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Dark Obsession
Second wife, second best?
Fran couldn't remember a time when she hadn't loved Grant, and over the years the wild longings she'd felt for him as a reckless adolescent had intensified and grown. First love had endured.
Yet she was hesitant when they met again in London. "It's madness, and you're crazy if you agree," Grant warned her, "but let's get married and sort out the rest afterward!"
If only he'd said he loved her, Fran might not have been so acutely sensitive to every reminder of his first wife...and how much she resembled her.
Fran couldn't remember a time when she hadn't loved Grant, and over the years the wild longings she'd felt for him as a reckless adolescent had intensified and grown. First love had endured.
Yet she was hesitant when they met again in London. "It's madness, and you're crazy if you agree," Grant warned her, "but let's get married and sort out the rest afterward!"
If only he'd said he loved her, Fran might not have been so acutely sensitive to every reminder of his first wife...and how much she resembled her.
189 pages, Paperback
First published May 14, 1985
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October 18, 2023
Fran was living with her aunt and uncle in a small house in the valley. Grant was a wealthy landlord who lived in the big house up on the hill.
From the age of 6, Grant, who would had been 2o, seemed like a God to Fran. As she grew to her teens she became self conscious with him.
That summer, at the age of 15, she was so infatuated with him to a point of obsession. She was tall, fully developed and very beautiful and looked much older than her years.
She began a deliberate pursuit. She would dressed provocative and follow him around, especially at the time he would take his dogs for walks on the hills. As her behaviour became more brazen he started withdrawing from her.
At the end of the summer he left for London and in the spring her aunt told her he was married.
His bride, Julia, was a paragon of virtue. Everyone in the village sang her praises, liked and respected her, a lovely woman, they were saying, and the couple was so much in love.
There was a general amazement though, of how much she resemble Fran.
In the meantime Grant became a famous playwright.
At 18, Fran went to London to see a play and in the theatre foyer she saw Grant. She hadn't seen him for 3 years. They stared at one another then he turned to Julia in an effort to introduce them, but Fran consumed with jealousy, turned around and fled.
Four more years went by. Fran became a model but not a successful one. She did not like the job and was in the process of quitting.
One day Grant knocked on her door. She'd asked him about his wife and he said that she left him 3 years ago. It would be unfair to discuss the reason for the divorce, he said, except to say that the fault was his and he regretted it but the problem could not be put right.
It was apparent to Fran that he still felt guilt and strong loyalty towards Julia.
He told Fran that he was trying to find her for a long time but her aunt wouldn't give him her address.
Now that he had found her he wasn't letting her get away from him.
Within a few days he had married her at the registrar's office. The whole wedding was kept under wraps.
Fran was untouched as she never wanted any man but Grant.
The first couple of months they lived in his new London apartment and to Fran those months were pure happiness. They were passionate in the bedroom but he never told her he loved her.
One evening they attended a formal function and people thought Fran was Julia. The next day pictures of Grant with each of his wives appeared in the newspapers, commenting on the intriguing situation of the two lookalike wives.
There was also a published picture of Grant and Julia in a restaurant taken after Grants and Fran's wedding. Grant explained he only asked to meet with Julia to tell her about his marriage.
Fran was not worried about those two engage in physical infidelity, but unfaithfulness of the mind.
She was jealous of what Julia meant to Grant and he seemed so protective of his first wife.
She was told that as Julia asked for a divorce, Grant did everything in his power to change her mind.
They'd moved back to the village and their relationship took a turn for the worst for various reasons.
Fran dreaded the big house he had shared with Julia for 6 years. She'd received a cold and contemptuous welcome by Mrs Matthews, the housekeeper who was still loyal to her old mistress, Julia. The house was fully decorated by Julia and Mrs Matthews would deliberately place Julia's items around the house, including her pictures. The house looked like a shrine to Julia.
The worst was that she had to sleep on the same four-poster bed he used to share with his first wife.
That fact made her sick and killed her passion. She felt like a substitute for another woman, she thought Grant might imagine he was with Julia still.
Grant had noticed that she failed to respond to him and was not happy about it.
Fran mistakenly opened a letter that contained a statement and in disbelief she saw the exuberant amount of money he was paying his ex wife. She'd recalled, in a rage, how he recently asked her to limit her own expenses.
The couple no longer slept together and Fran was getting increasingly discontent and begged him to return back to London but he categorically refused. He said this was his home and if she wanted to leave she would have to do it alone.
He told her that Julia in terms of worth she'd make twenty of her and if Julia suddenly appeared before him now, there were a few things they could get straighten out between them.
For Fran now, there could be no more waiting in the hope that a miracle might happen and that idyllic happiness of the first months of their marriage would be restored.
One day that both Grant and the housekeeper were out, she started packing with tears in her eyes when suddenly Grant was standing at the door. He told her he would not agree to a divorce therefore she would have to wait the whole 5 years to be legally free and not to imagine he would keep her during all that time.
She replied that she was not asking for anything. She told him to go back to his precious Julia and beg her to forgive him. God knew he was paying her enough to keep her sweet.
She already knew, she told him, he only married her because she reminded him of Julia.
He laughed at that and told her with ironic bitterness that he only married Julia because she reminded him of Fran.
He'd fell in love with her all those years ago, she did not look or seem her age but he knew she was fifteen so he left.
He met Julia in London soon after and she looked so like Fran but Julia wasn't forbidden like Fran was.
He thought Julia was the answer to his prayers so he'd married her as soon as he could.
Soon after he brought her to the village, Julia had seen Fran and got suspicious.
Years later, the day They'd encountered Fran in the theatre, she told him she couldn't go on with the marriage any more, she knew Fran was always between them.
The day she left she told him that every time he made love to her she knew he was imagining it was Fran. There wasn't anything he could say to that as it was true.
Fran told him he should have waited for her, that she loved him, she always had. She thought he still loved Julia and she was a substitute and once they came to live in the country, Julia's presence was everywhere, the house was like a shrine to her and she just froze inside and he seemed so protective of Julia, she would not dare tell him anything about it.
He said it was his conscience. He felt guilty for he had married Julia and used her as a substitute while she loved him so completely and she was so perfect when he did not seek perfection. It was suffocating. He would never have left her first though for her love for him was so binding he could not escape with clear conscience.
Julia did not want children as they were messy and she wanted perfection around her, but he did not mind as he only ever wanted to have children with Fran.
The title is so fitting for this book. "Dark Obsession". Mills and Boon would not have published it today because of the underage element. It's a 4 star for me as it was angsty and interesting but l give it 3 stars because the underage thing.
From the age of 6, Grant, who would had been 2o, seemed like a God to Fran. As she grew to her teens she became self conscious with him.
That summer, at the age of 15, she was so infatuated with him to a point of obsession. She was tall, fully developed and very beautiful and looked much older than her years.
She began a deliberate pursuit. She would dressed provocative and follow him around, especially at the time he would take his dogs for walks on the hills. As her behaviour became more brazen he started withdrawing from her.
At the end of the summer he left for London and in the spring her aunt told her he was married.
His bride, Julia, was a paragon of virtue. Everyone in the village sang her praises, liked and respected her, a lovely woman, they were saying, and the couple was so much in love.
There was a general amazement though, of how much she resemble Fran.
In the meantime Grant became a famous playwright.
At 18, Fran went to London to see a play and in the theatre foyer she saw Grant. She hadn't seen him for 3 years. They stared at one another then he turned to Julia in an effort to introduce them, but Fran consumed with jealousy, turned around and fled.
Four more years went by. Fran became a model but not a successful one. She did not like the job and was in the process of quitting.
One day Grant knocked on her door. She'd asked him about his wife and he said that she left him 3 years ago. It would be unfair to discuss the reason for the divorce, he said, except to say that the fault was his and he regretted it but the problem could not be put right.
It was apparent to Fran that he still felt guilt and strong loyalty towards Julia.
He told Fran that he was trying to find her for a long time but her aunt wouldn't give him her address.
Now that he had found her he wasn't letting her get away from him.
Within a few days he had married her at the registrar's office. The whole wedding was kept under wraps.
Fran was untouched as she never wanted any man but Grant.
The first couple of months they lived in his new London apartment and to Fran those months were pure happiness. They were passionate in the bedroom but he never told her he loved her.
One evening they attended a formal function and people thought Fran was Julia. The next day pictures of Grant with each of his wives appeared in the newspapers, commenting on the intriguing situation of the two lookalike wives.
There was also a published picture of Grant and Julia in a restaurant taken after Grants and Fran's wedding. Grant explained he only asked to meet with Julia to tell her about his marriage.
Fran was not worried about those two engage in physical infidelity, but unfaithfulness of the mind.
She was jealous of what Julia meant to Grant and he seemed so protective of his first wife.
She was told that as Julia asked for a divorce, Grant did everything in his power to change her mind.
They'd moved back to the village and their relationship took a turn for the worst for various reasons.
Fran dreaded the big house he had shared with Julia for 6 years. She'd received a cold and contemptuous welcome by Mrs Matthews, the housekeeper who was still loyal to her old mistress, Julia. The house was fully decorated by Julia and Mrs Matthews would deliberately place Julia's items around the house, including her pictures. The house looked like a shrine to Julia.
The worst was that she had to sleep on the same four-poster bed he used to share with his first wife.
That fact made her sick and killed her passion. She felt like a substitute for another woman, she thought Grant might imagine he was with Julia still.
Grant had noticed that she failed to respond to him and was not happy about it.
Fran mistakenly opened a letter that contained a statement and in disbelief she saw the exuberant amount of money he was paying his ex wife. She'd recalled, in a rage, how he recently asked her to limit her own expenses.
The couple no longer slept together and Fran was getting increasingly discontent and begged him to return back to London but he categorically refused. He said this was his home and if she wanted to leave she would have to do it alone.
He told her that Julia in terms of worth she'd make twenty of her and if Julia suddenly appeared before him now, there were a few things they could get straighten out between them.
For Fran now, there could be no more waiting in the hope that a miracle might happen and that idyllic happiness of the first months of their marriage would be restored.
One day that both Grant and the housekeeper were out, she started packing with tears in her eyes when suddenly Grant was standing at the door. He told her he would not agree to a divorce therefore she would have to wait the whole 5 years to be legally free and not to imagine he would keep her during all that time.
She replied that she was not asking for anything. She told him to go back to his precious Julia and beg her to forgive him. God knew he was paying her enough to keep her sweet.
She already knew, she told him, he only married her because she reminded him of Julia.
He laughed at that and told her with ironic bitterness that he only married Julia because she reminded him of Fran.
He'd fell in love with her all those years ago, she did not look or seem her age but he knew she was fifteen so he left.
He met Julia in London soon after and she looked so like Fran but Julia wasn't forbidden like Fran was.
He thought Julia was the answer to his prayers so he'd married her as soon as he could.
Soon after he brought her to the village, Julia had seen Fran and got suspicious.
Years later, the day They'd encountered Fran in the theatre, she told him she couldn't go on with the marriage any more, she knew Fran was always between them.
The day she left she told him that every time he made love to her she knew he was imagining it was Fran. There wasn't anything he could say to that as it was true.
Fran told him he should have waited for her, that she loved him, she always had. She thought he still loved Julia and she was a substitute and once they came to live in the country, Julia's presence was everywhere, the house was like a shrine to her and she just froze inside and he seemed so protective of Julia, she would not dare tell him anything about it.
He said it was his conscience. He felt guilty for he had married Julia and used her as a substitute while she loved him so completely and she was so perfect when he did not seek perfection. It was suffocating. He would never have left her first though for her love for him was so binding he could not escape with clear conscience.
Julia did not want children as they were messy and she wanted perfection around her, but he did not mind as he only ever wanted to have children with Fran.
The title is so fitting for this book. "Dark Obsession". Mills and Boon would not have published it today because of the underage element. It's a 4 star for me as it was angsty and interesting but l give it 3 stars because the underage thing.
February 16, 2019
Re Dark Obsession - This is the standard H has been obsessed with h since she was 14 and he was 28.
She almost threw herself at him as a-totally-crushing-on-the-H 14 yr old -- he panicked (nothing happened, they were both internally emotional tho) and he left their rural village for London where he married a woman who is essentially the h's physical double, but older and a living saint to boot. He also became a famous playwright in addition to being a small holding farmer.
It has been 9 years since the H and h have spoken, they saw each other once across a theater 5 years earlier and apparently the look was hot enough to scorch the theater. The H sees the h at a party where her agent is trying to promote her as a model (but her face is not photogenic, even though she is really pretty.) He tries to talk with her but she passes out from appendicitis.
He tracks her down in hospital and she gets her agent to fake a relationship with her. The H acts furious, but she is worried she will jump him from her sickbed and she doesn't want to be homewrecker. Her agent apparently has a thing for her as well but she puts him off, as he has a girlfriend too. She decides to give up on the modeling and gets a job as a beauty adviser.
The H tracks her down and proposes after he explains that his wife divorced him but won't say why. The leads to all sort of questions from the h and the rest of her home village about what was so horrible about him that caused the divorce which the H actively avoids. The h is faint with lust, so she attempts to just have an affair, but the H is insistent on marriage.
People try to warn her off, but they marry and then have a ton of sex. She is 24 to his 37 and it becomes fairly obvious they don't have a lot in common but sex. She is insecure, and so she winds up shopping a lot for expensive things and he gets the idea she is a gold digger. She thinks he has to accept all the social invitations he gets to keep his plays in production, so she insists on going and being what she thinks is a supportive wife, so he also thinks she is a party animal social climber.
He refuses to talk about his first marriage AT ALL and when the papers make a big deal about the first wife's and the h's similarity of looks, he is totally supportive of the ex-wife and doesn't really care that much about the h's reaction. He really doesn't talk much to her at all, it is all sex. Some yelling at her about money, (he pays a ton of money to his ex), and accusing her of social climbing and vulgarity. He is also insanely jealous and possessive.
Then he takes her back to his farm and things totally deteriorate. The ex wife was a local saint, the housekeeper is Mrs. Danvers reincarnated and the whole house is a shrine to the ex-wife and her taste. The h tries to change things but the housekeeper puts them back the way they were and the H is completely non supportive. She is really grossed out by having to sleep in the same bed as the ex did and she just can't work up any enthusiasm for lurve.
The H is furious, and the h feels bad so she finally fakes an orgasm - the first faked one in HPlandia. He figures it out and the relationship deteriorates more. Finally the h has had enough and decides to leave. The H catches her and it finally comes out that the ex divorced him because the H was supposedly using her as a sub hitter for the h. They avow mutual love. The H tells the h to get preggers so the housekeeper would be nice to her and the sun sets on another outing in HPLandia.
I have to wonder if this pairing was really going to work out tho. I had the feeling that the H was more obsessed with his physical response to a 14 year old - apparently she did not look 14 at all but he was so mentally whacked by it that it messed him up for years. I also got the idear that the h really was his lust object, he did not really expect her to have a personality and if she just HAD to have one, it should have resembled his ex's more than her own - with the addition of a maternal instinct as the ex-wife did not want kids.
I also don't think the h is going to last the distance, I thought she had more of a physical enthrallment going on but he is 37 in the book and that could very easily not last for much longer. She would be in her thirties and hitting her peak while he will be gearing up to slow down in his fifties.
Ultimately the book had some interesting things-- objectification obsessions, a faked big o and some realistic marital fights about money, but the HEA isn't really definitive and that may be why we never see VM in HPlandia or HRtopia again.
She almost threw herself at him as a-totally-crushing-on-the-H 14 yr old -- he panicked (nothing happened, they were both internally emotional tho) and he left their rural village for London where he married a woman who is essentially the h's physical double, but older and a living saint to boot. He also became a famous playwright in addition to being a small holding farmer.
It has been 9 years since the H and h have spoken, they saw each other once across a theater 5 years earlier and apparently the look was hot enough to scorch the theater. The H sees the h at a party where her agent is trying to promote her as a model (but her face is not photogenic, even though she is really pretty.) He tries to talk with her but she passes out from appendicitis.
He tracks her down in hospital and she gets her agent to fake a relationship with her. The H acts furious, but she is worried she will jump him from her sickbed and she doesn't want to be homewrecker. Her agent apparently has a thing for her as well but she puts him off, as he has a girlfriend too. She decides to give up on the modeling and gets a job as a beauty adviser.
The H tracks her down and proposes after he explains that his wife divorced him but won't say why. The leads to all sort of questions from the h and the rest of her home village about what was so horrible about him that caused the divorce which the H actively avoids. The h is faint with lust, so she attempts to just have an affair, but the H is insistent on marriage.
People try to warn her off, but they marry and then have a ton of sex. She is 24 to his 37 and it becomes fairly obvious they don't have a lot in common but sex. She is insecure, and so she winds up shopping a lot for expensive things and he gets the idea she is a gold digger. She thinks he has to accept all the social invitations he gets to keep his plays in production, so she insists on going and being what she thinks is a supportive wife, so he also thinks she is a party animal social climber.
He refuses to talk about his first marriage AT ALL and when the papers make a big deal about the first wife's and the h's similarity of looks, he is totally supportive of the ex-wife and doesn't really care that much about the h's reaction. He really doesn't talk much to her at all, it is all sex. Some yelling at her about money, (he pays a ton of money to his ex), and accusing her of social climbing and vulgarity. He is also insanely jealous and possessive.
Then he takes her back to his farm and things totally deteriorate. The ex wife was a local saint, the housekeeper is Mrs. Danvers reincarnated and the whole house is a shrine to the ex-wife and her taste. The h tries to change things but the housekeeper puts them back the way they were and the H is completely non supportive. She is really grossed out by having to sleep in the same bed as the ex did and she just can't work up any enthusiasm for lurve.
The H is furious, and the h feels bad so she finally fakes an orgasm - the first faked one in HPlandia. He figures it out and the relationship deteriorates more. Finally the h has had enough and decides to leave. The H catches her and it finally comes out that the ex divorced him because the H was supposedly using her as a sub hitter for the h. They avow mutual love. The H tells the h to get preggers so the housekeeper would be nice to her and the sun sets on another outing in HPLandia.
I have to wonder if this pairing was really going to work out tho. I had the feeling that the H was more obsessed with his physical response to a 14 year old - apparently she did not look 14 at all but he was so mentally whacked by it that it messed him up for years. I also got the idear that the h really was his lust object, he did not really expect her to have a personality and if she just HAD to have one, it should have resembled his ex's more than her own - with the addition of a maternal instinct as the ex-wife did not want kids.
I also don't think the h is going to last the distance, I thought she had more of a physical enthrallment going on but he is 37 in the book and that could very easily not last for much longer. She would be in her thirties and hitting her peak while he will be gearing up to slow down in his fifties.
Ultimately the book had some interesting things-- objectification obsessions, a faked big o and some realistic marital fights about money, but the HEA isn't really definitive and that may be why we never see VM in HPlandia or HRtopia again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2016
Valerie Marsh's Dark Obsession brings us an extremely unlikable hero who never really redeems himself for all his cruelty and a weak, stupid heroine who just drifts through life aimlessly, making the reader actually sympathize with the real victim in this story, the ex-wife!
The obsession in this story alludes to the teenage heroine's sexual obsession with the hero when she was merely fourteen years old. Unbeknownst to her, the twenty eight year old hero returns that obsession but because he does not want to end up in jail, he does not act on it. Instead, he moves away and gets married... to a woman who looks exactly like the heroine and whom he makes love to for six years pretending that she is the young girl he really wants! Nice, romantic hero, right?!
Nine years later, the heroine and hero meet up again in London. Hero is now divorced. His wife finally wised up and was fed up with acting as the stand in for hero's fixation with his inappropriate object of lust. Though the heroine does not know this is the reason for the divorce and spends the rest of the book constantly thinking SHE is the poor man's substitute for the ex-wife.
There are many Great, Big, Terrible, Misunderstandings but the bottom line is these two nincompoops jumped into marriage without taking the time to know each other or even really finding out if these intense, lusty feelings they had for each other would burn up into ashes as quickly as a lit match. As long as things are good in bed, the hero seems content but if the heroine is less than spectacularly aroused by him, or objects in any other way to the hero's secretive meetings with the ex-wife or his refusal to discuss his emotions or his past with her, he lashes out at her, accusing her of being a gold-digging slut who married a convenient meal-ticket. Never mind he was the one who was pushing for the marriage. The heroine reacts to these temper tantrums by freezing the hero out, so ensconced is she with her obsession that she cannot possibly measure up to the ex-wife.
Their final confrontation is really, really ugly. He actually confirms her worst fear, telling her in no uncertain words, that he is disillusioned with her, and that she had best remained a figment of his imagination, because in reality, she was a disappointment. He also tells her that his ex-wife was worth twenty of her, and that unlike the amicable, generous settlement he bestowed on the ex after their divorce, she cannot expect a penny from him and he will fight her tooth and nail with all his lawyers to fight the divorce every step of the way. Not because he wants to save his marriage but because he wants to save face in front of all his friends and colleagues and avoid the social stigma of enduring yet another failed marriage.
But because this is a Harlequin, that confrontation ends up with them finally clearing up the Great, Big, Terrible, Misunderstandings and saying their I love yous, because, you know, the story had to eventually conclude within the allotted number of pages.
I quite disliked the hero in this story, for obvious reasons. I mean, I get that he could not act on his feelings towards a teenager but why did he have to drag a perfectly innocent woman into it and marry her? He could have gone on and dated other women until he got over this fixation and eventually allowed himself to fall in love and commit to a woman. On the other hand, if he was so uncurable, he could have waited for the heroine to grow up. The fact that he married some unsuspecting woman to act as shield against his baser instincts and then spent his marriage pretending she was someone else he was making love to was SICK.
As for the stupidly rushed into marriage with the heroine without even admitting to her how he feels for her, and all the times he put her second after his ex-wife, after his friends and colleagues, and even after his housekeeper, with nary a sympathy for how she would feel, he just proved that he continued to be callous and unfeeling. I mean, he brings her back to his home that has been decorated by the ex wife, that is still being run by an overtly hostile housekeeper who makes Mrs. Danvers look like Pippi Longstocking, and tries to bed her in the same bed he had his ex-wife in and then he explodes at the fact that she can't be aroused? LMAO.
The heroine did not elicit sympathy either. She seems very weak, disoriented, listless and just plain boring and dull. She kind of floated into the modeling business but did not really push herself so that her career just fizzled out from lack of effort, whereas her colleagues all went on to bigger and better things. As a married woman, she spent her entire time making outrageous clothing purchases, and dressing up for events, with the fixated idea that she must measure up to the perfect ex-wife. Once they moved away from London and into the country house, she also drifted, banging on piano keys, puttering in the garden, and mostly just feeling sorry for herself. It is no wonder that she drove her husband nuts. She is far, far away from the plucky HPlandia heroines who take one look at a daunting house and a sneering housekeeper and bulldoze their way through these obstacles by sheer pluck.
The most disturbing thing was that by the end of the story, none of the issues between them had really ever been resolved nor did the hero so much as apologize for his very cruel, unforgettable words that hit her below the belt. If she ever makes the grave offense of not getting properly aroused by his gargantuan sex drive, are we to expect him to revert to Mr. Hyde mode? She will have an HEA with him only if she keeps up her part of fitting into his fantasy of the little girl who charmed him but that he couldn't have.
The obsession in this story alludes to the teenage heroine's sexual obsession with the hero when she was merely fourteen years old. Unbeknownst to her, the twenty eight year old hero returns that obsession but because he does not want to end up in jail, he does not act on it. Instead, he moves away and gets married... to a woman who looks exactly like the heroine and whom he makes love to for six years pretending that she is the young girl he really wants! Nice, romantic hero, right?!
Nine years later, the heroine and hero meet up again in London. Hero is now divorced. His wife finally wised up and was fed up with acting as the stand in for hero's fixation with his inappropriate object of lust. Though the heroine does not know this is the reason for the divorce and spends the rest of the book constantly thinking SHE is the poor man's substitute for the ex-wife.
There are many Great, Big, Terrible, Misunderstandings but the bottom line is these two nincompoops jumped into marriage without taking the time to know each other or even really finding out if these intense, lusty feelings they had for each other would burn up into ashes as quickly as a lit match. As long as things are good in bed, the hero seems content but if the heroine is less than spectacularly aroused by him, or objects in any other way to the hero's secretive meetings with the ex-wife or his refusal to discuss his emotions or his past with her, he lashes out at her, accusing her of being a gold-digging slut who married a convenient meal-ticket. Never mind he was the one who was pushing for the marriage. The heroine reacts to these temper tantrums by freezing the hero out, so ensconced is she with her obsession that she cannot possibly measure up to the ex-wife.
Their final confrontation is really, really ugly. He actually confirms her worst fear, telling her in no uncertain words, that he is disillusioned with her, and that she had best remained a figment of his imagination, because in reality, she was a disappointment. He also tells her that his ex-wife was worth twenty of her, and that unlike the amicable, generous settlement he bestowed on the ex after their divorce, she cannot expect a penny from him and he will fight her tooth and nail with all his lawyers to fight the divorce every step of the way. Not because he wants to save his marriage but because he wants to save face in front of all his friends and colleagues and avoid the social stigma of enduring yet another failed marriage.
But because this is a Harlequin, that confrontation ends up with them finally clearing up the Great, Big, Terrible, Misunderstandings and saying their I love yous, because, you know, the story had to eventually conclude within the allotted number of pages.
I quite disliked the hero in this story, for obvious reasons. I mean, I get that he could not act on his feelings towards a teenager but why did he have to drag a perfectly innocent woman into it and marry her? He could have gone on and dated other women until he got over this fixation and eventually allowed himself to fall in love and commit to a woman. On the other hand, if he was so uncurable, he could have waited for the heroine to grow up. The fact that he married some unsuspecting woman to act as shield against his baser instincts and then spent his marriage pretending she was someone else he was making love to was SICK.
As for the stupidly rushed into marriage with the heroine without even admitting to her how he feels for her, and all the times he put her second after his ex-wife, after his friends and colleagues, and even after his housekeeper, with nary a sympathy for how she would feel, he just proved that he continued to be callous and unfeeling. I mean, he brings her back to his home that has been decorated by the ex wife, that is still being run by an overtly hostile housekeeper who makes Mrs. Danvers look like Pippi Longstocking, and tries to bed her in the same bed he had his ex-wife in and then he explodes at the fact that she can't be aroused? LMAO.
The heroine did not elicit sympathy either. She seems very weak, disoriented, listless and just plain boring and dull. She kind of floated into the modeling business but did not really push herself so that her career just fizzled out from lack of effort, whereas her colleagues all went on to bigger and better things. As a married woman, she spent her entire time making outrageous clothing purchases, and dressing up for events, with the fixated idea that she must measure up to the perfect ex-wife. Once they moved away from London and into the country house, she also drifted, banging on piano keys, puttering in the garden, and mostly just feeling sorry for herself. It is no wonder that she drove her husband nuts. She is far, far away from the plucky HPlandia heroines who take one look at a daunting house and a sneering housekeeper and bulldoze their way through these obstacles by sheer pluck.
The most disturbing thing was that by the end of the story, none of the issues between them had really ever been resolved nor did the hero so much as apologize for his very cruel, unforgettable words that hit her below the belt. If she ever makes the grave offense of not getting properly aroused by his gargantuan sex drive, are we to expect him to revert to Mr. Hyde mode? She will have an HEA with him only if she keeps up her part of fitting into his fantasy of the little girl who charmed him but that he couldn't have.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2019
Two very unlikeable MC’s. He was cruel and she was weak and pathetic in her obsession of him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2012
Good angsty fun, only occasionally disrupted by my wanting to reach into the book and punch both main characters in the nose. As someone pertinently comments to our heroine Fran, "Darling, there's a thing called verbal communication which you don't seem to have heard of, but if I were you I should try it."
Fran has been crazy about Grant since she was 14 and he was twice her age; she was devastated when he married Julia, a woman who strangely resembled Fran herself. Nine years later, Grant reappears in Fran's life, now divorced, and sweeps her off her feet. But Fran can't help feeling that she's only a substitute for the similar but far more perfect Julia, and the more she worries about it, the more she convinces Grant that she's a shallow opportunist who only wants him for his wealth and position.
It's not hard to guess what was really going with these two -- unless you're Fran, but since she's operating on conclusions she drew when she was 14, I can cut her some slack. Grant's lack of openness with her was harder to forgive, though it turned out he had a reason of sorts. But they're deliciously nasty to each other and much juicy pain ensues for both. Although this is a typical sort of category romance, there were various small touches that made it feel less formulaic somehow, which made me like it even more.
Fran has been crazy about Grant since she was 14 and he was twice her age; she was devastated when he married Julia, a woman who strangely resembled Fran herself. Nine years later, Grant reappears in Fran's life, now divorced, and sweeps her off her feet. But Fran can't help feeling that she's only a substitute for the similar but far more perfect Julia, and the more she worries about it, the more she convinces Grant that she's a shallow opportunist who only wants him for his wealth and position.
It's not hard to guess what was really going with these two -- unless you're Fran, but since she's operating on conclusions she drew when she was 14, I can cut her some slack. Grant's lack of openness with her was harder to forgive, though it turned out he had a reason of sorts. But they're deliciously nasty to each other and much juicy pain ensues for both. Although this is a typical sort of category romance, there were various small touches that made it feel less formulaic somehow, which made me like it even more.
June 20, 2012
WOW WOW WOW ....what an emotional roller coaster. Definitely one of the better HP's I have read and extremely well written. But I did have moments where I just wanted to reach in and slap not only the Hero (Grant) and heroine (Fran), but Julia the self-sacrificing ex-wife, Sacha the tarty roommate, Seth the obnoxious agent, and Mrs. Matthews the ornery housekeeper. This is clearly a case of misunderstanding, miscommunication and selfishness on everyone's part!
I dislike that Fran would not take Grant head-on about his misconceptions. I hated that she cast herself in the role of party girl and acted like a tramp with other men to get his goat. I really disliked that Grant always put other people's feelings first. I can understand that guilt would be a driving force for prioritizing his ex-wife's feelings over the heroines. But the housekeeper? Really? What could possibly motivate him to allow his housekeeper to make his wife, the woman he loves, so miserable? I also found it incredible that he brought Fran to the same bed that he shared with his ex-wife and expected her to be able to perform and respond to him. Yee Gads, his whole house was a museum tribute to his ex wife.
I felt Fran would never be a priority for him due to his guilt over his obsession. She also never demanded any respect for herself due to her obsession with him.
This book is well titled in that it was an obsession, dark and eerie, that cast it's net very wide.
I dislike that Fran would not take Grant head-on about his misconceptions. I hated that she cast herself in the role of party girl and acted like a tramp with other men to get his goat. I really disliked that Grant always put other people's feelings first. I can understand that guilt would be a driving force for prioritizing his ex-wife's feelings over the heroines. But the housekeeper? Really? What could possibly motivate him to allow his housekeeper to make his wife, the woman he loves, so miserable? I also found it incredible that he brought Fran to the same bed that he shared with his ex-wife and expected her to be able to perform and respond to him. Yee Gads, his whole house was a museum tribute to his ex wife.
I felt Fran would never be a priority for him due to his guilt over his obsession. She also never demanded any respect for herself due to her obsession with him.
This book is well titled in that it was an obsession, dark and eerie, that cast it's net very wide.
November 8, 2021
It started well, with the 28 yo hero lusting after the 14 yo heroine while people in the village starts projecting to him images of jail..
Then the hero leaves the village and marries an older heroine's doppleganger.
Nine years later he's divorced and looking for the heroine. He finds her and immediately asks her to marry him.
It should have been heaven but she's a juvenile and insecure woman while he's a bastard sob.
In the end even if he tells her he married ow because she was so like her, and he thought about her while he made love to his wife, we understand he likes ow more than her and that it was her who left him, but he wouldn't have divorced her if she hadn't left him.
So not so obsessed after all. Or maybe he was obsessed by her because she was 14???? yuk!
Only bright moment when the heroine told him he should have waited for her. Yes, he should have, if he was really in love with her.
Not my idea of romance.
Then the hero leaves the village and marries an older heroine's doppleganger.
Nine years later he's divorced and looking for the heroine. He finds her and immediately asks her to marry him.
It should have been heaven but she's a juvenile and insecure woman while he's a bastard sob.
In the end even if he tells her he married ow because she was so like her, and he thought about her while he made love to his wife, we understand he likes ow more than her and that it was her who left him, but he wouldn't have divorced her if she hadn't left him.
So not so obsessed after all. Or maybe he was obsessed by her because she was 14???? yuk!
Only bright moment when the heroine told him he should have waited for her. Yes, he should have, if he was really in love with her.
Not my idea of romance.
April 16, 2012
A satisfying read all in all. I really like Grant. It helped that I was forearmed with the knowledge of why he made the decisions he made. He said one REALLY mean and hurtful thing about her, regarding his ex (her older doppelganger) being worth 20 of her near the climax of the book... I'm not gonna lie, I started sobbing... but I got it. I understood his need to lash out like that and could only shake my head in wonder at the two who made all these wrong decisions to hide the fact of how in love they were from each other, all for pride's sake.
Confession: I know I'm supposed to be seriously weirded out by a guy who was having thoughts so impure about a fourteen year old that he thinks he wouldn't even have been safe in prison (real quote), but my warped mind just made it OK... for this book. Seriously though, I've read some cradle-robbing stories (all HP's) before but I think fourteen is the new low.
Confession: I know I'm supposed to be seriously weirded out by a guy who was having thoughts so impure about a fourteen year old that he thinks he wouldn't even have been safe in prison (real quote), but my warped mind just made it OK... for this book. Seriously though, I've read some cradle-robbing stories (all HP's) before but I think fourteen is the new low.
February 27, 2012
When Grant was twenty-eight he met a delightful girl named Fran, she was fourteen. Soon they both had fallen in love with each other but Grant knew it was wrong because of her age. So instead of getting himself in trouble, he shielded his heart and left her, moving to London. When he was in London he met Julia and she was so much like Fran he married her.
Fran was in love with Grant, he was older than her and she knew deep down it was wrong but her heart was leading her straight to him. When Grant left for London, Fran was heartbroken and wished she could just die. Five years later she saw Grant at a play with his wife Julia. Both Grant and Fran stared at each other and then Fran walked away, her heart still breaking.
Finally Fran went to a party one night and she met Grant again, just before she passed out and was admitted to the hospital. Grant came back to visit her and eventually told her he was divorced. After a time filled with passion, Grant asked her to marry him. She agreed.
Only she didn't take into consideration at how she would be compared to his first wife. Little did she know that Grant only married Julia because he wanted Fran so badly..
The book was overall amazing. I loved the characters and how their feelings were portrayed. I loved the fact you get such and emotional connection between Grant and Fran. It was overall such a well written book. The author obviously has a lot of talent to write that well. It has to be one of my favorite harlequins in existence right now!
Fran was in love with Grant, he was older than her and she knew deep down it was wrong but her heart was leading her straight to him. When Grant left for London, Fran was heartbroken and wished she could just die. Five years later she saw Grant at a play with his wife Julia. Both Grant and Fran stared at each other and then Fran walked away, her heart still breaking.
Finally Fran went to a party one night and she met Grant again, just before she passed out and was admitted to the hospital. Grant came back to visit her and eventually told her he was divorced. After a time filled with passion, Grant asked her to marry him. She agreed.
Only she didn't take into consideration at how she would be compared to his first wife. Little did she know that Grant only married Julia because he wanted Fran so badly..
The book was overall amazing. I loved the characters and how their feelings were portrayed. I loved the fact you get such and emotional connection between Grant and Fran. It was overall such a well written book. The author obviously has a lot of talent to write that well. It has to be one of my favorite harlequins in existence right now!
January 9, 2016
This was a good one. Hero was obsessed with heroine since she was 14 - to the point he married someone who looked like her. Hero is good and messed up with his OTT ambivalent feelings. Lots of angsty goodness - has almost a gothic feel to it with the creepy housekeeper and the mystery of the first wife.
June 4, 2020
This one is interesting. He’s 38, she’s 23. They’ve known each other for years. They meet in London and marry in haste and things deteriorate when they leave London for his country home.
The ghost of his ex wife is everywhere. Locals are shocked by how much she looks like the ex. He won’t talk about why they divorced and of course, she assumes he’s still in love. The worse she feels, the less she’s interested in sex, to the point she actually fakes it, and he’s not happy.
Life gets worse, she’s leaving and the truth comes out. Apparently, he was really into her when she was 14, married the ex because she reminded him of the heroine and she was old enough to actually have a relationship with. The ex was in love but couldn’t stand that he didn’t love her. Hooray, the truth is known. They love each other, all is well in the world.
Got to say, I think this is the only book I’ve read with a faked orgasm.
The ghost of his ex wife is everywhere. Locals are shocked by how much she looks like the ex. He won’t talk about why they divorced and of course, she assumes he’s still in love. The worse she feels, the less she’s interested in sex, to the point she actually fakes it, and he’s not happy.
Life gets worse, she’s leaving and the truth comes out. Apparently, he was really into her when she was 14, married the ex because she reminded him of the heroine and she was old enough to actually have a relationship with. The ex was in love but couldn’t stand that he didn’t love her. Hooray, the truth is known. They love each other, all is well in the world.
Got to say, I think this is the only book I’ve read with a faked orgasm.
June 23, 2019
I don't know what is wrong with me at the moment but I seem to be on a kick with completely whackadoodle books and this one is no exception.
March 6, 2012
4.5 stars. I liked the premise of this story. It was pretty angsty, which I always enjoy. It lost half a star because I didn't really like how they fought, and the heroine wasn't always very likable. The way they treated each other made me question their HEA. Still, a good read.
April 12, 2012
The H waited 5 years to get it on with the h. So I fail to understand WHY he couldn't have waited 4 years so that she'd be of legal age?
Barney Stinson would shake his head...
Barney Stinson would shake his head...
May 17, 2018
So this is a wild ride, with a really dated setting that makes it quite a period piece (it felt more 70s than 80s if anything). Fran, a not-very-successful model, gets swept off her feet and married to her childhood crush, Grant, about a week after they meet at a party - having not spoken for nine years.
We're soon in Rebecca territory. The problem, though, is that Rebecca/Julia - Grant's first wife - (a) isn't dead and (b) is absolutely bloody perfect and beloved by everyone. Oh and she embroiders cushions and soft furnishings, for god's sake. She's also the spitting image of Fran - so of course Fran spends the whole time thinking she's the substitute for Julia.
Of course it's the other way around: Grant has always been obsessed with Fran, and only married Julia because she was the Next Best Thing, Fran being very much underage (14) at the time he fell for her. But Grant never tells her. Not until about page number the-last-page-minus-one.
The problem with this book is Grant. He's an asshole. From start to finish, he's a secretive, domineering, frequently cruel, controlling, jealous, chauvinistic, suspicious and judgemental asshole. If you read this, keep reminding yourself that Fran has done nothing. Nothing wrong, whatsoever. She is young, pretty much totally innocent of men, she has always loved Grant and everything she does in the book is to try to please him. I did get sick of all the hausfrauing. Seriously. Grant's wealthy, but Fran sacks the cleaners so she can busy herself around his flat with a duster. Why not get a job? Volunteer? Learn Cordon Bleu cooking? Instead of putting people out of work to play at being a charwoman.
Let's not forget The Sex: which is the most gloriously implausible, unbelievably multi-orgasmic soaring, searing passion-fest that I've yet encountered in a romance novel. Totally unbelievable. And all the more so when Fran's libido literally dries up when they return to Manderley, and Mrs Danvers (yes, there is a Mrs Danvers whom Grant won't sack because "she's old") keeps spraying Julia's perfume around the marital bedroom.
It's one of the rare romance novels where I honestly wished there could be some twist and the hero might die, or something. SPOILER: he doesn't.
We're soon in Rebecca territory. The problem, though, is that Rebecca/Julia - Grant's first wife - (a) isn't dead and (b) is absolutely bloody perfect and beloved by everyone. Oh and she embroiders cushions and soft furnishings, for god's sake. She's also the spitting image of Fran - so of course Fran spends the whole time thinking she's the substitute for Julia.
Of course it's the other way around: Grant has always been obsessed with Fran, and only married Julia because she was the Next Best Thing, Fran being very much underage (14) at the time he fell for her. But Grant never tells her. Not until about page number the-last-page-minus-one.
The problem with this book is Grant. He's an asshole. From start to finish, he's a secretive, domineering, frequently cruel, controlling, jealous, chauvinistic, suspicious and judgemental asshole. If you read this, keep reminding yourself that Fran has done nothing. Nothing wrong, whatsoever. She is young, pretty much totally innocent of men, she has always loved Grant and everything she does in the book is to try to please him. I did get sick of all the hausfrauing. Seriously. Grant's wealthy, but Fran sacks the cleaners so she can busy herself around his flat with a duster. Why not get a job? Volunteer? Learn Cordon Bleu cooking? Instead of putting people out of work to play at being a charwoman.
Let's not forget The Sex: which is the most gloriously implausible, unbelievably multi-orgasmic soaring, searing passion-fest that I've yet encountered in a romance novel. Totally unbelievable. And all the more so when Fran's libido literally dries up when they return to Manderley, and Mrs Danvers (yes, there is a Mrs Danvers whom Grant won't sack because "she's old") keeps spraying Julia's perfume around the marital bedroom.
It's one of the rare romance novels where I honestly wished there could be some twist and the hero might die, or something. SPOILER: he doesn't.
November 14, 2023
I was pretty into this angsty tale… I was fine with the H seemingly putting the ex’s feelings first because I’m expecting that situation to have a good explanation and for the situation to be made right by the hero… but that doesn’t happen. The hero’s excuse for continuing to support the OW financially was flimsy at best, compounded by the fact that he never would have divorced her (despite loving the h) if the OW hadn’t left HIM. People get divorced all the time and it’s not unusual for the reason to be because they married the wrong person. Not sure why that makes him beholden to her for the rest of her life?? It sucks but that’s kinda what divorce is? And then the mean old crow he has as a housekeeper who was loyal to the ex and made the heroine feel unwelcome and unhappy in her own home was kept on and never confronted by the H. So basically we end with the h just getting to continue to be a second class citizen both in her marriage and her home AND the town they live in FOREVER… but hey, at least the H “loves” her. You know…the guy who thought absolutely nothing of moving her into the home and bedroom he shared with the ex and not lifting a finger to help her feel comfortable. He seems likes a real sensitive guy. 🥴
Good luck 😬🤷🏼♀️
Good luck 😬🤷🏼♀️
April 21, 2025
3.5 stars So many ethical issues, but undeniably great angst porn. Needed a bit more at the end, though.
October 20, 2023
3.5/5⭐️
I dont usually like the miscommunication trope but it worked for me this time surprisingly
The H was dense and she was clueless and the whole plot questionable but you know what i loved it/them🤣
Finished at 3am i was trying so hard to keep my eyes open but i did it✊🏼
I dont usually like the miscommunication trope but it worked for me this time surprisingly
The H was dense and she was clueless and the whole plot questionable but you know what i loved it/them🤣
Finished at 3am i was trying so hard to keep my eyes open but i did it✊🏼
July 3, 2021
Angst trainwreck fun.
They have an unrequited love situation due to their vast age difference.
14 yrs apart, she was only 14, he was 28.
So he’s obsessed, goes away and marries her look-alike twin, and pretends that the wife is the h. It’s a sick mess. 😒
Nine years later when the MCs meet again, he’s divorced (his wife got sick of being used), she’s an unsuccessful model, and he marries her finally.
But she thinks he married her because she looks like his ex-wife when actually, he married the ex-wife because she looked like the 15 yr old h.
Lots of hurtful things are said, she’s afraid and insecure that H still has feelings for the ex, and there are dumb misunderstandings and tstl moments all around.
The H did love his ex-wife (in the beginning, he thought he did love her and his actions said he did), and he feels a lot of guilt for using her, but he loved the heroine more, he didnt want kids with the ex, but did with the h.
I don’t find this story romantic or satisfying, it left me feeling kinda meh…..but it did keep my attention and it was emotional.
Safe no cheating
They have an unrequited love situation due to their vast age difference.
14 yrs apart, she was only 14, he was 28.
So he’s obsessed, goes away and marries her look-alike twin, and pretends that the wife is the h. It’s a sick mess. 😒
Nine years later when the MCs meet again, he’s divorced (his wife got sick of being used), she’s an unsuccessful model, and he marries her finally.
But she thinks he married her because she looks like his ex-wife when actually, he married the ex-wife because she looked like the 15 yr old h.
Lots of hurtful things are said, she’s afraid and insecure that H still has feelings for the ex, and there are dumb misunderstandings and tstl moments all around.
The H did love his ex-wife (in the beginning, he thought he did love her and his actions said he did), and he feels a lot of guilt for using her, but he loved the heroine more, he didnt want kids with the ex, but did with the h.
I don’t find this story romantic or satisfying, it left me feeling kinda meh…..but it did keep my attention and it was emotional.
Safe no cheating
March 18, 2021
Second wife, second best? Fran couldn't remember a time when she hadn't loved Grant, and over the years the wild longings she'd felt for him as a reckless adolescent had intensified and grown. First love had endured. Yet she was hesitant when they met again in London. "It's madness, and you're crazy if you agree," Grant warned her, "but let's get married and sort out the rest afterward!" If only he'd said he loved her, Fran might not have been so acutely sensitive to every reminder of his first wife...and how much she resembled her.
August 28, 2025
What a strange story. The h Fran meets the H Grant when she is a child. When she is 14 and he is 28, she falls in love and tries to get him interested in her. He understands what she is trying to do and is wary of her, ultimately leaving the village abruptly and within months, marrying a woman who is Fran’s lookalike. Fran eventually grows up and goes to London, where she becomes a model, albeit not successfully. She never falls out of love with Grant. Some years later, she runs into him with his wife in a theater. Both she and Grant react pretty intensely to each other with no words spoken. Soon after, the wife divorces Grant.
A few years after this, Grant and Fran run into each other at a party. By now, she is 23 and he is 37. The sparks are as intense as ever, and within weeks, they get married. This all happens in the first few chapters, and the rest of the book is about the two of them trying to figure one another out and make their marriage work, amid an initial amount of a lot of very passionate sex. There is considerable squabbling, Grant being very close-mouthed about his motivations, refusing to discuss his first marriage and declining to say that he loves her. Fran understandably becomes very insecure about her place in his life and shuts down sexually when it seems he fully expects her to take the place of his ex-wife: living in the house she decorated, sleeping in her bed, being prevented from making any changes by the dour housekeeper devoted to the former wife, and Grant not defending Fran or understanding why any of this is a problem. Fran thinks that Grant married her because she is a lookalike for the ex-wife when it's actually the other way around. The marriage seems like it will collapse. But as Fran is on her way out the door after months of misery, Grant finally tells her what’s going on.
SPOILERS
He fell in lust with her at 14, left town and moved to London for his own protection because he knew the villagers would flay him alive. He married a woman who looked just like Fran but who was old enough for a mature relationship (re: not jailbait). The ex-wife was a saint and the whole village loved her, the housekeeper so much so that once Grant married Fran and moved back to the village, she would spray this woman’s perfume in the bedroom to mess with Fran’s mind. Grant feels incredibly guilty about what he did to this living saint of a woman, and his horror at his own feelings of lust for a 14-year-old combined with this deep-seated guilt really, really, really messed with his mind.
In the final section, Grant finally tells Fran that he loves her. He explains his guilt over the ex-wife and admits that he would never have divorced her, but that the ex could see what his real feelings were and couldn’t bear it because she loved him. He also tells Fran that the ex-wife was such a perfect little saint that he was bored shitless with her and much prefers the messy life he leads with Fran. (well, gee thanks, Grant).
Well. This book is so full of WTF-ery that I don’t even know where to start. The near pedophilia at the start of the book is very hard to understand and I did not like that it was stated several times that Fran did not look 14, being tall, fully developed and beautiful. 14 is 14, for goodness’ sake. It seems like Grant was fixated on Fran at 14, and it is never really shown that he comes to love her for the adult she is. It really just seems like she is his lust object. But on the other hand, at the age of 23, has Fran really reached maturity? She does not come across as particularly likable in some places but I feel like she can be forgiven because for the whole of the book, she is operating in the dark. There is so much information he is keeping from her, although in his defense, this withholding comes from a place of great fear and shame. Fran doesn’t have enough life experience to be the perfect wife, and Grant is so filled with shame and confusion that he seems unable to understand why she would shut down in the bedroom and be unable to cope with the societal pressures she experiences. He makes no attempt to defend her from the housekeeper or even some of his friends. He accuses her of marrying him for his money and position when she thoughtlessly over-spends or is too vivacious at parties, although as it soon becomes clear, money is occasionally tight because he is paying a huge settlement to the ex-wife out of guilt. It’s odd, because I think he was meant to be described as handsome, kind, urbane, intelligent- all the things most women would want in their husbands. But he is very flawed, and he is under tremendous pressure, and Fran isn’t helping because he doesn’t tell her what’s wrong.
This isn’t your typical Harlequin, although certainly there are plenty of them with difficult and complex storylines. Many other reviewers doubt that Grant and Fran will get a long-term HEA. Unless they get some couples therapy and can take what they learn on board, I think I agree.
To sum up, this is different, and it has some very difficult themes. It left me with an unpleasant aftertaste, but I think I have to applaud the author for a complex and well-written story. Four stars.
A few years after this, Grant and Fran run into each other at a party. By now, she is 23 and he is 37. The sparks are as intense as ever, and within weeks, they get married. This all happens in the first few chapters, and the rest of the book is about the two of them trying to figure one another out and make their marriage work, amid an initial amount of a lot of very passionate sex. There is considerable squabbling, Grant being very close-mouthed about his motivations, refusing to discuss his first marriage and declining to say that he loves her. Fran understandably becomes very insecure about her place in his life and shuts down sexually when it seems he fully expects her to take the place of his ex-wife: living in the house she decorated, sleeping in her bed, being prevented from making any changes by the dour housekeeper devoted to the former wife, and Grant not defending Fran or understanding why any of this is a problem. Fran thinks that Grant married her because she is a lookalike for the ex-wife when it's actually the other way around. The marriage seems like it will collapse. But as Fran is on her way out the door after months of misery, Grant finally tells her what’s going on.
SPOILERS
He fell in lust with her at 14, left town and moved to London for his own protection because he knew the villagers would flay him alive. He married a woman who looked just like Fran but who was old enough for a mature relationship (re: not jailbait). The ex-wife was a saint and the whole village loved her, the housekeeper so much so that once Grant married Fran and moved back to the village, she would spray this woman’s perfume in the bedroom to mess with Fran’s mind. Grant feels incredibly guilty about what he did to this living saint of a woman, and his horror at his own feelings of lust for a 14-year-old combined with this deep-seated guilt really, really, really messed with his mind.
In the final section, Grant finally tells Fran that he loves her. He explains his guilt over the ex-wife and admits that he would never have divorced her, but that the ex could see what his real feelings were and couldn’t bear it because she loved him. He also tells Fran that the ex-wife was such a perfect little saint that he was bored shitless with her and much prefers the messy life he leads with Fran. (well, gee thanks, Grant).
Well. This book is so full of WTF-ery that I don’t even know where to start. The near pedophilia at the start of the book is very hard to understand and I did not like that it was stated several times that Fran did not look 14, being tall, fully developed and beautiful. 14 is 14, for goodness’ sake. It seems like Grant was fixated on Fran at 14, and it is never really shown that he comes to love her for the adult she is. It really just seems like she is his lust object. But on the other hand, at the age of 23, has Fran really reached maturity? She does not come across as particularly likable in some places but I feel like she can be forgiven because for the whole of the book, she is operating in the dark. There is so much information he is keeping from her, although in his defense, this withholding comes from a place of great fear and shame. Fran doesn’t have enough life experience to be the perfect wife, and Grant is so filled with shame and confusion that he seems unable to understand why she would shut down in the bedroom and be unable to cope with the societal pressures she experiences. He makes no attempt to defend her from the housekeeper or even some of his friends. He accuses her of marrying him for his money and position when she thoughtlessly over-spends or is too vivacious at parties, although as it soon becomes clear, money is occasionally tight because he is paying a huge settlement to the ex-wife out of guilt. It’s odd, because I think he was meant to be described as handsome, kind, urbane, intelligent- all the things most women would want in their husbands. But he is very flawed, and he is under tremendous pressure, and Fran isn’t helping because he doesn’t tell her what’s wrong.
This isn’t your typical Harlequin, although certainly there are plenty of them with difficult and complex storylines. Many other reviewers doubt that Grant and Fran will get a long-term HEA. Unless they get some couples therapy and can take what they learn on board, I think I agree.
To sum up, this is different, and it has some very difficult themes. It left me with an unpleasant aftertaste, but I think I have to applaud the author for a complex and well-written story. Four stars.
October 10, 2017
I noticed that I read this book before while re-reading it.
I didn't remember much. So I enjoyed it better second time around. Upping the rating by one star from the previous two stars .
I didn't remember much. So I enjoyed it better second time around. Upping the rating by one star from the previous two stars .
August 26, 2022
When it comes to HP books, I think that "the mood" of the reader counts for at least as much as the talent of the writer. I was in the mood for a jealous hero and I must say the author delivers on that front and beyond. I not only got a jealous hero, but also an obsessed one.
I'm almost ashamed to say that I thouroughly enjoyed this hero, considering that his obsession would be a red flag the size of a country...if this was real life. But it's just a book, so it becomes, err, cute...
Funny enough, even though he's jealous and obsessed (and an almost one time predator), he might well be up for the title of best HP husband:
-he never imposes his choices to the heroine (choice of friends, career, babies) and I'd understand if he were to grumble about at least the friends, for so many reasons.
-he wants her to cook for him but he quickly realizes that she's not good at it and takes it in stride. On the contrary, he thinks she's a slob but when she decides to take on cleaning the house, he lets her do it, though skeptical at first.
-he calmly explains to her how his finances work and why she should plan her shopping sprees over multiple weeks.
-he thinks she's a light skirt and although the jealousy is killing him, he comes back to her and never calls her names (although he does say some other hurtful things while angry). No slut shaming for this guy!
-No violence, either physical or verbal. I never felt scared for the heroine even though there is one scene in which she thinks he wants to slap her, but that doesn't seem to scare her neither.
All in all, I think this story has a good balance of a dark, dangerous hero who's also just a good guy. And the writing was also great, with a touch of novelty (I'm not a native English speaker and it's hard for me to explain, but some of her sentences are different than the usual vernacular used by more popular HP's writers). I can't wait to read more books from this author.
I'm almost ashamed to say that I thouroughly enjoyed this hero, considering that his obsession would be a red flag the size of a country...if this was real life. But it's just a book, so it becomes, err, cute...
Funny enough, even though he's jealous and obsessed (and an almost one time predator), he might well be up for the title of best HP husband:
-he never imposes his choices to the heroine (choice of friends, career, babies) and I'd understand if he were to grumble about at least the friends, for so many reasons.
-he wants her to cook for him but he quickly realizes that she's not good at it and takes it in stride. On the contrary, he thinks she's a slob but when she decides to take on cleaning the house, he lets her do it, though skeptical at first.
-he calmly explains to her how his finances work and why she should plan her shopping sprees over multiple weeks.
-he thinks she's a light skirt and although the jealousy is killing him, he comes back to her and never calls her names (although he does say some other hurtful things while angry). No slut shaming for this guy!
-No violence, either physical or verbal. I never felt scared for the heroine even though there is one scene in which she thinks he wants to slap her, but that doesn't seem to scare her neither.
All in all, I think this story has a good balance of a dark, dangerous hero who's also just a good guy. And the writing was also great, with a touch of novelty (I'm not a native English speaker and it's hard for me to explain, but some of her sentences are different than the usual vernacular used by more popular HP's writers). I can't wait to read more books from this author.
October 20, 2023
This book brought me to tears at the angst and hurt that Fran suffered, even though right from the beginning I figured out the main male character's motivation.
I think books written in this area by Harlequin authors were based on the assumption that males don't/can't communicate their feelings and always protect themselves by a sharp tongue and arrogance. Also a bit of "me Tarzan, you Jane" mentality.
Because of this, I couldn't judge Grant harshly even if I wanted to shake him for his callousness and lack of awareness for the person he supposedly loved.
All in all it was an okay read, which everything would have rectified itself with communication but then that would mean there would not be a book to read.
I think books written in this area by Harlequin authors were based on the assumption that males don't/can't communicate their feelings and always protect themselves by a sharp tongue and arrogance. Also a bit of "me Tarzan, you Jane" mentality.
Because of this, I couldn't judge Grant harshly even if I wanted to shake him for his callousness and lack of awareness for the person he supposedly loved.
All in all it was an okay read, which everything would have rectified itself with communication but then that would mean there would not be a book to read.
January 9, 2024
This book was good in some ways, but in others it could leave you with kind of a weird feeling. Any book that starts with the h at a party, getting an attack of acute appendicitis and collapsing right by the H, whom she hasn't spoken to in 9 years, is quite a bit out there, I'd say!
It flashes back to the h being a horny teenager, but since she saved those feelings for the H, it's okay. Right???? (?????)
Since Fran was 14 and Grant was 28, I'm inclined to say "Wrong!!!" Little Ms. Horny attempts to use her wiles on Grant, arranging to encounter him alone outdoors, and when he rescues her from a snake, she shows her gratitude by making her breast brush against him! Luckily, Grant is no pervert and makes a quick exit (though his later confession of being turned on gives me an ICK feeling), and when I say exit, I mean he exits town, and comes back later as a married man, with a wife who looks very familiar!
I think you get the idea! As soon as Fran turns 18, she heads for London and a not-so-successful modeling career, never having gotten over Grant (who lives in the city part of the time and has become a successful playwright and minor celebrity) and never getting seriously involved with any man, though her agent, Seth would have liked to change that. Having a pregnant girlfriend, however, tends to put a damper on things.
There's too much silliness all around. Grant visits Fran in the hospital and, not knowing he's now divorced, she leads him to believe she and Seth are lovers. Seth makes things worse by implying they're living together. It takes a while for that charade to fade, and Seth's having nude photos of Fran doesn't help matters any!
Meanwhile, Fran and Grant discover they have the major hots for each other, to the point where they can barely contain themselves. In fact, Fran's eagerness to sleep with him (because she's loved this guy for so long) and uninhibited response in bed (including biting his shoulder so hard she drew blood), makes Grant scoff at her claim to have been a virgin, even when he's convinced there was nothing between her and Seth. (The nude shots were for her portfolio, as she considered being an artist's model or jobs of that kind, when other work was scarce.) They got married on an impulse, but when the shadow of Julia, Grant's ex-wife, follows Fran, as it seems the two of them looked so much alike, that at a party an acquaintance of Grant's thought Fran was Julia and said how happy she was that they got back together! (OUCH!!!)
It goes on like this, with Grant reluctant to talk about his marriage (except to say Julia left him), Fran full of questions, as well as doubts and insecurities, and convinced Grant married her because she reminds him of the woman he loved and lost. Worse, everyone in the small town where Fran grew up (and Grant has his family home) just adored Julia, and his bitchy housekeeper does all she can to make Fran feel unwelcome, including keeping reminders of Julia around the place.
One of the most idiotic parts of this book (and there were several of those), is when Fran told Seth that, despite other troubles, at least Grant finally believes there was nothing between them. Seth said shouldn't he have known that when they got married? (Fran, BTW, had told Seth she was a virgin, it just slipped out, believe it or not.) Fran says you can't always tell, and since she did a lot of horseback riding, it's not surprising. (Those stallions must have given her quite a ride, pun intended!) Does that sound like an appropriate conversation for them to be having????? Even worse, despite having married the girl he knocked up, Seth tells Fran he always fancied her, and Fran actually starts thinking that maybe Seth could have been the one to make her forget about Grant before they met again! What???? All that time working with Seth she felt nothing but friendship, and now that she's married the man she's always loved (despite their troubles), suddenly she's getting tingly in her lady bits for Seth??? COME ON!!!!
There are more misunderstandings, as Fran encourages Grant to accept invitations to parties, dinners, etc. with the "right" people, thinking she's helping his career, but this leads him to believe she prefers glitter, glamour and excitement more than the quiet country life he really loves. He thinks she wants to stay in London to be among the rich and famous, while she just wants to escape a place where everything seems to still be about Julia. They keep things secret (she'd overdrawn at the bank, he pays Julia a lot of alimony), making it worse when they come out, keep their real feelings to themselves, and get back at each other in the worst ways. Feeling oppressed living in Julia's former home, Fran can't respond to Grant's lovemaking, making him think she's only turned on by being in London with the glitter/glamour, while the country (and his company) leaves her cold. He retaliates by flirting with a couple of married women at a get-together, and she gets back at him by flirting with their husbands, one of whom is very rich. Later, Grant gets her all turned on, then stops the action and says he won't be a substitute for a man with a yacht! She gets so angry she bites his arm, and he pulls her hair!
What a couple!!!
Yes, things finally get sorted out and truths are told at last, but so much silliness happened in between! This book should have been written very different.
One interesting character was Fran's former roommate, Sacha, a very successful model who dressed nonconformist, kept a very untidy apartment, was sweet as well as savvy, and was a good friend. Maybe the book should have been about her, instead.
It flashes back to the h being a horny teenager, but since she saved those feelings for the H, it's okay. Right???? (?????)
Since Fran was 14 and Grant was 28, I'm inclined to say "Wrong!!!" Little Ms. Horny attempts to use her wiles on Grant, arranging to encounter him alone outdoors, and when he rescues her from a snake, she shows her gratitude by making her breast brush against him! Luckily, Grant is no pervert and makes a quick exit (though his later confession of being turned on gives me an ICK feeling), and when I say exit, I mean he exits town, and comes back later as a married man, with a wife who looks very familiar!
I think you get the idea! As soon as Fran turns 18, she heads for London and a not-so-successful modeling career, never having gotten over Grant (who lives in the city part of the time and has become a successful playwright and minor celebrity) and never getting seriously involved with any man, though her agent, Seth would have liked to change that. Having a pregnant girlfriend, however, tends to put a damper on things.
There's too much silliness all around. Grant visits Fran in the hospital and, not knowing he's now divorced, she leads him to believe she and Seth are lovers. Seth makes things worse by implying they're living together. It takes a while for that charade to fade, and Seth's having nude photos of Fran doesn't help matters any!
Meanwhile, Fran and Grant discover they have the major hots for each other, to the point where they can barely contain themselves. In fact, Fran's eagerness to sleep with him (because she's loved this guy for so long) and uninhibited response in bed (including biting his shoulder so hard she drew blood), makes Grant scoff at her claim to have been a virgin, even when he's convinced there was nothing between her and Seth. (The nude shots were for her portfolio, as she considered being an artist's model or jobs of that kind, when other work was scarce.) They got married on an impulse, but when the shadow of Julia, Grant's ex-wife, follows Fran, as it seems the two of them looked so much alike, that at a party an acquaintance of Grant's thought Fran was Julia and said how happy she was that they got back together! (OUCH!!!)
It goes on like this, with Grant reluctant to talk about his marriage (except to say Julia left him), Fran full of questions, as well as doubts and insecurities, and convinced Grant married her because she reminds him of the woman he loved and lost. Worse, everyone in the small town where Fran grew up (and Grant has his family home) just adored Julia, and his bitchy housekeeper does all she can to make Fran feel unwelcome, including keeping reminders of Julia around the place.
One of the most idiotic parts of this book (and there were several of those), is when Fran told Seth that, despite other troubles, at least Grant finally believes there was nothing between them. Seth said shouldn't he have known that when they got married? (Fran, BTW, had told Seth she was a virgin, it just slipped out, believe it or not.) Fran says you can't always tell, and since she did a lot of horseback riding, it's not surprising. (Those stallions must have given her quite a ride, pun intended!) Does that sound like an appropriate conversation for them to be having????? Even worse, despite having married the girl he knocked up, Seth tells Fran he always fancied her, and Fran actually starts thinking that maybe Seth could have been the one to make her forget about Grant before they met again! What???? All that time working with Seth she felt nothing but friendship, and now that she's married the man she's always loved (despite their troubles), suddenly she's getting tingly in her lady bits for Seth??? COME ON!!!!
There are more misunderstandings, as Fran encourages Grant to accept invitations to parties, dinners, etc. with the "right" people, thinking she's helping his career, but this leads him to believe she prefers glitter, glamour and excitement more than the quiet country life he really loves. He thinks she wants to stay in London to be among the rich and famous, while she just wants to escape a place where everything seems to still be about Julia. They keep things secret (she'd overdrawn at the bank, he pays Julia a lot of alimony), making it worse when they come out, keep their real feelings to themselves, and get back at each other in the worst ways. Feeling oppressed living in Julia's former home, Fran can't respond to Grant's lovemaking, making him think she's only turned on by being in London with the glitter/glamour, while the country (and his company) leaves her cold. He retaliates by flirting with a couple of married women at a get-together, and she gets back at him by flirting with their husbands, one of whom is very rich. Later, Grant gets her all turned on, then stops the action and says he won't be a substitute for a man with a yacht! She gets so angry she bites his arm, and he pulls her hair!
What a couple!!!
Yes, things finally get sorted out and truths are told at last, but so much silliness happened in between! This book should have been written very different.
One interesting character was Fran's former roommate, Sacha, a very successful model who dressed nonconformist, kept a very untidy apartment, was sweet as well as savvy, and was a good friend. Maybe the book should have been about her, instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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May 6, 2021I read a book almost the same but with a different opening. He’s so bad to her that I pitied her. He put his first wife first all the time because he felt he mistreated her. He gave first wife large amount of money monthly so the heroin had to watch her spending. She had to live in the shadow of the first wife. He thought of the first wife first when the story of their resemblance made news. What kind of live it was if the present wife had to be second to the first wife forever just because he felt guilty? I could not see they could last long after the lust died.
August 18, 2018
2.5 stars.
May 23, 2022
Uh sure. Not very fun. Not very believable. Not very romantic. Not very memorable. Skip.
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January 15, 2024Reread
December 23, 2017
روايات احلام
173 -كذبة العمر :
كانت فران في الرابعة من عمرها عندما أحبت . وفي بداية يقظة مشاعرها أخذت تجرب تأثيرها في غرانت ميسييروبسبب هيامها الساحق به ترك غرانت مرغما مزرعته وجياده التي يحب لكي يهرب منها . كان في الثامنة والعشرين وواعيا جدا للخطر الذي تمثله له ثم تزوج بعد فترة قصيرة وتحطم قلبها الفتي فأمضت لياليها تدعو الله أن تموتفما الذي أعاده الليلة ؟ ولماذا يريد الآن أن يتزوجها ؟ وشعرت فران بشبح يفصل بينهما إنها زوجته الأولى جوليا المرأة التي أحبها وشاركته حياته ست سنوات المرأة التي ما زال يحبها ولا يريد فران إلا لأنها شديدة الشبه بجوليا وهذا هاجس لن تستطيع فران العيش معه.
173 -كذبة العمر :
كانت فران في الرابعة من عمرها عندما أحبت . وفي بداية يقظة مشاعرها أخذت تجرب تأثيرها في غرانت ميسييروبسبب هيامها الساحق به ترك غرانت مرغما مزرعته وجياده التي يحب لكي يهرب منها . كان في الثامنة والعشرين وواعيا جدا للخطر الذي تمثله له ثم تزوج بعد فترة قصيرة وتحطم قلبها الفتي فأمضت لياليها تدعو الله أن تموتفما الذي أعاده الليلة ؟ ولماذا يريد الآن أن يتزوجها ؟ وشعرت فران بشبح يفصل بينهما إنها زوجته الأولى جوليا المرأة التي أحبها وشاركته حياته ست سنوات المرأة التي ما زال يحبها ولا يريد فران إلا لأنها شديدة الشبه بجوليا وهذا هاجس لن تستطيع فران العيش معه.
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