sheltered and deprived. She turned to an exclusive New York clinic for her only chance for the future.
But Wyatt Field, the remarkable doctor who'd helped so many patients learn to cope with blindness in a sighted world, found himself confounded by Cassie.
Unlike her, he couldn't see the irony of demanding the near impossible of her while denying the force of an attraction that overshadowed their doctor-patient relationship.
186 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 27, 2018
"Lion of Darkness" is the story of Cassie and Wyatt.. and WOW.
When Cassie's father dies unexpectedly, she is thrust into the outside world from her overprotective cocoon. Blinded with hysteria since her mother's death as a child, she was excessively sheltered by her father, and on his death finds herself both destitute, and determined to attend the academy, an exclusive New York clinic which helps the blind cope with daily life.
It is there she encounters Dr Wyatt, and despite him being grumpy and mean on his most pleasant of days, finds herself falling in love with him- while he treats her with disdain and aversion therapy to all kinds of happiness and love.
I absolutely loved this one. One cant help fall for Cassie's childlike innocence, determination, purity of heart and strength, and despite Wyatt being barbaric and snide in his taunts and methods, you dont hate him (much!). I loved, loved, loved the heroine, adored the secondary characters and the drama at the end- however wish that Helen got her due/ we got an epilogue.
What a pleasant, wonderful read.
Safe
4.5/5
When Cassie's father dies unexpectedly, she is thrust into the outside world from her overprotective cocoon. Blinded with hysteria since her mother's death as a child, she was excessively sheltered by her father, and on his death finds herself both destitute, and determined to attend the academy, an exclusive New York clinic which helps the blind cope with daily life.
It is there she encounters Dr Wyatt, and despite him being grumpy and mean on his most pleasant of days, finds herself falling in love with him- while he treats her with disdain and aversion therapy to all kinds of happiness and love.
I absolutely loved this one. One cant help fall for Cassie's childlike innocence, determination, purity of heart and strength, and despite Wyatt being barbaric and snide in his taunts and methods, you dont hate him (much!). I loved, loved, loved the heroine, adored the secondary characters and the drama at the end- however wish that Helen got her due/ we got an epilogue.
What a pleasant, wonderful read.
Safe
4.5/5
June 3, 2017
3.5 stars
I just wanted to read a light romance. This book actually took me by surprise.
I would not say that the romance in this is anything great.In fact the romance is just Meh.
But the overall story is quiet good. Cassie is blind and broke and spends last of her money on getting herself treated. She has something called as hysterical blindness.
I did not know that there is something known as hysterical blindness and I actually read about it online after reading this book. Cassie's portrayal is realistic and she is not a 2 dimensional character - as most of the heroines in these older romances are.
The truth that Cassie has to face to overcome her blindness was actually heartbreaking.
Dr. Field who is the hero was an Ok character who was more of a beta hero. There was another female character- can't recall her name, was jealous of the budding feelings she could sense between Cassie and Dr.Field and her actions although evil were again realistic.
Overall Story: Really Good.
Love Story: Ok- Was a bit abrupt at the end.
I just wanted to read a light romance. This book actually took me by surprise.
I would not say that the romance in this is anything great.In fact the romance is just Meh.
But the overall story is quiet good. Cassie is blind and broke and spends last of her money on getting herself treated. She has something called as hysterical blindness.
I did not know that there is something known as hysterical blindness and I actually read about it online after reading this book. Cassie's portrayal is realistic and she is not a 2 dimensional character - as most of the heroines in these older romances are.
The truth that Cassie has to face to overcome her blindness was actually heartbreaking.
Dr. Field who is the hero was an Ok character who was more of a beta hero. There was another female character- can't recall her name, was jealous of the budding feelings she could sense between Cassie and Dr.Field and her actions although evil were again realistic.
Overall Story: Really Good.
Love Story: Ok- Was a bit abrupt at the end.
February 4, 2016
Re Lion of Darkness - If your favorite films include Magnificent Obsession or TCM's Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends - Bette Davis (Now, Voyager / Dark Victory / Old Acquaintance / Jezebel) then you will like this book.
It has the same grand but arty style as many of those Irene Dunne and Bette Davis films of the 1940's and early 1950's.
Our story starts with our 25 year old blind h, she has what is now called a "conversion disorder", in other words she is blind but there is no physical cause. She has been virtually locked up and isolated by her devoted father and servants since she was in a horrific car wreck where her mum died when she was seven.
After the wreck she couldn't remember and she couldn't see and was diagnosed with "hysterical blindness". The dad loved her so much he couldn't bear for anything to harm her, so he hired servants to do everything for her and pretty much imprisoned her in a penthouse apartment. Then he died and she found out the family fortune was gone.
She decides to take charge of herself, but in order to do so, she has to learn to function the real world. She dismisses the staff, sells her property and spends every penny she has on a cognitive behavior immersion program that is supposed to catapult her into being independent.
Enter the H, he is the Doctor that runs this program. He uses a technique called Flooding coupled with Prolonged Exposure Therapy to jolt the blind person into self-sufficiency. Think special forces boot camp for blind people. He is very intolerant of the blind, his treatment techniques consist of throwing the patient into difficult situations and forcing them to fend for themselves.
Things like moving the room furniture around so the person can't memorize the layout and turning them loose to find their way around with minimal assistance. He is deliberately cold and callous to force a response from them - sorta like deliberately invoking the fight or flight response but if they fly, they have to figure out where they are etc. He is being cruel to be kind and get the patient independent. He works with one patient at a time over a period of two to three weeks and then supposedly they are ready for the world.
(Technically what he does is legitimate cognitive behavior therapy. Although in the real world, the patient would be taught relaxation techniques to handle the stress response and generally it is NOT used for treating a conversion disorder of this type. Usually this technique is used for people who have fear of snakes or something, an anxiety phobia. The treatment would be to lock them in a room for several hours with a snake or six until they were able to master the anxiety response when they see that the snake isn't interested in them.)
The H and h start to work together and lest you think the h is bringing nothing to the party, she demonstrates an uncanny ability to read people. She is great at stating correct ages and reads personality types, she is almost psychic in her talent. Most of the story consists of her treatment and responses in a completely new environment, free of her father's constraint, and the growing awareness that there is a strong connection between the Doctor and his patient.
Both of them realize that they are falling in love, but H represses it because he feels empathy and kindness won't help her. The h freely confesses her love, but is in agony when he tells her it is a cliched transference response. The H hates blind people with a passion, and of the two of them, his mental state was the one I was actually more concerned about. Generally treating patients who fill you with loathing is not a healthy way to practice a career, and we find out his loathing comes from his mum committing suicide and abandoning him when she had an accident and became blind. She became helpless and then killed herself, leaving him rich but all alone and emotionally isolated.
The h on the other hand, is very good at forming connections with other people, but the H is determined to force her to recall the original trauma that resulted in blindness in order to restore her sight. He harshly pushes and pushes but the h is not going along with the plan, and is unable to re-experience the original trauma. We actually get some H pov in this one and this harshness is killing him, cause he is massively in love (after only a week, -- this girl is good,) but he is determined to save her and restore her sight.
Finally he denounces her love in a very hurtful way, and the h wanders off alone into the woods. There is a severe storm which the h gets caught in and when they are searching for the h, the H's jealous assistant ignores her calls for help and leaves her there in the woods to die of exposure.
(One of MC's hallmarks is viciously evil OW, Sally W. should have taken some lessons for her h's.)
The h falls and can't get up and is slowly dying of exposure when the trauma of it all induces a recall of the childhood car accident. The H hears her screams and as he runs to save her, we find out that the father left the h in a burning car and if a policeman hadn't rescued her, she would have burned to death.
MC consistently tries to put the nicest interpretation on the father's abusive (and IMO worse,) actions by explaining that he was in shock, and couldn't function or see the h as she beat on the car windows to be let out. He felt so guilty about that he pretty much locked her away to keep her safe ever since. He refused to let her try to recover because he couldn't bear for her to remember his inaction.
(The cynical old bat that I am says his motives were not so noble, otherwise she wouldn't have been broke and he would have made better arrangements for her care if something happened to him, but it was MC's story and she was sticking to it.)
The traumatic experience removes the conversion disorder and the h can now see the H. She tells him they are getting married and he says he hasn't even told her he loves her and she answers she knows cause of her spidey sense, so he doesn't have too. She also establishes that he is as rich as she hopes he is and we cue the Stradivarius as sunbeams shine all around.
It isn't a bad book, and it has a certain tone and pace that are pretty cinematic in effect. It just wasn't my cuppa though. There were some very serious but unspoken dark undertones to the whole story and I can't help but think these two BOTH needed some serious couch time.
The h was charming but very arrogant and almost manipulative in a weird super wealthy way- and again the cynical bat came out and wondered just how real her "love" actually was. Or how good she was at fooling herself that she loved him madly, when in reality, she needed a meal ticket.
He was just as messed up, I seriously wondered how much transference from his mother's death was landing on the h. Is he really in love or just very egocentric? Cause this time he was able to save his love object and he pretty much can control her adorative responses. She worships him (at least for now,) and he is adept at the punishment/reward manipulations. He really does train her like Pavlov, and he does it in little over a week.
If you can ignore the somewhat sinister currents and just go with the flow because it is HPLandia, then this is an enjoyable, romantic book of love at almost first sight and the language is very fluid and almost poetic in tone. All in all, that isn't a bad trade off for an old fashioned romantic melodrama.
It has the same grand but arty style as many of those Irene Dunne and Bette Davis films of the 1940's and early 1950's.
Our story starts with our 25 year old blind h, she has what is now called a "conversion disorder", in other words she is blind but there is no physical cause. She has been virtually locked up and isolated by her devoted father and servants since she was in a horrific car wreck where her mum died when she was seven.
After the wreck she couldn't remember and she couldn't see and was diagnosed with "hysterical blindness". The dad loved her so much he couldn't bear for anything to harm her, so he hired servants to do everything for her and pretty much imprisoned her in a penthouse apartment. Then he died and she found out the family fortune was gone.
She decides to take charge of herself, but in order to do so, she has to learn to function the real world. She dismisses the staff, sells her property and spends every penny she has on a cognitive behavior immersion program that is supposed to catapult her into being independent.
Enter the H, he is the Doctor that runs this program. He uses a technique called Flooding coupled with Prolonged Exposure Therapy to jolt the blind person into self-sufficiency. Think special forces boot camp for blind people. He is very intolerant of the blind, his treatment techniques consist of throwing the patient into difficult situations and forcing them to fend for themselves.
Things like moving the room furniture around so the person can't memorize the layout and turning them loose to find their way around with minimal assistance. He is deliberately cold and callous to force a response from them - sorta like deliberately invoking the fight or flight response but if they fly, they have to figure out where they are etc. He is being cruel to be kind and get the patient independent. He works with one patient at a time over a period of two to three weeks and then supposedly they are ready for the world.
(Technically what he does is legitimate cognitive behavior therapy. Although in the real world, the patient would be taught relaxation techniques to handle the stress response and generally it is NOT used for treating a conversion disorder of this type. Usually this technique is used for people who have fear of snakes or something, an anxiety phobia. The treatment would be to lock them in a room for several hours with a snake or six until they were able to master the anxiety response when they see that the snake isn't interested in them.)
The H and h start to work together and lest you think the h is bringing nothing to the party, she demonstrates an uncanny ability to read people. She is great at stating correct ages and reads personality types, she is almost psychic in her talent. Most of the story consists of her treatment and responses in a completely new environment, free of her father's constraint, and the growing awareness that there is a strong connection between the Doctor and his patient.
Both of them realize that they are falling in love, but H represses it because he feels empathy and kindness won't help her. The h freely confesses her love, but is in agony when he tells her it is a cliched transference response. The H hates blind people with a passion, and of the two of them, his mental state was the one I was actually more concerned about. Generally treating patients who fill you with loathing is not a healthy way to practice a career, and we find out his loathing comes from his mum committing suicide and abandoning him when she had an accident and became blind. She became helpless and then killed herself, leaving him rich but all alone and emotionally isolated.
The h on the other hand, is very good at forming connections with other people, but the H is determined to force her to recall the original trauma that resulted in blindness in order to restore her sight. He harshly pushes and pushes but the h is not going along with the plan, and is unable to re-experience the original trauma. We actually get some H pov in this one and this harshness is killing him, cause he is massively in love (after only a week, -- this girl is good,) but he is determined to save her and restore her sight.
Finally he denounces her love in a very hurtful way, and the h wanders off alone into the woods. There is a severe storm which the h gets caught in and when they are searching for the h, the H's jealous assistant ignores her calls for help and leaves her there in the woods to die of exposure.
(One of MC's hallmarks is viciously evil OW, Sally W. should have taken some lessons for her h's.)
The h falls and can't get up and is slowly dying of exposure when the trauma of it all induces a recall of the childhood car accident. The H hears her screams and as he runs to save her, we find out that the father left the h in a burning car and if a policeman hadn't rescued her, she would have burned to death.
MC consistently tries to put the nicest interpretation on the father's abusive (and IMO worse,) actions by explaining that he was in shock, and couldn't function or see the h as she beat on the car windows to be let out. He felt so guilty about that he pretty much locked her away to keep her safe ever since. He refused to let her try to recover because he couldn't bear for her to remember his inaction.
(The cynical old bat that I am says his motives were not so noble, otherwise she wouldn't have been broke and he would have made better arrangements for her care if something happened to him, but it was MC's story and she was sticking to it.)
The traumatic experience removes the conversion disorder and the h can now see the H. She tells him they are getting married and he says he hasn't even told her he loves her and she answers she knows cause of her spidey sense, so he doesn't have too. She also establishes that he is as rich as she hopes he is and we cue the Stradivarius as sunbeams shine all around.
It isn't a bad book, and it has a certain tone and pace that are pretty cinematic in effect. It just wasn't my cuppa though. There were some very serious but unspoken dark undertones to the whole story and I can't help but think these two BOTH needed some serious couch time.
The h was charming but very arrogant and almost manipulative in a weird super wealthy way- and again the cynical bat came out and wondered just how real her "love" actually was. Or how good she was at fooling herself that she loved him madly, when in reality, she needed a meal ticket.
He was just as messed up, I seriously wondered how much transference from his mother's death was landing on the h. Is he really in love or just very egocentric? Cause this time he was able to save his love object and he pretty much can control her adorative responses. She worships him (at least for now,) and he is adept at the punishment/reward manipulations. He really does train her like Pavlov, and he does it in little over a week.
If you can ignore the somewhat sinister currents and just go with the flow because it is HPLandia, then this is an enjoyable, romantic book of love at almost first sight and the language is very fluid and almost poetic in tone. All in all, that isn't a bad trade off for an old fashioned romantic melodrama.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2012
Rating 4.25 stars
OMG!I loved this book, this is the second I have read by this author and I am sure I will read more. The heroine is 25 and has been sheltered all her life by her father. She lost her sight when her mother died though the doctor called it hysterical blindness she never recovered it and so her father surrounded her with servants and did not allow her to seek an outside life and because she loved her father she allowed it. Now, her father is dead and as she learns their money is gone and she finally decides to learn how to do stuff on her own and goes to a school for the blind where she meets the hero.
Now, the book could have been icky patient-doctor relationship but it was romantic. The heroine is a true innocent while the hero isn't the friendliest guy since that is the technique he uses to break through to his patients. But Cassie is different, she seems to see things that no-one does. We see her becoming self-sufficient and Wyatt fighting with all his might what he feels for her because it is wrong and there is a possibility what she is feeling is not real, since she has been so sheltered, also he can't be as tough on her as he needs to be if he lets her see what he feels for her. Ah..the dilemma and everything made the book dreamy.
OMG!I loved this book, this is the second I have read by this author and I am sure I will read more. The heroine is 25 and has been sheltered all her life by her father. She lost her sight when her mother died though the doctor called it hysterical blindness she never recovered it and so her father surrounded her with servants and did not allow her to seek an outside life and because she loved her father she allowed it. Now, her father is dead and as she learns their money is gone and she finally decides to learn how to do stuff on her own and goes to a school for the blind where she meets the hero.
Now, the book could have been icky patient-doctor relationship but it was romantic. The heroine is a true innocent while the hero isn't the friendliest guy since that is the technique he uses to break through to his patients. But Cassie is different, she seems to see things that no-one does. We see her becoming self-sufficient and Wyatt fighting with all his might what he feels for her because it is wrong and there is a possibility what she is feeling is not real, since she has been so sheltered, also he can't be as tough on her as he needs to be if he lets her see what he feels for her. Ah..the dilemma and everything made the book dreamy.
March 24, 2013
Setting: New York
Beautiful doctor falls in love with beautiful hysterically blind girl as they try to unlock the trauma that is preventing her sight.
If you can get over the discomfort of the violation of the doctor-patient relationship when the heroine had already led a singularly insular life which was already a form of abuse, then this was an enjoyable melodrama that reminded me of a 1940s Woman's Film. A whiff of THE SEVENTH VEIL mixed in with MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, perhaps.
Points for some hero POV which you rarely find in 1980s Old Skool romances but points off for the very rushed and abrupt ending. It bordered on WTF. Technically, the romance covers only about a week. Talk about a rush job.
Grade: B
Beautiful doctor falls in love with beautiful hysterically blind girl as they try to unlock the trauma that is preventing her sight.
If you can get over the discomfort of the violation of the doctor-patient relationship when the heroine had already led a singularly insular life which was already a form of abuse, then this was an enjoyable melodrama that reminded me of a 1940s Woman's Film. A whiff of THE SEVENTH VEIL mixed in with MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, perhaps.
Points for some hero POV which you rarely find in 1980s Old Skool romances but points off for the very rushed and abrupt ending. It bordered on WTF. Technically, the romance covers only about a week. Talk about a rush job.
Grade: B
May 9, 2012
I'm glad I got a rec from a Goodreads friend for this book because the first time I tried to read it I gave up on the second page. But when I got past that first thing that annoyed me I liked it. The heroine was sweet but naive. The hero was bowled over by her and had a hard time with that whole don't be kissing on your patients thing. I would have been happier if the book had taken place over a longer time period than a week though. I had a hard time believing that the heroine knew what love was much less that she would stay in love with this man who was the first man she ever met who wasn't her servant.
Still taking into account that this is an HP, it had a lovely amount of angst and drama and was well worth the read.
Still taking into account that this is an HP, it had a lovely amount of angst and drama and was well worth the read.
March 26, 2022
This was a well-written, character-driven story by Melinda Cross. The characterizations of the heroine and hero, Cassie and Wyatt, were vividly and sympathetically drawn, making it easy for me to root for their HEA.
Cassie, before she can carve out a happy, independent life for herself and possibly reverse her "hysterical blindness", has to face an emotionally traumatic event in her past that caused this condition. Wyatt, the psychiatrist responsible for Cassie, doesn't just want her to integrate back into normal society: he intends to help Cassie to regain her sight. He is so determined to have her confront her past that he constantly subdues his romantic feelings for Cassie and, especially, hers for him. To allow a romantic relationship to develop between them would be a professional breach, and more importantly, leave her blind—a state he is driven to remedy at all costs...
Needless to say, it all happily works out in the end for both Cassie and Wyatt.
Readers who like steamy romances should be aware that Cassie and Wyatt share only a kiss or two. Plus, the angst that existed touched me more on an intellectual than emotional level. I still enjoyed the book regardless, and am satisfied with giving it a four-star rating!
Cassie, before she can carve out a happy, independent life for herself and possibly reverse her "hysterical blindness", has to face an emotionally traumatic event in her past that caused this condition. Wyatt, the psychiatrist responsible for Cassie, doesn't just want her to integrate back into normal society: he intends to help Cassie to regain her sight. He is so determined to have her confront her past that he constantly subdues his romantic feelings for Cassie and, especially, hers for him. To allow a romantic relationship to develop between them would be a professional breach, and more importantly, leave her blind—a state he is driven to remedy at all costs...
Needless to say, it all happily works out in the end for both Cassie and Wyatt.
Readers who like steamy romances should be aware that Cassie and Wyatt share only a kiss or two. Plus, the angst that existed touched me more on an intellectual than emotional level. I still enjoyed the book regardless, and am satisfied with giving it a four-star rating!
September 10, 2012
A mesmerizing read about a young woman's decision to re-enter the world of the sighted having lived most of her life in seclusion after a horrible accident leaves her blinded as a small child.
I found that I enjoyed reading more about how she coped with her blindness than the love angle. I didn't care much for the hero....I found his hatred of the blind unforgiving. His methods for treatment were beyond barbaric. However, the author did an incredible job of letting the reader see the world through the blind. Which is not an easy feat. I decided on 4 stars rather than 5, because I felt the hero impacted the poignancy of the story.
I found that I enjoyed reading more about how she coped with her blindness than the love angle. I didn't care much for the hero....I found his hatred of the blind unforgiving. His methods for treatment were beyond barbaric. However, the author did an incredible job of letting the reader see the world through the blind. Which is not an easy feat. I decided on 4 stars rather than 5, because I felt the hero impacted the poignancy of the story.
May 8, 2012
Lurrrrvvveeedd it,intense emotional wonderful book,adored Cassie-Wyatt both suffered so much pain cause of tragedies thrown at them by fate both heal and bring happiness in each other's life's.The story prgressed really good but two things disapoointed me
-Helen was never exposed and did not get paid for her actions
-ohh how i wanted a cute epilogue
Overall a very good read
Recommend it.
PS:Saly special big hugs to you:)
-Helen was never exposed and did not get paid for her actions
-ohh how i wanted a cute epilogue
Overall a very good read
Recommend it.
PS:Saly special big hugs to you:)
Read
December 27, 20254.25.(5 star on re-read). An absolute beauty of a tale. *Sigh* One of my most fave HQNS books everrrrrrrrrrr!
Melinda Cross is one of my most fave authors. She's just so understanding of human emotions and her characters are to die for. I'm going promote her books: Read 'What's Right' and 'Pulse of the heartland' (both my absolute personal favorites!)
Melinda Cross is one of my most fave authors. She's just so understanding of human emotions and her characters are to die for. I'm going promote her books: Read 'What's Right' and 'Pulse of the heartland' (both my absolute personal favorites!)
April 10, 2022
Insightful, emotional and funny.
May 10, 2022
There was just so much inappropiateness and cruelty in this book!! That said, its very powerful, I couldnt put it down!!
I felt so sad for the poor blind heroine whose father idea of caring for her was keeping her like a prisoner in their apartment. She had no skills, she didnt go to a school, she had no friends, and except for supervised walks in the park near their home, she never went anywhere!
I dont know where author got her idea for the Hero’s cruel and radical treatment methods for the blind. It verges on inhumane! Apparently being mean, cruel and heartless is the way to teach independence to blind people 🤷🏻♀️
Not to mention all the times he kisses his patient because he couldnt help his attraction to her, then takes it out on her unnecessarily! Not to menton so unethical.
Still, it kept me up and I read it in one sitting!
I felt so sad for the poor blind heroine whose father idea of caring for her was keeping her like a prisoner in their apartment. She had no skills, she didnt go to a school, she had no friends, and except for supervised walks in the park near their home, she never went anywhere!
I dont know where author got her idea for the Hero’s cruel and radical treatment methods for the blind. It verges on inhumane! Apparently being mean, cruel and heartless is the way to teach independence to blind people 🤷🏻♀️
Not to mention all the times he kisses his patient because he couldnt help his attraction to her, then takes it out on her unnecessarily! Not to menton so unethical.
Still, it kept me up and I read it in one sitting!
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
May 7, 2021He was fallible where she was concerned
After her father's death Cassie summoned the courage to leave home, where she'd been both sheltered and deprived. She turned to an exclusive New York clinic for her only chance for the future.
But Wyatt Field, the remarkable doctor who'd helped so many patients learn to cope with blindness in a sighted world, found himself confounded by Cassie.
Unlike her, he couldn't see the irony of demanding the near impossible of her while denying the force of an attraction that overshadowed their doctor-patient relationship
After her father's death Cassie summoned the courage to leave home, where she'd been both sheltered and deprived. She turned to an exclusive New York clinic for her only chance for the future.
But Wyatt Field, the remarkable doctor who'd helped so many patients learn to cope with blindness in a sighted world, found himself confounded by Cassie.
Unlike her, he couldn't see the irony of demanding the near impossible of her while denying the force of an attraction that overshadowed their doctor-patient relationship
October 1, 2018
Undying love developed in matter of days. Ending was abrupt.
May 9, 2012
okay, so i started reading this book because two of my friends were really excited about this, and then I found out...OH MY GOD! is this book amazing or what!
It is so different from the other Harlequins I've read so far, and is so well written that I was a bit sad when it ended. Also, I would have really liked some sort of epilogue, but maybe that's because, I've gotten so used to them. It's not like the ending wasn't perfect, because it totally was.
Cassie is one of the best Harlequin heroines that I've come across, and the fact that she was blind, is what set her apart, I really liked the way she was so confident in expressing her feelings and asking straight, to-the-point questions, because that's all she could do, to clarify her doubts, her misunderstandings, and that is because she could not depend on her sight to see the answers for her self. If only other Harlequin heroines were like her...so that they could not fall prey to misunderstandings that lack of communication causes between them and the heroes.
The hero, Dr.Wyatt Fields, is a strong character, but then all the other Harlequin heroes are strong too. What set him apart was though, after the initial denial, he does admit(even if just to himself) that he feels something towards Cassie, and that he cannot act upon his feelings in case he jeopardizes her chances of recovery, although his voice always sounds harsh and cold, his eyes always remain hopeful, that one day, her blank eyes may see something.
The other characters in this book were also so much better than other Harlequins. That's what I especially liked about this book, the characters were so real, they had so much depth to them. I really admire Melinda Cross that she wrote such a great story in a Harlequin plot.
AWESOME BOOK! Great Read!
It is so different from the other Harlequins I've read so far, and is so well written that I was a bit sad when it ended. Also, I would have really liked some sort of epilogue, but maybe that's because, I've gotten so used to them. It's not like the ending wasn't perfect, because it totally was.
Cassie is one of the best Harlequin heroines that I've come across, and the fact that she was blind, is what set her apart, I really liked the way she was so confident in expressing her feelings and asking straight, to-the-point questions, because that's all she could do, to clarify her doubts, her misunderstandings, and that is because she could not depend on her sight to see the answers for her self. If only other Harlequin heroines were like her...so that they could not fall prey to misunderstandings that lack of communication causes between them and the heroes.
The hero, Dr.Wyatt Fields, is a strong character, but then all the other Harlequin heroes are strong too. What set him apart was though, after the initial denial, he does admit(even if just to himself) that he feels something towards Cassie, and that he cannot act upon his feelings in case he jeopardizes her chances of recovery, although his voice always sounds harsh and cold, his eyes always remain hopeful, that one day, her blank eyes may see something.
The other characters in this book were also so much better than other Harlequins. That's what I especially liked about this book, the characters were so real, they had so much depth to them. I really admire Melinda Cross that she wrote such a great story in a Harlequin plot.
AWESOME BOOK! Great Read!
December 10, 2025
This one was a bit of a hard to rate one.
This is an in-depth depiction of a woman trying both to learn how to interact with the world as a blind person AND also uncover the reason/remember the incident that caused her blindness, as her blindness is called "hysterical blindness" (just... why do I feel they only called it that when it was women who experienced this, if it was a thing? I haven't googled it yet because I'm just rolling with the premise of the book unlike that "snow blindness" one lol). And it's determined by two doctors that if she gets intense therapy to uncover the cause of her "hysteria", she may regain her sight.
So from almost the beginning, she's doing two entirely contradictory things, and it doesn't make sense.
Really a lot of the things her extremely expensive doctors at this exclusive and expensive school for the blind do and decide in this book don't make a lot of sense. I mean, why would you engage in an intense, stressful boot-camp-like course to learn how to navigate the world blind while also going through intense abuse I mean, therapy, to regain your memory and recover your sight?
But okay, whatever.
So, the heroine has been blind since a car accident that happened when she was a young girl that killed her mother.
Her wealthy father sequestered her in a penthouse apartment in NYC for the next decade or so until he died, hiring servants to guide her, dress her, be her eyes, cook for her, etc. so that she's at the age of 20 something without the ability to exist normally as a blind person.
Additionally her father had been mismanaging his money, so after he died, she had exactly enough left to go to this school for the blind (that her father refused to allow her to attend, and which is the only school her doctor back in her teen years recommended, probably because her father was so wealthy and he got a kickback referral from the school or something. No, the heroine did not bother doing any research about this school, visiting another doctor, or finding out about other, less expensive schools that might have taught her just as easily. Sigh).
Anyhow, this school has a 2-week boot camp intensive course with a highly specialized psychiatrist, the H. He has an, um, interesting method of treatment which consists of "tough" "love" by throwing the patients in at the deep end, constantly changing the layout of the rooms and house, taking them out into the woods and leaving them there to find their way back, constantly insulting them and calling them names when they fail tasks or balk at any of this treatment, etc.
Turns out, he hates blind people because his mother was blind and useless and committed suicide, so he sees blind people as pointless and useless persons who contribute nothing to society unless they go through his rigorous program.
I have no idea why this man still has a license, and even less idea why TF he's the hero. I'm getting more frustrated writing about the idiot than I did reading about him!!!
ANYhow, since he's decided to both torture the heroine into remembering her trauma and also torture her into being less useless to society, she's in for it.
Naturally she falls in love with him almost instantly, and he starts to fall in megalust with her on the very first day, so naturally he sees this coming, realizes he's compromised, and decides to turn her case over to a more objective psychiatrist. Right?
...Right?!?
NO. He decides that only a weak man would do the responsible thing and recuse himself. He will stay and fight! Mind you, he can't keep his hands and mouth off the vulnerable woman whom he also happens to be psychologically torturing when he isn't mauling her, but a really strong not-wimpy man would just stay and keep torturing and sex-mauling-- sorry, not-mauling!! Don't maul your patient!- her and really prove to everyone he's a masculine man who can't stop mauling... no wait! CAN stop mauling- his attractive patient... or whatever he's trying to prove.
Anyhow, this sets the tone for the book, and it carries on throughout. The heroine is VERY innocent and sheltered to the point of not even knowing not to maul her doctor (okay, there IS mutual mauling going on in the book it's not just him) in front of a cafeteria full of people.
Once she falls, she falls hard, and just goes for it, which is kind of refreshing, except for the psychological, brutal torture the doctor keeps giving her which now includes saying horrible, cruel things to her like that she's worse than his mother because she chooses to be blind, and what's to love about that/her?
But all's well that ends well (she said sarcastically) because heroine goes missing during a bad storm that is flattening trees and whatnot, is almost found by the OW (who's a cafeteria worker in love with the H who hates the h, but is barely in the book) but abandoned to her fate, finally has her big revelation, remembers that she saw her father in shock staring at her while she was trapped in a burning car with her mother's dead body, and that's why she went blind and refused to remember, the hero finds her, realizes he does really love her, and it's totally not because she can suddenly miraculously see, and apparently they live happily ever after, but it's hard to know for sure since when we leave them they are still climbing out of the ravine.
Things left hanging: does she get refunded at least half her money since she didn't even get to the "school" part of the blind school?
What happened to the OW who murderously left h to die in a ravine in a storm (that happens right, even if it's not that cold and you're uninjured?)?
Does H still hate all the other blind people? Will he find a different specialty that doesn't require him interacting with a set of people he's bigoted against?
It was just an odd book, but it was surprisingly touching in places too. I think I'm downing it to 2 stars instead of 3 though. The Hero was just bonkers.
This is an in-depth depiction of a woman trying both to learn how to interact with the world as a blind person AND also uncover the reason/remember the incident that caused her blindness, as her blindness is called "hysterical blindness" (just... why do I feel they only called it that when it was women who experienced this, if it was a thing? I haven't googled it yet because I'm just rolling with the premise of the book unlike that "snow blindness" one lol). And it's determined by two doctors that if she gets intense therapy to uncover the cause of her "hysteria", she may regain her sight.
So from almost the beginning, she's doing two entirely contradictory things, and it doesn't make sense.
Really a lot of the things her extremely expensive doctors at this exclusive and expensive school for the blind do and decide in this book don't make a lot of sense. I mean, why would you engage in an intense, stressful boot-camp-like course to learn how to navigate the world blind while also going through intense abuse I mean, therapy, to regain your memory and recover your sight?
But okay, whatever.
So, the heroine has been blind since a car accident that happened when she was a young girl that killed her mother.
Her wealthy father sequestered her in a penthouse apartment in NYC for the next decade or so until he died, hiring servants to guide her, dress her, be her eyes, cook for her, etc. so that she's at the age of 20 something without the ability to exist normally as a blind person.
Additionally her father had been mismanaging his money, so after he died, she had exactly enough left to go to this school for the blind (that her father refused to allow her to attend, and which is the only school her doctor back in her teen years recommended, probably because her father was so wealthy and he got a kickback referral from the school or something. No, the heroine did not bother doing any research about this school, visiting another doctor, or finding out about other, less expensive schools that might have taught her just as easily. Sigh).
Anyhow, this school has a 2-week boot camp intensive course with a highly specialized psychiatrist, the H. He has an, um, interesting method of treatment which consists of "tough" "love" by throwing the patients in at the deep end, constantly changing the layout of the rooms and house, taking them out into the woods and leaving them there to find their way back, constantly insulting them and calling them names when they fail tasks or balk at any of this treatment, etc.
Turns out, he hates blind people because his mother was blind and useless and committed suicide, so he sees blind people as pointless and useless persons who contribute nothing to society unless they go through his rigorous program.
I have no idea why this man still has a license, and even less idea why TF he's the hero. I'm getting more frustrated writing about the idiot than I did reading about him!!!
ANYhow, since he's decided to both torture the heroine into remembering her trauma and also torture her into being less useless to society, she's in for it.
Naturally she falls in love with him almost instantly, and he starts to fall in megalust with her on the very first day, so naturally he sees this coming, realizes he's compromised, and decides to turn her case over to a more objective psychiatrist. Right?
...Right?!?
NO. He decides that only a weak man would do the responsible thing and recuse himself. He will stay and fight! Mind you, he can't keep his hands and mouth off the vulnerable woman whom he also happens to be psychologically torturing when he isn't mauling her, but a really strong not-wimpy man would just stay and keep torturing and sex-mauling-- sorry, not-mauling!! Don't maul your patient!- her and really prove to everyone he's a masculine man who can't stop mauling... no wait! CAN stop mauling- his attractive patient... or whatever he's trying to prove.
Anyhow, this sets the tone for the book, and it carries on throughout. The heroine is VERY innocent and sheltered to the point of not even knowing not to maul her doctor (okay, there IS mutual mauling going on in the book it's not just him) in front of a cafeteria full of people.
Once she falls, she falls hard, and just goes for it, which is kind of refreshing, except for the psychological, brutal torture the doctor keeps giving her which now includes saying horrible, cruel things to her like that she's worse than his mother because she chooses to be blind, and what's to love about that/her?
But all's well that ends well (she said sarcastically) because heroine goes missing during a bad storm that is flattening trees and whatnot, is almost found by the OW (who's a cafeteria worker in love with the H who hates the h, but is barely in the book) but abandoned to her fate, finally has her big revelation, remembers that she saw her father in shock staring at her while she was trapped in a burning car with her mother's dead body, and that's why she went blind and refused to remember, the hero finds her, realizes he does really love her, and it's totally not because she can suddenly miraculously see, and apparently they live happily ever after, but it's hard to know for sure since when we leave them they are still climbing out of the ravine.
Things left hanging: does she get refunded at least half her money since she didn't even get to the "school" part of the blind school?
What happened to the OW who murderously left h to die in a ravine in a storm (that happens right, even if it's not that cold and you're uninjured?)?
Does H still hate all the other blind people? Will he find a different specialty that doesn't require him interacting with a set of people he's bigoted against?
It was just an odd book, but it was surprisingly touching in places too. I think I'm downing it to 2 stars instead of 3 though. The Hero was just bonkers.
June 3, 2012
THE book that I want if I'm stranded on a deserted island.
June 8, 2012
So beautifully written that it makes you cry.
June 8, 2017
4.5 stars
August 26, 2013
what about Helen!!!!?
August 5, 2012
Very Different
Very engaging.
A little low on steam but still a thoroughly enjoyable read! :)
Very engaging.
A little low on steam but still a thoroughly enjoyable read! :)
February 20, 2018
Cassie had hysterical blindness after an accident that claimed the life of her beloved mother. Unfortunately, she had a very protected rich father who prevented her ever attempt afterwards to communicate with the outer world and her only life was lived among servants till she became 25 years of age and her father dies. Then, she decides it was up time she faced the real world. Therefore, she enrolls to Windrows institute where blind people such as herself are taught to face realities. It was there she meets Wyatt, the hero and the psychiatrist who should help her.
I found this novel very realistic and accurate about the blinds' vulnerabilities, hopes, obstacles and strength. It devours their utmost inner thoughts and emotions. So unlike any other frivolous novels that tackles trivial matters, I thought the author is worthy of so much respect after reading this novel. Thank you Melinda Cross. A worthy novel to read indeed. A Recommended read.
I found this novel very realistic and accurate about the blinds' vulnerabilities, hopes, obstacles and strength. It devours their utmost inner thoughts and emotions. So unlike any other frivolous novels that tackles trivial matters, I thought the author is worthy of so much respect after reading this novel. Thank you Melinda Cross. A worthy novel to read indeed. A Recommended read.
April 27, 2023
Um romance entre um psiquiatra e uma mulher que perdeu a visão.
Ele tinha seus traumas e agia com certo arrogância com ela. Ela, depois da morte do pai, ficou sem ter condições de se sustentar e para isso vai para a clínica onde ele trabalha para aprender se comportar e superar os obstáculos como uma cega visto que, o pai a superprotegia e, com sua morte ela precisava aprender a se locomover em torno e assim, conseguir algo para poder se sustentar... Um livro com bons diálogos. Ela, era correspondia com inocente fervorosa a atração que ele incitava nela. Ele, mesmo se se sentido atraído, não queria amar porque achava que amor só trazia sofrimento...
Ele tinha seus traumas e agia com certo arrogância com ela. Ela, depois da morte do pai, ficou sem ter condições de se sustentar e para isso vai para a clínica onde ele trabalha para aprender se comportar e superar os obstáculos como uma cega visto que, o pai a superprotegia e, com sua morte ela precisava aprender a se locomover em torno e assim, conseguir algo para poder se sustentar... Um livro com bons diálogos. Ela, era correspondia com inocente fervorosa a atração que ele incitava nela. Ele, mesmo se se sentido atraído, não queria amar porque achava que amor só trazia sofrimento...
September 7, 2019
1.5 star DNF at 25% due to unacceptable first kiss.
October 17, 2020
Great book.
August 10, 2024
I love the way this author writes.
This story is about a blind girl and her Psychiatrist.
This story is about a blind girl and her Psychiatrist.
April 22, 2026
Prawie 5 , zabrakło tego czegoś na koniec
January 27, 2016
Argumento:
Después de la muerte de su padre, Cassie se armó de valor para marcharse de su hogar, donde había sido, a la vez, protegida e infeliz. Fue a una famosa escuela en Nueva York, buscando una oportunidad para su futuro. Al notable doctor Wyatt Field, quien había ayudado a infinidad de pacientes a aprender a vivir con su ceguera, lo confundía Cassie. Al contrario de ella, él no alcanzaba a comprender por qué le exigía lo que casi era imposible. Por otra parte, intentaba negar la fuerza de una atracción que complicaba su trato médico-paciente.
Mi opinión:
Una linda novela en la cual los sentimientos salieron vencedores (qué raro jajaja)
Novela rápida de leer sin muchos altibajos, sentí que todo fué bueno, desde el inicio.
Lo único que me quedó inconcluso fué la malvada Helen, merecía que la reprendieran; aunque viéndolo por otro lado, su castigo sería ver el amor de la pareja realizado.
Después de la muerte de su padre, Cassie se armó de valor para marcharse de su hogar, donde había sido, a la vez, protegida e infeliz. Fue a una famosa escuela en Nueva York, buscando una oportunidad para su futuro. Al notable doctor Wyatt Field, quien había ayudado a infinidad de pacientes a aprender a vivir con su ceguera, lo confundía Cassie. Al contrario de ella, él no alcanzaba a comprender por qué le exigía lo que casi era imposible. Por otra parte, intentaba negar la fuerza de una atracción que complicaba su trato médico-paciente.
Mi opinión:
Una linda novela en la cual los sentimientos salieron vencedores (qué raro jajaja)
Novela rápida de leer sin muchos altibajos, sentí que todo fué bueno, desde el inicio.
Lo único que me quedó inconcluso fué la malvada Helen, merecía que la reprendieran; aunque viéndolo por otro lado, su castigo sería ver el amor de la pareja realizado.
November 1, 2015
first of all, I read this when I was like fourteen fifteen. my sister borrowed it from our local library and I thought hey let me try it out.... and I LOVED IT.
I loved how naive and clueless the heroine could be! especially since I knew nothing more than she did when I first read it haha.
I'm gonna re read and give a better review when its a bit more fresh in my mind.
I loved how naive and clueless the heroine could be! especially since I knew nothing more than she did when I first read it haha.
I'm gonna re read and give a better review when its a bit more fresh in my mind.
December 16, 2013
Very touching, emotional story with a heroine full of warmth, light and innocence. Loved it!
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