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That Midas Man
They claimed he had the golden touch .. .Jill's whole world was threatened and only Michael "Midas" Thorne, a mining engineer and self-made millionaire, could help. If he'd agree to an interview, she'd earn a promotion and raise.She desperately needed the money to finance a custody battle against her ex-husband. Without it, she'd lose her six-year-old daughter, Georgina.Jill thought Midas would understand her torment; after all, he'd suffered a great loss himself. But she also knew he hated the press--they'd been relentless in their pursuit of him following the deaths of his wife and young son. Could she earn his trust... and perhaps his love?
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
17 people want to read
About the author
Valerie Parv
178 books30 followersValerie Christine Parv was a popular Australian writer of over 70 romance novels, with more than 34 million sales. She published her novels in Mills & Boon's since 1982.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 27, 2017
Re The Midas Man - Valerie Parv's final HPlandia outing is a pretend mistress with secondary suspense trope.
The h is divorced and was married to a lady buffet lovin' slime swiller extraordinaire who was a failed tennis pro, then found his métier as a scandalmonger TV "News" host along the lines of Maury Povich or Geraldo, when things were a little tamer than Jerry Springer.
The h is journalist and up for a big promotion to the editorial staff if she can get an exclusive in-depth interview with the H, otherwise know as Midas - cause it seems every thing he touches turns to gold. He is really, really rich and about to launch an groundbreaking process to make industrial diamonds. He also has a very tragic past and hates journalists.
The h NEEDS this promotion, mainly cause her smooth talkin' ex charmed the Family Court judge into giving the ex custodial provision for their little daughter. The h only gets alternate weekends and it is killing her.
(However. it should be pointed out that this is mostly cause the h, who had ample proof of the ex's lady buffet feasts and other dubious deeds, refused to present her evidence to the court and at least get joint custody. The h was the product of divorce herself, apparently her parents used the kids as weapons and it took years for the h to figure out the truth from the lies and she felt damaged by it.
She doesn't want to do the same thing to her daughter. But apparently she is too dim to figure out that you don't mention the accusations to a five year old anyways, you save it for court and explain to the little girl that mommy and daddy want to play with other people now, but that they still love her and that won't be changing - I guess HPlandia isn't familiar with Dinosaurs Divorce where mum slings back martini's in the divorce aftermath as an illustration of WHAT NOT TO DO IN A DIVORCE SITUATION but does let the little dino know to let big adult dino's deal with adult things.)
Her ex either threw her out or was so disgusting in front of the h that she left without her child, so he was able to claim maternal abandonment. (This was a bit far fetched for me, but after Anne Mather's child custody antics, this seemed relatively minor so I went with it.) Anyhows, the h has this big promotion if she can get the Midas interview and then she can afford to fight a big custody battle. She is really mopey about this, cause apparently they did not divvy up the marital assets equitably either - the ex has all the money.
Fortunately for her, the h is doing a story on a climate conference in big hotel. A man she assumes is a porter helps her with the stack of books she is carrying and then the h runs into her ex and tries to get him to relent on the visitation with her child. The ex nastily informs her that won't be happening and if he could, he would cut her off from her kid forever - even tho he leaves the little girl with a nanny while he is partying it up and being unscrupulous.
The h goes out on the fire escape to cry and runs into the porter who helped her again. He is really handsome for a hotel porter and really too handsome, cause he turns out to be our H, Midas (not his real name which is Michael.) The h is extremely attracted in the midst of spilling her sad little tale of woe and the H is very kind and understanding and he invites her up to his penthouse suite. The h refuses, but is obsessed with the lurve mojo force of the H and mostly spends the next several pages regretting she did not fling her bonnet over the windmill for an afternoon of lurve.
Then her editor breaks the news about needing the Midas exclusive. If the h doesn't do it, another more sneaky reporter will - and get the big promotion. The h finds out that the H hates journalists cause his wife and child were hounded to their deaths by them.
The H's wife had postpartum depression and had taken their baby to the H's holiday home to try and recuperate, but the press kept hounding them. In bid to get away from their harassment, the wife and baby drove over a cliff in the family car and died. Not unreasonably, the H is very, very bitter and refuses all press interviews.
He can do this cause he has his own little private island named for the phrase Vincerò (I will win) from Turnadot (from the aria Nessun Dorma sung by the tenor lead playing Calaf, famously sung by Pavarotti at the 1990 Fifa world cup.)
So the h has an in, if she is sleazy enough to use it. Plus the H sends her roses and invites her to lunch on his private island - his Fijian helicopter pilot will fly her. But the h is torn, cause she is lusting so hard after the H she almost forgets to do her daily call to her daughter and she also has to tell him she is a journalist and needs a story on him.
She keeps delaying the inevitable revelation and manages to get herself to his home. Then she breaks the bad news about her job and what she needs and the H kicks her off the island. She doesn't go tho, instead she cons the H's pilot into thinking she is the H's new lady buffet sample, puts on a skimpy bikini and parades around the H and his business partner's big economic deal making meeting.
The H is irked, but he isn't letting her leave now that the men he is trying to negotiate a revolutionary business deal with are aware of her presence. He decides she will have to keep the mistress fiction up and in return, he will give her an interview. So the h lounges around in designer clothes that were left conveniently in multiple sizes by the H's famous fashion couture creator sister and inwardly moons over the H while pretending to be his lover.
That soon becomes a reality after several days and the h gets her interview, along with the beginnings of a children's book on dealing with bullies. The H, whose point of view we get at random intervals, offers to help the h with her custody battle and wants her to quit her job and stay with him. The h thinks it is a ploy to get her to stop the article and refuses.
Then the H's ex husband calls and leaves a message that the h's daughter is really ill. The H kindly offers the h his helicopter to fly to her ex's house and gives her a key to his penthouse, in case she needs a place to stay. When the h gets to the ex husband's, she finds out that the ex was just playing games.
He doesn't like that the h might have a better proposition than him, he heard about Midas, and he steals the h's story and gets it published under her name, along with the details of the top secret business deal, in an effort to ruin the h's relationship with the H by telling details that theoretically only she is privy to in 'her' story. Then the h finds her ex doing his couch poking on his latest assistant while getting stoned on pot in the separate office adjacent to the house where her little girl is. The outraged h packs up her daughter and takes her to the H's penthouse.
The ex shows up a bit later and tells the h he will charge her with kidnapping and that the H is getting death threats, so the h better return to him with the daughter or she will be sorry. The h has some more mopey moments and then heads back to the H's penthouse where she hid her daughter. The H shows up and he is in a hurry. The h tries to explain that she did not publish his business dealings, it was her sleazy ex in a power play, but the H has no time and tells her to take her daughter and leave. The h wants to know about the threats, but the H is rushed off by two security type men and won't explain.
The h decides to stay at the H's penthouse for the night, she pokes around the H's things and concludes that his first wife, whom he really loved, just couldn't handle the H's success and cracked under the pressure and was probably suicidal and therefore the H shouldn't blame the press for the death of his wife and baby son and she herself will be much better as a partner to him.
Then the H's Fijian helicopter pilot shows up and takes the h hostage with a gun - her daughter is asleep in one of the bedrooms down the hall. We all find out that the Fijian pilot is of Indian decent, there was some kind of coup on Fiji so now there is lots of racial tension and his family has suffered badly and wants to leave, but they can't. The helicopter pilot blames the H for doing business with the new government and not helping his family like he promised. (The H had earlier told the h he was trying, but everyone is really sensitive about things and the negotiations were taking longer than the H liked.)
The helicopter pilot has been sending death threats to the H and he told the h's ex husband about them and the super secret business deal, then the h's ex just revealed the death threats on his national TV show in a ratings exclusive ploy. The h tries to talk the pilot down and give himself up, but she isn't getting very far. The pilot makes her call the police and tell them to bring the H back to the penthouse. The H talks to the h and tells her things will be okay, but the pilot guy grabs the phone and demands the H's return. The h goes into hysterics.
Then the H comes back and the pilot tries to shoot him, the h throws herself in front of the H as the pilot takes a shot and pushes him out the door. The pilot guy is apprehended and it turns out the h only saved the police officer in the bullet proof vest who was pretending to be the H. The H is a generous guy tho, he proclaims the h a heroine and declares his love.
The H decides he will threaten the h's ex with the whole leaked business deal and the death threats that the ex knew the pilot was making, (but did not tell anybody who was behind it, which will ruin the ex's TV career,) if he doesn't sign over custody and leave the h and her daughter alone. The h declares her love back and is really happy she got such a great new father for her daughter and a marriage proposal, as we leave them all lurved up and happy and we wave goodbye to the Valerie Parv day excursion tour of HPlandia.
I struggled with this one, the suspense was well done at the end and the H was a really decent person. I liked the H, I just wish the h had gotten shot and died cause she had the morals of a sewer rat. Really, she should have been stuck with her ex, cause she just wasn't any better than he was.
She refuses to fight for her child cause she doesn't want to cause bad memories for her daughter - who was young enough that she wouldn't really be privy to what went on in court, but she has no problem lying and manipulating a man who clearly has some trauma going on and is nothing but nice to her-even when she freely admits she is using him.
Then when she is offered real help from the H, she stubbornly and unctuously refuses it - tho she has spent the last fifty pages mentally masturbating over the H and how much she wants him- she has the gall to berate him for trying to use HER, as if she has been totally innocent for the last hundred or so pages.
This h was a gold digger and a bad mother and a rotten person to boot. I am srsly sorry she survived, because her hypocrisy over the H's first wife was utterly disgusting - she did no better when she was in the hot seat and it is only after developing her own avaricious tastes while with her ex that she thinks she will be a better match for the H now.
Really this woman was a waste of my time and I felt sorry for all who knew her. Cause with h's like her around, you don't really need any OW in HPlandia. The whole moral bankruptcy of her character just ruined my happy little HP outing and I was just glad to be done with it.
Read this if you are bored or don't have anything better, but pretty much anybody else does a martyred h with a real grievance better - even Anne Mather.
The h is divorced and was married to a lady buffet lovin' slime swiller extraordinaire who was a failed tennis pro, then found his métier as a scandalmonger TV "News" host along the lines of Maury Povich or Geraldo, when things were a little tamer than Jerry Springer.
The h is journalist and up for a big promotion to the editorial staff if she can get an exclusive in-depth interview with the H, otherwise know as Midas - cause it seems every thing he touches turns to gold. He is really, really rich and about to launch an groundbreaking process to make industrial diamonds. He also has a very tragic past and hates journalists.
The h NEEDS this promotion, mainly cause her smooth talkin' ex charmed the Family Court judge into giving the ex custodial provision for their little daughter. The h only gets alternate weekends and it is killing her.
(However. it should be pointed out that this is mostly cause the h, who had ample proof of the ex's lady buffet feasts and other dubious deeds, refused to present her evidence to the court and at least get joint custody. The h was the product of divorce herself, apparently her parents used the kids as weapons and it took years for the h to figure out the truth from the lies and she felt damaged by it.
She doesn't want to do the same thing to her daughter. But apparently she is too dim to figure out that you don't mention the accusations to a five year old anyways, you save it for court and explain to the little girl that mommy and daddy want to play with other people now, but that they still love her and that won't be changing - I guess HPlandia isn't familiar with Dinosaurs Divorce where mum slings back martini's in the divorce aftermath as an illustration of WHAT NOT TO DO IN A DIVORCE SITUATION but does let the little dino know to let big adult dino's deal with adult things.)
Her ex either threw her out or was so disgusting in front of the h that she left without her child, so he was able to claim maternal abandonment. (This was a bit far fetched for me, but after Anne Mather's child custody antics, this seemed relatively minor so I went with it.) Anyhows, the h has this big promotion if she can get the Midas interview and then she can afford to fight a big custody battle. She is really mopey about this, cause apparently they did not divvy up the marital assets equitably either - the ex has all the money.
Fortunately for her, the h is doing a story on a climate conference in big hotel. A man she assumes is a porter helps her with the stack of books she is carrying and then the h runs into her ex and tries to get him to relent on the visitation with her child. The ex nastily informs her that won't be happening and if he could, he would cut her off from her kid forever - even tho he leaves the little girl with a nanny while he is partying it up and being unscrupulous.
The h goes out on the fire escape to cry and runs into the porter who helped her again. He is really handsome for a hotel porter and really too handsome, cause he turns out to be our H, Midas (not his real name which is Michael.) The h is extremely attracted in the midst of spilling her sad little tale of woe and the H is very kind and understanding and he invites her up to his penthouse suite. The h refuses, but is obsessed with the lurve mojo force of the H and mostly spends the next several pages regretting she did not fling her bonnet over the windmill for an afternoon of lurve.
Then her editor breaks the news about needing the Midas exclusive. If the h doesn't do it, another more sneaky reporter will - and get the big promotion. The h finds out that the H hates journalists cause his wife and child were hounded to their deaths by them.
The H's wife had postpartum depression and had taken their baby to the H's holiday home to try and recuperate, but the press kept hounding them. In bid to get away from their harassment, the wife and baby drove over a cliff in the family car and died. Not unreasonably, the H is very, very bitter and refuses all press interviews.
He can do this cause he has his own little private island named for the phrase Vincerò (I will win) from Turnadot (from the aria Nessun Dorma sung by the tenor lead playing Calaf, famously sung by Pavarotti at the 1990 Fifa world cup.)
So the h has an in, if she is sleazy enough to use it. Plus the H sends her roses and invites her to lunch on his private island - his Fijian helicopter pilot will fly her. But the h is torn, cause she is lusting so hard after the H she almost forgets to do her daily call to her daughter and she also has to tell him she is a journalist and needs a story on him.
She keeps delaying the inevitable revelation and manages to get herself to his home. Then she breaks the bad news about her job and what she needs and the H kicks her off the island. She doesn't go tho, instead she cons the H's pilot into thinking she is the H's new lady buffet sample, puts on a skimpy bikini and parades around the H and his business partner's big economic deal making meeting.
The H is irked, but he isn't letting her leave now that the men he is trying to negotiate a revolutionary business deal with are aware of her presence. He decides she will have to keep the mistress fiction up and in return, he will give her an interview. So the h lounges around in designer clothes that were left conveniently in multiple sizes by the H's famous fashion couture creator sister and inwardly moons over the H while pretending to be his lover.
That soon becomes a reality after several days and the h gets her interview, along with the beginnings of a children's book on dealing with bullies. The H, whose point of view we get at random intervals, offers to help the h with her custody battle and wants her to quit her job and stay with him. The h thinks it is a ploy to get her to stop the article and refuses.
Then the H's ex husband calls and leaves a message that the h's daughter is really ill. The H kindly offers the h his helicopter to fly to her ex's house and gives her a key to his penthouse, in case she needs a place to stay. When the h gets to the ex husband's, she finds out that the ex was just playing games.
He doesn't like that the h might have a better proposition than him, he heard about Midas, and he steals the h's story and gets it published under her name, along with the details of the top secret business deal, in an effort to ruin the h's relationship with the H by telling details that theoretically only she is privy to in 'her' story. Then the h finds her ex doing his couch poking on his latest assistant while getting stoned on pot in the separate office adjacent to the house where her little girl is. The outraged h packs up her daughter and takes her to the H's penthouse.
The ex shows up a bit later and tells the h he will charge her with kidnapping and that the H is getting death threats, so the h better return to him with the daughter or she will be sorry. The h has some more mopey moments and then heads back to the H's penthouse where she hid her daughter. The H shows up and he is in a hurry. The h tries to explain that she did not publish his business dealings, it was her sleazy ex in a power play, but the H has no time and tells her to take her daughter and leave. The h wants to know about the threats, but the H is rushed off by two security type men and won't explain.
The h decides to stay at the H's penthouse for the night, she pokes around the H's things and concludes that his first wife, whom he really loved, just couldn't handle the H's success and cracked under the pressure and was probably suicidal and therefore the H shouldn't blame the press for the death of his wife and baby son and she herself will be much better as a partner to him.
Then the H's Fijian helicopter pilot shows up and takes the h hostage with a gun - her daughter is asleep in one of the bedrooms down the hall. We all find out that the Fijian pilot is of Indian decent, there was some kind of coup on Fiji so now there is lots of racial tension and his family has suffered badly and wants to leave, but they can't. The helicopter pilot blames the H for doing business with the new government and not helping his family like he promised. (The H had earlier told the h he was trying, but everyone is really sensitive about things and the negotiations were taking longer than the H liked.)
The helicopter pilot has been sending death threats to the H and he told the h's ex husband about them and the super secret business deal, then the h's ex just revealed the death threats on his national TV show in a ratings exclusive ploy. The h tries to talk the pilot down and give himself up, but she isn't getting very far. The pilot makes her call the police and tell them to bring the H back to the penthouse. The H talks to the h and tells her things will be okay, but the pilot guy grabs the phone and demands the H's return. The h goes into hysterics.
Then the H comes back and the pilot tries to shoot him, the h throws herself in front of the H as the pilot takes a shot and pushes him out the door. The pilot guy is apprehended and it turns out the h only saved the police officer in the bullet proof vest who was pretending to be the H. The H is a generous guy tho, he proclaims the h a heroine and declares his love.
The H decides he will threaten the h's ex with the whole leaked business deal and the death threats that the ex knew the pilot was making, (but did not tell anybody who was behind it, which will ruin the ex's TV career,) if he doesn't sign over custody and leave the h and her daughter alone. The h declares her love back and is really happy she got such a great new father for her daughter and a marriage proposal, as we leave them all lurved up and happy and we wave goodbye to the Valerie Parv day excursion tour of HPlandia.
I struggled with this one, the suspense was well done at the end and the H was a really decent person. I liked the H, I just wish the h had gotten shot and died cause she had the morals of a sewer rat. Really, she should have been stuck with her ex, cause she just wasn't any better than he was.
She refuses to fight for her child cause she doesn't want to cause bad memories for her daughter - who was young enough that she wouldn't really be privy to what went on in court, but she has no problem lying and manipulating a man who clearly has some trauma going on and is nothing but nice to her-even when she freely admits she is using him.
Then when she is offered real help from the H, she stubbornly and unctuously refuses it - tho she has spent the last fifty pages mentally masturbating over the H and how much she wants him- she has the gall to berate him for trying to use HER, as if she has been totally innocent for the last hundred or so pages.
This h was a gold digger and a bad mother and a rotten person to boot. I am srsly sorry she survived, because her hypocrisy over the H's first wife was utterly disgusting - she did no better when she was in the hot seat and it is only after developing her own avaricious tastes while with her ex that she thinks she will be a better match for the H now.
Really this woman was a waste of my time and I felt sorry for all who knew her. Cause with h's like her around, you don't really need any OW in HPlandia. The whole moral bankruptcy of her character just ruined my happy little HP outing and I was just glad to be done with it.
Read this if you are bored or don't have anything better, but pretty much anybody else does a martyred h with a real grievance better - even Anne Mather.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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