What do you think?
Rate this book
Terms Of Possession
She needed money....
for her mother's operation.
He wanted a son and heir....
and he was prepared to pay for it.
A contract for seduction:
Cameron Hunter's offer was extraordinary, but his terms were simple: he would possess Nadine, body and soul...and the resulting baby would by his. Yet, for Nadine, this could never be a straightforward business arrangement. Cameron was the only man she'd ever loved - and he was now the father of her child. She just couldn't walk away!
for her mother's operation.
He wanted a son and heir....
and he was prepared to pay for it.
A contract for seduction:
Cameron Hunter's offer was extraordinary, but his terms were simple: he would possess Nadine, body and soul...and the resulting baby would by his. Yet, for Nadine, this could never be a straightforward business arrangement. Cameron was the only man she'd ever loved - and he was now the father of her child. She just couldn't walk away!
186 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Elizabeth Power
146 books33 followersFollowing in her father's footsteps, Elizabeth Power wanted to be a writer from a very early age. Once she realised that copying Rupert Bear stories word for word from her albums wasn't really the thing to do, she was on her way!
By the age of fourteen, Elizabeth had produced her first full-length novel—alas! never published—and by the age of fifteen her teenage years meant life was so full that all literary ambitions became somewhat overshadowed.
Married in her early twenties, Elizabeth found that the needs of the home became her priority. Despite the ever present nagging little voice in her conscience that constantly reminded her of those unfulfilled writing ambitions, the creativity had stopped.
A few weeks before her thirtieth birthday, Elizabeth was thinking about what she had done with her first thirty years and realised she had been telling herself that she would "start writing tomorrow" for at least twelve of them! She couldn't help wondering, "whatever happened to that dream?" Within two weeks her "tomorrow" would come when fate took a hand in the form of redundancy!
Writing was now Elizabeth's life. After several attempts, the letter that was to change her life arrived from Mills & Boon. They wanted to publish her book. The novels flowed, and they have continued to publish her books ever since.
Living in England's beautiful West Country, she likes nothing better than taking walks with her husband along the coast or in the adjoining woods, and enjoying all that nature has to offer.
Travelling ranks very highly among Elizabeth's pleasures, and so many places she has visited have been recreated in her books.
Of her writing, emotional intensity is paramount. She says, "Times, places and trends change, but emotion is timeless." A powerful storyline with maximum emotion set in a location in which one can really live and breathe whilst the story unfolds is what she strives for.
By the age of fourteen, Elizabeth had produced her first full-length novel—alas! never published—and by the age of fifteen her teenage years meant life was so full that all literary ambitions became somewhat overshadowed.
Married in her early twenties, Elizabeth found that the needs of the home became her priority. Despite the ever present nagging little voice in her conscience that constantly reminded her of those unfulfilled writing ambitions, the creativity had stopped.
A few weeks before her thirtieth birthday, Elizabeth was thinking about what she had done with her first thirty years and realised she had been telling herself that she would "start writing tomorrow" for at least twelve of them! She couldn't help wondering, "whatever happened to that dream?" Within two weeks her "tomorrow" would come when fate took a hand in the form of redundancy!
Writing was now Elizabeth's life. After several attempts, the letter that was to change her life arrived from Mills & Boon. They wanted to publish her book. The novels flowed, and they have continued to publish her books ever since.
Living in England's beautiful West Country, she likes nothing better than taking walks with her husband along the coast or in the adjoining woods, and enjoying all that nature has to offer.
Travelling ranks very highly among Elizabeth's pleasures, and so many places she has visited have been recreated in her books.
Of her writing, emotional intensity is paramount. She says, "Times, places and trends change, but emotion is timeless." A powerful storyline with maximum emotion set in a location in which one can really live and breathe whilst the story unfolds is what she strives for.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
December 22, 2024
The heroine was a shy and reserved girl. She was secretly in love with the Hero.
The heroine's beautiful, confident and shallow friend started pursuing the Hero the minute the Heroine introduced them and she did get him.
He married the friend.
The heroine was heartbroken but accepted her fate.
A couple of years later the heroine agreed to become a surrogate mother to the couple by the old fashion way.
The friend suggested for them to spend a weekend at a Hotel with the sole purpose of the heroine getting pregnant.
Virgin heroine and the Hero had a romantic and passionate weekend and afterwards he returned to his wife.
A month later the heroine found out she was indeed pregnant.
Some time passed. The friend had run away with another man . They had an accident and got killed.
The Hero married the heroine.
She had married him because she loved him but also because he threatened that he was going to get full custody if she did not agree. He was a successful lawyer, you see.
She knew he had marry her because of the pregnancy.
The heroine gave birth to a healthy baby while the whole time she was insecure about his feelings for her.
At last the Hero confessed his love for her. He was in love with the heroine even before he met her friend but the heroine was so shy and reserved and that made him reluctant to make a move.
The friend pursued him,they had a one night stand and afterwards she lied to him about a pregnancy.
The Hero married her due to the pregnancy and tried to make it work while pining for the heroine the whole time.
The heroine's beautiful, confident and shallow friend started pursuing the Hero the minute the Heroine introduced them and she did get him.
He married the friend.
The heroine was heartbroken but accepted her fate.
A couple of years later the heroine agreed to become a surrogate mother to the couple by the old fashion way.
The friend suggested for them to spend a weekend at a Hotel with the sole purpose of the heroine getting pregnant.
Virgin heroine and the Hero had a romantic and passionate weekend and afterwards he returned to his wife.
A month later the heroine found out she was indeed pregnant.
Some time passed. The friend had run away with another man . They had an accident and got killed.
The Hero married the heroine.
She had married him because she loved him but also because he threatened that he was going to get full custody if she did not agree. He was a successful lawyer, you see.
She knew he had marry her because of the pregnancy.
The heroine gave birth to a healthy baby while the whole time she was insecure about his feelings for her.
At last the Hero confessed his love for her. He was in love with the heroine even before he met her friend but the heroine was so shy and reserved and that made him reluctant to make a move.
The friend pursued him,they had a one night stand and afterwards she lied to him about a pregnancy.
The Hero married her due to the pregnancy and tried to make it work while pining for the heroine the whole time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2018
Re Terms of Possession - Elizabeth Power's most whacktastic book ever. This one is so out there that it belongs on the Permanent HP list of Most Utterly Whacked HPlandia Voyages Ever.
In 1996 this book was a ground breaker, it touched upon a subject that was fraught with tension in the UK at the time and even today in the UK is very hotly debated.
The issue is surrogate pregnancy for payment. Not the typical stuff of your everyday HP outing, but one that has very contemporary real world roots in the time it was written.
In 1985 a lady named Kim Cotton was paid £6,500 to have a baby for an American couple as a surrogate. When local UK authorities found out about it, a storm of controversy was ignited over 'babies for cash' and a year later the UK Parliament enacted a law that said paid surrogacy was illegal, but made no provision for surrogacy otherwise.
Then in 1990, the UK government determined that surrogacy agreements are unenforceable as the woman who carried and delivered the baby is legally the child's mother and her husband, if she is married, is legally the child's father- even if the child is not biologically related to them.
(In fact this standard is still used in the UK today, even though surrogacy has been a societal norm for the last 15 years. Thus there are still cases where biological parents are having to adopt or petition for guardianship of their own children and some huge legal battles have ensued.
FYI: the US and other countries have much clearer guidelines and a clear legal outline of how to contract for surrogacy, tho there have been huge custody battles in the US too.)
But anyhows, this is HPlandia and we love drama and embrace dubious legality in the name of utter trainwreckiness. So naturally if contracted surrogacy is going to happen, there is going to be that special HP Trainwrecky Twist.
In this case, there is more than one. The h in this is a 24 yr old unicorn groomer who has been in love with the 30 something MARRIED lawyer H since before he was married and she worked for him as his secretary.
The h needs money for her beloved mother's private treatment heart surgery - the lady is failing rapidly and the publicly insured waiting list is very long, there is a good chance the h's mother won't live long enough to make the top of the list. So the h agrees to be a surrogate for cash.
As per Long Standing HPlandia Tradition, the h's mother ADAMANTLY swears the h to utter secrecy regarding her illness and need for surgery - these mother's have their pride doncha' know- so while it is fine to pimp their offspring out to the highest bidder, their fatal heart condition, possible tumor, etc must never be revealed to anyone outside the immediate medical staff.
Fortunately for the h, her BFF, who is much more outgoing and lively, married the H after telling him she was preggers. Then she found out about her infertility, so the BFF decides the h will be a great surrogate to carry the H's future heir.
Since the BFF is insistent that she NEEDS be a mother, she manages to convince both the H and the h that they need to have a weekend of lurve clubbing to get the baby making process jump started.
Yes, you read that correctly. The wife is perfectly fine with the h and her husband having a banging baby making weekend if the payoff is a child. Apparently baby motilator vintages have a specific rating and IVF vintage motilators just aren't good enough, only the freshest, injected straight from the source will do.
The book opens with the H and h starting out on the baby making weekend and the h is positively overwhelmed with the Lurve Force Mojo as she gives up her unicorn grooming license forever - to the H's complete mystification as to why a unicorn groomer would even be doing that - unless of course she wanted to go shopping.
In due course the H's motilators hit the target and we all can anticipate a happy new arrival. The h's mum is saved and recovering nicely in a very private nursing home. Then the h sees the BFF locked in an embrace with another man who is not her husband and the h vows to never tell the H about his wife's perfidy.
The h is horrified and shocked and determined to keep the baby, rather than send it to a broken and adulterous home. (I fell over laughing when EP managed to convey this with a figuratively straight face.)
The h tells the H she is backing out, but neglects to tell him why as per her personal vow. The H is furious and explodes and starts a campaign of harassment and threats against the h. The H's wife has run off and eventually sends a letter explaining that she has eloped with her lover. Then she gets killed and H seemingly has no recourse.
Until he blackmails the h into marrying him by threatening to take custody of the baby - cause the h worked in a law office, but never managed to read the actual cases or even the Daily Mail. So the two marry and the h gets an adorable cat named Tuesday.
There is a lot of bickering and push and pull and angsty longing and huge Purple Passion Mojo Events and it is quite clear that this H is totally obsessed with the equally obsessed h.
But the h is convinced that the H only wants her for the baby and she gets to have nine months of mopey moments cause her love is unrequited.
The H is convinced the h is more into the guy she used to work for, who was really very nice and wore an earring, so his jealousy and possessiveness is raging rampantly.
As an epic trainwrecky whacktastic bonus, the dead BFF's cousin is running her mouth at full volume trying to convince the h that the H is really in love with her and multiplying the h's misery by a factor of 100 million.
Tuesday does some cute things too, so there is a little angsty angsting kitten relief.
Eventually it all boils up when the h goes to court to see the H prosecute a case and he ignores her and she goes into to labor in the middle of the court session and the wanna be OW is right behind the H in the courtroom making goo-goo eyes at him.
The h was there to talk to the H and hoping for an attempt at reconciliation outside of them lurve clubbing each other's brains out. The wanna be OW indicated that she and the H were going to be going on their own little weekend fling, and the h was ragingly jealous and desperate to stop him.
The h and H have a little girl and the H is a great labor coach. Relations are still strained between the H and h tho. The H knows all about the h's mum's health issues by now and that his wife was having an affair with another man, but rather than just telling the h how he feels about her, he decides to force a confrontation.
The H takes the h back to the hotel where their daughter was conceived and then to a nice country house he bought for the h. There are some verbal battling words and then the H tells the h that she loves him.
The h finally admits she does and the H disavows any dating or attraction to the wanna be OW - he was only representing her due to a partnership deal that affected his dead wife's estate and she apparently has a boy friend of her own.
(Tho one that she obviously wouldn't have minded dumping if she could get her hooks into the H, who married her cousin after a tepid date or two with her own fabulous wanna be OW self.)
The H then declares that he loves the h back and loved her even before he married his wife. Supposedly the H only married the BFF because she claimed to be preggers, but that turned out to be a lie and then he impregnated the h because he thought it would save his marriage.
(It is totally EP HP logic, don't ask, just roll with it.)
To prove that he really loves the h and not anyone else, we get the big reveal that the H put an offer in on the house for the h well before he blackmailed her into marriage. The H is also emotionally wounded that the h actually believed his custody threats.
He seems quite shocked that the h would think so little of him, even tho he pounded it into her head at every chance he got that he would use all his legal connections, which were numerous, to wrest her child away from her.
After all, the H explains, if he tried to take the h to court and sue for custody, she would be considered the baby's mother and he would be stricken from the Law Rolls for contracting a surrogate illegally.
(Which is kinda classic EP. Her H's do and say horrible things and then get their ego's hurt when the h totally believes they would actually do them, but EP always throws some real world logic in there to make the h feel silly.)
So now that the H has bullied and arranged everything just the way he wants it and the h believes that he is happy to stay with her, even if he has another life in London during the week.
The two of them agree to make their marriage more than just about the lurve club mojo, cause the baby and Tuesday need a loving, solid home for an utterly whacktastic, but quite entertaining HP Trainwreck Outing.
In 1996 this book was a ground breaker, it touched upon a subject that was fraught with tension in the UK at the time and even today in the UK is very hotly debated.
The issue is surrogate pregnancy for payment. Not the typical stuff of your everyday HP outing, but one that has very contemporary real world roots in the time it was written.
In 1985 a lady named Kim Cotton was paid £6,500 to have a baby for an American couple as a surrogate. When local UK authorities found out about it, a storm of controversy was ignited over 'babies for cash' and a year later the UK Parliament enacted a law that said paid surrogacy was illegal, but made no provision for surrogacy otherwise.
Then in 1990, the UK government determined that surrogacy agreements are unenforceable as the woman who carried and delivered the baby is legally the child's mother and her husband, if she is married, is legally the child's father- even if the child is not biologically related to them.
(In fact this standard is still used in the UK today, even though surrogacy has been a societal norm for the last 15 years. Thus there are still cases where biological parents are having to adopt or petition for guardianship of their own children and some huge legal battles have ensued.
FYI: the US and other countries have much clearer guidelines and a clear legal outline of how to contract for surrogacy, tho there have been huge custody battles in the US too.)
But anyhows, this is HPlandia and we love drama and embrace dubious legality in the name of utter trainwreckiness. So naturally if contracted surrogacy is going to happen, there is going to be that special HP Trainwrecky Twist.
In this case, there is more than one. The h in this is a 24 yr old unicorn groomer who has been in love with the 30 something MARRIED lawyer H since before he was married and she worked for him as his secretary.
The h needs money for her beloved mother's private treatment heart surgery - the lady is failing rapidly and the publicly insured waiting list is very long, there is a good chance the h's mother won't live long enough to make the top of the list. So the h agrees to be a surrogate for cash.
As per Long Standing HPlandia Tradition, the h's mother ADAMANTLY swears the h to utter secrecy regarding her illness and need for surgery - these mother's have their pride doncha' know- so while it is fine to pimp their offspring out to the highest bidder, their fatal heart condition, possible tumor, etc must never be revealed to anyone outside the immediate medical staff.
Fortunately for the h, her BFF, who is much more outgoing and lively, married the H after telling him she was preggers. Then she found out about her infertility, so the BFF decides the h will be a great surrogate to carry the H's future heir.
Since the BFF is insistent that she NEEDS be a mother, she manages to convince both the H and the h that they need to have a weekend of lurve clubbing to get the baby making process jump started.
Yes, you read that correctly. The wife is perfectly fine with the h and her husband having a banging baby making weekend if the payoff is a child. Apparently baby motilator vintages have a specific rating and IVF vintage motilators just aren't good enough, only the freshest, injected straight from the source will do.
The book opens with the H and h starting out on the baby making weekend and the h is positively overwhelmed with the Lurve Force Mojo as she gives up her unicorn grooming license forever - to the H's complete mystification as to why a unicorn groomer would even be doing that - unless of course she wanted to go shopping.
In due course the H's motilators hit the target and we all can anticipate a happy new arrival. The h's mum is saved and recovering nicely in a very private nursing home. Then the h sees the BFF locked in an embrace with another man who is not her husband and the h vows to never tell the H about his wife's perfidy.
The h is horrified and shocked and determined to keep the baby, rather than send it to a broken and adulterous home. (I fell over laughing when EP managed to convey this with a figuratively straight face.)
The h tells the H she is backing out, but neglects to tell him why as per her personal vow. The H is furious and explodes and starts a campaign of harassment and threats against the h. The H's wife has run off and eventually sends a letter explaining that she has eloped with her lover. Then she gets killed and H seemingly has no recourse.
Until he blackmails the h into marrying him by threatening to take custody of the baby - cause the h worked in a law office, but never managed to read the actual cases or even the Daily Mail. So the two marry and the h gets an adorable cat named Tuesday.
There is a lot of bickering and push and pull and angsty longing and huge Purple Passion Mojo Events and it is quite clear that this H is totally obsessed with the equally obsessed h.
But the h is convinced that the H only wants her for the baby and she gets to have nine months of mopey moments cause her love is unrequited.
The H is convinced the h is more into the guy she used to work for, who was really very nice and wore an earring, so his jealousy and possessiveness is raging rampantly.
As an epic trainwrecky whacktastic bonus, the dead BFF's cousin is running her mouth at full volume trying to convince the h that the H is really in love with her and multiplying the h's misery by a factor of 100 million.
Tuesday does some cute things too, so there is a little angsty angsting kitten relief.
Eventually it all boils up when the h goes to court to see the H prosecute a case and he ignores her and she goes into to labor in the middle of the court session and the wanna be OW is right behind the H in the courtroom making goo-goo eyes at him.
The h was there to talk to the H and hoping for an attempt at reconciliation outside of them lurve clubbing each other's brains out. The wanna be OW indicated that she and the H were going to be going on their own little weekend fling, and the h was ragingly jealous and desperate to stop him.
The h and H have a little girl and the H is a great labor coach. Relations are still strained between the H and h tho. The H knows all about the h's mum's health issues by now and that his wife was having an affair with another man, but rather than just telling the h how he feels about her, he decides to force a confrontation.
The H takes the h back to the hotel where their daughter was conceived and then to a nice country house he bought for the h. There are some verbal battling words and then the H tells the h that she loves him.
The h finally admits she does and the H disavows any dating or attraction to the wanna be OW - he was only representing her due to a partnership deal that affected his dead wife's estate and she apparently has a boy friend of her own.
(Tho one that she obviously wouldn't have minded dumping if she could get her hooks into the H, who married her cousin after a tepid date or two with her own fabulous wanna be OW self.)
The H then declares that he loves the h back and loved her even before he married his wife. Supposedly the H only married the BFF because she claimed to be preggers, but that turned out to be a lie and then he impregnated the h because he thought it would save his marriage.
(It is totally EP HP logic, don't ask, just roll with it.)
To prove that he really loves the h and not anyone else, we get the big reveal that the H put an offer in on the house for the h well before he blackmailed her into marriage. The H is also emotionally wounded that the h actually believed his custody threats.
He seems quite shocked that the h would think so little of him, even tho he pounded it into her head at every chance he got that he would use all his legal connections, which were numerous, to wrest her child away from her.
After all, the H explains, if he tried to take the h to court and sue for custody, she would be considered the baby's mother and he would be stricken from the Law Rolls for contracting a surrogate illegally.
(Which is kinda classic EP. Her H's do and say horrible things and then get their ego's hurt when the h totally believes they would actually do them, but EP always throws some real world logic in there to make the h feel silly.)
So now that the H has bullied and arranged everything just the way he wants it and the h believes that he is happy to stay with her, even if he has another life in London during the week.
The two of them agree to make their marriage more than just about the lurve club mojo, cause the baby and Tuesday need a loving, solid home for an utterly whacktastic, but quite entertaining HP Trainwreck Outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2016
This book was def unusual of its time and I could have enjoyed it a lot more but a few things just didn't work for me. First this book had adultery regardless of the wife encouraging it for the purpose of a baby and the fact that female lead agreed to it using her mother as a reason to justify it when deep inside she admitted to herself she was doing it for herself just wound me up. I think my main issue though is the fact that the hero admitted that he wanted his marriage to work and so I was left with the impression that if his wife had not died he would have been happy to take the baby and raise it with his wife so how can I feel that he loves the heroine? I personally did not feel he loved her enough more lke he was sexually attracted to her whereas you could really feel the love from the heroine for him. I have to admit I did not like or respect the female lead I know the hero's wife was not a nice person but at the end of the day she had been the heroine's best friend and the fact that she would have probably kept on sleeping with the hero if there was any chance because she just couldn't resist him made me want to puke up that in my opinion is not a woman worthy of my respect! This book could have been better if female lead actually showed some integrity instead of being lumped in the same category as her best friend who are what I call cheats.
November 8, 2021
Okay I just had to read this today after seeing it in my update feed and wow, I liked it. So my question is Where am I and what have you done to me? I personally blame boogenhagen because her review made me want to read it. And I wanted to give it four stars?!?! I really did. Even though there was blatant, out and out, honest to goodness, despicable, gross, disgusting, cringe inducing CHEATING in it! Gasp! Again I ask which way did I go???? I am still in shell shock and I wonder if God is going to smite me for liking adultery but in this case, I think even God wouldn't mind it. Maybe not. I was so intrigued by this book, I couldn't put it down. And honestly my 'Cheater Meter' didn't even beep, much less reach the implosion stage. I read a blurb and reviews on a book today called "Pretty Venom" and the 'Cheater Meter' reached near stroke level so I am really in a state of disbelief.
The heroes wife talks him into having smex with a co-worker to get a baby. She needs the money for her Mother who is sick and so she agreed to be a surrogate sex slave, oops I meant surrogate. The thing is the heroine secretly loves him and has for many years. she's a bonafide, certified, extra grade A virgin to boot. He takes her to a nice hotel and romances her basically with dinner, roses and a room where they spend two days going at it. Then he takes her home and goes back to his wife. At this point I was hearing Rod Serling talking about dimensions and zones and I kept reading it. I totally must be crazy. I hate hate hate cheating but I kept reading because it didn't bother me for some reason. There are a bunch of twists and turns and bossy males and annoying heroines and I don't want to spoil it any more. But it was worth the read. Would I read it again, probably not but I really did like it. I loved the ending and I think it's an awesome example of HPhysteria at its finest. Thank you Boogengagen for inspiring me to go out of my comfort zone. It was quite a ride.
The heroes wife talks him into having smex with a co-worker to get a baby. She needs the money for her Mother who is sick and so she agreed to be a surrogate sex slave, oops I meant surrogate. The thing is the heroine secretly loves him and has for many years. she's a bonafide, certified, extra grade A virgin to boot. He takes her to a nice hotel and romances her basically with dinner, roses and a room where they spend two days going at it. Then he takes her home and goes back to his wife. At this point I was hearing Rod Serling talking about dimensions and zones and I kept reading it. I totally must be crazy. I hate hate hate cheating but I kept reading because it didn't bother me for some reason. There are a bunch of twists and turns and bossy males and annoying heroines and I don't want to spoil it any more. But it was worth the read. Would I read it again, probably not but I really did like it. I loved the ending and I think it's an awesome example of HPhysteria at its finest. Thank you Boogengagen for inspiring me to go out of my comfort zone. It was quite a ride.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2009
A young wife convinces her friend to have a baby with her husband, but then hightails it off with her lover, leaving pregnant friend to deal with angry husband, who thinks the friend had something to do with the wife leaving. She dies soon after in a fiery car crash, leaving a friend pregnant with the baby of her husband. What a tangled web!
Not a fan of adultery theme in romance, but this one was so well done. I couldn't help thinking, why didn't they do artificial insemination? Did the husband really have to sleep with her friend to get her pregnant? I guess it's best not to ask that question, but to enjoy the story. It sets things up for future interactions (as the hero realizes that his obsessed with the heroine, and she was in love with him for years prior to the baby-making encounter).
The hero is very possessive of the heroine, despite the fact that he was married and the heroine is merely the surrogate. However I imagine sleeping together would forge such bonds (and since he was her first lover and the father of the baby, it probably engendered possessive feelings). The hero walks a tightrope of being a cruel hero versus a caring hero. He demands that the heroine live under his roof and allow him to take care of her. He pokes his head in often to see how her baby bump is growing. And he is livid when she insinuates that he might not be the baby's father after all, even though that is basically giving him a Get Out of Jail Free card. Yes, he's a very alpha hero, and happens to be a high profile lawyer (or barrister as they call trial lawyers in England).
Strangely, this was a book I couldn't put down (although I freely admit I love the pregnancy theme). I pondered the convoluted relationship between the hero and the heroine, and the wife, who actually didn't even really want a baby, but felt like she should want one because she thought that's what the hero wanted. He wanted a baby because he felt like his wife was heartbroken about being barren. Poor heroine is in the middle. Her mom needs surgery for her health, and by having the baby, she is able to afford the surgery. Of course, this makes her look like a gold digger to the hero who sees her faults with a magnifying glass, yet is able to overlook his wife's faults (including an ongoing affair) pretty easily. He has decided that she saved her virginity to trade for a higher paycheck (That makes no sense except to a HP hero). I have decided that the hero fell madly in love with the heroine and was tormented by the fact that he loved her instead of his wife. That is why he is so possessive and borderline domineering of her.
Ah, Life According to Harlequin Presents. I have a list of things I won't be doing after twenty plus years of reading these books. But we won't get into that.
Although this is probably a book that most people wouldn't want to read, I really enjoyed it. Thus it has a spot on my keeper shelf.
Mild spoiler: They named the baby Justine, since the hero was a barrister. I thought that was very cute. :)
Not a fan of adultery theme in romance, but this one was so well done. I couldn't help thinking, why didn't they do artificial insemination? Did the husband really have to sleep with her friend to get her pregnant? I guess it's best not to ask that question, but to enjoy the story. It sets things up for future interactions (as the hero realizes that his obsessed with the heroine, and she was in love with him for years prior to the baby-making encounter).
The hero is very possessive of the heroine, despite the fact that he was married and the heroine is merely the surrogate. However I imagine sleeping together would forge such bonds (and since he was her first lover and the father of the baby, it probably engendered possessive feelings). The hero walks a tightrope of being a cruel hero versus a caring hero. He demands that the heroine live under his roof and allow him to take care of her. He pokes his head in often to see how her baby bump is growing. And he is livid when she insinuates that he might not be the baby's father after all, even though that is basically giving him a Get Out of Jail Free card. Yes, he's a very alpha hero, and happens to be a high profile lawyer (or barrister as they call trial lawyers in England).
Strangely, this was a book I couldn't put down (although I freely admit I love the pregnancy theme). I pondered the convoluted relationship between the hero and the heroine, and the wife, who actually didn't even really want a baby, but felt like she should want one because she thought that's what the hero wanted. He wanted a baby because he felt like his wife was heartbroken about being barren. Poor heroine is in the middle. Her mom needs surgery for her health, and by having the baby, she is able to afford the surgery. Of course, this makes her look like a gold digger to the hero who sees her faults with a magnifying glass, yet is able to overlook his wife's faults (including an ongoing affair) pretty easily. He has decided that she saved her virginity to trade for a higher paycheck (That makes no sense except to a HP hero). I have decided that the hero fell madly in love with the heroine and was tormented by the fact that he loved her instead of his wife. That is why he is so possessive and borderline domineering of her.
Ah, Life According to Harlequin Presents. I have a list of things I won't be doing after twenty plus years of reading these books. But we won't get into that.
Although this is probably a book that most people wouldn't want to read, I really enjoyed it. Thus it has a spot on my keeper shelf.
Mild spoiler: They named the baby Justine, since the hero was a barrister. I thought that was very cute. :)
October 21, 2018
I don't know who is worse: the H's first wife who sets up this triangle then cheats and dies, the boring dweeb of a heroine, or the boring jerk go a hero. I don't give a rat's rear about any of these characters, just pity for the poor plot moppet born to these idiots and saddled with a cutesy name. I'm surprised they didn't name her after the hotel she was conceived in.
April 24, 2023
This was utterly ridiculous and crazy, yet enjoyable in the way only a HP can be. boogenhagen wrote a thoroughly spoiled review of this one if you want all the details. Basically it's one big misunderstanding wrapped in seriously dubious logic.
The H is a big shot lawyer and the heroine is a sweet, well-meaning idiot. Yes, she does sleep with the married H, but only because the H's wife begged her to in order to be a surrogate. The h does it because the wife is supposedly her BFF and she is also desperate to pay for her mother's secret surgery through the surrogacy payment. They do it the old fashioned way because artificial insemination apparently takes too long and is too complicated. It's insane, particularly because the wife/BFF already has one foot out the door when she cooks up this plot to pimp out her husband. She leaves shortly after they sleep together with her boyfriend and they both die in a drunk driving accident with her at the wheel. Perhaps BFF was drunk all along, which would at least partially explain her crazy behavior.
The H is a big shot lawyer and the heroine is a sweet, well-meaning idiot. Yes, she does sleep with the married H, but only because the H's wife begged her to in order to be a surrogate. The h does it because the wife is supposedly her BFF and she is also desperate to pay for her mother's secret surgery through the surrogacy payment. They do it the old fashioned way because artificial insemination apparently takes too long and is too complicated. It's insane, particularly because the wife/BFF already has one foot out the door when she cooks up this plot to pimp out her husband. She leaves shortly after they sleep together with her boyfriend and they both die in a drunk driving accident with her at the wheel. Perhaps BFF was drunk all along, which would at least partially explain her crazy behavior.
May 11, 2018
I wonder if anyone's seen the beautiful movie Firelight with the amazing Sophie Marceau?
If you haven't, I highly recommend it and if you have, you may understand why I eagerly picked this up, idiotically assuming it would be written in somewhat the same vein.
Because when I read the intro of the heroine sacrificing to give her best friend a child, I assumed the friend was probably in a wheelchair, sick with an incurable disease, maybe longing to see husband happy with a child before she dies and so trusts her friend with the deplorable task of sleeping with her husband, maybe faced with little choice after years of failed fertility treatments. Add on to the fact that the h was secretly in love with the husband ... it held all the trappings of a great read.
Well, Pick in Haste, Repent At Leisure. Why did I not read the reviews beforehand? This book should have been titled The 20 Month Pregnancy, except it was a misdiagnosis and it was really constipation and I went through the agony of it all just for a pile of crap. It felt that long, painful and pointless.
Wife is healthy. Her best friend, the h is hot. Which woman in her right mind would send her husband to have sex with her hot best friend? Their reason for not going through with Artificial Insemination was vague; it felt lazy, ignorant, miserly. Maybe h offered half the price with discreet sex thrown in.
It doesn't help that the book starts off straight into their sex rendezvous. So we get no clue of their angst and struggle to get to this stage. Aside from some minor second thoughts from the h, it just felt like two people cheating with his wife's blessing. I would have respected it more if the wife had just gotten in there and made it a rocking threesome.
It wasn't all bad for a while. There's a nice little twist with the wife turning out to be an evil bitch and H quickly becoming swoon-worthy with his actions proving louder than words that he is in love with the h and trying to take care of her, the unborn child and control an escalating situaiton.
But this h was unforgivably annoying. She's in love with him and later wants to keep the baby when she discovers the evilness of the wife. She tries to go back on the contract but doesn't tell him why. Neither does she tell him she went through this because she needed money for her mum's illness. It's almost as if she relishes being indignant at his high-handedness when really who could blame him when he's not in possession of all the facts.
She finds a way to keep ruining things with her useless meanderings and pointless quibbling and internal lamenting of how he must love his wife and not her. blah blah barf snore repeat. Her pregnancy and the book felt endless. I thought it must surely stop when she gave birth but nooo, it kept going on and on.
I can forgive many things in a book but boredom isn't one of them. I kept nodding off. Not the worst book ever but certainly not great.
If you haven't, I highly recommend it and if you have, you may understand why I eagerly picked this up, idiotically assuming it would be written in somewhat the same vein.
Because when I read the intro of the heroine sacrificing to give her best friend a child, I assumed the friend was probably in a wheelchair, sick with an incurable disease, maybe longing to see husband happy with a child before she dies and so trusts her friend with the deplorable task of sleeping with her husband, maybe faced with little choice after years of failed fertility treatments. Add on to the fact that the h was secretly in love with the husband ... it held all the trappings of a great read.
Well, Pick in Haste, Repent At Leisure. Why did I not read the reviews beforehand? This book should have been titled The 20 Month Pregnancy, except it was a misdiagnosis and it was really constipation and I went through the agony of it all just for a pile of crap. It felt that long, painful and pointless.
Wife is healthy. Her best friend, the h is hot. Which woman in her right mind would send her husband to have sex with her hot best friend? Their reason for not going through with Artificial Insemination was vague; it felt lazy, ignorant, miserly. Maybe h offered half the price with discreet sex thrown in.
It doesn't help that the book starts off straight into their sex rendezvous. So we get no clue of their angst and struggle to get to this stage. Aside from some minor second thoughts from the h, it just felt like two people cheating with his wife's blessing. I would have respected it more if the wife had just gotten in there and made it a rocking threesome.
It wasn't all bad for a while. There's a nice little twist with the wife turning out to be an evil bitch and H quickly becoming swoon-worthy with his actions proving louder than words that he is in love with the h and trying to take care of her, the unborn child and control an escalating situaiton.
But this h was unforgivably annoying. She's in love with him and later wants to keep the baby when she discovers the evilness of the wife. She tries to go back on the contract but doesn't tell him why. Neither does she tell him she went through this because she needed money for her mum's illness. It's almost as if she relishes being indignant at his high-handedness when really who could blame him when he's not in possession of all the facts.
She finds a way to keep ruining things with her useless meanderings and pointless quibbling and internal lamenting of how he must love his wife and not her. blah blah barf snore repeat. Her pregnancy and the book felt endless. I thought it must surely stop when she gave birth but nooo, it kept going on and on.
I can forgive many things in a book but boredom isn't one of them. I kept nodding off. Not the worst book ever but certainly not great.
September 18, 2012
This is the most offensive book I have ever read as a category romance. Maybe sleeping with your friend's husband to conceive a child worked in the 1983 smash hit the "Big Chill", but here it just fails miserably. Then again, I was appalled when I first saw it in the movie. But since it only flashed on the screen for a second, and wasn't a major portion of the movie, I could get over it.
However, when you add an asinine heroine that is beyond TSTL, a hero that is AMORAL and two OW (yes two, not one) you end up with one horrific debacle.
Avoid at all costs.
However, when you add an asinine heroine that is beyond TSTL, a hero that is AMORAL and two OW (yes two, not one) you end up with one horrific debacle.
Avoid at all costs.
February 25, 2026
Trainwreck!
One of the memorable openings I have come across another being the much unpopular book by Sharon kendrick name escapes me but anyway, this was interesting and not story I have come across before. I was not sure at times if the h was deeply in love with hero as she professed since she was always fighting with him. I know her reasoning was to not be same relationship as her mum. They both had their own emotional baggage before anything worked out but other than that machination of supposed OW and you more drama and confusion.
It was one was one trainwrecky ride, not one repeat so soon felt a little while at least.
One of the memorable openings I have come across another being the much unpopular book by Sharon kendrick name escapes me but anyway, this was interesting and not story I have come across before. I was not sure at times if the h was deeply in love with hero as she professed since she was always fighting with him. I know her reasoning was to not be same relationship as her mum. They both had their own emotional baggage before anything worked out but other than that machination of supposed OW and you more drama and confusion.
It was one was one trainwrecky ride, not one repeat so soon felt a little while at least.
August 26, 2020
IM DONE. NO SERIOUSLY. 10% INTO THE BOOK, NOT ONLY HAS THE HEROINE SLEPT WITH MARRIED OM WHO IS MARRIED TO HER BFF, SHE IS ALSO NOW PREGNANT AND HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH HIM WHILE THE OW CHEATS AWAY TOO.
D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G.
DNF. Gross.
Unsafe.
D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G.
DNF. Gross.
Unsafe.
March 10, 2024
Yuck double yuck.
Just nope.
What the fugg is this book about? The heroine accepts to be surrogate mother of her bffs child, but she’s a virgin, she’s always been in love with her bff husband, and she has to have real sex with him to get pregnant.
Disgusting.
The hero is also very disgusting.
Of course the sex was amazing, she gets pregnant and the bff leaves the hero for another man.
Then she dies and the hero marries the heroine. Basically he admits he always felt attracted to her but she was too lung for him and her bff who was older, trapped into marriage telling him she was preggo so it is plain and clear that he was having sex with her anyway.
He admits he never loved his wife but would have tried to make the marriage work anyway.
This was awful.
I don’t believe he would have been with the heroine if his wife hadn’t been with another man. So to me it’s a no for everything.
Just nope.
What the fugg is this book about? The heroine accepts to be surrogate mother of her bffs child, but she’s a virgin, she’s always been in love with her bff husband, and she has to have real sex with him to get pregnant.
Disgusting.
The hero is also very disgusting.
Of course the sex was amazing, she gets pregnant and the bff leaves the hero for another man.
Then she dies and the hero marries the heroine. Basically he admits he always felt attracted to her but she was too lung for him and her bff who was older, trapped into marriage telling him she was preggo so it is plain and clear that he was having sex with her anyway.
He admits he never loved his wife but would have tried to make the marriage work anyway.
This was awful.
I don’t believe he would have been with the heroine if his wife hadn’t been with another man. So to me it’s a no for everything.
March 30, 2024
Different, interesting but didn’t really work due to weak heroine. The H was an ass and didn’t have a good excuse, but the h was worse because she pined for him despite his behavior. Her constant inner musings about how much she loved him annoyed me. I wanted to shake her, yell at her to snap out of it and grow a spine! He’d treat her like crap beneath his shoe and in the next paragraph they’d be hanging out with her laughing like everything was cool and they were the best of friends. The fuck? She couldn’t stay mad him and expect better for herself. Weak.
August 11, 2020
Another crazy HP trainwreck. This one takes some pretty heavy stuff, but sucks all the seriousness out of it with wacky action/attitudes. In a nutshell, Nadine has been in love with Cameron for years… unfortunately she was too shy to tell him, and he hooked-up and married her BFF Lisa. Lisa is desperate for a child, and ask Nadine to be her surrogate… following so far?? Here’s the kicker, the wife suggests impregnating Nadine the old-fashioned way during a weekend snogfest with her hubs. Yep, I guess insemination has unreliable results, is $$, and can take a long time. So, she’d rather take that hunk of $$ and pay off her BFF to sex up her hubs. Pushing aside, the wackiness of her thought processes of raising her BFF/Hubs biological child… Let’s focus on the total ridiculousness that she gives zero fucks that her HUSBAND IS SEXING HER BFF!!!!! Here’s what she says…
“You were certainly worth every cent, Nadine, so now you can go out and blow it! Plus, you’ve had the added bonus of knowing what it’s like to sleep with Cameron Hunter!”
Nadine is also dfw, because she could use the $$ for her mom’s secret surgery, and well, she lurves Cam so bad, and this is her only chance to sample his goods. Win… Win!!!
What follows is drama-llama-llama… throw in an affair, a broken contract, misunderstandings, a deadly car accident, a black-mailed marriage, ASSumptions, a kitten named Tuesday, wannabe OW, more misunderstandings and ASSumptions, and these crazy cats FINALLY make their way to HEA-ville.
Bottom Line- This sits more in the drama-llama lane, rather than angsty. It’s not completely OTT craptastic, but pretty damn wacko too.
“You were certainly worth every cent, Nadine, so now you can go out and blow it! Plus, you’ve had the added bonus of knowing what it’s like to sleep with Cameron Hunter!”
Nadine is also dfw, because she could use the $$ for her mom’s secret surgery, and well, she lurves Cam so bad, and this is her only chance to sample his goods. Win… Win!!!
What follows is drama-llama-llama… throw in an affair, a broken contract, misunderstandings, a deadly car accident, a black-mailed marriage, ASSumptions, a kitten named Tuesday, wannabe OW, more misunderstandings and ASSumptions, and these crazy cats FINALLY make their way to HEA-ville.
Bottom Line- This sits more in the drama-llama lane, rather than angsty. It’s not completely OTT craptastic, but pretty damn wacko too.
December 2, 2010
I find it hard giving books a perfect rating, and I'm still a bit unsure that this book didn't deserve it (a lot of outside factors can sway my final vote, like, how distracted I was while reading it). But this was a WELL written book. Elizabeth turned a rather obscure premise into a believable tale of long-suffering and eventual HEAness.
Nadine has loved Cameron since they met years ago (a theme I find massively endearing), and Cameron, it seems had reciprocated at least some of that awareness, though he allows himself to be dragged into marriage by Nadine's 'best-friend'. Throw in some, I-got-there-first-but-still-think-you're-a-tramp angst, and you've got a fairly combustible formula.
Nadine has loved Cameron since they met years ago (a theme I find massively endearing), and Cameron, it seems had reciprocated at least some of that awareness, though he allows himself to be dragged into marriage by Nadine's 'best-friend'. Throw in some, I-got-there-first-but-still-think-you're-a-tramp angst, and you've got a fairly combustible formula.
July 22, 2013
There I was happily reading along about some of my favorite HP tropes. There was even a soap opera esque twist that was fun, when it all went suddenly south. The end of this book was just plain bad. It didn't make sense according to the story as laid out, it was too short and too easy. Mostly though the book was full of misunderstandings and a hero and heroine who were too afraid to admit their love because they knew the other one didn't love them back. So the way the hero approached the heroine at the end made no sense. Just so odd. Bah.
October 5, 2024
Hero´s wife couldn’t have children so she enlisted her friend the heroine to be a payed surrogate. The heroine needed the money for her mums vital operation and could go through with it because off course she’s always loved the hero. But insemination happened the old fashioned way so the hero found out she was a virgin. She got pregnant and later saw the hero´s wife cheating on him so she didn’t want to give up her baby to a possibly broken home. Off course, Harlequinlandia so she didn’t tell the hero why she became his surrogate or why she decided she didn’t want to give he baby up. The hero´s wife leaves him after this and doesn’t tell him why, so he blames the heroine because she didn’t want to give the baby up. He becomes jealous and possessive of her, she´s kinda insulted that he would think so badly of her.
Anyway, the hero´s wife dies in an accident with her lover and leaves a letter explaining all to the hero. He now demands that the heroine marry him. She doesn’t want to due to her broken childhood, he wants to due to his childhood issues. He blackmails her, so they get married. Then there is a wanna be other woman that I still don’t get what her ultimate objective or purpose was because she had a boyfriend supposedly. She made it seem that hero was cheating with her or that if anything were to happen he would go back to her.
Throughout the book both heroine and hero want and kinda love each other but are either too prideful or fearful of rejection to be honest with each other. They were only fully honest in the last chapter, but this is an old harlequin so its expected.
Good book, full of angst, new fresh unconventional plot.
Anyway, the hero´s wife dies in an accident with her lover and leaves a letter explaining all to the hero. He now demands that the heroine marry him. She doesn’t want to due to her broken childhood, he wants to due to his childhood issues. He blackmails her, so they get married. Then there is a wanna be other woman that I still don’t get what her ultimate objective or purpose was because she had a boyfriend supposedly. She made it seem that hero was cheating with her or that if anything were to happen he would go back to her.
Throughout the book both heroine and hero want and kinda love each other but are either too prideful or fearful of rejection to be honest with each other. They were only fully honest in the last chapter, but this is an old harlequin so its expected.
Good book, full of angst, new fresh unconventional plot.
February 13, 2015
Young woman's best friend is barren and goes to her begging her to help give her husband the child he longs for. Girl has secretly been in love with her best friends husband and sees this as a way to have him, if only briefly. Girl and husband have sex and girl becomes preggo. Girl then latches on to the1st excuse she can find to renege on giving up the baby and drama ensues.
Gah. I hated it. Nothing made sense.. The reason for not using AI was stupid. Why would a brilliant lawyer not have a written contract with his surrogate so that she can't just change her mind and abscond with the baby? I just found the heroine to be a complete ninny. She's such a selfish child. As far as she's concerned the couple is desperate to have a baby and overjoyed to hear she's conceived, but she doesn't spend a moment feeling bad about denying her "best friend" and "the man she loves" the child. She just decides that the baby is better off with her. She doesn't even consider that the biological father has rights or that her friends marriage is really none of her business.
Gah. I hated it. Nothing made sense.. The reason for not using AI was stupid. Why would a brilliant lawyer not have a written contract with his surrogate so that she can't just change her mind and abscond with the baby? I just found the heroine to be a complete ninny. She's such a selfish child. As far as she's concerned the couple is desperate to have a baby and overjoyed to hear she's conceived, but she doesn't spend a moment feeling bad about denying her "best friend" and "the man she loves" the child. She just decides that the baby is better off with her. She doesn't even consider that the biological father has rights or that her friends marriage is really none of her business.
May 16, 2018
wow...this was all kinds of crazy. Morally, ethically, anyway you look at it this should have been totally repugnant. Never mind that the H and the h come across as complete lack-wits at times, ok, a lot of the time. The relationships, pretty tangled ones at that, felt cold and lacking in depth and yet we were supposed to be believe love and caring between these players existed. The plot holes were huge, difficult things glossed over or not addressed. And yet I can't remember when last I was so intensely gripped by a HP book.
This could have been a fabulous fabulous train wreck of a book, but it seemed to lose the crazy after a while and we were left with the insecure musings of the h and similarly acting H. I gave it 4* on just the lead in to the main story and the bravery displayed by the author in giving us something so entertainingly nuts.
This could have been a fabulous fabulous train wreck of a book, but it seemed to lose the crazy after a while and we were left with the insecure musings of the h and similarly acting H. I gave it 4* on just the lead in to the main story and the bravery displayed by the author in giving us something so entertainingly nuts.
September 28, 2019
3 and half stars.
Emotional, angsty romance featuring a h helpless in love with the H, who is married to a h's friend. The couple cannot have babies and... she accepts to help them. I will not provide any moral judgement on it.
I will not explain other details of the plot - just let me say I could not put it down.... with HP we always know how stories end but nevertheless I was caught up and really sympathized with our heroine - a great character.
The hero was harder to like but in the end his reasons and "flaws" are explained so I liked him too.
I really felt their emotion and passion - good read.
Emotional, angsty romance featuring a h helpless in love with the H, who is married to a h's friend. The couple cannot have babies and... she accepts to help them. I will not provide any moral judgement on it.
I will not explain other details of the plot - just let me say I could not put it down.... with HP we always know how stories end but nevertheless I was caught up and really sympathized with our heroine - a great character.
The hero was harder to like but in the end his reasons and "flaws" are explained so I liked him too.
I really felt their emotion and passion - good read.
March 2, 2019
I gave this a go as I wanted some vintage reading BUT it was real vintage.
The language was extremely dated and that was off putting. A typical Mills and Boon story that I would like to read again if it was targeted to a 21st century audience.
Just a bit too predictable and cliched.
The language was extremely dated and that was off putting. A typical Mills and Boon story that I would like to read again if it was targeted to a 21st century audience.
Just a bit too predictable and cliched.
March 13, 2021
She needed money....for her mother's operation.
He wanted a son and heir....and he was prepared to pay for it.
A contract for seduction:
Cameron Hunter's offer was extraordinary, but his terms were simple: he would possess Nadine, body and soul...and the resulting baby would be his. Yet, for Nadine, this could never be a straightforward business arrangement. Cameron was the only man she'd ever loved--and he was now the father of her child. She just couldn't walk away
He wanted a son and heir....and he was prepared to pay for it.
A contract for seduction:
Cameron Hunter's offer was extraordinary, but his terms were simple: he would possess Nadine, body and soul...and the resulting baby would be his. Yet, for Nadine, this could never be a straightforward business arrangement. Cameron was the only man she'd ever loved--and he was now the father of her child. She just couldn't walk away
March 31, 2024
Have to say I was sufficiently intrigued with the unusual premise to buy this one. Surrogacy via actual intercourse with the barrister husband of her best friend that she's always had a crush on. This could have been so much hotter (in a borderline, shuddering, naughty, squicky way) than it actually was but as a whacko train wreck of ridiculous misunderstandings and miscommunication it lost a lot of heat to angst. Although there was a fair amount of sex throughout. Weirdly though, not much sexual tension. Anyhow, Cameron had a good line in seething alphaness (and was hot af in court attire) and Nadine was a messed up wimp. The wife (who conveniently died in a crash whilst being unfaithful) was an odd bff for her. The mother (whose heart operation she needed the cash for [why? The NHS is good for hearts, or was back in the 90s] and therefore the noble reason for surrogacy) was old fashioned and a bit irritating. I'm not sure this was money well spent. I'd try other EPs but probably only if on OL.
January 10, 2022
The plot was too much a stretch. First I didn’t buy the reason why they needed to sleep together and not take artificial way in those circumstances. The whole surrogacy issue put the heroine in not the best light despite a noble cause. Lisa supposed to be the heroine’s friend but it didn’t feel like that to me. The book drug on with heroine’s hung ups and some fake drama that was too easy to see through.
August 14, 2025
2.5⭐️ Over the top and contrived, the plot dragged through a long series of misunderstandings and needless miscommunication. I didn’t care for the heroine or her motives at first, but by the end I was so exasperated with her that I felt she could use a few hard slaps to clear the cobwebs from her head. Frustrating, because some parts were actually quite good.
July 17, 2021
3.5 stars
January 27, 2022
Vainas que leo para distraerme jajja
March 4, 2026
The MCs were exhausting and could not communicate to save their lives. I gave up and skimmed when about 60% through and they still seemed to be at an impasse.
May 26, 2025
It was good, but also a flawed story that some might be uncomfortable with. I kind of felt that way when it started, with the h getting ready to sleep with the H, who was her best friend's husband! Not only is the couple having sex right away, but they're also committing adultery! The fact that they had the H's wife's permission, and the purpose was to get the h pregnant to make a baby for the couple makes it worse, rather than better. And when it's later discovered that the wife has been cheating makes it all seem pretty sleazy! (Not to mention using Mother Nature rather than a turkey baster!)
Of course, there's more to the story. The h had agreed to be a surrogate mother for her friend to get the money she'd need to pay for her mom's long convalescence after heart surgery. And she'd been secretly in love with the H (her former boss) for over 5 years! You just know she could never really accept giving up her baby, so when she sees the H's wife making out with her lover, she gets the opportunity she needs, but because she can't tell the H the real reason for her change of heart (just like she hasn't told him why she wanted the money to begin with) his opinion of her takes a nose dive, and after that (with the wife being conveniently dispatched), it's pretty much a game of who can hide their true feelings better, who can hurt the other more with apparent indifference, (as well as words that wound), who has a lover waiting in the wings, and who'll pretend the best that their getting married is only for the baby's sake? Considering the overwhelmingly powerful chemistry between these two (it was a wonder they ever kept their clothes on when they were alone), you'd think one of them would have given in and admitted the truth while in the heat of passion, but of course, they go on for way too long playing the "nothing but sex" and "only for the baby's sake" charade. It did get to be a bit much.
There was one scene where he left the house, then couldn't stay away, comes back and finds her crying (longing for him), they flew into each other's arms, made passionate love, and it was so obvious how much they loved each other, yet afterwards they play the same old "of course I don't really care, it's just physical" game again. It makes you want to shake them both and rattle all their teeth!
Some things were hard to accept, like the H marrying his first wife because he fell for the old baby trap (which was a lie, since she couldn't even have children)! He was a sophisticated, savvy lawyer and yet he didn't bother to be sure there was a bun in the oven before he married a woman he didn't really love! Doesn't make sense. And when he admits later on that he was attracted to the h from the time she first worked for him (ditto for her), it makes you wonder why (decades before #METOO) he didn't tell her back then. She was of age, and had he asked her out she would have been over the moon! Instead, he gets involved with her conniving friend, who wanted his money/status more than him.
All the minor characters are a bit off the wall. The H's late (and good riddance) wife only wanted the baby to keep her marriage intact, so she could enjoy the lifestyle and get naked with her lover on the side. Her cousin (the OW, or so the h thinks) once dated the H, resented both his marriages, had a possessive alpha hunk boyfriend but still wanted the H as a side piece, and tried to convince the h it had already happened. Naturally, with all her doubts, she falls for it. The h's other former boss, (the OM, or so the H thinks), was an irresponsible dropout lawyer and retro hippy/artist who you just know would have loved to get in the h's panties if she'd been interested. And the h's mother was a rather foolish woman who had let her late husband (a serial cheater) use their daughter as a pawn when she was a child, stating he'd leave and take the h with him if his wife didn't put up with his many girlfriends! (Creep!!) Having been brought up to obey her husband, she accepted that nonsense! This, of course, left the h with a distrust of men and marriage, further complicating things. Top it off with the H being illegitimate (and believing his mother suffered for it) and determined it would NOT happen to his child, he actually threatened to fight the h in court for full custody if she refused to marry him!
So, there you have it! Quite entertaining, but also quite a mess!
Of course, there's more to the story. The h had agreed to be a surrogate mother for her friend to get the money she'd need to pay for her mom's long convalescence after heart surgery. And she'd been secretly in love with the H (her former boss) for over 5 years! You just know she could never really accept giving up her baby, so when she sees the H's wife making out with her lover, she gets the opportunity she needs, but because she can't tell the H the real reason for her change of heart (just like she hasn't told him why she wanted the money to begin with) his opinion of her takes a nose dive, and after that (with the wife being conveniently dispatched), it's pretty much a game of who can hide their true feelings better, who can hurt the other more with apparent indifference, (as well as words that wound), who has a lover waiting in the wings, and who'll pretend the best that their getting married is only for the baby's sake? Considering the overwhelmingly powerful chemistry between these two (it was a wonder they ever kept their clothes on when they were alone), you'd think one of them would have given in and admitted the truth while in the heat of passion, but of course, they go on for way too long playing the "nothing but sex" and "only for the baby's sake" charade. It did get to be a bit much.
There was one scene where he left the house, then couldn't stay away, comes back and finds her crying (longing for him), they flew into each other's arms, made passionate love, and it was so obvious how much they loved each other, yet afterwards they play the same old "of course I don't really care, it's just physical" game again. It makes you want to shake them both and rattle all their teeth!
Some things were hard to accept, like the H marrying his first wife because he fell for the old baby trap (which was a lie, since she couldn't even have children)! He was a sophisticated, savvy lawyer and yet he didn't bother to be sure there was a bun in the oven before he married a woman he didn't really love! Doesn't make sense. And when he admits later on that he was attracted to the h from the time she first worked for him (ditto for her), it makes you wonder why (decades before #METOO) he didn't tell her back then. She was of age, and had he asked her out she would have been over the moon! Instead, he gets involved with her conniving friend, who wanted his money/status more than him.
All the minor characters are a bit off the wall. The H's late (and good riddance) wife only wanted the baby to keep her marriage intact, so she could enjoy the lifestyle and get naked with her lover on the side. Her cousin (the OW, or so the h thinks) once dated the H, resented both his marriages, had a possessive alpha hunk boyfriend but still wanted the H as a side piece, and tried to convince the h it had already happened. Naturally, with all her doubts, she falls for it. The h's other former boss, (the OM, or so the H thinks), was an irresponsible dropout lawyer and retro hippy/artist who you just know would have loved to get in the h's panties if she'd been interested. And the h's mother was a rather foolish woman who had let her late husband (a serial cheater) use their daughter as a pawn when she was a child, stating he'd leave and take the h with him if his wife didn't put up with his many girlfriends! (Creep!!) Having been brought up to obey her husband, she accepted that nonsense! This, of course, left the h with a distrust of men and marriage, further complicating things. Top it off with the H being illegitimate (and believing his mother suffered for it) and determined it would NOT happen to his child, he actually threatened to fight the h in court for full custody if she refused to marry him!
So, there you have it! Quite entertaining, but also quite a mess!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews