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An Unsuitable Wife
Sidone Was A Novice When It Came To Matters Of The Heart.Perhaps it was inevitable that when she met Mike Brennan she was immediately bowled over by his irresistible charm. Mike soon made it clear though that he wasn't interested in romance, so what made tomboy Sidonie sure she was the one woman for him? Then the time came for Sidonie to leave, but Mike refused to let her go! Did that mean he actually felt something for her? Or was Sidonie always destined to be "an unsuitable wife" for Mike?
179 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Armstrong
318 books92 followersGillian Smith (alias Lindsay Armstrong) was born in South Africa. She grew up with three ambitions: to become a writer, to travel the world, and to be a game ranger. She didn't achieve the last one, but her fascination for wildlife and that special something about Africa and its big game still remains with her. When she went to work it was in travel, at an agency and an airline, and this started her on the road to seeing the world.
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 18, 2018
Re An Unsuitable Wife - Lindsay Armstrong brings us a true Bildungsroman, or coming of age story with this very relaxed and lovely HPlandia outing.
Sidonie, our 20 year old orphaned h, has just been booted from an Outback teaching job she thought was in the bag and is currently sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away and wondering just what she is going to do next.
Sidonie comes from an usual background. Her mum died early on and her professor dad was a physicist. He was a very absent minded father, fortunately he also had tenure and a bunch of professor type friends willing to lend a hand with child raising. Sidonie grew up in a hothouse uni environment, with a English Lit degree plus a degree in mechanical science.
What Sidonie really wants to do is work on engines, the faster the better. But alas, Sidonie is a girl and a tiny, cute one at that, so she starts talking horsepower, mach 1 and RPM's and people look at her in horror until she shyly runs away.
It doesn't help that Sidonie's current fashion sense begins and ends with the Spinster University Librarian look either- somehow her little hair bun, tweed houndstooth skirt and crisp white blouse seem a little out of place for the rough and tumble of the real world.
So Sid is sitting on the dock, looking a little woebegone, when Mike, who is dressed in disreputable cutoff's and wears a red bandanna like a pirate on his way too long hair, stops by and asks if Sidonie can sail.
As a matter of fact, Sidonie has mad sailing skilz, cause her and her ex BFF old boyfriend used to sail like mad people all around Melbourne and area. Until he met a girl and truly fell in love right after Sidonie's father died and Sid got dumped.
She is okay with it, cause she figured out she did not love the guy after all, but it does bruise her pride a bit and Sid just wants to figure out how she fits into things. Right now no place seems right and nothing in the world seem to be a fit for her unusual angles.
Sidonie had a teaching job with little kids, but for some reason the higher school officials did not think that teaching poker and hornpipe jig dancing alongside English was the proper way to provide an Australian education - I still think that was very narrow-minded of them. Poker is a handy skill to have everywhere, kinda like Visa.
Mike needs to move this new boat to a new berth in Melbourne, and he plans on a leisurely trip around the Whitsunday Island Group in the Coral Sea and to finish up with a nice little jaunt through the Tasmanian Sea and then onto Melbourne. Sidonie can be his crew and trade passage for some sailing and some kitchen duty - only sailing and kitchen duty, there will be no funny business.
Sidonie carefully checks out Mike's references with the local shop owner and a friendly policeman, after being assured that Mike is a right 'un, Sidonie buys two bikinis in a fit of pique that Mike wasn't impressed with the Spinster Librarian look and it is off to sail the Coral Sea we go.
There is only one tiny, small problem. Sidonie lived all her prior life on a big university campus and those places have cafeterias, so Sid has no idear of how to cook. Not to worry tho, Mike has an old cookbook and really, it doesn't look to be rocket science.
Sidonie almost burns the boat down. Mike has a little hissy fit, but after a good scrub down and Sidonie shows her magic with the engine, all is well and the journey continues on. Mike resolves to teach Sidonie to cook after she asks him to and sailing commences.
Mike and Sid have deep discussions on shoes and strings and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings while we get treated to some excellent Whitsunday area travelogue.
There is another little Mike hissy fit incident when it is discovered that Sidonie can sail like a demon, but cannot swim a stroke. So swimming lessons are added to the daily roster. Sidonie has one fault tho, she is overwhelmingly curious about EVERYTHING. Right now she is getting curious and curiouser about Mike. She suspects he isn't the temporary boat mover sailor he claims to be.
The boat has a fancy schmancy new GPS system and Mike teaches a very interested Sid on how to use it. He also has a very good knowledge of wind and weather patterns and all kinds of srsly mechanical things. Sidonie thinks Mike might have been an Air Force Pilot, but respecting Mike's inner space while trying to figure out her own, she doesn't ask him about it.
By now Sidonie is in love, but for her it is kind of a friendly adoring from afar love, cause Mike is way, way above Sidonie's lurve mojo pay grade. She is in the kiddie pool and Mike is the kinda man who makes his own ocean. Sidonie just resolves to be in love and enjoy it, she knows nothing is ever going to come of it, Mike wouldn't be interested in someone like her.
In fact, when Mike and Sid run into some other yachters who are Mike friends, Sidonie is sure the tanned and elegant ladies sunning themselves topless on the upper deck are much more Mike's style.
That soon proves to be the case when Mike and Sid and Mike's friend and his girlfriend all end up at the same port and go out one night. We learn that Mike used to be engaged to the friend's sister, but she couldn't handle Mike's job as a test plane pilot and married someone else. The boat Mike and Sid are sailing is really Mike's, he flipped a couple of other boats and traded up and sailing around is his release from being a test pilot on jets with huge engines.
Sidonie isn't frightened by Mike's job, she is pretty familiar with a hi-test engine. But Sidonie does have to share a frown of disapproval when the friend's girlfriend makes a move on Mike and he spends the night with her. Mike almost sends Sidonie on to Melbourne, but at the last minute he changes his mind and drags Sid away from the plane. His friend eventually forgives him too.
Mike and Sidonie sail on and Sidonie buys herself an awesomely fashionable hat. She wears it around for adventures like giving Mike more hissy fits when she helps a new pen pal haul her laundry and her baby home in one port and Mike is afraid she has been sold to pirates or something.
Then there is the Big Storm Sequence and the Fight for Ocean Survival to a Safe Harbor, (which is one of the iron clad inclusion laws of writing any kind of book about sailing around - even if it is little boats in a bathtub.)
Then Sidonie hits her head and Mike is really concerned, this leads to Mike finally giving into his need to get Sidonie really close to him and unicorn grooming licenses are revoked. It takes a few times to get to the Transcendent Golden Shores of Passionate Bliss, but eventually Mike charts the right course and the whole thing is a great bang of deelite.
As we near the end of our voyage, Sidonie is fathoms deeps in love and keeping a mental Dear Diary monologue going. She has a heartbreaking moment of angst when Mike's friend shows up in his boat again, this time he is sailing with his sister - Mike's former fiancee. The ex fiance is almost divorced and when Sid looks at her, she sees everything that Sid is not.
The ex-fiancee is svelte and sophisticated and assured and knows exactly where she wants to be. Unfortunately she is really nice too and Sidonie can't help but feel that Mike will be anxious to get her back.
Mike says he isn't interested in the ex anymore, she had serious issues with his job as as a test pilot and she seriously put the pressure on him to give up his dream job and Mike knows that kind of behavior doesn't change. Sidonie doesn't believe him, so she packs up her fabulous hat and her bikinis and Mike's red bandanna and stows away on a barge while singing the goodbye blues.
(Sidonie has her own unique Dover Sole theory of relationships. There is the fish and chip kinda relationship, which is quite tasty and comforting for a good fry up. Then there is the Dover Sole kinda relationship, which is all kinds of elegant and exquisite and probably what Mike should hold out for. She thinks she is on the mass fry up end of the spectrum.)
Sidonie leaves Mike a note and then goes to Melbourne to get a teaching job, a grotty flat and have some mopey moments. As she is pondering her fate and tripping over the curb as she gets off the bus, a pair of tanned arms sweep her off her feet. It is Mike and he has been challenging police officers everywhere to find his Sidonie.
He delayed returning to his job in England to track her down and got lucky when his phone bill had her Melbourne friend's phone number on it. In a hugely sweet and epic declaration of True Love Forever, Mike painstakingly enumerates all the reasons why Sweet Sidonie is the only one for him and how he will love her and adore her forever and she is the Exquisite Exclusive Lobster of Love Relationships, so will she please put on her fabulous fashionable hat and her special dress and marry him?
Sidonie tosses Mike his red bandanna and leaves off singing the blues. She loves Mike just as much as he loves her and Mike assures her that she will get the hang of kids too--eventually--she just needs to think of them as little combustion engines and she will be totally set. But that won't be for some years yet, there are big, fast engines for Mike to test and Sidonie to work on.
In the meantime, with Sidonie in her fabulous hat and Mike in his bespoke suit and red bandanna, the two of them pledge their vows to each other and we leave them ready to sail the shores of love together in a very pink sparkly and engine revving truly excellent HPlandia HEA.
Sidonie, our 20 year old orphaned h, has just been booted from an Outback teaching job she thought was in the bag and is currently sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away and wondering just what she is going to do next.
Sidonie comes from an usual background. Her mum died early on and her professor dad was a physicist. He was a very absent minded father, fortunately he also had tenure and a bunch of professor type friends willing to lend a hand with child raising. Sidonie grew up in a hothouse uni environment, with a English Lit degree plus a degree in mechanical science.
What Sidonie really wants to do is work on engines, the faster the better. But alas, Sidonie is a girl and a tiny, cute one at that, so she starts talking horsepower, mach 1 and RPM's and people look at her in horror until she shyly runs away.
It doesn't help that Sidonie's current fashion sense begins and ends with the Spinster University Librarian look either- somehow her little hair bun, tweed houndstooth skirt and crisp white blouse seem a little out of place for the rough and tumble of the real world.
So Sid is sitting on the dock, looking a little woebegone, when Mike, who is dressed in disreputable cutoff's and wears a red bandanna like a pirate on his way too long hair, stops by and asks if Sidonie can sail.
As a matter of fact, Sidonie has mad sailing skilz, cause her and her ex BFF old boyfriend used to sail like mad people all around Melbourne and area. Until he met a girl and truly fell in love right after Sidonie's father died and Sid got dumped.
She is okay with it, cause she figured out she did not love the guy after all, but it does bruise her pride a bit and Sid just wants to figure out how she fits into things. Right now no place seems right and nothing in the world seem to be a fit for her unusual angles.
Sidonie had a teaching job with little kids, but for some reason the higher school officials did not think that teaching poker and hornpipe jig dancing alongside English was the proper way to provide an Australian education - I still think that was very narrow-minded of them. Poker is a handy skill to have everywhere, kinda like Visa.
Mike needs to move this new boat to a new berth in Melbourne, and he plans on a leisurely trip around the Whitsunday Island Group in the Coral Sea and to finish up with a nice little jaunt through the Tasmanian Sea and then onto Melbourne. Sidonie can be his crew and trade passage for some sailing and some kitchen duty - only sailing and kitchen duty, there will be no funny business.
Sidonie carefully checks out Mike's references with the local shop owner and a friendly policeman, after being assured that Mike is a right 'un, Sidonie buys two bikinis in a fit of pique that Mike wasn't impressed with the Spinster Librarian look and it is off to sail the Coral Sea we go.
There is only one tiny, small problem. Sidonie lived all her prior life on a big university campus and those places have cafeterias, so Sid has no idear of how to cook. Not to worry tho, Mike has an old cookbook and really, it doesn't look to be rocket science.
Sidonie almost burns the boat down. Mike has a little hissy fit, but after a good scrub down and Sidonie shows her magic with the engine, all is well and the journey continues on. Mike resolves to teach Sidonie to cook after she asks him to and sailing commences.
Mike and Sid have deep discussions on shoes and strings and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings while we get treated to some excellent Whitsunday area travelogue.
There is another little Mike hissy fit incident when it is discovered that Sidonie can sail like a demon, but cannot swim a stroke. So swimming lessons are added to the daily roster. Sidonie has one fault tho, she is overwhelmingly curious about EVERYTHING. Right now she is getting curious and curiouser about Mike. She suspects he isn't the temporary boat mover sailor he claims to be.
The boat has a fancy schmancy new GPS system and Mike teaches a very interested Sid on how to use it. He also has a very good knowledge of wind and weather patterns and all kinds of srsly mechanical things. Sidonie thinks Mike might have been an Air Force Pilot, but respecting Mike's inner space while trying to figure out her own, she doesn't ask him about it.
By now Sidonie is in love, but for her it is kind of a friendly adoring from afar love, cause Mike is way, way above Sidonie's lurve mojo pay grade. She is in the kiddie pool and Mike is the kinda man who makes his own ocean. Sidonie just resolves to be in love and enjoy it, she knows nothing is ever going to come of it, Mike wouldn't be interested in someone like her.
In fact, when Mike and Sid run into some other yachters who are Mike friends, Sidonie is sure the tanned and elegant ladies sunning themselves topless on the upper deck are much more Mike's style.
That soon proves to be the case when Mike and Sid and Mike's friend and his girlfriend all end up at the same port and go out one night. We learn that Mike used to be engaged to the friend's sister, but she couldn't handle Mike's job as a test plane pilot and married someone else. The boat Mike and Sid are sailing is really Mike's, he flipped a couple of other boats and traded up and sailing around is his release from being a test pilot on jets with huge engines.
Sidonie isn't frightened by Mike's job, she is pretty familiar with a hi-test engine. But Sidonie does have to share a frown of disapproval when the friend's girlfriend makes a move on Mike and he spends the night with her. Mike almost sends Sidonie on to Melbourne, but at the last minute he changes his mind and drags Sid away from the plane. His friend eventually forgives him too.
Mike and Sidonie sail on and Sidonie buys herself an awesomely fashionable hat. She wears it around for adventures like giving Mike more hissy fits when she helps a new pen pal haul her laundry and her baby home in one port and Mike is afraid she has been sold to pirates or something.
Then there is the Big Storm Sequence and the Fight for Ocean Survival to a Safe Harbor, (which is one of the iron clad inclusion laws of writing any kind of book about sailing around - even if it is little boats in a bathtub.)
Then Sidonie hits her head and Mike is really concerned, this leads to Mike finally giving into his need to get Sidonie really close to him and unicorn grooming licenses are revoked. It takes a few times to get to the Transcendent Golden Shores of Passionate Bliss, but eventually Mike charts the right course and the whole thing is a great bang of deelite.
As we near the end of our voyage, Sidonie is fathoms deeps in love and keeping a mental Dear Diary monologue going. She has a heartbreaking moment of angst when Mike's friend shows up in his boat again, this time he is sailing with his sister - Mike's former fiancee. The ex fiance is almost divorced and when Sid looks at her, she sees everything that Sid is not.
The ex-fiancee is svelte and sophisticated and assured and knows exactly where she wants to be. Unfortunately she is really nice too and Sidonie can't help but feel that Mike will be anxious to get her back.
Mike says he isn't interested in the ex anymore, she had serious issues with his job as as a test pilot and she seriously put the pressure on him to give up his dream job and Mike knows that kind of behavior doesn't change. Sidonie doesn't believe him, so she packs up her fabulous hat and her bikinis and Mike's red bandanna and stows away on a barge while singing the goodbye blues.
(Sidonie has her own unique Dover Sole theory of relationships. There is the fish and chip kinda relationship, which is quite tasty and comforting for a good fry up. Then there is the Dover Sole kinda relationship, which is all kinds of elegant and exquisite and probably what Mike should hold out for. She thinks she is on the mass fry up end of the spectrum.)
Sidonie leaves Mike a note and then goes to Melbourne to get a teaching job, a grotty flat and have some mopey moments. As she is pondering her fate and tripping over the curb as she gets off the bus, a pair of tanned arms sweep her off her feet. It is Mike and he has been challenging police officers everywhere to find his Sidonie.
He delayed returning to his job in England to track her down and got lucky when his phone bill had her Melbourne friend's phone number on it. In a hugely sweet and epic declaration of True Love Forever, Mike painstakingly enumerates all the reasons why Sweet Sidonie is the only one for him and how he will love her and adore her forever and she is the Exquisite Exclusive Lobster of Love Relationships, so will she please put on her fabulous fashionable hat and her special dress and marry him?
Sidonie tosses Mike his red bandanna and leaves off singing the blues. She loves Mike just as much as he loves her and Mike assures her that she will get the hang of kids too--eventually--she just needs to think of them as little combustion engines and she will be totally set. But that won't be for some years yet, there are big, fast engines for Mike to test and Sidonie to work on.
In the meantime, with Sidonie in her fabulous hat and Mike in his bespoke suit and red bandanna, the two of them pledge their vows to each other and we leave them ready to sail the shores of love together in a very pink sparkly and engine revving truly excellent HPlandia HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2016
Heroine is a mechanical genius who can't swim, cook, or dress fashionably. She hires on to crew for the hero as he takes a pleasure trip island hoping off the coast of Australia. He is a cynical man-about-town who somehow finds himself intrigued this manic pixie- type girl.
This was a different kind of story that fits with the HP formula when the heroine is jealous of the hero's previous and current (?) lady friends and has to hide her true feelings. Hero is the last one to the party realizing his own feelings. It's different in the setting, the heroine's character and how the author uses her hat and his bandanna for a bit of symbolism. A note of warning if cheating bothers you:
This was a different kind of story that fits with the HP formula when the heroine is jealous of the hero's previous and current (?) lady friends and has to hide her true feelings. Hero is the last one to the party realizing his own feelings. It's different in the setting, the heroine's character and how the author uses her hat and his bandanna for a bit of symbolism. A note of warning if cheating bothers you:
August 8, 2020
Even if it was before the fling, still having sex with OW is not my cuppa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2018
Several people have done a plot review, StMargarets for one , so I just want to focus on my reaction.
This was originally published in 1995 and re-issued as part of a set of 1990s books. I had to check to see who the author was, because at first it resembled a Betty Neels book with the internal monologues the h Sidone constantly went through. Side note: Out of the blue about half way through the book, Sid starts mentally composing diary entries. Rather disconcerting. The story was all over the place for me, with Mike pushing her away, making fun of her, then getting close to her, then "fraternizing" with the OW. Sometimes it just didn't make sense to me.
This was originally published in 1995 and re-issued as part of a set of 1990s books. I had to check to see who the author was, because at first it resembled a Betty Neels book with the internal monologues the h Sidone constantly went through. Side note: Out of the blue about half way through the book, Sid starts mentally composing diary entries. Rather disconcerting. The story was all over the place for me, with Mike pushing her away, making fun of her, then getting close to her, then "fraternizing" with the OW. Sometimes it just didn't make sense to me.
August 19, 2011
3.5 stars but not an option.
Sidonie Hill was hoping to get a job as a teacher, but she was told she was overqualified. Sitting and pondering her future Mike Brennan stumbles across the distraught young woman. He offers her a position as a crew member on the yacht that he is sailing. She agrees after careful consideration and they embark on a tour of many locations as the sail towards their destination. Sidonie quickly falls in love w/ the older man and he warns her not to fall in love w/ him that it wouldn’t be a good thing. Sidonie is a very smart girl, but she is not a typical one either. She doesn’t see herself as glamour and beautiful as she isn’t like other girls. She enjoys mechanical things very much, but she can’t cook and she can barely swim.
Sidonie and Mike are pretty much isolated as they sail across the ocean and they soon have a harmonious r/s. Soon innocent Sidonie falls in love w/ worldly Mike even though he told her not too. His life isn’t what other girls would want to share as his “real” job is very dangerous and many wouldn’t want to sit back and worry about him while he is off working. But Sidonie isn’t like the other girls! I truly believed Mike started caring about her before he even realized it too. He warns her off, then he tries to separate from her sooner than planned – but he changes his mind about that pretty quickly as he just couldn’t let her go. He can’t seem to be away from her. Then he does another stupid thing.
**SPOILER** He sleeps w/ his friend’s girlfriend. He seems to change from the man that she had gotten to know then in that moment in time. He justifies it to his friend as doing him a favor – still bothered me a little – but his friend soon forgives him. Mike seemed to genuinely feel bad about it. Afterwards she thinks he may want her to leave, but he didn’t want to get rid of Sidonie either. I think he just didn’t want her to fall in love w/ him. Perhaps he was saving himself from her taking his heart? Push her away before she wormed in too deep.
It’s as though he can see that she is a Forever kind of girl while he doesn’t think he can commit that way because of his job that he enjoys. Girls that are like that don’t seem to like the risks he takes w/ his life as his experience has taught him.
There was none of that violent passion that comes across in some of these books, but more of a slow falling in love— a connection that developed from the beginning w/out them being fully aware. The adventurous on the sea was a refreshing change from the corporate scene w/ all the parties as well. And I thoroughly enjoyed the uniqueness that was Sidonie Hill. Her ability to deal w/ machinery and knowledge of sailing was nice and to make sure she wasn’t too wonderful the fact that she couldn’t cook to save her life! But she could learn and he would teach her! (in more ways than one.) ;0
Sidonie Hill was hoping to get a job as a teacher, but she was told she was overqualified. Sitting and pondering her future Mike Brennan stumbles across the distraught young woman. He offers her a position as a crew member on the yacht that he is sailing. She agrees after careful consideration and they embark on a tour of many locations as the sail towards their destination. Sidonie quickly falls in love w/ the older man and he warns her not to fall in love w/ him that it wouldn’t be a good thing. Sidonie is a very smart girl, but she is not a typical one either. She doesn’t see herself as glamour and beautiful as she isn’t like other girls. She enjoys mechanical things very much, but she can’t cook and she can barely swim.
Sidonie and Mike are pretty much isolated as they sail across the ocean and they soon have a harmonious r/s. Soon innocent Sidonie falls in love w/ worldly Mike even though he told her not too. His life isn’t what other girls would want to share as his “real” job is very dangerous and many wouldn’t want to sit back and worry about him while he is off working. But Sidonie isn’t like the other girls! I truly believed Mike started caring about her before he even realized it too. He warns her off, then he tries to separate from her sooner than planned – but he changes his mind about that pretty quickly as he just couldn’t let her go. He can’t seem to be away from her. Then he does another stupid thing.
**SPOILER** He sleeps w/ his friend’s girlfriend. He seems to change from the man that she had gotten to know then in that moment in time. He justifies it to his friend as doing him a favor – still bothered me a little – but his friend soon forgives him. Mike seemed to genuinely feel bad about it. Afterwards she thinks he may want her to leave, but he didn’t want to get rid of Sidonie either. I think he just didn’t want her to fall in love w/ him. Perhaps he was saving himself from her taking his heart? Push her away before she wormed in too deep.
It’s as though he can see that she is a Forever kind of girl while he doesn’t think he can commit that way because of his job that he enjoys. Girls that are like that don’t seem to like the risks he takes w/ his life as his experience has taught him.
There was none of that violent passion that comes across in some of these books, but more of a slow falling in love— a connection that developed from the beginning w/out them being fully aware. The adventurous on the sea was a refreshing change from the corporate scene w/ all the parties as well. And I thoroughly enjoyed the uniqueness that was Sidonie Hill. Her ability to deal w/ machinery and knowledge of sailing was nice and to make sure she wasn’t too wonderful the fact that she couldn’t cook to save her life! But she could learn and he would teach her! (in more ways than one.) ;0
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2025
Чудесно книжно пътуване с яхта по австралийското крайбрежие. Корали и заливчета, плюс две симпатични създания.
September 1, 2019
I really quite enjoyed this May to December romance the h is super smart in intelligence but dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to real world stuff like cooking.
The H is a super smart test pilot and with the h's smarts they actually both have lots in common and get on well.
However, he is NOT a nice person. H's do not go around picking up and sleeping with their friends partners. Lets ignore the fact he is a "H" and should only have eyes for our h. Nice people do not betray their friends in that way its just plain tacky. Therefore he loses at least a star for his poor behaviour and that's not because I'm mad he "cheated" on the h (they weren't together so I am kind of ok but not really about that) The cheating with his mates bird makes me rage. He is also dumb about his ex fiancee who shows up to stick her oar in.
Boogenhagen has the definitive spoiler guide for this one :)
The H is a super smart test pilot and with the h's smarts they actually both have lots in common and get on well.
However, he is NOT a nice person. H's do not go around picking up and sleeping with their friends partners. Lets ignore the fact he is a "H" and should only have eyes for our h. Nice people do not betray their friends in that way its just plain tacky. Therefore he loses at least a star for his poor behaviour and that's not because I'm mad he "cheated" on the h (they weren't together so I am kind of ok but not really about that) The cheating with his mates bird makes me rage. He is also dumb about his ex fiancee who shows up to stick her oar in.
Boogenhagen has the definitive spoiler guide for this one :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2015
LA has the knack for writing about plain heroines ! Sid fell for Mike rather quickly while with Mike it was something dat happened slowly. I really ain't sure about Sid's feelings as she might have been looking for a father figure or it cud have been a burst of gratitude. it kinda disturbed me when Mike slept wid Karen though he had not committed himself to Sid in any way then. it really showed that Sid grew on him gradually. Neway I found the end terribly sweet as she gave him back his red bandana and admitted this was the only thing she took when she left him; and he actually wore it for their wedding!
March 24, 2023
This is one of the few category romances that I have read more than once. I liked the setting, the unconventional heroine, the hero's path to personal growth and the slow build to their relationship. Less formulaic than most, it made me feel, for the first time, that I too could try writing a romance. Although I read this book years ago, I'm belatedly adding it to my Goodreads list because I did eventually realise my dream. To date, as Louisa Valentine (a former married name of mine), I have published three romance novels, each with equally unconventional heroines.
February 21, 2021
Mixed feelings
The plot was good. The heroine was a little overdone in my opinion. Without the incident with Karen the book would be a bit boring.
I would think that Sid would feel more resentment afterwards...
The plot was good. The heroine was a little overdone in my opinion. Without the incident with Karen the book would be a bit boring.
I would think that Sid would feel more resentment afterwards...
September 26, 2018
I will take half a star away because I thought the episode with Karen was unnecessary. The story was a bit of a travel log. But the charisma of both of the main characters was brilliant.
January 28, 2024
A few things.
H spends the night with his friend's girlfriend.
H know h is in love with him when he does this. They are not technically together; so I can't really call it cheating... but bros before hos man.
The h forgives him as well. Like I said... not technically cheating but still REALLY KINDA SCUMMY!
The friend does forgive him for it saying Karen was a "b1tch"and the H "did him a favor.
It's still kinda gross and any not twenty something naive girl probably wouldn't take kindly to it.
That being said I did like the h quite a bit.
And the book.
H spends the night with his friend's girlfriend.
H know h is in love with him when he does this. They are not technically together; so I can't really call it cheating... but bros before hos man.
The h forgives him as well. Like I said... not technically cheating but still REALLY KINDA SCUMMY!
The friend does forgive him for it saying Karen was a "b1tch"and the H "did him a favor.
It's still kinda gross and any not twenty something naive girl probably wouldn't take kindly to it.
That being said I did like the h quite a bit.
And the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2024
What an engaging story. Such a good description of a naïve, innocent, clumsy girl yet brilliant in areas of mechanics and a rather mysterious hero with a hidden past that finally surfaced. The unrequited love story set in an adventurous time sailing on a yacht on the high seas surrounding Australia, which incidentally was captured exquisitely! I wouldn't call it angsty but emotionally moving. All of their little conversations that mostly revealed the heroine's character made the story.
June 7, 2019
writing feels stilted and I was bored by the end of the first chapter.
June 16, 2020
finally i found this book. so happy. i read it few years back and completely forgot the name. it was fun read. different from your usual harlequin/ M&B romances. highly reccomend it.
September 7, 2023
3.5 stars….. read a long ago but I recall I enjoyed the plot and liked h’s character
February 2, 2019
I first read this Mills and Boon when it was published back in the 1990s. Strangely it stuck with me so when I saw it available on Kindle I got it.
It is a story of its time. Mike Brennan is an old fashioned leading man, mostly charming and caring but occasionally a bit of a bully and chauvinist. Sid is overtly naive and nerdy and out of place- too much so really. Having said that, this was a very enjoyable read for me. The setting in the Australian islands was lovely, the lavishness of the yacht owning middle classes, the idealising of pilots and wives even, were all a really enjoyable blast from the past.
No mobiles, GPS is a strange and exciting technology, at one point when someone disappears, there is no easy way to find them.
I enjoyed this book, that seems almost a historical romance, despite being contemporaneous to when it was written. If you want to see a more traditional style romance, where the sex is definitely less explicit and the emotions less sophisticated then give this a try.
It is a story of its time. Mike Brennan is an old fashioned leading man, mostly charming and caring but occasionally a bit of a bully and chauvinist. Sid is overtly naive and nerdy and out of place- too much so really. Having said that, this was a very enjoyable read for me. The setting in the Australian islands was lovely, the lavishness of the yacht owning middle classes, the idealising of pilots and wives even, were all a really enjoyable blast from the past.
No mobiles, GPS is a strange and exciting technology, at one point when someone disappears, there is no easy way to find them.
I enjoyed this book, that seems almost a historical romance, despite being contemporaneous to when it was written. If you want to see a more traditional style romance, where the sex is definitely less explicit and the emotions less sophisticated then give this a try.
August 20, 2025
Sometimes a book just clicks with you - and WOW did this ever click. I loved every single thing about it, most of all our dear h, sweet Sid, who embodied everything I love in a romance heroine: honest as the day is long, tomboyish, brave and gallant - she wore her heart on her sleeve and I fricking loved her so so much.
The romance here was a rare slow burn and I got those giddy 'omg he called her sweetheart' moments. It also had a shockingly decent grovel which is rare in M&B/Harlequin. Five out of five chef's kisses.
The romance here was a rare slow burn and I got those giddy 'omg he called her sweetheart' moments. It also had a shockingly decent grovel which is rare in M&B/Harlequin. Five out of five chef's kisses.
May 11, 2024
Original: Ridiculous but cute.
I thought my original 2 star rating might be low, especially since we were in throes of moving us and 3 cats so reread. If I think of it as a story about growing up and learning about people, cooking, swimming, life and love it is good. I got tired of h and her roundabout way of talking but otherwise it is enjoyable. H was sleazy.
I’d leave at 2 stars but the H was epic in the end.
I thought my original 2 star rating might be low, especially since we were in throes of moving us and 3 cats so reread. If I think of it as a story about growing up and learning about people, cooking, swimming, life and love it is good. I got tired of h and her roundabout way of talking but otherwise it is enjoyable. H was sleazy.
I’d leave at 2 stars but the H was epic in the end.
September 25, 2009
Modern
May 14, 2015
Not even 1 star. ಠ_ಠ
hq-to-read
February 6, 2019Sidone Was A Novice When It Came To Matters Of The Heart.
Perhaps it was inevitable that when she met Mike Brennan she was immediately bowled over by his irresistible charm. Mike soon made it clear though that he wasn't interested in romance, so what made tomboy Sidonie sure she was the one woman for him? Then the time came for Sidonie to leave, but Mike refused to let her go! Did that mean he actually felt something for her? Or was Sidonie always destined to be "an unsuitable wife" for Mike?
Perhaps it was inevitable that when she met Mike Brennan she was immediately bowled over by his irresistible charm. Mike soon made it clear though that he wasn't interested in romance, so what made tomboy Sidonie sure she was the one woman for him? Then the time came for Sidonie to leave, but Mike refused to let her go! Did that mean he actually felt something for her? Or was Sidonie always destined to be "an unsuitable wife" for Mike?
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