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Bewildered Haven
Jenny thought Zachary Benedict was the most conceited man she had ever met, and she had no intention of becoming yet another of his long string of conquests. Besides, after Max, she didn't want to get involved with any man again.But Zachary, for reasons of his own, pursued her relentlessly. Surely she wouldn't find herself weakening?
188 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1976
About the author
Helen Bianchin
383 books231 followersHelen Shirley was born on February 20 1939 in New Zealand, where she grew up, an only child possessed by a vivid imagination and a love for reading. She wrote stories for amusement in her early teenage years, and when she left leaving school, she took a secretarial job at a father-and-son legal firm.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 5, 2012
This is Ms. Bianchin's debut with Harlequin and was published in 1976. Though our heroine is an emotional and often tearful young woman, she does show quite a bit of spunk and finds herself often verbally battling with our hero. Zachary is enchanted with the innocent young woman who doesn't hide her disapproval of him. I was thoroughly surprised that in the middle of the book, after Zachary and Jenny have know each other less than two weeks, Zachary announces that he wants her to be his wife and he declares he loves her. Of course, Jenny's not ready to be rushed into a marriage, so he gives her a week to make up her mind, but he's booking the registrar and getting the marriage licence. This was a delightful lovestory and though it is dated, I found the story holds it's charm very well. This is a truly lovely debut for Ms. Bianchin!
February 8, 2019
This is one of those stories where methinks the heroine doth protest too much. But having said that the hero at one point turns up at her door dressed, wait for in a dark blue shirt unbuttoned almost to the waist teamed with silver grey suede trousers. Really that’s just too much. But in between all her protests and his outlandish clothing the story wasn’t too bad.
September 8, 2021
This book was published in 1976. So he shows up at her doorstep wearing ‘a dark blue shirt unbuttoned almost to the waist and silver grey suede trousers’.
She cries a huge lot (really, she cries and cries and cries and it gets annoying because she always cries over nothing). She slaps the H in his face. She faints. She trembles. She has headaches. She blushes. She runs.
And she cares a lot about her clothes. We get detailed descriptions about what she wears and she ponders about what she is going to wear next. It’s like reading the 70’s Vogue.
I honestly don’t know what her problem is, other than her clothes. He only has eyes for her from the moment he saw her. And she has a lovely, supportive family.
I give 3 stars for the besotted H.
She cries a huge lot (really, she cries and cries and cries and it gets annoying because she always cries over nothing). She slaps the H in his face. She faints. She trembles. She has headaches. She blushes. She runs.
And she cares a lot about her clothes. We get detailed descriptions about what she wears and she ponders about what she is going to wear next. It’s like reading the 70’s Vogue.
I honestly don’t know what her problem is, other than her clothes. He only has eyes for her from the moment he saw her. And she has a lovely, supportive family.
I give 3 stars for the besotted H.
September 27, 2025
It was a good book, the second of the Harlequin novels I have read and well it was mildly interesting, I think I understand the appeal about it because it's basically like a readers digest advertised for women in the 80s or 90s who look for weekly indulgence in literature and magazine outlets.
May 21, 2011
In my quest to read Helen Bianchin's back list, this has been the earliest publication I've found. It was rather exciting actually. I mean I have read Harlequin's from the 80's (found at thrift stores), but I've never read one by my favorite author from 1976.
Anyway, I'm easily excited.
So this was like reading a cross between a classic Helen Bianchin and a classic Jessica Steele. There was a teeny bit of Harlequin Presents-like erotica (Helen) yet there was a very pure - must get married first- sensibility of the Harlequin Romances (Jessica). It worked for me.
The heroine has just been painfully dumped almost the altar when fate leads her to our hero. She, of course, has no interest in being pursued by any man, but this particular man is not taking 'no' for an answer. There is much made throughout this slim novel of how sometimes romances happen very fast (10-13 days max) which I found charming, and the setting of Auckland was fascinating to me.
This find has made my Helen searching very satisfying.
Anyway, I'm easily excited.
So this was like reading a cross between a classic Helen Bianchin and a classic Jessica Steele. There was a teeny bit of Harlequin Presents-like erotica (Helen) yet there was a very pure - must get married first- sensibility of the Harlequin Romances (Jessica). It worked for me.
The heroine has just been painfully dumped almost the altar when fate leads her to our hero. She, of course, has no interest in being pursued by any man, but this particular man is not taking 'no' for an answer. There is much made throughout this slim novel of how sometimes romances happen very fast (10-13 days max) which I found charming, and the setting of Auckland was fascinating to me.
This find has made my Helen searching very satisfying.
June 11, 2013
This book took me forever to finish lol
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews