What do you think?
Rate this book
The Devil's Bargain
SHE REFUSES TO BE DOMINATED...!
Hope's stubborn independence had been threatened when she'd first met Keir Carmichael and sensed the strong attraction between them. She had refused to succumb to his charms, and set off instead to travel Australia....
When Keir unexpectedly walks into her workplace five years later, all suave sophistication and dark, stunning looks, Hope's emotions are thrown into confusion. But Keir makes things easier for her -- he is not taking no for an answer....
Hope's stubborn independence had been threatened when she'd first met Keir Carmichael and sensed the strong attraction between them. She had refused to succumb to his charms, and set off instead to travel Australia....
When Keir unexpectedly walks into her workplace five years later, all suave sophistication and dark, stunning looks, Hope's emotions are thrown into confusion. But Keir makes things easier for her -- he is not taking no for an answer....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 14, 2026
The 18 year old heroine overhears her abusive stepfather and her boyfriend discuss her in the most disgusting terms: The stepdad is basically selling his business to the boyfriend, and the heroine is the bonus offering. Heroine runs away and spends the next four years traveling around the world. The hero accidentally bumps into her in a small Australian resort town where she is temporarily working as a jewelry saleswoman/spokesmodel. He has a nasty, clingy OW in tow but it is pretty evident that as soon as he sees the heroine, he forgot all about the OW.
Hero immediately goes into hot pursuit. The heroine has never gotten over him, so she ponders whether she might as well go to bed with him to get him out of her system once and for all. She plans to pump him and dump him, which I thought was a pretty funny revenge scheme since it normally belongs exclusively to HPlandia Heroes.
They eventually start an affair. Their connection in bed is hot but out of it, they remain emotionally closed off to each other. When she tells the hero she is pregnant, she sees "the light die out in his eyes" which I thought was a pretty strong indicator that he is not happy at the news but then he acts like a doting, expecting father, so it was confusing.
The vicious OW swoops in when the heroine is the most vulnerable. The hero has been denying all along that he had an affair with the OW but the vengeful OW exposes him for the liar that he is. The hero's response is that it was a short-lived affair and it didn't mean anything. Then there is that whole business about the overheard conversation between him and heroine's stepdad. The hero is wishy-washy about that too, simply chucking it up to a misunderstanding.
I liked this story overall. It became obvious that despite whatever mistakes he made in the past, the hero was irrefutably, obsessively in love with heroine. He had never gotten over her. He kept tabs on her during the entire time she was fulfilling her wanderlust. He loved her enough to let her grow up and find herself. I believed every word of his concluding love declaration and that doesn’t often happen for me in a Robyn Donald book. Or maybe I have read Harlequins for too long and I have drank the Kool-Aid :)
Hero immediately goes into hot pursuit. The heroine has never gotten over him, so she ponders whether she might as well go to bed with him to get him out of her system once and for all. She plans to pump him and dump him, which I thought was a pretty funny revenge scheme since it normally belongs exclusively to HPlandia Heroes.
They eventually start an affair. Their connection in bed is hot but out of it, they remain emotionally closed off to each other. When she tells the hero she is pregnant, she sees "the light die out in his eyes" which I thought was a pretty strong indicator that he is not happy at the news but then he acts like a doting, expecting father, so it was confusing.
The vicious OW swoops in when the heroine is the most vulnerable. The hero has been denying all along that he had an affair with the OW but the vengeful OW exposes him for the liar that he is. The hero's response is that it was a short-lived affair and it didn't mean anything. Then there is that whole business about the overheard conversation between him and heroine's stepdad. The hero is wishy-washy about that too, simply chucking it up to a misunderstanding.
I liked this story overall. It became obvious that despite whatever mistakes he made in the past, the hero was irrefutably, obsessively in love with heroine. He had never gotten over her. He kept tabs on her during the entire time she was fulfilling her wanderlust. He loved her enough to let her grow up and find herself. I believed every word of his concluding love declaration and that doesn’t often happen for me in a Robyn Donald book. Or maybe I have read Harlequins for too long and I have drank the Kool-Aid :)
December 26, 2016
Heroine met business man hero when she was 18 and fell head over heels. Then she overheard her stepfather trying to bargain with the hero - at first trying to marry her off and then offering her as a mistress. Hero rejected both deals since she was too young for a wife and too inexperienced to be a mistress. Heroine ran off before she could hear more.
Now, four years later she's working at a jewelry store on Australia's Gold Coast. The hero walks in with the OW (his assistant) and immediately asks her out. Heroine is mistrustful of him, but she thinks she might be able to get him out of her system - finally - if she goes to bed with him.
This is a nice little story with no surprises. The hero is obviously besotted and the heroine really makes him work. It's also a nice trip to Australia. The Kiwi's view of Oz made me smile - that rivalry lives on even in HPlandia.
Now, four years later she's working at a jewelry store on Australia's Gold Coast. The hero walks in with the OW (his assistant) and immediately asks her out. Heroine is mistrustful of him, but she thinks she might be able to get him out of her system - finally - if she goes to bed with him.
This is a nice little story with no surprises. The hero is obviously besotted and the heroine really makes him work. It's also a nice trip to Australia. The Kiwi's view of Oz made me smile - that rivalry lives on even in HPlandia.
April 5, 2022
I don't know if it's me being a bitch or I choose all wrong books lately, but this one disappointed me too.
I expected more but it was quite boring and not satisfying.
Four years ago the heroine was 18 and she dated the older hero, who was a businessman.
She had a dysfunctional family, with an abusive father and a passive mother, and one evening she accidentally hears a conversation between the hero and her father, where her father offers her first as a wife and then as a mistress to the hero if he buys his failing business. The hero refuses and scorns the heroine with her father, amused by his offers.
The day after the heroine, who believed herself in love with the hero, leaves the country.
Four years later the hero is back and he wants to have the heroine back. Apparently now that she's all grown up sheìs good enough for an affair.
The heroine hates his guts, and, as all good psycho heroines, has been unable to get over him and has been frozen and had no other lover.
But she decides to have an affair with him so she can work him out of her system.
The worst thing to do, since as every one with an addiction know, you must stay away from the substance or the person you are addicted to.
So, between some descriptions of the wildife in Australia and New Zealand with their difference and some food porn, they finally have sex.
The heroine though doesn't want anything serious with the hero whom she see very similar to her father, so she runs again.
Pity she's pregnant, and doesn't want to tell him.
There's also a very peculiar ow who tells the heroine she's been having an affair with the hero and the hero who's back for the heroine and wants her to marry him.
She doesn't accept and tells him they will live together until the baby's born.
ow tries to scare away the heroine again and the heroine has a miscarriage threat, so finally we have an explanation of the hero's reasons and behaviour of his four past years.
No, he didn't agree with her father's proposition, he was only trying to expose him for the villain he was.
yes, he was sincerely attracted to her but she was too young for him, and he waited for her to grow up and was in touch with her mother to know what she was doing.
Oh, and he had an affair with ow but it was only a ons.
That should be better shoudn't it? No, definitely not for me.
He wasn't celibate and she was and that's enough double standard for me.
I'm so tired about this.
I didn't like both characters, she was stuck in her past and coulnd't have a normal and sane life.
He was cold, and I really couldn't feel any love between them.
Some of RD heroes are really obsessed by the heroine but this one wasn't.
He came back to see how she was faring, and not because he was giving her time to grew up.
And he definitely didn't wait for her, since he was with several women in the years they were apart.
OW was weird because she was a widow and didn't love the hero, and I don't understand why it should matter if he was with her before meeting the heroine again, so all the drama was a bit OTT.
Not very good for me.
I expected more but it was quite boring and not satisfying.
Four years ago the heroine was 18 and she dated the older hero, who was a businessman.
She had a dysfunctional family, with an abusive father and a passive mother, and one evening she accidentally hears a conversation between the hero and her father, where her father offers her first as a wife and then as a mistress to the hero if he buys his failing business. The hero refuses and scorns the heroine with her father, amused by his offers.
The day after the heroine, who believed herself in love with the hero, leaves the country.
Four years later the hero is back and he wants to have the heroine back. Apparently now that she's all grown up sheìs good enough for an affair.
The heroine hates his guts, and, as all good psycho heroines, has been unable to get over him and has been frozen and had no other lover.
But she decides to have an affair with him so she can work him out of her system.
The worst thing to do, since as every one with an addiction know, you must stay away from the substance or the person you are addicted to.
So, between some descriptions of the wildife in Australia and New Zealand with their difference and some food porn, they finally have sex.
The heroine though doesn't want anything serious with the hero whom she see very similar to her father, so she runs again.
Pity she's pregnant, and doesn't want to tell him.
There's also a very peculiar ow who tells the heroine she's been having an affair with the hero and the hero who's back for the heroine and wants her to marry him.
She doesn't accept and tells him they will live together until the baby's born.
ow tries to scare away the heroine again and the heroine has a miscarriage threat, so finally we have an explanation of the hero's reasons and behaviour of his four past years.
No, he didn't agree with her father's proposition, he was only trying to expose him for the villain he was.
yes, he was sincerely attracted to her but she was too young for him, and he waited for her to grow up and was in touch with her mother to know what she was doing.
Oh, and he had an affair with ow but it was only a ons.
That should be better shoudn't it? No, definitely not for me.
He wasn't celibate and she was and that's enough double standard for me.
I'm so tired about this.
I didn't like both characters, she was stuck in her past and coulnd't have a normal and sane life.
He was cold, and I really couldn't feel any love between them.
Some of RD heroes are really obsessed by the heroine but this one wasn't.
He came back to see how she was faring, and not because he was giving her time to grew up.
And he definitely didn't wait for her, since he was with several women in the years they were apart.
OW was weird because she was a widow and didn't love the hero, and I don't understand why it should matter if he was with her before meeting the heroine again, so all the drama was a bit OTT.
Not very good for me.
February 2, 2022
All three stars go to the compelling writing of this book, because the plot was a vague non-entity that really didn’t make sense. Also, If the heroine had been impossibly too young for the hero why did he even ask her out in the first place? If the heroine’s mother had believed her about the supposed “deal” then why had she kept in touch with the hero through the years and even had shown him parts of her letters? And if she hadn’t why not let the heroine know? Also the deal, such as it were, that was narrated to us at the beginning of the book, just didn’t make any sense!
-Marry my daughter in lieu of the debt
-not worth it
-ok I will allow her to be your mistress
-I only need to whistle and she’ll run, no need for your approval.
-do whatever you want
-ok let’s deal.
Cue heroine exiting right to her mother who has her whisked to London over night. See? No heads or tails. But Robyn Donald amps the tension and angst and the chemistry between these characters so that you’re compelled to read till the end and are even touched by their hea.
Even the OW’s lines don’t make sense much. And the heroine’s “kindness” in admonishing the hero not to be cruel to her for interfering felt “off”. In short none of the exchanges in the book made sense or had much substance, but through the mist that RD created the reader happily suspends their cognitive functions and goes along the flow to see what happens.
-Marry my daughter in lieu of the debt
-not worth it
-ok I will allow her to be your mistress
-I only need to whistle and she’ll run, no need for your approval.
-do whatever you want
-ok let’s deal.
Cue heroine exiting right to her mother who has her whisked to London over night. See? No heads or tails. But Robyn Donald amps the tension and angst and the chemistry between these characters so that you’re compelled to read till the end and are even touched by their hea.
Even the OW’s lines don’t make sense much. And the heroine’s “kindness” in admonishing the hero not to be cruel to her for interfering felt “off”. In short none of the exchanges in the book made sense or had much substance, but through the mist that RD created the reader happily suspends their cognitive functions and goes along the flow to see what happens.
April 3, 2022
‘How can I not love you? You’re everything I need, all that I want, the sum and substance of my life.’
This time heroine needed skilleting!
This time heroine needed skilleting!
April 16, 2021
SHE REFUSES TO BE DOMINATED...!
Hope's stubborn independence had been threatened when she'd first met Keir Carmichael and sensed the strong attraction between them. She had refused to succumb to his charms, and set off instead to travel Australia....
When Keir unexpectedly walks into her workplace five years later, all suave sophistication and dark, stunning looks, Hope's emotions are thrown into confusion. But Keir makes things easier for her -- he is not taking no for an answeR
Hope's stubborn independence had been threatened when she'd first met Keir Carmichael and sensed the strong attraction between them. She had refused to succumb to his charms, and set off instead to travel Australia....
When Keir unexpectedly walks into her workplace five years later, all suave sophistication and dark, stunning looks, Hope's emotions are thrown into confusion. But Keir makes things easier for her -- he is not taking no for an answeR
April 10, 2013
Aynı Hope gibi kitabı okurken Keir'in Çok zengin olduğunu unutuyorum.Hope'un yanında onun koşullarına göre davranışı çok hoş.Ayrıca Her ne kadar iyi bir ailede yetiştirilmiş,Ailesi tarafından sevilmiş olsa da hope'a karşı çok anlayışlı.Bu gerçekten çok güzel birşey.
July 29, 2021
The H's name seemed familiar as soon as I picked this book up and I then realized that the "H" was the ONS for the so called "h" in Forgotten Sins I was most offended as that woman after her behaviour in this book did not deserve her own story.
That being said I rather enjoyed this one as you could tell the H was completely head over heels for the h and she was refreshingly great with a pretty strong spine until the last few chapters. I loved that she left the H and went off and enjoyed the world she deserved it, it was less running away and more "preservation". I also liked the fact she was confident in what she wanted from the H, she sensibly identified she was hung up on him and realised in order to move on she needed to "climb that tree" and then cut it down. Its such a shame that in the end she caved and decided she really did love him all along and then compounded the issue by telling him that. She should have let him think that she fell for him later down the line.
The other woman was a tacky monster, he should NEVER have gone there as we all know H's don't dabble in the office unless it's the h they break the rules for, you could tell he wanted to call the OW a liar but the h had his number and her BS detector was in high alert. However, RD gave us 2 great characters here, the H is definitely flawed but he is also 100% in love with the h. She is not a total walk over which makes a nice change for a RD character. Shame she has to tolerate the OW further in her book.
St Margarets and Naksed have the full details check out their reviews for the full down low.
That being said I rather enjoyed this one as you could tell the H was completely head over heels for the h and she was refreshingly great with a pretty strong spine until the last few chapters. I loved that she left the H and went off and enjoyed the world she deserved it, it was less running away and more "preservation". I also liked the fact she was confident in what she wanted from the H, she sensibly identified she was hung up on him and realised in order to move on she needed to "climb that tree" and then cut it down. Its such a shame that in the end she caved and decided she really did love him all along and then compounded the issue by telling him that. She should have let him think that she fell for him later down the line.
The other woman was a tacky monster, he should NEVER have gone there as we all know H's don't dabble in the office unless it's the h they break the rules for, you could tell he wanted to call the OW a liar but the h had his number and her BS detector was in high alert. However, RD gave us 2 great characters here, the H is definitely flawed but he is also 100% in love with the h. She is not a total walk over which makes a nice change for a RD character. Shame she has to tolerate the OW further in her book.
St Margarets and Naksed have the full details check out their reviews for the full down low.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2022
Keir is a typical RD alpha businessman. Hope was only 18 when they first dated. She overheard a conversation between H and her yucky abusive controlling stepfather which left her feeling like a pawn. Tbh the whole conflict in this required quite a lot of willing suspension of belief. She basically never wants to end up like her mother, trapped in a marriage to a dominant psycho so refuses to entertain loving the H despite being unable to resist him physically. The ow Aline is a bit of a weird bolt on, entering stage left whenever the heroine's trust issues needed bolstering. Anyway, Hope does a RD runner (they always seem to have a miserable walkabout few months before the hea) ends up finding out she's pregnant, he finds her and insists on moving her in, ow sticks oar in, threatened miscarriage, then they have a proper conversation and voila, all sorted. This was a reread. I periodically go back to RDs for comfort.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2022
The brilliant idea of this Einstein h is that if you haven’t been able to forget a handsome, sexy man for years, you can get him out of your system by giving him your virginity and have lots of wild, passionate, hot sex with him.
And also: while you plan on seducing him to forget him, by all means don’t plan on using birth control to prevent a pregnancy. 🙄 He does use condoms, so he is taking his responsibility, but the 23-year old h is not.
As a reader you have to be willing to ignore her lack of brain cells and her drama: fainting, crying, running away.
The H makes this book a good read. He is a besotted, determined, passionate man and I believe he really loves her.
The only thing I didn’t like about him, was that he didn’t tell her about the OW until the OW told her.
And also: while you plan on seducing him to forget him, by all means don’t plan on using birth control to prevent a pregnancy. 🙄 He does use condoms, so he is taking his responsibility, but the 23-year old h is not.
As a reader you have to be willing to ignore her lack of brain cells and her drama: fainting, crying, running away.
The H makes this book a good read. He is a besotted, determined, passionate man and I believe he really loves her.
The only thing I didn’t like about him, was that he didn’t tell her about the OW until the OW told her.
August 3, 2021
Tame for RD, probably due to the post 2000 pub date. This was good, but dragged a little in second half. Since it had laptops and mobile phones no vintage tag.
Read
May 13, 2024Old reads
October 26, 2014
Hiç beğenmedim. Çok aşırı tahmin edilebilir olmasının yanı sıra sıradan eli kalem tutan herhangi birinin yazabileceği tarzda bir üslubu vardı.
Bundan çok daha iyi beyaz diziler var sıra buna gelene kadar. Yalnız kim taramışsa çok güzel taramış bir yıldız da tarayan kişiye gelsin
Bundan çok daha iyi beyaz diziler var sıra buna gelene kadar. Yalnız kim taramışsa çok güzel taramış bir yıldız da tarayan kişiye gelsin
March 12, 2025
This has all the ingredients for a high tension romance but it just misses. She thinks a lot - the author's main method to move the plot is her internal monologues - and that translates to a story that loses some emotional connection between the characters,.
Reread and same comments.
Reread and same comments.
June 25, 2013
Not bad but nothing special.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews