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Tender Betrayal
Kyla was well aware of Adam’s thoughts about her.
He believed her to be a fortune hunter. "You've got it all now." he said. "The furs, the diamonds, the easy life. All the things you believed you couldn't get from me."
When she returned home to Scotland, she knew that she would have to face him. After all, Adam was now engaged to her sister, Nairne.
Surely they could put the past behind them! She hadn't come home to resurrect thoughts of what might have been. She’d come back to fight for the future...her future.
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1990
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May 23, 2017
Re Tender Betrayal - Grace Green's entry into HPlandia with the first of her four HP's before jaunting over to HRtopia is an interesting 'h is the OW' plot, with a twist.
So just to get the icky bit over with, the premise of this one is that the h was engaged to the H. Then she changed her mind and eloped with her little sister's fiance. The sister's fiance had always had a thing for her and proposed to the lil' sister on the rebound when the h accepted the H's engagement ring.
When the story starts, the h's stolen hubby has died, as has his big local landowner/whiskey distillery father, leaving the h and her four year old son as the only heirs to the dead hubby's family empire.
The h is returning home after being away for several years because she has really missed her family and her son is very withdrawn since the death of his dad. When she stole lil' sis's man, she made the guy take her to Canada - ostensibly for a fresh start.
But as we shall see, the h actually had some serious reasons for committing such a heinous act against her very own close family member. However GG wants to make us wait for that, so we get the h being greeted with a certain amount of hostility and resentment from both her sister and her jilted H. The h is distressed that wounds are still so fresh after such a long period of time, but honestly she did not expect anything different and at least her parent's are happy to see her. Then she gets to weather the blow of her ex-H now being engaged to her little sister - the h has realized a long time ago that Karma can be a real tart sometimes.
So the h gets settled in and part of her new inheritance is the local whisky distillery - the only problem is the H is the manager of it and it throws the h into his company a lot. There is the usual mean, golddiggery and tart comments that an HP's mistreated H loves to use, but this guy can't seem to help but a get a few roofie kisses in too.
The h is filled with the unquenchable yearning for the man she has never stopped loving, but she does have a backbone and she wards the H's roofie kisses off with sharp remarks. There is also a skeevy slimy groper family lawyer - who wants to put the moves on the h, so she realizes that she is going to have to put a bit of a whack down on that too.
Finally, after establishing that despite her prior bad behavior, this h is a nice person and a caring mother and daughter, we get the reasons for the h's seemingly contradictory behavior. Brace yourself folks, cause this one is a doozy.
When the h was 21, she got a job at the local distillery in her small Scottish Highland village. She fell in love with the H and tho he kinda kept their involvement on the down-low, they were engaged and he had bought a ring.
The h's little sister was a very sensitive, fragile and shy 17 yr old who nevertheless managed to get herself engaged on the rebound to the h's rejected suitor - the son of the distillery's owner. The h wasn't too concerned one way or the other, the son of the distillery owner was a bit spoiled, but a nice guy and a man she considered a friend. Then the h overheard a conversation between her mother and the distillery owner - her lil' sis's new fiance's father. The h finds out that her mother and the distillery owner are in a panic, because it turns out lil' sister is the daughter of the distillery owner too - and NOT the daughter of the h's father.
The h panics as well, she is in shock and she has some betrayal feelings too, because the h's father is the most wonderful dad alive and the kindest person ever and how could her MOTHER - forever after to be addressed by her first name, Kate, and never called mother again- do such a hideous thing?
More importantly, if the truth about the relationship between her sister and the new fiance comes out, ( and it totally will, cause this is a tiny gossipy village and reasons will be given and rumors will abound,) the h's sister will literally fall apart. She just can't carry off a deception of "we just didn't suit".
Plus there is the damage to the family's local standing among the neighbors, her beloved father will be completely humiliated and her family has no other place to go. So multiple lives will be ruined - the sister is so sensitively fragile that the h fears there would be TRAGIC consequences -cause lil sis has had a crush on the distillery owner son for forever, even tho the h is pretty sure local boy is marrying lil' sis out of pique he can't get her (the h).
The h also has a streak of practicality, the H isn't hard to look at and is far from unicorn petting status. Sure he loves her, but she also thinks that she is probably more easily replaceable to the H than her family's life in the village is to them. So the h breaks her engagement to the H and ends up tossing his ring into some bushes when he won't take it back and she elopes with Local boy and they move to Canada and they have a son and that brings us up to the start of the book.
So we soon find out that lil' sis didn't sit home and play Miss Havisham while the h was off in Canada. Nope, lil' sis stopped being the sensitive, neurotic prototype for every PJ h ever created and took herself off to Edinburgh and got a social work degree. She now is on staff with the local field office and she and her boss frequently are off together on calls.
The h is doing a bit of adjusting to all the changes and the hostile seduction attempts of the engaged H, but her son is settling in nicely and the h has the skeezy family lawyer handled by threatening to take her business elsewhere. This h is actually pretty strong and pretty business savvy for an HP h - she also has a backbone.
Then the h's father has an accident and there is a possibility dear dad will need a blood transfusion. The h's sister goes off to volunteer, but the h realizes that this could be a potential big time revelation that no one wants to have if lil' sis's blood doesn't match. So the h throws herself into the breach and demands to be allowed to be the lucky donor.
Kate, the mother, realizes that the h must know the truth of the parenthood revelation dilemma and in a tear stricken plea, tells the h it only 'happened one time and was an act of blessed charity to be sure'. - Which has to be the most unusual explanation for adultery in HPlandia ever - so kudos to GG for being groundbreaking and committing adultery as an act of BLESSED charity, there is emphasis on the blessed too. (GG later fills us in by explaining that Distillery Guy's wife died and he was crying and sad and the h's mum had a ton of compassion and gave him a pity pike ride. )
The h thinks maybe Kate should make a reveal, but soon changes her mind cause her lil' sister is still kinda fragile. Tho she and the H seem to be awfully PDA and advertisery in their physical affections. The h can only wander at all that public touching, cause when she was with the H it was all furtive hidden gropings - and in fact every chance the H gets, it still is.
So more Highland village life goes on and the h has more angsty H yearning and then some apprehension cause her son and the H are bonding. The H has figured out that there was some kind of secret drama regarding the h's sister, and eventually he manages to bully a part of the story - the illegitimate part- out of the h.
Suddenly, mum Kate has a change of heart and tells lil' sister the truth. Little sister rushes off to the H and the h is doing her best to figure out how to avoid the H, but not have to move since her son is doing so much better with family around him. Then the H shows up and explains that he knows all now and that all is forgiven on his part - cause really, what else could our poor martyred h do? The lil' sister herself claims that had she known the truth of her parentage when she got engaged to Local boy, she would have killed herself in despair and shame.
He also tells the h that lil' sister is going to be with her Social Worker boss, (GG's fourth and last HP Snowdrops for a Bride is the lil' sister's story,) and he and the h are now free to lurve it up and be married. They both happily declare that neither one ever loved any other and the H was only marrying the sister to protect her from the hurts caused by the h - and to put his own boot in where it would pain the most of course.
However all that is behind them now and we can leave the H, h and her son on a sunny Scottish Cliff in happy soon to be wedded bliss. As final sign that the h's martyrism has satisfied the HEA gods of HPlandia - the h's son finds the original engagement ring from the H that the h tossed away, thus sealing the deal on a true HEA.
This one was a bit whacktastic in theme, but honestly, I could see where the h was coming from and so I bought the story line. I liked the h, she wasn't a doormat and she did her best in some very difficult circumstances and she did have a backbone and some business sense. The H on the other hand, well he was more iffy, but I eventually accepted that all his roofie kissing was because he was compelled like a magnet to the moldable iron filaments of the h, and just couldn't help himself. I am not sure there is any hope for the mum Kate, but at least the h's father can continue his last days in peace.
Overall this was a pretty decent debut. If you can get past the premise and realize that the whacktastic just happens in HPlandia as a matter of course, this one is a highly entertaining HP outing.
So just to get the icky bit over with, the premise of this one is that the h was engaged to the H. Then she changed her mind and eloped with her little sister's fiance. The sister's fiance had always had a thing for her and proposed to the lil' sister on the rebound when the h accepted the H's engagement ring.
When the story starts, the h's stolen hubby has died, as has his big local landowner/whiskey distillery father, leaving the h and her four year old son as the only heirs to the dead hubby's family empire.
The h is returning home after being away for several years because she has really missed her family and her son is very withdrawn since the death of his dad. When she stole lil' sis's man, she made the guy take her to Canada - ostensibly for a fresh start.
But as we shall see, the h actually had some serious reasons for committing such a heinous act against her very own close family member. However GG wants to make us wait for that, so we get the h being greeted with a certain amount of hostility and resentment from both her sister and her jilted H. The h is distressed that wounds are still so fresh after such a long period of time, but honestly she did not expect anything different and at least her parent's are happy to see her. Then she gets to weather the blow of her ex-H now being engaged to her little sister - the h has realized a long time ago that Karma can be a real tart sometimes.
So the h gets settled in and part of her new inheritance is the local whisky distillery - the only problem is the H is the manager of it and it throws the h into his company a lot. There is the usual mean, golddiggery and tart comments that an HP's mistreated H loves to use, but this guy can't seem to help but a get a few roofie kisses in too.
The h is filled with the unquenchable yearning for the man she has never stopped loving, but she does have a backbone and she wards the H's roofie kisses off with sharp remarks. There is also a skeevy slimy groper family lawyer - who wants to put the moves on the h, so she realizes that she is going to have to put a bit of a whack down on that too.
Finally, after establishing that despite her prior bad behavior, this h is a nice person and a caring mother and daughter, we get the reasons for the h's seemingly contradictory behavior. Brace yourself folks, cause this one is a doozy.
When the h was 21, she got a job at the local distillery in her small Scottish Highland village. She fell in love with the H and tho he kinda kept their involvement on the down-low, they were engaged and he had bought a ring.
The h's little sister was a very sensitive, fragile and shy 17 yr old who nevertheless managed to get herself engaged on the rebound to the h's rejected suitor - the son of the distillery's owner. The h wasn't too concerned one way or the other, the son of the distillery owner was a bit spoiled, but a nice guy and a man she considered a friend. Then the h overheard a conversation between her mother and the distillery owner - her lil' sis's new fiance's father. The h finds out that her mother and the distillery owner are in a panic, because it turns out lil' sister is the daughter of the distillery owner too - and NOT the daughter of the h's father.
The h panics as well, she is in shock and she has some betrayal feelings too, because the h's father is the most wonderful dad alive and the kindest person ever and how could her MOTHER - forever after to be addressed by her first name, Kate, and never called mother again- do such a hideous thing?
More importantly, if the truth about the relationship between her sister and the new fiance comes out, ( and it totally will, cause this is a tiny gossipy village and reasons will be given and rumors will abound,) the h's sister will literally fall apart. She just can't carry off a deception of "we just didn't suit".
Plus there is the damage to the family's local standing among the neighbors, her beloved father will be completely humiliated and her family has no other place to go. So multiple lives will be ruined - the sister is so sensitively fragile that the h fears there would be TRAGIC consequences -cause lil sis has had a crush on the distillery owner son for forever, even tho the h is pretty sure local boy is marrying lil' sis out of pique he can't get her (the h).
The h also has a streak of practicality, the H isn't hard to look at and is far from unicorn petting status. Sure he loves her, but she also thinks that she is probably more easily replaceable to the H than her family's life in the village is to them. So the h breaks her engagement to the H and ends up tossing his ring into some bushes when he won't take it back and she elopes with Local boy and they move to Canada and they have a son and that brings us up to the start of the book.
So we soon find out that lil' sis didn't sit home and play Miss Havisham while the h was off in Canada. Nope, lil' sis stopped being the sensitive, neurotic prototype for every PJ h ever created and took herself off to Edinburgh and got a social work degree. She now is on staff with the local field office and she and her boss frequently are off together on calls.
The h is doing a bit of adjusting to all the changes and the hostile seduction attempts of the engaged H, but her son is settling in nicely and the h has the skeezy family lawyer handled by threatening to take her business elsewhere. This h is actually pretty strong and pretty business savvy for an HP h - she also has a backbone.
Then the h's father has an accident and there is a possibility dear dad will need a blood transfusion. The h's sister goes off to volunteer, but the h realizes that this could be a potential big time revelation that no one wants to have if lil' sis's blood doesn't match. So the h throws herself into the breach and demands to be allowed to be the lucky donor.
Kate, the mother, realizes that the h must know the truth of the parenthood revelation dilemma and in a tear stricken plea, tells the h it only 'happened one time and was an act of blessed charity to be sure'. - Which has to be the most unusual explanation for adultery in HPlandia ever - so kudos to GG for being groundbreaking and committing adultery as an act of BLESSED charity, there is emphasis on the blessed too. (GG later fills us in by explaining that Distillery Guy's wife died and he was crying and sad and the h's mum had a ton of compassion and gave him a pity pike ride. )
The h thinks maybe Kate should make a reveal, but soon changes her mind cause her lil' sister is still kinda fragile. Tho she and the H seem to be awfully PDA and advertisery in their physical affections. The h can only wander at all that public touching, cause when she was with the H it was all furtive hidden gropings - and in fact every chance the H gets, it still is.
So more Highland village life goes on and the h has more angsty H yearning and then some apprehension cause her son and the H are bonding. The H has figured out that there was some kind of secret drama regarding the h's sister, and eventually he manages to bully a part of the story - the illegitimate part- out of the h.
Suddenly, mum Kate has a change of heart and tells lil' sister the truth. Little sister rushes off to the H and the h is doing her best to figure out how to avoid the H, but not have to move since her son is doing so much better with family around him. Then the H shows up and explains that he knows all now and that all is forgiven on his part - cause really, what else could our poor martyred h do? The lil' sister herself claims that had she known the truth of her parentage when she got engaged to Local boy, she would have killed herself in despair and shame.
He also tells the h that lil' sister is going to be with her Social Worker boss, (GG's fourth and last HP Snowdrops for a Bride is the lil' sister's story,) and he and the h are now free to lurve it up and be married. They both happily declare that neither one ever loved any other and the H was only marrying the sister to protect her from the hurts caused by the h - and to put his own boot in where it would pain the most of course.
However all that is behind them now and we can leave the H, h and her son on a sunny Scottish Cliff in happy soon to be wedded bliss. As final sign that the h's martyrism has satisfied the HEA gods of HPlandia - the h's son finds the original engagement ring from the H that the h tossed away, thus sealing the deal on a true HEA.
This one was a bit whacktastic in theme, but honestly, I could see where the h was coming from and so I bought the story line. I liked the h, she wasn't a doormat and she did her best in some very difficult circumstances and she did have a backbone and some business sense. The H on the other hand, well he was more iffy, but I eventually accepted that all his roofie kissing was because he was compelled like a magnet to the moldable iron filaments of the h, and just couldn't help himself. I am not sure there is any hope for the mum Kate, but at least the h's father can continue his last days in peace.
Overall this was a pretty decent debut. If you can get past the premise and realize that the whacktastic just happens in HPlandia as a matter of course, this one is a highly entertaining HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2016
A brief note: put aside ANY thoughts about ANYONE MAKING SENSIBLE DECISIONS EVER AND JUST ENJOY THIS BOOK FOR WHAT IT IS. Pure, lovely, crack. It just IS what it IS, okay. Embrace it.
This is another one of those Harlequins where the author actually tried to construct a plotline and story. She didn't just invent a country and stick a billionaire Sheikh in it. Instead, she's like, let's PUT TOGETHER A REAL STORY EVEN IF IT IS INSANE.
So, Kyla (aka: the martyr) is back in Scotland - a widow with a young son - after spectacularly fucking up her life five years before. You see, she ran away to Canada with a young man from the village who was supposed to marry her sister, for reasons I won't get into here - suffice to say, THEY ARE STUPID REASONS AND SHE SHOULD HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING THAT SHE DID EVER. In leaving, she not only broke her sister's heart, but also that of the man she was engaged to marry - Adam Garvie. When she returns, Adam is engaged to her sister, and Kyla's like, "fuck okay" and basically the entire book is her not wanting to tell anyone the truth - and everyone thinking badly of her, although it's clear as fucking crystal that she wouldn't have done what she did without some sort of batshit explanation for it.
Plus even though Adam is engaged to her poor, fragile little flower of a sister (gag me) Nairne, he still kisses Kyla all over the place, cozies up to her son and generally makes it obvious that he's down for a little martyr banging. Kyla tries to remember her sister a few times but fails (haha, as I would... Nairne is a fucking pill) and still loves Adam, despite everything.
All's well that ends well, I suppose, but that village is one hotbed of incestuous goings on, and damn if it doesn't seem so much FUN.
This is another one of those Harlequins where the author actually tried to construct a plotline and story. She didn't just invent a country and stick a billionaire Sheikh in it. Instead, she's like, let's PUT TOGETHER A REAL STORY EVEN IF IT IS INSANE.
So, Kyla (aka: the martyr) is back in Scotland - a widow with a young son - after spectacularly fucking up her life five years before. You see, she ran away to Canada with a young man from the village who was supposed to marry her sister, for reasons I won't get into here - suffice to say, THEY ARE STUPID REASONS AND SHE SHOULD HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING THAT SHE DID EVER. In leaving, she not only broke her sister's heart, but also that of the man she was engaged to marry - Adam Garvie. When she returns, Adam is engaged to her sister, and Kyla's like, "fuck okay" and basically the entire book is her not wanting to tell anyone the truth - and everyone thinking badly of her, although it's clear as fucking crystal that she wouldn't have done what she did without some sort of batshit explanation for it.
Plus even though Adam is engaged to her poor, fragile little flower of a sister (gag me) Nairne, he still kisses Kyla all over the place, cozies up to her son and generally makes it obvious that he's down for a little martyr banging. Kyla tries to remember her sister a few times but fails (haha, as I would... Nairne is a fucking pill) and still loves Adam, despite everything.
All's well that ends well, I suppose, but that village is one hotbed of incestuous goings on, and damn if it doesn't seem so much FUN.
August 6, 2012
Kyla was engaged to marry Adam when she was a young 21, but she developed the syndrome commonly known as martyr in HPland. Of course, no adult could be told of what she discovered, nor could they be mature enough to take care of their own problems. Nope, instead this avenging angel – okay not really – must save this terribly fragile innocent from discovering the truth. W/ Kyla’s decision she manages to break more hearts than what she thought would have happened if she kept her mouth shut and let those responsible deal w/ the consequences of their actions. Kyla has now returned w/ her young son, conveniently her hubby kicked the bucket and little boy needs family. So why not head back to those whose hearts you broke years ago? Once there she soon finds out that another protector is on the scene and this one plans on marrying her sister! Yes, her ex!! Now if you can get past all that, then jump in!
I didn’t like that Kyla thought she had to protect someone like that. I saw her point in that person not being able to handle the secret, but she should have broached the subject w/ those involved first. It bothered me that Adam proposed to this sister of hers when Kyla returned. That he would do PDA in front of Kyla while it was carefully pointed out that he didn’t do so w/ Kyla when they were engaged (yeah, probably because he didn’t do other things w/ sis, but he meant to when they got married.) Did I mention that while Adam is engaged to precious, I mean sis, he was chasing after Kyla and kissing on her? Cheater? Not that Kyla is pure either, because w/ her protection of sis she pretty much deceived her hubby and relegated herself and him to a “settling” type of role. Yes, all her own doing, but w/ this choice she manages to hurt more people than if she had just let it go. IMHO I don’t believe that other parties that were thoroughly involved in this situation got to voice their unhappiness w/ the whole situation either. It was as though they got to deceive and hurt others, but never really had to deal w/ those consequences. I know horrible of me, but I wanted some anger expressed from that one that was cheated and deceived for years!!!!
I didn’t like that Kyla thought she had to protect someone like that. I saw her point in that person not being able to handle the secret, but she should have broached the subject w/ those involved first. It bothered me that Adam proposed to this sister of hers when Kyla returned. That he would do PDA in front of Kyla while it was carefully pointed out that he didn’t do so w/ Kyla when they were engaged (yeah, probably because he didn’t do other things w/ sis, but he meant to when they got married.) Did I mention that while Adam is engaged to precious, I mean sis, he was chasing after Kyla and kissing on her? Cheater? Not that Kyla is pure either, because w/ her protection of sis she pretty much deceived her hubby and relegated herself and him to a “settling” type of role. Yes, all her own doing, but w/ this choice she manages to hurt more people than if she had just let it go. IMHO I don’t believe that other parties that were thoroughly involved in this situation got to voice their unhappiness w/ the whole situation either. It was as though they got to deceive and hurt others, but never really had to deal w/ those consequences. I know horrible of me, but I wanted some anger expressed from that one that was cheated and deceived for years!!!!
November 24, 2022
I'm not impressed.
Although I'm a little bit surprised. Rarely does the female protagonist marry for real after breaking with the love of her life. Mostly authors go for paper marriages.
This one even had a child. And it isn't the male protagonist's. Imagine that. And she was content with her deceased husband who also was an excellent father to their son.
Can you believe it?
The love line is lacking, the backstory is intriguing.
Although I'm a little bit surprised. Rarely does the female protagonist marry for real after breaking with the love of her life. Mostly authors go for paper marriages.
This one even had a child. And it isn't the male protagonist's. Imagine that. And she was content with her deceased husband who also was an excellent father to their son.
Can you believe it?
The love line is lacking, the backstory is intriguing.
August 13, 2014
A nice angsty romance, if you can put aside the idiocy of the heroine's original reasons for leaving the hero.
August 17, 2021
It was hard to get into but in the end it was an ok read. Definitely ended very abruptly.
August 7, 2018
Tender betrayal is a quite good romance, with interesting plot and much action.It's one of the best Harlequin I have read so far written in a very vivid way ! It's a lifelike story, even though Kyla's deed is almost impossible 😀
What composes the whole story are two self-sacrifices.The 1st one is Kate's and due to this one comes the worse self-sacrifice of Kayla...Sometines when trying to make things better we end up making them worse.Putting aside your happiness for someone else brings more sadness especially if it affects and others not only yourself...This is what I keep in mind from this novel😀
What composes the whole story are two self-sacrifices.The 1st one is Kate's and due to this one comes the worse self-sacrifice of Kayla...Sometines when trying to make things better we end up making them worse.Putting aside your happiness for someone else brings more sadness especially if it affects and others not only yourself...This is what I keep in mind from this novel😀
August 10, 2020
Molto ma molto carino. Una storia che ti tiene sulle spine e che ti fa sperare nel lieto fine! Un libro parla di tanto amore sotto vari aspetti, non me l’aspettavo 🤗
March 30, 2023
Problems I will never have:
*Inheriting a whisky distillery in Scotland.
*Marrying the man my sister was in love with only to be widowed 4 years later.
*Returning to Scotland to collect said distillery to find out:
My former love is engaged to my sister.
They are both mad at me.
My mother is a coward.
My father is clueless.
Such delicious angst. Such a stupid, self-sacrificing heroine! Such an angry, tortured hero. Such a delicate flower sister! Such an abrupt ending!
Boogenhagen has all the glorious details. I've missed my vintage HPs and I'm glad to be back.
*Inheriting a whisky distillery in Scotland.
*Marrying the man my sister was in love with only to be widowed 4 years later.
*Returning to Scotland to collect said distillery to find out:
My former love is engaged to my sister.
They are both mad at me.
My mother is a coward.
My father is clueless.
Such delicious angst. Such a stupid, self-sacrificing heroine! Such an angry, tortured hero. Such a delicate flower sister! Such an abrupt ending!
Boogenhagen has all the glorious details. I've missed my vintage HPs and I'm glad to be back.
September 9, 2025
This should have been titled "A Tale of Stupidity!" All this mess because two women decide to be self-sacrificing martyrs. One opens her legs for a grieving widower (despite having a very much alive husband) which results in the h sacrificing her love for the H and marrying her childhood sweetheart, so her nincompoop kid sister won't know how close she came to committing incest!
Talk about DUMB!!!!
Talk about DUMB!!!!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews