The Little Dragon (The Best of Betty Neels)

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The Little Dragon (The Best of Betty Neels)

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 · rating details · 74 ratings · 5 reviews

She swore she would never marry a rich man!

As a private nurse to the wealthy, Constantia had seen the misery that too much money could bring. Jeroen van der Giessen, though, was only a poor overworked GP, so when she found herself stranded in Delft without money or a passport, and Jeroen offered marriage, Constantia accepted. At first she was quite happy with her loveless

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Mass Market Paperback, 219 pages

Published December 13th 2005 by Harlequin Books (first published 1977)

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Oct 08, 2012 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: other

4½ Stars ~ Orphaned at the age of six, Constantia went to live with her aunt. Her aunt died just after Constantia's nurses training had completed, so she took a position with a London hospital. She loved the work but with no family to love she found her life to be hollow. So she left the hospital and became a private nurse hoping to be better fulfilled. She found that those who could hire a private nurse were often very wealthy and most were very miserable selfish people. Working in Holland for...more 4½ Stars ~ Orphaned at the age of six, Constantia went to live with her aunt. Her aunt died just after Constantia's nurses training had completed, so she took a position with a London hospital. She loved the work but with no family to love she found her life to be hollow. So she left the hospital and became a private nurse hoping to be better fulfilled. She found that those who could hire a private nurse were often very wealthy and most were very miserable selfish people. Working in Holland for a very wealthy woman with uncontrolled diabetes, she came to the decision that having money seemed to corrupt people. Her patient was very rude and set on having her own way, even if this lead to her health's destruction. On one of her half day's off, Constantia met a very handsome doctor, Jeroen, who drove a very beat up Fiat. They struck up an instant friendship and soon she was spending most of her half days off with him. When her patient refused to follow medical orders and fired her, she found herself homeless, and while walking to the train station she was robbed of her handbag that contained her passport and money. Luckily, Jeroen seen her wandering and came to her aid. He immediately employed her to help him look after his sister's three young children who were staying with him for several months while their parents were in America. Constantia believed Jeroen to be a hardworking GP and that the very lavish home he lived in belonged to a family member. Knowing that she has an aversion to wealthy people, he keeps secret the fact that he actually owns his home and is very rich. When the police find her passport, Jeroen suggests that instead of her returning to England she should marry him. It would be a marriage based on their friendship, and her being a nurse she understood the demands his medical practice would have on him; Constantia agrees. She fits in well in his home and finds herself wishing that Jeroen could spend more time with her.

Another charming love story from Betty Neels. For Jeroen it was love at first sight, so when Constantia told him her feelings that money made people miserable, he concealed his wealth so that she would continue to see him. His whole family is in on his deception and though no one actually says he is only a poor GP, no one corrects Constantia's beliefs. The keeping of the secret is rather over the top, but some how it all worked for me. Perhaps it's just the whole romantic and charming way that Jeroen gently sweeps her off her feet.(less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Kat Latham rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-romance

This book earns three stars mostly because it was such an entertaining look at relationships (and romance novels) of the 70s. The heroine, who has such a pretty face and is lovely in every way, marries Jeroen for security and to no longer be lonely.

The marriage proposal comes out of nowhere, and it's totally a rational decision on both their parts. They decide to have a celibate marriage "for a while" and by the end of the novel they haven't kissed other than on the cheek (though there's one me...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: marriage-of-convenience, old-fashioned-romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 27, 2011 Tonya Warner added it

What a wonderful story. Jeroen falls for little Constantia, but she is opposed to the rich. He, is a baron and a millionaire. A true romance. So sweet.

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Sep 23, 2011 Nell rated it 5 of 5 stars

The sheer escapist bliss that is Betty Neels. A lovely typical Betty story with a lovely heroine and a nice hero

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May 17, 2013 Teetee rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 16, 2013 Dawn Davison clements rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 14, 2013 Sara marked it as to-read

May 11, 2013 Leona marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Apr 22, 2013 Darlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 18, 2013 Becky marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Mar 26, 2013 Harlequin Books Australia added it · review of another edition

Shelves: mills-boon

Mar 18, 2013 Janm added it

Mar 18, 2013 Kris Turner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 17, 2013 Jane Beyzavi marked it as to-read

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Mar 12, 2013 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 03, 2013 Allyson rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Feb 25, 2013 Wg rated it 3 of 5 stars

Feb 18, 2013 Jessica marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2013 Ruth Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 15, 2013 Deborah marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 15, 2013 Deborah marked it as to-read

Jan 12, 2013 Gaylene Jackson added it

Dec 17, 2012 Jane O'Reilly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dec 12, 2012 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars

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About Betty Neels

Betty Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years, which stood her in good stead for the tribulations to come with the Second World War. She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Cert...more Betty Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years, which stood her in good stead for the tribulations to come with the Second World War. She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Holland did use her inf(less)

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The Little Dragon (The Best of Betty Neels)

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