Without Love

by Jessica Steele

He accused her unjustly!

Kassia Finn had been shocked when Lyon Mulholland called her up to his executive office in the London firm where she worked--and fired her! And she was knocked more off balance when he went on to block her attempts to find a new job.

But when he realized his mistake and started courting her, Kassia was at wits' end to understand the man--and her own confused feelings for him.

If he was merely trying to make up for the way he'd treated her, then Kassia's heart was in for a real jolt.

Genres: Harlequin Romance, Romance, Harlequin, Hqn

187 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Jessica Steele was born on May 9, 1933 in the elegant Warwickshire town of Royal Leamington Spa. She has two super brothers, Colin and George, and a lovely sister, Elizabeth. She was a delicate child and missed a lot of school. In fact, she left school at aged 14, when she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. At 16, she started work as a junior clerk. In 1967, Jessica married with her husband, Peter and within a very short space of time they had moved from her hometown to the lovely area where they now live. Their house is built into the side of a hill, and has beautiful views over more hills and valleys. Her brothers and her sister are very close and she has plenty of nephews and nieces to make up for the fact that she and her husband have no children of their own. Both she and her husband are more than a little dog-oriented, and their current dog is a Staffordshire bull terrier named Florence. Florence is gorgeous. She loves everybody but, since she is 40 pounds of dynamite and would hurl her boisterous self at everyone she meets - given half a chance - she has to be restrained (as much as possible). She is fun.

Her husband spurred Jessica on to her writing career, giving her every support while she did what she considers her five-year apprenticeship (the rejection years) while learning how to write. She published her first books in 1979. Jessica has tried using a typewriter, but it just doesn't work for her. She is much happier writing in longhand, and in actual fact has a dozen or so fountain pens filled and ready to go at the start of any one session. A friend has a secretarial agency and, after deciphering Jessica's writing, returns an immaculately typed manuscript. To gain authentic background for her books, she has travelled and researched in Greece, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Reviews

[Kiki · Rating 1 out of 5]

1. He blows her off when she makes her move.
2. Then tries to stop her from going on a date with someone else and kisses her which was really sexual assault, heroine needs to file sexual harassment complaints!
3. He then sabotages her date.
4. He propositions her twice to be his mistress. She doesn't budge.
5. He then fires her and she tells him what he can do with his job and his proposition in no uncertain terms.
Then, ONLY THEN, does he talk about feelings and asks for marriage. Bit convenient, don't you think?
And I'm supposed to believe he REALLY wants a wife and it has got nothing to do with trying to get into her pants in any means possible?
Well I don't!

[Ivy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet old fashioned type of romance. It's nice to read about a hot British tycoon one in a while. The hero was a jerk at times but the heroine, while feminine and beautiful, was not a pushover. She really stood up for herself and I felt sorry for her when the hero decided that he was getting too close to her and began to alienate himself. But, in true heroine fashion, she dried her tears and started to date a couple guys on a platonic basis. That drove the hero CRAZY with jealousy. I loved the scene in his office when she got mad at him and implied that she was no longer a virgin. He got soooo angry ! I love how Jessica Steele's heroes are always eager to be the taker of the heroine's virginity. It's so old fashioned and adorably sexy. Damn, but I am enjoying re-reading my Jessica Steele novels. I have had them for years in hard copy and have just started getting digital copies to enjoy.

[Leona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm downgrading this to one star. The term "mediocre" doesn't do justice to this train wreck.

Both the heroine and hero are total idiots which is absurd given the hero is a successful business man running a multi-million dollar empire. As expected from a book by Jessica Steele, the writing style is bad. The difference is that this story lacks the charm that usually makes it easy to overlook the bad writing. The book goes from one bad episode of sexual harassment to another.

A lawyer would have a field day with this situation, but the heroine's too stupid to seek one out.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apart from the fact that the heroine (22) spends countless evenings in her flat lamenting about the hero, she was quite entertaining. The hero (37) blows hot and cold and keeps her waiting around whilst he has weeks where he doesn’t want to see her, because he is in love with her?! He doesn’t want to get married so he thinks if he avoids her, it will all blow over. He leaves for Australia and sends her a postcard from the airport asking for dinner when he gets back, then she hears nothing more. So after almost two months, she drives to his house and down his drive and sees him. He greets her coldly and she says - oh you’ve just got home, you must be jet lagged. He says that he has been home 9 days. Oh the humiliation. So what I did not like was the perpetual rejections he gives her when fighting the attraction. She is feisty, but it’s obvious she is desperate for him and he only gives in after she refuses to sleep with him.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars ~ Kassia is very good at her job as secretary. Having just worked a grueling three weeks with her boss on a very important tender, she's relieved when it's finally done. But the tension has played a toll on her boss, and he suffered a nervous breakdown, something Kassia feels guilty for not seeing the warning signs. When the chairman of the board, Lyon Mulholland, calls her up to his office, she thinks it's to praise her hard efforts. Much to her shock, she's been dismissed for a clumsy blunder (or an intentional betrayal) of putting the tender in the wrong envelope and actually sending it to their competitor, thus giving them the advantage. Not given the chance to defend herself, she never tells Lyon that it was her boss that actually handled the post that day, as he had also sent her home early for her hard work. In the weeks that follow, Kassia can't understand why, even though her interviews were most positive, she's being rejected for every position she applies for. Then it dawns on her. On the eve of another interview, she phones Lyon and tells him the company she's interviewing for, only to be told harshly, not to bother. And to further confirm her suspicions, the next day as she arrives for her interview, Lyon is departing, and the receptionist tells her that the position is filled. Yelling after Lyon, she tells him that he should get his facts straight. On her next interview, she's actually amazed that she's offered the job immediately and that her former employment sent high praises from the top. Not able to keep her curiosity at bay, Kassia calls Lyon again thanking him, and he tells her not to forget to call him when she gets a promotion. And this starts their courtship.

This is one of those light flirty reads that, though the plot is a bit contrived, is great fun to read. If you can get used to the run-on paragraph sentences, Ms. Steele has a pleasant writing voice and a great sense of humour. Kassia is a spunky and quick witted woman who tends to let her temper get the best of her, which often leads to her foot in her mouth. Lyon is a strong hero, who is quite smitten with Kassia but quickly sees he'll only hurt her as he doesn't believe in marriage. Lyon's character was a bit frustrating to read, as he played hot and cold. After being open and relaxed, he'd suddenly turn harsh and abrasive. Though we're given the reason at the end, it just didn't jive with me. But Kassia's character more than makes up for Lyon's lacking, and these two make a great couple. This is an enjoyable read for a rainy afternoon.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lunacy of this book made it appealing to me, but it's one where, like Jane Corrie's The Impossible Boss, you need to recognize that you are entering into a cartoon of a romance novel. If you don't read it in that frame of mind, it will make your head explode.

The H owns the company where the h works. She is fired due to an error that her boss, a lovely older family man, made because he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Not only that, the H is so livid at the error that he prevents her from getting a job anywhere else. She runs into him on the way out of an interview where she has shown up only to be told that the company has already found an internal candidate. She realizes that the H is on the board there, and in fact, he shows up as she is leaving. She loses it and yells at him so much she is forcibly removed from the building. The next day she gets a call about another interview and figures she won't waste the shoe leather, so she asks if they have talked to her former company. The woman who has called her says that they have received the highest recommendation from the H's company. She ends up getting the job and calls the H to thank him. He is abrupt and dismissive but closes the call by telling her sarcastically to call him when she gets a promotion. A few weeks later, she gets a promotion, and she calls him, and we're off to the races in one of the most egregious cases of workplace sexual harassment in the annals of time.

It turns out that yes, he did fire her and prevent her from getting any of the jobs she applied for. When he found out she was interviewing at the company where she ended up calling him a cretinous oaf, he made a point of being there so he could see her. So he prevents her from getting work elsewhere simply so he can see her. Then he arranges for her to work at a company that his company is acquiring. Then he arranges for her to get a promotion so that she'll call him. From that point, he engineers occasions where she has to be with him, and eventually asks her to be his mistress. She declines, whereupon he ignores her for quite a while months, but when she is asked out by a co-worker in his earshot, he calls her up to the office and warns her about dating this co-worker, who is a womanizer. He makes her wait until she storms into his office. He tells her that the co-worker will not be interested in a virgin and that he definitely isn't going to be interested in marriage. She says that it has been a long time -- two months -- since she told him that and what makes him think she is still a virgin, whereupon the H loses his everloving mind and slams her up against a wall and kisses her brutally, even though the kiss turns tender. She punches him with all her strength and leaves. Surprise, surprise, he prevents her from going out on the date by inventing a project for the man to work on that evening.

Yadda yadda yadda, more clashes, a reiteration of the mistress offer, which she declines. The chain of events finally culminates in him firing her by interoffice memo. She storms upstairs, calls him a swine in front of the people he is meeting with. They leave hurriedly, and he explains that he was reluctant to love her and was actually relieved she declined the mistress offer. He only sent her the firing memo TO GET HER TO COME TO HIS OFFICE, because, you know, as owner of the company he couldn't simply ask her to come to his office for a meeting. However, considering that he got her the promotion so she'd call him because he missed speaking with her, there is a bit of a pattern. Anyhoo, he acknowledges that he has completely lost his mind over her, proposes, and then HEA.

Despite all the shocking behavior, the book is a little slow at times, but not for that long, but not many authors could match to the blistering pace of bad behavior that Corrie set in The Impossible Boss. The good news is that there is no time for OW drama -- the H is all about the h, all the time. Presumably now that he has her he will go back to being a captain of industry Superbaby.

[Sruthi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only if the book can be as interesting as the blurb .

1 star and I feel its overrated .

[LLC · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the blurb from back cover


He accused her unjustly!

Kassia Finn had been shocked when Lyon Mulholland called her up to his executive office in the London firm where she worked--and fired her! And she was knocked more off balance when he went on to block her attempts to find a new job.

But when he realized his mistake and started courting her, Kassia was at wits' end to understand the man--and her own confused feelings for him.

If he was merely trying to make up for the way he'd treated her, then Kassia's heart was in for a real jolt.

[Laur Laur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these older categories seem to end so suddenly upon a resolution. Not so with this book. The last 20 pages was a recap of pretty much the whole book, with the mc's discussing all of their interactions.

This was pretty cute, with the heroine having absolutely no control whatsoever of her emotions, not to mention any boundaries. Her falling in love with him was adorable, her somewhat stalking of him was a little wacky, her hurt was painful, and her flying-off-the-handle anger and rages were epic. I'm pretty sure when she whacked him, it was with a fist and not an open hand. When this girl felt things, she really felt things.

The hero lost a star. He was a bit cowardly, and he totally ghosted her after some really good times together. No reason, no explanation. It was just plain mean, and his reason for doing it was lame. He should have told her he wasn't interested, even if it was a lie, instead of leaving her hanging and hoping. Bad hero!

[Mell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bad Romance novel I read in high school while babysitting. Perhaps cliche books like this (rich, alpha business man and the secretary he harasses/pursues) set me on the road to feminism.

[RomLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

He accused her unjustly!

Kassia Finn had been shocked when Lyon Mulholland called her up to his executive office in the London firm where she worked--and fired her! And she was knocked more off balance when he went on to block her attempts to find a new job.

But when he realized his mistake and started courting her, Kassia was at wits' end to understand the man--and her own confused feelings for him.

If he was merely trying to make up for the way he'd treated her, then Kassia's heart was in for a real jolt

[Debby · Rating 2 out of 5]

She called him too often, even in the beginning, after he treated her badly. Have some pride.

He didn’t call her, but she kept calling him with some kind of ‘news’ she wanted to tell him.

I like the man to be bamboozled by the woman from the first time they meet. But he wasn’t.

[NatalyaVqs · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was decent and had great buildup, however, the plot was inane, chauvinistic and reeked strongly of sexual harassment. The hero was so patronizing it was hard to take. I understand it was written in the eighties, but its a manual of what not to write about. And, in case you didn't get enough of the plot the first time, the whole third of the book is dedicated to rehashing the plot over again, so you can't possibly forget how bad it was in the first place.

[Trenchologist · Rating 2 out of 5]

About as trope-y for this set-up as you can get. I've mentioned about Steele before: sometimes her old skools really work for me, sometimes they just really don't. She has wit and allows her heroines backbone, but beware the run-on sentence paragraphs. Two stars because I liked the very end, which redeems the whole somewhat.

Otherwise, way too 'those kinds of tropes' for me. They're gonna clash and clang at each other until suddenly all is revealed, and then it's nothing but ott love. Which I find both tedious in set-up and flimsy in relationship arc--will a marriage based mostly on hot flashes of lust and fighting over contrived or ridiculous misunderstandings really last? Maybe if they're the types to enjoy a lifetime of fights & the make-up sex.

Thin, thin plot that's rehashed thrice. Heroine who is both Innocent but Feisty. Hero who is more than Domineering or Aloof, too too much the 80s lordly tycoon type for me. But! I liked that she wasn't a total pushover and I'm a sucker for a guy who hides everything because secret interior vulnerabilities and ~feelings, and there's that in spades -- if you skip to the last 20-some pages.

My recommendation: Read only the final chapter (nine) and consider it a heady novella. The whole plot is retold (again), he's contrite but still old skool, she's got sweetness and spine, and the HEA actually feels good at this point.

[Raffaella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute old style hp, where the hero is the boss and keeps blowing hot and cold with the heroine. First he fires her because he thinks she’s some kind of spy, then he hires her again and dates her, then he goes for a business trip and when he comes back he basically ignores her for weeks, then he gets all jealous when the heroine dates other men. The heroine never behaves like a doormat and she’s really feisty and strong for that age and years, she’s basically only 22 while he’s older, but she always speaks up for herself. And in the end he asks her to be his mistress and when she refuses he fires her. When she goes to his office to rip him another one he tells her he’s loved her all along and was trying to let her go because in his family every couples have divorced and there’s not one happy couple. And the heroine who’s sensible and down to earth answers that in her family everyone has a happy marriage, so they will get married and be happy. The book was low angst and quite a time travel because the heroine is a secretary and that seems to be the career most wanted by women that age and every male colleague has a crush on her. No ow and the heroine dates other men but only has dinner with them as the good girl she is.

[F.]

So he thinks, without a piece of evidence, she is an industrial spy, he fires her and then he blocks any opportunity for a new job... Finally he decides to hire her in other company of his holding!?
So mature and professional!!


Is he REALLY asking her if she's virgin in the middle of a dinner in a public place!? How old is he!? Fifteen!?

"...that made her guess he'd thank she doesn't ask him personal questions."
Hahahahahahaha!!


Wait! He was treating her like trash and in the next scene he has a hand on her brests!? Again... IS HE FIFTEEN!?


"—You are beautiful — Lyon whispered while he saw her hard nipples."
I guess I had too much expectations!! But it's other poor book where a rich experienced jerk who takes advantage of a "poor" innocent young woman... ((Sigh)) Oh, the next is better yet.. ((Sigh))


Nice, what's next!? Rape maybe!? No, sorry!!
#WelcomeToTrashTin

[Anuradha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing great but not bad either.

The rich business magnate with a jaded view on life and love.

The innocent, fiery working girl dares to confront him but secretly falls for him.

There is a on and off treatment of their relationship. Suddenly they are clinging to each other and kissing wildly. Then abruptly start acting like warring dogs !!

Love seems to bring out all their insecurities and fears. Making them act weird. Understandable. The author could have put in a little more effort into the heroes character, and traced his behaviour with better underlying emotions.

Decent read. 3 stars.

[Gogol · Rating 1 out of 5]

I first read the last page to see if it was worth reading it at all, and even if the whole book had been a ten star read which I doubt the last chapter in itself would detract 15 stars.
The hero is a blubbering, incoherent idiot whose disjointed, halting mumblings when he was trying to tell the heroine he was in love with her were worse than than what he’d done, he’d propositioned her the night before to have an affair with her and when she’d refused had had her terminated from her job, without notice in the hopes of getting her to storm into his office and shout at him so that he could propose which he actually didn’t.

[Mona Elsayed · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little boring but I liked the ending

[Anne Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear, this one has all the tropes. It's Alpha Male Boss, a Billionaire (natch), raging around in order to Save the Maidenhead from himself and every other male, until he can Claim His Bride, the Naive Young Secretary who Falls in Love 4evah at the age of 22 by page 68 (though still occasionally having tantrums, which Proves She's a Redheaded Hellcat Not a Lamb, despite having no control over her life as soon as Older/Wiser Lover enters the picture).

You've all seen this before, folks; there's not much else to say. Well, except for the thirty pages of detailed Explanation and Declaration he does at the end, rehashing the entire novel for us, demonstrating how all his Inappropriate, Yet Manly, Boorishness was really the Pangs of Twu Wuv (not actually Sexual Harassment, which it totally was), so we can see his Masculine Vulnerability, which Only She Can Heal. sigh.

You really can't go back again, and these oldies, while absolutely classic old-style HQ/Mills & Boon nostalgia pieces, simply don't fly much any more. A lot of the writing is pretty purple, but I kind of enjoyed it - all that amusing old soap opera angst. A few bits had some genuinely pretty language. And I finished it, so that says something.

1.5/5, rounded up to 2/5, as per my custom.

[Diedre · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first impression was the writing of the author which seemed kind of choppy. And there were many "Englandisms" that didn't make sense to an American like me. But I kept reading and became so enraptured with the way the heroine was portrayed in her naïve and innocent ways, not understanding where the hero was coming from, I couldn't put it down. The mystery of where the hero was coming from, constantly giving her mixed signals, brought me through to the end. And by that time, I was totally invested in desiring that HEA. So it became for me, an exceptional piece of writing of which I am putting on my re-read list!

[Richa Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice sweet story

[EeeJay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just didn't connect with me. Meh.