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Adam's Rib
"Like it or not, you will become my wife!"
Adam's words were harsh as he went on. "Either willingly or unwillingly -- the choice is yours. But if you decide to fight me, don't forget I won't be the first Fox to capture a Maxwell woman by force!"
Not this Maxwell woman, Tammy thought. But her curiosity was aroused. Marriage to such a man could mean a life of temperamental strife. Her will against his. The priceless spoils would be bestowed upon the victor.
Doubts nagged her: Did she care? Did she have the daredevil nerve of her plundering Border ancestors?
Adam's words were harsh as he went on. "Either willingly or unwillingly -- the choice is yours. But if you decide to fight me, don't forget I won't be the first Fox to capture a Maxwell woman by force!"
Not this Maxwell woman, Tammy thought. But her curiosity was aroused. Marriage to such a man could mean a life of temperamental strife. Her will against his. The priceless spoils would be bestowed upon the victor.
Doubts nagged her: Did she care? Did she have the daredevil nerve of her plundering Border ancestors?
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 3, 2017
This is the un-PC vintage story of an OW-type who gets to be the heroine this time. Our heroine is a London Jet-Setter (even though she doesn’t go anywhere). She’s spoiled and beautiful and when she meets the hero she is head over heels in lust. Her father notices and decides to help her along. He gives the sheep farmer hero and his wool co-op a good deal on his wool and invites him to spend the night.
The hero is not happy, but goes along with it. He takes the hero on a long walk during the March night rather than entertaining the heroine at a nightclub. Heroine realizes what he is doing and invites him on her boat that she keeps tied up on the Thames for when she needs some solitude. They go for a spin and run out of gas. A gossip columnist sees them the next morning and it’s game over for the hero. He’s forced to marry our conniving OW-as-heroine.
The heroine is a little naïve, though, and thinks she can win the H’s love with her wiles. When she tries to seduce him the first night, he spanks her like a true “Borderland’s Marriage” between enemies and sends her to her room. (She is of Scottish descent. He is English. The author keeps up this comparison for the entire story) He has two elderly aunts living with him. One is friendly and the other hostile. There is an OW next door and an OM who pops up at the wrong time.
I’m not capturing the angst or the charm of the story (the aunts are cute, as are the heroine’s naïve machinations). I felt sorry for the hero at the beginning – he really did not want any part of the London scene and he got duped. But he was pretty mean to the heroine after he was on home turf. The heroine made some stupid choices, but she did grow up during the story. If a chasing heroine bothers you, you will hate this one. Heroine does all the running.
The hero is not happy, but goes along with it. He takes the hero on a long walk during the March night rather than entertaining the heroine at a nightclub. Heroine realizes what he is doing and invites him on her boat that she keeps tied up on the Thames for when she needs some solitude. They go for a spin and run out of gas. A gossip columnist sees them the next morning and it’s game over for the hero. He’s forced to marry our conniving OW-as-heroine.
The heroine is a little naïve, though, and thinks she can win the H’s love with her wiles. When she tries to seduce him the first night, he spanks her like a true “Borderland’s Marriage” between enemies and sends her to her room. (She is of Scottish descent. He is English. The author keeps up this comparison for the entire story) He has two elderly aunts living with him. One is friendly and the other hostile. There is an OW next door and an OM who pops up at the wrong time.
I’m not capturing the angst or the charm of the story (the aunts are cute, as are the heroine’s naïve machinations). I felt sorry for the hero at the beginning – he really did not want any part of the London scene and he got duped. But he was pretty mean to the heroine after he was on home turf. The heroine made some stupid choices, but she did grow up during the story. If a chasing heroine bothers you, you will hate this one. Heroine does all the running.
September 10, 2018
There is a really great last-minute grovel, but no one could consider this to be an HEA. He was just too much of an ass for too long, and the lifestyle the h is accepting (mostly the people) is grim.
Maybe an HFN (Happy for the Night).
Edited to add: I am now realizing that this is a hypnotic hate reread for me. That grovel, juxtaposed with how AWFUL the H and the environs are, makes it somehow mesmerizing.
Maybe an HFN (Happy for the Night).
Edited to add: I am now realizing that this is a hypnotic hate reread for me. That grovel, juxtaposed with how AWFUL the H and the environs are, makes it somehow mesmerizing.
September 24, 2021
3.5 stars 💫
January 21, 2021
By my lights this was simply unpleasant but the writing and main characters are so tropey and ridiculous that if some of the cliches weren't ones I absolutely despise: cities are filled with shallow followers/rural communities are populated with hardworking individualists, punitive spanking which is described as humiliating, too easily achieved artistic mastery, heroine mixing inappropriate footwear with weak ankles—I might have enjoyed it.
June 29, 2019
You want Angst! You want Unrequited love! You want a feisty female and her equal in male! This is your Book! OMG! It was sooooo emotional it was hard not feel for the heroine. From a Brat to a sweetheart but with courage and she was definitely no doormat. She equalled the hero in many ways and fought with him! Their ancestry tied them but their love sealed them. A must must must read. Btw there was no sexual erotica but passions galore!
October 16, 2025
"God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly!"
This book really made me question the roles of women in society.
It's a story of a farmer, facing bankruptcy, who turns to a wealthy businessman for a loan. The businessman's daughter, a spoiled socialite, immediately falls for him. Seeing his daughter's infatuation, the businessman offers the loan - with a catch: the farmer must extend his stay at their house. Now, it's up to the daughter to trap him, and she succeeds.
A few days later they move into his house where he lives with his ancient aunts.
The h is begging the H to take her to bed, but he’s adamant.
"This wild man of the mountains whose spirit had to be free as a hawk swooping through the skies resented any type of fetter - physical, emotional or matrimonial."
“Spoiled, provocative brat! The only charm I hold for you is the charm of the unattainable. Because a doting father has granted your every wish you expect the same of a husband! But that's not my way. I want a wife who'll put my needs first, who will make me her main consideration, who'll work side by side with me in all weathers, if necessary, in all manner of jobs, without complaining of feeling cold, getting dirty, or being tired. You simply haven't got what it takes. I don't doubt but what we would be compatible in bed, my dear, but I'm in no position to indulge in the luxury of a mistress - I need a twenty-four-hour wife, not a flirtatious young coquette with whom to while away my few leisure hours.”
This isn't an Essie Summers romance, though. The socialite doesn't lift a finger to help around the farm; no calluses spoiling her manicured hands! Instead, she focuses solely on seduction.
“Play it cool, Tammy girl! Your man of the mountains likes to do his own hunting, he's excited by the chase, lured on by the elusive, and contemptuous of quarry that runs to lick his hand. If he has no taste for sugar try him with a little ginger!”
She even accepts help from the local Playboy to make her husband jealous.
All the while the elderly aunts are slaving themselves in the house. And the OW does all the heavy work outside.
“You are - a useless, decorative piece of femininity, pleasing to the eye but purely non-productive. Mountain men seek one essential quality in a wife and that is an ability to partner them in their work. Take today, for instance. While you've been about your ladylike pleasures I've been supervising the provision of food and drink for the clippers. Adam asked me to help out and I was glad to oblige! The aunts are far too old to cope with such a strenuous chore, and you - well!”
Did I forget to tell you about the OW?
“To me, Pam has always epitomised the ideal fell farmer's wife. She's the perfect woman - poised, capable, highly competent in every aspect of farming life as well as being a good-looking female with plenty of natural charm.” As the list of virtues fell from his lips Tammy' soul quietly shrivelled and died. “But I would never give her grounds for thinking there could be anything more than friendship between us - not yet, at least. It wouldn't be fair to her, to myself, or to you.”
OW is a capable girl, who the H was dating and thinking of proposing to. So is the h actually an OW herself? Does the h even feel a twinge of guilt?
“Tammy refused to allow herself to become depressed. Any proposal of marriage that merited 'serious consideration' was not worth a light.”
Does the fact that the aunts are doing all the chores inside and the OW outside trouble our h? No!
“As you've already pointed out, my housewifely skills fall so far short of perfection Adam has been forced to turn to you for help. But there is one area in which I'm perhaps more proficient. Ask yourself, Pam," she urged softly, "what other hunger is there that can blind a man to dust on the mantelpiece and indifferent meals upon the table...?”
Now that she knows Pamela is a passionless prude, she can sleep soundly like a baby.
The H then throws a challenge
“Since your arrival here you've done nothing to make me revise my original opinion. You're young and impulsive and because of your previous spoilt existence you're covetous of anything you're told you can't have. If only one of your actions had borne the stamp of responsibility I might have begun to change my mind, but none of them did. In no way have you changed from the spoilt, capricious brat I first brought here. Show me that you're capable of patience and a modicum of restraint, prove to me - just once - that you're capable of completing any industrious task, then I might be tempted to forget all the solid, sensible arguments against keeping you here.”
The h accepts the challenge; she will show them all how housewifely she is. She’s going to paint and cross-stitch.
Of course she wins the prizes for her creations and naturally she gloats over the OW, whose work doesn’t reach the h’s standard. Why has everyone forgotten that Pam was doing it only in her spare time, when she wasn’t helping the H with chores or organising parties for them?
Pam, dearest, why are you doing it? Why are you letting this terrible man and his atrocious wife walk all over you?
And the H’s reason?
“I had no right to keep you here, so I kept looking for excuses to send you away. You see, I can't offer you anything to compare with the life you've been used to, none of the luxury, the soft living, and certainly none of the wealth. According to your father's standards I'm a poor man. Though prospects are brighter I can hold out no hope in the foreseeable future of ever being able to match his affluence. I can offer you nothing that you don't already possess. Pride tells me I have no right to ask you to remain my wife, the fact that I've done so is the measure of my love for you.”
This book really made me question the roles of women in society.
It's a story of a farmer, facing bankruptcy, who turns to a wealthy businessman for a loan. The businessman's daughter, a spoiled socialite, immediately falls for him. Seeing his daughter's infatuation, the businessman offers the loan - with a catch: the farmer must extend his stay at their house. Now, it's up to the daughter to trap him, and she succeeds.
A few days later they move into his house where he lives with his ancient aunts.
The h is begging the H to take her to bed, but he’s adamant.
"This wild man of the mountains whose spirit had to be free as a hawk swooping through the skies resented any type of fetter - physical, emotional or matrimonial."
“Spoiled, provocative brat! The only charm I hold for you is the charm of the unattainable. Because a doting father has granted your every wish you expect the same of a husband! But that's not my way. I want a wife who'll put my needs first, who will make me her main consideration, who'll work side by side with me in all weathers, if necessary, in all manner of jobs, without complaining of feeling cold, getting dirty, or being tired. You simply haven't got what it takes. I don't doubt but what we would be compatible in bed, my dear, but I'm in no position to indulge in the luxury of a mistress - I need a twenty-four-hour wife, not a flirtatious young coquette with whom to while away my few leisure hours.”
This isn't an Essie Summers romance, though. The socialite doesn't lift a finger to help around the farm; no calluses spoiling her manicured hands! Instead, she focuses solely on seduction.
“Play it cool, Tammy girl! Your man of the mountains likes to do his own hunting, he's excited by the chase, lured on by the elusive, and contemptuous of quarry that runs to lick his hand. If he has no taste for sugar try him with a little ginger!”
She even accepts help from the local Playboy to make her husband jealous.
All the while the elderly aunts are slaving themselves in the house. And the OW does all the heavy work outside.
“You are - a useless, decorative piece of femininity, pleasing to the eye but purely non-productive. Mountain men seek one essential quality in a wife and that is an ability to partner them in their work. Take today, for instance. While you've been about your ladylike pleasures I've been supervising the provision of food and drink for the clippers. Adam asked me to help out and I was glad to oblige! The aunts are far too old to cope with such a strenuous chore, and you - well!”
Did I forget to tell you about the OW?
“To me, Pam has always epitomised the ideal fell farmer's wife. She's the perfect woman - poised, capable, highly competent in every aspect of farming life as well as being a good-looking female with plenty of natural charm.” As the list of virtues fell from his lips Tammy' soul quietly shrivelled and died. “But I would never give her grounds for thinking there could be anything more than friendship between us - not yet, at least. It wouldn't be fair to her, to myself, or to you.”
OW is a capable girl, who the H was dating and thinking of proposing to. So is the h actually an OW herself? Does the h even feel a twinge of guilt?
“Tammy refused to allow herself to become depressed. Any proposal of marriage that merited 'serious consideration' was not worth a light.”
Does the fact that the aunts are doing all the chores inside and the OW outside trouble our h? No!
“As you've already pointed out, my housewifely skills fall so far short of perfection Adam has been forced to turn to you for help. But there is one area in which I'm perhaps more proficient. Ask yourself, Pam," she urged softly, "what other hunger is there that can blind a man to dust on the mantelpiece and indifferent meals upon the table...?”
Now that she knows Pamela is a passionless prude, she can sleep soundly like a baby.
The H then throws a challenge
“Since your arrival here you've done nothing to make me revise my original opinion. You're young and impulsive and because of your previous spoilt existence you're covetous of anything you're told you can't have. If only one of your actions had borne the stamp of responsibility I might have begun to change my mind, but none of them did. In no way have you changed from the spoilt, capricious brat I first brought here. Show me that you're capable of patience and a modicum of restraint, prove to me - just once - that you're capable of completing any industrious task, then I might be tempted to forget all the solid, sensible arguments against keeping you here.”
The h accepts the challenge; she will show them all how housewifely she is. She’s going to paint and cross-stitch.
Of course she wins the prizes for her creations and naturally she gloats over the OW, whose work doesn’t reach the h’s standard. Why has everyone forgotten that Pam was doing it only in her spare time, when she wasn’t helping the H with chores or organising parties for them?
Pam, dearest, why are you doing it? Why are you letting this terrible man and his atrocious wife walk all over you?
And the H’s reason?
“I had no right to keep you here, so I kept looking for excuses to send you away. You see, I can't offer you anything to compare with the life you've been used to, none of the luxury, the soft living, and certainly none of the wealth. According to your father's standards I'm a poor man. Though prospects are brighter I can hold out no hope in the foreseeable future of ever being able to match his affluence. I can offer you nothing that you don't already possess. Pride tells me I have no right to ask you to remain my wife, the fact that I've done so is the measure of my love for you.”
September 29, 2011
I wanted to like this more. Definitely a super dated romance, decent emotion and angst. Heroine is quite silly at times. For me to enjoy an older story like this, it either needs more nooky or really good angst, and this one didn't quite make on either count.
August 26, 2025
A Sweet and Satisfying Read
I truly enjoyed this story—the plot was engaging, and the characters felt vivid and real. While I would never personally make the same choices the heroine did, I admired her determination and willpower in pursuing the man she loved. What made it even more rewarding was seeing how she not only won his heart but also inspired him to love and cherish her deeply.
Another refreshing aspect was the hero himself. Unlike the usual overplayed type, he wasn’t a “manwhore.” Instead, he came across as strong, sincere, and mature—qualities that made him both a believable lover and the kind of man you’d imagine as a devoted husband.
Overall, it was a lovely and heartwarming read, and I’m definitely looking forward to exploring more of Margaret Rome’s books.
I truly enjoyed this story—the plot was engaging, and the characters felt vivid and real. While I would never personally make the same choices the heroine did, I admired her determination and willpower in pursuing the man she loved. What made it even more rewarding was seeing how she not only won his heart but also inspired him to love and cherish her deeply.
Another refreshing aspect was the hero himself. Unlike the usual overplayed type, he wasn’t a “manwhore.” Instead, he came across as strong, sincere, and mature—qualities that made him both a believable lover and the kind of man you’d imagine as a devoted husband.
Overall, it was a lovely and heartwarming read, and I’m definitely looking forward to exploring more of Margaret Rome’s books.
March 27, 2019
Excellent writing.
Read
February 15, 2020sdads
May 16, 2021
Good book
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
February 8, 2021Like it or not, you will become my wife!"
Adam's words were harsh as he went on. "Either willingly or unwillingly -- the choice is yours. But if you decide to fight me, don't forget I won't be the first Fox to capture a Maxwell woman by force!"
Not this Maxwell woman, Tammy thought. But her curiosity was aroused. Marriage to such a man could mean a life of temperamental strife. Her will against his. The priceless spoils would be bestowed upon the victor.
Doubts nagged her: Did she care? Did she have the daredevil nerve of her plundering Border ancestors? (
Adam's words were harsh as he went on. "Either willingly or unwillingly -- the choice is yours. But if you decide to fight me, don't forget I won't be the first Fox to capture a Maxwell woman by force!"
Not this Maxwell woman, Tammy thought. But her curiosity was aroused. Marriage to such a man could mean a life of temperamental strife. Her will against his. The priceless spoils would be bestowed upon the victor.
Doubts nagged her: Did she care? Did she have the daredevil nerve of her plundering Border ancestors? (
June 3, 2015
HP-158 Margaret Rome-Adams's Rib
April 21, 2016
The heroine was too childish for my tastes.... and the hero was a meany.
Read
March 2, 2019What the dickens? All the hero and everyone around him do are say how useless the heroine is and try to force her to leave. When she is finally fed up they hero loves her...why though? The hero did nothing to earn her love in the slightest but she just stays and nothing is solved.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews