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A Dangerous Lover
A Dangerous Lover by Lindsay Armstrong released on Feb 22, 1993 is available now for purchase.
Mass Market Paperback
First published November 6, 1992
About the author
Lindsay Armstrong
330 books92 followersGillian Smith (alias Lindsay Armstrong) was born in South Africa. She grew up with three ambitions: to become a writer, to travel the world, and to be a game ranger. She didn't achieve the last one, but her fascination for wildlife and that special something about Africa and its big game still remains with her. When she went to work it was in travel, at an agency and an airline, and this started her on the road to seeing the world.
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
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May 26, 2017
I couldn't get beyond the first chapter. Hero has just returned from long vacation with beautiful girlfriend who he looks at lovingly and tenderly. Five minutes after he sends her packing, he is chasing his secretary (the heroine) around her desk and kissing her in between insulting her to the effect that she must be grumpy because she is so sex-starved and he could just take her on the floor right then and there if he wanted. The heroine has all the makings of a spineless leaky jellyblob that is going to roll over and let her traitorous body conduct this ship instead of her brains. Sorry, not my idea of a good beginning.
December 21, 2014
Re Dangerous Lover - Lindsay Armstrong does her contribution to the HP series A Year Down Under with the story of a fortunately widowed h with a pandering mother and a plot moppet daughter paired with HPlandia's one and only fast talking, semi-con artist SalesMan H.
This H is not the typical HP Alpha Manly Male H - he is an advertising Genius supposedly. But really he is just so imposingly egotistically misanthropic that he overruns all the lesser peons around him with his verbal runoff. Which he happily spews around like mushroom fertilizer upon all and sundry. It makes him an advertising force to be reckoned with, but it also makes for a hard sell on the romance angle.
The story starts with the H finally deigning to make an office appearance. The h, who is his assistant, has quite lost her temper because they have a huge client that the h has to lie to for six weeks while the H takes an extended holiday with his super-model ultra beautiful girlfriend.
The H and his girlfriend have the entire office staff, including the H's brother who owns the agency, all cowering beneath the H's supercilious demands for instant gratification of very difficult to find people types to carryout one of his advertising idears . The h loses it big time and proceeds to verbally shame the H for expecting the impossible and then his continuing to berate people, who can't pull redheaded twins out of a hat on two minute's notice.
The H, who really does despise anyone but himself and whom he chooses to elevate in his mind, then proceeds to berate the h for not getting enough lurve clubbings and bringing that bad attitude to the office. Then, after he sends his girlfriend off, chases the h around his office and tells her that he can have her on the floor anytime he likes while forcing himself and his gropey hands and ravening lips upon her.
The h quits on the spot - after telling the really Big Client that she has been lying for the H and the man would be much better off taking his business elsewhere. The h's mother, whom the h has to put up with because she needs the childcare during her working hours, tells the h that men will be men and she should just condone it and put up with it.
The H shows up to convince the h to come back to her job, because as we shall see most of the H's "brilliant idears" are actually the h's, but she never got any calcium and thus is no more than a jelly blobfish around anyone who has a smidgen of ego - which includes her mother, her ex-inlaws and most especially the H. Anyhows, the Big Client has some huge ad projects coming up for two of his lines and he refuses to let the ad agency have it unless the h is back on the job.
The H sorta apologizes in a manner that really makes a person think that they should apologize to him for the inconvenience he had to go to, while simultaneously blaming the h for breathing and tempting him. The h, with the fawning pandering of her mother wholeheartedly pimping the h out to the H, agrees to go back to work for him. Then the mother and plot moppet exit stage left, to go the h's aunt's farm for a few weeks while the H sweeps the h off to Port Douglas, Queensland.
It seems there is one final big client test for the h and H before he will hand over his major ad business - the big client has invented a Kneg- which is sorta of a cross between a pen knife and a clothes pin - (in the US we would call it a Leatherman,) and the big client wants to tie the advertising for his Kneg in with his newly set up charter boat service - hence the trip for the ad to be done in Port Douglas.
The H also lets the h know that his girlfriend - whom the H assures us has to have the maximum value paid for the bestowal of her beauty and grace- has dumped the H for an English Earl. The H proceeds to give a very pointed lecture into his thinking that people are sellers of their most valuable attributes and that it is up to the buyer's to offer enough to meet the seller's price. The H has had a tremendous blow to his ego with the girlfriend's desertion, because it means that he isn't the highest bidder and doesn't have enough to meet his long time girlfriend's price.
The h digests the fact that the H came onto her as boost for his own self-esteem, because he regards her as cheap and easy to use and control. In the meantime, the h also comes up with the idea of using the Kneg in all manner of unusual situations where you don't have the right tool handy but can adapt - kinda like hitting a nail with a shoe heel when you don't have a hammer.
The H recognizes that the h is onto something right away and we get a very good look at why the H is considered such a 'genius' at advertising. He sells the h's really good advertising ideas in a very showman like circus ringmaster style and also takes the credit for it.
So with many nasty innuendos about how the h is a repressed teasing tart who really is dying to let the H have her on the floor, but won't because her late husband ruined her, the H and h have to take a train trip to Port Douglas - mostly cause the H moonlights as a travel writer and needs to do a story while he charges the trip off to the ad agency's client's expenses.
When the h protests the H's continual snide insinuations and his loudly stated threats to disrobe the h or grope her in front of other people, the H claims it is all in 'retaliation' for the h's continued belief in his self-stated egotism and womanizing and her refusal to accept the blame for his bad behavior - he says he won't stop until she acknowledges her responsibility for his actions. When the h questions the H's earlier supposedly sincere apology that made her go back to work for him, the H taunts that she is an idiot to think he actually would apologize for anything he does, much less be sorry for it.
Right before the big Port Douglas trip, we get some h backstory when the H takes the h to lunch with his publisher - who happens to be the female cousin of the h's dead husband. We find out that the h's dead hubby was the spoiled only son of an upper class Australian couple and that the h was not considered good enough for their only child. The female publisher then subtly criticizes the h for being a marital bad choice for an upper class scion when the h explains her lesser-classed background and that she had to work to get through uni and life, as her mum was widowed and had three kids to support.
The h counters the publisher's contempt with the assertion that the golden scion was an abusive, alcoholic bully, which his parent's tried to blame the h for, but actually started way, way before the h met him - he was 15 when he started on the drinking. The H tries to assert that it wasn't the h's fault for her ex's bad behavior and the h neatly turns the H's statement around on him, by pointing out that the H has said the same things as her ex's family did about her himself.
Finally we all get on the train for Port Douglas where the H offers booze and a lot of smart verbal innuendo that leaves no doubt that he wants a purple passion boudoir moment with the h. The h, quoting her mother verbatim when she says "Men will be Men and even the nice ones should be allowed a pass or two because they can't help themselves" tries to rebuff the H's advances. The H claims that the h's anger is all about the "lady protesting too much" and her way of provoking his amorous attentions and the h has to have a navel gazing moment and admit that the H is correct.
She decides that now she is wanting the H and as is inevitable, once we get to Port Douglas and do the travelogue and unlikely situation advertising bit with a seasick, kilt wearing, bag piping Scotsman, the H and h wind up in the throes of aubergine bliss despite repeat use of the word NO.
(There is also the added Big Client's and H's brother's suggestion that the h be maneuvered into sleeping with the H, as the H seems to want her and his genius must be appeased. When the h hears that opinion from the Big Client himself, she has a very ranty meltdown that still doesn't keep her from LA's determination to pair her with the H in the end.)
The h is a bit shocked to find herself in the mojo moment with the H, particularly as they are actually on the Big Client's boat after the big ad shoot at the time and the h has a very good idea of how bad this is going to look to everyone else.
Because as the h quite rightly points out - she has a bad habit of letting the physical passion overwhelm her, as demonstrated by her first marriage that was about as horrible as you can get until the h's daughter saw her father hit her mother and the h realized that she had to get out. There is also the fact that the H spent two years of having the h arrange all sorts of outings and things for his girlfriend and he is more than likely on the hurt ego rejected heart rebound, which explains his sudden interest in the h. The H is horribly offended that the h might care what a paying client and people she has to manage think of her and takes himself off in a huff.
We then get some h inner navel gazing moments and a lovely description of the Daintree Rainforest area which is awesome by itself, but also has very rare white sandy beaches and coral reefs in it's environs. Daintree is also home to a lot of really rare plants and animals, including a large percentage of Australian butterflies and the Bennett's Tree-Kangaroo, which climbs trees and moves backwards. (Tree-Kangaroo's were an endangered species when this HP was written, but they have now made a really nice comeback and seems to be expanding in the Daintree area, which is a World Heritage site).
The H goes out of his way to make sure that everyone knows that he and the h are on the outs and this leads to further stress and nerve wracking drama for the h - who has to coordinate all of these people and keep the client happy for the big ad campaign while they are gossiping over the tawdry antics behind her back . The H doesn't care, cause he is irritated the h is not falling at his feet and he also knows that this h has quite a bit of integrity, so she will make the ad campaign and the H look brilliant, because that is just how she is.
So the H continues his harassment campaign to get her into bed by telling her that is what she wants and is really promising him, even though she continually says she doesn't want an affair and he gives no indication that he wants anything else. He even goes so far as to tell her that if he really did have a wounded ego, as the h puts it, he would be tempted to go out and shoot himself because she won't go to bed with him again.
( This H really takes non-tart shaming to whole new unprecedented HP level. In his mind she is damned if she won't sleep with him because she has standards and then damned if she does sleep with him because she doesn't have standards that are high enough and she is therefore a hypocritical liar. This book brilliantly highlights the double standard of victim blaming and moreover, is one of the best H gaslights the h books in all of HPlandia. LA exploits Rule # 1 - the h is always responsible for the H's bad behavior- to the maximum here.)
The H then tries complimenting her instead of berating or bullying her and the h melts into his arms like a block of ice in the summer. The H is thrilled that he finally gets his way again and the h is left to believe that she may as well enjoy the lurve mojo before she has to get back to real life, as the H gives every indication that the h is a useful stop gap to help him win the Big Client's contract and a useful distraction while he recovers from being dumped.
Tho he objects when the h points out that she has other priorities than an office affair, like a daughter she needs to bring up with some security and the H claims that an office affair is exactly what he has in mind. He tells the h she should just let go and give into her passion, after all it is what he wants and he might surprise her. The h is sure the H could sell ice to the Eskimos, he is such a smooth talking dangerous lover, but to continue sleeping with the H leaves her open to all sorts of gossip and the h quite rightly doesn't want to deal with that on top of all the other things in her life, like the H's girlfriend ending her engagement and returning to Australia.
Then the h's daughter breaks her arm and the h needs to fly home. While the h is tending to her child and establishing a behind the scene H manipulated tentative truce with her dead husband's condescending parents over visiting her child - who has no clue as to who these people are and isn't much interested except they can afford pricey toys- the H's former girlfriend comes back and announces that she and the H are reuniting.
The h quits her job upon the big announcement, the H seems to be going along with his ex's statement and makes no comment of his own other than to tell the h he isn't taking his girlfriend back. Then the H sneakily arranges for the Big Client to offer the h a job managing his charter boat business in Port Douglas. The h's mother, unhappy that her pandering did not pay off, is forced to admit that she would rather move than see the h becomes the H's lower class bit on the side - tho not without a lot of sighing that her daughter is so intransigent over what is sure to be a financially great set-up, cause really men will be men after all.
Four months goes by and the Big Client, who may be romancing the h's mum and whose big account ads don't seem to be getting produced but supposedly are almost ready, invites the h to a convention dinner that the H will be attending. The h gussies herself up and goes, then after seeing the H practice his selling techniques on everyone but herself, takes herself off to mope on the beach.
The H follows and explains that he got her the job with the Big Client to keep tabs on her, he sorta admits that he could see why the h thought she was subbing for his ex and he vows that he loves and wants to marry her really, her ad ideas are not really pertinent-- tho the Big Client would appreciate them, and the H decided his girlfriend wasn't for him to marry after all, they will just be very good friends (and she met a guy with a Lear Jet and wants to marry him instead.) The h bends to the pleadings of her mother and the Big Client and the H and decides that she loves the H an will marry him for another LA HEA HPlandia outing.
This book is extremely well written, but unfortunately I just couldn't get over the H and the secondary characters all telling the h that she was too stupid to know what was good for her and her listening because she made a bad error in romance judgement when she was 19 and married a smooth talking abuser, just like the H really.
Sure, this H isn't an alcoholic or a physical abuser, but he is an emotional tyrant and so full of egotistic narcissism that the h is quite right to question her judgement regarding the men she gets involved with. This woman needed therapy, not a man and certainly not a man who is the mental equivalent of a narcissistic wrecking ball. That every single secondary character thought it was fine to sacrifice the h to further their own self interests was just another thing to despise in this book.
The problem with a really good writer like LA is that when she sells the H as juvenile bully who uses verbal beratement and obfuscation for his own self-aggrandizement, it is really hard to see him in any other light. Pair that with an h who is damaged and susceptible to manipulation and bullying, tho everyone around her sees that she is a really decent person and is very likable and able to manage the H when other's cannot, it is a hard sell recipe for a believable HEA.
This H lies for a living and uses the h to further his own career goals too boot. I can't buy his statement of genuine love for the h because of it, tho I am entirely willing to believe he needed the h for his career and to keep him in the family ad firm and rejected his girlfriend when she came back because in his mind he doesn't take other peoples seconds, tho it is fine for other women to be thought of as his fall back choice, especially when they are so easy to gaslight and he can have his cake and eat it with 'good friends' too.
Mileage always varies tho, and while this book hit a lot of my hated tropes, the H is very different from the usual and the h does try hard to escape for the first part of the book. So while it might not be enjoyable, this is a very interesting outing to LA's continent of HPlandia and time won't be wasted on reading it.
This H is not the typical HP Alpha Manly Male H - he is an advertising Genius supposedly. But really he is just so imposingly egotistically misanthropic that he overruns all the lesser peons around him with his verbal runoff. Which he happily spews around like mushroom fertilizer upon all and sundry. It makes him an advertising force to be reckoned with, but it also makes for a hard sell on the romance angle.
The story starts with the H finally deigning to make an office appearance. The h, who is his assistant, has quite lost her temper because they have a huge client that the h has to lie to for six weeks while the H takes an extended holiday with his super-model ultra beautiful girlfriend.
The H and his girlfriend have the entire office staff, including the H's brother who owns the agency, all cowering beneath the H's supercilious demands for instant gratification of very difficult to find people types to carryout one of his advertising idears . The h loses it big time and proceeds to verbally shame the H for expecting the impossible and then his continuing to berate people, who can't pull redheaded twins out of a hat on two minute's notice.
The H, who really does despise anyone but himself and whom he chooses to elevate in his mind, then proceeds to berate the h for not getting enough lurve clubbings and bringing that bad attitude to the office. Then, after he sends his girlfriend off, chases the h around his office and tells her that he can have her on the floor anytime he likes while forcing himself and his gropey hands and ravening lips upon her.
The h quits on the spot - after telling the really Big Client that she has been lying for the H and the man would be much better off taking his business elsewhere. The h's mother, whom the h has to put up with because she needs the childcare during her working hours, tells the h that men will be men and she should just condone it and put up with it.
The H shows up to convince the h to come back to her job, because as we shall see most of the H's "brilliant idears" are actually the h's, but she never got any calcium and thus is no more than a jelly blobfish around anyone who has a smidgen of ego - which includes her mother, her ex-inlaws and most especially the H. Anyhows, the Big Client has some huge ad projects coming up for two of his lines and he refuses to let the ad agency have it unless the h is back on the job.
The H sorta apologizes in a manner that really makes a person think that they should apologize to him for the inconvenience he had to go to, while simultaneously blaming the h for breathing and tempting him. The h, with the fawning pandering of her mother wholeheartedly pimping the h out to the H, agrees to go back to work for him. Then the mother and plot moppet exit stage left, to go the h's aunt's farm for a few weeks while the H sweeps the h off to Port Douglas, Queensland.
It seems there is one final big client test for the h and H before he will hand over his major ad business - the big client has invented a Kneg- which is sorta of a cross between a pen knife and a clothes pin - (in the US we would call it a Leatherman,) and the big client wants to tie the advertising for his Kneg in with his newly set up charter boat service - hence the trip for the ad to be done in Port Douglas.
The H also lets the h know that his girlfriend - whom the H assures us has to have the maximum value paid for the bestowal of her beauty and grace- has dumped the H for an English Earl. The H proceeds to give a very pointed lecture into his thinking that people are sellers of their most valuable attributes and that it is up to the buyer's to offer enough to meet the seller's price. The H has had a tremendous blow to his ego with the girlfriend's desertion, because it means that he isn't the highest bidder and doesn't have enough to meet his long time girlfriend's price.
The h digests the fact that the H came onto her as boost for his own self-esteem, because he regards her as cheap and easy to use and control. In the meantime, the h also comes up with the idea of using the Kneg in all manner of unusual situations where you don't have the right tool handy but can adapt - kinda like hitting a nail with a shoe heel when you don't have a hammer.
The H recognizes that the h is onto something right away and we get a very good look at why the H is considered such a 'genius' at advertising. He sells the h's really good advertising ideas in a very showman like circus ringmaster style and also takes the credit for it.
So with many nasty innuendos about how the h is a repressed teasing tart who really is dying to let the H have her on the floor, but won't because her late husband ruined her, the H and h have to take a train trip to Port Douglas - mostly cause the H moonlights as a travel writer and needs to do a story while he charges the trip off to the ad agency's client's expenses.
When the h protests the H's continual snide insinuations and his loudly stated threats to disrobe the h or grope her in front of other people, the H claims it is all in 'retaliation' for the h's continued belief in his self-stated egotism and womanizing and her refusal to accept the blame for his bad behavior - he says he won't stop until she acknowledges her responsibility for his actions. When the h questions the H's earlier supposedly sincere apology that made her go back to work for him, the H taunts that she is an idiot to think he actually would apologize for anything he does, much less be sorry for it.
Right before the big Port Douglas trip, we get some h backstory when the H takes the h to lunch with his publisher - who happens to be the female cousin of the h's dead husband. We find out that the h's dead hubby was the spoiled only son of an upper class Australian couple and that the h was not considered good enough for their only child. The female publisher then subtly criticizes the h for being a marital bad choice for an upper class scion when the h explains her lesser-classed background and that she had to work to get through uni and life, as her mum was widowed and had three kids to support.
The h counters the publisher's contempt with the assertion that the golden scion was an abusive, alcoholic bully, which his parent's tried to blame the h for, but actually started way, way before the h met him - he was 15 when he started on the drinking. The H tries to assert that it wasn't the h's fault for her ex's bad behavior and the h neatly turns the H's statement around on him, by pointing out that the H has said the same things as her ex's family did about her himself.
Finally we all get on the train for Port Douglas where the H offers booze and a lot of smart verbal innuendo that leaves no doubt that he wants a purple passion boudoir moment with the h. The h, quoting her mother verbatim when she says "Men will be Men and even the nice ones should be allowed a pass or two because they can't help themselves" tries to rebuff the H's advances. The H claims that the h's anger is all about the "lady protesting too much" and her way of provoking his amorous attentions and the h has to have a navel gazing moment and admit that the H is correct.
She decides that now she is wanting the H and as is inevitable, once we get to Port Douglas and do the travelogue and unlikely situation advertising bit with a seasick, kilt wearing, bag piping Scotsman, the H and h wind up in the throes of aubergine bliss despite repeat use of the word NO.
(There is also the added Big Client's and H's brother's suggestion that the h be maneuvered into sleeping with the H, as the H seems to want her and his genius must be appeased. When the h hears that opinion from the Big Client himself, she has a very ranty meltdown that still doesn't keep her from LA's determination to pair her with the H in the end.)
The h is a bit shocked to find herself in the mojo moment with the H, particularly as they are actually on the Big Client's boat after the big ad shoot at the time and the h has a very good idea of how bad this is going to look to everyone else.
Because as the h quite rightly points out - she has a bad habit of letting the physical passion overwhelm her, as demonstrated by her first marriage that was about as horrible as you can get until the h's daughter saw her father hit her mother and the h realized that she had to get out. There is also the fact that the H spent two years of having the h arrange all sorts of outings and things for his girlfriend and he is more than likely on the hurt ego rejected heart rebound, which explains his sudden interest in the h. The H is horribly offended that the h might care what a paying client and people she has to manage think of her and takes himself off in a huff.
We then get some h inner navel gazing moments and a lovely description of the Daintree Rainforest area which is awesome by itself, but also has very rare white sandy beaches and coral reefs in it's environs. Daintree is also home to a lot of really rare plants and animals, including a large percentage of Australian butterflies and the Bennett's Tree-Kangaroo, which climbs trees and moves backwards. (Tree-Kangaroo's were an endangered species when this HP was written, but they have now made a really nice comeback and seems to be expanding in the Daintree area, which is a World Heritage site).
The H goes out of his way to make sure that everyone knows that he and the h are on the outs and this leads to further stress and nerve wracking drama for the h - who has to coordinate all of these people and keep the client happy for the big ad campaign while they are gossiping over the tawdry antics behind her back . The H doesn't care, cause he is irritated the h is not falling at his feet and he also knows that this h has quite a bit of integrity, so she will make the ad campaign and the H look brilliant, because that is just how she is.
So the H continues his harassment campaign to get her into bed by telling her that is what she wants and is really promising him, even though she continually says she doesn't want an affair and he gives no indication that he wants anything else. He even goes so far as to tell her that if he really did have a wounded ego, as the h puts it, he would be tempted to go out and shoot himself because she won't go to bed with him again.
( This H really takes non-tart shaming to whole new unprecedented HP level. In his mind she is damned if she won't sleep with him because she has standards and then damned if she does sleep with him because she doesn't have standards that are high enough and she is therefore a hypocritical liar. This book brilliantly highlights the double standard of victim blaming and moreover, is one of the best H gaslights the h books in all of HPlandia. LA exploits Rule # 1 - the h is always responsible for the H's bad behavior- to the maximum here.)
The H then tries complimenting her instead of berating or bullying her and the h melts into his arms like a block of ice in the summer. The H is thrilled that he finally gets his way again and the h is left to believe that she may as well enjoy the lurve mojo before she has to get back to real life, as the H gives every indication that the h is a useful stop gap to help him win the Big Client's contract and a useful distraction while he recovers from being dumped.
Tho he objects when the h points out that she has other priorities than an office affair, like a daughter she needs to bring up with some security and the H claims that an office affair is exactly what he has in mind. He tells the h she should just let go and give into her passion, after all it is what he wants and he might surprise her. The h is sure the H could sell ice to the Eskimos, he is such a smooth talking dangerous lover, but to continue sleeping with the H leaves her open to all sorts of gossip and the h quite rightly doesn't want to deal with that on top of all the other things in her life, like the H's girlfriend ending her engagement and returning to Australia.
Then the h's daughter breaks her arm and the h needs to fly home. While the h is tending to her child and establishing a behind the scene H manipulated tentative truce with her dead husband's condescending parents over visiting her child - who has no clue as to who these people are and isn't much interested except they can afford pricey toys- the H's former girlfriend comes back and announces that she and the H are reuniting.
The h quits her job upon the big announcement, the H seems to be going along with his ex's statement and makes no comment of his own other than to tell the h he isn't taking his girlfriend back. Then the H sneakily arranges for the Big Client to offer the h a job managing his charter boat business in Port Douglas. The h's mother, unhappy that her pandering did not pay off, is forced to admit that she would rather move than see the h becomes the H's lower class bit on the side - tho not without a lot of sighing that her daughter is so intransigent over what is sure to be a financially great set-up, cause really men will be men after all.
Four months goes by and the Big Client, who may be romancing the h's mum and whose big account ads don't seem to be getting produced but supposedly are almost ready, invites the h to a convention dinner that the H will be attending. The h gussies herself up and goes, then after seeing the H practice his selling techniques on everyone but herself, takes herself off to mope on the beach.
The H follows and explains that he got her the job with the Big Client to keep tabs on her, he sorta admits that he could see why the h thought she was subbing for his ex and he vows that he loves and wants to marry her really, her ad ideas are not really pertinent-- tho the Big Client would appreciate them, and the H decided his girlfriend wasn't for him to marry after all, they will just be very good friends (and she met a guy with a Lear Jet and wants to marry him instead.) The h bends to the pleadings of her mother and the Big Client and the H and decides that she loves the H an will marry him for another LA HEA HPlandia outing.
This book is extremely well written, but unfortunately I just couldn't get over the H and the secondary characters all telling the h that she was too stupid to know what was good for her and her listening because she made a bad error in romance judgement when she was 19 and married a smooth talking abuser, just like the H really.
Sure, this H isn't an alcoholic or a physical abuser, but he is an emotional tyrant and so full of egotistic narcissism that the h is quite right to question her judgement regarding the men she gets involved with. This woman needed therapy, not a man and certainly not a man who is the mental equivalent of a narcissistic wrecking ball. That every single secondary character thought it was fine to sacrifice the h to further their own self interests was just another thing to despise in this book.
The problem with a really good writer like LA is that when she sells the H as juvenile bully who uses verbal beratement and obfuscation for his own self-aggrandizement, it is really hard to see him in any other light. Pair that with an h who is damaged and susceptible to manipulation and bullying, tho everyone around her sees that she is a really decent person and is very likable and able to manage the H when other's cannot, it is a hard sell recipe for a believable HEA.
This H lies for a living and uses the h to further his own career goals too boot. I can't buy his statement of genuine love for the h because of it, tho I am entirely willing to believe he needed the h for his career and to keep him in the family ad firm and rejected his girlfriend when she came back because in his mind he doesn't take other peoples seconds, tho it is fine for other women to be thought of as his fall back choice, especially when they are so easy to gaslight and he can have his cake and eat it with 'good friends' too.
Mileage always varies tho, and while this book hit a lot of my hated tropes, the H is very different from the usual and the h does try hard to escape for the first part of the book. So while it might not be enjoyable, this is a very interesting outing to LA's continent of HPlandia and time won't be wasted on reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2016
This story has the type of hero you don't often see in HP land - he is a fast talker, a fast thinker, glib, confident, charming, creative with flashes of deeper emotions swirling underneath. In short, exhausting.
I don't blame the cautious, widowed heroine who had endured domestic violence for not trusting the advertising executive hero or his motivations when after working for him for two years he suddenly comes on strong by her kissing her senseless after she threatens to quit. It doesn't help her suspicions of him when she finds out that his super-model girlfriend of two years has just jilted him to marry a wealthy English Earl. She doesn't want to be the rebound girlfriend and then dumped, she just wants to raise her three year-old daughter with the help of her mother in peace.
So that's the conflict - wounded heroine, smitten hero who doesn't offer stability. To arrive at their HEA they have to conduct an ad campaign for a "widget" a wealthy tycoon has invented. It's a useless widget as far as anyone can tell, so they decide to just go with that and create commercials where the widget can help in the most unlikely of emergencies (For example: a bag piper's kilt keeps blowing up in the wind).
To add interest, they are filming in Port Arthur, a thousand miles from Brisbane where the ad agency is located. The hero is also a travel writer, so he insists on taking the train. I mention these details because there are many interesting set pieces for the hero to woo the heroine. The tension and forward motion comes from the heroine's resistance, capitulation, and towards the end, a stupid ultimatum the hero throws down which keeps them apart for six months.
If you like lots of banter and a quicksilver hero with dashes of comedy to lighten the angst, you might like this. I like my heroes a little more earnest, but he does do a sweet declaration at the end, dropping that glib mask.
I don't blame the cautious, widowed heroine who had endured domestic violence for not trusting the advertising executive hero or his motivations when after working for him for two years he suddenly comes on strong by her kissing her senseless after she threatens to quit. It doesn't help her suspicions of him when she finds out that his super-model girlfriend of two years has just jilted him to marry a wealthy English Earl. She doesn't want to be the rebound girlfriend and then dumped, she just wants to raise her three year-old daughter with the help of her mother in peace.
So that's the conflict - wounded heroine, smitten hero who doesn't offer stability. To arrive at their HEA they have to conduct an ad campaign for a "widget" a wealthy tycoon has invented. It's a useless widget as far as anyone can tell, so they decide to just go with that and create commercials where the widget can help in the most unlikely of emergencies (For example: a bag piper's kilt keeps blowing up in the wind).
To add interest, they are filming in Port Arthur, a thousand miles from Brisbane where the ad agency is located. The hero is also a travel writer, so he insists on taking the train. I mention these details because there are many interesting set pieces for the hero to woo the heroine. The tension and forward motion comes from the heroine's resistance, capitulation, and towards the end, a stupid ultimatum the hero throws down which keeps them apart for six months.
If you like lots of banter and a quicksilver hero with dashes of comedy to lighten the angst, you might like this. I like my heroes a little more earnest, but he does do a sweet declaration at the end, dropping that glib mask.
June 10, 2013
Verity has been working for Brad Morris for two years, but he hasn’t paid her much attention. Nothing strange, since he has a girlfriend, and it is obvious that he is going to marry her sometime in the future.
Verity’s past has not been easy. She is a widow and has a little daughter. Her deceased husband was the only son of a rich family. His parents took very badly his marriage to Verity. And he had been a bad husband, as he drank a lot and had subjected her to violence.
But when Brad’s girlfriend abandons him for a count, he sets his eyes on Verity and as a widow, probably he thinks she is an easy conquest.
An average read. Enjoyable, but not extraordinary.
Verity’s past has not been easy. She is a widow and has a little daughter. Her deceased husband was the only son of a rich family. His parents took very badly his marriage to Verity. And he had been a bad husband, as he drank a lot and had subjected her to violence.
But when Brad’s girlfriend abandons him for a count, he sets his eyes on Verity and as a widow, probably he thinks she is an easy conquest.
An average read. Enjoyable, but not extraordinary.
February 24, 2019
Ordinary story, but a sprinkling of humor pulls it through. Girl with a abusive first marriage and a kid. Guy with a playboy image.
He sobers and turns into perfect husband and daddy material by the end of the book. He does have an ex to dispose off, but that's nothing serious. Only the heroine makes much ado about that.
Heroine works for hero, they are together on an out-of-town assignment. Romance blooms amidst work pressure. Just the regular drill. But a pleasant change in the story is that the girl is seen to be the smarter one at work!
The girl has a kid who only makes a customary first page and last page appearance, that did not work for me. When second chance stories involve kids, I would prefer authors to take the trouble to weave the kid into the narrative. Its their life too, you know.
He sobers and turns into perfect husband and daddy material by the end of the book. He does have an ex to dispose off, but that's nothing serious. Only the heroine makes much ado about that.
Heroine works for hero, they are together on an out-of-town assignment. Romance blooms amidst work pressure. Just the regular drill. But a pleasant change in the story is that the girl is seen to be the smarter one at work!
The girl has a kid who only makes a customary first page and last page appearance, that did not work for me. When second chance stories involve kids, I would prefer authors to take the trouble to weave the kid into the narrative. Its their life too, you know.
May 6, 2017
Verity works for Brad Morris and he's extremely difficult to deal with. He waltzes back into the office after a long vacation and criticizes Verity's work ethic and she loses her shit. She ends up railing against him and Brad finds it extremely intriguing - so much so that he ends surprising her with a very sensual kiss. But Verity isn't looking for sensual, nor is she looking for a sexual harassment suit, so she quits. Brad Morris realizes he cannot function in the office without her and sets out to win her back. He also realizes that Verity is the woman he wants, so he sets out to seduce her as well. Verity is shy of men, having been in an abusive relationship and wants nothing to do with Brad's seduction, although she does accept the job. Brad figures he'll put forth the effort convince her that a romance between them is nothing to be afraid of.
This could have been better for me if I'd liked the hero. At all. I mean he starts out the book in full on sexual harassment mode, pretty much assaulting Verity and suggesting she become his in-office lover, while his supposed girlfriend had just left. He also had this sort of smarmy attitude that didn't sit well with me...it's a brand of charm I don't appreciate Had he explained himself to Verity a bit better throughout the story, I might have liked him a bit more. As it was, it seemed that he was seducing her just for some sex and maybe for a laugh or two. Verity didn't bug me so much, since she had reason to be cautious and I felt her reactions were totally justified. I kinda think she gave in to Brad's efforts a bit suddenly and with almost no guilt, which felt a bit out of character for her. What I absolutely do respect about her is that she was able to evaluate .
This could have been better for me if I'd liked the hero. At all. I mean he starts out the book in full on sexual harassment mode, pretty much assaulting Verity and suggesting she become his in-office lover, while his supposed girlfriend had just left. He also had this sort of smarmy attitude that didn't sit well with me...it's a brand of charm I don't appreciate Had he explained himself to Verity a bit better throughout the story, I might have liked him a bit more. As it was, it seemed that he was seducing her just for some sex and maybe for a laugh or two. Verity didn't bug me so much, since she had reason to be cautious and I felt her reactions were totally justified. I kinda think she gave in to Brad's efforts a bit suddenly and with almost no guilt, which felt a bit out of character for her. What I absolutely do respect about her is that she was able to evaluate .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2021
I reread by accident and got through it this time. I don’t think the H was as selfish and egotistical as Boogenhagen describes or possibly one of those people who never thought through what they truly wanted and who they were and instead skated through on the surface and when they got frustrated had too little self awareness to handle.
Anyway I don’t plan to reread and the dialogue is overly complex, not how people talk. Upped to 2 stars.
Original: I like many Lindsay Armstrong HPs and tried, really tried to like this one but I couldn’t get past page 80 or so and it was so boring I didn’t even skim. Looked at the ending and it didn’t redeem the rest.
Third read liked better again but still find H alternately boorish and glib and loving.
Anyway I don’t plan to reread and the dialogue is overly complex, not how people talk. Upped to 2 stars.
Original: I like many Lindsay Armstrong HPs and tried, really tried to like this one but I couldn’t get past page 80 or so and it was so boring I didn’t even skim. Looked at the ending and it didn’t redeem the rest.
Third read liked better again but still find H alternately boorish and glib and loving.
July 7, 2023
I'm feeling poorly tonight so this is more of an aide memoire cast list than a review. Widowed mum Verity works in an ad agency with maverick creative Brad. She's been badly burned by her young marriage to an alcoholic husband, scion of a snobby family. She has a supportive mother and a young daughter Maddy. Brad is hot out of a relationship with supermodel Primrose. He pursues Verity, including a long distance trip filming an ad campaign. She struggles womanfully against his erotic overtures before succumbing. Nice romantic declarations at the end.
May 29, 2011
Brad no es un chico malo sino un tipo que se acerca a un genio, y como tal tiene crisis de humor que a veces sacan Verity del quicio. Una de ellas ha sido peor que todas - o tal vez Verity estuviese más sensible - y casi estropea todo entre ellos, pero ni siquiera así él se percata de que actua de manera equivocada. Con la cabeza en las nubes y los ojos en Verity, ese es Brad. Ella es testaruda hasta quedarse ciega a lo que está en la punta de la nariz. Una historia pobre que los protagonistas salvan.
May 25, 2015
I did not like the hero much. And I just could not sympathise with heroine. what a tease just not good something was missing in the storyline for me.
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