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Americana #38
The Thawing of Mara
Mara's dislike for Sin Buchanan increases when he strikes up a friendship with Mara's crippled father, Adam, who abandoned Mara and her mother when she was fifteen
234 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1980
About the author
Janet Dailey
406 books1,871 followersJanet Anne Haradon Dailey was an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey (her married name). Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide.
Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.
She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.
Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.
She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 5, 2016
I didn't like the father because he was a cheater, I didn't like the hero because even after meeting heroine he slept with his mistress.... But there was something that kept me reading so maybe I did like it.
June 24, 2024
Poor heroine was such a martyr and Debbie Downer. Vile, cheating, negligent dad never showed remorse ONCE for what he did to heroine and her mom, instead heaping all kinds of scorn and mental manipulation and abuse on his daughter. Hero was a manwhore whose taste in women was oh so barftastic. He then concludes the story by throwing...THROWING...the engagement ring at heroine across the room and asking her dad(!!!!) not heroine if he can marry her. Heroine folded like an omelette and all I could think was that history is repeating herself, with the pairing of a martyr with not reformed rake who will cheat on her and eventually leave her :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2020
"The Thawing of Mara" is the story of Mara and Sin.
Meet our heroine, the coldest woman in Pennsylvania. Having been disillusioned by her father's betrayal to her mother, who then passed away, she bears a burning resentment towards men. However, that doesn't make her shrug away her responsibilities, and when her father is wheelchair bound, takes him in to care of him. Her heart is frozen, and she has an impenetrable shell around her..that is until the hero decides to rent their outhouse cottage. How he thaws her heart, while slowly seducing her with his kisses and them falling in love forms the rest of the story.
Angsty, sweet and heartbreaking in parts- enjoyed this book!
SWE/Unsafe
4/5
Meet our heroine, the coldest woman in Pennsylvania. Having been disillusioned by her father's betrayal to her mother, who then passed away, she bears a burning resentment towards men. However, that doesn't make her shrug away her responsibilities, and when her father is wheelchair bound, takes him in to care of him. Her heart is frozen, and she has an impenetrable shell around her..that is until the hero decides to rent their outhouse cottage. How he thaws her heart, while slowly seducing her with his kisses and them falling in love forms the rest of the story.
Angsty, sweet and heartbreaking in parts- enjoyed this book!
SWE/Unsafe
4/5
December 23, 2022
After having read intense romance titles like "Terms of Surrender, The Second Time and The Hostage Bride by Janet Dailey, "The Thawing of Mara" feels like such a average read. It was not boring but not that entertaining either. Sinclair Buchanan is a dynamic businessman and a great deal of a charmer that seduces the cold and "stiff" heroine Mara Prentiss throughout the story, but he lacked the intense charisma and the madness the other heroes felt for their heroines. The heroes from those titles i mentioned are crazy when it comes to their heroines, but Sinclair was just...ahhh i don`t know. He lacked that feeling and we do not get any pov from him either cuz this is a Harlequin Presents.
Mara Prentiss just got on my nerves. She had no idea how to handle Sinclair and i literally laughed out loud when she reacted to Celine being Sinclair`s mistress when they first met,LOL. She was so surpised of them not being married and even stated that there is only one bed in the cottage,omg howww embarrasing! Even Sinclair was amused by that! Then its her being angry, emotional, stiff and strung tight as a board THE WHOLE FREAKING STORY. I don`t care about her past, she still behaved dumb in my eyes.(Ah, how i tolerate this kind of heroines even less with more years going by) Well except for when she got seduced by Sinclair.
Mara Prentiss just got on my nerves. She had no idea how to handle Sinclair and i literally laughed out loud when she reacted to Celine being Sinclair`s mistress when they first met,LOL. She was so surpised of them not being married and even stated that there is only one bed in the cottage,omg howww embarrasing! Even Sinclair was amused by that! Then its her being angry, emotional, stiff and strung tight as a board THE WHOLE FREAKING STORY. I don`t care about her past, she still behaved dumb in my eyes.(Ah, how i tolerate this kind of heroines even less with more years going by) Well except for when she got seduced by Sinclair.
May 9, 2021
Janet Dailey has such an outstanding way of writing that she can create sensual tension between a man and a woman that you as a reader can feel it. You can feel his passion and love for her and how much he wants to convince her to be with him.
Dailey knows the difference between sensuality and sexuality. The scene in which the h sits on his lap and he feeds her grapes and they drink wine and he kisses her is with all her clothes on and it feels magical. And so there are more magic scenes like the scene in which he is so enchanted when she says his first name for the first time.
He is so smitten that it pours out of every page in which they are together.
I loved the interaction between the two. The h has created a wall around herself because of her dad. She thinks all men are no good. Slowly, but surely, the H is breaking through the ice.
This book was written in the 70’s. The h is very domestic with cooking and cleaning all the time and living at her father’s house while she doesn’t even like her father. I didn’t like her father either. She is quite docile, but this wasn’t a stupid, annoying h which is a relief.
Dailey knows the difference between sensuality and sexuality. The scene in which the h sits on his lap and he feeds her grapes and they drink wine and he kisses her is with all her clothes on and it feels magical. And so there are more magic scenes like the scene in which he is so enchanted when she says his first name for the first time.
He is so smitten that it pours out of every page in which they are together.
I loved the interaction between the two. The h has created a wall around herself because of her dad. She thinks all men are no good. Slowly, but surely, the H is breaking through the ice.
This book was written in the 70’s. The h is very domestic with cooking and cleaning all the time and living at her father’s house while she doesn’t even like her father. I didn’t like her father either. She is quite docile, but this wasn’t a stupid, annoying h which is a relief.
July 4, 2022
Ένα βιβλίο τόσο έντονο όσο και η ένταση των ηρώων του, που γίνεται αισθητή από τις πρώτες σελίδες.
Σε κρατά λοιπόν μ' ενα τρόπο μοναδικό!
Αλλά,υπάρχει αυτό το αλλά...
Έχει αδικαιολόγητες ελλείψεις και πολλές ασάφειες.
Τελείωσε απότομα ,σκέφτηκα ότι λείπει κείμενο και φταίει η μετάφραση.Μπήκα στο G.R να το αξιολογήσω και διάβασα σχόλια από αναγνώστες ,τελικά δεν ήταν θέμα μετάφρασης ! Το βιβλίο τελείωσε πρόχειρα και κυκλοφόρησε με τις ίδιες ελλείψεις παντού. Το παράδοξο ότι πέρα από το κουτσουρεμένο τέλος του , δεν μετάνιωσα στιγμή που το διάβασα, μίλησε στη ψυχή μου.
4,5/5
Σε κρατά λοιπόν μ' ενα τρόπο μοναδικό!
Αλλά,υπάρχει αυτό το αλλά...
Έχει αδικαιολόγητες ελλείψεις και πολλές ασάφειες.
Τελείωσε απότομα ,σκέφτηκα ότι λείπει κείμενο και φταίει η μετάφραση.Μπήκα στο G.R να το αξιολογήσω και διάβασα σχόλια από αναγνώστες ,τελικά δεν ήταν θέμα μετάφρασης ! Το βιβλίο τελείωσε πρόχειρα και κυκλοφόρησε με τις ίδιες ελλείψεις παντού. Το παράδοξο ότι πέρα από το κουτσουρεμένο τέλος του , δεν μετάνιωσα στιγμή που το διάβασα, μίλησε στη ψυχή μου.
4,5/5
September 25, 2024
loved the grapes scene <3
March 11, 2020
This was a book from the 70s - Janet Dailey did 50 books- a book for every state. This is Pennsylvania, set in rural Gettysburg. Just 3 characters and very well written. Janet re-issued them and had planned to update the technology and decided against it, so no cell phones or internet or email. Three characters only in this book and their interaction is terrific and finally the ending came and then nothing. I needed an epilogue to see how if it worked out for Mara, Sin (short for Sinclair) and Adam. Mara is jaded by her father, Adam until the mysterious Sin comes into their lives. Then she starts, a very little to live. But then the book ends abruptly. I'm glad I read this and will more in this series.
April 30, 2018
s. 8 cnost
s. 29 Otevřela sáček s moukou a zatímco ji vysypávala jeho obsah do příslušné plechovky
s. 40 kdo ji čet
nesadá
s. 79 vyrazil na skoro dvou set mílové tažení ?
s. 81,82 Jak pomalu jeli po Konfederační Avenue, je-
Jak pomalu jeli po Konfederační Avenue, je-
vilo se
ji/jí - s. 39, 40
s. 29 Otevřela sáček s moukou a zatímco ji vysypávala jeho obsah do příslušné plechovky
s. 40 kdo ji čet
nesadá
s. 79 vyrazil na skoro dvou set mílové tažení ?
s. 81,82 Jak pomalu jeli po Konfederační Avenue, je-
Jak pomalu jeli po Konfederační Avenue, je-
vilo se
ji/jí - s. 39, 40
May 21, 2020
She's got Daddy issues. It's clean. I hate clean romances.
January 13, 2025
Less arguing and misunderstanding than most, but overall dissatisfying.
January 20, 2021
Aloof, cold as ice - that was Mara Prentiss. And she felt she had every reason to be that way. Her father's infidelity had killed her mother. That's what love leads to, Mara thought.
Mara hated her father, Adam, but she looked after him out of duty. When he became friends with the striking, persuasive Sinclair Buchanan, a tenant on Mara's land, she was incensed.
When Sinclair began his campaign to unfreeze Mara's bitter heart, she was tempted. But she had no intention of falling in love. Surely she was above stooping to that!
Mara hated her father, Adam, but she looked after him out of duty. When he became friends with the striking, persuasive Sinclair Buchanan, a tenant on Mara's land, she was incensed.
When Sinclair began his campaign to unfreeze Mara's bitter heart, she was tempted. But she had no intention of falling in love. Surely she was above stooping to that!
October 18, 2016
It honestly bored me. There was no real resolution to her problems with her father, no explanation of what happened to his mistress, etc. It was just a plot device to explain why she was so cold. Also explains why the romance was very... cold. No explanation of what happened with Sin's mistress either.
October 31, 2021
was forced to leave it unfinished after 2/3 of the book.
exhausted by abusive patronising, ridiculous horniness and a distasteful sensual scene on the battlefield of Gettysburg, prompted by a narration of Pickett's Charge losses (+ a comparison of heroine's defences falling like those of general Lee)... - that was sickening even for a non-American reader
exhausted by abusive patronising, ridiculous horniness and a distasteful sensual scene on the battlefield of Gettysburg, prompted by a narration of Pickett's Charge losses (+ a comparison of heroine's defences falling like those of general Lee)... - that was sickening even for a non-American reader
June 29, 2018
babasına annesine sebep olduğu için çok kızgın olan ama yine de ona bir görev duygusuyla bakan, kalbini aşka kapamış ama olgun, yakışıklı ve beyefendi komşuyla/kiracıyla tanışınca içi ısınan klasik hikaye, zaman öldürmelik..
August 31, 2011
Another romance era read for me and an early work for Dailey.
February 11, 2009
Very good.
Read
June 24, 2018Mara had locked her feelings away.
Aloof, cold as ice- that was Mara Prentiss. And she felt she had every reason to be that way. Her father’s infidelity had killed her mother. That’s what love leads to Mara thought.
Mara hated her father, Adam, but she looked after him out of duty. When he became friends with the striking, persuasive Sinclair Buchanan, a tenant on Mara’s land, she was incensed.
Sinclair began his campaign to unfreeze Mara’s bitter heart, she was tempted. But she had no intention of falling in love. Surely she was above stooping to that!
Aloof, cold as ice- that was Mara Prentiss. And she felt she had every reason to be that way. Her father’s infidelity had killed her mother. That’s what love leads to Mara thought.
Mara hated her father, Adam, but she looked after him out of duty. When he became friends with the striking, persuasive Sinclair Buchanan, a tenant on Mara’s land, she was incensed.
Sinclair began his campaign to unfreeze Mara’s bitter heart, she was tempted. But she had no intention of falling in love. Surely she was above stooping to that!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews