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A Time to Dream
Wanted: Prince Charming for damsel in distress
Melanie was in distress all right! But the last thing she wanted was a prince--or any man for that matter--to come riding to her rescue. She'd had it with the opposite sex--she wanted only to disappear, to retreat to a peaceful haven to mend her broken heart. Until she met Luke Chalmers, whose sensual intrusion in her life was anything but peaceful.
His stolen kisses left her flustered, and his rakish grin sent her heart racing. But a disastrous engagement to a man who had deceived her left Melanie unwilling to trust another man, any man, so quickly. Especially one who left so many questions about himself unanswered ...
Melanie was in distress all right! But the last thing she wanted was a prince--or any man for that matter--to come riding to her rescue. She'd had it with the opposite sex--she wanted only to disappear, to retreat to a peaceful haven to mend her broken heart. Until she met Luke Chalmers, whose sensual intrusion in her life was anything but peaceful.
His stolen kisses left her flustered, and his rakish grin sent her heart racing. But a disastrous engagement to a man who had deceived her left Melanie unwilling to trust another man, any man, so quickly. Especially one who left so many questions about himself unanswered ...
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 21, 2013
7 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,125 books668 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 29, 2018
Neurotic orphaned heroine inherits a country cottage from a complete stranger and tries to wallpaper. “Private investigator” hero catches her after she is falling from a ladder, second piece of wallpaper in hand. This is their “meet cute,” and I can’t even . . .
There are pages and pages of the heroine contemplating the wall, the wallpaper, the mysteries of dado rails, the joys and expensive luxury of a fitted carpet. This heroine lives in her head and we, tortured reader, are invited to dwell with her.
It is obvious from the get-go that the PI hero is the distant relative of the deceased owner of the cottage and that he thinks the heroine is a gold digger of epic proportions.
The problem I had with this story is not the OTT heroine (we’re talking debilitating anxiety, loss of appetite and sleep, inability to connect with people, poor judgment) but the structure of the story. PJ introduced the OW way too late in the story for her threats and revelations to be believable. The heroine believes every word, but this reader was annoyed at the manufactured black moment.
This one is concentrated PJ – decorating, anxiety-fueled thought patterns, family secrets, suspicious heroes. For PJ Fans only.
Boogenhagen has all the details and a more generous opinion in her excellent spoiler review!
There are pages and pages of the heroine contemplating the wall, the wallpaper, the mysteries of dado rails, the joys and expensive luxury of a fitted carpet. This heroine lives in her head and we, tortured reader, are invited to dwell with her.
It is obvious from the get-go that the PI hero is the distant relative of the deceased owner of the cottage and that he thinks the heroine is a gold digger of epic proportions.
The problem I had with this story is not the OTT heroine (we’re talking debilitating anxiety, loss of appetite and sleep, inability to connect with people, poor judgment) but the structure of the story. PJ introduced the OW way too late in the story for her threats and revelations to be believable. The heroine believes every word, but this reader was annoyed at the manufactured black moment.
This one is concentrated PJ – decorating, anxiety-fueled thought patterns, family secrets, suspicious heroes. For PJ Fans only.
Boogenhagen has all the details and a more generous opinion in her excellent spoiler review!
December 16, 2017
Re A Time to Dream - otherwise known as Penny Jordan's Guide to Bullying and Harassing Your Way to True Love in Three Easy Lessons.
So as my alternative title suggests, this is a PJColada of harassment and bullying to the nth degree. We start with an orphaned h who has just been dumped by her employer boyfriend for a non-orphan, wealthy, connected rich girl. The h had thought she met a nice man, but that soon changed when after refusing to run off with the man for a dirty weekend cause it was against her principles, he announced his engagement to the daughter of the man whose firm was merging with the one the h works for.
The h was shocked, even tho her older female BFF had warned her that this particular office Lothario made a habit of trying to seduce the staff. PJ does show that this heartbreak moment of the h was probably a good thing, because apparently the office Lothario and his wealthy business merger have so few real friends and well wishers that the h's entire office is commanded to attend the engagement party - to make up for the lack of real nuptial supporters I guess.
Anyways, the h soon concludes that she is better off without such a user nematode pustule and has such a kind heart that she even feels sorry for the Lothario's new intended, who has to accept such shabby lying shopworn goods in lieu of real love. Then the h gets a bad case of flu.
She is out of the office for several weeks and in the interim, finds out she has inherited some land and a cottage in the county of Cheshire, located North West England. The h is confused, cause her parents died when she was young and she went into a care home. As far as she knows she has no living relatives and it seems the man who died just picked her name out of a phone book.
This disturbs the h greatly, but she has a pure and kind heart, so the h plans to take this unexpected and to her mind, undeserved inheritance, fix it up a bit and offer the lot for auction with the proceeds to be donated to a worthy charity home, that will make orphans like her feel all the love she never did while growing up.
The h's new solicitors advise that there is a potential huge motorway extension planned that could make the h's inherited property even more valuable. They also explain that the man who left the h the property has a second cousin who is a wealthy businessman. The wealthy businessman was reasonably expected to be named as the elderly, cantankerous man's beneficiary, but they had a falling out several years earlier, so the h got everything instead - for some reason that no one seems to know.
Therefore, no one should be very surprised when not one but two dubious characters show up and both seem to think the h is a tart without heart and seduced the elderly man into leaving his life's accumulation of wealth and property. The h is attempting to redecorate the cottage, to make it more attractive to potential buyers as it is hopelessly outdated, when she is interrupted by a tall, dark handsome stranger just wandering right into her new home.
The man's appearance startles the h off her precariously perched ladder and when the man saves the h from a nasty fall, he also takes the opportunity to help himself to a very roofie kiss. The h is melty and shocked all at once and the unknown roofie kisser explains that he is a private detective on a case, renting a nearby cottage and he wants to use the h's telephone - he doesn't have one installed yet.
In return, and in a true PJ role reversal that would make the Alpha Male Manliness of the H very suspect if it wasn't firmly established that he is a really roofie lady kisser, the H offers to do the decorating for the h in the cottage - as the h is trying hard, but has no knowledge of how to do things like dado rails and toning peach wallpaper.
As the h is dealing with her inner suspicions of such a take charge kinda guy vs her unusual female meltiness, she gets a phone call from another suspect individual. This man declares that he is a local property developer and he had an agreement with the former owner of the cottage to sell the land and the house to him. As the h knows that there was no formal offer in front of the solicitors and that the solicitor had mentioned that the elderly man was quite cantankerous, she inquires as to what type of agreement it was.
The man on the phone claims it was a verbal agreement, the h responds that she isn't interested and as there was no written offer, she isn't obliged to honor it. The man on the phone then calls the h a conniving slut, willing to tup an old man to con him out of his life's savings. (As if calling an unknown woman a tart is going to make her agreeable to doing any kind of business with someone.)
The h again refuses any offers for the cottage and is rather shaken by the entire scene. When the H questions the h's sudden fragility, she claims it is the after-effects of the flu she is still recovering from. Tho she wonders if the H's sudden icy looks have anything to do with the supposed local rumor that the h is a good time girl on the make.
We get a few chapters of home decor, the h attempts to sort out the garden and gradually the h reveals her orphan backstory to the H. He relates that he has a mum and step-family in Canada, but while the h is overwhelmingly attracted, she is a sensitive sort of girl and feels that there is some hidden barrier between her and the H.
When the H questions the h about her finances and her inheritance of the cottage, the h evades the questions and implies that she knew the former owner. There is a tantalizingly mauve almost seduction involving the H's watch vs the h's sweater in a wardrobe malfunction in the garden and the H just can't seem to keep his mouth off the h's suddenly revealed bare body. Right after that, the H and h complete the room they were redecorating and the H suddenly disappears. Almost as if he has inside information about the cottage and knows the h's is evading his questions.
The h has several mopey moments, cause she is totally in love by now. There is another call from the evil property developer and the h refuses another offer from him made via her solicitor. The solicitor then warns the h that this particular property developer has a fierce temper and bad things happen when he doesn't get his way. But things really come to a boil after the H has been absent for several days, the h is wasting away and decides to sort out her vegetable garden plot, it is full of old roots and shattered glass from old growing frames. While the h is venting her frustration and pain over her perceived rejection from the H, he shows up and causes her to fall onto a particularly jagged piece of glass.
The H sweeps the h up in true romantic H fashion and carts her into her house to fix her now copiously bleeding leg. The feel of the H's hands on her leg, cleaning and bandaging her cut, leads to a deliciously woozy feeling for the h, or it could have been loss of blood. Either way, once the leg is bandaged up, the h complains of being cold and the H is quick to offer his own body heat as a restorative.
We get a huge multi-page purple passion lurve mojo moment, the h is thinking everything is pink and rosy and the H has to go do some H things, but he promises to return. The h is happily contemplating her newfound romance, when a tall and very beautiful witch of a woman shows up at the h's doorstep.
She claims that she is the H's fiancee, she flashes a gaudy sapphire ring and that her father is the property developer. She tells the h that the H, who isn't a private detective, was using her to overturn the will because he was second cousin that should have inherited. She also claims that he will prove to the court that the h is con artist tart, so he can sell to the woman's father and that the OW and the H are soon to be building their own house on the opposite side of the village. The h is suitably devastated and threatens to call the police on the woman, who is now digging her nails into the h's arm. This alarms the OW and after a few more tart insults, she takes herself off.
The h is now a wounded non unicorn petting h, so she can't even take any comfort in some grooming, when the H shows up again. The H asks her what is wrong and she lets him have it with both barrels of her now roused temper. She tells the H about his fiancee's visit, her thoughts on his utter slime toad pustuleness and his ethics and morals that allow him to lie and even sleep with a woman when all he had to do was explain who he was and ask her about what she was doing there.
The H, in another remarkable PJ role reversal, claims that HE was sexually harassed by the nubile charms of the h, and that he just had to get all gropey hands and roofie kiss her to defend himself from her all too seductive charms. He admits he lied about being a private detective, tho he does own a security company and he claims he is not engaged to or involved in a personal relationship with the OW, the engagement ring was actually a gift from her doting psycho father. The OW and her father approached him about the h's property and the H supposedly had gone over to their house to tell them there was no deal.
The h claims he is lying, cause really who would go to the lengths these people did if they weren't all involved with each other. And PJ gives us NO information on why the H would even be involved in the entire situation to begin with or why he would be making deals with the OW or her father. The H claims that after his dad died, the man who owned the cottage was his mother's relation and that the man became a second father to him growing up.
However the old man banished the H from his life after he refused to continue in an Army career and the h is very angry that he would just abandon a poor lonely elderly man to his fate, then show up and try to profit from his death. The h declares that such actions only reinforce how much she doesn't want to know him any more, but the H is now obsessed with the h and refuses to leave her alone.
We get an H POV where he declares he will prove that they are meant to be together and it was only his guilt over neglecting to keep in contact with the old cranky guy that led him to seek the h out - tho he does admit he had suspicions of tartiness that were dispelled when he kissed the h.
Things are at a standoff and the h has gone to a property firm and listed the land and the cottage with conditions that prevent anyone from selling it to the property developer. Then the h gets hit by the property developer in his car, who tries to run her over in the lane outside her cottage.
She ends up in hospital, being fussed over by the H, who was the closest neighbor when the walkers who found the h needed help. The H wants to call the police on the insane property developer guy, but the h refuses to let him. (I don't know what PJ has against justice for wrong doers, but this is becoming an increasing sub trope with her during this HP time period.)
The h is released from hospital right away and the H declares he is staying with her. The h is still irked at the H, so he has to sleep on the couch. There are also a ton of papers belonging to the man who left the h the cottage, so she figures the H is probably the best person to have them and he can go sort those out in the attic too.
The H, who is determined more than ever to have the h, goes to sort out the papers and finds out that the h really does have a better claim to the cottage. It seems the eldery cantankerous guy was her grandfather. Her father wasn't an orphan as she had thought, he was cranky old guy's son and the cranky guy cast him out of his home when the dad did not make the Army a career either and became a teacher instead. The h's dad changed his name and lived his life, then died with her mother and the cranky old guy never acknowledged that he had a grand daughter until his death.
The h, who has by now guilted herself into believing the H's claims that she was just as deceptive as he was for not providing a detailed dossier on her finances and family connections on the first instant of meeting him, has forgiven the H and loves him too. So the H, who does do a decent I Love You declaration, tells the h that he is the new purchaser of the cottage. Mainly so if the h continued to dump him, he could have a shrine to her awesome h-ness that no one else could disturb and a rather splendid example of his equally awesome toning peach decorating skillz.
This so moves the h that she demands they elope immediately and the H and h give us a little epilogue. They are happy and lurving it up in the cottage and anticipating the birth of their first baby. The money the h inherited, along with what the H gave her for the cottage, has been used to furnish and supply a place that helps teens in trouble with no place to go and we get another rosy glow PJ sparkly HEA for a satisfactory conclusion to another HP outing.
This one was cute and for once has an epic and well deserved h smackdown of a badly behaving H. It lost a bit on the non prosecution of the homicidal property developer and the evil OW definitely needed a smackdown that she never got. The addition of the H pov saved this one a lot tho.
Yes, the H really was a bully and harasser. But it is all good in PJ's HPlandia, where the greater the H's handsey gropiness means only the measure of the greatness of the H's sincere and true lurve. Really that is just the usual HP standard of manly and in love H behavior and should not be considered offensive or in any way related to real world situations - where the h would arguably be quite justified in calling the police on the lot of them and charging every single character outside of her BFF and hubby with stalking and harassment.
So keep that in mind if you run into this, it is very sweet and the h is adorable, but it is a far cry from most real world standards and allowances will have to be made for vagaries of HPlandia.
So as my alternative title suggests, this is a PJColada of harassment and bullying to the nth degree. We start with an orphaned h who has just been dumped by her employer boyfriend for a non-orphan, wealthy, connected rich girl. The h had thought she met a nice man, but that soon changed when after refusing to run off with the man for a dirty weekend cause it was against her principles, he announced his engagement to the daughter of the man whose firm was merging with the one the h works for.
The h was shocked, even tho her older female BFF had warned her that this particular office Lothario made a habit of trying to seduce the staff. PJ does show that this heartbreak moment of the h was probably a good thing, because apparently the office Lothario and his wealthy business merger have so few real friends and well wishers that the h's entire office is commanded to attend the engagement party - to make up for the lack of real nuptial supporters I guess.
Anyways, the h soon concludes that she is better off without such a user nematode pustule and has such a kind heart that she even feels sorry for the Lothario's new intended, who has to accept such shabby lying shopworn goods in lieu of real love. Then the h gets a bad case of flu.
She is out of the office for several weeks and in the interim, finds out she has inherited some land and a cottage in the county of Cheshire, located North West England. The h is confused, cause her parents died when she was young and she went into a care home. As far as she knows she has no living relatives and it seems the man who died just picked her name out of a phone book.
This disturbs the h greatly, but she has a pure and kind heart, so the h plans to take this unexpected and to her mind, undeserved inheritance, fix it up a bit and offer the lot for auction with the proceeds to be donated to a worthy charity home, that will make orphans like her feel all the love she never did while growing up.
The h's new solicitors advise that there is a potential huge motorway extension planned that could make the h's inherited property even more valuable. They also explain that the man who left the h the property has a second cousin who is a wealthy businessman. The wealthy businessman was reasonably expected to be named as the elderly, cantankerous man's beneficiary, but they had a falling out several years earlier, so the h got everything instead - for some reason that no one seems to know.
Therefore, no one should be very surprised when not one but two dubious characters show up and both seem to think the h is a tart without heart and seduced the elderly man into leaving his life's accumulation of wealth and property. The h is attempting to redecorate the cottage, to make it more attractive to potential buyers as it is hopelessly outdated, when she is interrupted by a tall, dark handsome stranger just wandering right into her new home.
The man's appearance startles the h off her precariously perched ladder and when the man saves the h from a nasty fall, he also takes the opportunity to help himself to a very roofie kiss. The h is melty and shocked all at once and the unknown roofie kisser explains that he is a private detective on a case, renting a nearby cottage and he wants to use the h's telephone - he doesn't have one installed yet.
In return, and in a true PJ role reversal that would make the Alpha Male Manliness of the H very suspect if it wasn't firmly established that he is a really roofie lady kisser, the H offers to do the decorating for the h in the cottage - as the h is trying hard, but has no knowledge of how to do things like dado rails and toning peach wallpaper.
As the h is dealing with her inner suspicions of such a take charge kinda guy vs her unusual female meltiness, she gets a phone call from another suspect individual. This man declares that he is a local property developer and he had an agreement with the former owner of the cottage to sell the land and the house to him. As the h knows that there was no formal offer in front of the solicitors and that the solicitor had mentioned that the elderly man was quite cantankerous, she inquires as to what type of agreement it was.
The man on the phone claims it was a verbal agreement, the h responds that she isn't interested and as there was no written offer, she isn't obliged to honor it. The man on the phone then calls the h a conniving slut, willing to tup an old man to con him out of his life's savings. (As if calling an unknown woman a tart is going to make her agreeable to doing any kind of business with someone.)
The h again refuses any offers for the cottage and is rather shaken by the entire scene. When the H questions the h's sudden fragility, she claims it is the after-effects of the flu she is still recovering from. Tho she wonders if the H's sudden icy looks have anything to do with the supposed local rumor that the h is a good time girl on the make.
We get a few chapters of home decor, the h attempts to sort out the garden and gradually the h reveals her orphan backstory to the H. He relates that he has a mum and step-family in Canada, but while the h is overwhelmingly attracted, she is a sensitive sort of girl and feels that there is some hidden barrier between her and the H.
When the H questions the h about her finances and her inheritance of the cottage, the h evades the questions and implies that she knew the former owner. There is a tantalizingly mauve almost seduction involving the H's watch vs the h's sweater in a wardrobe malfunction in the garden and the H just can't seem to keep his mouth off the h's suddenly revealed bare body. Right after that, the H and h complete the room they were redecorating and the H suddenly disappears. Almost as if he has inside information about the cottage and knows the h's is evading his questions.
The h has several mopey moments, cause she is totally in love by now. There is another call from the evil property developer and the h refuses another offer from him made via her solicitor. The solicitor then warns the h that this particular property developer has a fierce temper and bad things happen when he doesn't get his way. But things really come to a boil after the H has been absent for several days, the h is wasting away and decides to sort out her vegetable garden plot, it is full of old roots and shattered glass from old growing frames. While the h is venting her frustration and pain over her perceived rejection from the H, he shows up and causes her to fall onto a particularly jagged piece of glass.
The H sweeps the h up in true romantic H fashion and carts her into her house to fix her now copiously bleeding leg. The feel of the H's hands on her leg, cleaning and bandaging her cut, leads to a deliciously woozy feeling for the h, or it could have been loss of blood. Either way, once the leg is bandaged up, the h complains of being cold and the H is quick to offer his own body heat as a restorative.
We get a huge multi-page purple passion lurve mojo moment, the h is thinking everything is pink and rosy and the H has to go do some H things, but he promises to return. The h is happily contemplating her newfound romance, when a tall and very beautiful witch of a woman shows up at the h's doorstep.
She claims that she is the H's fiancee, she flashes a gaudy sapphire ring and that her father is the property developer. She tells the h that the H, who isn't a private detective, was using her to overturn the will because he was second cousin that should have inherited. She also claims that he will prove to the court that the h is con artist tart, so he can sell to the woman's father and that the OW and the H are soon to be building their own house on the opposite side of the village. The h is suitably devastated and threatens to call the police on the woman, who is now digging her nails into the h's arm. This alarms the OW and after a few more tart insults, she takes herself off.
The h is now a wounded non unicorn petting h, so she can't even take any comfort in some grooming, when the H shows up again. The H asks her what is wrong and she lets him have it with both barrels of her now roused temper. She tells the H about his fiancee's visit, her thoughts on his utter slime toad pustuleness and his ethics and morals that allow him to lie and even sleep with a woman when all he had to do was explain who he was and ask her about what she was doing there.
The H, in another remarkable PJ role reversal, claims that HE was sexually harassed by the nubile charms of the h, and that he just had to get all gropey hands and roofie kiss her to defend himself from her all too seductive charms. He admits he lied about being a private detective, tho he does own a security company and he claims he is not engaged to or involved in a personal relationship with the OW, the engagement ring was actually a gift from her doting psycho father. The OW and her father approached him about the h's property and the H supposedly had gone over to their house to tell them there was no deal.
The h claims he is lying, cause really who would go to the lengths these people did if they weren't all involved with each other. And PJ gives us NO information on why the H would even be involved in the entire situation to begin with or why he would be making deals with the OW or her father. The H claims that after his dad died, the man who owned the cottage was his mother's relation and that the man became a second father to him growing up.
However the old man banished the H from his life after he refused to continue in an Army career and the h is very angry that he would just abandon a poor lonely elderly man to his fate, then show up and try to profit from his death. The h declares that such actions only reinforce how much she doesn't want to know him any more, but the H is now obsessed with the h and refuses to leave her alone.
We get an H POV where he declares he will prove that they are meant to be together and it was only his guilt over neglecting to keep in contact with the old cranky guy that led him to seek the h out - tho he does admit he had suspicions of tartiness that were dispelled when he kissed the h.
Things are at a standoff and the h has gone to a property firm and listed the land and the cottage with conditions that prevent anyone from selling it to the property developer. Then the h gets hit by the property developer in his car, who tries to run her over in the lane outside her cottage.
She ends up in hospital, being fussed over by the H, who was the closest neighbor when the walkers who found the h needed help. The H wants to call the police on the insane property developer guy, but the h refuses to let him. (I don't know what PJ has against justice for wrong doers, but this is becoming an increasing sub trope with her during this HP time period.)
The h is released from hospital right away and the H declares he is staying with her. The h is still irked at the H, so he has to sleep on the couch. There are also a ton of papers belonging to the man who left the h the cottage, so she figures the H is probably the best person to have them and he can go sort those out in the attic too.
The H, who is determined more than ever to have the h, goes to sort out the papers and finds out that the h really does have a better claim to the cottage. It seems the eldery cantankerous guy was her grandfather. Her father wasn't an orphan as she had thought, he was cranky old guy's son and the cranky guy cast him out of his home when the dad did not make the Army a career either and became a teacher instead. The h's dad changed his name and lived his life, then died with her mother and the cranky old guy never acknowledged that he had a grand daughter until his death.
The h, who has by now guilted herself into believing the H's claims that she was just as deceptive as he was for not providing a detailed dossier on her finances and family connections on the first instant of meeting him, has forgiven the H and loves him too. So the H, who does do a decent I Love You declaration, tells the h that he is the new purchaser of the cottage. Mainly so if the h continued to dump him, he could have a shrine to her awesome h-ness that no one else could disturb and a rather splendid example of his equally awesome toning peach decorating skillz.
This so moves the h that she demands they elope immediately and the H and h give us a little epilogue. They are happy and lurving it up in the cottage and anticipating the birth of their first baby. The money the h inherited, along with what the H gave her for the cottage, has been used to furnish and supply a place that helps teens in trouble with no place to go and we get another rosy glow PJ sparkly HEA for a satisfactory conclusion to another HP outing.
This one was cute and for once has an epic and well deserved h smackdown of a badly behaving H. It lost a bit on the non prosecution of the homicidal property developer and the evil OW definitely needed a smackdown that she never got. The addition of the H pov saved this one a lot tho.
Yes, the H really was a bully and harasser. But it is all good in PJ's HPlandia, where the greater the H's handsey gropiness means only the measure of the greatness of the H's sincere and true lurve. Really that is just the usual HP standard of manly and in love H behavior and should not be considered offensive or in any way related to real world situations - where the h would arguably be quite justified in calling the police on the lot of them and charging every single character outside of her BFF and hubby with stalking and harassment.
So keep that in mind if you run into this, it is very sweet and the h is adorable, but it is a far cry from most real world standards and allowances will have to be made for vagaries of HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2021
What can I say? Another PJ heroine!
January 26, 2022
This was a sweet little story. But with the author had committed to who the hero was, it all got back petaled. “Oh all that stuff ain’t true! That girl was lying.” To convenient, for the story to be great. He should have had to redeem himself. And can’t everyone leave this cute heroine alone with her cute house?! Sheesh. Read it.
September 5, 2012
This was an alright read but certain parts I felt dreadfully boring. This seems to be a constant in the Penny Jordan novel. The whole heroine has been hurt so is reluctant to be with a new man theme. This one didn't stand out unfortunately. Too similar.
March 14, 2017
A sweet story. The h unexpectedly inherits a decent sum of money and a cottage in the country from a stranger. When she moves to the cottage she meets and falls for the H who is warm and kind but has moments where he is shady af!
As their relationship builds she learns that he believes that she may be a gold digger who trick the old man into leaving her his worlds goods.
The h was waaay too insecure and gullible! She just allowed a stranger she had never seen before to kiss her even before they introduced themselves. The H was a bit shady, but not half as shady as some of the other characters in the book.
The book was ok. It kept me occupied during a blizzard.
As their relationship builds she learns that he believes that she may be a gold digger who trick the old man into leaving her his worlds goods.
The h was waaay too insecure and gullible! She just allowed a stranger she had never seen before to kiss her even before they introduced themselves. The H was a bit shady, but not half as shady as some of the other characters in the book.
The book was ok. It kept me occupied during a blizzard.
September 14, 2016
Yawn .... OK, so the book has sleep inducing tendencies. So insomniacs , do pick it up !
Melanie , a poor little orphan inherits a house in the country from a stranger. Mind you the stranger is an eighty year old lonely sick man. But the whole world suspects she got it from him for sexual favors rendered. That's not even perverted, that's stupid really !!
That includes the hero , Luke, for a brief while at least. Then he sees her sweet innocent self and decides, there's a mystery around here. I need to unearth it. So how to go about it. Simple. Kiss the girl and vanish. Come back , flirt a little and again vanish. Come back once more, sleep with her virgin self and again promptly vanish.
By now she is obviously in love with the ever vanishing hero. And he does make statements like "Oh, what are you doing to me, Melanie !" in the middle of lovemaking. But that's about as much information he shares about himself.
Of course, he turns out to be related to the sick old man who left the house to the girl, and he does discover why she got it too. From where - her own attic !
Boring, incorrigible story line. Sorry Penny Jordan, but this one was ... yawn ........
Melanie , a poor little orphan inherits a house in the country from a stranger. Mind you the stranger is an eighty year old lonely sick man. But the whole world suspects she got it from him for sexual favors rendered. That's not even perverted, that's stupid really !!
That includes the hero , Luke, for a brief while at least. Then he sees her sweet innocent self and decides, there's a mystery around here. I need to unearth it. So how to go about it. Simple. Kiss the girl and vanish. Come back , flirt a little and again vanish. Come back once more, sleep with her virgin self and again promptly vanish.
By now she is obviously in love with the ever vanishing hero. And he does make statements like "Oh, what are you doing to me, Melanie !" in the middle of lovemaking. But that's about as much information he shares about himself.
Of course, he turns out to be related to the sick old man who left the house to the girl, and he does discover why she got it too. From where - her own attic !
Boring, incorrigible story line. Sorry Penny Jordan, but this one was ... yawn ........
July 9, 2019
Jordan has got a real thing about orphaned children who grow up in care and emerge into very insecure heroines – and this novel really uses this as the central theme in the plot. In this one, our heroine, Melanie, inherits an idyllic country cottage just outside Knutsford in Cheshire. (The village is named “Charnford”, so is probably the real life “Chelford”, also near to Knutsford). She has been left the dilapidated cottage and the contents of a vast bank account by a complete stranger and Melanie has no idea why. Because she is a truly Jordanian “good” heroine, instead of reacting as everyone else would do (i.e. giving up work, selling the cottage and heading off to the Caribbean) Melanie resolves to restore the cottage as cheaply as possible and sell it for the benefit of orphaned children. I know – Melanie is a masochistic sap from the very beginning.
Enter Luke Chalmers - whose back story is that he’s a private detective - “working on a case in this area. Naturally I can’t disclose any details. I rented the cottage thinking it would give me a good base from which to work. It’s secluded enough to ensure that I don’t get too many people wanting to know what I’m doing here. That’s the trouble with country areas – people are curious about their neighbours in a way they aren’t in the city.’ (pp. 22-3). Obviously, he’s a terrible private detective, being as he’s just told her all of this, and indeed, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes yourself to work out that Luke is investigating Melanie and just how she has inveigled her way into inheriting all this loot. Melanie, however, isn’t suspicious at all and romance is permitted to blossom as they decorate the cottage together. (This, incidentally, is one of the main problems of this romantic novel – it’s just not that romantic. One of the key love scenes, for example, is interrupted by the words “We’d better go in and get on with that decorating,” (p. 87) – words designed to kill any passion. Other ploys to win Melanie over include Luke criticising her choice and use of stepladders (apparently aluminium ones are superior) and the purchase of a dado rail at B&Q, leading the reader to question, is there anything less romantic in the entire world than decorating? Indeed, I once saw my entirely placid husband incandescent with rage whilst wallpapering because he couldn’t hang it straight – it’s the only time I’ve ever seen him lose his temper - no relationship could survive a start like this!) And, indeed, Luke’s and Melanie’s is doomed to a mid-novel rocky patch when Melanie determines Luke’s real reason behind all those visits to B&Q, and the fact that he’s taken her to bed by this stage and stripped her of her virginity as well as the cottage of the wallpaper goes down like a lead balloon. Cue sulking, tantrums, and selling the cottage to the highest bidder in a fit of pique.
Fortunately, it’s a Mills & Boon, so Luke is able to save the day by purchasing the cottage, making a donation to charity, getting her pregnant and promising to tile her bathroom in order to win her back, so all’s well that ends well there.
This is not a great example of Jordan’s work, but there are some really interesting things going on in it. This is a true “Romance” (with a capital R) in that you can see the provenance of this type of romantic storyline from the eighteenth-century Romances of writers like Charlotte Smith. For example, a box of papers that Melanie unwisely ignores in the novel reveals just who she is and why she has inherited the property (as precisely happens in Smith’s Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle of 1788). Melanie is also a truly deserving heroine (just like all those worthy eighteenth-century heroines, who come good in the end). Also just like all those eighteenth-century heroines though, there’s a dash of manipulation on the part of Melanie in achieving her own happy ending and she has to perform the part of the heroine in order to win the day. For these reasons (and for the scenes with the stepladders where you can marvel at a man who can hang wallpaper straight without losing his temper, screwing it up, flinging it across the hall and shouting “we’ll just bloody paint it!”) this novel is well worth a look. (Such a man could exist – but only in a Mills & Boon).
Enter Luke Chalmers - whose back story is that he’s a private detective - “working on a case in this area. Naturally I can’t disclose any details. I rented the cottage thinking it would give me a good base from which to work. It’s secluded enough to ensure that I don’t get too many people wanting to know what I’m doing here. That’s the trouble with country areas – people are curious about their neighbours in a way they aren’t in the city.’ (pp. 22-3). Obviously, he’s a terrible private detective, being as he’s just told her all of this, and indeed, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes yourself to work out that Luke is investigating Melanie and just how she has inveigled her way into inheriting all this loot. Melanie, however, isn’t suspicious at all and romance is permitted to blossom as they decorate the cottage together. (This, incidentally, is one of the main problems of this romantic novel – it’s just not that romantic. One of the key love scenes, for example, is interrupted by the words “We’d better go in and get on with that decorating,” (p. 87) – words designed to kill any passion. Other ploys to win Melanie over include Luke criticising her choice and use of stepladders (apparently aluminium ones are superior) and the purchase of a dado rail at B&Q, leading the reader to question, is there anything less romantic in the entire world than decorating? Indeed, I once saw my entirely placid husband incandescent with rage whilst wallpapering because he couldn’t hang it straight – it’s the only time I’ve ever seen him lose his temper - no relationship could survive a start like this!) And, indeed, Luke’s and Melanie’s is doomed to a mid-novel rocky patch when Melanie determines Luke’s real reason behind all those visits to B&Q, and the fact that he’s taken her to bed by this stage and stripped her of her virginity as well as the cottage of the wallpaper goes down like a lead balloon. Cue sulking, tantrums, and selling the cottage to the highest bidder in a fit of pique.
Fortunately, it’s a Mills & Boon, so Luke is able to save the day by purchasing the cottage, making a donation to charity, getting her pregnant and promising to tile her bathroom in order to win her back, so all’s well that ends well there.
This is not a great example of Jordan’s work, but there are some really interesting things going on in it. This is a true “Romance” (with a capital R) in that you can see the provenance of this type of romantic storyline from the eighteenth-century Romances of writers like Charlotte Smith. For example, a box of papers that Melanie unwisely ignores in the novel reveals just who she is and why she has inherited the property (as precisely happens in Smith’s Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle of 1788). Melanie is also a truly deserving heroine (just like all those worthy eighteenth-century heroines, who come good in the end). Also just like all those eighteenth-century heroines though, there’s a dash of manipulation on the part of Melanie in achieving her own happy ending and she has to perform the part of the heroine in order to win the day. For these reasons (and for the scenes with the stepladders where you can marvel at a man who can hang wallpaper straight without losing his temper, screwing it up, flinging it across the hall and shouting “we’ll just bloody paint it!”) this novel is well worth a look. (Such a man could exist – but only in a Mills & Boon).
October 29, 2021
Maybe I made a mistake in reading 2 Penny Jordans back to back. But man this one was honestly a wasted day in my life. The setting of alone-in-the-world h in a country setting who is/has redecorating her space (in tortuous detail) and there is a crazy estate developer who goes to murderous lengths to get her highly coveted humble abode was the same as "So close and no closer" by PJ which I read before this.
The h is loopy. I think 60% of the book is spent inside her head, listening to her incredibly boring thoughts on boring stuff. Also, this is one of the horniest h I have ever read about, and not in a good way. She spends paragraph upon paragraph daydreaming/salivating/woe-be-tideing about the H's actions/words/physique and I started to literally skim read. All this based on a single kiss from the H (as shown in the cover picture)??
The H's excuse for what he did was so incredibly flimsy I don't even believe it. Also, once they were finally 'together', he literally dumps her for the day to go talk to the villian, say one sentence, and come back, leaving JUST enough time for the pseudo-OW to hop in and destroy the h's illusions about the H. Apparently talking to the villain was more important than laying out the facts to her straight. I guess I liked that after the confrontation, he made her sit and listen to his side of things but meh. I later semi-forgave him cause MAN he was so persistent after that, forever saying things like "I love you and I WILL make you forgive me and I WILL marry you and I am not giving up on us" etc etc... But still. Meh.
The final twist in the last few pages, the deux ex machina, was ridiculous and not needed. They got their HEA, a bit too prettily wrapped up, but we never got closure on her friend Louise or the thousand pound furniture she gifted her lol.
The h is loopy. I think 60% of the book is spent inside her head, listening to her incredibly boring thoughts on boring stuff. Also, this is one of the horniest h I have ever read about, and not in a good way. She spends paragraph upon paragraph daydreaming/salivating/woe-be-tideing about the H's actions/words/physique and I started to literally skim read. All this based on a single kiss from the H (as shown in the cover picture)??
The H's excuse for what he did was so incredibly flimsy I don't even believe it. Also, once they were finally 'together', he literally dumps her for the day to go talk to the villian, say one sentence, and come back, leaving JUST enough time for the pseudo-OW to hop in and destroy the h's illusions about the H. Apparently talking to the villain was more important than laying out the facts to her straight. I guess I liked that after the confrontation, he made her sit and listen to his side of things but meh. I later semi-forgave him cause MAN he was so persistent after that, forever saying things like "I love you and I WILL make you forgive me and I WILL marry you and I am not giving up on us" etc etc... But still. Meh.
The final twist in the last few pages, the deux ex machina, was ridiculous and not needed. They got their HEA, a bit too prettily wrapped up, but we never got closure on her friend Louise or the thousand pound furniture she gifted her lol.
July 9, 2011
Berhubung saya ingin nyampah dengan totalitas, ijinkan saya mereview e-book ini dengan bahasa Indonesia.
Oke. Jadi si cewek, Melanie Foden, yatim-piatu karena orangtuanya meninggal dalam kecelakaan mobil, nggak ada saudara pula. Di ceritanya disebutkan bahwa dia ini sebenarnya ceria, tapi gara-gara habis sakit, bawaannya lemes mulu. Tapi ya ampun ohmaigad. Sumpah. Buku ini diceritakan dari sudut pandang si cewek, jadi sangat terasa sepanjang cerita kalau dia ini negatif banget. Ditambah lagi Si Paul (Sang Mantan) yang nggak jelas juga muncul buat apaan. Terus waktu Luke deketin, well, teknisnya sih nyelonong masuk, dia ini mau-nggak mau-nggak mau padahal mau. Ouch. Mbak, kalau ada barang bagus, cepetan diambil dong ah. Bukan berarti sy nyuruh yang nggak-nggak, tapi nggak tahan sama si tokoh yang timid banget.
Buat Si Luke, tipikal Prince Charming lah. Nyelonong, love at first sight, deket-deket, aku-nggak-akan-nyerah-sampai-kamu-sadar-kalau-kita-ditakdirkan bersama. Blegh. Maaf, kawan. Saya tak se-idealis itu. Udah mendekati fantasi nih kalau ada orang kayak gitu beneran.
Secara keseluruhan, novel ini kekurangan dialog dan kelebihan monolog batin Melanie. Cuma akhir-akhir aja dia ngomong banya waktu tengkar ama Luke, langsung berbaris-baris keluar, yang membuat novel ini kurang "hidup".
Oke. Jadi si cewek, Melanie Foden, yatim-piatu karena orangtuanya meninggal dalam kecelakaan mobil, nggak ada saudara pula. Di ceritanya disebutkan bahwa dia ini sebenarnya ceria, tapi gara-gara habis sakit, bawaannya lemes mulu. Tapi ya ampun ohmaigad. Sumpah. Buku ini diceritakan dari sudut pandang si cewek, jadi sangat terasa sepanjang cerita kalau dia ini negatif banget. Ditambah lagi Si Paul (Sang Mantan) yang nggak jelas juga muncul buat apaan. Terus waktu Luke deketin, well, teknisnya sih nyelonong masuk, dia ini mau-nggak mau-nggak mau padahal mau. Ouch. Mbak, kalau ada barang bagus, cepetan diambil dong ah. Bukan berarti sy nyuruh yang nggak-nggak, tapi nggak tahan sama si tokoh yang timid banget.
Buat Si Luke, tipikal Prince Charming lah. Nyelonong, love at first sight, deket-deket, aku-nggak-akan-nyerah-sampai-kamu-sadar-kalau-kita-ditakdirkan bersama. Blegh. Maaf, kawan. Saya tak se-idealis itu. Udah mendekati fantasi nih kalau ada orang kayak gitu beneran.
Secara keseluruhan, novel ini kekurangan dialog dan kelebihan monolog batin Melanie. Cuma akhir-akhir aja dia ngomong banya waktu tengkar ama Luke, langsung berbaris-baris keluar, yang membuat novel ini kurang "hidup".
kindle-hq
May 11, 2021Wanted: Prince Charming for damsel in distress." Melanie was certainly in distress! But the last thing she wanted was prince--or any man for that matter--to come riding to her rescue. She wanted only to disappear, to retreat to a peaceful haven to mend her broken heart. But then she met Luke Chalmers, whose sensual intrusion in her life was anything but peaceful! His stolen kisses left her flustered, and his devastating smile sent her heart racing. But her disastrous engagement had left Melanie unwilling to trust a man again. Especially this mysterious man whose touch enticed her to surrender her innocence to him... Originally published in 1991
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