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Long, Tall Texans #13.5

Husbands On Horseback: Paper Husband / Bride in Waiting

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From the Outback of Australia to Texas we follow the stories of two irresistible men - ranchers used to wild living, men of whom legends are made. Now, finally, they're about to meet their match!

PAPER HUSBAND (13.5 or 15th in Long, Tall Texans series on her website) by Diana Palmer - Where is it written that a rancher's daughter has to marry a long, tall Texan - or lose the ranch? In her father's will - and Dana Mobry's just discovered that her partner in this marriage of convenience is none other than the sexiest cowboy in Texas - Hank Grant!

BRIDE IN WAITING by Margaret Way - One of the most influential and glamorous cattlemen of northern Australia, Blake Courtland seems way out of ordinary Carolyn Donovan's reach. She is under no illusions - Blake couldn't possibly want to make his aggravating neighbor his blushing bride.

187 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

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299 people want to read

About the author

Diana Palmer

1,038 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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5 stars
100 (31%)
4 stars
95 (30%)
3 stars
94 (30%)
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20 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Lu Bielefeld .
4,304 reviews637 followers
June 15, 2016
emotional cheating + OGRE+ Virgin heroine + marriage on paper + unplanned pregnancy + divorced hero who still loves ex-wife + ex-wife is a whore
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Husbands on Horseback: Paper Husband (Diana Palmer)
His wife had run out on him ten years before, and he'd never wanted to marry anyone else since the divorce.
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"I wanted my wife all the time, did I ever tell you? She taunted me and made me crazy to have her, so that I'd do anything for it. But I wasn't rich enough to suit her. My best friend hit it big in real estate and she was all over him like a duck on a bug. I don't think she ever looked back when she left me, but I didn't sleep for weeks, wanting her. I still want her, from time to time."
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"What makes you think you're such a prize, Hank? You're years too old for me in the first place, and in the second, what sane woman would want to marry a man who's still in love with his ex-wife?"
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"You little cheat," he accused. "You've had a crush on me for years, and I've tolerated it. It amused me. But this isn't funny. This is low and deceitful. I'd think more of you if you admitted that you put your father up to it."
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"It will be a pleasure not to have to rescue you from half a dozen disasters a day."
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"I don't want Betty to see how badly she hurt me, or how much I still want her. I might be tempted to try and break up her marriage, and that's not the sort of man I want to be."
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"An annulment will spare you any hint of scandal afterward," he continued. "You can get your degree and find someone to spend your life with. Or part of it," he added with a mocking smile. "I don't think anybody has illusions about marriage lasting until death these days."
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"Listen, honey, the streets are full of prime women, if I'm so inclined."
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The memory of Betty in his bed had tormented him ever since the divorce, despite the ecstasy Dana had given him that one night they'd had together.
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The years rolled away and he was hungry for this woman who'd teased him and then taken him over completely.
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With her husband watching, she reached up and kissed him full on the mouth, taking her time about it. She laughed softly when he didn't draw back. She could feel the tension in him, and it wasn't rejection. He hated having her know how he felt, but he couldn't resist the urge to kiss her back. He did, thoroughly. His skill must have surprised her, because
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He blinked. For the space of seconds he'd kissed his ex-wife, Dana had gone right out of his mind. He felt guilty.
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He felt trapped between two women, one whom he wanted to the point of madness and the other who'd discarded his heart and now seemed to want him again—despite her husband.
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"never would have married you in the first place except that I felt sorry for you."
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"And there's the way you feel about your ex-wife," she returned. He stared at her blithely. "Yes. There's Betty."
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Betty had walked in and taken him over, without a struggle.
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He still loved her. It was impossible not to know it. He might have enjoyed sleeping with Dana, but even so, he'd never shown any great...
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He sighed inwardly. Talk about throwing gold away in favor of gloss! Some men just didn't know their luck.
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He'd lived with her for two years, ached for her for ten more, and he'd never known the sort of person she really was until he became involved with Dana. Now he could see the real difference between the two women.
Profile Image for Aayesha.
337 reviews119 followers
October 29, 2012
Papers Husbands, 2 stars

This is probably the first time in my life I'm giving a book 2 stars because of the guy. He was an insensitive, unfeeling, senseless /jerk/. Lusting after another woman while his wife's in the next room, and even going as far as kissing her! I hated him for it.

Although he does sort of redeem himself in the end. I would have given it two stars if it wasn't for the way he grovels. I gleefully admit, I loved seeing him grovel.
Profile Image for Melany.
104 reviews
March 6, 2021
Esta edición contiene dos historias, yo solo he leí "Paper Husband" así que mi reseña solo va sobre este.

La premisa de este libro es bastante simple. El padre de Dana ha muerto, dejándola en muy mala situación económica y dejando una cláusula en su testamento que estipula que Dana debe casarse con su vecino para acceder a su herencia; pero Hank (el vecino) no quiere casarse porque sigue enamorado de su ex esposa.

Se ve bastante normal el argumento, pero en realidad no tiene sentido. En menos de cien páginas transcurre la historia haciendo que todo sea muy acelerado y poco creíble; hay escenas del tipo (cita textual del libro) :

"Ella estaba sentada en el campo, a plena luz del día, dejando que Hank viera sus pechos y le explicara lo que es el deseo. Todo era como un sueño hecho realidad "

Supongo que la escena pretendía ser erótica pero a mi al leerla me entró la risa. Porque no me resultó para nada creíble que esto pasara en el primer capítulo cuando, según Dana, hank nunca le había insinuado nada sexual en 7 años de conocerse y de repente un día de buenas a primeras le examine los pezones a plena luz del día. Deescribirlo aquí me da risa de nuevo.

Los personajes.
Dana, la protagonista descubrió sus sentimientos por Hank a los 17 años y nunca miró a otro hombre. Es una chica nada interesante, coincide en todo con Hank y es obediente a el. No hay más. Ah, y es rubia con ojos azules y figura esbelta con curvas ¡pero no es bonita
Profile Image for Elgyn.
3,067 reviews39 followers
September 8, 2017
Diana Palmer: Papírový manžel *****
s. 54 a použila svěřenecký fond, který jí věnovala matka, k zaplacení školného
Jaký fond?
s. 9 Když je před sedmi lety opustila matka, o všechno přišli
s. 10 než aby musela snášet lhostejnost a nezájem matky
s. 24 Jestli přijdu o ranč, požádám o stipendium a vrátím se zpátky do školy

Bob zemřel ve stejný den, kdy Dana opustila Hanka
s. 56 Uběhly dva týdny a o Hankovi neslyšela ani slovo
s. 60 „Tvůj manžel zemřel sotva před týdnem...“


Margaret Way: Čekání na lásku **1/2
s. 110 „Co to se mnou je, holčičko?“
Odpověď měla znít: „Jsi zadlužený opilec.“
Ale hrdinka byla hodná dcera, tak kolem tatíka v lihu skákala jako kvočna kolem kuřátka. A dobře věděla, kde je její místo:
s. 125 „Ale jsi pro mě moc bohatý a urozený, Blakeu.“ Až tak?
Celou knížku hrdinka skuhrá nad finanční situací své rodiny - farma chátrá, otec chlastá a dluží kdekomu. Po cyklonu, který napáchá škody na domě a farmě + nestihou sklidit celou úrodu manga, hrdinka na s. 130 utratila za svoje šaty několik set dolarů ? A týden po cyklonu „sbírala na zahradě zralá rajčata“?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
900 reviews2 followers
October 23, 2019
Another good story from Diana Palmer. I loved the characters, and storyline. The ending is a good one.
347 reviews
December 10, 2020
The First book by Diana Palmer was great. The second story by Margaret Way was a hard pass.
Profile Image for Adriana Fogaça.
560 reviews6 followers
July 8, 2013
Homens do Texas 15
Marido no Papel
Diana Palmer

Esses machistas, ogros mor, da Diana Palmer, sempre começam assim, propõem um casamento de conveniência, com tempo de validade e com divórcio em vista...

Mas o engraçado é que apesar do casamento de “mentira”, eles seduzem as mocinhas e enquanto o casamento durar eles querem aproveitar e levá-las pra cama.

Espertinhos!!!

O bom, que mesmo sem querer, eles se apaixonam, e acabam metendo os pés pelas mãos, e depois tem que correr contra o prejuízo, e tentar convencer as mocinhas, que eles, ogros, estão perdidamente apaixonados por elas, ou aqueles que tem medo de dizer a verdade tentam convencê-las que o melhor é elas ficarem com eles ou blá, blá, blá...

Normalmente fico com raiva desses machões, tenho vontade de matá-los, mas pra quem está acostumado a ler a DP, sabe no penúltimo ou último capítulo, as coisas começam a mudar e os ogros vêem a luz no fim do túnel, literalmente. Não foi diferente nesta estória.

Pra quem gosta dos romances da DP este livro é Recomendadíssimo!!!!!

ADORO!!!

RECOMENDADÍSSIMO!!!
Profile Image for amanda s..
3,115 reviews95 followers
December 25, 2013
I always enjoyed Diana Palmer's angst story. But I think this one is a bit ridiculous.

Hank (or Hayden) is simply mean and annoying. He made Dana's life pretty miserable and he disrespects her. I was hoping Dana gave him a hard time but as I predict, nope. She forgave him that easy.

But then again, it's Diana Palmer. I still enjoyed it. ;)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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