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Satan's Contract
"Your daughter can pay the debt for you in my bed . "
There was nothing Pippa could do to stop her parents from bartering with Shaun Morgan—using Pippa as the price. Shaun held all the he'd inherited the family fortune, and Pippa's father was in grave financial trouble. The only solution was if Pippa became Shaun's bride. Pippa's attraction to Shaun had turned to something deeper, but she knew he despised her and for him it could only be a marriage of convenience—though one of the utmost convenience, since Pippa was Shaun's surest means of getting his revenge....
There was nothing Pippa could do to stop her parents from bartering with Shaun Morgan—using Pippa as the price. Shaun held all the he'd inherited the family fortune, and Pippa's father was in grave financial trouble. The only solution was if Pippa became Shaun's bride. Pippa's attraction to Shaun had turned to something deeper, but she knew he despised her and for him it could only be a marriage of convenience—though one of the utmost convenience, since Pippa was Shaun's surest means of getting his revenge....
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 9, 1993
7 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Susanne McCarthy
94 books71 followersI'm a Londoner, though now I live in Devon, a twenty-minute walk from the sea. I love nothing more than walking my pretty Cavapoo on the beach in the rain (well, OK, I don't object to the sun, but when it's raining we usually have the whole beach to ourselves.)
Back in the day I had 25 novels published by Mills&Boon. After a long gap doing other things I found my love of writing again, and self-published three new novels.
But I knew that to reach more readers I needed an established publisher. Step in Joffe Books. They were top of my list so I was delighted when they accepted the first novel I sent them.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Back in the day I had 25 novels published by Mills&Boon. After a long gap doing other things I found my love of writing again, and self-published three new novels.
But I knew that to reach more readers I needed an established publisher. Step in Joffe Books. They were top of my list so I was delighted when they accepted the first novel I sent them.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 13, 2013
3.5 rounded up
Suspending belief is a must for this one, but that's part of the beauty. This is a wonderfully juicy, uber trainwreck that is so bad, it deserves to be on a list somewhere.
This one is about a bitter and brooding illegitimate son of his father's secretary who finds it hard to believe that the old lady his father was married to (the heroine's grandmother) wouldn't like it that her husband had an affair and had a child with his piece on the side. Granny was considered a cruel old bat for not wanting the father/step-grandfather supporting his hussy and her little b*stard nor wanted them to be a warm and cozy part of her family (Come on! You gotta see it from granny's point of view).
The heroine was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, courtesy of the rich step-grandfather, but was still a good Mary Sue who looked at her conniving parents with distain. When step-gramps died without leaving a will, the stepson (the heroine's father) is left in the cold (We'll forget that he didn't give two hoots that he left his beloved step-granddaughter out in the cold too), leaving the hero (the poor little illegitimate son) to inherit all.
Of course the father/stepson is an evil crook and has to be saved from prison. The only remedy is for the heroine to marry the bitter illegitimate son. She, of course, falls head over heels after the first scathing insult and inappropriate torn shirt-slash-boob grope, and it just get more fun from there.
There's pages upon pages of her reinforcing his negative view of her for pride's sake and him ripping her clothes, copping a feel and a nibble, and then leaving her panting unfulfilled until they can legitimately (heh!) do the deed. But as one would expect, when god and the law would be in their favor, it never happens...for six weeks...because she panicked (ripping her own clothes off this time while running, by the way), and he decided that pushing himself upon her now that they were legally married wasn't ok...not like it was when they were just battling strangers.
During that six week hiatus, he takes her ex-best friend out very publically, which leaves her singing, Somebody Bring Me Some Water (that's a Melissa Etheridge song if you didn't know.) The little skank had the kahunas to blow it off as no big deal, that she was sure the hero really loved heroine. Cheap little backstabbing whore. But I guess the heroine had it coming for stealing her man first.
At the end, a random kid with some kind of supernatural ability to recognize the heroic features of our hero picked him out of a crowd to "please come save Tommy, mister." The heroine shows her true colors (at last!) by putting herself at risk during the rescue, which then results in a lovefest and the hero taking her virginity in shower (how romantic, eh?) We are then "showered" (~snicker~) with assurances that the hero really was hot for her all along (those barbs and put-downs were a dead giveaway), and that he just didn't think wooing her would get the deed done. Ah, men.
So trainwreck lovers, eat it up.
Suspending belief is a must for this one, but that's part of the beauty. This is a wonderfully juicy, uber trainwreck that is so bad, it deserves to be on a list somewhere.
This one is about a bitter and brooding illegitimate son of his father's secretary who finds it hard to believe that the old lady his father was married to (the heroine's grandmother) wouldn't like it that her husband had an affair and had a child with his piece on the side. Granny was considered a cruel old bat for not wanting the father/step-grandfather supporting his hussy and her little b*stard nor wanted them to be a warm and cozy part of her family (Come on! You gotta see it from granny's point of view).
The heroine was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, courtesy of the rich step-grandfather, but was still a good Mary Sue who looked at her conniving parents with distain. When step-gramps died without leaving a will, the stepson (the heroine's father) is left in the cold (We'll forget that he didn't give two hoots that he left his beloved step-granddaughter out in the cold too), leaving the hero (the poor little illegitimate son) to inherit all.
Of course the father/stepson is an evil crook and has to be saved from prison. The only remedy is for the heroine to marry the bitter illegitimate son. She, of course, falls head over heels after the first scathing insult and inappropriate torn shirt-slash-boob grope, and it just get more fun from there.
There's pages upon pages of her reinforcing his negative view of her for pride's sake and him ripping her clothes, copping a feel and a nibble, and then leaving her panting unfulfilled until they can legitimately (heh!) do the deed. But as one would expect, when god and the law would be in their favor, it never happens...for six weeks...because she panicked (ripping her own clothes off this time while running, by the way), and he decided that pushing himself upon her now that they were legally married wasn't ok...not like it was when they were just battling strangers.
During that six week hiatus, he takes her ex-best friend out very publically, which leaves her singing, Somebody Bring Me Some Water (that's a Melissa Etheridge song if you didn't know.) The little skank had the kahunas to blow it off as no big deal, that she was sure the hero really loved heroine. Cheap little backstabbing whore. But I guess the heroine had it coming for stealing her man first.
At the end, a random kid with some kind of supernatural ability to recognize the heroic features of our hero picked him out of a crowd to "please come save Tommy, mister." The heroine shows her true colors (at last!) by putting herself at risk during the rescue, which then results in a lovefest and the hero taking her virginity in shower (how romantic, eh?) We are then "showered" (~snicker~) with assurances that the hero really was hot for her all along (those barbs and put-downs were a dead giveaway), and that he just didn't think wooing her would get the deed done. Ah, men.
So trainwreck lovers, eat it up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2018
Re Satan's Contract - Susanne McCarthy goes to an old standby-- Marriage by Blackmail trope in this one.
We get a Dudley Do Right former RCMP H gone to the bad, (or at least he tries really hard.) Plus an upper class, but pretty feisty and in tune with the commoners Saucy Minx h. Who is the delicious tangy morsel for our wanna be Snidely Whiplash multiple personality villain H to drool over and conveniently use as a handy verbal punching bag to vent his grumpy grumps for a miserable illegitimate Canadian childhood.
SMcC even throws in a horse or twenty, (who are all marvelous of course,) and manages to give H Dudley enough of Snidely's nasty persona to make this one a bit of a mind boggling H alien mind transplant/split personality HP voyage.
So the book opens with the h riding one of her family estate's beloved horses, the H shows up and the h thinks it is another greedy grabber for a share of her step grandfather's assets. The h despises her parents and her paternal grandmother, but really liked her step-grandfather, who was a very nice bloke, when he was in his right mind and all.
Step grandpa also built up a huge business conglomeration out of nothing, as you do when you are destined to be an HP industrialist to leave money for our H to inherit. Unfortunately step grandpa's choice of a wife was the snobby daughter of an Earl on the social scale - if her charm had equaled her Society Status, the marriage might have been a happy one.
Alas, it was not and step-grandpa got his kicks on the side, which included an illegitimate heir he did not pay a lot of child support for, cause Society Earl Daughter's wife threw a hissy fit. That is okay now tho, cause step grandpa is dead and the h's father, the Sewer Blobule Son of the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter is left out in the financial cold and gets nada.
Our Dudley Do Right H gets the lot! In true Snidely Whiplash fashion, he demands the h be his wife for Society Hostessing and Heir Bearing. Forcing her to pay the price for having the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter as a Grandmother and also cause Saucy Minx is breathing - otherwise Embezzling Daddy Dearest gets thrown into the streets.
Our Saucy Minx h is like, "Look Snidely Do Right, throw Alkie Mum and Criminal Dad in the gutter, I don't care - but can you please pay back all the poor common people that Slime Swiller Dad stole money from and I will marry you?" DDR H is okay with that,.
But he will be BRUTAL in having dinner parties and there will be angry Lurve Club Boudoir Bouncing Moments too!
Except, Saucy Minx h is still petting unicorns and tho Snidely Do Right makes some Lurve Force Mojo moves, he is still too much Dudley Do Right to actually carry thru on the threat on the tepid honeymoon, cause Saucy Minx cries.
So everyone is just going to have to flirt with the local lad and lass potential OM and OW, (who are having a break on their own relationship,) and make glarey faces across the Country Club at each other as they both dine out with their jealousy inducing partners.
The Snidely personality takes a fugue state for a bit and Dudley Do Right emerges supreme! Dudley's pretend moves on the OW make the OM angry and he throws a punch! Dudley hits back and the OM goes down!
Our Saucy Minx and the OW are horrified and the OW can't wait to throw herself back into her OM's arms and call it quits on relationship break time. We leave the OM and OW avowing true love in the flower shop and the h figures it is time to call a truce.
Snidely Do Right has been transforming himself into the Gordon Gekko of the City and the h figures her multinational language skillz can help him make some deals. The H agrees to let the h help with interpreting some international businessman in the next negotiation meeting.
Everything goes great and the building site visit goes as planned and Snidely and Saucy Minx are working as team to grow the family empire. Then Another Disaster Strikes!
OH NOES! Tommy has fallen down a mine shaft!
It is Dudley and Saucy to the RESCUE! Dudley holds the rope, while Saucy gets in on the character switch and does her best Lassie impersonation to go sit with Tommie in the well, er mine shaft. She patiently waits and pets Tommie's hair until proper rescue equipment comes.
Dudley finally manages to strangle Snidely in his fugue moment and personality integrated at last, Dudley declares his true love forever for Saucy Minx/Lassie. Really he only blackmailed her and tart shamed her cause Snidely was ascendant and he was afraid of rejection, so Snidely was just trying to win our Saucy Minx any way he could, he just couldn't help himself.
But Dudley Do Right Wins the Day and Saucy Minx is ready to prove her love back. We leave them enjoying the aftermath of a nice little journey to the Golden Shores of Transcendent Purple Mojo Bliss and I can finally put a pillow under my posterior, after I got done falling out of my chair laughing at this Dudley Do Right takes on Saucy Minx HPlandia Outing.
We get a Dudley Do Right former RCMP H gone to the bad, (or at least he tries really hard.) Plus an upper class, but pretty feisty and in tune with the commoners Saucy Minx h. Who is the delicious tangy morsel for our wanna be Snidely Whiplash multiple personality villain H to drool over and conveniently use as a handy verbal punching bag to vent his grumpy grumps for a miserable illegitimate Canadian childhood.
SMcC even throws in a horse or twenty, (who are all marvelous of course,) and manages to give H Dudley enough of Snidely's nasty persona to make this one a bit of a mind boggling H alien mind transplant/split personality HP voyage.
So the book opens with the h riding one of her family estate's beloved horses, the H shows up and the h thinks it is another greedy grabber for a share of her step grandfather's assets. The h despises her parents and her paternal grandmother, but really liked her step-grandfather, who was a very nice bloke, when he was in his right mind and all.
Step grandpa also built up a huge business conglomeration out of nothing, as you do when you are destined to be an HP industrialist to leave money for our H to inherit. Unfortunately step grandpa's choice of a wife was the snobby daughter of an Earl on the social scale - if her charm had equaled her Society Status, the marriage might have been a happy one.
Alas, it was not and step-grandpa got his kicks on the side, which included an illegitimate heir he did not pay a lot of child support for, cause Society Earl Daughter's wife threw a hissy fit. That is okay now tho, cause step grandpa is dead and the h's father, the Sewer Blobule Son of the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter is left out in the financial cold and gets nada.
Our Dudley Do Right H gets the lot! In true Snidely Whiplash fashion, he demands the h be his wife for Society Hostessing and Heir Bearing. Forcing her to pay the price for having the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter as a Grandmother and also cause Saucy Minx is breathing - otherwise Embezzling Daddy Dearest gets thrown into the streets.
Our Saucy Minx h is like, "Look Snidely Do Right, throw Alkie Mum and Criminal Dad in the gutter, I don't care - but can you please pay back all the poor common people that Slime Swiller Dad stole money from and I will marry you?" DDR H is okay with that,.
But he will be BRUTAL in having dinner parties and there will be angry Lurve Club Boudoir Bouncing Moments too!
Except, Saucy Minx h is still petting unicorns and tho Snidely Do Right makes some Lurve Force Mojo moves, he is still too much Dudley Do Right to actually carry thru on the threat on the tepid honeymoon, cause Saucy Minx cries.
So everyone is just going to have to flirt with the local lad and lass potential OM and OW, (who are having a break on their own relationship,) and make glarey faces across the Country Club at each other as they both dine out with their jealousy inducing partners.
The Snidely personality takes a fugue state for a bit and Dudley Do Right emerges supreme! Dudley's pretend moves on the OW make the OM angry and he throws a punch! Dudley hits back and the OM goes down!
Our Saucy Minx and the OW are horrified and the OW can't wait to throw herself back into her OM's arms and call it quits on relationship break time. We leave the OM and OW avowing true love in the flower shop and the h figures it is time to call a truce.
Snidely Do Right has been transforming himself into the Gordon Gekko of the City and the h figures her multinational language skillz can help him make some deals. The H agrees to let the h help with interpreting some international businessman in the next negotiation meeting.
Everything goes great and the building site visit goes as planned and Snidely and Saucy Minx are working as team to grow the family empire. Then Another Disaster Strikes!
OH NOES! Tommy has fallen down a mine shaft!
It is Dudley and Saucy to the RESCUE! Dudley holds the rope, while Saucy gets in on the character switch and does her best Lassie impersonation to go sit with Tommie in the well, er mine shaft. She patiently waits and pets Tommie's hair until proper rescue equipment comes.
Dudley finally manages to strangle Snidely in his fugue moment and personality integrated at last, Dudley declares his true love forever for Saucy Minx/Lassie. Really he only blackmailed her and tart shamed her cause Snidely was ascendant and he was afraid of rejection, so Snidely was just trying to win our Saucy Minx any way he could, he just couldn't help himself.
But Dudley Do Right Wins the Day and Saucy Minx is ready to prove her love back. We leave them enjoying the aftermath of a nice little journey to the Golden Shores of Transcendent Purple Mojo Bliss and I can finally put a pillow under my posterior, after I got done falling out of my chair laughing at this Dudley Do Right takes on Saucy Minx HPlandia Outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2016
A forced marriage/revenge story that should have worked for me, but really didn't. Canadian RCMP H is the illegitimate son of the heroine's step-grandfather and he inherits the English estate the hot tempered heroine lives in along with her greedy snob of a father and alcoholic mother.
The problem I had with the story was the hero concocts this revenge on the fly. He hadn't even known he inherited until he showed up for his father's funeral. He's obviously attracted to the heroine, so his "revenge" of marrying her to settle the family score doesn't really ring true. His father was in no way blameless, but he says the heroine's grandmother, his father's wife was the cause of his unhappiness as a child. And since the heroine looks like her, she should pay. In reality his father was an adulterer who used his wife as an excuse to pay minimal child support.
Even the author seems to realize that is pretty flimsy, so she ups the ante with the hero finding out the heroine's father was making illegal investments and now has no money to pay up. He thinks he has a bit more leverage, but the joke's on him. The heroine hates her parents (she is awful to them) and only agrees to the forced marriage because she wants those investors paid back (and she thinks she's in love with the hero).
I have no idea why she's in love with this hero. He berates her for everything- driving, horseback riding, having any kind of response to his kisses. Along with the slut shaming, he calls her a "hornet" because of her bad temper. He doesn't forcibly have sex with her, and stops when she cries, so that's good, I guess?
There's a flimsy OM and OW subplot. And once those two crazy kids find each other, it wraps up quickly after - I'm not kidding - they rescue Timmy from an old well. You can take the boy out of the RCMP, but you can't take the RCMP out of the boy - or something. The idea you can go from being a cop to being a business tycoon meeting with foreign investors - well, the mind boggles.
The problem I had with the story was the hero concocts this revenge on the fly. He hadn't even known he inherited until he showed up for his father's funeral. He's obviously attracted to the heroine, so his "revenge" of marrying her to settle the family score doesn't really ring true. His father was in no way blameless, but he says the heroine's grandmother, his father's wife was the cause of his unhappiness as a child. And since the heroine looks like her, she should pay. In reality his father was an adulterer who used his wife as an excuse to pay minimal child support.
Even the author seems to realize that is pretty flimsy, so she ups the ante with the hero finding out the heroine's father was making illegal investments and now has no money to pay up. He thinks he has a bit more leverage, but the joke's on him. The heroine hates her parents (she is awful to them) and only agrees to the forced marriage because she wants those investors paid back (and she thinks she's in love with the hero).
I have no idea why she's in love with this hero. He berates her for everything- driving, horseback riding, having any kind of response to his kisses. Along with the slut shaming, he calls her a "hornet" because of her bad temper. He doesn't forcibly have sex with her, and stops when she cries, so that's good, I guess?
There's a flimsy OM and OW subplot. And once those two crazy kids find each other, it wraps up quickly after - I'm not kidding - they rescue Timmy from an old well. You can take the boy out of the RCMP, but you can't take the RCMP out of the boy - or something. The idea you can go from being a cop to being a business tycoon meeting with foreign investors - well, the mind boggles.
July 26, 2020
"Satan's Contract" is the story Pippa and Shaun.
An age old HQN plot of the heroine's rich and snooty family going destitute, her unscrupulous parents being money hungry and uncaring, a distant non-blood relative swooping in and inheriting everything and later demanding the heroine as his comeuppance. He also thinks of her as slutty and walks in on every wrong moment throughout the book, while she's very much in love yet behaves in an arrogant manner. The saving grace was the super sexy lovemaking scenes, but I think I could have done with a longer confession/ HEA.
Safe
2.5/5
An age old HQN plot of the heroine's rich and snooty family going destitute, her unscrupulous parents being money hungry and uncaring, a distant non-blood relative swooping in and inheriting everything and later demanding the heroine as his comeuppance. He also thinks of her as slutty and walks in on every wrong moment throughout the book, while she's very much in love yet behaves in an arrogant manner. The saving grace was the super sexy lovemaking scenes, but I think I could have done with a longer confession/ HEA.
Safe
2.5/5
May 24, 2017
It started out so, so promising. Despite being more prickly than she should with the H, the heroine was pretty sassy. Who doesn't love a heroine that rolls her eyes at her mother. I think that's a first in HarleyLand. Not only does she roll her eyes at her mother over her drinking and idiotic views, she blatantly calls out her conniving father as a conniving, soulless bastard.
Premise: The heroine's step-grandfather is the H's father. H left for Canada with his mother as supposedly his father's snooty wife would not allow him to be acknowledged. Too bad the heroine is the spitting image of her hateful grandmother. The H is back as although the bastard son, he still has rights to the estate and business over the h's father who was a mere stepson. The h's parents are pretty horrible, and shockingly she has no problem in conveying that to her parents.
A mediocre revenge plot over being born the bastard you would think the revenge would be directed toward the father who was never really there. But nope.
The couple do nothing but snap and sneer, not even good banter, before and after their MOC.
Really a sad waste of a snarky heroine and an awesome title.
Premise: The heroine's step-grandfather is the H's father. H left for Canada with his mother as supposedly his father's snooty wife would not allow him to be acknowledged. Too bad the heroine is the spitting image of her hateful grandmother. The H is back as although the bastard son, he still has rights to the estate and business over the h's father who was a mere stepson. The h's parents are pretty horrible, and shockingly she has no problem in conveying that to her parents.
A mediocre revenge plot over being born the bastard you would think the revenge would be directed toward the father who was never really there. But nope.
The couple do nothing but snap and sneer, not even good banter, before and after their MOC.
Really a sad waste of a snarky heroine and an awesome title.
December 28, 2023
Downgrading this one from 3.5 stars to 2.5 stars. Both H and h left a lot to be desired. Since this has a Canadian Mounty backdrop, I couldn't help thinking of Dudley Do-Right's "I'm here to save the day" . LOL!
__________________________________
One of those angst HP reads where the daughter is made to pay for the sins of the family. This one seemed to have a lighter touch than most, with a pretty balanced hero who though smitten with the heroine, has enough sanity to rein in his baser instincts and avoid any sexual pitfalls.
More like 3.5 stars
__________________________________
One of those angst HP reads where the daughter is made to pay for the sins of the family. This one seemed to have a lighter touch than most, with a pretty balanced hero who though smitten with the heroine, has enough sanity to rein in his baser instincts and avoid any sexual pitfalls.
More like 3.5 stars
October 18, 2017
How to get a wife 101 - Blackmail.
Fun oldie. I did enjoy how the heroine knew her parents weren't really worth saving but she married the hero to save some people who invested unwisely at her father's instigation plus she wanted the hero so why not fall for his wonky blackmail plot? He was the typical hero who leapt to crazy conclusions about the heroine's personality with not one concrete reason. So yeah typical looney tunes HP hero. But I'm not reading these books for the "true to life" stories am I?
Fun oldie. I did enjoy how the heroine knew her parents weren't really worth saving but she married the hero to save some people who invested unwisely at her father's instigation plus she wanted the hero so why not fall for his wonky blackmail plot? He was the typical hero who leapt to crazy conclusions about the heroine's personality with not one concrete reason. So yeah typical looney tunes HP hero. But I'm not reading these books for the "true to life" stories am I?
September 30, 2015
Hero marries heroine for revenge she accepts to save her family. Angsty MOC story with lovable characters!
June 13, 2018
Re Satan's Contract - Susanne McCarthy goes to an old standby-- Marriage by Blackmail trope in this one.
We get a Dudley Do Right former RCMP H gone to the bad, (or at least he tries really hard.) Plus an upper class, but pretty feisty and in tune with the commoners Saucy Minx h. Who is the delicious tangy morsel for our wanna be Snidely Whiplash multiple personality villain H to drool over and conveniently use as a handy verbal punching bag to vent his grumpy grumps for a miserable illegitimate Canadian childhood.
SMcC even throws in a horse or twenty, (who are all marvelous of course,) and manages to give H Dudley enough of Snidely's nasty persona to make this one a bit of a mind boggling H alien mind transplant/split personality HP voyage.
So the book opens with the h riding one of her family estate's beloved horses, the H shows up and the h thinks it is another greedy grabber for a share of her step grandfather's assets. The h despises her parents and her paternal grandmother, but really liked her step-grandfather, who was a very nice bloke, when he was in his right mind and all.
Step grandpa also built up a huge business conglomeration out of nothing, as you do when you are destined to be an HP industrialist to leave money for our H to inherit. Unfortunately step grandpa's choice of a wife was the snobby daughter of an Earl on the social scale - if her charm had equaled her Society Status, the marriage might have been a happy one.
Alas, it was not and step-grandpa got his kicks on the side, which included an illegitimate heir he did not pay a lot of child support for, cause Society Earl Daughter's wife threw a hissy fit. That is okay now tho, cause step grandpa is dead and the h's father, the Sewer Blobule Son of the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter is left out in the financial cold and gets nada.
Our Dudley Do Right H gets the lot! In true Snidely Whiplash fashion, he demands the h be his wife for Society Hostessing and Heir Bearing. Forcing her to pay the price for having the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter as a Grandmother and also cause Saucy Minx is breathing - otherwise Embezzling Daddy Dearest gets thrown into the streets.
Our Saucy Minx h is like, "Look Snidely Do Right, throw Alkie Mum and Criminal Dad in the gutter, I don't care - but can you please pay back all the poor common people that Slime Swiller Dad stole money from and I will marry you?" DDR H is okay with that,.
But he will be BRUTAL in having dinner parties and there will be angry Lurve Club Boudoir Bouncing Moments too!
Except, Saucy Minx h is still petting unicorns and tho Snidely Do Right makes some Lurve Force Mojo moves, he is still too much Dudley Do Right to actually carry thru on the threat on the tepid honeymoon, cause Saucy Minx cries.
So everyone is just going to have to flirt with the local lad and lass potential OM and OW, (who are having a break on their own relationship,) and make glarey faces across the Country Club at each other as they both dine out with their jealousy inducing partners.
The Snidely personality takes a fugue state for a bit and Dudley Do Right emerges supreme! Dudley's pretend moves on the OW make the OM angry and he throws a punch! Dudley hits back and the OM goes down!
Our Saucy Minx and the OW are horrified and the OW can't wait to throw herself back into her OM's arms and call it quits on relationship break time. We leave the OM and OW avowing true love in the flower shop and the h figures it is time to call a truce.
Snidely Do Right has been transforming himself into the Gordon Gekko of the City and the h figures her multinational language skillz can help him make some deals. The H agrees to let the h help with interpreting some international businessman in the next negotiation meeting.
Everything goes great and the building site visit goes as planned and Snidely and Saucy Minx are working as team to grow the family empire. Then Another Disaster Strikes!
OH NOES! Tommy has fallen down a mine shaft!
It is Dudley and Saucy to the RESCUE! Dudley holds the rope, while Saucy gets in on the character switch and does her best Lassie impersonation to go sit with Tommie in the well, er mine shaft. She patiently waits and pets Tommie's hair until proper rescue equipment comes.
Dudley finally manages to strangle Snidely in his fugue moment and personality integrated at last, Dudley declares his true love forever for Saucy Minx/Lassie. Really he only blackmailed her and tart shamed her cause Snidely was ascendant and he was afraid of rejection, so Snidely was just trying to win our Saucy Minx any way he could, he just couldn't help himself.
But Dudley Do Right Wins the Day and Saucy Minx is ready to prove her love back. We leave them enjoying the aftermath of a nice little journey to the Golden Shores of Transcendent Purple Mojo Bliss and I can finally put a pillow under my posterior, after I got done falling out of my chair laughing at this Dudley Do Right takes on Saucy Minx HPlandia Outing.
We get a Dudley Do Right former RCMP H gone to the bad, (or at least he tries really hard.) Plus an upper class, but pretty feisty and in tune with the commoners Saucy Minx h. Who is the delicious tangy morsel for our wanna be Snidely Whiplash multiple personality villain H to drool over and conveniently use as a handy verbal punching bag to vent his grumpy grumps for a miserable illegitimate Canadian childhood.
SMcC even throws in a horse or twenty, (who are all marvelous of course,) and manages to give H Dudley enough of Snidely's nasty persona to make this one a bit of a mind boggling H alien mind transplant/split personality HP voyage.
So the book opens with the h riding one of her family estate's beloved horses, the H shows up and the h thinks it is another greedy grabber for a share of her step grandfather's assets. The h despises her parents and her paternal grandmother, but really liked her step-grandfather, who was a very nice bloke, when he was in his right mind and all.
Step grandpa also built up a huge business conglomeration out of nothing, as you do when you are destined to be an HP industrialist to leave money for our H to inherit. Unfortunately step grandpa's choice of a wife was the snobby daughter of an Earl on the social scale - if her charm had equaled her Society Status, the marriage might have been a happy one.
Alas, it was not and step-grandpa got his kicks on the side, which included an illegitimate heir he did not pay a lot of child support for, cause Society Earl Daughter's wife threw a hissy fit. That is okay now tho, cause step grandpa is dead and the h's father, the Sewer Blobule Son of the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter is left out in the financial cold and gets nada.
Our Dudley Do Right H gets the lot! In true Snidely Whiplash fashion, he demands the h be his wife for Society Hostessing and Heir Bearing. Forcing her to pay the price for having the Snobby Society Earl's Daughter as a Grandmother and also cause Saucy Minx is breathing - otherwise Embezzling Daddy Dearest gets thrown into the streets.
Our Saucy Minx h is like, "Look Snidely Do Right, throw Alkie Mum and Criminal Dad in the gutter, I don't care - but can you please pay back all the poor common people that Slime Swiller Dad stole money from and I will marry you?" DDR H is okay with that,.
But he will be BRUTAL in having dinner parties and there will be angry Lurve Club Boudoir Bouncing Moments too!
Except, Saucy Minx h is still petting unicorns and tho Snidely Do Right makes some Lurve Force Mojo moves, he is still too much Dudley Do Right to actually carry thru on the threat on the tepid honeymoon, cause Saucy Minx cries.
So everyone is just going to have to flirt with the local lad and lass potential OM and OW, (who are having a break on their own relationship,) and make glarey faces across the Country Club at each other as they both dine out with their jealousy inducing partners.
The Snidely personality takes a fugue state for a bit and Dudley Do Right emerges supreme! Dudley's pretend moves on the OW make the OM angry and he throws a punch! Dudley hits back and the OM goes down!
Our Saucy Minx and the OW are horrified and the OW can't wait to throw herself back into her OM's arms and call it quits on relationship break time. We leave the OM and OW avowing true love in the flower shop and the h figures it is time to call a truce.
Snidely Do Right has been transforming himself into the Gordon Gekko of the City and the h figures her multinational language skillz can help him make some deals. The H agrees to let the h help with interpreting some international businessman in the next negotiation meeting.
Everything goes great and the building site visit goes as planned and Snidely and Saucy Minx are working as team to grow the family empire. Then Another Disaster Strikes!
OH NOES! Tommy has fallen down a mine shaft!
It is Dudley and Saucy to the RESCUE! Dudley holds the rope, while Saucy gets in on the character switch and does her best Lassie impersonation to go sit with Tommie in the well, er mine shaft. She patiently waits and pets Tommie's hair until proper rescue equipment comes.
Dudley finally manages to strangle Snidely in his fugue moment and personality integrated at last, Dudley declares his true love forever for Saucy Minx/Lassie. Really he only blackmailed her and tart shamed her cause Snidely was ascendant and he was afraid of rejection, so Snidely was just trying to win our Saucy Minx any way he could, he just couldn't help himself.
But Dudley Do Right Wins the Day and Saucy Minx is ready to prove her love back. We leave them enjoying the aftermath of a nice little journey to the Golden Shores of Transcendent Purple Mojo Bliss and I can finally put a pillow under my posterior, after I got done falling out of my chair laughing at this Dudley Do Right takes on Saucy Minx HPlandia Outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2013
This was a lot less crazy than I was expecting -- I'd say just crazy enough. It's a fairly typical plot: upper crust Pippa is blackmailed into marriage by the new heir to her family fortune, Shaun. Of course he thinks she's a mercenary slutty snob and of course she encourages him to think that.
It's not totally cookie-cutter though. I get very fed up with characters who sacrifice themselves for their loathsome family, so I enjoyed the fact that Pippa knows her parents are loathsome and would happily let them stew in their own juices. She agrees to marry Shaun partially because she feels guilty about all the people her father scammed and partially because she's really hot for him and knows it.
The prose gets repetitious in place, but mostly this was a lot of fun, if you enjoy the vicious caveman sort of romance hero who's really a marshmallow at heart. Some good steam too -- literally, by the last scene.
It's not totally cookie-cutter though. I get very fed up with characters who sacrifice themselves for their loathsome family, so I enjoyed the fact that Pippa knows her parents are loathsome and would happily let them stew in their own juices. She agrees to marry Shaun partially because she feels guilty about all the people her father scammed and partially because she's really hot for him and knows it.
The prose gets repetitious in place, but mostly this was a lot of fun, if you enjoy the vicious caveman sort of romance hero who's really a marshmallow at heart. Some good steam too -- literally, by the last scene.
April 21, 2014
Satan's Contract?
I hate when a title is misleading. Of course, I have only myself to blame. There were some good reviews that would have let me know Satan was not in the building. It seemed like he was. The H was promising all sorts of sexy vengeance. Here's what Shaun says to Pippa's snooty, POS father:
"Your daughter can pay the debt for you - in my bed. And every time I make her pay,' he purred, his voice pure evil, 'it'll be as if I'm doing it to you."
Ouch, right? Well, IMHO it all fell apart on the wedding night. To be fair I was in the mood for one of those trainwreck, WTF?!, vengeance HPs. That's sorta what I read them for. Something short and crazy I can get in before bedtime. I wanted the H to be a real bastard (to a point) and then have to CRAWL when he's proven to be wrong, wrong, wrong, etc. Yes, I have issues.
Here's where I wished it had gone differently. Others will not agree. It's definitely all in what you want out of these series romances (and possibly what mood you're in).
I hate when a title is misleading. Of course, I have only myself to blame. There were some good reviews that would have let me know Satan was not in the building. It seemed like he was. The H was promising all sorts of sexy vengeance. Here's what Shaun says to Pippa's snooty, POS father:
"Your daughter can pay the debt for you - in my bed. And every time I make her pay,' he purred, his voice pure evil, 'it'll be as if I'm doing it to you."
Ouch, right? Well, IMHO it all fell apart on the wedding night. To be fair I was in the mood for one of those trainwreck, WTF?!, vengeance HPs. That's sorta what I read them for. Something short and crazy I can get in before bedtime. I wanted the H to be a real bastard (to a point) and then have to CRAWL when he's proven to be wrong, wrong, wrong, etc. Yes, I have issues.
Here's where I wished it had gone differently. Others will not agree. It's definitely all in what you want out of these series romances (and possibly what mood you're in).
July 26, 2020
3.5 stars
February 17, 2022
Close to good but didn't make it. We are watching, not experiencing the romance and it just doesn't cut it, doesn't feel real. So he's been snarky and nasty and seduce-y and all that but in reality he loves her??? Yes? Doesn't work for me.
Reread 18 months later by accident. Much better second time around. Still don’t see when he falls in love but if you accept that then it’s an enjoyable romance with good denouement.
I do love the old "Timmy fell down the well" plots, although here it's Tommy, not Timmy and a sewer shaft, not a well and a couple of kids substitute for Lassie. Other than that, it's Lassie and Timmy down the well all over again!
Reread 18 months later by accident. Much better second time around. Still don’t see when he falls in love but if you accept that then it’s an enjoyable romance with good denouement.
I do love the old "Timmy fell down the well" plots, although here it's Tommy, not Timmy and a sewer shaft, not a well and a couple of kids substitute for Lassie. Other than that, it's Lassie and Timmy down the well all over again!
Read
April 25, 2023“You’ve been like a bitch on heat from the first moment I met you.”
He’s never nice to her. He keeps slut-shaming and accusing her.
I got tired of him. DNF.
He’s never nice to her. He keeps slut-shaming and accusing her.
I got tired of him. DNF.
February 19, 2013
4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this one -- very angsty, yet the characters were more normal and likable than usual. Only downsides for me were that the hero was dating, or appeared to be dating the heroine's friend -- I prefer all hero attention to be on the heroine, and I'd rather have dramatic tension from his negative attention/fighting w/the heroine rather than from wondering whether he likes another woman. Also, it would have been nice to have one pre-resolution sex scene -- those can be nice and gut-punchy, especially when the hero says something mean afterward. :-) Mostly though, I thought this was a great romance! I'm going to search out more books by this author.
December 6, 2018
uhhhh sure, whatever. In the middle of the story, the heroine decides she loves the 'hero'.....when he has been nothing but terrible to her, I should have stopped there. There was no actual reason for the marriage, the excuses used were very flimsy. We have a random ass resue that brings them together? Just choppy and poorly executed.
September 28, 2013
Read it and forgot to rate it.
June 29, 2020
Děj je chatrný.
s. 24 „...aby mému otci znemožnila postarat se o mou matku. Musela se až do smrti protloukat se svou malou penzí.“
Že jí teda synek nepomohl.
s. 17 „Á, o tu se postaral až moc dobře. Zajistil ji do konce života,“
s. 104 Potom se farář se stejnou otázkou obrátil na ni.
Takže se jí zeptal, jestli „si bere zde přítomnost Philippu Corbettovou za svou právoplatnou manželku“?
uvozovky - s. 31, 84
ji/jí - s. 27, 41
s. 24 „...aby mému otci znemožnila postarat se o mou matku. Musela se až do smrti protloukat se svou malou penzí.“
Že jí teda synek nepomohl.
s. 17 „Á, o tu se postaral až moc dobře. Zajistil ji do konce života,“
s. 104 Potom se farář se stejnou otázkou obrátil na ni.
Takže se jí zeptal, jestli „si bere zde přítomnost Philippu Corbettovou za svou právoplatnou manželku“?
uvozovky - s. 31, 84
ji/jí - s. 27, 41
July 13, 2018
Like the characters, scenery, interactions and dialog, which is quite plausible within the story's context. Very interesting. I found myself thinking about the story and characters when I was not even reading the book.
December 19, 2020
Book Review
A good book to read! Really enjoyed it! The storyline was strong, and moved along at a good pace. The author is good at what she does
A good book to read! Really enjoyed it! The storyline was strong, and moved along at a good pace. The author is good at what she does
Want to Read
March 10, 2021Όρκος εκδίκησης - Susanne McCarthy, Χρυσά, 705
October 24, 2022
Een duivels contract
August 12, 2024
Bloody miserable all round with a petty, immature, jealous heroine and a sneering, nasty, hateful hero. They spend the whole book bitching each other out and being horrible twats.
February 17, 2026
这本书在我看来很精彩，完全不理解评分为何会相对其他romance来说偏低！由于全文都是女主视角，最初我还以为这是又一个渣男复仇虐女主的狗血故事，但结局给了人一个超大惊喜，男主成功地把女主和读者都骗了🤣太短了，没看够，不过这样一个故事架构确实适合短篇。
April 22, 2018
"Misunderstanding" is my cup of tea, but this one doesn't get to me. The combination of insta-love, huge age gap, and misunderstanding in this book is not well executed. I couldn't feel their love or development whatsoever. Too bad, because I love the initial idea.
May 13, 2014
this is so old fashioned... new rich vs old rich ...aristocracy and all that..think the author had an issue with class... it was so cliche... with the term hooray henrys and bright pretty young things... and then there is the heroine who doesnt think of herself as a spoilt snob but sure does come across as one... I found it hard to like her at all.... didnt believe in her either...
the hero was a stereotypical american who came across and brash... who forces himself on the heroine at every opportunity...
he has cause to hate her as she is condascending so he goes and forces her to marry him.... for 'revenge'?!
there was no vengence... it was like dull... thr
I dont get it!
the rest of the book was just meh... the ending was out of nowhere and made no sense...
at all...
im confused.. but it whiled away 2 hours... but I still dont get it
the hero was a stereotypical american who came across and brash... who forces himself on the heroine at every opportunity...
he has cause to hate her as she is condascending so he goes and forces her to marry him.... for 'revenge'?!
there was no vengence... it was like dull... thr
I dont get it!
the rest of the book was just meh... the ending was out of nowhere and made no sense...
at all...
im confused.. but it whiled away 2 hours... but I still dont get it
October 24, 2016
I'm not even going to lie. Pippa was straight crazy!
Like tell you go to hell and then see you talking to another woman and start crying because she's jealous crazy...hahaha!
I laughed and screamed at her passive aggressiveness and all the heated clinches.
Shaun was a classic HQ hero that is sexually obsessed with the heroine but unable to forgive himself for it. He treaded the thin line between douchebag and misunderstood character a few times.
I was actually a little befuddled by Pippa's equal parts hatred of her very flawed parents and dependence on their largesse. Like if you think their such scumbags...move out the house and let the horses go.
This is why you read vintage HQN for this kind of nonsense. Enjoy <3
Like tell you go to hell and then see you talking to another woman and start crying because she's jealous crazy...hahaha!
I laughed and screamed at her passive aggressiveness and all the heated clinches.
Shaun was a classic HQ hero that is sexually obsessed with the heroine but unable to forgive himself for it. He treaded the thin line between douchebag and misunderstood character a few times.
I was actually a little befuddled by Pippa's equal parts hatred of her very flawed parents and dependence on their largesse. Like if you think their such scumbags...move out the house and let the horses go.
This is why you read vintage HQN for this kind of nonsense. Enjoy <3
December 8, 2013
gud one ! shaun was actually besotted from the 1st but did not show it. he cud have been a lil nicer, he was cruel 2 her. his indifference annoyed me 2 death n the way he wud not lose control; i mean kiss pippa madly n then let her go. each time, he wud do it 2 show her she cud not resist yet he cud. on the wedding night, he treated her like a slut ! no wonder she withdrew in the end. she did not want him 2 possess her. he had gud reason 2 hate her. she was not very nice 2him on dat 1st day n from then, she did her best 2 give a bad impression. naughty girl !
April 23, 2021
Your daughter can pay the debt for you in my bed . "
There was nothing Pippa could do to stop her parents from bartering with Shaun Morgan—using Pippa as the price. Shaun held all the aces: he'd inherited the family fortune, and Pippa's father was in grave financial trouble. The only solution was if Pippa became Shaun's bride. Pippa's attraction to Shaun had turned to something deeper, but she knew he despised her and for him it could only be a marriage of convenience—though one of the utmost convenience, since Pippa was Shaun's surest means of getting his revenge.
There was nothing Pippa could do to stop her parents from bartering with Shaun Morgan—using Pippa as the price. Shaun held all the aces: he'd inherited the family fortune, and Pippa's father was in grave financial trouble. The only solution was if Pippa became Shaun's bride. Pippa's attraction to Shaun had turned to something deeper, but she knew he despised her and for him it could only be a marriage of convenience—though one of the utmost convenience, since Pippa was Shaun's surest means of getting his revenge.
August 31, 2023
Promising start but lost a bit of oomph.
Edited for reread. Unintentional reread.
I really liked the H, Shaun, and the misunderstood haughty h Pippa grew on me. I only realized I'd read it before on chapter 2 when the h was carousing in the country club with hooray Henrys. Sometimes I worry about my old brain. I did remember the Canadian best man and the non consummation in Rome so all is not lost. Anyway, 3-3.5 for all the punishing kisses.
Edited for reread. Unintentional reread.
I really liked the H, Shaun, and the misunderstood haughty h Pippa grew on me. I only realized I'd read it before on chapter 2 when the h was carousing in the country club with hooray Henrys. Sometimes I worry about my old brain. I did remember the Canadian best man and the non consummation in Rome so all is not lost. Anyway, 3-3.5 for all the punishing kisses.
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