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Dating Game
A Business Arrangement?
Attractive divorcée and single parent Julie Ferris had problems with a succession of men who were interested in her body, not her mind.
Successful lawyer Teal Carruthers shared her concerns. A widower with a small son to bring up, he was targeted by every woman he met as a potential husband. Should feelings get in the way—when the solution seemed an obvious one…?
Attractive divorcée and single parent Julie Ferris had problems with a succession of men who were interested in her body, not her mind.
Successful lawyer Teal Carruthers shared her concerns. A widower with a small son to bring up, he was targeted by every woman he met as a potential husband. Should feelings get in the way—when the solution seemed an obvious one…?
- GenresHarlequin Presents
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 11, 1994
4 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Field
212 books35 followersJill MacLean was born on 1941 in England, UK. In 1950, her family moved to Nova Scotia, Canada.
After receiving her Bachelor of Science with honours from Dalhousie University, she married. She worked at the Fisheries Research Board until her daughter was born. Following the birth of her son, she was employed by the pathology laboratory of Sydney City Hospital and the biology department of Mount Allison University. More recently, she completed a Masters in Theological Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology; her thesis juxtaposed Hebrew concepts of chaos in the book of Job with modern chaos theory.
When her husband joined the Armed Forces as a chaplain, she had to stop working. They moved three times in the first 18 months, the last move was to Prince Edward Island. By then her children were in school; she couldn't get a job; and at the local bridge club, she kept forgetting not to trump her partner's ace.
However, she had always loved to read, fascinated by the lure of being drawn into the other world of the story. So one day she bought a dozen Harlequin novels, read and analyzed them, then sat down and wrote one. Her first book, To Trust My Love, typed with four fingers, was published in 1974 as Sandra Field (she believes she's curiously the first Canadian to write for Harlequin). During the four years she lived in Prince Edward Island, she researched an 18th century French settlement located near present-day Brudenell, resulting in a historical book, Jean Pierre Roma, published in 1977 under her real name. She also started to write in collaboration with other Martimer writer under the pseudonym Jan MacLean. She also used to singed her novels the pseudonym of Jocelyn Haley. Her pseudonyms was an attempt to prevent the congregation from finding out what the chaplain's wife was up to in her spare time.
Before she turned 40, her life was changed, she had lost three of the most important women in her life: her mother and sister to illness, and her seventeen-year-old daughter to a car accident, and she separated from her husband in 1976. One of the lasting legacies of the grief caused by these losses has been the idea that it is impossible and undesirable to live every waking moment in the knowledge that loss can strike at any time.
She's been very fortunate for years to be able to combine a love of travel (particularly to the north - she doesn't do heat well) with her writing, by describing settings that most people will probably never visit. And there's always the challenge of making the heroine's long underwear sound romantic. Her novels has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Yugoslavian, Japanese... and sold in more than 90 countries. Her first collection of poetry, The Brevity of Red, was published in 2003. When her nine-years-old grandson, Stuart, asked him a book for him, she wrote her first Children's book and decided continued writing this type of books.
Jill now lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and she's lived most of her life in the Maritimes of Canada, within reach of the sea. Kayaking and canoeing, hiking and gardening, listening to music and reading are all sources of great pleasure. But best of all are good friends, some going back to high-school days, and her family. In Newfoundland, she has a beautiful daughter-in-law and the two most delightful, handsome, and intelligent grandchildren in the world (of course!).
After receiving her Bachelor of Science with honours from Dalhousie University, she married. She worked at the Fisheries Research Board until her daughter was born. Following the birth of her son, she was employed by the pathology laboratory of Sydney City Hospital and the biology department of Mount Allison University. More recently, she completed a Masters in Theological Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology; her thesis juxtaposed Hebrew concepts of chaos in the book of Job with modern chaos theory.
When her husband joined the Armed Forces as a chaplain, she had to stop working. They moved three times in the first 18 months, the last move was to Prince Edward Island. By then her children were in school; she couldn't get a job; and at the local bridge club, she kept forgetting not to trump her partner's ace.
However, she had always loved to read, fascinated by the lure of being drawn into the other world of the story. So one day she bought a dozen Harlequin novels, read and analyzed them, then sat down and wrote one. Her first book, To Trust My Love, typed with four fingers, was published in 1974 as Sandra Field (she believes she's curiously the first Canadian to write for Harlequin). During the four years she lived in Prince Edward Island, she researched an 18th century French settlement located near present-day Brudenell, resulting in a historical book, Jean Pierre Roma, published in 1977 under her real name. She also started to write in collaboration with other Martimer writer under the pseudonym Jan MacLean. She also used to singed her novels the pseudonym of Jocelyn Haley. Her pseudonyms was an attempt to prevent the congregation from finding out what the chaplain's wife was up to in her spare time.
Before she turned 40, her life was changed, she had lost three of the most important women in her life: her mother and sister to illness, and her seventeen-year-old daughter to a car accident, and she separated from her husband in 1976. One of the lasting legacies of the grief caused by these losses has been the idea that it is impossible and undesirable to live every waking moment in the knowledge that loss can strike at any time.
She's been very fortunate for years to be able to combine a love of travel (particularly to the north - she doesn't do heat well) with her writing, by describing settings that most people will probably never visit. And there's always the challenge of making the heroine's long underwear sound romantic. Her novels has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Yugoslavian, Japanese... and sold in more than 90 countries. Her first collection of poetry, The Brevity of Red, was published in 2003. When her nine-years-old grandson, Stuart, asked him a book for him, she wrote her first Children's book and decided continued writing this type of books.
Jill now lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and she's lived most of her life in the Maritimes of Canada, within reach of the sea. Kayaking and canoeing, hiking and gardening, listening to music and reading are all sources of great pleasure. But best of all are good friends, some going back to high-school days, and her family. In Newfoundland, she has a beautiful daughter-in-law and the two most delightful, handsome, and intelligent grandchildren in the world (of course!).
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 6, 2018
Re The Dating Game - Sandra Field does her Standard Day at the HP office with her usual hot/cold H and vacillating h. Fortunately we get a cat bonus in the shape of Einstein, so named because he can bend time and space.
So Einstein was a homeless kitty who moved in with the h and her son after they got a divorce from the h's cheating actor husband and moved from the country to the big city.
Einstein ignored them at first, but the h and her son have kind hearts and kept putting food out anyways.
Then Einstein managed to bend the time space continuum enough that the h and her son just accepted that he always lived in the house with them. When the h had a flower planting moment, Einstein helped her dig up the yard.
The h's son, Danny, who is a little shy and his actor dad never visits, makes a new friend named Scott. Scott is much more outgoing and soon the two boys are BFF's and like brothers.
Which means that Scott hangs out at Danny's a lot with Danny and Einstein, cause they can build forts and the h makes chocolate fudge cookies.
Scott's dad is the H and he is a lawyer, he doesn't make cookies. He just works a lot and tries to avoid all the ladies who want to be a sample on his lady buffet.
But the H doesn't do lady buffets since his wife, Scott's mother, died two years earlier. Even when his busybody BFF's wife makes acidic comments about his lack of dating.
When the H and h meet, it is cause Einstein brought a live rat into the house and the h is terrified of rats. (She got locked in her old cellar with two of them.)
So Scott went and grabbed his dad, who came and got rid of the rat. Einstein was not amused by this and ignored the H a lot and will continue to do so for the rest of the story. Einstein doesn't really approve of this H.
The H noticed that the h is very, very attractive and beautiful, but he denies he is attracted cause he is off the lady buffet line.
When the two of them meet again at the boys' parent/teacher night, both of them notice they are swamped with potential dates that they don't want to go on.
So the H suggests that he and the h start dating in a pretend sort of way to put everyone off on continually asking them out. The h is dubious, cause the H hasn't been very nice, except for getting rid of the rat, but she eventually allows herself to be bullied into it.
Then they have a roofie kiss and the h is hearing red alerts. But the H refuses to give up on the deal, even tho the h is brutally honest and claims that it will be bad for Danny if he starts to think of the H as a dad and it will be bad for her cause she wants to have a Lurve Force Purple Passion moment with the H.
After a few dates where the H acts terribly possessive and then freezes the h out, the h admits that she hates sex. She just kinda throws that out there, so we don't know why.
The H admits he is off the lady buffet and has been for a while, but it may or may not be because he really loved his wife.
There is a lot of push and pull between the two of them, they go from roofie kissing to arguing to trying to back out of the arrangement and it all culminates when the H and Scott are ridding bikes and the H gets hit and ends up in hospital.
The h rushes over when Scott calls her and she takes care of Scott while the H recovers. This irks the H to no end and he decides that the h and he are better off apart. Scott and Danny get into a fight when the h declines to marry the H when Scott asks her.
So everyone goes off to their separate houses and ignores each other. Einstein digs up some flowers and he gets a mouse or two and watches the birds, but doesn't chase them, in between cat naps.
The h decides to take Danny away for a little mini-vacation and Einstein has to go the cattery, he hates it.
The h and Danny have a nice time, but when they come back the H is furious she left. The h then falls under the Treacherous Body Syndrome virus and has the worst lurve club moment with the H ever.
He makes her feel used, just like her ex-husband used to and that is why she hates sex.
The H wants another chance and the h had given him a gift of a negligee and an invitation to weekend in a seaside cabin that the H gets to pay for.
The H bullies her into going and they have more lurve club events that work out in a mutually enjoyable manner.
The H explains that his marriage went south when his wife became obsessed with fertility after Scott was born. Then she got depressed when she found out she couldn't have anymore kids. When she died in an accident a little while later, the H felt guilty for being relieved instead of upset.
But he is all better now, the h's brand of Purple Passion Lurve Mojo fixed him right up and the h feels the same. They declare their mutual love and decide to marry and Einstein gets a much better garden than his old one, but he still ignores the H for the big HEA.
This one was okay, tho there was a lot of back and forth on both the H and h parts. First they did and they did not and I got whiplash trying to keep up with them.
Scott and Danny were pretty entertaining and Einstein and his activities were far more interesting than the H and h, so keep that in mind if you take this one out for an HP outing.
So Einstein was a homeless kitty who moved in with the h and her son after they got a divorce from the h's cheating actor husband and moved from the country to the big city.
Einstein ignored them at first, but the h and her son have kind hearts and kept putting food out anyways.
Then Einstein managed to bend the time space continuum enough that the h and her son just accepted that he always lived in the house with them. When the h had a flower planting moment, Einstein helped her dig up the yard.
The h's son, Danny, who is a little shy and his actor dad never visits, makes a new friend named Scott. Scott is much more outgoing and soon the two boys are BFF's and like brothers.
Which means that Scott hangs out at Danny's a lot with Danny and Einstein, cause they can build forts and the h makes chocolate fudge cookies.
Scott's dad is the H and he is a lawyer, he doesn't make cookies. He just works a lot and tries to avoid all the ladies who want to be a sample on his lady buffet.
But the H doesn't do lady buffets since his wife, Scott's mother, died two years earlier. Even when his busybody BFF's wife makes acidic comments about his lack of dating.
When the H and h meet, it is cause Einstein brought a live rat into the house and the h is terrified of rats. (She got locked in her old cellar with two of them.)
So Scott went and grabbed his dad, who came and got rid of the rat. Einstein was not amused by this and ignored the H a lot and will continue to do so for the rest of the story. Einstein doesn't really approve of this H.
The H noticed that the h is very, very attractive and beautiful, but he denies he is attracted cause he is off the lady buffet line.
When the two of them meet again at the boys' parent/teacher night, both of them notice they are swamped with potential dates that they don't want to go on.
So the H suggests that he and the h start dating in a pretend sort of way to put everyone off on continually asking them out. The h is dubious, cause the H hasn't been very nice, except for getting rid of the rat, but she eventually allows herself to be bullied into it.
Then they have a roofie kiss and the h is hearing red alerts. But the H refuses to give up on the deal, even tho the h is brutally honest and claims that it will be bad for Danny if he starts to think of the H as a dad and it will be bad for her cause she wants to have a Lurve Force Purple Passion moment with the H.
After a few dates where the H acts terribly possessive and then freezes the h out, the h admits that she hates sex. She just kinda throws that out there, so we don't know why.
The H admits he is off the lady buffet and has been for a while, but it may or may not be because he really loved his wife.
There is a lot of push and pull between the two of them, they go from roofie kissing to arguing to trying to back out of the arrangement and it all culminates when the H and Scott are ridding bikes and the H gets hit and ends up in hospital.
The h rushes over when Scott calls her and she takes care of Scott while the H recovers. This irks the H to no end and he decides that the h and he are better off apart. Scott and Danny get into a fight when the h declines to marry the H when Scott asks her.
So everyone goes off to their separate houses and ignores each other. Einstein digs up some flowers and he gets a mouse or two and watches the birds, but doesn't chase them, in between cat naps.
The h decides to take Danny away for a little mini-vacation and Einstein has to go the cattery, he hates it.
The h and Danny have a nice time, but when they come back the H is furious she left. The h then falls under the Treacherous Body Syndrome virus and has the worst lurve club moment with the H ever.
He makes her feel used, just like her ex-husband used to and that is why she hates sex.
The H wants another chance and the h had given him a gift of a negligee and an invitation to weekend in a seaside cabin that the H gets to pay for.
The H bullies her into going and they have more lurve club events that work out in a mutually enjoyable manner.
The H explains that his marriage went south when his wife became obsessed with fertility after Scott was born. Then she got depressed when she found out she couldn't have anymore kids. When she died in an accident a little while later, the H felt guilty for being relieved instead of upset.
But he is all better now, the h's brand of Purple Passion Lurve Mojo fixed him right up and the h feels the same. They declare their mutual love and decide to marry and Einstein gets a much better garden than his old one, but he still ignores the H for the big HEA.
This one was okay, tho there was a lot of back and forth on both the H and h parts. First they did and they did not and I got whiplash trying to keep up with them.
Scott and Danny were pretty entertaining and Einstein and his activities were far more interesting than the H and h, so keep that in mind if you take this one out for an HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2022
The trials and tribulations of the beautiful people. This was 3.5 stars for me(bumped to 4, because it has a cat named Einstein). There were many things I enjoyed in the story. There are not lots of reviews for this one and the ones that are there are mixed. Boogenhagen gives an excellent thorough overview of this story!
Basically, we have 2 exceptionally attractive, successful people who have been wounded by their previous spouses. In the meantime everyone and their brother in Halifax wants them. The h is wanted for sex, arm candy, or housewife. The H is wanted for sex, his connections, and daddy material. Our h and H want to be loved for their whole package. Well, the h does at least. The H doesn’t think he is lovable based on his parents attention to him and then later his dead wife.
Each of them have an eight year old son. The boys are BFF’s and spend a lot of time at each other’s houses. The h(Julie)and H(Teal)do not hit it off at first. He basically thinks she is a divorcée on the make, and she believes him to be a cold lawyer type(he is a lawyer). However, both notice how attractive the other is, and there is an undercurrent between them.
After meeting randomly at different places, and seeing each of them being inundated with unwanted admirers, the H proposes that the 2 of them become a fake couple to throw others off their scent. I bet you know how that is going to end up. I will say the H gave a good fight. You heard me correctly, the Hero, not the heroine fights physical attraction. He refused to put sex in the offering even after the h admitted she wanted sex with him. Meanwhile they do family things together, like bike rides, picnics, Dairy Queen etc….The boys are hoping this will result in a more permanent merger of the families. I mean there is already a housekeeper, and a cat, all that is missing is a dog and 4 siblings.
The H ends up getting in a bike accident. The h is called by his son to come to the hospital. The H is starting to pull away, and at this point Julie knows that she is in love with him. There is a black moment that results in the young boys “breaking” up along with the couple. He takes off with the son to a friends house and before they get back the h takes her son on a little vacay. When she gets back, the H finally admits he wants to take her to bed. She brought a gift back from her vacay which basically says she wasn’t giving up on him. They plan a weekend get away. They end up not being able to hold off and have sex. End of Story? I think not, because there is approximately 30 pages left. SPOILERS COMING NOW
One of my favorite things about this story was the h. She is pretty forthright the whole book. Her honesty and openness is one of the things that attracted the H first. You have to like a heroine who cranks up the volume to sing with Diana Ross songs. I can just picture her singing I’m Coming Out as she takes her famous cookies out of the oven. Oh and the hero’s favorite song to dance to which becomes ‘their” song is Lara’s theme from Dr. Zhivago(a movie I haven’t seen in years).
The story is told with both of their POV’s. No messy ow’s, om’s, or inlaws mucking up the waters. The boys in the story are likable and remind me a little Haley Mills in the parent trap.
Basically, we have 2 exceptionally attractive, successful people who have been wounded by their previous spouses. In the meantime everyone and their brother in Halifax wants them. The h is wanted for sex, arm candy, or housewife. The H is wanted for sex, his connections, and daddy material. Our h and H want to be loved for their whole package. Well, the h does at least. The H doesn’t think he is lovable based on his parents attention to him and then later his dead wife.
Each of them have an eight year old son. The boys are BFF’s and spend a lot of time at each other’s houses. The h(Julie)and H(Teal)do not hit it off at first. He basically thinks she is a divorcée on the make, and she believes him to be a cold lawyer type(he is a lawyer). However, both notice how attractive the other is, and there is an undercurrent between them.
After meeting randomly at different places, and seeing each of them being inundated with unwanted admirers, the H proposes that the 2 of them become a fake couple to throw others off their scent. I bet you know how that is going to end up. I will say the H gave a good fight. You heard me correctly, the Hero, not the heroine fights physical attraction. He refused to put sex in the offering even after the h admitted she wanted sex with him. Meanwhile they do family things together, like bike rides, picnics, Dairy Queen etc….The boys are hoping this will result in a more permanent merger of the families. I mean there is already a housekeeper, and a cat, all that is missing is a dog and 4 siblings.
The H ends up getting in a bike accident. The h is called by his son to come to the hospital. The H is starting to pull away, and at this point Julie knows that she is in love with him. There is a black moment that results in the young boys “breaking” up along with the couple. He takes off with the son to a friends house and before they get back the h takes her son on a little vacay. When she gets back, the H finally admits he wants to take her to bed. She brought a gift back from her vacay which basically says she wasn’t giving up on him. They plan a weekend get away. They end up not being able to hold off and have sex. End of Story? I think not, because there is approximately 30 pages left. SPOILERS COMING NOW
One of my favorite things about this story was the h. She is pretty forthright the whole book. Her honesty and openness is one of the things that attracted the H first. You have to like a heroine who cranks up the volume to sing with Diana Ross songs. I can just picture her singing I’m Coming Out as she takes her famous cookies out of the oven. Oh and the hero’s favorite song to dance to which becomes ‘their” song is Lara’s theme from Dr. Zhivago(a movie I haven’t seen in years).
The story is told with both of their POV’s. No messy ow’s, om’s, or inlaws mucking up the waters. The boys in the story are likable and remind me a little Haley Mills in the parent trap.
May 24, 2013
Read it a long time ago.
A business arrangement. Sensible. Rational. The last thing they needed was for feelings to get in the way.
So, you've got the idea what this is about. Romance.
A business arrangement. Sensible. Rational. The last thing they needed was for feelings to get in the way.
So, you've got the idea what this is about. Romance.
March 1, 2023
I actually really enjoyed this one. It had a different feel and maybe I was ready for the change. I think the charm comes from the h, Julie, nurse, knockout and single divorced parent to Danny. She's frank, fun and honest. Likeable and 'real' I suppose, in a way that HP hs rarely are. I also fancied the H,Teal. Who among us isn't tempted by a lethally attractive lawyer with a tendency to wander about bare chested in sweat pants. He's a widower with a frozen solid core and a son, Scott, best friends with Danny. There is wit, warmth and some cracking sexual tension in this tale. She defrosts him but it's a bit like pulling teeth. Unusual but quite fun in parts, serious in others.
February 5, 2024
Julie and Teal were both having the same trouble. Teal - a respectful lawyer - was all together averse to the idea of dating and involvement of any kind to a female wheras Julie was not averse to it but it seemed every man she dated looked at her body only and not the real her inside. Therefore, Teal came up with a shocking scheme to fend all attempts thrown at them by others while keeping their two little beloved sons happy. They would go on fake dates on public and let everyone know they were together and very much taken. Julie was not thriled by the suggestion especially when Teal stressed that the agreement would in no time involve any feelings or sex and she was falling in love with him!
The story was so different and absolutely intruging at the first half of it, but then it went so monotonous that it made me altogether bored! The ending did not much explain a lot of the hero's behaviour either, so it was a little disappointing - for me at least.
The story was so different and absolutely intruging at the first half of it, but then it went so monotonous that it made me altogether bored! The ending did not much explain a lot of the hero's behaviour either, so it was a little disappointing - for me at least.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2017
Good story line would recommend
Read
June 17, 2018A Business Arrangement?
Attractive divorcee and single parent Julie Ferris had problems with a succession of men who were interested in her body, not her mind.
Successful lawyer Teal Carruthers shared her concerns. A widower with a small son to bring up, he was targeted by every woman he met as a potential husband. Should feelings get in the way - when the solution seemed an obvious one... ?
Attractive divorcee and single parent Julie Ferris had problems with a succession of men who were interested in her body, not her mind.
Successful lawyer Teal Carruthers shared her concerns. A widower with a small son to bring up, he was targeted by every woman he met as a potential husband. Should feelings get in the way - when the solution seemed an obvious one... ?
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews