What do you think?
Antigua Kiss
He had promised never to touch her
Christie's marriage to Caribbean island playboy Ash Lombard was to be for convenience only. Her orphaned nephew would have a real home and she and Ash would be friends, nothing more.
That was fine by Christie, a young widow whose unhappy first marriage had thoroughly destroyed the passionate side of her nature.
But it wasn't long before she discovered that Ash had no intention of keeping his word ....
Christie's marriage to Caribbean island playboy Ash Lombard was to be for convenience only. Her orphaned nephew would have a real home and she and Ash would be friends, nothing more.
That was fine by Christie, a young widow whose unhappy first marriage had thoroughly destroyed the passionate side of her nature.
But it wasn't long before she discovered that Ash had no intention of keeping his word ....
380 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1982
About the author
Anne Weale
225 books49 followersJay Blakeney
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 21, 2013
Meh..rather long winded book with a lot of fill in detail that didn't really matter to the story. I also couldn't relate to either the hero or heroine. Both left me cold. The heroine needed to grow up and get over her past fears. The hero was a manipulative jerk that called all the shots. When he said jump, she said how high.
First he forces her into a physical relationship when he committed only a marriage of convenience. Then he realizes that's not exactly working, so he declares they aren't going to have sex anymore and she says ok. Of course, she is really bothered by the fact that he is getting a little action on the side. After all, such a stud muffin could not possibly go without. So, she pines away desperately unhappy and miscarries the child she is carrying. Now what is a girl to do.... without sex, she can never have his child. Oh, the tragedy.
She should have dumped his sorry a@#% and left him scratching his head or another part of his anatomy.
Avoid. This one didn't stand up to the test of time.
First he forces her into a physical relationship when he committed only a marriage of convenience. Then he realizes that's not exactly working, so he declares they aren't going to have sex anymore and she says ok. Of course, she is really bothered by the fact that he is getting a little action on the side. After all, such a stud muffin could not possibly go without. So, she pines away desperately unhappy and miscarries the child she is carrying. Now what is a girl to do.... without sex, she can never have his child. Oh, the tragedy.
She should have dumped his sorry a@#% and left him scratching his head or another part of his anatomy.
Avoid. This one didn't stand up to the test of time.
December 28, 2017
Marriage of convenience between a young widow and a former rake, set in the beautiful island of Antigua. There were lots of fillers that had nothing to do with moving the plot along. The author loves her antiques and drones on about it. She also seems to have transferred most of the contents of a travel brochure on the island of Antigua onto the pages of her story. Despite all that, the story was mostly riveting: a vintage Harlequin romance :)
February 25, 2024
Um romance bestseller escrito em 1982...
Ash vem para tomar a guarda do seu sobrinho que acabou de ficar órfão de pai e mãe e está a viver com Christie .
Christie tem 25 anos, é viúva ,acredita que é frigida e veste-se muito antiquada. Ash por sua vez, é robusto, moreno, mulherengo e o sonho da mulherada.
Ash convida Christie a sair de Londres e ir viver com ele e o sobrinho por um tempo até este ele se habituar em Antiqua mas o problema é que Ash acaba apaixonando-se. Mas será que Christie irá confiar num homem mulherengo que não consegue resistir a um rabo de saias?
Houve umas peripécias até engraçadas, mas é um romance fofo que entretém e faz-nos sonhar um pouco....
Ash vem para tomar a guarda do seu sobrinho que acabou de ficar órfão de pai e mãe e está a viver com Christie .
Christie tem 25 anos, é viúva ,acredita que é frigida e veste-se muito antiquada. Ash por sua vez, é robusto, moreno, mulherengo e o sonho da mulherada.
Ash convida Christie a sair de Londres e ir viver com ele e o sobrinho por um tempo até este ele se habituar em Antiqua mas o problema é que Ash acaba apaixonando-se. Mas será que Christie irá confiar num homem mulherengo que não consegue resistir a um rabo de saias?
Houve umas peripécias até engraçadas, mas é um romance fofo que entretém e faz-nos sonhar um pouco....
February 28, 2018
My first Anne Weale book and I now need to find more of her books!
I think of this as a meatier Betty Neels (360pages), with lots of sexy times! Love it!
The lush and detailed descriptions might put many off; I think I am old enough now at 40 to enjoy slow living and stop to smell the roses so to speak. The book took place in a few places: London, the not so posh neighbourhood Christie lived in, the posh Central London locales where Ash rented apartments, the Ffaringtons' stately home, and of course, exotic Antigua and Barbados.
The beginning was slow moving in terms of plot; how Ash first arrived in London to take over as John's legal guardian, and how swiftly he had arranged to have Christie and John fly to Antigua for Christmas. Then before Christie could get a proper tan, Ash suggested Christie stay till March to help me restore an old estate he bought, Heron's Sound. Just as Christie agreed to accept his job offer, he stunned her by proposing a marriage of convenience/ companionship! And this time round Ash did NOT give her time to consider, as he knew her so well in the short time that she'd talk herself out of it!
Ash was presented as a libertine, a scrupulous seducer of innocent women but he really was not as bad as his reputation suggested.
There was lots of interior decor speak as Christie prepared to restore Heron's Sound The Ffaringtons were lovely people and it was a huge clue how Ash felt for Christie when he told her he hoped they'd achieve what his friends did- a solid loving marriage.
There's some suitable angst near the end arising from Christie's insecurities regarding Ash's playboy past and his not loving her (so she thought), but the love confession from Ash was so good!
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
This book has the honour of being the first Mills & Boon to feature oral sex!!! In 1982! I hope there's some kind of award or momento to commemorate this special book.
Before accepting Ash's proposal, Christie confided in him that she's frigid. Her first husband had totally turned her off sex but she thought it was her secret shame, so much so she did not even tell her sister. So when Ash promised he'd not do anything she didn't like, she was relieved and accepted the MOC. But to her shock, on their wedding night, Ash forcefully seduced her! She called it a virtual rape because she had been unwilling, but at the same time she acknowledged she had received pleasure! This made her realise she was not frigid, but that her young first husband was an inept lover.
So the historic (literary) moment took place when Christie refused to kiss Ash on the lips, he told her there were "other places to kiss" and she "surrendered to waves of ecstasy". Nothing more explicit than this!
I am still curious if there's really a drink called Antigua Kiss. When Christie had asked Ash what it was, his response was perfect! LOL
Notable quote: Who dares wins.
I think of this as a meatier Betty Neels (360pages), with lots of sexy times! Love it!
The lush and detailed descriptions might put many off; I think I am old enough now at 40 to enjoy slow living and stop to smell the roses so to speak. The book took place in a few places: London, the not so posh neighbourhood Christie lived in, the posh Central London locales where Ash rented apartments, the Ffaringtons' stately home, and of course, exotic Antigua and Barbados.
The beginning was slow moving in terms of plot; how Ash first arrived in London to take over as John's legal guardian, and how swiftly he had arranged to have Christie and John fly to Antigua for Christmas. Then before Christie could get a proper tan, Ash suggested Christie stay till March to help me restore an old estate he bought, Heron's Sound. Just as Christie agreed to accept his job offer, he stunned her by proposing a marriage of convenience/ companionship! And this time round Ash did NOT give her time to consider, as he knew her so well in the short time that she'd talk herself out of it!
Ash was presented as a libertine, a scrupulous seducer of innocent women but he really was not as bad as his reputation suggested.
There was lots of interior decor speak as Christie prepared to restore Heron's Sound The Ffaringtons were lovely people and it was a huge clue how Ash felt for Christie when he told her he hoped they'd achieve what his friends did- a solid loving marriage.
There's some suitable angst near the end arising from Christie's insecurities regarding Ash's playboy past and his not loving her (so she thought), but the love confession from Ash was so good!
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
This book has the honour of being the first Mills & Boon to feature oral sex!!! In 1982! I hope there's some kind of award or momento to commemorate this special book.
Before accepting Ash's proposal, Christie confided in him that she's frigid. Her first husband had totally turned her off sex but she thought it was her secret shame, so much so she did not even tell her sister. So when Ash promised he'd not do anything she didn't like, she was relieved and accepted the MOC. But to her shock, on their wedding night, Ash forcefully seduced her! She called it a virtual rape because she had been unwilling, but at the same time she acknowledged she had received pleasure! This made her realise she was not frigid, but that her young first husband was an inept lover.
So the historic (literary) moment took place when Christie refused to kiss Ash on the lips, he told her there were "other places to kiss" and she "surrendered to waves of ecstasy". Nothing more explicit than this!
I am still curious if there's really a drink called Antigua Kiss. When Christie had asked Ash what it was, his response was perfect! LOL
Notable quote: Who dares wins.
March 12, 2022
I am not sure why I gave this book such a bad and negative review the first time I read it two years ago.
I did not remember reading this and just finished reading it for what I thought was the first time. It was written in 1983 and shows the ideals, beliefs and social norms for that time period.
This time around I can appreciate the talent that shines from this novel that I have found out was the author’s first published book.
Like everyone, the characters in the book are flawed not perfect. I think it was the dubious consent of the female character in the beginning of their marriage and her belief that to hold her husband she needed to continue resisting. His fault that she was just pretending not wanting a physical relationship.
Like all of HQN’s romances, in the end the couple survived the angst, drama and heartbreak and their lack of real and honest communication and the story ended in their HEA.
My FIRST REVIEW FROM 2022:
I believe this is the worst book I have read of Anne Weale! I suppose for the time it was written was current and people's belief systems were on par, however I would to believe tines have changed as this book is now a relic of its Era. That being said even back then I did not come across attitudes depicted in the pages of this book.
I did not remember reading this and just finished reading it for what I thought was the first time. It was written in 1983 and shows the ideals, beliefs and social norms for that time period.
This time around I can appreciate the talent that shines from this novel that I have found out was the author’s first published book.
Like everyone, the characters in the book are flawed not perfect. I think it was the dubious consent of the female character in the beginning of their marriage and her belief that to hold her husband she needed to continue resisting. His fault that she was just pretending not wanting a physical relationship.
Like all of HQN’s romances, in the end the couple survived the angst, drama and heartbreak and their lack of real and honest communication and the story ended in their HEA.
My FIRST REVIEW FROM 2022:
I believe this is the worst book I have read of Anne Weale! I suppose for the time it was written was current and people's belief systems were on par, however I would to believe tines have changed as this book is now a relic of its Era. That being said even back then I did not come across attitudes depicted in the pages of this book.
May 10, 2019
He had promised never to touch her
Christie's marriage to Caribbean island playboy Ash Lombard was to be for convenience only. Her orphaned nephew would have a real home and she and Ash would be friends, nothing more.
That was fine by Christie, a young widow whose unhappy first marriage had thoroughly destroyed the passionate side of her nature.
But it wasn't long before she discovered that Ash had no intention of keeping his word .
Christie's marriage to Caribbean island playboy Ash Lombard was to be for convenience only. Her orphaned nephew would have a real home and she and Ash would be friends, nothing more.
That was fine by Christie, a young widow whose unhappy first marriage had thoroughly destroyed the passionate side of her nature.
But it wasn't long before she discovered that Ash had no intention of keeping his word .
February 14, 2026
This wasn't terrible, but it wasn't all that great, either. It was too long (one of those books that says in ten pages what can be said in two), too drawn out with unnecessary details, and too much time was spent on the h's sex hangups. It was obvious what was wrong: she didn't love her first husband; therefore, she couldn't respond to him in bed, and she thought the H didn't love her, therefore she felt guilty that she responded as much as she did. Sex without love from both partners was not what she wanted.
Both the H and h got annoying at times. The H telling her their marriage would be one of convenience, then committing marital rape is pretty crappy! The fact that he believed he needed to prove to her she could respond was no excuse. A slow, patient seduction would have been better, at least I think so.
I also think it was wrong for the h to accuse him of cheating with the OW without any real proof, just like she believed an exaggerated rumor about him and another man's fiancée without asking him to tell his side of the story before she jumped to any conclusions.
And while she may have been justified in feeling she needed a break for a week or two and then spent some time away, she was NOT justified in going on "friendship dates" with another man, one she knew was attracted to her, and letting him kiss her, to see if she could respond to another man. She couldn't. She felt revolted when his hands started roaming and his tongue started probing, but that doesn't excuse her using him that way, like a lab experiment, and toying with his emotions. It also doesn't excuse this OM when he told her to dump the H and be his, instead. Unbelievable!
And it was also wrong for her to tell him so many intimate details about her relationship with the H.
If she had been right about the H cheating, had known for fact that he did, then she wouldn't have owed him any fidelity, but without proof positive, she had no right to play games and toy with the OM.
After that, I just skimmed the rest because I didn't really care.
Both the H and h got annoying at times. The H telling her their marriage would be one of convenience, then committing marital rape is pretty crappy! The fact that he believed he needed to prove to her she could respond was no excuse. A slow, patient seduction would have been better, at least I think so.
I also think it was wrong for the h to accuse him of cheating with the OW without any real proof, just like she believed an exaggerated rumor about him and another man's fiancée without asking him to tell his side of the story before she jumped to any conclusions.
And while she may have been justified in feeling she needed a break for a week or two and then spent some time away, she was NOT justified in going on "friendship dates" with another man, one she knew was attracted to her, and letting him kiss her, to see if she could respond to another man. She couldn't. She felt revolted when his hands started roaming and his tongue started probing, but that doesn't excuse her using him that way, like a lab experiment, and toying with his emotions. It also doesn't excuse this OM when he told her to dump the H and be his, instead. Unbelievable!
And it was also wrong for her to tell him so many intimate details about her relationship with the H.
If she had been right about the H cheating, had known for fact that he did, then she wouldn't have owed him any fidelity, but without proof positive, she had no right to play games and toy with the OM.
After that, I just skimmed the rest because I didn't really care.
August 28, 2025
For the sake of her orphaned nephew, a repressed doormat of a widow agrees to marry an arrogant rake who has no qualms about lying to her about a sexless marriage of convenience. But hey, she has BBS and after a few orgasms thinks he's God's gift to women, so all's well! This rather boring ode to marital rape is very, very badly dated.
August 21, 2023
"Antigua Kiss" is the story of Christie and Ash.
Repressed widowed heroine has to marry the hero so they can share their orphaned nephew's custody. Lots of issues arise, and that forms the story.
Very boring, skimmed it.
SWE
1.5/5
Repressed widowed heroine has to marry the hero so they can share their orphaned nephew's custody. Lots of issues arise, and that forms the story.
Very boring, skimmed it.
SWE
1.5/5
Read
August 26, 2023“Terror turned her to stone; a sick, mindless, abject terror such as people must feel when they knew they were going to be tortured.”
This is a horror story to a feminist or anyone who has a shred of empathy for women even without the theory.
This is a horror story to a feminist or anyone who has a shred of empathy for women even without the theory.
May 26, 2017
Can't finish it. Unnecessarily long and BORING. Not one of the good once of this author...
January 27, 2022
Lovely setting and good depth of characters. First half is excellent but then drags with more inessential characters and plot antics.
January 18, 2026
I read these old romance novels because most of the time they’re better than whatever crap romance is published now, but boy this was not it. This book had an interesting premise. Widowed, seemingly asexual woman, who is caring for her nephew. A good-hearted rake who also cares for his nephew. A marriage of convenience for the sake of their nephew along with a deep conversation about how this woman feels about her sexuality. Clearly, it’s going to be a slow burn romance where the woman comes to terms with her feelings for this man (problematic, but that’s beside the point)? WRONG. This man immediately goes against his promise and repeatedly sexually assaults and rapes this woman. The first sex scene was so graphic and horrific that it had me almost in tears. And her raw emotion after? My God. But you know, this man’s genitals are God-sent; the orgasms are otherworldly. That’s what love is all about. Then, he has the nerve to just cut her off because he can’t handle her denial of him. But they both live happily ever after in a perfect marriage with a dozen kids.
***I’m not donating this book. It’s going straight to the trash where it belongs.
***I’m not donating this book. It’s going straight to the trash where it belongs.
April 9, 2016
Amor e Êxtase - Anne Weale
Título original: Antigua Kiss
Título: Amor e Êxtase
Autor: Anne Weale
Tradução: Sonia Yamamoto
Editora: Nova Cultural
Ano: 1984
Amo de paixão essa história, já li várias vezes e mesmo assim não paro de ler, pelo contrário tenho a sensação de estar voltando para casa, de segurança e aconchego. Parece loucura mas não é.
Na história, a mocinha, Christie, tem que se permitir. Ela não teve uma vida de casada descente com o primeiro marido e isso acabou com sua confiança em si mesmo. Depois da morte do marido ela se fechou para o mundo...
Quer ler a resenha completa e muito mais, visite o blog Momentos da Fogui:
site: http://foguiii.blogspot.com.br/2016/0...
Título original: Antigua Kiss
Título: Amor e Êxtase
Autor: Anne Weale
Tradução: Sonia Yamamoto
Editora: Nova Cultural
Ano: 1984
Amo de paixão essa história, já li várias vezes e mesmo assim não paro de ler, pelo contrário tenho a sensação de estar voltando para casa, de segurança e aconchego. Parece loucura mas não é.
Na história, a mocinha, Christie, tem que se permitir. Ela não teve uma vida de casada descente com o primeiro marido e isso acabou com sua confiança em si mesmo. Depois da morte do marido ela se fechou para o mundo...
Quer ler a resenha completa e muito mais, visite o blog Momentos da Fogui:
site: http://foguiii.blogspot.com.br/2016/0...
November 19, 2016
Totally predictable story but an extremely light read as I did not want to think tonight. These types of books are soooo formulaic! I like to read one every now and then to remind myself why I have moved on.
2021 Written in 1983 it is definitely what passed for trashy romance of the day. In the current times it is absolutely a chauvinistic book with a man forcing himself on a woman. Back then, no did not mean no! I did enjoy the descriptions and history of Antigua and the West Indies though. On to the dust heap with it now!
2021 Written in 1983 it is definitely what passed for trashy romance of the day. In the current times it is absolutely a chauvinistic book with a man forcing himself on a woman. Back then, no did not mean no! I did enjoy the descriptions and history of Antigua and the West Indies though. On to the dust heap with it now!
February 13, 2009
content warning: forced seduction
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews