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A Promise to Repay
"A very devious, dangerous man."
That was how Kate described Aidan Crawford. She had been looking forward to ruining him, had thought of little else than the prospect of revenge.
When the opportunity came, however, she found herself up against a worthy adversary--a man with devastatingly masculine wiles.
Until Aidan kissed her, she had thought herself frigid--unable to respond physically to a man. Why did it have to be Aidan who melted the ice water that encased her? And was passion enough to free her from the shadows of her past...?
That was how Kate described Aidan Crawford. She had been looking forward to ruining him, had thought of little else than the prospect of revenge.
When the opportunity came, however, she found herself up against a worthy adversary--a man with devastatingly masculine wiles.
Until Aidan kissed her, she had thought herself frigid--unable to respond physically to a man. Why did it have to be Aidan who melted the ice water that encased her? And was passion enough to free her from the shadows of her past...?
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Browning
112 books30 followersAmanda Browning (born in Essex, England) is an English writer of over 25 romance novels since 1987.
Browning is a twin, who grew up in a big family in the borders of Essex.
She worked for years in libraries, and when she left her job, she decided began to write. Although her first two manuscripts could not be used, the third was accepted and published in 1987.
She is single and continues living in the old family home on the borders of Essex. She is great-aunt to eighteen nieces and nephews.
Browning is a twin, who grew up in a big family in the borders of Essex.
She worked for years in libraries, and when she left her job, she decided began to write. Although her first two manuscripts could not be used, the third was accepted and published in 1987.
She is single and continues living in the old family home on the borders of Essex. She is great-aunt to eighteen nieces and nephews.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 10, 2017
Re A Promise to Repay - Amanda Browning continues her one woman HP wrecki angst drama crusade with APtR. This one has a 24 yr old Ice Queen but REALLY tortured h with a desperately shattered past who wants revenge for the worst night of her life and H who gets the fallout of the h's rage - then turns out to be the wrong man.
The book starts with the h, now a wealthy model famous for her icy blonde looks and equally famous for being "untouchable" to men who fall in lust with her, showing up at the H's wedding and then announcing that the H is actually already married to her and therefore an attempted bigamist, before fading out the door and escape. Naturally the H doesn't get married, but things take an interesting turn when he manages to track the h down later and she is having a party to celebrate her revenge - an act that has been four years in the making.
What led to the h ruining a wedding in this spectacular fashion? Four years earlier the orphaned h and her 14 yr old brother had been living a poor but happy life. Her parents had died a year or so previously in an auto accident and the h and her brother were getting by, but they weren't very well off. The h's father, a popular professor, had to told the h that if she was ever in trouble she could go to a man named Aidan Crawford and he would help her.
Suddenly the h's little brother gets very ill and tho the illness is fatal, there is a hope for treatment but it is in America (as all HP magical cures are,) and the h needs a ton of money to get him there. So she looks up Mr. Crawford to ask for help.
The man she meets is good looking but refuses to help unless there is a little quid pro quo and that would be specifically forced payment in bed doing some really disgusting things that are only hinted at, as this is still HPlandia after all. Then the man kicks the h out and there is no money given, so the h was just violated for nothing. Even worse, her little brother had a bad turn during the time the h was being violated and had to go to hospital where he lapsed into a coma and died.
The h is truly devastated and manages to block out most of the horrific things that happened during the night her brother died, but she has a burning recollection of the man who destroyed her world and she sets out put herself into a position to accomplish revenge.
The after effects of grief turned her looks from just stunning to simply fabulous and she soon became a top fashion model. She has a reputation for rejecting any man who tries to get close to her and she has a nasty little tart shaming best friend who tries to make her feel guilty for dating and then dropping men.
(As with all AB books, the general consensus is that an h who doesn't want to succumb to the blandishments of every man who wants her cause she is beautiful makes the h a frigid tarty tease, but the h herself begins to doubt herself and thus this 'friend' is kinda critical to the set up of the story and what happens next.
It is also important to remember that the h has NO recollection of the forced piking moments, she only knows that bad things happened and she has managed to block all the trauma out - at this point in the story no one knows what the brother did that was so bad other than not helping the h with a loan, tho there is heavy foreshadowing and I wanted to get it out the way early cause for some readers this could be a huge deal breaker in reading the book.)
What happens is the H shows up during the h's celebratory party and the h finds out that she took revenge on the wrong man. The man who wronged her is the H's twin brother Andrew and the man the h needed to talk to was really the H's father - they share the same name. However the H and his brother are not identical any longer as the H's brother gave the H a long scar on the side of his face in childhood and the H uses that scar to prove the h got revenge on the wrong man. So now the scenario is set for the H to try and get his own revenge and he does that by trying to force the h into marriage.
Supposedly the H has a grandfather who left him control of the family firm under the condition that the H marries within a certain amount of time. Since the h ruined the H's first MOC - the H freely admits he and the woman did not love each other- the H wants the h to marry him. She refuses when the H comes to propose as he doesn't explain why he wants to marry her and she is spending time with a group of orphan children that she volunteers with. Then the H's evil twin shows up and spills the beans about why the H needs to be married.
The h is now immersed in a ton of guilt and self loathing because of all her supposed "friends" condemnation of her supposedly bad behavior, so she calls the H up and agrees to marry him, mainly to prevent the evil twin from gloating over his brother's loss of the family firm.
The H and h have a very tense conversation full of H tart shaming and belittlement, but they eventually agree on an MOC - tho the H is truly blind to how evil is brother actually is, even after the facial scarring that occurred in a fit of jealously on the H's twin brother's part.
So they marry and the long slow attempt a rebuilding the h's lurve mojo confidence begins. The H is kinda pushy with the physical affection and gropey hands at first, and he is definitely NOT nice about the tart shaming, but gradually as they begin to know each other and the h IS attracted to him but physically freezes when he tries to follow up, the H tries to figure out what is behind the h's obvious fear and repulsion.
Eventually, via the use of the H's stepmother as therapist, it comes out that the h was probably raped but she still can't remember the specific incident. Until the H's evil twin shows up and flaunts his carnal knowledge of the h and the whole story comes pouring out after the H gets angry and tries to force the h and she throws up.
Then the H is stricken with remorse and goes to beat up his brother and kick him out. The H and h then have to work through the mess left behind and the H asks for a divorce, even tho he loves the h. The H explains that he fell in love with the h when he first saw her with the orphans and he did not really need to get married to keep control of the company, he was just hoping that he could get the h to love him back with an MOC and time for her to get to know him.
The h realizes that the H wants a divorce because he is worried that every time she looks at him, she only see's his evil twin. But the h catches that out pretty quickly and she goes to explain to the H that she only sees him and not his brother, now that her trauma has been completely aired out. The two of them finally manage a mutual lurve mojo moment of bliss and resolve to stay together and have multiple batches of kids - the H's brother is exiled to Africa for life and now has to be the family outcast and the H and h freely declare their mutual devotion forever for the HEA.
This one is a definite winner in the angsti wrecki trainwreck stakes, but the tart shaming for the h is massive as it always is for AB and I was not really feeling that it was deserved. The reread on this for me proved to be a little too misogynistic for my now older and evolved tastes, I really don't see much value in calling a woman an Ice Queen tart for not jumping into bed with every guy who thinks she is hot and I don't buy into the philosophy that says you have to be physically affectionate with every guy who asks you out. However that is a bedrock concept in old skool HPlandia and so while I deal with it being there, I really don't like it.
I also wasn't too keen on the lack of justice for the h on the part of the evil twin and there is also the whole sleeping with twin brothers thing - tho AB does handle that part fairly well. Overall this book is good and in the wrecki stakes, it hard to find one to outdo it. Tho I have to warn, unless you are a hard core angst junkie, this book will likely squick you out. The build up to the h's trauma and her resolution of it was well written, tho I wasn't always delighted with the path it took to get there, so I call this one an HPlandia angst fest win and cautiously recommend it as good reading for the die hard angsty trainwrecks side of an HP outing adventure.
The book starts with the h, now a wealthy model famous for her icy blonde looks and equally famous for being "untouchable" to men who fall in lust with her, showing up at the H's wedding and then announcing that the H is actually already married to her and therefore an attempted bigamist, before fading out the door and escape. Naturally the H doesn't get married, but things take an interesting turn when he manages to track the h down later and she is having a party to celebrate her revenge - an act that has been four years in the making.
What led to the h ruining a wedding in this spectacular fashion? Four years earlier the orphaned h and her 14 yr old brother had been living a poor but happy life. Her parents had died a year or so previously in an auto accident and the h and her brother were getting by, but they weren't very well off. The h's father, a popular professor, had to told the h that if she was ever in trouble she could go to a man named Aidan Crawford and he would help her.
Suddenly the h's little brother gets very ill and tho the illness is fatal, there is a hope for treatment but it is in America (as all HP magical cures are,) and the h needs a ton of money to get him there. So she looks up Mr. Crawford to ask for help.
The man she meets is good looking but refuses to help unless there is a little quid pro quo and that would be specifically forced payment in bed doing some really disgusting things that are only hinted at, as this is still HPlandia after all. Then the man kicks the h out and there is no money given, so the h was just violated for nothing. Even worse, her little brother had a bad turn during the time the h was being violated and had to go to hospital where he lapsed into a coma and died.
The h is truly devastated and manages to block out most of the horrific things that happened during the night her brother died, but she has a burning recollection of the man who destroyed her world and she sets out put herself into a position to accomplish revenge.
The after effects of grief turned her looks from just stunning to simply fabulous and she soon became a top fashion model. She has a reputation for rejecting any man who tries to get close to her and she has a nasty little tart shaming best friend who tries to make her feel guilty for dating and then dropping men.
(As with all AB books, the general consensus is that an h who doesn't want to succumb to the blandishments of every man who wants her cause she is beautiful makes the h a frigid tarty tease, but the h herself begins to doubt herself and thus this 'friend' is kinda critical to the set up of the story and what happens next.
It is also important to remember that the h has NO recollection of the forced piking moments, she only knows that bad things happened and she has managed to block all the trauma out - at this point in the story no one knows what the brother did that was so bad other than not helping the h with a loan, tho there is heavy foreshadowing and I wanted to get it out the way early cause for some readers this could be a huge deal breaker in reading the book.)
What happens is the H shows up during the h's celebratory party and the h finds out that she took revenge on the wrong man. The man who wronged her is the H's twin brother Andrew and the man the h needed to talk to was really the H's father - they share the same name. However the H and his brother are not identical any longer as the H's brother gave the H a long scar on the side of his face in childhood and the H uses that scar to prove the h got revenge on the wrong man. So now the scenario is set for the H to try and get his own revenge and he does that by trying to force the h into marriage.
Supposedly the H has a grandfather who left him control of the family firm under the condition that the H marries within a certain amount of time. Since the h ruined the H's first MOC - the H freely admits he and the woman did not love each other- the H wants the h to marry him. She refuses when the H comes to propose as he doesn't explain why he wants to marry her and she is spending time with a group of orphan children that she volunteers with. Then the H's evil twin shows up and spills the beans about why the H needs to be married.
The h is now immersed in a ton of guilt and self loathing because of all her supposed "friends" condemnation of her supposedly bad behavior, so she calls the H up and agrees to marry him, mainly to prevent the evil twin from gloating over his brother's loss of the family firm.
The H and h have a very tense conversation full of H tart shaming and belittlement, but they eventually agree on an MOC - tho the H is truly blind to how evil is brother actually is, even after the facial scarring that occurred in a fit of jealously on the H's twin brother's part.
So they marry and the long slow attempt a rebuilding the h's lurve mojo confidence begins. The H is kinda pushy with the physical affection and gropey hands at first, and he is definitely NOT nice about the tart shaming, but gradually as they begin to know each other and the h IS attracted to him but physically freezes when he tries to follow up, the H tries to figure out what is behind the h's obvious fear and repulsion.
Eventually, via the use of the H's stepmother as therapist, it comes out that the h was probably raped but she still can't remember the specific incident. Until the H's evil twin shows up and flaunts his carnal knowledge of the h and the whole story comes pouring out after the H gets angry and tries to force the h and she throws up.
Then the H is stricken with remorse and goes to beat up his brother and kick him out. The H and h then have to work through the mess left behind and the H asks for a divorce, even tho he loves the h. The H explains that he fell in love with the h when he first saw her with the orphans and he did not really need to get married to keep control of the company, he was just hoping that he could get the h to love him back with an MOC and time for her to get to know him.
The h realizes that the H wants a divorce because he is worried that every time she looks at him, she only see's his evil twin. But the h catches that out pretty quickly and she goes to explain to the H that she only sees him and not his brother, now that her trauma has been completely aired out. The two of them finally manage a mutual lurve mojo moment of bliss and resolve to stay together and have multiple batches of kids - the H's brother is exiled to Africa for life and now has to be the family outcast and the H and h freely declare their mutual devotion forever for the HEA.
This one is a definite winner in the angsti wrecki trainwreck stakes, but the tart shaming for the h is massive as it always is for AB and I was not really feeling that it was deserved. The reread on this for me proved to be a little too misogynistic for my now older and evolved tastes, I really don't see much value in calling a woman an Ice Queen tart for not jumping into bed with every guy who thinks she is hot and I don't buy into the philosophy that says you have to be physically affectionate with every guy who asks you out. However that is a bedrock concept in old skool HPlandia and so while I deal with it being there, I really don't like it.
I also wasn't too keen on the lack of justice for the h on the part of the evil twin and there is also the whole sleeping with twin brothers thing - tho AB does handle that part fairly well. Overall this book is good and in the wrecki stakes, it hard to find one to outdo it. Tho I have to warn, unless you are a hard core angst junkie, this book will likely squick you out. The build up to the h's trauma and her resolution of it was well written, tho I wasn't always delighted with the path it took to get there, so I call this one an HPlandia angst fest win and cautiously recommend it as good reading for the die hard angsty trainwrecks side of an HP outing adventure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2018
I should have consulted Boogenhagen's review before I read this, because I fell victim to the dreaded dashed expectations. Not the author's fault. The blurb promised me crazytown. I was hoping for something like Mistress of the Groom where the hero wrecks his revenge upon the heroine who broke up his wedding.
But no, instead I got:
It was all a misunderstandings - my bad. From the heroine.
You owe me a marriage of convenience. From the hero.
After a bit of sniping, he's actually *nice.* Ugh.
And then several chapters of the heroine trying to remember the trauma that has caused her flinch when touched and to have frightening nightmares.
*sigh* It was well done as far as trying to heal from a bad experience of - but it wasn't what I signed on for.
Hero was a nice guy. Heroine warmed up. The hero's identical twin did not get the comeuppance he deserved. Sending him off to the other side of the globe just means the other side of the globe has to put up with his evil antics.
But no, instead I got:
It was all a misunderstandings - my bad. From the heroine.
You owe me a marriage of convenience. From the hero.
After a bit of sniping, he's actually *nice.* Ugh.
And then several chapters of the heroine trying to remember the trauma that has caused her flinch when touched and to have frightening nightmares.
*sigh* It was well done as far as trying to heal from a bad experience of - but it wasn't what I signed on for.
Hero was a nice guy. Heroine warmed up. The hero's identical twin did not get the comeuppance he deserved. Sending him off to the other side of the globe just means the other side of the globe has to put up with his evil antics.
May 9, 2021
This ones a bit of an angsty train wreck.
1. Ice queen
2. Revenge gone wrong
3. Twins... one good, one evil
4. Marriage of convenience
5. Suppressed memories
6. Truth comes out (trigger warning...forced seduction/rape)
7. Evil twin sent away (no real consequences)
8. HEA
1. Ice queen
2. Revenge gone wrong
3. Twins... one good, one evil
4. Marriage of convenience
5. Suppressed memories
6. Truth comes out (trigger warning...forced seduction/rape)
7. Evil twin sent away (no real consequences)
8. HEA
May 3, 2017
I was slightly uncomfortable with this one I like a good revenge story as much as the next person but she got the wrong guy. He should have gone crazy at her but instead talks her into a MOC - really? The whole lets fall in love thing was just a bit far fetched for me. As for his brother what a nasty piece of work who got off lightly I am a big fan of karma and he literally got away with rape with no comeuppance left a nasty taste in my mouth.
September 22, 2013
the book was unbelievable n very silly !! how they fell in love..it's beyond me. aidan u fell in love wid a woman who had just told lies n spoilt ur wedding day !? a man user !? i mean it can happen..if they get 2no each other n he sees the person beyond this facade. but not like in this story, where he immediately falls in love wid her n suggests marriage as payment 4wat she owed him. as 4her, she was raped by his twin brother. how come she was attracted 2aidan !? n then at once she had this amazing declaration 2herself dat she's in love wid him !?? the whole story plot did not make sense
March 26, 2021
Whoa, this was dark AF!!! I was engaged all the way up to 'you need to marry me to make up for what you did.' Everything after that turns bad and very dark. No romance at all. The hero flips a switch and starts trying to care for the heroine, who is seriously damaged and doesn't need a husband but a therapist! It's all too much in the end. And she actually would NOT be able to to be with the hero because of her past. Impossible. It was just so awful and not romantic and not trashy fun. Skip skip skiiiiip this one. Ouch.
May 14, 2024
"A Promise to Repay" is the story of Kate and Aiden.
TW:
A tale of revenge, similar looking brothers, death of relatives, ice queens and angry kings, PTSD and trauma, heartbreak and HEA.
Difficult read to see the heroine relive her trauma. The hero wasn't bad but the overall plot left me sad.
Safeish
2/5
TW:
A tale of revenge, similar looking brothers, death of relatives, ice queens and angry kings, PTSD and trauma, heartbreak and HEA.
Difficult read to see the heroine relive her trauma. The hero wasn't bad but the overall plot left me sad.
Safeish
2/5
September 29, 2019
ughhh horrible read. I guess it's too vintage that the story was too cliche and nauseating. Goodness I'm not even sure why I have a copy for this but this book was just so absurd!!! Meh! 🤷🤢
August 7, 2023
What about the bride?
Her marriage is over coz the h !
Her marriage is over coz the h !
April 16, 2025
Love story was very quick and unbelievable. I get the enemies to lovers trope but felt no chemistry between the characters. His anger issues also? Um no thanks.
May 29, 2017
I loved it. In fact, I was thinking 5 stars until the end. I wish the truth had been what we were led to believe it was, I feel like it would have wrapped up better. Maybe I'm wrong.
I think I love Amanda Browning, she also surprises me, and there is always a plot twist I didn't see coming. She definitely strays from the usual Harlequin plot lines. And I almost always crush on her heroes. This hero seemed to be both alpha and beta simultaneously. How did she do that?!
I did have a problem with the insta-love factor. I don't know why, since I usually love insta-love. You might say I instantly love insta-love. It just seemed unlikely considering their first meeting.
My point is, I am keeping this one.
I think I love Amanda Browning, she also surprises me, and there is always a plot twist I didn't see coming. She definitely strays from the usual Harlequin plot lines. And I almost always crush on her heroes. This hero seemed to be both alpha and beta simultaneously. How did she do that?!
I did have a problem with the insta-love factor. I don't know why, since I usually love insta-love. You might say I instantly love insta-love. It just seemed unlikely considering their first meeting.
My point is, I am keeping this one.
July 22, 2016
Amazing love story .... <3
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews