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South Seas Affair
Had it been a mistake to come?
Vanessa wondered about it. On the island of New Caledonia she'd joyfully found the father she'd not seen for sixteen years, though his death so soon after was traumatic.
But it was her liaison with Raoul DuTemple, a wealthy Frenchman, a virtual stranger who had been her father's archenemy, that had changed things. Against her better judgment, against all her values, she'd allowed herself to be drawn into a passionate but loveless affair.
Now, whether she stayed on the island or returned home, Vanessa knew that her life would never be the same.
Vanessa wondered about it. On the island of New Caledonia she'd joyfully found the father she'd not seen for sixteen years, though his death so soon after was traumatic.
But it was her liaison with Raoul DuTemple, a wealthy Frenchman, a virtual stranger who had been her father's archenemy, that had changed things. Against her better judgment, against all her values, she'd allowed herself to be drawn into a passionate but loveless affair.
Now, whether she stayed on the island or returned home, Vanessa knew that her life would never be the same.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
About the author
Kay Thorpe
187 books67 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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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 10, 2016
Re South Seas Affair - Kay Thorpe is frequently an acquired taste for those new to HPlandia. I never recommend her books to new HP readers and almost never recommend them to anyone who has not read the line from starting back in the 1970's. She is an interesting blend of old skool chauvinistic Alpha H and modern, go-ahead young woman.
All her books carry the undercurrents of the twentieth century's cultural "Battle of the Sexes" theme, with the H always the winner. She has been with the line from the beginning, but her stories don't always fall into the usual HP stereotypes, especially her h's.
Her h's aren't Penny Jordan's shy, uncertain ladies, nor are they the neurotic women on the verge of hysteria or intent on revenge that Sally Wentworth goes for. Her h's are usually practical, not afraid of a physical relationship, and they are not always the shinning examples of martyred virtue that so many other old skool writers embody as their typical h. They often have big faults and sometimes they can appear very amoral, thought the usually wind up as nice people by the end.
Her H's on the other hand, are the textbook examples of what Alan Boon liked to call his ultimate romance hero - the glamorous, enigmatic Alpha H. There is no question about it, her H's will cheat if they feel the urge, they will lie too - usually by omission or a failure to convey all the pertinent information about a situation. Usually KT's H's are so enigmatic as to be completely unemotional.
This makes hard going in a line where the outcome is dependent on the H's expression of undying love for the h, and since she sometimes forgoes having her H's even THINK the phrase "I love you", much less say it to the h, her HEA's really turn into HFN's about 50% of the time.
She likes to favor her H's over her h's - sometimes I have wondered if she even likes her heroines. She deliberately puts and keeps her h's at severe disadvantage to the H in most of her stories, and that can be very hard for even a devoted HP'er to accept.
Most of KT's couples never seem to reach an equal partnership or balance between each other, and sometimes it seems her h's are on continual trial. KT likes making her h's work to keep the attention and affection of the H, and many times, even the stated HEA to the story fails to convey the satisfaction and reassurance that the couple is truly meant to be and will stay together.
SSA starts with the 23 yr old h heading for the South Pacific, she is looking for her father who abandoned her and her rather distant mum sixteen years earlier. The mum died recently and the h has sold the family home, so she has a little nest egg and a small income.
She isn't looking for a daddy per say, she is very independent. She just wants to know a bit about the other half of her biology and as she has planed her visit as a unannounced surprise, she is very unsure about what she is walking into.
She meets the H on the plane out, first class was overbooked and the H gets seated next to her. She tells him a bit about herself and he lets on he knows her father, but he is clearly not a fan of the guy. The h wonders, but is more concerned about her own meeting coming up. She is also disturbingly aware of a physical attraction to the H.
The h left a man back in England, they had been dating and slept together once. He wants marriage, but she feels there is something missing and part of the reason for the trip is to end the relationship without her having to actually end the relationship and hurt his feelings.
The H gives her a ride to her dad's charter fishing boat. He lets her know he doesn't like the father, but he is polite to her and she wonders if he if feeling the same attraction she is.
Attraction is soon the last thing on her mind. She boards the boat and meets her father's first mate. A young man close to her age, who has been bumming around the world, picking up odd jobs now and then to keep travelling. He tells her that her father is currently passed out from a drinking binge.
They get him sobered up and the father is shocked to see her. He was formerly a mining engineer and at one time worked for the H's mining company - nickle is a big export on the island- but the H's father bought him the charter boat when the company board forced him out for a different manager.
The h and her father gradually get to know each other and during a small jaunt to some other islands, the father has a heart attack during a bad storm. The nearest port happens to be the H's home and they wind up stopping there, to get the father some medical help.
Once the father is settled in the H's house, the h and H begin an affair. The H also reveals that he feels the h's father blackmailed the H's dad into buying him the boat and giving him a job because the h's dad knew that his dad had two families (a legal wife with a stepdaughter and a mistress with kids) that he was hiding from each other. The H's mum was the father's first wife and died when the H was young.
The H is angry not that his father had a mistress, but that he had two sons by her and they threaten his inheritance of the various companies an properties his dad held. He feels that his father paid the h's dad not to talk and thus he has no liking for the guy at all. He doesn't feel inclined to harass an ill old man though, so he says he will let the matter rest.
The h's dad isn't too happy either, although he says he never blackmailed the H's dad, he just asked him for a job and the man bought him the boat as a recompense when the mining board of directors forced him out and he was too old to get another job. The h thinks maybe the H is sleeping with her in a bid for revenge, but since she doesn't tell her father about it and he never sees them together, she just gets on with the passion.
The H has to leave for a business trip and the h knows it is the end of the affair, they say goodbye. After he leaves, a woman shows up who is the H's stepsister but she also claims to be the H's fiancee and she is pretty witchy about it. The h doesn't know what to believe, but she and her dad are leaving anyways, so she puts it to the side to worry about her dad's health.
Her dad dies a few weeks later and the h discovers she is preggers. She thinks about going back to England but is detoured when her father's doctor tells the H about the baby and he shows up and demands marriage. The H admits that he had proposed to the stepsister, but he broke it off when he found out about the baby and he was having doubts about the stepsister actually following through on a pregnancy . He figures an actual pregnancy is a surer bet, unless the h wants to give the baby up to him for him and the step sis to raise.
The h has big qualms, but wants to do the right thing for her child and has no intention of giving him up, so they marry. The passion is good but the h wants love and isn't getting it. The H wants an heir and so they manage to co-habitate but the H is very firm in his assertion that if she can't meet his physical demands, he will go somewhere else while she plays the dutiful wife.
Then the h miscarries and the H tries to force her to stay by insisting the miscarriage was her fault - she went swimming for 20 minutes in the ocean and the H plays on her guilt by demanding another son for an heir. The h isn't not happy about this at all, but one forced seduction later and she thinks maybe she can get him to love her. The H leaves for a business trip where he hints that there might be other women since the h isn't quite meeting his demands, but the h is determined to make him love her, so she waits for him with anticipation.
Until he gets back and the stepsister walks in and announces that they went on that trip together. The h leaves the H, goes back to her dad's boat which now belongs to her and the first mate, and finds her ex from England waiting for her. They convince her to boat around the South Seas with them for a bit before returning to England and she and the H have a final parting when he brings her passport to her.
As the ship is leaving New Caledonia the next day, the H chases after them and stops the boat. He tells the h wants to be her friend as well as her lover, he needs her and asks her to stay. They confess they love each other, the stepsister is banished forever and HEA.
SSA is a bit of an evolution for KT's writing though, she still has her eternal war between the sexes going on and there is a serious question of fidelity, but what saves this book is that KT also puts in an epilogue, and that can make all the difference between a so so story that is a rather forgettable let down and one that actually gives the little HP glow at the end.
This epilogue occurs two years later, the first mate is running a successful South Seas charter business on the boat, the ex English boyfriend has met a French wife on Tongo where the H got him a job, and the h has a child with the H. He is obviously still enamored with her and whisks her off to bed for a second attempt, seemingly very in love. They seem to be very happy together and this made a huge difference to the entire perception of the book.
While the epilogue rescues the story, it doesn't really change KT's basic philosophy about her work and her characters. She writes extensively on her Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Thorpe
about her romance characterizations and philosophies. If someone is thinking of giving KT a try, I usually direct them there and then if they still want to take the plunge, I recommend this one as a good start.
It has solid writing, a fairly believable plot line, and the HEA is convincing enough after the epilogue that an unfamiliar HP reader doesn't have to rely on the "It is an HP so the HEA is real because it is an HP" vibe to enjoy this book.
All her books carry the undercurrents of the twentieth century's cultural "Battle of the Sexes" theme, with the H always the winner. She has been with the line from the beginning, but her stories don't always fall into the usual HP stereotypes, especially her h's.
Her h's aren't Penny Jordan's shy, uncertain ladies, nor are they the neurotic women on the verge of hysteria or intent on revenge that Sally Wentworth goes for. Her h's are usually practical, not afraid of a physical relationship, and they are not always the shinning examples of martyred virtue that so many other old skool writers embody as their typical h. They often have big faults and sometimes they can appear very amoral, thought the usually wind up as nice people by the end.
Her H's on the other hand, are the textbook examples of what Alan Boon liked to call his ultimate romance hero - the glamorous, enigmatic Alpha H. There is no question about it, her H's will cheat if they feel the urge, they will lie too - usually by omission or a failure to convey all the pertinent information about a situation. Usually KT's H's are so enigmatic as to be completely unemotional.
This makes hard going in a line where the outcome is dependent on the H's expression of undying love for the h, and since she sometimes forgoes having her H's even THINK the phrase "I love you", much less say it to the h, her HEA's really turn into HFN's about 50% of the time.
She likes to favor her H's over her h's - sometimes I have wondered if she even likes her heroines. She deliberately puts and keeps her h's at severe disadvantage to the H in most of her stories, and that can be very hard for even a devoted HP'er to accept.
Most of KT's couples never seem to reach an equal partnership or balance between each other, and sometimes it seems her h's are on continual trial. KT likes making her h's work to keep the attention and affection of the H, and many times, even the stated HEA to the story fails to convey the satisfaction and reassurance that the couple is truly meant to be and will stay together.
SSA starts with the 23 yr old h heading for the South Pacific, she is looking for her father who abandoned her and her rather distant mum sixteen years earlier. The mum died recently and the h has sold the family home, so she has a little nest egg and a small income.
She isn't looking for a daddy per say, she is very independent. She just wants to know a bit about the other half of her biology and as she has planed her visit as a unannounced surprise, she is very unsure about what she is walking into.
She meets the H on the plane out, first class was overbooked and the H gets seated next to her. She tells him a bit about herself and he lets on he knows her father, but he is clearly not a fan of the guy. The h wonders, but is more concerned about her own meeting coming up. She is also disturbingly aware of a physical attraction to the H.
The h left a man back in England, they had been dating and slept together once. He wants marriage, but she feels there is something missing and part of the reason for the trip is to end the relationship without her having to actually end the relationship and hurt his feelings.
The H gives her a ride to her dad's charter fishing boat. He lets her know he doesn't like the father, but he is polite to her and she wonders if he if feeling the same attraction she is.
Attraction is soon the last thing on her mind. She boards the boat and meets her father's first mate. A young man close to her age, who has been bumming around the world, picking up odd jobs now and then to keep travelling. He tells her that her father is currently passed out from a drinking binge.
They get him sobered up and the father is shocked to see her. He was formerly a mining engineer and at one time worked for the H's mining company - nickle is a big export on the island- but the H's father bought him the charter boat when the company board forced him out for a different manager.
The h and her father gradually get to know each other and during a small jaunt to some other islands, the father has a heart attack during a bad storm. The nearest port happens to be the H's home and they wind up stopping there, to get the father some medical help.
Once the father is settled in the H's house, the h and H begin an affair. The H also reveals that he feels the h's father blackmailed the H's dad into buying him the boat and giving him a job because the h's dad knew that his dad had two families (a legal wife with a stepdaughter and a mistress with kids) that he was hiding from each other. The H's mum was the father's first wife and died when the H was young.
The H is angry not that his father had a mistress, but that he had two sons by her and they threaten his inheritance of the various companies an properties his dad held. He feels that his father paid the h's dad not to talk and thus he has no liking for the guy at all. He doesn't feel inclined to harass an ill old man though, so he says he will let the matter rest.
The h's dad isn't too happy either, although he says he never blackmailed the H's dad, he just asked him for a job and the man bought him the boat as a recompense when the mining board of directors forced him out and he was too old to get another job. The h thinks maybe the H is sleeping with her in a bid for revenge, but since she doesn't tell her father about it and he never sees them together, she just gets on with the passion.
The H has to leave for a business trip and the h knows it is the end of the affair, they say goodbye. After he leaves, a woman shows up who is the H's stepsister but she also claims to be the H's fiancee and she is pretty witchy about it. The h doesn't know what to believe, but she and her dad are leaving anyways, so she puts it to the side to worry about her dad's health.
Her dad dies a few weeks later and the h discovers she is preggers. She thinks about going back to England but is detoured when her father's doctor tells the H about the baby and he shows up and demands marriage. The H admits that he had proposed to the stepsister, but he broke it off when he found out about the baby and he was having doubts about the stepsister actually following through on a pregnancy . He figures an actual pregnancy is a surer bet, unless the h wants to give the baby up to him for him and the step sis to raise.
The h has big qualms, but wants to do the right thing for her child and has no intention of giving him up, so they marry. The passion is good but the h wants love and isn't getting it. The H wants an heir and so they manage to co-habitate but the H is very firm in his assertion that if she can't meet his physical demands, he will go somewhere else while she plays the dutiful wife.
Then the h miscarries and the H tries to force her to stay by insisting the miscarriage was her fault - she went swimming for 20 minutes in the ocean and the H plays on her guilt by demanding another son for an heir. The h isn't not happy about this at all, but one forced seduction later and she thinks maybe she can get him to love her. The H leaves for a business trip where he hints that there might be other women since the h isn't quite meeting his demands, but the h is determined to make him love her, so she waits for him with anticipation.
Until he gets back and the stepsister walks in and announces that they went on that trip together. The h leaves the H, goes back to her dad's boat which now belongs to her and the first mate, and finds her ex from England waiting for her. They convince her to boat around the South Seas with them for a bit before returning to England and she and the H have a final parting when he brings her passport to her.
As the ship is leaving New Caledonia the next day, the H chases after them and stops the boat. He tells the h wants to be her friend as well as her lover, he needs her and asks her to stay. They confess they love each other, the stepsister is banished forever and HEA.
SSA is a bit of an evolution for KT's writing though, she still has her eternal war between the sexes going on and there is a serious question of fidelity, but what saves this book is that KT also puts in an epilogue, and that can make all the difference between a so so story that is a rather forgettable let down and one that actually gives the little HP glow at the end.
This epilogue occurs two years later, the first mate is running a successful South Seas charter business on the boat, the ex English boyfriend has met a French wife on Tongo where the H got him a job, and the h has a child with the H. He is obviously still enamored with her and whisks her off to bed for a second attempt, seemingly very in love. They seem to be very happy together and this made a huge difference to the entire perception of the book.
While the epilogue rescues the story, it doesn't really change KT's basic philosophy about her work and her characters. She writes extensively on her Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Thorpe
about her romance characterizations and philosophies. If someone is thinking of giving KT a try, I usually direct them there and then if they still want to take the plunge, I recommend this one as a good start.
It has solid writing, a fairly believable plot line, and the HEA is convincing enough after the epilogue that an unfamiliar HP reader doesn't have to rely on the "It is an HP so the HEA is real because it is an HP" vibe to enjoy this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2018
Hmm I wasn’t really into this story. The other reviewer did a really good job summarising the book, so I won’t get into it again. Anyway, what I didn’t really like it was the H started an affair with her when he was engaged to the other woman. And he admitted later, that he only married her when he found out she was pregnant. In fact, he would still have married the other woman if the heroine agreed to give the baby to them. NOT ROMANTIC AT ALL!!!
I agree with the other reviewer, I really didn’t feel the love between the couple, and if it wasn’t for the epilogue, I would not have been hopeful for their happy ending,
I agree with the other reviewer, I really didn’t feel the love between the couple, and if it wasn’t for the epilogue, I would not have been hopeful for their happy ending,
December 12, 2015
Never saw any love between the two main characters. Seemed to be all about lust.
June 6, 2021
It might make for a good HP to run away and refuse to take a chance, but heroines like this one irritate me. She loves him and they are married but she won't work at creating a marriage? Just because his ex fiancee shows up and makes innuendos that he denies? Believe the man you married, not the lady who's angry and making trouble.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews