What do you think?
Rate this book
Once a Cheat
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Jane Donnelly
144 books28 followersJane Donnelly began earning her living as a writer as a teenage reporter. When she married the editor of the newspaper she freelanced for women's mags for a while. After she was widowed she and her 5 year old daughter moved to Lancashire. She turned to writing fiction to make a living while still caring for her daughter, she sold her first Mills & Boon romance novel as a hard-up singleparent in 1965. She wrote over 60 romance novels for Mills & Boon until 2000. Now she lives in a roses-round-the door cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon, with four dogs and assorted rescued animals. Besides writing she enjoys travelling, swimming, walking and the company of friends.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 28, 2026
This is confusing.
A pretty standard HQ romance about an impoverished, talented actress dating a rich boy casually - but enough to make his family suspicious. A family friend approaches the h to warn her off. The h is attracted to him, but her pride stands in the way.
After an accident where the h saves the rich boy’s life, his family begins to thaw a little and accepts her (she stresses that they are just friends). Throughout this, the skeptical and disapproving H (the family friend and lawyer) stays close. The h finds herself increasingly attracted to him and begins to consider the possibility of an affair. The H even suggests she move in with him.
However, the plot thickens when the rich boy's house is robbed, and the h's disreputable brother becomes the primary suspect. Suddenly, the h is painted as a villain by the press and the rich boy’s family. The H doesn’t hold back - telling her that he had her and her family investigated and that she just matches the prior impression he had in his mind. He calls her Becky Sharp.
Amidst the chaos, out of the blue, the H unexpectedly offers her support. He whisks her onto his boat and proposes. The situation with her brother is unresolved, but the H says they have to eventually face the music together.
Still, the hero is a typical Donnelly hero - the man of few words who doesn’t spend much time courting the heroine. He also has an ex whom he was madly in love with. Thankfully, he doesn’t act besotted with her.
A pretty standard HQ romance about an impoverished, talented actress dating a rich boy casually - but enough to make his family suspicious. A family friend approaches the h to warn her off. The h is attracted to him, but her pride stands in the way.
After an accident where the h saves the rich boy’s life, his family begins to thaw a little and accepts her (she stresses that they are just friends). Throughout this, the skeptical and disapproving H (the family friend and lawyer) stays close. The h finds herself increasingly attracted to him and begins to consider the possibility of an affair. The H even suggests she move in with him.
However, the plot thickens when the rich boy's house is robbed, and the h's disreputable brother becomes the primary suspect. Suddenly, the h is painted as a villain by the press and the rich boy’s family. The H doesn’t hold back - telling her that he had her and her family investigated and that she just matches the prior impression he had in his mind. He calls her Becky Sharp.
Amidst the chaos, out of the blue, the H unexpectedly offers her support. He whisks her onto his boat and proposes. The situation with her brother is unresolved, but the H says they have to eventually face the music together.
Still, the hero is a typical Donnelly hero - the man of few words who doesn’t spend much time courting the heroine. He also has an ex whom he was madly in love with. Thankfully, he doesn’t act besotted with her.
May 3, 2015
I had a hard time getting excited about this one, even though it was a well written story. It took me 3 days to finish it, I usually read a similar book within hours. The ending felt unfinished. I wanted to know if her brother was the thief or not and I wanted to read about his interaction with old lover/widowed aunt who was showing up that day.
December 29, 2025
This one was pretty okay apart from the very abrupt, confusing ending.
The h is a local stage actress who is casually dating the son/scion of a local wealthy family. The family's friend/lawyer, the H, shows up one night to her play (Vanity Fair; she plays Becky Sharp, which is relevant in the story) mostly to warn her away from Jeremy, the OM scion of the local wealthy family.
Heroine is not interested in OM beyond very casual dating, and has been gently trying to let him down. She ups her efforts because she H has caught her attention and she was going to end it anyway. Unfortunately, this is while OM is driving her home, he gets agitated, and they get into a nasty wreck.
Heroine has bruises and scrapes, but OM has a concussion and broken ribs, and some other injuries; his family insist on h staying with them, as she pulled him from the car before it exploded and saved his life.
Enter H again, with suspicions and sarcasm and sardonic looks, and a new nickname for heroine, "Becky" after the avaricious, scheming heroine of Vanity Fair.
Anyway, things get convoluted toward the end with h's brother and a break-in, then it sort of fizzles into an HEA without really resolving anything and without any great misunderstanding/obstacle really- just, they go on H's boat to get away from reporters and exes, sex each other up, have a conversation, and decide they're in love with each other and will marry. Fade to black.
No resolution on what was going to happen with the brother, no real resolution with the OM and his family who took up a large portion of this story, zero resolution with the OW, whose message announcing that she was "coming home" to the hero the heroine overheard on the answering machine the previous day, just being on a boat in a river, deciding to marry. The end!
Got off to a good start but the finish was pretty meh.
The h is a local stage actress who is casually dating the son/scion of a local wealthy family. The family's friend/lawyer, the H, shows up one night to her play (Vanity Fair; she plays Becky Sharp, which is relevant in the story) mostly to warn her away from Jeremy, the OM scion of the local wealthy family.
Heroine is not interested in OM beyond very casual dating, and has been gently trying to let him down. She ups her efforts because she H has caught her attention and she was going to end it anyway. Unfortunately, this is while OM is driving her home, he gets agitated, and they get into a nasty wreck.
Heroine has bruises and scrapes, but OM has a concussion and broken ribs, and some other injuries; his family insist on h staying with them, as she pulled him from the car before it exploded and saved his life.
Enter H again, with suspicions and sarcasm and sardonic looks, and a new nickname for heroine, "Becky" after the avaricious, scheming heroine of Vanity Fair.
Anyway, things get convoluted toward the end with h's brother and a break-in, then it sort of fizzles into an HEA without really resolving anything and without any great misunderstanding/obstacle really- just, they go on H's boat to get away from reporters and exes, sex each other up, have a conversation, and decide they're in love with each other and will marry. Fade to black.
No resolution on what was going to happen with the brother, no real resolution with the OM and his family who took up a large portion of this story, zero resolution with the OW, whose message announcing that she was "coming home" to the hero the heroine overheard on the answering machine the previous day, just being on a boat in a river, deciding to marry. The end!
Got off to a good start but the finish was pretty meh.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews