Half a world away

by Gloria Bevan

Looking for one man, she found another

Nicola, for her Aunt Bella, happily traveled halfway around the world to find a long-lost uncle.

It seemed the perfect holiday — leaving her small, safe world for the excitement of New Zealand. But that was before Keith Lorimer entered her life — or rather, she entered his after an unfortunate accident forced Nicola to recuperate in his home.

Nicola began to enjoy the situation — until Keith's girl friend Annabel made an untimely appearance!

Genres: Harlequin

279 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Gloria Isabel Bevan
aka Fiona Murray, Gloria Bevan

Gloria Isabel was born on 20 July 1911 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia, the daughter of a mining engineer. At three, her family moved to New Zealand, and considers herself a New Zealander. She lived in Auckland, from 1926 to 1936. On 1937, she married Thomas Henry Bevan, a building inspector, and they had three daughters.

After leaving school she worked as a typist, but she had been writing stories for as long as she could remember and feel "there's a certain magic about writing even when the characters refuse to act the way I want them to." She not begin to publishing until she was well into her fifties, first detective novels as Fiona Murray in 1965, She started corresponding with fellow New Zealand writer, Essie Summers who introduced her to publisher Alan Boon and under her married name, Gloria Bevan, she wrote 25 contemporary romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1992, many of which are set in her beloved New Zealand. When not writing, she explored the many and varied exotic locations within reach of her suburban Auckland home. Her obvious love of her country and her particular talent for weaving interesting background information into her novels made her a popular romance writer of her era.

Gloria Bevan was interviewed by New Zealand author Rachel McAlpine in 1992 for The Passionate Pen. This was published in 1998. In The Passionate Pen's Introduction, McAlpine mentions that Gloria Bevan had moved into a rest home. According to New Zealand's National Library website, Mrs Bevan died in 1998

Reviews

[Margo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The h is looking for her long-lost uncle and meets the H. She falls in love with him, and there are signs it is reciprocated, but he also has an incredibly annoying girlfriend who is an up-and-coming designer and whose praises he is constantly singing. Yada yada yada.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heroine is really cute - she's 21, very pretty, sweet but not a doormat, and looking for her long, lost uncle who was last seen 20 years ago via a postcard from a small place in New Zealand. She encounters the hero at the beginning when he is dressed strangely for a centennial celebration. There are lots of encounters/dramas and you can see the hero is really into her. He's a timber boss, handsome, confident and quirky too. He tells her how much he likes her, but she thinks the woman who is always visiting him is the girl he is going to marry, because they get on so well and she's practically perfect. It's not as she is someone he has grown up with when her parents were killed, and it is not romantic, but he admires her as a person. So the heroine blows hot and cold with the hero as so many people are talking about how the hero is mad about the potential OW. There is an OM, who I must say is very unusual as an OM. He's 29, gorgeous and a lifeguard at the beach and he's crazy about the heroine too. The other problem is the heroine wants to find the uncle and the hero knows what has happened, but doesn't tell her (we find out at the end).
It's a really lovely story, with great main characters. The OW is annoying and I wish the hero and heroine had spent a bit more time together in the latter half of the book. The hero was confused by her behaviour but he's so pleased at the end when he understands why.
4 1/2 stars from me.

[GuisBell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tanto secretismo que en serio para nada, malos entendidos, puffff...