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Land of Illusion
Book by Thorpe, Kay
- GenresHarlequin Presents
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1988
About the author
Kay Thorpe
185 books65 followersKay Thorpe was born on 1935 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK. An avid reader from the time when words on paper began to make sense, she developed a lively imagination of her own, making up stories for the entertainment of her young friends. After leaving school, she tried a variety of jobs, including dental nursing, and a spell in the Women's Royal Airforce from which she emerged knowing a whole lot more about life - if only as an observer.
In 1960, she married with Tony, but didn't begin thinking about trying her hand at writing for a living until she gave up work some four years later to have a baby, John. Having read Mills & Boon novels herself, and done some market research in the local library asking readers what it was they particularly liked about the books, she decided to aim for a particular market, and was fortunate to have her very first, completed manuscript accepted - The Last of the Mallorys, published in 1968. Since then she has written over seventy five books, which doesn't begin to compare with the output of some Mills & Boon authors, but still leaves her wondering where all those words came from.
Sometimes, she finds she has become two different people: the writer at her happiest when involved in the world of books and authors; and the housewife, turning her hands to the everyday needs of husband and son. Once in a while, she finds it difficult to step from one role to the other. She likes cooking, for instance, but she finds that it can be an irritating interruption when she's preoccupied with work on a novel, so the quality of her efforts in the kitchen tend to be a little erratic. She says, "As my husband once remarked, my writing gives life a fascinating element of uncertainly: one day a perfect coq au vin, the next day a couple of burned chops!"
Luckily Kay has daily professional help with her housework, and that leaves her time to indulge in her hobbies. Like many other Mills & Boon authors, she admits to being a voracious consumer of books, a quality she shares with her readers. She likes music and horseback riding, which she does in the countryside near her home. But her favorite hobby is travel - especially to places that will make good settings for her books.
Kay now lives on the outskirts of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, along with husband, Tony, and a huge tabby cat called Mad Max, her one son having flown the coop. Some day she'll think about retiring, but not yet awhile.
In 1960, she married with Tony, but didn't begin thinking about trying her hand at writing for a living until she gave up work some four years later to have a baby, John. Having read Mills & Boon novels herself, and done some market research in the local library asking readers what it was they particularly liked about the books, she decided to aim for a particular market, and was fortunate to have her very first, completed manuscript accepted - The Last of the Mallorys, published in 1968. Since then she has written over seventy five books, which doesn't begin to compare with the output of some Mills & Boon authors, but still leaves her wondering where all those words came from.
Sometimes, she finds she has become two different people: the writer at her happiest when involved in the world of books and authors; and the housewife, turning her hands to the everyday needs of husband and son. Once in a while, she finds it difficult to step from one role to the other. She likes cooking, for instance, but she finds that it can be an irritating interruption when she's preoccupied with work on a novel, so the quality of her efforts in the kitchen tend to be a little erratic. She says, "As my husband once remarked, my writing gives life a fascinating element of uncertainly: one day a perfect coq au vin, the next day a couple of burned chops!"
Luckily Kay has daily professional help with her housework, and that leaves her time to indulge in her hobbies. Like many other Mills & Boon authors, she admits to being a voracious consumer of books, a quality she shares with her readers. She likes music and horseback riding, which she does in the countryside near her home. But her favorite hobby is travel - especially to places that will make good settings for her books.
Kay now lives on the outskirts of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, along with husband, Tony, and a huge tabby cat called Mad Max, her one son having flown the coop. Some day she'll think about retiring, but not yet awhile.
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November 23, 2016
Re Land of Illusion - KT brings us another married in haste and repent at leisure story. The h in this one is a 21 yr. old would be English stage actress who recently graduated from RADA and since she has no luck in finding any parts, decides to take a nanny job for a year in Venezuela. Except when she gets there, the job isn't waiting and no one is there to meet her. She winds up getting abducted by guys who want to sell her off and she manages to escape into the Venezuelan jungle.
Enter the H, a 39 yr old Hollywood director hiding out on a friend's Venezuelan ranch after being arrested for the murder of his late actress wife a year earlier. The H was never placed on trial and he was released after the police investigation ruled out deliberate sabotage when the late wife's car went off the cliffs on the Pacific Coast Highway. The H happens to be driving along the jungle road the h escaped on and she flags him down and he takes her to the friend's house he is staying at.
