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A Ruthless Passion
A compelling passion had flared between them.... But it was too late -- she was about to marry another man.
Six years later Cat's husband has gone, and she needs Nick's help. This is his chance to sate the desire he's felt for her all along....
Six years later Cat's husband has gone, and she needs Nick's help. This is his chance to sate the desire he's felt for her all along....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2002
7 people are currently reading
46 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 27, 2024
When hero initially met heroine years ago, she was the very young and extremely sheltered fiancee of hero's much older, worldly business mentor/father figure. Hero immediately started treating heroine as a gold-digging hall of famer trophy wife-to-be. He insulted her, forced slimy kisses on her, and he tried everything in his power to convince her to jilt his mentor. His motive for trying to sabotage the heroine’s wedding was to support his best friend, who had been the mistress of his mentor and got dumped in favor of the heroine. So our supposed hero had no qualms about gaslighting and tormenting an innocent young girl, all in order to appease his OW best friend: What a Prince!
Despite hero's best efforts to ruin it, the wedding did go on. The marriage was a failure, with the mentor soon going back to his cheating ways and the classy heroine taking it on the chin and doing the best out the worst situation. A few years later, the mentor died and heroine was left widowed. Hero once again made a pass at her, on the heels of her husband's funeral no less! Wisely, instead of giving in to his slimy advances, heroine decamped without a forwarding address.
The story begins in earnest two years after heroine was widowed. She returns to town. Due to REASONS, the disgusting hero is finally able to manoeuver heroine into his bed and to publicly treat her like his paid-for tart. Both the hero and his bestie, the ex-mistress, continue to blame the heroine more than they blame the mentor who ruthlessly pumped and dumped his mistress and got himself a young, sheltered, completely innocent wife as replacement. One night, the ex-mistress corners heroine at a party and assaults her with a bout of drunken verbal diarrhea, berating her for something she had absolutely no control over nor knowledge of, and which happened years ago. The hero, instead of protecting the heroine from this drunken, irrational ex-mistress actually takes the side of the ex-mistress, taking her off to soothe and console her. The heroine, left alone, almost get raped by another guest at the party who believed, due to hero's disgusting public treatment of heroine as a paid-for tart, that she was open to any bidder.
I don't know how the author had the gall to give these two a "happy ending." I don't believe he was ever in love with the heroine. Nor do I buy that he initially tried to convince her to jilt her fiance because of his undying love for her. That was some epic gaslighting. And anything he did after that to "woo" the heroine was a combination of sick sexual obsession, resentment, revenge, and one-upping his former mentor. Whatever his mentor had, he must have too: the business, the wealth, the status symbols, and now the trophy wife. Not even the hilarious suggestion that the hero had his interior designer decorate his home to match the heroine's blue eyes, creamy skin, and reddish hair, nor the New Zealand travelogue, nor the last second speech by the hero where he justifies more than he apologizes for his behavior could make me like this story.
YUCK!
Despite hero's best efforts to ruin it, the wedding did go on. The marriage was a failure, with the mentor soon going back to his cheating ways and the classy heroine taking it on the chin and doing the best out the worst situation. A few years later, the mentor died and heroine was left widowed. Hero once again made a pass at her, on the heels of her husband's funeral no less! Wisely, instead of giving in to his slimy advances, heroine decamped without a forwarding address.
The story begins in earnest two years after heroine was widowed. She returns to town. Due to REASONS, the disgusting hero is finally able to manoeuver heroine into his bed and to publicly treat her like his paid-for tart. Both the hero and his bestie, the ex-mistress, continue to blame the heroine more than they blame the mentor who ruthlessly pumped and dumped his mistress and got himself a young, sheltered, completely innocent wife as replacement. One night, the ex-mistress corners heroine at a party and assaults her with a bout of drunken verbal diarrhea, berating her for something she had absolutely no control over nor knowledge of, and which happened years ago. The hero, instead of protecting the heroine from this drunken, irrational ex-mistress actually takes the side of the ex-mistress, taking her off to soothe and console her. The heroine, left alone, almost get raped by another guest at the party who believed, due to hero's disgusting public treatment of heroine as a paid-for tart, that she was open to any bidder.
I don't know how the author had the gall to give these two a "happy ending." I don't believe he was ever in love with the heroine. Nor do I buy that he initially tried to convince her to jilt her fiance because of his undying love for her. That was some epic gaslighting. And anything he did after that to "woo" the heroine was a combination of sick sexual obsession, resentment, revenge, and one-upping his former mentor. Whatever his mentor had, he must have too: the business, the wealth, the status symbols, and now the trophy wife. Not even the hilarious suggestion that the hero had his interior designer decorate his home to match the heroine's blue eyes, creamy skin, and reddish hair, nor the New Zealand travelogue, nor the last second speech by the hero where he justifies more than he apologizes for his behavior could make me like this story.
YUCK!
September 26, 2021
I read this a few weeks ago, I can't remember any of it. I did write down my rating, though! I remember the story of the OW better, but I can't say I loved that one, either. All of these characters were ridiculous.
Naksed wrote a review for this one, so I don't have to! I'll try to reconstruct The Temptress of Tarika Permata Di Tarika Bay since no else has tackled it.
Naksed wrote a review for this one, so I don't have to! I'll try to reconstruct The Temptress of Tarika Permata Di Tarika Bay since no else has tackled it.
January 14, 2019
4.5 stars ⭐️.
A complex love story with hidden depth.
The situation with hero and heroine was tricky. It would’ve been sleazy or betrayal if done wrong. But the author did that cleverly.
The story had a haunting undertone. And what I liked the most in this book was hero. He loved the heroine from the beginning. I’m glad that they got their happily ever after.
Recommended.
A complex love story with hidden depth.
The situation with hero and heroine was tricky. It would’ve been sleazy or betrayal if done wrong. But the author did that cleverly.
The story had a haunting undertone. And what I liked the most in this book was hero. He loved the heroine from the beginning. I’m glad that they got their happily ever after.
Recommended.
May 27, 2018
Readable.
December 1, 2024
The heroine is 18. Grew up very sheltered. Her father dies in an accident and mother is sickly.
Heroine’s car backs into other man’s car at supermarket. She weeps and is generally shattered. Sympathetic and bemused other man drops her back home. Thus begins a courtship. The other man dumps his mistress who is hero’s foster sister and gets engaged to heroine.
Other man lifted hero from poverty. Paid for his education. Trained him. Now he employs him in his ad agency.
Hero meets his mentor’s fiancée and both of them are immensely sexually attracted to each other. Not only that. There is a pull. A tug towards each other.
Hero decides that the heroine is still marrying other man in spite of her attraction to himself. Then heroine must be a gold digging tramp.
Nevertheless he tries to dissuade her from the marriage. He never offers her marriage himself. He just says leave other man for me.
Heroine craves comfort and safety and convention. She quails at the thought of breaking off at nth moment. What about her mother? Who will pay for her treatment.
So the marriage goes ahead. The much older husband soon tires of her and has one or two affairs.
He dies. At his funeral heroine wants to kiss hero to comfort him but they end up kissing passionately🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
She runs away to a war torn island. Adopts a small local child. Adopts means starts taking interested in her.
The child needs an operation for cleft lip. The hero is trustee of heroine’s inheritance. He refuses to release money.
They meet again.
He says I will personally give you the money if you fake being my fiancée and save me from predatory other woman.
Love blossoms. They sleep with each other.
They resolve their differences after Robyn Donald type plot mover crisis.
Alls well.
It was an ok read.
I always want this author to get her clarity in order so she can organise plot better.
Time pass read.
Heroine’s car backs into other man’s car at supermarket. She weeps and is generally shattered. Sympathetic and bemused other man drops her back home. Thus begins a courtship. The other man dumps his mistress who is hero’s foster sister and gets engaged to heroine.
Other man lifted hero from poverty. Paid for his education. Trained him. Now he employs him in his ad agency.
Hero meets his mentor’s fiancée and both of them are immensely sexually attracted to each other. Not only that. There is a pull. A tug towards each other.
Hero decides that the heroine is still marrying other man in spite of her attraction to himself. Then heroine must be a gold digging tramp.
Nevertheless he tries to dissuade her from the marriage. He never offers her marriage himself. He just says leave other man for me.
Heroine craves comfort and safety and convention. She quails at the thought of breaking off at nth moment. What about her mother? Who will pay for her treatment.
So the marriage goes ahead. The much older husband soon tires of her and has one or two affairs.
He dies. At his funeral heroine wants to kiss hero to comfort him but they end up kissing passionately🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
She runs away to a war torn island. Adopts a small local child. Adopts means starts taking interested in her.
The child needs an operation for cleft lip. The hero is trustee of heroine’s inheritance. He refuses to release money.
They meet again.
He says I will personally give you the money if you fake being my fiancée and save me from predatory other woman.
Love blossoms. They sleep with each other.
They resolve their differences after Robyn Donald type plot mover crisis.
Alls well.
It was an ok read.
I always want this author to get her clarity in order so she can organise plot better.
Time pass read.
September 26, 2019
There is a lot of passion. It's not terribly ruthless, I'd say. A few more concerns with the heroine's exceptionally young age at the start - at eighteen, she's marrying the hero's mentor, who's nearly forty; he's thrown over the hero's foster sister (which the heroine doesn't know) and will prove to be extremely controlling (ditto). The hero hates her because he's attracted to her and it's like, dude, she's a child, maybe don't project all your mommy issues onto this random teenager? Maybe? Six years later he's still kind of a dick about his attraction to her, although he's not fully into it - sometimes he's actually, like, a normal dude, which is nice - but I just find that mindset so repugnant, and the author can't really commit to it, either. When an otherwise reasonable hero starts spouting off about how he can't love the heroine because it would be a betrayal of his mentor (who married an eighteen-year-old and started cheating on her as soon as she insisted on going to college, then left all his money in a trust so that his widow couldn't actually access it), it's just obnoxious. Otherwise fairly trope-y and all progresses as one would expect. The heroine wins over absolutely everyone including various Other Women; the hero is charmed despite himself; etc.
August 5, 2016
absolutely boring ! the book had great potential, unfortunately the author did not seem inspired !
August 16, 2024
So so. It was a bit messy. Two other women. A dead husband/best friend cheater. It a lot. Skip it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews