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Escape Me Never
There was simply no escaping love...
Cassie Linton turned unobtrusiveness into an art. She wasn't a frustrated widow--ripe for the taking--and she went out of her way to avoid appealing to the opposite sex.
But the day she was forced to present Grant Industries with a new ad campaign for Eve Cosmetics, Rohan Grant saw right through her Operation Chameleon. And he liked what he saw.
In no time Cassie was on the run. Rohan reminded her too much of her late husband. She couldn't know that in Rohan's case escape was unnecessary--and completely out of the question!
Cassie Linton turned unobtrusiveness into an art. She wasn't a frustrated widow--ripe for the taking--and she went out of her way to avoid appealing to the opposite sex.
But the day she was forced to present Grant Industries with a new ad campaign for Eve Cosmetics, Rohan Grant saw right through her Operation Chameleon. And he liked what he saw.
In no time Cassie was on the run. Rohan reminded her too much of her late husband. She couldn't know that in Rohan's case escape was unnecessary--and completely out of the question!
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
2 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Sara Craven
494 books269 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 29, 2016
Re Escape Me Never - This is the usual SC alphabully paired with an h I like but who really needed therapy instead of a lurve clubbing. I am trying to be fair - it isn't a BAD book, but it pushes a lot of buttons for me on a moral level and so my synopsization is probably a bit biased.
The h is a young widow with a child who works for an advertising agency. They are going after a big cosmetics account and the h is forced to step in as the main seller. She is normally an ideas lady and doesn't do client presentations. The rest of the staff convince her to change her look for the presentation, so she dresses up and puts on more makeup than she usually uses. The client is the H and he takes one look at the h and decides she needs to be his next conquest.
After the presentation, he asks her out and she firmly rebuffs him. She is sick with the flu the next day and he shows up and informs her that he will be bedding her soon. He really reminds her of her dead husband and for the h, that thought is not good. She tells him she isn't interested and he accuses her of being a lesbian. Then the H starts forcing his way into her personal life, using all sorts of reasons in his pursuit of her. It really did not work for me, but could be seen as an alpha determination to get his woman thing, I guess.
He criticizes her clothes, her look and rides rough shod over any protests she might make. He criticizes her because she doesn't share her story with all and sundry or date men from work. She dresses business appropriately and the H wants her in more feminine clothes. He is a bullying nightmare and I just don't like people being forced to change their personal style at the behest of a man - no matter how hot they look.
In fact everyone thinks the h should be showing off her assets more and capitalizing on them. (None of her outfits seemed that bad to me, but they are described as camouflage preventing men from picking up on her. Apparently she is supposed to be anxious to grab a man since she is hot and widowed and all.) The h does actually go out with another man over the course of the book (her clothes couldn't have been that bad, she got a date or six), she likes him, but the non H gets all jealous and possessive too, and the h has to cut him off.
The h repeatedly makes it clear that she isn't interested in any type of personal relationship with the H, but he just doesn't take no for an answer. The h has a young daughter and when the H can't get close to the h, he uses the daughter to force personal contact. 30 years ago, I did not think too much about it, but now I just wonder what kind of weirdo he is. He shows up to take the daughter out with his nephews and various other ploys. He tells the little girl he will be her daddy when the plot moppet asks if he is there to fill that role.
That was another thing that bothered me in the book. The little girl is already confused because the h has her in a school that is very well qualified but emphasizes traditional gender roles. I understood why the h sent her there. The school had an excellent reputation and a good academic program and you had to start at the beginning to attend, but the little girl is continually made to feel different because her mum is a single parent.
The H uses the girl's natural confusion to basically take over the h and her life. I don't like the little kid used as a pawn trope, and yet again I have to wonder about the H. If it weren't HPLandia and thirty years ago, I would be looking for a bigger skillet.
As it is my 12 inch skillet seems barely big enough. The H and his sister consistently interfere with the h's parenting decisions, the sister going so far as to reprimand the h for her parenting when the h doesn't want her daughter involved with the sister's family and doesn't want the little girl spending her holidays with them. That REALLY irks me to no end.
I don't give a green snot who or how much an authority someone thinks they are on child rearing - unless the child is being abused or hurt, you just don't mess with parenting decisions - especially with a woman and a child you have met ONCE, and never as part of a plot to isolate a woman with a man she has consistently told she doesn't want to be involved with. Nor do you lecture multiple times when the woman doesn't instantly comply with your demands.
The H's sister was just ridiculous and I wanted to smack her silly. Actually, it sorta makes me wonder even more about these people, the sister was waaay too compliant with the H's machinations, especially for people she barely knew. I hate the interfering relative trope and this one was a doozy.
To top it all off, the h's marriage was highly abusive and the h was running away when her ex was killed while chasing after them. The little girl was still having nightmares from the trauma of her father's abuse and seeing him die, there is no way she should have been left at the sister's house if her mum was not present.
However dumping the little girl on the sister was the H's plan to kidnap the h and force her to have sex with him. While not flat out rape, it was a very forced seduction. Though the story follows the usual HP trope of being the best ever and the h is now magically "cured" by the power of the Club, the continual bullying tactics of the H leave a very bad taste in the mouth. I am not seeing how the H was much different than the h's first husband in behavior, except he isn't into obvious S & M with the whips and chains. (It might have been on the agenda, I just don't know.)
Anyhow, after a night of forced seduction where the h is "released" from her sexual trauma, the h decides the H has gotten what he wanted and goes to get her child. The little girl has a hissy fit, saying the H told her they were getting married and she gets a flower girl dress. The H's sister comes in and runs her mouth again, she insists that the H loves her (or her kid,) and the h decides to go back and face the H.
Frankly, I wasn't getting the love vibe from the H either, it was more like he wanted to control, manipulate and score because the h was the only woman in a 5000 kilo radius not falling at his feet to be his girl toy - but this IS HPlandia and Sara said, so I guess you have to go with it.
The h goes back to the H and the sister tells her she wants her to be her sister in law, ( here I was thinking the h wouldn't and shouldn't want to have a SIL like the H's sister - she was just a nightmare and the bullying between the H and his sister would never end.)
The H accuses the h of using him to get over her sex hangups, making it all her fault as per the HP standards. The h confesses she loves him, and wanted to protect him from having the h and child too dependent on him. The H supposedly loves her, wants to be a dad to the little girl and wishes the child was biologically his and then HEA with wedding planning to be done by the sister - as apparently the h isn't capable of making her own choices.
Overall it is an okay book, I just had too many little quirks to really like it and the H was way too manipulative for too long. Had it only been the H, I would have been more tolerant, but the addition of the H's sister and her patronizing garbage irked me a LOT. If interfering family members and people making continual sexist comments and berating a person's personal style don't bother you, then this one would probably be a tolerable read for a quick break. I just wasn't feeling the lurve, and I really wished the h had gotten some actual therapy for her issues, rather than a whole family of bullies.
The h is a young widow with a child who works for an advertising agency. They are going after a big cosmetics account and the h is forced to step in as the main seller. She is normally an ideas lady and doesn't do client presentations. The rest of the staff convince her to change her look for the presentation, so she dresses up and puts on more makeup than she usually uses. The client is the H and he takes one look at the h and decides she needs to be his next conquest.
After the presentation, he asks her out and she firmly rebuffs him. She is sick with the flu the next day and he shows up and informs her that he will be bedding her soon. He really reminds her of her dead husband and for the h, that thought is not good. She tells him she isn't interested and he accuses her of being a lesbian. Then the H starts forcing his way into her personal life, using all sorts of reasons in his pursuit of her. It really did not work for me, but could be seen as an alpha determination to get his woman thing, I guess.
He criticizes her clothes, her look and rides rough shod over any protests she might make. He criticizes her because she doesn't share her story with all and sundry or date men from work. She dresses business appropriately and the H wants her in more feminine clothes. He is a bullying nightmare and I just don't like people being forced to change their personal style at the behest of a man - no matter how hot they look.
In fact everyone thinks the h should be showing off her assets more and capitalizing on them. (None of her outfits seemed that bad to me, but they are described as camouflage preventing men from picking up on her. Apparently she is supposed to be anxious to grab a man since she is hot and widowed and all.) The h does actually go out with another man over the course of the book (her clothes couldn't have been that bad, she got a date or six), she likes him, but the non H gets all jealous and possessive too, and the h has to cut him off.
The h repeatedly makes it clear that she isn't interested in any type of personal relationship with the H, but he just doesn't take no for an answer. The h has a young daughter and when the H can't get close to the h, he uses the daughter to force personal contact. 30 years ago, I did not think too much about it, but now I just wonder what kind of weirdo he is. He shows up to take the daughter out with his nephews and various other ploys. He tells the little girl he will be her daddy when the plot moppet asks if he is there to fill that role.
That was another thing that bothered me in the book. The little girl is already confused because the h has her in a school that is very well qualified but emphasizes traditional gender roles. I understood why the h sent her there. The school had an excellent reputation and a good academic program and you had to start at the beginning to attend, but the little girl is continually made to feel different because her mum is a single parent.
The H uses the girl's natural confusion to basically take over the h and her life. I don't like the little kid used as a pawn trope, and yet again I have to wonder about the H. If it weren't HPLandia and thirty years ago, I would be looking for a bigger skillet.
As it is my 12 inch skillet seems barely big enough. The H and his sister consistently interfere with the h's parenting decisions, the sister going so far as to reprimand the h for her parenting when the h doesn't want her daughter involved with the sister's family and doesn't want the little girl spending her holidays with them. That REALLY irks me to no end.
I don't give a green snot who or how much an authority someone thinks they are on child rearing - unless the child is being abused or hurt, you just don't mess with parenting decisions - especially with a woman and a child you have met ONCE, and never as part of a plot to isolate a woman with a man she has consistently told she doesn't want to be involved with. Nor do you lecture multiple times when the woman doesn't instantly comply with your demands.
The H's sister was just ridiculous and I wanted to smack her silly. Actually, it sorta makes me wonder even more about these people, the sister was waaay too compliant with the H's machinations, especially for people she barely knew. I hate the interfering relative trope and this one was a doozy.
To top it all off, the h's marriage was highly abusive and the h was running away when her ex was killed while chasing after them. The little girl was still having nightmares from the trauma of her father's abuse and seeing him die, there is no way she should have been left at the sister's house if her mum was not present.
However dumping the little girl on the sister was the H's plan to kidnap the h and force her to have sex with him. While not flat out rape, it was a very forced seduction. Though the story follows the usual HP trope of being the best ever and the h is now magically "cured" by the power of the Club, the continual bullying tactics of the H leave a very bad taste in the mouth. I am not seeing how the H was much different than the h's first husband in behavior, except he isn't into obvious S & M with the whips and chains. (It might have been on the agenda, I just don't know.)
Anyhow, after a night of forced seduction where the h is "released" from her sexual trauma, the h decides the H has gotten what he wanted and goes to get her child. The little girl has a hissy fit, saying the H told her they were getting married and she gets a flower girl dress. The H's sister comes in and runs her mouth again, she insists that the H loves her (or her kid,) and the h decides to go back and face the H.
Frankly, I wasn't getting the love vibe from the H either, it was more like he wanted to control, manipulate and score because the h was the only woman in a 5000 kilo radius not falling at his feet to be his girl toy - but this IS HPlandia and Sara said, so I guess you have to go with it.
The h goes back to the H and the sister tells her she wants her to be her sister in law, ( here I was thinking the h wouldn't and shouldn't want to have a SIL like the H's sister - she was just a nightmare and the bullying between the H and his sister would never end.)
The H accuses the h of using him to get over her sex hangups, making it all her fault as per the HP standards. The h confesses she loves him, and wanted to protect him from having the h and child too dependent on him. The H supposedly loves her, wants to be a dad to the little girl and wishes the child was biologically his and then HEA with wedding planning to be done by the sister - as apparently the h isn't capable of making her own choices.
Overall it is an okay book, I just had too many little quirks to really like it and the H was way too manipulative for too long. Had it only been the H, I would have been more tolerant, but the addition of the H's sister and her patronizing garbage irked me a LOT. If interfering family members and people making continual sexist comments and berating a person's personal style don't bother you, then this one would probably be a tolerable read for a quick break. I just wasn't feeling the lurve, and I really wished the h had gotten some actual therapy for her issues, rather than a whole family of bullies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2013
I liked this book, but it didn't blow me away. While I appreciate Sara Craven's books, I'm not sure I was quite in the mood for it. Her heroines are kind of fragile and emotionally needy, and I wasn't feeling that when I read this. I think I wanted something with a little more pizzazz and chemistry between the characters, and some snappy dialogue, and that's not this book. However, it's still a good love story.
This book relies heavily on the misunderstandings between the main characters. As with many of the older HPs, we don't get much POV, so we have to decide the hero's motives solely based on his actions along with the heroine. Cass is the 'ideas girl' at an ad agency, and Rohan is the big client they are pitching to. He immediately takes a liking to her, and she doesn't get why, and she doesn't want a man in her life. Period. Been there, bought the t-shirt, and no more please. The hero Rohan wants something more, but Cass thinks he just wants sex. She doesn't stop to think that this guy could have any woman he wants, and he certainly doesn't need put in the effort to go after her. Especially when it's apparent how complicated her life is. I really liked how Rohan was totally committed to making an effort to be with Cass, even when he found out how dire her marriage had been and how troubled Cass was as a result. I liked how fast he bonded to her daughter, and how he was at Cass's bedside when she was sick. It was a loud sign that he was in this for real and for the duration.
I liked Rohan and I liked Cass, but I didn't love either of them. I felt like their bond could have been more intense. The emotions didn't jump off the page at me, which is what I love in a book. Instead, this was just a pleasant read.
One thing I didn't like was Rohan's solution to their problem as far as letting Cass's daughter know about their upcoming nuptials. I'm just persnickety about such things. Also, some readers might find Rohan a tad manipulative in his approach to winning over Cass. It didn't bother me excessively.
End Verdict: A good book by an author I really enjoy, but not a favorite and not a standout read.
Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
This book relies heavily on the misunderstandings between the main characters. As with many of the older HPs, we don't get much POV, so we have to decide the hero's motives solely based on his actions along with the heroine. Cass is the 'ideas girl' at an ad agency, and Rohan is the big client they are pitching to. He immediately takes a liking to her, and she doesn't get why, and she doesn't want a man in her life. Period. Been there, bought the t-shirt, and no more please. The hero Rohan wants something more, but Cass thinks he just wants sex. She doesn't stop to think that this guy could have any woman he wants, and he certainly doesn't need put in the effort to go after her. Especially when it's apparent how complicated her life is. I really liked how Rohan was totally committed to making an effort to be with Cass, even when he found out how dire her marriage had been and how troubled Cass was as a result. I liked how fast he bonded to her daughter, and how he was at Cass's bedside when she was sick. It was a loud sign that he was in this for real and for the duration.
I liked Rohan and I liked Cass, but I didn't love either of them. I felt like their bond could have been more intense. The emotions didn't jump off the page at me, which is what I love in a book. Instead, this was just a pleasant read.
One thing I didn't like was Rohan's solution to their problem as far as letting Cass's daughter know about their upcoming nuptials. I'm just persnickety about such things. Also, some readers might find Rohan a tad manipulative in his approach to winning over Cass. It didn't bother me excessively.
End Verdict: A good book by an author I really enjoy, but not a favorite and not a standout read.
Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
April 11, 2016
Single mother Cassie wears ugly pants suits and works at an advertising agency. Stop wearing gross clothes, we want to sexualize you in the workplace! Her colleagues and bosses say. She mostly tells them to sod off. She’s a feminist!
Her daughter’s school tell her she has to do canteen duty (or some other ‘women don’t work’ school job), or be condemned as the most evil and neglectful mother alive. Cassie feels the guilt.
When the agency’s usual pitcher can’t make it, Cassie is compelled to put on a short skirt and heels and present to a client.
That client is sexy businessman Rohan, and he’s super taken with Cassie. So taken in fact, that when she doesn’t show up for work the next day he shows up at her flat, meets her daughter, and gives Cassie soup or something (she’s sick with the flu). Rohan is completely insistent that Cassie belongs to him, and spends the book bullying her about it.
As soon as I know there’s a kid in a romance, I get really tense. I get why there are kids in romance – romance readers are women, women have kids, and women with kids are awesome and sexy and should have as much romance in their lives as they need or want. It’s just that I know how this is going to turn out. The kid’s going to latch on to the man as new daddy way before the mother is ready to see the relationship as developing into anything. The kid is this kind of validation for the instinct to be in love that the heroine is fighting against.
The problem with that is it feels like the heroine is now going along with a relationship with the hero to keep her kid happy. This seems completely exactly what you would do if you were a single mother and some guy came along and said ‘let’s get married’ and your kid liked him. Even if you weren’t that sure, hey what the heck, right? If your kid’s happy, at least there’s that and you can take at least a short break from feeling like you’re the worst mother alive.
And of course, that right there is the other problem: the majority of single mothers in romances are told that they’re doing a terrible job of it. They’re also feeling that they’re doing a terrible job of it, which they aren’t. And it would actually be a pretty terrible thing if a woman became a better mother just because she got married. I mean, I get that she’ll be happier and in love and her kid will benefit from being around a happier mother. Probably because I grew up with a working mother, I don’t get what is so emotionally devastating to a child about their mother not doing canteen duty. It’s not neglect, and it bugs me that each time a single mother shows up in a Mills & Boon, I tense up because I think the author is hinting at neglect.
And how is getting married actually changing the relationship between mother and child? Nobody has to wait until someone else to come into their life to examine how their own actions are affecting the people they love.
It doesn’t take long before Rohan is setting up play dates for her kid with his nephews, because her kid needs to get out more. And her kid needs her to lighten up, and needs a nice place to live, and needs a dad. Rohan is immediately an expert on all the things Cassie is doing wrong as a mother.
Cassie is that fairly standard Sara Craven heroine who genuinely doesn’t want to like the hero. She spends most of the book rejecting him, and then part of the book insanely jealous over the other woman (who is really an afterthought anyway), and a small part of the book regretting that her actions are driving the hero away forever. I have a soft spot for Craven’s horribly difficult and bitter women; because they are always so sad, and even the nicest of heroes spend most of the book getting her all wrong. I had a lot of sympathy for Cassie, she’d had (to put it mildly) a tough time with her first marriage.
Rohan’s … not great on paper. He sounds great in summary, he thinks Cassie is super sexy, and he’s great with kids and genuinely likes and cares for her daughter. He has a lovely family who think the world of him. It’s just unfortunate that most of his interactions with Cassie make him a controlling bully.
I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy this book, which is a shame. The elements I did like were that Cassie was incredibly competent in a highly competitive job, and was very confident and ready to stand up for herself. I’ll reluctantly admit that Rohan does make a point of appreciating her competence, rather than going into caveman mode and insisting she should be home with her kid.
Her daughter’s school tell her she has to do canteen duty (or some other ‘women don’t work’ school job), or be condemned as the most evil and neglectful mother alive. Cassie feels the guilt.
When the agency’s usual pitcher can’t make it, Cassie is compelled to put on a short skirt and heels and present to a client.
That client is sexy businessman Rohan, and he’s super taken with Cassie. So taken in fact, that when she doesn’t show up for work the next day he shows up at her flat, meets her daughter, and gives Cassie soup or something (she’s sick with the flu). Rohan is completely insistent that Cassie belongs to him, and spends the book bullying her about it.
As soon as I know there’s a kid in a romance, I get really tense. I get why there are kids in romance – romance readers are women, women have kids, and women with kids are awesome and sexy and should have as much romance in their lives as they need or want. It’s just that I know how this is going to turn out. The kid’s going to latch on to the man as new daddy way before the mother is ready to see the relationship as developing into anything. The kid is this kind of validation for the instinct to be in love that the heroine is fighting against.
The problem with that is it feels like the heroine is now going along with a relationship with the hero to keep her kid happy. This seems completely exactly what you would do if you were a single mother and some guy came along and said ‘let’s get married’ and your kid liked him. Even if you weren’t that sure, hey what the heck, right? If your kid’s happy, at least there’s that and you can take at least a short break from feeling like you’re the worst mother alive.
And of course, that right there is the other problem: the majority of single mothers in romances are told that they’re doing a terrible job of it. They’re also feeling that they’re doing a terrible job of it, which they aren’t. And it would actually be a pretty terrible thing if a woman became a better mother just because she got married. I mean, I get that she’ll be happier and in love and her kid will benefit from being around a happier mother. Probably because I grew up with a working mother, I don’t get what is so emotionally devastating to a child about their mother not doing canteen duty. It’s not neglect, and it bugs me that each time a single mother shows up in a Mills & Boon, I tense up because I think the author is hinting at neglect.
And how is getting married actually changing the relationship between mother and child? Nobody has to wait until someone else to come into their life to examine how their own actions are affecting the people they love.
It doesn’t take long before Rohan is setting up play dates for her kid with his nephews, because her kid needs to get out more. And her kid needs her to lighten up, and needs a nice place to live, and needs a dad. Rohan is immediately an expert on all the things Cassie is doing wrong as a mother.
Cassie is that fairly standard Sara Craven heroine who genuinely doesn’t want to like the hero. She spends most of the book rejecting him, and then part of the book insanely jealous over the other woman (who is really an afterthought anyway), and a small part of the book regretting that her actions are driving the hero away forever. I have a soft spot for Craven’s horribly difficult and bitter women; because they are always so sad, and even the nicest of heroes spend most of the book getting her all wrong. I had a lot of sympathy for Cassie, she’d had (to put it mildly) a tough time with her first marriage.
Rohan’s … not great on paper. He sounds great in summary, he thinks Cassie is super sexy, and he’s great with kids and genuinely likes and cares for her daughter. He has a lovely family who think the world of him. It’s just unfortunate that most of his interactions with Cassie make him a controlling bully.
I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy this book, which is a shame. The elements I did like were that Cassie was incredibly competent in a highly competitive job, and was very confident and ready to stand up for herself. I’ll reluctantly admit that Rohan does make a point of appreciating her competence, rather than going into caveman mode and insisting she should be home with her kid.
May 7, 2020
This is another review I don't have to worry about too much because the amazing Boogenhagen has already got this one covered.
Needless to say the h definitely looks like a young Stephanie Beacham (in Dynasty not Tenko)
The H needed a restraining order or 3 taking out on him to leave the h alone but he doesn't get the message and pursues her relentlessly. He is a smug git who thinks he knows best.
The way he used her daughter was awful as was the way he called her by her full name despite her asking him not to and explaining why she loathes it (Her dead hubby used her full name when he was about to abuse her). Don't even get me started on his enabling sister.
H should definitely gone about pursuing her in a different manner to achieve his aim. Wazzock x10!
Needless to say the h definitely looks like a young Stephanie Beacham (in Dynasty not Tenko)
The H needed a restraining order or 3 taking out on him to leave the h alone but he doesn't get the message and pursues her relentlessly. He is a smug git who thinks he knows best.
The way he used her daughter was awful as was the way he called her by her full name despite her asking him not to and explaining why she loathes it (Her dead hubby used her full name when he was about to abuse her). Don't even get me started on his enabling sister.
H should definitely gone about pursuing her in a different manner to achieve his aim. Wazzock x10!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2020
This was a pretty decent read, for a Harlequin novel. The heroine had a very traumatic background and a lot to get over. Got thing that the hero was such a patient and persistent guy for a Harlequin novel alpha male. The heroine's daughter was really sweet, but I wish the hero hadn't spoken to the child first about his plans for his mother; it's not nice to put a woman on the spot like that.
Safety notes:
Safety notes:
August 13, 2010
This fondly reminded me of Mad Men, only less cynical. Cassie, a widow and single mother, is put on the spot by her employer, and forced to present ideas to a potential client account, owned by the dangerously handsome Rohan Grant. He instantly takes a liking for her, and with equally dangerous determination sets out to win her and whisk her away. He succeeds with Cassie's daughter, Jodie, of course. Kids seem to succumb to promises of trips to zoos and farms and what-not much more easily. But Cassie, with a secret to hide, is wary and terrified of her attraction towards Grant. Go figure.
Even though I was rolling my eyes at how Cassie was so hesitant I kind of empathised at the end when things were cleared up between the two. Rohan is ultimately irresistible.
Even though I was rolling my eyes at how Cassie was so hesitant I kind of empathised at the end when things were cleared up between the two. Rohan is ultimately irresistible.
June 16, 2023
This has one of the worst HP tropes: I want you so you have to say yes, and if you say no it must mean yes. H and his bossy sister aren’t going to let h do as she wants, which is to keep her daughter and herself inviolate and safe. Nope, H wants so H must get. Grrr.
Mostly readable with a few cringe spots.
Author doesn't provide a lot of reason for the two to fall in love; he says it happened when he visited her when she was ill.
Good story though and well-created, consistent characters.
This is a very fast read.
Mostly readable with a few cringe spots.
Author doesn't provide a lot of reason for the two to fall in love; he says it happened when he visited her when she was ill.
Good story though and well-created, consistent characters.
This is a very fast read.
November 4, 2015
How irresponsible was Cassie; sending her child off with a man she had just met, she doesn't even go and check that his nephews are actually in the car. It's also disgusting the way the hero used her child to force his presence in her life; telling the child he will be her father etc. His sister was no better; chastising Cassie for reprimanding her daughter and this a woman she has just met.
Creepy
Creepy
August 30, 2012
It was actually a cute little story that made me kind of smile. At the start when the hero started messing around with the heroines daughter, I wanted to smack him. He had no right to interfere but as the story goes on, it was simply the only way. It was pretty delightful.
April 20, 2012
This had one of those WTF controlling alphabrutes whose behaviour was beyond the pale. I did not enjoy this book (yet I am a huge Sara Craven fan)
April 19, 2014
I liked him
June 22, 2023
Rohan was a prick when Cassie refused his invitation to dinner the first time, he said 'I begun to think you were a real thing, for a change, but you're just another married lady playing at career woman'. Really! What a BIG FAT JERK. He didn't want an intelligent and hard-working woman, he wanted a tart to catter his whims, it seems that he prefers tart women that sleep to the ladder. He knew she was good at her job and didn't care. I don't know how he could be sucessful in his business if this is the way he conduct his business, sleeping with the sluts who were working for him. If were I, I would sue for sexual harassment. He replaced the innocent face of Tracey to do the commercial to put his former/still current lover to do the perfumme commercial, I bet that besides the earnings for the job she will get a pricey jewelry as a bonus like always, the sleazy Hs always says they don't pay for sex, of course they don't pay with money, but with pricey itens worth of hundreds of thousands at least. To him pleasure and business are the same. Serena was a patronizing cow that dismissed the heroine that was the genius ideas girl. I don't know how people worshipped this kind of bovine cow that was Serena, to work with her it was hinted that was nightmare with her temper. The bovine cow was trying the undermine the heroine. And the bastard as always took the cow's side. He told to the heroine that his tart his a magnificent lady in every way that why whas implied that he showered his slut with expensive gifts. HP's Hs and other books's Hs should had STD multiple of times with the quantity of bed partners they had. It was gross when he put his lips on the cow's throat in front he heroine even if it was for the ad, he wanted to punish the heroine and please the tart. He took the heroine out of the EVE's ad account because the nasty OW. Why the nasty pieces always get rewards. He put the nasty bitch in the first place all the time over the heroine, then why didn't he stayed with his prized bitch? They deserved each other. Two despicable beings. It's despicable that all the hard working that she did after a life of abuse from a monster of her late husband, she succeeded just to so some sleazy bitch can come to the scene and took it from her. Where is the fairness in this world. It seems that the evil bitches will always reign over the hard-working women.
Her evil bastard husband deserved the death but he should be suffered more. I don't know why after what her father did to her, Jodie still wanted a daddy.
I don't know why the heroines always are so stubborn and prideful in not accepting that the firms and the Hs buy the clothes if it was needed for the job. It makes them stupid. And the money that the heroine insisted to pay, probably will be missed to pay her other expenses. Sometimes I want to shake them. I doubt he would had the OWs at his cottage, not because it was his refuge, but because he knew that the cottage are not the taste of his he tarts.
He didn't even felt jealousy of the OM. I don't know why the Cassie put the blame on herself when they stopped to have sex that first time, like she was leading him on, when she was the doormat that that was being used for his pleasures, to him she was just another body, she was a challenge to him. Didn't she have pride. After that she was mopping over him. How the heroines are so weak.
And the bastard H have the gall to tell the heroine that she was the reason that Jodie had the nightmares because of her mother and not because of his beast father and other men.
She didn't have reason to trust him not only because her past but because he only wanted to have sex with her in the beginning and she was right to be wary, look how he took sides with the OW. And later if she hadn't her child she would be gladly to be his toy sex as long as he wanted, I think it makes her and all the hs dumbs and weaks. But in the end, I think maybe he did really loved her after all, but in the start I believe he just want a new sex partner, and then she became a challenge, he was manipulating her daughter with his sister help, but if he truly care for her and the child, and the heroine is happy, then be happy if the h and the child are happy, it was sneaky by the H's part. If he want to ask her to marry her why he didn't even get a ring? If were the OW, he would have bought the whole set. Many books, the heroine don't get the engagement ring while all the OWs alwasy get it. Hell some books, even a wedding bang the heroine didn't got it. I just hope that in future he won't put another bitch over the heroine, if he do, I hope she will divorce him and take him to the cleaners.
Her evil bastard husband deserved the death but he should be suffered more. I don't know why after what her father did to her, Jodie still wanted a daddy.
I don't know why the heroines always are so stubborn and prideful in not accepting that the firms and the Hs buy the clothes if it was needed for the job. It makes them stupid. And the money that the heroine insisted to pay, probably will be missed to pay her other expenses. Sometimes I want to shake them. I doubt he would had the OWs at his cottage, not because it was his refuge, but because he knew that the cottage are not the taste of his he tarts.
He didn't even felt jealousy of the OM. I don't know why the Cassie put the blame on herself when they stopped to have sex that first time, like she was leading him on, when she was the doormat that that was being used for his pleasures, to him she was just another body, she was a challenge to him. Didn't she have pride. After that she was mopping over him. How the heroines are so weak.
And the bastard H have the gall to tell the heroine that she was the reason that Jodie had the nightmares because of her mother and not because of his beast father and other men.
She didn't have reason to trust him not only because her past but because he only wanted to have sex with her in the beginning and she was right to be wary, look how he took sides with the OW. And later if she hadn't her child she would be gladly to be his toy sex as long as he wanted, I think it makes her and all the hs dumbs and weaks. But in the end, I think maybe he did really loved her after all, but in the start I believe he just want a new sex partner, and then she became a challenge, he was manipulating her daughter with his sister help, but if he truly care for her and the child, and the heroine is happy, then be happy if the h and the child are happy, it was sneaky by the H's part. If he want to ask her to marry her why he didn't even get a ring? If were the OW, he would have bought the whole set. Many books, the heroine don't get the engagement ring while all the OWs alwasy get it. Hell some books, even a wedding bang the heroine didn't got it. I just hope that in future he won't put another bitch over the heroine, if he do, I hope she will divorce him and take him to the cleaners.
September 19, 2018
I liked this one overall. Its not that I don't have things to nit pick. There are many. But the overall treatment of the story was good - part close to reality, part romantic fantasy !
The girl is a widow with a daughter. A victim on marital abuse. Thankfully the husband conks soon, in an accident, that was quite convenient for the story line. But the husband does seem to have left a lasting bitterness in the poor girl. And the kiddo gets nightmares too ! So a bad past.
The hero is a perfect 10. Tycoon, hot hunk. Never been married. Quite a family man with sister and nephews. Falls for the girl at first sight, makes no bones about it.
Pursues the girl relentlessly, sometimes a bit too aggressively. And of course gets the girl in his bed and life at the end.
But the girl puts up all kinds of barriers. She wears unsexy clothes, uses a whiplash tongue to hurt with words. Rebukes his sexual advances. Taunts him about an ex all the time. Pretends to go out with a poor little OM. She tries everything to keep the guy away.
But our hero, Rohan, he is a sexy bull dozer !!!! He simply breaks down all her resistance. With 2 able allies - his sister and the heroine's kiddo.
He does taunt her of being overtly feminist and anti-men, in the beginning. But soon realizes that's her defense mechanism after her bastard husband's treatment of her.
His patience pays, he gets the girl. The girl in turn gets a perfect male specimen of HP Land as a husband, and a super daddy for the kiddo.
After all that early bull shit in her life, that's a nice fantasy to be fulfilled. Lucky girl :))
The girl is a widow with a daughter. A victim on marital abuse. Thankfully the husband conks soon, in an accident, that was quite convenient for the story line. But the husband does seem to have left a lasting bitterness in the poor girl. And the kiddo gets nightmares too ! So a bad past.
The hero is a perfect 10. Tycoon, hot hunk. Never been married. Quite a family man with sister and nephews. Falls for the girl at first sight, makes no bones about it.
Pursues the girl relentlessly, sometimes a bit too aggressively. And of course gets the girl in his bed and life at the end.
But the girl puts up all kinds of barriers. She wears unsexy clothes, uses a whiplash tongue to hurt with words. Rebukes his sexual advances. Taunts him about an ex all the time. Pretends to go out with a poor little OM. She tries everything to keep the guy away.
But our hero, Rohan, he is a sexy bull dozer !!!! He simply breaks down all her resistance. With 2 able allies - his sister and the heroine's kiddo.
He does taunt her of being overtly feminist and anti-men, in the beginning. But soon realizes that's her defense mechanism after her bastard husband's treatment of her.
His patience pays, he gets the girl. The girl in turn gets a perfect male specimen of HP Land as a husband, and a super daddy for the kiddo.
After all that early bull shit in her life, that's a nice fantasy to be fulfilled. Lucky girl :))
October 15, 2017
I really liked it despite the fact that Cassie was disturbingly damaged person and there was also the common thing in romances that I tend not to like -- when heroine put thoughts in heroes mind that he himself never expresses or even thought and that can't be more far away from the truth.
Well, at least that was my thoughts:
Well, at least that was my thoughts:
April 2, 2023
Not really a 3 star for me. There’s a fine line between masterful and #metoo and this guy, Rohan, stepped over it. Him turning up at her flat while she has flu and sitting in her bedroom as she slept when they’d only met once before had such terrifying stalker vibes I struggled to get beyond that. Taking her daughter for a day at the zoo (without the h, Cassie. Say what? What mother in their right mind lets a bloke she barely knows swan in and take her kid out, let alone someone like Cassie, traumatised by her abusive late husband). So much unacceptable sexism about women in the workplace, clothing etc and a completely laissez faire attitude to child rearing made this a dubious book for me. I finished it and I get that he was smitten and intent but it was an uneasy, manipulative and controlling vibe for me.
(For some reason, goodreads is not letting me see any comments on this review, so apologies)
(For some reason, goodreads is not letting me see any comments on this review, so apologies)
September 11, 2024
I read the first and last chapters because I was getting weird vibes and couldn’t stand committing myself to reading something that I might feel required to throw at the wall several times. Long story short it’s about the hero stalking the heroine who indirectly works for him and who’s traumatised by the violent abuse she suffered at the hands of her now dead ex-husband. I find the name of the book unnerving as it feels like the ghost of the dead husband who’s now possessed the body of the hero (who actually had reminded the h of her dead husband for a second) is taunting the heroine from beyond the grave.
September 4, 2022
Okay, so you know those stereotypical old HQ novels in which the heroine has been sexually traumatized in the past and dresses down to avoid male attention until forced to glow up in order to be sexually harassed by a workplace associate who then proceeds to pursue her relentlessly in order to cure her sexual trauma with semi-consensual sexual activity? Yeah? This is that novel. There is also an unrealistic small child. On the other hand it's pretty clear just from the back cover (and from the fact that it's a Sara Craven novel) so if you're reading this you're not going to be surprised.
August 14, 2021
If you hate determined alpha males, then this book is not for you.
I love determined, smitten alpha males, so I liked this a lot.
Another reviewer says there is a forced seduction/rape in the story. But the first night they have sex, he asks her if he should stop, so I don’t see the rape thing.
What I didn’t like, is that she has a little daughter who takes up way too much space in the book. I don’t like it when the H or the h already has children by someone else.
I love determined, smitten alpha males, so I liked this a lot.
Another reviewer says there is a forced seduction/rape in the story. But the first night they have sex, he asks her if he should stop, so I don’t see the rape thing.
What I didn’t like, is that she has a little daughter who takes up way too much space in the book. I don’t like it when the H or the h already has children by someone else.
September 14, 2019
This book bit off more than it could chew...
August 20, 2024
Were they all a little, well, lacking in consent? I don’t think I realised 30 years ago!
May 29, 2015
I never really give reviews but I have to on this one if for no other reason than to remind me to NEVER pick it up again. I couldn't even finish the book,that happens once in a blue moon. Only other one I can remember putting down off the top of my head is twilight.
Constantly hearing the girl fight against the H became annoying. It specially irritated me when the H completely ignored all the "NO's" the girl put up.
Constantly hearing the girl fight against the H became annoying. It specially irritated me when the H completely ignored all the "NO's" the girl put up.
November 9, 2014
i did not like it, i was bored and had to skip pages to finish the book. rohan did all the pursuing while cassie was an emotional iceberg. it was incredibly unbelievable when all the ice melted! i felt it was too soon to be true! she badly needed therapy and the hero resembled her ex husband too much for comfort.
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April 17, 2019Oh my goodness
This was a really bad story : the female character has been treated badly in the past so says no to the male character. He deliberately ignored this and for want of a better word starts stalking her. Worse still be then uses her child to get his own way. Frankly all I wanted to do was make him go away.
This was a really bad story : the female character has been treated badly in the past so says no to the male character. He deliberately ignored this and for want of a better word starts stalking her. Worse still be then uses her child to get his own way. Frankly all I wanted to do was make him go away.
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