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Bellaire and Chalmers #1
Some Sort of Spell
She didn't ask to be rescued
Beatrice's half sister had done a lot of crazy things, but inviting Elliott Chalmers to temporarily share their home while his was being renovated--that was the limit!
Everyone knew that Beatrice and Elliott had never seen eye to eye over her dedication to her orphaned siblings. He'd even nicknamed her "Cinders."
Well, handsome prince or no, she hadn't invited him to interfere. And although silently grateful for the added household discipline, Beatrice drew the line where Elliott seemed most intent on crossing--her personal life!
Beatrice's half sister had done a lot of crazy things, but inviting Elliott Chalmers to temporarily share their home while his was being renovated--that was the limit!
Everyone knew that Beatrice and Elliott had never seen eye to eye over her dedication to her orphaned siblings. He'd even nicknamed her "Cinders."
Well, handsome prince or no, she hadn't invited him to interfere. And although silently grateful for the added household discipline, Beatrice drew the line where Elliott seemed most intent on crossing--her personal life!
189 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1987
12 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Frances Roding
7 books14 followersAKA Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Penny Halsall, Lydia Hitchcock, Penny Jordan, and Melinda Wright.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 28, 2016
Beatrice is the eldest child of famous actor parents (who died some years ago) and she has been bringing up her four siblings. They all live in a huge Victorian house in Wimbledon. Beatrice's step-sister, Lucilla, who has also been living with them, (from Beatrice's mother's other marriage) invites her step-brother Elliott to stay for a few months while work is being done on his London apartment. Unknown to Beatrice, Elliott has been romantically interested in her for years. Beatrice doesn't think much of herself. Her siblings are totally gorgeous and she knows she doesn't fit in with the rest of them. (They are tall, slim, and good-looking. She is small, curvy, and plain. She wears baggy, dull, and drab clothes to not draw attention to herself.) Her siblings are also very spoiled and expect her to do everything for them. When Elliott arrives he proceeds to subtly change things. He suggests Beatrice hire a new housekeeper (his old nanny) so she has more time for herself and he makes her see how selfish her siblings are.
I really loved Elliott, he was a wonderful hero! Sexy, and thoughtful, and caring. And I do love a besotted hero. I liked Beatrice too, even though, at the beginning of the book, she was a bit too self-sacrificing and let her family walk all over her. Later on in the book she finally admitted they treated her like a doormat. I also liked the couple (Lucia and Carlo) she befriended when she went to Italy. Lucia (and Elliott) finally opened Beatrice's eyes to how attractive she really was.
This was a lovely, sweet, and romantic read by Frances Roding (aka Penny Jordan).
I really loved Elliott, he was a wonderful hero! Sexy, and thoughtful, and caring. And I do love a besotted hero. I liked Beatrice too, even though, at the beginning of the book, she was a bit too self-sacrificing and let her family walk all over her. Later on in the book she finally admitted they treated her like a doormat. I also liked the couple (Lucia and Carlo) she befriended when she went to Italy. Lucia (and Elliott) finally opened Beatrice's eyes to how attractive she really was.
This was a lovely, sweet, and romantic read by Frances Roding (aka Penny Jordan).
July 30, 2020
"Some Sort of Spell" is the story of Beatrice and Elliot.
Oh god. This is one of those romances where you want to smack half the characters, and shake the rest!
The heroine is a sad waif, who has taken care of her five siblings and stepsiblings since her parents died. However, the said siblings treat her like dirt- think of her as a maid/ nanny/ servant while behaving in a pompous and superior manner, and belittling her. The heroine is the oldest, yet the most under-confident of the heroines out there- and she accepts their ridicule to fulfill her duty (P.S. Siblings are all over 18 FYI).
The hero is an acquaintance, who has always watched the situation from afar, even mockingly referring tot he heroine as "Cinder". He sees things crossing all boundaries, and when he is invited to stay at their home as a guest, starts calling out the brats and gets an actual nanny to sort them out. There is loads of drama, running away- but the heroine eventually realizes how selfish her family is and things end on a positive note for her and the hero.
Good to kill time but your teeth might hurt due to intense grinding.
SWE
3/5
Oh god. This is one of those romances where you want to smack half the characters, and shake the rest!
The heroine is a sad waif, who has taken care of her five siblings and stepsiblings since her parents died. However, the said siblings treat her like dirt- think of her as a maid/ nanny/ servant while behaving in a pompous and superior manner, and belittling her. The heroine is the oldest, yet the most under-confident of the heroines out there- and she accepts their ridicule to fulfill her duty (P.S. Siblings are all over 18 FYI).
The hero is an acquaintance, who has always watched the situation from afar, even mockingly referring tot he heroine as "Cinder". He sees things crossing all boundaries, and when he is invited to stay at their home as a guest, starts calling out the brats and gets an actual nanny to sort them out. There is loads of drama, running away- but the heroine eventually realizes how selfish her family is and things end on a positive note for her and the hero.
Good to kill time but your teeth might hurt due to intense grinding.
SWE
3/5
August 12, 2019
Increasing it to 3 stars. (This is the third re-read.) Most of my comments still stand, but Elliot won me over this time. She still has the family from #$%ELL. If they want a long life of happiness, they will need to move to another continent.
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Just did a re-read after all the fun and glowing reviews from my GR friends. I was hoping that maybe this just caught me at the wrong time and that I would enjoy it so much more.
Nope. Didn't work. My sentiment stays the same.
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Not one of my favorites....The storyline was cute and had great potential, but I got thrown into a tizzy with a heroine that seemed to walk around in a daze allowing people to manipulate her left and right and a family that made "Attila the Hun" look like a choir boy.
I liked that Elliott was smitten, but again not orchestrated very well.
I usually can get past a lot of things, if I can relate to the characters, but these folks left me cold.
________________________________
Just did a re-read after all the fun and glowing reviews from my GR friends. I was hoping that maybe this just caught me at the wrong time and that I would enjoy it so much more.
Nope. Didn't work. My sentiment stays the same.
_____________________________
Not one of my favorites....The storyline was cute and had great potential, but I got thrown into a tizzy with a heroine that seemed to walk around in a daze allowing people to manipulate her left and right and a family that made "Attila the Hun" look like a choir boy.
I liked that Elliott was smitten, but again not orchestrated very well.
I usually can get past a lot of things, if I can relate to the characters, but these folks left me cold.
June 1, 2009
I like this one a lot because Elliot has a thing for Bea and she never noticed. He can only get her attention off her demanding, dramatic younger siblings that she has dedicated her life to taking care of, by taunting her. Finally when he gets her attention, he goes into full on pursuit mode. Elliot's pretty funny because he wants Bea to focus on him and not her family, and is very unapologetic about it. He pretty much maneuvers the whole family so that they can become more self-sufficient so that Bea can be all his. Bea has to deal with her low self-esteem issues and learn to say no to her younger siblings, who pretty much act like they own her and she is their slave. It's a good, fun book. It's related to A Different Dream Harlequin Presents(Elliot and Bea's somewhat evil half-sister Lucilla), Gentle Deception Harlequin Presents (Elliot's long-lost cousin Rosy).
July 7, 2016
This is a Cinderella story with the heroine being the down-trodden "ugly duckling" of a large family of drama llamas who are all beautiful and confident and . . . manipulative.
Enter Prince Charming - our hero - who is a match for the whole family. The delight in the story comes from the hero putting the family members in their place. The heroine is clueless about her own attractions, but eventually catches on for an HEA.
Enter Prince Charming - our hero - who is a match for the whole family. The delight in the story comes from the hero putting the family members in their place. The heroine is clueless about her own attractions, but eventually catches on for an HEA.
September 15, 2016
I really wanted to love this, but I just couldn't. My first inclination is to give it two stars, but the hero is so besotted with the H, although he gives her no quarter, I had to go with a three star.
The heroine was sweet and had potential, but with the introduction of her toxic and exponentially selfish tribe of siblings the story was hard to take. It's not bad enough that they take her for granted to the point they willfully drive suitors away as well as monopolize her time to the point she has to abandon her dream of culinary school and being a chef, but two of the siblings are so toxic it verges on bizarre, weird. I might have enjoyed it if she once stood up to the more toxic siblings. Example, her half-sibling sister who treats her like dirt, calls up and requests a four course dinner at the last minute and doesn't expect the heroine to sit with the guests. She then makes fun of her. Nasty, nasty girl. I kept hoping the h would leave or just stand up for herself, but these human functions are difficult when you have no spine.
Anyhoo, bottom line,the h is the oldest sibling of a large family. She's the odd girl out, kind of an ugly duckling as she is petite, curvy and practical while the rest of the crew is tall, thin and drama queen material. Part of the crew includes a half-sibling who has a brother that occasionally steps in to scold the crew about abusing poor little Cinders as he calls the h. So our H ends up being the tiny h's step-brother.
The h feels the noose tightening with the demands of her family and ends up taking on the job of being an assistant/PA to a scatter-brained, genius musician. The family is actively disturbed as this will take the h's attention away from them. Elliott, the H, arranges a no-nonsense housekeeper/nanny to keep them in line.
He tightens his own noose as apparently the H has had a thing for the h since their parents first got together. Given that he is a mucho alpha-male and is likely to boss the heroine around as much as her stupid siblings, I do not know why he has waited until the h is 27 to make his move. He puts the Rico Suave moves on her in a sweet house he's bought and wants her approval on. They have discreet, not quite fade to black sex, after which she retreats farther than a turtle in winter. That's understandable as she's a 27 year old virgin, her half-sister takes every opportunity to belittle her looks cruelly, and the kid crew has successfully driven off all male attention over the years. What's disturbing is the play and the manipulation her full blood brother does to break her up with the H as well as break her down. Creepy.
The h runs off to Italy to help her conductor boss where a gorgeous and equally curvyfairy godmotherItalian woman takes her under her wing and gives her a makeover from the inside out. In other words, lots of sexy silk lingerie.
The H tracks her down in Italy and is not happy. He scolds her, pops her in bed as quick as he can then shuffles her off to the Consul for a quickie marriage. They dawdle in Italy for a long honeymoon and eventually go back to face the nightmare kid crew. The step-bitch sister turns her back on them and the equally twisted manipulator is not happy either. The h is not impressed at this point as it has ben made clear how he manipulated her to think the H was cheating and then lied to the H about why she left. Again, weird vibe. The rest of the kids's reactions range from "Yippee" to "Oh well".
Bottom line, the h escapes her toxic family so, yeah, HEA. I have a feeling that the H will be as selfish as they are, but at least there is a payoff as he wants her happy and is clearly besotted with her and wants her happy which means far, far away from her nightmare family.
The heroine was sweet and had potential, but with the introduction of her toxic and exponentially selfish tribe of siblings the story was hard to take. It's not bad enough that they take her for granted to the point they willfully drive suitors away as well as monopolize her time to the point she has to abandon her dream of culinary school and being a chef, but two of the siblings are so toxic it verges on bizarre, weird. I might have enjoyed it if she once stood up to the more toxic siblings. Example, her half-sibling sister who treats her like dirt, calls up and requests a four course dinner at the last minute and doesn't expect the heroine to sit with the guests. She then makes fun of her. Nasty, nasty girl. I kept hoping the h would leave or just stand up for herself, but these human functions are difficult when you have no spine.
Anyhoo, bottom line,the h is the oldest sibling of a large family. She's the odd girl out, kind of an ugly duckling as she is petite, curvy and practical while the rest of the crew is tall, thin and drama queen material. Part of the crew includes a half-sibling who has a brother that occasionally steps in to scold the crew about abusing poor little Cinders as he calls the h. So our H ends up being the tiny h's step-brother.
The h feels the noose tightening with the demands of her family and ends up taking on the job of being an assistant/PA to a scatter-brained, genius musician. The family is actively disturbed as this will take the h's attention away from them. Elliott, the H, arranges a no-nonsense housekeeper/nanny to keep them in line.
He tightens his own noose as apparently the H has had a thing for the h since their parents first got together. Given that he is a mucho alpha-male and is likely to boss the heroine around as much as her stupid siblings, I do not know why he has waited until the h is 27 to make his move. He puts the Rico Suave moves on her in a sweet house he's bought and wants her approval on. They have discreet, not quite fade to black sex, after which she retreats farther than a turtle in winter. That's understandable as she's a 27 year old virgin, her half-sister takes every opportunity to belittle her looks cruelly, and the kid crew has successfully driven off all male attention over the years. What's disturbing is the play and the manipulation her full blood brother does to break her up with the H as well as break her down. Creepy.
The h runs off to Italy to help her conductor boss where a gorgeous and equally curvy
The H tracks her down in Italy and is not happy. He scolds her, pops her in bed as quick as he can then shuffles her off to the Consul for a quickie marriage. They dawdle in Italy for a long honeymoon and eventually go back to face the nightmare kid crew. The step-bitch sister turns her back on them and the equally twisted manipulator is not happy either. The h is not impressed at this point as it has ben made clear how he manipulated her to think the H was cheating and then lied to the H about why she left. Again, weird vibe. The rest of the kids's reactions range from "Yippee" to "Oh well".
Bottom line, the h escapes her toxic family so, yeah, HEA. I have a feeling that the H will be as selfish as they are, but at least there is a payoff as he wants her happy and is clearly besotted with her and wants her happy which means far, far away from her nightmare family.
July 18, 2024
I liked the vibe of this one. Surrogate mother to her pretty much adult siblings and half sister, and elder daughter of her two deceased theatrical luvvie parents, Beatrice is a downtrodden, martyred curvaceous mouse in a stable of rangy thoroughbreds. They all take advantage of her caring, dutiful nature shamelessly, especially the boy twin Benedict, until half brother Elliot moves in during his own house renovations and takes matters in hand. Oh how I do love a suave, controlled H who takes matters in hand. Elliot has fancied her for years and begins to lay siege, while Bea, a complete innocent with low self esteem is alternately bewildered and bedazzled. He takes her to a glorious Cotswold manor that he has bought for them and they succumb to passion but his lack of reassurance in the immediate aftermath (we've all been there) plus disappearance to France gives Ben the chance to interfere and heartbroken Bea goes off to Florence with her composer boss. While there, she is taken in hand (again. The dream.) by an Italian couple, the wife of which sorts her out with a new curve emphasising wardrobe and cheekbone emphasising haircut. And so the scene is set for the grand reunion. All in all a very nice wish fulfillment tale where Cinders gets her handsome prince.
June 9, 2025
3.5 - I love a Cinderella story - I like that the hero swoops in and fixes everything… but what the heck was he waiting for?? Why did he watch her struggle and get used and abused by her family and his bitch of a sister for FIVE YEARS?? It bugged me that no one, particularly his awful sister got any sort of comeuppance besides no longer being able to use the h as their personal doormat. This would have been a solid 4 stars if that was fixed.
May 1, 2013
Fun, lighthearted read. Totally smitten hero and an entertainingly clueless heroine. Enjoyed the story and resolution.
December 14, 2023
'You made me hurt, Bea, and only you can take that pain away.'
Sigh!
Sigh!
August 23, 2015
I was surprised by how much I liked this one, considering it was an HP published in the early eighties. I was expecting a ragey alphole male all set to control every aspect of the FMC's life and instead got... well, maybe not a ragey alphole male, but still with control issues. Still, it was surprisingly mellow.
Beatrice is the daughter of a pair of mega-Hollywood actors with a tempestuous relationship. Her parents both deceased, her now mostly grown brothers and sisters are pretty much all a bunch of divas who do their best to take advantage of her, keeping her as their unpaid servant. Beatrice is a willing doormat, knowing her siblings are spoiled and selfish, but not willing to do anything about that. Then, her half-sister allows her half-brother (basically, Beatrice's former step-brother), Elliot, to come stay with them at the house temporarily. The blurb on the back makes it seem like Beatrice does her best to fight off Elliot's controlling nature, but it's more like Elliot does his best to keep her siblings from taking horrible advantage of her and Beatrice is so determined to be a martyr she... doesn't really do anything to stop Elliot from doing anything.
Beatrice was so determined to see herself as plain and fat and nothing that she basically made herself myopic with it. Seriously, it was pretty annoying. Meanwhile, Elliot was... surprisingly cool. The closest he got to emotionally abusive was calling her "Cinders" and honestly, as determined to be taken advantage of by her family as Beatrice was, I couldn't fault him for that and I certainly wouldn't call it abusive. He didn't call her a bitch, didn't do bodily harm at any point, and although he kissed her a couple of times, I wouldn't call any of them "punishing". Honestly, for an old-skool HP MMC, he was actually probably somewhat mellower than most of his more recent contemporaries. He still managed to be pretty alpha, but he was using his he-man alpha powers to help the FMC, not hurt her. Then again, Beatrice clearly was cool with being controlled so it might have been different if she'd tried to... oh, I don't know... live her own life.
I'm generally cool with the HP tendency at the end of the book for the FMC to make the MMC sweat, but that's usually after the MMC has spent the entire book being an alphole asshat. In this case, without going into detail, I just felt bad for Elliot and wanted to smack Beatrice (and a couple of other characters). In the end, Beatrice... well, she doesn't redeem herself, but she does get better. It was a bit of too little too late, but as someone that has struggled with self esteem issues her whole life, I tried to give her some leeway. But when I got to the last page, she'd changed enough that I didn't want to smack her in the face (like an HP MMC might want to do, BTW), so that was something.
I did have one nitpick on this one: Beatrice and most of her siblings have names associated with Shakespeare. Benedict, Sebastian, Miranda, and William. Did you catch why I might have an issue? For one thing, they named Beatrice's brother after her love interest. (This may only be weird to me, but I also went to high school with a pair of twins named Donald and Iva and I always thought that was super-weird.) For another, I would think Shakespeare-obsessed parents would have gotten the name right. Benedick. Not Benedict. Benedick. I know it's nitpicky that it bothered me as much as it did, but Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, so every time I read "Benedict" it made me grind my teeth a little -- and not just because the character was an unmitigated douche-canoe.
Either way, this book was a nice surprise. It won't be anything I remember beyond this review, but if I am going through my books someday and pick it up, I won't be sorry if I read it again.
Beatrice is the daughter of a pair of mega-Hollywood actors with a tempestuous relationship. Her parents both deceased, her now mostly grown brothers and sisters are pretty much all a bunch of divas who do their best to take advantage of her, keeping her as their unpaid servant. Beatrice is a willing doormat, knowing her siblings are spoiled and selfish, but not willing to do anything about that. Then, her half-sister allows her half-brother (basically, Beatrice's former step-brother), Elliot, to come stay with them at the house temporarily. The blurb on the back makes it seem like Beatrice does her best to fight off Elliot's controlling nature, but it's more like Elliot does his best to keep her siblings from taking horrible advantage of her and Beatrice is so determined to be a martyr she... doesn't really do anything to stop Elliot from doing anything.
Beatrice was so determined to see herself as plain and fat and nothing that she basically made herself myopic with it. Seriously, it was pretty annoying. Meanwhile, Elliot was... surprisingly cool. The closest he got to emotionally abusive was calling her "Cinders" and honestly, as determined to be taken advantage of by her family as Beatrice was, I couldn't fault him for that and I certainly wouldn't call it abusive. He didn't call her a bitch, didn't do bodily harm at any point, and although he kissed her a couple of times, I wouldn't call any of them "punishing". Honestly, for an old-skool HP MMC, he was actually probably somewhat mellower than most of his more recent contemporaries. He still managed to be pretty alpha, but he was using his he-man alpha powers to help the FMC, not hurt her. Then again, Beatrice clearly was cool with being controlled so it might have been different if she'd tried to... oh, I don't know... live her own life.
I'm generally cool with the HP tendency at the end of the book for the FMC to make the MMC sweat, but that's usually after the MMC has spent the entire book being an alphole asshat. In this case, without going into detail, I just felt bad for Elliot and wanted to smack Beatrice (and a couple of other characters). In the end, Beatrice... well, she doesn't redeem herself, but she does get better. It was a bit of too little too late, but as someone that has struggled with self esteem issues her whole life, I tried to give her some leeway. But when I got to the last page, she'd changed enough that I didn't want to smack her in the face (like an HP MMC might want to do, BTW), so that was something.
I did have one nitpick on this one: Beatrice and most of her siblings have names associated with Shakespeare. Benedict, Sebastian, Miranda, and William. Did you catch why I might have an issue? For one thing, they named Beatrice's brother after her love interest. (This may only be weird to me, but I also went to high school with a pair of twins named Donald and Iva and I always thought that was super-weird.) For another, I would think Shakespeare-obsessed parents would have gotten the name right. Benedick. Not Benedict. Benedick. I know it's nitpicky that it bothered me as much as it did, but Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, so every time I read "Benedict" it made me grind my teeth a little -- and not just because the character was an unmitigated douche-canoe.
Either way, this book was a nice surprise. It won't be anything I remember beyond this review, but if I am going through my books someday and pick it up, I won't be sorry if I read it again.
July 27, 2025
I know this was just a Harlequin romance but the story really spoke to me....the eldest sister with some serious Marilyn Monroe curves who thinks she is homely when living amongst her oh so thin brothers and sisters and comparing herself to them...they put her down every chance they get and treat her like their personal slave...she comes out on top when a family friend finally has the nerve to come forward and tell her how he feels about her....I love a happy ending...
June 15, 2023
I Love Penny Jordan but this book is boring.
The badly-dressed heroine is too much a martyr. She lets her attractive siblings walk all over her and insult her frequently. Her family is a disgusting bunch. I've lost all respect for her.
The hero is average.
PS When I have migraine, I don't run to make a 3-course gourmet meal, set the glamourous table and make the house look attractive. And believe me, kissing isn't an option either.
The badly-dressed heroine is too much a martyr. She lets her attractive siblings walk all over her and insult her frequently. Her family is a disgusting bunch. I've lost all respect for her.
The hero is average.
PS When I have migraine, I don't run to make a 3-course gourmet meal, set the glamourous table and make the house look attractive. And believe me, kissing isn't an option either.
July 11, 2022
Could not even get halfway through this. My blood pressure was already rising after reading just one chapter of the Queen of Doormats MFC playing martyr to a parasitic gaggle of useless and manipulative younger siblings/stepsiblings. (She's so spineless she resents her best friend for speaking truth about the parasites and resents the MCC for whipping the brats into semi-shape!) The MMC lost any brownie points for the way he subjected the MFC to unwanted kisses/groping and incessant humiliation/goading/taunting sarcasm. Coz he secretly loves her, don't you know. *eyeroll*
February 22, 2021
Thanks to Vintage for mentioning this book in one of the Goodreads posts. This might even be a 5 tor me. The hero was truly a hero in this book, rescuing the h from a very selfish family(the h was quite the enabler, so her siblings ran with it!)
Heroine (Bea) 27 year old virgin, took it upon herself to raise her 4 teenaged siblings(we will get to 1/2 sib in a minute) She is about 10 years older than the youngest sibling) She has a huge inferiority complex as she looks nothing like her tall, slim sibs. Basically their actor parents died, and she became the breadwinner and mother. Even mothering them when some of the kiddos were on their own and able to successfully fend for themselves. She has known the hero for years, as he is the sibling of her 1/2 sib but shares no blood connection with our h. She doesn’t like the H because he makes comments and tries to goad her. (He really just wants her to stop being a doormat)
Hero-(mid 30s) He has been in love with our petite, curvy little h forever(even when it was not legal to love her but back then he didn’t have pervy thoughts of her) He has just moved into the house she shares with the siblings while his flat is being renovated. He begins to change the dynamics in the house and starts calling the sibs out on their selfish ways...for example asking them what rent they pay? Telling them to iron their own things, and hiring his ex nanny as a housekeeper, one not easily scared off. He starts taking her out (against her will?)and introduces her to 2nd base. 2/3 of the way in the book they round all the bases. Now this is one of the more passionate love makings I have read in awhile....it is by no means graphic, but the hero is soooo wound up that is desire leaps off the pages...unfortunately he didn’t handle the aftermath as well, and even though he had previously declared that he was in love with her, wanted to marry her, and bought this house for her...all was forgotten at his lack of snuggling her awake with more declarations of love. Our h has such low self esteem, that it doesn’t take much whispering from her jealous brother to make her think that she has been used. The H had to take off to France right away, and it just so happens she was invited to go to Italy with her boss. She leaves a short inept note behind telling her family she has left.
While in Italy, the Italian Wife(Lucia) of her bosses employer takes our h under her wing. She encourages to dress to emphasize her assets and takes her to a salon. The Italian was much more a mom to her than her own mom had been.
The Hero tracks down the h in Italy and she indicates that the Italian wife’s husband is her lover. Our wrecked hero is asked to leave the room. The next day the h is headed to a secluded villa with her boss so he can work on his music...unbeknownst to her, this was an elaborate set up by the Italians to get her and the H alone. If there were any doubts that the hero loved our heroine, it was erased with this ending...thank goodness she finally told him she loved him as well! Although the hero admits he wasn’t celibate, he said he has been for quite a few years when he realized the other women held no allure. They stay in Italy for marriage and honeymoon. They get back to England and announce to the troops that they are married and no, the family is not to join them in their new abode as the h will be far too busy with her own babies!!!
Most of the family approved except for Benedict and the hateful shrew Lucilla.
Lucilla...1/2 sister to Bea...she has belittled and scorned the sweet h for years. She was the favored daughter of Bea’s dad even though she was not the bio child. According to the H Lucy’s bitchiness comes from being jealous...She was a very un likable character and I found out that she gets the title role in the next book. I will have to read it, but there will have to be some mad writing skills for me to be team Lucilla!
Heroine (Bea) 27 year old virgin, took it upon herself to raise her 4 teenaged siblings(we will get to 1/2 sib in a minute) She is about 10 years older than the youngest sibling) She has a huge inferiority complex as she looks nothing like her tall, slim sibs. Basically their actor parents died, and she became the breadwinner and mother. Even mothering them when some of the kiddos were on their own and able to successfully fend for themselves. She has known the hero for years, as he is the sibling of her 1/2 sib but shares no blood connection with our h. She doesn’t like the H because he makes comments and tries to goad her. (He really just wants her to stop being a doormat)
Hero-(mid 30s) He has been in love with our petite, curvy little h forever(even when it was not legal to love her but back then he didn’t have pervy thoughts of her) He has just moved into the house she shares with the siblings while his flat is being renovated. He begins to change the dynamics in the house and starts calling the sibs out on their selfish ways...for example asking them what rent they pay? Telling them to iron their own things, and hiring his ex nanny as a housekeeper, one not easily scared off. He starts taking her out (against her will?)and introduces her to 2nd base. 2/3 of the way in the book they round all the bases. Now this is one of the more passionate love makings I have read in awhile....it is by no means graphic, but the hero is soooo wound up that is desire leaps off the pages...unfortunately he didn’t handle the aftermath as well, and even though he had previously declared that he was in love with her, wanted to marry her, and bought this house for her...all was forgotten at his lack of snuggling her awake with more declarations of love. Our h has such low self esteem, that it doesn’t take much whispering from her jealous brother to make her think that she has been used. The H had to take off to France right away, and it just so happens she was invited to go to Italy with her boss. She leaves a short inept note behind telling her family she has left.
While in Italy, the Italian Wife(Lucia) of her bosses employer takes our h under her wing. She encourages to dress to emphasize her assets and takes her to a salon. The Italian was much more a mom to her than her own mom had been.
The Hero tracks down the h in Italy and she indicates that the Italian wife’s husband is her lover. Our wrecked hero is asked to leave the room. The next day the h is headed to a secluded villa with her boss so he can work on his music...unbeknownst to her, this was an elaborate set up by the Italians to get her and the H alone. If there were any doubts that the hero loved our heroine, it was erased with this ending...thank goodness she finally told him she loved him as well! Although the hero admits he wasn’t celibate, he said he has been for quite a few years when he realized the other women held no allure. They stay in Italy for marriage and honeymoon. They get back to England and announce to the troops that they are married and no, the family is not to join them in their new abode as the h will be far too busy with her own babies!!!
Most of the family approved except for Benedict and the hateful shrew Lucilla.
Lucilla...1/2 sister to Bea...she has belittled and scorned the sweet h for years. She was the favored daughter of Bea’s dad even though she was not the bio child. According to the H Lucy’s bitchiness comes from being jealous...She was a very un likable character and I found out that she gets the title role in the next book. I will have to read it, but there will have to be some mad writing skills for me to be team Lucilla!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2014
3.5 stars
Wanted to read this one for a long time. Love stories having unrequited love from hero's side and the heroine is completely clueless.
Wanted to read this one for a long time. Love stories having unrequited love from hero's side and the heroine is completely clueless.
October 19, 2015
Loved it. Great story of the "ugly duckling" sister who's prince has been sardonically, mockingly waiting for her all along.
January 21, 2023
The funny thing about how I got into reading SSOS, is that I found the last book in the series first (Gentle Deception). Because a lot of the reviews mentioned SSOS and Elliott&Beatrice, I decided to take a look at that before diving into GD (and I have a thing for heroes with spectacles, so I really, really, REALLY wanted to dive into GD).
SSOS is the introductory book to the Bellaire and Chalmers series, and every subsequent book in that series has the main characters genuflect at the altar of Beatrice Bellaire, which is deliciously ironic given her treatment in this book.
The Bellaires were a famous Hollywood couple - both superstars in the film industry - who died when a lot of their kids were still young. Cressida Bellaire, the h's late mother, divorced her husband in between after having Beatrice, and married the H's father, giving birth to Lucilla who is half-sister to both Beatrice and Elliott. When Elliott's dad died, Cressida went back to her ex and they had a whole bunch of kids - all given Shakespearean theatre references.
Beatrice has - as one reviewer here put it - serious Marilyn Monroe curves but is made to believe she is dumpy and unattractive, in part because her siblings all look tall and svelte, as did her parents. By the time we see her in the book itself, she is so thoroughly lacking in self-confidence that she allows her family to treat her more like their housekeeper than their sister, even though she was the one who brought up most of them and cared for them. The most openly cruel one is Lucilla (who we find later harbours a lot of jealousy towards Bea), but pretty much even the nicer siblings show an appalling lack of self-awareness or much empathy for their eldest sister. Bea is perhaps the most parentified character I've come across - and I've seen Kate Sharma in the Bridgerton TV series.
Elliott, who Bea has acknowledged most of her life as only Lucilla's half-brother, constantly teases and taunts her, and she sees him as only adding to her pile of woes. Until one day, at a dinner party held in the house where Lucilla's behaviour becomes so bad even Beatrice can't ignore it, she reacts to Elliott's taunts in anger, and he kisses her.
This sets into motion a pretty long and elaborate secret wooing campaign from Elliott, who has been wanting Beatrice to notice him for years. He first takes her to a party, where she dresses in something that is finally flattering for her figure (her young sister Miranda is a fashion designer in the making), and where he almost seduces the living daylights out of her. The two then team up to get Lucilla out of a potentially sticky situation with a seedy producer, and Lucilla in her rage lashes out at Beatrice, goading Elliott into implying that Beatrice is exactly the kind of woman he is into.
Post this disaster of a lunch, Elliott takes her to a house in Cotswald he has been planning to buy, semi-proposes to her and makes love to her for the first time on the bed in the master bedroom. It's pretty clear to the reader that he's been pining for her for years and going mad from waiting, but not so to Beatrice who insists for half of that seduction scene that he can't possibly be attracted to her and this must be some game (this is minutes after she herself has realised she is in love with him). The lovemaking has her so exhausted she sleeps for 4 hours and once she wakes up, she finds Elliott in a rush to leave (for a business trip to Paris). This leads her to believe that maybe Elliott wasn't that serious, and this is further confirmed when her conniving brother Benedict convinces her that he's been dating some hotshot actress the entire time.
The music composer Beatrice works for has work in Florence and asks her to come along. Bea wants space from both her family and Elliott, so goes along for the trip. She's not only recieved warmly by the Italian couple that invited them over, but is also essentially taken under the wings of Lucia, the hostess. This part of the story is particularly lovely because Bea gets to explore her attractiveness and her body positivity outside of Elliott, and the focus is really on indulging herself and feeling good in her own skin.
Of course Elliott storms his way to Florence, initially barging into her room to confront Bea then convincing the couple to let him speak to her...and then comes out with the entire truth. Benedict manipulated the entire situation because he didn't approve of Elliott as a match for Bea, the siblings realize for the first time how little they can manage without her and Elliott has basically been in love with Beatrice for YEARS and hasn't been with any other women for a long, long, loooong time.
The two get married and once they return to the Bellaire house, Elliott makes it clear that the siblings will need to become more independent (though as the rest of the books prove, Elliott will keep financially supporting them and kickstarting their careers).
There's a lot in the story that is typical (the character tropes, the drama, the H that has been pining for the h since FOREVER), but I think the book's success comes down to the little details that tie into a theme. The entire theme of loving your body and not being ashamed of it for instance. Beatrice beats herself up over how she looks, but encouragement from Elliott and Miranda gives her a small push to explore what looks good on her. However, both these characters are too close to her to get her to explore this aspect of herself fully, which is why you have someone like the Italian woman at Florence helping Bea find her style.
Each heroine in this series has a conflict that involves a little help from the H to meet a resolution, and Beatrice basically kickstarts this with her conflicts with her family and her own insecurities about her body. And I think the way they're tied into the story, and how Elliott handles that, is pretty well-done! Overall I do love this book though only a little less than Gentle Deception.
SSOS is the introductory book to the Bellaire and Chalmers series, and every subsequent book in that series has the main characters genuflect at the altar of Beatrice Bellaire, which is deliciously ironic given her treatment in this book.
The Bellaires were a famous Hollywood couple - both superstars in the film industry - who died when a lot of their kids were still young. Cressida Bellaire, the h's late mother, divorced her husband in between after having Beatrice, and married the H's father, giving birth to Lucilla who is half-sister to both Beatrice and Elliott. When Elliott's dad died, Cressida went back to her ex and they had a whole bunch of kids - all given Shakespearean theatre references.
Beatrice has - as one reviewer here put it - serious Marilyn Monroe curves but is made to believe she is dumpy and unattractive, in part because her siblings all look tall and svelte, as did her parents. By the time we see her in the book itself, she is so thoroughly lacking in self-confidence that she allows her family to treat her more like their housekeeper than their sister, even though she was the one who brought up most of them and cared for them. The most openly cruel one is Lucilla (who we find later harbours a lot of jealousy towards Bea), but pretty much even the nicer siblings show an appalling lack of self-awareness or much empathy for their eldest sister. Bea is perhaps the most parentified character I've come across - and I've seen Kate Sharma in the Bridgerton TV series.
Elliott, who Bea has acknowledged most of her life as only Lucilla's half-brother, constantly teases and taunts her, and she sees him as only adding to her pile of woes. Until one day, at a dinner party held in the house where Lucilla's behaviour becomes so bad even Beatrice can't ignore it, she reacts to Elliott's taunts in anger, and he kisses her.
This sets into motion a pretty long and elaborate secret wooing campaign from Elliott, who has been wanting Beatrice to notice him for years. He first takes her to a party, where she dresses in something that is finally flattering for her figure (her young sister Miranda is a fashion designer in the making), and where he almost seduces the living daylights out of her. The two then team up to get Lucilla out of a potentially sticky situation with a seedy producer, and Lucilla in her rage lashes out at Beatrice, goading Elliott into implying that Beatrice is exactly the kind of woman he is into.
Post this disaster of a lunch, Elliott takes her to a house in Cotswald he has been planning to buy, semi-proposes to her and makes love to her for the first time on the bed in the master bedroom. It's pretty clear to the reader that he's been pining for her for years and going mad from waiting, but not so to Beatrice who insists for half of that seduction scene that he can't possibly be attracted to her and this must be some game (this is minutes after she herself has realised she is in love with him). The lovemaking has her so exhausted she sleeps for 4 hours and once she wakes up, she finds Elliott in a rush to leave (for a business trip to Paris). This leads her to believe that maybe Elliott wasn't that serious, and this is further confirmed when her conniving brother Benedict convinces her that he's been dating some hotshot actress the entire time.
The music composer Beatrice works for has work in Florence and asks her to come along. Bea wants space from both her family and Elliott, so goes along for the trip. She's not only recieved warmly by the Italian couple that invited them over, but is also essentially taken under the wings of Lucia, the hostess. This part of the story is particularly lovely because Bea gets to explore her attractiveness and her body positivity outside of Elliott, and the focus is really on indulging herself and feeling good in her own skin.
Of course Elliott storms his way to Florence, initially barging into her room to confront Bea then convincing the couple to let him speak to her...and then comes out with the entire truth. Benedict manipulated the entire situation because he didn't approve of Elliott as a match for Bea, the siblings realize for the first time how little they can manage without her and Elliott has basically been in love with Beatrice for YEARS and hasn't been with any other women for a long, long, loooong time.
The two get married and once they return to the Bellaire house, Elliott makes it clear that the siblings will need to become more independent (though as the rest of the books prove, Elliott will keep financially supporting them and kickstarting their careers).
There's a lot in the story that is typical (the character tropes, the drama, the H that has been pining for the h since FOREVER), but I think the book's success comes down to the little details that tie into a theme. The entire theme of loving your body and not being ashamed of it for instance. Beatrice beats herself up over how she looks, but encouragement from Elliott and Miranda gives her a small push to explore what looks good on her. However, both these characters are too close to her to get her to explore this aspect of herself fully, which is why you have someone like the Italian woman at Florence helping Bea find her style.
Each heroine in this series has a conflict that involves a little help from the H to meet a resolution, and Beatrice basically kickstarts this with her conflicts with her family and her own insecurities about her body. And I think the way they're tied into the story, and how Elliott handles that, is pretty well-done! Overall I do love this book though only a little less than Gentle Deception.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2021
I LURV enemies-to-lovers. Even better if pseudo-step-related. I also love when the H loves the h first. I specially love it when the H sets out to unblinker the h from the obvious i.e. she is loved.
Uncomplicated without too much of wreckers. The H was apparently celibate once he realized he was in love which is exactly what I prefer. The only weird thing is that I legit thought the twin brother Ben was jealous of the H cz of a rival in love but turns out he was just WEIRD about his own sister(not incestous but very random)
Uncomplicated without too much of wreckers. The H was apparently celibate once he realized he was in love which is exactly what I prefer. The only weird thing is that I legit thought the twin brother Ben was jealous of the H cz of a rival in love but turns out he was just WEIRD about his own sister(not incestous but very random)
October 22, 2018
Dude. The hero wore "clothes more appropriate to the climate: soft butter-yellow jeans and a matching short-sleeved shirt".
Soft. Butter-yellow. Jeans.
Soft. Butter-yellow. Jeans.
August 2, 2019
This book... let me tell you. Beatrice is an interesting character but nothing really is done to develop her character greatly.
The love story seems forced with a male character who expects his orders to be obeyed immediately.
There are some funny bits but overall just a bit forced.
The love story seems forced with a male character who expects his orders to be obeyed immediately.
There are some funny bits but overall just a bit forced.
January 16, 2020
I have read this book at least once every year since 1988.
May 25, 2020
This book had great potential, but suffered because of the lack of dialogue from the heroine. Many of her sentences were of one word, disjointed or cut off.
May 29, 2020
Another Betty Neels fan recommended Frances Roding and this book specifically to those of us who are languishing for another Betty read.
October 11, 2020
I liked this one
January 5, 2021
Did I miss something!? Could it be that I read a different book???... absolutely boring, half stupid half cringey. Didn’t even feel the love/chemistry.
August 16, 2022
WHAT A SELFISH FAMILY AND NO COMUPPANCE FOR THEM!!!!
All stars for the H, h was really too loyal and stupid.
All stars for the H, h was really too loyal and stupid.
February 28, 2024
So basically the heroine Beatrice is the eldest daughter of two illustrious actors. They got divorced and her father went away to Hollywood. Her mother married a rich industrialist who had already got a ten year old son. That is the hero. Elliot. Several years later the second husband died after having a child with the heroine’s mother. (A daughter. Lucille. Who is mean and nasty to heroine and spoilt because she is rich.)
Coming back to the story…
The lady went back to her first husband again. They had four more children. Twins. A daughter. A son.
Then the two actors who were quite well off by then died together. Probably a car accident. Leaving Beatrice with all their young children to care for. There was a house left and enough money for the children’s education. Wealthy family that means. So going forward.
The story begins .. …
Beatrice leaves her chefs training after parents death and is taking care of her siblings including the half sister she shares with Elliot.
All the siblings are beautiful. Tall skinny. Blue eyed. Blonde. She is dark eyed. Dark haired. Short. Curvy. She is convinced she is plain.
Elliot somehow raises her hackles but he comes and goes to her house.
She is the martyr. Sacrificing herself for everybody. Cooking. Cleaning. Taking care of them. Being a mum. She keeps housekeepers that the siblings throw out. On whim.
Till at 27. She decides they’re quite grown. Only the youngest brother is in his last year at school. She takes a job as secretary to a music composer.
Suddenly Elliot moves into her house on a pretext and starts pursuing her fiercely. Now this was a little difficult to stomach. What was he going earlier?? Why didn’t he declare his love???
Penny Jordan has said that he was fixated on her from the beginning but the heroine didn’t notice. But at end PJ says Beatrice was as fixated on the hero as he on her only she had kept it hidden from her own knowledge. She thought herself too ugly for someone like him to notice her.
So she loves him but she keeps telling herself he upsets her and is nasty.
He is nasty because she never pays attention to him which he wants but she is always involved with her siblings which he hates.
In a way he was the child whose stepmother’s family was his only family left. He was the outsider looking in.
He is rich. Successful. But he too needs love, affection, people remembering his birthday. But these people are in their own world. Self involved. Actors all of them. (Except Beatrice who is called the cuckoo in the Bellaire nest. )
Beatrice loves everyone and takes care of them like a mother hen. She doesn’t realise that Elliot wants her attention too.
Plus love. He is in love with her. Author didn’t show it though. Not once. In my opinion.
Anyway. So he shows interest. Takes her out once or twice. Then he sleeps with her. That was a bit weird.
The heroine literally seems incapable of saying no to anybody. She keeps doing what other people want.
So he just takes her to bed. Almost enthralling her. 🫥
why did he wait so long if he was this capable.
Did he not want to bring up all those children???
He had his cake and ate it too. Slept with other women. Now he will settle down with maternal cook Bea.
So Elliot tells Bea that they are getting married and moving to a country house where she will produce his babies.
But her eldest brother is jealous. He and all the others have got rid of all her suitors.
Except Elliot who they can’t handle.
So eldest Ben tells her that Elliot is playing. Using her. Fooling her. She is distressed.
Now comes next and last part of story I found disconnected and unbelievable .. she goes away to Italy with her vague and artistic boss because he is incapable of taking care of himself.
Anyway. Elliot follows her to Italy and the composer, Carlo, the man her boss had gone to meet with gives the two of them a whole villa to have a reconciliation in .. also Lucia, who is wife of Carlo buys lots of designer clothes for Beatrice before Elliot arrives. Bea is given a whole free makeover and new clothes.
Clothes in PJ’s favourite peach colour. Have you ever noticed how much peach there is in all her books?!!
This part of the story was just too abrupt and not at all necessary in the story. What was the point?? To bring in that Italian part so late in the story. Just irritating to me. As a writer.
All that was totally disconnected from the original flow of the story.
Two whole chapters with zero sense.
Very very irritating.
It was like a centaur. Two different animals stuck together. Penny Jordan should have made greater effort and resolved the story in the same setting it had begun in.
With heroine’s family. And the hero. And in England. That is my only grudge. Otherwise it was an OK PJ story. Enough angst for me if I had read it as a schoolgirl. But as I read it now. I can say. It was ok.
Worth a read if you like Penny Jordan.
Coming back to the story…
The lady went back to her first husband again. They had four more children. Twins. A daughter. A son.
Then the two actors who were quite well off by then died together. Probably a car accident. Leaving Beatrice with all their young children to care for. There was a house left and enough money for the children’s education. Wealthy family that means. So going forward.
The story begins .. …
Beatrice leaves her chefs training after parents death and is taking care of her siblings including the half sister she shares with Elliot.
All the siblings are beautiful. Tall skinny. Blue eyed. Blonde. She is dark eyed. Dark haired. Short. Curvy. She is convinced she is plain.
Elliot somehow raises her hackles but he comes and goes to her house.
She is the martyr. Sacrificing herself for everybody. Cooking. Cleaning. Taking care of them. Being a mum. She keeps housekeepers that the siblings throw out. On whim.
Till at 27. She decides they’re quite grown. Only the youngest brother is in his last year at school. She takes a job as secretary to a music composer.
Suddenly Elliot moves into her house on a pretext and starts pursuing her fiercely. Now this was a little difficult to stomach. What was he going earlier?? Why didn’t he declare his love???
Penny Jordan has said that he was fixated on her from the beginning but the heroine didn’t notice. But at end PJ says Beatrice was as fixated on the hero as he on her only she had kept it hidden from her own knowledge. She thought herself too ugly for someone like him to notice her.
So she loves him but she keeps telling herself he upsets her and is nasty.
He is nasty because she never pays attention to him which he wants but she is always involved with her siblings which he hates.
In a way he was the child whose stepmother’s family was his only family left. He was the outsider looking in.
He is rich. Successful. But he too needs love, affection, people remembering his birthday. But these people are in their own world. Self involved. Actors all of them. (Except Beatrice who is called the cuckoo in the Bellaire nest. )
Beatrice loves everyone and takes care of them like a mother hen. She doesn’t realise that Elliot wants her attention too.
Plus love. He is in love with her. Author didn’t show it though. Not once. In my opinion.
Anyway. So he shows interest. Takes her out once or twice. Then he sleeps with her. That was a bit weird.
The heroine literally seems incapable of saying no to anybody. She keeps doing what other people want.
So he just takes her to bed. Almost enthralling her. 🫥
why did he wait so long if he was this capable.
Did he not want to bring up all those children???
He had his cake and ate it too. Slept with other women. Now he will settle down with maternal cook Bea.
So Elliot tells Bea that they are getting married and moving to a country house where she will produce his babies.
But her eldest brother is jealous. He and all the others have got rid of all her suitors.
Except Elliot who they can’t handle.
So eldest Ben tells her that Elliot is playing. Using her. Fooling her. She is distressed.
Now comes next and last part of story I found disconnected and unbelievable .. she goes away to Italy with her vague and artistic boss because he is incapable of taking care of himself.
Anyway. Elliot follows her to Italy and the composer, Carlo, the man her boss had gone to meet with gives the two of them a whole villa to have a reconciliation in .. also Lucia, who is wife of Carlo buys lots of designer clothes for Beatrice before Elliot arrives. Bea is given a whole free makeover and new clothes.
Clothes in PJ’s favourite peach colour. Have you ever noticed how much peach there is in all her books?!!
This part of the story was just too abrupt and not at all necessary in the story. What was the point?? To bring in that Italian part so late in the story. Just irritating to me. As a writer.
All that was totally disconnected from the original flow of the story.
Two whole chapters with zero sense.
Very very irritating.
It was like a centaur. Two different animals stuck together. Penny Jordan should have made greater effort and resolved the story in the same setting it had begun in.
With heroine’s family. And the hero. And in England. That is my only grudge. Otherwise it was an OK PJ story. Enough angst for me if I had read it as a schoolgirl. But as I read it now. I can say. It was ok.
Worth a read if you like Penny Jordan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2016
Beatrice is the Cinderella for her younger siblings, and her bitchy half-sister Lucilla treats her the worst. She invites her own half-brother, Elliot, (no blood relation to Beatrice) to stay with them and never consults Beatrice, who has never got on well with Elliot. He belittles her, humilates her and always seems to be laughing at her. But a great deal of that could be her own insecurities, of which she has many. In reality, Elliot is rather in love with her and can't stand to see her acting the doormat for everyone. So he does everything he can to rile her up, to get her to stand up for herself. She also intervenes with her family and begins to make his move, so she can finally be his. Only Beatrice, with her insecurity, can't understand why handsome Elliot would want anything to do with her, so she's sure he must be insincere and looking to make a fool of her.
An interesting story - very dated, with 80's fashions being described in a lot of detail here. Beatrice was just a little bit irritating with her absolute naivety. I didn't mind her being a doormat so much, as I understood that the whole point was for her to realize it and overcome it, but she was blind to so very much. It was a bit tough to believe, especially given the friends she has that make a point of setting her to rights. Elliot was a pretty decent hero, especially for the time period this was written in. He is pretty controlling, but given the heroine's lack of backbone, it was really necessary. And the way the Cinderella story went, it was clear that the hero loved her way before the makeover, so he really did appreciate her for who she was. I'm not sure I understand though why he took so long to come forward. He knew for years that she was virtually a servant to her siblings - what took him so long?
An interesting story - very dated, with 80's fashions being described in a lot of detail here. Beatrice was just a little bit irritating with her absolute naivety. I didn't mind her being a doormat so much, as I understood that the whole point was for her to realize it and overcome it, but she was blind to so very much. It was a bit tough to believe, especially given the friends she has that make a point of setting her to rights. Elliot was a pretty decent hero, especially for the time period this was written in. He is pretty controlling, but given the heroine's lack of backbone, it was really necessary. And the way the Cinderella story went, it was clear that the hero loved her way before the makeover, so he really did appreciate her for who she was. I'm not sure I understand though why he took so long to come forward. He knew for years that she was virtually a servant to her siblings - what took him so long?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2015
This is a wonderful romantic story with all of that fantastic Jordan magic that I just adore. Beatrice, the ugly duckling of a family of amazingly attractive siblings, is the only one of the family who is not involved in the acting profession. Instead, she's got stuck looking after the house and her spoilt siblings after her parents (also actors) die. Enter Elliott, a distant relative, who she feels slightly wary of. However, it's a Mills and Boon, so it's not long before they're up to no good in the front seat of his BMW and he's taking her off to his house in the Cotswolds before springing it on her that he's got her lined up for the job of mistress of that house instead.
As usual, with Jordan, there's more to this romance than your standard M&B fare. All of the siblings have been named for Shakespearean characters and there's something very Renaissance about this story - Elliott is referred to as Machiavellian throughout the story (a very Renaissance era theme), the characters show the same traits as their Shakespearean doubles and even down to earth Beatrice compares her family life to a Restoration farce.
A great book, as usual.
As usual, with Jordan, there's more to this romance than your standard M&B fare. All of the siblings have been named for Shakespearean characters and there's something very Renaissance about this story - Elliott is referred to as Machiavellian throughout the story (a very Renaissance era theme), the characters show the same traits as their Shakespearean doubles and even down to earth Beatrice compares her family life to a Restoration farce.
A great book, as usual.
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