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Dark Master
"Marry in Haste, repent at leisure"
Alex's eyes darkened with pain as she recalled the old adage. It was true, so horribly true. She married Philippe on a wild impulse, to save herself from being humiliated by the man she thought she loved. And it was too late now to wish she had done otherwise.
She was Philippe's wife, the Comtesse de Sorconne, mistress of his ancient castle in France.
She was the recipient of everything Phillippe's wealth and passion could give her. Everything, Alex thought bitterly, but his love.
Alex's eyes darkened with pain as she recalled the old adage. It was true, so horribly true. She married Philippe on a wild impulse, to save herself from being humiliated by the man she thought she loved. And it was too late now to wish she had done otherwise.
She was Philippe's wife, the Comtesse de Sorconne, mistress of his ancient castle in France.
She was the recipient of everything Phillippe's wealth and passion could give her. Everything, Alex thought bitterly, but his love.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
15 people are currently reading
648 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Lamb
261 books316 followersSheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
March 16, 2012
Now THIS is an HP the way I remember them!
Hero:
Rich, titled (a Comte, no less!), urbane, sophisticated, alpha, alpha, alpha. Attracted to very young, sheltered, virginal, CLUELESS, timid orphan with no self-esteem to speak of and a level of gullibility I haven't seen in years.
Heroine:
Poor homeless orphan, on her own since she was a teenager, working and living in hotels. Engaged to the slick hotel manager, she meets (and detests) Philippe immediately.
Plot:
Heroine catches slick fiance with another hotel guest, Hero fabricates a compromising position so she can marry him instead and dump the hotel manager to save her pride. Conveniently enough, said Hero needs a wife himself - he says because the woman he loves is with another man and he needs to show her he doesn't care. (Savvy readers will recognize immediately that he uses this as an excuse; he really wants to get into her panties.)
So the heroine exchanges one engagement ring for another, and trots off to France with her new husband. She is SHOCKED, APPALLED, and FURIOUS to discover that he's not just a successful businessman, he is a Comte, with a castle and a reticule of servants and assorted family members living there. She is to be a Comtesse - and is convinced she is completely unable to live there.
Assorted big misunderstandings occur, especially with the Comte's hopelessly sad brother and his bitch of a wife. Sister-in-law, it seems (because it doesn't occur to our clueless heroine to ask!), is the woman Philippe loved and she makes no bones about her displeasure with the new bride.
Heroine spends lots of time navel-gazing and having ridiculously fabulous sex with her husband, but they just can't seem to get past that time-honoured obstacle to an HEA: THE NEED TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER.
Oh well, this is Harleyland circa 1983, after all, and all the misunderstandings and angst are wrapped up tidily in about 185 pages. I'm starting to understand the appeal these books had for my Grandma, who read 'em by the truckload.
4 stars. I'd actually read this one again without a gun being held to my head. :)
Hero:
Rich, titled (a Comte, no less!), urbane, sophisticated, alpha, alpha, alpha. Attracted to very young, sheltered, virginal, CLUELESS, timid orphan with no self-esteem to speak of and a level of gullibility I haven't seen in years.
Heroine:
Poor homeless orphan, on her own since she was a teenager, working and living in hotels. Engaged to the slick hotel manager, she meets (and detests) Philippe immediately.
Plot:
Heroine catches slick fiance with another hotel guest, Hero fabricates a compromising position so she can marry him instead and dump the hotel manager to save her pride. Conveniently enough, said Hero needs a wife himself - he says because the woman he loves is with another man and he needs to show her he doesn't care. (Savvy readers will recognize immediately that he uses this as an excuse; he really wants to get into her panties.)
So the heroine exchanges one engagement ring for another, and trots off to France with her new husband. She is SHOCKED, APPALLED, and FURIOUS to discover that he's not just a successful businessman, he is a Comte, with a castle and a reticule of servants and assorted family members living there. She is to be a Comtesse - and is convinced she is completely unable to live there.
"You tricked me!" she flung, flushing at his insult. Why weren't you honest about everything? You never mentioned the fact that you lived in a damned great castle..."
"Sarconne is not a castle," he drawled coldly. It is a chateau, a fortified house, if you like." He slapped her suddenly, without violence, a friendly slap. "Stop quarrelling with me on your first day in Sarconne. Get changed and come and look at it with me. It is to be your home, after all."
"You're joking," she said bitterly. "One look from your family and I knew I was an outsider."
Assorted big misunderstandings occur, especially with the Comte's hopelessly sad brother and his bitch of a wife. Sister-in-law, it seems (because it doesn't occur to our clueless heroine to ask!), is the woman Philippe loved and she makes no bones about her displeasure with the new bride.
Heroine spends lots of time navel-gazing and having ridiculously fabulous sex with her husband, but they just can't seem to get past that time-honoured obstacle to an HEA: THE NEED TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER.
Oh well, this is Harleyland circa 1983, after all, and all the misunderstandings and angst are wrapped up tidily in about 185 pages. I'm starting to understand the appeal these books had for my Grandma, who read 'em by the truckload.
4 stars. I'd actually read this one again without a gun being held to my head. :)
June 15, 2018
Set in France, our pursuing alpha has to get rid of the heroine's cheating fiance first and then his own brother who falls for the warmth of the heroine's personality. H/h are supposed to have a marriage of convenience but hero puts a stop to that from the beginning. It's their only "line of communication" at times.
The heroine learns to run the chateau, ride a horse, and spar with her bitchy sister in law. It's all fun and games until the heroine falls down some stairs and is seriously injured. Our hero finally has to drop his pride - and even tries some noble self-sacrifice. Heroine is not impressed with that as much as his declaration of love for a very satisfying HEA.
This is vintage goodness at its best.
The heroine learns to run the chateau, ride a horse, and spar with her bitchy sister in law. It's all fun and games until the heroine falls down some stairs and is seriously injured. Our hero finally has to drop his pride - and even tries some noble self-sacrifice. Heroine is not impressed with that as much as his declaration of love for a very satisfying HEA.
This is vintage goodness at its best.
June 3, 2023
Gawd. I love Charlotte Lamb's obsessed ruthless Heros. Love. Lovelovelovelove.
This one has the H (Phillipe, 34) falling in love at first sight with the h (Alex, 22) ... the only person who doesn't see that he's completely smitten, is the h. She remains clueless throughout the entire book. 🙃
Never has there been an h in a book who is so ridiculously clueless about all the men in her life. Never. 🙈😅
But I digress.
Our H is utterly smitten, after one look at the h, and sets out to completely upend her life and do whatever it takes to make her his. 😈 Ruthlessly kicking the h's fiance to the curb, through some masterful manipulation, and bulldozing the h into marrying him, while she's vulnerable and not thinking straight, due to her break up. 😍😍 By 25% he has swooped this poor little hotel clerk off to his CASTLE in France to have his wicked way with her, and hopefully force her to fall in love with him too. 👀😬 Seems like a solid plan. 🤷🏼♀️
Yes. That's right. I said CASTLE.
Turns out the guy who has turned her world upside down is a titled French nobleman... a Comte, and the h is now a Comtesse. 😳
Anyhoo... the h starts her new life with her husband and his family which includes a handsome brother-in-law who promptly and tragically falls in love with her 😬, and a Evil Cackling Whore of a sister-in-law who wants the H and hates the h. Alex assumes that Phillipe is also in love with the Evil Witch, and thus, our table is set for a series of misunderstandings and angst. 👍🏻👍🏻
This story was so fun. The gothic castle was a moody setting, for moody people. The h is plucky and rises to the occasion, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. The H is jealous and possessive, letting out growls and glares when any man dares to get too close. 😍😈 He's trying to hide his feelings for the h, because he thinks she still loves her fiance, and possibly now his brother. The h is trying to hide her growing feelings for the H because she thinks he loves the Evil Witch. 🥺
Dramatic Tragedy strikes, at the worst possible time, leading to an extended stay in the hospital and short-term A M N E S I A. The h melodramatically wastes away in grief and melancholy. The H is ALSO grief-stricken and brought to his knees with guilt for bringing the h to this state.
The ending is emotional and had me crying under my covers in the middle of the night, because I could not put this book down. I loved their HEA. 💕💕💕
Random side note: One of my favorite things in this book, is that the H is forever carrying the h around. 🙈 At one point they get home from a party, and she takes a look at the staircase and sort of wilts into him and says she's too exhausted to take the stairs... so he lifts her up and carries her. *swoon* I wish that worked in real life. I'd use it daily. 🤡
Bottom Line? This book was a homerun for me. 🤷🏼♀️ It has all the ridiculous drama and OTT characters that I adore from My Queen, Charlotte Lamb. The only drawback for me was that I didn't like that the H seemed willing to let the h go, if it would bring her some happiness... 😐 However, I didn't take off any stars because Ms. Lamb had so convinced me of his obsession that I highly doubted this crazed hero would really have gone through with it. 😅 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - sister in law is vicious and causes way too much trouble, although the H clearly LOATHES her... she is wiley and still manages to make the h miserable
- OM drama - every single man the h comes into contact with falls in love with her. She's clueless. It makes the H completely CRAZY
- dubcon - Phillipe never intended to have marriage in name only. There is definitely some forced seduction happening here
- attempted sexual assault by OP on h
- h has a miscarriage
- h was a virgin
- H is experienced, but his past isn't really discussed in detail. No one that he's slept with makes an on or off page appearance.
- no separations except while she's in the hospital - H is too distraught and in love with the h to be catting around.
- no condoms, but no bed hopping either. It's 1979, it's hard to expect any safe sex discussions. lol
This one has the H (Phillipe, 34) falling in love at first sight with the h (Alex, 22) ... the only person who doesn't see that he's completely smitten, is the h. She remains clueless throughout the entire book. 🙃
Never has there been an h in a book who is so ridiculously clueless about all the men in her life. Never. 🙈😅
But I digress.
Our H is utterly smitten, after one look at the h, and sets out to completely upend her life and do whatever it takes to make her his. 😈 Ruthlessly kicking the h's fiance to the curb, through some masterful manipulation, and bulldozing the h into marrying him, while she's vulnerable and not thinking straight, due to her break up. 😍😍 By 25% he has swooped this poor little hotel clerk off to his CASTLE in France to have his wicked way with her, and hopefully force her to fall in love with him too. 👀😬 Seems like a solid plan. 🤷🏼♀️
Yes. That's right. I said CASTLE.
Turns out the guy who has turned her world upside down is a titled French nobleman... a Comte, and the h is now a Comtesse. 😳
Anyhoo... the h starts her new life with her husband and his family which includes a handsome brother-in-law who promptly and tragically falls in love with her 😬, and a Evil Cackling Whore of a sister-in-law who wants the H and hates the h. Alex assumes that Phillipe is also in love with the Evil Witch, and thus, our table is set for a series of misunderstandings and angst. 👍🏻👍🏻
This story was so fun. The gothic castle was a moody setting, for moody people. The h is plucky and rises to the occasion, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. The H is jealous and possessive, letting out growls and glares when any man dares to get too close. 😍😈 He's trying to hide his feelings for the h, because he thinks she still loves her fiance, and possibly now his brother. The h is trying to hide her growing feelings for the H because she thinks he loves the Evil Witch. 🥺
Dramatic Tragedy strikes, at the worst possible time, leading to an extended stay in the hospital and short-term A M N E S I A. The h melodramatically wastes away in grief and melancholy. The H is ALSO grief-stricken and brought to his knees with guilt for bringing the h to this state.
The ending is emotional and had me crying under my covers in the middle of the night, because I could not put this book down. I loved their HEA. 💕💕💕
Random side note: One of my favorite things in this book, is that the H is forever carrying the h around. 🙈 At one point they get home from a party, and she takes a look at the staircase and sort of wilts into him and says she's too exhausted to take the stairs... so he lifts her up and carries her. *swoon* I wish that worked in real life. I'd use it daily. 🤡
Bottom Line? This book was a homerun for me. 🤷🏼♀️ It has all the ridiculous drama and OTT characters that I adore from My Queen, Charlotte Lamb. The only drawback for me was that I didn't like that the H seemed willing to let the h go, if it would bring her some happiness... 😐 However, I didn't take off any stars because Ms. Lamb had so convinced me of his obsession that I highly doubted this crazed hero would really have gone through with it. 😅 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - sister in law is vicious and causes way too much trouble, although the H clearly LOATHES her... she is wiley and still manages to make the h miserable
- OM drama - every single man the h comes into contact with falls in love with her. She's clueless. It makes the H completely CRAZY
- dubcon - Phillipe never intended to have marriage in name only. There is definitely some forced seduction happening here
- attempted sexual assault by OP on h
- h has a miscarriage
- h was a virgin
- H is experienced, but his past isn't really discussed in detail. No one that he's slept with makes an on or off page appearance.
- no separations except while she's in the hospital - H is too distraught and in love with the h to be catting around.
- no condoms, but no bed hopping either. It's 1979, it's hard to expect any safe sex discussions. lol
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2016
Now THIS is a true old school Harlequin Presents the way I love them! Hero falls in love with the heroine at first sight. Only there is a problem: she is engaged. That's no problem for our obsessed determined hero. He exposes her boyfriend as a cheater and heroine dumps him. Hero tells her he needs a wife because the woman he loves is with another man and he needs to show her his contempt. (lame excuse is lame)
Heroine and hero move to France where she finds out he is a Comte with a castle and servants and the whole tycoon package. Hero's brother falls in love with the heroine who comes to love him as a brother and can never return his love. Hero's brother also has a bitchy wife. She is the woman Philippe supposedly loved and she is the evil witch of the story. There is also a miscarriage, an accident, an amnesia and lots of misunderstandings.
I loved the drama, the angst, the marriage breakdown and how the hero set the heroine free in the end even though he loved her. Poor guy he even pushed her into the arms of her ex-fiance and his brother. He obviously believed: "If you love something set it free. If it comes back it's yours. If not, it was never meant to be."
If you love vintage Harlequins as much as I do this book is a keeper!
Heroine and hero move to France where she finds out he is a Comte with a castle and servants and the whole tycoon package. Hero's brother falls in love with the heroine who comes to love him as a brother and can never return his love. Hero's brother also has a bitchy wife. She is the woman Philippe supposedly loved and she is the evil witch of the story. There is also a miscarriage, an accident, an amnesia and lots of misunderstandings.
I loved the drama, the angst, the marriage breakdown and how the hero set the heroine free in the end even though he loved her. Poor guy he even pushed her into the arms of her ex-fiance and his brother. He obviously believed: "If you love something set it free. If it comes back it's yours. If not, it was never meant to be."
If you love vintage Harlequins as much as I do this book is a keeper!
April 24, 2022
Every time I read a New Adult book, I dnf that and return to these vintage goodness. It's basically the same plotlines, right? It's the same formula of a young, naive girl (early twenties) that somehow catches the eye of an experienced, usually rich (well, why not) older man in his thirties. This man then ruthlessly (a favorite genre appropriate word) manipulates things so that the girl is bound to him. Some gaslighting occurs.
So this is the formula that has actually been around for years, but now has been repackaged into New Adult with approximately a fourth of the same appeal. And I think I understand why. Admittedly I have not read many New Adult books, but it all seems to err heavily on the physical without delving into the psychological.
See, our heroine here is what you'd call an unreliable narrator. She's in love with her fiancé and dislikes this hotel guest who makes sarcastic insinuations to her. He doesn't seem particularly enamoured of her either, but through some misadventures, he rescues her after she spies her fiancé romancing a young widow. She's devastated when he offers up some home truths—hey, your fiancé is a Don Juan, and it's obviously not the first time.
So he does some mild manipulation while she's completely shell-shocked and "saves" her face by having it be put around the hotel that she was being romanced by him. Ha, take that, cheating fiancé!
Charlotte Lamb is really a master of her craft, and the heroine's confusion and inexperience really shows. She doesn't want to give in, but she's sort of directed into a series of actions before she can do a thing. Because Charlotte Lamb excels at segues and the gift of glossing over unimportant scenes, she's headed out of the town and married to the guy before she can find out any more about him, namely that he's a Comte who lives in a French castle. Oh, the silly things that happen to young girls in Harlequin.
There are other notable things that happen, such as more men falling for her, evil OW, even amnesia due to a nasty fall! Then there's the inevitable HEA, and honestly I didn't completely buy that the heroine was in love with the hero, but I could definitely sympathize with how alone and confused she (still) felt.
And I think that's the difference between vintage authors and the current NA genre. Maybe it's the difference in time periods, but such naivete feels normal and understandable in a vintage novel, and less acceptable and more stupid in New Adult. I could definitely sympathize with a young girl staying in the first home she's known ever with a rich husband who treats her fairly well (if a tad obsessively and hard to read). It's less easy for me to like a NA heroine who tells me she hates this guy but thinks he's awfully cute. I can honestly say I never found anyone I hated cute. At all. I tell you, the guy could have been a supermodel, and I would have fixated on how one nostril was bigger than the other.
So maybe that's the difference. Vintage is supposed to be less rational, and yet I find it all so much more believable compared to New Adult books. But maybe that's just me.
So this is the formula that has actually been around for years, but now has been repackaged into New Adult with approximately a fourth of the same appeal. And I think I understand why. Admittedly I have not read many New Adult books, but it all seems to err heavily on the physical without delving into the psychological.
See, our heroine here is what you'd call an unreliable narrator. She's in love with her fiancé and dislikes this hotel guest who makes sarcastic insinuations to her. He doesn't seem particularly enamoured of her either, but through some misadventures, he rescues her after she spies her fiancé romancing a young widow. She's devastated when he offers up some home truths—hey, your fiancé is a Don Juan, and it's obviously not the first time.
So he does some mild manipulation while she's completely shell-shocked and "saves" her face by having it be put around the hotel that she was being romanced by him. Ha, take that, cheating fiancé!
Charlotte Lamb is really a master of her craft, and the heroine's confusion and inexperience really shows. She doesn't want to give in, but she's sort of directed into a series of actions before she can do a thing. Because Charlotte Lamb excels at segues and the gift of glossing over unimportant scenes, she's headed out of the town and married to the guy before she can find out any more about him, namely that he's a Comte who lives in a French castle. Oh, the silly things that happen to young girls in Harlequin.
There are other notable things that happen, such as more men falling for her, evil OW, even amnesia due to a nasty fall! Then there's the inevitable HEA, and honestly I didn't completely buy that the heroine was in love with the hero, but I could definitely sympathize with how alone and confused she (still) felt.
And I think that's the difference between vintage authors and the current NA genre. Maybe it's the difference in time periods, but such naivete feels normal and understandable in a vintage novel, and less acceptable and more stupid in New Adult. I could definitely sympathize with a young girl staying in the first home she's known ever with a rich husband who treats her fairly well (if a tad obsessively and hard to read). It's less easy for me to like a NA heroine who tells me she hates this guy but thinks he's awfully cute. I can honestly say I never found anyone I hated cute. At all. I tell you, the guy could have been a supermodel, and I would have fixated on how one nostril was bigger than the other.
So maybe that's the difference. Vintage is supposed to be less rational, and yet I find it all so much more believable compared to New Adult books. But maybe that's just me.
March 27, 2016
Whoah, this was some old school stuff. Controlling to the nth degree, this was one of those kind of Harlequins where half the time you wanted to run from the 'hero' screaming. He even does a light "slap" and a few painful arm grabs. Eek. Still, the heroine is enjoyable - sometimes. There was a dark Gothic overcast for this one that raised it a notch - I rarely noticed Gothic themes in Harlequins. Here it's there a little with the castle, towers, and some cruel relatives. It was dark because it touched upon a tragedy that happens to the main character later. Rarely does this happen in Harlequins - especially with so much detail, including the 'hospital' help which seemed partly mental. Bedroom scenes are brief and barely there, this one is enjoyed for a completely different kind of mood (morbid relationships, check!) Because of the daring differences, I have to give it an affirmative nod.
December 15, 2025
From Stormfire to CL, maybe I'm not okay?
Especially since
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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Especially since
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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July 5, 2021
Lamb at her best; what a fun ride. The rating stays at four strong stars. My original review below.
__________________________________
I loved this one. I thought the hero was delicious, a little too controlling, but still very delicious. Evil OW, who gets her comeuppance and lots of angst. It just doesn't get better than this.
January 22, 2016
Very old school sans rapey scenes.
Alex finds out she is engaged to a minor league trouser snake courtesy of Phillipe.
MOC because he is in love with another woman. Ahem.
They arrive at his chateau where she is appalled to find out how rich, well to do and actually aristocratic he actually is. Alex is quite a fine heroine especially by old school Harlequin standards. She stands up to her husband and provides a quite entertaining and cutting vernal slap down to her utterly BITCHY new SIL. Loved it as usually the heroine folds like a lawn chair.
TropesNicely done.
Plus no one does titles like old skool Harlequins. Beats the Greek/Italian/Sicilian/tycoon/billionaires/mistress/wife/affair/revenge books.
Alex finds out she is engaged to a minor league trouser snake courtesy of Phillipe.
MOC because he is in love with another woman. Ahem.
They arrive at his chateau where she is appalled to find out how rich, well to do and actually aristocratic he actually is. Alex is quite a fine heroine especially by old school Harlequin standards. She stands up to her husband and provides a quite entertaining and cutting vernal slap down to her utterly BITCHY new SIL. Loved it as usually the heroine folds like a lawn chair.
TropesNicely done.
Plus no one does titles like old skool Harlequins. Beats the Greek/Italian/Sicilian/tycoon/billionaires/mistress/wife/affair/revenge books.
June 24, 2014
Great old vintage HP. The hero falls for the heroine at first sight and maneuvers things to get her married to him before she can catch her breath. Of course he doesn't tell her and traumas from miscommunication ensue. There's forced seduction in this one but keeping in mind the way books were written at the time I gave it a pass. I know I'm not reading feminist literature here. It was believable really. There was some melodramatic trauma. Hey sign me up for that! ;-) The confession of love at the end was nice too. All in all well worth reading for the fan of the vintage HP.
June 27, 2014
I really enjoyed this one. It has all the elements I enjoy in a good romance novel including a B***** OW/SIL. The lead male is a take charge alpha male but from the start you can see beyond the tough, cool exterior... The lead female is an innocent but not a doormat,...There is an a*hole fiance, a misguided BIL, and an evil SIL. Even though I hate violence in books, I enjoyed the scene when the OW/ SIL got slapped by her hubby... She well deserved it.
June 26, 2019
All I gotta say is WTF. The weirdest book I've used a good part of my day upon and I totally regret it. However, I was curious to see where the melancholic writing and strange plot of this book would lead.
And without fail. The whole f' book is a going around in motions of the whole cast a million times. Alex the h is slightly vile. She pines for her ex-fiance despite his cheating ways and then takes light of ANY MAN AT ALL hinting at kissing her. I was about to tear my patience out on her mediocre morals!
This woman would just take casually any man's advances on her and then make a joke of it to her husband!!! Her lips were readily available for a kiss of passion for various men in this whole book.
I don't even have the skill to write a review this book deserves that can rip it apart! The husband was mute at best. The whole plot was a disgusting build up of mystery and intrigue- who loves who- Noone knows!
The second to last page in the book has the husband retelling his motives for marrying Alex and declaring a sadistic kind of love. Same for Alex. This f' woman just couldn't use her words in the whole darn book! I absolutely abhored how she had a thing to say about why a kiss with another man on her lips was ok. (He was drunk, he is sad, he is hurting, he was just not serious).
I had lost count of just how many times this married woman let other men feel up her lips and DID NOT ONCE FEEL BAD ABOUT IT. IT WAS ALL GOOD IN EACH F' SITUATION!!!!!
I'm just so mad at having wasted a day of my life!
And without fail. The whole f' book is a going around in motions of the whole cast a million times. Alex the h is slightly vile. She pines for her ex-fiance despite his cheating ways and then takes light of ANY MAN AT ALL hinting at kissing her. I was about to tear my patience out on her mediocre morals!
This woman would just take casually any man's advances on her and then make a joke of it to her husband!!! Her lips were readily available for a kiss of passion for various men in this whole book.
I don't even have the skill to write a review this book deserves that can rip it apart! The husband was mute at best. The whole plot was a disgusting build up of mystery and intrigue- who loves who- Noone knows!
The second to last page in the book has the husband retelling his motives for marrying Alex and declaring a sadistic kind of love. Same for Alex. This f' woman just couldn't use her words in the whole darn book! I absolutely abhored how she had a thing to say about why a kiss with another man on her lips was ok. (He was drunk, he is sad, he is hurting, he was just not serious).
I had lost count of just how many times this married woman let other men feel up her lips and DID NOT ONCE FEEL BAD ABOUT IT. IT WAS ALL GOOD IN EACH F' SITUATION!!!!!
I'm just so mad at having wasted a day of my life!
December 18, 2019
Rajansa se on kliseilläkin. Tuuli heiluttaa pitkiä kullanpunaisia hiuksia. Nainen putoaa miehen jänteville käsivarsille. Miehen voimakasta rintaa vasten. Ja ollaan vasta sivulla 1!
December 11, 2017
"Dark Master" is the story of Alex and Philippe.
Alex works as a receptionist in a vacation resort, when she comes across the handsome guest, the frenchman Philippe. However, when she realizes her fiance Hal has been cheating on her, she pretends to be entranced with Philippe but soon finds herself married to him, whisked to France, and thrust with the responsibility of being Comtesse de Sorconne.
What follows is loads of resistance, OW/OM drama, jealous husbands, bruising kisses, personal tragedies and eventual HEA after loads of drama.
This was an OK read at the best. The heroine came off as fickle, the hero obsessive but secretive, and I hoped .
Unsafe/SWT
2.5/5
Alex works as a receptionist in a vacation resort, when she comes across the handsome guest, the frenchman Philippe. However, when she realizes her fiance Hal has been cheating on her, she pretends to be entranced with Philippe but soon finds herself married to him, whisked to France, and thrust with the responsibility of being Comtesse de Sorconne.
What follows is loads of resistance, OW/OM drama, jealous husbands, bruising kisses, personal tragedies and eventual HEA after loads of drama.
This was an OK read at the best. The heroine came off as fickle, the hero obsessive but secretive, and I hoped .
Unsafe/SWT
2.5/5
June 23, 2018
Classic Charlotte Lamb. Solid 4 star book.
July 13, 2023
I'm not a fan of the love-at-first-sight trope . The hero may be alpha, but it's important for him to prioritize the heroine's happiness, even if it means pushing her towards her brother and ex-fiancé. However, the heroine seems rather ordinary and lacks depth. This writing style definitely feels reminiscent of old Harlequin novels. I strongly dislike it when the hero resorts to physical violence, especially punching Elise in the face. That is absolutely unacceptable and a major red flag.
July 2, 2011
Alex the h marries Philippe the H to save face when she realizes her fiance is involved with another woman. Philippe convinces her that he needs marriage for a similar reason and also manipulates other situations to make it hard for her to refuse to marry him.
This book has plenty of angst, with jealousy, an evil OW, misunderstandings as a result of non-communication and a near death accident. If you want a traditional angst filled CL romance this is a good choice.
This book has plenty of angst, with jealousy, an evil OW, misunderstandings as a result of non-communication and a near death accident. If you want a traditional angst filled CL romance this is a good choice.
June 3, 2023
3.5 stars
I liked it, but didn’t love it.🤷🏻♀️
The h is a huge doormat (borderline idiot with her cheating ex), and a pushover. She’s beautiful, but I wasn’t fan of her personality. Dumber than a doorknob would describe her best.
The H is suppose to be obsessed with her, but he’s hiding his feelings so unless you knew this from reading spoilers from other reviews, you wouldn’t be able to tell. He did show possessiveness and jealousies, so that was hot.
- love scenes are behind the door. Foreplay is shown.
- apparently he fell in love at first sight, but again, this wasn’t shown, we’re only told about this during his confession vomit at the end.
- forced seduction trope (close door)
- pros: loved all the ow and om drama. (Best part of the book for me)
It was an ok read.
I liked it, but didn’t love it.🤷🏻♀️
The h is a huge doormat (borderline idiot with her cheating ex), and a pushover. She’s beautiful, but I wasn’t fan of her personality. Dumber than a doorknob would describe her best.
The H is suppose to be obsessed with her, but he’s hiding his feelings so unless you knew this from reading spoilers from other reviews, you wouldn’t be able to tell. He did show possessiveness and jealousies, so that was hot.
- love scenes are behind the door. Foreplay is shown.
- apparently he fell in love at first sight, but again, this wasn’t shown, we’re only told about this during his confession vomit at the end.
- forced seduction trope (close door)
- pros: loved all the ow and om drama. (Best part of the book for me)
It was an ok read.
June 27, 2015
oh boy., where do i begin with this one?.,
Alex is a innocent-pure-virgin-i dont knw hw to flirt nor do i know if a man is a jer- kinda of girl that i dislike soo much if i ever found her in real life. she was a young lonely girl who works at the hotel as a receptionist and engage w/Hal, who also work in the same hotel, they both met and hal persuaded her to work at the same place as him and they engage w/seriously prospect to marry, she loves hal, and hal love her too. or so that's what her soo-pure mind thought. until comes philipe, the hard cool guy who stayed at her hotel and he always tailed her. she then saw hal, her lovely-love of her life fiancee, kissing a widow in a passionate way. she who saw this scenes then smartly refused to digest what's the meaning of this kind of gesture when a fiance kissed another girl passionately as some kind of betrayel. No. she process it as she saw something wrong and no freaking way hal is betrayed her. doesnt he want to marry her and love her? yes, that is not hal, and i refused to believed what i saw and hear. but then philipe said that hal was always persuaded other girls behind her back, and this time he looks serious w/the widow, she with all of her beautiful stupid heart, saying that she will let go of hal if that's makes him happy w/the widow, coz she loves him. oh, wait, how about getting angry seeing her supposed to b fiance cheating on her? oh, no. that's never crossed her mind. why? bcoz when she was a baby, she was lack of important nutrient, so her brain is bcome a trainwreck. that's why, we should forgive the way she think. that's what i keep on my mind when i read this book until it finished. get back to the story, so, when philipe confront her that she must DO something to his cheating Bf, he offered her to do the same as her fiancee did, if she wants to let hal go and be happy w/the widow, coz in her mind, hal wont let her go and she doeant want him suffered. so philipe makes a suggest that why dont she and philipe pretend to be lover? w/marriage in mind? then, came hal, saw her n philipe in the same room. hal was angry, and ofc, his eyes was sad and sorrow. and she then angry at philipe, angry coz he pushed her did this to hal. angry coz he knows that hal was just flirting and NOT seriously wants to marry the widow, and other girls that hal's flirts behind her back for months/years. angry bcoz she loves hal, and philip wrecked her life. why? why? why?? philipe!! again, remember, alex was lack of nutrient, so her brain is rotten. ok, back to the book. after getting angry w/philip bcoz he pushed her to do thing the he was planning, philip then asked her help to getting rid of the girl he once loved but not anymore, by asking her to marry him. ofc, again, with her rotten brain who cant even process her fiance was cheating, she then agree to marry philipe, the stranger she dont knw anything about. coz that's what girls do. marrying a stranger man, and hopefuly that this marriage for "help" wont be backfired. afterall, it's only a legal marriage right? nothing serious. again, another proved of her rotten brain. and as the goes by, alex still bitter towards philipe. and even more bitter when she finally knw that he own a freaking chateu and he is a noble. HOW DARE HE! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DRUG DEALER, or A PSYCHO, OR A FISHERMAN, OR A BUTCHER! ANYTHING NORMAL BUT A NOBLEMAN W/FREAKING CHATEU!! oh no, you didnt! Philipe, i freaking hate you! you hear that, so freaking comte w/chateu and no where near normal!!! and alex still mad at philipe for hal's case. how dare he cornered her to make that insane decision where she believed philipe that hal was a jerk? gosh, philipe should be burnn in hell. and then there's a love triangle, where, again, ofc, alex wont believed or considering anything that philipe said or advising, coz alex is soo freaking smart. right? hell yes! and there's this evil, bitchy alice, who was the love of philipe live. alex hate her, and jelous of her! how dare philipe still have a feeling to alice? and then she goes play and flirt w/alice's husband, alex's brother. dont worry, it's a pure relationship! no where near flirting. if gaston kissed her on the mouth, it's normal. coz every brother in law kissing their brother's wife on the lips, right? why would philipe be jealous? but, if philipe kissed alice, his sist in law, he was a freaking bastard! so, what's wrong with spending most of her day and night by being at gaston's side? laughing, chatting happily, ignoring the weird-too closed friendship coz, hey, nothing's weird. alex was just have a husband, and gaston was having alice as his bitchy wife. but, if philipe do the same thing as what she does w/gaston to alice, philipe is a heartless poison ungrateful toad! go die! alex hate him! but at night, let's F***ed him. when the sun rising, Hasta lavista baby! rather than trying to b closed to philipe, she was playing w/gaston. coz he's hella fun. but then when alex confront philipe for being cold and cant opened his heart and she doesnt understand him, she denied philipe excused for pointing that, how she was going to know him well, when all she did was being at gaston's side all day long?
reading this book, is like having a full set of mcD menu for kids. u got extra gifts, there's a misscariage, an incident, then an amnesia,a missunderstanding,
oh boy... alex and her way of thinking is an angst itself. apart from the plot. enjoy this one!
Alex is a innocent-pure-virgin-i dont knw hw to flirt nor do i know if a man is a jer- kinda of girl that i dislike soo much if i ever found her in real life. she was a young lonely girl who works at the hotel as a receptionist and engage w/Hal, who also work in the same hotel, they both met and hal persuaded her to work at the same place as him and they engage w/seriously prospect to marry, she loves hal, and hal love her too. or so that's what her soo-pure mind thought. until comes philipe, the hard cool guy who stayed at her hotel and he always tailed her. she then saw hal, her lovely-love of her life fiancee, kissing a widow in a passionate way. she who saw this scenes then smartly refused to digest what's the meaning of this kind of gesture when a fiance kissed another girl passionately as some kind of betrayel. No. she process it as she saw something wrong and no freaking way hal is betrayed her. doesnt he want to marry her and love her? yes, that is not hal, and i refused to believed what i saw and hear. but then philipe said that hal was always persuaded other girls behind her back, and this time he looks serious w/the widow, she with all of her beautiful stupid heart, saying that she will let go of hal if that's makes him happy w/the widow, coz she loves him. oh, wait, how about getting angry seeing her supposed to b fiance cheating on her? oh, no. that's never crossed her mind. why? bcoz when she was a baby, she was lack of important nutrient, so her brain is bcome a trainwreck. that's why, we should forgive the way she think. that's what i keep on my mind when i read this book until it finished. get back to the story, so, when philipe confront her that she must DO something to his cheating Bf, he offered her to do the same as her fiancee did, if she wants to let hal go and be happy w/the widow, coz in her mind, hal wont let her go and she doeant want him suffered. so philipe makes a suggest that why dont she and philipe pretend to be lover? w/marriage in mind? then, came hal, saw her n philipe in the same room. hal was angry, and ofc, his eyes was sad and sorrow. and she then angry at philipe, angry coz he pushed her did this to hal. angry coz he knows that hal was just flirting and NOT seriously wants to marry the widow, and other girls that hal's flirts behind her back for months/years. angry bcoz she loves hal, and philip wrecked her life. why? why? why?? philipe!! again, remember, alex was lack of nutrient, so her brain is rotten. ok, back to the book. after getting angry w/philip bcoz he pushed her to do thing the he was planning, philip then asked her help to getting rid of the girl he once loved but not anymore, by asking her to marry him. ofc, again, with her rotten brain who cant even process her fiance was cheating, she then agree to marry philipe, the stranger she dont knw anything about. coz that's what girls do. marrying a stranger man, and hopefuly that this marriage for "help" wont be backfired. afterall, it's only a legal marriage right? nothing serious. again, another proved of her rotten brain. and as the goes by, alex still bitter towards philipe. and even more bitter when she finally knw that he own a freaking chateu and he is a noble. HOW DARE HE! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DRUG DEALER, or A PSYCHO, OR A FISHERMAN, OR A BUTCHER! ANYTHING NORMAL BUT A NOBLEMAN W/FREAKING CHATEU!! oh no, you didnt! Philipe, i freaking hate you! you hear that, so freaking comte w/chateu and no where near normal!!! and alex still mad at philipe for hal's case. how dare he cornered her to make that insane decision where she believed philipe that hal was a jerk? gosh, philipe should be burnn in hell. and then there's a love triangle, where, again, ofc, alex wont believed or considering anything that philipe said or advising, coz alex is soo freaking smart. right? hell yes! and there's this evil, bitchy alice, who was the love of philipe live. alex hate her, and jelous of her! how dare philipe still have a feeling to alice? and then she goes play and flirt w/alice's husband, alex's brother. dont worry, it's a pure relationship! no where near flirting. if gaston kissed her on the mouth, it's normal. coz every brother in law kissing their brother's wife on the lips, right? why would philipe be jealous? but, if philipe kissed alice, his sist in law, he was a freaking bastard! so, what's wrong with spending most of her day and night by being at gaston's side? laughing, chatting happily, ignoring the weird-too closed friendship coz, hey, nothing's weird. alex was just have a husband, and gaston was having alice as his bitchy wife. but, if philipe do the same thing as what she does w/gaston to alice, philipe is a heartless poison ungrateful toad! go die! alex hate him! but at night, let's F***ed him. when the sun rising, Hasta lavista baby! rather than trying to b closed to philipe, she was playing w/gaston. coz he's hella fun. but then when alex confront philipe for being cold and cant opened his heart and she doesnt understand him, she denied philipe excused for pointing that, how she was going to know him well, when all she did was being at gaston's side all day long?
reading this book, is like having a full set of mcD menu for kids. u got extra gifts, there's a misscariage, an incident, then an amnesia,a missunderstanding,
oh boy... alex and her way of thinking is an angst itself. apart from the plot. enjoy this one!
Read
November 14, 2021Charlotte Lamb at her best. This was quite angsty too. I love these old schools romances because they manage to pack so much drama and twists in such a short book.
October 30, 2024
The moral of the story: Don’t marry the dumbest woman to walk the earth.
In a nutshell: Hero does something -like say mention that the sky is blue-, heroine misunderstands and whines to herself for pages. Repeat. Got boring.
In detail 2.5 I like the author, I like the hero and I love the cover. I want to throttle the heroine. I enjoy a dumb heroine but there’s limits. I also like fun and variety in stupidity. One of these happens: (a) he says or does something -like book a business meeting-, (b) she says or does something -like make out with his brother- or (c) nothing at all happens. She makes up a DUMB story in her head and cries about it, snaps and insults him, mopes about. Over and over.
Hero: Why don’t we go out to town and shop?
Heroine (thinks for 2 paragraphs): He’s ashamed of me and my clothes!
Hero: I’m going to work.
Heroine (thinks for 2 paragraphs): He wants to get away from me! See his mistress*!
Hero: You seem to be kissing other men on the lips. Not cool.
Heroine: Why doesn’t he want me to show affection and have friends?
Hero: I’m quite rich and live in a castle with servants.
Heroine: HOW CAN YOU TO THIS TO ME YOU BASTARD? I HATE YOU!
......
And when she has an accident? She does the equivalent of balancing on the balcony railing. That she has been told is rotting. If you fall off dear, I don’t care. You’re stupid. No sympathy.
Liked the hero though. Wish he divorced her and married a woman with a brain, but weeell...
*That imaginary mistress she came up with out of thin air.
In a nutshell: Hero does something -like say mention that the sky is blue-, heroine misunderstands and whines to herself for pages. Repeat. Got boring.
In detail 2.5 I like the author, I like the hero and I love the cover. I want to throttle the heroine. I enjoy a dumb heroine but there’s limits. I also like fun and variety in stupidity. One of these happens: (a) he says or does something -like book a business meeting-, (b) she says or does something -like make out with his brother- or (c) nothing at all happens. She makes up a DUMB story in her head and cries about it, snaps and insults him, mopes about. Over and over.
Hero: Why don’t we go out to town and shop?
Heroine (thinks for 2 paragraphs): He’s ashamed of me and my clothes!
Hero: I’m going to work.
Heroine (thinks for 2 paragraphs): He wants to get away from me! See his mistress*!
Hero: You seem to be kissing other men on the lips. Not cool.
Heroine: Why doesn’t he want me to show affection and have friends?
Hero: I’m quite rich and live in a castle with servants.
Heroine: HOW CAN YOU TO THIS TO ME YOU BASTARD? I HATE YOU!
......
And when she has an accident? She does the equivalent of balancing on the balcony railing. That she has been told is rotting. If you fall off dear, I don’t care. You’re stupid. No sympathy.
Liked the hero though. Wish he divorced her and married a woman with a brain, but weeell...
*That imaginary mistress she came up with out of thin air.
October 23, 2021
A vintage Charlotte Lamb, so a besotted, determined H and an innocent h.
His brother and his brother’s wife play too big a part in this book. It feels as if the brother comes up in the story more often than the H and as if she has more conversations, more interaction, with his brother than with the H.
I like a HP story to be about the interactions between the H and the h. This story isn’t. That’s why I am only rating it 3 stars, instead of the usual 4 or 5 stars that I rate a Charlotte Lamb vintage.
His brother and his brother’s wife play too big a part in this book. It feels as if the brother comes up in the story more often than the H and as if she has more conversations, more interaction, with his brother than with the H.
I like a HP story to be about the interactions between the H and the h. This story isn’t. That’s why I am only rating it 3 stars, instead of the usual 4 or 5 stars that I rate a Charlotte Lamb vintage.
March 16, 2021
Loved the hero but the heroine was TSTL. Story started off well, but the heroine was so dumb in her thoughts and actions it was seriously annoying. She drove the poor hero nuts with her stupid misinterpretations of everything around her, including the way she led on his brother to fall in love with her. She really was so dumb and unperceptive.
Their lack of ability to communicate with each other was so frustrating and infuriating. I really couldn't see why the hero would fall in love with her. When she wasn't misunderstanding everything and whining about it, she was being shrill and aggressive. I was left with no clue what he saw in her. Still, Charlotte Lamb writes well so a 3 star.
Their lack of ability to communicate with each other was so frustrating and infuriating. I really couldn't see why the hero would fall in love with her. When she wasn't misunderstanding everything and whining about it, she was being shrill and aggressive. I was left with no clue what he saw in her. Still, Charlotte Lamb writes well so a 3 star.
July 6, 2023
Longer review with plot spoilers: https://www.morebooksthantime.com/dar...
I liked this a lot, mostly for the dialogue. She's clueless and naïve, but not stupid nor a doormat and she's perfectly willing and able to defend herself against the nasty sister in law, although clueless not to realize that brother in law is falling for her. She tells her hubby off a few times and doesn't turn into mush except when they are intimate.
I loved the section where she tells him off for trying to find her a new home, just as though she were an unwanted kitten!
Reread and liked again.
I liked this a lot, mostly for the dialogue. She's clueless and naïve, but not stupid nor a doormat and she's perfectly willing and able to defend herself against the nasty sister in law, although clueless not to realize that brother in law is falling for her. She tells her hubby off a few times and doesn't turn into mush except when they are intimate.
I loved the section where she tells him off for trying to find her a new home, just as though she were an unwanted kitten!
Reread and liked again.
November 2, 2025
It’s been years since I read this one, but I really enjoyed re-reading it.
Heroine (22) is oblivious to her own appeal for the entire book. After being cheated on by her hotel manager fiancé, she accepts the proposal of the hero (34) for a marriage of convenience. Then when she arrives in France days later as a newly married woman, realises it is an actual marriage and her husband is a count living in a castle. Also living there is OM2 - the hero’s brother, who is married to the want-to-be OW (the heroine is convinced the hero is in love with her).
Lots of drama later (and lots of passion between them), is the HEA in which the heroine finally understands that the hero fell in love at first sight. I really liked the hero, as although he was cold (too proud to show his love) he never once was anything less than totally fixated on her, lucky girl. She was also rather fab, kind and deserving of happiness.
Heroine (22) is oblivious to her own appeal for the entire book. After being cheated on by her hotel manager fiancé, she accepts the proposal of the hero (34) for a marriage of convenience. Then when she arrives in France days later as a newly married woman, realises it is an actual marriage and her husband is a count living in a castle. Also living there is OM2 - the hero’s brother, who is married to the want-to-be OW (the heroine is convinced the hero is in love with her).
Lots of drama later (and lots of passion between them), is the HEA in which the heroine finally understands that the hero fell in love at first sight. I really liked the hero, as although he was cold (too proud to show his love) he never once was anything less than totally fixated on her, lucky girl. She was also rather fab, kind and deserving of happiness.
November 4, 2021
Alex's eyes darkened with pain as she recalled the old adage. It was true, so horribly true. She married Philippe on a wild impulse, to save herself from being humiliated by the man she thought she loved. And it was too late now to wish she had done otherwise.
She was Philippe's wife, the Comtesse de Sorconne, mistress of his ancient castle in France.
She was the recipient of everything Phillippe's wealth and passion could give her. Everything, Alex thought bitterly, but his love.
She was Philippe's wife, the Comtesse de Sorconne, mistress of his ancient castle in France.
She was the recipient of everything Phillippe's wealth and passion could give her. Everything, Alex thought bitterly, but his love.
June 19, 2022
This was pretty rough. Not a great story. Everyone was moving the heroine around for their own wants and this girl had no idea which way to go. No one was believable and neither was the plot. I say skip it.
April 1, 2013
ammmmmmmmmazing. loved it. the hero is an alpha alpha alpha.. this the the harlequin presents i remember!!
August 27, 2015
Definitely a normal Charlotte Lamb book...
September 21, 2017
Another violent pseudo love story filled with clichés. Yay.
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