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Betrayal in Bali
Her love rapidly turned to hate
Gael had easily been won by Leo Kane's handsome looks and savoir faire. She eagerly accepted his marriage proposal and looked forward to the adventure of living in Indonesia.
But her bridal hopes were quickly shattered when she discovered Leo had staged their marriage for revenge. He wanted to make her pay for a wrongdoing he thought she'd committed.
Unfortunately, Gael couldn't prove her innocence. All she wanted to do was escape the husband she now despised. She must find a way to avoid being part of his crazy scheme!
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
Sally Wentworth
108 books95 followersDoreen was born on 1936 or 1937 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK. She married Donald Alfred Hornsblow, with whom she has a son Keith, in 1968. The family lived in Braughing, England.
Doreen began her publishing career at a Fleet Street newspaper in London, where she thrived in the hectic atmosphere. She started writing after attending an evening class and sold her first novel to Mills & Boon in 1977, she published her novels under the pseudonym Sally Wentworth. Her novels were principally set in Great Britain or in exotic places like Canary Islands or Greece. Her first works are stand-alone novels, but in 1990s, she decided to create her first series. In 1991, she wrote a book in two parts about the Barclay twins and their great love, and in 1995, she wrote the Ties of Passion Trilogy about the Brodey family, that have money, looks, style, everything... except love.
Doreen was an accounts clerk at Associated Newspapers Ltd. in London, England, and accounts clerk at Consumers' Association in Hertford, England. In 1985, she was the founding chair of the Hertford Association of National Trust Members, and named its life president. She also collected knife rests and she was member of The Knife Rest Collectors Club.
Doreen Hornsblow died from cancer on 30 August 2001, at 64 years of age.
Doreen began her publishing career at a Fleet Street newspaper in London, where she thrived in the hectic atmosphere. She started writing after attending an evening class and sold her first novel to Mills & Boon in 1977, she published her novels under the pseudonym Sally Wentworth. Her novels were principally set in Great Britain or in exotic places like Canary Islands or Greece. Her first works are stand-alone novels, but in 1990s, she decided to create her first series. In 1991, she wrote a book in two parts about the Barclay twins and their great love, and in 1995, she wrote the Ties of Passion Trilogy about the Brodey family, that have money, looks, style, everything... except love.
Doreen was an accounts clerk at Associated Newspapers Ltd. in London, England, and accounts clerk at Consumers' Association in Hertford, England. In 1985, she was the founding chair of the Hertford Association of National Trust Members, and named its life president. She also collected knife rests and she was member of The Knife Rest Collectors Club.
Doreen Hornsblow died from cancer on 30 August 2001, at 64 years of age.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
August 9, 2010
I was tempted to make a new shelf called “like-being-punched-in-the-stomach” for this book, but people might misunderstand and think that was a bad thing.
This is one of those books where the sane part of my mind, the one that says things like “this is abusive and horrible!” just has to leave the room for awhile so I can have fun. Oh, the hero is so cruel! Mostly psychologically: “Do you think I enjoyed having to be with you? Knowing all the time what you’d done and having to be pleasant to you? I had to force myself to touch you, it filled me with revulsion when I had to kiss you to keep you sweet… God, I was glad to get away; you clung like a strangling vine!” Oh, OUCH!
Gael falls in love with a much older man she barely knows, marries him and travels to his new job in Bali. But on what she thinks will be her wedding night, she discovers the horrifying truth: Leo married her for revenge, because he thinks she ruined his life. And he insists she stay and pretend to be a loving wife, because he needs one to keep his job.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance before where the hero really truly hates the heroine--not love/hate, not attraction despite anger, just straightforward loathing. It’s all seen from her point of view, and it makes for a really intense, excruciating read.
This story could easily go too far--and probably does for many readers--but ultimately everything satisfied me. There’s an appropriate comeuppance for Leo, after he regains his sanity and conscience. Gael has some backbone and dignity, which saves the story from getting too lachrymose--and I liked that she is a somewhat flawed character, not a sweet suffering angel. There's no forced sex, just a kiss or two. And I really liked that the happy ending was not dependent on Leo discovering that Gael was innocent all along.
This is one of those books where the sane part of my mind, the one that says things like “this is abusive and horrible!” just has to leave the room for awhile so I can have fun. Oh, the hero is so cruel! Mostly psychologically: “Do you think I enjoyed having to be with you? Knowing all the time what you’d done and having to be pleasant to you? I had to force myself to touch you, it filled me with revulsion when I had to kiss you to keep you sweet… God, I was glad to get away; you clung like a strangling vine!” Oh, OUCH!
Gael falls in love with a much older man she barely knows, marries him and travels to his new job in Bali. But on what she thinks will be her wedding night, she discovers the horrifying truth: Leo married her for revenge, because he thinks she ruined his life. And he insists she stay and pretend to be a loving wife, because he needs one to keep his job.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance before where the hero really truly hates the heroine--not love/hate, not attraction despite anger, just straightforward loathing. It’s all seen from her point of view, and it makes for a really intense, excruciating read.
This story could easily go too far--and probably does for many readers--but ultimately everything satisfied me. There’s an appropriate comeuppance for Leo, after he regains his sanity and conscience. Gael has some backbone and dignity, which saves the story from getting too lachrymose--and I liked that she is a somewhat flawed character, not a sweet suffering angel. There's no forced sex, just a kiss or two. And I really liked that the happy ending was not dependent on Leo discovering that Gael was innocent all along.
June 25, 2021
Cruel hero. Won’t-break heroine. An exotic location. What’s not to like?
Well, the threats of physical violence and the general nbd tone to domestic violence.
But other than that, this was a solid revenge/unjustly accused heroine story that I’ve been wanting to read for years. Usually when I have to wait so long to read a story the reality will be a letdown, but I was gripped by this story and couldn’t put it down.
The story is told from start to finish – no flashbacks. Heroine is in an accident that kills the hero’s fiancé. (Who was killed alongside her married lover). Hero seeks out the heroine, courts her, marries her and brings her to Bali as his executive wife/hostess. Before they consummate the marriage, he tells her it was all a lie, he needed a wife to take this job and since she killed his fiancé, she owes him for the time of his assignment.
Heroine is understandably upset/hysterical/sad. Then she is angry. And she stays angry.
I really think the fact that she stays angry really enhanced the intensity of this story. No treacherous body syndrome. No doormat submission. She fights back and doesn’t care what the other executive wives think or what the hero thinks, either.
The hero is just as angry, then he’s puzzled, then he’s in love! LOL
The abrupt ending is a disappointment, but it’s understandable. It's all falling action after that kind of emotion SW sustained for so many pages.
Well, the threats of physical violence and the general nbd tone to domestic violence.
But other than that, this was a solid revenge/unjustly accused heroine story that I’ve been wanting to read for years. Usually when I have to wait so long to read a story the reality will be a letdown, but I was gripped by this story and couldn’t put it down.
The story is told from start to finish – no flashbacks. Heroine is in an accident that kills the hero’s fiancé. (Who was killed alongside her married lover). Hero seeks out the heroine, courts her, marries her and brings her to Bali as his executive wife/hostess. Before they consummate the marriage, he tells her it was all a lie, he needed a wife to take this job and since she killed his fiancé, she owes him for the time of his assignment.
Heroine is understandably upset/hysterical/sad. Then she is angry. And she stays angry.
I really think the fact that she stays angry really enhanced the intensity of this story. No treacherous body syndrome. No doormat submission. She fights back and doesn’t care what the other executive wives think or what the hero thinks, either.
The hero is just as angry, then he’s puzzled, then he’s in love! LOL
The abrupt ending is a disappointment, but it’s understandable. It's all falling action after that kind of emotion SW sustained for so many pages.
November 26, 2014
3.5 stars, rounding down out of disappointment re: the end.
I've seen this rec'd on almost every thread about vengeful heroes and/or Hqns heavy on the crazy. I finally had to track down a dead tree copy and give it a whirl.
It's hard to put down and I definitely see why it's memorable for so many. There are some twists here that are not as common, even though I've seen the bones of this plot several times. It's the old gem where the hero seeks misguided revenge on the h because he thinks her carelessness caused the death of someone he loved. Naturally she actually she was innocent and covering for someone else. So, it's common trope, but the plot unfolded differently than I expected in some ways.
Spoilers:
I do think that if I'd ever been a victim of domestic abuse I would find this one disturbing as hell. There were parts that made me uncomfortable. The hero doesn't beat her, but he lets her think he might and handles her roughly in the beginning. And he's very verbally abusive and cruel, making sure she's isolated and cut off from everything. I don't know what makes me want to read the crazy ones.
What disappointed me was the last 1/4 or so. It was getting really good and I was stoked and then ............ it petered out just like that. pfft
Highly, highly anticlimactic ending especially after all the drama and angst that came before it. It left me thinking 'That's it? That's all I'm getting?'. I know the series authors have to work within certain restraints as to length, but even 10-20 more pages could have given this puppy a solid 4 star rather than the 3.5 that I stubbornly refused to round up (as is my habit) out of sheer frustration and disappointment.
I've seen this rec'd on almost every thread about vengeful heroes and/or Hqns heavy on the crazy. I finally had to track down a dead tree copy and give it a whirl.
It's hard to put down and I definitely see why it's memorable for so many. There are some twists here that are not as common, even though I've seen the bones of this plot several times. It's the old gem where the hero seeks misguided revenge on the h because he thinks her carelessness caused the death of someone he loved. Naturally she actually she was innocent and covering for someone else. So, it's common trope, but the plot unfolded differently than I expected in some ways.
Spoilers:
I do think that if I'd ever been a victim of domestic abuse I would find this one disturbing as hell. There were parts that made me uncomfortable. The hero doesn't beat her, but he lets her think he might and handles her roughly in the beginning. And he's very verbally abusive and cruel, making sure she's isolated and cut off from everything. I don't know what makes me want to read the crazy ones.
What disappointed me was the last 1/4 or so. It was getting really good and I was stoked and then ............ it petered out just like that. pfft
Highly, highly anticlimactic ending especially after all the drama and angst that came before it. It left me thinking 'That's it? That's all I'm getting?'. I know the series authors have to work within certain restraints as to length, but even 10-20 more pages could have given this puppy a solid 4 star rather than the 3.5 that I stubbornly refused to round up (as is my habit) out of sheer frustration and disappointment.
November 7, 2021
Well this is definitely one of my guilty pleasures.
The man made me want to add another shelf: hero I’d like to kill with an hatchet.
The heroine is a stupid girl who after a terrible accident where two people died and her brother in law was driving, accepted to say she was driving to save the man from jail.
Ok, so enter the hero who is of course one of the victims fiancée.
He decides to marry her for revenge and he’s really awful. Soon after their marriage they have to leave for Bali where he works as a manager, and as soon as they get there he tells her he only married her for revenge because he needed a wife to get his job, but he hates her and despises her.
He hits her and manhandles her several times, and threatens her. It was awful because he seriously hated her, and despised her because he thought she was responsible for his fiancées death.
Our heroine after some time where she spends all her days hiding from everyone and running from her psycho hubby, finds the courage to buy a bicycle and starts going around the island.
She finds a nice place where there’s a big house with a very nice man who guards it.
They become friends and she starts going there to paint everyday.
Meanwhile she has to play nice wife when she is invited with her husband to some party, but she refuses to let him intimidate her and tells him she only wants to stay there six months, after which she will return back to England and divorce him.
He accepts, and in the same time he starts treating her less harshly.
But our heroine developed one backbone and two balls of steel, so she tells him that whatever he will do, she will always hate him and will never forgive him.
Unfortunately one day he finds out she has this male friend and here we have the most interesting scene of all the book, with a terrific row between the two males and the heroine who is knocked out and falls from the stairs.
Best scene ever. And so trashy.
The hero suddenly understands he loves her and when he declares her his love she’s of course stunned (and me too) and doesn’t believe him, and keeps telling him she hates him for what he did to her.
Thank god no doormat here.
To solve the issue the author must make up a riot and some shooting and an explosion with people hurt and the hero and the heroine that, after risking their life, declare their love and here we have an hea.
Well the hero was really a beast, the things he said and did to her in the first part of the book made me want to split him into many pieces, starting from his male attributes.
The heroine wasn’t a doormat and made him grovel, and I appreciated that she cheated on him - only emotionally- with another man.
No politically correct here, the hero is a monster and after the first part you really want to see him dead and her married to om.
Oh, and his beloved late fiancé died in the car with her lover but the heroine didn’t tell him not to hurt him.
What? It would have been the ultimate (and sweetest) revenge.
Sadly, not this time.
The man made me want to add another shelf: hero I’d like to kill with an hatchet.
The heroine is a stupid girl who after a terrible accident where two people died and her brother in law was driving, accepted to say she was driving to save the man from jail.
Ok, so enter the hero who is of course one of the victims fiancée.
He decides to marry her for revenge and he’s really awful. Soon after their marriage they have to leave for Bali where he works as a manager, and as soon as they get there he tells her he only married her for revenge because he needed a wife to get his job, but he hates her and despises her.
He hits her and manhandles her several times, and threatens her. It was awful because he seriously hated her, and despised her because he thought she was responsible for his fiancées death.
Our heroine after some time where she spends all her days hiding from everyone and running from her psycho hubby, finds the courage to buy a bicycle and starts going around the island.
She finds a nice place where there’s a big house with a very nice man who guards it.
They become friends and she starts going there to paint everyday.
Meanwhile she has to play nice wife when she is invited with her husband to some party, but she refuses to let him intimidate her and tells him she only wants to stay there six months, after which she will return back to England and divorce him.
He accepts, and in the same time he starts treating her less harshly.
But our heroine developed one backbone and two balls of steel, so she tells him that whatever he will do, she will always hate him and will never forgive him.
Unfortunately one day he finds out she has this male friend and here we have the most interesting scene of all the book, with a terrific row between the two males and the heroine who is knocked out and falls from the stairs.
Best scene ever. And so trashy.
The hero suddenly understands he loves her and when he declares her his love she’s of course stunned (and me too) and doesn’t believe him, and keeps telling him she hates him for what he did to her.
Thank god no doormat here.
To solve the issue the author must make up a riot and some shooting and an explosion with people hurt and the hero and the heroine that, after risking their life, declare their love and here we have an hea.
Well the hero was really a beast, the things he said and did to her in the first part of the book made me want to split him into many pieces, starting from his male attributes.
The heroine wasn’t a doormat and made him grovel, and I appreciated that she cheated on him - only emotionally- with another man.
No politically correct here, the hero is a monster and after the first part you really want to see him dead and her married to om.
Oh, and his beloved late fiancé died in the car with her lover but the heroine didn’t tell him not to hurt him.
What? It would have been the ultimate (and sweetest) revenge.
Sadly, not this time.
June 16, 2013
Wow. Mrs. Wentworth is the HP author that awakens the most emotions in me. The hero was so cruel, I wanted to cry half the time. I really felt with the heroine.
The storyline is the usual: the Hero thinks that the heroine is responsible for the death of someone he loves and he marries her for revenge. What follows, however, is more violent and mean than usual.
This book is nothing for readers who are looking for a modern romance book. For me, it's a definite keeper.
The storyline is the usual: the Hero thinks that the heroine is responsible for the death of someone he loves and he marries her for revenge. What follows, however, is more violent and mean than usual.
This book is nothing for readers who are looking for a modern romance book. For me, it's a definite keeper.
July 22, 2012
So this was a bit different but then SW tends to write different story lines. The hero marries her for revenge, really doesn't like her, does things like choke her and push her to her knees but...for some reason I didn't really feel the angst. I think that it was a result of not being fleshed out well. We find out that she was involved in the accident that killed his fiance but we never really get the sense that he loved the fiance. It was mentioned once "You killed my fiance and by the way, I need a wife to get this new job so you'll take her place." And then since all of the book was in the heroine's POV there is a lot of day to day actions in her life without him while he's at work and an occasional BTW the hero ignores me and it sucks that we have silent dinners together sort of mentioned in passing. I can't really care that he treats you bad or whatever if the scenes are not shown and the tension built up but good for you that you found some place to paint? Therefore I couldn't really care or buy into the change he makes.
Still pretty readable and I read it straight through.
Still pretty readable and I read it straight through.
July 9, 2019
3.75🌟
Got to give it to heroine Gail to hold back the hurtful truth she got a heart. He deserves it all for his treatment of her.
Got to give it to heroine Gail to hold back the hurtful truth she got a heart. He deserves it all for his treatment of her.
August 7, 2018
This would have been a 5-star read because it was just so compelling. The reader knows from the blurb that the Hero’s main motive for marrying the heroine was for revenge. He betrays her in Bali, rather, he reveals his betrayal as soon as he brings her to Bali.
This happens in the first 30% of the book, so the rest of the time is both of them living with his revenge scheme. The Hero is quite cruel, but he thinks the heroine is responsible for the death of his fiancé. But what makes the book, is the heroine herself is quite feisty. She doesn’t take it lying down, and although the Hero thwarts her mini rebellions a couple of times, she doesn’t let this daunt her.
I was actually cheering her on when it seemed she was still able to make a semblance of life for herself, when she found a friend and a sanctuary.
Even later in the story, when the Hero is finally remorseful and has a change of heart, she still gives him a hard time. As another reviewer pointed out, it was nice knowing he fell in love with her even before he knew that she was not the one responsible for his fiancé’s death.
And that’s where the story loses a star. She reveals this to him in the last two paragraphs of the book. What an abrupt ending, no discussion about it at all! I think maybe the author would have liked to have expounded more, but ran out of pages. However there were several chapters in this book that didn’t aid the story at all. They could have cut out some of those instead.
This happens in the first 30% of the book, so the rest of the time is both of them living with his revenge scheme. The Hero is quite cruel, but he thinks the heroine is responsible for the death of his fiancé. But what makes the book, is the heroine herself is quite feisty. She doesn’t take it lying down, and although the Hero thwarts her mini rebellions a couple of times, she doesn’t let this daunt her.
I was actually cheering her on when it seemed she was still able to make a semblance of life for herself, when she found a friend and a sanctuary.
Even later in the story, when the Hero is finally remorseful and has a change of heart, she still gives him a hard time. As another reviewer pointed out, it was nice knowing he fell in love with her even before he knew that she was not the one responsible for his fiancé’s death.
And that’s where the story loses a star. She reveals this to him in the last two paragraphs of the book. What an abrupt ending, no discussion about it at all! I think maybe the author would have liked to have expounded more, but ran out of pages. However there were several chapters in this book that didn’t aid the story at all. They could have cut out some of those instead.
March 11, 2019
I was clearing up and came across this book. Well..that was the clearing done. I had to read this. I remember reading it many years ago and its always stayed with me. Its a hqn vintage classic. The cruelty in this is pretty much unmatched to any in other hqn's and the ending is not a happy one for us becuase the hero needs to suffer and he doesn't. Regardless its compulsive reading.
April 22, 2021
This is the first revenge HP where I felt that the h deserved the cruel treatment she got from the H. Actually he wasn’t cruel enough for what she had done.
At the start of the book the h and her brother-in-law are involved in a car accident in which the two people in the other car died. The brother-in-law who had been drinking too much, was driving, but he convinces her to pretend that she was driving because he would be punished harder than she. She agrees to say that she was driving so he could escape punishment from drinking and driving.
So two people died and the h lies deliberately that she was driving with the purpose that justice couldn’t be served on the real perpetrator and he couldn’t be punished by the legal system.
The girl in the other car that died was the only child of her parents and thanks to the h, the man who killed her (the brother-in-law who had been drinking too much), wasn’t punished for it.
She acts innocent towards the H and she feels insulted that he doesn’t believe that she’s innocent, but I don’t think she was innocent at all. She was innocent in the sense that she wasn’t the one who was driving, but to lie in such a serious accident in which the victims in the other car died, to me that is a dreadful thing to do.
Isn’t it a crime also to lie in court, like she did? And why is it terrible of him to not believe her when she was the one declaring to the judge in court that she was driving?
She feit so sorry for herself. The H was the fiance of the girl that died in the other car. The h was whining to him that he lied to her, yet she had lied to the judge. She was whining that he betrayed her, yet she betrayed the poor parents of the dead girl by helping the drunk perpetrator escape the legal system.
At the start of the book the h and her brother-in-law are involved in a car accident in which the two people in the other car died. The brother-in-law who had been drinking too much, was driving, but he convinces her to pretend that she was driving because he would be punished harder than she. She agrees to say that she was driving so he could escape punishment from drinking and driving.
So two people died and the h lies deliberately that she was driving with the purpose that justice couldn’t be served on the real perpetrator and he couldn’t be punished by the legal system.
The girl in the other car that died was the only child of her parents and thanks to the h, the man who killed her (the brother-in-law who had been drinking too much), wasn’t punished for it.
She acts innocent towards the H and she feels insulted that he doesn’t believe that she’s innocent, but I don’t think she was innocent at all. She was innocent in the sense that she wasn’t the one who was driving, but to lie in such a serious accident in which the victims in the other car died, to me that is a dreadful thing to do.
Isn’t it a crime also to lie in court, like she did? And why is it terrible of him to not believe her when she was the one declaring to the judge in court that she was driving?
She feit so sorry for herself. The H was the fiance of the girl that died in the other car. The h was whining to him that he lied to her, yet she had lied to the judge. She was whining that he betrayed her, yet she betrayed the poor parents of the dead girl by helping the drunk perpetrator escape the legal system.
September 19, 2023
h should have annulled the marriage with zero and been together with OM!
February 22, 2014
Hmm, I'm surprised this book has over 3.00 stars in the rating. Give me a horrible hero every day of the week but this guy Leo was in so awful there was no way I could stomach it. Tbh, even given the era this book was written in I can't imagine anyone being able to look past his actions - I really like Sally Wentworth but this is a really poor book.
January 14, 2019
This is the worst book I've ever read. I'd have literally rather ate taco bell baja blast diarrhea with a side of jellied nutsack for breakfast lunch and dinner for 10 years. This wet foreskin of a book was offensive to every single sense I have. I'm so mad--don't even know what to say. I read this to practice my speed reading. 186 fart-smeared pages in an hour and 38 minutes. That comes out to nearly 2 pages per minute, which is solid. There are a few more books by this author sitting around the house for whatever reason; definitely gonna use em for givin' my whiffin' woofin' pooper tooter a good wipe a day and a half after having granny's sweet sweet bolognese leftovers for lunch. Granny's sweet sweet bolognese leftovers....
May 6, 2020
WHOA this book! Whoa. Alright two things needed to change about the heroine: she needed to NEVER drink again after the accident like EVER and she just takes his money(before moving) to go shopping. Drop those two slight things and we got a heroine. Now our hero is like this plotting....a hot mess. We never got any of his background, info about his past relationship(which would explain his behavior in the present), he smokes...ew, and he couldn't make a right choice if his LIFE depended on it. Why didn't that racist lady and her posse get their just desserts? She was awful. Weird how the other dude drops in, helps injure the heroine, says he loves her and pops off? It was fun but kinda lead no place. Like the job the hero gives the heroine its very much up her alley. But the growth and change happens WAYYYY too late in the story. Like the heroine we 'just want freedom' which the hero refuses...cause he loves her now. How and why? We get this adventure action sections at the very end that 'brings them together' I guess. But it feels very fake. This story is an entirely different genre than the author intended. Though I agree with the heroine not even bothering to tell the hero the truth. It would have just been a waste of breathe. But why couldn't HE find out that his fiancé what cheating? Like what difference would that have made? Not much. Also another slight change is that the driver NEEDED to be her brother, I just don't think someone who take the fall for her brother-in-law. Where the fiancé's parents okay? I mean they are the real victims in this, them and the family of the man in the car. Oh best character was the doctor! Dude knew what was up! And was watching the heroine for her health. I liked him. Uhhhh read? Cause it's kinda all over the place but enjoyable overall.
August 31, 2013
This is a perfect old-school Harlequin by Sally Wentworth! I always really like her books.
Like revenge porn, basically. The 'hero' thinks the heroine was responsible for So of course, he ignores the decision of the court and takes it upon himself to 'punish' her suitably. Namely, by trapping her in Bali in a sham marriage and making her life Hell, including threatening her with physical violence.
As the novel progresses, he falls in love with her, natch. She's pretty pissed with him and doesn't really warm up until the jumbled, confusing ending. When he finally finds out the truth (and seriously ), it's pretty anti-climatic.
All in all though, a solid Harlequin and I love everything Sally Wentworth does. It's no Judas Kiss, but what is? ;-)
Like revenge porn, basically. The 'hero' thinks the heroine was responsible for So of course, he ignores the decision of the court and takes it upon himself to 'punish' her suitably. Namely, by trapping her in Bali in a sham marriage and making her life Hell, including threatening her with physical violence.
As the novel progresses, he falls in love with her, natch. She's pretty pissed with him and doesn't really warm up until the jumbled, confusing ending. When he finally finds out the truth (and seriously ), it's pretty anti-climatic.
All in all though, a solid Harlequin and I love everything Sally Wentworth does. It's no Judas Kiss, but what is? ;-)
November 20, 2014
I had such high expectations of this when I heard from reviewers that this book was all sorts of effed up. Since it wasn't available in ebook, I bought it in an eBay auction with 50 other old as dirt Harlequin Presents.
When I got it, I was like YAY!
Then I read it, and I was like NAY!
I wanted her to spill the beans about EVERYTHING to make herself look better. I wanted more tortured angst and drama. Why else read a book older than me and politically incorrect? It had a few wonderfully heartbreaking moments, but it wasn't enough. The hero said a bunch of mean stuff and I felt like the heroine should've thrown a certain secret in his face lots and lots of times.
When I got it, I was like YAY!
Then I read it, and I was like NAY!
I wanted her to spill the beans about EVERYTHING to make herself look better. I wanted more tortured angst and drama. Why else read a book older than me and politically incorrect? It had a few wonderfully heartbreaking moments, but it wasn't enough. The hero said a bunch of mean stuff and I felt like the heroine should've thrown a certain secret in his face lots and lots of times.
July 4, 2021
I purposely bought this story(so glad I did) based on Stmargarets review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
I was looking for a good revenge story. The kind that just wouldn’t stop. Our hero was one of the cruelest heroes I have ever read. Yet our heroine fought back instead of being a doormat.
Sitting on my patio drinking iced tea (unsweetened), and I get to page 50. Oh yes, it is on! I put the rest of my iced tea in the fridge and break out some spiced rum, knowing full well that iced tea wasn’t going to get me through the next 3 hours!
Gael is 22 and a virgin, it is her wedding night. She is nervous and dresses in a black neglige. Her husband, Leo, 34 seems distant. She approaches him. At this point he informs her that there will be no consummation as he has married her out of revenge.(GULP!) My heart just broke for our h.
So here is the h trembling. Her life in a shambles. Loving a man who hates her. Stuck in a foreign country(the H has joint passport so she can’t travel without him) He basically says that she will fulfill the role of being a hostess for as long as he wants. Our h basically tells him he can forget about her being a docile participant in his revenge scheme. However, our H gets handsy with her, calls her a bitch, and basically scares her with a choke hold bringing her to her knees😬.(the last time he left marks) Our h caves a bit, for like a hot second. After sleeping on it though she decides she will not let the H break her especially for something she is not guilty of 👏 Gael!!`
So our story proceeds with the H being a doting husband in public to further his career, yet our heroine doesn’t play nicely. She is rude and stand offish to the people he needs to impress. She eventually makes a deal with him and tells him she will be the hostess with the mostess, but he needs to let her go in 6 months(as opposed to the 2-3 years he will be in Bali). He agrees. She starts to play her part but gives the Hero as much space as possible. There is that thin line between love and hate, and what is great about this heroine is she has embraced the hate full tilt! She is basically kept captive at the house, until she acquires a bike(unbeknownst to the hero) with this bike, she gets a little bit of her sanity back, and meets the om in the story. He is a good guy and such a great addition to the story. He adds more angst to the book, and it is so nice that the h has someone in her corner.
This story has something in every part. I never felt like it was just ambling by. The last 1/3 of the book added a new layer. An incident happens where the h winds up in the hospital. She absolutely refuses to see the H(the attending Dr. is already suspicious that she is a battered woman) and any attempts with flowers etc are sent away. The om sneaks into the hospital room and declares himself to the h. 20 pages later(with 20 pages to go) the H declares himself. Our heroine(not trusting the H at all) rejects his avowal of love. So now the H has 20 pages to undo what he has done.
The actual ending of the story is rather abrupt, but this is not uncommon for 1980 HP’s. I do wish the h would have struck blood with what she knew about the H’s fiancé, but overall our h did a great job thwarting the H’s revenge. As far as revenge stories go, this is at the top!
I was looking for a good revenge story. The kind that just wouldn’t stop. Our hero was one of the cruelest heroes I have ever read. Yet our heroine fought back instead of being a doormat.
Sitting on my patio drinking iced tea (unsweetened), and I get to page 50. Oh yes, it is on! I put the rest of my iced tea in the fridge and break out some spiced rum, knowing full well that iced tea wasn’t going to get me through the next 3 hours!
Gael is 22 and a virgin, it is her wedding night. She is nervous and dresses in a black neglige. Her husband, Leo, 34 seems distant. She approaches him. At this point he informs her that there will be no consummation as he has married her out of revenge.(GULP!) My heart just broke for our h.
So here is the h trembling. Her life in a shambles. Loving a man who hates her. Stuck in a foreign country(the H has joint passport so she can’t travel without him) He basically says that she will fulfill the role of being a hostess for as long as he wants. Our h basically tells him he can forget about her being a docile participant in his revenge scheme. However, our H gets handsy with her, calls her a bitch, and basically scares her with a choke hold bringing her to her knees😬.(the last time he left marks) Our h caves a bit, for like a hot second. After sleeping on it though she decides she will not let the H break her especially for something she is not guilty of 👏 Gael!!`
So our story proceeds with the H being a doting husband in public to further his career, yet our heroine doesn’t play nicely. She is rude and stand offish to the people he needs to impress. She eventually makes a deal with him and tells him she will be the hostess with the mostess, but he needs to let her go in 6 months(as opposed to the 2-3 years he will be in Bali). He agrees. She starts to play her part but gives the Hero as much space as possible. There is that thin line between love and hate, and what is great about this heroine is she has embraced the hate full tilt! She is basically kept captive at the house, until she acquires a bike(unbeknownst to the hero) with this bike, she gets a little bit of her sanity back, and meets the om in the story. He is a good guy and such a great addition to the story. He adds more angst to the book, and it is so nice that the h has someone in her corner.
This story has something in every part. I never felt like it was just ambling by. The last 1/3 of the book added a new layer. An incident happens where the h winds up in the hospital. She absolutely refuses to see the H(the attending Dr. is already suspicious that she is a battered woman) and any attempts with flowers etc are sent away. The om sneaks into the hospital room and declares himself to the h. 20 pages later(with 20 pages to go) the H declares himself. Our heroine(not trusting the H at all) rejects his avowal of love. So now the H has 20 pages to undo what he has done.
The actual ending of the story is rather abrupt, but this is not uncommon for 1980 HP’s. I do wish the h would have struck blood with what she knew about the H’s fiancé, but overall our h did a great job thwarting the H’s revenge. As far as revenge stories go, this is at the top!
May 24, 2016
I can't believe I have read this book until the last page. D:
The "hero" is abusive, cruel, psychologically and physically tortures the heroine and then she forgives him? Are you kidding me?! Big. Effin. No. I would've run to the hills asap. =__=
I started to wish she would leave him and go away with the other man, but no, this is stupid-landia and such a thing it's not permitted.
The "hero" is abusive, cruel, psychologically and physically tortures the heroine and then she forgives him? Are you kidding me?! Big. Effin. No. I would've run to the hills asap. =__=
I started to wish she would leave him and go away with the other man, but no, this is stupid-landia and such a thing it's not permitted.
October 19, 2022
The hero in this book and the heroes in Smoke in the Wind and Shattered Dreams form the holy trinity of the most reviled heroes in HPlandia. I’m rating it a 5 because it delivered on sheer cruelty and angst. How she managed to forgive him for his cruelty is incomprehensible. They don’t make heroes like this anymore!
December 16, 2015
Still another one in which a man psychologically tortures a woman, and yet in the end she falls gratefully into his arms. You have to admit, the 80's produced some tremendous drivel.
April 28, 2018
Nice book
March 12, 2024
Absolutely horrific ending to a ghastly book. The undertone of hatred in this book is uncomfortable, but I kept going, thinking he was not really as awful as that - he couldn't be. Then the OM came along and I had a blind hope that this was really the hero, please, take her away. But no. This is in the realms of her Twin Torment.
Heroine is a (stupid) 22 year old who at the beginning was in a car accident that kills two people. Although she was not driving, to help her brother in law she reluctantly agrees to take the blame (who does that?!) So she loses her license, is reprimanded and life for her goes on. Next she is working in a gallery and hero (never) comes in a charms her because she is stupid. He continues, then goes away and leaves her desperate, then when he is back 4 weeks later, says they will get married and go to Bali. Stupid heroine is delighted. When they arrive in Bali (which is made to sound like the worst place on the planet), he reveals himself in his foul splendour. He never loved her, she killed his saintly, beautiful fiancé and he married her because he needed to be married for the job and she owed him. Plus it is revenge, see? And it is revenge, because he is the most abhorrent hero I have ever encountered. He tells her he finds her so repulsive he had to force himself to touch her when 'courting' her. Now, I expected at the end that this would be denied, but no, he really did find her so repulsive and yet made her fall in love with him. He really, and truly, hates her. We know this as she goes a bit bonkers and tells the woman (really another disgusting character who is snobby, patronising and racist) that she won't help her husband in his job by going to the country club, going to parties and and and - it's more involved that that and actually it's the first time she has any backbone, so I enjoyed this scene. But no, wait, I am not allowed to be happy, because, demonic hero comes home from work knowing about it and forces her to go to the other woman's house for dinner by grabbing her arms and forcing her into the bed and almost suffocating her. This is not some vintage style sex play, this is real, shocking violence from a despotic man. This is a wife beater. No coming back from that. So anyway, he gives her no money, she has no car, no life, and he tells people she is mentally unwell. Eventually, heroine gets a bike to ride around Bali, meets an OM (in a bizarre topless sleep state) and spends her day at his house painting. They get found out (by vile woman above) and husband wakes up to her. next day, he follows her and whilst the heroine and OM are changing, he spies them and barges in. Punches (I was hoping the hero could just die here) and yes, heroine gets caught up, punched, falls down stairs.
Off to hospital and now the hero has decided he loves her (and he's still an ar£ehole), but she won't see him and I think it's clear the doctor knows he's a wifebeater. The OM sneaks in and proposes to carry her off (stupid heroine declines), but she agrees to see out her 6 months with the hero so he does not lose his job (and they have a JOINT passport so she is unable to leave the country - words almost fail me).
He tries to woo her by offering her a job so she is not a stay at home woman (seeing the OM on the side) and tries his moves on her, but although she is liking it a bit, she cannot trust him (I felt like banging my head on the table at this point). He wants to start again (eyes rolling).
A revolution brings it all to a head (there are parts I have missed out despite this excessive review) and she admits she still loves him. She also tells him it was not her driving (this is the last couple of hundred words now) and he's like - oh you should have told me, is there anything else you did not tell me - she thinks (and this bit drove me INSANE) and says no, and declines to tell him (how does he not know!!) that his sainted fiancé was in the car with a married man at the time, but she wanted him to keep his beautiful image of his perfect dead fiancé.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sally Wentworth you went too far!!! This is insane WTF-ery!!! He needed to crawl on his hands and knees (he found her repulsive remember) and then she needs to walk out, go back home and meet the real hero!!
No amount of foolishness in a heroine deserves this HorrificEndingAfter. SKIP SKIP SKIP SKIP SKIP.
Heroine is a (stupid) 22 year old who at the beginning was in a car accident that kills two people. Although she was not driving, to help her brother in law she reluctantly agrees to take the blame (who does that?!) So she loses her license, is reprimanded and life for her goes on. Next she is working in a gallery and hero (never) comes in a charms her because she is stupid. He continues, then goes away and leaves her desperate, then when he is back 4 weeks later, says they will get married and go to Bali. Stupid heroine is delighted. When they arrive in Bali (which is made to sound like the worst place on the planet), he reveals himself in his foul splendour. He never loved her, she killed his saintly, beautiful fiancé and he married her because he needed to be married for the job and she owed him. Plus it is revenge, see? And it is revenge, because he is the most abhorrent hero I have ever encountered. He tells her he finds her so repulsive he had to force himself to touch her when 'courting' her. Now, I expected at the end that this would be denied, but no, he really did find her so repulsive and yet made her fall in love with him. He really, and truly, hates her. We know this as she goes a bit bonkers and tells the woman (really another disgusting character who is snobby, patronising and racist) that she won't help her husband in his job by going to the country club, going to parties and and and - it's more involved that that and actually it's the first time she has any backbone, so I enjoyed this scene. But no, wait, I am not allowed to be happy, because, demonic hero comes home from work knowing about it and forces her to go to the other woman's house for dinner by grabbing her arms and forcing her into the bed and almost suffocating her. This is not some vintage style sex play, this is real, shocking violence from a despotic man. This is a wife beater. No coming back from that. So anyway, he gives her no money, she has no car, no life, and he tells people she is mentally unwell. Eventually, heroine gets a bike to ride around Bali, meets an OM (in a bizarre topless sleep state) and spends her day at his house painting. They get found out (by vile woman above) and husband wakes up to her. next day, he follows her and whilst the heroine and OM are changing, he spies them and barges in. Punches (I was hoping the hero could just die here) and yes, heroine gets caught up, punched, falls down stairs.
Off to hospital and now the hero has decided he loves her (and he's still an ar£ehole), but she won't see him and I think it's clear the doctor knows he's a wifebeater. The OM sneaks in and proposes to carry her off (stupid heroine declines), but she agrees to see out her 6 months with the hero so he does not lose his job (and they have a JOINT passport so she is unable to leave the country - words almost fail me).
He tries to woo her by offering her a job so she is not a stay at home woman (seeing the OM on the side) and tries his moves on her, but although she is liking it a bit, she cannot trust him (I felt like banging my head on the table at this point). He wants to start again (eyes rolling).
A revolution brings it all to a head (there are parts I have missed out despite this excessive review) and she admits she still loves him. She also tells him it was not her driving (this is the last couple of hundred words now) and he's like - oh you should have told me, is there anything else you did not tell me - she thinks (and this bit drove me INSANE) and says no, and declines to tell him (how does he not know!!) that his sainted fiancé was in the car with a married man at the time, but she wanted him to keep his beautiful image of his perfect dead fiancé.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sally Wentworth you went too far!!! This is insane WTF-ery!!! He needed to crawl on his hands and knees (he found her repulsive remember) and then she needs to walk out, go back home and meet the real hero!!
No amount of foolishness in a heroine deserves this HorrificEndingAfter. SKIP SKIP SKIP SKIP SKIP.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2023
You can imagine my utter delight when I discovered, courtesy of StMargarets' outstanding review, that there was a book by Sally Wentworth (one of my favorite prolific writers) about REVENGE. Alas, though the premise is the male version of the Judas Kiss (a frigging classic, nothing will ever live up to this), the overall story is sort of blah.
There are tons of excellent reviews for this book, and all of them pose valid points to why this book simply wasn't great. I wanted to root for the main couple despite his desire for revenge, but this one simply failed to delight. Sally Wentworth wrote tons of revenge-driven plots, and while this one has all the makings of a good story, most of her other revenge stories are better than this one.
I noticed that her female-driven revenge plots are always better than her male-driven revenge plots, save one (although I can't remember what it is right now. If I find it, I'll come back to edit this.) This book derails halfway through with the arrival of Dirk, male interest #2, and I so thoroughly rooted for him that I wanted the main guy (whose name escapes me) to begone.
Look, I'm all for the dark stories where the guy is bashing the girl up and dubcon themes are my jam, but there simply wasn't any relationship development here. One minute he's threatening her, choking her (not sexily), and making it obvious that he finds her repulsive, then suddenly he's confessing his way-out-of-the-left-field love for her. Which she rejected, I was glad to see. But also, huh? They spent no time together at all. When did he even start to see her as a human being? She spent so much time with Dirk, painting with Dirk, swimming with Dirk, being encouraged by Dirk, the house and studio in which she paints even turns out to be owned by him in a surprise hero-is-secretly-loaded maneuver, and yet he was NOT the hero? What the fudge was happening?
Two stars because I enjoyed traveling to Bali and also because Sally Wentworth. I almost took off another star with the dated Women's Lib comments thrown about willy-nilly, which have NOT aged well. Spoken by the male characters, who are all privileged and not above using sexual harassment and force to get what they want, it was less teasing and more inflammatory. Wavered a lot on the stars because I wanted the hero to die in a fire.
There are tons of excellent reviews for this book, and all of them pose valid points to why this book simply wasn't great. I wanted to root for the main couple despite his desire for revenge, but this one simply failed to delight. Sally Wentworth wrote tons of revenge-driven plots, and while this one has all the makings of a good story, most of her other revenge stories are better than this one.
I noticed that her female-driven revenge plots are always better than her male-driven revenge plots, save one (although I can't remember what it is right now. If I find it, I'll come back to edit this.) This book derails halfway through with the arrival of Dirk, male interest #2, and I so thoroughly rooted for him that I wanted the main guy (whose name escapes me) to begone.
Look, I'm all for the dark stories where the guy is bashing the girl up and dubcon themes are my jam, but there simply wasn't any relationship development here. One minute he's threatening her, choking her (not sexily), and making it obvious that he finds her repulsive, then suddenly he's confessing his way-out-of-the-left-field love for her. Which she rejected, I was glad to see. But also, huh? They spent no time together at all. When did he even start to see her as a human being? She spent so much time with Dirk, painting with Dirk, swimming with Dirk, being encouraged by Dirk, the house and studio in which she paints even turns out to be owned by him in a surprise hero-is-secretly-loaded maneuver, and yet he was NOT the hero? What the fudge was happening?
Two stars because I enjoyed traveling to Bali and also because Sally Wentworth. I almost took off another star with the dated Women's Lib comments thrown about willy-nilly, which have NOT aged well. Spoken by the male characters, who are all privileged and not above using sexual harassment and force to get what they want, it was less teasing and more inflammatory. Wavered a lot on the stars because I wanted the hero to die in a fire.
September 12, 2021
3.5 stars ⭐️
*******Possible Spoilers*******
I almost DNF’d this because of the domestic abuse! So be forewarned, very cruel “Hero”. I think this is an interesting book, NOT for the romance but the setting and awesome OM. I really got excited because I thought the author was going to do a switcheroo of The intended Hero. I don’t recall having that feeling before in a HQ where I was led to believe the OM was going to actually be the Hero after all. I hoped and hoped that would be the case. I really liked Dirk! What a letdown when I was wrong! I had to divorce myself from the “romance” plot (because I was just never going to forgive H) and enjoy how SW would bring about an HEA. I loved the heroine, she had an awesome spine up until the big disaster at the end she held onto her anger, no pushover!
*******Possible Spoilers*******
I almost DNF’d this because of the domestic abuse! So be forewarned, very cruel “Hero”. I think this is an interesting book, NOT for the romance but the setting and awesome OM. I really got excited because I thought the author was going to do a switcheroo of The intended Hero. I don’t recall having that feeling before in a HQ where I was led to believe the OM was going to actually be the Hero after all. I hoped and hoped that would be the case. I really liked Dirk! What a letdown when I was wrong! I had to divorce myself from the “romance” plot (because I was just never going to forgive H) and enjoy how SW would bring about an HEA. I loved the heroine, she had an awesome spine up until the big disaster at the end she held onto her anger, no pushover!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2022
Two stars rating is rather generous for this horrendous book & even more for the horrifying hero, I can’t believe SW wrote this. The hero has to be one of the weakest man in Harlequin world. All caps!!! Really, I don’t know if I have more hate or disgust for the dude. It wasn’t because of the revenge he plotted for her but how SW wrote his character, he was just useless, lacking, PATHETIC!!! The OM could have easily be the leading man, have it was otherwise…
The beginning was fine, the romance/chemistry was there until they married, but with the calculations of a revenge it dragged the plot to dull. The chemistry was then flat, forced, & nonexistent onwards, all the way to the very end, & what an unsatisfied ending that was too! Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can enjoy this. There was no romance but a lot of horror stuff, fyi.
The beginning was fine, the romance/chemistry was there until they married, but with the calculations of a revenge it dragged the plot to dull. The chemistry was then flat, forced, & nonexistent onwards, all the way to the very end, & what an unsatisfied ending that was too! Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can enjoy this. There was no romance but a lot of horror stuff, fyi.
July 17, 2022
Intense. I liked this book as it was set in a completely different place (Bali, Indonesia) instead of the usual European cities/islands. The depiction of the food, culture, art, and traditions were wonderful to read and I enjoyed learning about a completely new place (for me).
Coming to the relationship, I think the hero completely hated the heroine at the start and it was not an act. But, after the revelation, I liked that the heroine stayed angry throughout and did her own things instead of drowning in grief.
However, the shades of domestic violence in the relationship was off-putting and I did want the heroine to leave him.
Coming to the relationship, I think the hero completely hated the heroine at the start and it was not an act. But, after the revelation, I liked that the heroine stayed angry throughout and did her own things instead of drowning in grief.
However, the shades of domestic violence in the relationship was off-putting and I did want the heroine to leave him.
March 11, 2024
Holy domestic violence batman. Full on throat grabbing, hitting, bruising but no actual rape (not quite anyway). Batshit fatal car accident revenge story which moves to exotic colonial bungalow Bali and ends with unbelievable volte face on the part of the H, Leo. The h, Gael, while innocent of the crime for which she is being punished, isn't exactly likeable although fair play, she doesn't melt under fire. Personally I'd have done a runner with OM Dirk, whose decaying beachside mansion certainly had charm and he wasn't bad either.
November 8, 2025
This story has too much alcoholism (and DUIs) as well as non-consent/ cruelty/emotional abuse for my taste.
There are hardly any moments of friendship or respect between the protagonists. I also found some instances of cultural condescension (albeit not by the protagonists) quite unnecessary.
The saving grace of the novel was the heroine's friendships with other characters, and her passion for art that really seems to rescue her emotionally.
There are hardly any moments of friendship or respect between the protagonists. I also found some instances of cultural condescension (albeit not by the protagonists) quite unnecessary.
The saving grace of the novel was the heroine's friendships with other characters, and her passion for art that really seems to rescue her emotionally.
January 29, 2019
Can't remember much. Except they are in Bali, Endonezya but they have hardly any contact with locals. Westerners all hang together. As an avid traveler myself. I don't know what is the purpose of traveling if you would stick to your own kind. Better stay at home then.
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January 25, 2023Omg throwback! I used to read some of my mom's Harlequins but this is the only title I actually remember. Guesstimating the year, thinking I was about 12 and it wasn't brand new. She usually got these at a used book store/swap in town🤣
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