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Chapman/Jerrard #2
The Darker Side of Paradise
Saul Jerrard was the key to her dream
A man, they said, who knows his own mind and is about as tough to crack as a granite wall.
Surprisingly, Candace's visit to the South Pacific island of Fala'isi was going better than she'd expected. Saul was a charming, attractive man who actually seemed to like her.
Yet Candace was uneasy--his reaction could be just a facade to hide a deeper purpose. For she had no idea what Saul had in mind for her immediate future....
A man, they said, who knows his own mind and is about as tough to crack as a granite wall.
Surprisingly, Candace's visit to the South Pacific island of Fala'isi was going better than she'd expected. Saul was a charming, attractive man who actually seemed to like her.
Yet Candace was uneasy--his reaction could be just a facade to hide a deeper purpose. For she had no idea what Saul had in mind for her immediate future....
189 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Robyn Donald
449 books149 followersRobyn Elaine Donald was born on 14 August 1940 in Northland, New Zealand. She was the oldest child in her family, and as a child, she thrilled her four sisters and one brother with bloodcurdling adventure tales, usually very like the latest book she'd borrowed from the library.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
Robyn owes her writing career to two illnesses. The first was a younger sister's flu. She was living with her husband and Robyn and spent most of that winter acquiring, suffering, and recovering from various infections. One day she croaked that she had read everything on Robyn's bookshelves, so would Robyn please buy her something cheerful and sustaining. Robyn found three paperbacks- one Mills and Boon Modern Romance novel and a couple of other romances. Robyn read them, too, of course, and so enjoyed them she spent the next couple of years hunting down more Mills and Boon books. This was much more difficult then than it is today, so she decided to write her own, and for the following busy 10 years she wrote and hoped that one day she would finish a manuscript good enough that was good enough to send to a publisher.
The second illness was her husband's, and it was bad a heart attack. He was so young it terrified them all. While he was recovering, he suggested that Robyn finish the manuscript she was writing and send it off. It wasn't a perfect manuscript, but the doctor had said to humour her husband, so she finished the manuscript, edited it as best she could, and sent it off. Three months later, she was astounded to read a letter from the editor saying that if She made a few revisions they would buy her novel Bride at Whangatapu.
Published since 1977, Robyn sees her readers as intelligent women who insist on accurate backgrounds, so she spends time researching as well as writing.Robyn Donald sometimes thinks that writing is much like gardening. It's a similar process creating landscapes for the mind and emotions from the seeds of ideas and dreams and images. Both activities can also lead to moments of extreme delight, moments of total despair, and backache.Now Robyn lives in the Bay Islands. She continues writing, and also finds time for a very supportive husband, two adult children and their partners, a granddaughter and her mother, not to mention the member of the family that keeps her fit - a loud, cheerful, and ruthlessly determined "almost" Labradordog.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 16, 2017
RE The Darker Side Of Paradise - RD continues the chronicles of her Oceania island of Fala'isi that started with Dilemma in Paradise which was the second book RD ever wrote and that book's H is the cousin of this H in tDSoP. Prince of Lies is the next book in the family saga, it features the sister of this book and Virgin Bought and Paid For is the last book- it features the son of the original couple in Dilemma. Which makes this series one of the very few in HPlandia that follows characters generationally.
(The other series is Yvonne Whittal's Transvaal series which starts with Magic of the Baobab.)
Robyn Donald has an interesting little commentary here:
http://www.iheartpresents.com/2009/05...
that talks about her thoughts on interrelated and generational romances and what to do with two Alpha's in a book - her answer is you don't, stick to just seeing the h's and have the earlier H off on business.
This book opens with the 25 yr h going out to dinner on Fala'isi and noticing the H, who has an attractive redhead draped on his arm, but still manages to give the h a good eyeballing from across the room. The h is very focused on the H too and she comes across as some kind of stalker, which in fact she actually is, but it isn't the H she is interested in.
RD gives us the h's backstory. Since RD loves to create some of the most awful family relationships in HPlandia and is only outpaced by Anne Mather and Penny Jordan, we soon learn that the h was adopted at birth. Her bio mum had an illegitimate child,(the h,) and was forced to give her up and then later committed suicide when her beloved husband died some years later - leaving behind a half sister the h has never met.
The h's adopted parents split up when the h was eight or nine when her adopted father met another woman and started his own family - he was never that interested in the h to begin with, so he never looked her up after he was gone. The h's adopted mother met a new guy with his own kids and rather relievedly dumped the h into managed foster care when the h had adjustment problems. (Really RD just LOVES to torture her h's with rotten childhoods and parents - at least PJ only kills them off.)
The h went into care at the age of 10 and was labelled as 'difficult.' Eventually she won a scholarship to uni and did a few years but got restless. Her adopted child dumper looked her up and gave the h money to soothe her bothered conscience and the h took herself off on youth hostel tour of Europe for a year. When she came back from her world tour, she wanted to know about her roots and discovered the bio mum, her suicide and the fact that she has a half sister who was adopted by the bio mum's husband's family when both her parents died.
The h wants to look the sister up, but the girl was adopted by an extremely wealthy and remote family who runs a worldwide business consortium. Since her sister is still underage, the h doesn't know how much she knows or even if she knows anything, but the h has been tracking her sister in the news for the last three years. The h is a corporate librarian but one day plans to finish her degree and work with flowers. The h also knows that the sister's only guardian, now that her adopted parents died in a hostage situation, is her older brother - who is the H in this one.
The h plots and ponders on how to meet her sister, or at least get into the general vicinity of her. She knows that the H and sister are cousin's of the hereditary Fala'isi Island chief, (The H from Dilemma,) and that they have a holiday home on the island - a lot of wealthy people have homes there, it is an upper class luxury retreat kind of place- and she also knows that her sister has been recovering from a long illness on the island too. The h has been saving for three years to afford to travel to Fala'isi and that takes us up to the opening of the book.
So the h and H notice each other over dinner, and the next day the h sees the H, his lady friend and the sister out in the market place. The h fakes a heat faint and makes her sister's acquaintance. She is happy to finally talk to her, but she was kinda hoping for more.
The h is normally very conservative and very distant from people, but she has such a need to connect with her own kin that she makes some reckless choices and doesn't really think about consequences due to a combination of desperate want and naivety. The h rents a catamaran and beaches herself on the private beach of the H's big island estate. Naturally the H comes to check her out and since the H returned his prior lady sample back to the buffet table, the H thinks the stalker h might be good replacement.
The H gets the h to spend time with him in a variety of activities. The h is attracted, but far more interested in her sister than in the H and she rejects the H's advances - tho his kisses make her burn. The H does a background investigation on the h and finds that she went off the grid for a year, (actually doing her Europe youth hostel stint,) he is worried that the h isn't a good time girl looking for lucrative love and as the h appears to be targeting his sister, she may be some kind of insurgency agent.
His own parents were killed when a political group killed them as hostages in an effort to force them to use the family conglomerate to undermine a small country they were trying to take over. The H is extremely security conscious about kidnapping for ransom too. (Although later he jokes that the rumors he is the richest guy in the world are exaggerated, there are a couple of guys richer than him, this is HPlandia's second verified billionaire. RD really likes billionaires in HPlandia.) The H is fairly low key on the news gossip scale, but H does confirm the h's statement when she asked if he used various government's military's to utter annihilate the group who killed his parents.
The H ends up kidnapping the h to find out what she is up to. The h is furious and frightened, but she explains about how she is related to his adopted sister. The H keeps her hostage in a private villa for a few days while he checks her story out. He verifies that she is telling the truth, but he is more interested in seducing the h than helping establish family ties and so the big lurve club mojo is on. The next morning after the island rocked and tsunami's were created, the H kicks the h off Fala'isi and tries to make her sign a non contact with her sister agreement, he offers cash too and cruelly dismisses the h as a pump and dump.
The h, who is now in love, refuses the cash and to sign the agreement and tells the H she will contact her sister when she is twenty and the H can't stop her. The h leaves the island and several weeks of mopey moments ensue. The h quits her old job and becomes a nanny, until she realizes she is preggers and decent common courtesy means that she should tell the H.
She calls him up and he literally jets over a few hours later and tells her she is either marrying him or he will take the baby. The h throws her orange juice at him and then cries all over him. For once a uber Alpha ruthless RD H is discomfited, and he tells her not to worry, he is always a bit dehydrated after flying. He takes the h back to Fala'isi, big wedding works in place and we meet the H and h from Dilemma, as well as get a more personal encounter between the h and her sister as they establish a tentative family relationship.
However the big trauma of marrying a man that the h loves and is indifferent himself, drives the h to confront the H and confess her love. If he doesn't love her back, she doesn't want to marry. Cue the H's big " I love you back, but when I get cranky everybody has to suffer horribly to feel worse" speech. Which confirms a long held theory of mine that RD's uber Alpha's are rotten mean cause they are miserable and they want to share that pain with everyone else AND they have the money and the means to do it - they are all big, temper tantrum throwing babies really.
The h is delighted and overjoyed, the H is rather ashamed of himself, cause really once the h checked out security-wise there was no reason to kick her out or keep the sister's apart, but he does a really good one page love declaration and the wedding is beautiful. At least this H has a sense of humor too, tho it is a little dry.
The h and H, now securely married and lurved up, plan to contact the h's adoptive parents - ostensibly to let go of the past, but really probably so the h can rub in how much money they are all going to miss out on as they abandoned her and left her to state care and the two lovebirds also plan to do a lot of practice baby making to see if they can inspire another island rocking typhoon for the big HEA.
If you desperately miss the uber Alpha old skool cruel HP H in the 90's era of sensitive new age kinda guy HP H's, this is the book for you. The wreckidrama is big, the ruthlessness of the H is appalling and until the requisite jellyfish wobble at the end, the h manages to hold her own. It isn't my favorite RD voyage by a long shot, but this one is a decent read. If you like RD - whose every book with the word Paradise in it takes place on Fala'isa - this one is a decent trip to RD's country in HPlandia.
(The other series is Yvonne Whittal's Transvaal series which starts with Magic of the Baobab.)
Robyn Donald has an interesting little commentary here:
http://www.iheartpresents.com/2009/05...
that talks about her thoughts on interrelated and generational romances and what to do with two Alpha's in a book - her answer is you don't, stick to just seeing the h's and have the earlier H off on business.
This book opens with the 25 yr h going out to dinner on Fala'isi and noticing the H, who has an attractive redhead draped on his arm, but still manages to give the h a good eyeballing from across the room. The h is very focused on the H too and she comes across as some kind of stalker, which in fact she actually is, but it isn't the H she is interested in.
RD gives us the h's backstory. Since RD loves to create some of the most awful family relationships in HPlandia and is only outpaced by Anne Mather and Penny Jordan, we soon learn that the h was adopted at birth. Her bio mum had an illegitimate child,(the h,) and was forced to give her up and then later committed suicide when her beloved husband died some years later - leaving behind a half sister the h has never met.
The h's adopted parents split up when the h was eight or nine when her adopted father met another woman and started his own family - he was never that interested in the h to begin with, so he never looked her up after he was gone. The h's adopted mother met a new guy with his own kids and rather relievedly dumped the h into managed foster care when the h had adjustment problems. (Really RD just LOVES to torture her h's with rotten childhoods and parents - at least PJ only kills them off.)
The h went into care at the age of 10 and was labelled as 'difficult.' Eventually she won a scholarship to uni and did a few years but got restless. Her adopted child dumper looked her up and gave the h money to soothe her bothered conscience and the h took herself off on youth hostel tour of Europe for a year. When she came back from her world tour, she wanted to know about her roots and discovered the bio mum, her suicide and the fact that she has a half sister who was adopted by the bio mum's husband's family when both her parents died.
The h wants to look the sister up, but the girl was adopted by an extremely wealthy and remote family who runs a worldwide business consortium. Since her sister is still underage, the h doesn't know how much she knows or even if she knows anything, but the h has been tracking her sister in the news for the last three years. The h is a corporate librarian but one day plans to finish her degree and work with flowers. The h also knows that the sister's only guardian, now that her adopted parents died in a hostage situation, is her older brother - who is the H in this one.
The h plots and ponders on how to meet her sister, or at least get into the general vicinity of her. She knows that the H and sister are cousin's of the hereditary Fala'isi Island chief, (The H from Dilemma,) and that they have a holiday home on the island - a lot of wealthy people have homes there, it is an upper class luxury retreat kind of place- and she also knows that her sister has been recovering from a long illness on the island too. The h has been saving for three years to afford to travel to Fala'isi and that takes us up to the opening of the book.
So the h and H notice each other over dinner, and the next day the h sees the H, his lady friend and the sister out in the market place. The h fakes a heat faint and makes her sister's acquaintance. She is happy to finally talk to her, but she was kinda hoping for more.
The h is normally very conservative and very distant from people, but she has such a need to connect with her own kin that she makes some reckless choices and doesn't really think about consequences due to a combination of desperate want and naivety. The h rents a catamaran and beaches herself on the private beach of the H's big island estate. Naturally the H comes to check her out and since the H returned his prior lady sample back to the buffet table, the H thinks the stalker h might be good replacement.
The H gets the h to spend time with him in a variety of activities. The h is attracted, but far more interested in her sister than in the H and she rejects the H's advances - tho his kisses make her burn. The H does a background investigation on the h and finds that she went off the grid for a year, (actually doing her Europe youth hostel stint,) he is worried that the h isn't a good time girl looking for lucrative love and as the h appears to be targeting his sister, she may be some kind of insurgency agent.
His own parents were killed when a political group killed them as hostages in an effort to force them to use the family conglomerate to undermine a small country they were trying to take over. The H is extremely security conscious about kidnapping for ransom too. (Although later he jokes that the rumors he is the richest guy in the world are exaggerated, there are a couple of guys richer than him, this is HPlandia's second verified billionaire. RD really likes billionaires in HPlandia.) The H is fairly low key on the news gossip scale, but H does confirm the h's statement when she asked if he used various government's military's to utter annihilate the group who killed his parents.
The H ends up kidnapping the h to find out what she is up to. The h is furious and frightened, but she explains about how she is related to his adopted sister. The H keeps her hostage in a private villa for a few days while he checks her story out. He verifies that she is telling the truth, but he is more interested in seducing the h than helping establish family ties and so the big lurve club mojo is on. The next morning after the island rocked and tsunami's were created, the H kicks the h off Fala'isi and tries to make her sign a non contact with her sister agreement, he offers cash too and cruelly dismisses the h as a pump and dump.
The h, who is now in love, refuses the cash and to sign the agreement and tells the H she will contact her sister when she is twenty and the H can't stop her. The h leaves the island and several weeks of mopey moments ensue. The h quits her old job and becomes a nanny, until she realizes she is preggers and decent common courtesy means that she should tell the H.
She calls him up and he literally jets over a few hours later and tells her she is either marrying him or he will take the baby. The h throws her orange juice at him and then cries all over him. For once a uber Alpha ruthless RD H is discomfited, and he tells her not to worry, he is always a bit dehydrated after flying. He takes the h back to Fala'isi, big wedding works in place and we meet the H and h from Dilemma, as well as get a more personal encounter between the h and her sister as they establish a tentative family relationship.
However the big trauma of marrying a man that the h loves and is indifferent himself, drives the h to confront the H and confess her love. If he doesn't love her back, she doesn't want to marry. Cue the H's big " I love you back, but when I get cranky everybody has to suffer horribly to feel worse" speech. Which confirms a long held theory of mine that RD's uber Alpha's are rotten mean cause they are miserable and they want to share that pain with everyone else AND they have the money and the means to do it - they are all big, temper tantrum throwing babies really.
The h is delighted and overjoyed, the H is rather ashamed of himself, cause really once the h checked out security-wise there was no reason to kick her out or keep the sister's apart, but he does a really good one page love declaration and the wedding is beautiful. At least this H has a sense of humor too, tho it is a little dry.
The h and H, now securely married and lurved up, plan to contact the h's adoptive parents - ostensibly to let go of the past, but really probably so the h can rub in how much money they are all going to miss out on as they abandoned her and left her to state care and the two lovebirds also plan to do a lot of practice baby making to see if they can inspire another island rocking typhoon for the big HEA.
If you desperately miss the uber Alpha old skool cruel HP H in the 90's era of sensitive new age kinda guy HP H's, this is the book for you. The wreckidrama is big, the ruthlessness of the H is appalling and until the requisite jellyfish wobble at the end, the h manages to hold her own. It isn't my favorite RD voyage by a long shot, but this one is a decent read. If you like RD - whose every book with the word Paradise in it takes place on Fala'isa - this one is a decent trip to RD's country in HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
June 18, 2018He kicks her out after sex because...dun dun dun...he was in love with her 😱😱😱😱😱
Because feelings.
And oh heroine's a doormat!
Because feelings.
And oh heroine's a doormat!
November 8, 2017
This was a ho-hum read until the paranoid, billionaire hero took it into trainwreck territory and drugged and kidnapped the heroine. She was just trying to get to know her half sister, the adopted sister of the hero, but he thought she was part of a terrorist cell or some such thing.
RD tries to dress all of this up as a fated love affair with all sorts of natural omens such a bird's song during the day and the moonbow, etc, but it really felt forced here. I was glad for the trainwreck elements, however. Would have been a two star of boring without them.
RD tries to dress all of this up as a fated love affair with all sorts of natural omens such a bird's song during the day and the moonbow, etc, but it really felt forced here. I was glad for the trainwreck elements, however. Would have been a two star of boring without them.
February 11, 2019
Saul Jerrard was the key to her dream. First HP Billionaire. She wants to meet her half sister who is his adopted sister.
A man, they said, who knows his own mind and is about as tough to crack as a granite wall.
Surprisingly, Candace's visit to the South Pacific island of Fala'isi was going better than she'd expected. Saul was a charming, attractive man who actually seemed to like her.
Yet Candace was uneasy--his reaction could be just a facade to hide a deeper purpose. For she had no idea what Saul had in mind for her immediate future... (less)
A man, they said, who knows his own mind and is about as tough to crack as a granite wall.
Surprisingly, Candace's visit to the South Pacific island of Fala'isi was going better than she'd expected. Saul was a charming, attractive man who actually seemed to like her.
Yet Candace was uneasy--his reaction could be just a facade to hide a deeper purpose. For she had no idea what Saul had in mind for her immediate future... (less)
August 29, 2018
Plot was great, hero cold-hearted, controlling b.stard, heroine was nice but it was ordinary for an old-skool romance novel.
August 6, 2022
I’m still in a slump, and since I can’t seem to find a new book that would give me joy, I’m turning to old faves.
——
This book was my first ever Harlequin romance and I’ve reread it like 10 times. I don’t know if I like it because of the sentimental value or of the story itself, but I do find it a pleasant read.
——
This book was my first ever Harlequin romance and I’ve reread it like 10 times. I don’t know if I like it because of the sentimental value or of the story itself, but I do find it a pleasant read.
November 18, 2021
Candace was rejected and brutely hurt by the people she loved more than once and therefore she decided to let noone close to her in order not to get hurt anymore. She took her stepmother's guilty money and travelled aimlessly for some time and it was during her travelling that she decided to discover her roots. Her search for three long agonizing years revealed she was not alone and she actually has a little sister that was aadoped after birth by the miltimillionaires Jerrards. When she travelled undercover as a tourist to Fala'isi Island to snatch any available chance to get to know her sister, she faced one BIG obstacle in the name of Saul Jerrards, her sister's stepbrother. NOT only was he surrounding her sister with bodyguards and chaperones, but he was too formodible and attractive to ignore as well.
I read this book because of the reviews, yet while reading it, my only thought was the writer must have written it when she was completely bored. :( I had the worst agonizing time completing it. The heroine was emotionally battered and needed desperate physiological therapy as well as the hero for his exaggerated paranoia. The heroine didn't want anyone in her life yet she risked everything to see her only sister more than once! The supposedly rich hero is suspesious of a woman whom he could have investigated any time and knew was a relative! NO, instead he drugged her, kidnapped her and made love to her after discovering the truth three days after knowing her! Unbelievable!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2024
In spite of the odd dash of crazy drama, this book was a snooze fest full of tortuously florid prose and chapter long conversations that one can only describe as 'a load of pretentious, wanky bollocks'.
November 4, 2019
Sorry if he drugs you, kidnaps and keep drugging you, that's not love and waking up thinking poor boy he had his reasons needs some serious therapy....
December 1, 2019
An original read from way back when. I liked this one, even though it's a bit skimpy on plot.
August 13, 2025
3.5⭐️
The hero crossed the line with his physical violence… yet, for all that, it was gripping, so much angst.
The hero crossed the line with his physical violence… yet, for all that, it was gripping, so much angst.
October 11, 2021
I'm embarrassed to say I enjoyed this more than I should have. The hero was an old skool soulless monster for most of the story and treated the heroine brutally.
But maybe it was Robyn Donald's beautiful writing - I felt transported to a gorgeous, lush tropical island, and could imagine all the sights and scents from her vivid descriptions. Which, when I am stuck in another dreary lockdown, was a lovely escape.
Or perhaps it was the crazy elements of the kidnap, (which eventually made sense to me because of his fear of terrorism), that made it such a compelling read.
I enjoyed it (shamefacedly), but it's definitely not for everyone.
But maybe it was Robyn Donald's beautiful writing - I felt transported to a gorgeous, lush tropical island, and could imagine all the sights and scents from her vivid descriptions. Which, when I am stuck in another dreary lockdown, was a lovely escape.
Or perhaps it was the crazy elements of the kidnap, (which eventually made sense to me because of his fear of terrorism), that made it such a compelling read.
I enjoyed it (shamefacedly), but it's definitely not for everyone.
December 30, 2017
Αυτό το βιβλίο θα άξιζε περισσότερα αστέρια αλλά ο πρωταγωνιστής ήταν πολύ κακός. Την έβρισε, την έδειρε, της έδινε υπνωτικά, αφού πηγές μαζί της και κατάλαβε οτι την ερωτεύτηκε της πρότεινε λεφτά για να του αδειάσει την γωνία και μόλις εκείνη τα αρνήθηκε , αυτός πήγε με κάποιες απο τις ομορφότερες γυναικες του κόσμου για να την ξεχάσει. Και μετα εκείνη έμεινε εγκυος και αυτός την απειλούσε!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews