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Pirate's hostage
He had the home team advantage. Christy had to play the game by his rules, and they were entirely different than anything she'd known before. What had Brand Sutcliffe said? "Something tells me, Miss Maynard, that what you need is a crash course in living dangerously." — Christy's trip to Hong Kong began innocently enough. Brand Sutcliffe was supposed to be buying her computer skills--not giving her lessons in how to live! But Brand's no-compromise stance left her little choice. She was certain of only one thing that the act of living dangerously was likely to lead to unexpected and hazardous outcomes, especially in matters of the heart.
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First published April 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 26, 2017
Re Pirate's Hostage - Eleanor Rees does the repressed h with the risk taker H in Hong Kong on her second and penultimate HPlandia outing.
The h is in her twenties and a computer systems expert. She is sent by her boss over to the H to do a rapid set up computer system for his PacRim shipping and export firm. She shows up at the Hong Kong airport in an old track suit and is immediately berated for her lack of presence and style by the H.
The h has had a few bad days, her beloved cat died, her wastrel investor father tried to borrow money from her and she had to refuse and her boss dumped this emergency trip to HK on her. So when the H's criticisms and critiques get to be too much, she has herself a little weepy moment and the H tells her to pretend he is her cat and he puts his head in her lap and purrs while she cries out all her woes. She feels better but the H is quick to explain that Hong Kong is all about presence and 'face' and she is going to need some stylish clothing and a more assertive attitude to make a good impression.
The H also explains the concept of Feng Shui and tells the h that his newly relaunched firm has to have the computer system in place by a specific date to be seen as an auspicious company worthy of investing in. Shopping for extravagant suits are in order and the H has his secretary get her some temporary outfits but then he whisks her off to do the Hong Kong shopping scene. Tourism bits follow and the H's secretary, who may also be his mistress and is warning the h off in a very HP evil OW way, is doing her best to be patronizing and snotty to the h.
When the h rescues a little stray cat who has a jaw abscess over breakfast, the H uses the lure of a vet for the cat to shanghai the h into going to the evening horse races with him. The h reluctantly agrees to go, but she is uneasy about it. The H reminds her of a pirate and he makes her uncomfortably aware of her body and his roofie kisses are making her knees weak. Unfortunately, the H also reminds her of her weak, extreme risk taking father who made her childhood very unstable with numerous moves and financial losses. The h doesn't like to take risks of any sort, she has too much past trauma from trying to cope with her father's vagrancies.
The h does go to the horse races with the H tho and even with the witch OW secretary glaring daggers, the h manages to place a bet, win some money and have a good time and get a roofie H kiss into. Then she has a little mopey moment when the H leaves with his secretary, ostensibly for business and the OW shows up at work the next day with a heavy gold bracelet from the H that she flaunts. The h is almost decided to take the plunge and start something more with the H, but it takes some more convincing and a full day of sightseeing before she will admit it to herself.
We do get more information on the H and it makes the h even more cautious. He and his brother were always in competition growing up. When their father died, the company was split between the H and his brother but they couldn't work together so the H bet his part of the company against his brother's in a yacht race. The brother won, the H lost his half of the family firm and his fiancee to his brother and went out on his own.
Then his brother died in a helicopter accident, along with the brother's wife - who was the H's ex and basically pimped herself out to whomever had the family business. The h thinks the H was reckless to bet like that and it doesn't help him in his pursuit of the h. But she does like his business skill and she does work really hard to get his computer system up and running by the appointed date and time.
The h also wants to take her little rescue cat Mauw home to England when she leaves, but then she gets a good look at the H's house and estate and takes the cat there instead - she figures he would hate the whole quarantine thing and it would hurt his little cat spirit. So Mauw gets to go free in a much nicer area with trees and fishes and birds and house to wander into when he feels the need. Then the big computer reveal event is upon us. The h gets concerned when the H can't get the programs to run on the newly completed computer system. The h quickly figures out that the OW secretary sabotaged the computer and she does a quick little mock-up demo to fool the investors and party attendees.
The H makes sure to get some pre-planted computer questions in among the guests and tells the h he has a back up distraction plan in place too. The mock up works and no one knows any different and the H jumps in with his big distraction when a question comes up that they did not plan a demo for. The H announces his engagement to the h and the h is stunned and hopeful and a little hurt too, cause she wants the H to be serious - she is in love with him- but she thinks the H is just using the engagement for a distraction.
The OW has to make her play right after the H leaves the h at the party to fend off engagement questions while he signs contracts and the h is shocked when the OW claims that the h killed his first fiance. The h finds out from one of the older English guests that the H is suspected of killing his brother and ex fiancee by arranging the helicopter crash that let him inherit the company. The h is overwhelmed and doesn't know what to think. So when the H comes prancing back up to her and being smugly patronizing, the h asks if he plans to let her leave or just kill her too.
The H loses his temper and drags the h off to his yacht in the harbour. They set sail, but the H doesn't check the weather and they get caught in the middle of a big typhoon. There is a big battle through the storm and the h decides that she doesn't believe the H killed anybody and she is even more in love with the H.
The H admits that he fell in love with the h right from the first meeting, even with her really tacky tracksuit and that he was very irresponsible when he dragged her off into such a bad storm. He did not set up his brother's death, but the rumors that he did have brought him lots of new business, so he never tried to quash them. He also explains to the h that he never slept with the OW secretary, the bracelet was what she wanted in lieu of a cash bonus for her overtime.
The H really loves the h and wants to marry her and be Hong Kong tycoons together and the h can still see Mauw everyday too. So they fall into the pink clouds of purple passion on the H's private love boat and sail off into the HPlandia rosy sunset for the big HEA.
This one was okay, but the H's indifference to the h was pretty huge for most of the book, he came off as more manipulative to get his computer system working that actually seriously wooing the h . I did like Meaw, ( huge cat bonus,) but I sorta wanted a more definitive outcome for him rather than being turned loose on the H's estate and he should have gotten more page time really. Overall tho this is a fast read with some good humor and a believable HEA, so you could do worse for an HPlandia adventure.
The h is in her twenties and a computer systems expert. She is sent by her boss over to the H to do a rapid set up computer system for his PacRim shipping and export firm. She shows up at the Hong Kong airport in an old track suit and is immediately berated for her lack of presence and style by the H.
The h has had a few bad days, her beloved cat died, her wastrel investor father tried to borrow money from her and she had to refuse and her boss dumped this emergency trip to HK on her. So when the H's criticisms and critiques get to be too much, she has herself a little weepy moment and the H tells her to pretend he is her cat and he puts his head in her lap and purrs while she cries out all her woes. She feels better but the H is quick to explain that Hong Kong is all about presence and 'face' and she is going to need some stylish clothing and a more assertive attitude to make a good impression.
The H also explains the concept of Feng Shui and tells the h that his newly relaunched firm has to have the computer system in place by a specific date to be seen as an auspicious company worthy of investing in. Shopping for extravagant suits are in order and the H has his secretary get her some temporary outfits but then he whisks her off to do the Hong Kong shopping scene. Tourism bits follow and the H's secretary, who may also be his mistress and is warning the h off in a very HP evil OW way, is doing her best to be patronizing and snotty to the h.
When the h rescues a little stray cat who has a jaw abscess over breakfast, the H uses the lure of a vet for the cat to shanghai the h into going to the evening horse races with him. The h reluctantly agrees to go, but she is uneasy about it. The H reminds her of a pirate and he makes her uncomfortably aware of her body and his roofie kisses are making her knees weak. Unfortunately, the H also reminds her of her weak, extreme risk taking father who made her childhood very unstable with numerous moves and financial losses. The h doesn't like to take risks of any sort, she has too much past trauma from trying to cope with her father's vagrancies.
The h does go to the horse races with the H tho and even with the witch OW secretary glaring daggers, the h manages to place a bet, win some money and have a good time and get a roofie H kiss into. Then she has a little mopey moment when the H leaves with his secretary, ostensibly for business and the OW shows up at work the next day with a heavy gold bracelet from the H that she flaunts. The h is almost decided to take the plunge and start something more with the H, but it takes some more convincing and a full day of sightseeing before she will admit it to herself.
We do get more information on the H and it makes the h even more cautious. He and his brother were always in competition growing up. When their father died, the company was split between the H and his brother but they couldn't work together so the H bet his part of the company against his brother's in a yacht race. The brother won, the H lost his half of the family firm and his fiancee to his brother and went out on his own.
Then his brother died in a helicopter accident, along with the brother's wife - who was the H's ex and basically pimped herself out to whomever had the family business. The h thinks the H was reckless to bet like that and it doesn't help him in his pursuit of the h. But she does like his business skill and she does work really hard to get his computer system up and running by the appointed date and time.
The h also wants to take her little rescue cat Mauw home to England when she leaves, but then she gets a good look at the H's house and estate and takes the cat there instead - she figures he would hate the whole quarantine thing and it would hurt his little cat spirit. So Mauw gets to go free in a much nicer area with trees and fishes and birds and house to wander into when he feels the need. Then the big computer reveal event is upon us. The h gets concerned when the H can't get the programs to run on the newly completed computer system. The h quickly figures out that the OW secretary sabotaged the computer and she does a quick little mock-up demo to fool the investors and party attendees.
The H makes sure to get some pre-planted computer questions in among the guests and tells the h he has a back up distraction plan in place too. The mock up works and no one knows any different and the H jumps in with his big distraction when a question comes up that they did not plan a demo for. The H announces his engagement to the h and the h is stunned and hopeful and a little hurt too, cause she wants the H to be serious - she is in love with him- but she thinks the H is just using the engagement for a distraction.
The OW has to make her play right after the H leaves the h at the party to fend off engagement questions while he signs contracts and the h is shocked when the OW claims that the h killed his first fiance. The h finds out from one of the older English guests that the H is suspected of killing his brother and ex fiancee by arranging the helicopter crash that let him inherit the company. The h is overwhelmed and doesn't know what to think. So when the H comes prancing back up to her and being smugly patronizing, the h asks if he plans to let her leave or just kill her too.
The H loses his temper and drags the h off to his yacht in the harbour. They set sail, but the H doesn't check the weather and they get caught in the middle of a big typhoon. There is a big battle through the storm and the h decides that she doesn't believe the H killed anybody and she is even more in love with the H.
The H admits that he fell in love with the h right from the first meeting, even with her really tacky tracksuit and that he was very irresponsible when he dragged her off into such a bad storm. He did not set up his brother's death, but the rumors that he did have brought him lots of new business, so he never tried to quash them. He also explains to the h that he never slept with the OW secretary, the bracelet was what she wanted in lieu of a cash bonus for her overtime.
The H really loves the h and wants to marry her and be Hong Kong tycoons together and the h can still see Mauw everyday too. So they fall into the pink clouds of purple passion on the H's private love boat and sail off into the HPlandia rosy sunset for the big HEA.
This one was okay, but the H's indifference to the h was pretty huge for most of the book, he came off as more manipulative to get his computer system working that actually seriously wooing the h . I did like Meaw, ( huge cat bonus,) but I sorta wanted a more definitive outcome for him rather than being turned loose on the H's estate and he should have gotten more page time really. Overall tho this is a fast read with some good humor and a believable HEA, so you could do worse for an HPlandia adventure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
May 24, 2020He had the home team advantage. Christy had to play the game by his rules, and they were entirely different than anything she'd known before. What had Brand Sutcliffe said? "Something tells me, Miss Maynard, that what you need is a crash course in living dangerously." — Christy's trip to Hong Kong began innocently enough. Brand Sutcliffe was supposed to be buying her computer skills--not giving her lessons in how to live! But Brand's no-compromise stance left her little choice. She was certain of only one thing that the act of living dangerously was likely to lead to unexpected and hazardous outcomes, especially in matters of the heart.
March 6, 2021
A Mills and Boon that packs a lot in.
Reading it 30 years later there is some race commentary that is awkward by modern standards (like calling Cantonese a sing song language) and some cultural commentary that's delightfully out of date (who eats Prawn Cocktail in 2021?). However it is a fun 'relax and embrace life' style of romance filled with the luxury expected by a Mills and boon.
It's not the kind of standard out historical piece that I'd give a 5 star but it's definitely worth a read.
Reading it 30 years later there is some race commentary that is awkward by modern standards (like calling Cantonese a sing song language) and some cultural commentary that's delightfully out of date (who eats Prawn Cocktail in 2021?). However it is a fun 'relax and embrace life' style of romance filled with the luxury expected by a Mills and boon.
It's not the kind of standard out historical piece that I'd give a 5 star but it's definitely worth a read.
December 31, 2016
Okay, so it was a HP. But it was from 1992! I expected less racism. And...that is not what I got. Maybe it's just cultural differences between 2016 and early 1990s UK, but...
"It would have been a straightforward task if they had all spoken English. But as it was, every instruction had to be fed through Rainbow - and at times the confusion that resulted had put Christy in mind of the old parlour-game, Chinese Whispers" (121).
That on top of two characters who I disliked made this not the most fun a boy/girl/other could have. Even if the heroine was a computer expert :/
"It would have been a straightforward task if they had all spoken English. But as it was, every instruction had to be fed through Rainbow - and at times the confusion that resulted had put Christy in mind of the old parlour-game, Chinese Whispers" (121).
That on top of two characters who I disliked made this not the most fun a boy/girl/other could have. Even if the heroine was a computer expert :/
August 5, 2016
Από τα καλύτερα άλρεκιν που έχω διαβάσει!!Ανήκει στηνκ κατηγορία "Ταξίδια στον κόσμο" και είναι αυτό με το Τόκιο.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews