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Blake Donovan #1

Fit for a King

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When Elissa Dean comes to the aid of her friend and neighbor, Kingston Roper, in order to protect him from the misplaced affections of his sisterinlaw, she soon discovers that her own feelings for Kingston may be stronger than she had ever expected. Reissue.

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1987

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624 people want to read

About the author

Diana Palmer

1,039 books3,098 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.

(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.

She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.

Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.

In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
Profile Image for Anna.
183 reviews
July 28, 2024
Elissa was a 26 years old fashion designer. She was pretty, funny, witty and independent.
She was from Miami.
The last two years she owned a little cottage on the beach in Jamaica where she would live on and off.
A short walk away from the cottage stood an enormous villa. It belonged to Texan, Kingston or King.
He was a 39 year old oil magnate.
Like Elissa that was his holiday home.
The two would keep company whenever they were in Jamaica at the same period of time.
They were just friends.

Elissa had just arrived in Jamaica that morning after an absence of several months.
King called her with a strange request: Be on his bed wearing sexy lingerie and pretend to be his lover.
He wanted to disabuse a woman.
Elissa did so and there came King with the most beautiful blonde Elissa had ever seen.
The woman wore a look of helpless longing and unholy torment, according to the author.
Elissa wondered why would King wanted to discourage this woman when he was so obviously attracted to her?

Later King told Elissa that the blonde was Bess, his half brother's wife. Bobby was preoccupied with business and Bess was lonely and bored and depended on King for amusement, but things started getting serious between them lately.
Bess was heavily flirting with him and he was having a hard time resisting her.
He wanted Bess to think he was involved with someone else.
He wanted to use Elissa as a barrier.

As King saw Elissa looking sexy in her lingerie on his bed that day, he realised that he'd never really thought of her as a woman before.
She was so young and naive. She was like a sister to him, but now he realised that he wasn't thinking brotherly thoughts at all.

From that day on he was in hot pursuit of Elissa.
Elissa told him that she wouldn't let him use her for real. She wouldn't substitute for his sister in law.
King thought that he couldn't have Bess but Elissa was fair game.
He was engulfed by a frustrated desire for Elissa.

The two spent a lot of time together in order to make Bess believe he was already involved, all the while he and Bess would exchange longing glances.
He wanted to comfort and protect Bess, he was tender, caring and attentive to her.

Elissa would not give in to King's seduction, she would not play second fiddle to Bess.
King told her "I can't have Bess, but l can have you. You can have me".
Eventually they did become lovers. Elissa told him she loved him.
King asked her to marry him. She warned him that Bess might be free someday, he wouldn't like then to be tied to herself.
He said that love for her may come in time.
They got engaged.

One day King received a phone call from Bess. Bobby had an accident and was in hospital.
King rushed out saying that Bess was pretty upset and needed him.
Elissa knew now that Bess was still number one in his thoughts and seemed that she always would be.

A few hours later, King came in with a weeping Bess in tow, clinging to him.
He took her upstairs to one of the free bedrooms.
He ate his supper in Bess's room that night.

Inadvertently Elissa overheard them talking in the room. Bess told him that she had asked Bobby for a divorce. She apparently couldn't go on, she said, living with Bobby, she was only happy been with King.

Elissa knew then that she was an obstacle to them.
He was in love with his sister in law, and she was getting a divorce and he only found out after he'd given Elissa the ring.
She had to let him go.

The sister in law Bess, reminded me of another sister in law, Libby from "Mansion For My Love" by Robin Donald.
Both victim narcissist, always looking anguished, weak, been parasitic, self centred and doing a lot of damage. Poor, poor me!
Libby was a tad worse than Bess though.
Profile Image for Leona.
1,772 reviews18 followers
August 28, 2015
I'm marking this one as read….unfortunately. I really wish I had my two hours back. What a waste of time, both characters were one dimensional, amoral, idiots.

He's got the hots for his sister-in-law. Yet he can't help giving sister-in-law long lingering looks all the while he has his hands up heroine's skirt and his tongue halfway down her throat. She's tired of being a virgin and figures Mr. Stud Muffin can handle the "break-in" since he is uber experienced. She chases him constantly, begging him for sex, even though he is in-love with sister-in-law.

I don't know about you, but I can't find anything romantic about this situation. In fact, I think "bulls" show more romance towards their cows in heat, than these two characters.

Now in all fairness, DP is not one of my favorite authors. I almost always avoid her work, especially her work from the 80's. For the most part, I love the vintage Harley's and will accept a lot of whacky things that I would never accept from a current HP author..recognizing that times have changed. However, I gotta tell you that the 80's Diana Palmer writes about, and the 80's that I lived through were very different. In fact, I lived in TX during the 80s and I never met anyone remotely like the men she writes about. (thank heaven) If men like that really exist in TX, I'm moving to Canada.





Profile Image for Naksed.
2,221 reviews
March 8, 2025
Gloriously bad, old-timey Harlequin romance that only Diana Palmer could pull off with a straight face. "Hero" spends three quarters of the book pining for his brother's wife and using doormat, TSTL, heroine as a decoy. Eventually, his guilty conscience leads him to propose marriage to the decoy since he can't have the woman he really loves. "Let's do it by the book" he says, oh so romantically. *sigh*

Doormat heroine grows a spine after she catches "hero" in the arms of his sis-in-law. She flings his engagement ring back in his big fat face and takes off, but it's a little too late. Pregnancy brings the lovers back together after seven weeks of radio silence on his part. No fighting for her. No remorse. No groveling whatsoever. *barf*
Profile Image for Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves.
1,459 reviews18 followers
July 14, 2019
This book has a lot going for it. Friends turned lovers trope added to the H in ?love with his brother’s wife. How this lady escaped the sister/SIL zone into exchanging sad goo goo eyes with the H escaped me.

The h is a sweetheart. I won’t want to change anything about her. I loved her parrot (cutest pet ever) and her parents (coolest parents ever). Lovely touches those.
In typical DP style the chemistry is fairly scorching and she doesn’t even need the more explicit language or even the actual act to put it across. Take a sexually assertive and dominating H along with an eager virgin and add some basic earthy moves and voila you have an explosive decoction as seen in the first few chapters. I could read those parts again anytime. *fans herself*

The H is hot and alpha but needed some sense smacked into him. His confused feelings of few weeks/months about his SIL of 10 years were weird to say the least. That’s so disloyal and smacks of a lack of integrity on both their parts. He should have been equally, if not more concerned about his sweet and harassed brother as he was for this bored, self-indulgent housewife. Although to be fair things never go beyond soulful glances and holding hands.

At one time, the H heavily makes out with the h, with the ow in the next room only to go out and give ‘tender looks’ to the ow. He’s forever doing it. Even after proposing to the h, he drops everything and blindly rushes off to the ow when she needs him. While the next day when the distraught h is leaving him, he makes time to hold hands with the ow and give her reassurances before rushing out after the h. I guess I’m griping cuz I expect a lot more from my Hs especially when the story is wrapping up.

As for the ow, this is the kind I despise the most. The ‘actually’ sweet and vulnerable kind who cling to the H for help, irritating the hell out of you (and the h) and will continue to hold his understanding and tendresse forever. I have read about a few nice ow and she is not one of them. I always prefer the nasty vampy kinds in my harlys who get a nice comeuppance and are satisfyingly kicked out of their lives for good.

All said and done, it’s a good story with an adorable h, a hot older guy and an amazing chemistry. But I much preferred the first half to the second.
Profile Image for WhiskeyintheJar.
1,522 reviews693 followers
June 25, 2017
1.5 stars
Not fine wine

Before reading this I had no idea a whole book could be about a "sheltered, naive, innocent" woman holding on to her virginity into mid-twenties because the proper thing to do is get married first but suddenly lose control of her body around the almost forty tall, dark, and handsome oil man after being "friends" with him for two years.



The bonus part of this story? The storyline to get these two wacky kids together is that our "hero" wants Virgin (referring not to disparage but it was quite honestly the only identity the author gave this character ) to pretend to be his girlfriend to not only help dissuade his sister-in-law from hitting on him but to help HIM keep away from SIL, too. Y'all, he wants to bang his SIL.



The whole book is "hero" and Virgin getting hot and bothered but breaking apart because they're not married. I know, I know, there are modern people with same sentiment. God love you! I, however, am not into reading 250ish pages of people giving themselves blue balls because of a guy in the sky. "Hero" also smokes.

Profile Image for Lu Bielefeld .
4,304 reviews639 followers
June 3, 2022
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Liked it!
===================
Reread on June 3, 2022 in the audio version.
Warchief was cut from the story and he was really missed. Warchief added a comic air to the story. I really didn't understand why they cut the bird.
====================

UPDATE: Re-read in April 2018
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Update: Re-read in January 2015
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Profile Image for Jenny.
3,160 reviews558 followers
August 16, 2015
King and Elissa are friends who soon become lovers. Unfortunately for Elissa, King is or thinks he is in love with his sister in law. Elissa doesn't want to be second best so she rejects his marriage proposal even though she loves him with all her heart. King realizes what he feels for his sister in law is just brotherly affection and that Elissa is the woman he loves but is it too late?

A sweet wonderful romance with an adorable heroine and a sexy hero. Sizzling chemistry great couple!!
Profile Image for Cheesecake.
2,800 reviews509 followers
April 11, 2020
.
I had to take off a star as i am always a bit disappointed with the lead up to the ending. Disappointed that the OW never makes an effort to fix her mess, but still gets a happy ending herself. And I wanted more grovelling from Kingston. I mean the whole situation between him and Bess was icky. And now Elissa's HEA will forever have Bess on the perifery as her SIN. I wish Elissa had called Bess on her BS at least once.

Elissa and Kingston.
This is my first book by Diana Palmer and I really enjoyed it. It had an 'old school romance' feel to it, but with more modernized sentiments. Elissa and Kingston have known each other for a couple years as aquaintance/friends in Jamaica, but I guess Kingston never talked much about his family. Elissa had no idea about his brother's wife, Bess, until things had gotten out of hand. The book starts with her in Kingston's bed in a negligee as he strolls in with Bess. There's a weird flirtation between him and Bess, that is not entirely one-sided. Bess is unhappy with her marriage and is a shallow self-centered twit with no redeeming qualities except that she is 'nice'. Well, supposedly 'nice', except that she is flirting with her husbands half-brother. Seems to me that nice is really just shallow and polite. You may notice that I don't like her. The author tries to make excuses for her actions AND lack-of-actions, but IMHO, it wasn't enough. Why is a crap childhood an excuse to be selfish and inconsiderate to the point of cruelty?? But anyways, she is the catalyst to bring Elissa and Kingston together. Kingston needs a significant other to turn away Bess's romantic interest. Although Elissa is happy to oblige for her friend, she's no doormat. When Kingston is confronted with his 'new' desire for her and acts like a jerk, she lets him have it! She's only 28 while he is 40, and she's still a virgin because of her minister parents' upbringing. Suddenly both her and King realize that their friendship was more than it seemed. She realizes before he does, and there begins the problem. King's continuing infatuation/flirtation with Bess digs him a big hole.
I was happy with both MCs and for a change I didn't blame the man for the misunderstandings. I blamed Bess, the twit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Raffaella.
1,947 reviews298 followers
July 4, 2021
Hero and heroine have been friends and neighbors for a couple of years, he asks her to pretend to be his lover to get his sister in law out of his hair.
He’s almost 40 and in lust for his sil??? He’s always watching her and lusting after her for almost 80 % of the book, while he happily seduce the virgin heroine, and even asks her to marry him because since he cannot have his sil, he can have heroine instead. What??? Second best????
I don’t know, but I found this book so sad.
It’s sad that a man that age should fall for a silly woman who is bored because her husband doesn’t look at her enough time so she wants to seduce her bil. Sad that he doesn’t understand the person she is. That he’s being manipulated.
Sad that he has to lose the heroine to understand how much she’s worth to him.
Sad that the heroine doesn’t send him to hell once and for all.
Profile Image for Margo.
2,114 reviews130 followers
November 6, 2018
He is awful and has some sort of noble passion for the weak as water OW, but when the h grows a spine she does everything right, and there is enough of the H's POV at the end that you can see he regrets everything. There's one piece of forlorn behavior that actually makes me laugh out loud when
Profile Image for Aayesha.
337 reviews119 followers
August 25, 2015
4.5 stars, rounded to 5. The lowered rating because it wasn't as perfect as some other DP, even though I loved it beyond words.

Boy oh boy. Diana Palmer is the queen of hot, steamy scenes with characters built up exactly the way I like them! I was trying to get myself calmed down so many times throughout the story! XD

This book was perfect, exactly what you expect from the Queen Diana Palmer. It definitely did not disappoint. It was a sweet, super-angsty story about two friends who find out they have incredible sexual chemistry, a heroine who is already in love with the H, but doesn't realise it yet (although she realises it quite early into the story - again, exactly how I like it), and an ultra alphahole hero who intentionally and unintentionally hurts the heroine several times, causing her to run away. The grovel was utterly satisfying, for me at least (I read in some other reviews that the grovel wasn't good enough for some folks - but tbh, I don't need that much grovelling to satisfy me, DP's grovels are always the perfect amount - not too long (like in The Unwanted Wife *grimace*), nor too short (like Betty Neels - but we still love her anyway, don't we?).

The heroine was absolutely adorable, there wasn't a single thing she did throughout the story that I didn't approve of or dislike. She was flawless. And I absolutely loved her pet, the talking parrot! It amused me to no end, and the scenes involving the parrot were one of the best.

The hero, what he did and said, and lashed out, was a bit immature, if you looked at it logically. But I don't want to look at it logically, because Diana Palmer's angsty goodness (even if it is a bit cheesy and mind-numbing) is exactly what I look for in a book, so I am not at all picky.

The sex scenes were hot . I have nothing further to add there. I am assuming the triple emphasis is doing its job.

Also, I hated the OW and did not feel at all sorry for her, as DP wanted us to. She throws herself at the H, in an effort to make her husband jealous. I do not respect a woman who uses other men like that. Not to mention the needless pain and angst she caused our poor h. But then again, there wouldn't have been a story if it wasn't for her, so kudos to you, bitchy immature OW.

Highly rec'd for all DP fans, and angst-loving fans.
Profile Image for Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile".
1,902 reviews298 followers
April 10, 2018
2.5 - 3 stars

Not the worst DP I've read but not the best. The H is not as big of a jerk as some but he definitely didn't have his act together for someone so experienced. I thought the h much more mature. I did like Warchief, the parrot.

I had this in my TBR pile and decided to read after reading Lu Bielefeld's review - Lu's Review of Fit for a King
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,519 reviews490 followers
June 3, 2020
I picked this one up solely because the H’s named King. DP must really like the name, because my obsessive ass has found 5 of them: King Culhane Amelia; Kingman Marshall The Princess Bride, Kingston Devereaux Darling Enemy, Kingston Brannt To Love and Cherish, and this one Kingston Roper.Fit for a King.

I might just be drunk on DP, because I loved this one and other die-hards didn’t. It was different from anything I’ve read of hers. The H wasn’t a jerk, and the h wasn’t a doormat. They're really good friends going into it, so there is a non-typical equality and respect to the relationship we don’t typically see. The “OW” is very tame; I’m not even sure I would say he lusts after her. It was surprisingly pretty low on the drama scale, but I really liked it anyway… which isn’t typical for me, I’m three books in so maybe I'm am wearing DP goggles😊

Kingston Roper (39) asks his BF Elissa Dean (26) to pretend to be his GF because he’s tempted by his sister-in-law, (Bess) and she’s been flirting w/ him. *They may be 41/28 I was confused with the 2-year flashback* The book opens w/ Elissa waiting in a sexy nightie for King (at his request) to come in with Bess. I LOVED Elissa especially how confident she was; she’s definitely not a shrinking violet. She��s also not plain; has a wonderful family… and a super awesome parrot, Warchief.

King isn’t cruel; there’s a couple of times early on that he pushes her away when he’s confused of his feelings, and doesn’t want to hurt her, but he also says a lot of really sweet things too. He’s torn between his feelings for the two women, but other than few loving looks there’s nothing going on w/ the OW.

Bottom Line This one’s different, but I really liked it, and think it will be more appealing to most compared to her other books.
Profile Image for Bookish.Midnight. and. black.
1,452 reviews73 followers
July 13, 2021
Kingston and Elise have been friends and neighbors for a couple of years. She is 26, he is almost 40. He asks her to pretend to be his lover to get his sister-in-law out of his hair because she, Bess, is attracted to him and wants to spend time with him, and he also wants her but he knows he can't have her.

He’s lusting after Bess for almost the entire book, while he happily seduces the virgin heroine. The heroine knows she is his second best, but when he asks her to marry him, she accepts. A few hours later, she is left at his house without a word or a look because the OW needed him when her husband had an accident. The H and OW return home some hours later and the h is left again alone to spend time alone and to eat alone because the H eats în the OW bedroom. She hears a discussion between the H and OW în which she says that she will ask his brother for a divorce.
this ends with a HEA but it was disappointing.
Profile Image for Kace | The Booknerd .
1,437 reviews70 followers
September 13, 2021
It wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. Just plain ridiculous! Around 70-80%, I thought I would like this book since the relationship between the hero and heroine was looking much better, but duh, like usual, the hero has to be a jerk first before they finally get to it have their HEA. I hate that he slept with the heroine but too caught up with his sister-in-law and left the heroine the minute the other woman called him. What a jerk! And to think that he just asked the heroine to marry him! Double jerk!

P.S. And I'm not too fond of Bess. I don't pity her at all. She's too self-centered and selfish! And I thank Diana for not doing a full-length novel about her.
Profile Image for Zubee.
668 reviews32 followers
January 7, 2021
Re-reading this one ... I remember being loving this the first time ... and it is a solid 4 stars
DP's earlier books are much more tolerant than the newer ones ..
and for all that H is obsessed with the OW, once H and h are together, H is obviously invested in their relationship
and they have outstanding chemistry ...
h is smart and while she is happy to be some sort of substitute for the OW, she does not hesitate to walk out when she feels H is still running after OW
OW needed skilleting ... she was dumb *sigh*
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for *CJ*.
5,104 reviews626 followers
July 28, 2017
"Fit for a King" is the story of Kingston "King" and Elissa.
King is an oil magnate, and Elissa is a fashion designer- both living at the secluded location in Jamaica. They've been unexpected friends for two years, until King asks Elissa to pose as his lover to Ward his sister in law Bess off, who's been coming on to King as her own husband Bobby ignores her, busy with work and trying to defeat King.
Now my issue with this book was THE HERO WAS ATTRACTED TO THE SISTER IN LAW! He actually says the words that he'd sleep with the heroine to work "Bess" out of his system, looks at Bess with heart in his eyes, taunts the heroine with her and still tries to make the *cough* doormat *cough* heroine marry him so he won't be tempted with his SIL.
Man this made me SO mad. I genuinely wanted the heroine to push away the douche but does she? Noooooo. She actually says yes to marry him that at least she'd have a piece of him.
WTF
NO
That being said, in the first half the book did have hilarious banter and witty dialogues.
In the second half, there's a lot of running away and pushing with baby drama.
The ending however was a balm to my angry soul, however overall still this book made me super mad.
Unsafe- as I count what he did as emotional cheating
2/5 - one extra star for the occasional humor
Profile Image for M—.
652 reviews111 followers
August 27, 2013
Readable but ridiculous. I couldn't help but be taken aback by the introduction of the heroine, the virgin spinster fashion designer raised with strict morals by sheltering yet loving missionary parents and whose quirky, sexy designs are only sold by exclusive boutiques and have gathered enough success that she owns a second cottage in Jamaica wherein to rest and renew her artistic sensibilities when she's not living with her parents in their shared Miami home. All right, then; it's one of the those sorts of books. Enter the disturbingly attractive neighbor (half Indian, half white oil baron from the next-door villa -- this book was originally published in 1987 but it feels even more old school than that) and brace yourself, because the fluff is just getting started.

It has all the all the literary merit of a bag of potato chips, but there are worse ways to kill a couple hours.

One and a half stars. Best for persons who enjoyed the 80s, or at least can look back on their fashions and particular word choices with nostalgia.

Recommended reviews:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Profile Image for amanda s..
3,115 reviews95 followers
November 26, 2013
I don't like this book at all.

Kingston couldn't make up his mind and he hurts Elissa. He's too caught in Bess and left Elissa in instant when Bess calls him. What a prick.

In the end, he didn't even felt guilty and make himself as the victim just because Elissa rejected him out of misunderstanding. I don't like Kingston at all. And Bess, no matter how I try to 'pity' her, I just can't. She's a selfish bitch.

Wow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Astraycat.
1,033 reviews92 followers
September 18, 2023
They were neighbors turned into good friends, but got complicated. King wanted Elissa to pretended to be his lover so as to drive his sister-in-law away, while he ran to comfort her whenever she needed him. Fortunately, he realized Elissa was his ture love before it was too late.
Profile Image for Lena.
192 reviews11 followers
July 24, 2024
I can’t believe I’m giving this 3 stars because I’ve been pretty pissed off by the MMC for the most 70% of the book.
But by the end, the author somehow managed to convinced me that he was down so bad with the FMC that I gave in and rated it 3 stars.

There are plenty of wonderful reviews highlighting the plot for the most part of this book, so I’m not going to reiterate it, just going to say that past that 3rd act conflict, King was pathetically in love. Though I would love for a bit more grovel but his reasoning of staying away for 7 weeks was because he thought that doing so would make the FMC missed him as much as he missed her so. Oh men pride!


“Nobody did, for a while,” he said. He didn’t mention that the past few weeks had been pure hell. His temper had become so vile that it had already cost him two of his best junior executives. So much for testing that absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder business, he thought angrily. She didn’t look any the worse for wear, but he sure as hell did. He stared at her coolly. “Are you having any morning sickness?”
✌︎('ω')✌︎ Deserved 🤗

“I guess you had a pretty good idea what was going on all along, but most of it was just in my mind. Poor Kingston was truly caught in the middle, all because he felt sorry for me. Well, he’s big brother again, and I do adore him. But if you’d seen him these past weeks, you’d know that he didn’t give a hang about me—not the way you thought. He’s nearly worked himself to death, taken crazy chances with the livestock and that new sports car of his—he’s gone hog-wild, Margaret says. Margaret tried to get him to go see you, but he wouldn’t. He said he couldn’t go until you asked him to, because that would mean you still loved him. Margaret says he loved you all along, only he didn’t know it. I think he knows it now. I just hope I haven’t done anything to take his last chance away from him. I think he’ll go crazy without you, and that’s the truth”
✌︎('ω')✌︎ I really don’t think I could like Bessy, though she’s not the typical evil biatch, she’s just as easily as manipulative. 🤔

“Just lie still,” she chided. “I know you want me, so there’s no use trying to hide it.”
He glared up at her. “Rub it in,” he muttered.
She bent and kissed his eyelids with aching tenderness. “Were you going to sleep on the beach?” she whispered.
“If that was as close to you as I could get, yes,” he said angrily.
✌︎('ω')✌︎ So pathetic (as he should be!) 🤧

“I slept with you for one night, and it ruined me for any other woman. You’ve haunted my dreams ever since. An innocent, and you gave me the first total fulfillment I’ve ever had.”
✌︎('ω')✌︎ Very pathetic 😌😌😌

“Don’t smile about it, you brazen hussy,” he taunted. “I needed my head examined. I prayed every night that you’d end up pregnant,” he confessed, “because I knew you’d send for me. Your sense of honor would force you to. And then I’d come to you and take care of you and find some way to make you love me again.”
✌︎('ω')✌︎ Naturally pathetic 🤭🤭🤭
Profile Image for Kay.
1,934 reviews124 followers
February 21, 2012
Elissa Dean is a successful designer of sports clothing, and spends her time between her parents’ home in Florida and her cottage on the beach in Jamaica. When she moved into her cottage she took it upon herself to take care of her neighbour Kingston Roper. King is a loner and he didn’t take kindly to Elissa barging in on his solitude, but he soon found she grew on him and they became good friends. That is, until King needed Elissa to pretend to be his lover in order to discourage his sister-in-law’s attentions. Then King realized that Elissa was more than a friend, she was a desirable woman and he liked holding her in his arms. But when Elissa lets it slip that she’s never been with a man, King forces himself to back away; he’s not the forever kind of man that Elissa deserves. Good plan, but King can’t keep his hands to himself.

I really enjoyed this one. Diana Palmer has a unique sense of humour and I love the way she always makes her heroines’ feisty and full of mischief. King and Elissa make a great couple. Though written in the 80’s this story holds up well, esp. as Elissa has a successful career and can be totally independent. I also like the narrator’s voice. She made this a true pleasure to listen to.
Profile Image for Lynn.
421 reviews75 followers
April 15, 2016
Well i loathed Bess the weak ninny who is married to Kingston's brother, she is vapid, needy, whiny, boring, inept, unskilled moron, whose only good quality is she is beautiful... thats it and we are supposed to think King is in love with her.....

Elissa is so much more than that... she is funny and pretty and smart and independant
she is friends with King and he includes her to help him keep his sniveling sister in law away from him... he is weak over her..the cow eyes and the lingering agonizing looks last the entire book and then walla she is cured and so is he as he is IN LOVE with Elissa...yeah...right.....

Kingston was a big and bold Texas cowboy but his coveting his sister in law whose character was as weak as she was stunning made him fall in perception...

SPOILERS

AFter he seduces ELissa the desperate one calls his brother is in in accident,,, so he without thought of the woman HE JUST SLEPT WITH (a virgin) and who is NOW wearing an engagement ring he walks away from.. NOT to see his brother but to hover over the weakest female I have ever read.... I hoped til the end they would reunite as he deserved the cowardly weakling he coveted and Elissa deserved a man who would NEVER ever be attracted to anyone like that hot sniveling mess.... good lord!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
609 reviews
February 22, 2013
It has been a long time since I've read anything by Diana Palmer and I had "Fit for a King" on my shelf, so I decided to give it a try. I really wish I hadn't. There was absolutely no character development, the plot was almost nonexistent, and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what the point of the book was except for some fairly graphic sexual content. I would not recommend this book to anyone and I'm not sure I'll pick another book up by this author. Two thumbs down!
Profile Image for Jena .
2,313 reviews2 followers
avoid
April 19, 2022
self note
the usual DP theme. Plain doormat h in pursuit of the H who's in love with the ow and always puts the ow above the h.
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