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For Practical Reasons
Arturo showed desire but never feelings
Carol, an eternal optimist, was determined to raise her dear little stepbrother after their parents were tragically killed. But Arturo Kane, her stepfather's nephew, claimed he was better suited financially to care for Paul. He was a formidable adversary.
Living together, he reasoned, would harm his professional reputation. The only acceptable compromise was marriage. And Carol knew that falling in love with her husband was not part of their civilized arrangement.
But, unlike Arturo, Carol couldn't disguise her feelings, especially when she learned that her fine, upstanding husband had a mistress.
Carol, an eternal optimist, was determined to raise her dear little stepbrother after their parents were tragically killed. But Arturo Kane, her stepfather's nephew, claimed he was better suited financially to care for Paul. He was a formidable adversary.
Living together, he reasoned, would harm his professional reputation. The only acceptable compromise was marriage. And Carol knew that falling in love with her husband was not part of their civilized arrangement.
But, unlike Arturo, Carol couldn't disguise her feelings, especially when she learned that her fine, upstanding husband had a mistress.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 14, 2020
It was a really dismal, bleak, depressing story of a marriage of convenience between two cold-blooded robots and NOT what I needed right now. The husband is damaged beyond repair by a mother who abandoned him at a young age and a young wife who overdosed while 5 months pregnant. He marries the heroine in order to provide a stable home for his nephew (her stepbrother) but he spends no time with her, and when he does, he is totally emotionally distant. In fact, the first night of their married life, he lies to her and tells her he will be late home because he has "paperwork." Then he shows up with brandy on his breath and lipstick on his collar. When the heroine tells him she knows he was with his mistress (who had called the house earlier) he just tells her not to worry about it.
For a few months, they cohabit. He spends all his time at work. She cares for the kid and in her free time, shops and does part time work at his rehab center (he is a psychiatrist and she is a social worker).
One night, they have a great romantic date to celebrate their friend's birthday and with the aid of some drinks and some simmering sexual tension, they finally consummate their marriage. Only for the hero to remark in the aftermath that it was inevitable for a man and woman cohabiting together to eventually sleep together. By this time, she has been not only in lust but in love with him (why???) and she gave him her virginity so she is shattered at his cold words.
More cold shouldering from him. Then, a nasty confrontation with the ex-mistress in a bathroom (of course!). The ex-mistress tells her off, boasting about their hot sexual affair and that she knew all about their marriage of convenience and wishing her good luck with her cold emotionally aloof husband, implying that she got the best of him...between the sheets. Can you BE more tacky? The wife just stands there mouth agape, feeling sick, with no repartee. Somehow, this ugly incident spurs her on to confess her LURVE for her husband right when he is getting ready to break up their sordid faux marriage. He finally breaks down and tells her all about his past trauma and how he wanted to keep emotionally distant because he couldn't take anymore heartbreak but since she promised never to leave him then they can have their HEA. Though he never can bring himself to say the words "I love you" only that he is "emotionally involved" with her despite his best efforts not to be. And that he definitely wants to have sex with her.
Really unbelievable what passes as romance :(
For a few months, they cohabit. He spends all his time at work. She cares for the kid and in her free time, shops and does part time work at his rehab center (he is a psychiatrist and she is a social worker).
One night, they have a great romantic date to celebrate their friend's birthday and with the aid of some drinks and some simmering sexual tension, they finally consummate their marriage. Only for the hero to remark in the aftermath that it was inevitable for a man and woman cohabiting together to eventually sleep together. By this time, she has been not only in lust but in love with him (why???) and she gave him her virginity so she is shattered at his cold words.
More cold shouldering from him. Then, a nasty confrontation with the ex-mistress in a bathroom (of course!). The ex-mistress tells her off, boasting about their hot sexual affair and that she knew all about their marriage of convenience and wishing her good luck with her cold emotionally aloof husband, implying that she got the best of him...between the sheets. Can you BE more tacky? The wife just stands there mouth agape, feeling sick, with no repartee. Somehow, this ugly incident spurs her on to confess her LURVE for her husband right when he is getting ready to break up their sordid faux marriage. He finally breaks down and tells her all about his past trauma and how he wanted to keep emotionally distant because he couldn't take anymore heartbreak but since she promised never to leave him then they can have their HEA. Though he never can bring himself to say the words "I love you" only that he is "emotionally involved" with her despite his best efforts not to be. And that he definitely wants to have sex with her.
Really unbelievable what passes as romance :(
September 22, 2015
CJ always has either a tortured H or a tortured h (she sorta alternates in her back list) and in this one the H is extremely tortured, ( he is psychiatrist) and one of the most emotionally unavailable men in all of HPlandia.
Forget the mistress part, he had a FWB lover before marrying the h but breaks it off when he marries h in the moc for custody purposes. He doesn't cheat, and he isn't really mean, but he just can't bring himself to ANY emotional involvement outside of sex for 99% of the book, so this really bothers the h as they are trying to raise a well- adjusted half brother who has lost both of his parents. Hence the reason for marriage to begin with.
The story goes they marry to provide lil bro a home, (it happens to be on the grounds of a pricey mental institution - but it sorta works I guess) and the H is a brilliant psychiatrist and the h is an English social worker who gives up her lifestyle to move to the States and a care for the kid marriage. They try to create a stable home for the child, but between the H's distancing of the h and h's increasing unhappiness with no real friends and a life she did not exactly want, the marriage is breaking down fast and the H knows it but seems to be unable to come out from behind his reserve and just talk to the h.
In case you haven't guessed, there is a lot of angst in this book -- anyway the h is at the point where she thinks it may be better to just move on when the whole reason for the H's emotional shutdown is given as his first wife committed suicide because he did not see signs of her mental illness. Her suicide is what propelled him into psychiatry and what keeps him emotionally unavailable. He learns to express some emotion, the h gets to express her love and the family is rebuilt for the HEA.
I like this one when I am in the mood for non Charlotte Lamb - reasoned out psych analysis from both the H and the h mixed with a little angst and a pretty good HEA. There is angst but it isn't immature drama angst. The h and H are both mature adults trying to make marriage to stranger work and it takes a while, but eventually they get there.
Forget the mistress part, he had a FWB lover before marrying the h but breaks it off when he marries h in the moc for custody purposes. He doesn't cheat, and he isn't really mean, but he just can't bring himself to ANY emotional involvement outside of sex for 99% of the book, so this really bothers the h as they are trying to raise a well- adjusted half brother who has lost both of his parents. Hence the reason for marriage to begin with.
The story goes they marry to provide lil bro a home, (it happens to be on the grounds of a pricey mental institution - but it sorta works I guess) and the H is a brilliant psychiatrist and the h is an English social worker who gives up her lifestyle to move to the States and a care for the kid marriage. They try to create a stable home for the child, but between the H's distancing of the h and h's increasing unhappiness with no real friends and a life she did not exactly want, the marriage is breaking down fast and the H knows it but seems to be unable to come out from behind his reserve and just talk to the h.
In case you haven't guessed, there is a lot of angst in this book -- anyway the h is at the point where she thinks it may be better to just move on when the whole reason for the H's emotional shutdown is given as his first wife committed suicide because he did not see signs of her mental illness. Her suicide is what propelled him into psychiatry and what keeps him emotionally unavailable. He learns to express some emotion, the h gets to express her love and the family is rebuilt for the HEA.
I like this one when I am in the mood for non Charlotte Lamb - reasoned out psych analysis from both the H and the h mixed with a little angst and a pretty good HEA. There is angst but it isn't immature drama angst. The h and H are both mature adults trying to make marriage to stranger work and it takes a while, but eventually they get there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2016
Not sure how I feel about this one. The blurb contained tropes I love: MoC for sake of an orphaned child they are both related to. And she suspects him of cheating. Bring on the angst.
The plot line did follow this set-up, but I was thrown by some of the author's choices. First, a lot of the action takes place in sunny California on the grounds of a psychiatric clinic/rehab center (Called Greenacres - I kid you not). The hero is a psychiatrist, who is "half-Mexican." Nothing is made of this heritage, except to make his hair dark and his skin attractively bronzed. The heroine is from Northern England and the author plays with the language differences so much that it became annoying. Ex: "It's in the boot, I mean trunk of the car." Since I have had family members with serious mental health issues, I couldn't relax into this book and enjoy the angst.
On the plus side, the heroine had a lot going for her (smart, capable, and the author gave her the right background to understand the hero). The hero was beautifully tortured, the strong, silent type. I certainly wouldn't want to take him on. The descriptions of California were evocative.
Not the most romantic book to start off 2016, but definitely interesting. (Oh, there was no cheating - he ended his no-strings affair as soon as they married - although she continued to work with him two days a week.)
The plot line did follow this set-up, but I was thrown by some of the author's choices. First, a lot of the action takes place in sunny California on the grounds of a psychiatric clinic/rehab center (Called Greenacres - I kid you not). The hero is a psychiatrist, who is "half-Mexican." Nothing is made of this heritage, except to make his hair dark and his skin attractively bronzed. The heroine is from Northern England and the author plays with the language differences so much that it became annoying. Ex: "It's in the boot, I mean trunk of the car." Since I have had family members with serious mental health issues, I couldn't relax into this book and enjoy the angst.
On the plus side, the heroine had a lot going for her (smart, capable, and the author gave her the right background to understand the hero). The hero was beautifully tortured, the strong, silent type. I certainly wouldn't want to take him on. The descriptions of California were evocative.
Not the most romantic book to start off 2016, but definitely interesting. (Oh, there was no cheating - he ended his no-strings affair as soon as they married - although she continued to work with him two days a week.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2018
A fine example of an Harlequin Presents, except without a totally chauvinist hero. The dude, Arturo, is maybe a little autocratic, but is otherwise a nice guy. The lady, Carol, is also nice, if maybe a little too self-sacrificing in the beginning. Overall I enjoyed reading it (more than I've enjoyed reading some other HP's recently) except that one of the background characters uses a racial slur for no apparent reason, beyond that she wants to be shocking (which is just an inference, since it's addressed in no way by the text). I'm being slightly more lenient because this was published a long time ago and I do think I understand the reasoning behind it, but I would have liked at least one person to be like "hey, not cool".
February 23, 2018
A. Knitting. Cooking. Fostering animals. Learning new languages. Spin classes. Picking up rough trade and thrill-killing them after a brutal one-night stand.
Q. What are better hobbies than spending your life coaxing an emotionally damaged ice cube into eventually showing some emotion?
I was exhausted by the HEA -- the idea of tending to a man who perpetually suffers from an emotional man-cold is not my idea of romance.
Q. What are better hobbies than spending your life coaxing an emotionally damaged ice cube into eventually showing some emotion?
I was exhausted by the HEA -- the idea of tending to a man who perpetually suffers from an emotional man-cold is not my idea of romance.
October 27, 2018
Fantastic. Absolutely Perfect. Loved it so much.
not-for-me
May 7, 2022Arturo showed desire but never feelings
Carol, an eternal optimist, was determined to raise her dear little stepbrother after their parents were tragically killed. But Arturo Kane, her stepfather's nephew, claimed he was better suited financially to care for Paul. He was a formidable adversary.
Living together, he reasoned, would harm his professional reputation. The only acceptable compromise was marriage. And Carol knew that falling in love with her husband was not part of their civilized arrangement.
But, unlike Arturo, Carol couldn't disguise her feelings, especially when she learned that her fine, upstanding husband had a mistress.
Carol, an eternal optimist, was determined to raise her dear little stepbrother after their parents were tragically killed. But Arturo Kane, her stepfather's nephew, claimed he was better suited financially to care for Paul. He was a formidable adversary.
Living together, he reasoned, would harm his professional reputation. The only acceptable compromise was marriage. And Carol knew that falling in love with her husband was not part of their civilized arrangement.
But, unlike Arturo, Carol couldn't disguise her feelings, especially when she learned that her fine, upstanding husband had a mistress.
January 29, 2023
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This unique in that the H was a Psychiatrist. I think that is the first time I have come upon that career in HLQ. The sunbathing poolside really through me for a loop! I can see that in Europe but in San Diego!?!?!
September 9, 2023
What I didn't like about the book that prevented me from giving a higher rating:
1. The heroine Carol Palmer was not a very believable character. She very rarely lost her temper and when she did, she was suddenly "over it" supposedly just from realising the reality of a situation. She very rarely cried either, even on losing her mother and stepfather in a tragic accident, and on their son (her stepbrother) being in a coma.
2. The hero Arturo Kane wasn't a very likeable character. He was a psychiatrist and so could apparently control and hide his emotions and feelings completely. Even his mistress was at a loss as to who could stand to be with him on a long-term basis. Arturo was also very demanding, always considering that he was right and that everyone should immediately obey him. I also found him boring with no interests outside of working.
3. The ending was a great disappointment. It came so suddenly considering the pace of the rest of the story, it was as if the author had realised that she'd written enough pages and so needed to finish quickly. Thus, the story ends abruptly when it would have been nice to have seen how they both changed as a result of their new-found discoveries about each other.
Perhaps this is all a reflection of the age of the book.
1. The heroine Carol Palmer was not a very believable character. She very rarely lost her temper and when she did, she was suddenly "over it" supposedly just from realising the reality of a situation. She very rarely cried either, even on losing her mother and stepfather in a tragic accident, and on their son (her stepbrother) being in a coma.
2. The hero Arturo Kane wasn't a very likeable character. He was a psychiatrist and so could apparently control and hide his emotions and feelings completely. Even his mistress was at a loss as to who could stand to be with him on a long-term basis. Arturo was also very demanding, always considering that he was right and that everyone should immediately obey him. I also found him boring with no interests outside of working.
3. The ending was a great disappointment. It came so suddenly considering the pace of the rest of the story, it was as if the author had realised that she'd written enough pages and so needed to finish quickly. Thus, the story ends abruptly when it would have been nice to have seen how they both changed as a result of their new-found discoveries about each other.
Perhaps this is all a reflection of the age of the book.
January 17, 2023
Liked this although the H was so enigmatic it was obnoxious. Not quite 4 stars but rounding up.
July 18, 2020
This could have been much better, but it's a good romantic read.. I like old school M&B.and HP. This was a bit modern for me and lacked a lot of better plot and writing, Flora Kidd, Anne Mather, Anne Hampson, Margret Rome and Sandra Morton are still my favourite ladies.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews