Four Weeks in Winter

by Jane Donnelly

She didn't want love
Not with him--again!

Tessa worried about meeting Paul Mellor again. She had made a fool of herself over Paul once and didn't want to repeat the experience.

"That you won't," Orme Jared said, "not while you're working for me. We'll put a Keep Off sign on you--an engagement ring from a very possessive man. Me."

Tessa thought he was joking. Who would believe the great Orme Jared wanted Tessa to marry him!

Genres: Harlequin Romance

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1977

About the author

Jane Donnelly began earning her living as a writer as a teenage reporter. When she married the editor of the newspaper she freelanced for women's mags for a while. After she was widowed she and her 5 year old daughter moved to Lancashire. She turned to writing fiction to make a living while still caring for her daughter, she sold her first Mills & Boon romance novel as a hard-up singleparent in 1965. She wrote over 60 romance novels for Mills & Boon until 2000. Now she lives in a roses-round-the door cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon, with four dogs and assorted rescued animals. Besides writing she enjoys travelling, swimming, walking and the company of friends.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice one. A sweet story of a heroine who pretends an engagement with her boss to ward off an ex who, along with his family and friends, humiliated her terribly years ago. In the process, heroine and her boss fall in love although due to Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings, neither is really sure of what is happening.

The heroine was not as stupid as some of JD's infamous protagonists and the hero was great. The villains got an adequate comeuppance too and there was a thankful lack of OW. Recommend for readers who want a low angst, nicely written vintage romance.

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet engagement of convenience story where it's obvious the hero is crazy about the heroine, the heroine is crazy about the hero and it's just a matter of time before they figure it out.

Hero is the big boss of a production company making TV documentaries. Heroine is his research assistant. Heroine is smart, attractive and nursing a broken heart. When she discovers they're going to film a coal mining documentary in her hometown, she panics and buys herself a fake engagement ring. Seems she's afraid if she see her old flame, she'll sucumb to her passion for him and either break up his marriage or make a fool of herself. She thinks an engagement ring will protect her.

Hero notices the ring and gets the whole story out of her. He proposes the she wear his engagement ring (a family heirloom) for the four weeks of filming and he'll protect her.

Heroine realizes that she never loved the OM after hero kisses her. And the rest of the story is the heroine eating her heart out for the hero and hoping they can make it real.

In tone, this felt a lot like a Betty Neals romance - complete with a poker-faced hero, a manor house, and an aristocratic grandma who asks penetrating questions.

Just a sweet vintage story.

[JR · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Four Weeks in Winter' is definitely one of the better written stories in this genre; I'm rating it a full 4-star vintage romance read.

What's to like?
- This is a blessedly tightly written book (not so common in the old M&B's before they introduced more stringent word limits) with no needless meanderings or jarring shifts to secondary characters
- A plot-line that doesn't need to lean on the usual trite jealous misunderstandings or (even worse) random accidents/unrealistic disasters to keep the reader engaged
- Likeable protagonists (hero's name is 'Orme' which gives this title some more bonus points!)
- Amusing and, at times, slightly acidic dialogue, e.g. when heroine tells the hero that her old flame (the local lawyer) shared her love letters with half the town, he observes coolly 'Paul Mellor sounds a shade indiscreet...particularly for a lawyer' and similarly when the same caddish Paul Mellor mutters in the heroine's ear 'I still think this [the hero] is an infatuation', the heroine notes without a flicker, 'No - you were the infatuation' = the type of understated put-downs I'd not be ashamed to own!

If you collect the vintage Harlequin/M&B titles from 1960s/70s would definitely recommend adding this one to the bookcase!

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, everything was so polite and I didn't feel like I needed to shake off the H's behavior, which is my norm for Jane Donnelly. Instead, the H was nice, the h was nice, no one was cruel or vicious, and there are no OW except for vague, imaginary specters. However, the MC's feelings came across as muffled. The H provided a strong love declaration, but for much of the book everything was very tepid.

Still, for Jane Donnelly, this sort of non-toxic behavior is nigh-on miraculous, so 2.5 stars from me.

[Feeling-bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book, characters, setting, slow-burn romance, low angst, everything.

[Myrna · Rating 3 out of 5]

She gulped and blurted, ‘Suppose I said I’d marry you right away?’
‘Will you?’
‘Do you love me?’
‘Of course.’
But he made no move towards her and she said,
‘There’s no of course about it. You never said so.’
‘Why should I ask you to marry me if I didn’t love you?’
She heard herself croak, ‘You really want to marry me?’
‘How many times do you need telling?’
He still didn’t sound like a lover. He sounded more than ever like he did at work, when someone was being thick and he couldn’t get the message into their head.
‘I want to marry you. I’m going to marry you. At once would suit me best, but if you need time to get over Paul Mellor and used to the idea of marrying me time you shall have.’
‘Who says I need time?’ she shrieked at him. ‘I never asked you to be patient.’

Yeah, he’s too patient and she’s too enamored with her ex. Why doesn’t Donnelly make him more romantic? The colleagues could never guess that he could be romantically interested in the heroine prior to the engagement. And I suppose not everyone is convinced after he proposes. I’m one of those.
I can imagine a miner’s daughter falling for the wealthy lawyer’s son. I can imagine his family’s disgust and his friends’ scorn at her blatant displays of affection. I can imagine how hurt she was when he married a rich girl instead and made her love letters public.
The heroine’s got grit and she’s a survivor. She goes on living; she works on her accent, gets educated and earns herself a respected post in a TV company. I admire her for it.
And I can understand her animal fear of going back when the documentary is to be filmed in her hometown. Hence the pretend engagement.
But I don’t understand the sudden change of heart. One minute she’s ecstatic because her ex is finally at her feet, and the next she’s in love with her boss.

[DamsonDreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calmer than the JDs I've read before and perfectly sweet and decent. Both characters were in TV production, the H, Orme (maybe the ancestors originally came from Llandudno 😂) was the strong, self controlled type and the h, Tessa, has done well for herself after an inauspicious childhood and a lonely small town background. The production company goes back there for a film and she so dreads renewing the acquaintance of her teen ex, Paul, that she fakes an engagement with an imaginary man. When boss Orme spots this he gives her a better ring and steps up. Nothing much more than a kiss and really very mild but still nice to read.

[Live2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very simple and straightforward plot. Nothing overly exciting and almost boring but can be tolerable with its vintage charms. As we know of its time period expect extreme dryness for romance substance. Good thing the hero was dependable and long smitten, so the romance was believable! Heroine was likable but surprisingly she wasn’t always the sweet demure girl as I thought she was going to be. She was frank and snappy at times, not rude, but mouthy. One can even say she was a bit annoying and bitter as she remained severely hung up over Paul, her past failed relationship (when she was barely eighteen). There was a scene when one impatient hero forced the heroine up to the house of the OM to get the impending reunion over with. Kind of cringe and I wouldn’t ever! They were better off staying at best in their lanes and waited until Paul seeks her out because she’s exclusive stuff now, right? OM shall be the one initiating that…Not the other way around, as hero and heroine practically imposed their presence on these practical strangers and the said strangers have to awkwardly invite them inside. It was pointless, Paul’s father didn’t even recognize the new Tessa. And I mean he didn’t recognized Tessa, as in old Mr. Mellor barely recalled her in general! Lol. The only thing achieved here potentially is that heroine was still chasing after Paul straight to his place after all these years…I think the author wanted to showed it as the heroine is now a polished stone and the best of them all and can proudly face her past (when forced to) but yeah, not sure if I get it or the aspects got served in poor proportions.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Others have provided the details of this book. I also liked that there was no dreaded OW trope. The heroine overcame her stupid infatuation and the hero was of a quietly heroic (and isn't it odd that in a lot of these romances, that is not the case) persona.
Very nice indeed.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out strong for me and then dragged to a somewhat anticlimactic ending. Still nice to read a nice vintage.