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Indecent Deception
Revenge is a dish best served cold...
For one moment after Chrissy Hamilton overheard Blaze Kenyon making a cruel joke at her late mother's expense, she knew the heady sensation of revenge--but then she realized she'd lost control, and her job... and put herself totally at Blaze's mercy! She had to accept the housekeeping job that Blaze then arranged for her, if she was to provide a secure home for little Rosie. Chrissy comforted herself that even if it hurt to accept Blaze's help, it wouldn't be him who would be her lord and master, so he couldn't make her the target of his blackmailing, womanizing ways....
For one moment after Chrissy Hamilton overheard Blaze Kenyon making a cruel joke at her late mother's expense, she knew the heady sensation of revenge--but then she realized she'd lost control, and her job... and put herself totally at Blaze's mercy! She had to accept the housekeeping job that Blaze then arranged for her, if she was to provide a secure home for little Rosie. Chrissy comforted herself that even if it hurt to accept Blaze's help, it wouldn't be him who would be her lord and master, so he couldn't make her the target of his blackmailing, womanizing ways....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
35 people are currently reading
408 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Graham
1,763 books1,448 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
September 28, 2018
I was beyond furious. What did I just read? A piece of rubbish? I don't know what got into me to make me pick up this one. Guess I have only myself to blame…
The story started off nicely, but alas, the more I read, the more I realized how awful the story was. It’s no wonder this one ended up being a complete failure. I should know better than to try to finish it. Well, perhaps I’m a glutton for punishment…Argh!
Anyway, it wouldn’t be fair if I say that the whole story sucked. Actually, the first half of the book was fairly entertaining and I enjoyed the characters just fine, until halfway through it that things started to go downhill. Chrissy drove me crazy just about every time she opened her mouth to speak something. Not because of her stutter, but because of her attitude. I can’t stand a heroine with no backbone like her.
There was nothing admirable in Chrissy. I didn’t understand what Blaze saw in her. Yeah, he felt so attracted to her; even so, he treated her like a doormat. And you think she was fine with that?? Hell, no! But you have to understand this… She had no money, no job, no friends (You’ve got to be kidding!), no one to turn to (actually, she still had a family—her father, sister, and brother-in-law), and no place to live. Plus, there was her baby sister whom she had to raise alone. See? She was absolutelyworthless useless pathetic. So, what else could she do except to endure being Blaze’s doormat? I mean, seriously? Wasn’t it too far-fetched? Oh please, don’t insult my intelligence! Sorry, but I didn’t buy any of those!
Well, about Blaze… At first, I thought he was kinda mysterious and a bit brooding, and that he might be my kind of hero (and I really hoped he would). But I was so wrong! He wasn’t the man I thought he was. In fact, he was a real jerk. What he had done to Chrissy after they were married was terrible, disgusting, and unacceptable. Gosh, I hated this man!
I have to say that I got mad at everything that happened in the second half of the book. I was so upset with both main characters. And what made me see red, to the point that I wanted to punch Blaze in the face, was that he used Chrissy as his personal sexual outlet and then called her bitch. Yes, you didn’t read it wrong. He called her bitch! And what did she do? Nothing! And in the end, when he told her he loved her, she simply forgave him. She easily let that ass get away with it after what he had put her through? No groveling? No heartfelt apology? Seriously?! Actually, this man had to grovel on his belly to beg her for her forgiveness! Damn, I went mad!
The first half of the book got 3 stars from me but the second half didn't deserve even one star! I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.
The story started off nicely, but alas, the more I read, the more I realized how awful the story was. It’s no wonder this one ended up being a complete failure. I should know better than to try to finish it. Well, perhaps I’m a glutton for punishment…Argh!
Anyway, it wouldn’t be fair if I say that the whole story sucked. Actually, the first half of the book was fairly entertaining and I enjoyed the characters just fine, until halfway through it that things started to go downhill. Chrissy drove me crazy just about every time she opened her mouth to speak something. Not because of her stutter, but because of her attitude. I can’t stand a heroine with no backbone like her.
There was nothing admirable in Chrissy. I didn’t understand what Blaze saw in her. Yeah, he felt so attracted to her; even so, he treated her like a doormat. And you think she was fine with that?? Hell, no! But you have to understand this… She had no money, no job, no friends (You’ve got to be kidding!), no one to turn to (actually, she still had a family—her father, sister, and brother-in-law), and no place to live. Plus, there was her baby sister whom she had to raise alone. See? She was absolutely
Well, about Blaze… At first, I thought he was kinda mysterious and a bit brooding, and that he might be my kind of hero (and I really hoped he would). But I was so wrong! He wasn’t the man I thought he was. In fact, he was a real jerk. What he had done to Chrissy after they were married was terrible, disgusting, and unacceptable. Gosh, I hated this man!
I have to say that I got mad at everything that happened in the second half of the book. I was so upset with both main characters. And what made me see red, to the point that I wanted to punch Blaze in the face, was that he used Chrissy as his personal sexual outlet and then called her bitch. Yes, you didn’t read it wrong. He called her bitch! And what did she do? Nothing! And in the end, when he told her he loved her, she simply forgave him. She easily let that ass get away with it after what he had put her through? No groveling? No heartfelt apology? Seriously?! Actually, this man had to grovel on his belly to beg her for her forgiveness! Damn, I went mad!
The first half of the book got 3 stars from me but the second half didn't deserve even one star! I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.
February 10, 2017
Whew. This is a difficult one to rate. It’s an intense angsty read with lots of drama, but I don’t think the author got the balance right. There was too much Cinderella action at the beginning so that when the consequences of the heroine’s lies and the hero’s revenge finally occurred, there was only one chapter to deal with it all. To say the ending was rushed and unsatisfying is an understatement.
The heroine’s lies were that her half-sister was her child (she let this lie of omission stand from the beginning) and that the hero was the child’s father – the product of a rape. The hero bonded with the child and he only found out the truth from the heroine’s sister minutes before the wedding. Cute stutter or no – the heroine was wrong, wrong, wrong to tell those lies and sustain them for weeks on end.
The hero’s revenge was rape and sexual humiliation of a virgin on their wedding night for the next week.
Good lord. I guess they deserve each other.
And they’re going to tell more lies about the child so she’ll grow up thinking the hero is her father and the heroine is her mother until they see fit to inform her of her true identity. That won’t mess her up – not at all.
I realize this review isn’t in chronological order, so I’ll take some questions.
Why did the heroine lie about the child’s origins?
Her mother left her lottery-winner father to marry a bigamist. She found herself pregnant at 45 about the same time the bigamist dad went to prison. After having the baby, she lost her will to live and the soft-hearted heroine dropped out of school to take care of her sister. She never filed for any child allowance because she wasn’t the legal guardian and she didn’t want her sister to go into care.
How does the heroine know the hero?
They were neighbours after her crass father won the lottery. Hero was the illegitimate son of the local gentry. Heroine’s sister chased him and made a spectacle of herself. Heroine thinks they were lovers for awhile. 17 year-old heroine took the drunk hero home the day of her sister’s rebound wedding (3 years before) and hero kissed her and then verbally abused her. This is the incident the hero can’t remember, so the heroine is able (later on) to convince him that he raped her then.
They meet again when the heroine is cleaning a flat in London and the hero recognizes her. She overhears him telling his girlfriend all about her scandalous, drunken mother and crass father. She turns a vase of flowers over his head and is fired.
Hero tracks her down as she and her half-sister are going to thrown out in the streets for non-payment of rent. He offers her a housekeeping job at a derelict manor house in the same district as her father. Later we find out that hero did this as revenge to embarrass the father. The father had swindled the H’s grandfather in a poker game.
But why tell the hero he’s a father?
The heroine’s sister has left her husband in hopes of getting the hero back. She is inconveniently pregnant by her husband, so she’ll have to get an abortion if she wants to catch the hero. In order to save the unborn child, the heroine tells her sister that the hero is her child’s father. (I still don’t get the logic – she thinks her sister will back off the hero and keep the baby from her husband if the hero’s the father of an illegitimate child?) The sister confronts the hero about this paternity issue and since he can’t remember, he thinks the child might be his. Why the heroine didn’t tell him the truth about the sister and the abortion is beyond me – and why she didn’t tell the sister’s husband his wife was pregnant is also beyond me.
And really – that’s the conflict. There are a lot of pages about the heroine’s Cinderella existence in the hero’s dilapidated house and the scorn one of his employees has for her – but it’s really not necessary to the central conflict - which is the lies she tells and the kind of revenge the hero extracts.
The author didn’t resolve any of this to my satisfaction - but my goodness, she kept me reading.
Wait a minute. Don’t go. What about the love story/romance?
The heroine was jealous of her sister, was constantly thinking how beautiful the hero was, and really liked how kind he was to her sister. She realizes she’s in love on their wedding day.
There were glimpses of the hero’s regard. He called her a soft-centered chocolate – a tempting indulgence. He hit the h’s father when he insulted her and then threw him out of the house. He also picked out her romantic, innocent wedding dress. He called a halt to his revenge (after more brutal sex ) because it was messing up their relationship. We are treated to some rough, humiliating sex scenes, but we never see a tender love scene, unfortunately.
Sounds messed up.
It was - in a way only an HP can be messed up. Be warned and happy reading!
The heroine’s lies were that her half-sister was her child (she let this lie of omission stand from the beginning) and that the hero was the child’s father – the product of a rape. The hero bonded with the child and he only found out the truth from the heroine’s sister minutes before the wedding. Cute stutter or no – the heroine was wrong, wrong, wrong to tell those lies and sustain them for weeks on end.
The hero’s revenge was rape and sexual humiliation of a virgin on their wedding night for the next week.
Good lord. I guess they deserve each other.
And they’re going to tell more lies about the child so she’ll grow up thinking the hero is her father and the heroine is her mother until they see fit to inform her of her true identity. That won’t mess her up – not at all.
I realize this review isn’t in chronological order, so I’ll take some questions.
Why did the heroine lie about the child’s origins?
Her mother left her lottery-winner father to marry a bigamist. She found herself pregnant at 45 about the same time the bigamist dad went to prison. After having the baby, she lost her will to live and the soft-hearted heroine dropped out of school to take care of her sister. She never filed for any child allowance because she wasn’t the legal guardian and she didn’t want her sister to go into care.
How does the heroine know the hero?
They were neighbours after her crass father won the lottery. Hero was the illegitimate son of the local gentry. Heroine’s sister chased him and made a spectacle of herself. Heroine thinks they were lovers for awhile. 17 year-old heroine took the drunk hero home the day of her sister’s rebound wedding (3 years before) and hero kissed her and then verbally abused her. This is the incident the hero can’t remember, so the heroine is able (later on) to convince him that he raped her then.
They meet again when the heroine is cleaning a flat in London and the hero recognizes her. She overhears him telling his girlfriend all about her scandalous, drunken mother and crass father. She turns a vase of flowers over his head and is fired.
Hero tracks her down as she and her half-sister are going to thrown out in the streets for non-payment of rent. He offers her a housekeeping job at a derelict manor house in the same district as her father. Later we find out that hero did this as revenge to embarrass the father. The father had swindled the H’s grandfather in a poker game.
But why tell the hero he’s a father?
The heroine’s sister has left her husband in hopes of getting the hero back. She is inconveniently pregnant by her husband, so she’ll have to get an abortion if she wants to catch the hero. In order to save the unborn child, the heroine tells her sister that the hero is her child’s father. (I still don’t get the logic – she thinks her sister will back off the hero and keep the baby from her husband if the hero’s the father of an illegitimate child?) The sister confronts the hero about this paternity issue and since he can’t remember, he thinks the child might be his. Why the heroine didn’t tell him the truth about the sister and the abortion is beyond me – and why she didn’t tell the sister’s husband his wife was pregnant is also beyond me.
And really – that’s the conflict. There are a lot of pages about the heroine’s Cinderella existence in the hero’s dilapidated house and the scorn one of his employees has for her – but it’s really not necessary to the central conflict - which is the lies she tells and the kind of revenge the hero extracts.
The author didn’t resolve any of this to my satisfaction - but my goodness, she kept me reading.
Wait a minute. Don’t go. What about the love story/romance?
The heroine was jealous of her sister, was constantly thinking how beautiful the hero was, and really liked how kind he was to her sister. She realizes she’s in love on their wedding day.
There were glimpses of the hero’s regard. He called her a soft-centered chocolate – a tempting indulgence. He hit the h’s father when he insulted her and then threw him out of the house. He also picked out her romantic, innocent wedding dress. He called a halt to his revenge (after more brutal sex ) because it was messing up their relationship. We are treated to some rough, humiliating sex scenes, but we never see a tender love scene, unfortunately.
Sounds messed up.
It was - in a way only an HP can be messed up. Be warned and happy reading!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2018
Re Indecent Deception - Lynne Graham hones her angstfest wrecki drama skills with this little story of a Cinderella Martyred h and the arrogant, really obnoxious, frequent lady buffet flyer H.
Huge Warning: This is one of LG's non pc books. It is her eighth HP outing and like all HP writers, she has to demonstrate her ability to bring on the pain for the h, as only in HPlandia is the quality of the h measured by her ability to shed off pain and humiliation like Teflon.
This results in an forced seduction that is fairly unpalatable in view of her later writings. However, Vintage HP rule #4 is the more forced lurve club events only shows the depth of the Hero's love, so keep that in mind if you schedule this book for an HP outing.
The story starts with our little h being knocked over by the womanizing and proud of it H in his car. It has been 3 years since they last saw each other and at the time the H was drunk over the death of his grandfather, had wrecked his car and the h came along and helped him back to his house.
There was a very ugly roofie kiss rejection scene and the h, whose backstory would make a turnip cry, was very hurt and upset. We learn that the h is the youngest child of a bunch of sewer slurping slime pustules. She has an older brother and sister and things went to Hades in a hand basket when her very lower class father won the lottery.
Her father moved the entire family to the upper class countryside and soon began trying to force himself on the local gentry. Every failure was blamed on the h's wimpy, spineless mother and she soon ran off with a bigamist.
The h followed her mother and ended up caring for the pathetic woman after her mother had a baby girl and was taken for all she was worth by the bigamist and then abandoned when he went to prison. The h felt she had to drop out of school to care for the baby, after her mother completely abdicated her life and eventually died.
The h is now taking cleaning jobs to support herself and her sister. She refused to sign up for the child care benefit because she doesn't have custody of her sister, but she loves her and doesn't want the little girl to go into care.
The h is very young, only twenty and very impetuous. So when the flat that she is cleaning turns out to belong to a girlfriend of the H and he starts going on about the h's family after the owner confronts her, the h loses her cool and dumps a vase of flowers on his head.
The H, tho he is a nematode slime gulper, recognizes that maybe he shouldn't have mocked the h and her family in front of the h, so he offers her a ride home. The h is in the process of being evicted from her flat, so he pays her rent, meets her sister -tho he thinks the baby is the h's- and then the next day offers her a housekeeper job in a big manor house that needs work and is close to where her estranged father and sister live.
The h doesn't realize it is the H who will be her employer at first, she happily leaps upon the opportunity and the H isn't being too forthright in just who she will be working for. He does get along great with the little girl, tho he gets angry that the h doesn't allow the girl to call her mummy.
When the h gets to the manor house, the place is a wreck and there is no electricity and no furniture except in one room. The H's hired help is very resentful of the h being there and we find out is because he was a former employee of the H's grandfather.
(When the H dumped the h's older sister as being a tarty fling three years earlier, the h's father decided to get some revenge on the hated upper classes and conned the H's grandfather into a poker game and fleeced him for a ton of money he did not have. The h's father then dunned the H's grandfather and the man had a stroke and then died.)
The H's employee is very nasty to the h as he reveals this backstory and warns the h that the H is out for revenge. The h also wakes up to the H in a very roofie kissing moment late that night, the H is stunned to find the h in his bed, but the h explains there wasn't anywhere else for them to sleep.
The H seems a bit perturbed by his reaction to the h and we can see the start of the Lurve Force Mojo starting to take over the two of them. After some house disaster drama, an encounter with the h's truly coprophagic father during which the H punches the h's father to ward him off, the h is deeply struck by Love Force Mojo thunderbolt of love.
Intense jealousy and spite ensue on the h's part, because her older slime pustule sister makes no bones that she is going to insinuate herself back in with the H. So when the sewer gulper sister announces that she is preggers from the guy she married on the rebound when the H dumped her and that she is getting an abortion to chase the H, the h concocts a huge lie.
The h has been bullied and abused by her family her whole life and the H hasn't done much better in the humiliation department. He has flaunted the h's status around the whole area as his domestic and live in tart and almost everyone believes the h's little sister is the H's seekrit love child.
The h, in rage of jealously and spite, but telling herself it is to save an innocent baby, tells the slime pustule sister that she is her baby sister's mother and that the girl is the H's daughter. The sister explodes and rushes over to confront the H.
The H believes the h is telling the truth, because she embellishes their encounter from three years earlier. Only this time, the h claims the H seduced her instead of berating and rejecting her.
The H believes her because she was able to recreate his old bedroom earlier in the book, where the seduction supposedly happened, and because there really was a semi-forced roofie kiss between them and the H can't remember the rest.
The H decides that they will marry and after some very uncomfortable dinner parties, roofie kissing moments and the H bonding even more with the little girl, the H makes that so because he was an illegitimate child and he suffered for it his whole life, he doesn't want his daughter growing up the same way.
We learn that the H was the product of an affair between his mother and a married man. The guy really was interested in getting to know him as a child, but his vindictive mother blocked that. Then his mother died and the H's father offered him a home with him, to the horror of his wife. The H adamantly refused and refused to even speak to the guy. Then the H's father and all his family died in a plane crash and the H got a multi-million dollar inheritance for which he feels incredibly guilty about.
There is a very tense moment when the h's slime pustule sister shows up at the wedding right before it is due to start and reveals the truth to the H, the h is really the little girl's sister and the H is not the father.
( The h had spitefully taunted her sister that she was marrying the H and the sister took it very badly. The h pleaded with the H to firmly reject her sister, but the H was clearly done with the subject and it is only the h's jealously that spurs her to keep bringing the sister up and to continue with her enormous lies.
She believes the H slept with her sister. He did not, she also learns that her father is almost bankrupt, so the H is quite clear in his non-interest and the h was stupid enough to push it anyways, giving the H another stick to whack her with.)
The H goes ahead with the marriage, but it is clear he is furious and very, very angry with the h and their will be dire punishments extracted from her body. He essentially went ahead with it because he despises the h's sister more than he despises the h and he bonded with the little girl. He is actually trying to be responsible here and I admired him for it, but he is really furious over the h's betrayal.
The h tries to claim that she engineered all of this to keep her sister from terminating her child, but the H doesn't believe her and the forced seduction begins. It ends with the h in passionate respones and compared to the heyday of Vintage HP's, it was fairly mild.
Tho the H does seem to be appalled at the evidence of her unicorn grooming license revocation and does help her physically recover, his words for the h are pretty harsh as he tells her he has no use for her out of bed.
They have a full weekend of Purple Passion Bliss and the h feels used, but I wasn't sure that was where the H was coming from on this. (I really think he was just totally entranced with the h's response to him, LG had been throwing out hints right and left all through the story, so really this part is up to reader interpretation.)
It isn't until we get back to the H's estate that the H really pounds in the pain. The h's little sister is happy to see him and this ignites the fury of the H. He verbally hammers home the point that the h is an unsuitable caretaker for the little girl, she used a child to wreak havoc and who would suffer for it most in the end? The little girl, not the h.
After that tirade, we get a truly forced seduction scene and the h is utterly devastated. This doesn't help her jealousy when her sister shows up again and goes off to chase the H, as the h finds out when her sister's husband shows up. The h confronts the H in fit of fury and rage and he tells her to stuff off.
When the H returns a little while later, we find out that he went to confirm that the h's sister was preggers and thinking about a termination. He also went to find out the name of the h's mother's solicitor to adopt the h's little sister. (That was a little wonky moment, cause how would the sister know the mother's solicitor? )
It turns out that the little girl's father is dead and the H is calm enough to recognize that the h is massively in love with him and at least partly told the truth. He decides that they will tell the little girl who her parents are as soon as she is old enough to understand, but for all intents and purposes, the little girl will be raised as their child.
This means that the H can now indulge in a wife who is too afraid and too in love to protest any treatment he dishes out. While the H does seem to like the h a little and tells her that he loves her, it was mainly because of lust and because she tried her best to care for her sister and no one ever went that far for for him.
We end this one with a little Purple Passion Moment, as the H tells the h that he will have considered that she served her penance when she gives birth to their sixth child for the somewhat dubious HPlandia HEA.
This one is tops on the wrecki drama and in terms of forced seduction, well I have read and tolerated a lot worse and this is one of the last HP's that use that marital rape plot trope, (barring Sara Craven). However the h's continual jealousy and immaturity really dragged down this book and I was losing my patience with her by the end.
The H was no prize and the two of them probably deserved each other, but I don't know that this should ever make the top of the list for an enjoyable HPlandia outing.
Huge Warning: This is one of LG's non pc books. It is her eighth HP outing and like all HP writers, she has to demonstrate her ability to bring on the pain for the h, as only in HPlandia is the quality of the h measured by her ability to shed off pain and humiliation like Teflon.
This results in an forced seduction that is fairly unpalatable in view of her later writings. However, Vintage HP rule #4 is the more forced lurve club events only shows the depth of the Hero's love, so keep that in mind if you schedule this book for an HP outing.
The story starts with our little h being knocked over by the womanizing and proud of it H in his car. It has been 3 years since they last saw each other and at the time the H was drunk over the death of his grandfather, had wrecked his car and the h came along and helped him back to his house.
There was a very ugly roofie kiss rejection scene and the h, whose backstory would make a turnip cry, was very hurt and upset. We learn that the h is the youngest child of a bunch of sewer slurping slime pustules. She has an older brother and sister and things went to Hades in a hand basket when her very lower class father won the lottery.
Her father moved the entire family to the upper class countryside and soon began trying to force himself on the local gentry. Every failure was blamed on the h's wimpy, spineless mother and she soon ran off with a bigamist.
The h followed her mother and ended up caring for the pathetic woman after her mother had a baby girl and was taken for all she was worth by the bigamist and then abandoned when he went to prison. The h felt she had to drop out of school to care for the baby, after her mother completely abdicated her life and eventually died.
The h is now taking cleaning jobs to support herself and her sister. She refused to sign up for the child care benefit because she doesn't have custody of her sister, but she loves her and doesn't want the little girl to go into care.
The h is very young, only twenty and very impetuous. So when the flat that she is cleaning turns out to belong to a girlfriend of the H and he starts going on about the h's family after the owner confronts her, the h loses her cool and dumps a vase of flowers on his head.
The H, tho he is a nematode slime gulper, recognizes that maybe he shouldn't have mocked the h and her family in front of the h, so he offers her a ride home. The h is in the process of being evicted from her flat, so he pays her rent, meets her sister -tho he thinks the baby is the h's- and then the next day offers her a housekeeper job in a big manor house that needs work and is close to where her estranged father and sister live.
The h doesn't realize it is the H who will be her employer at first, she happily leaps upon the opportunity and the H isn't being too forthright in just who she will be working for. He does get along great with the little girl, tho he gets angry that the h doesn't allow the girl to call her mummy.
When the h gets to the manor house, the place is a wreck and there is no electricity and no furniture except in one room. The H's hired help is very resentful of the h being there and we find out is because he was a former employee of the H's grandfather.
(When the H dumped the h's older sister as being a tarty fling three years earlier, the h's father decided to get some revenge on the hated upper classes and conned the H's grandfather into a poker game and fleeced him for a ton of money he did not have. The h's father then dunned the H's grandfather and the man had a stroke and then died.)
The H's employee is very nasty to the h as he reveals this backstory and warns the h that the H is out for revenge. The h also wakes up to the H in a very roofie kissing moment late that night, the H is stunned to find the h in his bed, but the h explains there wasn't anywhere else for them to sleep.
The H seems a bit perturbed by his reaction to the h and we can see the start of the Lurve Force Mojo starting to take over the two of them. After some house disaster drama, an encounter with the h's truly coprophagic father during which the H punches the h's father to ward him off, the h is deeply struck by Love Force Mojo thunderbolt of love.
Intense jealousy and spite ensue on the h's part, because her older slime pustule sister makes no bones that she is going to insinuate herself back in with the H. So when the sewer gulper sister announces that she is preggers from the guy she married on the rebound when the H dumped her and that she is getting an abortion to chase the H, the h concocts a huge lie.
The h has been bullied and abused by her family her whole life and the H hasn't done much better in the humiliation department. He has flaunted the h's status around the whole area as his domestic and live in tart and almost everyone believes the h's little sister is the H's seekrit love child.
The h, in rage of jealously and spite, but telling herself it is to save an innocent baby, tells the slime pustule sister that she is her baby sister's mother and that the girl is the H's daughter. The sister explodes and rushes over to confront the H.
The H believes the h is telling the truth, because she embellishes their encounter from three years earlier. Only this time, the h claims the H seduced her instead of berating and rejecting her.
The H believes her because she was able to recreate his old bedroom earlier in the book, where the seduction supposedly happened, and because there really was a semi-forced roofie kiss between them and the H can't remember the rest.
The H decides that they will marry and after some very uncomfortable dinner parties, roofie kissing moments and the H bonding even more with the little girl, the H makes that so because he was an illegitimate child and he suffered for it his whole life, he doesn't want his daughter growing up the same way.
We learn that the H was the product of an affair between his mother and a married man. The guy really was interested in getting to know him as a child, but his vindictive mother blocked that. Then his mother died and the H's father offered him a home with him, to the horror of his wife. The H adamantly refused and refused to even speak to the guy. Then the H's father and all his family died in a plane crash and the H got a multi-million dollar inheritance for which he feels incredibly guilty about.
There is a very tense moment when the h's slime pustule sister shows up at the wedding right before it is due to start and reveals the truth to the H, the h is really the little girl's sister and the H is not the father.
( The h had spitefully taunted her sister that she was marrying the H and the sister took it very badly. The h pleaded with the H to firmly reject her sister, but the H was clearly done with the subject and it is only the h's jealously that spurs her to keep bringing the sister up and to continue with her enormous lies.
She believes the H slept with her sister. He did not, she also learns that her father is almost bankrupt, so the H is quite clear in his non-interest and the h was stupid enough to push it anyways, giving the H another stick to whack her with.)
The H goes ahead with the marriage, but it is clear he is furious and very, very angry with the h and their will be dire punishments extracted from her body. He essentially went ahead with it because he despises the h's sister more than he despises the h and he bonded with the little girl. He is actually trying to be responsible here and I admired him for it, but he is really furious over the h's betrayal.
The h tries to claim that she engineered all of this to keep her sister from terminating her child, but the H doesn't believe her and the forced seduction begins. It ends with the h in passionate respones and compared to the heyday of Vintage HP's, it was fairly mild.
Tho the H does seem to be appalled at the evidence of her unicorn grooming license revocation and does help her physically recover, his words for the h are pretty harsh as he tells her he has no use for her out of bed.
They have a full weekend of Purple Passion Bliss and the h feels used, but I wasn't sure that was where the H was coming from on this. (I really think he was just totally entranced with the h's response to him, LG had been throwing out hints right and left all through the story, so really this part is up to reader interpretation.)
It isn't until we get back to the H's estate that the H really pounds in the pain. The h's little sister is happy to see him and this ignites the fury of the H. He verbally hammers home the point that the h is an unsuitable caretaker for the little girl, she used a child to wreak havoc and who would suffer for it most in the end? The little girl, not the h.
After that tirade, we get a truly forced seduction scene and the h is utterly devastated. This doesn't help her jealousy when her sister shows up again and goes off to chase the H, as the h finds out when her sister's husband shows up. The h confronts the H in fit of fury and rage and he tells her to stuff off.
When the H returns a little while later, we find out that he went to confirm that the h's sister was preggers and thinking about a termination. He also went to find out the name of the h's mother's solicitor to adopt the h's little sister. (That was a little wonky moment, cause how would the sister know the mother's solicitor? )
It turns out that the little girl's father is dead and the H is calm enough to recognize that the h is massively in love with him and at least partly told the truth. He decides that they will tell the little girl who her parents are as soon as she is old enough to understand, but for all intents and purposes, the little girl will be raised as their child.
This means that the H can now indulge in a wife who is too afraid and too in love to protest any treatment he dishes out. While the H does seem to like the h a little and tells her that he loves her, it was mainly because of lust and because she tried her best to care for her sister and no one ever went that far for for him.
We end this one with a little Purple Passion Moment, as the H tells the h that he will have considered that she served her penance when she gives birth to their sixth child for the somewhat dubious HPlandia HEA.
This one is tops on the wrecki drama and in terms of forced seduction, well I have read and tolerated a lot worse and this is one of the last HP's that use that marital rape plot trope, (barring Sara Craven). However the h's continual jealousy and immaturity really dragged down this book and I was losing my patience with her by the end.
The H was no prize and the two of them probably deserved each other, but I don't know that this should ever make the top of the list for an enjoyable HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2017
WOW!
This is so messed up, and if you don't like OTT drama I suggest you stay away!
For me, this one was amazing and not what I was expecting.
Let's me start by saying she was one smart cookie! She was young and made a few mistakes (she lied) but essentially she was a good girl in a bad situation.
The hero, Blaze, got what he deserved when he was racked with guilt about his supposedly bad behavior. He was using her and she caught him out on it. Chrissy was so confused by the situation however she should have just let her sister go get herself messed up by the hero.
I don't think I would try to save that poor child having a bitch mother like her sister!
However, I value life and I would have done the same so I do see her point of view.
It was an emotional read with little Rosie taking center stage a few times. I cried when Rosie went to call him Daddy after he found out Chrissy had lied and he was not the father or her the mother for that matter.
Poor misguided Chrissy, she loved the hero and he was too caught up with revenge to see what he was giving up.
It was great at the end too when he said he would forgive her maybe after their 6th child. Lol!
Loved it!
This is so messed up, and if you don't like OTT drama I suggest you stay away!
For me, this one was amazing and not what I was expecting.
Let's me start by saying she was one smart cookie! She was young and made a few mistakes (she lied) but essentially she was a good girl in a bad situation.
The hero, Blaze, got what he deserved when he was racked with guilt about his supposedly bad behavior. He was using her and she caught him out on it. Chrissy was so confused by the situation however she should have just let her sister go get herself messed up by the hero.
I don't think I would try to save that poor child having a bitch mother like her sister!
However, I value life and I would have done the same so I do see her point of view.
It was an emotional read with little Rosie taking center stage a few times. I cried when Rosie went to call him Daddy after he found out Chrissy had lied and he was not the father or her the mother for that matter.
Poor misguided Chrissy, she loved the hero and he was too caught up with revenge to see what he was giving up.
It was great at the end too when he said he would forgive her maybe after their 6th child. Lol!
Loved it!
May 31, 2012
I despise romance novels where the heroine is made out to be a pathetic loser - someone who has no looks, a job, an education, friends, money, who can hardly speak (stutters), or a personality. They're of course, one gigantic martyr drama queens too..
The hero didn't redeem the book, he turned out to be a alp'hoe jerk from start to finish - who went from messing around with the h's drop-dead beautiful sister to the plain h (of course, after she lost the weight) - Yuck - another pet peeve of mine.
I did not suffer through this book to the end.
The hero didn't redeem the book, he turned out to be a alp'hoe jerk from start to finish - who went from messing around with the h's drop-dead beautiful sister to the plain h (of course, after she lost the weight) - Yuck - another pet peeve of mine.
I did not suffer through this book to the end.
February 20, 2021
It looks like I’m one of the few who didn’t enjoy this book. This has to be one of the stupidest Lynne Graham books I've ever read, which is really saying something because I loved most of her works! But this one didn't do it for me. This is not a romance, in my opinion.
February 10, 2019
"Indecent Deception" is the story of Chrissy and Sadist.. I mean Blaze.
The blurb and reviews made this sound like a feisty saga in which a heroine takes revenge from a horn dog hero, filled with wit and romance.
What this was instead was a sob saga of a stuttering heroine who got herself in all sorts of problems while being responsible for her baby sibling, was barely able to stand up to the hero, much less teach him a lesson, and ultimately ended up with a guy who might have screwed not just her sister , but every other female in vicinity. The heroine was stupid, the hero was a mean tomcat. Her family was a bunch of aholes, and the only person I did like in the book was Rosie, the baby. She cried every two minutes, he slut shamed her while coming on to her- while also wanting to sleep with her sister..WTF.
Did it have potentially funny scenes? Yes. Could this have been a great book if the heroine had a brain or a backbone? Yes. Could the hero have syphilis? Yes.
I think because Ms Graham was one of the first authors I read, I keep giving her more and more chances, and most of the time Im extremely disappointed.
Unsafe
1.5/5
The blurb and reviews made this sound like a feisty saga in which a heroine takes revenge from a horn dog hero, filled with wit and romance.
What this was instead was a sob saga of a stuttering heroine who got herself in all sorts of problems while being responsible for her baby sibling, was barely able to stand up to the hero, much less teach him a lesson, and ultimately ended up with a guy who might have screwed not just her sister , but every other female in vicinity. The heroine was stupid, the hero was a mean tomcat. Her family was a bunch of aholes, and the only person I did like in the book was Rosie, the baby. She cried every two minutes, he slut shamed her while coming on to her- while also wanting to sleep with her sister..WTF.
Did it have potentially funny scenes? Yes. Could this have been a great book if the heroine had a brain or a backbone? Yes. Could the hero have syphilis? Yes.
I think because Ms Graham was one of the first authors I read, I keep giving her more and more chances, and most of the time Im extremely disappointed.
Unsafe
1.5/5
March 15, 2010
I can't believe I didn't have this one rated on Goodreads. This is one of my all time favorite Lynne Graham books. And it's one of her few books where the hero is British (although he's half-Italian, he is British more or less). Some of the love scenes were pretty interesting, dialogue-wise. *very wide grin* I'd have to reread it to give a review to do it justice, but I love this book. It made me a Lynne Graham fan.
October 7, 2015
The book was entertaining, but I felt the end was so rushed. I missed an epilogue, that is not usually in Lynne Graham's books. I liked both main characters but I wish they realized they were in love or have feelings for each other before the end.
XX
XX
March 13, 2024
Perfection! Can’t believe I stalled picking up this one for the longest time. It randomly showed up in my tbr and was impossible to put down. Trust LG to put up HP back on a pedestal with the current run down show that it’s running with half a$$ed writing and trolling stories.
The h and H are somewhat strangers who bump into each other one day but they have skeletons in their closets. They used to be neighbors back in the day until some dirty business tore them apart. The h is already the black sheep of her family so she doesn’t know what beef actually happened between her family and the H’s. There are gaps but LG covers them up beautifully.
This is a seriously well written book with a fab plot that gently unravels. While I thought the h could’ve taken the easiest route A and confessed the truth to how it was, her lack of confidence got her into deep trouble and as a result a seething display of the H’s intent plays out. He was out for vengeance and she was just taking baby steps towards life.
The h is a sweet girl with a bit of a stutter. She’s the other sibling/ sister who’s not loved by her father and is constantly put down for her lack of confidence and achievements. Their mother takes off at the peak of her marriage with another man and that leaves her father raging and humiliated. While everyone else sticks with the dad, the h takes off with her mother and has to pay ever lasting consequences for that.
Years later the MCs reconnect. The h is barely keeping up since taking up that huge responsibility that her dying mother left her. The H is intrigued and offers her a job out of ol times sake. It’s only when they’re in close proximity that they realize that a lot remains unpleasant between their family history.
The h tries her best to appease her boss and keep him at arms length while the H is holding back and completely turned on by this confusing display of inhibition on her part. He wants to play and have fun but the h is shy and jittery and that doesn’t add up with the other baggage she’s carrying - aka a single mother.
There is an MoC and the H is raging mad. He feels he’d been played and he’s out to play her back. He says the most insolent unfeeling things to his new wife and wants her on her back to work her way through her lies but damn, he’s also tender and unwavering in his attention to her. 🔥 🔥
One of the best LGs I may have read in a long time. I’m off to a reread cuz I feel I read thru way to fast to get to the end. I need my time with this man again. Holy hotness. There isn’t an epilogue but the premise is enough 🔥
The h and H are somewhat strangers who bump into each other one day but they have skeletons in their closets. They used to be neighbors back in the day until some dirty business tore them apart. The h is already the black sheep of her family so she doesn’t know what beef actually happened between her family and the H’s. There are gaps but LG covers them up beautifully.
This is a seriously well written book with a fab plot that gently unravels. While I thought the h could’ve taken the easiest route A and confessed the truth to how it was, her lack of confidence got her into deep trouble and as a result a seething display of the H’s intent plays out. He was out for vengeance and she was just taking baby steps towards life.
The h is a sweet girl with a bit of a stutter. She’s the other sibling/ sister who’s not loved by her father and is constantly put down for her lack of confidence and achievements. Their mother takes off at the peak of her marriage with another man and that leaves her father raging and humiliated. While everyone else sticks with the dad, the h takes off with her mother and has to pay ever lasting consequences for that.
Years later the MCs reconnect. The h is barely keeping up since taking up that huge responsibility that her dying mother left her. The H is intrigued and offers her a job out of ol times sake. It’s only when they’re in close proximity that they realize that a lot remains unpleasant between their family history.
The h tries her best to appease her boss and keep him at arms length while the H is holding back and completely turned on by this confusing display of inhibition on her part. He wants to play and have fun but the h is shy and jittery and that doesn’t add up with the other baggage she’s carrying - aka a single mother.
There is an MoC and the H is raging mad. He feels he’d been played and he’s out to play her back. He says the most insolent unfeeling things to his new wife and wants her on her back to work her way through her lies but damn, he’s also tender and unwavering in his attention to her. 🔥 🔥
One of the best LGs I may have read in a long time. I’m off to a reread cuz I feel I read thru way to fast to get to the end. I need my time with this man again. Holy hotness. There isn’t an epilogue but the premise is enough 🔥
August 4, 2012
This is certainly an intense read, but I would expect nothing less from Lynne Graham. This is a story of the family from hell who lie and manipulate for their own personal gain.... from the evil abusive father, to the conniving sister... to the fallen mother. To make matters worse, the heroine is a very weak willed person with absolutely no common sense that also spins one lie after another. I guess, the apple does not fall too far from the tree.
This book had so much potential if the heroine would have been made stronger. Though the revenge in the end added to the intensity of the story, I didn't like that it went as far as rape.
If this wasn't bad enough, the heroine looks past this violation and caves into a HEA the very next day, complementing herself on having good taste for loving him. Rape is not only a physical assault, but it is a mental violation ripping into a woman's very soul. Her casual, flippant acceptance of what happened just ruined the story. It would have been so much more powerful and credible had she stood her ground and made him earn back her love and trust.
But it was definitely an intense read. For those of you that like an intense LG read, you should give this one a try.
This book had so much potential if the heroine would have been made stronger. Though the revenge in the end added to the intensity of the story, I didn't like that it went as far as rape.
If this wasn't bad enough, the heroine looks past this violation and caves into a HEA the very next day, complementing herself on having good taste for loving him. Rape is not only a physical assault, but it is a mental violation ripping into a woman's very soul. Her casual, flippant acceptance of what happened just ruined the story. It would have been so much more powerful and credible had she stood her ground and made him earn back her love and trust.
But it was definitely an intense read. For those of you that like an intense LG read, you should give this one a try.
February 15, 2022
I didn’t like this.
** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD **
The h and H meet again after not having seen each other for a few years. The h was in love with him years before, but he liked her sister more than her.
The h takes care of her 2,5 year old half-sister. She lets the H believe that she is the child’s mother.
But then the h’s sister turns up. The h lies to her sister that she is in a relationship with the H. The h also lies that the half-sister is the child of her and the H.
The h’s sister tells the H what the h had told her about the child. The H then confronts the h, but the h insists that it is the truth that the child is his.
The H can’t believe that he had sex with a 17 year old (which she was at that time) and he wants to know the details. The h tells him that he was drunk. She lies that he took her on the floor. The truth is they never had sex.
It’s just shocking that you can lie to a man that he has had sex with you and that he has fathered a child. And been forgiven all the lies at the end in the HEA. He should have dumped her.
She lies and lies and lies. I wanted to slap her.
** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD **
The h and H meet again after not having seen each other for a few years. The h was in love with him years before, but he liked her sister more than her.
The h takes care of her 2,5 year old half-sister. She lets the H believe that she is the child’s mother.
But then the h’s sister turns up. The h lies to her sister that she is in a relationship with the H. The h also lies that the half-sister is the child of her and the H.
The h’s sister tells the H what the h had told her about the child. The H then confronts the h, but the h insists that it is the truth that the child is his.
The H can’t believe that he had sex with a 17 year old (which she was at that time) and he wants to know the details. The h tells him that he was drunk. She lies that he took her on the floor. The truth is they never had sex.
It’s just shocking that you can lie to a man that he has had sex with you and that he has fathered a child. And been forgiven all the lies at the end in the HEA. He should have dumped her.
She lies and lies and lies. I wanted to slap her.
January 15, 2013
There were parts of this book that made me very angry. The book had a great premise but it was all ruined after the sexual abuse scene for me.
July 17, 2010
This one was okay. I do like the premise and have always been a sucker for the struggling heroine with a kid rescued by alpha hero. This heroine gets herself in a pickle from her own lies. The hero is a playboy who only really changes because of her lies. He has a genuine beef with her when he discovers her lies. But the ending was a bit rushed. There needed to be more apologizing and forgiveness on both sides. High angst level and well written however.
February 10, 2014
This is a disturbing book in which the author alludes to the coerced oppression and rape of its heroine. A one star rating is too kind for this misogynistic ill-begotten read that that has one partner subduing the other in a play for dominance.
July 29, 2025
This I think must be the third time that I am reading Indecent Deception by Lynne Graham. And that alone should be enough to tell everyone who wants to know that this is a favorite re-read of mine from the Harlequin line.
Christable (Chrissy) Hamilton is just twenty years of age and shoulders the responsibility of caring singlelhandedly for her half sister Rosie who is about two and a half years old. Barely making ends meet, Chrissy is fired from her only job that is responsible for keeping a roof over her and Rosie's head; all because she lets her pride and anger at Blaze Kenyon's sheer arrogance take the best of her.
Blaze is a man who has no intention of ever settling down and one whose sensational life as the rich playboy keeps the tabloids in a tailspin. Surprisingly it is Blaze who offers Chrissy a job which she grabs with both hands never knowing the twisted web she would weave in the coming days.
When her sister Elaine turns up claiming that she wants to get back together with Blaze, Chrissy does the stupidest thing she has ever done in her life which ends up with Blaze and herself walking down the aisle. However, once the truth comes out, Chrissy has hell to pay, making her fear that her burgoening love for a man who has become so vibrantly important in her life would never be reciprocated by the man in question, who only feels loathing for her misleading lies.
I just flat-out adore this story which is proven by the number of times I have read it to-date. And I love Blaze Kenyon for everything he is from his sardonic humor to the blazingly sexual side of him that just makes my heart go predictably aflutter each and every single time. Chrissy was a tough one to like because of the deceiving role that she plays in the novel, no matter how martyr-like she wanted her actions to be. For me, its Blaze who makes this novel come alive, who makes this book worth a revisit time and time again.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and fans of Harlequin romances.
Rating = 5/5
Original review posted on MBR's Realm of Romance
Note: Rating has been changed on 12th Jan 2022, to reflect the fact that this is one of my favorite books to revisit from Lynne Graham.
Re-Read in 2024 - still as good as ever!
Christable (Chrissy) Hamilton is just twenty years of age and shoulders the responsibility of caring singlelhandedly for her half sister Rosie who is about two and a half years old. Barely making ends meet, Chrissy is fired from her only job that is responsible for keeping a roof over her and Rosie's head; all because she lets her pride and anger at Blaze Kenyon's sheer arrogance take the best of her.
Blaze is a man who has no intention of ever settling down and one whose sensational life as the rich playboy keeps the tabloids in a tailspin. Surprisingly it is Blaze who offers Chrissy a job which she grabs with both hands never knowing the twisted web she would weave in the coming days.
When her sister Elaine turns up claiming that she wants to get back together with Blaze, Chrissy does the stupidest thing she has ever done in her life which ends up with Blaze and herself walking down the aisle. However, once the truth comes out, Chrissy has hell to pay, making her fear that her burgoening love for a man who has become so vibrantly important in her life would never be reciprocated by the man in question, who only feels loathing for her misleading lies.
I just flat-out adore this story which is proven by the number of times I have read it to-date. And I love Blaze Kenyon for everything he is from his sardonic humor to the blazingly sexual side of him that just makes my heart go predictably aflutter each and every single time. Chrissy was a tough one to like because of the deceiving role that she plays in the novel, no matter how martyr-like she wanted her actions to be. For me, its Blaze who makes this novel come alive, who makes this book worth a revisit time and time again.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and fans of Harlequin romances.
Rating = 5/5
Original review posted on MBR's Realm of Romance
Note: Rating has been changed on 12th Jan 2022, to reflect the fact that this is one of my favorite books to revisit from Lynne Graham.
Re-Read in 2024 - still as good as ever!
February 28, 2018
Leído bajo el título”Errores y mentiras”. La heroína aquí es Chrissy Hamilton quien empieza la novela ya con el pie izquierdo y toda esa mala suerte que me encanta leer en las novelas: ella camino a su empleo de mucama toda embarrada y casi atropellada por un súper auto conducido por el protagonista masculino Blaze Kenyon que años atrás la dejo sintiéndose poca cosa y humillada( Él apenas la ve caída al suelo le dice”no ve por donde camina estupida”)Crissy es muy tímida, algo insegura y arrastra consigo un tartamudeo que el protagonista encontrará encantador.Por supuesto Crissy es virgen y será Blaze quien la haga mujer, aun cuando él esté convencido y decepcionado de los engaños que la pobre Crissy tuvo q urdir para salvar a los suyos porque ella es muy muy buena. La novela me gusto mucho y no podía dejar de leer, no le di las 5 estrellas 🌟 porque el desenlace no tuvo a la altura de toda el relato y fue precipitado,quería leer más de un protagonista siendo arrastrado por la culpa de tratar así a una heroina tan buena, ingenua y desinteresada como Crissy.
October 3, 2021
Not for the faint of heart
This is an early novel by LG. She does not, thank goodness, write alphahole heroes like this one anymore. She has written only two or three books out of over 120 novels in which the hero is British, which is the case with this hero. And each one of these Brits is emotionally abusive to the heroine.
The most distressing example of this emotional abuse is the next-to-last sex scene in the book. It's not quite rape, because she verbally gives her consent to be used like an object, but he is quite callous and cruel:
"'Just get it over with and leave me alone.'
"'If that's what you want.'
" .... He hadn't even kissed her.... He had entered her body and taken his own pleasure with a cold efficiency that shattered her. An act that he had previously contrived to make special... had suddenly become the most gross invasion of privacy, the most utter humiliation."
A confession that he's madly in love with her the very next day, with no grovelling whatsoever for the above horrible treatment, followed by the doormat heroine melting into his arms, giving him a free pass, is not remotely encouraging as to the potential for this marriage turning into anything but an ongoing melodrama, similar to the melodrama of their courtship.
This book, like most of LG's early novels, also ends quite abruptly with no epilogue. Which is particularly frustrating for those of us romance fans who demand a believable HEA, because up until the last 5-6 pages of the book, the relationship between the romantic protagonists is locked in a state of entrenched distrust and bitter enmity.
This is an early novel by LG. She does not, thank goodness, write alphahole heroes like this one anymore. She has written only two or three books out of over 120 novels in which the hero is British, which is the case with this hero. And each one of these Brits is emotionally abusive to the heroine.
The most distressing example of this emotional abuse is the next-to-last sex scene in the book. It's not quite rape, because she verbally gives her consent to be used like an object, but he is quite callous and cruel:
"'Just get it over with and leave me alone.'
"'If that's what you want.'
" .... He hadn't even kissed her.... He had entered her body and taken his own pleasure with a cold efficiency that shattered her. An act that he had previously contrived to make special... had suddenly become the most gross invasion of privacy, the most utter humiliation."
A confession that he's madly in love with her the very next day, with no grovelling whatsoever for the above horrible treatment, followed by the doormat heroine melting into his arms, giving him a free pass, is not remotely encouraging as to the potential for this marriage turning into anything but an ongoing melodrama, similar to the melodrama of their courtship.
This book, like most of LG's early novels, also ends quite abruptly with no epilogue. Which is particularly frustrating for those of us romance fans who demand a believable HEA, because up until the last 5-6 pages of the book, the relationship between the romantic protagonists is locked in a state of entrenched distrust and bitter enmity.
May 12, 2025
Still reading. Second maybe third time over past twelve years.
Now reading it as a writer myself.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Lynne Graham at her best.
What a smooth plot. What brilliant character building. Impeccable.
More later.
It all goes downhill when she starts lying that her half sister is hero’s baby. That was just beyond acceptable.
I skimmed through.
I liked it even less than I ever did before.
So I’m going to keep it at three stars.
People lie and cheat in real life.
To have this kind of hurtful and cruel lying in my romance novel is not acceptable to me.
My heart revolted to see how heroine lied and kept lying to hero that the toddler was his.
As all the reviewers have said. She was stupid and a martyr and not in a cute way but in a way where you want to slap her. Hard.
Hero was a genuinely nice human being through out. In the end there was some coercive sex and dubious consent and people have hated that. All I can say is that the provocation on the poor hero was extreme.
I wonder how you would react in his place??
Now reading it as a writer myself.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Lynne Graham at her best.
What a smooth plot. What brilliant character building. Impeccable.
More later.
It all goes downhill when she starts lying that her half sister is hero’s baby. That was just beyond acceptable.
I skimmed through.
I liked it even less than I ever did before.
So I’m going to keep it at three stars.
People lie and cheat in real life.
To have this kind of hurtful and cruel lying in my romance novel is not acceptable to me.
My heart revolted to see how heroine lied and kept lying to hero that the toddler was his.
As all the reviewers have said. She was stupid and a martyr and not in a cute way but in a way where you want to slap her. Hard.
Hero was a genuinely nice human being through out. In the end there was some coercive sex and dubious consent and people have hated that. All I can say is that the provocation on the poor hero was extreme.
I wonder how you would react in his place??
October 29, 2015
Indecent Deception; that's an understatement! Chrissy was a pathological liar.
February 18, 2025
Usually love Lynne Graham's books but I couldn't even like this one !!
September 4, 2011
Easy candy read.
Chrissy Hamilton is 22 years old and is Pretty much destitute. Matters are made more critical by the fact that she is responsible for her 2 1/2 year old half sister since their mother's death.
She bumps into Blaze Kenyon, who she knew from the past and who used to date her older self centred sister.
After losing her job as a result of an unfortunate incident involving Blaze, he gives her a job as his housekeeper in the country. For some unfathomable reason she declines to ever rectify people's assumption that Rosie is her daughter.
Anyway, attraction grows between Blaze and Chrissy but she is conscious that he is out for revenge against her sister and father for ruining his grandfather.
Chrissy tries to warn Elaine but she is too self centred to see the truth. It emerges that she is intending to have an abortion so that she can be with Blaze. In desperation Chrissy confirms rumours that Rosie is his child and that they are having an affair.
Unfortunately Elaine confronts Blaze who then confronts Chrissy. As this is a Harlequin romance, the heroine can not possibly do the sensible thing and tell the truth, but instead gets drawn deeper into a mire of lies.
One thing leads to another and they head off to the Church to marry. Elaine turns up and reveals the truth about Rosie 's birth but blaze decides to go ahead with the wedding so that he can punish Chrissy thereafter.
Anyway, there's a fair bit of angst followed by the Pre requisite happy ending.
I don't know why I liked this so much. The heroine's actions were really unforgivable and she failed to take any of the obvious and honourable ways out of her predicament. That said, the author drew a sympathetic portrait of both main protagonists and I liked her writing style.
Chrissy Hamilton is 22 years old and is Pretty much destitute. Matters are made more critical by the fact that she is responsible for her 2 1/2 year old half sister since their mother's death.
She bumps into Blaze Kenyon, who she knew from the past and who used to date her older self centred sister.
After losing her job as a result of an unfortunate incident involving Blaze, he gives her a job as his housekeeper in the country. For some unfathomable reason she declines to ever rectify people's assumption that Rosie is her daughter.
Anyway, attraction grows between Blaze and Chrissy but she is conscious that he is out for revenge against her sister and father for ruining his grandfather.
Chrissy tries to warn Elaine but she is too self centred to see the truth. It emerges that she is intending to have an abortion so that she can be with Blaze. In desperation Chrissy confirms rumours that Rosie is his child and that they are having an affair.
Unfortunately Elaine confronts Blaze who then confronts Chrissy. As this is a Harlequin romance, the heroine can not possibly do the sensible thing and tell the truth, but instead gets drawn deeper into a mire of lies.
One thing leads to another and they head off to the Church to marry. Elaine turns up and reveals the truth about Rosie 's birth but blaze decides to go ahead with the wedding so that he can punish Chrissy thereafter.
Anyway, there's a fair bit of angst followed by the Pre requisite happy ending.
I don't know why I liked this so much. The heroine's actions were really unforgivable and she failed to take any of the obvious and honourable ways out of her predicament. That said, the author drew a sympathetic portrait of both main protagonists and I liked her writing style.
June 9, 2013
I usually like Lynne Graham but this book should have been set in the 1600s. For the first time, I felt no sympathy AT ALL for the heroine. Chrissy's lies have no justification at all.
June 27, 2020
After being instrumental in Chrissy Hamilton losing her job, Blaze Kenyon he offers her a job working for him.
August 20, 2019
re read
October 27, 2025
So, this one was going fairly okay, until about midway through. It was already a very convoluted plot to begin with. I'm thinking the author just threw all the tropes at the wall and somehow just left them all in there.
SPOILERS BELOW
Summary:
Present day: FMC is destitute with a child in tow; MMC nearly runs her over, recognizes her, then says some godawful things about her family that causes her to dump a vase of flowers on him, thus getting her fired. MMC feels bad (?) and hires her to be his new cook/housekeeper/interior designer/maid of all work/whatever. He believes the child is hers.
Background:
FMC's family was from a lower-class background when her father won the lottery. He became (more) greedy and avaricious; her mother was uncomfortable with the new style of living and the way her husband treated her like trash and at some point ran away with another man. Turns out the other man was a bigamist, so he went to prison, and the mom had a baby at age 45, then died of pneumonia later.
FMC was the youngest and the "ugly duckling" of the family- she was prone to plumpness, had a stutter, and was awkward- and at some point after her mother abandoned the family, but before the bigamy was discovered and FMC moved to be with and help her mother, the FMC has a run-in with the MMC when she's 17 and he's 26-28ish. He hates her family because of [BIG SECRET] already and his grandfather had just died; he was drinking, had an accident and was out of it, the FMC helped him to his house and he tried to make a move on her. This sobered him up and in his anger at her family and disgust (?) that he was kissing her/whatever, he called her some godawful, soul-crushing names and things, and she runs off.
She's never forgotten this incident, but he has. He's a playboy and sleeps with like all the women, including, back in the day, her older sister.
Back to the present:
FMC's adapting to her new job as well as possible after a sharp learning curve from the MMC who's been spoiled all his life and didn't realize one person cannot physically do the job of 7 people. So he hires some cleaners which removes exactly one job description, but whatever.
Problem is, FMC decides to become TSTL (too stupid to live) and gets involved with her horrible family of origin- her greedy avaricious father, her self absorbed, cold-hearted sister, and whatnot.
Sister decides she's leaving her hubby to finally "get" the MMC. Turns out she's pregnant by her husband, and in order to facilitate her tricking the MMC into marrying her, she's going to get an abortion.
FMC finds out about this, and decides the only thing to do is to lie to her sister and tell her that her baby half-sister Rosie that she's been raising from her mother's failed bigamist marriage is actually the MMC's, from that night when he was drunk.
Sis of course runs straight to the MMC so the lie spreads, and MMC after a few hours of being a f-boy and not wanting the responsibility, falls HARD for the idea of being a father, and informs the FMC that he's going to marry her because he had a shitty childhood and he's going to give his child (not his child) everything he didn't get growing up (a stable family because he had pretty much all the rich trappings even though he supposedly wasn't "rich").
Even after realizing that he is all the way committed to being a good father, the FMC decides to KEEP LYING TO HIM to try to save an unborn child from abortion, who's about to get birthed by the evil witch of the west (FMC's sister) into a loveless, dying marriage. Because she's positive that if Evil Sister realizes she can't marry the MMC, she'll keep the baby instead of aborting it.
At this point... I'm just gonna skim to see how the author writes the MCs out of this, but this book has jumped the shark for me.
SPOILERS BELOW
Summary:
Present day: FMC is destitute with a child in tow; MMC nearly runs her over, recognizes her, then says some godawful things about her family that causes her to dump a vase of flowers on him, thus getting her fired. MMC feels bad (?) and hires her to be his new cook/housekeeper/interior designer/maid of all work/whatever. He believes the child is hers.
Background:
FMC's family was from a lower-class background when her father won the lottery. He became (more) greedy and avaricious; her mother was uncomfortable with the new style of living and the way her husband treated her like trash and at some point ran away with another man. Turns out the other man was a bigamist, so he went to prison, and the mom had a baby at age 45, then died of pneumonia later.
FMC was the youngest and the "ugly duckling" of the family- she was prone to plumpness, had a stutter, and was awkward- and at some point after her mother abandoned the family, but before the bigamy was discovered and FMC moved to be with and help her mother, the FMC has a run-in with the MMC when she's 17 and he's 26-28ish. He hates her family because of [BIG SECRET] already and his grandfather had just died; he was drinking, had an accident and was out of it, the FMC helped him to his house and he tried to make a move on her. This sobered him up and in his anger at her family and disgust (?) that he was kissing her/whatever, he called her some godawful, soul-crushing names and things, and she runs off.
She's never forgotten this incident, but he has. He's a playboy and sleeps with like all the women, including, back in the day, her older sister.
Back to the present:
FMC's adapting to her new job as well as possible after a sharp learning curve from the MMC who's been spoiled all his life and didn't realize one person cannot physically do the job of 7 people. So he hires some cleaners which removes exactly one job description, but whatever.
Problem is, FMC decides to become TSTL (too stupid to live) and gets involved with her horrible family of origin- her greedy avaricious father, her self absorbed, cold-hearted sister, and whatnot.
Sister decides she's leaving her hubby to finally "get" the MMC. Turns out she's pregnant by her husband, and in order to facilitate her tricking the MMC into marrying her, she's going to get an abortion.
FMC finds out about this, and decides the only thing to do is to lie to her sister and tell her that her baby half-sister Rosie that she's been raising from her mother's failed bigamist marriage is actually the MMC's, from that night when he was drunk.
Sis of course runs straight to the MMC so the lie spreads, and MMC after a few hours of being a f-boy and not wanting the responsibility, falls HARD for the idea of being a father, and informs the FMC that he's going to marry her because he had a shitty childhood and he's going to give his child (not his child) everything he didn't get growing up (a stable family because he had pretty much all the rich trappings even though he supposedly wasn't "rich").
Even after realizing that he is all the way committed to being a good father, the FMC decides to KEEP LYING TO HIM to try to save an unborn child from abortion, who's about to get birthed by the evil witch of the west (FMC's sister) into a loveless, dying marriage. Because she's positive that if Evil Sister realizes she can't marry the MMC, she'll keep the baby instead of aborting it.
At this point... I'm just gonna skim to see how the author writes the MCs out of this, but this book has jumped the shark for me.
February 9, 2021
Oh my. Why do I like this?
Chrissy is on her last rope, about to be evicted along with her toddler sister Rosie, when Blaze steps in to pay her back rent and offers her a job housekeeping in his torn-apart, undecorate, unfurnished house. Chrissy has mixed feelings about Blaze, she's smart enough to know he's spoilt for choice for girls, never likely to commit to one girl, and most damning, he had an affair with her obnoxious beautiful sister. Yet she's attracted to him and could easily fall for him.
Blaze shows enormous kindness to Chrissy and Rosie, giving them a home, even though he detests her father and sister and plans revenge on them since they fleeced his grandpa out of 40,000 pounds, then dunned him for payment. He recognizes Chrissy is all gooey chocolate in the center, soft and a pushover for sob stories. He's careful not to take advantage of her except he really really wants to sleep with her.
Things proceed for a few weeks with Chrissy taking on more and more work trying to get his home organized in spite of falling ceilings and water shutoffs and no washer or drier or vacuum. She's exhausted.
Evil sister and wannabe OW Elaine wants Blaze and is willing to abort her husband's child if she can get to Blaze. Chrissy is desperate to protect this child and decides to lie to her sister, blowing up a small kissing incident 4 years ago into Blaze being Rosie's dad.
I understood Chrissy's motivation here but c'mon. Is this the only way you can think to protect this baby? How about telling Blaze? Or contacting Elaine's husband?
As lies go this one is a doozy and of course it went around the world twice in a couple of days. Blaze really likes Rosie and wants to take care of her and tells Chrissy they'll marry. Oops. Chrissy wants to marry him but not because of this lie.
Evil sister Elaine figures out the real situation, tracks down Rosie's birth certificate and hands it to Blaze at the church entrance. He tells Elaine he's insanely in love with Chrissy and they get married. Of course Blaze is furious and carts Chrissy off for a mad weekend of sex in London.
We're all primed for the big reveal now. Yes, it turns out that Blaze really does love Chrissy and he wants to adopt Rosie along with Chrissy. It's happy ever after time!
My thoughts are mixed. I liked Blaze a lot even though he was an entitled jerk most of the time, because he truly cared about Rosie and Chrissy. I liked Chrissy but she was not thinking clearly when she came up with her stratagem but she didn't mind the outcome, once she learned that Blaze forgave the lie and was happy to be her husband.
Maybe if I read this a different week I'd feel differently, but Indecent Deception was a winner today!
Chrissy is on her last rope, about to be evicted along with her toddler sister Rosie, when Blaze steps in to pay her back rent and offers her a job housekeeping in his torn-apart, undecorate, unfurnished house. Chrissy has mixed feelings about Blaze, she's smart enough to know he's spoilt for choice for girls, never likely to commit to one girl, and most damning, he had an affair with her obnoxious beautiful sister. Yet she's attracted to him and could easily fall for him.
Blaze shows enormous kindness to Chrissy and Rosie, giving them a home, even though he detests her father and sister and plans revenge on them since they fleeced his grandpa out of 40,000 pounds, then dunned him for payment. He recognizes Chrissy is all gooey chocolate in the center, soft and a pushover for sob stories. He's careful not to take advantage of her except he really really wants to sleep with her.
Things proceed for a few weeks with Chrissy taking on more and more work trying to get his home organized in spite of falling ceilings and water shutoffs and no washer or drier or vacuum. She's exhausted.
Evil sister and wannabe OW Elaine wants Blaze and is willing to abort her husband's child if she can get to Blaze. Chrissy is desperate to protect this child and decides to lie to her sister, blowing up a small kissing incident 4 years ago into Blaze being Rosie's dad.
I understood Chrissy's motivation here but c'mon. Is this the only way you can think to protect this baby? How about telling Blaze? Or contacting Elaine's husband?
As lies go this one is a doozy and of course it went around the world twice in a couple of days. Blaze really likes Rosie and wants to take care of her and tells Chrissy they'll marry. Oops. Chrissy wants to marry him but not because of this lie.
Evil sister Elaine figures out the real situation, tracks down Rosie's birth certificate and hands it to Blaze at the church entrance. He tells Elaine he's insanely in love with Chrissy and they get married. Of course Blaze is furious and carts Chrissy off for a mad weekend of sex in London.
We're all primed for the big reveal now. Yes, it turns out that Blaze really does love Chrissy and he wants to adopt Rosie along with Chrissy. It's happy ever after time!
My thoughts are mixed. I liked Blaze a lot even though he was an entitled jerk most of the time, because he truly cared about Rosie and Chrissy. I liked Chrissy but she was not thinking clearly when she came up with her stratagem but she didn't mind the outcome, once she learned that Blaze forgave the lie and was happy to be her husband.
Maybe if I read this a different week I'd feel differently, but Indecent Deception was a winner today!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2025
I liked this one, though it had quite a few flaws. One good thing: we have a h who doesn't have that (ad nauseum) titian red hair, she doesn't have a bad case of the snarks, and isn't acting like an immature teenager, as so many of Ms. Graham's heroines seem to go overboard on. She did have a couple of moments, like when she dumped a vase full of flowers on the H's head, but believe me, he deserved that!!
I give this h credit for looking out for her mom, putting aside her own plans for college to help care for her baby half-sister when Mom became a basket case, then taking on the role of single mom when her mom passed away, and no matter how tough things got, she never fell apart, or looked for help from her (crap) family. The way she was treated by her dad and older sister, as well as her brother (not in the story, but who apparently acted like she didn't exist) did a number on her self-confidence (and was probably the reason for her stutter, which should have been more of a focal point in the story), but she didn't let insecurities stop her from working hard to be independent and provide for her sister.
The misunderstandings stem from people (including the H) thinking the h was the toddler Rosie's mother, and when the h gets fired from her job as a house cleaner (due to that incident with the vase), the H comes to the rescue and offers her the job of looking after things in his house, which is being renovated. It turns out, he has an agenda, which involves her older sister (the OW in the story), whom he used to date and who (along with the h's father) he has reason to resent.
Trouble begins when the sister decides to leave her husband (whom she married on the rebound after the H dumped her), despite being pregnant, and try and get the H back. (I'm sure the fact that he inherited millions from his late father had nothing to do with it.) She tells the h that she's ready to have an abortion so her estranged husband won't have any claim on her, making it easier to pursue the H, who she's certain will want her back. The h is horrified and comes up with an impulsive scheme to save her unborn niece or nephew. She tells her sister that Rosie's really her daughter and the H is the father hoping that'd send her back to her husband. Instead, she tells the H!!!
Because of an incident a few years back (when she was a chubby teenager and heard more than one snark remark, including some from the H), when she helped the H back to his room after he drank too much, thinking it would help a slight head injury he received after crashing his car, not too bright, was he? He had grabbed her and kissed her and later seemed to forget about it, and she let him think it had gone further than that and Rosie was the result.
She had planned to tell him the truth once she was sure her sister would change her mind and not have the abortion, but everything backfired, and she ended up married to the H, who had learned the truth but decided to make her pay!
What a mess!!!
The characters in this book are very flawed, including the H, whose upbringing was terrible. His mom was pregnant and set to marry his dad when she caught him in bed with another woman (he was a real himbo), broke it off and for spite kept the baby away from him. Then, she herself turned into a bimbo, claiming she still loved her ex (who married someone else and cheated on her, too) and kept searching for a man to make her forget. When she died while searching, his grandfather reluctantly got custody, and apparently couldn't stand either of his parents and just tolerated his grandson. He had troubles in school, became a playboy/bad boy with an attitude and had women galore ready to throw themselves at him, but it only made him more bitter and cynical.
He later rejects his father's attempts to reconcile and shows no desire to get to know his half-brother and sister, so it doesn't seem right that when they're all killed in an accident, he gets all the millions. This made him feel guilty (though not enough to give it up) and added to his cynical outlook.
You know the old adage about the love of a good woman? Well, it takes a while for him to figure that one out, and he could be really cruel in the process.
As for the h's family: her father was a bad-tempered bully who specialized in verbal abuse. He won the lottery and thought by buying a big house in a classy neighborhood and showing off artwork and other expensive trappings he'd be a hit with the upper class, but with his crap personality he couldn't have been more wrong! He took it out on his wife (who was happier before) and drove her into the arms of a younger man, who charmed her and used her (counting on her getting a big divorce settlement) and married her without bothering to tell her that he had another wife! When he was caught and jailed, she was 45 and pregnant and that started her downward spiral.
The h's sister was gorgeous on the outside but ugly on the inside. She fell for the H, got miffed when he wouldn't get serious about her, decided to make him jealous by letting him catch her in bed with another guy, to make him see how desirable she was. Instead, it made him see what a 304 she was, and he dumped her. She and her crappy father (who wanted the H to marry her) work out a revenge plan, using his grandfather, that determined the H to get his revenge.
You're never told exactly how he planned to do that, but when the h's dad goes bankrupt (the H had nothing to do with that) he decides that's good enough for him, and the whole plan for him to revenge himself on the sister was dropped.
As for the sister's husband: talk about the world's biggest wimp! (Or should I say simp?) Is there a male term for "Mary Sue"? How about "Larry Lou"? Well, he sure was one! He fell for her, married her, even though he knew she was rebounding from the H, put up with her complaints about him not having enough money, being too boring, etc., knew she left him because she wanted to try and win the H back, and yet he still loved her and was willing to forget everything and start again! WTF!!!! Did he find out about the baby and what she had planned to do??? That was never revealed (she didn't know she was pregnant when she left him), but even so he has to be the world's biggest fool! If she dumps him later on for another guy and leaves him with the kid (assuming she doesn't "miscarry") it's just what he deserves!
This book is full of toxic people, and the H at times acts toxic to the h. While it's understandable he'd be hurt and disillusioned by the lie she told, she really believed it was for a good reason and the way he acted for a time was payback.
There's a HEA, but it seemed like forever to get there, and I'd have like some more time for the couple to get closer and overcome a lot of stuff without that lie getting in the way.
I think the best thing about this story was little Rosie. She was so adorable; you wish she was real so you could give her a big hug!
Flawed, but worth reading.
I give this h credit for looking out for her mom, putting aside her own plans for college to help care for her baby half-sister when Mom became a basket case, then taking on the role of single mom when her mom passed away, and no matter how tough things got, she never fell apart, or looked for help from her (crap) family. The way she was treated by her dad and older sister, as well as her brother (not in the story, but who apparently acted like she didn't exist) did a number on her self-confidence (and was probably the reason for her stutter, which should have been more of a focal point in the story), but she didn't let insecurities stop her from working hard to be independent and provide for her sister.
The misunderstandings stem from people (including the H) thinking the h was the toddler Rosie's mother, and when the h gets fired from her job as a house cleaner (due to that incident with the vase), the H comes to the rescue and offers her the job of looking after things in his house, which is being renovated. It turns out, he has an agenda, which involves her older sister (the OW in the story), whom he used to date and who (along with the h's father) he has reason to resent.
Trouble begins when the sister decides to leave her husband (whom she married on the rebound after the H dumped her), despite being pregnant, and try and get the H back. (I'm sure the fact that he inherited millions from his late father had nothing to do with it.) She tells the h that she's ready to have an abortion so her estranged husband won't have any claim on her, making it easier to pursue the H, who she's certain will want her back. The h is horrified and comes up with an impulsive scheme to save her unborn niece or nephew. She tells her sister that Rosie's really her daughter and the H is the father hoping that'd send her back to her husband. Instead, she tells the H!!!
Because of an incident a few years back (when she was a chubby teenager and heard more than one snark remark, including some from the H), when she helped the H back to his room after he drank too much, thinking it would help a slight head injury he received after crashing his car, not too bright, was he? He had grabbed her and kissed her and later seemed to forget about it, and she let him think it had gone further than that and Rosie was the result.
She had planned to tell him the truth once she was sure her sister would change her mind and not have the abortion, but everything backfired, and she ended up married to the H, who had learned the truth but decided to make her pay!
What a mess!!!
The characters in this book are very flawed, including the H, whose upbringing was terrible. His mom was pregnant and set to marry his dad when she caught him in bed with another woman (he was a real himbo), broke it off and for spite kept the baby away from him. Then, she herself turned into a bimbo, claiming she still loved her ex (who married someone else and cheated on her, too) and kept searching for a man to make her forget. When she died while searching, his grandfather reluctantly got custody, and apparently couldn't stand either of his parents and just tolerated his grandson. He had troubles in school, became a playboy/bad boy with an attitude and had women galore ready to throw themselves at him, but it only made him more bitter and cynical.
He later rejects his father's attempts to reconcile and shows no desire to get to know his half-brother and sister, so it doesn't seem right that when they're all killed in an accident, he gets all the millions. This made him feel guilty (though not enough to give it up) and added to his cynical outlook.
You know the old adage about the love of a good woman? Well, it takes a while for him to figure that one out, and he could be really cruel in the process.
As for the h's family: her father was a bad-tempered bully who specialized in verbal abuse. He won the lottery and thought by buying a big house in a classy neighborhood and showing off artwork and other expensive trappings he'd be a hit with the upper class, but with his crap personality he couldn't have been more wrong! He took it out on his wife (who was happier before) and drove her into the arms of a younger man, who charmed her and used her (counting on her getting a big divorce settlement) and married her without bothering to tell her that he had another wife! When he was caught and jailed, she was 45 and pregnant and that started her downward spiral.
The h's sister was gorgeous on the outside but ugly on the inside. She fell for the H, got miffed when he wouldn't get serious about her, decided to make him jealous by letting him catch her in bed with another guy, to make him see how desirable she was. Instead, it made him see what a 304 she was, and he dumped her. She and her crappy father (who wanted the H to marry her) work out a revenge plan, using his grandfather, that determined the H to get his revenge.
You're never told exactly how he planned to do that, but when the h's dad goes bankrupt (the H had nothing to do with that) he decides that's good enough for him, and the whole plan for him to revenge himself on the sister was dropped.
As for the sister's husband: talk about the world's biggest wimp! (Or should I say simp?) Is there a male term for "Mary Sue"? How about "Larry Lou"? Well, he sure was one! He fell for her, married her, even though he knew she was rebounding from the H, put up with her complaints about him not having enough money, being too boring, etc., knew she left him because she wanted to try and win the H back, and yet he still loved her and was willing to forget everything and start again! WTF!!!! Did he find out about the baby and what she had planned to do??? That was never revealed (she didn't know she was pregnant when she left him), but even so he has to be the world's biggest fool! If she dumps him later on for another guy and leaves him with the kid (assuming she doesn't "miscarry") it's just what he deserves!
This book is full of toxic people, and the H at times acts toxic to the h. While it's understandable he'd be hurt and disillusioned by the lie she told, she really believed it was for a good reason and the way he acted for a time was payback.
There's a HEA, but it seemed like forever to get there, and I'd have like some more time for the couple to get closer and overcome a lot of stuff without that lie getting in the way.
I think the best thing about this story was little Rosie. She was so adorable; you wish she was real so you could give her a big hug!
Flawed, but worth reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2022
This is an old LG but definitely one of her worst book.
This heroine is one of the worst in all the history of HP.
She listens to the hero making crude remarks about her mother and her family and decides to make him pay.
She's not a Sally Wentworth heroine, so she can't be cruel, she's only clueless and messy.
He sees her with her lil sister and thinks the child is hers and she decides to tell him that the child is his because they had sex when he was completely drunk some years before. (not true, because they didn't)
This was utterly cruel and unnecessary, because he was fond of the child, and thought she was his.
The heroine is a dumb woman without an ounce of self respect, she lets her evil sister and her evil father bully her and never complains.
She thinks the hero is in love with her sister while he's only making fun of her for revenge.
The book is all over the place and definitely more annoying than angsty.
Yes, the hero in the beginning is a prick and a snob but he's not worse than her father and her slutty sister, that she defends until the end.
Nope.
This heroine is one of the worst in all the history of HP.
She listens to the hero making crude remarks about her mother and her family and decides to make him pay.
She's not a Sally Wentworth heroine, so she can't be cruel, she's only clueless and messy.
He sees her with her lil sister and thinks the child is hers and she decides to tell him that the child is his because they had sex when he was completely drunk some years before. (not true, because they didn't)
This was utterly cruel and unnecessary, because he was fond of the child, and thought she was his.
The heroine is a dumb woman without an ounce of self respect, she lets her evil sister and her evil father bully her and never complains.
She thinks the hero is in love with her sister while he's only making fun of her for revenge.
The book is all over the place and definitely more annoying than angsty.
Yes, the hero in the beginning is a prick and a snob but he's not worse than her father and her slutty sister, that she defends until the end.
Nope.
June 21, 2023
Good Lord but this book is dated. Moreover this CANNOT be categorised as a romance, there is no romance in it just the hero heaping abuse on the heroine. The heroine is naive and makes bad choices, hero is 10 years older than her and 'punishes' by pushing intimacy on her. There is no moment of triumph for the downtrodden heroine. In the last chapter, the way the author justifies the hero's actions and forces them both to declare love for each other after so many chapters of abuse just gives me whiplash. 3 stars only because the first half's premise was unique and held my attention
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