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No Greater Joy
She would not let him love her
Alison Lenox loved working at Bushveld Camp. Giving children riding lessons and trail rides through the African countryside helped her to escape the bitter memories of Raymond's betrayal.
But before she knew what was happening, her heart had betrayed her again. Alison just could ignore Clint Demaine, the devastating owner of the camp.
Somehow, in spite of all her fears, Clint broke through her resistance. He wasn't the kind of man to take no for an answer.
Alison Lenox loved working at Bushveld Camp. Giving children riding lessons and trail rides through the African countryside helped her to escape the bitter memories of Raymond's betrayal.
But before she knew what was happening, her heart had betrayed her again. Alison just could ignore Clint Demaine, the devastating owner of the camp.
Somehow, in spite of all her fears, Clint broke through her resistance. He wasn't the kind of man to take no for an answer.
- GenresRomanceHarlequin Romance
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1988
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 27, 2026
Horse-trainer heroine is jilted by her childhood sweetheart in favor of a rich girl named Edna *shudder*. She decides to swear off men and focus on her dream of opening her own stables. Hero is a rich, sexy hotelier who, in his off time, runs a non-profit kids summer camp. He woos the heroine to come work for him to teach the kids horseback riding. From the get-go, he is all over her like an octopus. Heroine wants nothing to do with him, especially as he has a reputation as a lov' em and leav' em type ever since his wife died tragically a decade ago. He has never remarried.
The OW is the camp director, a cold aloof woman who runs it by the book according to the tenets of her psychology major. Hero constantly takes OW’s side whenever the heroine has a disagreement with her harsh methods, including an instance when OW is deliberately being cruel towards a very vulnerable, traumatized and bullied young camper.
Heroine keeps hearing rumors that hero and OW are intimately involved, which seems to be confirmed by OW's venomous stay-away-from-my-man hisses and the fact that Hero thinks it's appropriate to discuss camp business with OW over dinner at one of his elegant hotels' candlelit restaurants. He has absolutely no shame of being caught red-handed dating another woman while trying to woo the heroine and continues to put the moves on heroine throughout her stay at the camp. Unfortunately for her, her traitorous body eventually wins out over her common sense.
Just as she is about to give in to the hero's sexual magnetism, she discovers hero and OW kissing passionately in OW's office. Heartbroken, heroine runs away. Hero runs after her but slips on an oily pavement, hitting his head and losing consciousness. He is in hospital in a coma and heroine runs back to see him and profess her love to his comatose body... only to realize that hero was just pretending to be in a coma, making everyone around him, friends, colleagues, hospital staff worry about his condition, all in the hopes of luring heroine back to his bedside. I mean seriously, this is some George Costanza-level ridiculousness!
Oh and the kiss with the OW is explained away as a congratulatory kiss because she had just gotten news that she had passed her psychology exam. ROFL. Honestly, this guy was just too slimy AND shady for me to believe in some kind of genuine love for the heroine. She is definitely setting herself up for heartbreak with this cheating guy and for once, I think she should've heeded the OW's warning that hero's many infatuations burn bright but short. By next summer camp, he will be on to the next sweet thing imho.
The OW is the camp director, a cold aloof woman who runs it by the book according to the tenets of her psychology major. Hero constantly takes OW’s side whenever the heroine has a disagreement with her harsh methods, including an instance when OW is deliberately being cruel towards a very vulnerable, traumatized and bullied young camper.
Heroine keeps hearing rumors that hero and OW are intimately involved, which seems to be confirmed by OW's venomous stay-away-from-my-man hisses and the fact that Hero thinks it's appropriate to discuss camp business with OW over dinner at one of his elegant hotels' candlelit restaurants. He has absolutely no shame of being caught red-handed dating another woman while trying to woo the heroine and continues to put the moves on heroine throughout her stay at the camp. Unfortunately for her, her traitorous body eventually wins out over her common sense.
Just as she is about to give in to the hero's sexual magnetism, she discovers hero and OW kissing passionately in OW's office. Heartbroken, heroine runs away. Hero runs after her but slips on an oily pavement, hitting his head and losing consciousness. He is in hospital in a coma and heroine runs back to see him and profess her love to his comatose body... only to realize that hero was just pretending to be in a coma, making everyone around him, friends, colleagues, hospital staff worry about his condition, all in the hopes of luring heroine back to his bedside. I mean seriously, this is some George Costanza-level ridiculousness!
Oh and the kiss with the OW is explained away as a congratulatory kiss because she had just gotten news that she had passed her psychology exam. ROFL. Honestly, this guy was just too slimy AND shady for me to believe in some kind of genuine love for the heroine. She is definitely setting herself up for heartbreak with this cheating guy and for once, I think she should've heeded the OW's warning that hero's many infatuations burn bright but short. By next summer camp, he will be on to the next sweet thing imho.
May 3, 2011
Boy falls in love with girl, altho you wonder why since she acts like an idiot. Oh wait. She's beautiful, of course.
Set in South Africa but the author doesnt really give you a great sense of locale.
Grade: C
Set in South Africa but the author doesnt really give you a great sense of locale.
Grade: C
September 21, 2023
September Readathon
1+ This one is so odd, tonally.
There's a small stack of old/er Harlequins I've read and then held onto over the years because there's a quality, and some magic for me in the endings, for one reason or another. Sometimes the mood catches me and I reread only the final chapters, from top to bottom of the stack, to revisit those feelings. If this book was a final-chapter-read alone, it'd be a pretty good book. As it stands, I feel mixed to poorly toward it, because the rest of it is also mixed to poor.
At the end in this one I think the heroine has matured into a more worldly and knowing what she wants person and that the hero is very much devoted to her, and they're quite in love.
During the rest, they flare up at each other and are petulant and unlikable to suddenly mushy by turns. And she is a -- to use an old and awful word, and one the hero invokes -- tease, and he's a handsy pest. By today's reckoning, her first day with him as 'boss' driving her to the camp would count as sexual harassment and she'd have been right to turn around and go home.
In the world of this book, and plenty of romances old skool and not, he's testing her, trying to get a read, trying to wake her up (to *him* most of all). Sometimes that plays well to me, current mores be damned, but man lol in this one he just came across as a pushy cad, while she's fickle and immature about if she likes and wants it or not.
The other woman / wrench in the works is awful and manipulative and the hero is completely dumb about it entirely. As the heroine allows herself to be doubtful and manipulated and assume the worst from, yes, a contrived event she witnesses but has no context for and then flees from without seeking an explanation. Tiresome.
At least with it as their future they both love horses and a rural existence. Something to talk about once they get their pent-up frustrations spent and have to actually live with and get to know each other.
1+ This one is so odd, tonally.
There's a small stack of old/er Harlequins I've read and then held onto over the years because there's a quality, and some magic for me in the endings, for one reason or another. Sometimes the mood catches me and I reread only the final chapters, from top to bottom of the stack, to revisit those feelings. If this book was a final-chapter-read alone, it'd be a pretty good book. As it stands, I feel mixed to poorly toward it, because the rest of it is also mixed to poor.
At the end in this one I think the heroine has matured into a more worldly and knowing what she wants person and that the hero is very much devoted to her, and they're quite in love.
During the rest, they flare up at each other and are petulant and unlikable to suddenly mushy by turns. And she is a -- to use an old and awful word, and one the hero invokes -- tease, and he's a handsy pest. By today's reckoning, her first day with him as 'boss' driving her to the camp would count as sexual harassment and she'd have been right to turn around and go home.
In the world of this book, and plenty of romances old skool and not, he's testing her, trying to get a read, trying to wake her up (to *him* most of all). Sometimes that plays well to me, current mores be damned, but man lol in this one he just came across as a pushy cad, while she's fickle and immature about if she likes and wants it or not.
The other woman / wrench in the works is awful and manipulative and the hero is completely dumb about it entirely. As the heroine allows herself to be doubtful and manipulated and assume the worst from, yes, a contrived event she witnesses but has no context for and then flees from without seeking an explanation. Tiresome.
At least with it as their future they both love horses and a rural existence. Something to talk about once they get their pent-up frustrations spent and have to actually live with and get to know each other.
September 3, 2022
the story comprised most of RCs style - setting south africa, a game reserve, alpha Hera who happens to be in an "employer" and owner of a game reserve, a heroine who discovers ber attracgion to the Hero, a mild ow/om drama....However, there was something about the interaction between the leads that made me uncomfortable. I mean it seemed that the H has a penchant for touching women "unnecessarily" and not every hero i ve read read about has given me that vibe. The heroine has to ask him to stop touching her so many times and then he is caught with the ow??? The MCs may love each other but i feel that the H might continue like that with the other women in their HEA.
January 25, 2026
A pretty cliché story, honestly the girl who’s all idealistic and refuses to fall in love again, then here comes the guy who keeps chasing her and trying to win her over...and yes, they end up getting married. Still, it was quite enjoyable. Even though it’s an older book, the English is surprisingly easy to understand. Overall, it’s fun, light, and has some comedy too.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews