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Second Best Wife
"I'll simply take you in her place."
Georgina's mouth fell open. "What on earth do you mean?"
"I mean," William replied patiently, "that you're a member of the female sex and that's all I need to come with me to the Far East as my wife."
"You're mad!" she gasped in utter disbelief.
But, unfortunately, William was not mad--only very determined. Rejected at the last moment by Georgina's somewhat capricious sister, he meant every single word!
Georgina's mouth fell open. "What on earth do you mean?"
"I mean," William replied patiently, "that you're a member of the female sex and that's all I need to come with me to the Far East as my wife."
"You're mad!" she gasped in utter disbelief.
But, unfortunately, William was not mad--only very determined. Rejected at the last moment by Georgina's somewhat capricious sister, he meant every single word!
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
1 person is currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Isobel Chace
71 books4 followersElizabeth Mary Teresa de Guise, née Hunter on 24 October 1934 in Nairobi, Kenya. She spent much of her years in Kenya and South Africa, and studied at the Open University. Her brother Alexander also wrote Western novels. After their parents' divorce, she and her sister, decided change their surname by de Guise.
Elizabeth wrote under the pseudonym of Isobel Chace, and under her real names: Elizabeth Hunter and Elizabeth de Guise. She was a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Elizabeth passed away in May 2005, at 70.
Elizabeth wrote under the pseudonym of Isobel Chace, and under her real names: Elizabeth Hunter and Elizabeth de Guise. She was a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Elizabeth passed away in May 2005, at 70.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 15, 2017
I always thought Canadians were the nicest of all our neighbors until StMargrets review made me read this book. I feel so betrayed. Yes, I am degenerating into teenhood and not taking any responsibility for reading this.
Cussing, cursing and swearing…
PLOTt:
Georgie the h is asked by her little sister Jennifer to get her out of her engagement to William. She does and he maneuvers her into the marriage instead. They go to Sri Lanka where she’s asked/expected to help his 20 year old ward who is guarded by Satan. The ward has yet another succubus as a caretaker making the arrogant H one of the biggest rubes in HarleyLand. Little sister arrives later to create havoc.
RESPONSE
What the ever loving FUCK! Bad enough that the h is yet another sister saddled with a succubus of a sister (wow, the alliteration) she has to clean up after her and endure being second best once again. As a negative, the h is way too strident. In the first few pages, she punches out three other characters.
The hero:
As for the hero, William, FUCKING William, he’s up there with the worst of the worst heroes. Heroes of the Mediterranean have nothing on him. They may slut-shame, blackmail, belittle, but they don’t compare their h to another woman, their own sister, ad nauseam. He belittles the heroine every moment comparing her to her paragon of a sister in terms of personality, honesty, figure and friends, and assumes she wants to have an affair with another man on the the flimsiest of evidence. The little sis is obviously one of the most intelligent of the lot which isn't saying a lot. The H is OTT, cruel and nauseating. Even when his ward talks about how much she likes Georgie, the asshole compares the heroine to Jennifer and how much nicer she would have been to his OTT gorgeous ward. The H never says one nice word to the h, even during her lucky, lucky seduction until the very bitter end.
He asks Georgie to get rid of Miss Campbell, the horrible caretaker of the ward, then blasts her for doing it. Big mistake as Miss Campbell is NO BUENO!!!!!!!!
The only thing that kept me going was the prospect that Jennifer was going to get her comeuppance, but it barely happens despite her participation in some serious evil doings.
NO COMEUPPANCE for some serious evil doers.
HOW OTHER AUTHORS WOULD HANDLE THIS TOXIC TRIO:
Maya Banks: Georgie, Stewart and Celine would end up together in a menage despite the fact the Maya only does M, M, and F trios.
N. Sparks: Georgie would die and Celine/maybe Jennifer andass-hole William would get together. What kind of a hero name is WILLIAM?
Edith Wharton: Georgie would take a fall, become crippled and Celine andass-hole William would end up taking care of her. (Ethan From)
Charlotte Bronte: Georgie serves as nanny to Mr. Rochester’s akaass-hole William's ward, Celine, but Georgie ends ups blind when the evil Jennifer burns down the house.
Daphne du Maurier:ass-hole William marries Georgie and takes her home where Miss Campbell terrorizes her and Celine and the evil specter Jennifer looms over all.
Cussing, cursing and swearing…
PLOTt:
Georgie the h is asked by her little sister Jennifer to get her out of her engagement to William. She does and he maneuvers her into the marriage instead. They go to Sri Lanka where she’s asked/expected to help his 20 year old ward who is guarded by Satan. The ward has yet another succubus as a caretaker making the arrogant H one of the biggest rubes in HarleyLand. Little sister arrives later to create havoc.
RESPONSE
What the ever loving FUCK! Bad enough that the h is yet another sister saddled with a succubus of a sister (wow, the alliteration) she has to clean up after her and endure being second best once again. As a negative, the h is way too strident. In the first few pages, she punches out three other characters.
The hero:
As for the hero, William, FUCKING William, he’s up there with the worst of the worst heroes. Heroes of the Mediterranean have nothing on him. They may slut-shame, blackmail, belittle, but they don’t compare their h to another woman, their own sister, ad nauseam. He belittles the heroine every moment comparing her to her paragon of a sister in terms of personality, honesty, figure and friends, and assumes she wants to have an affair with another man on the the flimsiest of evidence. The little sis is obviously one of the most intelligent of the lot which isn't saying a lot. The H is OTT, cruel and nauseating. Even when his ward talks about how much she likes Georgie, the asshole compares the heroine to Jennifer and how much nicer she would have been to his OTT gorgeous ward. The H never says one nice word to the h, even during her lucky, lucky seduction until the very bitter end.
He asks Georgie to get rid of Miss Campbell, the horrible caretaker of the ward, then blasts her for doing it. Big mistake as Miss Campbell is NO BUENO!!!!!!!!
The only thing that kept me going was the prospect that Jennifer was going to get her comeuppance, but it barely happens despite her participation in some serious evil doings.
NO COMEUPPANCE for some serious evil doers.
HOW OTHER AUTHORS WOULD HANDLE THIS TOXIC TRIO:
Maya Banks: Georgie, Stewart and Celine would end up together in a menage despite the fact the Maya only does M, M, and F trios.
N. Sparks: Georgie would die and Celine/maybe Jennifer and
Edith Wharton: Georgie would take a fall, become crippled and Celine and
Charlotte Bronte: Georgie serves as nanny to Mr. Rochester’s aka
Daphne du Maurier:
March 30, 2016
Oh, the evil younger sister and their sibling rivalry is awesome in this story! I don't have a sister, but boy howdy, I could relate to all the negative feelings the heroine had toward her sister. The premise of this story - sister jilts hero, so hero marries the sister who tells him the news - reminded me of Betty Neels's The Hasty Marriage (a five star read for me). But unlike the heroine who was in love with hero in the HM, this heroine has *hated*the hero since she was ten years old and he made fun of her for hitting a boy who was tormenting her younger sister.
Ah, but the lady doth protest too much. All that hate between them is just brimming with sexual tension and the hero, once he's out of the same time zone as the sister (they move to Sri Lanka), realizes he got the better deal. Heroine can't see how smitten he is until the end.
This story was so much fun. The heroine is impulsive and strong and loyal to her sister for too long, but then eventually learns. Both of them learn. For example, I loved when the hero realized that the heroine wasn't really all that tall because she always seemed bigger than life to him. He was attracted to her from the beginning as he explains in his declaration - especially when she pointed out she was better endowed than the sister. There was lots of banter like this.
Quibbles to make note of:
The dialogue is staccato - like the old Spenser Tracy/ Katherine Hepburn movies. There's lots of "male mastery" talk and "taming" the heroine.
There's a lot of description of Sri Lanka and the tea industry - but the characters actually note the problems of English colonialism in Ceylon, so that was refreshing.
Ah, but the lady doth protest too much. All that hate between them is just brimming with sexual tension and the hero, once he's out of the same time zone as the sister (they move to Sri Lanka), realizes he got the better deal. Heroine can't see how smitten he is until the end.
This story was so much fun. The heroine is impulsive and strong and loyal to her sister for too long, but then eventually learns. Both of them learn. For example, I loved when the hero realized that the heroine wasn't really all that tall because she always seemed bigger than life to him. He was attracted to her from the beginning as he explains in his declaration - especially when she pointed out she was better endowed than the sister. There was lots of banter like this.
Quibbles to make note of:
The dialogue is staccato - like the old Spenser Tracy/ Katherine Hepburn movies. There's lots of "male mastery" talk and "taming" the heroine.
There's a lot of description of Sri Lanka and the tea industry - but the characters actually note the problems of English colonialism in Ceylon, so that was refreshing.
January 27, 2021
'I started falling for you when you claimed you were better stacked than Jennie. You are too!' said the H to the h! Men 🤦🏻♀️
May 21, 2016
The hero and heroine met when they were children and as the hero grew he began to tease her more and more. When she got old enough, the hero decided he would marry the heroines "delicate and gentle" little sister. Only the little sister changed her mind and blamed that mind change on the heroine. So the hero would take the heroine instead. After they married and moved, the heroine took over care of the heroes ward and then the hero found out what a manipulative little bitch the younger sister is. The hero was grateful he got the good sister despite their warring and fell in love with her, as she did him.
It was pretty good, considering this is the second book I've read by Isobel Chace, I'm pretty impressed overall. The characters were sweeties, especially the ward and heroine. I hated the two villains and the hero finally got it together in the end.
It was pretty good, considering this is the second book I've read by Isobel Chace, I'm pretty impressed overall. The characters were sweeties, especially the ward and heroine. I hated the two villains and the hero finally got it together in the end.
May 13, 2020
So toxic and an awful book.
July 6, 2020
I think this would have worked better as a Regency or Victorian era story (the heroine's innocence and the hero's self-proclaimed "Victorian husband" attitude would have worked better), but I really enjoyed it! The characters were flawed--pugnacious, insecure Georgie Porgie; arrogant and a little smug William; and the one of the worst sister's I've come across in a Harley--up there with Lyn from Charlotte Lamb's The Devil's Arms--I have no doubt Jennifer would have left Georgie bleeding and half conscious if the occasion arose.
Lots of good reviews and William-hate already, but I actually kind of liked William--even though he was hard-headed and only wanted to be married because it was convenient, and quite hurtful with his mockery of the heroine, whom he must have realized was wildly in love with him (even if she did give him a black eye at their first encounter in the book--ha!). He also was quite shameful in his constant comparisons of Georgie to her honeypot sister--but a lot of Georgie's heartache was caused by her immature reactions to William and her own lack of self confidence (caused largely by her totally sh*tty family). But I liked that William didn't rush her and was pretty human for an alpha male, and became just as besotted once they spent time--including sexytime to their mutual delight--together. I liked Georgie a lot too--quick to hit out physically, but super vulnerable and unworldly, protective of her crappy family (who blatantly treated her as second best far more than the hero does) and so obviously head over heels from the start that it was painful to read sometimes.
Lotta fun stuff in this one: family dynamics; love disguised as hate initially from the immature heroine; a pretty matter-of-fact, if fade to black, take on sexyfuntime; black magic; an improbable ward (20 to the hero's 28) who is NOT the potential OW, is suffering from PTSD and has a very sweet secondary love story of her own; a likable heroine who is a little quick with her fists; and a nice tour of Sri Lanka. Also refreshing to see characters acknowledge the ills caused by Colonialism--rare particularly for a vintage novel. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this old-skool outing.
Lots of good reviews and William-hate already, but I actually kind of liked William--even though he was hard-headed and only wanted to be married because it was convenient, and quite hurtful with his mockery of the heroine, whom he must have realized was wildly in love with him (even if she did give him a black eye at their first encounter in the book--ha!). He also was quite shameful in his constant comparisons of Georgie to her honeypot sister--but a lot of Georgie's heartache was caused by her immature reactions to William and her own lack of self confidence (caused largely by her totally sh*tty family). But I liked that William didn't rush her and was pretty human for an alpha male, and became just as besotted once they spent time--including sexytime to their mutual delight--together. I liked Georgie a lot too--quick to hit out physically, but super vulnerable and unworldly, protective of her crappy family (who blatantly treated her as second best far more than the hero does) and so obviously head over heels from the start that it was painful to read sometimes.
Lotta fun stuff in this one: family dynamics; love disguised as hate initially from the immature heroine; a pretty matter-of-fact, if fade to black, take on sexyfuntime; black magic; an improbable ward (20 to the hero's 28) who is NOT the potential OW, is suffering from PTSD and has a very sweet secondary love story of her own; a likable heroine who is a little quick with her fists; and a nice tour of Sri Lanka. Also refreshing to see characters acknowledge the ills caused by Colonialism--rare particularly for a vintage novel. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this old-skool outing.
October 4, 2021
What a B****!!! The sister in this story takes top honors! But before I delve into this too much, I just want to point out some really good reviews
Stmargarets review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And Grrrrace review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
These 2 reviews cover it all and I am not sure why I am bothering to post anything!
First off, I gave this 4 stars and 1 star is for the cover. I have said this before that I miss the old cover art from these Harley’s even when they are strange. I thought the heroine on the cover was beautiful like an actress from the 40’s. This book kind of reads like a movie from the 40’s. I also felt a little bit of Anne of Green Gables. The heroine reminded me of Anne and the Hero of Gilbert Blythe. I have a soft spot for the PBS mini series not the netflix remake. I must admit I have never read the actual books and should probably do so!
Since the 2 reviews I mentioned are truly terrific, I will just give an overview of the characters.
Heroine, Georgina, 23 is a little spitfire. She knows how to pack a punch.
Unfortunately for her she was saddled with a year younger sister and was in charge of protecting her. Her sister was a spoilt pretty blonde thing that played with people like a 2 year old with their first doll dragging it by its hair. At the age of 10 the heroine punched one boy who was messing with her itty bitty sister and the hero gave her the moniker of Georgie Porgie….she spent the next few years punching out anyone who dared to use the nursery rhyme on her. Needless to say she was not a fan of the Hero.
Hero, William, 28,
had set his sights on marrying the heroine’s 22 year old sister because he thought she would be good for his 20 year old ward(20!!) He has been the bane of Georgiana’s existence. He is constantly reminding her of her younger sister’s many attributes(although the h has a better body) and continues to refer to her as Georgie Porgie. He doesn’t believe the heroine when she tells him she had nothing to do with her sister breaking up with him, but he refuses to believe her and insists she must take the place as his bride and go to Sri Lanka with him. For some reason she thinks she has no choice(the 70’s we are burning bra’s y’all) and marries him.
OW, Sister Jennifer, 22, She comes off as sweet, virginal, blonde, and delicate….I think the only thing true about her is her blonde status.
She is actually a skillful puppet master. She is constantly telling lies to make her sister look bad and keep the men salivating after her. Seriously, she is probably the most cunning and smartest of the group. She even has her parents bamboozled. Unfortunately, the h keeps doing her bidding long after she should have put a stop to it. When the h went to college, she should have stayed there! I won’t give anymore away, but this sister is one of the worst characters I have read. She really never gets a good comeuppance in the story although her true nature is figured out by the Hero fairly quickly even though he doesn’t admit it to the h until the end.
Characters who back up the heroine:
Celine, 20, the H’s damaged ward, she is beautiful and fragile..
she lost her unlovable mom in a fire possibly orchestrated by her caretaker the evil Ms. Campbell. She is suffering from PTSS which is further exasperated by her caretaker. The caretaker treats her as child and insists she has a mind of a child, when actually except for being terrorized, she has quite a bit of insight into things. She also likes the heroine right away, which says much about her judgement of character. Originally the H felt that Jennifer would be a good influence on Celine, however, he was clueless as to how vain Jennifer is. She would not have stood for such a beautiful specimen in her presence. Georgie was a much better fit for Celine and helped the girl immeasurably.
Stuart, mid 20s, employed to taste and approve of the teas grown on the property..
he is also the champion and love interest of Celine. He does cause a moment of jealousy in the Hero, as he recognizes Georgie for the beautiful, lovely person she is right off the bat…
He has some of the most complimentary comments about the h…
...
“No one could be that,' he agreed cheerfully. 'But beauty isn't everything, duckie. Georgina is very much my type!' He flashed a meaning look at the surprised Georgina. 'Pity she's already taken!”
“To her surprise William laughed. 'You're embarrassing my wife,' he said wryly to Stuart. 'She isn't accustomed to compliments from the opposite sex. You'll have to go easily with her.”
“Happily, Stuart shook his head in stunned disbelief. 'What's wrong with the men back home?' he wondered.”
It’s safe to say I love Stuart!
Honorable mention to the Hero’s mom…she has a very small role, but even she recognized the worth of the h early on in the book and fully supported a union of her to her son. This was the mom’s response to the H’s proclamation that he was marrying the h.
...
“I know it's your life,' she rushed on, kissing her son warmly on the cheek, 'but Jennifer would never have been my choice for you. She would have bored you to death inside a fortnight of close proximity, whereas one never knows what to expect from Georgie, does one? So much more interesting! But I'm surprised you realised that for yourself, dear. I was so afraid you were blinded by Jennifer's fragile beauty—it won't last!—and would mistake one of her little girl's appeals for masculine sympathy as true love. The girl has never yet formed a stable relationship and, in my opinion, she never will.”
This is a vintage story. So love scenes are fade to black and there is a lot of macho “me Tarzan, you Jane talk” I enjoyed the story for the most part, and the evil sister really raised my blood pressure. I’m not sure it would be a reread for me, but I am glad I read it at least once.
Stmargarets review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And Grrrrace review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
These 2 reviews cover it all and I am not sure why I am bothering to post anything!
First off, I gave this 4 stars and 1 star is for the cover. I have said this before that I miss the old cover art from these Harley’s even when they are strange. I thought the heroine on the cover was beautiful like an actress from the 40’s. This book kind of reads like a movie from the 40’s. I also felt a little bit of Anne of Green Gables. The heroine reminded me of Anne and the Hero of Gilbert Blythe. I have a soft spot for the PBS mini series not the netflix remake. I must admit I have never read the actual books and should probably do so!
Since the 2 reviews I mentioned are truly terrific, I will just give an overview of the characters.
Heroine, Georgina, 23 is a little spitfire. She knows how to pack a punch.
Unfortunately for her she was saddled with a year younger sister and was in charge of protecting her. Her sister was a spoilt pretty blonde thing that played with people like a 2 year old with their first doll dragging it by its hair. At the age of 10 the heroine punched one boy who was messing with her itty bitty sister and the hero gave her the moniker of Georgie Porgie….she spent the next few years punching out anyone who dared to use the nursery rhyme on her. Needless to say she was not a fan of the Hero.
Hero, William, 28,
had set his sights on marrying the heroine’s 22 year old sister because he thought she would be good for his 20 year old ward(20!!) He has been the bane of Georgiana’s existence. He is constantly reminding her of her younger sister’s many attributes(although the h has a better body) and continues to refer to her as Georgie Porgie. He doesn’t believe the heroine when she tells him she had nothing to do with her sister breaking up with him, but he refuses to believe her and insists she must take the place as his bride and go to Sri Lanka with him. For some reason she thinks she has no choice(the 70’s we are burning bra’s y’all) and marries him.
OW, Sister Jennifer, 22, She comes off as sweet, virginal, blonde, and delicate….I think the only thing true about her is her blonde status.
She is actually a skillful puppet master. She is constantly telling lies to make her sister look bad and keep the men salivating after her. Seriously, she is probably the most cunning and smartest of the group. She even has her parents bamboozled. Unfortunately, the h keeps doing her bidding long after she should have put a stop to it. When the h went to college, she should have stayed there! I won’t give anymore away, but this sister is one of the worst characters I have read. She really never gets a good comeuppance in the story although her true nature is figured out by the Hero fairly quickly even though he doesn’t admit it to the h until the end.
Characters who back up the heroine:
Celine, 20, the H’s damaged ward, she is beautiful and fragile..
she lost her unlovable mom in a fire possibly orchestrated by her caretaker the evil Ms. Campbell. She is suffering from PTSS which is further exasperated by her caretaker. The caretaker treats her as child and insists she has a mind of a child, when actually except for being terrorized, she has quite a bit of insight into things. She also likes the heroine right away, which says much about her judgement of character. Originally the H felt that Jennifer would be a good influence on Celine, however, he was clueless as to how vain Jennifer is. She would not have stood for such a beautiful specimen in her presence. Georgie was a much better fit for Celine and helped the girl immeasurably.
Stuart, mid 20s, employed to taste and approve of the teas grown on the property..
he is also the champion and love interest of Celine. He does cause a moment of jealousy in the Hero, as he recognizes Georgie for the beautiful, lovely person she is right off the bat…
He has some of the most complimentary comments about the h…
...
“No one could be that,' he agreed cheerfully. 'But beauty isn't everything, duckie. Georgina is very much my type!' He flashed a meaning look at the surprised Georgina. 'Pity she's already taken!”
“To her surprise William laughed. 'You're embarrassing my wife,' he said wryly to Stuart. 'She isn't accustomed to compliments from the opposite sex. You'll have to go easily with her.”
“Happily, Stuart shook his head in stunned disbelief. 'What's wrong with the men back home?' he wondered.”
It’s safe to say I love Stuart!
Honorable mention to the Hero’s mom…she has a very small role, but even she recognized the worth of the h early on in the book and fully supported a union of her to her son. This was the mom’s response to the H’s proclamation that he was marrying the h.
...
“I know it's your life,' she rushed on, kissing her son warmly on the cheek, 'but Jennifer would never have been my choice for you. She would have bored you to death inside a fortnight of close proximity, whereas one never knows what to expect from Georgie, does one? So much more interesting! But I'm surprised you realised that for yourself, dear. I was so afraid you were blinded by Jennifer's fragile beauty—it won't last!—and would mistake one of her little girl's appeals for masculine sympathy as true love. The girl has never yet formed a stable relationship and, in my opinion, she never will.”
This is a vintage story. So love scenes are fade to black and there is a lot of macho “me Tarzan, you Jane talk” I enjoyed the story for the most part, and the evil sister really raised my blood pressure. I’m not sure it would be a reread for me, but I am glad I read it at least once.
February 27, 2015
Lots of boring descriptions.
July 17, 2016
Rating: 3 stars
I didn't really get into the book. What really frustrated me was how nice Georgie was to Jennifer even though she knew about the lies Jennifer had been telling people.
William was also frustrating as he didn't even punish Jennifer for her behaviour. Overall it was an okay read. But I found it odd how the author had portrayed Hinduism and the black magic the Indian lady (forgot her name) used near the end.
I didn't really get into the book. What really frustrated me was how nice Georgie was to Jennifer even though she knew about the lies Jennifer had been telling people.
William was also frustrating as he didn't even punish Jennifer for her behaviour. Overall it was an okay read. But I found it odd how the author had portrayed Hinduism and the black magic the Indian lady (forgot her name) used near the end.
February 23, 2023
This book started well with hero and heroine hating each other since childhood but ended up marrying one another. The story moves to Srilanka from England, but I found it dull and boring. There were a couple of OWs, and the leads were always fighting, and hero kept bullying heroine. Not worth the time reading
October 31, 2018
Second Best Wife by Isobel Chace is the story of Georgina and William.
The heroine's sister, Jennifer, is engaged to the hero, William. When Jennifer decides she didn't want to be with William anymore, she convinces her sister Georgina to give him the bad news. Georgina accepts to do it because she has gotten into the habit of taking care of her little sister and because it's a perfect opportunity to get even with William. William and Georgina have a history together. At a party when they were little, Georgina punched a boy who bullied her sister and William nicknamed her Georgie Porgie like the nursery rhyme which he adapted to: Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, Kissed the boys and made them cry! She has been teased ever since.
William is angry at Georgina. He thinks she bullied her sister into getting engaged to him and then bullied her into breaking it. William has always had a mistaken impression about Georgina. Over the years, Jennifer has manipulated him into thinking that she is a bully. Because she broke his plans, William forces Georgina to marry him. They get married and travel to Sri Lanka where William who is an engineer takes a job working on an irrigation project. What follows is more misunderstandings, fighting between the hero and heroine and problems with a ward the hero has.
Why 5 stars? The story was very funny and I loved the heroine. She was feisty and gave as good as she got. I enjoyed very much the moment when she punched the hero. He was so blind to Jennifer's true character and so mean and annoying to the heroine that I thought he deserved to be punched every day. But I liked how as he got to know the heroine better, he began to realize that maybe things weren't as he thought they were. I thought the talk they had at the end when they cleared the air and talked about the moment they fell in love was very sweet.
The heroine's sister, Jennifer, is engaged to the hero, William. When Jennifer decides she didn't want to be with William anymore, she convinces her sister Georgina to give him the bad news. Georgina accepts to do it because she has gotten into the habit of taking care of her little sister and because it's a perfect opportunity to get even with William. William and Georgina have a history together. At a party when they were little, Georgina punched a boy who bullied her sister and William nicknamed her Georgie Porgie like the nursery rhyme which he adapted to: Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, Kissed the boys and made them cry! She has been teased ever since.
William is angry at Georgina. He thinks she bullied her sister into getting engaged to him and then bullied her into breaking it. William has always had a mistaken impression about Georgina. Over the years, Jennifer has manipulated him into thinking that she is a bully. Because she broke his plans, William forces Georgina to marry him. They get married and travel to Sri Lanka where William who is an engineer takes a job working on an irrigation project. What follows is more misunderstandings, fighting between the hero and heroine and problems with a ward the hero has.
Why 5 stars? The story was very funny and I loved the heroine. She was feisty and gave as good as she got. I enjoyed very much the moment when she punched the hero. He was so blind to Jennifer's true character and so mean and annoying to the heroine that I thought he deserved to be punched every day. But I liked how as he got to know the heroine better, he began to realize that maybe things weren't as he thought they were. I thought the talk they had at the end when they cleared the air and talked about the moment they fell in love was very sweet.
April 6, 2016
Boring with constant bickering and childish grievance going on.
February 21, 2022
This book was bizarre, like the ravings of Mr. Rochester’s lunatic wife.
May 22, 2023
2.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️this was not a smooth read. There were times when the MCs are talking with other people in the room and their conversation goes on and on without the other people talking. All I can think of did mother or Celine just fade from the room? It was choppy, the bickering was repetitive and nonsensical at times. The author was trying to pull off a “Taming of the Shrew” but it didn't work.
July 6, 2022
I liked this quite a bit although he was awfully slow to see through sister's machinations. The romance built slowly but surely and the plot-device-young-ward worked well to contrast the nice sister against the nasty one.
Please see my full review here: https://www.morebooksthantime.com/sec...
Book is the same as The Undesirable Wife
Please see my full review here: https://www.morebooksthantime.com/sec...
Book is the same as The Undesirable Wife
July 26, 2019
It started out promising but ended up being a dud. The story would have had more impact if the evil sister got her just desert and the H's budding love for his wife was fleshed out more. Also Celine and her nurse were really superfluous and added a unrealistic element to the story.
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July 27, 2011"Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, Kissed the boys and made them cry!"
So began the torment of Georgina by her nemesis, William. Seeing her only as a bully, misbelieving the tall tales told him by her sister, Jennifer, William and Georgina are in constant battle. A fine line between love and hate is eventually revealed.
A very sweet and delightful story.
So began the torment of Georgina by her nemesis, William. Seeing her only as a bully, misbelieving the tall tales told him by her sister, Jennifer, William and Georgina are in constant battle. A fine line between love and hate is eventually revealed.
A very sweet and delightful story.
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