Carmichael's Return

by Lilian Peake

Family secrets?Brett Carmichael walked out of nowhere into Lauren's life. All she knew about him was that he had gorgeous brown eyes and a long, lean body. He didn't seem to have a heart…or a past.Brett had come home after fifteen years of self-imposed exile. The last thing he had expected was to find Lauren living in his house. She was the unknown woman who had haunted his dreams for years. Lauren obviously had no idea who he was, and he certainly wasn't going to tell her!

Genres: Harlequin

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Lilian Margaret Peake was born on 25 May 1924 in London, England, UK. During the World War II, she moved to the countryside.

Her early ambition was to be a journalist, and she ended up working at various newspapers and magazines around England. She also married and started a family, and eventually she decided start to writing romance novels. She wrote over 65 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1971 to 1996 as Lilian Peake.

Lilian passed away in 27 May 1997.

Reviews

[willaful · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was published in 1996?! It reads more like 1976, with an insufferably prudish, uptight, self-righteous heroine, who leaps to conclusions as if there was a prize for getting there first.

[Nabanita · Rating 2 out of 5]

i read this book, because i wanted to know about the writing style in the old times...
It said, it was published in 1996, so i gave it a try...
me <--- disappointed.

[ANGELIA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because I love art so much (the h is an artist and I'm an amateur one), I'm giving this an extra star, otherwise it's not even worth one! The H and h are too quick to think the worst of each other, especially where the OM and OW are concerned. The H and h allow himself to be (stupidly) manipulated by the OW and the h is the same way with the OM. Despite the fact that the H and h have slept together, the H lets the OW kiss him and the h lets the OM kiss her. Both the OM and OW are toxic characters who used and manipulated people (especially the H and h), yet they both get the slap on the wrist treatment, rather than the kick in the balls he deserved and the kick in the boobs she deserved!

Despite whatever evidence to the contrary, both the H and h should have had more faith and trust in each other, instead of being so quick to think the worst, and the H should have been honest from the start. Love without faith, honesty and trust won't last, no matter how good the sex is.

And that whole bat crap mess with the H's parents is just too RIDICULOUS!!! Talk about a couple of TSTL nincompoops! They deserved all the misery they got for being dumb enough to believe the toxic, manipulative bitch who got a kick out of ruining people's lives! Because of her, father and son spent years apart (though Daddy Dumbo takes a lot of the blame for that), a young girl was deprived of her father and a father lost years with his daughter! Not to mention Daddy Dumbo and Mommy Moron allowing their marriage to be wrecked.

And now we're supposed to believe that after all these years (with Dumbo marrying Ms. Toxic and Moron marrying an invalid guy) they're getting back together, all is forgiven???? WHAT??????

And even worse: all Dumbo had to say was "Sorry about that" and the H says, "That's okay, I forgive you."

OH, COME ON!!!!!

That should have been the title of the book!

If only the author had made a different story with the same premise: secret identity, the H returning to his hometown, the story of what he'd been through due to his career as a journalist, and he and the h finding their way to each other, without all the nonsense with the OW/OM/idiot parents!

Skip this one!

[Celestia Arpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilian Peake CarMichael’s Return 1996
A Vintage Love Story
This appears to be Lilian Peak’s last and 65th romance novel.
I have read several of Lilian Peake’s Mills and Boon romance novels . I find that her readers also feel heroine’s hurt and discouragements when Hero is being hateful and disagreeable (a camouflage for his growing attraction to Heroine.) For Lilian Peake to have her readers cry or be unhappy and/ or rejoice with her heroines is a hallmark of a Lilian Peake love story and as with that period of her time her heroine remain an innocent before marriage.
In Carmichael’s Return, I find a departure from this. Written for Harlequin Presents, a more sensual line of Harlequin, Lilian Peak moved with the times but as she said there is sex but with the loving. Her plot in this novel is intriguing and as with all her novels , her plots and story telling is well written and keeps readers wanting to read more of her novels.
Lilian Peak wrote 65 novels for Mills and Boon and Harlequin Presents from 1971 to 1996. Sadly she passed away on May 27, 1997 at the age of 73.
Thank you Lilian Peak for hours of reading pleasure of your wonderful novels. You are sadly missed by all your fans worldwide.
CYA’58

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ not sure why I finished this. Plot was nonsensical at times! There was no backstory for the h and H’s was barely understandable. 🤦‍♀️