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Nights of Destiny
Hannah was there to do businessWhen she'd set off for Morocco, Hannah Jourdain had been sure she'd be immune to Khalil ben Hrima. She expected no problems in dealing with the man she'd chosen as her business adviser."And this body," she repeated to herself, "won't be the price for any bargains he might strike."But the minute her eyes locked with his dark sultry ones she knew she was in trouble. In the true tradition of his fierce Berber forebears, Khalil had tricked her and intended to make her pay for alleged sins... one way or another!
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Sara Wood
254 books35 followersSara Wood was born in England. She has wonderful memories of her childhood. Her parents were desperately poor but their devotion to family life gave her a feeling of great security. Sara's father was one of four fostered children and never knew his parents, hence his joy with his own family. Birthday parties were sensational her father would perform brilliantly as a Chinese magician or a clown or invent hilarious games and treasure hunts. From him she learnt that working hard brought many rewards, especially self-respect. During her degree course she met her husband, a kind, thoughtful, attentive man who is her friend and soulmate. At 21, she married and had her first son at 22. Now she has another three children. She loved teaching in Sussex which she did for twelve years.
Her switch into writing came about in a peculiar way. Richie, her elder son, had always been nuts about natural history and had a huge collection of animal skulls. At the age of fifteen he decided he'd write an information book about collecting. Heinemann and Pan, prestigious publishers, eagerly fell on the book and when it was published it won the famous Times Information Book award. Interviews, TV and magazine articles followed. Encouraged by his success, she thought she could write too and had several information books for children published. Then she saw Charlotte Lamb being wined and dined by Mills & Boon on a television programme and decided she could do Charlotte's job! But she'd rarely read fiction before, so she bought twenty books and analysed them carefully, then wrote one of her own. Amazingly it was accepted and she began writing full time.
Sara and her husband moved to a small country estate in Cornwall which was a paradise. Her sons visited often; Richie being married to Heidi and with two daughters; Simon rushing in after some danger- filled action in Alaska or Hawaii etc, protecting the environment with Greenpeace. Sara qualified as a homeopath, caring for the health of her family and friends. But Paradise is always fleeting. Sara's husband became seriously ill and it was clear that they had to move somewhere less demanding on time and effort. After a nightmare year of worrying about him, nursing and watching him like a hawk, she was relieved when they'd sold up and moved back to Sussex. Their current house is large and thatched and sits in the pretty rolling downs with wonderful walks and views all around. They live nearer to the boys (men!) and see them often. Richie and Heidi are expecting another baby, Simon has a baby son and a new, dangerous, passion flinging himself off mountains (paragliding). The three hills nearby frequently entice him down. She adores seeing her family (mother, mother-in-law too) around the table at Christmas. Sara feels fortunate that although she's had tough times and has sometimes been desperately unhappy, she is now surrounded by love and feels she can weather any storm to come.
Her switch into writing came about in a peculiar way. Richie, her elder son, had always been nuts about natural history and had a huge collection of animal skulls. At the age of fifteen he decided he'd write an information book about collecting. Heinemann and Pan, prestigious publishers, eagerly fell on the book and when it was published it won the famous Times Information Book award. Interviews, TV and magazine articles followed. Encouraged by his success, she thought she could write too and had several information books for children published. Then she saw Charlotte Lamb being wined and dined by Mills & Boon on a television programme and decided she could do Charlotte's job! But she'd rarely read fiction before, so she bought twenty books and analysed them carefully, then wrote one of her own. Amazingly it was accepted and she began writing full time.
Sara and her husband moved to a small country estate in Cornwall which was a paradise. Her sons visited often; Richie being married to Heidi and with two daughters; Simon rushing in after some danger- filled action in Alaska or Hawaii etc, protecting the environment with Greenpeace. Sara qualified as a homeopath, caring for the health of her family and friends. But Paradise is always fleeting. Sara's husband became seriously ill and it was clear that they had to move somewhere less demanding on time and effort. After a nightmare year of worrying about him, nursing and watching him like a hawk, she was relieved when they'd sold up and moved back to Sussex. Their current house is large and thatched and sits in the pretty rolling downs with wonderful walks and views all around. They live nearer to the boys (men!) and see them often. Richie and Heidi are expecting another baby, Simon has a baby son and a new, dangerous, passion flinging himself off mountains (paragliding). The three hills nearby frequently entice him down. She adores seeing her family (mother, mother-in-law too) around the table at Christmas. Sara feels fortunate that although she's had tough times and has sometimes been desperately unhappy, she is now surrounded by love and feels she can weather any storm to come.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 19, 2017
Re Nights of Destiny - Sara Wood is back. *sigh* I think I will add a nice creamy brie warmed and served with apple compote to my whine.
This one is the usual SW nasty mean H and h (both of them can't resist the personal insults for long, long, long pages,) multiple personality flipping in the middle of paragraph mess, but we get to go to Morocco - I kinda wish there had been more travelogue.
Since I don't have a white board and flow chart handy, I am going to try to spoilerize this one in a logical - not SW telling us order. Mainly cause she jumps all over the place and the wormholes to other times are everywhere, sometimes twice on a page, and I did not feel like digging out plotting paper.
The backstory-- (Which is randomly inserted into various spots in the book, usually between the H's cries of "You skeevy TART!" I hate you but I want you too.", and the h's accusations of "You bullying, philandering, womanizing rapist, I hate you back - but I want you too and probably love you." These and other versions of similar statements occur with monotonous regularity on every other page, however just to reassure anyone who hasn't run screaming into the HPlandia mist, the h remains in unicorn grooming mode for most of the book and there is no forceful piking or poking of anyone in the making of this story or against their will.)
The h and H met many moons ago and fell in love, but the h was living with a guardian/father figure/wanted to be her lover older Hemingway wanna be type writer man whom I am pretty sure was supposed to be her watchdog after losing her family, so the Hemingway wanna be told the besotted H that the 18 yr old h was his mistress and a wildcat on the prowl ALL THE TIME. The H, having experienced the h's roofie fiery brand of kisses himself, absolutely believed the guy - who was ill and dying naturally- and dumped the h and went back to his Moroccan Sheikhdom with no goodbye or final message.
The h, who really only attended all the high society and wild parties with her guardian Hemingway aspirant because he was ill and dying and needed a boost, was brokenhearted. Eventually Mr. Hemingway but not really, died and the h was devastated. She decided to be a business woman and is now setting up an exotic souk bargain import into England business.
To do this, she has paired up in a business agreement with the H and she is moving to Morocco. She believes that she and the H can have a distant business partnership, he dumped her but he has contacts and bygones will be bygones in the name of commerce.
WRONG - she gets to Morocco and gets settled in and the multiple personalities start coming out. One minute both of them are cordial business partners, the next they are yelling that the other one is a tart and a golddigger and a vile seducer - (the vile seducer was one thrown out by the H by the way, guess he felt the h was really mean to him.) Then they take a break for tea and get back to business and some Moroccan travelogue.
Then, since we have an equal mutual beratement and big misunderstanding moment along with small trips back into time every other page schedule here, we all get the slightly queasy sensation of moving through any number of misunderstandings and verbal battles and flash backs for the next five chapters.
For example, the H thinks the h is a tart and she thinks he is a heartless womanizer who can't stand to have a woman tell him no. So when the H invites her to his lush opulent home to meet his female relatives --and there are a ton of them, the h thinks the H is locking her in his harem and the next jump in time has her accusing him of rape - but in reality no rape occurred. There was kissing and the h also mentally thinks she wants him and her knees are melting (that may have been the effect of my sixth glass of wine tho.)
The H is not much better. One minute he and the h are cozying up over a great business contract, the next she is the Harlot of Harlots and yet he just has to have her - to his eternal self shame. The word marriage is bandied about, the h comments that she is a pure and virtuous girl, the H says that can't be cause he KNOWS she is a greedy, grasping nympho tart. He has proof in the way the h kisses him and goes for the tonsils every time. Then he proposes and the h accepts after she tells him that her Hemingway wanna be lied about her being his mistress.
Hurray! People are engaged and can now continue their verbal warfare and business dealings off page somewhere in a forgotten abyss of HPlandia.
But before we can actually get to that happy moment, the H and h each see the other with a member of the opposite sex in the local hotel. They don't talk to each other for days and they both accuse the other of infidelity. However the H still has a lot of lady relatives, so a big engagement party is in order. The h is forced to attend but the H assures Her Tartyness that this is just to save face for him and they will quietly announce an engagement withdrawal in a few days.
The h isn't having any of that, especially when she espies the little blonde she saw the H shack up with in the hotel a few days ago. She goes to make the big unengagement announcement right then and the H drags her off. They each blast the other with the cheating hammer blow.
The H denies any infidelity as he was quietly helping his very young blonde cousin with some family concerns for her dad, his uncle, and wanted to be discreet - we are in Morocco and women need to look decorous, hence the sneaky meeting in the local hotel. The h denies infidelity as well, she was recounting her experiences with the Hemingway wanna be, there is a keen biographer who has heard the vicious rumors about the h being his mistress and she wants to set the story straight.
After 183 pages of verbal shaming, accusations, name calling and surprisingly, the establishment of a successful business, the H and h believe each other and lurve it up with the H being delighted with her untouched status for the HEA.
Thankfully the end came before I could find the corkscrew to open that third bottle of wine and before I had to raid the processed cheese singles in desperation, having demolished the smoked cheddar and warmed brie. I am off to celebrate now with cake for another near miss escape, (without too much brain destruction or a really bad hangover,) from Sara Woods corner of HPlandia.
This one is the usual SW nasty mean H and h (both of them can't resist the personal insults for long, long, long pages,) multiple personality flipping in the middle of paragraph mess, but we get to go to Morocco - I kinda wish there had been more travelogue.
Since I don't have a white board and flow chart handy, I am going to try to spoilerize this one in a logical - not SW telling us order. Mainly cause she jumps all over the place and the wormholes to other times are everywhere, sometimes twice on a page, and I did not feel like digging out plotting paper.
The backstory-- (Which is randomly inserted into various spots in the book, usually between the H's cries of "You skeevy TART!" I hate you but I want you too.", and the h's accusations of "You bullying, philandering, womanizing rapist, I hate you back - but I want you too and probably love you." These and other versions of similar statements occur with monotonous regularity on every other page, however just to reassure anyone who hasn't run screaming into the HPlandia mist, the h remains in unicorn grooming mode for most of the book and there is no forceful piking or poking of anyone in the making of this story or against their will.)
The h and H met many moons ago and fell in love, but the h was living with a guardian/father figure/wanted to be her lover older Hemingway wanna be type writer man whom I am pretty sure was supposed to be her watchdog after losing her family, so the Hemingway wanna be told the besotted H that the 18 yr old h was his mistress and a wildcat on the prowl ALL THE TIME. The H, having experienced the h's roofie fiery brand of kisses himself, absolutely believed the guy - who was ill and dying naturally- and dumped the h and went back to his Moroccan Sheikhdom with no goodbye or final message.
The h, who really only attended all the high society and wild parties with her guardian Hemingway aspirant because he was ill and dying and needed a boost, was brokenhearted. Eventually Mr. Hemingway but not really, died and the h was devastated. She decided to be a business woman and is now setting up an exotic souk bargain import into England business.
To do this, she has paired up in a business agreement with the H and she is moving to Morocco. She believes that she and the H can have a distant business partnership, he dumped her but he has contacts and bygones will be bygones in the name of commerce.
WRONG - she gets to Morocco and gets settled in and the multiple personalities start coming out. One minute both of them are cordial business partners, the next they are yelling that the other one is a tart and a golddigger and a vile seducer - (the vile seducer was one thrown out by the H by the way, guess he felt the h was really mean to him.) Then they take a break for tea and get back to business and some Moroccan travelogue.
Then, since we have an equal mutual beratement and big misunderstanding moment along with small trips back into time every other page schedule here, we all get the slightly queasy sensation of moving through any number of misunderstandings and verbal battles and flash backs for the next five chapters.
For example, the H thinks the h is a tart and she thinks he is a heartless womanizer who can't stand to have a woman tell him no. So when the H invites her to his lush opulent home to meet his female relatives --and there are a ton of them, the h thinks the H is locking her in his harem and the next jump in time has her accusing him of rape - but in reality no rape occurred. There was kissing and the h also mentally thinks she wants him and her knees are melting (that may have been the effect of my sixth glass of wine tho.)
The H is not much better. One minute he and the h are cozying up over a great business contract, the next she is the Harlot of Harlots and yet he just has to have her - to his eternal self shame. The word marriage is bandied about, the h comments that she is a pure and virtuous girl, the H says that can't be cause he KNOWS she is a greedy, grasping nympho tart. He has proof in the way the h kisses him and goes for the tonsils every time. Then he proposes and the h accepts after she tells him that her Hemingway wanna be lied about her being his mistress.
Hurray! People are engaged and can now continue their verbal warfare and business dealings off page somewhere in a forgotten abyss of HPlandia.
But before we can actually get to that happy moment, the H and h each see the other with a member of the opposite sex in the local hotel. They don't talk to each other for days and they both accuse the other of infidelity. However the H still has a lot of lady relatives, so a big engagement party is in order. The h is forced to attend but the H assures Her Tartyness that this is just to save face for him and they will quietly announce an engagement withdrawal in a few days.
The h isn't having any of that, especially when she espies the little blonde she saw the H shack up with in the hotel a few days ago. She goes to make the big unengagement announcement right then and the H drags her off. They each blast the other with the cheating hammer blow.
The H denies any infidelity as he was quietly helping his very young blonde cousin with some family concerns for her dad, his uncle, and wanted to be discreet - we are in Morocco and women need to look decorous, hence the sneaky meeting in the local hotel. The h denies infidelity as well, she was recounting her experiences with the Hemingway wanna be, there is a keen biographer who has heard the vicious rumors about the h being his mistress and she wants to set the story straight.
After 183 pages of verbal shaming, accusations, name calling and surprisingly, the establishment of a successful business, the H and h believe each other and lurve it up with the H being delighted with her untouched status for the HEA.
Thankfully the end came before I could find the corkscrew to open that third bottle of wine and before I had to raid the processed cheese singles in desperation, having demolished the smoked cheddar and warmed brie. I am off to celebrate now with cake for another near miss escape, (without too much brain destruction or a really bad hangover,) from Sara Woods corner of HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2018
Lousy sexist crap. The entire book is about the hero hounding the heroine demanding sex from her while berating her for her loose morals. And true to M&B style, she puts on a blow hot blow cold act all throughout in response.
2 pages before the author decides she can't go on with this nonsense for ever, they finally DO IT. And he gets the undeniable evidence of her innocence. Oh, the amount of importance bestowed to a poor little hymen !!?
There is some inane description of exotic Morocco in between. But all that talk of "You are a slut, but I still must have you" gave me a royal headache.
Don't bother to touch this one, spare yourself the headache.
2 pages before the author decides she can't go on with this nonsense for ever, they finally DO IT. And he gets the undeniable evidence of her innocence. Oh, the amount of importance bestowed to a poor little hymen !!?
There is some inane description of exotic Morocco in between. But all that talk of "You are a slut, but I still must have you" gave me a royal headache.
Don't bother to touch this one, spare yourself the headache.
February 22, 2014
Things are going well until something or someone comes into the picture to derail them, they work through it and live happily ever after. The standard route.
April 12, 2022
I feel not enough credit is given to the full on beardage that the H is sporting on the cover.
This book was just ok for me the H was a bit of a plonker disappearing on the h with no word after being given a pack of lies about her. Sorry but if you declare you're wildly in love with someone surely you'd give them the benefit of the doubt or at least confront them. Nope he swans back off to Morocco to sulk like a baby.
As for our h she thinks that it's a great idea to go into business with this ex she's never got over... Riiiggghhht like that's gonna work out. She's a bit high maintenance but kind of likeable in a bit of wuss kind of way.
This book was just ok for me the H was a bit of a plonker disappearing on the h with no word after being given a pack of lies about her. Sorry but if you declare you're wildly in love with someone surely you'd give them the benefit of the doubt or at least confront them. Nope he swans back off to Morocco to sulk like a baby.
As for our h she thinks that it's a great idea to go into business with this ex she's never got over... Riiiggghhht like that's gonna work out. She's a bit high maintenance but kind of likeable in a bit of wuss kind of way.
May 10, 2019
This was so crappy that it actually became amusing, in a perverted kind of way.
April 28, 2019
I used to buy nothing but older Harlequins, because used book stores (that carried them) sold them cheaply. As I get more serious about writing romance, I've made an effort to buy newer books, partly to support the authors, and partly to ensure I am aware of current trends. It's not that I want to write what's popular now - that rarely works and I am too slow a writer - but I should at least know what's being done.
Last week I was walking towards bus station for a two-hour Greyhound trip, and passed a used book store. I decided to pop in for a romance, to have something to read, and support the business. When I asked for romance, the clerk unenthusiastically led me to a shelf at the very back, populated mostly by Nora Roberts books. This was clearly the type of used book store that does not care for Harlequins. However, stashed behind stacks of Roberts was a single Harlequin. I grabbed it, and happily paid my dollar.
Nights of Destiny was published in 1990, but it reads like something from the the late 1970s. It's set in an exotic location (Morocco), has a virginal heroine, and an alpha male hero who doesn't know the meaning of the word "no."
It's a second-chance plot, which rarely works for me. These plots generally revolve around resolving an old misunderstanding, and we miss meeting, getting the know the person, and falling in love. It doesn't help that 1) she intended to meet up with him, and 2) they are angry with each other. I'm more likely to enjoy a second chance if the get back together is unintended or undesired, and the feelings are regret or sadness.
The plot is complicated by the French Lieutenant's Woman problem. The couple are attracted, but the woman is passive, and the man wants her, but resists (or at least resists the notion of marriage), because she's just a whore/easy lay/etc. and he deserves a good (i.e. virginal) woman. This misogynist story line is bad enough in historicals, never mind contemporaries.
The story alternates between the couple insulting each other, flirting, and misunderstandings, with occasional and somewhat patronizing descriptions of the exotic location. The flirting is sometimes mutual, often not, and eventually culminates with the happy discovery that she is a virgin - because a man can always tell. My dislike of the "first sex is wonderful" cliché is exceeded only by my dislike of the "virgins always have an intact hymen and suffer painful penetration that quickly becomes wonderful sex" cliché.
The abrupt ending doesn't address plot complications like her job, but there are hints that she'll give everything up, including her home country, to live with and serve her culturally different husband.
The heroine's backstory - her past as the devoted companion of a exploitative, older, dying novelist - doesn't have a happy ending, but it was the most interesting part of this book, and I wanted to know more about that.
Last week I was walking towards bus station for a two-hour Greyhound trip, and passed a used book store. I decided to pop in for a romance, to have something to read, and support the business. When I asked for romance, the clerk unenthusiastically led me to a shelf at the very back, populated mostly by Nora Roberts books. This was clearly the type of used book store that does not care for Harlequins. However, stashed behind stacks of Roberts was a single Harlequin. I grabbed it, and happily paid my dollar.
Nights of Destiny was published in 1990, but it reads like something from the the late 1970s. It's set in an exotic location (Morocco), has a virginal heroine, and an alpha male hero who doesn't know the meaning of the word "no."
It's a second-chance plot, which rarely works for me. These plots generally revolve around resolving an old misunderstanding, and we miss meeting, getting the know the person, and falling in love. It doesn't help that 1) she intended to meet up with him, and 2) they are angry with each other. I'm more likely to enjoy a second chance if the get back together is unintended or undesired, and the feelings are regret or sadness.
The plot is complicated by the French Lieutenant's Woman problem. The couple are attracted, but the woman is passive, and the man wants her, but resists (or at least resists the notion of marriage), because she's just a whore/easy lay/etc. and he deserves a good (i.e. virginal) woman. This misogynist story line is bad enough in historicals, never mind contemporaries.
The story alternates between the couple insulting each other, flirting, and misunderstandings, with occasional and somewhat patronizing descriptions of the exotic location. The flirting is sometimes mutual, often not, and eventually culminates with the happy discovery that she is a virgin - because a man can always tell. My dislike of the "first sex is wonderful" cliché is exceeded only by my dislike of the "virgins always have an intact hymen and suffer painful penetration that quickly becomes wonderful sex" cliché.
The abrupt ending doesn't address plot complications like her job, but there are hints that she'll give everything up, including her home country, to live with and serve her culturally different husband.
The heroine's backstory - her past as the devoted companion of a exploitative, older, dying novelist - doesn't have a happy ending, but it was the most interesting part of this book, and I wanted to know more about that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
June 18, 2018Hannah was there to do business
When she'd set off for Morocco, Hannah Jourdain had been sure she'd be immune to Khalil ben Hrima. She expected no problems in dealing with the man she'd chosen as her business adviser.
"And this body," she repeated to herself, "won't be the price for any bargains he might strike."
But the minute her eyes locked with his dark sultry ones she knew she was in trouble. In the true tradition of his fierce Berber forebears, Khalil had tricked her and intended to make her pay for alleged sins... one way or another! (
When she'd set off for Morocco, Hannah Jourdain had been sure she'd be immune to Khalil ben Hrima. She expected no problems in dealing with the man she'd chosen as her business adviser.
"And this body," she repeated to herself, "won't be the price for any bargains he might strike."
But the minute her eyes locked with his dark sultry ones she knew she was in trouble. In the true tradition of his fierce Berber forebears, Khalil had tricked her and intended to make her pay for alleged sins... one way or another! (
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews