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Dark and Dangerous
It had hardly been love at first sight
Kate Macaulay had covered Dominic Smith-Farrell's car with cement--and he was furious. At the time, Kate had no idea she'd be living in his home only three months later.
Now, his very presence seemed to torment her. "Frankly, dear Dominic," she told him, "I don't reckon you're flesh and blood like the rest of us. As far as I can see, you're nothing but a cardboard cutout."
But Dominic was the one cardboard cut-out Kate wished she could make come to life!
Kate Macaulay had covered Dominic Smith-Farrell's car with cement--and he was furious. At the time, Kate had no idea she'd be living in his home only three months later.
Now, his very presence seemed to torment her. "Frankly, dear Dominic," she told him, "I don't reckon you're flesh and blood like the rest of us. As far as I can see, you're nothing but a cardboard cutout."
But Dominic was the one cardboard cut-out Kate wished she could make come to life!
188 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1992
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Mary Lyons
129 books20 followersMary-Jo Wormell, whose nom de plume is Mary Lyons, was a popular British writer of over 40 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1983 to 2001. She was also a Conservative Party parlimentary candidate.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 8, 2017
Re Dark and Dangerous - Mary Lyons starts with the orphan Canadian h in London Magistrate Court trying to explain her temporary moment of insanity that caused her to dump cement all over the H's beloved but decrepit convertible.
The h had just found out that her new boyfriend had been two timing her. Not only that, he had been conning her out of money too. In impulsive retaliation, she thinks it is his ratty car parked by the cement truck and so she climbs on up to the cab and buries the car in an avalanche of mortar. Then the H shows up having hysterics while he is formally dressed in silks and breeches to meet the Lord Chancellor of England and the h thinks he is a period actor. Then the h is worried things could get pretty bad, as the H hauls her off to the local police station.
The H, a Queen's Council barrister, is rather irate over the loss of his very first car and making big time earie faces in court. Fortunately the h had enough funds to reimburse the insurance company for the H's car and the magistrate thinks the h is a 'fine figure' of a girl - the h is very tall and Junoesque, so she just gets a caution and the H thirst for payback is unrequited as all his fellow barristers are laughing at him.
Three months later, the h is back in England on a motorbike after a quick European tour. She had promised her father before he died three years earlier that she would pay a family visit to his sister, her aunt. Who is now widowed and has two children who are teen aged cousins the h has never met.
The aunt's marriage was a second marriage for her husband, he also has a son that she became a stepmother to. The h, when she calls the aunt to confirm her visit, soon figures out that Cement Car Guy and her new step-cousin are one and the same person. Her aunt tells her that Cement Guy will be in Hong Kong during her visit to the family pile and the h thinks she dodged a bullet. So the h merrily shows up to meet her aunt and company, after breathing a sigh of relief that she won't be subjected to any further bouts of shouting from Cement Guy.
The h really is sorry she lost her mind and acted impulsively. Sadly tho, impulsive actions seem to be a h trademark in this HP voyage. Mainly cause the H's business trip to Hong Kong got delayed and the H and h meet again in the H's Tudor Manor drawing room. It is a contentious meeting.
The H and h have verbal battles and then mutually blackmail each other. The h won't extend her visit and the H won't kick her out, if she promises not to mention the car incident. Soon the h has met all her extended family. The h's aunt is a nice lady and her two cousins are really nice too. Except the female cousin hates the H's witch woman fiance and so she dresses in appalling goth choices to try and scare the woman off.
The h's male cousin doesn't like the H's fiance either. She is meddling in the family and pushing the H to make him go to uni, when the male cousin just wants to farm and manage the estate. We also get to meet the butler and a wanna be OM who is really a boring lech type. The H's fiance is truly one of the Ice Witches from Hell and spends the entire time over dinner making snide comments about the h.
Mainly she comments about the h's very tall and curvy figure emphasized in a little black silk beach dress that was the only dress the h had to wear. The H's fiance may be complaining, but both the H and boring lech guy are salivating over the h's very well displayed charms. The h is uncomfortable with woman's rudeness and trying hard to bite her tongue instead of responding in kind. So she tries to change the subject when the male cousin complains that the H's fiancee is putting the kibosh on the local historical reenactment club's plea to use the estate as a battle ground for an English Civil War battle.
The h is very enthusiastic in her support of this endeavor and after dinner the H asks the h if she will help organize the battle reenactment in exchange for him buying her a plane ticket back to Canada. The h accepts because in the aftermath of having to pay for the H's car, she doesn't have the plane fare home.
Then there is some more verbal sparring and a huge roofie H kissing moment, which somehow brings the whole household down to the H's study to fight off non existent intruders. The H's fiancee is NOT PLEASED by the situation and the next day she tries to kick the h out. It isn't the fiancee's house yet tho and the H doesn't want the h to leave, so the fiancee has to lump her demands and icily storm off.
The next bit is the H and h declaring a truce and getting a puppy and the h tentatively explaining that his half brother and sister do NOT like his Ice Witch of a domineering and bullying fiancee. The H has a bigger dilemma tho, he is really, really interested in more that just a few kisses with the h. While the h had a treacherous body response situation going, she doesn't poach on other lady's men - not even if they are Queen Ice Witches- so she tells the H to leave her alone.
The H finally leaves for Hong Kong and preparations for the English Civil War reenactment are going strong. We get a little potted ECW and King Charles I history and the h gets her female cousin to abandon the Goth style and wear 501's and regular makeup. Things are going strong on the big battle day, until the h has to provide two opposing General's to lead the opposing Parliamentary and Royalist troops.
The butler claims he does many things, but costume dress isn't one of them and so the h decides to be the Royalist general as she is tall enough and she tries to get boring lech guy to be the Parliamentary general. Then the Ice Witch shows up claiming she has a court injunction to stop the battle, so the h and her cousins lock the woman in the dog kennels until the battle is over. Then boring lech guy deserts the field of battle just before time to start.
The H arrives in the nick of time for the h to coerce and kinda bully him into being her opposing general. After some banter and a big confession of love from the H, cause he broke up with the Ice Witch before he left for Hong Kong, the h declares her love back and we all go outside to the estate grounds to do Cavaliers vs Roundheads.
Skeevy boring lech guy lies to the H that he was making time with the h while the H was in Hong Kong and so the H is furious as the two generals meet on the mock field of battle to talk smack to each other.
The h takes offense that the love of her life would listen to skeevy boring lech guy - who is also a deserter to boot and the trash talk is loud and long until the opening salvo is fired from the cannon. The H is actually a better general with Pre-Reformation battle tactics and the h is close to defeat when the H pulls off a sneak attack by having his soldiers dress up as a medical unit and pull off a surprise ambush.
Then the h is told that to win the battle, you have to capture the other side's pennant, so she takes off on her horse and snags the H's battle standard and takes off. The H chases her and they both fall off their horses after getting tripped by the really long flagstaff of the H's pennon and they wind up having an epic roofie kissing moment in the hay pile they landed in. True love is declared once again by all and the H proposes marriage, to which the h happily agrees.
The H claims the battle is a draw, but the h knows her side really won and we get a cute little epilogue of the H and h in France on their honeymoon for the big HEA - the H's Ice Witch fiancee got let out of the dog kennel by skeevy boring lech guy and they eloped together before the big battle's finish, to the shared delight of the H and h's entire family and the Ice Witch's really nice father.
This one was really fluffy, kind of sparse on plot depth, but fairly funny for a nice little appetizer sample of an HPlandia outing.
The h had just found out that her new boyfriend had been two timing her. Not only that, he had been conning her out of money too. In impulsive retaliation, she thinks it is his ratty car parked by the cement truck and so she climbs on up to the cab and buries the car in an avalanche of mortar. Then the H shows up having hysterics while he is formally dressed in silks and breeches to meet the Lord Chancellor of England and the h thinks he is a period actor. Then the h is worried things could get pretty bad, as the H hauls her off to the local police station.
The H, a Queen's Council barrister, is rather irate over the loss of his very first car and making big time earie faces in court. Fortunately the h had enough funds to reimburse the insurance company for the H's car and the magistrate thinks the h is a 'fine figure' of a girl - the h is very tall and Junoesque, so she just gets a caution and the H thirst for payback is unrequited as all his fellow barristers are laughing at him.
Three months later, the h is back in England on a motorbike after a quick European tour. She had promised her father before he died three years earlier that she would pay a family visit to his sister, her aunt. Who is now widowed and has two children who are teen aged cousins the h has never met.
The aunt's marriage was a second marriage for her husband, he also has a son that she became a stepmother to. The h, when she calls the aunt to confirm her visit, soon figures out that Cement Car Guy and her new step-cousin are one and the same person. Her aunt tells her that Cement Guy will be in Hong Kong during her visit to the family pile and the h thinks she dodged a bullet. So the h merrily shows up to meet her aunt and company, after breathing a sigh of relief that she won't be subjected to any further bouts of shouting from Cement Guy.
The h really is sorry she lost her mind and acted impulsively. Sadly tho, impulsive actions seem to be a h trademark in this HP voyage. Mainly cause the H's business trip to Hong Kong got delayed and the H and h meet again in the H's Tudor Manor drawing room. It is a contentious meeting.
The H and h have verbal battles and then mutually blackmail each other. The h won't extend her visit and the H won't kick her out, if she promises not to mention the car incident. Soon the h has met all her extended family. The h's aunt is a nice lady and her two cousins are really nice too. Except the female cousin hates the H's witch woman fiance and so she dresses in appalling goth choices to try and scare the woman off.
The h's male cousin doesn't like the H's fiance either. She is meddling in the family and pushing the H to make him go to uni, when the male cousin just wants to farm and manage the estate. We also get to meet the butler and a wanna be OM who is really a boring lech type. The H's fiance is truly one of the Ice Witches from Hell and spends the entire time over dinner making snide comments about the h.
Mainly she comments about the h's very tall and curvy figure emphasized in a little black silk beach dress that was the only dress the h had to wear. The H's fiance may be complaining, but both the H and boring lech guy are salivating over the h's very well displayed charms. The h is uncomfortable with woman's rudeness and trying hard to bite her tongue instead of responding in kind. So she tries to change the subject when the male cousin complains that the H's fiancee is putting the kibosh on the local historical reenactment club's plea to use the estate as a battle ground for an English Civil War battle.
The h is very enthusiastic in her support of this endeavor and after dinner the H asks the h if she will help organize the battle reenactment in exchange for him buying her a plane ticket back to Canada. The h accepts because in the aftermath of having to pay for the H's car, she doesn't have the plane fare home.
Then there is some more verbal sparring and a huge roofie H kissing moment, which somehow brings the whole household down to the H's study to fight off non existent intruders. The H's fiancee is NOT PLEASED by the situation and the next day she tries to kick the h out. It isn't the fiancee's house yet tho and the H doesn't want the h to leave, so the fiancee has to lump her demands and icily storm off.
The next bit is the H and h declaring a truce and getting a puppy and the h tentatively explaining that his half brother and sister do NOT like his Ice Witch of a domineering and bullying fiancee. The H has a bigger dilemma tho, he is really, really interested in more that just a few kisses with the h. While the h had a treacherous body response situation going, she doesn't poach on other lady's men - not even if they are Queen Ice Witches- so she tells the H to leave her alone.
The H finally leaves for Hong Kong and preparations for the English Civil War reenactment are going strong. We get a little potted ECW and King Charles I history and the h gets her female cousin to abandon the Goth style and wear 501's and regular makeup. Things are going strong on the big battle day, until the h has to provide two opposing General's to lead the opposing Parliamentary and Royalist troops.
The butler claims he does many things, but costume dress isn't one of them and so the h decides to be the Royalist general as she is tall enough and she tries to get boring lech guy to be the Parliamentary general. Then the Ice Witch shows up claiming she has a court injunction to stop the battle, so the h and her cousins lock the woman in the dog kennels until the battle is over. Then boring lech guy deserts the field of battle just before time to start.
The H arrives in the nick of time for the h to coerce and kinda bully him into being her opposing general. After some banter and a big confession of love from the H, cause he broke up with the Ice Witch before he left for Hong Kong, the h declares her love back and we all go outside to the estate grounds to do Cavaliers vs Roundheads.
Skeevy boring lech guy lies to the H that he was making time with the h while the H was in Hong Kong and so the H is furious as the two generals meet on the mock field of battle to talk smack to each other.
The h takes offense that the love of her life would listen to skeevy boring lech guy - who is also a deserter to boot and the trash talk is loud and long until the opening salvo is fired from the cannon. The H is actually a better general with Pre-Reformation battle tactics and the h is close to defeat when the H pulls off a sneak attack by having his soldiers dress up as a medical unit and pull off a surprise ambush.
Then the h is told that to win the battle, you have to capture the other side's pennant, so she takes off on her horse and snags the H's battle standard and takes off. The H chases her and they both fall off their horses after getting tripped by the really long flagstaff of the H's pennon and they wind up having an epic roofie kissing moment in the hay pile they landed in. True love is declared once again by all and the H proposes marriage, to which the h happily agrees.
The H claims the battle is a draw, but the h knows her side really won and we get a cute little epilogue of the H and h in France on their honeymoon for the big HEA - the H's Ice Witch fiancee got let out of the dog kennel by skeevy boring lech guy and they eloped together before the big battle's finish, to the shared delight of the H and h's entire family and the Ice Witch's really nice father.
This one was really fluffy, kind of sparse on plot depth, but fairly funny for a nice little appetizer sample of an HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2018
This book is a guilty pleasure the h is just awesome and she totally gets the best of the H despite him not going down without a fight. H doesn't know what hit him but he is naughty as he tries it on with the h a few times despite having a fiancee.
I loved the h she very naughtily poured cement all over his classic car (thinking it was her ex's) and as she is so charming she gets away without criminal charges (she pays up). This makes our smart QC the laughing stock of London so hes already pretty cheesed off with the h.
Anyhoo turns out they are family and he is there when she turns up on a huge motorbike after tobying around Europe for 3 months. Sparks fly and she loves winding him up, shes staying on to get to know her family (his stepmother and half brother/sister) and he can just put up or shut up! She really is a breath of fresh air and winds him up constantly you can tell he is totally bamboozled.
Shes also independent can ride like a warrior and can play with the boys with the best of em.
This was a lovely fluffy book which gave me all the feels the book intimates there is a fair age gap but its never fully stated what it is. Also, a dead fiancee is mentioned by a secondary character but is never discussed by the H and h so it seemed like a loose thread. The OW was clearly deranged and he was very weak she was concerned hence the docking of a star. Other than that a very easy read.
I loved the h she very naughtily poured cement all over his classic car (thinking it was her ex's) and as she is so charming she gets away without criminal charges (she pays up). This makes our smart QC the laughing stock of London so hes already pretty cheesed off with the h.
Anyhoo turns out they are family and he is there when she turns up on a huge motorbike after tobying around Europe for 3 months. Sparks fly and she loves winding him up, shes staying on to get to know her family (his stepmother and half brother/sister) and he can just put up or shut up! She really is a breath of fresh air and winds him up constantly you can tell he is totally bamboozled.
Shes also independent can ride like a warrior and can play with the boys with the best of em.
This was a lovely fluffy book which gave me all the feels the book intimates there is a fair age gap but its never fully stated what it is. Also, a dead fiancee is mentioned by a secondary character but is never discussed by the H and h so it seemed like a loose thread. The OW was clearly deranged and he was very weak she was concerned hence the docking of a star. Other than that a very easy read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2022
Weird one. Drinking, property damage, random family members, a fake battle scene. Too much.
August 9, 2015
I had expected some humour and while this was in a lighter vein than most harelquins, it was also a little boring. Somewhat of a palette cleanser type book and not in itself a go to book for a good read.
June 24, 2013
Kate meets Dominic in court after covering his car in cement.
February 19, 2022
Plenty of potential, good banter and nice plot moments but the staged war/act dragged on too long and I skimmed all of it. HEA.
September 30, 2025
This is the book where the opening scene is about the cement poured over the Hero’s car.
December 10, 2012
omg amazing read !!changes so much from the usual harlequins where the hero has some huge misunderstanding or is a playboy and looking for only sex. and i laughed a lot througout the book
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews