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The Revenge Affair
Mission: to steal a bridegroom?
Joshua Wade was convinced that Regan Frances was plotting to disrupt his wedding. Why else would she have agreed to organize the big day -- when she clearly had a grudge against him? Regan had to admit there was unfinished business between them: a reckless one-night stand....
Regan wasn't out for revenge, though she did have a hidden reason for getting close to Joshua's family. Only she could never reveal her secret plans -- not even when Joshua confessed his engagement was a sham and he wanted his ring on Regan's finger!
Joshua Wade was convinced that Regan Frances was plotting to disrupt his wedding. Why else would she have agreed to organize the big day -- when she clearly had a grudge against him? Regan had to admit there was unfinished business between them: a reckless one-night stand....
Regan wasn't out for revenge, though she did have a hidden reason for getting close to Joshua's family. Only she could never reveal her secret plans -- not even when Joshua confessed his engagement was a sham and he wanted his ring on Regan's finger!
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1999
About the author
Susan Napier
140 books153 followersPerhaps being born on Valentine’s Day was an omen that Susan Napier would become a romance writer. This New Zealand author has written over 30 Mills & Boon category romances since 1984. Napier and her husband Tony Potter met when they both worked at the Auckland Star newspaper. After they married, she left the newspaper to work for a film company where she learned the art of dialogue. After the birth of her sons, Simon and Ben, she was a freelance scriptwriter for documentaries. It was soon after that she decided to try her hand at writing the romance fiction she dearly loved.
She and her husband still live in the home they bought in Auckland shortly after their marriage.
She and her husband still live in the home they bought in Auckland shortly after their marriage.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 2, 2019
Re The Revenge Affair - Susan Napier does a geisha/call girl fantasy in this utter trainwreck of an HP outing.
The h in this one is recently widowed. Her husband used her for her money and her family business connections while he had a mistress, a son and embezzled tons of money of off her relations.
He also was a controlling, domineering, nematode slime pustule parasite who forced the h onto birth control, forced her into his idea of a successful wife and told her she was horrible in bed, all to undermine her self confidence - which wasn't too great to begin with as she had a cult fanatic mother and a dead alcoholic father.
The h was a unicorn groomer when she got married and thought she was happy, until her husband wrapped his BMW around a tree and all of his nefarious deeds came to light. This includes the mistress crying to the h that she found the money he embezzled and it is the h's duty to figure out a way to replace it so that the mistress doesn't go to jail and her and the dead snot snarfer's son isn't put into care.
The h is furious at the massive deception. When the book opens, the h decides to take the place of her roommate's sick friend who is involved in a group of ladies that trade sex for jewelry as escorts.
The h is ready to proclaim her independence by having a one night stand and if the lurve club mojo is good enough, she will prove once and for all to her dead nematode parasite that she is a worthy woman.
The h goes over to the H's apartment, has some banter with the butler and a lot of sexual innuendo conversation with the H when he finally arrives. The h gets the H to forgo the party they were supposed to attend and gets straight to getting a groove on with him.
As a little turn around from the H giving her a nice piece of jewelry for her time, (she leaves it behind,) the h leaves him the pricey cuff links she bought her dead snot snarfer for his birthday instead.
When the H and h next meet up, it is at the home of one of her elderly relative's friends. The friend's granddaughter is getting married and the elderly lady needs a younger helper to do all the footwork for the arrangements.
To the h's shock and horror, the groom is the man she had her liberation fling with. He is also the man who has taken over her dead nematode parasite's office and somehow the h has to find a way to sneakily replace the money her parasite stole without the H realizing it.
To that end, the H's 15 yr old son, computer hacker extraordinaire, decides to poke around in the files and help the h out - very much against her protests.
Back with the H and h, we find out that the H is marrying the granddaughter because his younger brother got her up the duff. The two of them had a big fight and split up, but the granddaughter is an incompetent ninny who can't handle single parenthood - even with wealthy relatives and a team of nannies- so it is up to the uber controlling H to step up to the plate.
Being engaged doesn't stop the H from trying to dissect the h's psyche, especially in regards to her late nematode's extramarital activities - it seems the H had the h investigated. Nor does being engaged keep the H from having lurve club events with the h - tho the H tells the h that she is a useful stress reliever and he will be totally committed and faithful to his wife after the wedding.
There is a bit more whining and burbling from the H's bride to be, but the big kicker is the woman isn't actually pregnant - she is just mental. However she refuses to tell the H that the whole reason for the two of them to marry is moot.
It is even worse for the h as she is forced to listen to the H extol the virtues of his bride to be, while dismissing the h as a tart for convenience to his younger brother. Then the H finds out his son helped the h replace the money her dead nematode parasite took and he totally hits the roof.
There are really nasty words, more tart name calling and the h goes to her relatives and explains about her dead snot snarfer's activities. They are very understanding as the h has replaced the embezzled funds and see no reason why the h can't continue to wait on them hand and foot.
The h then explains that she is in love with the H and the horrified relatives are okay with her fleeing. The h then has major mopey moments pining for her lost great love, complete with a visit from the bovine 'can't figure out a plus sign' idiot - who is now marrying the younger brother.
The h is wallowing in her angst until a new email requesting her escort services arrives.
The h rushes off to the H's apartment for more beratement and some harassment until they both fall into bed. The H missed her boudoir moves and now claims he wants to marry her as he showers all sorts of jewelry over her responsive body.
He also claims that he knew he was he never going to have to marry his brother's girlfriend, tho how he thought that would be prevented if she really had been preggers isn't made clear.
Either way, the h believes she loves the H and that a good round of the lurve club is worth more than therapy to earn some self worth.
We leave the h groveling to be the H's wife and the H plotting to maximize his use and abuse of the besotted h for a very dubious HEA.
This h needed therapy and these people were toxic. I can only surmise that SN was using this book to explore the real word social consequences of Australia's decision to decriminalize most prostitution in 1990's.
Given the underlying contempt that SN treats this heroine with and the dubiousness of the HEA she makes her grovel for, I think it is safe to conclude that SN was not a supporter of the ladies of the evening.
But that does leave the reader wondering where SN meant to go with this one. Was this an attempt at freeing a heroine from sexual repression that went badly astray? Or is SN more insidiously condemning the HP voyager, in a subtle indictment of most HP reader's condoning more benign forms of the HP quid pro quo in trading a unicorn grooming status for a wedding ring.
I honestly can't decide, but whatever the meaning SN was going for, it makes for a very uncomfortable and totally tacky HPlandia outing.
The h in this one is recently widowed. Her husband used her for her money and her family business connections while he had a mistress, a son and embezzled tons of money of off her relations.
He also was a controlling, domineering, nematode slime pustule parasite who forced the h onto birth control, forced her into his idea of a successful wife and told her she was horrible in bed, all to undermine her self confidence - which wasn't too great to begin with as she had a cult fanatic mother and a dead alcoholic father.
The h was a unicorn groomer when she got married and thought she was happy, until her husband wrapped his BMW around a tree and all of his nefarious deeds came to light. This includes the mistress crying to the h that she found the money he embezzled and it is the h's duty to figure out a way to replace it so that the mistress doesn't go to jail and her and the dead snot snarfer's son isn't put into care.
The h is furious at the massive deception. When the book opens, the h decides to take the place of her roommate's sick friend who is involved in a group of ladies that trade sex for jewelry as escorts.
The h is ready to proclaim her independence by having a one night stand and if the lurve club mojo is good enough, she will prove once and for all to her dead nematode parasite that she is a worthy woman.
The h goes over to the H's apartment, has some banter with the butler and a lot of sexual innuendo conversation with the H when he finally arrives. The h gets the H to forgo the party they were supposed to attend and gets straight to getting a groove on with him.
As a little turn around from the H giving her a nice piece of jewelry for her time, (she leaves it behind,) the h leaves him the pricey cuff links she bought her dead snot snarfer for his birthday instead.
When the H and h next meet up, it is at the home of one of her elderly relative's friends. The friend's granddaughter is getting married and the elderly lady needs a younger helper to do all the footwork for the arrangements.
To the h's shock and horror, the groom is the man she had her liberation fling with. He is also the man who has taken over her dead nematode parasite's office and somehow the h has to find a way to sneakily replace the money her parasite stole without the H realizing it.
To that end, the H's 15 yr old son, computer hacker extraordinaire, decides to poke around in the files and help the h out - very much against her protests.
Back with the H and h, we find out that the H is marrying the granddaughter because his younger brother got her up the duff. The two of them had a big fight and split up, but the granddaughter is an incompetent ninny who can't handle single parenthood - even with wealthy relatives and a team of nannies- so it is up to the uber controlling H to step up to the plate.
Being engaged doesn't stop the H from trying to dissect the h's psyche, especially in regards to her late nematode's extramarital activities - it seems the H had the h investigated. Nor does being engaged keep the H from having lurve club events with the h - tho the H tells the h that she is a useful stress reliever and he will be totally committed and faithful to his wife after the wedding.
There is a bit more whining and burbling from the H's bride to be, but the big kicker is the woman isn't actually pregnant - she is just mental. However she refuses to tell the H that the whole reason for the two of them to marry is moot.
It is even worse for the h as she is forced to listen to the H extol the virtues of his bride to be, while dismissing the h as a tart for convenience to his younger brother. Then the H finds out his son helped the h replace the money her dead nematode parasite took and he totally hits the roof.
There are really nasty words, more tart name calling and the h goes to her relatives and explains about her dead snot snarfer's activities. They are very understanding as the h has replaced the embezzled funds and see no reason why the h can't continue to wait on them hand and foot.
The h then explains that she is in love with the H and the horrified relatives are okay with her fleeing. The h then has major mopey moments pining for her lost great love, complete with a visit from the bovine 'can't figure out a plus sign' idiot - who is now marrying the younger brother.
The h is wallowing in her angst until a new email requesting her escort services arrives.
The h rushes off to the H's apartment for more beratement and some harassment until they both fall into bed. The H missed her boudoir moves and now claims he wants to marry her as he showers all sorts of jewelry over her responsive body.
He also claims that he knew he was he never going to have to marry his brother's girlfriend, tho how he thought that would be prevented if she really had been preggers isn't made clear.
Either way, the h believes she loves the H and that a good round of the lurve club is worth more than therapy to earn some self worth.
We leave the h groveling to be the H's wife and the H plotting to maximize his use and abuse of the besotted h for a very dubious HEA.
This h needed therapy and these people were toxic. I can only surmise that SN was using this book to explore the real word social consequences of Australia's decision to decriminalize most prostitution in 1990's.
Given the underlying contempt that SN treats this heroine with and the dubiousness of the HEA she makes her grovel for, I think it is safe to conclude that SN was not a supporter of the ladies of the evening.
But that does leave the reader wondering where SN meant to go with this one. Was this an attempt at freeing a heroine from sexual repression that went badly astray? Or is SN more insidiously condemning the HP voyager, in a subtle indictment of most HP reader's condoning more benign forms of the HP quid pro quo in trading a unicorn grooming status for a wedding ring.
I honestly can't decide, but whatever the meaning SN was going for, it makes for a very uncomfortable and totally tacky HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2019
So cringey. Heroine fills in for her flatmate as an escort and ends up sleeping with the hero. She is recently widowed from her cheating husband and needs to prove she’s a sexual desirable woman. H/h only know each other by their middle names.
They meet again when heroine is asked by her boss to help with a family wedding. It’s between the hero and his pregnant bride (who was a long-term girlfriend of hero’s brother). Oh, and hero has a 15 year-old son who is attracted to the heroine and likes to hack computers in his spare time.
SN tries to make this absurd story light and breezy but the escort storyline was skeevy. The bride playing one brother off another was skeevy. The hero having sex with the heroine while “engaged” was skeevy. The hero’s son hacking computers was illegal and wrong.
No thanks.
Boogenhagen has a good explanation of the escort storyline in her review.
They meet again when heroine is asked by her boss to help with a family wedding. It’s between the hero and his pregnant bride (who was a long-term girlfriend of hero’s brother). Oh, and hero has a 15 year-old son who is attracted to the heroine and likes to hack computers in his spare time.
SN tries to make this absurd story light and breezy but the escort storyline was skeevy. The bride playing one brother off another was skeevy. The hero having sex with the heroine while “engaged” was skeevy. The hero’s son hacking computers was illegal and wrong.
No thanks.
Boogenhagen has a good explanation of the escort storyline in her review.
May 4, 2022
Meh.
It could have been better.
The premises were interesting.
The heroine is a widow who found out after her husband's death that he wasn't the saint she thought he was.
Actually he was a sob, who lost all their money, stole from the company he was working for, had a mistress and a child.
The heroine was the meek and plain wife, and even the sex was not good.
She decides to repay secretly his debt to the company, and that was the first thing I really couldn't understand.
This heroine was a mess.
She should have washed her hands about his husband and all that mattered.
Then she suddenly decides to play the sexy siren and goes to a blind date with a man who paid for an escort.
This man is the hero.
They have a wonderful night of sex, of course, then she disappears in the morning leaving a gift for him.
Months later they meet again, she's a distant relative of his fiancee, and he thinks she wants to blackmail him.
Of course she tells it was a coincidence and she doesn't want anything from him.
He kisses and mauls her all the time, the bastard, and she also finds out his fiancee is pregnant.
They even have sex, while he's engaged with ow, who, by the way, was his brother's fiancee and of course the child is his brother's too, but the man won't marry her so the stupid hero plays hero and will marry her instead.
Really. Stupid.
In the meantime he shags heroine.
There's also a son the hero had with his first wife, he's a teenage genius with a crush on the heroine, he finds out she's trying to refund the company and decides to help her, even if she begs him not to. The hero thinks she used him and the boy to cover her misfits and calls her names.
Very ugly names.
The heroine leaves, while the ow has just found out she's not pregnant but is afraid that if she tells the hero and his brother she's not pregnant they will be angry.
Really???
Really???
Eventually genius boy will put the heroine and the hero together again.
Nope.
So many things I didn't like.
I could understand the heroine when she went to a blind date to have sex with a stranger after she found out her marriage was a sham.
All the rest was a bunch of inconsistencies.
-The hero is apparently a honourable man. Who married his first wife because she was pregnant and kept his child when she left him after he was born because the hero wasn't rich enough.
An honorable man who pays a woman to have sex.
A honorable man who decides to marry his brother's pregnant fiancee who is in love with his brother.
A honorable man who has sex with heroine when he's engaged with ow and tells heroine he can't offer her anything else and he will have a real marriage with ow.
If this is a honorable man, I can do without honor.
-The heroine was so stupid that after she knew her husband had cheated on her, on his mistress, on his company, still was willing to risk jail to save his name.
-She was basically the other woman and she accepted to be used by a man who professed to be honorable but was anything but.
- There was not a good grovel. He should have had to crawl for the things he said to her.
- I had the impression that she was second best because the hero was ready to marry a woman he didn't love and who was pregnant with his brother's child. It was ow who said she wasn't pregnant and wasn't going to marry him.
-It was the heroine who went to him in the end, because she was tricked by his son, not the hero.
Nope again.
It could have been better.
The premises were interesting.
The heroine is a widow who found out after her husband's death that he wasn't the saint she thought he was.
Actually he was a sob, who lost all their money, stole from the company he was working for, had a mistress and a child.
The heroine was the meek and plain wife, and even the sex was not good.
She decides to repay secretly his debt to the company, and that was the first thing I really couldn't understand.
This heroine was a mess.
She should have washed her hands about his husband and all that mattered.
Then she suddenly decides to play the sexy siren and goes to a blind date with a man who paid for an escort.
This man is the hero.
They have a wonderful night of sex, of course, then she disappears in the morning leaving a gift for him.
Months later they meet again, she's a distant relative of his fiancee, and he thinks she wants to blackmail him.
Of course she tells it was a coincidence and she doesn't want anything from him.
He kisses and mauls her all the time, the bastard, and she also finds out his fiancee is pregnant.
They even have sex, while he's engaged with ow, who, by the way, was his brother's fiancee and of course the child is his brother's too, but the man won't marry her so the stupid hero plays hero and will marry her instead.
Really. Stupid.
In the meantime he shags heroine.
There's also a son the hero had with his first wife, he's a teenage genius with a crush on the heroine, he finds out she's trying to refund the company and decides to help her, even if she begs him not to. The hero thinks she used him and the boy to cover her misfits and calls her names.
Very ugly names.
The heroine leaves, while the ow has just found out she's not pregnant but is afraid that if she tells the hero and his brother she's not pregnant they will be angry.
Really???
Really???
Eventually genius boy will put the heroine and the hero together again.
Nope.
So many things I didn't like.
I could understand the heroine when she went to a blind date to have sex with a stranger after she found out her marriage was a sham.
All the rest was a bunch of inconsistencies.
-The hero is apparently a honourable man. Who married his first wife because she was pregnant and kept his child when she left him after he was born because the hero wasn't rich enough.
An honorable man who pays a woman to have sex.
A honorable man who decides to marry his brother's pregnant fiancee who is in love with his brother.
A honorable man who has sex with heroine when he's engaged with ow and tells heroine he can't offer her anything else and he will have a real marriage with ow.
If this is a honorable man, I can do without honor.
-The heroine was so stupid that after she knew her husband had cheated on her, on his mistress, on his company, still was willing to risk jail to save his name.
-She was basically the other woman and she accepted to be used by a man who professed to be honorable but was anything but.
- There was not a good grovel. He should have had to crawl for the things he said to her.
- I had the impression that she was second best because the hero was ready to marry a woman he didn't love and who was pregnant with his brother's child. It was ow who said she wasn't pregnant and wasn't going to marry him.
-It was the heroine who went to him in the end, because she was tricked by his son, not the hero.
Nope again.
September 10, 2013
Too many plots, and I didn't really like any of them. The hero and heroine meet in a pretty unsavory way -- prettied up prostitution basically -- and when he's later painted as this very noble, honorable guy, I just wasn't buying it. Maybe she should have gone for his genius son instead. ;-)
September 20, 2016
Well, this not Susan Napier's regular standards I'm sorry to say.
The meet and greet so to speak between the H and h is kind of.. well, ick, for lack of a better term. The h is trying to recover from the hit her sexuality took from her two-timing, sex shaming, money skimming dead husband while the H is in need of a booty call. Turns out the H has a business associate that will get him a date with women that have no expectations of a relationship in exchange for a small trinket like a diamond bracelet or something. Sex is not necessarily on the menu but usually is. Gosh, that reminds me of something. Oh yeah, a pimp.
Well, the two have what must have been one heckuva night because the flashbacks are something else.
They meet up a couple of months later when the h is on assignment to help with a wedding for his family. She's also there because she wants to replace the money her husband stole from his company. Small world. Plus, guess who is getting married? The H.
The H is incredibly suspicious of the h and falls into the all women are money-grubbing gold-digger trope SN usually avoids. She is furious as well as she suspects him of being as big of a two-timer as her husband when she finds out the timeline of his engagement in relation to their one night stand.
All is cleared up of course. However, due to yet another misunderstanding the hero throws a very nasty diatribe at the heroine he never really makes up for. I am big on groveling.
Okay, the sex scenes are sizzling, and his teen age son is a great secondary character. However, not enough to pull this up to more than a two star.
The meet and greet so to speak between the H and h is kind of.. well, ick, for lack of a better term. The h is trying to recover from the hit her sexuality took from her two-timing, sex shaming, money skimming dead husband while the H is in need of a booty call. Turns out the H has a business associate that will get him a date with women that have no expectations of a relationship in exchange for a small trinket like a diamond bracelet or something. Sex is not necessarily on the menu but usually is. Gosh, that reminds me of something. Oh yeah, a pimp.
Well, the two have what must have been one heckuva night because the flashbacks are something else.
They meet up a couple of months later when the h is on assignment to help with a wedding for his family. She's also there because she wants to replace the money her husband stole from his company. Small world. Plus, guess who is getting married? The H.
The H is incredibly suspicious of the h and falls into the all women are money-grubbing gold-digger trope SN usually avoids. She is furious as well as she suspects him of being as big of a two-timer as her husband when she finds out the timeline of his engagement in relation to their one night stand.
All is cleared up of course. However, due to yet another misunderstanding the hero throws a very nasty diatribe at the heroine he never really makes up for. I am big on groveling.
Okay, the sex scenes are sizzling, and his teen age son is a great secondary character. However, not enough to pull this up to more than a two star.
June 8, 2019
"The Revenge Affair" is the story of Eve/ Regan and Adam/ Joshua.
Oh lordy lord..this was HOT.
Our h and H have a ONS when she decides to help her roommate out by acting as a companion to a rich man- she is also getting over the death of her cheating, worthless husband and this is the way to finally have one wild night. She meets the hero, and they have a hot and heavy banging session. The h escapes the next morning.
When the h later gets persuaded into planning a wedding, she never expects to see the H again..or that he would be the groom! But as his family secrets are revealed, the h soon realizes things might not be as transparent as they seem. Also the h and H cannot keep their hands off one another...
Angsty, sexy and filled with emotions- I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Safe
4.25/5
Oh lordy lord..this was HOT.
Our h and H have a ONS when she decides to help her roommate out by acting as a companion to a rich man- she is also getting over the death of her cheating, worthless husband and this is the way to finally have one wild night. She meets the hero, and they have a hot and heavy banging session. The h escapes the next morning.
When the h later gets persuaded into planning a wedding, she never expects to see the H again..or that he would be the groom! But as his family secrets are revealed, the h soon realizes things might not be as transparent as they seem. Also the h and H cannot keep their hands off one another...
Angsty, sexy and filled with emotions- I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Safe
4.25/5
Did Not Finish
October 2, 2021DNF - I really struggle with an H who pays for sex. Particularly when he’s engaged/married… even if the prostitute turns out to be the h. Just… yuck. 😐 #next
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2018
Arrant nonsense. Way too many tropes.
May 7, 2012
It was an okay read, but I don't view this as one of the better books written by this author.
1) The pacing is cumbersome. The initial meeting takes up way too much content and I found myself bored with it and actually flipping ahead to get past the first meeting.
2) I didn't particularly care for the way the hero acts with the heroine once they meet up again. He is just rude, arrogant and sometimes demeaning.
3) I particularly didn't like that he jumped to some seriously wrong conclusions accusing her of manipulating his son into something illegal and unethical.
4) Finally, I couldn't get past that they both openly cheated on his fiancé. He even goes so far as to tell her that he has nothing to offer her beyond just sex....
It was clear to me that the heroine's sexual confidence as a woman had been sorely abused by her first husband. Consequently, the whole book was about her willingness to forgo all scruples anytime the Hero so much as panted for her. It was all about her newly found entitlement for good sex.
Not my idea of a quality romance that I expect from an HP. Does anyone else see it differently?
1) The pacing is cumbersome. The initial meeting takes up way too much content and I found myself bored with it and actually flipping ahead to get past the first meeting.
2) I didn't particularly care for the way the hero acts with the heroine once they meet up again. He is just rude, arrogant and sometimes demeaning.
3) I particularly didn't like that he jumped to some seriously wrong conclusions accusing her of manipulating his son into something illegal and unethical.
4) Finally, I couldn't get past that they both openly cheated on his fiancé. He even goes so far as to tell her that he has nothing to offer her beyond just sex....
It was clear to me that the heroine's sexual confidence as a woman had been sorely abused by her first husband. Consequently, the whole book was about her willingness to forgo all scruples anytime the Hero so much as panted for her. It was all about her newly found entitlement for good sex.
Not my idea of a quality romance that I expect from an HP. Does anyone else see it differently?
December 27, 2020
Sorry, this was awful. Just absolutely awful. Awful characters, awful plot - I find it difficult to believe SN actually wrote it.
April 30, 2012
Hero and heroine have met before, in a one night stand. When they meet again, the hero is engaged to someone else and the heroine is in shock. She is widowed and her husband was a slimeball! She has been trying to right his wrong but when she is caught doing so, the hero doesn't know the full story, just hurts her and throws her out. This time it will be him who come crawling back.
The story was weak to me, I didn't like it a lot but there were some parts that I enjoyed. It's just okay to me. The hero needed to let his balls drop though and stop suffering from a "God complex".
The story was weak to me, I didn't like it a lot but there were some parts that I enjoyed. It's just okay to me. The hero needed to let his balls drop though and stop suffering from a "God complex".
August 31, 2017
So over 12 years ago, in school, I read a book from morning till it was time to go home. I was either in Grade 9 or Grade 11. My friend, whose book it was, had to take it back - and so I was left without any idea how it ended.
Yes it is a Harlequin romance - and they all 'end the same way' but that is not really true, is it?
And so, recently, after asking for help on a Goodreads group that specifically helps one find a book by the plot - I came to know what that book was. Needless to say, I finished it in a few hours.
The plot is rather simple, but ingenious. Eve and Adam have a one night stand - where she was his date to a big event - but instead they chose to stay in. Adam wants no strings. Eve is recovering from a terrible marriage.
It is only later, when they meet as Regan and Joshua, that things spiral out of control. And as Joshua is a control freak - it drives him nuts. Of course, he is a millionaire. But, he also has a really cool 15-year-old son Ryan - and three younger step-siblings - all of whom he has raised.
He is also engaged to his younger brother's ex-girlfriend who just so happens to be pregnant.
And Regan has already had one cheating husband - and will not become the other woman in any man's life. Not to mention, she would never fall for a man who cheats in any relationship in the first place.
Is it like other Mills and Boon romances - possibly. There is attraction, buildup, a huge fight - and eventual make up. But the details on this one stuck with me for over 12 years. I think that says a lot about how different it is.
I definitely like the book, but for me, the story is twisted with memories of school and friends, and is one of the first romances I read. But the best part, it lived up to the nostalgia. I am glad that I finally chased it down and finished it.
Yes it is a Harlequin romance - and they all 'end the same way' but that is not really true, is it?
And so, recently, after asking for help on a Goodreads group that specifically helps one find a book by the plot - I came to know what that book was. Needless to say, I finished it in a few hours.
The plot is rather simple, but ingenious. Eve and Adam have a one night stand - where she was his date to a big event - but instead they chose to stay in. Adam wants no strings. Eve is recovering from a terrible marriage.
It is only later, when they meet as Regan and Joshua, that things spiral out of control. And as Joshua is a control freak - it drives him nuts. Of course, he is a millionaire. But, he also has a really cool 15-year-old son Ryan - and three younger step-siblings - all of whom he has raised.
He is also engaged to his younger brother's ex-girlfriend who just so happens to be pregnant.
And Regan has already had one cheating husband - and will not become the other woman in any man's life. Not to mention, she would never fall for a man who cheats in any relationship in the first place.
Is it like other Mills and Boon romances - possibly. There is attraction, buildup, a huge fight - and eventual make up. But the details on this one stuck with me for over 12 years. I think that says a lot about how different it is.
I definitely like the book, but for me, the story is twisted with memories of school and friends, and is one of the first romances I read. But the best part, it lived up to the nostalgia. I am glad that I finally chased it down and finished it.
September 22, 2011
More of a 3.5, I think. The characters were engaging, though the heroine was a bit more martyr to her late husband than I would have really liked. It wasn't unforgivable, because the reason given (in terms of the way the hero came to understand her motives for a certain action)made some sense and seemed significant enough. What really kind of presented a bit of a fly in the ointment were two things - one was a comment given at the end by the hero during the happy ending: The other thing was the pacing. My ebook had about 157 pages. More than a third of the book was the lead up and first encounter between the two protagonists, and then the later 2/3 was the development of the conflict (which doesn't exist until they meet again) and the resolution. It seemed unbalanced - not enough spent on the relationship that develops when they are being themselves, too much spent on what amounts essentially to a long sex scene* between 'masked' strangers. So, it was pretty good, but I didn't finish it feeling wildly enthusiastic.
(*Though to be strictly accurate, it's mostly not the actual act, but the tension, play, yada, yada)
(*Though to be strictly accurate, it's mostly not the actual act, but the tension, play, yada, yada)
April 16, 2012
Love it! This book has an very original plot line that just makes you laugh out loud sometimes. The build-up is nice and while you always have the misunderstanding drama, it doesn't get in the way of a really cute story.
March 17, 2020
This is one of my favourite mills and boon book. It's very difficult to put down.
September 16, 2018
Three and a half stars. Interesting story, but the wrap up seemed hurried, as if the end of the story had to be crammed in under the constraint of maximum word count.
Published in 1999, it was a bit amusing to read how the internet + email played into the story a little bit.
Published in 1999, it was a bit amusing to read how the internet + email played into the story a little bit.
November 16, 2017
Interesting and at times funny. I was halfway through it and I thought - ha, I think I know what it happening here - and I was glad I was right but with a twist.
October 3, 2024
Could not read this.
November 25, 2025
If it was subpar I hoped it would at least excite my senses which it did not.
September 22, 2016
I actually didn't like the most of the characters and there were an awful lot of side-plots for such a short book, but I was really in the mood for an HP melodrama. Which is weird, because 4 years ago I hated the Harlequin Presents line. And I didn't like Susan Napier's style all that much. Funny how tastes can change.
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