What do you think?
The Reluctant Lover
"You're just a silly young girl."
And sculptor Hugh Davies, a talented and immensely sexy thirty-four-year-old, made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with such immature creatures.
Blinded in an accident, he was also blinded by his prejudice against silly young females in general--and against April, a Sydney University student, in particular. Though April hardly thought herself "silly" or "young."
April knew that Hugh would need a friend through this uncertain time, and despite his opinion of her, she was determined to be there for him. She wasn't concerned about the growing physical attraction between them. After all, only a naive twenty-year-old would be foolish enough to fall in love....
And sculptor Hugh Davies, a talented and immensely sexy thirty-four-year-old, made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with such immature creatures.
Blinded in an accident, he was also blinded by his prejudice against silly young females in general--and against April, a Sydney University student, in particular. Though April hardly thought herself "silly" or "young."
April knew that Hugh would need a friend through this uncertain time, and despite his opinion of her, she was determined to be there for him. She wasn't concerned about the growing physical attraction between them. After all, only a naive twenty-year-old would be foolish enough to fall in love....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Miranda Lee
839 books241 followersMaureen Mary was born on 1945 at Port Macquarie, a popular seaside town on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is the youngest of four children. Her sister was the novelist Wendy Brennan (Emma Darcy). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. When Miranda was ten, her father was transferred to Gosford, another coastal town in the countryside, much closer to Sydney. After leaving her convent school, she briefly studied the cello before moving to Sydney, where she embraced the emerging world of computers. Her career as a programmer ended after she married, had three daughters and bought a small acreage in a semi-rural community. Following this, she attempted greyhound training, as well as horse and goat breeding, but was left dissatisfied.
Miranda yearned to find a creative career from which she could earn money. When her sister suggested writing romances, it seemed like a good idea. She could do it at home, and it might even be fun! It took a decade of trial and error before her first romance, After the Affair, was accepted and published. At that time, Miranda, her husband Tony, and her three daughters had moved back to the Central Coast, where they could enjoy the sun and the surf lifestyle once again. Not long into her writing career, Miranda committed herself to writing a six-book series entitled, The Hearts of Fire, with a deadline of just nine short months. Bravely, her husband left his executive position to stay home and support Miranda’s writing career. He learned to cook and to clean, two invaluable household skills. Numerous successful stories followed, each embodying Miranda’s trademark style: pacy and sexy rhythms; passionate, real-life characters; and enduring, memorable story lines. She has one credo when writing romances: Don’t bore the reader! Millions of fans world-wide agree she never does.
Miranda was the sister of the late author, Emma Darcy.
Miranda yearned to find a creative career from which she could earn money. When her sister suggested writing romances, it seemed like a good idea. She could do it at home, and it might even be fun! It took a decade of trial and error before her first romance, After the Affair, was accepted and published. At that time, Miranda, her husband Tony, and her three daughters had moved back to the Central Coast, where they could enjoy the sun and the surf lifestyle once again. Not long into her writing career, Miranda committed herself to writing a six-book series entitled, The Hearts of Fire, with a deadline of just nine short months. Bravely, her husband left his executive position to stay home and support Miranda’s writing career. He learned to cook and to clean, two invaluable household skills. Numerous successful stories followed, each embodying Miranda’s trademark style: pacy and sexy rhythms; passionate, real-life characters; and enduring, memorable story lines. She has one credo when writing romances: Don’t bore the reader! Millions of fans world-wide agree she never does.
Miranda was the sister of the late author, Emma Darcy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 22, 2017
Re The Reluctant Lover - Miranda Lee's third HP outing is a tale of May/December romance that really delves into the 20 yr old h's unrequited passion that the 34 yr old H is reluctant to trust.
We start with the h going to her uncle's beach house for a little break before starting her final year of an honors Economics degree. Her uncle is a free lance journalist/art critic and the h hopes to become an Economic journalist.
She comes from the country and is still petting unicorns, but at almost 21 she is ready to go for the gusto and experience the more carnal side of life. She thought she may have met a potential match when she met one of her uncle's friends, a Sydney Man about Town art gallery owner, alas it was only a temporary infatuation, when the guy tried to pick up on her in between women and then found out about her lack of experience and dumped her like a hot potato.
The h, appallingly mortified and humiliated, cause she thought the brief flirtation was true love, goes back to school, gets on the pill and thinks she will just have a mojo moment with any good looking guy who fits her bill. She doesn't actually get that far tho, and after a barely passing grade year at school and some perspective, the h recognizes that while she wants to feel a true lurve physical connection, she is willing to wait until she gets the right chemistry.
So after a month or two of watching her irascible 14 yr old brothers while her parents take a European vacation after some health scares, the h is ready for a beach break and to get her mentality ready to resume her honors degree.
The first thing she sees when she gets to her uncle's house is that someone is staying at the slimy art gallery owner's place next door. She is afraid the art gallery guy is back for more insults, but to her relief the completely starkers man who climbs up out of the ocean is nowhere near the art gallery guy. In fact this man makes Adonis look like a poser. The h is amusingly caught between mortification and fascination, on one hand she hopes the guy has a swimming costume and on the other, she just cannot get enough of that manly figure.
Our girl is feeling the passion for sure and she is kinda hoping his eyes are blue, (we find out that they are a greyish blue shortly). Eventually she makes her way to the beach a day later and we finally get to the meet the manly mountain of mojo inducing thrills that is the H.
This H has a backstory tho, as the title implies, he isn't really interested in seeing past the h's age. It turns out our H is a sculptor, in fact the h saw him once before at the gallery guy's showing she attended with her uncle. At first she doesn't recognize the H as the sculptor because he was all pale and wimpy and not very interested in the people coming to see his art. We find out that the H has been in an accident, his fiancee at the time had a few drinks and drove and got herself and the H into a car crash.
The fiancee was fine, but the H became temporarily blind. The fiancee took off when she heard the diagnosis and the H is having a hard time because while the doctors are insistent that they can repair his sight, the H is having some doubts. Fortunately the H has a good friend, who is also an ex-convict art student of the H's, who is happy to help him in his time of trouble.
Soon the H, the h and the H's friend are all hanging out at the beach and there is lots of banter about the h's young age and "modern" morals. The h resents that she is being dismissed on account of her comparative youth, but the H is adamant that ladies in their early twenties don't know their own minds. His example is his first sculpting mentor who was in his forties, fell in love with a twenty year old student and then the girl dumped him for another student and the mentor drank himself to death.
The h snaps back with how his 32 year old fiancee left him high and dry at a critical moment, as she tries to point out that age really has nothing to do with a person's constancy. Of course the h is massively in love with the H by this point, but she tries to hide it from him. Eventually, after a night of wine and poker filled with the subtle aroma of the floral Marilyn Miglin Destiny perfume that lets us know the h is sweet and feminine with an underlying sensuality, the H and h have a mini mojo moment on the beach.
There is a breach, but full mojo purple passion is ended with the h's sharp outcry of pain. The H is shocked over the entire scenario and the h is mortified, somehow both consider her to still have unicorn petting rights. They part ways in mutual embarrassment and soon it is time for the H's operation. The h does show up to be supportive of the H as he is wheeled off to the surgical theatre. His friend points out that he knows the h is in love with the H and that she should try to wait the H's reluctance out. The h asks the friend not to let the H know about her feelings and the H's friend hesitantly agrees.
The operation is a success and the H seems a lot more willing to forget about the h's age, once he gets a look at her blue eyes, black hair and five foot two curves in all the right places. The h has some hope for romance and love again, but it gets kinda tanked when the H's ex fiancee shows up to plead for reinstatement. The H firmly rejects the woman tho and the h invites the H to her 21st birthday party.
Her uncle bought her a dress that can't be worn with a bra, so the h's very generous decolletage is at grand mast for her entry into official adulthood. The h is on pins and needles waiting for the H, but the skeevy art gallery guy walks in first and the h is busy fending off his forceful kiss right as the H walks in. There is a big fight and the h accuses the H of being a coward, cause he won't try a relationship with her. The H thinks she is being tarty and all this angry passion leads to fuchsia and magenta passion of another sort.
Then the h's uncle knocks on the door, it time for the h to cut the cake. The H is appalled again and he storms off. Three months of mopey moments ensue, until skeevy art gallery guy calls up and tells the h that the H has a new sculpture that is magnificent, but he is having mopey moments and his sculpturing besides this one piece is rather non existent. The h takes her final chance to convince the H that they are a love match and goes to the gallery.
The H is there, as is his ex-fiancee and the h is devastated. She gets skeevy art gallery guy to let her use his office and the H comes tearing after her. He thinks that the h is going to have it on with skeevy guy and he wants to be the h's lover instead - if she must have an older man, it is going to be the H. The H explains that he brought the ex cause skeevy art gallery guy said he had to bring a date, the H did not know any other women so her brought her, but he isn't involved with her again.
The H and h go to his place and all the purple passion hues from aubergine to magenta are explored in the next several pages, everybody is looking remarkably peachy in afterglow of lilac lurve mojo explosions and the H decides the h will move in with him. (He actually wants to marry her, but he doesn't tell her that, he thinks she might be just having a fling for now and he wants to ease her into it.)
The h is frustrated, because she is sure her feelings are forever, but the H seems to think she is going to run off at the drop of a Simon Le Bon look-alike smile. So the h has to take matters into her own hands. She decides not to tell the H that after the interrupted encounter on the beach, she stopped taking her birth control pills. Now of course she is preggers and once the H leaves his studio after a long sculpting creative streak, she makes the big announcement.
The H is thrilled and rushes her off to be wed in her country home town. Soon we are having a six month wedding anniversary, a baby girl and the H stopped all his sculpting for six months to care for the h. The H's budding artist friend moved in with the h's uncle and all is happy once again. While the h is nursing the baby, the H gets a new idear of a mom and child sculpture and rushes off to go put his idears into solid form, as the h and baby daughter cheer him on for a pink sparkly purple passion HEA.
This one was cute, fluffy and a fast read. There is quite a bit of passion in this one and in the 1990's is where we in HPlandia will really see the gamut of the physicality of HP lurve mojo.
On one hand we have ML, who gets a little bolder in the physical passion stakes with every book and on the other we have older HP veteran writers who still like their h's married before they get the full lurve club effect and then the description is kept the minimum.
There are also writers who have more descriptive love scenes than their earlier works, but overall it is a cornucopia of different levels of love and passion and this one definitely falls onto the more physical side of HPLandia, but is still overall a pretty decent HP outing.
We start with the h going to her uncle's beach house for a little break before starting her final year of an honors Economics degree. Her uncle is a free lance journalist/art critic and the h hopes to become an Economic journalist.
She comes from the country and is still petting unicorns, but at almost 21 she is ready to go for the gusto and experience the more carnal side of life. She thought she may have met a potential match when she met one of her uncle's friends, a Sydney Man about Town art gallery owner, alas it was only a temporary infatuation, when the guy tried to pick up on her in between women and then found out about her lack of experience and dumped her like a hot potato.
The h, appallingly mortified and humiliated, cause she thought the brief flirtation was true love, goes back to school, gets on the pill and thinks she will just have a mojo moment with any good looking guy who fits her bill. She doesn't actually get that far tho, and after a barely passing grade year at school and some perspective, the h recognizes that while she wants to feel a true lurve physical connection, she is willing to wait until she gets the right chemistry.
So after a month or two of watching her irascible 14 yr old brothers while her parents take a European vacation after some health scares, the h is ready for a beach break and to get her mentality ready to resume her honors degree.
The first thing she sees when she gets to her uncle's house is that someone is staying at the slimy art gallery owner's place next door. She is afraid the art gallery guy is back for more insults, but to her relief the completely starkers man who climbs up out of the ocean is nowhere near the art gallery guy. In fact this man makes Adonis look like a poser. The h is amusingly caught between mortification and fascination, on one hand she hopes the guy has a swimming costume and on the other, she just cannot get enough of that manly figure.
Our girl is feeling the passion for sure and she is kinda hoping his eyes are blue, (we find out that they are a greyish blue shortly). Eventually she makes her way to the beach a day later and we finally get to the meet the manly mountain of mojo inducing thrills that is the H.
This H has a backstory tho, as the title implies, he isn't really interested in seeing past the h's age. It turns out our H is a sculptor, in fact the h saw him once before at the gallery guy's showing she attended with her uncle. At first she doesn't recognize the H as the sculptor because he was all pale and wimpy and not very interested in the people coming to see his art. We find out that the H has been in an accident, his fiancee at the time had a few drinks and drove and got herself and the H into a car crash.
The fiancee was fine, but the H became temporarily blind. The fiancee took off when she heard the diagnosis and the H is having a hard time because while the doctors are insistent that they can repair his sight, the H is having some doubts. Fortunately the H has a good friend, who is also an ex-convict art student of the H's, who is happy to help him in his time of trouble.
Soon the H, the h and the H's friend are all hanging out at the beach and there is lots of banter about the h's young age and "modern" morals. The h resents that she is being dismissed on account of her comparative youth, but the H is adamant that ladies in their early twenties don't know their own minds. His example is his first sculpting mentor who was in his forties, fell in love with a twenty year old student and then the girl dumped him for another student and the mentor drank himself to death.
The h snaps back with how his 32 year old fiancee left him high and dry at a critical moment, as she tries to point out that age really has nothing to do with a person's constancy. Of course the h is massively in love with the H by this point, but she tries to hide it from him. Eventually, after a night of wine and poker filled with the subtle aroma of the floral Marilyn Miglin Destiny perfume that lets us know the h is sweet and feminine with an underlying sensuality, the H and h have a mini mojo moment on the beach.
There is a breach, but full mojo purple passion is ended with the h's sharp outcry of pain. The H is shocked over the entire scenario and the h is mortified, somehow both consider her to still have unicorn petting rights. They part ways in mutual embarrassment and soon it is time for the H's operation. The h does show up to be supportive of the H as he is wheeled off to the surgical theatre. His friend points out that he knows the h is in love with the H and that she should try to wait the H's reluctance out. The h asks the friend not to let the H know about her feelings and the H's friend hesitantly agrees.
The operation is a success and the H seems a lot more willing to forget about the h's age, once he gets a look at her blue eyes, black hair and five foot two curves in all the right places. The h has some hope for romance and love again, but it gets kinda tanked when the H's ex fiancee shows up to plead for reinstatement. The H firmly rejects the woman tho and the h invites the H to her 21st birthday party.
Her uncle bought her a dress that can't be worn with a bra, so the h's very generous decolletage is at grand mast for her entry into official adulthood. The h is on pins and needles waiting for the H, but the skeevy art gallery guy walks in first and the h is busy fending off his forceful kiss right as the H walks in. There is a big fight and the h accuses the H of being a coward, cause he won't try a relationship with her. The H thinks she is being tarty and all this angry passion leads to fuchsia and magenta passion of another sort.
Then the h's uncle knocks on the door, it time for the h to cut the cake. The H is appalled again and he storms off. Three months of mopey moments ensue, until skeevy art gallery guy calls up and tells the h that the H has a new sculpture that is magnificent, but he is having mopey moments and his sculpturing besides this one piece is rather non existent. The h takes her final chance to convince the H that they are a love match and goes to the gallery.
The H is there, as is his ex-fiancee and the h is devastated. She gets skeevy art gallery guy to let her use his office and the H comes tearing after her. He thinks that the h is going to have it on with skeevy guy and he wants to be the h's lover instead - if she must have an older man, it is going to be the H. The H explains that he brought the ex cause skeevy art gallery guy said he had to bring a date, the H did not know any other women so her brought her, but he isn't involved with her again.
The H and h go to his place and all the purple passion hues from aubergine to magenta are explored in the next several pages, everybody is looking remarkably peachy in afterglow of lilac lurve mojo explosions and the H decides the h will move in with him. (He actually wants to marry her, but he doesn't tell her that, he thinks she might be just having a fling for now and he wants to ease her into it.)
The h is frustrated, because she is sure her feelings are forever, but the H seems to think she is going to run off at the drop of a Simon Le Bon look-alike smile. So the h has to take matters into her own hands. She decides not to tell the H that after the interrupted encounter on the beach, she stopped taking her birth control pills. Now of course she is preggers and once the H leaves his studio after a long sculpting creative streak, she makes the big announcement.
The H is thrilled and rushes her off to be wed in her country home town. Soon we are having a six month wedding anniversary, a baby girl and the H stopped all his sculpting for six months to care for the h. The H's budding artist friend moved in with the h's uncle and all is happy once again. While the h is nursing the baby, the H gets a new idear of a mom and child sculpture and rushes off to go put his idears into solid form, as the h and baby daughter cheer him on for a pink sparkly purple passion HEA.
This one was cute, fluffy and a fast read. There is quite a bit of passion in this one and in the 1990's is where we in HPlandia will really see the gamut of the physicality of HP lurve mojo.
On one hand we have ML, who gets a little bolder in the physical passion stakes with every book and on the other we have older HP veteran writers who still like their h's married before they get the full lurve club effect and then the description is kept the minimum.
There are also writers who have more descriptive love scenes than their earlier works, but overall it is a cornucopia of different levels of love and passion and this one definitely falls onto the more physical side of HPLandia, but is still overall a pretty decent HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2023
H is 34yr old sculptor who is temporarily blinded in a car accident. He used to have more of a starving artist build but he has bulked up in prep for his upcoming eye surgery and is now a total beefcake. Our 20yr old college student h sees H walking naked on a beach and falls in lust. To her credit, there is good chemistry and H appreciates her company and keeping him entertained while he is blind waiting to have the next surgery. H is conscious of their 14yr age gap and is reluctant to commit to the h. Near the end of the story the h doesn’t tell the H that she stopped taking birth control pills and ends up preggers and he’s cool with it and they get married.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2020
You're just a silly young girl."
And sculptor Hugh Davies, a talented and immensely sexy thirty-four-year-old, made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with such immature creatures.
Blinded in an accident, he was also blinded by his prejudice against silly young females in general--and against April, a Sydney University student, in particular. Though April hardly thought herself "silly" or "young."
April knew that Hugh would need a friend through this uncertain time, and despite his opinion of her, she was determined to be there for him. She wasn't concerned about the growing physical attraction between them. After all, only a naive twenty-year-old would be foolish enough to fall in love...
And sculptor Hugh Davies, a talented and immensely sexy thirty-four-year-old, made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with such immature creatures.
Blinded in an accident, he was also blinded by his prejudice against silly young females in general--and against April, a Sydney University student, in particular. Though April hardly thought herself "silly" or "young."
April knew that Hugh would need a friend through this uncertain time, and despite his opinion of her, she was determined to be there for him. She wasn't concerned about the growing physical attraction between them. After all, only a naive twenty-year-old would be foolish enough to fall in love...
February 28, 2018
April went to her uncle's beach house to have some peace. Instead, she met Hugh whom she falls in love with. It was as simple as that. The story lacked both the good narration and the good characters. Very lacking.
May 22, 2013
I don't know why I hate so much that book. The worst I've ever read.
September 2, 2008
The Reluctant Lover (Harlequin Presents, No 1481) by Miranda Lee (1992)
Read
June 17, 2018"You're just a silly young girl."
And sculptor Hugh Davies, a talented and immensely sexy thirty-four-year-old, made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with such immature creatures.
Blinded in an accident, he was also blinded by his prejudice against silly young females in general--and against April, a Sydney University student, in particular. Though April hardly thought herself "silly" or "young."
April knew that Hugh would need a friend through this uncertain time, and despite his opinion of her, she was determined to be there for him. She wasn't concerned about the growing physical attraction between them. After all, only a naive twenty-year-old would be foolish enough to fall in love....
And sculptor Hugh Davies, a talented and immensely sexy thirty-four-year-old, made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with such immature creatures.
Blinded in an accident, he was also blinded by his prejudice against silly young females in general--and against April, a Sydney University student, in particular. Though April hardly thought herself "silly" or "young."
April knew that Hugh would need a friend through this uncertain time, and despite his opinion of her, she was determined to be there for him. She wasn't concerned about the growing physical attraction between them. After all, only a naive twenty-year-old would be foolish enough to fall in love....
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews