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Night of Love
A PASSION WORTH WAITING FOR
Aspiring actress Alex Godfrey, beautiful and innocent, escaped London's hustle and bustle to spend a quiet summer on the fabulous French Rivieria. It wasn't long before Leon Panos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted her, courted her and decided to marry her.
But his family had other ideas. Namely, that Greeks should marry Greeks. Although Alex intended to refuse Leon's offer, she was angry when his cousin, Nico, tried to turn her against him. But that was before she realized what was happening between herself and Nico....
Aspiring actress Alex Godfrey, beautiful and innocent, escaped London's hustle and bustle to spend a quiet summer on the fabulous French Rivieria. It wasn't long before Leon Panos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted her, courted her and decided to marry her.
But his family had other ideas. Namely, that Greeks should marry Greeks. Although Alex intended to refuse Leon's offer, she was angry when his cousin, Nico, tried to turn her against him. But that was before she realized what was happening between herself and Nico....
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Roberta Leigh
113 books66 followersaka Rachel Lindsay, Janey Scott, Rozella Lake
Roberta Leigh was the most frequently used pen name of an author who also published novels as Rachel Lindsay, Rozella Lake, and Janey Scott. Her birth name was Rita Shulman.
Leigh was one of the first romance writers to introduce strong, career-minded heroines who wouldn't be bossed around by the hero.
Leigh had her own film company and wrote and produced 7 TV series for children. She would also "write" the music for her series, although this usually involved her humming or singing the tune into a tape recorder, after which someone else would arrange and write a score.
She studied oil and watercolor painting with Diana Raphael and Michael Chaitow, who her interest in abstract art. Her work has been exhibited at the Podbury Gallery and Finnegan's Gallery in London.
In 1948, she married Michael Lewin and they had a son, Jeremy. Her husband passed away in 1981.
Roberta Leigh was the most frequently used pen name of an author who also published novels as Rachel Lindsay, Rozella Lake, and Janey Scott. Her birth name was Rita Shulman.
Leigh was one of the first romance writers to introduce strong, career-minded heroines who wouldn't be bossed around by the hero.
Leigh had her own film company and wrote and produced 7 TV series for children. She would also "write" the music for her series, although this usually involved her humming or singing the tune into a tape recorder, after which someone else would arrange and write a score.
She studied oil and watercolor painting with Diana Raphael and Michael Chaitow, who her interest in abstract art. Her work has been exhibited at the Podbury Gallery and Finnegan's Gallery in London.
In 1948, she married Michael Lewin and they had a son, Jeremy. Her husband passed away in 1981.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 27, 2014
This had all the requisite angst that you could ever want in an HP classic. To top it off, the heroine was beautiful,kind, loving and successful. She also had her values in the right place and she had great class. This could have been a 5 star read, but the ending just ruined it for me.
She becomes engaged to the Hero. In a moment of severe concussion and fever, he forces himself on her and they have unprotected sex. Of course, the next morning he forgets and she doesn't tell him because she is told not to upset him. 4 weeks later she miscarries and he throws her out thinking she was going to pawn off some other man's baby on him. (OM was his cousin Leon who she had been casually dating prior to meeting H) .
She moves on with her life, becomes an extremely successful theatre actress and meets up with him again by chance at a party. That evening, he writes a letter of apology saying, I should have never thrown you out. If you had told me about the baby, I would have gotten Leon to marry you or I would have married you myself. I was wrong, but was driven by jealousy, so please forgive me and marry me.
She forgives him and thinks because he was willing to take her back that it was enough. She forgets that the most important point was that he doubted her and believed her capable of such treacherous deception.. She forgets that she begged him to have faith in her as a person.
Up until this point, I just loved this book, but the author ruined it in the last 6 pages.
He deserved the boot, the worthless chap.
She becomes engaged to the Hero. In a moment of severe concussion and fever, he forces himself on her and they have unprotected sex. Of course, the next morning he forgets and she doesn't tell him because she is told not to upset him. 4 weeks later she miscarries and he throws her out thinking she was going to pawn off some other man's baby on him. (OM was his cousin Leon who she had been casually dating prior to meeting H) .
She moves on with her life, becomes an extremely successful theatre actress and meets up with him again by chance at a party. That evening, he writes a letter of apology saying, I should have never thrown you out. If you had told me about the baby, I would have gotten Leon to marry you or I would have married you myself. I was wrong, but was driven by jealousy, so please forgive me and marry me.
She forgives him and thinks because he was willing to take her back that it was enough. She forgets that the most important point was that he doubted her and believed her capable of such treacherous deception.. She forgets that she begged him to have faith in her as a person.
Up until this point, I just loved this book, but the author ruined it in the last 6 pages.
He deserved the boot, the worthless chap.
March 20, 2026
I totally agree with Leona's review.
This was a decent story with a strong, funny charming heroine and a big fat jerk hero that could have been outstanding had the author not botched the ending :(
The book begins with our English actress heroine visiting her godmother in Provence. She meets and is promptly pursued by a Greek tycoon who is also there on a visit. Then, the tycoon's cousin, who is an even richer tycoon, shows up and he begins to pursue the heroine too (lol). This second guy is the hero of this piece.
Hero and heroine hit it off and heroine gives up her V card to him. Naturally, following the rules of Harlequinlandia, their romance is thwarted by a case of inconvenient AMNESIA! Oh noes! The proverbial morning after, the hero suffers a blow to the head and completely forgets the heroine. When she tells him she is pregnant, he accuses her of trying to pass off the baby she conceived with another man, whom he believes to be his own cousin. Heroine is distraught, flees back to England, and tragically miscarries the baby.
A few months later, the H and h run into each other at a party in London. H came to England to find h and get her back because he "loves" her so much, he has decided he will overlook the fact that she is a gold digger and that he is getting his cousin’s sloppy seconds. The Harlequin Gods inflict him with another blow to the head and sure enough, his memory comes back. He remembers that he IS the one who deflowered the virgin heroine and he is the poopy head who slut-shamed her and ran her off. He offers a half-hearted apology and then, he is completely flabbergasted when she doesn't forgive him in a nanosecond. LoL.
The conundrum is solved when the heroine reads hero's "love" letter which he wrote when he still believed that she was a lying slut who had an affair with his cousin. In the letter, he offers her either a shotgun marriage to his cousin or to marry her himself and raise the baby as his own because he loves her so much despite her slutty ways. Heroine melts at this supposed proof of hero’s love and runs back to the hero for their HEA.
Well, even by the illogical and contrived standards of Harlequinlandia, this ending made no sense. If her gripe was that he did not trust her enough to believe in her, why did that dumbass letter play such a pivotal part in their reconciliation? The letter did not convey that the hero regretted his earlier outburst and that he came to the realization that he was wrong to mistrust her and accuse her. No, the letter suggests that he still doesn't believe in her, he still thinks she is a gold digger and a liar, but that he was so besotted with her, he was willing to put up with a woman of dubious moral character. We are meant to rejoice that the prideful hero lowered himself to offer marriage to a contemptible woman that he believed was so beneath him. I, for one, didn’t find this grand gesture the least bit romantic. Some mental turmoil and a long, drawn- out grovel and campaign to prove himself worthy of her and win her back would have been a much better story. Quel dommage!
I won't discourage you from reading this because the story is compelling and the heroine in particular is charming and smart, not something we see a lot of in HPlandia. But be prepared to swallow a big whopper in order to believe in this HEA.
This was a decent story with a strong, funny charming heroine and a big fat jerk hero that could have been outstanding had the author not botched the ending :(
The book begins with our English actress heroine visiting her godmother in Provence. She meets and is promptly pursued by a Greek tycoon who is also there on a visit. Then, the tycoon's cousin, who is an even richer tycoon, shows up and he begins to pursue the heroine too (lol). This second guy is the hero of this piece.
Hero and heroine hit it off and heroine gives up her V card to him. Naturally, following the rules of Harlequinlandia, their romance is thwarted by a case of inconvenient AMNESIA! Oh noes! The proverbial morning after, the hero suffers a blow to the head and completely forgets the heroine. When she tells him she is pregnant, he accuses her of trying to pass off the baby she conceived with another man, whom he believes to be his own cousin. Heroine is distraught, flees back to England, and tragically miscarries the baby.
A few months later, the H and h run into each other at a party in London. H came to England to find h and get her back because he "loves" her so much, he has decided he will overlook the fact that she is a gold digger and that he is getting his cousin’s sloppy seconds. The Harlequin Gods inflict him with another blow to the head and sure enough, his memory comes back. He remembers that he IS the one who deflowered the virgin heroine and he is the poopy head who slut-shamed her and ran her off. He offers a half-hearted apology and then, he is completely flabbergasted when she doesn't forgive him in a nanosecond. LoL.
The conundrum is solved when the heroine reads hero's "love" letter which he wrote when he still believed that she was a lying slut who had an affair with his cousin. In the letter, he offers her either a shotgun marriage to his cousin or to marry her himself and raise the baby as his own because he loves her so much despite her slutty ways. Heroine melts at this supposed proof of hero’s love and runs back to the hero for their HEA.
Well, even by the illogical and contrived standards of Harlequinlandia, this ending made no sense. If her gripe was that he did not trust her enough to believe in her, why did that dumbass letter play such a pivotal part in their reconciliation? The letter did not convey that the hero regretted his earlier outburst and that he came to the realization that he was wrong to mistrust her and accuse her. No, the letter suggests that he still doesn't believe in her, he still thinks she is a gold digger and a liar, but that he was so besotted with her, he was willing to put up with a woman of dubious moral character. We are meant to rejoice that the prideful hero lowered himself to offer marriage to a contemptible woman that he believed was so beneath him. I, for one, didn’t find this grand gesture the least bit romantic. Some mental turmoil and a long, drawn- out grovel and campaign to prove himself worthy of her and win her back would have been a much better story. Quel dommage!
I won't discourage you from reading this because the story is compelling and the heroine in particular is charming and smart, not something we see a lot of in HPlandia. But be prepared to swallow a big whopper in order to believe in this HEA.
January 24, 2018
Αlex, a young actress while on vacation meets a charming Greek. He falls for her and he asks her to marry him. Greek’s family doesn’t want an English girl for a bride so his cousin Nico a shipping magnate tries to buy her off. They fall in love but Nico has an accident. He loses all consciousness and he rapes Alex. She ends up pregnant but she suffers a miscarriage. Nico doesn’t remember of their night together so he assumes the baby was not his. He ends their relationship and Alex returns to England where she becomes a successful actress but she can’t get over Nico. Months later they meet again at a party and Nico asks for a second chance.
Great old vintage Harlequin full of angst and melodrama. Alpha hero, sweet heroine and nice secondary characters. I love vintage Harlequins they were so entertaining!
Great old vintage Harlequin full of angst and melodrama. Alpha hero, sweet heroine and nice secondary characters. I love vintage Harlequins they were so entertaining!
December 7, 2022
"Night of Love" is the story of Alex and Nico.
What happens when you mix a crazy hero, a strong but stupid heroine, amnesia and jealousy together?
This story!
We have our heroine- an aspiring actress and hardworking woman who escapes the cold and dreary London to go to French Rivieria. She starts helping her godmother run a restaurant, and meets an arduous Greek playboy whom she brushes off. Next we have the playboy leaving in a huff and puff, and his manlier cousin showing up to ALSO fall for the heroine.
The hero then courts the heroine, expected truth gets exposed, has a head injury, gets concussion and amnesia, a wild night of non-con lovemaking happens (which the heroine is tots cool about because he "lurves" her), some more marriage proposals, a tragedy, a breakup, an insane reconciliation and a HEA.
The hero was jealous/crazy type and the heroine was strong.. unless it came to the hero and then she was a giant wuss. The only likable character was her godmother, and his dad was pretty nice too. Too bad their children were re-incarnation of Satan.
Safe
3/5
What happens when you mix a crazy hero, a strong but stupid heroine, amnesia and jealousy together?
This story!
We have our heroine- an aspiring actress and hardworking woman who escapes the cold and dreary London to go to French Rivieria. She starts helping her godmother run a restaurant, and meets an arduous Greek playboy whom she brushes off. Next we have the playboy leaving in a huff and puff, and his manlier cousin showing up to ALSO fall for the heroine.
The hero then courts the heroine, expected truth gets exposed, has a head injury, gets concussion and amnesia, a wild night of non-con lovemaking happens (which the heroine is tots cool about because he "lurves" her), some more marriage proposals, a tragedy, a breakup, an insane reconciliation and a HEA.
The hero was jealous/crazy type and the heroine was strong.. unless it came to the hero and then she was a giant wuss. The only likable character was her godmother, and his dad was pretty nice too. Too bad their children were re-incarnation of Satan.
Safe
3/5
March 3, 2021
Angst was good but hate the ending.
October 25, 2019
I read this a long time ago but it's still an excellent story. Alex, the heroine, is an out of work actress who decides to take a vacation and visit her aunt in Provence. While there, she meets a handsome Greek, Leon. They date and he falls in love w her. Since she is not in love w him she refuses his marriage proposal. Soon after he is sent away to Greece by his wealthy relatives and Alex meets his cousin, Nicolas. Nico has been sent to warn her off but they start dating instead.
One day, while they are on a date, they run into one of Nico's friends who asks whether he was able to pay off Leon's problem, or whether he had to do his usual thing, which was to make the unfortunate girl fall in love with him instead. Alex feels betrayed and runs out of the restaurant. Nico runs after her and declares his love, however he falls down some steps and gets a nasty bump on his head. Since he is suffering from concussion, the doctor recommends he stay put so he has to stay w Alex and her aunt. He is a good patient, but one night, he gets a high fever and delirium. Alex tries to help him but he over powers her and rapes her. The next morning, he doesn't remember anything although he remembers telling Alex he loves her and that he proposed marriage to her. He is transferred to a hospital, and the doctor insists he has no stress, so Alex keeps quiet about what actually happened that night.
Soon after he moves back to his Villa to recuperate and he wants Alex to stay with him as his fiancée. One day she gets sever stomach cramps and when the doctor examines her she is actually having a miscarriage. Nicolas is in a rage, he does not believe that it is his baby since he can't remember that night. He thinks she is trying to pass off Leon's baby as his, so he tells her to leave despite all her pleas.
Broken-hearted, Alex goes back to England and eventually has a successful career as an actress. One day, her producer invites her to attend a party with him being given by one of their Greek backers. As soon as they arrive she realises that it is Leon’s engagement party.. Naturally she runs into Nicolas there but she snubs him when he tries to talk to her and she leaves the party.
Much later that evening, Leon shows up at her apartment, Nicolas has been injured and is calling for Her. When she arrives at Nicolas’ bedside, he tells her that the head injury he has just sustained, made him remember everything, including the night he raped her. He pleads with her and says that he loves her, has always loved her and wants a second chance. Alex does not believe him and runs out the room. She is stopped by the valet. He hands her a letter which was clutched in Nicolas’ hand when he was mugged. The valet claims that Nicolas was probably on his way to deliver it to her when he was accosted.
In it, Nicolas confesses the depths of his love and asks for a second chance. (It’s actually a very moving letter). Alex runs back into the room and finds a devastated Nico. She declares her love and agrees to marry him. Though happy, Nicolas wonders why it took the letter to convince her. She reveals that it proves that he loved her and wanted her back even before his memory returned.
This has always been one of my favourite books and though it’s vintage it stands the test of time.
One day, while they are on a date, they run into one of Nico's friends who asks whether he was able to pay off Leon's problem, or whether he had to do his usual thing, which was to make the unfortunate girl fall in love with him instead. Alex feels betrayed and runs out of the restaurant. Nico runs after her and declares his love, however he falls down some steps and gets a nasty bump on his head. Since he is suffering from concussion, the doctor recommends he stay put so he has to stay w Alex and her aunt. He is a good patient, but one night, he gets a high fever and delirium. Alex tries to help him but he over powers her and rapes her. The next morning, he doesn't remember anything although he remembers telling Alex he loves her and that he proposed marriage to her. He is transferred to a hospital, and the doctor insists he has no stress, so Alex keeps quiet about what actually happened that night.
Soon after he moves back to his Villa to recuperate and he wants Alex to stay with him as his fiancée. One day she gets sever stomach cramps and when the doctor examines her she is actually having a miscarriage. Nicolas is in a rage, he does not believe that it is his baby since he can't remember that night. He thinks she is trying to pass off Leon's baby as his, so he tells her to leave despite all her pleas.
Broken-hearted, Alex goes back to England and eventually has a successful career as an actress. One day, her producer invites her to attend a party with him being given by one of their Greek backers. As soon as they arrive she realises that it is Leon’s engagement party.. Naturally she runs into Nicolas there but she snubs him when he tries to talk to her and she leaves the party.
Much later that evening, Leon shows up at her apartment, Nicolas has been injured and is calling for Her. When she arrives at Nicolas’ bedside, he tells her that the head injury he has just sustained, made him remember everything, including the night he raped her. He pleads with her and says that he loves her, has always loved her and wants a second chance. Alex does not believe him and runs out the room. She is stopped by the valet. He hands her a letter which was clutched in Nicolas’ hand when he was mugged. The valet claims that Nicolas was probably on his way to deliver it to her when he was accosted.
In it, Nicolas confesses the depths of his love and asks for a second chance. (It’s actually a very moving letter). Alex runs back into the room and finds a devastated Nico. She declares her love and agrees to marry him. Though happy, Nicolas wonders why it took the letter to convince her. She reveals that it proves that he loved her and wanted her back even before his memory returned.
This has always been one of my favourite books and though it’s vintage it stands the test of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2021
A PASSION WORTH WAITING FOR
Aspiring actress Alex Godfrey, beautiful and innocent, escaped London's hustle and bustle to spend a quiet summer on the fabulous French Rivieria. It wasn't long before Leon Panos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted her, courted her and decided to marry her.
But his family had other ideas. Namely, that Greeks should marry Greeks. Although Alex intended to refuse Leon's offer, she was angry when his cousin, Nico, tried to turn her against him. But that was before she realized what was happening between herself and Nico..
Aspiring actress Alex Godfrey, beautiful and innocent, escaped London's hustle and bustle to spend a quiet summer on the fabulous French Rivieria. It wasn't long before Leon Panos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted her, courted her and decided to marry her.
But his family had other ideas. Namely, that Greeks should marry Greeks. Although Alex intended to refuse Leon's offer, she was angry when his cousin, Nico, tried to turn her against him. But that was before she realized what was happening between herself and Nico..
May 9, 2024
I dunno. Having the H wan and bed bound through concussion TWICE was just a total passion killing plot device for me. She, Alex (actress) was a decent h and he, Nico, Greek shipping tycoon, should have pushed all my buttons, especially in a Riviera setting, but I'm just not a fan of sick beds or amnesia episodes. Gorgeous villa though. Keep buying those euromillions tickets DD.
August 9, 2021
Nico is a douche.
December 3, 2024
It would have been a good story, but the author goofed too much.
Beginning with the title! It was hardly a night of "love" when the H was so out of it, he didn't know he was forcing himself on the H and then didn't remember the incident later on. Then, Ms. Leigh changes it from a rape to a "forced seduction", apparently to make it more acceptable, but she missed the point altogether. Even if it had been a sweet, gentle seduction, the fact that the H was not aware of what he was doing (suffering the aftereffects of a fall that could have killed him) and had no recollection pf it later, takes away everything. It was more aptly a "night of forgotten passion", or "night of regret", or "night of unrecalled desire", whatever, but if the guy's not mentally all there, you can't call it a "night of love". (I guess we're supposed to infer that subconsciously he knew he was with his true love, but it still doesn't work right.)
And it was a bit over-the-top to have the H keep getting head whacks every time there's a conflict with the h; first falling down when he's chasing after her (to apologize for thinking she was a gold-digger after the family money), then getting ganged up on while trying to stop a mugging when he was on his way to deliver a letter of apology to the h!
Ridiculous! Obviously! And if I were the H, I'd stop trying to apologize! I don't think his head could take much more!
And even higher on the ridiculous scale: it was the first hit to his head that caused him to do the bad deed and not know he did it, and it was the second one that made him remember the bad deed he did! The author may not have been intentionally trying to be funny, but this reminds me of those old melodramatic movies from the early 1930's, that were so overdone you find yourself laughing in all the wrong places. Same here!
The H is understandably suspicious at first, when his playboy cousin (the OM) suddenly wants to marry the h, who he hasn't known very long, but the fact that the h did NOT want to marry him didn't register right away. He decided to throw on the charm to test her, fell in love with her (and she with him), then when she suspects it was just a game to him, his attempts to apologize led to his falling and hitting his head, starting all the trouble.
The worst part of the story comes when the h discovers she was pregnant when she miscarries a baby that he didn't know she was carrying! Trying to cope with that (and convince herself it was for the best) she's then hit with a crappy accusation from the H. Not knowing about their night together, he assumes she was pregnant with the OM's baby and was planning to pass it off as his, and that's why she agreed tom their getting married right away! And just like those stubborn, blindly jealous h's in other novels who convince themselves the H cheated and won't listen to reason, this H can give those ladies a run for their money! Nothing the h says or does will convince him she's completely innocent, not even when she tells him what happened between them. (She would have told him already if she hadn't been afraid it would interfere with his recovery.) He's through with her for good!
(The really sad thing is, with all this nonsense going on, neither of them eve grieved for their lost baby. Despite her not being far along, it was still a loss and was never delt with. Another flaw.)
The h leaves and resumes her career as an actress and gets a lucky break and has great stage success a few months later, when she and the H meet again. Despite still being in love with him, she doesn't want to see him (who can blame her) and despite his well-meaning father trying to get them back together, she wants nothing to do with him, even after he's injured in that crime-stopping attempt, when she visits him and hears what he has to say. It seems this second head injury (is he trying for a world record attempt???) made him remember his "forced seduction" and he now realizes she was telling the truth about the baby being his, not his cousin's. Well, too little too late and also too wrong! What she wanted to hear was NOT that she was guilty till proven innocent! She had wanted him to realize that she could never have been so manipulative, scheming and calculating as he accused her of being, that he was wrong for ever thinking she could be that way and ask her forgiveness for misjudging her so badly. So, all things considered, his apology was pretty lame.
No wonder she wouldn't accept it! She was going to leave for good, when she gets the letter that he had wanted to deliver to her when he played hero. And this is where the author really goofs!!!
It said that he had misjudged her, and now he understands why she found it difficult to tell him about the baby (which he still thinks was the OM's) and it wasn't because she wanted to trick him into being the father. He knows now that she wasn't the type to do that, and he assumed his cousin had either abandoned her or didn't know. In which case, (had she told him about the baby) he would have seen to it that his cousin accepted his responsibility, or he himself would have married her and accepted the baby as his own.
Since he had written this before he remembered about their night together, it changed her mind about him, so she went from a cold, impersonal "Good-bye", to a warm passionate "Hello again"! It was just too UNBELIEVABLE!!! She had seemed like she really didn't want to see him ever again, as if everything she felt for him was gone, then she reads that letter and BAM!!, true love feelings once again!
SO DAMN DUMB!!!
Even worse, the whole letter was WRONG!!! He should have said that he knew they must have spent a night together, because he realized she could never make something like that up and then begged her forgiveness for all the things he said, the terrible accusations, and then added how sorry he was about their baby, and of course, how much he loved her and was sorry he didn't have the faith and trust that should come with love.
I could understand her doing an about-face if he said all that, but NOT after that lame letter she got.
And another thing: she had worked hard to get her acting career going (including going to parties she hated, friendly dates with two guys in the business she didn't care for except as friends, and having to be seen out in public when she'd rather be home in private) and was proud of her accomplishments in not only getting the lead in a play but also a movie offer, then (just like with her cold-then-hot feelings for the H) she goes hot-then-cold, and decides to chuck her whole career! Even when the H told her he didn't mind her being in the play, she still said she wanted out!
WHAT????? So much for her claims about wanting to be a successful actress and all the pride she took in her talent; she sure tossed it away in a hurry, and to hell with all the people who helped her get where she was and worked just as hard as she did.
This was a HEA that fell flat like a bad souffle!
Beginning with the title! It was hardly a night of "love" when the H was so out of it, he didn't know he was forcing himself on the H and then didn't remember the incident later on. Then, Ms. Leigh changes it from a rape to a "forced seduction", apparently to make it more acceptable, but she missed the point altogether. Even if it had been a sweet, gentle seduction, the fact that the H was not aware of what he was doing (suffering the aftereffects of a fall that could have killed him) and had no recollection pf it later, takes away everything. It was more aptly a "night of forgotten passion", or "night of regret", or "night of unrecalled desire", whatever, but if the guy's not mentally all there, you can't call it a "night of love". (I guess we're supposed to infer that subconsciously he knew he was with his true love, but it still doesn't work right.)
And it was a bit over-the-top to have the H keep getting head whacks every time there's a conflict with the h; first falling down when he's chasing after her (to apologize for thinking she was a gold-digger after the family money), then getting ganged up on while trying to stop a mugging when he was on his way to deliver a letter of apology to the h!
Ridiculous! Obviously! And if I were the H, I'd stop trying to apologize! I don't think his head could take much more!
And even higher on the ridiculous scale: it was the first hit to his head that caused him to do the bad deed and not know he did it, and it was the second one that made him remember the bad deed he did! The author may not have been intentionally trying to be funny, but this reminds me of those old melodramatic movies from the early 1930's, that were so overdone you find yourself laughing in all the wrong places. Same here!
The H is understandably suspicious at first, when his playboy cousin (the OM) suddenly wants to marry the h, who he hasn't known very long, but the fact that the h did NOT want to marry him didn't register right away. He decided to throw on the charm to test her, fell in love with her (and she with him), then when she suspects it was just a game to him, his attempts to apologize led to his falling and hitting his head, starting all the trouble.
The worst part of the story comes when the h discovers she was pregnant when she miscarries a baby that he didn't know she was carrying! Trying to cope with that (and convince herself it was for the best) she's then hit with a crappy accusation from the H. Not knowing about their night together, he assumes she was pregnant with the OM's baby and was planning to pass it off as his, and that's why she agreed tom their getting married right away! And just like those stubborn, blindly jealous h's in other novels who convince themselves the H cheated and won't listen to reason, this H can give those ladies a run for their money! Nothing the h says or does will convince him she's completely innocent, not even when she tells him what happened between them. (She would have told him already if she hadn't been afraid it would interfere with his recovery.) He's through with her for good!
(The really sad thing is, with all this nonsense going on, neither of them eve grieved for their lost baby. Despite her not being far along, it was still a loss and was never delt with. Another flaw.)
The h leaves and resumes her career as an actress and gets a lucky break and has great stage success a few months later, when she and the H meet again. Despite still being in love with him, she doesn't want to see him (who can blame her) and despite his well-meaning father trying to get them back together, she wants nothing to do with him, even after he's injured in that crime-stopping attempt, when she visits him and hears what he has to say. It seems this second head injury (is he trying for a world record attempt???) made him remember his "forced seduction" and he now realizes she was telling the truth about the baby being his, not his cousin's. Well, too little too late and also too wrong! What she wanted to hear was NOT that she was guilty till proven innocent! She had wanted him to realize that she could never have been so manipulative, scheming and calculating as he accused her of being, that he was wrong for ever thinking she could be that way and ask her forgiveness for misjudging her so badly. So, all things considered, his apology was pretty lame.
No wonder she wouldn't accept it! She was going to leave for good, when she gets the letter that he had wanted to deliver to her when he played hero. And this is where the author really goofs!!!
It said that he had misjudged her, and now he understands why she found it difficult to tell him about the baby (which he still thinks was the OM's) and it wasn't because she wanted to trick him into being the father. He knows now that she wasn't the type to do that, and he assumed his cousin had either abandoned her or didn't know. In which case, (had she told him about the baby) he would have seen to it that his cousin accepted his responsibility, or he himself would have married her and accepted the baby as his own.
Since he had written this before he remembered about their night together, it changed her mind about him, so she went from a cold, impersonal "Good-bye", to a warm passionate "Hello again"! It was just too UNBELIEVABLE!!! She had seemed like she really didn't want to see him ever again, as if everything she felt for him was gone, then she reads that letter and BAM!!, true love feelings once again!
SO DAMN DUMB!!!
Even worse, the whole letter was WRONG!!! He should have said that he knew they must have spent a night together, because he realized she could never make something like that up and then begged her forgiveness for all the things he said, the terrible accusations, and then added how sorry he was about their baby, and of course, how much he loved her and was sorry he didn't have the faith and trust that should come with love.
I could understand her doing an about-face if he said all that, but NOT after that lame letter she got.
And another thing: she had worked hard to get her acting career going (including going to parties she hated, friendly dates with two guys in the business she didn't care for except as friends, and having to be seen out in public when she'd rather be home in private) and was proud of her accomplishments in not only getting the lead in a play but also a movie offer, then (just like with her cold-then-hot feelings for the H) she goes hot-then-cold, and decides to chuck her whole career! Even when the H told her he didn't mind her being in the play, she still said she wanted out!
WHAT????? So much for her claims about wanting to be a successful actress and all the pride she took in her talent; she sure tossed it away in a hurry, and to hell with all the people who helped her get where she was and worked just as hard as she did.
This was a HEA that fell flat like a bad souffle!
April 4, 2022
Roberta Leigh uses the theme of trust here, similar to Girl for a Millionaire. Nicholas rejects Alex thinking the baby she had miscarried was his cousin’s because he had forced her while he was badly concussed and delirious and didn’t remember. He loved her but wouldn’t abide the lie - which was no lie. Once he regained his memory Nicholas begged Alex to forgive him and marry. She forgave but refused to marry knowing that Nicholas didn’t trust her.
This author builds genre stories within the constraints that use serious themes and characters.
This author builds genre stories within the constraints that use serious themes and characters.
June 23, 2020
I think the plot choice was flawed even for a vintage romance. It tainted the rest of the story for me and the ending/resolution was wrapped up too quickly. I did like the characters. Archive library borrow
March 21, 2023
This book was a mindf@ck! Like quite literally these characters are crazy. Trigger warning for sexual assault.
July 23, 2016
No synopsis so I copied this from another site:
A PASSION WORTH WAITING FOR
Aspiring actress Alex Godfrey, beautiful and innocent, escaped London's hustle and bustle to spend a quiet summer on the fabulous French Rivieria. It wasn't long before Leon Panos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted her, courted her and decided to marry her.
But his family had other ideas. Namely, that Greeks should marry Greeks. Although Alex intended to refuse Leon's offer, she was angry when his cousin, Nico, tried to turn her against him. But that was before she realized what was happening between herself and Nico....
A PASSION WORTH WAITING FOR
Aspiring actress Alex Godfrey, beautiful and innocent, escaped London's hustle and bustle to spend a quiet summer on the fabulous French Rivieria. It wasn't long before Leon Panos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted her, courted her and decided to marry her.
But his family had other ideas. Namely, that Greeks should marry Greeks. Although Alex intended to refuse Leon's offer, she was angry when his cousin, Nico, tried to turn her against him. But that was before she realized what was happening between herself and Nico....
July 23, 2012
I loved this book. I'm mad because whay can't books happen in real life? I so want to have my very own Greek that would love me like Nico loves Alex. Well all except the forgetting thing that is.
September 9, 2013
3.5 stars. These was a decent older read, though it dragged on for a bit in the middle. Nice angst and resolution though.
November 20, 2014
Alex, a stunning beauty, dazzling actress and talented restauranteur gives it all up for a surly, accident-prone Greek shipping magnate who accidentally rapes her. Ah, romance!
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