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Perfect Partner
She was obsessed with getting even!
Juliet Chase was determined to make the arrogant chauvinistic Jake Matthews pay for his public criticism of her best-selling novel. How dared he go around ruining people's careers!
Jake's analysis of Juliet didn't stop at her writing, however. "You're not ready for love, but you challenge me," he said, "and I intend to face that challenge."
Ready or not, Juliet fell in love, throwing her well-ordered life into confusion and her innocent heart into turmoil. For if he didn't respect Juliet herself, he'd never respect her feelings for him....
Juliet Chase was determined to make the arrogant chauvinistic Jake Matthews pay for his public criticism of her best-selling novel. How dared he go around ruining people's careers!
Jake's analysis of Juliet didn't stop at her writing, however. "You're not ready for love, but you challenge me," he said, "and I intend to face that challenge."
Ready or not, Juliet fell in love, throwing her well-ordered life into confusion and her innocent heart into turmoil. For if he didn't respect Juliet herself, he'd never respect her feelings for him....
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1982
23 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Carole Mortimer
1,296 books907 followersI have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 25, 2022
Carole Mortimer never cease to amaze me with her amazing stories,"Perfect Partner" is a lush,charming and romantic tale where the virilely attractive hero Jake Matthews takes one glance at the cynical heroine Juliet Chase and decides to win her heart.Jake is a determined lover all the way through,and i love that Juliet has two other (platonic) boyfriends,Stephen and Ben,OM´s Jake has to compete against!
I have experienced this trope in other harlequin books,where the hero criticises the heroine`s book (quite ruthlessly) and the heroine feels so wronged that she decides to hate him for that.Juliet has a lot of emotional damage to deal with,and for once i was on the hero`s side every time he put her on her place.She hurled very nasty and unfair insults at him-which left me and Jake very frustrated with her! Jake work as a host for a book review programme in television.We learn quite a lot about him..and what i loved the most is that he is a faithful man to the very core once he meets the sherry-eyed Juliet.I don`t think we get a lot of harlequins where the hero barely glance at the wannabe OW...so Jake was a sight to hold-and i just love love love how he ruthlessly pursues Juliet with unwavering longing,patience and passion.He is also the one man who opens her heart...a heart that has stayed cold after so many years.I love that Juliet was the one going after her man in the end-Jake at least deserved that from her!
I have experienced this trope in other harlequin books,where the hero criticises the heroine`s book (quite ruthlessly) and the heroine feels so wronged that she decides to hate him for that.Juliet has a lot of emotional damage to deal with,and for once i was on the hero`s side every time he put her on her place.She hurled very nasty and unfair insults at him-which left me and Jake very frustrated with her! Jake work as a host for a book review programme in television.We learn quite a lot about him..and what i loved the most is that he is a faithful man to the very core once he meets the sherry-eyed Juliet.I don`t think we get a lot of harlequins where the hero barely glance at the wannabe OW...so Jake was a sight to hold-and i just love love love how he ruthlessly pursues Juliet with unwavering longing,patience and passion.He is also the one man who opens her heart...a heart that has stayed cold after so many years.I love that Juliet was the one going after her man in the end-Jake at least deserved that from her!
March 6, 2019
"Perfect Partner" is the story of Juliet and Jake.
Basically, our h is a best selling author whose book (which she writes under a pseudonym) gets trashed on national TV by book critic Jake Matthews. When she meets him in a party held by her best friend and husband, she realizes that he is not just a chauvinist, but also heavily attracted to her. But Juliet doesn't do commitment. Her history with her flighty mother has has made her bitter- and she now juggles two boyfriends who she is not at all serious about..well that is until Jake decides to get serious about her!
When will she reveal her identity to Jake? Will she be able to teach him the lesson she wants to? Will our super conservative hero accept a liberated heroine? Will she discover the truth regarding her family, and mend the relationships that have been broken?
Find out in this headache inducing read- filled with immature impulsive characters, jealousy, slapathons, tantrums, soul searching and a sudden HEA.
Total MEH.
SWE/Safe..ish
2.5/5
Basically, our h is a best selling author whose book (which she writes under a pseudonym) gets trashed on national TV by book critic Jake Matthews. When she meets him in a party held by her best friend and husband, she realizes that he is not just a chauvinist, but also heavily attracted to her. But Juliet doesn't do commitment. Her history with her flighty mother has has made her bitter- and she now juggles two boyfriends who she is not at all serious about..well that is until Jake decides to get serious about her!
When will she reveal her identity to Jake? Will she be able to teach him the lesson she wants to? Will our super conservative hero accept a liberated heroine? Will she discover the truth regarding her family, and mend the relationships that have been broken?
Find out in this headache inducing read- filled with immature impulsive characters, jealousy, slapathons, tantrums, soul searching and a sudden HEA.
Total MEH.
SWE/Safe..ish
2.5/5
June 30, 2021
She was obsessed with getting even!
Juliet was determined to make the arrogant chauvinistic Jake Matthews pay for his public criticism of her best-selling novel. How dared he go around ruining people's careers!
Jake's analysis of Juliet didn't stop at her writing, however. "You're not ready for love, but you challenge me," he said, "and I intend to face that challenge."
Ready or not, Juliet fell in love, throwing her well-ordered life into confusion and her innocent heart into turmoil. For if he didn't respect Juliet herself, he'd never respect her feelings for him...
Juliet was determined to make the arrogant chauvinistic Jake Matthews pay for his public criticism of her best-selling novel. How dared he go around ruining people's careers!
Jake's analysis of Juliet didn't stop at her writing, however. "You're not ready for love, but you challenge me," he said, "and I intend to face that challenge."
Ready or not, Juliet fell in love, throwing her well-ordered life into confusion and her innocent heart into turmoil. For if he didn't respect Juliet herself, he'd never respect her feelings for him...
June 2, 2016
Sigh. Another sexist, chauvinistic romance. There was nothing sexy about the hero. Ninety percent of the time he was molesting her. And the other ten he was insulting her. The heroine should have got herself a restraining order.
March 11, 2022
I dont really know how to review this book. On one hand it was okay, it had a lot of tropes I liked:
Besotted, Hero in pursuit
Successful heroine w a backbone and can stand up for herself
Two somewhat OM, they were friends and casual dates for the heroine, but I liked that the Hero really had to work hard for her hand.
But then, for some reason despite all the pluses, the story didnt grab me and I just found it so so. As it turns out my strong heroine had mommy issues and needed to grow up, which I didn’t appreciate, but it was good that when she did change the author made several months pass and it wasn’t an instantaneous thing.
At the end the big “reveal” falls flat. ☹️ This should have been the climax of the story since it started w a deception (heroine is a writer and hides her true identity from the book critic Hero since he panned her first book) and it just fizzled out…..👎🏻
So yeah, just ok.
Besotted, Hero in pursuit
Successful heroine w a backbone and can stand up for herself
Two somewhat OM, they were friends and casual dates for the heroine, but I liked that the Hero really had to work hard for her hand.
But then, for some reason despite all the pluses, the story didnt grab me and I just found it so so. As it turns out my strong heroine had mommy issues and needed to grow up, which I didn’t appreciate, but it was good that when she did change the author made several months pass and it wasn’t an instantaneous thing.
At the end the big “reveal” falls flat. ☹️ This should have been the climax of the story since it started w a deception (heroine is a writer and hides her true identity from the book critic Hero since he panned her first book) and it just fizzled out…..👎🏻
So yeah, just ok.
March 8, 2022
Young & successful female author - Juliet. Popular and seasoned book critic and TV personality - Jake.
Sparks fly from their first meeting. He is busy dissing the book written by an "amateur female writer" without knowing that she is the one !
However, there is a meeting of minds, and super hot chemistry brewing underneath. Which is taken forward in subsequent meetings.
But every time Jake calls her for arranging a date or drops into her home, there is an OM always lurking around. Not one but 2 actually !! Our Juliet has 2 useful male friends you see. They double up as dates or friends or comrades as per need ;))) And Jake is green with fury and jealousy over this arrangement. Its actually quite innocent and comical :)))))))))
However, their relationship becomes serious, Juliet starts to believe Jake is not just fooling around with her, he is serious about her. Finally, she owns up about being the author he was so disparaging about. There is also some support and mischief created by Juliet's school friend and her husband. The husband is Jake's friend, and Juliet's publisher. So there is a web of misunderstandings, deliberate smoke screens, basically enough dough to cook up a mess that lasts a good 150 pages !!!
Good, racy plot. Silly at times, passionate at times. I had fun reading it.
Sparks fly from their first meeting. He is busy dissing the book written by an "amateur female writer" without knowing that she is the one !
However, there is a meeting of minds, and super hot chemistry brewing underneath. Which is taken forward in subsequent meetings.
But every time Jake calls her for arranging a date or drops into her home, there is an OM always lurking around. Not one but 2 actually !! Our Juliet has 2 useful male friends you see. They double up as dates or friends or comrades as per need ;))) And Jake is green with fury and jealousy over this arrangement. Its actually quite innocent and comical :)))))))))
However, their relationship becomes serious, Juliet starts to believe Jake is not just fooling around with her, he is serious about her. Finally, she owns up about being the author he was so disparaging about. There is also some support and mischief created by Juliet's school friend and her husband. The husband is Jake's friend, and Juliet's publisher. So there is a web of misunderstandings, deliberate smoke screens, basically enough dough to cook up a mess that lasts a good 150 pages !!!
Good, racy plot. Silly at times, passionate at times. I had fun reading it.
February 20, 2021
3.75 stars
Juliet is a writer paired up at her friend's dinner party with Jake, a television book critic, who recently skewered her book which she publishes under a pseudonym. From that dinner, Jake relentlessly pursues her even though she's not interested but succumbs to his kisses (cue traitorous body).
There were a lot of things I liked about this book. The heroine has a successful career, she's independent, and she has a busy social life. Juliet balances two casual boyfriends, a little tidbit I loved. The relationships are not serious or monogamous. It's mostly for companionship or attending events but it causes a lot of jealousy in Jake. Juliet didn't let Jake push her around and dictate her relationship with Ben and Stephen especially since he started throwing his weight around as soon as he met her.
Unfortunately, what brought this book down for me was Juliet's immaturity. She's 24 but acts like a 14 year old with her mother. Her father died and her mother married two younger men following his death. She and her mother have a strained relationship and her bitterness towards this bleeds into her relationship with Jake. This felt like a weak plot point. While it's true that people often look for or understand "love"/relationships that look like what they've seen growing up, this is not the case for Juliet. Her drama with her mom was real but for it to become the crux of the book didn't make sense.
Juliet is a writer paired up at her friend's dinner party with Jake, a television book critic, who recently skewered her book which she publishes under a pseudonym. From that dinner, Jake relentlessly pursues her even though she's not interested but succumbs to his kisses (cue traitorous body).
There were a lot of things I liked about this book. The heroine has a successful career, she's independent, and she has a busy social life. Juliet balances two casual boyfriends, a little tidbit I loved. The relationships are not serious or monogamous. It's mostly for companionship or attending events but it causes a lot of jealousy in Jake. Juliet didn't let Jake push her around and dictate her relationship with Ben and Stephen especially since he started throwing his weight around as soon as he met her.
Unfortunately, what brought this book down for me was Juliet's immaturity. She's 24 but acts like a 14 year old with her mother. Her father died and her mother married two younger men following his death. She and her mother have a strained relationship and her bitterness towards this bleeds into her relationship with Jake. This felt like a weak plot point. While it's true that people often look for or understand "love"/relationships that look like what they've seen growing up, this is not the case for Juliet. Her drama with her mom was real but for it to become the crux of the book didn't make sense.
Read
June 8, 2021This was such a pleasure to read. I loved the heroine, she was like, a playgirl with 2 boy-friends and both of them knew about each other. She didn't let them to get intimate with her and both boy-friends had to accept the platonic relationship and her dating both of them. It was just so funny and amusing. This is first time I've read a romance book where the hero has to compete with 2 boyfriends of the heroine haha
"...finally having glanced at Jake, to see his face like thunder. She doubted he had ever had this much competition before all in the same evening!"
"...finally having glanced at Jake, to see his face like thunder. She doubted he had ever had this much competition before all in the same evening!"
May 5, 2019
Loved it.
h is a complex character and her past is haunting her: she is cynical about love but at the same time frightened by feelings.
H is much older and a real alpha: he pursues her, he is jealous/possessive/ott and at times surprised of his attraction for woman (girl) with many contradictions.
What I appreciated most is his ability to understand that she needs to elaborate her feelings/fears/emotional scars on her own.... alpha but smart!!
Passion is sizzling although there is no explicit sex.
h is a complex character and her past is haunting her: she is cynical about love but at the same time frightened by feelings.
H is much older and a real alpha: he pursues her, he is jealous/possessive/ott and at times surprised of his attraction for woman (girl) with many contradictions.
What I appreciated most is his ability to understand that she needs to elaborate her feelings/fears/emotional scars on her own.... alpha but smart!!
Passion is sizzling although there is no explicit sex.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2010
Juliet is a seventeen-year-old in the body of a 24-year-old woman. If she wants Jake to come back to her, she must become the mature woman she is. Will she be able to love him? And will he?
A lovely romantic story...
A lovely romantic story...
May 3, 2011
Sweet story of a woman-child losing her bitterness of the past. And for once the love interest isn't that big a douchebag!
June 13, 2022
I really liked this when I first started reading it. with the hero so taken with the heroine. Then I got a stalker creepy vibe and also the female heroine is just not very likable at all. She is suddenly cool then she’s biting then she’s warm, there’s no emotional consistency. And the man handling is a little too much. It bothers me but it’s so laughable because I can’t even take it seriously but it’s just not appropriate for any day and age. The book is almost written as if parts of it are in the 1800s with the way men treat women. That said in my mind I happily rewrite the book where the good stuff about the hero and heroine is all there and then it turns out to be quite nice. But I really can only give it two stars because of just the rubbish creepy stalker a vibe , the body abuse and the shrewish heroine.
August 15, 2025
I thought it would be better; after a while the whole story just got silly and annoying. And the h had too many issues with her mother.
And the whole thing with her having two platonic "boyfriends" to compete with the H??? COME ON!!! If those guys were content to be friends without benefits, they were either both gay (perhaps had a thing for each other?), getting it somewhere else, or were missing some vital parts!
I'd rather have had a more serious boyfriend (a guy who thought they had a future together might be okay with no sex for the time being) be real competition, as well as the OW for the same reason, that would have made things more interesting. I don't like when books remind me of silly Romcoms, like this one did.
And the whole thing with her having two platonic "boyfriends" to compete with the H??? COME ON!!! If those guys were content to be friends without benefits, they were either both gay (perhaps had a thing for each other?), getting it somewhere else, or were missing some vital parts!
I'd rather have had a more serious boyfriend (a guy who thought they had a future together might be okay with no sex for the time being) be real competition, as well as the OW for the same reason, that would have made things more interesting. I don't like when books remind me of silly Romcoms, like this one did.
February 5, 2022
When i started reading i realised that the idea for this plotline is really good, but the writing is awful. No matter how much i tried i couldn't like the characters.
June 26, 2011
Hot all over the story! you will likely to suffocate! XD
August 19, 2015
a fast read book
Read
April 22, 2018She was obsessed with getting even!
Juliet was determined to make the arrogant chauvinistic Jake Matthews pay for his public criticism of her best-selling novel. How dared he go around ruining people's careers!
Jake's analysis of Juliet didn't stop at her writing, however. "You're not ready for love, but you challenge me," he said, "and I intend to face that challenge."
Ready or not, Juliet fell in love, throwing her well-ordered life into confusion and her innocent heart into turmoil. For if he didn't respect Juliet herself, he'd never respect her feelings for him....
Juliet was determined to make the arrogant chauvinistic Jake Matthews pay for his public criticism of her best-selling novel. How dared he go around ruining people's careers!
Jake's analysis of Juliet didn't stop at her writing, however. "You're not ready for love, but you challenge me," he said, "and I intend to face that challenge."
Ready or not, Juliet fell in love, throwing her well-ordered life into confusion and her innocent heart into turmoil. For if he didn't respect Juliet herself, he'd never respect her feelings for him....
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews