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Surrender, My Heart
India found love in the arms of an enemy
Giles Ballantyne, heir to Ballantyne Enterprises, had treated India with contempt since the day she'd married his father. A fortune huntress, he called her, and worse.
Suddenly, a year after her husband's death, Giles's attitude to India changed. On a trip to a gorgeous resort island off the coast of Australia the irresistible passion they shared stirred untouched depths of feelings in India.
But, try as she might, she couldn't quite quell her uneasy doubts about Giles and the reason for his sudden transformation.
Giles Ballantyne, heir to Ballantyne Enterprises, had treated India with contempt since the day she'd married his father. A fortune huntress, he called her, and worse.
Suddenly, a year after her husband's death, Giles's attitude to India changed. On a trip to a gorgeous resort island off the coast of Australia the irresistible passion they shared stirred untouched depths of feelings in India.
But, try as she might, she couldn't quite quell her uneasy doubts about Giles and the reason for his sudden transformation.
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1986
3 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Armstrong
317 books91 followersGillian Smith (alias Lindsay Armstrong) was born in South Africa. She grew up with three ambitions: to become a writer, to travel the world, and to be a game ranger. She didn't achieve the last one, but her fascination for wildlife and that special something about Africa and its big game still remains with her. When she went to work it was in travel, at an agency and an airline, and this started her on the road to seeing the world.
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 16, 2021
A highly contentious trope that was deftly handled and sensitively written by the author. Something that had the potential of getting sordid was actually sweet and poignant. The contempt and derision that the h has to face, first as the wife of an older man and then also for falling for the stepson, showcases society’s ubiquitous double standards.
A/N : A disclaimer of sorts. I haven't added this book to my 'some-ick-factor' shelf because of any icki-ness in it, but only because I thought the trope warranted it! :)
A/N : A disclaimer of sorts. I haven't added this book to my 'some-ick-factor' shelf because of any icki-ness in it, but only because I thought the trope warranted it! :)
March 27, 2017
re Surrender, My Heart - LA shares a story of of a widowed young h, who was married to a much older man, finding herself falling in love with her dead husband's son. The very same son who has berated and bullied her with accusations of tarthood and golddigging, ever since she married his father six years earlier. Before you scream EWWWW and go running off for some less sordid and (it is admittedly a kinda weird scenario,) a believable romance, hang in there and give this one a try.
To clarify one further matter, the h did sleep with the H's father - they had a normal marriage. In fact, that whole scenario is rather tactfully discussed between the H and h, but I get ahead of myself here.
The story starts with a very sad and lonely orphan 26 year old widowed h. She had a pillar to post kinda childhood with a loving but free-spirited mother and this rootless upbringing had left the h with a remarkable lack of self-confidence and a high degree of naivete.
She had no father growing up, as her mum explained that she had an affair with a married man and when she found out she was baking a bun, she left him. Her mum could see the havoc just the affair was causing the man, she had no desire to increase the man's torment between choosing her or his wife and so she took herself off for new horizons and raised the h alone.
The h speculates that her mum may have regretted her choices later in life, and apparently she had written to the man as a long lost friend years later, but the man had died and so he never knew about the h. Then the mum was killed in a car crash and the h had to struggle on alone.
It was at this time that the H's father came into her life, she worked in his company's typing pool and one day the father saw her having breakfast alone and after a really gentle courtship, they married three months later.
The h meets the H for the first time at the wedding reception. The H had just arrived from a long hiatus in America, and the H makes no bones about expressing his contempt for the h. The father told the h that he and the H had a fractious relationship. The H was the product of a very bad and bitter marriage and the H's mum used him as a pawn against the father - who was busy building his business empire and so wasn't a very present parent.
Still, the h loved her first hubby and they were very happy together. As time passed, the father appointed the h to the board of directors of his resort business and the h has a considerable artistic talent, the first hubby encouraged her to paint and also used her ideas to decorate his resorts. Then the father dies and the h withdraws to a life of solitude.
The H blackmails the h into supporting his business decisions by telling her that as long as she does, he won't contest the will which left the h an income for life, some company shares and the marital flat. The H got everything else, which was considerable and yet he still berates and insults the h every chance he gets.
(At this point I was pulling out the skillet for the H, the really big skillet - it irritated me that he got a ton of money that he did not earn and yet he was having a cow because the father left his wife- who made his last years really happy- enough for a decent lifestyle. I almost threw the book against the wall there, but I persevered and tried not to cringe about a spoiled bully H.)
The big showdown comes when the h is the deciding vote on a new resort in the Whitsunday Islands the H wants to build. This is to be an exclusive, ultra rich-only conclave and half the board is against it.
The H again bullies the h into voting with him and the h, showing a bit of backbone, tells the H off - but she does vote in his favor because it was also her late husband's dream to have a resort there and for all the difficulties between them, she knew that the late hubby loved his son and would want him to have the opportunity to carry out his vision.
Then it is suggested that the h go along with the H to think of design idears for the resort. Well that is just taking the support too far for the h, if the H were the last man on earth she would learn how to fly to flee to another continent before going anywhere with such a nasty person. She tells everyone off and leaves the board meeting. Later on the h is home and mourning over the chair where her hubby used to sit to think, she is crying a bit and then the H shows up.
He wants a truce and he wants her to go with him to see the potential new resort. The h has an uneasy feeling but can't pinpoint the cause. After some serious debate, she goes with the H to see the Whitsunday's.
To her surprise, when the H isn't being an insulting bounder, he is a good companion and the h is starting to feel a physical attraction for him. This is pretty shocking to the h, she did not like to think of herself as a sexual kind of person and she has always been very self-conscious of her beauty and the fact that a lot of men seem to look at her with lust.
What made it worse for her is that when she married a man 30 yrs older, she was judged pretty harshly and there were a lot of insinuations and comments made about how another man could "cut the mustard" better than her husband.
Very few people around her seemed to understand that she really did love the man, his money and status were not why she married him. She married him because he was kind, loving, stable and made her feel safe and gave her a sense of roots and home. Their marriage wasn't a passionate lust-fest, but they had a lot of common interests and they were both really happy together.
While at the resort, they run into some friends of the H's and the h has to deal with the guilt of going out and acting like the 26 year old she is and not in a widowed matronly manner. The H tells her there is nothing wrong with living life and the h is gradually learning that she did not fall into the grave with her hubby, though she had been committing a kind of emotional suttee since his death. The attraction between the H and h is growing and they finally wind up in bed.
That is a huge revelation for the h, she blacks out at the epitome of passion and the H is a bit concerned - apparently it isn't a goal of his to make his partner pass out from bliss. They talk about it and the h tactfully indicates that particular blissful moment had never happened to her before. The H is all things reassuring and doesn't even flinch when she wakes up the next morning and sleepily calls him by his father's name. In fact he tells her to forget about it, it was a natural mistake and teases her about something else, glossing over the moment.
The h is still fretting a bit, but she is enjoying the H and the new sensations too much to stop now. Things take a turn for the worse when she runs into an older couple that knew the h and hubby when he was still alive. The wife of the couple is very supportive of the h moving on - she tells the h she knew it was a love match but the husband is not as compassionate and it just reminds the h of how much of other people's judgement and innuendos she has already been subjected to.
The h is starting to get the feeling that being with the H is making the situation much worse, cause she can just guess what people are going to say about her now. Still she is forging ahead with the H. Until one of the other directors of the board shows up and with his snide insinuations, makes the h feel so uncomfortable that she leaves the islands with only a brief note for the H.
The H tracks her down back at home and he does his best to calm her fears and reassure her that their relationship is different from her marriage and that she isn't a tart and she has nothing to be ashamed of. Then he takes her to his house and promises she can dig in his garden anytime to put down roots and then he proposes. The h loves him dearly by this time and so she accepts, disregarding the nagging feeling that something isn't right.
Then the bombshell hits, the h is told by another board member that the company is in danger of a takeover and once again the h has the deciding vote. According to the bitter board member, the H is marrying the h to hold on to her shares and thus manipulate her once again.
The h calls the man on his malice, but he tells her to check with the other member of the board that is the H's friend and always votes with him. The h finds out that the takeover offer is true, recalls the H's very abrupt about-face and decides to free herself from this mess once and for all.
She arranges for the friendly board member to buy her shares and promise to only sell them to the H or vote them himself and she takes off. The next we see of the h, she is delirious with labor pains and we find out she delivers a baby boy with red hair just like the H. She never realized she was up the duff when she left the H and sold her marital flat.
This causes the h some considerable angst. She KNOWS the pain and missing parts of herself from not knowing her father or having that connection, and she resents it to a certain extent. So how can she not tell the H about his child and give them a chance to form a relationship?
On the other hand, she loves the H and he was using her and probably despises her - is she capable of tolerating that for another 15 to 20 years while her son grows up? She really doesn't know what is best and she winds up returning to find the H.
Except when she calls the H's company she finds out it has been sold and the H resigned. She looks up the secretary that used to work for her late husband and she decides to stay with her for while, she could use the help with the new baby.
The former secretary takes on the honorary grandma role and then she calls the H when it seems the h might change her mind about telling him. The H shows up and tells the h that they owe it to their son to give marriage a try - the kid deserves to at least have a shot at a family life.
When the h asks why he sold his father's company, the H tells her what else could he do after everything that happened to prove he wasn't trying to use her. The h takes this to mean that he hates her now for forcing him to such extremes and she agrees to marriage.
Nine months on the baby is one year old and the H spends a lot of time away building up his new company with his former board member friend. They have separate rooms and to a certain extent separate lives, tho the h is torn apart by jealousy when she thinks that the H is having lots of opportunities for OW affairs. She can't get past her guilt for not trusting him though and so she spends a lot of time avoiding the H as well.
He decides they need to have a night out and at the restaurant, they run into the H's friend that they first met on the Whitsunday's. The friend is explaining the step mother situation to his date and the h runs off when she realizes she just doesn't have the nerve to correct him about her and the H's marriage. The H chases after her and asks her if adding sex back into the marriage will help. She doesn't know, cause it means something to her, but she assumes he still despises her and yet having another child would probably be a good idear for their son.
The H then confesses that he has wanted the h since the first time he saw her, and he hated that she married his dad and he was jealous - which was why he was so mean. When his dad died he resented that he did not have a good relationship with him and yet he was moved by how much the h grieved for him. Tho he also admits that he was happy he was finally getting to have his chance with the h. He then tells her he has loved her for a long time now and really wants a real marriage, but he understands if the h still feels guilty.
The h responds that she loves him madly back and that she actually has matured and is able to see that different relationships have their own expressions of love and that she did love the dad but that relationship was not her's and the H's relationship and there is no reason for guilt in either instance. She can never know what might have happened if the father hadn't died and she can't guess, but she does the love the H and wants a real marriage too.
The big HEA is planning another trip to the Whitsunday's, where the H kept the lease on the island he wanted to build a resort on and built a little honeymoon house instead. They will take the honorary grandma and the next door neighbor baby sitter and all be happy together.
I enjoyed this one a lot, it was very well written - even though I wanted massive skillet lashings of the H for most of the book. Him selling the company to be able to keep his relationship with the h went a long way for me, plus it dispelled the initial impression of a spoiled indulged H that got his money handed to him - his own company was a big success without the backing of his father's work and that helped to convince me he was really sincere in his feelings for the h.
This one was a highly believable HEA from the most unusual circumstances. I especially liked how compassionately the whole prior marriage was handled and the H and h's inevitable conflicts regarding it were realistically discussed.
The whole topic was treated very delicately and sensitively with a good resolution for a regular romance, and exceptionally for HPlandia. I really recommend this one for anyone who likes great writing with convincing character growth that leads to the conclusion that these two people really have an HEA that will last, and the depth of the emotional quality makes this one a true HPlandia keeper.
To clarify one further matter, the h did sleep with the H's father - they had a normal marriage. In fact, that whole scenario is rather tactfully discussed between the H and h, but I get ahead of myself here.
The story starts with a very sad and lonely orphan 26 year old widowed h. She had a pillar to post kinda childhood with a loving but free-spirited mother and this rootless upbringing had left the h with a remarkable lack of self-confidence and a high degree of naivete.
She had no father growing up, as her mum explained that she had an affair with a married man and when she found out she was baking a bun, she left him. Her mum could see the havoc just the affair was causing the man, she had no desire to increase the man's torment between choosing her or his wife and so she took herself off for new horizons and raised the h alone.
The h speculates that her mum may have regretted her choices later in life, and apparently she had written to the man as a long lost friend years later, but the man had died and so he never knew about the h. Then the mum was killed in a car crash and the h had to struggle on alone.
It was at this time that the H's father came into her life, she worked in his company's typing pool and one day the father saw her having breakfast alone and after a really gentle courtship, they married three months later.
The h meets the H for the first time at the wedding reception. The H had just arrived from a long hiatus in America, and the H makes no bones about expressing his contempt for the h. The father told the h that he and the H had a fractious relationship. The H was the product of a very bad and bitter marriage and the H's mum used him as a pawn against the father - who was busy building his business empire and so wasn't a very present parent.
Still, the h loved her first hubby and they were very happy together. As time passed, the father appointed the h to the board of directors of his resort business and the h has a considerable artistic talent, the first hubby encouraged her to paint and also used her ideas to decorate his resorts. Then the father dies and the h withdraws to a life of solitude.
The H blackmails the h into supporting his business decisions by telling her that as long as she does, he won't contest the will which left the h an income for life, some company shares and the marital flat. The H got everything else, which was considerable and yet he still berates and insults the h every chance he gets.
(At this point I was pulling out the skillet for the H, the really big skillet - it irritated me that he got a ton of money that he did not earn and yet he was having a cow because the father left his wife- who made his last years really happy- enough for a decent lifestyle. I almost threw the book against the wall there, but I persevered and tried not to cringe about a spoiled bully H.)
The big showdown comes when the h is the deciding vote on a new resort in the Whitsunday Islands the H wants to build. This is to be an exclusive, ultra rich-only conclave and half the board is against it.
The H again bullies the h into voting with him and the h, showing a bit of backbone, tells the H off - but she does vote in his favor because it was also her late husband's dream to have a resort there and for all the difficulties between them, she knew that the late hubby loved his son and would want him to have the opportunity to carry out his vision.
Then it is suggested that the h go along with the H to think of design idears for the resort. Well that is just taking the support too far for the h, if the H were the last man on earth she would learn how to fly to flee to another continent before going anywhere with such a nasty person. She tells everyone off and leaves the board meeting. Later on the h is home and mourning over the chair where her hubby used to sit to think, she is crying a bit and then the H shows up.
He wants a truce and he wants her to go with him to see the potential new resort. The h has an uneasy feeling but can't pinpoint the cause. After some serious debate, she goes with the H to see the Whitsunday's.
To her surprise, when the H isn't being an insulting bounder, he is a good companion and the h is starting to feel a physical attraction for him. This is pretty shocking to the h, she did not like to think of herself as a sexual kind of person and she has always been very self-conscious of her beauty and the fact that a lot of men seem to look at her with lust.
What made it worse for her is that when she married a man 30 yrs older, she was judged pretty harshly and there were a lot of insinuations and comments made about how another man could "cut the mustard" better than her husband.
Very few people around her seemed to understand that she really did love the man, his money and status were not why she married him. She married him because he was kind, loving, stable and made her feel safe and gave her a sense of roots and home. Their marriage wasn't a passionate lust-fest, but they had a lot of common interests and they were both really happy together.
While at the resort, they run into some friends of the H's and the h has to deal with the guilt of going out and acting like the 26 year old she is and not in a widowed matronly manner. The H tells her there is nothing wrong with living life and the h is gradually learning that she did not fall into the grave with her hubby, though she had been committing a kind of emotional suttee since his death. The attraction between the H and h is growing and they finally wind up in bed.
That is a huge revelation for the h, she blacks out at the epitome of passion and the H is a bit concerned - apparently it isn't a goal of his to make his partner pass out from bliss. They talk about it and the h tactfully indicates that particular blissful moment had never happened to her before. The H is all things reassuring and doesn't even flinch when she wakes up the next morning and sleepily calls him by his father's name. In fact he tells her to forget about it, it was a natural mistake and teases her about something else, glossing over the moment.
The h is still fretting a bit, but she is enjoying the H and the new sensations too much to stop now. Things take a turn for the worse when she runs into an older couple that knew the h and hubby when he was still alive. The wife of the couple is very supportive of the h moving on - she tells the h she knew it was a love match but the husband is not as compassionate and it just reminds the h of how much of other people's judgement and innuendos she has already been subjected to.
The h is starting to get the feeling that being with the H is making the situation much worse, cause she can just guess what people are going to say about her now. Still she is forging ahead with the H. Until one of the other directors of the board shows up and with his snide insinuations, makes the h feel so uncomfortable that she leaves the islands with only a brief note for the H.
The H tracks her down back at home and he does his best to calm her fears and reassure her that their relationship is different from her marriage and that she isn't a tart and she has nothing to be ashamed of. Then he takes her to his house and promises she can dig in his garden anytime to put down roots and then he proposes. The h loves him dearly by this time and so she accepts, disregarding the nagging feeling that something isn't right.
Then the bombshell hits, the h is told by another board member that the company is in danger of a takeover and once again the h has the deciding vote. According to the bitter board member, the H is marrying the h to hold on to her shares and thus manipulate her once again.
The h calls the man on his malice, but he tells her to check with the other member of the board that is the H's friend and always votes with him. The h finds out that the takeover offer is true, recalls the H's very abrupt about-face and decides to free herself from this mess once and for all.
She arranges for the friendly board member to buy her shares and promise to only sell them to the H or vote them himself and she takes off. The next we see of the h, she is delirious with labor pains and we find out she delivers a baby boy with red hair just like the H. She never realized she was up the duff when she left the H and sold her marital flat.
This causes the h some considerable angst. She KNOWS the pain and missing parts of herself from not knowing her father or having that connection, and she resents it to a certain extent. So how can she not tell the H about his child and give them a chance to form a relationship?
On the other hand, she loves the H and he was using her and probably despises her - is she capable of tolerating that for another 15 to 20 years while her son grows up? She really doesn't know what is best and she winds up returning to find the H.
Except when she calls the H's company she finds out it has been sold and the H resigned. She looks up the secretary that used to work for her late husband and she decides to stay with her for while, she could use the help with the new baby.
The former secretary takes on the honorary grandma role and then she calls the H when it seems the h might change her mind about telling him. The H shows up and tells the h that they owe it to their son to give marriage a try - the kid deserves to at least have a shot at a family life.
When the h asks why he sold his father's company, the H tells her what else could he do after everything that happened to prove he wasn't trying to use her. The h takes this to mean that he hates her now for forcing him to such extremes and she agrees to marriage.
Nine months on the baby is one year old and the H spends a lot of time away building up his new company with his former board member friend. They have separate rooms and to a certain extent separate lives, tho the h is torn apart by jealousy when she thinks that the H is having lots of opportunities for OW affairs. She can't get past her guilt for not trusting him though and so she spends a lot of time avoiding the H as well.
He decides they need to have a night out and at the restaurant, they run into the H's friend that they first met on the Whitsunday's. The friend is explaining the step mother situation to his date and the h runs off when she realizes she just doesn't have the nerve to correct him about her and the H's marriage. The H chases after her and asks her if adding sex back into the marriage will help. She doesn't know, cause it means something to her, but she assumes he still despises her and yet having another child would probably be a good idear for their son.
The H then confesses that he has wanted the h since the first time he saw her, and he hated that she married his dad and he was jealous - which was why he was so mean. When his dad died he resented that he did not have a good relationship with him and yet he was moved by how much the h grieved for him. Tho he also admits that he was happy he was finally getting to have his chance with the h. He then tells her he has loved her for a long time now and really wants a real marriage, but he understands if the h still feels guilty.
The h responds that she loves him madly back and that she actually has matured and is able to see that different relationships have their own expressions of love and that she did love the dad but that relationship was not her's and the H's relationship and there is no reason for guilt in either instance. She can never know what might have happened if the father hadn't died and she can't guess, but she does the love the H and wants a real marriage too.
The big HEA is planning another trip to the Whitsunday's, where the H kept the lease on the island he wanted to build a resort on and built a little honeymoon house instead. They will take the honorary grandma and the next door neighbor baby sitter and all be happy together.
I enjoyed this one a lot, it was very well written - even though I wanted massive skillet lashings of the H for most of the book. Him selling the company to be able to keep his relationship with the h went a long way for me, plus it dispelled the initial impression of a spoiled indulged H that got his money handed to him - his own company was a big success without the backing of his father's work and that helped to convince me he was really sincere in his feelings for the h.
This one was a highly believable HEA from the most unusual circumstances. I especially liked how compassionately the whole prior marriage was handled and the H and h's inevitable conflicts regarding it were realistically discussed.
The whole topic was treated very delicately and sensitively with a good resolution for a regular romance, and exceptionally for HPlandia. I really recommend this one for anyone who likes great writing with convincing character growth that leads to the conclusion that these two people really have an HEA that will last, and the depth of the emotional quality makes this one a true HPlandia keeper.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2013
This daddy's sloppy 2nds was slow-grilled @ 1st but quite angsty & entirely tender on the inside.
19 y/o orphaned heroine got hitched to hero's 49 y/o daddy & it was insta lust / hate when hero met heroine on her wedding day. What's unusual is heroine genuinely luved his daddy & it wasn't a platonic marriage. 1 year after daddy's premature expiration, H/h are still in piss valley cuz she's a shareholder in daddy's company. He finally makes his move & whisks her away to an island for business. Antagonistic hero turns into teddy bear. H/h's budding romance unfurled @ a lethargic pace that sent me to snoozeville, but I'm glad I stuck to it 'cuz LA made the 2nd 1/2 riveting & the prejudice against May-Dec couples was spot on. The hero was not an OTT hater. @ times I questioned why he fell in lurve w/ the heroine 'cuz she's a depressing, unexciting wet rag who needs a Milky Way bar or 2. I liked that the hero actually encouraged an open discussion re : her conflicting emotions. And it was obvious he had strong feelings for step-momma.
Hero uses his power nozzle to flush her coolant-deprived radiator more efficiently than daddy evah did. So once she gets a load of that, she ponders, WTF... I've been missing out on this ?!?... then faints dead away. She realizes in the lingering afterglow that she's been short-changed all those years. Stating the obvious, hero sees her reaction as a neon sign & right on cue, confronts her that "Rod", the unaptly-named daddy dearest, must've been off the mark. Heroine reluctantly confirms that daddy's not exactly the most electrifying banger. The switcheroo is an upgrade, but makes her feel like she's violating her moral code, especially 'cuz the younger version trumps daddy in the orgasmometer. TMI, yo.
Heroine mumbles expired hubby's name thru' a sleepy fog. A Charlotte Lamb hero woulda popped a vein upon hearing anotha dude's name on heroine's smuckers, but not our hero. Instead of getting weirded out, Hero acts like it's a common occurrence, hey whatevah, it's all cool, fuggedaboutit. Yep, he actually says, "Forget it." Wot a guy.
Heroine does a runner after hero pops the question, 'cuz some acehole tells her that there's a hidden agenda behind hero's proposal. Unfortunately, hero's slippery nut butter is so potent that runaway fiancee pops the bun outta her oven after a lonesome gestation. Hero finally finds heroine on the verge of post-partum depression, thru' an ex employee w/ a leaky mouth who doesn't approve of heroine going solo on raising the fruit of his loins. A hollow marriage of benefits ensues. @ the end, hero fesses up that he's been suffering from unrequited luv. Aaaawwww.
Tortured hero lusting after hawt step-momma :
"Then," he went on in that same tired voice, "my father died, and in the midst of my grief & despair that I should have let anyone come between us, I detected, incredibly, a spark of hope. I actually found myself thinking, it's my turn now w/ India. If U can imagine," his face was suddenly drawn & very pale, "how I hated myself for that ?"
19 y/o orphaned heroine got hitched to hero's 49 y/o daddy & it was insta lust / hate when hero met heroine on her wedding day. What's unusual is heroine genuinely luved his daddy & it wasn't a platonic marriage. 1 year after daddy's premature expiration, H/h are still in piss valley cuz she's a shareholder in daddy's company. He finally makes his move & whisks her away to an island for business. Antagonistic hero turns into teddy bear. H/h's budding romance unfurled @ a lethargic pace that sent me to snoozeville, but I'm glad I stuck to it 'cuz LA made the 2nd 1/2 riveting & the prejudice against May-Dec couples was spot on. The hero was not an OTT hater. @ times I questioned why he fell in lurve w/ the heroine 'cuz she's a depressing, unexciting wet rag who needs a Milky Way bar or 2. I liked that the hero actually encouraged an open discussion re : her conflicting emotions. And it was obvious he had strong feelings for step-momma.
Hero uses his power nozzle to flush her coolant-deprived radiator more efficiently than daddy evah did. So once she gets a load of that, she ponders, WTF... I've been missing out on this ?!?... then faints dead away. She realizes in the lingering afterglow that she's been short-changed all those years. Stating the obvious, hero sees her reaction as a neon sign & right on cue, confronts her that "Rod", the unaptly-named daddy dearest, must've been off the mark. Heroine reluctantly confirms that daddy's not exactly the most electrifying banger. The switcheroo is an upgrade, but makes her feel like she's violating her moral code, especially 'cuz the younger version trumps daddy in the orgasmometer. TMI, yo.
Heroine mumbles expired hubby's name thru' a sleepy fog. A Charlotte Lamb hero woulda popped a vein upon hearing anotha dude's name on heroine's smuckers, but not our hero. Instead of getting weirded out, Hero acts like it's a common occurrence, hey whatevah, it's all cool, fuggedaboutit. Yep, he actually says, "Forget it." Wot a guy.
Heroine does a runner after hero pops the question, 'cuz some acehole tells her that there's a hidden agenda behind hero's proposal. Unfortunately, hero's slippery nut butter is so potent that runaway fiancee pops the bun outta her oven after a lonesome gestation. Hero finally finds heroine on the verge of post-partum depression, thru' an ex employee w/ a leaky mouth who doesn't approve of heroine going solo on raising the fruit of his loins. A hollow marriage of benefits ensues. @ the end, hero fesses up that he's been suffering from unrequited luv. Aaaawwww.
Tortured hero lusting after hawt step-momma :
"Then," he went on in that same tired voice, "my father died, and in the midst of my grief & despair that I should have let anyone come between us, I detected, incredibly, a spark of hope. I actually found myself thinking, it's my turn now w/ India. If U can imagine," his face was suddenly drawn & very pale, "how I hated myself for that ?"
May 30, 2024
Usually, in HPlandia, a heroine who is married to the hero's father BEFORE she gets together with the hero, is only allowed to do so because the marriage to the father was never consummated and one of convenience only.
Not so in Surrender, My Heart. Incredibly, not only was heroine's first husband (hero's dad) her first love in every sense of the way, but she was his too, after a disastrous failed marriage in his youth (that produced hero) and a string of cynical affairs. Though there was a real age gap between heroine and her first husband (30 years!!!!), Ms. Armstrong succeeded in painting the portrait of a marriage that was far from disturbing and in fact fulfilling, romantic, and filled with tenderness.
A year after her first husband's death, heroine is now a 25 year old widow reluctantly involved in her late husband's hotel conglomerate. Her stepson, the hero, is the managing director of the company. For five years, he has treated her like dirt, flinging the usual vile accusations of sugar daddy and gold digging tramp at her, even as he must tolerate her on the company's board because the shares she holds are significant enough to break any deadlock if the board members are in disagreement.
Seemingly overnight, he calls a truce and asks her to spend a week with him at an island resort that he has his eye on for the next big project of the company, as a way to bury the hatchet. He even apologizes for his past actions. The gold hearted heroine accepts even though there is a niggling doubt in the back of her mind that something is not quite right, that he is hiding something from her.
The week they spend together on the island leads to a strong attraction between them. Incredibly, the hero proposes to heroine at the end of the week. The heroine has fallen in love with him but she is justifiably afraid of public reaction to this taboo relationship. She is also feeling guilt and disloyalty to her late husband, which is quite understandable. Then, as she begins to believe she and the hero might make it, the hero's business rival drops a bombshell that this marriage is just a scheme for the hero to get his hands on her shares and prevent a take-over of the company. Why else would he overnight go from hating her to proposing marriage? The distraught heroine flees.
Up to this point, I was really enjoying the book but I'm afraid that the rest of the story, mired in tired cliches of seekret babies and marriages of convenience, really underwhelmed. And to be honest, no matter how well-written this book, I couldn't get over the yuck factor of a former stepmom and stepson getting together :~{
Not so in Surrender, My Heart. Incredibly, not only was heroine's first husband (hero's dad) her first love in every sense of the way, but she was his too, after a disastrous failed marriage in his youth (that produced hero) and a string of cynical affairs. Though there was a real age gap between heroine and her first husband (30 years!!!!), Ms. Armstrong succeeded in painting the portrait of a marriage that was far from disturbing and in fact fulfilling, romantic, and filled with tenderness.
A year after her first husband's death, heroine is now a 25 year old widow reluctantly involved in her late husband's hotel conglomerate. Her stepson, the hero, is the managing director of the company. For five years, he has treated her like dirt, flinging the usual vile accusations of sugar daddy and gold digging tramp at her, even as he must tolerate her on the company's board because the shares she holds are significant enough to break any deadlock if the board members are in disagreement.
Seemingly overnight, he calls a truce and asks her to spend a week with him at an island resort that he has his eye on for the next big project of the company, as a way to bury the hatchet. He even apologizes for his past actions. The gold hearted heroine accepts even though there is a niggling doubt in the back of her mind that something is not quite right, that he is hiding something from her.
The week they spend together on the island leads to a strong attraction between them. Incredibly, the hero proposes to heroine at the end of the week. The heroine has fallen in love with him but she is justifiably afraid of public reaction to this taboo relationship. She is also feeling guilt and disloyalty to her late husband, which is quite understandable. Then, as she begins to believe she and the hero might make it, the hero's business rival drops a bombshell that this marriage is just a scheme for the hero to get his hands on her shares and prevent a take-over of the company. Why else would he overnight go from hating her to proposing marriage? The distraught heroine flees.
Up to this point, I was really enjoying the book but I'm afraid that the rest of the story, mired in tired cliches of seekret babies and marriages of convenience, really underwhelmed. And to be honest, no matter how well-written this book, I couldn't get over the yuck factor of a former stepmom and stepson getting together :~{
July 23, 2016
Wow - this was a gorgeous story and from such a squicky premise (heroine was married to hero's dad for four years before he died).
I don't know how Lindsay Armstrong pulled it off, but she did. I believed in their hate-turns-to-love by the middle of the book and there was a lot of story left! I loved the heroine and the hero's torture was obvious. She also managed to weave in descriptions of Australia's Whitsunday Islands, the interiors of various houses, the heroine's clothes, and what everyone is eating. I particularly liked how she used the heroine's and hero's mutual fear of take off and landing to show their harmony. That little masterstroke of characterization echoes the progress of their romance - the beginning and ending were rocky, the middle smooth - but they got to their HEA destination safely.
This is a different sort of HP, but it's very well done.
I don't know how Lindsay Armstrong pulled it off, but she did. I believed in their hate-turns-to-love by the middle of the book and there was a lot of story left! I loved the heroine and the hero's torture was obvious. She also managed to weave in descriptions of Australia's Whitsunday Islands, the interiors of various houses, the heroine's clothes, and what everyone is eating. I particularly liked how she used the heroine's and hero's mutual fear of take off and landing to show their harmony. That little masterstroke of characterization echoes the progress of their romance - the beginning and ending were rocky, the middle smooth - but they got to their HEA destination safely.
This is a different sort of HP, but it's very well done.
June 3, 2017
Angsty old school story where Lindsay Armstrong handles what is a pretty icky plot line pretty well. The heroine was the young and gorgeous wife of the H's father. I don't like sibling to sibling stories, but LA pulls off the near impossible and makes this believable and not too creepy.
The story starts out after the father has died, and the hero is once again pulling the heroine's pigtails metaphorically. He treats her like dirt as in threatens to take her part of the inheritance away, and she simply takes it.
He wants her support at a Board meeting and manipulates her into saying yes. He then manipulates her again into taking a tour of an island he wants to develop. Passion ensues, etc.
The heroine is actually a pretty good little heroine if a tad shut down. She did love her first husband and was kind of shocked everyone thought she was a gold digger. The hero is not as nice as she is, but are they ever in the Harley universe. He keeps his anger and vitriol to verbal attacks rather than physical. He is bedazzled by the heroine, but doesn't care for the feeling.
It's late....HEA
The story starts out after the father has died, and the hero is once again pulling the heroine's pigtails metaphorically. He treats her like dirt as in threatens to take her part of the inheritance away, and she simply takes it.
He wants her support at a Board meeting and manipulates her into saying yes. He then manipulates her again into taking a tour of an island he wants to develop. Passion ensues, etc.
The heroine is actually a pretty good little heroine if a tad shut down. She did love her first husband and was kind of shocked everyone thought she was a gold digger. The hero is not as nice as she is, but are they ever in the Harley universe. He keeps his anger and vitriol to verbal attacks rather than physical. He is bedazzled by the heroine, but doesn't care for the feeling.
It's late....HEA
January 29, 2018
I couldnt get past the whole set up. Step mum goes from father to son after his death. The whole situation just felt wrong. Couldnt connect quit reading it...
December 11, 2021
This was one of my first harlequin, so I’m really surprised I’ve found it again.
After all these years.
It had a nice kinky part, that is the stepmother and her stepson.
The 19 yo heroine is the daughter of a woman who was a sort of hippie and when her mother dies she meets the hero’s father, her boss, who’s older but nice and gallant, and she falls in love with him. Of course she seeks a father figure who she never had, but she loves him in her own way. Unfortunately as soon as the hero sees her in her wedding day, so sweet virginal and beautiful, he falls in lust with her and is furious that she’s marrying his father.
For the whole years she’s married to his father he taunts her and avoids her as much as he can, trying to get free of the obsession he feels for her, but when his father dies and she’s a widow, he decides he doesn’t want to fight this feeling anymore. So he invites her to a holiday in a tropical island and they finally have wonderful sex. He wants to marry her but there’s a big misunderstanding and she runs away.
The story goes on, with her secretly having his baby, then he finds out and proposes marriage, but only a MOC, and so much time lost in vain because both are so in love with each other that when, in the end, they finally confess how much they are in love, I drew a contented sight.
What I liked:
- the heroine really love her husband, even if he was older, and had sex with him. Not a virgin widow, thank god.
- the heroine didn’t lust after the hero when she was married with his father, she was faithful and really mourned him.
- the hero was obsessed with the heroine since they first met. He fought his obsession but when he understood his feelings were always there, he gave up and decided to pursue her, knowing she was the love of his life.
Many misunderstandings and a heroine who didn’t trust the hero, and it’s understandable because he was always cruel and taunting so we can really say that this time he made his bed and paid very dearly for his stupidity.
I liked this book, it was very fast paced and quite angsty.
After all these years.
It had a nice kinky part, that is the stepmother and her stepson.
The 19 yo heroine is the daughter of a woman who was a sort of hippie and when her mother dies she meets the hero’s father, her boss, who’s older but nice and gallant, and she falls in love with him. Of course she seeks a father figure who she never had, but she loves him in her own way. Unfortunately as soon as the hero sees her in her wedding day, so sweet virginal and beautiful, he falls in lust with her and is furious that she’s marrying his father.
For the whole years she’s married to his father he taunts her and avoids her as much as he can, trying to get free of the obsession he feels for her, but when his father dies and she’s a widow, he decides he doesn’t want to fight this feeling anymore. So he invites her to a holiday in a tropical island and they finally have wonderful sex. He wants to marry her but there’s a big misunderstanding and she runs away.
The story goes on, with her secretly having his baby, then he finds out and proposes marriage, but only a MOC, and so much time lost in vain because both are so in love with each other that when, in the end, they finally confess how much they are in love, I drew a contented sight.
What I liked:
- the heroine really love her husband, even if he was older, and had sex with him. Not a virgin widow, thank god.
- the heroine didn’t lust after the hero when she was married with his father, she was faithful and really mourned him.
- the hero was obsessed with the heroine since they first met. He fought his obsession but when he understood his feelings were always there, he gave up and decided to pursue her, knowing she was the love of his life.
Many misunderstandings and a heroine who didn’t trust the hero, and it’s understandable because he was always cruel and taunting so we can really say that this time he made his bed and paid very dearly for his stupidity.
I liked this book, it was very fast paced and quite angsty.
September 28, 2015
Could have gone way wrong since this is the story of a woman hooking up with her dead husband's son. It was well handled though. I liked the fact that the first marriage between the 19 year old and the 45 year old was not platonic as it is so many times in these sorts of books where the heroine was previously married to a much older man.
You really felt that had the older man not died, the marriage would have been successful for the long run. However, since he died that left the door for the stepson who had only met the heroine at her wedding reception and had fallen for her immediately. He had covered up for 5 years by being nasty to her.
So when they do stop being so antagonistic to each other and start to get together there is actual communication about the first marriage and what they are feeling. Although of course the hero doesn't give it all up so there is room for miscommunication. I did think that the miscommunication made sense here and the hero had inadvertently set himself up for it with his behavior especially in the year since his father died but before he got with the heroine.
All in all a very strong story.
You really felt that had the older man not died, the marriage would have been successful for the long run. However, since he died that left the door for the stepson who had only met the heroine at her wedding reception and had fallen for her immediately. He had covered up for 5 years by being nasty to her.
So when they do stop being so antagonistic to each other and start to get together there is actual communication about the first marriage and what they are feeling. Although of course the hero doesn't give it all up so there is room for miscommunication. I did think that the miscommunication made sense here and the hero had inadvertently set himself up for it with his behavior especially in the year since his father died but before he got with the heroine.
All in all a very strong story.
July 22, 2020
If you can get over the the fact that the heroine who married the father, and it was a full marriage in every way if you get my meaning, then when he dies she then moves on to her stepson, then go for it. Unfortunately I couldn’t quite get rid of the feeling that this was just too tacky.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2017
Surrender, my heart, indeed! Loved this one! India was a bit of a dippy little ditz, but in the nicest way possible. She was so very harmless and sweet, you couldn't help liking her even if she wasn't very smart or quick on the uptake. I especially appreciated her honesty, she sucked at hiding her feelings and all her feelings were so open and good-hearted too. I think she was really the only heroine who could have possibly made this story seem innocent, considering she married a man and then his son afterwards. Great read!
June 22, 2021
Από τα λίγα άρλεκιν για να μην γράψω το μοναδικό, που η ηρωίδα έχει εναν κανονικό γάμο με τον 49 πατέρα του ήρωα (ίσως υπάρχουν και άλλα που δεν έπεσαν στα χέρια μου ) .Ένας γάμος που βασίζεται από πλευράς της, στον σεβασμό και στην ασφάλεια.Ο άνδρας της πεθαίνει ξαφνικά και βρίσκεται σε ένα πολύ εχθρικό περιβάλλον κανείς δεν πιστεύει πως τον αγάπησε...Ολοι περιμένουν το λάθος της για να φανεί ο χαρακτήρας της.Οι προσβολές και οι ειρωνείες είναι η καθημερινότητα της.. Πρώτος σε αυτό το παιχνίδι έρχεται ο Τζιλς , ο γιος του άνδρα της.Τα συναισθήματά τους θα αλλάξουν , θα έρθουν πιο κοντά και θα ζήσουν τον απόλυτο έρωτα.. Σε κάποιες αναγνώστριες σίγουρα ξένισε η όλη κατάσταση και είμαι σίγουρη πως σε αυτό βασίζεται και η χαμηλή βαθμολογία του βιβλίου .Μην ξεχνάμε πως όλα είναι εμπνευσμένα από την ίδια τη ζωή!Θα του έδινα πέντε αλλά μάλλον ανήκω και εγώ στους λίγο πιο συντηρητικούς.Το σίγουρο είναι ότι για να φτάσει στο αίσιο τέλος η ηρωίδα πέρασε από 40 κύματα λόγω τύψεων, λόγω ενοχών.Ένιωθε πως πρόδιδε τον άνδρας της , σκεφτόταν τον κόσμο,και δεν ήξερε τα κίνητρα του Τζιλς που ήταν ξεκάθαρα από την αρχή!Με άλλα λόγια η ψυχοσύνθεση της ηρωίδας σκιαγραφήθηκε άριστα.
Σίγουρα είναι ένα σπάνιο κομμάτι που ξεφεύγει από την περπατημένη οδό...
Μένει αξέχαστο!
Σε αυτό λογικά συμφωνούν όλοι!
4,5/5
Σίγουρα είναι ένα σπάνιο κομμάτι που ξεφεύγει από την περπατημένη οδό...
Μένει αξέχαστο!
Σε αυτό λογικά συμφωνούν όλοι!
4,5/5
January 23, 2025
2.5 Stars
hero is her dead ex' son / stepson
hate to love trope
This one felt like there were 2 heroes. Initially, I was intrigued by the taboo theme; however, that died down quickly. I became terribly bored with the story. I only continued because (again) I was too lazy to pick out another book to read. I quit reading at about 90ish%, after
>age-gap:
25h/33H
19h/49H's father, when they married
>She'd been a widow for a little over a yr before she got together w/ the hero.
>Separation: 1 yr; secret baby
>They get married after they reunite.
(borrowed book from Open Library/Internet Archive)
hero is her dead ex' son / stepson
hate to love trope
This one felt like there were 2 heroes. Initially, I was intrigued by the taboo theme; however, that died down quickly. I became terribly bored with the story. I only continued because (again) I was too lazy to pick out another book to read. I quit reading at about 90ish%, after
>age-gap:
25h/33H
19h/49H's father, when they married
>She'd been a widow for a little over a yr before she got together w/ the hero.
>Separation: 1 yr; secret baby
>They get married after they reunite.
(borrowed book from Open Library/Internet Archive)
March 9, 2022
It’s gross.
The h was married to the H’s father as a young 19-year old girl. She had a full sex life with his old dad.
His dad has died. She is now a wealthy widow. She wears expensive clothes, expensive jewelry and she owns shares of her late husband’s company.
She doesn’t know anything of the company. She just lives off her late husband’s money, doing nothing.
But lucky for her, she is beautiful and she has big breasts, so she sleeps with the H.
So she has sex with both the old dad and with his virile young son.
It’s a good thing the old man had only one son. If the H would have had brothers, she would have shagged them all too.
*vomit*
The h was married to the H’s father as a young 19-year old girl. She had a full sex life with his old dad.
His dad has died. She is now a wealthy widow. She wears expensive clothes, expensive jewelry and she owns shares of her late husband’s company.
She doesn’t know anything of the company. She just lives off her late husband’s money, doing nothing.
But lucky for her, she is beautiful and she has big breasts, so she sleeps with the H.
So she has sex with both the old dad and with his virile young son.
It’s a good thing the old man had only one son. If the H would have had brothers, she would have shagged them all too.
*vomit*
April 24, 2023
Given the other reviews from trusted readers on here, I think I just wasn't in the mood for this or else dipped in and out too much over too many days. She's called India, only child of a hippie mum who never told her who her father was. Fell like a ripe plum for a kind, rich sugar daddy who dies. Did have a full marriage but nothing compared to the fireworks with late husband's son Giles. He, ofc, hated her because he lusted after her from the off. He was quite cold, Giles. I never really took to him. And she was one of the away with the fairies fainting types.
August 28, 2014
3.5 stars. Readable story. Maybe I wasn't quite in the mood for it, but it didn't totally draw me in, I think maybe it was too obvious to me what the hero was feeling.
March 30, 2020
Aw, I think I had a little too much anticipation for this one what with all the awesome reviews from my favourite reviewers. I ended up finding the heroine a little too stunned and shocked and surprised by everything, and when she said she knew she wasn't too smart... well, I didn't disagree.
I also just read The Shadow Of Moonlight, another keeping it in the family Lindsay Armstrong and loved it, so my expectations were probably just too high. That heroine had a backbone though.
I also just read The Shadow Of Moonlight, another keeping it in the family Lindsay Armstrong and loved it, so my expectations were probably just too high. That heroine had a backbone though.
June 23, 2021
The first half was a complete snoozefest, no lie, but I continued reading due to everyone’s high rating, and it did get much better towards the end.
I enjoyed reading this unique story about a man who fell for his much younger, step mom. She did love and have a sexual relationship with his father, just FYI, but somehow I wasn’t grossed out by it.
- Father was 30 yrs older than the h. She marrried him when she was 19.
- I think the hero is 10 yrs older than the h ( I don’t remember). They meet for the first time on the day she marries his dad. It was lust at first sight for him, then it turns into a jealous hate.
- Heroine is 25 when the story starts.
I enjoyed reading this unique story about a man who fell for his much younger, step mom. She did love and have a sexual relationship with his father, just FYI, but somehow I wasn’t grossed out by it.
- Father was 30 yrs older than the h. She marrried him when she was 19.
- I think the hero is 10 yrs older than the h ( I don’t remember). They meet for the first time on the day she marries his dad. It was lust at first sight for him, then it turns into a jealous hate.
- Heroine is 25 when the story starts.
August 12, 2021
The story was an easy and rather captivating read, yet very full of various descriptions. I honestly don’t care to know every tiny detail about the heroine’s surroundings, outfits or nail polish, so I found myself half-skimming those paragraphs, but I gather everything was color coordinated.
July 11, 2021
Another book I read and forgot to review or rate. Thanks to the great reviews out there, that helps me with my memory. I may reread this though, because I definitely remember liking it.
July 6, 2023
Maybe I'm too much of a prude, or maybe my ICK factor threshold is lower than most, but when you've got a h who f---ks both father and son.... GROSS!!!! Too much of an incest vibe for me!
And you'll never get me to believe she falls for a guy 20 years her senior (her boss, naturally, as this author has a thing about h's and bosses) and marries him, but his wealth and social position had nothing at all to do with it???? Despite her being in financial straits, never having had a stable home environment (her mom was a retro hippie whacko) and never knowing her dad, the thought of money, security, and all the finer things in life just meant nothing to her at all. Yeah, right!!!
How the H could even think of putting his quill in the inkwell where Daddy had dipped is beyond me, though I'm guessing it's the old trope of having loved her the moment he saw her, but she was his father's wife, so he used hate to cover up his love, etc. One thing's for sure: after sampling one too many of this author's dubious talents, this one (skimmed through I admit) is absolutely my LAST!!!
And you'll never get me to believe she falls for a guy 20 years her senior (her boss, naturally, as this author has a thing about h's and bosses) and marries him, but his wealth and social position had nothing at all to do with it???? Despite her being in financial straits, never having had a stable home environment (her mom was a retro hippie whacko) and never knowing her dad, the thought of money, security, and all the finer things in life just meant nothing to her at all. Yeah, right!!!
How the H could even think of putting his quill in the inkwell where Daddy had dipped is beyond me, though I'm guessing it's the old trope of having loved her the moment he saw her, but she was his father's wife, so he used hate to cover up his love, etc. One thing's for sure: after sampling one too many of this author's dubious talents, this one (skimmed through I admit) is absolutely my LAST!!!
August 2, 2022
2.5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️This was an annoying book!!!! I hated the heroine in this one. She cries constantly, even Jacob day least two breakdowns, maybe more I lost track. The book went downhill in the second part of the book after I had such anticipation in beginning. What a let down! The author didn't quite know how to end this book so it had the feel of going on and on!
I hated how large gaps of time took place twice with no back explanations or internal remembrances to fill us In. She went off and had a baby and we have no idea what she did while she was pregnant. Author jumped right to her having baby! Also a jump in time from H talking her in to marriage to 9 months later with just a little info of how she had spent that time. I was a little Ickes out by going from the dad to the son, but there were so many other issues I let that go!
I hated how large gaps of time took place twice with no back explanations or internal remembrances to fill us In. She went off and had a baby and we have no idea what she did while she was pregnant. Author jumped right to her having baby! Also a jump in time from H talking her in to marriage to 9 months later with just a little info of how she had spent that time. I was a little Ickes out by going from the dad to the son, but there were so many other issues I let that go!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2022
This was surprisingly good. The H's angst and resentment was very clear - he had fallen in insta-lust and love with the h when he saw her, but that was when she was getting married to his father. The h has been in a real marriage with the H's dad - he was an active 50 year old and he was her first lover. That took me a very long time to get used to. But the author made it work, and showed us how the son also works at getting over that fact. In one scene early morning after H and h's marriage, h mumbles H's dad name instead of H's. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I got over it. Very passionate love between the two leads and you feel happy the H finally got the woman he had wanted all these years, and the h finally found an equal.
May 4, 2024
This could be a romance about any love affair with a widow who genuinely loved her husband and grieves his death. This situation is made worse for h because first husband was much older, which gave creeps opportunity for sly malice. Now add in H is the person who made the worst, nastiest comments, viciously threatened h to support him in all decisions else he would contest the will. And the cherry on top is the H is first husband’s son.
LA treats this as a second romance, deftly letting h and H acknowledge the father/son issues but not dwelling on them.
Very well done.
I wasn’t crazy h left H without giving him chance to explain - that usually knocks off a star or two - but this h had a valid reason.
LA treats this as a second romance, deftly letting h and H acknowledge the father/son issues but not dwelling on them.
Very well done.
I wasn’t crazy h left H without giving him chance to explain - that usually knocks off a star or two - but this h had a valid reason.
August 25, 2025
I don't know, I just didn't like it. It just felt icky on the whole to me. Also I felt the the rich father just took advantage of a young girl which just made me lose interest. Like is no one noticing what's happening over here? Omg
Also the chemistry was not chemistry-ing between the ml and fl. Also with the heroine calling ml's father's name after she just slept with him.
Too much icks and ews for me to truly like/enjoy this one.
Also the chemistry was not chemistry-ing between the ml and fl. Also with the heroine calling ml's father's name after she just slept with him.
Too much icks and ews for me to truly like/enjoy this one.
May 15, 2020
h married hero's father for security. She had a passionate night with her step-son ofcourse after her old man dies. I so hate spending my time reading this crappy book. The hero is another great personality, I don't have words to describe him douchebag maybe...
I won't recommend it to anyone.
I won't recommend it to anyone.
May 22, 2019
Given that the h does both the father and the son, it's not as icky as expected.
March 30, 2022
Enjoyed the book but the h got on my nerves a little - i found her a little too cowardly and ran away from problems too much. Good read none the less!
September 6, 2025
Utterly distasteful
How anyone could find pleasure in such a warped romance is beyond me.
How anyone could find pleasure in such a warped romance is beyond me.
June 11, 2013
very very nice one !!lindsay clearly has lots of talent else the book could have been disgusting. after all son sleeping with father's wife after his death n her reaching ecstasy with him which she never reach with the old man. but she did it well..n i absolutely love the sex scenes. very intense ones ! a keeper definitely
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