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Passionate Relationship
Pride and passion drew her to Portugal
"It had been your father's dearest wish that his lost daughter be found." The words touched Shelley's heart and destined her for the Portuguese coastal town of Algarve.
For her father had remarried, and Shelley could not resist the promise of a family's love, something she had longed for all of her life.
But her fiery-tempered stepbrother, Jaime, greeted her with the suspicion that she had come only for an inheritance. Shelley was tempted to run—and it wasn't his hostility that startled her. . . .
"It had been your father's dearest wish that his lost daughter be found." The words touched Shelley's heart and destined her for the Portuguese coastal town of Algarve.
For her father had remarried, and Shelley could not resist the promise of a family's love, something she had longed for all of her life.
But her fiery-tempered stepbrother, Jaime, greeted her with the suspicion that she had come only for an inheritance. Shelley was tempted to run—and it wasn't his hostility that startled her. . . .
187 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 1987
30 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,131 books671 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 6, 2016
Re Passionate Relationship - PJ has the honour of the 1000th HP but sadly not all the magic lurve club mojo or PJ's considerable skill at a love scene can make this one really work well.
While not as outrageously wrecky as some of the PJ's more infamous stories like Rules of the Game or Island of the Dawn, Passionate Relationship is just missing the believability factor that makes a real HPlandia HEA.
The story starts with our orphaned h finding out that her grandmother lied to her, while her mum did indeed die at her birth, the h's father was not killed a few weeks later in a car accident as the woman always claimed. In fact, the h finds out from reading the personals in the newspaper that her father died quite recently in Portugal and his lawyers are looking for her as he apparently left her some sort of inheritance.
So it is off to Portugal we go and there the h meets the family her father married into. The dad apparently became a famous painter and became quite wealthy and supposedly spent years trying to track the h down. Sadly he never managed it cause when the h's grandmother died as a teenager, she went into foster care.
Since the dad was in London looking for a job when the h was born, the grandmother gave the h her own last name and apparently the dad had not thought to trace her via her mother's maiden name. The grandmother eventually wrote to the dad and told him everybody had died, so the dad went to Portugal where he became rich, married a gold-digging Contessa and supported her two children - one of whom is the H.
The dad purchased the Contessa's villa and left it to the h along with the surrounding land. When he met the Contessa, she was a widow who had two kids and was very poor so she snaffled him up fast. The H and his sister lived very well on the h's father's money and the h's father poured a lot of cash into restoring the H's ancestral family lands.
It is pretty safe to say that things would be very different for the H had not the H's mum married the h's dad and they wouldn't be nearly so well off. The h's father eventually heard via some old neighbors of the h's grandmother that the h had survived. So in spite of all his wealth, he supposedly could never track down the h cause she was using her mum's maiden name. Right.
The h shows up at the H's house and he is horribly rude and obnoxious, he basically calls her an opportunistic tart and then makes a pass at her. He is arrogantly sure she just held off on meeting her father until she learned she was going to inherit and he is quite nasty in his accusations and his punishing kisses. The h spends the night at the H's and his mother's home and the next morning the h finds out her father left her the H's mum's family home that he bought from her.
The h is willing to return the villa, and decides to stop by it to say a little private goodbye to the dad she never knew. The h does have a pretty high powered career as a contract negotiator but she is remarkably deficient in self-esteem thanks again to her bitter grandmother.
The H shows up and pretty much absconds with the h back to his family home, cause now he insists that he is in love with her. (He has plenty of encouragement from his mother, who may seem sweet but I found to be really manipulative in keeping the h's father's wealth in her own family.)
The mother keeps telling the h the H loves her, and the H keeps berating her for not jumping into bed with him from his smoldering seduction techniques, then berating the h again when she agrees to hop the tower of power.
We also get to meet the H's lover, who goes out of her way to make sure that the h knows she and the H are still going at it like minks. The H does manage to deny he is currently sleeping with the OW, but he sure seems cozy with the lover's dad in business. Finally the H gets his mum to walk in on him and the h during a staged seduction scene.
The mother insists on marriage immediately while the h had been planning on returning to England and sorting out her life. She thinks she loves the H, but it has only been a week or two and that is a bit fast for a lifetime marriage as Portugal has no divorce or something.
The H and his mother bully the h into marriage. Then the H's lover shows up and tells the h that the H married her for his mother's villa - he did not trust the h would turn it over to him as she said she would and his mother wants it back badly, (tho the OW tells the h that the H wants to use the land as a resort development,) so he married her to get control of it.
(Apparently Portugal has archaic property marital laws too, or at least PJ's version of it does.) The h knew something was badly off, so she decides not to consummate the marriage and get an annulment. The H tries all sorts of bullying seduction attempts and the h manages to hold him off.
Then she and the H's mother see the H and OW going up to the woman's hotel room together. The h leaves the mother and goes to pack. The H shows up and there is a long seduction scene and the H berates the h for not trusting him. It seems the H's mum had him paged before he and his girlfriend could complete their love in the afternoon experience, so he can say he did not lurve club his lover that day.
The h and H have a lurve club mojo effect and now the h is berating herself for not trusting the H. She wants to stay with him and there is a lot of inner monologue about how sorry she is to be leaving him and how horrible she was not to trust him. He seems to be determined to separate, so the h is moping around and the H is mean and distant and then the h gets the lawyer to draw up the papers giving him the villa (which was what he wanted to begin with,) and the h begs to stay.
The H reluctantly agrees cause he isn't done sexxing it up with her yet, but it is a fair bet he will be back with his lover as soon as the h turns up preggers - even tho he claims the lover is a tart, he seems to like them that way and complains when the ladies aren't.
The h is happy that she can stay, cause by now she is obsessed with the lurve club mojo and the HEA is the H and h mojoing it up with the hope of creating mini H's to continue the family fortunes and line.
PJ's big mistake was actually setting up a coherent reason for the H and mother to coerce the h into marriage and then not providing a realistic reason why they did not manipulate her into believing the H is telling the truth when he says he loves her.
PJ relies too much on the PJ latitude of "PJ said it in the story so it must be so" plot point and the power of the lurve club to make the HEA happen. Having the H berate the h for NOT sleeping with him and then having him berate the OW to the h FOR sleeping with him really makes him a very unreliable H.
I believe the h was overwhelmed with someone paying attention to her and the H's well practiced seduction techniques. I also believe the H and his mother (who really was a gold-digger IMO, albeit a type of poor aristocratic trash with class one) really worked overtime to manipulate the h and play on the emotions she felt for missing getting to know her father.
I also have to question the father's inability to track the h down, the town she lived in wasn't that big and surely the father remembered his first wife's maiden name - I suspect either he did not look that hard or the H and H's mum team were hindering the investigation.
Then there the is whole trust issue which PJ blows off as the h's being insecure - however the H did nothing to earn any trust. While he was good in bed, the overt avariciousness and problems with authority that he continually expresses he had with father figures, makes me figure he just wanted to score on his stepfather by using and robbing his daughter and keeping all his money in the H's own family. The fact that she appears to be healthy breeder no doubt adds to his satisfaction, he wouldn't want his lover to ruin her figure.
I only recommend this PJ for drinking games (drink every time the word insecure is used and you will be wasted by chapter three.) Or if you are a die hard PJ fangirl (which I am, but that doesn't mean my brain stops working in the interim. )
Sadly this outing for HPlandia wasn't a big success for me, but fortunately there are a lot more to come and PJ does have a talent for the lurve scenes and also more happy reading to come.
While not as outrageously wrecky as some of the PJ's more infamous stories like Rules of the Game or Island of the Dawn, Passionate Relationship is just missing the believability factor that makes a real HPlandia HEA.
The story starts with our orphaned h finding out that her grandmother lied to her, while her mum did indeed die at her birth, the h's father was not killed a few weeks later in a car accident as the woman always claimed. In fact, the h finds out from reading the personals in the newspaper that her father died quite recently in Portugal and his lawyers are looking for her as he apparently left her some sort of inheritance.
So it is off to Portugal we go and there the h meets the family her father married into. The dad apparently became a famous painter and became quite wealthy and supposedly spent years trying to track the h down. Sadly he never managed it cause when the h's grandmother died as a teenager, she went into foster care.
Since the dad was in London looking for a job when the h was born, the grandmother gave the h her own last name and apparently the dad had not thought to trace her via her mother's maiden name. The grandmother eventually wrote to the dad and told him everybody had died, so the dad went to Portugal where he became rich, married a gold-digging Contessa and supported her two children - one of whom is the H.
The dad purchased the Contessa's villa and left it to the h along with the surrounding land. When he met the Contessa, she was a widow who had two kids and was very poor so she snaffled him up fast. The H and his sister lived very well on the h's father's money and the h's father poured a lot of cash into restoring the H's ancestral family lands.
It is pretty safe to say that things would be very different for the H had not the H's mum married the h's dad and they wouldn't be nearly so well off. The h's father eventually heard via some old neighbors of the h's grandmother that the h had survived. So in spite of all his wealth, he supposedly could never track down the h cause she was using her mum's maiden name. Right.
The h shows up at the H's house and he is horribly rude and obnoxious, he basically calls her an opportunistic tart and then makes a pass at her. He is arrogantly sure she just held off on meeting her father until she learned she was going to inherit and he is quite nasty in his accusations and his punishing kisses. The h spends the night at the H's and his mother's home and the next morning the h finds out her father left her the H's mum's family home that he bought from her.
The h is willing to return the villa, and decides to stop by it to say a little private goodbye to the dad she never knew. The h does have a pretty high powered career as a contract negotiator but she is remarkably deficient in self-esteem thanks again to her bitter grandmother.
The H shows up and pretty much absconds with the h back to his family home, cause now he insists that he is in love with her. (He has plenty of encouragement from his mother, who may seem sweet but I found to be really manipulative in keeping the h's father's wealth in her own family.)
The mother keeps telling the h the H loves her, and the H keeps berating her for not jumping into bed with him from his smoldering seduction techniques, then berating the h again when she agrees to hop the tower of power.
We also get to meet the H's lover, who goes out of her way to make sure that the h knows she and the H are still going at it like minks. The H does manage to deny he is currently sleeping with the OW, but he sure seems cozy with the lover's dad in business. Finally the H gets his mum to walk in on him and the h during a staged seduction scene.
The mother insists on marriage immediately while the h had been planning on returning to England and sorting out her life. She thinks she loves the H, but it has only been a week or two and that is a bit fast for a lifetime marriage as Portugal has no divorce or something.
The H and his mother bully the h into marriage. Then the H's lover shows up and tells the h that the H married her for his mother's villa - he did not trust the h would turn it over to him as she said she would and his mother wants it back badly, (tho the OW tells the h that the H wants to use the land as a resort development,) so he married her to get control of it.
(Apparently Portugal has archaic property marital laws too, or at least PJ's version of it does.) The h knew something was badly off, so she decides not to consummate the marriage and get an annulment. The H tries all sorts of bullying seduction attempts and the h manages to hold him off.
Then she and the H's mother see the H and OW going up to the woman's hotel room together. The h leaves the mother and goes to pack. The H shows up and there is a long seduction scene and the H berates the h for not trusting him. It seems the H's mum had him paged before he and his girlfriend could complete their love in the afternoon experience, so he can say he did not lurve club his lover that day.
The h and H have a lurve club mojo effect and now the h is berating herself for not trusting the H. She wants to stay with him and there is a lot of inner monologue about how sorry she is to be leaving him and how horrible she was not to trust him. He seems to be determined to separate, so the h is moping around and the H is mean and distant and then the h gets the lawyer to draw up the papers giving him the villa (which was what he wanted to begin with,) and the h begs to stay.
The H reluctantly agrees cause he isn't done sexxing it up with her yet, but it is a fair bet he will be back with his lover as soon as the h turns up preggers - even tho he claims the lover is a tart, he seems to like them that way and complains when the ladies aren't.
The h is happy that she can stay, cause by now she is obsessed with the lurve club mojo and the HEA is the H and h mojoing it up with the hope of creating mini H's to continue the family fortunes and line.
PJ's big mistake was actually setting up a coherent reason for the H and mother to coerce the h into marriage and then not providing a realistic reason why they did not manipulate her into believing the H is telling the truth when he says he loves her.
PJ relies too much on the PJ latitude of "PJ said it in the story so it must be so" plot point and the power of the lurve club to make the HEA happen. Having the H berate the h for NOT sleeping with him and then having him berate the OW to the h FOR sleeping with him really makes him a very unreliable H.
I believe the h was overwhelmed with someone paying attention to her and the H's well practiced seduction techniques. I also believe the H and his mother (who really was a gold-digger IMO, albeit a type of poor aristocratic trash with class one) really worked overtime to manipulate the h and play on the emotions she felt for missing getting to know her father.
I also have to question the father's inability to track the h down, the town she lived in wasn't that big and surely the father remembered his first wife's maiden name - I suspect either he did not look that hard or the H and H's mum team were hindering the investigation.
Then there the is whole trust issue which PJ blows off as the h's being insecure - however the H did nothing to earn any trust. While he was good in bed, the overt avariciousness and problems with authority that he continually expresses he had with father figures, makes me figure he just wanted to score on his stepfather by using and robbing his daughter and keeping all his money in the H's own family. The fact that she appears to be healthy breeder no doubt adds to his satisfaction, he wouldn't want his lover to ruin her figure.
I only recommend this PJ for drinking games (drink every time the word insecure is used and you will be wasted by chapter three.) Or if you are a die hard PJ fangirl (which I am, but that doesn't mean my brain stops working in the interim. )
Sadly this outing for HPlandia wasn't a big success for me, but fortunately there are a lot more to come and PJ does have a talent for the lurve scenes and also more happy reading to come.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2019
I’m going to remember this one for all the wrong reasons: Hero’s mother hears the heroine moaning in ecstasy during sexy times and rushes into her room, thinking she’s in pain, lol.
This one was a great read until the heroine’s insecurities started to grate. It's not often that a heroine sums up in her own words exactly what is wrong with the book: It was idiotic to keep going over and over the same old doubts
Backstory:
Heroine's grandmother lied to the h that her father had died and also lied to the father that h had died in childbirth so neither was aware of the other's existence. Father wised up later and had been looking for her for 8 years but she had been in foster care after the grandmother died so he couldn’t trace her.
Then the h sees a notice in the newspaper but only after his death. H is the step-son of her father, who had taken very good care of his mother and him and they were very much a loving family unit. H assumes she has now shown up just so she can claim her inheritance.
She stands up to him with pride and dignity, refusing to entertain his insults and only wants to speak to the lawyer to refuse what’s been left to her then leaves immediately. She can’t help stopping at her father’s old house, longing to catch an insight into the personality of a father she has never known.
H catches up with her and PJ does an about-turn from her formula of dickhead Heroes and gives us a remorseful, tender H who tries immediately to make up for his bad behavior.
Knowing from a picture from a family friend that she looked like her mother, h’s father had tried to paint her every year trying to imagine how she would look with each passing year. Hero fell in love with her painting when she was 21. (Though I’m fairly sure he went “Ooh… boobies” when she was 17)
So it was good for a while with h feeling the unfairness of being denied a relationship with her father so she’s almost resentful and jealous of H’s with her father but it doesn’t stop their love connection.
H’s half-English mother is warm and welcoming of her into the family until her shock at interrupting the sexy-time. She immediately forgets her English hippie roots and turns into some weird, stuffy matriarch demanding her son make an honest woman of the h.
Then the heroine’s anxieties surface. Sure, her grandmother did a number on her to make sure she felt unworthy of any man but boy did PJ drag this out. From believing she was unattractive to wondering if H was with her only because her father would have wanted it, to worst of all, taking the OW’s word over the reassurance of both mother-in-law and husband.
She’s 25 not 18, supposedly a self-possessed, career woman who travelled frequently and should have some life experience
It’s a touching story and a lovely read if you can put up with heroine’s self-doubts. Just be warned about one minor ick factor where he calls her little sister in one page and then immediately does everything unbrotherly in the next, lol.
Check out booge's excellent analysis on why she didn't like it and KC's on why she did. Personally, I adored this H, he was besotted and should have been paired with one of PJ's more worthy heroines.
This one was a great read until the heroine’s insecurities started to grate. It's not often that a heroine sums up in her own words exactly what is wrong with the book: It was idiotic to keep going over and over the same old doubts
Backstory:
Heroine's grandmother lied to the h that her father had died and also lied to the father that h had died in childbirth so neither was aware of the other's existence. Father wised up later and had been looking for her for 8 years but she had been in foster care after the grandmother died so he couldn’t trace her.
Then the h sees a notice in the newspaper but only after his death. H is the step-son of her father, who had taken very good care of his mother and him and they were very much a loving family unit. H assumes she has now shown up just so she can claim her inheritance.
She stands up to him with pride and dignity, refusing to entertain his insults and only wants to speak to the lawyer to refuse what’s been left to her then leaves immediately. She can’t help stopping at her father’s old house, longing to catch an insight into the personality of a father she has never known.
H catches up with her and PJ does an about-turn from her formula of dickhead Heroes and gives us a remorseful, tender H who tries immediately to make up for his bad behavior.
Knowing from a picture from a family friend that she looked like her mother, h’s father had tried to paint her every year trying to imagine how she would look with each passing year. Hero fell in love with her painting when she was 21. (Though I’m fairly sure he went “Ooh… boobies” when she was 17)
So it was good for a while with h feeling the unfairness of being denied a relationship with her father so she’s almost resentful and jealous of H’s with her father but it doesn’t stop their love connection.
H’s half-English mother is warm and welcoming of her into the family until her shock at interrupting the sexy-time. She immediately forgets her English hippie roots and turns into some weird, stuffy matriarch demanding her son make an honest woman of the h.
Then the heroine’s anxieties surface. Sure, her grandmother did a number on her to make sure she felt unworthy of any man but boy did PJ drag this out. From believing she was unattractive to wondering if H was with her only because her father would have wanted it, to worst of all, taking the OW’s word over the reassurance of both mother-in-law and husband.
She’s 25 not 18, supposedly a self-possessed, career woman who travelled frequently and should have some life experience
It’s a touching story and a lovely read if you can put up with heroine’s self-doubts. Just be warned about one minor ick factor where he calls her little sister in one page and then immediately does everything unbrotherly in the next, lol.
Check out booge's excellent analysis on why she didn't like it and KC's on why she did. Personally, I adored this H, he was besotted and should have been paired with one of PJ's more worthy heroines.
February 13, 2022
3.5 stars
I liked this mainly because it delivered on the romance and contained plenty of passion, angst, and misunderstandings to go around, especially on Shelley's side which wasn't surprising considering her emotional baggage. Oh, and there's insta-love. It's not everyone’s favorite trope but I buy into the concept because, well, this is fiction after all. Two strangers falling in love instantly might not be realistic. But is it romantic? Heck yes!
Put into context I found the execution of this theme to be believable because of Jaime and Shelley's personalities and backgrounds. Jaime was a man with whom deep emotions came easily, while his love for Shelley had some long-standing basis.
For her part, Shelley had been starved of love all of her life, never really having a real home. So it's no surprise that she quickly fell in love with Jaime, a handsome and charismatic man who pursued her persistently—once the first misunderstanding between them was cleared, that is.
Even though their passionate relationship progressed quickly, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing for Jaime and Shelley. I liked how the author showed that, in addition to love, it also takes trust and good communication to make a relationship last.
I liked this mainly because it delivered on the romance and contained plenty of passion, angst, and misunderstandings to go around, especially on Shelley's side which wasn't surprising considering her emotional baggage. Oh, and there's insta-love. It's not everyone’s favorite trope but I buy into the concept because, well, this is fiction after all. Two strangers falling in love instantly might not be realistic. But is it romantic? Heck yes!
Put into context I found the execution of this theme to be believable because of Jaime and Shelley's personalities and backgrounds. Jaime was a man with whom deep emotions came easily, while his love for Shelley had some long-standing basis.
For her part, Shelley had been starved of love all of her life, never really having a real home. So it's no surprise that she quickly fell in love with Jaime, a handsome and charismatic man who pursued her persistently—once the first misunderstanding between them was cleared, that is.
Even though their passionate relationship progressed quickly, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing for Jaime and Shelley. I liked how the author showed that, in addition to love, it also takes trust and good communication to make a relationship last.
September 19, 2020
Orphaned heroine discovers she has a step-family in Portugal and that her father has left her a villa. Her step-brother (hero) is hostile until he discovers that she never knew her father was alive while she was living in foster homes.
The heroine's stepmother lets her know that her father's dearest wish was that she marry the hero.
Hero puts the moves on the heroine and after a few days she is convinced she loves him.
Of course, there is an OW to convince the heroine that the hero is still having an affair with her. The heroine believes it since she has "low self-esteem." Hero is angry that her self-esteem is more powerful than her love for him.
In a last ditch effort at gaslighting - hero shows her the series of portraits her father painted of her from photos. He fell in love with those portraits years ago so of course he loves her. HEA.
Stepmom, step-sis, lawyer are all in on keeping the H/h together - so my cynical side says that they wanted to keep the inheritance in the family. My HP side enjoyed the story. :)
The heroine's stepmother lets her know that her father's dearest wish was that she marry the hero.
Hero puts the moves on the heroine and after a few days she is convinced she loves him.
Of course, there is an OW to convince the heroine that the hero is still having an affair with her. The heroine believes it since she has "low self-esteem." Hero is angry that her self-esteem is more powerful than her love for him.
In a last ditch effort at gaslighting - hero shows her the series of portraits her father painted of her from photos. He fell in love with those portraits years ago so of course he loves her. HEA.
Stepmom, step-sis, lawyer are all in on keeping the H/h together - so my cynical side says that they wanted to keep the inheritance in the family. My HP side enjoyed the story. :)
December 8, 2013
Heroine has been left a property in Portugal by the father she never knew. When she gets there her stepbrother, Jamie doesn't like her at first but very soon he falls deeply in love with her and wants to marry her and keep her in Portugal. Heroine has a lot of issues. She doesn't believe or trust poor Jamie, and doesn't want love or marriage. I got her fears and insecurities but she was the definition of wishy washy. She lacked courage and strength to follow her heart! So frustrating!
September 28, 2014
That was pretty much a big ol' helping of crazy. PJ is not my favorite HP author but I'm in the mood to read some vintage stuff so...
Anyhoo, the hero has a reslistic response to her at first. He is suspicious that she has only come for her inheritance and didn't bother to come see her father while he was alive. Once he finds out that she had been told all her life that her father was dead and didn't find out about him until after he died, Jaime instantly fell in love with her. I mean instantly! This was the worst case of insta love I've ever read. "You're not a gold digging 'ho? Then I love you!"
Of course she suspected him of not really loving her. What rational woman wouldn't? So when the evil OW feeds her a line of course she believes. Still that was right at the end and was resolved quickly. All in all, crazy but readable.
Anyhoo, the hero has a reslistic response to her at first. He is suspicious that she has only come for her inheritance and didn't bother to come see her father while he was alive. Once he finds out that she had been told all her life that her father was dead and didn't find out about him until after he died, Jaime instantly fell in love with her. I mean instantly! This was the worst case of insta love I've ever read. "You're not a gold digging 'ho? Then I love you!"
Of course she suspected him of not really loving her. What rational woman wouldn't? So when the evil OW feeds her a line of course she believes. Still that was right at the end and was resolved quickly. All in all, crazy but readable.
June 21, 2016
Not my cup of tea, November 9, 2011
This review is from: Passionate Relationship (Paperback)
From the back cover: Passionate Relationship by Penny Jordan
Pride and passion drew her to Portugal
"It had been your father's dearest wish that his lost daughter be found." The words touched Shelley's heart and destined her for the Portuguese coastal town of
Algarve.
For her father had remarried, and Shelley could not resist the promise of a family's love, something she had longed for all of her life. Instead she found hostility. Her stepbrother, Jaime, made it clear that he thought she had come to collect the money her father left her, and for no other reason. Yet that didn't stop him from wanting Shelly, and it certainly didn't stop her from falling in love with him......
But her fiery-tempered stepbrother, Jaime, greeted her with the suspicion that she had come only for an inheritance. Shelley was tempted to run--and it wasn't his hostility that startled her....
MY THOUGHTS: If I was a critical reviewer and analyser I would actually give the story a 4 stars because it delved into trust issues. However, since I am not and I'm into fantasy/immaturity of unbelievable hero's LOL I gave it a 3 stars. Let me explain. The back cover plot actually covers the first two chapters literally. The chapters after that is the whirlwind romance and possible marriage and trust issues and crisis, etc. Basically, the heroine is a damaged woman emotionally thanks to her grandmother's lies. So the main story is really about the heroine and her insecurities and believing and trusting someone (aka the hero and his love, etc.) If you've read my other reviews, I read two other Penny Jordan books before this so my review could be a little skewed. However, I found the story a little bit boring and wasn't too impressed with the heroine and falling in love. I didn't really believe the hero loving the heroine so fast. (I'm like really? What did you like about the heroine?) The book did keep talking about the hero really being SUPER into the heroine, but I felt Penny Jordan was forcing it too much. As for the heroine, I understand why she was the way she was. But after the 2nd chapter it got a little too much for me with all the "something is wrong" attitude the heroine kept having out all throughout the book. As for the ending eh... I guess my final say about the book is that I wasn't too impressed with it. The love connection seemed forced and didn't really believe how and why the two fell in love with each other. And the heroine's character seemed to change also. In the beginning of the book I got the impression that she presented a facade of confidence but then throughout the story she turned into this wimpy scared person. Eh, anyway, so-so book for me.
This review is from: Passionate Relationship (Paperback)
From the back cover: Passionate Relationship by Penny Jordan
Pride and passion drew her to Portugal
"It had been your father's dearest wish that his lost daughter be found." The words touched Shelley's heart and destined her for the Portuguese coastal town of
Algarve.
For her father had remarried, and Shelley could not resist the promise of a family's love, something she had longed for all of her life. Instead she found hostility. Her stepbrother, Jaime, made it clear that he thought she had come to collect the money her father left her, and for no other reason. Yet that didn't stop him from wanting Shelly, and it certainly didn't stop her from falling in love with him......
But her fiery-tempered stepbrother, Jaime, greeted her with the suspicion that she had come only for an inheritance. Shelley was tempted to run--and it wasn't his hostility that startled her....
MY THOUGHTS: If I was a critical reviewer and analyser I would actually give the story a 4 stars because it delved into trust issues. However, since I am not and I'm into fantasy/immaturity of unbelievable hero's LOL I gave it a 3 stars. Let me explain. The back cover plot actually covers the first two chapters literally. The chapters after that is the whirlwind romance and possible marriage and trust issues and crisis, etc. Basically, the heroine is a damaged woman emotionally thanks to her grandmother's lies. So the main story is really about the heroine and her insecurities and believing and trusting someone (aka the hero and his love, etc.) If you've read my other reviews, I read two other Penny Jordan books before this so my review could be a little skewed. However, I found the story a little bit boring and wasn't too impressed with the heroine and falling in love. I didn't really believe the hero loving the heroine so fast. (I'm like really? What did you like about the heroine?) The book did keep talking about the hero really being SUPER into the heroine, but I felt Penny Jordan was forcing it too much. As for the heroine, I understand why she was the way she was. But after the 2nd chapter it got a little too much for me with all the "something is wrong" attitude the heroine kept having out all throughout the book. As for the ending eh... I guess my final say about the book is that I wasn't too impressed with it. The love connection seemed forced and didn't really believe how and why the two fell in love with each other. And the heroine's character seemed to change also. In the beginning of the book I got the impression that she presented a facade of confidence but then throughout the story she turned into this wimpy scared person. Eh, anyway, so-so book for me.
February 7, 2016
So I picked this up for the equivalent of £1 at an old book shop. So I barely even read the blurb. This was... not the best. Had all the awkward vintage romance tropes of a pushy, alpha, hoe of a hero, with some kind of exoticism (he's Portugese) that was also used as an excuse for his ridiculous archaic treatment of the heroine. Then it had the virgin, awkward beautiful - but doesn't know it, smart, orphaned heroine, who is super pale to contrast with tanned ruggedness of the hero and is just dying for someone to look after her.
Throw in some hate-love at first sight which quickly turned into love-love, about 16 pointless misunderstandings and a rushed relationship and ta-da you've got yourself a vintage harlequin.
I can't say I wasn't entertained though, but definitely not for the reasons the author would have liked! And I'll take a bad plot old-school harlequin over a bad-plot contemporary any day. Cos despite everything else, at least they still put some effort into writing, not much, but it's something.
Throw in some hate-love at first sight which quickly turned into love-love, about 16 pointless misunderstandings and a rushed relationship and ta-da you've got yourself a vintage harlequin.
I can't say I wasn't entertained though, but definitely not for the reasons the author would have liked! And I'll take a bad plot old-school harlequin over a bad-plot contemporary any day. Cos despite everything else, at least they still put some effort into writing, not much, but it's something.
June 8, 2021
Jaime de Hilvares was impossibly attractive, dangerously irresistible, and Shelly's step brother from the family she had never known.
He was also convinced that she was a gold digger, after her share of the family inheritance. So why was he asking Shelly to marry him? His desire was plain in his enticing words, and the sparks that flew every time he looked at her, or touched her...But how could Shelley be sure his seduction wasn't part of a different plan...of revenge?
He was also convinced that she was a gold digger, after her share of the family inheritance. So why was he asking Shelly to marry him? His desire was plain in his enticing words, and the sparks that flew every time he looked at her, or touched her...But how could Shelley be sure his seduction wasn't part of a different plan...of revenge?
September 20, 2020
The 1,000th HP is a step-brother story circa 1987–an interesting twist on instalove.
May 26, 2018
Not my favorite Penny Jordan book. It was, as always, amazingly written. PJ dragged you into the story even though her characters were so damned annoying.
The h’s self esteem was nonexistent. She’s supposed to be a calm, cool business type in her 1980’s shoulder padded business suit. But the minute she leaves London and arrives in Portugal, that self control flies out the window and now she’s this helpless, insecure person because of a hot Portuguese man. That annoyed me to no end. And how the hell do these heroines fall for the one man on the planet that treats them like shite?!
The H wasn’t much better. He was just plain nasty and judgmental to the h the second he set eyes on her. Not knowing anything about her, he passed judgment on her and found her guilty or whatever crimes his simple mind dredged up.
The other characters were either barely ok, nonexistent or thoroughly dislikable. Yet I finished the book because PJ hooked me and I wanted to see how it would all be resolved. That wasn’t too disappointing, but it wasn’t fabulous either. All in all, it was an ok 3 Stars. I won’t read it again, though.
The h’s self esteem was nonexistent. She’s supposed to be a calm, cool business type in her 1980’s shoulder padded business suit. But the minute she leaves London and arrives in Portugal, that self control flies out the window and now she’s this helpless, insecure person because of a hot Portuguese man. That annoyed me to no end. And how the hell do these heroines fall for the one man on the planet that treats them like shite?!
The H wasn’t much better. He was just plain nasty and judgmental to the h the second he set eyes on her. Not knowing anything about her, he passed judgment on her and found her guilty or whatever crimes his simple mind dredged up.
The other characters were either barely ok, nonexistent or thoroughly dislikable. Yet I finished the book because PJ hooked me and I wanted to see how it would all be resolved. That wasn’t too disappointing, but it wasn’t fabulous either. All in all, it was an ok 3 Stars. I won’t read it again, though.
June 28, 2019
In Her Enemy's Bed
This story was about a young woman who found out her father had not died when she was younger. But had left her mother to find work. Her mother had died in childbirth. Her grandmother raised her until her death. She then was raised in foster homes. Now she finds out he really does many years later than originally told. But his new family in Portugal were not impressed with her. Claiming that she was a gold digger. What happens when they find out the truth? What happens when another woman becomes increasingly difficult for her new found love? What will she do?
This story was about a young woman who found out her father had not died when she was younger. But had left her mother to find work. Her mother had died in childbirth. Her grandmother raised her until her death. She then was raised in foster homes. Now she finds out he really does many years later than originally told. But his new family in Portugal were not impressed with her. Claiming that she was a gold digger. What happens when they find out the truth? What happens when another woman becomes increasingly difficult for her new found love? What will she do?
March 13, 2022
Dropped a star for the TSTL h. She needed to get proper therapy for all the trauma her grandmother gave her. The verbal lashing the H gives her towards the end on how she had hurt him while he had gone all-in into their relationship, was extremely well deserved as she was honestly thoughtless. The H had his bit of assumptions and hissing, but that was literally resolved by page 23. I guess that's why PJ brought in the hyper-over-super-imagining brain of the h in, despite the H and h admitting they're in lust and love with each other very early on. The H wants it, the h wants it, the H's mom and sister want it, the servants at the villa want it, but the h refuses to marry the H saying she wants more time, all the while ending every interaction with dry humping lol. The poor H had it good, and the passion was definitely there. Even when they finally get to it after being married for a week or so - he does so in anger kinda - the dude gets all gentle and goes down on her so that it can be good for her.
Imaginary angst thanks to a try hard OW which would never have worked if the h had actually talked to the H, but a nice HEA in the end. Good romance and scenes here and there.
Imaginary angst thanks to a try hard OW which would never have worked if the h had actually talked to the H, but a nice HEA in the end. Good romance and scenes here and there.
December 16, 2017
Shelly travels to see her father's family in hope of learning about him. However, there is misconceptions in that she didn't come until her father died and not that she had just learnt that he hadn't died when she was a child. those are cleared up and she finds herself falling for Jaime. Jaime rushes her into marriage where an vengeful ex of Jaime's tries her best to ruin both their wedding night and marriage with lies. Shelly's insecurities ingrained in her by her grandmother almost cost her everything. Luckily Jaime's mother telling him Sophie's lies and him following Shelly save their marriage with a little time and actually talking to each other.
August 19, 2022
Oh, this one was BAD! One of the worst PJ’s book ever. Why did the hero do a 360 like that? He was wannabe-macho for like ten pages and then all of a sudden he became sappy man. Even confessing his love for her like super early on, 1/3 of the book. No, No, No, what happened to the proper angst of a vintage HQ? The push & pull? Technically, these two moved too fast. Romance & chemistry was so unrealistic & super cringey. DNF, for the records…
September 15, 2020
Much better, I have read:
You Owe You ~ Which was much to rough and angry for me.
Lovers Touch ~ Which was bit better but rushed at the end
This one much better, not rushed, saw his sensitive/romantic side, they still had their drama but all smoothed out at the end in a none rushed manner.
So far best out of the ones I've read from her.
You Owe You ~ Which was much to rough and angry for me.
Lovers Touch ~ Which was bit better but rushed at the end
This one much better, not rushed, saw his sensitive/romantic side, they still had their drama but all smoothed out at the end in a none rushed manner.
So far best out of the ones I've read from her.
March 6, 2021
Very surprising that a H opens up about his feelings of love for the h so early in the book.
He keeps telling and showing her he’s in love with her and he wants her, but that doesn’t take away her insecurities about him and their relationship. And I can understand that. Insecurity is many times about yourself and not so much about the other.
She does need therapy though.
He keeps telling and showing her he’s in love with her and he wants her, but that doesn’t take away her insecurities about him and their relationship. And I can understand that. Insecurity is many times about yourself and not so much about the other.
She does need therapy though.
October 1, 2021
Boogenhagen hit the main points that caused me to quit about a third through and then skim. He’s a manipulative guy who rushes an obviously insecure and lonely woman into marriage using sex and avowals of love to confuse and seduce and then an enormous guilt trip to keep her in line.
Not believable nor enjoyable
Not believable nor enjoyable
September 27, 2018
Didn’t finish.
December 9, 2022
This heroine was so willfully stupid as far as the OW was concerned that I honestly became convinced she did not deserve to be happy.
January 3, 2023
I just love that’s it’s called passionate relationship
July 16, 2024
Ridiculous relationship is more like it, or should I say ridiculous everything!!!! First marriages, second marriages, stepbrother/stepsister, a touch of an incest vibe, a portrait obsession, dysfunctional relationships and a h who is so emotionally damaged (thanks to her crap fest of a grandmother) it would take YEARS of therapy to make even a little progress!
Dr. Phil, anyone???
Dr. Phil, anyone???
September 20, 2019
It's amazing the difference between reading this at 17 and reading this at 36. Whoa nelly, so much to unpack.
The heroine heads on over to Portugal when her father leaves her an inheritance. Of course, she didn't know her father hadn't died during her childhood, due to some truly evil interventions from her grandmother, so her Portuguese family are a bit like, "hey gold-digger, 'sup, do you just want the money or?"
Heroine refuses to defend herself. Because of course. If she did, the book would be over in twenty pages. Instead, she just listens to her step-brother's condemnations, accepts that her new fam hates her, and decides to leave town without claiming her inheritance. Instead of, you know, sitting down with these people, explaining what her grandmother did, talking about her rough af childhood, and letting them realize the error of their ways.
When they do realize, her step-brother goes from "you devious bitch slut!" to "I really love you and always have, look at the picture I keep of you by my bed." It's honestly creepy. When I was 17, I didn't think much of it, but now... um. ANYWAY. The best part is that he won't have sex with her until they're married, and at one point, he's basically going down on her and her screams of passion bring his MOTHER into the room because she thinks the heroine is sick.
I CANNOT. askalaklaldfjs. It's really quite wonderful.
Misunderstandings abound, the insta-love is fierce, and there's actually quite a bit of graphic sex (at least for this era) - hence the smarmy title. Seriously, Passionate Relationship? That's what they chose for the 1,000th HP?
Figures.
The heroine heads on over to Portugal when her father leaves her an inheritance. Of course, she didn't know her father hadn't died during her childhood, due to some truly evil interventions from her grandmother, so her Portuguese family are a bit like, "hey gold-digger, 'sup, do you just want the money or?"
Heroine refuses to defend herself. Because of course. If she did, the book would be over in twenty pages. Instead, she just listens to her step-brother's condemnations, accepts that her new fam hates her, and decides to leave town without claiming her inheritance. Instead of, you know, sitting down with these people, explaining what her grandmother did, talking about her rough af childhood, and letting them realize the error of their ways.
When they do realize, her step-brother goes from "you devious bitch slut!" to "I really love you and always have, look at the picture I keep of you by my bed." It's honestly creepy. When I was 17, I didn't think much of it, but now... um. ANYWAY. The best part is that he won't have sex with her until they're married, and at one point, he's basically going down on her and her screams of passion bring his MOTHER into the room because she thinks the heroine is sick.
I CANNOT. askalaklaldfjs. It's really quite wonderful.
Misunderstandings abound, the insta-love is fierce, and there's actually quite a bit of graphic sex (at least for this era) - hence the smarmy title. Seriously, Passionate Relationship? That's what they chose for the 1,000th HP?
Figures.
April 27, 2016
In short:
1. Heroine spends half the time trembling with lust and the other half thinking about lust.
2. Hero slut shames heroine for not sleeping with him the first time he meets her.
3. Hero slut shames heroine for not sleeping with all other times they're together.
4. Hero slut shames his ex girlfriend for sleeping with him.
5. Hero spends most of the book bullying heroine verbally, overruling her at every point and trying to get her to sleep with him.
6. In the real world, heroine would have filed a restraining order against the hero.
7. I'm embarrassed to have read this book.
1. Heroine spends half the time trembling with lust and the other half thinking about lust.
2. Hero slut shames heroine for not sleeping with him the first time he meets her.
3. Hero slut shames heroine for not sleeping with all other times they're together.
4. Hero slut shames his ex girlfriend for sleeping with him.
5. Hero spends most of the book bullying heroine verbally, overruling her at every point and trying to get her to sleep with him.
6. In the real world, heroine would have filed a restraining order against the hero.
7. I'm embarrassed to have read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2014
i enjoy penny jordan books but this book didn't work for me..
September 8, 2022
Too much drama. Hero deserves better
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