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A Stranger to Love
She hated to ally herself with a stranger
Laura had no choice. Only the expertise of New York financial analyst Frank Jordan could save her small Connecticut corporation from a takeover by the powerful conglomerate, Schell International.
She needed Frank, both personally and professionally. When she fell in love with him she knew there was nothing they couldn't achieve together.
Until the day beautiful heiress Julie Schell came to her office and told Laura the devastating truth. She'd been used--seduced and betrayed by a man who planned to marry Julie!
Laura had no choice. Only the expertise of New York financial analyst Frank Jordan could save her small Connecticut corporation from a takeover by the powerful conglomerate, Schell International.
She needed Frank, both personally and professionally. When she fell in love with him she knew there was nothing they couldn't achieve together.
Until the day beautiful heiress Julie Schell came to her office and told Laura the devastating truth. She'd been used--seduced and betrayed by a man who planned to marry Julie!
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 11, 2015
Re A Stranger to Love - This title can have multiple meanings, (at this point in HPlandia history the auto virgin/mistress/secret baby title generator had not been perfected yet-its invention was still a decade and half away, waiting for the programming algorithm that would ensure 1 million and one different combinations based on the three key words that are the foundations of the HP universe.) Does the title imply that the main characters are strangers to a love relationship or are the main characters going to meet a stranger and come to love them? In this instance it is a bit of both.
DH's sunset voyage in HPlandia reads more like an epic saga of a young woman rising to the top of the business world with the attendant loves and betrayals that seem to follow in a bildungsroman trope. In fact if you want the ultra expanded version of this story with a ton more details and the one of the best revenge sequences outside of moviedom, give DH's alternate pseudonym Elizabeth Gage's The Master Stroke a read - the product is different and the love interests more varied but the seeds of that story are contained in ASTL.
This story starts with the h waking up in bed with the H after a night of mutual seduction - a plot device that is used for the first time in HPlandia in this book.
The h in this one is an engineering graduate who is working for her widowed father's small appliance and tool company. Her dad is trying to convince her to move up in the company hierarchy and the h is very resistant. She recommends her dad's newest employee, the H who came from a bigger rival conglomerate, to the position instead.
Sadly fate intervene's and her father dies from a heart attack. The h is shaken out of her grieving when she finds out that she is now the president of the company as she inherited the majority of the stock. Then the h starts to get threats from the bank that holds the company's financing, they want her to sell out. She is suddenly thrown into the world of big business when the H steps up to warn her that this is the beginning of a hostile take over attempt.
She and the H are not very familiar with each other, he tended to treat her a bit contemptuously when they first met and she avoided him as much as possible, but now decides to help her put the company back on a firm footing. They have a new product, a little automatic duster, that they need to get to market in a big way to pay off the bank and fight off the nasty take over attempt by the H's former company.
As time goes by the H and h are drawing closer and closer with saving the company and developing the new product, and eventually wind up consummating the relationship. The h is too unsure of herself and the H to ask for anything like an official relationship, she just takes it day by day and the H doesn't mention any type of commitment for reasons of his own.
Then a woman from the H's past waylays the h in her office and tells the h that the H is really a corporate saboteur for the big conglomerate that is trying to take the h's company over and that the H is really the OW;s fiance. She fires the H by messenger, and in a very accurate description of an 80's corporate proxy fight, manages to get the new product out and selling for huge profit margins. She pays off the bank and dumps the bank executive that tried to steal her company and she successfully expands her little company into an empire.
Unfortunately while business is booming and the h is the new hot CEO of the year, she is pining terribly for the H. She runs into his female assistant, (the H now does consulting from Nassau,) who tells her that the H was never engaged or even really liked the OW - the OW saw the H as a path to power in her father's company and ruthlessly destroyed any woman who crossed the H's path and looked like he was interested in.
The h realizes she made a horrible misjudgment and runs off to Nassau to see the H without even taking a change of undies. She gets to the H's house and finds the OW lounging around in the H's bathrobe. She and the spiteful OW are waiting for the H to return when one of her own company executives shows up to take her home. She is about to leave with him when the H comes home in the nick of time and the big denouement occurs.
The h's executive and the OW were working together to break the H and h up, the OW invited herself to the H's home in another attempt to seduce him and the H had been fetching her brother to remove her from his property. The executive felt like he should be the h's husband and used the OW to run the H off. The H accepted it because he thought the h was going to marry the executive ( the guy the was the h's dads right hand man, and the H thought there was some kind of marital agreement per the h's father). The h apologizes for not questioning the OW more closely, and they both declare their love for the big HEA.
This book is pretty much a primer on corporate product development, marketing and holding off hostile takeovers in the 1980's. The descriptions are very much based on real word experience at the time and it is sorta funny that what makes this book so different in HPlandia - a strong, educated h who succeeds in a big way and the realistic description of business practices- actually dates this book so much that it could be considered an historical romance.
This book ranks high in the lists of HP keepers for me, but caveats do apply in this story. There are no computers, cell phones and the proxy shareholder fight process is very different from business management today. The romance is well done and the h and H are likable characters, but the whole plot seems very anachronistic now, (the company in the book would probably be an S-corporation and thus immune to hostile takeover) so it doesn't hold the timelessness that most other books in HPlandia do.
This may be a deterrent to newer readers, plus the h and H are both pretty sensible people - even when the h fires the H, (given that he still had an office in the raider corporation and was consulting for them--nowadays a clear conflict of interest and he would not have been in one of the jobs as there are non-compete clauses,) she does what she has to do from a business pov. She can't take the chance that he is not a saboteur, she will lose her company and her employees will lose their jobs if she can't fight off the attack, this doesn't help her broken heart but it does keep her self-supporting and growing as an effective business leader.
The other thing that may bother people is this h is no tstl doormat, she is strong, thoughtful and by the end of the book, an independent and savvy CEO in her own right who managed to rescue herself- she is really the opposite of most HPlandia h's and the relationship is too much a partnership in equals instead of the shiny knight in armor who rescues the h and elevates her to riches and fairytale HEAs.
There is a mentoring period, but the H isn't the alpha in the book, she is --and that fact may throw up too much dust for reader's who love the well traveled roads and favored byways of HPlandia's familiar character types and tropes.
DH's sunset voyage in HPlandia reads more like an epic saga of a young woman rising to the top of the business world with the attendant loves and betrayals that seem to follow in a bildungsroman trope. In fact if you want the ultra expanded version of this story with a ton more details and the one of the best revenge sequences outside of moviedom, give DH's alternate pseudonym Elizabeth Gage's The Master Stroke a read - the product is different and the love interests more varied but the seeds of that story are contained in ASTL.
This story starts with the h waking up in bed with the H after a night of mutual seduction - a plot device that is used for the first time in HPlandia in this book.
The h in this one is an engineering graduate who is working for her widowed father's small appliance and tool company. Her dad is trying to convince her to move up in the company hierarchy and the h is very resistant. She recommends her dad's newest employee, the H who came from a bigger rival conglomerate, to the position instead.
Sadly fate intervene's and her father dies from a heart attack. The h is shaken out of her grieving when she finds out that she is now the president of the company as she inherited the majority of the stock. Then the h starts to get threats from the bank that holds the company's financing, they want her to sell out. She is suddenly thrown into the world of big business when the H steps up to warn her that this is the beginning of a hostile take over attempt.
She and the H are not very familiar with each other, he tended to treat her a bit contemptuously when they first met and she avoided him as much as possible, but now decides to help her put the company back on a firm footing. They have a new product, a little automatic duster, that they need to get to market in a big way to pay off the bank and fight off the nasty take over attempt by the H's former company.
As time goes by the H and h are drawing closer and closer with saving the company and developing the new product, and eventually wind up consummating the relationship. The h is too unsure of herself and the H to ask for anything like an official relationship, she just takes it day by day and the H doesn't mention any type of commitment for reasons of his own.
Then a woman from the H's past waylays the h in her office and tells the h that the H is really a corporate saboteur for the big conglomerate that is trying to take the h's company over and that the H is really the OW;s fiance. She fires the H by messenger, and in a very accurate description of an 80's corporate proxy fight, manages to get the new product out and selling for huge profit margins. She pays off the bank and dumps the bank executive that tried to steal her company and she successfully expands her little company into an empire.
Unfortunately while business is booming and the h is the new hot CEO of the year, she is pining terribly for the H. She runs into his female assistant, (the H now does consulting from Nassau,) who tells her that the H was never engaged or even really liked the OW - the OW saw the H as a path to power in her father's company and ruthlessly destroyed any woman who crossed the H's path and looked like he was interested in.
The h realizes she made a horrible misjudgment and runs off to Nassau to see the H without even taking a change of undies. She gets to the H's house and finds the OW lounging around in the H's bathrobe. She and the spiteful OW are waiting for the H to return when one of her own company executives shows up to take her home. She is about to leave with him when the H comes home in the nick of time and the big denouement occurs.
The h's executive and the OW were working together to break the H and h up, the OW invited herself to the H's home in another attempt to seduce him and the H had been fetching her brother to remove her from his property. The executive felt like he should be the h's husband and used the OW to run the H off. The H accepted it because he thought the h was going to marry the executive ( the guy the was the h's dads right hand man, and the H thought there was some kind of marital agreement per the h's father). The h apologizes for not questioning the OW more closely, and they both declare their love for the big HEA.
This book is pretty much a primer on corporate product development, marketing and holding off hostile takeovers in the 1980's. The descriptions are very much based on real word experience at the time and it is sorta funny that what makes this book so different in HPlandia - a strong, educated h who succeeds in a big way and the realistic description of business practices- actually dates this book so much that it could be considered an historical romance.
This book ranks high in the lists of HP keepers for me, but caveats do apply in this story. There are no computers, cell phones and the proxy shareholder fight process is very different from business management today. The romance is well done and the h and H are likable characters, but the whole plot seems very anachronistic now, (the company in the book would probably be an S-corporation and thus immune to hostile takeover) so it doesn't hold the timelessness that most other books in HPlandia do.
This may be a deterrent to newer readers, plus the h and H are both pretty sensible people - even when the h fires the H, (given that he still had an office in the raider corporation and was consulting for them--nowadays a clear conflict of interest and he would not have been in one of the jobs as there are non-compete clauses,) she does what she has to do from a business pov. She can't take the chance that he is not a saboteur, she will lose her company and her employees will lose their jobs if she can't fight off the attack, this doesn't help her broken heart but it does keep her self-supporting and growing as an effective business leader.
The other thing that may bother people is this h is no tstl doormat, she is strong, thoughtful and by the end of the book, an independent and savvy CEO in her own right who managed to rescue herself- she is really the opposite of most HPlandia h's and the relationship is too much a partnership in equals instead of the shiny knight in armor who rescues the h and elevates her to riches and fairytale HEAs.
There is a mentoring period, but the H isn't the alpha in the book, she is --and that fact may throw up too much dust for reader's who love the well traveled roads and favored byways of HPlandia's familiar character types and tropes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2014
What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book. A coming-of-age story handled with grace and poise. It almost doesn't read like a HQN but a full-fledged novel and so it got to deal with tragedy, pain, strength and love with due attention and detail.
This is the second book I've read by Donna Huxley and like the first one, the business aspect is detailed to the point where it reads like an autobiography, the book is so informative and so thrilling. For people who get bored by trivialities of everyday life, this book mightn't be that good a read, but I loved the fact that the heroine was educated and independent (she was an engineer) and also the challenge the h faced, the marketing genius and H's support. I have a very strong suspicion that the author (male or female) actually worked as an executive and didn't just assume what they do.
The pace of the story is slower than usual and things take time to be set up but it is highly recommended for those who love strong heroines, strong heroes and rising-of-the-phoenix-from-the-ashes kind of stories
P.S I would recommend you disregard the cover and just picture the H/h since the story doesn't focus too much on look but more so on personalities.
This is the second book I've read by Donna Huxley and like the first one, the business aspect is detailed to the point where it reads like an autobiography, the book is so informative and so thrilling. For people who get bored by trivialities of everyday life, this book mightn't be that good a read, but I loved the fact that the heroine was educated and independent (she was an engineer) and also the challenge the h faced, the marketing genius and H's support. I have a very strong suspicion that the author (male or female) actually worked as an executive and didn't just assume what they do.
The pace of the story is slower than usual and things take time to be set up but it is highly recommended for those who love strong heroines, strong heroes and rising-of-the-phoenix-from-the-ashes kind of stories
P.S I would recommend you disregard the cover and just picture the H/h since the story doesn't focus too much on look but more so on personalities.
April 24, 2017
An office romance with more office than romance. There are pages and pages of discussion about takeover bids, stock options, the supply chain, marketing strategies and company visions. It's fascinating if you like that kind of thing - especially because the business climate is so different now. This is a time capsule of when small appliances were made in the US and corporate actually funded research.
I liked it because I was a business minor in college and I was working out in the corporate world in 1985 when this was written. I don't know if a younger reader would have as much patience for all that outdated business speak, though.
The little bit of romance was nicely written. The hero is a business mentor to the heroine - at first he is harsh with her, but they eventually begin a sexual affair. The heroine doesn't know if the hero is serious about her or not - and she's not asking because her first priority is the company her late father ran. An OW sticks a fork in the works and the heroine thinks she's been betrayed by the H.
From there the heroine has to run the place by herself - and she succeeds. When the H/h meet again they are equals in the business world - but the hero doesn't seem to think he's done anything wrong. Eventually the heroine finds out the truth and confronts the H. That the OW is there at the H's beach house is disconcerting, but the heroine stands her ground and waits for the H to return instead of flouncing off. She is rewarded for her patience because the OW is told off and the real traitor in the company is unmasked.
This is definitely a different kind of HP. Boogenhagen has written a more detailed review if you're interested.
I liked it because I was a business minor in college and I was working out in the corporate world in 1985 when this was written. I don't know if a younger reader would have as much patience for all that outdated business speak, though.
The little bit of romance was nicely written. The hero is a business mentor to the heroine - at first he is harsh with her, but they eventually begin a sexual affair. The heroine doesn't know if the hero is serious about her or not - and she's not asking because her first priority is the company her late father ran. An OW sticks a fork in the works and the heroine thinks she's been betrayed by the H.
From there the heroine has to run the place by herself - and she succeeds. When the H/h meet again they are equals in the business world - but the hero doesn't seem to think he's done anything wrong. Eventually the heroine finds out the truth and confronts the H. That the OW is there at the H's beach house is disconcerting, but the heroine stands her ground and waits for the H to return instead of flouncing off. She is rewarded for her patience because the OW is told off and the real traitor in the company is unmasked.
This is definitely a different kind of HP. Boogenhagen has written a more detailed review if you're interested.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2022
Another intelligently written story by Donna Huxley. This one is set in the cutthroat world of corporate take-overs. There is a mini business seminar, ominous board meetings, a bank and corporate raiders both breathing down heroine's neck, corporate spying, office politics, backstabbing, etc. The romance takes a secondary seat until the heroine is able to slay her corporate enemies and triumph as the CEO of her company. Then, it concludes with the focus back on the romance between the hero and heroine, which was thwarted by their enemies. It was a very satisfying Harlequinlandia twist ending that clears up all the Great Big Terrible Misunderstandings, unmasks the villains of the piece, and leaves our lovers avowing their love for each other where else? in their private villa in the Carribeans :) Well done!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2023
As the story opened I thought there would be alot of steamy romance in this one However, to my horror, the subsequent chapters go into great 'business ' detail about how the h's father founded the company , her discussions with her father about his business and her career choice, and after her father's death, how she was going to run the company as its CEO, and then DH made sure her readers knew how this company was run and the limited choices the h had etc....Then as if that wasn't enough, there is alot about the history of the Hero's company,we get the family history in founding the schell corporation, and how the h feels forced to take his advice and she was going to save her company by introducing a new product range ..., "molly" a television set, since it could save her business... blah blah blah....in short, it was terrible for me with all its 'business' information, I mean it was too much! a universty course business administration 101. As for the romance, after half the story, H/h are The dramatic ending came suddenly but i have a strong conviction both the Mcs will center their whole being on business rather than romance their whole lives. This book was not my cup of tea. Plus i couldn't see the heroine as an independent woman because she is so dependent on the hero all the time, mentally and emotionally.
Read
August 16, 2023Did not hold my interest.
October 10, 2022
10/2022 - First time reading and just finished reading it - AWWWWW Love it!!! I only with there were more pages for super duper HEA and epilogue! Since I'm at work right now (hee hee) I'll have to write a more gushing extensive review later. But I think I may have to re-read this again in a couple of days because my eyes were speed-reading / skimming as I really had no spoilers when I started reading. But suffice it to say this for sure was a different h than I'm used to - but I like it; I like the heroine! Hmmm.. actually I think I'll write the review now Anyhoo, this romance to me indeed seemed more "modern" than my non-PC harlequin presents that I read - the oldies one. It was interesting to me to see that this book was written 1984. Some of the 80's HP I read didn't have h's like this. But anyway, this book had a prologue and for sure it was interestingly done - like the book started with a foreshadowing I guess you can say; then the past, how they met, then back to the prologue scene / leading up to it then of course the rest of the story. Now because I was reading TOO fast that I failed to absorb I'm assuming the h was an "innocent" and her first time was with the H. But their romance just seemed "modern" I guess you can say in regards to courtship and their personal time together. But you know I love it. I think the h/H romance is WONDERFULLY done because they really got to know each other though work and so I find it EXTREMELY believable and I can truly see their HEA as a for real HEA. Awwww.... still feeling happy for them both hee hee! I love the h - yes she really was a modern career woman, but my old fashioned fart self still sees her like a feminine woman in my fantasy HP world lol! I love that she's a smarty pants too and even if she seems like a career minded h the author made her seem womanly and likable and yes, I like her. Naww, I can the smack the h a little for not hurting the H after all he's done but hey, I can understand when you're in the throes of love and not knowing if the other party feels the same you'd be assailed by doubts! As for the H - love him too! He's not as un-PC as some heroes I like but he's definitely still ahem yummy hee hee! I love that he was smart, had a great heart, values and convictions and I can totally see him as the "I love you so much I will let you go if that's is what's good for you" things of that nature! And I love that the H wasn't vindictive and didn't give the h a hard time for "cruelly" doing what she did. When I first read the book I was like, where the romance but you know what, the author really gave me a lot of meat about the business, conniving people, take overs and such. It definitely made the story meatier. I just wish there were more pages; epilogue and things of that nature. The "OM" part felt a little tacked on though and have no idea why he dragged his feet 0_0 What can I say, OM - you snooze you lose... Anyway, I plan to re-read this book again fairly soon. I only gave this 4 stars because I would have liked an epilogue, some more pages of the H/h together, maybe hear the H's thought more - even though he seeemed to explain everything at the end. But I still love the book and this will definitely be in my keeper shelf. I'll have to check out the author's other books as well! Ooof I wrote a long review of gushing lol! Time to go back to work! (oh it's lunchtime - gonna check out the author's other books instead! :P )
November 26, 2022
3.5* for a very good story on the professional and personal growth of a strong heroine.
The young heroine is unexpectedly thrust at the forefront of her family company upon the sudden death of her father. Grieving and unprepared, she needs to rely on the advice of the Hero, one of her father’s top, though newest, executives.
With the Hero at her side, she weathers the threat of a hostile take over, and steers the company into unexpected profitability. The couple also start a sexual affair. And this is where i had a bit of a problem.
Aside from the author telling us of the development of the main characters from colleagues to lovers, she never showed us how they interacted with each other when they were together.
Did they even get to know each other? What did they talk about when they were together outside of the office? There was no real development to their personal relationship. Because of this ambiguity in their relationship, it cleared the path for the evil OW to sow doubts in the mind of the heroine.
However, there is a twist in the end, which makes the earlier ambivalence of their relationship quite deliberate on the author’s part.
All in all a satisfying read, if a bit low on the romance spectrum.
The young heroine is unexpectedly thrust at the forefront of her family company upon the sudden death of her father. Grieving and unprepared, she needs to rely on the advice of the Hero, one of her father’s top, though newest, executives.
With the Hero at her side, she weathers the threat of a hostile take over, and steers the company into unexpected profitability. The couple also start a sexual affair. And this is where i had a bit of a problem.
Aside from the author telling us of the development of the main characters from colleagues to lovers, she never showed us how they interacted with each other when they were together.
Did they even get to know each other? What did they talk about when they were together outside of the office? There was no real development to their personal relationship. Because of this ambiguity in their relationship, it cleared the path for the evil OW to sow doubts in the mind of the heroine.
However, there is a twist in the end, which makes the earlier ambivalence of their relationship quite deliberate on the author’s part.
All in all a satisfying read, if a bit low on the romance spectrum.
January 10, 2026
A re read for me, though the binding is very fragile and pages keep coming apart. If only more older Harlequins were made into E-books.
This is a tried and true HQN romance. Comforting in is familiarity but still a good read.
Some angst, OW drama, misunderstandings, romance and miscommunication to make up a great story.
The ending was a bit rushed but it ended with an HEA!
This is a tried and true HQN romance. Comforting in is familiarity but still a good read.
Some angst, OW drama, misunderstandings, romance and miscommunication to make up a great story.
The ending was a bit rushed but it ended with an HEA!
pback-to-read
February 13, 2019She hated to ally herself with a stranger
Laura had no choice. Only the expertise of New York financial analyst Frank Jordan could save her small Connecticut corporation from a takeover by the powerful conglomerate, Schell International.
She needed Frank, both personally and professionally. When she fell in love with him she knew there was nothing they couldn't achieve together.
Until the day beautiful heiress Julie Schell came to her office and told Laura the devastating truth. She'd been used--seduced and betrayed by a man who planned to marry Julie! (l
Laura had no choice. Only the expertise of New York financial analyst Frank Jordan could save her small Connecticut corporation from a takeover by the powerful conglomerate, Schell International.
She needed Frank, both personally and professionally. When she fell in love with him she knew there was nothing they couldn't achieve together.
Until the day beautiful heiress Julie Schell came to her office and told Laura the devastating truth. She'd been used--seduced and betrayed by a man who planned to marry Julie! (l
January 23, 2014
This was ok but too dated for me. Very Harlequinish from the 80s.
Laura graduated with an engineering degree. She is working for her father’s company. Her mind too often wanders into overly sexually flowery thoughts that didn’t fit - felt too much. But I think a lot of romance writing back then was that way. For example, pages 87-88: Frank is a coworker at the company. Frank asks Laura “how much of your French do you remember? Frank stood tall at Laura’s office door, his coat thrown over the shoulder of the thick sweater which hugged the contours of his powerful chest and arms. The taut animal strength coiled for quick and efficient action. Looking up from her desk Laura was momentarily struck dumb by her sheer admiration for his exuberant male authority... Frank’s erect virility, once a mere image of tempting male attractiveness before her mind’s eye, had expanded insidiously to overwhelm her imagination. It was increasingly difficult to concentrate on the urgent tasks he persisted in bringing her when his every glance, the casual touch of his hand on her arm, his earthy male scent as he leaned close to her, tore at the heart of her resistance to his charms.” The “taut animal strength” sentence would fit better in a werewolf shifter book than a guy at the office in a suit - for me that is.
I did not like the lack of communication and inaccurate assumptions that caused the conflicts between Laura and Frank. Laura hears a lie about Frank and she fires him without asking him about it. A normal guy would have asked Laura why she fired him, but Frank doesn’t. He just leaves. Later they are talking, but that conversation is vague and the truth does not come out. Later Frank learns something new, but he doesn’t tell Laura. These two characters are smart. They know how to find facts. It didn’t fit that they were so unsmart in this way.
Laura is full of self doubt and insecurities and feels vulnerable and embarrassed with Frank. He never says anything romantic. He just starts kissing her which leads to sex. A few words from him would have fit his character. But the author doesn’t give us that. We are never in Frank’s head. I suppose that’s ok because the reader then feels all of Laura’s insecurities. I was unsettled, but I don’t know if I should fault the author. That’s the way she wanted to write it.
I liked the corporate maneuvers and plot. One company plans to take over another. I enjoyed watching how to thwart it.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 187 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 2. Setting: around 1984 mostly east coast U.S. Copyright: 1984. Genre: contemporary romance.
Laura graduated with an engineering degree. She is working for her father’s company. Her mind too often wanders into overly sexually flowery thoughts that didn’t fit - felt too much. But I think a lot of romance writing back then was that way. For example, pages 87-88: Frank is a coworker at the company. Frank asks Laura “how much of your French do you remember? Frank stood tall at Laura’s office door, his coat thrown over the shoulder of the thick sweater which hugged the contours of his powerful chest and arms. The taut animal strength coiled for quick and efficient action. Looking up from her desk Laura was momentarily struck dumb by her sheer admiration for his exuberant male authority... Frank’s erect virility, once a mere image of tempting male attractiveness before her mind’s eye, had expanded insidiously to overwhelm her imagination. It was increasingly difficult to concentrate on the urgent tasks he persisted in bringing her when his every glance, the casual touch of his hand on her arm, his earthy male scent as he leaned close to her, tore at the heart of her resistance to his charms.” The “taut animal strength” sentence would fit better in a werewolf shifter book than a guy at the office in a suit - for me that is.
I did not like the lack of communication and inaccurate assumptions that caused the conflicts between Laura and Frank. Laura hears a lie about Frank and she fires him without asking him about it. A normal guy would have asked Laura why she fired him, but Frank doesn’t. He just leaves. Later they are talking, but that conversation is vague and the truth does not come out. Later Frank learns something new, but he doesn’t tell Laura. These two characters are smart. They know how to find facts. It didn’t fit that they were so unsmart in this way.
Laura is full of self doubt and insecurities and feels vulnerable and embarrassed with Frank. He never says anything romantic. He just starts kissing her which leads to sex. A few words from him would have fit his character. But the author doesn’t give us that. We are never in Frank’s head. I suppose that’s ok because the reader then feels all of Laura’s insecurities. I was unsettled, but I don’t know if I should fault the author. That’s the way she wanted to write it.
I liked the corporate maneuvers and plot. One company plans to take over another. I enjoyed watching how to thwart it.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 187 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 2. Setting: around 1984 mostly east coast U.S. Copyright: 1984. Genre: contemporary romance.
April 25, 2023
I liked the business part of this, romance was good too. I appreciate seeing a lady shown as decisive, in charge and successful.
What I don’t like and brings rating down is the h, who learns how to succeed in business from the H, who has a happy affair with H is completely stupid about him, believes incredibly vicious tales about him that contradict facts on the ground and her own heart.
This author seems to create heroines who cannot detect when a man loves them and it leads to exaggerating trivial conflicts into break ups. In Number One h listens to her weak ex husband who’s wildly envious of her success instead of her heart. (Or, wild idea, trusting the H who has been nothing but kind, caring, generous.)
In the story h listens to the daughter of the H’s former employer when she knew H did not like, trust or respect the father . She never asks the woman what is in it for her that causes her to come to h with a wild story about betrayal. Our credulous h doesn’t seem to realize the OW gives no reason for betraying her own father and supposed fiancé. At the end she does it AGAIN.
Instead of asking the H, and at least thanking him for his work, she fires him. She never acknowledges his contribution publicly either. That’s their business relationship and she does the same thing in their personal relationship.
She could have asked H what he felt and wanted instead of assuming he didn’t want her long term. Nope. She tells herself that H won’t want to spend a second night with her because he’s not going to want her to cling, then when he does stay the second time she cannot finish the equation.
What I don’t like and brings rating down is the h, who learns how to succeed in business from the H, who has a happy affair with H is completely stupid about him, believes incredibly vicious tales about him that contradict facts on the ground and her own heart.
This author seems to create heroines who cannot detect when a man loves them and it leads to exaggerating trivial conflicts into break ups. In Number One h listens to her weak ex husband who’s wildly envious of her success instead of her heart. (Or, wild idea, trusting the H who has been nothing but kind, caring, generous.)
In the story h listens to the daughter of the H’s former employer when she knew H did not like, trust or respect the father . She never asks the woman what is in it for her that causes her to come to h with a wild story about betrayal. Our credulous h doesn’t seem to realize the OW gives no reason for betraying her own father and supposed fiancé. At the end she does it AGAIN.
Instead of asking the H, and at least thanking him for his work, she fires him. She never acknowledges his contribution publicly either. That’s their business relationship and she does the same thing in their personal relationship.
She could have asked H what he felt and wanted instead of assuming he didn’t want her long term. Nope. She tells herself that H won’t want to spend a second night with her because he’s not going to want her to cling, then when he does stay the second time she cannot finish the equation.
June 19, 2025
I can only think that Ms. Huxley aspired to being more than a Harlequin author with her long sentences packed with expressive adverbs and adjectives. I've never read the words "somnolence" and "somnolent" so many times in one book, and I was completely unfamiliar with "importuned", which was also used multiple times. In the context of the sentences it was used in I could figure out it's meaning, but I looked it up anyway: "to press or urge with troublesome persistence". I do love learning new words, though I doubt I'll ever use this one.
Our heroine finds herself the CEO of her father's company after his death. As other reviewers have noted, there are pages and pages about corporate matters, as Laura immerses herself in the business and learns about takeovers, stocks, mergers, acquisitions, public tender offers, and every other corporate word you can think of, until your eyes are crossing.
Meanwhile she falls for, and pines for, the hero, who is helping her learn the ropes, and then there's the obligatory misunderstanding, a huge one, and that's when it went from a two star read to a three star read. Often in romance books when the misunderstanding occurs, the truth of the matter is obvious to the reader. I find myself wanting to shake the characters for being so blind to it. But this one kept me in some suspense, as I got closer and closer to the end and, even knowing that of course there will be a happy ending, I wasn't sure how.
Our heroine finds herself the CEO of her father's company after his death. As other reviewers have noted, there are pages and pages about corporate matters, as Laura immerses herself in the business and learns about takeovers, stocks, mergers, acquisitions, public tender offers, and every other corporate word you can think of, until your eyes are crossing.
Meanwhile she falls for, and pines for, the hero, who is helping her learn the ropes, and then there's the obligatory misunderstanding, a huge one, and that's when it went from a two star read to a three star read. Often in romance books when the misunderstanding occurs, the truth of the matter is obvious to the reader. I find myself wanting to shake the characters for being so blind to it. But this one kept me in some suspense, as I got closer and closer to the end and, even knowing that of course there will be a happy ending, I wasn't sure how.
August 8, 2020
More than romance, it's more about managerial politics
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