Heartless

Long, Tall Texans #36

by Diana Palmer

Though Gracie hadn't seen her stepbrother, Jason, in years, when her mother passed away, Jason ensured that Gracie would be cared for. Now the wealthy owner of Comanche Wells ranch, Jason has finally come back home, and discovered that the little girl he knew is all grown up.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Westerns, Contemporary, Harlequin, Western Romance, Audiobook

298 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.

(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.

She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.

Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.

In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.

Reviews

[Bgurl (don't h8 me cuz I'm honestful) · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOTE TO FELLOW READERS: If a book’s heroine straps on a fanny pack, stop reading IMMEDIATELY and throw it out! Or you WILL get Chlamydia and DIE!



Actually, that’s unfair. Chlamydia at least has a cure and I’m pretty sure whatever disease Diana Palmer’s Heartless, is afflicted with does not!

Egads, this book was bad! Just awful! Horrendous! Really, really, really…..well….really BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD! And, stupid me just kept on reading! Why? Because I HAD to know JUST how bad it could get! Yeah. Apparently I’m a masochist. Who knew?

Past experiences with old romance novels written by authors that crank them out like puppies at a puppy mill, have taught me that I will most likely be subjecting myself to a cringe worthy read. Every once in a while, however, I do discover a hidden gem. For this reason, I continue to dip my toe into the old-school romance pond. Sadly, Heartless, turned out to be a disgusting cesspool instead of a mountain fresh, spring fed stream.

Alas. Heartless, wasn’t a total waste of time because I definitely learned something from reading this book. For instance, if I were to write a romance novel, here are four things I would NEVER do:

1). Have a heroine wear a fanny pack.
Remember that episode of Sex in the City, when Carrie Bradshaw tells Jack Berger that New York women wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a scrunchie? Well, no hero worth his salt would fall in love with a woman sporting a fanny pack. It’s just not sexy! Neither is the word “fanny” for that matter; so, I’d probably scrub that word from my vocabulary all together!



Which leads me to…

2). Have a hero don a white turtleneck sweater.
Never, in the history of fashion, has a white turtleneck sweater made a man look macho or hot. Unless, of course, said turtleneck caused the man’s body temperature to actually rise. In which case, the reader now has an image of a sweaty, red faced, un-macho, white turtleneck sweater wearing hero stuck in their head and that’s not a visual anyone deserves to be saddled with!



*Shudders in revulsion.* Moving on…

3). Write a romance novel while hungry.
Why? You ask? Because I may become so obsessed with food that I write a scene where my hero (upon being informed that his beloved has been kidnapped by torturing, raping, murdering thugs) does nothing but whine about how hungry he his and how he can’t eat because there’s no one to cook for him, so he asks an FBI agent to make him an omelet. And bacon. And CINNAMON TOAST!

I kid you not, folks. The hero in Heartless, asks the Federal Agent who is there to find his kidnapped step-sister to make him F-ING CINNAMON TOAST! UGH! When I read that, I felt like weeping from the torture I was inflicting on myself. Yet, did I stop? Hells No!



I’m so ashamed of myself.

Last, but not least…

4). Underestimate the intelligence of my readers by creating a thirty-four year old hero who acts like a self-centered four year old.
Yeah, I’m a wee bit insulted by a hero who treats his cattle like precious children and WON’T employ environmentally unfriendly farming methods but WILL stand by and let his bitchy villainess of a fiancée insult and drive away the step-sister he raised and the servants he’s known since birth because his witty-bitty fwee-wings were herwt when his step-sister wouldn’t let him paw her boobs. But maybe it’s just me. I’m funny like that.



Do yourself a big favor and learn from my mistakes, skip Diana Palmer’s Heartless. To be safe, I’m skipping everything ever written by her. Judging from the reviews of Ms. Palmer’s other books, they’re probably just as awful.

[♥ℳelody · Rating 1 out of 5]

**I'm giving you fair warning, this review will be filled with snark and quotes I pulled from the book. I have to find some entertainment where I can when it comes to this book. It's all in good fun too! Sorry for the ramblings in advance.**

Finally finished this! It says so much when you let out a sigh of relief when you get to the last page of a book. :/I'm sorry Diana Palmer but you and I are going our separate ways. I tried very much but this did not work for me for several reasons. Same grievances I had in Night Fever I had here, but here the problems were much more obvious and less forgiving. The set up of this story had the potential of being one ball of romantic angsty goodness but it just completely collapsed on itself not even half way in. The characters seemed to have the emotional maturity level and depth of 15 year old teenagers. Very one-dimensionial characters and painfully underdeveloped writing.


THE CHARACTERS

Gracie, sweet kind-hearted incredibly naïve overly-sensitive Gracie. She’s had a wide-eyed crush and been in love with her step brother Jason for years since her mother married his father. Jason pretty much looked after her and saw to her every need since she was 14 and moved in with his family. Buying her extravagant gifts and letting her live in his mansion. She seems to carry the world on her shoulders (in her head), she's such a dear who takes everything to heart with quivering chins and maidenly gasps and blushes thrown in there. She was too fragile and sensitive for my tastes. And her doe-eyed fear/awe/hero-worship of Jason and eagerness to please him just made me...uncomfortable.

I love shy less experienced awkward heroines, but here it was too much and weird rather than charming. Her overly-dramatic martyr the ‘sky is falling’ personality just grates the nerves. And the author trying to show her finding strength and sass just came off more comical than anything because it was so extreme and out of character.

I don't know, I loved the idea of stepbrother and stepsister fighting their growing attraction to each other. And before anyone gives me the side eye for that, there is no blood relation and they didn’t know each other their entire life so I didn’t mind it. I'm not a perv, honest! I just really like angsty situations. My fault I thought I was gonna get a tortured angsty brooding couple instead I got Marsha and Greg from the Brady bunch.




-__- AWKWARD


As for the hero Jason, he did absolutely nothing for me. In the first few chapters he came off like a chatter box who would tease and joke around then morphed into a glowering angry jerk who liked to storm off in rages through the rest of the book. RME. Spare me. And his ‘payback’ ploy after Gracie rejected him is a stunt a 17 yr old hot headed boy would do instead of a 35 year old man. It was so ridiculous and juvenile. And his passive aggressive ‘what happens, happens’ attitude after magically getting a fiance just didn’t make a lick of sense. How far up your own ass do you have to be to see how stupid & careless you are acting towards the people you love? When Gracie runs off after their awkward "hot" misunderstood kiss in the rain, Jason is hurt and humiliated. His pride is hurt so what does he do? He gets drunk and ends up in bed with a vapid venomous cartoonish she-devil model named Kittie, who sinks her claws into him the minute she finds out he’s a millionaire. And he completely lets her. After waking up in bed next to her with no memory of what happened the night before, he freaks out thinking that they had unprotected sex and she may be pregnant. So he decides they should get engaged and wants to bring her home with him because hey! Why not? he’s always wanted to be a father (and he's so damn giddy over the thought of having a child with a virtual stranger WTH?) and this is the ‘best’ it’s going to get after losing Gracie. Oh and he can’t WAIT to see the look on Gracie's face when he struts in with this ‘beautiful creature’ on his arm. -__- Again, how old are you? Where is your damn brain? What century do you even live in?? I’m embarrassed for you dude.



At this point, I wanted someone to just kick him in the balls and stuff him into a box. Complete idiotic jackhole. And oblivious doesn’t even begin to cover how dim witted he acted to all of Kittie’s outlandish over-the-top schemes to steamroll his life and run everyone out of his own house. GMAFB. Half the time he kept moaning & brooding over not even caring about her and wanting to end the engagement, but he keeps putting the inevitable off, letting everyone in his home continue to be miserable and be run off by that little shrew. Grow a damn pair! And Kittie’s huffy ‘old people!’ rants couldn’t scream any louder that she’s the BAD GUY. I couldn't even take this character seriously because she was such a flat silly poor OTT caricature. Seriously she's vindictive enough and motivated enough to snoop around the household staffs' personal lives and expose their numerous secrets (and there are about 5 of them I lost count afterthat). Just...why? All that effort seemed so pointless to me and was trying to make her even more loathsome and antagonistic than she already is. Not necessary.

Moving on...


THE PLOT
So central story focuses on Jason and Gracie and the big awful shameful secrets Gracie is hiding from Jason (secrets plural because Gracie's got a bagful but I only found 2). Her mother was in a abusive relationship with Gracie's father, a volcanic tempered drunk who would beat her and throw her around in and out of the bedroom. One particular episode is so extreme where her mother runs out of the bedroom with a blood soaked bodice where her husband bit her. Yes you read correctly, he bit her on the chest, so badly that her entire night gown is soaked in blood. He must have some serious chompers to do that much damage. RME. That memory is forever seared into Gracie's brain plus her mother's stern relentless warnings that all men are lustful animals who will inflict harm on women in order to gain pleasure. They are complete animals! Stay away! Gracie takes that advice to heart, literally. She's never had any kind of relationship with a man platonic or otherwise because of that and is terrified to have sex. So naturally that little heated kiss in the rain where Jason fondles her and kisses her near the boobage area freaks her the hell out and she runs off. I could understand the fear since she witnessed what her mother went through but honestly? Her mother sounded like she came out of the dark ages. And it was brought home more than once how many times her mother warned her about it and made her promise to never let a man near her. I mean really? This is what you are going to teach your child? Gracie's other big secret is her brain affliction. The same infamous night where her father is gunned down after the fight with her mother, he throws Gracie against a wall head first. It caused her to have some minor brain damage where some of her motor skills aren't 100%, but it's just described as her 'clumsy quirks' (why wasn't she checked out by a doctor for this?). These two things are the big shameful secrets (I still don't understand why they had to be secrets??) that Gracie and her mother tried very hard to hide in fear of scandal if word ever got out about the abuse. Um.. scandal? Seriously?? Domestic abuse is a sensitive subject of course but the characters in this acted like it was a world crime to have it made public. It's shameful and just dirrrrty. GMAFB. This isn't the 1800s nor Regency London, yet Gracie’s mother went to such extremes to cover up their awful history so no one would ever find out & also so her new husband at the time (Jason's bigot father) wouldn't find out how poor they were. Because of this, her mother decides to pass off Gracie as her step daughter and changed her last name. Um ooookay.

As for the rest of the plot, just a bunch of contrived cooky set ups that included 2 kidnappings, one of Gracie and one of Jason by evil kidnappers led by a Spanish dictator or some other silly nonsense. Random much? What the hell did this have to do with the story? Oh yes and another secret was smooshed somewhere in here too about Jason's family inheritance, his birth mother and his dead father's whoring ways. Dun dun dun! One too many wackadoodle contrived secrets if you ask me.


Speaking of Contrived things:
- "Drunk men can’t sexually perform." Really?? That’s news to me. Is this some kind of special condition that I don’t know about? (This is coming from the 'experienced' hero's POV by the way. Palmer I'm a little concerned)
-You need a PhD or Masters degree to become a teacher, Gracie has neither. So her magically getting a teaching job (her first job ever) at a community college and giving lectures in a matter of days after declaring her ‘independence’ from Jason is nice but not so easy as one, two, three.
-A woman using her own money to pay a ransom to free her husband and pick him up from Mexico all by her little ol’self without the cops is impressive but hilarious. Ha. I wish!
-A woman who is sexually promiscuous = her having orgies. O_o

Scandalous! How come nobody told me this?! Got it.


THE WRITING
Just going to get right to the point with examples...

Awkward phrasing & dialogue:
"If she hadn’t run from him that rainy night, she was thinking, all the anguish in between would have been spared. The thought lay in her expression. (I didn’t know thoughts could do that, interesting. And 'she was thinking?' Thinking what??)

"His dark eyes opened into hers, soft and quiet." (I didn't know eyes could do that either)

"How do you give a rattlesnake half a chance, offer it first bite?" (whaaa?)

"No, don’t prevaricate.” (say what now?)


“You’re such a cat Gracie.” (Um..thanks?)

“Grr…great balls of fire, is that the time?” (Gee golly wiz I don’t know!)

Summarization in present tense:

Gracie overheard her talking to someone on the phone, bragging about her sexual exploits with a variety of men. She was engaged to a man who was dynamite in bed, she told the listener, so as long as he could satisfy her, she’d stay with him. But there was a Middle-Eastern prince who also coveted her, (me: rolling my eyes so hard) and he was much richer than Jason. Relationships were such a bother, she sighed. Men only wanted sex, but when they were rich, it was no hardship for her. She could fake pleasure as long as the gifts she got in return were expensive.

This is all coming from the heroine’s POV where she remembers overhearing Kittie talking on the phone with a friend. She's summarizing the whole thing in present tense, including all the small irrelevant details. Couldn’t the author just give it in dialogue format instead of the character painfully rehashing every. single. bit of the conversation like some summarized narration? It's the author's job to narrate, not the characters in this case. And the author had the annoying habit of doing this throughout the book. It reads very strange and heavy handed and becomes incredibly long winded to read through. Don’t have the characters tell me what happened, show me!


Dated as Shit Writing:
“He let out a word that had the women in the room flushing.” Jason! Gracie exclaimed, shocked."
A word like...fuck? Oh my! How unbecoming!



“Besides, it’s not so scary when I think about doing it with yo…” She clamped down hard on the word."

What? Sex? SAY IT. You won’t burn in hell if you do. I promise.

"He felt the faint resistance that quickly gave way to his ardor."

"While the ruffian was manhandling her, she tried to remember the other moves Marquez taught her. If she could just get…her…hands…free!"

Excuse me...did you say ruffian?


The writing in this just came off like a weird western romance stuck in a historical setting but tried really really hard to be contemporary. The dialogue, character motivations and interactions are incredibly dated. I felt like I was reading about a virginal young heroine from the 1800’s. The time frame of this story is never specified but it’s definitely contemporary but not written like one. Comments like this:“did you two quarrel?” “protect her from amorous advances" "quickly gave way to his ardor" didn't make sense and her mother’s bloody bodice (really Palmer? a bodice??), Gracie’s canopied bed & long cotton night gown with tons of lace and hand-knitted doo dads on her bed spread seemed very out of place.



And of course...THE SEX TALK! :D
“Yes! Feel me, Gracie. Feel me…going into you!”


“She clung to him, her eyes wide-open with shocked wonder as she saw his face. It was so intimate, she thought wildly. So intimate!”


“Kiss you so hard that your mouth would be swollen from the intensity of it!”


“Harder, Jason, harder, harder...!"

“Hold me. Feel me driving into you. Feel me…exploding…inside you!”





And finally THE EXCLAMATIONS!!! Can't forget those:

"In a few seconds, she knew, his teeth would bite into her, and she would look like her mother had, bleeding...!"

"His arms were contracting, and his mouth was opening, as she knew it would...!"

"If Gracie died, he had no reason to stay alive. He had nothing left. He had...!”

"Come here to me!” He pulled her down into his arms and wrapped her up tight.."

“I would love that!” she whispered huskily." -__-

Say it LOUDER. I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
Dear Mrs. Palmer, do you know what whispering entails? How about huskily? Cause I really don’t think you do.

And cue the violins:

"Her eyes were closed. “It was a nightmare. And we were so poor, Mrs. Harcourt. Some days I couldn’t go to school because I didn’t want people to see me wearing the same clothes every single day of my life…!

Please...stop...talking...like THIS...!

So yeah, clearly I had more fun writing this review than reading the actual book. lol The writing was a pretty big driving factor in what derailed this for me.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

DP would have been so much fun to play Barbies with. She just goes with crazy scenarios, gives her dolls characters outlandish abilities and traits, and then makes them all happy except for the villain dolls characters that wind up in the dog’s mouth or under the bed dead or in disgrace. She’s done that with this 36th installment of the Long Tall Texan series. It's a hoot and a half.

Let’s meet Ken and Barbie H/h, shall we?

Heroine is a sweet blonde with a touch of brain damage that occurred when her abusive father threw her into a wall as a child. She managed to graduate from college with history degree. Her damage is evident when it’s convenient for the story by affecting her balance and memory. She is the hero’s step-sister and lives in his family mansion in San Antonio.

Hero is an introvert who inherited his father’s business, but his real love is his ranch in Comanche Wells (suburb of Jacobsville) that he bought from his father’s housekeeper. DP emphasis his rancher side at the beginning of the story with the H taking the h to a cattle auction and bidding “undercover” to catch out one of his employees. Undercover = jeans instead of a suit and pickup truck instead of his usual Jaguar.

Hero is so overcome by the heroine’s pigtails that he kisses her and then scares her by his ardor. (Heroine’s mother was sexually hurt by her father and h has absorbed the lesson that men only want to hurt you.) Hero’s pride is hurt so runs off to NYC. He gets drunk and wakes up the next morning with a red-haired model (OW). He’s worried he might have made her pregnant so he proposes. He is also thinking it will hurt the h to see OW wants him and this assuages his pride.

Hero comes to regret his proposal when OW is mean to the heroine and all the servants. She wants heroine’s cat put down since she is allergic, etc. . .

Hero goes on a business trip while heroine and all of his servants move out. The OW redecorates his house in shades of black, red and marble. LOL. That is the final straw for the H – and he breaks off the engagement.

Meanwhile the heroine has been kidnapped . . .

LOL – these Barbies characters sure get around.

I won’t go into all the plot points but you can rest easy in the knowledge that heroine’s kidnapper is a deposed ruler of a South American country and he’s kidnapping people to raise money to free his country from despots. (Shhhh don’t tell him about the UN or diplomatic channels, etc. . .)

The black moments are all about secrets and there are several. I so enjoyed the hero’s backstory the housekeeper was his bio-mom and his great-grandfather was a Spanish Duke. The heroine’s was more tragic her father was going to kill her as a child to spite her mother. A SWAT team assassinated her father while he was holding a gun to her temple. It was in all the papers, but they changed their name and hero’s father never knew his wife’s backstory.

For those who need to know these things:
Heroine was a virgin. Hero never slept with the OW – he was too drunk that night. And he really didn’t want her.

Diana Palmer checklist:

Hairy chest “hair-roughed” chest
Breast Description small
Cigarettes No
Alcohol Highballs get the hero in trouble
Town Descriptions Hero saved Camanche Wells the scourge of development by buying the ranch before developers built a shopping mall. Barbara’s café, craft store.
Gardenia Scent No
LOL detail this is how the heroine dressed for pre-school the auction: She showered and dried her hair, dressing in jeans with a vine of pink roses embroidered down one leg, with a pink T-shirt. Impulsively she brushed out her long, pale blond hair and braided it into pigtails. She put on her fanny pack and pulled on her boots over thick socks.
Cutesy detail DP loves to describe fisticuffs like it’s harmless fun. There had been some notable fistfights at cattle conferences in the past. Jason had been involved in one of them.

[Vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy howdy. There is fiction, then there’s DP’s world.

I honestly don’t know what to say.

SPOILERS below...

The hero who is so hung up on his stepsister that after one kiss gone wrong goes out and gets engaged to an OTT evil OW model with bad decorating skills, but enough evil OW talent to scare off the heroine and ALL the family retainers.

Hero impotent with evil OW and just blames it on work related stress.
The heroine who struggles with …everything.

The kidnapping, guitar playing, singing potential OM General of unnamed country that wants to Kiss her and love her and squeeze her and hug him and call her George..



And I’m barely halfway through the book!

[Chantal ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok compare to some of the other books DP wrote in the recent years this was a winner. If you know her formula this is the same but I enjoyed the whole fun relationship they had going. She was an awesome heroine and the kind of girl that you could be friends with. And he was a very misguided man who only really wanted the heroine and was confused on how to get her. It was a great story worth my time. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy romance and the misunderstanding that come from repressing ones feelings. Filled with drama and fun. I enjoyed it and keeper.

Happy reading!

[KatieV · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, but what the heck? I'll round up since this is by far my favorite DP (not that I've read many).

What I've disliked about some of her books is the in lurve h and the hot/cold H. He wants her and resents it. Stupid penis! Actually, she's not pretty enough or sophisticated enough for his not so little guy. Dammit, he's THAT awesome. Don't be a hater. *eye roll*

This hero wasn't such a bad guy. He had his jerk moments but he knew he wanted the h. He did get engaged to an eeeeevil OW, but that was to make Gracie jealous.

The heroine is a fairly typical D.P. Mary Sue. Is there any woman in Jacobsville who isn't an orphan with a deep dark secret making her fear sex? So far, there's been an orphan with a super powered hymen, an orphan victim of a serial killer, and now the orphaned daughter of a sadist who put her mother through hell and turned the h off ever having sex. I'd like to know the ratio of orphans to non orphans in Jacobsville. That town of 2000 has a vast overpopulation of EVERYTHING. It's hilarious.

So why all the bitching for 3.5 stars? It's not really bitching, I was actually very entertained. This was some OTT cheese-o-rama. I was seriously disappointed when Tiny Tim didn't pop up and say 'God bless us, every one' at the end.

The evil OW was priceless. I love animals, but I can't stop giggling over her master plan to have the h's elderly cat, Mumbles, euthanized. He'd just gotten out of the vet hospital for a kidney infection! Yeah, he scratches the furniture, but this is friggin Mumbles we're talking about here. Jason gave her to Gracie when she was orphaned, doesn't that mean anything? Maybe the OW was just angry at her parents for naming her Kitty.

Don't worry, both Mumbles and Gracie along with the other misfits from Jason's mansion were sheltered by good ole Barbara from the diner.

Of course that didn't stop Gracie from being kidnapped and held for ransom by a deposed S American dictator. He was a swell guy though. Just ask any of the 500 secret Feds hiding out in Jacobsville.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cowboys. Check.
Innocent virgin. Check.
Christmas hater. Check.
Pregnancy Scare. Check.
Chest hair of awesomeness. Check.
Deposed dictator/druglords/kidnappings. Check. Check & Check!

Diana Palmer novels are my numero uno guilty pleasure. Guaranteed to get me out of any reading slump and put a smile on my face.
Heartless was no exception. I have only read one other Diana Palmer book – Dangerous and you can read my review here to see why I love her so. (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77...)
The plot? Nah – you’re not getting that here from me – let’s get to the good stuff.
Alas, there was no drinking game worthy repetitiveness in Heartless but there is still plenty to discuss.

Careers I feel worthy of applying to now that I’ve read Heartless: rancher of rare Kobe beef, executive of a gaming company, party hostess, deposed dictator.

Shrew of the year award goes to: Stunning swimsuit model Kitty – who hates kitties, and Christmas, and everything else it seems, except redecorating.

Deposed dictator of the year: Machado. He drugs people and kidnaps them for ransom but he’s so sweet….and he doesn’t deal drugs like that evil Fuentes bunch he’s forced to work with. Awww. Let’s help him and get him back in power stat – and give him money!

Man of year award/A**hole of the year award: Jason – our intrepid cowboy/mutli- millionaire, business tycoon, rancher, lover of Kobe Beef – but not to eat (?), amazing brother (?) who has been there every step of the way but has never been there at all, never drinks but has drunken rages on a regular basis, can hang the moon and the stars…he’s perfect….except when he’s a complete ass. I love him. (except when I’m mad at him)

Favorite Jason quote: " This beautiful creature curled up in his arms had obviously found him irresistible and now he faced the prospect of having a fathered a child with her because of his lack of control" ............

Yup, he’s just that studly. The ladies can’t resist his gravitational pull. Poor guy.

My *head desk/wtf* moment: Gracie had been drugged & kidnapped by Machado and released, now Jason is drugged & kidnapped by Machado. What’s a girl to do to help save her man? Call Machado directly of course. They’re old friends….she even has his cell phone number!

On my Diana Palmer rating scale I rate this one slightly less than Dangerous. Mostly due to the lack of drinking games.

Note: there isn’t currently a “Diana Palmer rating scale” but there should be and I’ll get right on it!

Also, I really loved Jason and Gracie. Didn’t see that one coming. In Dangerous, Killraven (total neanderthal) and Winnie (TSTL) were so unlikable but in Heartless I was rooting for Jason & Gracie as a couple.

So onward I go onto the next DP novel – “Lone Star Winter” TWO Christmas themed stories in one book! I hope they don’t hate Christmas!

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

UPDATE: Reread March, 2019
Portuguese Edition, Kindle Unlimited

3 ⭐⭐⭐ - OK decent reads.
===========================

BEST REVIEW EVER

Update: Re-read in January 2015

Maldita, você começou isso! – disse ele, os dentes cerrados, tão chocado por sua frenética perda de controle como pela rejeição dela por ele como homem.

Jason repetiu o episódio na mente, e a raiva cresceu a partir do constrangimento, aliada à rejeição, à humilhação e ao orgulho ferido. Demostrara seu desejo por ela, e Gracie tinha se mostrado… repugnada. Vira aquilo no rosto dela.

Naquele momento, não se importava se não a visse mais pelo resto de sua vida.

Uma ruiva linda e viva se aproximou dele à mesa de bebidas, onde ele preparava outra dose de uísque e gelo.

Os olhos dela eram de um azul muito pálido num rosto lindo e delicado. Um longo cabelo vermelho lhe descia pelas costas quase até a cintura, com ondas tremulando como o mar em sua extensão sedosa.

Era uma mulher sexy, de pernas longas, com um olhar faminto. Estava olhando-o daquele jeito agora, e Jason se sentia enfraquecer. Seu ego estava no chão e ele precisava se lembrar de que algumas mulheres o consideravam um homem atraente.

A última coisa de que se lembrava era de afundar numa cama enorme e macia.

Estava deitado sob os lençóis com sua cueca de seda. Ao lado dele, estava uma ruiva completamente nua que dormia em seus braços.

Essa linda criatura enroscada em seus braços obviamente o achara irresistível e agora enfrentava a perspectiva de tê-la engravidado por sua falta de controle.

Não queria voltar sozinho para casa.

Imaginou-se entrando na mansão em San Antonio de braços dados com essa mulher e vendo o rosto chocado de Gracie.

Quero que vocês duas conheçam Kittie Sartain – disse ele suavemente. – Minha noiva.

Gracie não sabia o que dizer. Ninguém jamais lhe falara de maneira tão grosseira. Olhou para Jason, mas ele estava observando a ruiva com evidente admiração.

John, Dilly, esta é Kittie, minha noiva. – Jason lhes apresentou a ruiva. – Ela é uma das principais modelos do país. Vocês provavelmente já viram o rosto dela em capas de revistas.

O coração de Gracie estava se partindo. A família deles, seus leais amigos e empregados estavam sendo tratados como se fossem hóspedes indesejáveis.

– Imagine só, convidar empregados para se sentar à mesa e jantar com você – queixou-se Kittie. – E você deixa sua irmã de criação viver com você, na idade dela? O que as pessoas devem pensar?

– Vocês se acostumarão com ela – disse severamente. – Não é tão ruim como parece. Ela apenas não conhece vocês.

Kittie se queixou de tudo, beliscou a salada, tomou café preto e resmungou sobre a qualidade da comida. Depois da refeição, ela e Jason foram para a sala de estar, onde ela se aninhou no colo dele e passou o resto da noite beijando-o.

Kittie tratou todos da casa com rispidez, especialmente Gracie.

Jason levou a noiva para diversos eventos culturais, incluindo um balé e um concerto sinfônico.

Você terá que fazer alguma coisa a respeito de Mumbles antes de voltarmos para o dia de Ação de Graças, Gracie – disse ele calmo. – Kittie é alérgica a gatos.

Ele não pode ficar na casa com Kittie – disse ele, desviando o olhar.

Ah, pelo amor de Deus, é só um gato velho… não um bebê! – gritou, enfurecido demais com a possibilidade de lágrimas.

Ele está velho, Gracie – disse áspero. – Não tem muito tempo para viver, de qualquer maneira. Pode ser um ato de misericórdia levá-lo para o veterinário e lhe dar uma...

– E você vai fazer o quê? – perguntou, a raiva brilhando nos olhos. – Conseguir um emprego? Que qualificações você tem, além de ser anfitriã de chás e festas, Gracie? – Apesar dos olhos enfurecidos, a voz dele era fria.

Seu orgulho ferido pela rejeição de Gracie o entregara de bandeja à Kittie. Quanto à possibilidade de que a engravidara, era uma piada. Vira sua caixa de pílulas anticoncepcionais, que ela mantinha sobre a mesinha de cabeceira.

Todo mundo ri de mim, acha que sou cabeça-de-vento, desajeitada e incapaz de fazer qualquer coisa realmente importante. Até mesmo Jason finalmente admitiu que acha que eu não sou capaz de fazer nada, a não ser preparar suas festas e ser a anfitriã.

Você já tem um carro – argumentou Barbara. Gracie cerrou os dentes com força. – Não tenho mais. Kittie disse que Jason lhe deu permissão para usar o VW, já que pagou por ele.

– A srta. Sartain a demitiu. Ela deixou que todos fossem embora… Disse que eram velhos demais…

Sim, eu a expulsei! Ela nem mesmo discutiu comigo. Disse que estava contente por ir embora! – Não acrescentou que usara de chantagem para conseguir a partida de Gracie.

Uma mulher sedutora pode transformar um homem num tolo, mesmo um homem mais velho.

– Um dos membros da quadrilha dos Fuentes. O homem que me ajudou o matou enquanto ele tentava me estuprar.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gracie has always loved her step-brother. They are not technically related but they grew up together. He adores her as well but he doesn't know how to make her see how much he loves her. Gracie is a very sheltered young woman and scared of intimacy. When Jason makes a move on her she rejects him. He feels hurt and rejected. He gets engaged to a shrew, Gracie leaves his house, becomes a teacher, Jason realizes his fiance is a bitch but it might be a little too late.

Super romantic story. Jason is crazy about Gracie and I'm happy he didn't betray her by sleeping with his wacko fiance. Gracie is a typical Diana Palmer heroine, a genuine sweetheart who wins everyone over with her warmth and strength. A great read!

[Auj · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.7 stars*

This isn't my first Diana Palmer novel, and I'm sure it won't be my last. I keep coming back to read her books for some reason, even though all I've read deal with ranching, are Western romances, and 3 out of the 4 I read, including this one, all had similar premises. I guess she's becoming a comfort read for me. Anyway, let me just say I'm so glad this one didn't have a miscarriage! I was worried all of Diana Palmer's books would have the heroine getting pregnant accidentally & then having a miscarriage. I don't mind the former but the latter is annoying (not to mention upsetting), especially when it occurs in too many books one reads.

Gracie's been in love with her stepbrother Jason, a multimillionaire rancher who also buys up other companies as acquisitions (he has a business degree from Harvard), for years. She's 26 when the story begins, he's 34, almost 35. The last two years he's been acting differently around her, staring at her intensely, his eyes smoldering at her (lol), but she isn't aware that he's attracted to her. She loves him but is afraid of doing more, afraid that she can't love him like a woman should love a man, because of her traumatic past and the abuse she's endured from her father. Learning she had a secret at the beginning of the book that held her back from exploring intimacy made me think she had some scarring done there, or that things didn't work properly, but that wasn't the case. {Mild spoilers but u learn really early on, so I don't consider it a spoiler}: Basically, Gracie's mother had been abused by her father and the father could only get off by hurting the mom. Gracie's mother told her all the time that men used romance and kissing to seduce women into having sex, which would only end in blood and pain. So Gracie was scared of going farther with Jason, and this rejection spurred his wounded pride on settling into an engagement with a greedy, snobby model.

Other woman drama: Spoilers abound below so read at your own risk:
Because Jason's hurt by Gracie's physical rejection of him (he believes she's disgusted by the idea of intimacy w her stepbrother, rather than the truth that she's afraid~~~part of 1 of the misunderstandings), one night at a party while drunk he falls in bed with a gorgeous red-headed model named Kittie. He feels dead inside since Gracie's rejection, reasons that this model can't be worse than all the other gold-diggers he's dated before, and she leads him on to believe that they had sex that night he was drunk, so he keeps her around just in case she's carrying his baby. But she religiously takes her birth control pills because she doesn't want to get pregnant and "ruin her figure" and life, so there's no chance of that happening. But by the time Jason has learned that, it's kind of too late and he's stuck in an engagement to a woman he doesn't love and starts to dislike. Kittie continues to wreck havoc in Jason's life even after he breaks off the engagement with her, creating more "other woman drama".

So his engagement was one of convenience, but in the few months he's engaged to her, they never have sex & all the kissing is practically off-page, so it's pretty safe, for those concerned with that.

The Kidnapping Drama: More spoilers!!!

To be honest, I didn't think the book needed the whole kidnapping(s)--yes, there's more than one-- drama!!! I felt there was enough conflict with the other woman, Kittie, drama & Gracie's abuse and traumatic past.
Also, I thought it was really weird how Gracie became friendly, almost too friendly, with General Machado, who basically kidnapped her and even if he didn't personally kidnap Jason (the Fuentes brothers did instead), he still benefitted off of it by ransoming him, and Gracie had the audacity to THANK HIM. WTF, sis, where is your self-respect???! 😭😭😭😖😖😖😖 . Yes, he wasn't really a bad person, he saved her from being raped, had killed one of his own men before for raping or abusing a woman, ensured none of his captives would come to harm, but surely he can't be the best person if he's willing to sacrifice morality by kidnapping ppl just to raise enough money to regain his country? How about trying negotiations w the U.S. first because quite a few politicians wanted him to succeed. Then, the General started developing feelings for Gracie too, was confident he'd see her again, which was when Jason was kidnapped. I remember I was at page 270 and things were just finally settling down and I thought to myself how the climax hadn't happened yet, so something bad/major was going to happen, and sure enough it did, with Jason being kidnapped. For all the drama, I never felt the stakes were high enough for me to be on the edge of my seat, scared that they weren't going to be OK. If you're going to put in a lot of drama, at least make it as crazy/hard to succeed/work out as much as possible. The concept of if you want to go there, don't be afraid to go all the way, lol.

Then, the end of the book felt like a Christmas movie/novel, which was funny 😂 ~ hope it was published around the holiday season. It was also predictable that I knew that Gracie's special present to Jason would be a baby! .

Since I'm writing my own story, I was paying particular attention to the writing. I really like the way Diana Palmer strings together sentences, the particular setting details she includes, though for kissing scenes, she always has the first one with her hero grounding his mouth against the heroine's... I noticed how she completely avoided any direct mention or naming of genitals in the sex scenes, which was pretty impressive when you think about it. I wonder if all Harlequins are like this? Most (nonclean) romance I've read at the very least mentions the hero's genitals, at the least calling it a manhood or rod, lol. But I didn't see any mention here.
So, I wasn't surprised at all to read in the Bio that she started off as a newspaper reporter, because she definitely knows how to write well. Honestly, the writing was SO much better than the writing in most Contemporary romance I read nowadays, so that was really appreciated.

As I was saying at the beginning of this review, I was remarking to myself how similar the premise of this one was to a few other Diana Palmer's I've read. For example, the heroes and heroines are all so similar and their dynamics are similar too (especially w the hero having a negative view on marriage)(though luckily, Jason was a lot better than the misogynistic Jason in "Diamond Spur"! I knew I had read another hero by this author with the name Jason!!!), the heroine at least has loved the hero for years and been pining away for him (in this book, both of them had been in love w each other for years but it wasn't clear w Jason till the end), the hero is a rancher/cowboy and wealthy, the heroine is either living with him or in close proximity, he's mysterious and introverted but she's the only one who knows him really well/he lets her in and not others (like I said above with the dynamics), the loyal retainers of the hero living on the ranch. Here we had Mrs. Harcourt. The scene where Jason found out she was his mother was particularly touching and sweet but failed to bring tears to my eyes, unlike other of DP's novels. That was definitely one of the best points of the book.

All the books in this series are contemporary romance, yet have a historical vibe or at least take place in the 80s or 90s. "Heartless" had the mention of how in the future, beef would probably be grown in a petri dish, which is a reality today, with Meatless burgers that my dad had literally bought & served for dinner! Also, there are mentions of cell phones, Gracie's ringtone even has the theme of the newest sci-fi movie, but no mention of social media. And some things the characters say are quite dated, like 90s. (Jason and another guy talk about how they don't like modern women who just proposition men for sex right away, Gracie not wanting to have sex before marriage, etc.)

I seriously wish DP would put a time date on them, so I could know for sure. I do wonder if she researched all the ranch info or just had outside knowledge, but seriously, she's written over 50 books in this series, so she probably knows all about ranchers, cowboys, & that business now, but I am curious on how she first learned about it, and chose to write western romance. The things about the cows Jason was telling Gracie at the beginning of the novel especially were specific and detailed and seemed accurate. Unfortunately, the author's questions aren't open on GR :/

The other books I've read by Diana Palmer were better than this one tbh. "Lawless" & "Diamond Spur" are my favorites by her, yes even with the misogynistic heroes. Something, some spark was just missing with these characters. The sex scenes were a little of a let-down tbh, as in they (first one esp.) started out strong but then fizzled out for me. They take a while to do it too, which made sense with Gracie's past.

P.S. In the dedication, the author thanks her art department for making such beautiful covers, which help sell her work. I have to say the library book cover is gorgeous!!! & when I saw it on GR, I think that's what grabbed my attention, then I was intrigued when I saw the blurb, and the rest is history as they say...so she was totally right lol

[jenjn79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably sound a little bit like a broken record every time I review a Diana Palmer book, but the sentiment stands true: this is a very typical Palmer book. It's got all her forumlaic mainstays. Still, I rather enjoyed this story.

Series note, though this book isn't officially part of a series, it is set in the fictional Jacobsville, TX area, where many of Palmer's books take place. Including the popular Long, Tall Texans series. This book can be read as a stand-alone, though.

Gracie Marsh grew up rough. Her family was dirt poor and her father was essentially a sexual sadist. He used and abused her mother terribly, and Gracie's Mom made sure her daughter understood that all men wanted was to humiliate and hurt women in bed. She warned Gracie never to marry or get involved with men. And after a terrible event that ended in her father's death, Gracie had no reason not to believe her mother.

When her mom remarried to Myron Pendleton, his son Jason came into her life. Gracie kept away from him, but slowly Jason won her trust. Over the years, their friendship grew, but then Gracie began to see him as more than a step-brother and friend. She had feelings like a woman would have. But Gracie believed she would never be able to have a relationship with a man. Sex terrified her. What Gracie didn't know was that Jason wanted her as well. And one night things get close and Jason's feelings are revealed. Gracie is terrified and pushes him away. Feeling rejected, Jason leaves town and manages to find the best way possible to get back at Gracie...by getting involved with another woman. From that moment on, Gracie's life turns upside down. She loses her home, she has to learn to stand on her own, and then she's kidnapped. Jason comes to her rescue, but they'll have a lot to work out if they want to build a relationship.

If you read that summary, you can probably see that this book fits right in line with a typical Palmer book. In certain ways, I almost felt like it took bits and pieces of other Palmer books and slapped together in a new one. But otherwise, it's got all her usual stuff: a brooding hero, a naive virginal heroine, the hero being an asshole to the heroine, and whatnot. Plus it got other staples of hers...the "we shouldn't do this since we're not married" deal, the hero having a hairy chest, the heroine being small-breasted, etc. Every Palmer book has those too. It's kind of silly if you think too much about it. So I try not to.

This book reminded me a bit of her book Lawless in certain ways, but the hero wasn't quite as much a jerk in the middle of the book. He's still an idiot, but just not a total lost cause.

I liked Gracie, though. She's not very wordly, and rather sheltered, but she had some spunk hidden inside. I liked how strong she was in dealing with everything she went through in the book. She could have easily been a spineless, weepy heroine, but instead she picked herself up and moved on. I enjoyed that.

The romance was fairly good, angsty yet sensual. And the whole thing with the kidnappings gives the book some variation. Actually, I thought the whole deal with the kidnappings and the character involved in that was rather interesting. I'm hoping Palmer keeps going with that storyline.

All in all, though, this is like any other Palmer book. Which is a bad thing and a good thing. For those of you who are Palmer fans, then I think its safe to say you'll probably like this one. As much as her books and her writing formula annoys me at times, there's something that just keeps yanking me back to read more.

[Jac K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Diana Palmer books for one reason....to get my literary trashy tv fix. I have certain elements I expect...I want Teresa flipping the table over with Juicy Joe...this one missed the mark for me.

Gracie is sweet, naïve and has had googly eyes for her step brother Jason since she was 14. She has the typical hero worshipping we come to expect in DP novels. I do expect the h to be shy, inexperienced and awkward, but Gracie was almost child like. She is super immature which is demonstrated early in the book when the first go out together.
" She showered and dried her hair. Dressed in jeans with a vine of pink roses embroidered down the leg, pink T-shirt. She braided her hair in pigtails...added her fanny pack..." Yea- so this is creepy to me. She's 26 years old, and I'm supposed to be invested when she has passionate love making with her hairy chested stud. She annoyed the crap out of me.

Jason, my broody hairy chested alcoholic hated drinking. He is moody, like a bitch, not so broody like an alpha male. He's not really a jerk for the most part, and when he is, it's more like a 16 yr old having a tantrum. He's been celibate for years, no playboy here. He can't even "rise to the occasion" with his model fiancée.

There are a few things you can count on, there is a meddling OW Kittie, a model from NYC. There are also OTT plot twist including a kidnapping by a displaced Spanish warlord trying to raise funds to get his country back. And OTT shocking family secrets that Gracie's mom and the housekeeper went to great lengths top cover up.

Overall this had to be the dullest, non sexy DP book I've read...I feel let down.. :)

[Ana M. Román · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diana Palmer se empeña en hacer a sus heroínas tan increíblemente inocentes que ya se pasa.

En este caso, aunque entiendo muy bien que de niña le supusiera un trauma ver la condición en la que terminaba su madre no es entendible que con veintitantos años siga pensando que así son siempre las relaciones sexuales. ¿Dónde ha vivido? ¿Debajo de una piedra entre las montañas? Vamos que no, no es creíble para nada.

Además, pasan unas cosas que me llevan a pensar que en realidad no están tan enamorados como deberían. Y lo digo por dos hechos:

1. A ella le secuestran y él se pone a comer. Tal cual. Increíblemente romántico. Increíblemente desgarrador lo mal que se encontraba ante la posibiliidad de que le devolvieran a la mujer que ama a rodajitas.

2. A él lo secuestran y ella tranquilamente llama a su secuestrador y negocia con él sin llamar a la policía. Así, tranquilamente.

Pero bueno, tampoco hay que extrañarse porque ella se acaba haciendo amiga de su secuestrador. Es más, la secuestran y ni siquiera está minimamente asustada. Un par de días más y se termina de integrar por completo.

Aún así no está mal para pasar un rato, como tantas otras de su mismo sello. Pasable y nada más.

[Lynsey A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a DP where the hero reedemed himself and in fact wasn't a jerk through 80-90% of the book. At the times he was a jerk he was kicking himself for the way he was acting so that helped.

It was a typical DP read with the innocent, virginal heroine but Gracie really had some backbone on her and wasn't afraid to stand up to Jason. There were some references to some problems she had due to an incident in her past but it wasn't played on very much in the book, in so much that readers forget there is a problem and wonder why it was even mentioned.

A very interesting character was introduced in this book, Emilio Machado, someone who I know we will see a book about, hopefully in the near future. At the time he was introduced I wanted, however briefly, for Gracie to end up with him. This was during Jason's jerk moments but that was quickly resolved and readers will understand why.

All in all this was a good read. I believe that Diana Palmer fans will like this book.

[Melluvsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have rated this higher if the Evil Cackling Whore OW had gotten a comeuppance instead of getting to waltz out of town in cloud of fancy perfume after being a grade-A witch and terrorizing all the nice people she came across.

As always I'm here for the OTT drama and angst that DP delivers in spades. We have OW drama, pregnancy scare, step-siblings love, kidnappings, car crashes, paternity drama, etc...

Bottom Line? solid read, but nothing super memorable. ⭐️⭐️⭐️



SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - the H thinks he has ONS with OW after he is rejected by the h - so he hatches a plan to get engaged to this random hottie to kill 2 birds with one stone.. make sure that the OW sticks around if she's not pregnant, and to make the h jealous.... turns out he didn't actually sleep with OW, he was too drunk and in love with the h for his pee-pee to work. However, the OW was nekkid, so we can see why he drew that conclusion... This OW is a terrible human who causes the h and all her friends a lot of grief
- OM drama - there's a ranch hand the H is jealous of - and another dude develops a crush on the h, but the H never actually knows about that
- no dubcon - their first time is a little iffy but she's into it
- h is a 26 yr old virgin
- the H is not a virgin, but not a manwhore
- no condoms - he's been celibate and she's a v - and he's cool with impregnating her... so...

[Riona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finished 2 chapters and felt like I needed to take a shower in bleach.

When you grow up as brother and sister there should be no romance. But really - There should be no romance between a wealthy cowboy and his mentally retarded step sister. I don't care if there is some unknown reason for her mental retardation - that is the result of whatever unknown thing happened in her past later in the book.

You don't tell your sister (step or otherwise) to just lay back and think of England. You don't ask your brother what you should wear. You don't involve siblings in some strange un-sexualized version of an S&M/Male Dom relationship. What should I wear Jason? How should I do my hair Jason? Should I wipe with my right or my left hand Jason? (okay... the last one is just me venting... but I didn't finish the book... I was just expanding based on what I did read - it could be in there somewhere).

Shame on you Diana Palmer for such a creepy book. And I read the reviews on amazon... some people say you have multiple books where step-siblings end up in love. Did you secretly lust after your your step-brother? Perhaps a cousin? Or even your actual brother. And also shame on you for trying to convince us that Gracie isn't mentally retarded and that she is even any where near ready for the mental portion of a sexual relationship.

[Cheesecake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gracie and Jason. Jason is a super wealthy guy and Gracie is the daughter of his father's second wife. He finally gives in to his passion for her but she runs off scared. She has some skeletons in the closet that he doesn't know about. He gets his nose bent out of shape by her apparent rejection and runs off only to come back with a fiance in tow. A super snotty evil Fiancee (of course). Grace who had been hoping to talk to him and explain her reaction is now forever silenced by the evil OW between them. In one reckless action of jealous vindictiveness, Jason has ruined it all. When Jason returns it is to find his house remodeled, his staff fired and replaced with snooty good looking younger types and no sign of Grace or her fat cat. Throw in a benevolent south american dictator and his kidnapping cohorts, and you have a pretty crazy book. It's not really 4 stars, but I enjoyed it and Jason was heartily remorseful and grovelled well ; )
Lots of cameos from other DP Heroes. I did find it odd how out of character Jason acted when the OW was around. But I guess it cranks up the angst.
For those who hate OW stuff he never slept with her and I don't think he even kissed her .

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic DP.
V heroine/ celibate-ish hero. She and he had traumatic pasts and hidden secrets. Misunderstandings. Loads of passion. HEA.
Still makes me super happy!

[Bookish.Midnight. and. black · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

I love a good OW drama. The ow was perfect and I was pleased to see that DP did not make her good in the end. I hate when she does that. Also, I hate when the OW gets to have his own story.
The plot: He is attracted t his step sister * not blood-related* and after he sleeps with ow, he proposes because she may be pregnant * why not wait to find out for sure?*. The ow is a real b*ch to the heroine and to her friends and she is thrown out of his house while he is out of the country. He realizes what a b***ch the OW was and he breaks the engagement and he is now able to confess to the heroine, his feelings.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The H ruined the story. He feels rejected by the h and as revenge, he goes and gets engaged to OW. Then he has the audacity to bring her around the h and flaunt her around.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Heartless
1 Star

Gracie Marsh worshipped her stepbrother Jason while growing up but now her feelings for him have evolved into something more intense. The feeling seems to be mutual but Gracie has a secret that makes her deathly afraid of love. Stung by her rejection, Jason leaves and sets in motion events that may change their lives forever.

OK, here goes my first and, hopefully, my last really negative review.

This book is awful but it is not the borderline incest that turned me off. Rather the characters are one dimensional and vapid, and the story is ridiculous.

Gracie’s characterization makes absolutely no sense. There is an inconsistency between her supposed mental deficiencies and her obvious social skills. Also, she becomes a teacher even though she apparently has a severe learning disability – weird. In addition, she is a perfectly sweet doormat and for too accepting of Jason's rejection and snide attitude. It is a pity that she didn’t put him in his place when he came home with Kittie the cow. Her reason for keeping her past secret from Jason is also inexplicable – there is nothing shameful about it, and depicting it as such belittles women who have suffered from abuse.

Speaking of Kittie, Jason’s engagement to her is a completely idiotic plot device. First, her bitchiness is way overdone and is obviously meant to contrast against Gracie's almost angelic status. Second, Jason’s reasoning for becoming engaged lacks credibility.

Jason is an obnoxious hero and borderline abusive. The scene in which he sets up an employee to be humiliated is a case in point as is his allowing Kittie to treat his family so badly.

The preposterous kidnapping subplots only add insult to injury. An honorable, sensitive kidnapper who just happens to be trying to save his country from a dictator and needs to kidnap people to fund his coup? The fact that there is not one, but two kidnappings? Perhaps this is an allowance for gender equality as there is one for the heroine and one for the hero?

I could go on and on but I’ll stop now as I’m sure my point is made. This is definitely my first and only Diana Palmer book.

[Addie · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 42% and I only got that far because I skimmed like crazy. Other reviews sum up why this is so awful. I have no clue how this is rated as highly as it is.

[Mtve41 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaaah. A little too sickly sweet OTT DP typical romance novel. For a first time reader it’s likely to explode all of your fantasies and you’d look back at your own life as dredging and depressing. But, not if this is not your first DP. Then it’s just a scoffing acceptance of the special kind of hilarity DP writes and sells. Sigh. And we all kind of fall for it most times.

Gracie here is a step sister to alpha billionaire cattle rancher semi god who’s an introvert and doesn’t like the fast life and fast women. Jason is protective of Gracie and despite living with and knowing her for ten plus years, they’re both clueless to the various skeletons living in each other’s closets. Gracie is your average DP h. She’s a martyr-damaged-slightly invalid (sorry) shy recluse of a klutz. But she has brains and loves homely things. I kind of liked Gracie. She wasn’t a total stuttering mess like other DP h’s.

It was good enough that I didn’t put it down the whole day. Also loved their stolen moments together. Like always DP totally loses her marbles sometimes and gets way too carried away with side plots. The damned FBI needs to be involved and there is foreign country based kidnapping. Then there are others like tabloid junk stories and family secrets. I wished she used some of her tropes for different books. Not all have to be used in the same book.

Eitherways. Can’t complain. Gracie and Jason were good together. He’s the toe-curling tender lover that Gracie deserved. Wish real life was a little like that!

[Aou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not angsty, just silly!

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gracie and Jason combined had the emotional intelligence of a twelve year old. How Jason was able to run a business was beyond me. Oh don't mind the boss....he just likes to go off and get drunk and attack people for making fun of his hat. Get a grip Jason. There were three huge obnoxious things about Gracie that don't and will never make sense:

1. Her big dark secret is that she was *gasp* poor! Is this the 1800's? No? Then no one cares. When you are trying to romance your step brother....the fact that you were poor as a child should be the least of your concerns.

2. Her aversion to sex was because her father bit her mother's breasts all the time. She was brought up believing that men will bite your breasts so hard and so frequently that you will be covered in blood. This is what sex is like. What time period is this book? Oh right, it's now. We're supposed to believe this woman managed to get a college degree but always firmly believed a man will gnaw off your nipples if you bang him.

3. The truly bizarre interlude when she is kidnapped renders Gracie into Wendy from Peter Pan. She is singing songs to poor little orphans and gets along great with her captor. What is so magical about her? How can she barely keep her shit together when Jason tries to pick her up but somehow can laugh and banter with her kidnapper? She is truly an enigma.

Now, besides all that. The worst crime of this novel is Kittie. Kittie the Hitler of all supermodels. She was so over the top and so ridiculously evil that I couldn't take it. Kittie is hands down the worst "other woman" character written I have ever come across. I'm actually surprised the book didn't go the Fatal Attraction route. That would have been infinitely more entertaining.

If you want to read a book that respects your intellect...this is not the one for you.

[Jonetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gracie came to live in the Pendleton mansion as a teenager after her mother's marriage to Myron Pendleton. Jason Pendleton took special care of his stepsister, especially following her mother's death. Now, both of them are struggling with deeper, romantic feelings for each other and Gracie is grappling with fears from her secret past that create barriers to forging any intimacy with men.

I struggled with the author's attempt at defining these characters. In the same paragraph, Gracie talks about movers and shakers being attracted to Jason because he is so dynamic but next she describes him as an introvert. Gracie herself is supposed to have a brain injury that limits her but she is extraordinary at mastering planning events on behalf of Jason that would level the best of us. These contradictions persisted throughout.

This was a simple, romantic story but too simplistic for my taste. Jason's reaction to Grace's initial retreat from him was pretty dramatic and his relationship with Kittie stretched the imagination. It was hard to not dislike him based on his knee-jerk reactions to fairly minor issues. Both seemed emotionally immature. The story kept my interest so it wasn't hard to continue reading the book and it's a pretty quick read.

There are some interesting story lines beyond the romance of Gracie and Jason. You learn quite a bit about ranching and its culture, which I thought was a good thing. Secondary characters aren't expanded on in great detail but add some flavor. Gracie and Jason have some sizzling moments even though theirs isn't the great romantic tale.

[Mihika in lovezone · Rating 1 out of 5]

The h is kidnapped, thanks to the H’s evil fiancée, he doesn’t even go find her. He is talking about some bread and cinnamon to eat. Fucking bastard. He brings this ow at his home, who is a disgusting woman. She insults all his servants and the h. Yuck.
Why the hell did I waste my time on such disgusting books.
H is not man enough, coward worst asshole bastard disgusting piece of shit hero in the lifetime of romance book.

If you are a safety lover like me then throw this book away right now.
So what if he doesn’t have sex with ow. He kept her around gave her his money for nearly a year. Wow.
Yuck.
Yuck.

[shms · Rating 1 out of 5]

eye rollingly (is there such a word!) bad and an implausible story line and that's saying something when it comes from one who reads a lot of romance books where reality is often suspended. Shades of stockholm syndrome since a kidnapper is a good kidnapper, as opposed to the drug gang of bad kidnappers...don't get me started.

[h a y a ☽ (hayainshelves) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracie and Jason are my babies. I seldom find a hero whose in love with the heroine from the beginning, either the heroes fight their feelings or just aren't in love—but this one, ohhhh!!

This book is a gem. I loved it so much. A stress reliever at its best, the writer flawlessly finished the trope she selected.


Lalalaloooveeed it. *grins*

[Nicole West · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful novel set on a Texas ranch.

Gracie worships her stepbrother Jason, and he has been looking after her and her stepsister since losing both parents.

Jason has been away to come home to find a grown-up Gracie. He finds he is falling for her but unsure how to approach her.

This book has family secrets that could ruin a union between them.

Read in a day, highly recommend.