The h doesn't recognize him at first, but the next day she admits she knows who he is and she also explains about her circumstance and her non-start of an acting career. We find out that the H's late wife was not someone he really loved, he played Professor Higgins to the wife's Eliza Doolittle and made her over into a big Hollywood star. She in return had affairs all over the place and refused to be grateful to his direction before she died. There were rumors of his multiple affairs too, so all in all it sounded like a match made in Hollywood purgatory. The media was really hard on the H because he was seen as an evil Svengali who seduced and then ruined an innocent woman but the real story is supposedly the innocent was actually Jezebel in disguise.
The h has lost all of her possessions, so she and the H have to ride on big horses through the rain, (the rainy season isn't quite over and there is lots of flooding,) to the nearest town to report her abduction to the police and to see if she can get a substitute passport. The h is very attracted to the H and thinks he is imprisoning himself in the jungle when he shouldn't, but she is grateful for his aid to a total stranger, so she goes along on the horse trek- even tho she can barely ride. The journey winds up in success tho, because while her abductor's are long gone, the h's possessions and her passport were found and she gets them back.
Because of the rain and the roads, the H can't take the h to Caracas and give her the airfare home, so he takes her back to the jungle hacienda. She gets thrown from the horse along the way and has to ride pillion with the H. On her return, she promptly falls ill and tho there is sponging, KT obviously never read Penny Jordan cause nothing exciting happens.
The h recovers and begs the H to let her stay until his friend, who owns the place, returns from his business in the big city. The H agrees and they become lovers. The h isn't a virgin, she was engaged before, but it did not work cause they were both starving actors and the relationship just fizzled out. We also find out that the couple the h was supposed to work for had some big blow up and left the country. After some lurvin it up in the Jungle Boudoir of Passion, the H's friend returns and he tells the h not to give up on the H. The h is distressed because she thinks that now that the friend is back, she and the H are done. But to her surprise the H announces that he is returning to Hollywood and taking the h with him. The h is massively in love and very insecure and uncertain about making it as an actress, she really has nothing to return to England for, so she agrees to go with him.
The H surprises the h further by arranging to marry the h before their flight takes off. The h asks him about love and he says 'If you're asking me do I love you, I'd have thought the answer obvious.' (I thought that was kinda weird, the whole thing was a bit flat really. We know the h is in love because she has internal musings on it, the H tells her he knows she has feelings for him and asks her if it is enough. The h agrees to marry and the whole subject of being in love is moot at that point.) They marry and it is off to Hollywood we go.
The H has huge modern open house and a housekeeper who is passive aggressively hostile to the h. The h is very uncomfortable at the house which was so obviously picked and designed by the H's late wife. The H also has a beach house that the h finds much more to her taste. She convinces the H to move back to it and sell the big house after she completely redecorates the beach house. She also manages to get rid of the hostile housekeeper and her husband, who had been basically living it up at the H's house while he was gone and there is nasty scene where the housekeeper tells the h off and she gives it right back.
Other things don't work out so well for the h tho, she doesn't like the Hollywood crowd of the H's and when he has a big party that she did not want, she is pretty resentful. The H gets right back into directing, so his time is limited and at the party several unhappy things happen.
An actress the H was rumored to be having an affair with when his wife died, (and may have been part of the reason he was detained on suspicion of murder,) shows up and hangs all over the H, to the h's disgust that he isn't peeling her off. The H's current leads in his movie decide to strip and jump in the pool and their behavior is pretty tacky until the H breaks it up. The h is present when all this occurs and the H starts to blame her for it, but she sets him straight pretty quick that his female lead is looking for trouble and his male lead makes it obvious he is interested in the h, but she isn't interested in him.
The other big thing is that the H's studio head and the man who gave the H his first shot at direction, so the H feels he owes him, offers a staring movie role to the h. She rejects it, but the H tells her she should try it if she wants to. The h vacillates for several chapters over becoming a film actress, but she is also rather cash poor and so she has to pawn her mum's pearls to buy the H a Christmas present. The H eventually orders her to do the screen test for the film and she gets the part. At this point she is happy to have something to do, because the H is off directing things and she spends a lot of time alone and even tho she has the beach house to care for, there is only so much cleaning a girl can do. Plus now she is self supporting and has some personal income.
Then the H leaves for San Francisco for a month, the h hears from the H's male lead that he and the actress hanging all over him at the party are lurving it up when he is not on set. The h takes this man she barely knows at his word and moves into her own little apartment and doesn't tell the H. She automatically assumes the H is having an affair because he wouldn't take her with him to the SF movie set and she thinks she hears a female voice in the background when he calls and when she calls the actress's house, she is told the actress is gone for the month. (I was like srsly? That is a big step for someone who is so in love and yet doesn't even fly up to the set to check things out. Why this h listened to the actor when she herself has been the subject of several malicious gossip items was highly unbelievable. KT plot device was all over this and it was jarring.)
So the h starts her movie role, the H shows up and forces her into boudoir bouncing, tho it ends in mutual bliss and the h is hurt when he just walks out. The H doesn't deny the affair either, so the h is a bit mopey, but doing the movie well is her new goal. Then the director gets ill and the H is called in to replace him. He doesn't like the h's performance so far, so after a big fight where the h slaps the H and he accuses her of infidelity when she got lost while driving and met the H's male lead by chance, they reshoot scenes and the h's part is better.
Then she gets thrown from another horse while filming and her being knocked unconscious is cue for the big reconciliation scene. The H swears he loves her ever since she flagged him down in the jungle and tho the gossip will say history is repeating itself with the H being Svengali all over again, the H never wants to let her go. The h swears big love forever back, especially if the H is her future director and they happily look forward to fighting about stuff and then making up for the big HEA.
This one was not badly written and the initial meet was interesting, the contrast between the two of them in the jungle vs Hollywood was well done. But KT is usually very good at ambiguous H cheating things and that was a sad fail here. The H was distant a bit, but KT H's are ALWAYS distant and the h's actions in moving out were just silly on so little evidence. The h herself leaves more room for doubt in regards to her acting career and her quickness to decry the H once she gets a genuine big role. I think KT was trying to play up the marriage destroyed by rumors, gossip and innuendo and other people having ulterior motives regarding the H and h, but it was fairly tame in light of her past works and so this book was okay, but not a HP keeper.
Enter the H, a 39 yr old Hollywood director hiding out on a friend's Venezuelan ranch after being arrested for the murder of his late actress wife a year earlier. The H was never placed on trial and he was released after the police investigation ruled out deliberate sabotage when the late wife's car went off the cliffs on the Pacific Coast Highway. The H happens to be driving along the jungle road the h escaped on and she flags him down and he takes her to the friend's house he is staying at.
The h doesn't recognize him at first, but the next day she admits she knows who he is and she also explains about her circumstance and her non-start of an acting career. We find out that the H's late wife was not someone he really loved, he played Professor Higgins to the wife's Eliza Doolittle and made her over into a big Hollywood star. She in return had affairs all over the place and refused to be grateful to his direction before she died. There were rumors of his multiple affairs too, so all in all it sounded like a match made in Hollywood purgatory. The media was really hard on the H because he was seen as an evil Svengali who seduced and then ruined an innocent woman but the real story is supposedly the innocent was actually Jezebel in disguise.
The h has lost all of her possessions, so she and the H have to ride on big horses through the rain, (the rainy season isn't quite over and there is lots of flooding,) to the nearest town to report her abduction to the police and to see if she can get a substitute passport. The h is very attracted to the H and thinks he is imprisoning himself in the jungle when he shouldn't, but she is grateful for his aid to a total stranger, so she goes along on the horse trek- even tho she can barely ride. The journey winds up in success tho, because while her abductor's are long gone, the h's possessions and her passport were found and she gets them back.
Because of the rain and the roads, the H can't take the h to Caracas and give her the airfare home, so he takes her back to the jungle hacienda. She gets thrown from the horse along the way and has to ride pillion with the H. On her return, she promptly falls ill and tho there is sponging, KT obviously never read Penny Jordan cause nothing exciting happens.
The h recovers and begs the H to let her stay until his friend, who owns the place, returns from his business in the big city. The H agrees and they become lovers. The h isn't a virgin, she was engaged before, but it did not work cause they were both starving actors and the relationship just fizzled out. We also find out that the couple the h was supposed to work for had some big blow up and left the country. After some lurvin it up in the Jungle Boudoir of Passion, the H's friend returns and he tells the h not to give up on the H. The h is distressed because she thinks that now that the friend is back, she and the H are done. But to her surprise the H announces that he is returning to Hollywood and taking the h with him. The h is massively in love and very insecure and uncertain about making it as an actress, she really has nothing to return to England for, so she agrees to go with him.
The H surprises the h further by arranging to marry the h before their flight takes off. The h asks him about love and he says 'If you're asking me do I love you, I'd have thought the answer obvious.' (I thought that was kinda weird, the whole thing was a bit flat really. We know the h is in love because she has internal musings on it, the H tells her he knows she has feelings for him and asks her if it is enough. The h agrees to marry and the whole subject of being in love is moot at that point.) They marry and it is off to Hollywood we go.
The H has huge modern open house and a housekeeper who is passive aggressively hostile to the h. The h is very uncomfortable at the house which was so obviously picked and designed by the H's late wife. The H also has a beach house that the h finds much more to her taste. She convinces the H to move back to it and sell the big house after she completely redecorates the beach house. She also manages to get rid of the hostile housekeeper and her husband, who had been basically living it up at the H's house while he was gone and there is nasty scene where the housekeeper tells the h off and she gives it right back.
Other things don't work out so well for the h tho, she doesn't like the Hollywood crowd of the H's and when he has a big party that she did not want, she is pretty resentful. The H gets right back into directing, so his time is limited and at the party several unhappy things happen.
An actress the H was rumored to be having an affair with when his wife died, (and may have been part of the reason he was detained on suspicion of murder,) shows up and hangs all over the H, to the h's disgust that he isn't peeling her off. The H's current leads in his movie decide to strip and jump in the pool and their behavior is pretty tacky until the H breaks it up. The h is present when all this occurs and the H starts to blame her for it, but she sets him straight pretty quick that his female lead is looking for trouble and his male lead makes it obvious he is interested in the h, but she isn't interested in him.
The other big thing is that the H's studio head and the man who gave the H his first shot at direction, so the H feels he owes him, offers a staring movie role to the h. She rejects it, but the H tells her she should try it if she wants to. The h vacillates for several chapters over becoming a film actress, but she is also rather cash poor and so she has to pawn her mum's pearls to buy the H a Christmas present. The H eventually orders her to do the screen test for the film and she gets the part. At this point she is happy to have something to do, because the H is off directing things and she spends a lot of time alone and even tho she has the beach house to care for, there is only so much cleaning a girl can do. Plus now she is self supporting and has some personal income.
Then the H leaves for San Francisco for a month, the h hears from the H's male lead that he and the actress hanging all over him at the party are lurving it up when he is not on set. The h takes this man she barely knows at his word and moves into her own little apartment and doesn't tell the H. She automatically assumes the H is having an affair because he wouldn't take her with him to the SF movie set and she thinks she hears a female voice in the background when he calls and when she calls the actress's house, she is told the actress is gone for the month. (I was like srsly? That is a big step for someone who is so in love and yet doesn't even fly up to the set to check things out. Why this h listened to the actor when she herself has been the subject of several malicious gossip items was highly unbelievable. KT plot device was all over this and it was jarring.)
So the h starts her movie role, the H shows up and forces her into boudoir bouncing, tho it ends in mutual bliss and the h is hurt when he just walks out. The H doesn't deny the affair either, so the h is a bit mopey, but doing the movie well is her new goal. Then the director gets ill and the H is called in to replace him. He doesn't like the h's performance so far, so after a big fight where the h slaps the H and he accuses her of infidelity when she got lost while driving and met the H's male lead by chance, they reshoot scenes and the h's part is better.
Then she gets thrown from another horse while filming and her being knocked unconscious is cue for the big reconciliation scene. The H swears he loves her ever since she flagged him down in the jungle and tho the gossip will say history is repeating itself with the H being Svengali all over again, the H never wants to let her go. The h swears big love forever back, especially if the H is her future director and they happily look forward to fighting about stuff and then making up for the big HEA.
This one was not badly written and the initial meet was interesting, the contrast between the two of them in the jungle vs Hollywood was well done. But KT is usually very good at ambiguous H cheating things and that was a sad fail here. The H was distant a bit, but KT H's are ALWAYS distant and the h's actions in moving out were just silly on so little evidence. The h herself leaves more room for doubt in regards to her acting career and her quickness to decry the H once she gets a genuine big role. I think KT was trying to play up the marriage destroyed by rumors, gossip and innuendo and other people having ulterior motives regarding the H and h, but it was fairly tame in light of her past works and so this book was okay, but not a HP keeper.
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