What do you think?
Rate this book
Stay Until Dawn
Jocasta was not a cold, ambitious career woman
But she was good at her job--TV news anchor. She also enjoyed a challenge, which was why she'd come from England to New Orleans to broaden her work experience.
However, she didn't need the experience she'd gain from the kind of assignments her boss, Christian McCoid, was handing her. In Jocasta's eyes, they were designed to keep her down.
Well, she'd show Christian he didn't need to hold her hand every step of the way. Not that she could ever imagine such an aloof, arrogant man truly holding anyone's hand....
But she was good at her job--TV news anchor. She also enjoyed a challenge, which was why she'd come from England to New Orleans to broaden her work experience.
However, she didn't need the experience she'd gain from the kind of assignments her boss, Christian McCoid, was handing her. In Jocasta's eyes, they were designed to keep her down.
Well, she'd show Christian he didn't need to hold her hand every step of the way. Not that she could ever imagine such an aloof, arrogant man truly holding anyone's hand....
- GenresHarlequin Presents
188 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1992
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 26, 2017
Re Stay Until Dawn -Elizabeth Oldfield does another non-HP HP. This time she transplants an English TV journalist h to New Orleans and pairs her up with the very handsome news director H.
This h is in her twenties and recently come to the States to expand upon her circum vitae and broaden her experience base. She was offered the job a bit impulsively by the TV station's owner and has only been in the US for a month. She took a morning presenter position and as she isn't really a morning person, she is having a bit of adjustment.
The H is the news director for the station and right away he thinks the h may have gotten her job by unscrupulous casting couch means, cause the owner (who is rather eccentric,) pretty much fired the old presenter and then popped the h into her slot without a bit of warning. The station owner also has not forwarded the h's previous experience tapes, so the H is extremely hesitant to send the h out on any real assignments because he thinks she is a casting couch extra and not a real reporter. Especially cause she looks delightful and has a nice Public School accent.
The h, who is anxious to make her US TV mark, doesn't understand why the H doesn't have examples of her work or why the H thinks she is a casting couch coochie. She has amusing little arguments with imaginary H's in her head about how she should be allowed to do more, but doesn't argue a WHOLE lot when she gets assigned puff pieces on lovesick alligators, she is very assertive tho and she continually comes up with story idears and tries to get the H to give her real chance.
Even when the alligator falls into infatuation and chases her into a manure pile where she scrambles around a bit, the h does her best to keep her cool and keep her career moving forward. Since we are in New Orleans, there is a lot of stories to tell as the h gets to know the culture and the area and the people and we get a little HP travelogue as a bonus.
We also see that there is a hint of attraction between the H and h when she submits a reimbursement request for the outfit destroyed by the manure incident and the H demands to see the frilly lingerie she had to purchase in lieu of a receipt. There is a tantalizing bit of cleavage and eyeballs are melting towards each other, before the H calls a halt and the h gets back to figuring out a way to get some real news done and show the H that she isn't just another pretty face.
Then the h meets a local politician who funds an after school center for teens that focuses heavily on keeping kids off drugs. The politician is very media adverse, yet the h manages to get an interview and then compassionately gets the politician to share that he built the center because his own son died from drugs and he wants to prevent future deaths.
EO does a great job of showing the h is a serious journalist with integrity and the H is equally impressed and starts to give her more meaty assignments. Then the h develops a stalker and tho she isn't quite sure she really has a problem, the calls and the footsteps following her when she walks home at night start to worry her.
She also has to deal with the H's resentment that the former presenter got kicked off the show, the h hears a rumor that they were lovers and that the relationship between the H and the former presenter tanked after the woman was let go.
The h has her own history of a bad relationship not working out, her British Banker boyfriend demanded that she quit her career to focus on his and the h refused. They lived very close to each other and shared the same friends, so in the aftermath of the break-up, the h got the offer for the new job and took it, hoping the animosity and awkwardness would settle down if the h took off for a while. Still she knows something about career conflicts in relationships and so she has some empathy for the H as well.
We get an escalation of the stalking, tho the H isn't sure the h really IS being stalked, it is more a very uneasy feeling and a sense that some one is watching and some very abusive harassing phone calls. After one night where the h is chased, the H winds up spending the night and the lurve mojo passion moments come alive with decidedly mauve tones.
The next morning the H is distant and kinda mean and the h realizes she made a mistake and mixed the personal with the professional. She has inner mopey moments, but is very professional at work with the H and things are ticking along, cause now it is Mardi Gras.
(I think it is a minor HP sub rule that any HP in New Orleans has to have a Mardi Gras scene, tho the h isn't allowed to flash for beads.)
The h is doing roving Mardi Gras reporting and the H notices a weird guy following her around. He gets some fast research in and realizes that the h really does have a stalker. He runs to rescue her and arrives just in time to save the h from being killed by the stalker guy. The H and stalker guy start fighting and the H almost gets stabbed by stalker guy's knife. The h carries her research around in her big purse and her current research involves an extremely heavy book.
When she thinks the H is stabbed, she rushes in and hits the stalker on the head with her purse. She knocks him out and then the police arrive to take the stalker guy away. The H admits he rushed over because he was in love with her and the h has figured out she loves him back, so the two go back to the h's place together.
We find out that the h was hired because she looks like the eccentric station owner's daughter, who was taken by his wife and he never gets to see. The station owner likes to watch the h's tapes, but turn the volume down, so he can pretend that he is really watching his child. (Which was kinda weird, but sorta worked with the quirky little theme of things in this one.)
After a huge lurve mojo tower of power experience where the H and h celebrate saving each other, the H goes on to explain his somewhat complicated love life. The H WAS involved in fling with the former tv presenter. He had been married, working in France and then his wife died. He came back to his family in New Orleans in the aftermath of her death. He started drinking too much and during this time, the H found a sympathetic ear in the former presenter and soon found himself having some nights of lust with her.
The OW claimed she wanted a fling, but when the H refused to propose marriage, she became kinda stalkerish herself, until the station owner fired her and replaced her with the h. The H felt guilty, because when he got involved with the woman, her job performance crashed and her demands increased the more professional he tried to be. A lot of what the H thought about the h initially was based on his guilt over the fling with the former presenter.
The rest of his hesitation and his accusation of the h being a casting couch tart, was based on the fact that his wife died when she got into a car wreck with her married lover. The H's mother's matchmaking and the death of the wife's parents kinda fused him and his dead wife into marriage, but they weren't compatible as the H's wife wanted a daddy figure and the H refused to be one for her. So she had an affair and it hurt the H.
It bothered him that the dead wife picked a fifty year old balding guy to cheat on him with and it bothered him that she refused to grow up, plus he felt guilty that he never really loved the woman to begin with - tho he tried to work at the marriage, his wife didn't want to exert herself after the H changed countries so she could live in her native France and supported her without any input from her side.
So the H had a lot of baggage, but the h proved to him that adult women don't act like spoilt brats and a good partner works in tandem to solve the problems that life inevitably brings - like they did when they saved each other from the stalker. The H figures he has found a great partner and true love in the h and the h is in total agreement with that report. As we leave them plotting the wedding in between roofie kisses, we can all be happy for a believable HEA with likable people that were really only day tripping in HPlandia but still provided a very enjoyable outing.
I liked this for an alternative non- HP HP selection. The h had some moments, as did the H, but the two of them grew a real relationship. I liked the way they both handled things maturely, even tho the h had a mini-meltdown when the H allowed the footage of the h being chased by the alligator into the manure pile to be broadcast and her underwears got flashed on TV as she was leaping over the safety wall.
This was a nice read and refreshing change from the usual HP wrecki-drama, so give this one a look through when you need a little HP trainwreck break, but still want some excitement and a good day on the HP side of the universe.
This h is in her twenties and recently come to the States to expand upon her circum vitae and broaden her experience base. She was offered the job a bit impulsively by the TV station's owner and has only been in the US for a month. She took a morning presenter position and as she isn't really a morning person, she is having a bit of adjustment.
The H is the news director for the station and right away he thinks the h may have gotten her job by unscrupulous casting couch means, cause the owner (who is rather eccentric,) pretty much fired the old presenter and then popped the h into her slot without a bit of warning. The station owner also has not forwarded the h's previous experience tapes, so the H is extremely hesitant to send the h out on any real assignments because he thinks she is a casting couch extra and not a real reporter. Especially cause she looks delightful and has a nice Public School accent.
The h, who is anxious to make her US TV mark, doesn't understand why the H doesn't have examples of her work or why the H thinks she is a casting couch coochie. She has amusing little arguments with imaginary H's in her head about how she should be allowed to do more, but doesn't argue a WHOLE lot when she gets assigned puff pieces on lovesick alligators, she is very assertive tho and she continually comes up with story idears and tries to get the H to give her real chance.
Even when the alligator falls into infatuation and chases her into a manure pile where she scrambles around a bit, the h does her best to keep her cool and keep her career moving forward. Since we are in New Orleans, there is a lot of stories to tell as the h gets to know the culture and the area and the people and we get a little HP travelogue as a bonus.
We also see that there is a hint of attraction between the H and h when she submits a reimbursement request for the outfit destroyed by the manure incident and the H demands to see the frilly lingerie she had to purchase in lieu of a receipt. There is a tantalizing bit of cleavage and eyeballs are melting towards each other, before the H calls a halt and the h gets back to figuring out a way to get some real news done and show the H that she isn't just another pretty face.
Then the h meets a local politician who funds an after school center for teens that focuses heavily on keeping kids off drugs. The politician is very media adverse, yet the h manages to get an interview and then compassionately gets the politician to share that he built the center because his own son died from drugs and he wants to prevent future deaths.
EO does a great job of showing the h is a serious journalist with integrity and the H is equally impressed and starts to give her more meaty assignments. Then the h develops a stalker and tho she isn't quite sure she really has a problem, the calls and the footsteps following her when she walks home at night start to worry her.
She also has to deal with the H's resentment that the former presenter got kicked off the show, the h hears a rumor that they were lovers and that the relationship between the H and the former presenter tanked after the woman was let go.
The h has her own history of a bad relationship not working out, her British Banker boyfriend demanded that she quit her career to focus on his and the h refused. They lived very close to each other and shared the same friends, so in the aftermath of the break-up, the h got the offer for the new job and took it, hoping the animosity and awkwardness would settle down if the h took off for a while. Still she knows something about career conflicts in relationships and so she has some empathy for the H as well.
We get an escalation of the stalking, tho the H isn't sure the h really IS being stalked, it is more a very uneasy feeling and a sense that some one is watching and some very abusive harassing phone calls. After one night where the h is chased, the H winds up spending the night and the lurve mojo passion moments come alive with decidedly mauve tones.
The next morning the H is distant and kinda mean and the h realizes she made a mistake and mixed the personal with the professional. She has inner mopey moments, but is very professional at work with the H and things are ticking along, cause now it is Mardi Gras.
(I think it is a minor HP sub rule that any HP in New Orleans has to have a Mardi Gras scene, tho the h isn't allowed to flash for beads.)
The h is doing roving Mardi Gras reporting and the H notices a weird guy following her around. He gets some fast research in and realizes that the h really does have a stalker. He runs to rescue her and arrives just in time to save the h from being killed by the stalker guy. The H and stalker guy start fighting and the H almost gets stabbed by stalker guy's knife. The h carries her research around in her big purse and her current research involves an extremely heavy book.
When she thinks the H is stabbed, she rushes in and hits the stalker on the head with her purse. She knocks him out and then the police arrive to take the stalker guy away. The H admits he rushed over because he was in love with her and the h has figured out she loves him back, so the two go back to the h's place together.
We find out that the h was hired because she looks like the eccentric station owner's daughter, who was taken by his wife and he never gets to see. The station owner likes to watch the h's tapes, but turn the volume down, so he can pretend that he is really watching his child. (Which was kinda weird, but sorta worked with the quirky little theme of things in this one.)
After a huge lurve mojo tower of power experience where the H and h celebrate saving each other, the H goes on to explain his somewhat complicated love life. The H WAS involved in fling with the former tv presenter. He had been married, working in France and then his wife died. He came back to his family in New Orleans in the aftermath of her death. He started drinking too much and during this time, the H found a sympathetic ear in the former presenter and soon found himself having some nights of lust with her.
The OW claimed she wanted a fling, but when the H refused to propose marriage, she became kinda stalkerish herself, until the station owner fired her and replaced her with the h. The H felt guilty, because when he got involved with the woman, her job performance crashed and her demands increased the more professional he tried to be. A lot of what the H thought about the h initially was based on his guilt over the fling with the former presenter.
The rest of his hesitation and his accusation of the h being a casting couch tart, was based on the fact that his wife died when she got into a car wreck with her married lover. The H's mother's matchmaking and the death of the wife's parents kinda fused him and his dead wife into marriage, but they weren't compatible as the H's wife wanted a daddy figure and the H refused to be one for her. So she had an affair and it hurt the H.
It bothered him that the dead wife picked a fifty year old balding guy to cheat on him with and it bothered him that she refused to grow up, plus he felt guilty that he never really loved the woman to begin with - tho he tried to work at the marriage, his wife didn't want to exert herself after the H changed countries so she could live in her native France and supported her without any input from her side.
So the H had a lot of baggage, but the h proved to him that adult women don't act like spoilt brats and a good partner works in tandem to solve the problems that life inevitably brings - like they did when they saved each other from the stalker. The H figures he has found a great partner and true love in the h and the h is in total agreement with that report. As we leave them plotting the wedding in between roofie kisses, we can all be happy for a believable HEA with likable people that were really only day tripping in HPlandia but still provided a very enjoyable outing.
I liked this for an alternative non- HP HP selection. The h had some moments, as did the H, but the two of them grew a real relationship. I liked the way they both handled things maturely, even tho the h had a mini-meltdown when the H allowed the footage of the h being chased by the alligator into the manure pile to be broadcast and her underwears got flashed on TV as she was leaping over the safety wall.
This was a nice read and refreshing change from the usual HP wrecki-drama, so give this one a look through when you need a little HP trainwreck break, but still want some excitement and a good day on the HP side of the universe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2022
Як тут уже всі здогадалися, моє comfort reading у цій війні - вінтажні любовні романи. Новий Орлеан, місцева телекомпанія, нова телеведуча прямо з Великої Британії, і все в неї добре, тільки шеф-редактор козлить, не дає проявити ініціативу і взагалі засилає її робити сюжет на день Валентина аж про закоханого алігатора. Після такого афронту доля його була вирішена, і обох героїв спіткало кохання якраз під карнавал.
А мені сподобалося, єдине - якби це був просто виробничий роман про телебачення і новоорлеанську атмосферу, було б ще краще. Але й так мило, з деякою знижкою на рік видання.
До речі, закоханий алігатор пристрасно клацав зубами коло ніг героїні, але вона не оцінила і майнула через тин.
А мені сподобалося, єдине - якби це був просто виробничий роман про телебачення і новоорлеанську атмосферу, було б ще краще. Але й так мило, з деякою знижкою на рік видання.
До речі, закоханий алігатор пристрасно клацав зубами коло ніг героїні, але вона не оцінила і майнула через тин.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews