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Marriage of Convenience
Marriage of Convenience
Loving
When Jay Fraser accused Claire of encouraging her daughter Lucy's friendship with his own motherless child just to trap him into marriage, she was outraged. Yet she accepted a loveless marriage of convenience for the sake of her daughter. Then she discovered that she wanted Jay to be much more than just a father....
Injured Innocent
Lissa and Joel were at loggerheads over their joint guardianship of her sister's little girls. So Joel's proposal of marriage came as a shock. She'd learned to live without him. How could she possibly learn to live with him? Knowing his contempt for her was still there, knowing that she loved him.
The Six-Month Marriage
Sapphire had divorced Blake when she'd found he'd married her only to acquire her father's Cotswolds farm. Could she even consider remarrying him—even temporarily—to ease her dying father's mind? After all, he hadn't desired her before, so why would he want her now?
608 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,125 books667 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 4, 2010
When I think of a harlequin romance, I think of the following: young, old-fashioned virginal British girl meets sophisticated older business tycoon - they meet, she's terrified, he's stern, they get engaged/married (for some quite "proper" British reason), hidden love blossoms, small misunderstanding occurs and is resolved, story ends with declarations of undying love and vaguely described consummation. "Marriage of Convenience" is a compilation of three Penny Jordan harlequin romances, all based on that same premise.
"Loving" is the story of a young British woman named Claire who meets Jay, a sophisticated business tycoon when their daughters become best friends at school. See where I'm going with this? They dislike each other at first but soon his daughter runs away, her roof caves in and BINGO, he proposes a marriage of "convenience". (Because those happen LOTS here in the 21st century.) Here's the catch - Claire's daughter was born of rape and she is terrified of men. (She also has trouble walking around with all those cliches on her back). Jay's wife has left him for his business partner - after rendering him impotent (!) with her slutty and cruel ways. (He stumbles as well from the weight of these OTT plot devices). Standard British harlequin-by-the-numbers is well underway, with scenes of little girls in "wellies", lots of tea being drunk and Claire making mince pies. There are some long looks exchanged, Claire makes some "terrified" wide-eyes and Jay sees her naked. Poor Jay. Finally, after some juvenile miscommunication, they discover their love for one another and Claire begs him to "make me your wife, Jay". Cue the HEA music.
On to the next one, "Injured Innocent"....this novel is about Lissa and Joel, who marry for ... I don't know - some contrived reason. Lissa' s sister was married to Joel's brother and had 2 little girls. They were killed in a plane crash with both Lissa's and Joel's parents - rather conveniently for the sake of plot development, I'd say - leaving their little girls orphans. Lissa marries Joel out of spite to stop him from keeping the girls from her. He is not very nice to her and she is repulsed/afraid/attracted to him. Then, TA DAH! out comes the back story -- her parents were terrible, they treated her badly, thought she was (gasp!) promiscuous. She is traumatized by a memory when, at 15, her father and Joel dragged her out of a house party she was at - they found her in the bedroom kissing a boy and made a scene. Since then, every time she kisses anyone she has a horrible flashback to Joel's face (curiously enough, not her father's) and the "trauma" of that night. Not only is she still a virgin at 23, but she has deduced that she is frigid. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! This character is the first genuine TSTL heroine I've met and I can't stand her. Joel doesn't fare much better. From the get-go with his snide comments about how she's slept around , to announcing that he will tell her boss she is quitting her job because he doesn't want her to ever see him (the boss, who she's also dating) again, to getting her drunk so she would get over her hang-ups and have sex with him (no wait, I kind of admired that move! ) He speaks like a textbook and I just wanted to smack him. By the end of the story I didn't want to smack him for his treatment of Lissa, but for wanting someone that histrionic and useless to begin with. The author also throws in a fight/rape/love scene, an unplanned pregnancy, a catty former love of Joel's and - HOLD ON TO YOURSELF! Joel's admission that he has been in love with Lissa since the night he was with her father and pulled her out of that party when she was fifteen (and he TWENTY-THREE). Neither of these characters were likable in the slightest, and that's after making allowances for the fact that they are British, written in 1985 and characters in a Harlequin romance to boot. There was so much what-the-fuckery going on here my head almost exploded. I HATED this book.
"Loving" is the story of a young British woman named Claire who meets Jay, a sophisticated business tycoon when their daughters become best friends at school. See where I'm going with this? They dislike each other at first but soon his daughter runs away, her roof caves in and BINGO, he proposes a marriage of "convenience". (Because those happen LOTS here in the 21st century.) Here's the catch - Claire's daughter was born of rape and she is terrified of men. (She also has trouble walking around with all those cliches on her back). Jay's wife has left him for his business partner - after rendering him impotent (!) with her slutty and cruel ways. (He stumbles as well from the weight of these OTT plot devices). Standard British harlequin-by-the-numbers is well underway, with scenes of little girls in "wellies", lots of tea being drunk and Claire making mince pies. There are some long looks exchanged, Claire makes some "terrified" wide-eyes and Jay sees her naked. Poor Jay. Finally, after some juvenile miscommunication, they discover their love for one another and Claire begs him to "make me your wife, Jay". Cue the HEA music.
On to the next one, "Injured Innocent"....this novel is about Lissa and Joel, who marry for ... I don't know - some contrived reason. Lissa' s sister was married to Joel's brother and had 2 little girls. They were killed in a plane crash with both Lissa's and Joel's parents - rather conveniently for the sake of plot development, I'd say - leaving their little girls orphans. Lissa marries Joel out of spite to stop him from keeping the girls from her. He is not very nice to her and she is repulsed/afraid/attracted to him. Then, TA DAH! out comes the back story -- her parents were terrible, they treated her badly, thought she was (gasp!) promiscuous. She is traumatized by a memory when, at 15, her father and Joel dragged her out of a house party she was at - they found her in the bedroom kissing a boy and made a scene. Since then, every time she kisses anyone she has a horrible flashback to Joel's face (curiously enough, not her father's) and the "trauma" of that night. Not only is she still a virgin at 23, but she has deduced that she is frigid. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! This character is the first genuine TSTL heroine I've met and I can't stand her. Joel doesn't fare much better. From the get-go with his snide comments about how she's slept around , to announcing that he will tell her boss she is quitting her job because he doesn't want her to ever see him (the boss, who she's also dating) again, to getting her drunk so she would get over her hang-ups and have sex with him (no wait, I kind of admired that move! ) He speaks like a textbook and I just wanted to smack him. By the end of the story I didn't want to smack him for his treatment of Lissa, but for wanting someone that histrionic and useless to begin with. The author also throws in a fight/rape/love scene, an unplanned pregnancy, a catty former love of Joel's and - HOLD ON TO YOURSELF! Joel's admission that he has been in love with Lissa since the night he was with her father and pulled her out of that party when she was fifteen (and he TWENTY-THREE). Neither of these characters were likable in the slightest, and that's after making allowances for the fact that they are British, written in 1985 and characters in a Harlequin romance to boot. There was so much what-the-fuckery going on here my head almost exploded. I HATED this book.
August 2, 2021
Reviews left on the individual titles but a nice mix of PJ stories
August 6, 2013
Aww what can i say? A big, triple slice of romantic escapism. Three charming, feelgood tales by in my opinion the best modern romance story author.
In Six month marriage Sapphire comes back to her old farming village from London when she gets a call from her ex husband her father is terminally ill. It is her father's dearest wish that they rekindle their love and marriage before he dies but is there more to all this than it seems and can Sapphire and Blake get over a turbulent past and give her father what he wants?
Injured innocent sees the story of Lissa and her sister's brother in law Joel Hargreaves unwind.
After Lissa's sister and Joel's brother and both sets of parents are killed in a plane crash its left to them to raise their siblings children, Emma and Louise.
To save bitter warring on who gets eventual custody of the children Joel proposes marriage to make a stable family life for the girls.
But in Lissa's past something happened that has made it hard for her to cope with a relationship with anyone, let alone the charismatic and dashing Joel, is this JUST a marriage of convenience or are there deeper rooted feelings?
Loving is my all time favourite Penny Jordan and the first one I ever read of her work.
It tells the story of Claire and Jay, thrust together after their children develop a friendship they discover that in lots of ways they have a lot in common.
Jay has been hurt by a promiscuous ex wife who eventually left him and their daughter Heather and Claire suffered the trauma of her parent's death and following on the heels of that a traumatic rape that led to the birth of Lucy.
When Jay proposes a marriage of convenience to financially help Claire and for Heather to have a new mother Claire is unsure but is that because she truly sees no future for her and Jay or is it she is afraid there might be more to her feelings than just a mutual arrangement?
A lovely collection and a great introduction to new fans or just a great read if you also know and enjoy the author.
Definitely worth reading.
In Six month marriage Sapphire comes back to her old farming village from London when she gets a call from her ex husband her father is terminally ill. It is her father's dearest wish that they rekindle their love and marriage before he dies but is there more to all this than it seems and can Sapphire and Blake get over a turbulent past and give her father what he wants?
Injured innocent sees the story of Lissa and her sister's brother in law Joel Hargreaves unwind.
After Lissa's sister and Joel's brother and both sets of parents are killed in a plane crash its left to them to raise their siblings children, Emma and Louise.
To save bitter warring on who gets eventual custody of the children Joel proposes marriage to make a stable family life for the girls.
But in Lissa's past something happened that has made it hard for her to cope with a relationship with anyone, let alone the charismatic and dashing Joel, is this JUST a marriage of convenience or are there deeper rooted feelings?
Loving is my all time favourite Penny Jordan and the first one I ever read of her work.
It tells the story of Claire and Jay, thrust together after their children develop a friendship they discover that in lots of ways they have a lot in common.
Jay has been hurt by a promiscuous ex wife who eventually left him and their daughter Heather and Claire suffered the trauma of her parent's death and following on the heels of that a traumatic rape that led to the birth of Lucy.
When Jay proposes a marriage of convenience to financially help Claire and for Heather to have a new mother Claire is unsure but is that because she truly sees no future for her and Jay or is it she is afraid there might be more to her feelings than just a mutual arrangement?
A lovely collection and a great introduction to new fans or just a great read if you also know and enjoy the author.
Definitely worth reading.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews