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Castle Saga #2
Girl in a Golden Bed
She knew David was the man for her
It didn't take long for artist Liz Redwood to fall in love with the English baronet David Warren Castle. She'd always admired his paintings. And when circumstances brought them together for the summer at the lavish Villa Delphini in Portofino, she discovered him to be a tender, considerate man--the passionate lover she thought could exist only in her dreams.
Liz was ready to commit herself to David forever.
Until she learned of Bethany—the woman who'd apparently already claimed his heart....
It didn't take long for artist Liz Redwood to fall in love with the English baronet David Warren Castle. She'd always admired his paintings. And when circumstances brought them together for the summer at the lavish Villa Delphini in Portofino, she discovered him to be a tender, considerate man--the passionate lover she thought could exist only in her dreams.
Liz was ready to commit herself to David forever.
Until she learned of Bethany—the woman who'd apparently already claimed his heart....
- GenresItaly
188 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1986
About the author
Anne Weale
229 books49 followersJay Blakeney
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 19, 2016
Re Girl in a Golden Bed - this is actually a sequel to Portrait of Bethany - the H who did not win in that one gets his own HEA.
Quick recap of POB here, Bethany is thought to be this H's niece when he rescues her from an abusive stepmother (who still lives in his ancestral home and put Bethany's cat to sleep when she left for school) and brings her to his villa in Italy.
He is a famous painter and Bethany falls in love with him, he sends her off to London where she meets her H. Then we find out that they aren't related at all and so maybe this H has a shot, cause Bethany is still in love with him. It doesn't work out with this H, and Bethany gets the other guy while our H wanders the world for two years to help with the grieving process of losing Bethany.
When the story opens, the h, who is 28 and consistently dyes her hair from brown to strawberry blonde and also is a painter, is renting a portion of the H's Italian villa from his housekeeper. The H has no clue that anyone else is living there when he returns from his wanderings and climbs into his bed late one night. The h is also sleeping is in his bed at that moment, so needless to say there is a bit of a kerfuffle when they wake up embracing each other.
The h has just ended a three year relationship with her own lover, who did not respect her career and expected her to sacrifice her professional goals to wait on him. This h is a bit of a feminist but the H doesn't seem to mind sharing his home with her - fellow artists and all - and of course they start an affair. There is a lot of Italian scenery and wine and lurving it up. Then the h finishes a children's book she has been working on and she and the H return to England.
They wind up going back to his ancestral estate and the h also hears about Bethany from a jealous wanna be OW. The h is majorly in love by now, but her keen artist's intuition tells her that someone else occupies the H's heart. They are wandering around London and thinking of refurbishing the H's estate when they run into Bethany and her H from the first book.
There is quite a bit of Bethany and her H in this one too. Bethany's H is convinced that this H is still in love with Bethany, even though the cover story is that she looks just like her dead mother which was this H's supposed first love who was married to his brother - so alas the H's love was unrequited - Again.
(Well technically, the H just can't win for losing with either the mum or the daughter. AW gives us lots of brooding capacity in this H with none of his POV, so the overwhelming hits on the reader's head is that the H is in love with Bethany and the h is doomed to a brief affair.)
Then the h starts noticing the boudoir bouncing isn't as great as it used to be. In fact the arguments are escalating and the h is afraid to burden the H with her love. So in between little asides about various artists over the years and the h wishing she and the H could just shack up in Italy where they were happy, the h realizes that the affair is dying and decides to cut her losses.
She sublets a little London flat, forbids anyone to give out her whereabouts (and they mostly listen for once,) and proceeds to have several pages of moping and painting. The h eventually runs into HER first lover from art school and is just enjoying a cozy little platonic reunion when the H manages to track her down.
He has decided that he loves her, wants to marry her and have some heirs. Bethany is dismissed as an infatuation and the H confesses that he wants a commitment but she seemed to be pulling away from him so he was unsure about proposing.
The h forgets all the self-lecturing on not being a brood mare and lady of the manor for the H who clearly needs a wife to help him with his ancestral estate, and proceeds to throw herself into his arms, vowing she will love the H forever. Since the h is love sick enough not to question the H's proposal and the H has decided to settle for what he can get, we can finally get to the HEA.
This one was sorta interesting, but relied a bit too much on the first book to make it work. In one way it was a good thing these books are four years apart in real time, cause it blunts the intensity of this H's feelings for Bethany in the beginning.
Unfortunately AW has to hit us over the head multiple times thru everyone's POV BUT the H's about how much he loved Bethany for the last half of the book. Then she spends so much time describing real life world class chef's and artists that AW has very little page count to convince us that this H really loves the h.
Not to worry tho, AW has so much of the h's fretting over what the H is feeling for her that it is very clear that this h has more than enough love for the both of them-- and clearly doesn't mind being sloppy seconds and bit shopworn to boot.
I can't say I dislike this book. But it was a bit tacky on the constant latter half references to Bethany, the h's taking off for two chapters and no H POV.
It WAS interesting in a way, but I wasn't feeling the lurve on this and the HEA is negligible - we just have to be happy the h is happy. However as always, mileage varies and AW is a good writer for the details, so this may be a good choice for another HPlandia traveler.
Quick recap of POB here, Bethany is thought to be this H's niece when he rescues her from an abusive stepmother (who still lives in his ancestral home and put Bethany's cat to sleep when she left for school) and brings her to his villa in Italy.
He is a famous painter and Bethany falls in love with him, he sends her off to London where she meets her H. Then we find out that they aren't related at all and so maybe this H has a shot, cause Bethany is still in love with him. It doesn't work out with this H, and Bethany gets the other guy while our H wanders the world for two years to help with the grieving process of losing Bethany.
When the story opens, the h, who is 28 and consistently dyes her hair from brown to strawberry blonde and also is a painter, is renting a portion of the H's Italian villa from his housekeeper. The H has no clue that anyone else is living there when he returns from his wanderings and climbs into his bed late one night. The h is also sleeping is in his bed at that moment, so needless to say there is a bit of a kerfuffle when they wake up embracing each other.
The h has just ended a three year relationship with her own lover, who did not respect her career and expected her to sacrifice her professional goals to wait on him. This h is a bit of a feminist but the H doesn't seem to mind sharing his home with her - fellow artists and all - and of course they start an affair. There is a lot of Italian scenery and wine and lurving it up. Then the h finishes a children's book she has been working on and she and the H return to England.
They wind up going back to his ancestral estate and the h also hears about Bethany from a jealous wanna be OW. The h is majorly in love by now, but her keen artist's intuition tells her that someone else occupies the H's heart. They are wandering around London and thinking of refurbishing the H's estate when they run into Bethany and her H from the first book.
There is quite a bit of Bethany and her H in this one too. Bethany's H is convinced that this H is still in love with Bethany, even though the cover story is that she looks just like her dead mother which was this H's supposed first love who was married to his brother - so alas the H's love was unrequited - Again.
(Well technically, the H just can't win for losing with either the mum or the daughter. AW gives us lots of brooding capacity in this H with none of his POV, so the overwhelming hits on the reader's head is that the H is in love with Bethany and the h is doomed to a brief affair.)
Then the h starts noticing the boudoir bouncing isn't as great as it used to be. In fact the arguments are escalating and the h is afraid to burden the H with her love. So in between little asides about various artists over the years and the h wishing she and the H could just shack up in Italy where they were happy, the h realizes that the affair is dying and decides to cut her losses.
She sublets a little London flat, forbids anyone to give out her whereabouts (and they mostly listen for once,) and proceeds to have several pages of moping and painting. The h eventually runs into HER first lover from art school and is just enjoying a cozy little platonic reunion when the H manages to track her down.
He has decided that he loves her, wants to marry her and have some heirs. Bethany is dismissed as an infatuation and the H confesses that he wants a commitment but she seemed to be pulling away from him so he was unsure about proposing.
The h forgets all the self-lecturing on not being a brood mare and lady of the manor for the H who clearly needs a wife to help him with his ancestral estate, and proceeds to throw herself into his arms, vowing she will love the H forever. Since the h is love sick enough not to question the H's proposal and the H has decided to settle for what he can get, we can finally get to the HEA.
This one was sorta interesting, but relied a bit too much on the first book to make it work. In one way it was a good thing these books are four years apart in real time, cause it blunts the intensity of this H's feelings for Bethany in the beginning.
Unfortunately AW has to hit us over the head multiple times thru everyone's POV BUT the H's about how much he loved Bethany for the last half of the book. Then she spends so much time describing real life world class chef's and artists that AW has very little page count to convince us that this H really loves the h.
Not to worry tho, AW has so much of the h's fretting over what the H is feeling for her that it is very clear that this h has more than enough love for the both of them-- and clearly doesn't mind being sloppy seconds and bit shopworn to boot.
I can't say I dislike this book. But it was a bit tacky on the constant latter half references to Bethany, the h's taking off for two chapters and no H POV.
It WAS interesting in a way, but I wasn't feeling the lurve on this and the HEA is negligible - we just have to be happy the h is happy. However as always, mileage varies and AW is a good writer for the details, so this may be a good choice for another HPlandia traveler.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2018
Anne Weale's Girl in a golden bed is a direct sequel to her Portrait of Bethany. It refers to the events of that book constantly and it took me a while to connect all the dots but I finally did. I don't think reading the first volume is mandatory to understand what goes on in the sequel but it certainly would make it a different reading experience.
Anyhoo, back to the book at hand. Aside from the setting, including mouth watering Italian and French food porn, charming travelogue, and extensive fashion/art/interior design/architecture esthetic, I didn't enjoy the actual story or the characters of this book.
Heroine was a low, low second best, with no self-confidence, and pathetically following the hero around to pick up the crumbs of his attention.
It was clear throughout that the OW, the heroine from Portrait of Bethany, was, is and will remain the Great Love of hero's life, the One Who Got Away. The hero was obsessed with OW's mother, then, after her death, he fell in love with a teenaged OW, but she ended up happily marrying another man.
When he meets the heroine, he has just come back from a 2 year nomadic jaunt around the world to try to forget his heartbreak and because he can't stand to live in his beautiful Italian villa anymore since it holds OW's memories from when she briefly shared a roof with him.
He doesn't so much as lift a finger to woo the heroine. She is already renting a room at his villa and pining for him, waiting desperately for him to make the first move. She is putty in his hand. If he hadn't made that first nonchalant move of just reaching over and kissing her without any preliminary declarations or any indication that this was anything more than just another summer fling, I could well imagine her throwing herself at him.
Even as they share a bed, he leaves her in the middle of the nigh to sit broodingly in what used to be the OW's bedroom at the villa.
When they meet up with OW and her husband in London, he starts acting way aloof with heroine. One night, he takes her to bed in a manner that leaves no doubt that he is using her as a stand in for the woman he really craves.
When he finally gets around to proposing, he emphasizes that the catalyst was seeing how happy OW, her husband and their babies are and he wants the same for himself. After sowing wild oats and loving and leaving many women, he is ready,in his forties, to settle down with the twenty something heroine who is ripe for baby-making.
He paints the nude portrait of his heroine which is supposed to symbolize the depths of his love for her, but he had painted a nude of the OW in the past as well, and probably has a nude portrait of every woman he has taken a fancy to over the last two decades.
I simply did not get the feeling that heroine was anything special to the hero. Anyone else would have done on rebound. She was so down on herself that she didn't care but it made my stomach turn how meek and passive she was.
Blech :~{
Anyhoo, back to the book at hand. Aside from the setting, including mouth watering Italian and French food porn, charming travelogue, and extensive fashion/art/interior design/architecture esthetic, I didn't enjoy the actual story or the characters of this book.
Heroine was a low, low second best, with no self-confidence, and pathetically following the hero around to pick up the crumbs of his attention.
It was clear throughout that the OW, the heroine from Portrait of Bethany, was, is and will remain the Great Love of hero's life, the One Who Got Away. The hero was obsessed with OW's mother, then, after her death, he fell in love with a teenaged OW, but she ended up happily marrying another man.
When he meets the heroine, he has just come back from a 2 year nomadic jaunt around the world to try to forget his heartbreak and because he can't stand to live in his beautiful Italian villa anymore since it holds OW's memories from when she briefly shared a roof with him.
He doesn't so much as lift a finger to woo the heroine. She is already renting a room at his villa and pining for him, waiting desperately for him to make the first move. She is putty in his hand. If he hadn't made that first nonchalant move of just reaching over and kissing her without any preliminary declarations or any indication that this was anything more than just another summer fling, I could well imagine her throwing herself at him.
Even as they share a bed, he leaves her in the middle of the nigh to sit broodingly in what used to be the OW's bedroom at the villa.
When they meet up with OW and her husband in London, he starts acting way aloof with heroine. One night, he takes her to bed in a manner that leaves no doubt that he is using her as a stand in for the woman he really craves.
When he finally gets around to proposing, he emphasizes that the catalyst was seeing how happy OW, her husband and their babies are and he wants the same for himself. After sowing wild oats and loving and leaving many women, he is ready,in his forties, to settle down with the twenty something heroine who is ripe for baby-making.
He paints the nude portrait of his heroine which is supposed to symbolize the depths of his love for her, but he had painted a nude of the OW in the past as well, and probably has a nude portrait of every woman he has taken a fancy to over the last two decades.
I simply did not get the feeling that heroine was anything special to the hero. Anyone else would have done on rebound. She was so down on herself that she didn't care but it made my stomach turn how meek and passive she was.
Blech :~{
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2012
Ok, so this is the second Harlequin book that I've come across that had two parts. The other was a Lynne Graham book. I really enjoyed this book and was happy that David could find a woman who he loved. What I didn't like about this book was how David sort of brushed his love for Bethany off as being banal and not the real thing. If you read the first book, you know how David felt about Bethany.
Thing you may or may not like about this book:
1. Older hero and heroine 40 and 28 respectively
2. These two drank like fish. Not a day went day went by where they didn't drink a bottle or two of wine.
3. The hero is blonde and blue eyed which after the 80's became very rare for Harlequin heros.
4. This is the second part of an earlier book where the hero David plays a major role.
Thing you may or may not like about this book:
1. Older hero and heroine 40 and 28 respectively
2. These two drank like fish. Not a day went day went by where they didn't drink a bottle or two of wine.
3. The hero is blonde and blue eyed which after the 80's became very rare for Harlequin heros.
4. This is the second part of an earlier book where the hero David plays a major role.
January 1, 2018
This is the second in the duet and is the story of the man who missed out on Bethany in Portrait of Bethany. He is an artist and even in the first book he was a bit of a bohemian manwhore.
The heroine is experienced which was still fairly unusual in 1987 but not unknown. This author writes more liberal scenarios than many others of her era.
The story is about the affair and the shadow Bethany casts on the future of the relationship. Well written but not really my cup of tea.
The heroine is experienced which was still fairly unusual in 1987 but not unknown. This author writes more liberal scenarios than many others of her era.
The story is about the affair and the shadow Bethany casts on the future of the relationship. Well written but not really my cup of tea.
July 29, 2016
I was happy that David got his happy ending finally but I would of loved to see someone different than Liz. After reading both novels I see to like the first one more, even though that one deals with most of the past. I was ecstatic to see parts of Robert and Bethany in this novel.
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April 27, 2022Girl in a Golden Bed, Book 2 of the Castle Saga series, was about Liz Redwood, artist, and David Castle, artist.
David, who had been somewhat in love with Bethany Castle from "Portrait of Bethany" book 1, had spent the last two years traveling the world in order to escape the ghosts of his Italian villa...ghosts left by both Francine and Bethany, two women he had feelings for. While he traveled, his housekeeper, Anna, had apparently taken it upon herself to rent out the villa whenever he was gone...without his knowledge or permission and pocketing the proceeds (also without his knowledge or approval), so when he arrived home with the intention of staying awhile, he found himself waking up in bed with a strange woman...and neither of them seemed to be to perturbed about the situation.
Liz, having recently broken up with her "partner", decided to visit Portofino, Italy, where David's housekeeper took such a liking to her she decided to rent out his home to her at "an affordable price".When he showed up unannounced in the middle of the night, she was fast asleep in his bed, a fact that neither was aware of until an early morning romp in their sleep jerked them both awake before anything other than a mild intimate touching could take place.
However, after two weeks in each other's presence, Liz found herself in love with David. But it took him very little time to decide to bed her was a good idea. (Not at all surprising when one has read about his exploits in the first book, "Portrait of Bethany" and the fact that he didn't mind sleeping around". However, he still didn't seem to show any return of the affections Liz had for him.
I have to admit...I didn't like Liz all that much. She seemed a bit...overdone...to be the Heroine to David's Hero. But there was one scene in particular in the book that I found somewhat...amusing, I guess? Liz woke up in the middle of the night to find David missing. Where oh where could he possibly have gone? Was he sick in the bathroom? Nope, the light was out. So she got up and went into the hall. "As soon as she opened the bedroom door, she saw by a shaft of light at the far end of the landing that he must be in one of the other bedrooms she had never entered."
So...what did little miss nosy go and do? "...she approached the lighted room." Well of COURSE she did! Jealous little b*tch that she was. And you know what? It was Bethany's old room. But oh! From the fact that he had a look about him that she hadn't seen before, Liz deduced, "A man without any problems did not get up in the night and sit by himself with that troubled look on his face." Oh really? This woman didn't really know David, and she made that assumption so quickly?
Not long after that incident, David had to go to London to take care of some things, and Liz went with him. It wasn't the best of trips, but then they returned to Italy...but that didn't last long for he was called back to England since his late brother's widow decided to remarry and he needed to figure out what to do with the estate he could now return to and reclaim the title he had let sit while his sister-in-law was in residence. He invited Liz to return with him...and it was "the beginning of the end" for their relationship...at least from her perspective.
While attending an event, Liz ran into one of the "women scorned" by David...the one from the previous book that alluded to an incestuous relationship between David and Bethany...and she made certain Liz heard about it...except she made it out to be much worse than it actually had been. And Liz took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.
It wasn't long after the run-in with Natasha that Liz had enough and walked out on David. I don't say these words often...quite rarely, to be honest...but Liz was one stupid broad to allow rumors and conjecture to rule her thoughts and decisions. Never once did she take the opportunity to actually TALK to David about what she had heard...or what she felt. She just let it keep building until it all but drove her crazy, then she simply wrote a note and walked away without looking behind. It was my opinion that David should have done the same thing...walked away from the idiot and never looked back.
The twists and turns of this book were tactless, the angst and drama were needless, and the stupidity reigned supreme. Even though there was plenty of passion and chemistry between David and Liz, she ruined it with her jealousy, possessiveness, and out-of-proportion fear. For a woman who had such a belief in feminism and independence, she was one of the most insecure idiots an author ever created.
David got the short end of the stick in both books, sad to say. First, he lost the "love of his life" to another man...then he settled for an out-of-control, grasping "heroine" ever. The author did a p*ss poor job of making her an independent feminist, that's for certain. Though she supposedly based her on two very well-known women who stood for womanhood, this character was more like someone from the stone age.
I cannot say I enjoyed either one of these books, for I didn't. I was extremely disappointed with each one...and in the author for doing such a bad job. There were no stars for this book. It just did not earn a single, solitary one.
David, who had been somewhat in love with Bethany Castle from "Portrait of Bethany" book 1, had spent the last two years traveling the world in order to escape the ghosts of his Italian villa...ghosts left by both Francine and Bethany, two women he had feelings for. While he traveled, his housekeeper, Anna, had apparently taken it upon herself to rent out the villa whenever he was gone...without his knowledge or permission and pocketing the proceeds (also without his knowledge or approval), so when he arrived home with the intention of staying awhile, he found himself waking up in bed with a strange woman...and neither of them seemed to be to perturbed about the situation.
Liz, having recently broken up with her "partner", decided to visit Portofino, Italy, where David's housekeeper took such a liking to her she decided to rent out his home to her at "an affordable price".When he showed up unannounced in the middle of the night, she was fast asleep in his bed, a fact that neither was aware of until an early morning romp in their sleep jerked them both awake before anything other than a mild intimate touching could take place.
However, after two weeks in each other's presence, Liz found herself in love with David. But it took him very little time to decide to bed her was a good idea. (Not at all surprising when one has read about his exploits in the first book, "Portrait of Bethany" and the fact that he didn't mind sleeping around". However, he still didn't seem to show any return of the affections Liz had for him.
I have to admit...I didn't like Liz all that much. She seemed a bit...overdone...to be the Heroine to David's Hero. But there was one scene in particular in the book that I found somewhat...amusing, I guess? Liz woke up in the middle of the night to find David missing. Where oh where could he possibly have gone? Was he sick in the bathroom? Nope, the light was out. So she got up and went into the hall. "As soon as she opened the bedroom door, she saw by a shaft of light at the far end of the landing that he must be in one of the other bedrooms she had never entered."
So...what did little miss nosy go and do? "...she approached the lighted room." Well of COURSE she did! Jealous little b*tch that she was. And you know what? It was Bethany's old room. But oh! From the fact that he had a look about him that she hadn't seen before, Liz deduced, "A man without any problems did not get up in the night and sit by himself with that troubled look on his face." Oh really? This woman didn't really know David, and she made that assumption so quickly?
Not long after that incident, David had to go to London to take care of some things, and Liz went with him. It wasn't the best of trips, but then they returned to Italy...but that didn't last long for he was called back to England since his late brother's widow decided to remarry and he needed to figure out what to do with the estate he could now return to and reclaim the title he had let sit while his sister-in-law was in residence. He invited Liz to return with him...and it was "the beginning of the end" for their relationship...at least from her perspective.
While attending an event, Liz ran into one of the "women scorned" by David...the one from the previous book that alluded to an incestuous relationship between David and Bethany...and she made certain Liz heard about it...except she made it out to be much worse than it actually had been. And Liz took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.
It wasn't long after the run-in with Natasha that Liz had enough and walked out on David. I don't say these words often...quite rarely, to be honest...but Liz was one stupid broad to allow rumors and conjecture to rule her thoughts and decisions. Never once did she take the opportunity to actually TALK to David about what she had heard...or what she felt. She just let it keep building until it all but drove her crazy, then she simply wrote a note and walked away without looking behind. It was my opinion that David should have done the same thing...walked away from the idiot and never looked back.
The twists and turns of this book were tactless, the angst and drama were needless, and the stupidity reigned supreme. Even though there was plenty of passion and chemistry between David and Liz, she ruined it with her jealousy, possessiveness, and out-of-proportion fear. For a woman who had such a belief in feminism and independence, she was one of the most insecure idiots an author ever created.
David got the short end of the stick in both books, sad to say. First, he lost the "love of his life" to another man...then he settled for an out-of-control, grasping "heroine" ever. The author did a p*ss poor job of making her an independent feminist, that's for certain. Though she supposedly based her on two very well-known women who stood for womanhood, this character was more like someone from the stone age.
I cannot say I enjoyed either one of these books, for I didn't. I was extremely disappointed with each one...and in the author for doing such a bad job. There were no stars for this book. It just did not earn a single, solitary one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2023
This was a follow-up book to "Portrait of Bethany", that for some reason, Ms. Weale felt she had to write. I would rather it had been a completely separate book, as Liz was an interesting character (older and more experienced than the average HP h) and in my opinion, deserved better than to be linked (or should I say stuck) with that pathetic David, still pining for his "niece", who's now married with kids. He goes from place to place, woman to woman, his heart still in pieces, and it feels as genuine as a four-dollar bill colored purple.
After what Liz went through in past relationships (first with immature Barmey, then with horrible Richard), she wanted to find a real love, one that would last, and didn't want to give herself to another man again unless that happened. And that man was David??????
What a waste!!
After what Liz went through in past relationships (first with immature Barmey, then with horrible Richard), she wanted to find a real love, one that would last, and didn't want to give herself to another man again unless that happened. And that man was David??????
What a waste!!
doubtful-because-not-v
May 13, 2021She knew David was the man for her
It didn't take long for artist Liz Redwood to fall in love with the English baronet David Warren Castle. She'd always admired his paintings. And when circumstances brought them together for the summer at the lavish Villa Delphini in Portofino, she discovered him to be a tender, considerate man--the passionate lover she thought could exist only in her dreams.
Liz was ready to commit herself to David forever.
Until she learned of Bethany—the woman who'd apparently already claimed his heart
It didn't take long for artist Liz Redwood to fall in love with the English baronet David Warren Castle. She'd always admired his paintings. And when circumstances brought them together for the summer at the lavish Villa Delphini in Portofino, she discovered him to be a tender, considerate man--the passionate lover she thought could exist only in her dreams.
Liz was ready to commit herself to David forever.
Until she learned of Bethany—the woman who'd apparently already claimed his heart
March 6, 2021
Το χρυσό κρεβάτι - Άνν Γουήλ, Σειρά Συλλογή, 756
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