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Aegean quest
Priscilla was enraged that the lordly Nikolaos Palaeologus thought her sister Prunella was a nobody, unfit to marry his younger brother. And just because Prunella was an actress!Well, Priscilla was an actress, too. She would go to Greece and teach Nikolaos a lesson he wouldn't forget She had one big advantage.Nikolas didn't know that Pru had an identical sister!
- GenresHarlequin RomanceGreece
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
28 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Ashton
102 books18 followersElizabeth Ashton was a British writer of romance novels to Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 25, 2022
Priscilla was enraged that the lordly Nikolaos Palaeologus thought her sister Prunella was a nobody, unfit to marry his younger brother. And just because Prunella was an actress!
Well, Priscilla was an actress, too. She would go to Greece and teach Nikolaos a lesson he wouldn't forget She had one big advantage.
Nikolas didn't know that Pru had an identical sister!
Well, Priscilla was an actress, too. She would go to Greece and teach Nikolaos a lesson he wouldn't forget She had one big advantage.
Nikolas didn't know that Pru had an identical sister!
May 8, 2023
This book is basically everything one could want in a category romance from the 1970s. Our heroine is an actress/singer - but not a permissive (read: slutty) actress/singer, a classy one - and she's also one of triplets. Stodgy Triplet has married an upper-class British dude who's super into horses, and Flighty Triplet has, er, just eloped with a Greek billionaire. Unfortunately, he's a younger son billionaire, which means in HP-landia that he has a domineering older brother who will Stop At Nothing to prevent the marriage, on the assumption that all actresses are "permissive" gold-diggers. Flighty Triplet has been kidnapped to a remote Greek island, where she is being forced to write letters to her boyfriend saying she doesn't like him any more.
Obviously, the solution is for Heroine Triplet to head to Greece, smuggle herself onto the island, and take Flighty Triplet's place while Flighty Triplet elopes with her beau. This accomplished, she then has to pose as her sister for a few days. In the meantime, she is wildly attracted to the Domineering Older Brother, annoyed by the younger brother's would-be fiancee (who actually would prefer the older brother), and bonds with the hero's motherless small daughter. There are punishing kisses involved, and the hero makes it clear that he thinks the heroine will sleep with him if he pushes harder, but all is revealed in time and Heroine Triplet heads back to the mainland, where she finds Athens dirty, hot, noisy and unpleasant (... and she's supposed to marry a Greek billionaire at the end of this, Elizabeth Ashton?) and heads back to Stodgy Triplet's house in England.
There are a lot of loving descriptions of English scenery and Heroine Triplet does a lot of horseback riding. We're only like two thirds of the way through the book at this point. The hero shows up to buy a horse and we learn he has stables in France (oh good, our heroine won't have to spend time in icky Greece once they're married!). The heroine assumes he is engaged to his brother's ex-fiancee; he clearly is not but does not correct her assumption. This part is actually rather nice because it's clear he's into her and has shown up to date her, which I feel generally doesn't happen in 70s novels until the very last page. There are a bunch of horsey scenes if you like those. The ex-fiancee shows up and Makes Trouble. The child shows up and is endearing. The hero goes away for a while and then returns and announces his intention of carrying the heroine off; she assumes she's supposed to be his mistress for a couple pages and he corrects her that no, they are getting married.
All in all, the relationship dynamics were less horrible than one often encounters in an HP of this era, and Ashton has an interesting hand with minor characters - Stodgy Triplet and her husband were actually interesting, in the sense that they had actual personalities and Ashton pokes gentle fun at them while making them endearing. That said, all the Greek characters except the hero - including his brother and child - speak nonsensically-broken English. Also, we're assured that Stodgy Triplet is matronly and while Heroine Triplet and Flighty Triplet are identical now, Flighty Triplet is totally going to get fat eventually while Heroine Triplet will stay slender and classy. Was this necessary, Elizabeth Ashton? Also, it's pretty clear that both Ashton and Heroine Triplet hate most of Greece, so the choice to set this in Greece is a little awkward, to say the least. One anticipates a marriage in which the hero is told "well, you go ahead and fly back to do your little work things while I am here in western Europe, and just come see me when you're done."
Obviously, the solution is for Heroine Triplet to head to Greece, smuggle herself onto the island, and take Flighty Triplet's place while Flighty Triplet elopes with her beau. This accomplished, she then has to pose as her sister for a few days. In the meantime, she is wildly attracted to the Domineering Older Brother, annoyed by the younger brother's would-be fiancee (who actually would prefer the older brother), and bonds with the hero's motherless small daughter. There are punishing kisses involved, and the hero makes it clear that he thinks the heroine will sleep with him if he pushes harder, but all is revealed in time and Heroine Triplet heads back to the mainland, where she finds Athens dirty, hot, noisy and unpleasant (... and she's supposed to marry a Greek billionaire at the end of this, Elizabeth Ashton?) and heads back to Stodgy Triplet's house in England.
There are a lot of loving descriptions of English scenery and Heroine Triplet does a lot of horseback riding. We're only like two thirds of the way through the book at this point. The hero shows up to buy a horse and we learn he has stables in France (oh good, our heroine won't have to spend time in icky Greece once they're married!). The heroine assumes he is engaged to his brother's ex-fiancee; he clearly is not but does not correct her assumption. This part is actually rather nice because it's clear he's into her and has shown up to date her, which I feel generally doesn't happen in 70s novels until the very last page. There are a bunch of horsey scenes if you like those. The ex-fiancee shows up and Makes Trouble. The child shows up and is endearing. The hero goes away for a while and then returns and announces his intention of carrying the heroine off; she assumes she's supposed to be his mistress for a couple pages and he corrects her that no, they are getting married.
All in all, the relationship dynamics were less horrible than one often encounters in an HP of this era, and Ashton has an interesting hand with minor characters - Stodgy Triplet and her husband were actually interesting, in the sense that they had actual personalities and Ashton pokes gentle fun at them while making them endearing. That said, all the Greek characters except the hero - including his brother and child - speak nonsensically-broken English. Also, we're assured that Stodgy Triplet is matronly and while Heroine Triplet and Flighty Triplet are identical now, Flighty Triplet is totally going to get fat eventually while Heroine Triplet will stay slender and classy. Was this necessary, Elizabeth Ashton? Also, it's pretty clear that both Ashton and Heroine Triplet hate most of Greece, so the choice to set this in Greece is a little awkward, to say the least. One anticipates a marriage in which the hero is told "well, you go ahead and fly back to do your little work things while I am here in western Europe, and just come see me when you're done."
August 27, 2023
Great
09/23/2021
09/23/2021
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews