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The Bride's Bouquet #2
Best Man to Wed?
SUBSTITUTE LOVER?
Poppy Carlton: Cousin to the groom. She is devastated when Chris falls in love and marries someone else. She will never love again.
James Carlton: The groom's older brother—and best man. Mocking and cynical, he is the exact opposite of fun-loving Chris.
James taunts Poppy that she should find herself a real man and leave her adolescent fantasies behind. He is not averse to showing her just what real passion is about. But how can he be sure that her response is for him? Perhaps she's just using him as a substitute for his brother...
Poppy Carlton: Cousin to the groom. She is devastated when Chris falls in love and marries someone else. She will never love again.
James Carlton: The groom's older brother—and best man. Mocking and cynical, he is the exact opposite of fun-loving Chris.
James taunts Poppy that she should find herself a real man and leave her adolescent fantasies behind. He is not averse to showing her just what real passion is about. But how can he be sure that her response is for him? Perhaps she's just using him as a substitute for his brother...
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 11, 1996
28 people are currently reading
655 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,127 books668 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
December 11, 2018
Re Best Man to Wed - Penny Jordan continues on with her Bride's Bouquet series in her second book of the trilogy.
Brace yourself HP Voyager's, this is gonna get a little squicky.
The 22 yr old h is the cousin of the groom who got married in first book. His smug priggish bride is the one who 'tripped' and set the cat among the pigeons by having her three bridesmaids all catch her bouquet in an attempt to save it.
Like every book in this series, the secondary characters smug manipulations are all over the place. As the h's mother is the aunt of both the groom and the H, plus her new cousin-in-law is determined to drag every single lady around her into marital purgatory, there is no use running away because this h is related to everybody.
We learned in the first book that this h had an unrequited love for the groom who married the first book's heroine's stepdaughter. PJ tells us this was a childhood crush for the h that began at twelve and was somewhat encouraged by both families over the years, as they all have a common interest in the family business and wouldn't mind having those ties strengthened.
Except the groom's older brother, who is the head of the family firm and continually berates and belittles the h about her huge crush on his brother. It appears he doesn't want any closer familial connections than exist already.
The h is pretty sure the H is resentful of the fact that her mother holds enough shares in the firm to get the h a job in company as an interpreter and honestly the h had wanted to go off on her own when she left school. But in typical semi-incestuous PJ fashion, circumstances force the h to stay in the family circumference to be bullied and verbally abused by the H and patronized by the rest of the priggish nematode pustules.
When the story starts, the h is burning her mementos of the now married groom and the H shows up to bully, insult and belittle the h some more. (Every word out of his mouth is nasty, the h is pretty sad, cause all she does is cry about it.) The H also has to explain about a company trip too.
Evidently there is a company business trip to Italy coming up and the H and the h are the only one's attending it. When we get to the conference, the hotel is over booked and the h and H are forced to share a room.
Amidst all the massive insults and accusations that the h is a pathetic, unattractive, childish homewrecker out to destroy his brother's marriage, the H manages to forcibly seduce the h a few times. (Warning, the first time the h was asleep and the second time it was very non-consensual until the h's Treacherous Body Syndrome kicked in.)
In retaliation, the h announces that she thought the H was actually his brother and that is why she eventually responded. It doesn't go over very well.
When we get back to England, the rumor of the h and H's extra curricular activities fly around the office because of the shared hotel room and then the h turns up pregnant. A swift marriage is immediately arranged, with the entire family 'delighted' that the H and h are in love and expecting a baby.
Cue up the priggish snot bride cousin in law, who whines because the H's brother doesn't want a baby yet and she is just dying to have one.
The H and h have a short Italian honeymoon with one round of the lurve club that is physically satisfying, but produces huge mopey moments on the h's part, cause now she loves the H and he is actively avoiding her.
The h figures her life and marriage are doomed and resolves to love her baby and ignore everything else and then she and the H's brother get into a car accident when he drives her home from work. There is a baking baby scare when the h can't feel the baby moving anymore and the h has hysterics, kicks the H's brother out of her room and demands they find the H.
The H shows up, full of remorse for being mean to the h because of his jealousy over her loving his brother. As the baby starts to wiggle around, the H declares he loves the h and has since she fell in love with his brother at 12 and he was 19 or so.
(Which is very creepy, because we are told the 15 yr old H was bathing the 7 year old h at one point in the story and that just squicks me out, because he keeps calling her childish and child throughout the book and then he wants a daughter.)
The h is delighted that the H really does love her and all of his abuse was because of his frustrated passion. The h swears her true love back and we leave the two of them happily united. We get a little epilogue where the h has a baby girl right before Christmas and the h drops a card to the last unmarried bridesmaid as a little sequel baiting for the next story.
This one was kinda creepy and I never realized it until I reread it. The H was waaaay too interested in a little kid and his abuse until he and the family bullied the h into dependent marital compliance was just weird. I thought it strange that the H seemed to determined to bullying the h into being as childish as possible and so I wasn't feeling the lurve too much on this.
Then there is the whole first cousin issue with the mother's being sisters and the over involvement of the entire family in pimping the h out to the H, without regard to maybe sending the h out of the nest to get some maturity. So overall I recommend skipping this one, avoiding the squicky creepy feeling and finding a better HPlandia outing.
Brace yourself HP Voyager's, this is gonna get a little squicky.
The 22 yr old h is the cousin of the groom who got married in first book. His smug priggish bride is the one who 'tripped' and set the cat among the pigeons by having her three bridesmaids all catch her bouquet in an attempt to save it.
Like every book in this series, the secondary characters smug manipulations are all over the place. As the h's mother is the aunt of both the groom and the H, plus her new cousin-in-law is determined to drag every single lady around her into marital purgatory, there is no use running away because this h is related to everybody.
We learned in the first book that this h had an unrequited love for the groom who married the first book's heroine's stepdaughter. PJ tells us this was a childhood crush for the h that began at twelve and was somewhat encouraged by both families over the years, as they all have a common interest in the family business and wouldn't mind having those ties strengthened.
Except the groom's older brother, who is the head of the family firm and continually berates and belittles the h about her huge crush on his brother. It appears he doesn't want any closer familial connections than exist already.
The h is pretty sure the H is resentful of the fact that her mother holds enough shares in the firm to get the h a job in company as an interpreter and honestly the h had wanted to go off on her own when she left school. But in typical semi-incestuous PJ fashion, circumstances force the h to stay in the family circumference to be bullied and verbally abused by the H and patronized by the rest of the priggish nematode pustules.
When the story starts, the h is burning her mementos of the now married groom and the H shows up to bully, insult and belittle the h some more. (Every word out of his mouth is nasty, the h is pretty sad, cause all she does is cry about it.) The H also has to explain about a company trip too.
Evidently there is a company business trip to Italy coming up and the H and the h are the only one's attending it. When we get to the conference, the hotel is over booked and the h and H are forced to share a room.
Amidst all the massive insults and accusations that the h is a pathetic, unattractive, childish homewrecker out to destroy his brother's marriage, the H manages to forcibly seduce the h a few times. (Warning, the first time the h was asleep and the second time it was very non-consensual until the h's Treacherous Body Syndrome kicked in.)
In retaliation, the h announces that she thought the H was actually his brother and that is why she eventually responded. It doesn't go over very well.
When we get back to England, the rumor of the h and H's extra curricular activities fly around the office because of the shared hotel room and then the h turns up pregnant. A swift marriage is immediately arranged, with the entire family 'delighted' that the H and h are in love and expecting a baby.
Cue up the priggish snot bride cousin in law, who whines because the H's brother doesn't want a baby yet and she is just dying to have one.
The H and h have a short Italian honeymoon with one round of the lurve club that is physically satisfying, but produces huge mopey moments on the h's part, cause now she loves the H and he is actively avoiding her.
The h figures her life and marriage are doomed and resolves to love her baby and ignore everything else and then she and the H's brother get into a car accident when he drives her home from work. There is a baking baby scare when the h can't feel the baby moving anymore and the h has hysterics, kicks the H's brother out of her room and demands they find the H.
The H shows up, full of remorse for being mean to the h because of his jealousy over her loving his brother. As the baby starts to wiggle around, the H declares he loves the h and has since she fell in love with his brother at 12 and he was 19 or so.
(Which is very creepy, because we are told the 15 yr old H was bathing the 7 year old h at one point in the story and that just squicks me out, because he keeps calling her childish and child throughout the book and then he wants a daughter.)
The h is delighted that the H really does love her and all of his abuse was because of his frustrated passion. The h swears her true love back and we leave the two of them happily united. We get a little epilogue where the h has a baby girl right before Christmas and the h drops a card to the last unmarried bridesmaid as a little sequel baiting for the next story.
This one was kinda creepy and I never realized it until I reread it. The H was waaaay too interested in a little kid and his abuse until he and the family bullied the h into dependent marital compliance was just weird. I thought it strange that the H seemed to determined to bullying the h into being as childish as possible and so I wasn't feeling the lurve too much on this.
Then there is the whole first cousin issue with the mother's being sisters and the over involvement of the entire family in pimping the h out to the H, without regard to maybe sending the h out of the nest to get some maturity. So overall I recommend skipping this one, avoiding the squicky creepy feeling and finding a better HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
hp-to-read
October 23, 2012Is he unbuttoning her dress or pinching her nipple? You decide.
September 17, 2016
This book was the best in this series.
The hero has been in love faithfully with the heroine since they are young.
She was very confusing to understand with her love for his now married brother.
I loved the way he was with her. You could tell how much he loved her and was hurt by her words and behaviour.
I just wanted to hit her!
He was a great guy and was doing his best not to get hurt but it was hard when he finally getting a chance with her.
He took his chance and did it pay off!?
Read it and see.
Very enjoyable book. I have reread this book over 5 times.
The hero has been in love faithfully with the heroine since they are young.
She was very confusing to understand with her love for his now married brother.
I loved the way he was with her. You could tell how much he loved her and was hurt by her words and behaviour.
I just wanted to hit her!
He was a great guy and was doing his best not to get hurt but it was hard when he finally getting a chance with her.
He took his chance and did it pay off!?
Read it and see.
Very enjoyable book. I have reread this book over 5 times.
September 8, 2016
This is quite possibly the most torturous HP I have ever read.
I almost DNFed at 60% but I stuck with it just to see what happened.
The dialogue was basically this for more than half the book...
Poppy: But I can't...I can't...
James: You begged ME!
Over and over and over again.
Also, the hero was a complete asshole until almost the final page of the book. I need a much earlier turn-around on the asshole-to-grovel-to-hero issue. Waiting until the last page doesn't cut it.
Here is the order of my hatred...
1. James
2. Poppy
3. Chris
4. Sally
Chris and Sally were really just irritating, but I included them anyway.
So, in conclusion...If you want to torture yourself, go for it. I think I'll avoid Penny Jordan books from now on.
*whimper*
I almost DNFed at 60% but I stuck with it just to see what happened.
The dialogue was basically this for more than half the book...
Poppy: But I can't...I can't...
James: You begged ME!
Over and over and over again.
Also, the hero was a complete asshole until almost the final page of the book. I need a much earlier turn-around on the asshole-to-grovel-to-hero issue. Waiting until the last page doesn't cut it.
Here is the order of my hatred...
1. James
2. Poppy
3. Chris
4. Sally
Chris and Sally were really just irritating, but I included them anyway.
So, in conclusion...If you want to torture yourself, go for it. I think I'll avoid Penny Jordan books from now on.
*whimper*
May 17, 2020
Poor James had it b-a-a-d for Poppy. I felt bad for him because Poppy made no attempt to hide her love for Chris, his married younger brother. At one point, she even told James—in a moment of panic and self-defense—that she'd used him as a substitute for Chris in bed. Ouch! James might have been a little short with Poppy at times, but I totally understood his frustration.
Poppy's immaturity made it difficult for her to see how James was clearly the superior catch. In a way, I think it's a blessing Chris drew Poppy's attention first because she really needed time to mature and to appreciate the hard-to-handle James.
It would be an understatement to say that these two possessed high levels of emotional fireworks and sexual tension between them. I just wish they hadn't been first cousins, but marriage between close cousins is apparently accepted in England. Oh well, Poppy finally sees the light and the two have their HEA!
Poppy's immaturity made it difficult for her to see how James was clearly the superior catch. In a way, I think it's a blessing Chris drew Poppy's attention first because she really needed time to mature and to appreciate the hard-to-handle James.
It would be an understatement to say that these two possessed high levels of emotional fireworks and sexual tension between them. I just wish they hadn't been first cousins, but marriage between close cousins is apparently accepted in England. Oh well, Poppy finally sees the light and the two have their HEA!
January 5, 2016
I'm going to have to read this again, because as you can see from the bookshelves, there is so much going on. This is classic Penny Jordan - a heroine that doesn't know her own mind (and has a traitorous body) and a hero that is alpha to the max. I can't decide between 3 and 4 stars because he's just so mean to her (but then she's a drip half the time). Honestly, these people. Read it. You won't be bored.
December 29, 2015
It's been a while since I read this, but the hero, and I use that term very lightly, was just mean. Cruel.
No fun.
No fun.
January 12, 2022
I can almost always count on a good old Harlequin novel to take me on an emotional rollercoaster ride from which I wouldn’t want to get off. Penny Jordan is a favorite Harlequin author of mine and I am sure many fans of the Harlequin line are bound to feel the same. Though I have done most of my Harlequin crazed phase of reading prior to the start of my review site, this is one novel by Penny Jordan that I seemed to have missed, a fact I am glad that I have rectified when I started on this one on a whim today.
22 year old Poppy Carlton has had her dreams crushed when her cousin Chris Carlton who has been the man of her dreams since she had turned 12 years of age marries another. Forced to grow up and get her head out of the clouds, Poppy is horrified when her virginal body responds in an appalling manner to James Carlton’s caresses. James is her beloved Chris’s elder brother, the forbidding and formidable version to the sunny and easy going nature of Chris who occupies her thoughts night and day – or so Poppy tries telling herself.
8 years older than Poppy, James is a man who keeps his emotions close to himself apart from tearing into Poppy’s infatuation when it comes to his younger brother. When consequences of their nights of passion together forces Poppy to acknowledge her feelings towards the brother who is a match for her in everyway, Poppy fears that she might be just a little bit too late in accepting that James is the one and only for her.
I love stories where the hero has always being in love with the heroine but somehow was overshadowed by the heroine’s infatuation with another man presumably a relative of the hero’s. James is a mouthwateringly alluring hero and Poppy though at first grated on my nerves with her self pitying nature made up for it beautifully when she freely expresses her need for James bringing the poor guy to his knees.
And this one certainly managed to be an emotion wrenching read and I loved the effect the story had on my emotions as I read along. Though this might not be a feminist’s idea of how a romance should be, this is romance in its most old-fashioned form, the reason why I fell in love with the world of romance in the first place. Recommended for fans of the Harlequin genre and fans of Penny Jordan.
Rating=4/5
Original review posted at MBR's Realm of Romance
22 year old Poppy Carlton has had her dreams crushed when her cousin Chris Carlton who has been the man of her dreams since she had turned 12 years of age marries another. Forced to grow up and get her head out of the clouds, Poppy is horrified when her virginal body responds in an appalling manner to James Carlton’s caresses. James is her beloved Chris’s elder brother, the forbidding and formidable version to the sunny and easy going nature of Chris who occupies her thoughts night and day – or so Poppy tries telling herself.
8 years older than Poppy, James is a man who keeps his emotions close to himself apart from tearing into Poppy’s infatuation when it comes to his younger brother. When consequences of their nights of passion together forces Poppy to acknowledge her feelings towards the brother who is a match for her in everyway, Poppy fears that she might be just a little bit too late in accepting that James is the one and only for her.
I love stories where the hero has always being in love with the heroine but somehow was overshadowed by the heroine’s infatuation with another man presumably a relative of the hero’s. James is a mouthwateringly alluring hero and Poppy though at first grated on my nerves with her self pitying nature made up for it beautifully when she freely expresses her need for James bringing the poor guy to his knees.
And this one certainly managed to be an emotion wrenching read and I loved the effect the story had on my emotions as I read along. Though this might not be a feminist’s idea of how a romance should be, this is romance in its most old-fashioned form, the reason why I fell in love with the world of romance in the first place. Recommended for fans of the Harlequin genre and fans of Penny Jordan.
Rating=4/5
Original review posted at MBR's Realm of Romance
February 10, 2021
A toe curling and extremely hot book with an H to die for. I almost want to take away half a star because the h deserved to be put to eternal sleep in kindly words.
Poppy and James are cousins and have forever been in close quarters with each other. Their families are almost the same and all the uncles and aunts are like second parents to them. Very family oriented, old fashioned book as well where an aunt or uncle truly looks out for you. How sweet.
Poppy has had an all consuming and extremely annoying crush on James’s younger brother. She fails to see how James, the brooding brother, silently loves her but uses anger to conceal his feelings. Poppy is too distracted with her fantasies to realize the truth.
Eventually the younger brother is married and Poppy is left tending to her broken heart. James knows this is a good time to make use of Poppy and use nefarious ways if he must, to show Poppy who the real man for her is.
Now back to James. He’s the stuff of dreams your mother tells you of in your teens: marry the man who loves you and not the one you love. James is the perfect controlling alpha and he absolutely ticks all of my fantasy boxes. He’s mean and aggressive in his words but a deep tender lover who would put his woman on a pedestal for life.
This is a special book tbh and it’s going up in the best of my shelves. If Poppy wasn’t the way she was and didn’t keep refuting her slow love for James, this book would be perfect and I would never put it down! A sure keeper.
Poppy and James are cousins and have forever been in close quarters with each other. Their families are almost the same and all the uncles and aunts are like second parents to them. Very family oriented, old fashioned book as well where an aunt or uncle truly looks out for you. How sweet.
Poppy has had an all consuming and extremely annoying crush on James’s younger brother. She fails to see how James, the brooding brother, silently loves her but uses anger to conceal his feelings. Poppy is too distracted with her fantasies to realize the truth.
Eventually the younger brother is married and Poppy is left tending to her broken heart. James knows this is a good time to make use of Poppy and use nefarious ways if he must, to show Poppy who the real man for her is.
Now back to James. He’s the stuff of dreams your mother tells you of in your teens: marry the man who loves you and not the one you love. James is the perfect controlling alpha and he absolutely ticks all of my fantasy boxes. He’s mean and aggressive in his words but a deep tender lover who would put his woman on a pedestal for life.
This is a special book tbh and it’s going up in the best of my shelves. If Poppy wasn’t the way she was and didn’t keep refuting her slow love for James, this book would be perfect and I would never put it down! A sure keeper.
November 15, 2019
Steamy romance story featuring cousins caught up in a sort of a 'love triangle'. I really felt for the H in this one. The h blew hot and cold with him at every opportunity and the poor besotted alpha had no choice but to play along (unhappily). The angst though, was absolutely delicious - although I was tempted at times to find a way to reach into the book and shake the h for her fickle behaviour. All in all, a very decent read.
May 8, 2020
"Best man to wed" has to be one of the most popular books by Penny Jordan as it is in the second list of Penny Jordans popular list in Goodreads.What i like about her books the most is that the H/h always are oblivious of the others love for them,so in that way they both actually grovels and hurt each other without knowing it."Best Man to Wed" are a very enlighting and sexy read.The hero managed to steal my heart the most.
No wonder the hero James Carlton were so cynical and mean and bullied the heroine Poppy Carlton when she out loud never even hides her love for his younger brother.Poor hero,i really felt sorry for him as i knew that he bullied Poppy to hide his love.Glad i was when Poppy fell in love with him and finally got over her infatuation for his brother,but she still denyed it stubbornly til the end.Love the scenes after their marriage the most,and James love towards the unborn baby was so Oh Adorable!
I tried ignore the fact that they are cousins,no in fact i DID ignore it and i was so surprised that wedding between cousins are normal in England,just WTF?I still see cousin-love-relationships nearly the same as incest.
Anyway Penny Jordan made my day with this one,and i just LOVE the cover!..and the hero was a very dreamy one..(sigh)
Another unforgettable 5-star read by Penny Jordan,love this lady!
No wonder the hero James Carlton were so cynical and mean and bullied the heroine Poppy Carlton when she out loud never even hides her love for his younger brother.Poor hero,i really felt sorry for him as i knew that he bullied Poppy to hide his love.Glad i was when Poppy fell in love with him and finally got over her infatuation for his brother,but she still denyed it stubbornly til the end.Love the scenes after their marriage the most,and James love towards the unborn baby was so Oh Adorable!
I tried ignore the fact that they are cousins,no in fact i DID ignore it and i was so surprised that wedding between cousins are normal in England,just WTF?I still see cousin-love-relationships nearly the same as incest.
Anyway Penny Jordan made my day with this one,and i just LOVE the cover!..and the hero was a very dreamy one..(sigh)
Another unforgettable 5-star read by Penny Jordan,love this lady!
June 23, 2014
Heroine is devastated when her childhood love falls in love and marries someone else. She ends up finding comfort in the arms of James Carlton the groom's older brother. One night stand gets complicated when she gets pregnant and James proposes marriage.
Good love story. U could tell right from the start that hero was crazy for Poppy and her blind devotion to Chris drove me crazy. But if u like a smitten hero read this!
Good love story. U could tell right from the start that hero was crazy for Poppy and her blind devotion to Chris drove me crazy. But if u like a smitten hero read this!
December 5, 2018
3,5 stars
April 21, 2017
Poppy grew up with her cousins, James and his brother, Chris. All through her first 11 years she worshipped James, who is 8 years older than she is. But when she turned 12, she noticed Chris and decided that she loved him. Her worship for James turned to dislike that grew to almost hatred over the years.
So, for 10 years she held on to the love she felt for Chris, while reviling James. Until Chris got married to Sally and she was forced to take a business trip to Italy with James.
That trip forced Poppy into close quarters with James which led to an intimacy that was as unexpected as it was unwanted.
Poppy annoyed the bejeezus out of me. All she did was whine about her love for Chris. I couldn't dislike James for calling her out on her immaturity, although he was a bit cruel at times.
You knew from James' interactions with Poppy that he was in love with her and her thoughtlessness kept hurting him over and over. She truly was a clueless child.
While I was frustrated with the h, I still loved the book. It was a great story and the sex scenes were almost hot. I mean there was oral for goodness sake! A must read if for nothing else but that. LoL!
So, for 10 years she held on to the love she felt for Chris, while reviling James. Until Chris got married to Sally and she was forced to take a business trip to Italy with James.
That trip forced Poppy into close quarters with James which led to an intimacy that was as unexpected as it was unwanted.
Poppy annoyed the bejeezus out of me. All she did was whine about her love for Chris. I couldn't dislike James for calling her out on her immaturity, although he was a bit cruel at times.
You knew from James' interactions with Poppy that he was in love with her and her thoughtlessness kept hurting him over and over. She truly was a clueless child.
While I was frustrated with the h, I still loved the book. It was a great story and the sex scenes were almost hot. I mean there was oral for goodness sake! A must read if for nothing else but that. LoL!
December 24, 2017
This book was kind of dull and flat......boring! It was obvious to the reader that the hero loved the heroine however, I found the heroine to be annoyingly immature. She's 22, old enough to realize that her "love" for the hero's brother was going to cause a lot of people to feel uncomfortable yet, she still acted like a 14 year old throwing a temper tantrum. The hero of this book was okay but the heroine was annoying and I had a hard time finding anything to like about her.
It's obvious that this book is apart of a series, which includes secondary characters from this book. I only mention this because I have no desire whatsoever to read about the other characters' stir because of how boring I found this book to be.
It's obvious that this book is apart of a series, which includes secondary characters from this book. I only mention this because I have no desire whatsoever to read about the other characters' stir because of how boring I found this book to be.
June 15, 2012
Meh....I thought the plot line was interesting...the whole unrequited love...falling for the brother instead...kind of story.
But I couldn't get past:
1) the immature, whiny, sniveling, heroine..Dear heavens did she get annoying
2) demanding passive/aggressive Hero who happened to cross the line of sexual harassment.
3) the whole first cousin angle....major ick factor for me.
4) the pregnancy and forced marriage plot...
But I couldn't get past:
1) the immature, whiny, sniveling, heroine..Dear heavens did she get annoying
2) demanding passive/aggressive Hero who happened to cross the line of sexual harassment.
3) the whole first cousin angle....major ick factor for me.
4) the pregnancy and forced marriage plot...
January 18, 2013
This book has trigger themes.
Spoilers ahead.
There is a major ick factor in this book even if you don't consider that first cousins are incest. They grew up together and he was an 18 year old crushing on a 12 year old (and then a 19 year old with a thing for a 13 year old, etc.). I was just going to pretend to myself that one was a step child and she was 16 not 12 when he started 'behaving differently' because she was crushing on his brother, but then got more trigger-themed. I wouldn't have bought this book if I would known the 'hero' was a forceful angsty dick who can't keep his mouth from spewing bile (he loves her right? He is jealous. That is no excuse to say such horrid things to anyone). He also can't keep his pants zipped if a mostly naked sleeping virgin rolls into him in her sleep. The fuck!? And then he tells her the next day she is to blame? And when she slaps him he says that is a turnon and he now has the RIGHT to take her upstairs to bed to punish her?! And when she contronts him on that statement, calling it rape, he says no, because she was egging him on the night before. This book was written in the 90s. I know it is dated, but even saying it was 'a product of its time' will not work for the 90s. Despite having bought the trilogy, I'm not sure I will be reading further. Even my suspension of reality isn't -that- good!
Spoilers ahead.
There is a major ick factor in this book even if you don't consider that first cousins are incest. They grew up together and he was an 18 year old crushing on a 12 year old (and then a 19 year old with a thing for a 13 year old, etc.). I was just going to pretend to myself that one was a step child and she was 16 not 12 when he started 'behaving differently' because she was crushing on his brother, but then got more trigger-themed. I wouldn't have bought this book if I would known the 'hero' was a forceful angsty dick who can't keep his mouth from spewing bile (he loves her right? He is jealous. That is no excuse to say such horrid things to anyone). He also can't keep his pants zipped if a mostly naked sleeping virgin rolls into him in her sleep. The fuck!? And then he tells her the next day she is to blame? And when she slaps him he says that is a turnon and he now has the RIGHT to take her upstairs to bed to punish her?! And when she contronts him on that statement, calling it rape, he says no, because she was egging him on the night before. This book was written in the 90s. I know it is dated, but even saying it was 'a product of its time' will not work for the 90s. Despite having bought the trilogy, I'm not sure I will be reading further. Even my suspension of reality isn't -that- good!
September 15, 2016
I have to say that I normally love Penny Jordan's work. This, however, was not normal. I HATED, LOATHED AND DEPLORED Poppy. She was such a whiny, dumb, 'oh woe is me' woman. I should have paid attention to the bad reviews when I bought it. I tortured myself through it for a just in case moment that never happened. There was a brief moment in Chapter 8 that I wasn't mumbling to myself how much I hated Poppy. James wasn't perfect, but frankly, I would've been a jerk if I had to put up with Poppy in the first place.
June 7, 2021
Poppy Carlton: Cousin to the groom. She is devastated when Chris falls in love and marries someone else. She will never love again. James Carlton: The groom's older brother—and best man. Mocking and cynical, he is the exact opposite of fun-loving Chris. James taunts Poppy that she should find herself a real man and leave her adolescent fantasies behind. He is not averse to showing her just what real passion is about. But how can he be sure that her response is for him? Perhaps she's just using him as a substitute for his brother... (
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2016
Classic HP - lots of pining and angst and melodrama. The heroine is fairly immature and shrill, but the deal with the hero is (despite his displays of contempt) pretty transparent , so the book is an enjoyable angsty read. (I'm not sure the deal with the hero is much of a spoiler, but just in case...) 3.5 stars
November 13, 2016
the beginning/first half of this book is terrible. I hated it. the heroine had my blood boiling at how stupid she was. I didn't give it 1star only because the story gets better halfway through. the hero could have helped his case too if he wasn't such a big jerk
July 27, 2017
This heroine aggravated me, she spent too much time saying or thinking about Chris. Probably one of the few harlequin books where heroine is the dick.
June 28, 2022
2.5 stars
This was written well enough but a couple of things really put me off:
1. The arrested development of the heroine. At age 12 she developed a crush on her cousin (hero's younger brother) and she never lets go. When I was 12 I wove elaborate fantasies about marrying Benny in ABBA, (ok, it was a very long time ago) but I moved on a few months later. This heroine clung on to her obsessive adolescent crush for TEN years. I was perplexed why the hero fell in love with someone so deeply immature.
2. The hero and heroine were first cousins - so close blood relatives. That gave it a high squick factor for me. All the memories she had of them growing up together (he taught her to ride a bike, he told his brother off for teasing her about her first bra etc) just gave the story a strong whiff of incest for me. And (Eww!) he even washed her in the bath when he was 15 and she was 7! Just no.
This was written well enough but a couple of things really put me off:
1. The arrested development of the heroine. At age 12 she developed a crush on her cousin (hero's younger brother) and she never lets go. When I was 12 I wove elaborate fantasies about marrying Benny in ABBA, (ok, it was a very long time ago) but I moved on a few months later. This heroine clung on to her obsessive adolescent crush for TEN years. I was perplexed why the hero fell in love with someone so deeply immature.
2. The hero and heroine were first cousins - so close blood relatives. That gave it a high squick factor for me. All the memories she had of them growing up together (he taught her to ride a bike, he told his brother off for teasing her about her first bra etc) just gave the story a strong whiff of incest for me. And (Eww!) he even washed her in the bath when he was 15 and she was 7! Just no.
June 9, 2013
This is the second in Penny Jordan's "Wedding Nights" Trilogy, each story stemming from an initial wedding where the three bridesmaids all simultaneously caught the bouquet at the end. According to folklore, whoever catches the bride's bouquet will be the next to marry, but being as all three caught it, who will be next...? Well, it's a Mills and Boon, so all three of them are destined to end up married very soon - even if they don't want to be. The stories are interlinked, but work well as standalone stories too, so you don't have to read them all.
This is Poppy's story - Poppy is a very young 22 year old, completely immature in her attitude who has been in love with the groom from the original wedding, her cousin Chris, forever. In the background, there has always been Chris's brooding and slightly forbidding older brother, James. As a child, she actually preferred James. He was always the one who had "taught her to ride her first bike, fly her first kite" and the one who had "mopped up her tears when she'd fallen off the former and over the strings of the latter". So, as if he's not hurt her enough during her early years, she now ends up in a relationship with him which stems from a room misbooking at a conference. Inevitably she ends up sharing a room with him. Inevitably he ends up walking into the shower room and catching her naked. Inevitably she ends up in bed with him and even more inevitably she ends up pregnant (no spoiler there - you can see she's up the duff from the artist's cover - M&B heroines aren't normally that fat) and - once more, inevitably - she ends up being forced into marrying him.
I loved this book - there was so much going on. There was all the office based stuff ("'As managing director and Chairman of the company, I am involved in everything,' James told her softly. 'Everything... Not so much as a paper-clip disappears without my knowing about it, Poppy, you may be sure of that,' he told her with a wintry look that made her colour up hotly as she remembered the occasions on which she had 'borrowed' company stationery.') And that's nothing - she later admits to fiddling her expenses too! Having spent many years stuck in an office where the only petty triumph you can expect to enjoy is liberating some stationery from office supplies for personal use or fiddling your expenses, I thought this was brilliant - very nostalgic for me to read about.
There are all the usual Mills and Boon metaphors - the conference centre is a "forbidding fortress" with beautiful gardens enclosed within it. There's no escape for poor Poppy but you can guarantee that James will be on for locating the flower of her maidenhead at said conference. In fact what with all the sex and catching her naked in the shower and stuff, it's a wonder they even made it to the initial "coffee and ice-breaker sessions".
I loved the circumstances of him catching her in the shower room - as a child she has been previously locked in a bathroom by mistake and now can't stand to be in locked rooms. (Incidentally as a child I was once locked in a toilet in Deganwy - and yes, I can empathise, it was a very distressing experience. It hasn't stopped me from locking the lavatory door though! Still, it's lucky for James that Poppy has never got over that fear and manages to catch her in flagrante). Then you also have to consider that Poppy is the company translator but the fact that they end up sharing a room is due to a "translation error" in their bookings. It did make me laugh - she's clearly incompetent as well as dishonest, overly anxious and immature. But that doesn't stop James loving her - and for a Mills and Boon - that's the main thing.
Later, when the office accountant finds out that Poppy has been sharing a room with her boss at the conference (via the medium of fiddled expenses) it was heartening to hear that he wasted no time in spreading the gossip around the typing pool. It did my heart good to read that office gossip is as bad everywhere.
There's a lot of comedy in the first half of the book and I found myself smiling all the way through it, but Poppy does improve as a character. She grows up a lot as she gradually realises that she has fallen in love with James. Now she's having his baby and has got access to half his house and family fortune, she no longer needs to fiddle her expenses so it's a happy ending all round. She becomes much more soulful and introspective as her love for James develops. James gets better too - he becomes less serious and brooding - stops counting the paperclips which have been nicked from the stationery cupboard and lightens up a bit. In all, this is a great Mills and Boon - the characters develop nicely and the central romance is marvellously realised.
Another Penny Jordan masterpiece - and it's much, much better than the first book in the Wedding Nights Series - definitely recommend this one.
This is Poppy's story - Poppy is a very young 22 year old, completely immature in her attitude who has been in love with the groom from the original wedding, her cousin Chris, forever. In the background, there has always been Chris's brooding and slightly forbidding older brother, James. As a child, she actually preferred James. He was always the one who had "taught her to ride her first bike, fly her first kite" and the one who had "mopped up her tears when she'd fallen off the former and over the strings of the latter". So, as if he's not hurt her enough during her early years, she now ends up in a relationship with him which stems from a room misbooking at a conference. Inevitably she ends up sharing a room with him. Inevitably he ends up walking into the shower room and catching her naked. Inevitably she ends up in bed with him and even more inevitably she ends up pregnant (no spoiler there - you can see she's up the duff from the artist's cover - M&B heroines aren't normally that fat) and - once more, inevitably - she ends up being forced into marrying him.
I loved this book - there was so much going on. There was all the office based stuff ("'As managing director and Chairman of the company, I am involved in everything,' James told her softly. 'Everything... Not so much as a paper-clip disappears without my knowing about it, Poppy, you may be sure of that,' he told her with a wintry look that made her colour up hotly as she remembered the occasions on which she had 'borrowed' company stationery.') And that's nothing - she later admits to fiddling her expenses too! Having spent many years stuck in an office where the only petty triumph you can expect to enjoy is liberating some stationery from office supplies for personal use or fiddling your expenses, I thought this was brilliant - very nostalgic for me to read about.
There are all the usual Mills and Boon metaphors - the conference centre is a "forbidding fortress" with beautiful gardens enclosed within it. There's no escape for poor Poppy but you can guarantee that James will be on for locating the flower of her maidenhead at said conference. In fact what with all the sex and catching her naked in the shower and stuff, it's a wonder they even made it to the initial "coffee and ice-breaker sessions".
I loved the circumstances of him catching her in the shower room - as a child she has been previously locked in a bathroom by mistake and now can't stand to be in locked rooms. (Incidentally as a child I was once locked in a toilet in Deganwy - and yes, I can empathise, it was a very distressing experience. It hasn't stopped me from locking the lavatory door though! Still, it's lucky for James that Poppy has never got over that fear and manages to catch her in flagrante). Then you also have to consider that Poppy is the company translator but the fact that they end up sharing a room is due to a "translation error" in their bookings. It did make me laugh - she's clearly incompetent as well as dishonest, overly anxious and immature. But that doesn't stop James loving her - and for a Mills and Boon - that's the main thing.
Later, when the office accountant finds out that Poppy has been sharing a room with her boss at the conference (via the medium of fiddled expenses) it was heartening to hear that he wasted no time in spreading the gossip around the typing pool. It did my heart good to read that office gossip is as bad everywhere.
There's a lot of comedy in the first half of the book and I found myself smiling all the way through it, but Poppy does improve as a character. She grows up a lot as she gradually realises that she has fallen in love with James. Now she's having his baby and has got access to half his house and family fortune, she no longer needs to fiddle her expenses so it's a happy ending all round. She becomes much more soulful and introspective as her love for James develops. James gets better too - he becomes less serious and brooding - stops counting the paperclips which have been nicked from the stationery cupboard and lightens up a bit. In all, this is a great Mills and Boon - the characters develop nicely and the central romance is marvellously realised.
Another Penny Jordan masterpiece - and it's much, much better than the first book in the Wedding Nights Series - definitely recommend this one.
July 8, 2012
I didn't really like this book as much as others have. I've only given it a 3 star because the plot was nice but not presented that well according to me. I mean, in the first 100 pages out of the 114 pages of the book Poppy, the heroine, doesn't even realise she's in love with James, the hero and not his brother Chris. This seemed a bit unbelievable because a woman can't just be 'infatuated' with a guy for 12 years of her life. I'm sure she must have loved him for some part of it. I didn't really like how the author just disregarded this. James was the typical harlequin tall dark and brooding male. Likeable but very predictable.
The story was mostly focused on sex and the heroine pitying herself and the hero taunting her for her love for her brother. All together a good time pass read but definitely not something worth wasting your time over.
The story was mostly focused on sex and the heroine pitying herself and the hero taunting her for her love for her brother. All together a good time pass read but definitely not something worth wasting your time over.
September 8, 2012
I read this when it first came out years ago and came across it again recently.
The hardcore angst of James being in love with her for years drew me in, but there are some real pet peeves here that make this a hard read:
Poppy is annoying. And not just her name. She whines and cries non-stop over a "love" for James's brother who she's had a thing for since she was 12. Her immaturity in still having this crush, to this extent, all these years later, is revolting. Her emotions appear to change to "love" for James because he turns her on in bed.
Their relationship is annoying. They don't have one until her feelings change over sex. There is no relationship beyond the bedroom - and even there she's thinking of James's brother the first couple of times.
The cousin thing - big turn off!
The hardcore angst of James being in love with her for years drew me in, but there are some real pet peeves here that make this a hard read:
Poppy is annoying. And not just her name. She whines and cries non-stop over a "love" for James's brother who she's had a thing for since she was 12. Her immaturity in still having this crush, to this extent, all these years later, is revolting. Her emotions appear to change to "love" for James because he turns her on in bed.
Their relationship is annoying. They don't have one until her feelings change over sex. There is no relationship beyond the bedroom - and even there she's thinking of James's brother the first couple of times.
The cousin thing - big turn off!
April 13, 2013
Poppy tutturmuş Chris Chris diye. Hay allahım o kadar deli etti ki beni.James'ın en başından beri poppy'ye aşık olduğunu anlamıştım zaten.Her ne kadar zorla birlikte olan erkekleri (yani karşı taraf istese de karşılık vermemeye direniyor ya bazı dizilerde) hiç sevmem ama bu sefer James'i çok haklı buldum.Jamesciğim çok acı çekiyordu o yüzden poppy'ye sataşarak birşey yapmaya çalışıyordu.
misc-romance
March 5, 2024Heroine has been blatantly pining after the brother of the hero for years. A only one bed at the inn scenario changes everything.
Overall this had A LOT of tropes/plot points that I love. That being said, the continued animosity of the hero and the absolute childish stupidity of the heroine prevented me from loving this book.
Overall this had A LOT of tropes/plot points that I love. That being said, the continued animosity of the hero and the absolute childish stupidity of the heroine prevented me from loving this book.
April 29, 2021
4.5
The angst was high with this one. Really enjoyed it, but I was a little meh about the incest. They’re first cousins. There was this part where they talked about when the H was 15 he bathed the h (who was 7) and for them being first cousins and later lovers this was a little much for me.
The angst was high with this one. Really enjoyed it, but I was a little meh about the incest. They’re first cousins. There was this part where they talked about when the H was 15 he bathed the h (who was 7) and for them being first cousins and later lovers this was a little much for me.
February 9, 2021
So I do love some of PJ’s messed up books. I believe in Boogenhagen’s review she says it “Squicks” her out. Yes there are some things to feel a little squeamish about.
SPOILERS!!!!!!
Hero(30) first cousin to heroine(22) is madly in love with her(so of course he belittles her). She is in love with his younger brother who has just gotten married. Now first cousins may make you feel a little uneasy, but it is not so uncommon in certain eras and /or areas of the world. I’m ok with this.
Hero and heroine who work with each other end up on a business trip to Italy...sharing a room(hotel made a mistake and are overbooked)...um, sharing a bed...heroine who normally sleeps in the nude decides to sleep in her scratchy robe. Next thing we know her robe was discarded and she is sidling up to the H. She is dreaming...of the brother while rubbing against the H. The H has loved her for years so don’t count on him to keep control...she shouts out his brothers name and well it had gone so far that our h was not willing for the H to leave her hanging...he made her acknowledge that it was him bringing her this pleasure and they took it to its fruition....
Later there is another moment where she is like no...but his persistence in “loving” her gets her out of a no state.
They get back home(avoid each other) and now it’s 10?weeks later...people now know they shared a room....AND miracle of miracles the h is pregnant....6 weeks later they are married..they have spent no time together except the h makes a point of bringing up that neither of them love each other...the H is always bringing up that she loves his brother and to get over it...Now on the honeymoon the h is feeling amorous and the h and H get together at her prompting....back home they avoid each other...again! Hero goes on business trips, she avoids him.
Then 1 day he walks in on the h and his brother...nothing was going on but our besotted hero leaves for another trip...the h is involved in a car accident with brother...h is in hospital telling the brother to leave she only wants the H...eventually the H is there and both reveal how much they love each other. Epilogue...baby is born all is good!
It’s all good, not so bad, I’ve read more squicky books...But wait...oh yeah, so in order to enjoy this book I did block a few things out...for example our 15 year old H bathing the 7 year old h(okay there was no mention of feelings here, but I’m thinking that picture did not have to be in my mind) I mean putting a bandage on her, teaching her to ride a bike, but bathing her was not an image I needed... later in the book the Hero says “I fell in love with you about the time you fell in love with my brother” This would be really sweet had she fallen in love with the brother at 18...or hey I can even accept 16...BUT.....
The h fell in love with the brother when she was 12...the hero would have been 20😬😳 Dude!!! Not cool!!!
Boogenhagen has a more thorough review....and whereas I gave it a 4 because I mentally blocked/skimmed over some things, she gave it a 2. So, if you are on the fence you may want to read that review!
SPOILERS!!!!!!
Hero(30) first cousin to heroine(22) is madly in love with her(so of course he belittles her). She is in love with his younger brother who has just gotten married. Now first cousins may make you feel a little uneasy, but it is not so uncommon in certain eras and /or areas of the world. I’m ok with this.
Hero and heroine who work with each other end up on a business trip to Italy...sharing a room(hotel made a mistake and are overbooked)...um, sharing a bed...heroine who normally sleeps in the nude decides to sleep in her scratchy robe. Next thing we know her robe was discarded and she is sidling up to the H. She is dreaming...of the brother while rubbing against the H. The H has loved her for years so don’t count on him to keep control...she shouts out his brothers name and well it had gone so far that our h was not willing for the H to leave her hanging...he made her acknowledge that it was him bringing her this pleasure and they took it to its fruition....
Later there is another moment where she is like no...but his persistence in “loving” her gets her out of a no state.
They get back home(avoid each other) and now it’s 10?weeks later...people now know they shared a room....AND miracle of miracles the h is pregnant....6 weeks later they are married..they have spent no time together except the h makes a point of bringing up that neither of them love each other...the H is always bringing up that she loves his brother and to get over it...Now on the honeymoon the h is feeling amorous and the h and H get together at her prompting....back home they avoid each other...again! Hero goes on business trips, she avoids him.
Then 1 day he walks in on the h and his brother...nothing was going on but our besotted hero leaves for another trip...the h is involved in a car accident with brother...h is in hospital telling the brother to leave she only wants the H...eventually the H is there and both reveal how much they love each other. Epilogue...baby is born all is good!
It’s all good, not so bad, I’ve read more squicky books...But wait...oh yeah, so in order to enjoy this book I did block a few things out...for example our 15 year old H bathing the 7 year old h(okay there was no mention of feelings here, but I’m thinking that picture did not have to be in my mind) I mean putting a bandage on her, teaching her to ride a bike, but bathing her was not an image I needed... later in the book the Hero says “I fell in love with you about the time you fell in love with my brother” This would be really sweet had she fallen in love with the brother at 18...or hey I can even accept 16...BUT.....
The h fell in love with the brother when she was 12...the hero would have been 20😬😳 Dude!!! Not cool!!!
Boogenhagen has a more thorough review....and whereas I gave it a 4 because I mentally blocked/skimmed over some things, she gave it a 2. So, if you are on the fence you may want to read that review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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