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Edge of Spring
Why wouldn't he leave her alone?
After a brief disastrous marriage, Karen had managed to keep all men at bay for five years. But then she had never encouraged one like Matt Lucas. He'd made up his mind, it seemed, whether Karen liked it or not.
And Karen didn't like it--not one bit. She firmly believed that Matt Lucas looked upon her as only a diverting challenge--someone to pursue and claim, briefly.
Karen still bore the scars from one encounter with love--why invite further heartache?
After a brief disastrous marriage, Karen had managed to keep all men at bay for five years. But then she had never encouraged one like Matt Lucas. He'd made up his mind, it seemed, whether Karen liked it or not.
And Karen didn't like it--not one bit. She firmly believed that Matt Lucas looked upon her as only a diverting challenge--someone to pursue and claim, briefly.
Karen still bore the scars from one encounter with love--why invite further heartache?
- GenresHarlequin Romance
187 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1979
About the author
Helen Bianchin
384 books231 followersHelen Shirley was born on February 20 1939 in New Zealand, where she grew up, an only child possessed by a vivid imagination and a love for reading. She wrote stories for amusement in her early teenage years, and when she left leaving school, she took a secretarial job at a father-and-son legal firm.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 7, 2025
The heroine waited for marriage to give herself to the man she loved and thought loved her back. Instead, on their honeymoon night, her husband rapes her brutally. The heroine gets pregnant from the rape and subsequently has to bear the child that was conceived from that despicable assault. The only silver lining is that her "husband" accidentally died the day after he brutalized her
The hero meets the heroine six years after this traumatic event. He is besotted from Day One and intrigued by how standoffish the heroine is. I loved that he fell in love with heroine's little daughter, that he introduced them to his family from the get go, and that he didn't give the lame loser of an OW the time of day. Yes, from contemporary point of view, he was waaaay too stalkerish and forceful in his courtship of the h, but according to the HPlandia Manual, he was a truly likable Beta hero whose actions stemmed from the best of intentions and love for the heroine.
I wish the ending had not been so abrupt. This story needed an epilogue with unicorns leaping over rainbows and cuddly kittens raining down from the sky after all the angst that the poor heroine had to suffer through.
The hero meets the heroine six years after this traumatic event. He is besotted from Day One and intrigued by how standoffish the heroine is. I loved that he fell in love with heroine's little daughter, that he introduced them to his family from the get go, and that he didn't give the lame loser of an OW the time of day. Yes, from contemporary point of view, he was waaaay too stalkerish and forceful in his courtship of the h, but according to the HPlandia Manual, he was a truly likable Beta hero whose actions stemmed from the best of intentions and love for the heroine.
I wish the ending had not been so abrupt. This story needed an epilogue with unicorns leaping over rainbows and cuddly kittens raining down from the sky after all the angst that the poor heroine had to suffer through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2015
4 Stars ~ Karen had been a young 19 when Brad had swooped and swept her off her feet; they'd married six weeks later. But what should have been the beginning of the happiest time of her life turned into the stuff of nightmares. Alone in their hotel room, Brad became another man, this one was cold and filled with hatred. He coldly told her how he had set out to destroy her as he'd been destroyed by a woman who had jilted him at the altar; Karen's only crime was that she looked like his fiancee. After hours of brutal rape, Karen's only escape had been that she had finally fainted. When she woke, Brad was gone and as she quickly packed her things and was about to leave, the police had arrived. Brad had been driving recklessly and died when his car had gone into a ravine. Wanting nothing more than to forget, Karen moved into Auckland away from the pity she seen in the eyes of her family and friends; only to discover weeks later that she was pregnant.
It's six years later, Karen and her daughter Lisa live in the home her grandfather left to her. Secure enough financially to not have to work, Karen decided that now Lisa was in school to work part time. Still very bitter from her marriage, Karen pushed all men away, and contented herself with a quiet life with her daughter. When a friend cons her into attending a party, her life shifts when she catches the eye of a handsome charismatic man, who begins to pursue her. Matt is immediately intrigued by the beautiful woman shooting daggers of ice. And when he learns that she's a part-time typist at his company, he stalks her relentlessly. Every attempt Karen makes to put him off fails, and in exasperation she finds herself accepting his dinner invitations. When he makes a physical move, Karen rejects him frantically, and once again she's haunted by nightly nightmares. But Matt isn't going away, even when he learns of her husband's brutality; he's there for the long-haul.
This is an early Harlequin Presents where Ms. Bianchin weaves her story strictly from the heroine's point of view. Though I would have loved to have Matt's thoughts, it was clear from the start that he wanted more from Karen than a wild fling. At the beginning, Matt's refusal to be blown off and his high handedness seemed rather stalkerish. Today if a man pursued a woman in that way harassment charges would be filed. But this is 80's HPland and everything unPC today was PC then. Karen was believable as the rape victim, though again if this were today, she'd have been in therapy to overcome her (PTSD) fears. I doubt in the 80's a rape charge against a husband would have washed, certainly therapy wouldn't have even been thought of. The ending's a bit rushed, but it's worthy of a sigh, and I believed in Karen and Matt's HEA.
It's six years later, Karen and her daughter Lisa live in the home her grandfather left to her. Secure enough financially to not have to work, Karen decided that now Lisa was in school to work part time. Still very bitter from her marriage, Karen pushed all men away, and contented herself with a quiet life with her daughter. When a friend cons her into attending a party, her life shifts when she catches the eye of a handsome charismatic man, who begins to pursue her. Matt is immediately intrigued by the beautiful woman shooting daggers of ice. And when he learns that she's a part-time typist at his company, he stalks her relentlessly. Every attempt Karen makes to put him off fails, and in exasperation she finds herself accepting his dinner invitations. When he makes a physical move, Karen rejects him frantically, and once again she's haunted by nightly nightmares. But Matt isn't going away, even when he learns of her husband's brutality; he's there for the long-haul.
This is an early Harlequin Presents where Ms. Bianchin weaves her story strictly from the heroine's point of view. Though I would have loved to have Matt's thoughts, it was clear from the start that he wanted more from Karen than a wild fling. At the beginning, Matt's refusal to be blown off and his high handedness seemed rather stalkerish. Today if a man pursued a woman in that way harassment charges would be filed. But this is 80's HPland and everything unPC today was PC then. Karen was believable as the rape victim, though again if this were today, she'd have been in therapy to overcome her (PTSD) fears. I doubt in the 80's a rape charge against a husband would have washed, certainly therapy wouldn't have even been thought of. The ending's a bit rushed, but it's worthy of a sigh, and I believed in Karen and Matt's HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2013
A tale of sexual harassment on the edge.
January 25, 2026
Yeah, no, even by 1979 standards (when this book was published), this MMC is far too overbearing and unwilling to accept the heroine's repeated "No"s. Bumping up to 2 stars, because I get that was more common in romances during that time period, but my goodness, she must have told him no 100s of times in the first half, and he just kept stream rolling over her objections. Adding to the ick was that he was her boss, so there was the power imbalance there, and even though she didn't actually need the job (sigh....to be independently wealthy and working "just to fill the time"...) it was still icky.
Sample dialogue:
Matt: Have dinner with me.
Helen: No.
Matt: I'll pick you up at 7.
Helen: I said no!
Matt: Obvs your young daughter is also invited.
Helen: No no no!
Matt: Be ready at 7. (walks off)
Or:
Matt: Come to this vacation rental with me.
Helen: No.
Matt: Invite your mom and daughter also.
Helen: No.
Matt: I'll call them if you won't.
Like, no. The number of times I just wanted to scream "That's kidnapping!" at the page...
Also, I think it's especially low for an overbearing man to use a woman's child to get her to do what he wants. In this case, he takes Helen out for lunch ONCE, then bullies her into bringing her daughter on their second meal together. At this point, it's far too early to know if you adults will even have anything long-term; don't rope the kids into this until you're much more certain! Coz then the kid will bond to you, and if the relationship fizzles out, you're not just breaking the other adult's heart, but also the kid's. Shame on Matt for doing this, and I'd say shame on Karen for allowing it, but like he never took no for an answer, so I feel more sympathy for her than anything.
Also,
Writing this out makes me want to lower the rating down to a 1-star, LOL, but eh, 1979 standards and all.
Sample dialogue:
Matt: Have dinner with me.
Helen: No.
Matt: I'll pick you up at 7.
Helen: I said no!
Matt: Obvs your young daughter is also invited.
Helen: No no no!
Matt: Be ready at 7. (walks off)
Or:
Matt: Come to this vacation rental with me.
Helen: No.
Matt: Invite your mom and daughter also.
Helen: No.
Matt: I'll call them if you won't.
Like, no. The number of times I just wanted to scream "That's kidnapping!" at the page...
Also, I think it's especially low for an overbearing man to use a woman's child to get her to do what he wants. In this case, he takes Helen out for lunch ONCE, then bullies her into bringing her daughter on their second meal together. At this point, it's far too early to know if you adults will even have anything long-term; don't rope the kids into this until you're much more certain! Coz then the kid will bond to you, and if the relationship fizzles out, you're not just breaking the other adult's heart, but also the kid's. Shame on Matt for doing this, and I'd say shame on Karen for allowing it, but like he never took no for an answer, so I feel more sympathy for her than anything.
Also,
Writing this out makes me want to lower the rating down to a 1-star, LOL, but eh, 1979 standards and all.
April 3, 2024
Probably 3 1/2 stars, but it felt too much like they were going around in circles and his immediate devotion (being a total player) seemed unlikely. The daughter was charming and the mum a great character. But the heroine was way too standoffish for too long.
November 17, 2022
She really makes him work for it!
September 19, 2021
I previously gave it 5 stars, but after re-reading I’ve changed my opinion and it’s a 4 stars. She has a daughter by another man. I don’t like it when the man and/or woman in a HP already has children by someone else.
And apart from that, I don’t like to read about children in an HP. Probably people think all women should love children and therefore love reading about them, but I don’t.
What makes it 4 stars though: he is a determined, besotted, dominant, rich, caring H who knows what he wants and who only has eyes for the h. He doesn’t take no for an answer in his relentless pursuit of her.
And apart from that, I don’t like to read about children in an HP. Probably people think all women should love children and therefore love reading about them, but I don’t.
What makes it 4 stars though: he is a determined, besotted, dominant, rich, caring H who knows what he wants and who only has eyes for the h. He doesn’t take no for an answer in his relentless pursuit of her.
February 2, 2015
Karen had been taken in by one deceptive man and she wasn't dating anyone! She had avoided men for five years and she wasn't about to be friendly to Matt Lucas. When he found out she worked part time for the Electronics company he was director of he pursued her unrelentingly.
March 5, 2011
Very cute, quick read :)
April 3, 2015
Oldie but a goodie
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews