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Reckless Heart
Life had been difficult for Sian
It started the day her new boss, Nicholas Sinclair, jumped to the wrong conclusion about her. And the situation wasn't made any easier by an old loyalty that forced Sian into deceiving him.
Neither did it help that, against her better judgment, Sian was falling in love with the man.
The attraction she felt toward him both puzzled and frightened her--it could only be unnatural to feel such attraction toward a man she positively hated.
It started the day her new boss, Nicholas Sinclair, jumped to the wrong conclusion about her. And the situation wasn't made any easier by an old loyalty that forced Sian into deceiving him.
Neither did it help that, against her better judgment, Sian was falling in love with the man.
The attraction she felt toward him both puzzled and frightened her--it could only be unnatural to feel such attraction toward a man she positively hated.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 8, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 23, 2017
Re Reckless Heart - Kate Proctor brings us a battling American H paired with an English h and takes the big misunderstanding trope almost annoyingly too far. This one has some very humorous moments, but if you have no patience for the BIG MIS trope, you might want to put the book down and slowly back away.
The h is a 23 yr formerly wealthy orphan whose father fell apart after her mother died when she was a baby. Her father wasn't able to handle the distress of caring for his only child, so he placed her with her aunt and uncle, who have a son about the same age as the h and they grew up together like brother and sister. The h was sent to all the most prestigious English Public schools for the ladies and the h's father showered her with designer clothes and jewels, but rarely spent any time with her. Then he died and his will split his estate between several charity organizations and split the remainder between the h and her male cousin.
The male cousin got his inheritance right away, but the h has to wait to get her's until she is 30. The father left a very expensive property as well and left the h a flat right next door to her cousin's, but she won't get the deeds until she is 30 on that either. She can live in the flat tho, and since her cousin is right next door and is her BFF, they share cooking responsibilities and things.
Unfortunately, all the bequests left very little money left for the h or the cousin, and while her cousin is a lawyer and did not need it, the h's father never believed in women working, so the h doesn't have a lot of marketable skills. She does have an Honors degree in English tho, so she gets a job working for a very eccentric publishing company. Her former boss has had a stroke and the publishing company's very likable owner has passed away.
When the book opens the office groper is making inappropriate comments to the h and she loses her temper. This wouldn't be a problem except the new owner - a wealthy American who was the prior owner's godson and whose father bought the publishing company for his now deceased friend-comes in right at the moment that the h is making some sarcastic comments about American men who are "over-sexed, over-paid and over here" in an effort to put the groper guy down. Naturally since the new boss is the epitome of uber wealthy American male, he doesn't take to kindly to the remark and won't let the h explain. Then the h finds out that the H is taking over the position her immediate boss left when he had a stroke.
The two spend enormous amounts of time bickering and back and forth with verbal ripostes. After a certain amount of exchanged jibes, it always seems to end in a roofie kiss and the attraction between the two is running high.
The other big problem is that the h's boss who had a stroke was also responsible for a book that may get the company sued for libel. No one can find the documentation that clears the publisher, so the h doctors the files to make it look like she is the one at fault and not her former boss, who is slowly recuperating from the stroke but can't talk and is in danger of losing his pension if the H fires him. The h wants to protect him and his pension, so she changes the files to incriminate herself, tells the office manager what she did and the office manager tells her not to tell the h when the h decides she should.
The h and H get on with things and that includes traveling to various potential authors and getting their manuscripts. There is lots of verbal exchanges during the course of these trips cause the h thinks the H is so sarcastic with her because he still is angry about the American remarks, even tho the h tries to explain and the H lets her know that he told the office groper he would be fired if he kept harassing the ladies on the job.
While driving back from one of the author excursions, the h wrecks the H's Porsche when she swerves to avoid a rabbit in the road and puts the car in a ditch. The h and H are arguing again when he grabs her and does the punishing kiss thing and the h punches him in the ribs to make him stop. He tries to be nicer after that, but he assumes the h is a rich dilettante and that niceness soon wears off, most particularly when somebody says something about the h's cousin.
The h also invites one of her office mates to share her flat, cause she needs help with the day to day expenses and she is kinda lonely since she has few friends. The h explains that she tends to keep her distance from people cause she has some abandonment issues from being sent to boarding school at six.
The H sends the h to Ireland, to talk to an author whose manuscript she liked. The author does meet with the h, but then runs off unexpectedly the next day and the H shows up, blaming the h. Then the h's cousin calls to tell her he proposed to her roommate and they love each other and also with the really sad news that the h's beloved old dog died - tho he lived with her aunt and uncle cause he was a country dog and not a city one. The h starts crying and the H and h wind up having a consoling lurve club mojo moment where the h tells the H she loves him. The H seems to be surprised there has been no lurve clubs before him, but the next morning he is back to being distant and the h tries to hide her hurt.
We find out the prospective Irish author ran off because a friend in Dublin got into an accident and not because of the h. However the H is on the warpath again when he finds out the h doctored the files. The h's former boss has recovered enough to provide the pertinent proof to the H that will keep them out of a libel suite and the H loses his temper and says things (not that we get the verbal blow down,) and the h runs off, intending to resign.
The h's cousin shows up later and asks her what she told an old school friend when she and the H ran into him at a party. The h has no clue and doesn't remember, cause the H had just told her about his past in New York where a woman dated him for a awhile and lied about being married. He only found out when he was served paper's naming him as a co-respondent in her divorce. The h was surprised the H was so taken in and she was passing on a few of her less than stellar relationships tries, when the cousin's friend came up and the h wasn't paying attention as he rattled on. So the h tells the cousin she has no idear what the other guy said and then her BFF cousin wanders off and the H shows up.
He and the h go back and forth a bit and then the H admits that he thought she was living with the cousin and that the BFF cousin was her lover or something. The H doesn't do cheating or multiple partners and so he was mad that the h would still be carrying on with one man while she lurved it up with him, even tho he was trying to console her over losing the cousin to her roommate. The h explains that she was crying cause her dog died, but she didn't think the H would care and the only man she loves is the H cause she certainly wouldn't live with a guy unless she loved him and she would love his lurve clubbings too - but not if she was related to the guy for pity's sake! Happiness and mutual love declarations about and the h decides they will marry in the H's hometown of Boston cause his dad has traumas about flying for the big HEA.
This one was okay but it was a bit strange. A lot of the events between the H and h are related by conversations between the h and a secondary character rather than shown between the H and h. Each chapter in the latter half of the book ends on a fade out moment and we only find out what happened later in a conversation. It is odd cause it is clear that time has passed, but just how much time has passed is difficult to figure out in a couple of places.
Also the characterizations did not quite ring true. The explanation given is that the h doesn't confide in anyone cause of her abandonment issues. But I saw no signs of that in the h, she seemed quite friendly and open for the most part. Granted the h did not go around blabbing her life story all over the place, but then again how many people actually do? Especially in a formal office setting when she had only been there for eight months and she needed the job.
The h does tend to let her mind wander a bit, a lot of times in the story it is clear she has missed something that might be important because she was thinking about something else - usually the H's manly male chest or fascinating eyes. Anyhows, the H puts his misunderstanding on the h's shoulder's cause she should have read his mind and told him her entire life story after the first roofie kiss.
I did like the twist that the H is the one who got lied to about the marital status of the woman he was dating and the h was very funny when she pointed out how usually that only happens to the ladies in England, so things really are more equal in America.
For the most part the banter between the H and h was funny and the h was more than a match for the H's verbal jabs - tho the H did tend to sound like he was out of a 1940's gangster film sometimes. If you don't mind the big misunderstanding trope, this one isn't a terrible read and not a bad outing to HPlandia.
The h is a 23 yr formerly wealthy orphan whose father fell apart after her mother died when she was a baby. Her father wasn't able to handle the distress of caring for his only child, so he placed her with her aunt and uncle, who have a son about the same age as the h and they grew up together like brother and sister. The h was sent to all the most prestigious English Public schools for the ladies and the h's father showered her with designer clothes and jewels, but rarely spent any time with her. Then he died and his will split his estate between several charity organizations and split the remainder between the h and her male cousin.
The male cousin got his inheritance right away, but the h has to wait to get her's until she is 30. The father left a very expensive property as well and left the h a flat right next door to her cousin's, but she won't get the deeds until she is 30 on that either. She can live in the flat tho, and since her cousin is right next door and is her BFF, they share cooking responsibilities and things.
Unfortunately, all the bequests left very little money left for the h or the cousin, and while her cousin is a lawyer and did not need it, the h's father never believed in women working, so the h doesn't have a lot of marketable skills. She does have an Honors degree in English tho, so she gets a job working for a very eccentric publishing company. Her former boss has had a stroke and the publishing company's very likable owner has passed away.
When the book opens the office groper is making inappropriate comments to the h and she loses her temper. This wouldn't be a problem except the new owner - a wealthy American who was the prior owner's godson and whose father bought the publishing company for his now deceased friend-comes in right at the moment that the h is making some sarcastic comments about American men who are "over-sexed, over-paid and over here" in an effort to put the groper guy down. Naturally since the new boss is the epitome of uber wealthy American male, he doesn't take to kindly to the remark and won't let the h explain. Then the h finds out that the H is taking over the position her immediate boss left when he had a stroke.
The two spend enormous amounts of time bickering and back and forth with verbal ripostes. After a certain amount of exchanged jibes, it always seems to end in a roofie kiss and the attraction between the two is running high.
The other big problem is that the h's boss who had a stroke was also responsible for a book that may get the company sued for libel. No one can find the documentation that clears the publisher, so the h doctors the files to make it look like she is the one at fault and not her former boss, who is slowly recuperating from the stroke but can't talk and is in danger of losing his pension if the H fires him. The h wants to protect him and his pension, so she changes the files to incriminate herself, tells the office manager what she did and the office manager tells her not to tell the h when the h decides she should.
The h and H get on with things and that includes traveling to various potential authors and getting their manuscripts. There is lots of verbal exchanges during the course of these trips cause the h thinks the H is so sarcastic with her because he still is angry about the American remarks, even tho the h tries to explain and the H lets her know that he told the office groper he would be fired if he kept harassing the ladies on the job.
While driving back from one of the author excursions, the h wrecks the H's Porsche when she swerves to avoid a rabbit in the road and puts the car in a ditch. The h and H are arguing again when he grabs her and does the punishing kiss thing and the h punches him in the ribs to make him stop. He tries to be nicer after that, but he assumes the h is a rich dilettante and that niceness soon wears off, most particularly when somebody says something about the h's cousin.
The h also invites one of her office mates to share her flat, cause she needs help with the day to day expenses and she is kinda lonely since she has few friends. The h explains that she tends to keep her distance from people cause she has some abandonment issues from being sent to boarding school at six.
The H sends the h to Ireland, to talk to an author whose manuscript she liked. The author does meet with the h, but then runs off unexpectedly the next day and the H shows up, blaming the h. Then the h's cousin calls to tell her he proposed to her roommate and they love each other and also with the really sad news that the h's beloved old dog died - tho he lived with her aunt and uncle cause he was a country dog and not a city one. The h starts crying and the H and h wind up having a consoling lurve club mojo moment where the h tells the H she loves him. The H seems to be surprised there has been no lurve clubs before him, but the next morning he is back to being distant and the h tries to hide her hurt.
We find out the prospective Irish author ran off because a friend in Dublin got into an accident and not because of the h. However the H is on the warpath again when he finds out the h doctored the files. The h's former boss has recovered enough to provide the pertinent proof to the H that will keep them out of a libel suite and the H loses his temper and says things (not that we get the verbal blow down,) and the h runs off, intending to resign.
The h's cousin shows up later and asks her what she told an old school friend when she and the H ran into him at a party. The h has no clue and doesn't remember, cause the H had just told her about his past in New York where a woman dated him for a awhile and lied about being married. He only found out when he was served paper's naming him as a co-respondent in her divorce. The h was surprised the H was so taken in and she was passing on a few of her less than stellar relationships tries, when the cousin's friend came up and the h wasn't paying attention as he rattled on. So the h tells the cousin she has no idear what the other guy said and then her BFF cousin wanders off and the H shows up.
He and the h go back and forth a bit and then the H admits that he thought she was living with the cousin and that the BFF cousin was her lover or something. The H doesn't do cheating or multiple partners and so he was mad that the h would still be carrying on with one man while she lurved it up with him, even tho he was trying to console her over losing the cousin to her roommate. The h explains that she was crying cause her dog died, but she didn't think the H would care and the only man she loves is the H cause she certainly wouldn't live with a guy unless she loved him and she would love his lurve clubbings too - but not if she was related to the guy for pity's sake! Happiness and mutual love declarations about and the h decides they will marry in the H's hometown of Boston cause his dad has traumas about flying for the big HEA.
This one was okay but it was a bit strange. A lot of the events between the H and h are related by conversations between the h and a secondary character rather than shown between the H and h. Each chapter in the latter half of the book ends on a fade out moment and we only find out what happened later in a conversation. It is odd cause it is clear that time has passed, but just how much time has passed is difficult to figure out in a couple of places.
Also the characterizations did not quite ring true. The explanation given is that the h doesn't confide in anyone cause of her abandonment issues. But I saw no signs of that in the h, she seemed quite friendly and open for the most part. Granted the h did not go around blabbing her life story all over the place, but then again how many people actually do? Especially in a formal office setting when she had only been there for eight months and she needed the job.
The h does tend to let her mind wander a bit, a lot of times in the story it is clear she has missed something that might be important because she was thinking about something else - usually the H's manly male chest or fascinating eyes. Anyhows, the H puts his misunderstanding on the h's shoulder's cause she should have read his mind and told him her entire life story after the first roofie kiss.
I did like the twist that the H is the one who got lied to about the marital status of the woman he was dating and the h was very funny when she pointed out how usually that only happens to the ladies in England, so things really are more equal in America.
For the most part the banter between the H and h was funny and the h was more than a match for the H's verbal jabs - tho the H did tend to sound like he was out of a 1940's gangster film sometimes. If you don't mind the big misunderstanding trope, this one isn't a terrible read and not a bad outing to HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2012
While the characters and their background were astounding and written perfectly well, the story as a whole was not. At times I found myself completely bored and fear a lack of understanding at some points at well. It would of been the perfect novel if someone took those characters and wrote them into a new story. The ending was great for the book and closed off pretty much all ends that needed to be closed anyways. However I was disappointed of the author, surely she could of done better!
August 20, 2023
"Reckless Heart" is the story of Sian and Nicholas.
Extremely annoying, loud and suspicious and lying heroine meets the sort of smitten hero and then she screeches her way into his heart and somehow the book gets even more boring and uninteresting.
I wish I had not read this.
SWE
1/5
Extremely annoying, loud and suspicious and lying heroine meets the sort of smitten hero and then she screeches her way into his heart and somehow the book gets even more boring and uninteresting.
I wish I had not read this.
SWE
1/5
pback-to-read
November 14, 2019Life had been difficult for Sian
It started the day her new boss, Nicholas Sinclair, jumped to the wrong conclusion about her. And the situation wasn't made any easier by an old loyalty that forced Sian into deceiving him.
Neither did it help that, against her better judgment, Sian was falling in love with the man.
The attraction she felt toward him both puzzled and frightened her--it could only be unnatural to feel such attraction toward a man she positively hated.
It started the day her new boss, Nicholas Sinclair, jumped to the wrong conclusion about her. And the situation wasn't made any easier by an old loyalty that forced Sian into deceiving him.
Neither did it help that, against her better judgment, Sian was falling in love with the man.
The attraction she felt toward him both puzzled and frightened her--it could only be unnatural to feel such attraction toward a man she positively hated.
Read
July 27, 2011Awfully written but the charachters are strangely intruiging.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews