Threat of Love

by Charlotte Lamb

Gil Martell was an infuriating man.

He was getting to her again, and Caro had no idea how she had let it happen. She'd been angry with him one moment, breathless the next, all without rhyme or reason.

Caro knew she wasn't as beautiful as the glamorous Miranda. She also knew that Gil only wanted her so he could retain control of Westbrooks—the family department store in London that her father was determined to buy.

One thing was sure—she wouldn't be part of any business deal. But first she had to learn to resist Gil's advances....

Genres: Romance, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin

189 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy

Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.

Reviews

[⚔Irunía⚔ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm forced to agree with the reviewers who point out the obvious: this guy is not marriage material —

'What a temper you've got! Did you want me to say you were beautiful?We're going to tell the truth to each other, Caro, it's the only way we can live together. Your face isn't beautiful, but your body is magnificent.' He watched the rise of her colour, laughing. 'It really turns me on,' he whispered, and she wanted so badly to believe him, but she still couldn't forget Miranda.

I concede. I might have accepted this complete disregard for her feelings if it occured in the first 60-70% of the book (which brings me to my most important point: the book should have been twice longer). I would have welcomed this as a deliberate insult that was not meant to be taken literally. But when it happens within the last 10 pages of the book? When they share love confessions?? 🤡 Absolutely not. There's a time and a place for such things. Besides, they are not supposed to reflect the hero's true thoughts. 😑

I love cold, cruel, asshole heroes infamous for nasty remarks, refined mockery and evil tongue. I plead guilty of rejoicing in seeing the MMC spit out terrible words and horrendous accusations at the heroine, be it out of anger, spite, jealousy or any other PERFECTLY VALID REASON. 🥰

But when the hero, dead serious, proposes to the heroine and then proceeds to look her dead in the eye saying in his most matter-of-factly voice "WELL, YOUR FACE IS NOT EXACTLY NICE TO LOOK AT, BUT WHO EVEN CARES WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE AMAZING ASS/TITS OF YOURS FOR ME TO ENJOY", YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT THIS IS NOT "HONESTY". This is some clown shit. 🤡THE AUDACITY OF THE ASSHOLE TO CLAIM HE FUCKING LOVES HER.

To cut a long story short, even my queen Ms. Lamb wasn't able to convince me of this hero's love. She could write a vile rapist and a wife beater all in one and I'd believe that he's just a misunderstood hero 🥰 (Ms. Lamb's power), but I draw the line at guys complimenting body over face. You wanna be honest? Just say you're a dumb boi with ego issues and keep slaying. Somewhere far away from the heroine.

Besides, Caro and Gil had angry rather than lustful energy floating between them at all times. As in this book didn't provide any grounds for me to believe the relationship between Gil and Caro was anything but a reluctant, albeit intense and angry physical pull that was so strong that they both found it impossible to ignore and reject. It feels as if the last part of the book has been cut out and it ended in a weird limbo of things unsaid and untold.

When did they "fall in love"? While arguing about the damned shop? At least Caro had the presence of mind to not accept his marriage proposal right away, and we're left wondering whether their relationship would stand the test of time.

Overall, it's 3 stars. I'm taking 1 star away because I'm pretty petty af. Fuck you, Gil. 🖕🏻😌

[*CJ* · Rating 1 out of 5]

"We're going to tell the truth to each other, Caro, it's the only way we can live together. Your face isn't beautiful, but your body is magnificent.' He watched the rise of her colour,laughing. 'It really turns me on,.."

If you spend an hour reading a book, only for the hero to use those lines as his final love confession, imagine your mood. GRRRR.

"The Threat of Love" is the story of Caro and Gil.
Caro is the super efficient daughter of, who wants to take over Gil's chain of supermarket stores, something which Gil's grandmother wants to sell to to teach tomcatting Gil a lesson.
When Caro is assigned to look over the accounts for the acquisition, she ends up facing Gil on a daily bases and attraction strikes.
Average read which had potential to be pretty good if not
-For the insecure heroine. Caro was super confident and successful but she always turned putty into the hands of Gil, who used his sexual carisma to get whatever he wanted and always turned her incoming slaps to kisses (3 times and counting)
-The married OW Miranda drama
-How hero kept putting blame on the heroine
-The unsatisfying abrupt ending- I wanted more groveling, less of the heroine being subservient
-The hero liking h for her body *eyeroll*
This leaves me annoyed.
SWE
1.5/5 (SCREW YOU GIL)

[boogenhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

RE The Threat of Love - 1992 in HPlandia saw some changes. Where in the decades prior, a romance between an older male and a younger female was seen as the epitome of a love story, now the ladies are coming into their own, both careerwise and in terms of partners that were closer in age.

Since readership of the HQN lines had been steadily decreasing at about 3% a year for the last five years and HQN only sold 40% of the entire romance market, changes were inevitable. One was the addition of the Japanese market to the list of countries where HQN is sold - they particularly liked romances set in the Rocky Mountains of the US.

Another change is that HQN wanted to by Zebra books - a single title publisher who had been steadily gaining on the loss of HQN's market share. This deal did not ultimately work out, but it did lead to the launch of HQN's MIRA imprint in 1994.

But the biggest change in HPlandia is the ages or at least the older mannerisms of the Hero's. Since HP's are marketed towards the 18 - 24 yr old demographic, the 90's showed some marked trends and differences from the earliest HP's.

The May/December trope is no longer seen as a desirable romantic relationship. The h's are getting older and have real jobs, tho there is still plenty of unicorn petting going on and the H's are getting younger and aren't as maturely condescending as the HP H's of years past. The age difference so prevalent in the 70's and 80's is diminishing rapidly and as always the long term HP authors are leading the way.

Charlotte Lamb's h in Threat is 26 and the CFO of her father's retail store empire. The rival store manager H in this one is 34, but with his front page lady lurve scandals and his grandmother's reprimands, he acts more like he is 22 and the h has way more maturity than he does.

There is some other differences from the traditional line of HPlandia in this one too. For the first time since Violet Winspear's sheikh romances, we are not going to get a definitive HEA - Threat of Love doesn't end in babies and marriage and thus it is a groundbreaker. As where CL and VW have led, others will soon follow.

The story starts with the H being in trouble with his Grandma, who is also the major shareholder of their Harrods' type department store, for getting into a fist fight with an Earl over his wife - they were all school friends together and have been intermixing for yonks, but the Countess likes to start some drama and her Earl gets intoxicated and takes offense and usually no harm is done but this time their brawling ended up in a large pictorial display in the paper. Grandma is NOT happy.

The h and her father have a chain of department stores and the h's father wants to buy the H's family store. The h does the finances for her father's empire, in preparation for eventually taking it over, tho at the books' beginning she is very firmly in her father's shadow.

The h is distinctly noted as not being pretty, while she has an excellent figure, her looks are not anything special - and both she and the H make a point of this. The h also makes it a habit to check out the competition and so she is poking around observing things after lunch in the H's store when the store detective hauls her up to the H's office for shoplifting. Then she trips and falls on the H's office carpet and she is very humiliated and outraged, then the H figures out who she is and the h vows comeuppance.

The h goes home and tells her father about the incident. He is furious, until the H's grandmother calls them up and invites them over for dinner. The H's grandma wants the H married and starting a family and for him to cut the Countess from his social circle. Since the H is proving recalcitrant in that, she has decided to start negotiations with the h's father to sell the store. Really this is a stick to beat the H into submission with, but it the ensuing financial due diligence throws the H and h together.

They find they are attracted to each other over various boardroom battles and private little moments like sharing a store dressing room and roofie kisses. Then while dealing with the Countess's wanna be OW shenanigans, they become friends and eventually lovers. The big moment for both comes when the Earl's Countess OW tips off the press that the H and h are engaged, (the h made it up to get her out of the H's hair at his request for help,) and their respective parent and grandparent are delighted at the prospect.

The only problem is that the h doesn't want to get married, tho her father tries hard to push her into it, the h has been gradually becoming more assertive and independent as the story progresses and the H is tried of being manipulated by his grandmother and if the H's father actually buys the store, the H is out of a job anyways.

So the h refuses the H's marriage proposal after he confesses that he is in love with her, tho she does agree to travel to California and work with him on a new department store job he is taking over there after the H makes up his mind to strike out on his own.

The ending of this one is the h not sure if the H is her forever, but looking forward to the experience of independence and living with the H to see if he means his commitment and we can be happy that the h is happy cause she has faced the threat of love and gotten her own peculiar version of an HEA.

This one is fairly funny and a quick read. I would call it more chick lit than romance, but there is the patented CL trademark domineering H in this, he just acts decades younger than her usual H. The outcome itself with no bonafide HEA has been in done in HPlandia before. But this time the h is choosing her path and owning her decision at her own instigation and not because the h's circumstances with her H are somewhat unworkable and dubious. Even tho there isn't a definitve HEA, this is still worth a read and worth marking as a new dimension to the HPlandia outing.

[Margo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chitra's review has it right. That one line is an absolute deal-breaker. Blech.

[Kitcatscratch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am giving this a 5 star Lamb rating meaning that I am rating it against other Lamb books that I have read and not against all books that I have read. Needless to say, I am on a Charlotte Lamb kick right now and can I just say that so far, out of what I have read, I loved this one. I'm so surprised it has such a low rating. But then each to his (or her) own and tastes are different.

So about Lamb and what I've read so far. I think one of my favorites is “A Woman of Iron” (aka “Tilthammer”) which was awesome because the H was just such a totally unrepentant jack*ss that you couldn’t help but read to see what other jack*ssery he was going to be up to. But “Threat of Love” was one I just really enjoyed. The H wasn’t Lamb’s typical brute. The dude loves his grandmother for goodness sake. When he does sort of manhandle the h, he’s instantly contrite and apologizing (in a Lamb novel?!). And what’s more, when he does sort of manhandle her (and it’s slight), the h gave just as good. In fact, I have to say that the h actually instigated those moments. Sorry but if a guy can’t hit or shove, a girl can’t either.

I also loved the relationship between the h and her father. When he’s upset that she doesn’t call to tell him she’s going to be late, she’s angry at first. But she realizes that it’s not an “age” thing because her dad thinks of her as a child but simple consideration for her safety. If you break from routine then it’s common courtesy to let someone know. Otherwise you could be dead in a ditch somewhere. You could tell that this story really reflects a more modern sensibility. The h has a prominent position in the company that her dad owns but when she sits at an important meeting she looks to see how many other women are there. Hint: none. She thinks about how when she runs the business that she would promote a lot more women because she knew that there were so many qualified women tired of banging their head against a ceiling unable to go farther.

I also love that the H didn’t play games with her (with other women, etc). In fact, he spends a bit of it running away from one that would like to be the OW. It was humorous (to me at least) that the h was stronger than the H in some ways as he sends her in to take care of the wannabe OW while he basically sits in the car and waits. Ha! And while an HEA is in store, it’s not your typical HEA. In fact, it’s one that I rarely encounter in a novel. Oh and big shocker here for those who have read Lamb’s novels: it doesn’t end abruptly. I mean, there’s no epilogue or anything but it actually ends with a real ending. Not one where you think your ebook is defective and cut off the last chapter or two…or three.

Side note: I've discovered Lamb's beautiful h's have gold, red or red/gold hair. This h is considered plain. Not ugly. Just plain...average. She's also a brunette!!! LOL. However, a door closes and a window opens...despite the plain looks she has a smokin' hot body... :) I also thought it was amusing when the h points out she's not beautiful and the H agrees but points out that she has a fantastic bod. He also adds that hey, they shouldn't lie to each other. BTW the h isn't particularly insulted. I would say the H's jerkdom was limited to that level so if you also find that amusing then I would rec this one.

[Jena]

Self note avoid
Plain Jane h.
H doesn’t think her pretty.😦

[Sahara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this! Read it in one sitting. The complaint I had with Out of Control was that it wasn't angsty enough. It didn't really force me to care about the characters. I have no such complains for this book.

The angst and jealousy were top- notch. I loved the FMC, she was described as not being conventionally pretty which was refreshing. She was very competent and intelligent. It seems as though CL never writes stupid heroines and I appreciate that very much.

The MMC was also not idiotic, although I would have loved to see more of his POV to sense his development in feelings for Caro.

My only real issue is that the ending felt a little rushed and careless but I'm not mad about it. The pacing for the rest of the story was great.

Will definitely be rereading this in the future and do 100% recommend for anyone who likes this sort of romance.

[Azet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright!Another banger by Charlotte Lamb! The Threat of Love speaks to the soulmate connection between Gil Martell & Caro, both very smart business persons but create havoc whenever they are together. I enjoyed their banter and chemistry, Caro is more childish and emotional and insecure in the way she thinks that all men would trick her for her family’s wealth and the story was rather lukewarm in its intensity.But it was a fun ride seeing the hero and heroine get under each other’s skins.

[Trenchologist · Rating 1 out of 5]

September Readathon

It's always dangerous for me to read several romances in a row, especially when it's a mix of any-old I've picked up at various sales or were passed along to me by friends, and not ones by authors I prefer or tropes I'm most interested in. Too many wind up duds for me, and then I feel like a picky jerk lol. But!, you don't like what you don't like.

I've read a few of Lamb's books I think, and she's another where I know going in it could be just fine but she's never written a fave. This proved to be less than either.

The hero is a brute. He gropes the heroine far too many times. He's got a temper I don't think will fade even with their HFN and finding new purpose in life. He's indifferent husband material at best, unsuited for it at the moment, might settle in to actually being not-terrible at it.

The heroine is smart and pretty level-headed and she hates the hero even as she's desperately attracted to him. And wanting him. And maybe wanting to bust out of her comfortable, sheltered life most of all. She's who, in the end, decides to say no to immediately getting married, and hm -- good for her but also it feels like she's protecting herself with that call.

He thinks his attraction to her -- her hot T&A but not really her, and as is said more than once, certainly not her plain face -- despite her being against type means it's love. She figures it must be so and agrees, confusing existing in continual flustered desire and confused outrage with stronger emotion.

It's not the basis of a love story for the ages, but here we are.

The hero's brutishness is only that. He's boorish, over-sexed, and acts at least a decade younger than his given age. He's in the middle of a likely married-woman affair when they meet, and never slows down to get to know the heroine; instead he yells and pesters and goads. There's plenty of romances with brutish heroes I have liked or adore but there has to be a reason behind it -- hardship, jealousy, torn by circumstance, just an emotional wreck and doesn't know how to show it -- but this guy only comes across as vain and shallow and horny, and at last looking for something *more* to define himself by, and has decided she's it.

She's super horny too and it seems to be her guiding star. And hey, horniness is great! lol, but it needs a lot more besides that for a romance. I don't think they even like each other. To me they're simmering/hot for one another and that's all, so once it's spent I don't hold much hope for them to stay contentedly together much longer after that. With the unconventional romance ending of them flying off to live together and not be married or promising forever, maybe they realize that too.

[DamsonDreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The h, Caroline is the plain only child of a dept store mogul under no illusions about her appeal having been hurt by an earlier swain who cheated with a pretty girl and was only marrying her for her father's money. The H, Gil is heir to another dept store and is your average HP manwhore whose grandmother desperately wants to be settled. They are an unlikely pair, although he respects her accountancy and business skills (she works in the business) and is attracted by her curvaceous body. He does in fact agree with her that she isn't beautiful. Which is a little on the nose even if he "doesn't want any lying" in their relationship. Anyway, she's a gutsy type who deserves a hea. They jet off into a life together at the end and I only hope his roving eye doesn't come back.

[E Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked - feisty heroine who although she's a rich man's daughter and works for her dad has a proper career and could get another job anywhere else tomorrow. She's resourceful and funny: I loved how she got rid of the Countess.

I didn't like - he has a shocking temper, gropes her a lot but is such a wimp he can't tell the OW that he's not remotely interested in her and that she should just leave.

The OW was appalling, the way she just moved into his apartment is beyond belief.

I didn't like Amy much either.

Overall probably a 3.5. I think she was probably too good for him and I'm not 100% sure it would last, but it was a pleasant read.

[Johanna Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll be honest this book was not my favorite. Gil’s advances were more about a married woman rather than Caro. The book describes her as not pretty but with a good body. Gil was more of a threat than anything else and I didn’t sense one lovely thing about him at all. It’s really charming how women were treated back then.

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just boring. You never feel any chemistry between them

[Andi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lamb has an easy writing style, but story-wise yuck.