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A Cure for Love
Die Wahrheit ist schrecklich, und doch ist die Liebe, die Lacey für ihren Ex-Mann Lewis empfindet, stark genug, um einen neuen Anfang mit ihm zu machen! Denn jetzt weiß sie endlich, warum er sich damals von ihr scheiden ließ, und sie kann ihm Lewis hatte erfahren, dass er an einer seltenen, vererbbaren Bluter-Krankheit leidet.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published July 1, 1993
24 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,127 books670 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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January 31, 2018
Re A Cure For Love - Finally PJ gets to do ex super duper PJness with her own HP Plus. Which means we get MORE PJness in this absolutely adorably sentimentally super sweet-enough-to-make-your-teeth-fall-out story.
(Warning: this book is REALLY sloppily sentimentally saccharine, so if you want the usual HPlandia evil OW, and mean relatives with an Alpha male bully, you might want another book. On the other hand, if you want an extended yearning angst fest of twenty year duration cause the H and h ruined each other for anyone else, then grab a comfy spot and some cookies and a hankie and settle in for a tooth brushingly sweet good time.)
This one opens with our 38 yr old typical PJ h. She is tiny, very kind and extremely sweet. She has a 19 year old daughter who is much more outgoing and extroverted. They are going to a charity event for X-linked recessive diseases that the h has been a big fund raiser for.
While PJ doesn't specifically name the disease, it is a pretty sure bet that the disease was X-linked agammaglobulinemia, which is a name really hard to fit into a limited page count. A diagnosis means that those who have the disease have no resistance to infection, their bodies don't produce the antibodies needed to fight them off and before 1993, when some new treatments came out, sufferers had high rates of childhood and young adult mortality from secondary infection - so few males who had it made it to adulthood.
Fortunately now the men who have it have several treatment options and can live very long lives, with a little care and maintenance. The main point of this information, besides letting people win at Trivial Pursuit, is that PJ did research and got almost all the facts and groundbreaking treatments right for the time period. So the book is accurate in that respect.
(An x-linked recessive disease is a disease which is inherited from the mother of the offspring, but usually exhibits in the male progeny . Mainly cause males only get one X chromosome and this means that any female children they have will be carriers of the disease, tho it probably will not express unless the mother has the recessive trait too. But if the mother does have it, then any male progeny will have the disease. Back in the day there wasn't genetic testing like there is today, so if you got preggers, your options for a healthy child were fifty/fifty, until gender selection IVF became available. )
So HP science lesson over for today, the h and her daughter have dear friends who are carriers of the disease and have lost two sons and a third one is very ill. The h, who has a kind compassionate heart, feels deeply for the family and does what she can to help. The h's daughter is worried that her mother is burying herself in work and causes and wants her mum to try dating.
The h is reluctant, mainly cause she is a PJ h in HPlandia who only gets one true love and the h got hers at 18. Unfortunately the H she loves dumped her for another woman after a year of marriage, so the h is now too wary and too heartbroken to even look at another man. Her H was 21 to her 18, both of them parent-less, the h through being orphaned and the H because his mum died and his dad took off when he was a baby. They met, had a beautiful and romantic courtship, married and then things went to hell in a hand basket, right after the h suggested the H try to trace his father.
The h, who was really keen to start a family with her H, was trying to be a good wife because she knew the H's parent running out on him bothered him. Plus the h is so family oriented herself, she couldn't understand anyone just abandoning their own child. So the h encouraged her H to search and then got the shock of her life when her H came home one day and wanted a divorce. The h assumes there is another woman and the H doesn't dispel that notion.
So they divorce, but the h was preggers and she never told the H, cause she figured he was in with another woman and wouldn't want to know. Plus the h blames herself for being too needy or immature and she really loves the H, so she wants him to be happy. She meticulously splits the monies on the sale of the marital home, sends everything else back to the H and moves her little pregnant self to the lovely little market town near a big research hospital that she lives in now.
The h was almost suicidal for a while, but when her baby first moved, the love of mumhood sustained her - tho the h was very careful to balance the nurturing with instilling a sense of independence and self confidence in her daughter, she doesn't want her daughter crippled, as she feels she is, by lower self worth.
So the h explains to her daughter that she shouldn't worry that her mother will fall and not be able to get up, she has friends and a fulfilling life and the h has never met another man that moved her heart like the daughter's father.
(This h is a perfect mum really. She never says anything bad about the H to her child and she doesn't cling or manipulate or steal the daughter's boyfriends, or anything that HP mothers are supposed to do.)
Then, as the h is getting ready for her big moment to present the fund raising check, she sees a familiar face in the crowd. She almost faints when she thinks it is her H that she hasn't seen in 20 years. However she doesn't see him as she presents the check, and tho she is a bit woozy, she passes it off as stage fright and takes her daughter out to dinner before her kid's return to Oxford.
While at dinner, reality snaps the h in the face, cause there right in the restaurant, sits the H and the h doesn't know what to do. She tries to lecture herself into sensibility, but she is panicked and in emotional pain and when she and her daughter leave, the h doesn't acknowledge the H or tell her daughter that her father is in town.
The h is a mental mess for the remainder of the night, but she has obligations. She goes to see the charity chairman and top researcher of the disease she raised funds for. Then she almost passes out when she finds the H in his office. It seems that the H is a recessive dual carrier that isn't affected by the disease and he willingly lets them use his immunoglobulin samples for research and treatment.
The h is shocked and mortified to find that old lurve mojo force is still running rampant. She takes off with an excuse and goes home. The H shows up later and there is tense confrontation as the h explains about her daughter. The H, who looks so sad and lonely it is heart wrenching, tells the h that the daughter will have to be tested for being a carrier and might have to undergo sterilization, as the H himself did.
The h refuses to accept that her daughter will have to be sterilized, there is gender selection IVF available and the H is not to dictate what her child will do, she will defend her child's choices to the utmost. The h also declares that she will inform her daughter about the situation and the H can go off again. The h doesn't ask about his other woman or his life, she is too unhappy about the H's narrow POV on sterilization and fighting for her child's right to choose.
So we go to Oxford and the daughter takes the news well, but of course she is shocked. However the daughter is as nice as the h, even tho she is determined on a career and economic independence before getting married. The h assures her that falling in love will happen and it will be wonderful, but maybe the young lady should strive for her goals first.
The h goes home and then later finds out that the daughter and the H are together. The h has a little moment of sheer jealousy about sharing her child, but she gets over it pretty quickly. The H shows up later that evening and the h is angry, cause she thinks the H is pushing the sterilization angle and she won't have it. Plus she has a migraine and that isn't helping the situation. There is a roofie kiss moment and the H backs off, to the h's huge mortification.
The H goes to leave and the h goes to bed to pass out. When she wakes up, the H is there and the H wants to know why she never moved on and had a family with another man. The h said she couldn't and the H agrees that twenty years of celibacy is a long time. There is a fiery explosion of lurve mojo passion and the h tries to play it off as long pent up frustration. The H is trying to think of how he can get an in with the h, when fate steps in and sends their daughter flying into the room.
The daughter immediately assumes that the H and h are getting back together and the H pushes that idea with the h - they need to let the daughter down gently to avert any distress for the girl and in the meantime everyone can be a happy family together.
We see the H's house and his sad, lonely life and the h is getting more and more wound up because she loves the h and thinks she can't have him. Eventually after several pages of longing on both sides, the h goes over to the H's house to find him and end the charade. She starts crying and the H shows up and goes running over to console her.
The h is so comforted by his touch that things soon turn to lurve mojo force mach 10 and there is a huge moment in the back garden. The H explains that there was no other woman, the H left because he found out about his genetics and he knew the h wanted children, but he couldn't risk it. He left her to find a man she could have a family with, which was a stupid decision and the h tells him that.
But the H was 21 and stupid and has spent the last twenty years making money and being alone and miserable. The H was so sad that he even stole a picture of the h and her daughter, the only picture or homelike object he has in his whole house and he keeps it by his bed.
The H was very paranoid about having sons and then seeing them suffer. He even dated a divorcee once, who wanted no more children, but he could never bring himself to get close enough for any intimacy with her or any other woman, as he could only imagine the h and a substitute wasn't going to be good enough.
(PJ never comes right out and explicitly says it, but the heavy implication is that the H was too paranoid about pregnancy and too in love with the h to sleep with another woman. It wasn't popular to have a celibate H in HPlandia at the time, so PJ just heavily hints and we get the inference.)
He also explains that he might have pushed the h to terminate the pregnancy had he known about it at the time. The h realistically understands that POV, even tho she is furious that he did not trust her love enough to know that she would forgo her dreams of kids in favor of being with him and she acknowledges that she doesn't know what choice she would have made about termination either. As things worked out, no one has to choose anything and they can have female children only, so the two remarry.
We get a lovely epilogue where the daughter is getting married, the groom is delighted he will get an all female household of adoring women and the H and h are blissfully in love and have twin daughters for the pink sparkly unicorn and kitten studded PJ HEA.
This book is outstanding on the angsty romantic scale, but not because of a love triangle or a vengeful H. Plus, twenty years of celibacy on both sides is just fabulous, when you compare it to the usual lady buffet sampling of H in HPlandia, even when they claim to love their h's.
This book isn't for everyone, but those who like PJ and like extra chocolate syrup on their triple chocolate brownie gelato are sure to have a remarkably sweet and happy HP outing.
(Warning: this book is REALLY sloppily sentimentally saccharine, so if you want the usual HPlandia evil OW, and mean relatives with an Alpha male bully, you might want another book. On the other hand, if you want an extended yearning angst fest of twenty year duration cause the H and h ruined each other for anyone else, then grab a comfy spot and some cookies and a hankie and settle in for a tooth brushingly sweet good time.)
This one opens with our 38 yr old typical PJ h. She is tiny, very kind and extremely sweet. She has a 19 year old daughter who is much more outgoing and extroverted. They are going to a charity event for X-linked recessive diseases that the h has been a big fund raiser for.
While PJ doesn't specifically name the disease, it is a pretty sure bet that the disease was X-linked agammaglobulinemia, which is a name really hard to fit into a limited page count. A diagnosis means that those who have the disease have no resistance to infection, their bodies don't produce the antibodies needed to fight them off and before 1993, when some new treatments came out, sufferers had high rates of childhood and young adult mortality from secondary infection - so few males who had it made it to adulthood.
Fortunately now the men who have it have several treatment options and can live very long lives, with a little care and maintenance. The main point of this information, besides letting people win at Trivial Pursuit, is that PJ did research and got almost all the facts and groundbreaking treatments right for the time period. So the book is accurate in that respect.
(An x-linked recessive disease is a disease which is inherited from the mother of the offspring, but usually exhibits in the male progeny . Mainly cause males only get one X chromosome and this means that any female children they have will be carriers of the disease, tho it probably will not express unless the mother has the recessive trait too. But if the mother does have it, then any male progeny will have the disease. Back in the day there wasn't genetic testing like there is today, so if you got preggers, your options for a healthy child were fifty/fifty, until gender selection IVF became available. )
So HP science lesson over for today, the h and her daughter have dear friends who are carriers of the disease and have lost two sons and a third one is very ill. The h, who has a kind compassionate heart, feels deeply for the family and does what she can to help. The h's daughter is worried that her mother is burying herself in work and causes and wants her mum to try dating.
The h is reluctant, mainly cause she is a PJ h in HPlandia who only gets one true love and the h got hers at 18. Unfortunately the H she loves dumped her for another woman after a year of marriage, so the h is now too wary and too heartbroken to even look at another man. Her H was 21 to her 18, both of them parent-less, the h through being orphaned and the H because his mum died and his dad took off when he was a baby. They met, had a beautiful and romantic courtship, married and then things went to hell in a hand basket, right after the h suggested the H try to trace his father.
The h, who was really keen to start a family with her H, was trying to be a good wife because she knew the H's parent running out on him bothered him. Plus the h is so family oriented herself, she couldn't understand anyone just abandoning their own child. So the h encouraged her H to search and then got the shock of her life when her H came home one day and wanted a divorce. The h assumes there is another woman and the H doesn't dispel that notion.
So they divorce, but the h was preggers and she never told the H, cause she figured he was in with another woman and wouldn't want to know. Plus the h blames herself for being too needy or immature and she really loves the H, so she wants him to be happy. She meticulously splits the monies on the sale of the marital home, sends everything else back to the H and moves her little pregnant self to the lovely little market town near a big research hospital that she lives in now.
The h was almost suicidal for a while, but when her baby first moved, the love of mumhood sustained her - tho the h was very careful to balance the nurturing with instilling a sense of independence and self confidence in her daughter, she doesn't want her daughter crippled, as she feels she is, by lower self worth.
So the h explains to her daughter that she shouldn't worry that her mother will fall and not be able to get up, she has friends and a fulfilling life and the h has never met another man that moved her heart like the daughter's father.
(This h is a perfect mum really. She never says anything bad about the H to her child and she doesn't cling or manipulate or steal the daughter's boyfriends, or anything that HP mothers are supposed to do.)
Then, as the h is getting ready for her big moment to present the fund raising check, she sees a familiar face in the crowd. She almost faints when she thinks it is her H that she hasn't seen in 20 years. However she doesn't see him as she presents the check, and tho she is a bit woozy, she passes it off as stage fright and takes her daughter out to dinner before her kid's return to Oxford.
While at dinner, reality snaps the h in the face, cause there right in the restaurant, sits the H and the h doesn't know what to do. She tries to lecture herself into sensibility, but she is panicked and in emotional pain and when she and her daughter leave, the h doesn't acknowledge the H or tell her daughter that her father is in town.
The h is a mental mess for the remainder of the night, but she has obligations. She goes to see the charity chairman and top researcher of the disease she raised funds for. Then she almost passes out when she finds the H in his office. It seems that the H is a recessive dual carrier that isn't affected by the disease and he willingly lets them use his immunoglobulin samples for research and treatment.
The h is shocked and mortified to find that old lurve mojo force is still running rampant. She takes off with an excuse and goes home. The H shows up later and there is tense confrontation as the h explains about her daughter. The H, who looks so sad and lonely it is heart wrenching, tells the h that the daughter will have to be tested for being a carrier and might have to undergo sterilization, as the H himself did.
The h refuses to accept that her daughter will have to be sterilized, there is gender selection IVF available and the H is not to dictate what her child will do, she will defend her child's choices to the utmost. The h also declares that she will inform her daughter about the situation and the H can go off again. The h doesn't ask about his other woman or his life, she is too unhappy about the H's narrow POV on sterilization and fighting for her child's right to choose.
So we go to Oxford and the daughter takes the news well, but of course she is shocked. However the daughter is as nice as the h, even tho she is determined on a career and economic independence before getting married. The h assures her that falling in love will happen and it will be wonderful, but maybe the young lady should strive for her goals first.
The h goes home and then later finds out that the daughter and the H are together. The h has a little moment of sheer jealousy about sharing her child, but she gets over it pretty quickly. The H shows up later that evening and the h is angry, cause she thinks the H is pushing the sterilization angle and she won't have it. Plus she has a migraine and that isn't helping the situation. There is a roofie kiss moment and the H backs off, to the h's huge mortification.
The H goes to leave and the h goes to bed to pass out. When she wakes up, the H is there and the H wants to know why she never moved on and had a family with another man. The h said she couldn't and the H agrees that twenty years of celibacy is a long time. There is a fiery explosion of lurve mojo passion and the h tries to play it off as long pent up frustration. The H is trying to think of how he can get an in with the h, when fate steps in and sends their daughter flying into the room.
The daughter immediately assumes that the H and h are getting back together and the H pushes that idea with the h - they need to let the daughter down gently to avert any distress for the girl and in the meantime everyone can be a happy family together.
We see the H's house and his sad, lonely life and the h is getting more and more wound up because she loves the h and thinks she can't have him. Eventually after several pages of longing on both sides, the h goes over to the H's house to find him and end the charade. She starts crying and the H shows up and goes running over to console her.
The h is so comforted by his touch that things soon turn to lurve mojo force mach 10 and there is a huge moment in the back garden. The H explains that there was no other woman, the H left because he found out about his genetics and he knew the h wanted children, but he couldn't risk it. He left her to find a man she could have a family with, which was a stupid decision and the h tells him that.
But the H was 21 and stupid and has spent the last twenty years making money and being alone and miserable. The H was so sad that he even stole a picture of the h and her daughter, the only picture or homelike object he has in his whole house and he keeps it by his bed.
The H was very paranoid about having sons and then seeing them suffer. He even dated a divorcee once, who wanted no more children, but he could never bring himself to get close enough for any intimacy with her or any other woman, as he could only imagine the h and a substitute wasn't going to be good enough.
(PJ never comes right out and explicitly says it, but the heavy implication is that the H was too paranoid about pregnancy and too in love with the h to sleep with another woman. It wasn't popular to have a celibate H in HPlandia at the time, so PJ just heavily hints and we get the inference.)
He also explains that he might have pushed the h to terminate the pregnancy had he known about it at the time. The h realistically understands that POV, even tho she is furious that he did not trust her love enough to know that she would forgo her dreams of kids in favor of being with him and she acknowledges that she doesn't know what choice she would have made about termination either. As things worked out, no one has to choose anything and they can have female children only, so the two remarry.
We get a lovely epilogue where the daughter is getting married, the groom is delighted he will get an all female household of adoring women and the H and h are blissfully in love and have twin daughters for the pink sparkly unicorn and kitten studded PJ HEA.
This book is outstanding on the angsty romantic scale, but not because of a love triangle or a vengeful H. Plus, twenty years of celibacy on both sides is just fabulous, when you compare it to the usual lady buffet sampling of H in HPlandia, even when they claim to love their h's.
This book isn't for everyone, but those who like PJ and like extra chocolate syrup on their triple chocolate brownie gelato are sure to have a remarkably sweet and happy HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2017
3.5 rounded to 4
I saw a review pop up from one of my friends who enjoyed it despite the low ratings. A super low rating on an old school Harley often equals gloriously offensive trainwreck. So obviously, I asked - "Where do I sign up?"
This wasn't anywhere near as offensive as an old school PJ can be. The hero was nowhere near as alphhole as many of her heroes. The heroine was trembly and overwrought at times, but again nowhere near as much as many of her heroines. I can see why it was rated low, however. A 20 year separation is very long (and sad) and the handling of the breakup was spectacularly stupid on the hero's part. Add to that the heroine not having sex for 20 years and some people are going to be automatically turned off. I actually found it to be pretty emotional and the characters handled things pretty maturely when they meet up again.
I saw a review pop up from one of my friends who enjoyed it despite the low ratings. A super low rating on an old school Harley often equals gloriously offensive trainwreck. So obviously, I asked - "Where do I sign up?"
This wasn't anywhere near as offensive as an old school PJ can be. The hero was nowhere near as alphhole as many of her heroes. The heroine was trembly and overwrought at times, but again nowhere near as much as many of her heroines. I can see why it was rated low, however. A 20 year separation is very long (and sad) and the handling of the breakup was spectacularly stupid on the hero's part. Add to that the heroine not having sex for 20 years and some people are going to be automatically turned off. I actually found it to be pretty emotional and the characters handled things pretty maturely when they meet up again.
March 16, 2021
"A Cure for Love" is the story of Lacey and Lewis.
Keep your tissues handy, this will tug at your heartstrings.
The book begins with our 38 year old heroine attending a charity event with her daughter. She runs a foundation for males who have inherited a rare genetic disorder, and finds a lot of happiness helping others. She also has a wonderful relationship with her daughter.
Twenty years ago, her husband had abandoned her after marriage, explaining he did not love her. She was utterly heartbroken, and almost killed herself, until she realized she was pregnant. Since then her daughter has been her lifeline. Also, she was so traumatized by the ordeal that she has been unable to move on from her ex.
At present, she meets the hero and her peaceful existence is shaken. Not only is he back, but he informs her that he is affected by the genetic disorder she has been working with.. and that their beloved daughter might be the carrier too!
How the heroine deals with him in her life, all the heartbreak and scars from both the ends forms the story. The ending is a heartwarming and hopeful beginning for the family. I have to say, twenty years is a long time and I wish the hero was just honest.. Anyways, they were young and pretty immature.
Super angsty and will absolutely destroy your tearducts. This had a LOT going on, but Im glad there were no miracles, just honest truth with a lot of hope.
Safe
4/5
Keep your tissues handy, this will tug at your heartstrings.
The book begins with our 38 year old heroine attending a charity event with her daughter. She runs a foundation for males who have inherited a rare genetic disorder, and finds a lot of happiness helping others. She also has a wonderful relationship with her daughter.
Twenty years ago, her husband had abandoned her after marriage, explaining he did not love her. She was utterly heartbroken, and almost killed herself, until she realized she was pregnant. Since then her daughter has been her lifeline. Also, she was so traumatized by the ordeal that she has been unable to move on from her ex.
At present, she meets the hero and her peaceful existence is shaken. Not only is he back, but he informs her that he is affected by the genetic disorder she has been working with.. and that their beloved daughter might be the carrier too!
How the heroine deals with him in her life, all the heartbreak and scars from both the ends forms the story. The ending is a heartwarming and hopeful beginning for the family. I have to say, twenty years is a long time and I wish the hero was just honest.. Anyways, they were young and pretty immature.
Super angsty and will absolutely destroy your tearducts. This had a LOT going on, but Im glad there were no miracles, just honest truth with a lot of hope.
Safe
4/5
September 12, 2018
(Twin book to A REKINDLED PASSION.)
Low angst, 20-year separation, lovely reconciliation and HEA. Swoony!
Low angst, 20-year separation, lovely reconciliation and HEA. Swoony!
March 15, 2017
This was one of the saddest HP's I've read. Other reviewers did not like it but I fell into the story and and got caught.
The h fell in love and married her soul mate at the age of 18. A year into what she thought was a wonderful marriage her husband came home and told her that their marriage was over and he wanted a divorce. During the divorce she learned she was pregnant. She made the decision to have her baby and raise it as a single parent, never telling the H that she had his child.
Twenty years later the h is involved with a charity drive for a disease that has devastating effects on young boys, usually killing them before they reach manhood. At a charity event she thinks she sees the H. Turns out that this disease brings the H back into her life and for reasons that she could not believe.
The book is written from the perspective of the h and we can clearly see the pain and heartache that she experiences. The way she distanced herself from men because of the way the H devastated her when he broke up their marriage.
But we also get glimpses of some of what the H went through. The decision he made was not easy. It was stupid, but it devastated him as well. He honestly thought that he was doing the best thing for the woman he loved.
This book gave me all the feels!! I hurt for them both. I was waiting impatiently for them to resolve their past because these two people were so in love with each other and hurting so much.
I highly recommend this one if you want to have all the feels!
The h fell in love and married her soul mate at the age of 18. A year into what she thought was a wonderful marriage her husband came home and told her that their marriage was over and he wanted a divorce. During the divorce she learned she was pregnant. She made the decision to have her baby and raise it as a single parent, never telling the H that she had his child.
Twenty years later the h is involved with a charity drive for a disease that has devastating effects on young boys, usually killing them before they reach manhood. At a charity event she thinks she sees the H. Turns out that this disease brings the H back into her life and for reasons that she could not believe.
The book is written from the perspective of the h and we can clearly see the pain and heartache that she experiences. The way she distanced herself from men because of the way the H devastated her when he broke up their marriage.
But we also get glimpses of some of what the H went through. The decision he made was not easy. It was stupid, but it devastated him as well. He honestly thought that he was doing the best thing for the woman he loved.
This book gave me all the feels!! I hurt for them both. I was waiting impatiently for them to resolve their past because these two people were so in love with each other and hurting so much.
I highly recommend this one if you want to have all the feels!
April 7, 2012
20 years of pain after a cruel rejection. He says "sorry" and she forgives him. FAIL
March 7, 2019
I scarcely write reviews anymore, but I had to make an exception for this one. Frankly speaking I am kind of surprised by the 3.0 avg ratings. Hence, the spoilerish review.
February 29, 2012
i like the part when the daughter came in the bedroom
November 20, 2018
It’s 1991 and this is one of Jordan’s favourite styles of stories. In it, an older heroine, with a grown up daughter is reunited with her ex-husband. The husband (Lewis) and the heroine (Lacey) had fallen in love and got married at a very early age. However, one year into the marriage, and seemingly inexplicably, Lewis had packed his bags and left. Lacey is heartbroken but when she discovers she’s pregnant, she has a reason not to throw herself under a bus (yes, there is a moment when the heroine seriously considers this) and get on with her life, living for her daughter.
Twenty years later and the daughter, ‘Jessica’ is at Oxford (‘taking a degree course which would one day equip her with excellent qualifications’, p.7 – as you can see Jordan is a big vague there, indicating just how much Jordan actually knows about Oxbridge study - this is later underscored further when she has twenty year old Jessica claim that she’ll be back home at half-term, which, of course you don’t get at university level – unless Jessica is thinking of skiving off her reading week). Anyway, Lacey fills her time with a bit of being a PA and fundraising for a boy in her village with a rare genetic condition. Whilst in the middle of a presentation handing over a cheque to the hospital trust (a central place for research with a world leading doctor, who, for some reason, has based himself in the cottage hospital at Little-Snitterton-on-the-Wold), Lacey looks out over the audience and sees the ex-husband again, who, it turns out, has turned up to help with the research into the genetic disorder, because he’s also got it. Yes, the premise is utterly ridiculous, founded on coincidence as it is, but somehow this novel works.
The heroine is likeable and just utterly in love with the hero from the very outset. The hero is a nice guy too (in a departure for Jordan’s normal heroes), leaving Lacey as he did, because he was afraid she’d never be able to have children because of his genetic condition. And even if it’s a bit clichéd and a bit hackneyed in its story and you know precisely where it’s going from the outset, in real life this could happen… possibly… bearing in mind that in real life anything can happen.
Anyway, no surprises here, they fall in love again, find a way to reverse his vasectomy and have children (through an elaborate process of some slightly ethically dodgy genetic modification of the children they have – put aside your ethical doubts though – this is a Mills and Boon, not The Lancet).
The real theme of the novel is nature – the natural gifts that Lewis has bestowed on his 20 year old daughter Jessica. Gifts like athleticism, good looks, intellectual ability, in addition to a horrible genetically inherited disorder that means she can never have sons. The power of nature is asserted at every turn, with tightly wound flowers being used as metaphors to represent Lacey before she gets back together with Lewis, leading to a long alfresco sex scene where they consummate their love in the healing site of a rose garden.
This, hand on heart, is one of Jordan’s finer offerings. It’s a powerful story, with loads of romance, emotional intensity and charming characters – for all it sounds utterly ridiculous when you summarise the plot. Definitely worth a go.
Twenty years later and the daughter, ‘Jessica’ is at Oxford (‘taking a degree course which would one day equip her with excellent qualifications’, p.7 – as you can see Jordan is a big vague there, indicating just how much Jordan actually knows about Oxbridge study - this is later underscored further when she has twenty year old Jessica claim that she’ll be back home at half-term, which, of course you don’t get at university level – unless Jessica is thinking of skiving off her reading week). Anyway, Lacey fills her time with a bit of being a PA and fundraising for a boy in her village with a rare genetic condition. Whilst in the middle of a presentation handing over a cheque to the hospital trust (a central place for research with a world leading doctor, who, for some reason, has based himself in the cottage hospital at Little-Snitterton-on-the-Wold), Lacey looks out over the audience and sees the ex-husband again, who, it turns out, has turned up to help with the research into the genetic disorder, because he’s also got it. Yes, the premise is utterly ridiculous, founded on coincidence as it is, but somehow this novel works.
The heroine is likeable and just utterly in love with the hero from the very outset. The hero is a nice guy too (in a departure for Jordan’s normal heroes), leaving Lacey as he did, because he was afraid she’d never be able to have children because of his genetic condition. And even if it’s a bit clichéd and a bit hackneyed in its story and you know precisely where it’s going from the outset, in real life this could happen… possibly… bearing in mind that in real life anything can happen.
Anyway, no surprises here, they fall in love again, find a way to reverse his vasectomy and have children (through an elaborate process of some slightly ethically dodgy genetic modification of the children they have – put aside your ethical doubts though – this is a Mills and Boon, not The Lancet).
The real theme of the novel is nature – the natural gifts that Lewis has bestowed on his 20 year old daughter Jessica. Gifts like athleticism, good looks, intellectual ability, in addition to a horrible genetically inherited disorder that means she can never have sons. The power of nature is asserted at every turn, with tightly wound flowers being used as metaphors to represent Lacey before she gets back together with Lewis, leading to a long alfresco sex scene where they consummate their love in the healing site of a rose garden.
This, hand on heart, is one of Jordan’s finer offerings. It’s a powerful story, with loads of romance, emotional intensity and charming characters – for all it sounds utterly ridiculous when you summarise the plot. Definitely worth a go.
May 16, 2020
This story has so many things wrong. Lewis dumped his wife Lacey 20 years ago, giving her no reason except he no longer loved her. Lacey has never gotten over this betrayal nor has she told Lewis that she had a daughter. Turns out Lewis wasn't in love with anyone except Lacey, but he discovered he carried a gene for one of the terrible diseases, and didn't want Lacey to not be able to have the family they both wanted.
Ugh. No doubt he felt noble but he should have felt like the arrogant pig he was. Let your wife make her own decision!
Ugh. No doubt he felt noble but he should have felt like the arrogant pig he was. Let your wife make her own decision!
June 14, 2020
Hard resd
Although I like a good reunited divorce story this one was hard to read. Too much of the heroine's thought life. Not enough dialogue between characters. That's my biggest pet peeve in books is lack of good dialogue. Where the chemistry is formed between characters. So this book was her repeatedly going over the same stuff over and over in her thoughts.
Although I like a good reunited divorce story this one was hard to read. Too much of the heroine's thought life. Not enough dialogue between characters. That's my biggest pet peeve in books is lack of good dialogue. Where the chemistry is formed between characters. So this book was her repeatedly going over the same stuff over and over in her thoughts.
February 17, 2023
A Cure for Love
Twenty years ago he kicks his wife out of his life. Telling her he found someone else. Now he finds out she had his child. Secrets and lies tore them apart. But will the truth set them free? What will it so to his daughter? Will his ex ever want him back?
Twenty years ago he kicks his wife out of his life. Telling her he found someone else. Now he finds out she had his child. Secrets and lies tore them apart. But will the truth set them free? What will it so to his daughter? Will his ex ever want him back?
February 15, 2026
3.5/5
As this is the second Harlequin author that I've read, it's easy to compare their writing. Even though I could faintly recall the first author's writing style, this second one is undoubtedly more focused on describing sensual scenes. To the point that I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by its frequency. I'd say I prefer the first one more.
That being said, the homely vibe that this book brings is my kind. Personally, I'm usually fond off anything that are warm, sweet, soft, and just enough sensual. Just reading this book's plot and you already know that there won't be anything like love triangle, drama queen, love rival etc... A lot of comments said it is a little over the top tho. And I have to agree with them. The part where the FL spent 20 years in celibacy after the unwanted divorce with her assuming cheating husband. That was one hell of a plot.
One thing I could praise for this book, and also puts me in a tough position, is that it raises an ethical dilemma: what would you do if your dream is to have kids, but your partner's situation for some reason prohibits it? Or; what would you do if you're in a situation where telling the truth could lose you your dear one? If you keep silent, everything stays the same. If you say it, you might risk them leaving you for good.
I'd read the manga version before reading this, and they're not so similar. The book focuses mostly on the main characters' love story, while the manga has put in the daughter's boyfriend. So the plot is different in some places, and I'd say I prefer it more. It brings depth to the story, emphasis more messages, and thus creates a more rounded picture.
As this is the second Harlequin author that I've read, it's easy to compare their writing. Even though I could faintly recall the first author's writing style, this second one is undoubtedly more focused on describing sensual scenes. To the point that I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by its frequency. I'd say I prefer the first one more.
That being said, the homely vibe that this book brings is my kind. Personally, I'm usually fond off anything that are warm, sweet, soft, and just enough sensual. Just reading this book's plot and you already know that there won't be anything like love triangle, drama queen, love rival etc... A lot of comments said it is a little over the top tho. And I have to agree with them. The part where the FL spent 20 years in celibacy after the unwanted divorce with her assuming cheating husband. That was one hell of a plot.
One thing I could praise for this book, and also puts me in a tough position, is that it raises an ethical dilemma: what would you do if your dream is to have kids, but your partner's situation for some reason prohibits it? Or; what would you do if you're in a situation where telling the truth could lose you your dear one? If you keep silent, everything stays the same. If you say it, you might risk them leaving you for good.
I'd read the manga version before reading this, and they're not so similar. The book focuses mostly on the main characters' love story, while the manga has put in the daughter's boyfriend. So the plot is different in some places, and I'd say I prefer it more. It brings depth to the story, emphasis more messages, and thus creates a more rounded picture.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2022
I know some may have felt the premise of this book was unlikely but sadly I can relate to the situation too much for my liking. When the heroine reflects on whether the H was right in feeling she deserved to have children and if she was better off without him, she went through the same thought processes I have also gone through and reached the same conclusion; that it’s the man you love not the unborn children you may never have together. Sadly, in the UK at least, it’s deemed morally wrong to find out the sex of embryos & therefore they cannot discard male & seemingly healthy embryos in favour of females due to male inherited genetic disorders. It was very triggering to read for me & seeing them get their HEA and further children gives hope but is incredibly lucky and therefore often such HEAs are fitting in with the HP world. Who knows, perhaps I’ll get my HEA of motherhood. It was a book that hit a nerve and was a topic many will face more in this century.
August 23, 2025
Ok. So I read this book 30 years ago when I was 12 (blame my grandma) & it seemed massively romantic at the time. Now, as a grown woman & on the re-read, I struggle with what a doormat the h is & the whole 20 years of celibacy thing. Add to this, the H doesn't appear (in the flesh) for the first 1/3 of the book, all we get for the majority of the story is the inner monologue of the h & her tears, fragility & anx over a man who left her half a lifetime ago after only 1 year of marriage. To rub salt in the wound, after f**king off for 20 years we get no grovel whatsoever when the H comes back, Lacey is incredibly forgiving & makes it too easy for him. It made me a bit cross tbh! 🤣 It could've be great based on the premise but 3.5 stars overall cause
it's still PJ afterall.
it's still PJ afterall.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2022
Angst
Good gravy. It was sweet second chance romance, but good gravy did the female MC live inside her own head. There's buckets and buckets of introspection and angsting all over creation before we finally get half a second of HIS perspective and it's obvious to a blind person that neither of these precious idiots ever fell out of love with each other. Lol.
Good gravy. It was sweet second chance romance, but good gravy did the female MC live inside her own head. There's buckets and buckets of introspection and angsting all over creation before we finally get half a second of HIS perspective and it's obvious to a blind person that neither of these precious idiots ever fell out of love with each other. Lol.
October 2, 2024
I didn't like it. Not a fan of the 20 year separation or that main characters were in their late 30's / early 40's.
I highly doubt that the MMC was celibate, however the heroine was celibate for 20 years and was so in love with him that she almost killed herself because he left her, but only didn't because she felt her baby's first kick. P.
I highly doubt that the MMC was celibate, however the heroine was celibate for 20 years and was so in love with him that she almost killed herself because he left her, but only didn't because she felt her baby's first kick. P.
May 6, 2019
I got really annoyed with the amount of times the story went back to the past. OK, so we needed to know how they got to where they are in the present but there was too much reminiscing. Very predictable but emotional. Good ending.
September 26, 2018
Didn’t finish.
October 16, 2025
I liked the daughter and dad. The heroine is an idiot. No maturity at all.
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