MISTRESS TO A BACHELOR

by Kay Thorpe

MISTRESS TO A BACHELOR by Kay Thorpe released on Oct 25, 2004 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Harlequin, Romance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Kay 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.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I am missing something but the title of this book has nothing to do with its content. The heroine is never mistress to the rakish bachelor hero. In fact, he asks her to be his pretend fiancée five minutes after he meets her. Apparently, he needs to appease his tyrannical grandfather who wants him to stop sowing wild oats and settle down. The hero thinks the heroine looks classy enough to pass the test as suitable future wife. The fake engagement soon turns to marriage of convenience because WHY NOT?!!! The rest of this story is heroine being led around by her traitorous body and fretting that her husband will cheat on her, and him being cold and aloof with his new bride except when they are in the bedroom.

Some really tacky moments include:

-hero first meets heroine when he gropes her in bed in the dark. Heroine was staying at her cousin’s place and hero mistook heroine for her cousin, with whom he’s had a friends-with-benefits thing for years.

-hero and heroine have a particularly icky honeymoon encounter with a gross pair of swingers. There is every indication that hero wouldn’t have been adverse to playing around with the other couple for a night. Apparently, it wouldn’t have bothered him to let the STD-riddled male swinger insert himself into his new bride, as long as he got his rocks off with the luscious red headed bombshell female swinger YUCK

-this “hero” bangs everything in sight, including his weekly cleaning lady, who he STILL employs after his marriage. Said cleaning lady has the gall to make snarky remarks to heroine about the doubtful longevity of her marriage and the odds of hero remaining faithful to her.

All that being said, I couldn’t for the life of me muster any sympathy for the passive as hell heroine who had no goal in life except to be pleasured by her sex god husband.

Another one in a long line of Kay Thorpe’s cheating heroes and spineless heroines...

[Debbie DiFiore]

Back Cover: The Wrong Bed! On holiday in Majorca, Jessica wakes from an erotic dream to find a stranger in her bed! Zac Prescott is as shocked as she is-he's there by accident-but he certainly likes what he sees! Though Jess asks him to leave, she secretly longs for more of his touch... When they meet again, an intense attraction flares between them. Then Zac propositions her! He needs a woman to pose as his fiancée to take home to his family, and he wants her to take the job. Jess is tempted by Zac's offer; she's dreamed of an opportunity to get closer to this deliciously handsome man.

[RJC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Farcical plot. Twee.

[Elisa Vangelisti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Questo romanzo è un’idiozia pura dall’inizio alla fine. Lei si finge la fidanzata di lui perché lui ha finto col nonno morente di averne una per farlo contento. Il finto fidanzamento sfocia in un vero matrimonio, la cui base è soltanto il sesso. Ovviamente lui è un adone, ma anche un ex-playboy e questo rende insicura la novella sposa. Poi si scopre che il nonno despota non è affatto morente, lei ha dei dubbi sulla fedeltà del marito a causa delle sue numerose assenze giustificate dal lavoro, giustificazioni a cui lei non crede. Alla faccia della fiducia. Del resto, decidere di sposarsi dopo tre giorni da quando ci si incontra non è il massimo. Lui non vuole che lei lavori e lei si fa assumere come cassiera di nascosto. L’inganno viene svelato con gli inevitabili fuochi d’artificio. Poi lei resta incinta e allora pare che entrambi diventino saggi e responsabili, ma solo per il bambino. Ma ci sono altre amenità più sottili, del tipo che lei non accetta alcune cose e non glielo dice mai. Lui a volte dà in escandescenze, altre volte è freddo come il ghiaccio, altre è passionale e romantico. Lei non si capisce cosa voglia e dare la colpa sempre agli ormoni è un tantino riduttivo. Insomma, questi due sono proprio senza speranza. Finchè si chiariscono e Kay riesce a farli andare d’accordo, lieto fine incluso. Come abbia fatto è per me tutt’ora un mistero. Mah. A volte questi libriccini sono strepitosi, altre volte neanche utili per far del fuoco. Io lo eviterei.

[HÜLYA · Rating 3 out of 5]

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