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The Bitter Price of Love
Mistress for hire!
Hunter Jamieson had been furious to discover that his cousin's intended bride was the same little gold digger who had run out on him only days before. And it seemed Reba Wyeth was up to her old tricks....
She needed money fast. And marrying Eliot Thorson III seemed the perfect deal. He'd get a beautiful woman on his arm. Reba would get the cash. Simple. Only Hunter Jamieson stood in her way. She had made the mistake of falling for the man, only to have to say goodbye. She'd had her reasons, of course, but Hunter wasn't interested in explanations -- only revenge!
The wedding was off! If Reba wanted money she could have it, but on one condition -- that she become his mistress!
Hunter Jamieson had been furious to discover that his cousin's intended bride was the same little gold digger who had run out on him only days before. And it seemed Reba Wyeth was up to her old tricks....
She needed money fast. And marrying Eliot Thorson III seemed the perfect deal. He'd get a beautiful woman on his arm. Reba would get the cash. Simple. Only Hunter Jamieson stood in her way. She had made the mistake of falling for the man, only to have to say goodbye. She'd had her reasons, of course, but Hunter wasn't interested in explanations -- only revenge!
The wedding was off! If Reba wanted money she could have it, but on one condition -- that she become his mistress!
288 pages, Hardcover Large Print
First published June 1, 1995
About the author
Amanda Browning
106 books30 followersAmanda Browning (born in Essex, England) is an English writer of over 25 romance novels since 1987.
Browning is a twin, who grew up in a big family in the borders of Essex.
She worked for years in libraries, and when she left her job, she decided began to write. Although her first two manuscripts could not be used, the third was accepted and published in 1987.
She is single and continues living in the old family home on the borders of Essex. She is great-aunt to eighteen nieces and nephews.
Browning is a twin, who grew up in a big family in the borders of Essex.
She worked for years in libraries, and when she left her job, she decided began to write. Although her first two manuscripts could not be used, the third was accepted and published in 1987.
She is single and continues living in the old family home on the borders of Essex. She is great-aunt to eighteen nieces and nephews.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 25, 2018
2.5 stars.
OK, so I should've heeded Boogenhagen's review and used some common sense and left this for a day when I had nothing much to do. But, I really hoped that this would've been a trainwrecky feast of revenge. Alas ! what I got was a mild migraine that stemmed from my own huge desire to seek vengeance against this heroine for being TSTL and a dumb liar ! I'm not going to do a proper review because Boogenhagen and St. Margaret have done awesome and thoroughly entertaining ones, which you should read here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm just gonna have with fun with the pure stupidity of this heroine Reba. Reba was a model with a good heart but very little common sense and almost minimal logical reasoning skills. To put it simply, Reba was more ridiculous than a fat Corgi dog wearing tight granny panties:
She annoyed the F out of me and I didn't feel sorry for her when the H Hunter was being mean to her because she brought it all on herself. My reaction to Reba's itty bitty broken hearted feelings was pure stoicism:
Why ? Because all she had to do to prevent her heartbreak was to be honest with the man who loved her ! People are supposed to trust those they love and Hunter adored that dumb bitch. Theirs was a case of insta-love and insta-lust so she could've used some common sense and confided in the man because he did ask her to marry him. But no, she kept her mouth shut and chose to be a martyr because her dear dying mommy had too much pride. The worst part about this whole situation was that I saw absolutely no signs of mommy's pride because that lady was so easy to accept Hunter's generosity even after Reba had told her that the man she was marrying was called Elliot ! These were mommy's own blase words about how easy it was for her to accept the H's generosity:
‘Silly, you know what I’m doing here. As for how, Hunter arranged it all. He flew over to get me in his own plane two days ago. He brought his cousin Lucy with him, and she’s staying with Maggie and Christopher until after the operation.’
All that drama about mommy's pride and then that's what I got ? This could've been a fantastic trainwreck with a superb presentation of the revenge trope but the author failed to capitalize on the raw material. The H wasn't even half as vengeful as I'd thought he'd be. He was a baby compared to the vengeful guys that the old school HP authors wrote about. Hunter was mean and threatening but it was obvious that he still cared for the TSTL heroine. The author also took the easy route and turned the OM into a nasty, cheating scumbag. The novel entertained me and I laughed a lot at Reba's dumbshittery so that's the only reason this is getting 2.5 stars. It's not a book I'll read again but I will look into other novels written by the author to see if those are better.
Safety: No OW. The heroine shared a few kisses with the OM while they were engaged. There's no information about Hunter's celibacy during their short separation but I figured he was celibate since he was so obsessed with Reba.
This is the H, Hunter:
This is the heroine, Reba, with her gold digging eyes:
OK, I'm sorry; Reba's not really a gold digger. She just acted that way because she needed money for her mommy's surgery for some unnamed crippling ailment.
OK, so I should've heeded Boogenhagen's review and used some common sense and left this for a day when I had nothing much to do. But, I really hoped that this would've been a trainwrecky feast of revenge. Alas ! what I got was a mild migraine that stemmed from my own huge desire to seek vengeance against this heroine for being TSTL and a dumb liar ! I'm not going to do a proper review because Boogenhagen and St. Margaret have done awesome and thoroughly entertaining ones, which you should read here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm just gonna have with fun with the pure stupidity of this heroine Reba. Reba was a model with a good heart but very little common sense and almost minimal logical reasoning skills. To put it simply, Reba was more ridiculous than a fat Corgi dog wearing tight granny panties:
She annoyed the F out of me and I didn't feel sorry for her when the H Hunter was being mean to her because she brought it all on herself. My reaction to Reba's itty bitty broken hearted feelings was pure stoicism:
Why ? Because all she had to do to prevent her heartbreak was to be honest with the man who loved her ! People are supposed to trust those they love and Hunter adored that dumb bitch. Theirs was a case of insta-love and insta-lust so she could've used some common sense and confided in the man because he did ask her to marry him. But no, she kept her mouth shut and chose to be a martyr because her dear dying mommy had too much pride. The worst part about this whole situation was that I saw absolutely no signs of mommy's pride because that lady was so easy to accept Hunter's generosity even after Reba had told her that the man she was marrying was called Elliot ! These were mommy's own blase words about how easy it was for her to accept the H's generosity:
‘Silly, you know what I’m doing here. As for how, Hunter arranged it all. He flew over to get me in his own plane two days ago. He brought his cousin Lucy with him, and she’s staying with Maggie and Christopher until after the operation.’
All that drama about mommy's pride and then that's what I got ? This could've been a fantastic trainwreck with a superb presentation of the revenge trope but the author failed to capitalize on the raw material. The H wasn't even half as vengeful as I'd thought he'd be. He was a baby compared to the vengeful guys that the old school HP authors wrote about. Hunter was mean and threatening but it was obvious that he still cared for the TSTL heroine. The author also took the easy route and turned the OM into a nasty, cheating scumbag. The novel entertained me and I laughed a lot at Reba's dumbshittery so that's the only reason this is getting 2.5 stars. It's not a book I'll read again but I will look into other novels written by the author to see if those are better.
Safety: No OW. The heroine shared a few kisses with the OM while they were engaged. There's no information about Hunter's celibacy during their short separation but I figured he was celibate since he was so obsessed with Reba.
This is the H, Hunter:
This is the heroine, Reba, with her gold digging eyes:
OK, I'm sorry; Reba's not really a gold digger. She just acted that way because she needed money for her mommy's surgery for some unnamed crippling ailment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2016
A revenge-by-hero story that is full of emotions, but the heroine's reason for not opening her mouth at *any* point in the story and saying "I need money for my mother's life-or-death operation" is ridiculous. (Reason: my mother is proud and wouldn't want anyone outside of the family to know).
That mitigated my enjoyment of the rest of the story which is heroine torture by the hero and angst of her own making. Heroine torture can be so much fun to read - when she isn't at fault and you're anticipating a good grovel. This is just heroine torture with no good grovel to look forward to.
So the plot:
Honestly - these two deserve each other. They both lied by omission when they first met, but the heroine's lies lasted for the entire book. She deserves to be with the two-timing OM - but then I couldn't warm up to the H all the much, either. "There's a lid for every pot" they say. This is one of those stories.
That mitigated my enjoyment of the rest of the story which is heroine torture by the hero and angst of her own making. Heroine torture can be so much fun to read - when she isn't at fault and you're anticipating a good grovel. This is just heroine torture with no good grovel to look forward to.
So the plot:
Honestly - these two deserve each other. They both lied by omission when they first met, but the heroine's lies lasted for the entire book. She deserves to be with the two-timing OM - but then I couldn't warm up to the H all the much, either. "There's a lid for every pot" they say. This is one of those stories.
August 22, 2018
Re The Bitter Price of Love - Amanda Browning's last HP before a six year hiatus is your standard h willing to sell herself for money trope.
As usual, it is flavored with AB's standard nematode H who loves nothing better than tart shaming and berating his h into browbeaten submissive adoration to earn an undeserved, dubious HEA.
This one also has the AB standard 23 yr old model h, who is really a pure and virtuous girl underneath her exotic looks, but her mum is ill and needs the HP Gold Standard American Operation to ensure her real recovery.
For whatever reason, AB lets us know that the h is definitely on the upswing of her career and getting great assignments, but is unable to get a loan that would pay for the Gold Standard American Operation based on her earnings.
So our soon to be martyred h is forced to consider marrying a rich guy, (who claims he loves her,) for money - tho AB is quick to assure us the h likes him and if she did marry him, she would do her best to be a dutiful wife, even is she isn't IN love with him.
That decision can wait tho, we a have photo shoot on a yacht to go to. The h gets to the yacht and BAM! The Lurve Force Mojo kicks in and the h is in love with a member of the yacht's crew.
There are tender moments, unicorn grooming licenses are banished and then the AB HP Hand of Doom and Drama descends.
The h's mum needs the operation like yesterday and the h figures the H can't help, cause he is a just a deck hand and probably poor.
Also, mum has her pride, so no one is allowed to explain to their dearest new true love that money is urgently required for the American Gold Standard Operation or allowed to ask if maybe the new true love knows how to set up a Go Fund Me page.
Instead the h dumps the H while explaining she needs a man with money and rushes to accept Rich Guy's proposal.
Cause while she can't tell her true forever love about such a personal family matter, even tho they exchanged body fluids and all, it is no problem whatsoever to tell Rich Guy all about the sad mum situation and get him to put up a chunk of cash and big diamond ring in order to get trophy groping rights over the h.
Then we meet Rich Guy's cousin - and guess who it is? Yep, the black sheep EXTREMELY rich and not a deck hand at all H. There is a lot of unfriendly competition between the two men. The introduction of the h as the Rich Guy's new fiancee sets the h squarely in the middle, as the two men face off like dogs fighting over a juicy bone.
We also meet Rich Guy's mum, sister and the sister's BFF, Sibyl. Sibyl is clearly a cause for contention between Rich Guy and both the H and Rich Guy's sister, but AB is going to make us wait on that.
In the meantime we get the full Angry H effect of tart shaming, attempts at semi forced seduction, gold digger beratement and a threat that the h has 36 hours to break the engagement or the H will go all medieval on her life and ruin her while pumping and dumping her too.
The h is in love with the H of course. But she really needs that money, so there is h vacillation and melting resistance to the H's forced fondling and roofie kisses. After several pages of manufactured h dilemma angst, the h finds out that Rich Guy is a serial cheater.
He was engaged to Sibyl before the h, but he had ladies on the side and Sibyl dumped his hiney. The h is literally outraged because Rich Guy is trying it on again with Sibyl, all the while he is engaged to her.
So when Rich Guy's mum tells the h that she did marry for security and position and it wasn't worth it, the h decides she needs to break the engagement and she does. (Thinking all the while that at least she can stop feeling guilty for marrying a guy she isn't in love with cause he can't be faithful.)
The Rich Guy's final parting shot is a temper tantrum the h is leaving with the H and his gloating when he calls the h a tart and rejoices that she is ill advisedly in love with the H who knows the h is a gold digger.
(Like being a cheater is better than marrying for money and like he himself wasn't willing to buy his way into the h's bed and still cheat on her. Pot, kettle, black anyone?)
However she still needs the money for the Gold Standard Operation and the island doesn't have Wi Fi for a Twitter Appeal. So the h bargains with the H to pay to play and after the Big Night of Love on Golden Shores of Transcendent Bliss, the h accepts the cheque the H writes out for the exact amount of the surgery.
The H is furious when the h deposits it. Which was a mistake. She should have either requested a wire transfer or taken it to his bank for a cash payout.
(So make note HP Voyagers - when you make your H pay to play, it is always Cash in Hand and do NOT take American Express.)
In retaliation for the h's conniving prostitution, the H cancels payment on the cheque and the h is forced to track him down to cry all over him. He offers the h a million dollars to be his gold digging wife and the h refuses, tears his new cheque up and cries some more.
(I felt the H's fury was purely contrived at this point. The h was honest that she needed money and he agreed to the bargain. He also had an inkling that there was something serious that she needed that money for and yet he still chooses to be a nematode slime pustule about it because she isn't kowtowing enough to suit his ego and she had the temerity to get engaged to his despised cousin.)
In retaliation for refusing to marry him, the H drags the h off to an undisclosed location while making all kinds of comments about how the h is going to have pay him double time for all of his time and aggravation.
We get a good idear of what kind of payment he expects too and it isn't dollars or euros that will clear this debt.
It turns out the H is taking the h to see her mother, who is quite happy to tell the H all about her needs for financial assistance. The H is delighted to make a huge contribution to her upkeep as long as she plays Pimp Mama who needs her fix and pushes the h into marrying the H.
Apparently it is going to take at least 30 years to clear the h's debt to the H and he wants a legal fixed mortgage, with interest.
Then the H takes off in his helicopter. Just to reinforce that the h needs to bow down before him and crawl for his magnificent generosity, the h gets to take a really long car drive to meet up with the H.
There we have the big reveal of how the H knew she couldn't really be a gold digger, but he was angry and it took him a week to figure out why she needed the money.
Now that he has seen she can grovel correctly, the H will magnanimously marry her and chain her to the foot of his bed for a truly standard AB HP HEA.
This one is pretty much the AB standard day at the HP office with a quick manufactured angst dip for those who don't have time to delve into deeper angst waters.
I personally am not a huge AB fan, but this isn't her worst by any means. So keep it on the very back burner for when you only have time for a quick HPlandia trip and want a mildly tacky, but somewhat angsty HP outing.
As usual, it is flavored with AB's standard nematode H who loves nothing better than tart shaming and berating his h into browbeaten submissive adoration to earn an undeserved, dubious HEA.
This one also has the AB standard 23 yr old model h, who is really a pure and virtuous girl underneath her exotic looks, but her mum is ill and needs the HP Gold Standard American Operation to ensure her real recovery.
For whatever reason, AB lets us know that the h is definitely on the upswing of her career and getting great assignments, but is unable to get a loan that would pay for the Gold Standard American Operation based on her earnings.
So our soon to be martyred h is forced to consider marrying a rich guy, (who claims he loves her,) for money - tho AB is quick to assure us the h likes him and if she did marry him, she would do her best to be a dutiful wife, even is she isn't IN love with him.
That decision can wait tho, we a have photo shoot on a yacht to go to. The h gets to the yacht and BAM! The Lurve Force Mojo kicks in and the h is in love with a member of the yacht's crew.
There are tender moments, unicorn grooming licenses are banished and then the AB HP Hand of Doom and Drama descends.
The h's mum needs the operation like yesterday and the h figures the H can't help, cause he is a just a deck hand and probably poor.
Also, mum has her pride, so no one is allowed to explain to their dearest new true love that money is urgently required for the American Gold Standard Operation or allowed to ask if maybe the new true love knows how to set up a Go Fund Me page.
Instead the h dumps the H while explaining she needs a man with money and rushes to accept Rich Guy's proposal.
Cause while she can't tell her true forever love about such a personal family matter, even tho they exchanged body fluids and all, it is no problem whatsoever to tell Rich Guy all about the sad mum situation and get him to put up a chunk of cash and big diamond ring in order to get trophy groping rights over the h.
Then we meet Rich Guy's cousin - and guess who it is? Yep, the black sheep EXTREMELY rich and not a deck hand at all H. There is a lot of unfriendly competition between the two men. The introduction of the h as the Rich Guy's new fiancee sets the h squarely in the middle, as the two men face off like dogs fighting over a juicy bone.
We also meet Rich Guy's mum, sister and the sister's BFF, Sibyl. Sibyl is clearly a cause for contention between Rich Guy and both the H and Rich Guy's sister, but AB is going to make us wait on that.
In the meantime we get the full Angry H effect of tart shaming, attempts at semi forced seduction, gold digger beratement and a threat that the h has 36 hours to break the engagement or the H will go all medieval on her life and ruin her while pumping and dumping her too.
The h is in love with the H of course. But she really needs that money, so there is h vacillation and melting resistance to the H's forced fondling and roofie kisses. After several pages of manufactured h dilemma angst, the h finds out that Rich Guy is a serial cheater.
He was engaged to Sibyl before the h, but he had ladies on the side and Sibyl dumped his hiney. The h is literally outraged because Rich Guy is trying it on again with Sibyl, all the while he is engaged to her.
So when Rich Guy's mum tells the h that she did marry for security and position and it wasn't worth it, the h decides she needs to break the engagement and she does. (Thinking all the while that at least she can stop feeling guilty for marrying a guy she isn't in love with cause he can't be faithful.)
The Rich Guy's final parting shot is a temper tantrum the h is leaving with the H and his gloating when he calls the h a tart and rejoices that she is ill advisedly in love with the H who knows the h is a gold digger.
(Like being a cheater is better than marrying for money and like he himself wasn't willing to buy his way into the h's bed and still cheat on her. Pot, kettle, black anyone?)
However she still needs the money for the Gold Standard Operation and the island doesn't have Wi Fi for a Twitter Appeal. So the h bargains with the H to pay to play and after the Big Night of Love on Golden Shores of Transcendent Bliss, the h accepts the cheque the H writes out for the exact amount of the surgery.
The H is furious when the h deposits it. Which was a mistake. She should have either requested a wire transfer or taken it to his bank for a cash payout.
(So make note HP Voyagers - when you make your H pay to play, it is always Cash in Hand and do NOT take American Express.)
In retaliation for the h's conniving prostitution, the H cancels payment on the cheque and the h is forced to track him down to cry all over him. He offers the h a million dollars to be his gold digging wife and the h refuses, tears his new cheque up and cries some more.
(I felt the H's fury was purely contrived at this point. The h was honest that she needed money and he agreed to the bargain. He also had an inkling that there was something serious that she needed that money for and yet he still chooses to be a nematode slime pustule about it because she isn't kowtowing enough to suit his ego and she had the temerity to get engaged to his despised cousin.)
In retaliation for refusing to marry him, the H drags the h off to an undisclosed location while making all kinds of comments about how the h is going to have pay him double time for all of his time and aggravation.
We get a good idear of what kind of payment he expects too and it isn't dollars or euros that will clear this debt.
It turns out the H is taking the h to see her mother, who is quite happy to tell the H all about her needs for financial assistance. The H is delighted to make a huge contribution to her upkeep as long as she plays Pimp Mama who needs her fix and pushes the h into marrying the H.
Apparently it is going to take at least 30 years to clear the h's debt to the H and he wants a legal fixed mortgage, with interest.
Then the H takes off in his helicopter. Just to reinforce that the h needs to bow down before him and crawl for his magnificent generosity, the h gets to take a really long car drive to meet up with the H.
There we have the big reveal of how the H knew she couldn't really be a gold digger, but he was angry and it took him a week to figure out why she needed the money.
Now that he has seen she can grovel correctly, the H will magnanimously marry her and chain her to the foot of his bed for a truly standard AB HP HEA.
This one is pretty much the AB standard day at the HP office with a quick manufactured angst dip for those who don't have time to delve into deeper angst waters.
I personally am not a huge AB fan, but this isn't her worst by any means. So keep it on the very back burner for when you only have time for a quick HPlandia trip and want a mildly tacky, but somewhat angsty HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2018
I prefer Margaret Pargeter books.
October 14, 2017
All for the price of pride
A lot of anguish happened because of pride on all sides in this tale. It was a good book but I thought incredulous as all that hurt for wronged pride. Geez, I mean talk about needing to get your priorities straight.
A lot of anguish happened because of pride on all sides in this tale. It was a good book but I thought incredulous as all that hurt for wronged pride. Geez, I mean talk about needing to get your priorities straight.
October 1, 2021
The h and H fall in love with each other, but the h breaks off the relationship because she needs money for her mother’s surgery and she therefore needs to marry a rich guy.
She never tells the H why she is so desperate for money because she has promised her mother that she wouldn’t tell anyone of her mother’s illness. Only at the end of the book the H finds out why she needs money.
Anyway, the h gets engaged with a rich man. That doesn’t stop her from again and again making out with the H. It’s more than just kissing that they do.
She then finds out that the rich OM wants to cheat on her with his former girlfriend. The h is upset because she had never thought that her fiancé (the rich OM) would be a cheater.
Well, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. She cheats on the OM many, many times with the H. But when she hears the OM ask another girl for some hanky panky, she despises him for being a cheater.
But it’s a good, engaging read. He is a besotted man.
She never tells the H why she is so desperate for money because she has promised her mother that she wouldn’t tell anyone of her mother’s illness. Only at the end of the book the H finds out why she needs money.
Anyway, the h gets engaged with a rich man. That doesn’t stop her from again and again making out with the H. It’s more than just kissing that they do.
She then finds out that the rich OM wants to cheat on her with his former girlfriend. The h is upset because she had never thought that her fiancé (the rich OM) would be a cheater.
Well, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. She cheats on the OM many, many times with the H. But when she hears the OM ask another girl for some hanky panky, she despises him for being a cheater.
But it’s a good, engaging read. He is a besotted man.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2021
This was a good read.
September 16, 2017
Mistress for hire!
Hunter Jamieson has been furious to discover that his cousin's intended bride was the same little gold digger who had run out on him only days before. And it seemed Reba Wyeth was up to her old tricks....
She needed money--fast. And marrying Eliot Thorson III seemed the perfect deal. He'd get a beautiful woman on his arm. Reba would get the cash. Simple. Only Hunter Jamieson stood in her way. She had made the mistake of falling for the man, only to have to say goodbye. She'd had her reasons, of course, but Hunter wasn't interested in explanations--only revenge!
The wedding was off! If Reba wanted money she could have it, but on one condition--that she become his mistress!
Of Trail of Love:
"Amanda Browning's portrayal of one woman's difficult search for the truth packs a wallop in itself, but when paired with an obsessive love, readers get twice the fun."--Romantic Times (less)
Hunter Jamieson has been furious to discover that his cousin's intended bride was the same little gold digger who had run out on him only days before. And it seemed Reba Wyeth was up to her old tricks....
She needed money--fast. And marrying Eliot Thorson III seemed the perfect deal. He'd get a beautiful woman on his arm. Reba would get the cash. Simple. Only Hunter Jamieson stood in her way. She had made the mistake of falling for the man, only to have to say goodbye. She'd had her reasons, of course, but Hunter wasn't interested in explanations--only revenge!
The wedding was off! If Reba wanted money she could have it, but on one condition--that she become his mistress!
Of Trail of Love:
"Amanda Browning's portrayal of one woman's difficult search for the truth packs a wallop in itself, but when paired with an obsessive love, readers get twice the fun."--Romantic Times (less)
June 1, 2022
Reread and remembered nothing. Sleazy and disgusting. Contrived and HEA is not believable.
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