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Unspoken desire
Alternate cover for ISBN 9780263766769
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,139 books674 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 10, 2018
No one does "wasted time because of a misunderstanding" like Penny Jordan. The misunderstanding in this case is that heroine, at age 18 lied about having an affair with the hero's younger married brother. Why? Because the hero's girlfriend was the one having the affair and the heroine didn't want him to be hurt.
LOL
See how easy this is, modern authors? There is no need for an elaborate backstory with psychoanalysis and traumatized childhoods. Just have the heroine make a dopey mistake and refuse to correct it for 8 years. Then bring her back to the scene of the crime for altruistic reasons - in this case, caring for the younger brother's twin demon spawn - and let the hero have another go at airing his grievances. (While showing his deep attraction to the heroine.)
I know. I'm not being fair. There were plenty of misunderstanding stories that never worked at all, but PJ is the master craftsman of the trope.
Also, this is a great example of the ineffectual heroine trope - she does nothing right in this story - she doesn't tame the children, she doesn't convince the hero of her innocence (he overhears his brother gloating). Yet she wins love. That is part of the fantasy.
So if you're in mood for these vintage tropes, this is a title to check out.
LOL
See how easy this is, modern authors? There is no need for an elaborate backstory with psychoanalysis and traumatized childhoods. Just have the heroine make a dopey mistake and refuse to correct it for 8 years. Then bring her back to the scene of the crime for altruistic reasons - in this case, caring for the younger brother's twin demon spawn - and let the hero have another go at airing his grievances. (While showing his deep attraction to the heroine.)
I know. I'm not being fair. There were plenty of misunderstanding stories that never worked at all, but PJ is the master craftsman of the trope.
Also, this is a great example of the ineffectual heroine trope - she does nothing right in this story - she doesn't tame the children, she doesn't convince the hero of her innocence (he overhears his brother gloating). Yet she wins love. That is part of the fantasy.
So if you're in mood for these vintage tropes, this is a title to check out.
August 8, 2017
Re Unspoken Desire - Penny Jordan is on a roll here, having such huge success with her last epic trainwreck of misunderstandings and unrequited love in Bitter Betrayal, she decides to recreate that angstfest of misery in Unspoken Desire.
Here the h sacrifices her love for the H at 18 when she falsely admits to having an affair with the H's married younger brother to save the H from finding out that it was his own girlfriend who was pounding the passion with the young man. Add in two children who are the Demonspawn of Tartarus and for sure a future Anne Mather OW and a Margaret Pargeter H in training and you have a PJ whacktastic drama fest.
The h is 28 and a teacher living in London. She gets a call from her aunt who guilts her into giving up her summer plan to tour Greek islands and instead return to the H's family estate and look after the demonspawn of his younger brother. It seems the demonspawn are very possessive of their favorite uncle H and since their own parents neglect them horribly, they have succeeded in running off every caretaker engaged to watch over them.
(Naturally this is a matchmaking ploy by the aunt. Somehow she is hoping that exposure to the Minor Minions of Hell will bring the H and h to connubial bliss - if the h can survive the initial trials with her life and her sanity intact. PJ gives this story mythic proportions. The H's family estate is called Aysgarth - which I kept reading as Asgard- and all the trials and tribulations the h will have to fight thru remind of the trials to reach Valhalla. Too bad this H wasn't described as Chris Hemsworth's Thor worthy in looks or manner, I might have been more motivated in reading it.)
Not that PJ doesn't have sense of humor here tho. The h describes to her roommate how her 18 year old self threw herself on the sword of the H's disgust to spare him the awful truth that his girlfriend cheated on him with his married younger brother. Then how he kicked her off the family property and refused to acknowledge her for ten years. The h's roommate's response is priceless...
* Kate shrugged and said drily, ‘Well, no reason. He seems a bit of an idiot, though – first of all he doesn’t realize the girl he’s in love with is having an affair with his brother and then he believes that the girl who loves him is having an affair with his brother. A bit dense, is he?’*
So even PJ realizes that she has a bit of whacktastickness going on here, however that isn't going to stop her from driving this crazy train right to an HEA.
So the h dutifully goes to the H's estate to look after the demonspawn. Ostensibly the H will be off in another country and the children's parents are overseas and the matchmaking aunt has a garden tour booked in Stowe. Of course the H isn't actually going anywhere, but he needs the nannying help. Tho he doesn't like the conniving, heartless, amoral tart h, she can stay as long as she minds her manners and he gets to insult her every 90 minutes or so.
The trials of the h are now just starting and we get H induced punishing roofie kisses, tarty amoral h insults and the demonspawn do their parts by a series of malicious pranks, one of which gets the h almost drowned in the local weir and ends with the h in bed with pneumonia. (Thankfully no small puppies or kittens where injured, or at least PJ did not have them found.)
Of course the h suffers stoically thru all the tribulation and proves that she has succumbed to the power of the Dark Side, when she defends the demonspawn from boarding school deportation. She argues that they are really only confused and misunderstood little tykes, insecure because of lack of firm parenting models except for the H, and not budding serial killers with an infamous plan to take over the world and star in the next Anne Mather HP.
Then the H's younger brother shows up and the h, who is in recovery from pneumonia and then planning to take her conge' , is forced into a fake engagement with the H to "protect" the poor misguided lil' brother from yet another incident of cheating on his wife. The h isn't happy about this, but when you have a ensorcelled young man to protect from a tarty amoral woman on the prowl, an HP H will do what he has to do.
The tension is palpable and the little muck raking slime slurper brother is manipulating for all he is worth. Even his own demonspawn are not fully insulated in their cocoon of darkness, as the brother uses the pretense of shipping the two off to a remote boarding school to further antagonize the H and h. Except his plan of conquer and divide fails.
First, the h has the Ultimate HPlandia get out of jail free card. She is still untouched and innocent in body, if not exactly in mind - cause she is rather creative and does have a good imagination. Second, the evil sewer slurper brother just HAS to gloat in the h's room, with the door open, about all of his evil, manipulative and destructive schemes and the H overhears it.
He whisks the h away like a knight on his charger over the rainbow bridge to Valhalla and introduces his h to his own version of the lance of lurve. In true devotion the H admits that he has ALWAYS loved the h and she swoons in delighted bliss. The two of them declare mutual love and devotion forever and the younger brother is banished with his clueless wife to Hong Kong. The demonspawn are leashed, but probably not reformed. At least they will have some kind of stability living with the H and h until they can start their own HPlandia careers, and the matchmaking aunt happily accepts all the family kudos for orchestrating such a great HEA.
This one was pretty good in terms of drama and wreckiness and just pure classic PJness. Give this one a go if you need a drama fest, PJ always does those with style and the HEA is believable for a win in the HP adventure stakes.
Here the h sacrifices her love for the H at 18 when she falsely admits to having an affair with the H's married younger brother to save the H from finding out that it was his own girlfriend who was pounding the passion with the young man. Add in two children who are the Demonspawn of Tartarus and for sure a future Anne Mather OW and a Margaret Pargeter H in training and you have a PJ whacktastic drama fest.
The h is 28 and a teacher living in London. She gets a call from her aunt who guilts her into giving up her summer plan to tour Greek islands and instead return to the H's family estate and look after the demonspawn of his younger brother. It seems the demonspawn are very possessive of their favorite uncle H and since their own parents neglect them horribly, they have succeeded in running off every caretaker engaged to watch over them.
(Naturally this is a matchmaking ploy by the aunt. Somehow she is hoping that exposure to the Minor Minions of Hell will bring the H and h to connubial bliss - if the h can survive the initial trials with her life and her sanity intact. PJ gives this story mythic proportions. The H's family estate is called Aysgarth - which I kept reading as Asgard- and all the trials and tribulations the h will have to fight thru remind of the trials to reach Valhalla. Too bad this H wasn't described as Chris Hemsworth's Thor worthy in looks or manner, I might have been more motivated in reading it.)
Not that PJ doesn't have sense of humor here tho. The h describes to her roommate how her 18 year old self threw herself on the sword of the H's disgust to spare him the awful truth that his girlfriend cheated on him with his married younger brother. Then how he kicked her off the family property and refused to acknowledge her for ten years. The h's roommate's response is priceless...
* Kate shrugged and said drily, ‘Well, no reason. He seems a bit of an idiot, though – first of all he doesn’t realize the girl he’s in love with is having an affair with his brother and then he believes that the girl who loves him is having an affair with his brother. A bit dense, is he?’*
So even PJ realizes that she has a bit of whacktastickness going on here, however that isn't going to stop her from driving this crazy train right to an HEA.
So the h dutifully goes to the H's estate to look after the demonspawn. Ostensibly the H will be off in another country and the children's parents are overseas and the matchmaking aunt has a garden tour booked in Stowe. Of course the H isn't actually going anywhere, but he needs the nannying help. Tho he doesn't like the conniving, heartless, amoral tart h, she can stay as long as she minds her manners and he gets to insult her every 90 minutes or so.
The trials of the h are now just starting and we get H induced punishing roofie kisses, tarty amoral h insults and the demonspawn do their parts by a series of malicious pranks, one of which gets the h almost drowned in the local weir and ends with the h in bed with pneumonia. (Thankfully no small puppies or kittens where injured, or at least PJ did not have them found.)
Of course the h suffers stoically thru all the tribulation and proves that she has succumbed to the power of the Dark Side, when she defends the demonspawn from boarding school deportation. She argues that they are really only confused and misunderstood little tykes, insecure because of lack of firm parenting models except for the H, and not budding serial killers with an infamous plan to take over the world and star in the next Anne Mather HP.
Then the H's younger brother shows up and the h, who is in recovery from pneumonia and then planning to take her conge' , is forced into a fake engagement with the H to "protect" the poor misguided lil' brother from yet another incident of cheating on his wife. The h isn't happy about this, but when you have a ensorcelled young man to protect from a tarty amoral woman on the prowl, an HP H will do what he has to do.
The tension is palpable and the little muck raking slime slurper brother is manipulating for all he is worth. Even his own demonspawn are not fully insulated in their cocoon of darkness, as the brother uses the pretense of shipping the two off to a remote boarding school to further antagonize the H and h. Except his plan of conquer and divide fails.
First, the h has the Ultimate HPlandia get out of jail free card. She is still untouched and innocent in body, if not exactly in mind - cause she is rather creative and does have a good imagination. Second, the evil sewer slurper brother just HAS to gloat in the h's room, with the door open, about all of his evil, manipulative and destructive schemes and the H overhears it.
He whisks the h away like a knight on his charger over the rainbow bridge to Valhalla and introduces his h to his own version of the lance of lurve. In true devotion the H admits that he has ALWAYS loved the h and she swoons in delighted bliss. The two of them declare mutual love and devotion forever and the younger brother is banished with his clueless wife to Hong Kong. The demonspawn are leashed, but probably not reformed. At least they will have some kind of stability living with the H and h until they can start their own HPlandia careers, and the matchmaking aunt happily accepts all the family kudos for orchestrating such a great HEA.
This one was pretty good in terms of drama and wreckiness and just pure classic PJness. Give this one a go if you need a drama fest, PJ always does those with style and the HEA is believable for a win in the HP adventure stakes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2012
WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.This is old school PJ.The relationship between Rebecca and Frasier may have an ick factor to some readers though.Rebecca 26 is a school teacher living and working in London.Fraser,36,is a scientist and head of the Institute where he works in Cumbria.The ick factor is that they are second cousins.
Ten years ago,Fraser told Rebecca never to return to the family home in Cumbria.Rory, his brother was having an affair with Fraser's girlfriend at the time.Rebecca in order to spare his feelings because Rory told him how much he loved her,told Fraser that the affair was with her.This caused a huge rift between them and they only saw each other two times in the past ten years.
The story begins when their mutual great aunt tells her she needs to come back home to help her care for Rory's twins who lives with Fraser while their parents are in Japan working.She tells her that Fraser will be away for three months .Rebecca goes back,the twins are afraid that she willl want them to go to boarding school.The twins are an unruly pair.One day they play a prank on Rebecca that almost cost her her life.
At this point of the story ,Fraser makes an appearance and saves her.As she had a previous bout with pneumonia ,she is advised bedrest till better.Asthma symptoms appear,Fraser stays at her bedside during the night.
Rory turns up to cause problems ,his wife is still in London visiting her parents.His true colors are revealed to Rebecca.He constantly taunts both Fraser and Rebecca.Fraser tells his brother that he and Rebecca are now engaged to be married.
The final showdown occurs when the two couples go to visit a boarding school far away for the twins.
Rory confronts Rebecca in her room at the hotel where the couples are to spend the night.He tells her that Fraser will never believe her that he(Rory) was not her first lover and hrw it will always be a sore spot to him knowing that his brother had her first.She tells him that is not true and he knows that the two of them had never been lovers in the first place.She onlu told him that because she loved Fraser and did not want him hurt .
Fraser enters and tells his brother to leave.The couple leave for another hotel,everything is confessed.Fraser tells her that he had loved her all those years ago and feelings had started when she turned sixteen.Love is confessed by both ,they make love,hea and they get married.It seemed that good old great aunt set them up all along as she knew that they belonged together.
I was very pleased with this story and enjoyed it very much.Very solid 4.5*****.
Ten years ago,Fraser told Rebecca never to return to the family home in Cumbria.Rory, his brother was having an affair with Fraser's girlfriend at the time.Rebecca in order to spare his feelings because Rory told him how much he loved her,told Fraser that the affair was with her.This caused a huge rift between them and they only saw each other two times in the past ten years.
The story begins when their mutual great aunt tells her she needs to come back home to help her care for Rory's twins who lives with Fraser while their parents are in Japan working.She tells her that Fraser will be away for three months .Rebecca goes back,the twins are afraid that she willl want them to go to boarding school.The twins are an unruly pair.One day they play a prank on Rebecca that almost cost her her life.
At this point of the story ,Fraser makes an appearance and saves her.As she had a previous bout with pneumonia ,she is advised bedrest till better.Asthma symptoms appear,Fraser stays at her bedside during the night.
Rory turns up to cause problems ,his wife is still in London visiting her parents.His true colors are revealed to Rebecca.He constantly taunts both Fraser and Rebecca.Fraser tells his brother that he and Rebecca are now engaged to be married.
The final showdown occurs when the two couples go to visit a boarding school far away for the twins.
Rory confronts Rebecca in her room at the hotel where the couples are to spend the night.He tells her that Fraser will never believe her that he(Rory) was not her first lover and hrw it will always be a sore spot to him knowing that his brother had her first.She tells him that is not true and he knows that the two of them had never been lovers in the first place.She onlu told him that because she loved Fraser and did not want him hurt .
Fraser enters and tells his brother to leave.The couple leave for another hotel,everything is confessed.Fraser tells her that he had loved her all those years ago and feelings had started when she turned sixteen.Love is confessed by both ,they make love,hea and they get married.It seemed that good old great aunt set them up all along as she knew that they belonged together.
I was very pleased with this story and enjoyed it very much.Very solid 4.5*****.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2020
"Unspoken Desire" is the story of Rebecca and Frazer.
Aaaaagh!!!!
The h and H are cousins. She was always infatuated with him, but when she finds his creep of a brother having an affair with his girlfriend, she pretends it was she who was his married brother's mistress to protect the H's feelings?! WTF. Anyways, he banishes her from his life.
Yeeaars later, the POS brother is an absentee father with a doormat wife, who ignores his children. The kids stay with the H and his elderly aunt. The aunt calls the h to help her out with the rowdy twins, and the h, who works as a schoolteacher, tucks her tail in her bum and runs to them because the H is out of town.
Well guess what- the kids prank her, the H returns and drama ensues. Soon the ahole brother returns too, and instead of confessing the truth and clearing the misunderstandings, the h continues to be helplessly harassed by the brother until the H catches her in a big bad confession. Some resolutions later, the end without resolution to the kids' plot.
All I felt was really, really bad for the kids in this book who were obviously hungry for love and did NOT deserve to have such dysfunctional families. The H was OK, h was a TSTL idiot and the brother should have been pushed in a ditch filled with crocodiles.
Read it to induce a migraine.
SWE
2/5
Aaaaagh!!!!
The h and H are cousins. She was always infatuated with him, but when she finds his creep of a brother having an affair with his girlfriend, she pretends it was she who was his married brother's mistress to protect the H's feelings?! WTF. Anyways, he banishes her from his life.
Yeeaars later, the POS brother is an absentee father with a doormat wife, who ignores his children. The kids stay with the H and his elderly aunt. The aunt calls the h to help her out with the rowdy twins, and the h, who works as a schoolteacher, tucks her tail in her bum and runs to them because the H is out of town.
Well guess what- the kids prank her, the H returns and drama ensues. Soon the ahole brother returns too, and instead of confessing the truth and clearing the misunderstandings, the h continues to be helplessly harassed by the brother until the H catches her in a big bad confession. Some resolutions later, the end without resolution to the kids' plot.
All I felt was really, really bad for the kids in this book who were obviously hungry for love and did NOT deserve to have such dysfunctional families. The H was OK, h was a TSTL idiot and the brother should have been pushed in a ditch filled with crocodiles.
Read it to induce a migraine.
SWE
2/5
December 10, 2010
This book I re-read maybe once (or twice) a year. The theme of Rebecca's sacrifice for Fraser, and its tumultuous results, never ceases to catch my breath. It wasn't a case where lack of communication caused the rift because Fraser practically banished Rebecca from Aysgarth for a lie she told to protect him. She spends years away, and only went back because she thought her aged aunt needed her help desperately, and she'd been promised he wasn't going to be there or know about it until she was gone.
I got the sense that, if she hadn't been away for so long, the truth would have come out eventually, so it was her absence and not the usual prevarication or senseless lying that caused them to be apart.
Anyway, I'm going on and on, the bottom line is, this is a keeper. It made Penny Jordan a fave of mine and I'll probably have to replace the copy I have soon because it, like its heroine, has seen its share of long-suffering.
I got the sense that, if she hadn't been away for so long, the truth would have come out eventually, so it was her absence and not the usual prevarication or senseless lying that caused them to be apart.
Anyway, I'm going on and on, the bottom line is, this is a keeper. It made Penny Jordan a fave of mine and I'll probably have to replace the copy I have soon because it, like its heroine, has seen its share of long-suffering.
September 10, 2018
Even though it was published in the 1990s this book had a vintage feel to it, so that's a plus if one likes the older Harlequins. Fraser and Rebecca were kept apart due to the most (arguably) common trope in Romancelandia, The Big Misunderstanding.
A decent unrequited love story, although less exciting compared to Penny Jordan's other romances.
A decent unrequited love story, although less exciting compared to Penny Jordan's other romances.
September 1, 2012
Yes, this book was great. The ending was better. I loved that the truth came out and the hero and heroine had a chance to be 'real' with one another. It was well written and very enjoyable.
September 20, 2013
I've read so many Penny Jordan romances now and she is always an entertaining read, although I've got to admit, even as a fan, that some of her books are better than others. This one is kind of middle of the road for me - it features Rebecca, a school teacher who whilst on summer hols, gets hijacked into looking after her cousin's unruly twins, so that he can go off on a jolly to Hong Kong. His wife (mother of the twins) is forced to go with him to stop him "straying" as he is unfortunately prone to do.
This leaves Rebecca at the mercy of her "Edwardian" aunt and her other cousin, Frazer, a man she admits to having loved since childhood. However, there's a bit of history here, and Frazer believes that Rebecca has been one of the bits of fluff that his brother (Rory, father of twins) has strayed with. This leads to one of the best lines in a Mills and Boons I've ever read, when Rebecca's much feister, stronger flatmate observes: "Kate shrugged and said drily, ‘Well, no reason. He seems a bit of an idiot, though – first of all he doesn’t realise the girl he’s in love with is having an affair with his brother and then he believes that the girl who loves him is having an affair with his brother. A bit dense, is he?’ she questioned. [...]You mean it was preferable to believe that you were guilty of enticing his brother into an extra-marital relationship rather than his girlfriend?’ Kate demanded scathingly. ‘That isn’t perception, Rebecca, it’s sheer bloody-minded stupidity....’ (p. 16) Of course, Kate has just asked the question that every single reader of a Mills and Boon must have been asking whenever they encounter the dimwits who are the male and female leads in these books and just how stupid they must be to let their failure to communicate/perpetual misunderstandings get in the way of their burgeoning and undeniable passions.
Still, it's a mills and boon, and before you know it, Rebecca has not only been bullied into taking care of the dreadful twins, but also into faking an engagement with Frazer (Why? Why?) The reasons are tenuous, but the end result is the same. Happy families all round.
This leaves Rebecca at the mercy of her "Edwardian" aunt and her other cousin, Frazer, a man she admits to having loved since childhood. However, there's a bit of history here, and Frazer believes that Rebecca has been one of the bits of fluff that his brother (Rory, father of twins) has strayed with. This leads to one of the best lines in a Mills and Boons I've ever read, when Rebecca's much feister, stronger flatmate observes: "Kate shrugged and said drily, ‘Well, no reason. He seems a bit of an idiot, though – first of all he doesn’t realise the girl he’s in love with is having an affair with his brother and then he believes that the girl who loves him is having an affair with his brother. A bit dense, is he?’ she questioned. [...]You mean it was preferable to believe that you were guilty of enticing his brother into an extra-marital relationship rather than his girlfriend?’ Kate demanded scathingly. ‘That isn’t perception, Rebecca, it’s sheer bloody-minded stupidity....’ (p. 16) Of course, Kate has just asked the question that every single reader of a Mills and Boon must have been asking whenever they encounter the dimwits who are the male and female leads in these books and just how stupid they must be to let their failure to communicate/perpetual misunderstandings get in the way of their burgeoning and undeniable passions.
Still, it's a mills and boon, and before you know it, Rebecca has not only been bullied into taking care of the dreadful twins, but also into faking an engagement with Frazer (Why? Why?) The reasons are tenuous, but the end result is the same. Happy families all round.
January 21, 2020
Honesty... there needed to be a scene where the heroine tried to correct her previous mistake. That never happened, so that was annoying.
August 31, 2022
Read this over a week ago. I loved the unnecessary drama that kept these 2 lovers apart for the last 8 years. This story has two lovers torn apart by a lie. A lie said in the name of love(but imo it was rather ridiculous). This was all orchestrated by the hateful, devious, jealous brother of the H. IT is 8 years later and the brother’s wife has to travel with him to keep him faithful(believe me this jerk is finding ways out of that!). Meanwhile, they have 2 children(the plot moppets) who are basically being raised by the hero. They don’t want anyone ruining their “good” thing so they terrorize the h when she comes there at the great aunt’s(matchmaker) request to help reign the kids in. The hero wasn’t supposed to be there. Well, this wouldn’t be much of a love story if he stayed away….
Anyhoo, it is obvious these 2 love each other to everyone else, but they think they have to hide it away. The Hero is cruel to the h. The h suffers silently. Eventually, the truths come out and they are on to their HEA.
Boogenhagen has all the details. Stmargarets and Vashti have great reviews as well along with others. I am getting a little too fuzzy on details to do justice to the book, but I enjoyed it. It is so very Penny Jordan!
Anyhoo, it is obvious these 2 love each other to everyone else, but they think they have to hide it away. The Hero is cruel to the h. The h suffers silently. Eventually, the truths come out and they are on to their HEA.
Boogenhagen has all the details. Stmargarets and Vashti have great reviews as well along with others. I am getting a little too fuzzy on details to do justice to the book, but I enjoyed it. It is so very Penny Jordan!
September 15, 2020
The woman is annoying with her lies. The brother of the man is telling lies about her and she is not strong enough to go against him. The woman comes over as a weak person.
But Penny Jordan is such an excellent romance writer that you can feel the attraction between the man and woman. So that makes up for it, I guess.
But Penny Jordan is such an excellent romance writer that you can feel the attraction between the man and woman. So that makes up for it, I guess.
September 18, 2022
It was very PJ. I was hoping I'd like it more, being 2 brothers, but it just didn't float my boat.
May 14, 2020
Would he always hold the past against her?
"You never did want to face reality, did you?" Frazer accused. "You always were a daydreamer...living more in your imagination than in real life."
Frazer Aysgarth had never forgiven Rebecca for what she'd done those many years ago--despite the fact she'd sacrificed herself for his sake.
Now that they would be sharing the same house, Rebecca wondered if there was any hope that he'd see her as the woman she really was.
"You never did want to face reality, did you?" Frazer accused. "You always were a daydreamer...living more in your imagination than in real life."
Frazer Aysgarth had never forgiven Rebecca for what she'd done those many years ago--despite the fact she'd sacrificed herself for his sake.
Now that they would be sharing the same house, Rebecca wondered if there was any hope that he'd see her as the woman she really was.
June 19, 2014
I enjoyed this book and read it in a couple of days but I did find it hard to get past the second-cousin element. Just a bit...icky.
Still, it's a good story and well written; textbook PJ. There are the constant misunderstandings and the lack of communication between the two main characters but that is standard M&B / HP. Things all turned out well in the end as expected.
Still, it's a good story and well written; textbook PJ. There are the constant misunderstandings and the lack of communication between the two main characters but that is standard M&B / HP. Things all turned out well in the end as expected.
January 28, 2023
I do like it, probably more due to nostalgia since I first read it years ago, but I just want to get it out there that I don't hate it.
Now, something that really bugs me about it is the two sets of parents who are similar in a way but whom we're supposed to treat very differently. I don't think Rebecca's and Robert's parents loving them makes them much different from Rory and Lillian. All four of them leave their kids for most of the year in a different country because of a job. Both fathers choose careers over their children, both mothers choose their husbands over their children. In other words, to me both sets of parents suck and it annoyed me when one set was excused all the time.
Now onto Rebecca, I didn't root for her much this time around. It really dawned on me that she actively brought this on herself. I can understand a stupid 18 year old, who acts stupidly and illogically (was she really fine with letting Frazer be in the dark about his supposed beloved cheating on him with his own brother? If she cheated with his brother who's to say she won't cheat with every other available person?), but in present time she told Frazer she had the affair with Rory. And she was giving herself excuses for it. Earth to Rebecca, you didn't actually have the affair. I agree with Frazer (in a different way than he meant it) that she loved being a martyr. She had years to tell Frazer the truth, but she decided against it for no reason. Then she had the audacity to be hurt and angry that he didn't read her mind and figure out the truth.
I found it more than a little creepy that Frazer realised he was in love with Rebecca when she was 16. I know this book was released 30 years ago, and that humanity still struggles with the issue is it perfectly fine for 25+ men to date 16 year old girls or are we ready to call it creepy, but it really starts bugging me in these books (I find Diana Palmer to be one of the most notorious offenders because at least half of her heroines are 18-20 years old blushing virgins who end up with men 10+ years their senior who are very much experienced but would find their wives to be damaged if they were experienced as well; but Palmer's a discussion for another day).
I sincerely hope Peter and especially Helen were given therapy at the end of the book, because oh boy they've crossed to the territory of monsters, having come close to killing Rebecca not once, but twice (the second one after being told it could've ended with a death).
Now, something that really bugs me about it is the two sets of parents who are similar in a way but whom we're supposed to treat very differently. I don't think Rebecca's and Robert's parents loving them makes them much different from Rory and Lillian. All four of them leave their kids for most of the year in a different country because of a job. Both fathers choose careers over their children, both mothers choose their husbands over their children. In other words, to me both sets of parents suck and it annoyed me when one set was excused all the time.
Now onto Rebecca, I didn't root for her much this time around. It really dawned on me that she actively brought this on herself. I can understand a stupid 18 year old, who acts stupidly and illogically (was she really fine with letting Frazer be in the dark about his supposed beloved cheating on him with his own brother? If she cheated with his brother who's to say she won't cheat with every other available person?), but in present time she told Frazer she had the affair with Rory. And she was giving herself excuses for it. Earth to Rebecca, you didn't actually have the affair. I agree with Frazer (in a different way than he meant it) that she loved being a martyr. She had years to tell Frazer the truth, but she decided against it for no reason. Then she had the audacity to be hurt and angry that he didn't read her mind and figure out the truth.
I found it more than a little creepy that Frazer realised he was in love with Rebecca when she was 16. I know this book was released 30 years ago, and that humanity still struggles with the issue is it perfectly fine for 25+ men to date 16 year old girls or are we ready to call it creepy, but it really starts bugging me in these books (I find Diana Palmer to be one of the most notorious offenders because at least half of her heroines are 18-20 years old blushing virgins who end up with men 10+ years their senior who are very much experienced but would find their wives to be damaged if they were experienced as well; but Palmer's a discussion for another day).
I sincerely hope Peter and especially Helen were given therapy at the end of the book, because oh boy they've crossed to the territory of monsters, having come close to killing Rebecca not once, but twice (the second one after being told it could've ended with a death).
November 7, 2021
Dropped one star for the 8 year long separation. I mean I never forgave DG for the 20 year torture ala Outlander.
The H was definitely TSTL and blind. He was perceptive for everything except the h's moony love for him lol. Man I'm still not over all those wasted years! We can see that he is attracted to the h but I gotta say, he let his tongue get away with him alot, and said a few hurtful things. WELL, both of them did to be fair, in their blind insistence in ensuring the other one doesn't figure out they're in lurv.
The OM/Rory was a bit too over the top for me to truly believe him, I think best case scenario he had a personality disorder if I'm supposed to believe he is actually that weird - sociopath minimum.
I think the story ended abruptly - would have liked closure on the poor, future-candidates-for-therapy kids.
The H was definitely TSTL and blind. He was perceptive for everything except the h's moony love for him lol. Man I'm still not over all those wasted years! We can see that he is attracted to the h but I gotta say, he let his tongue get away with him alot, and said a few hurtful things. WELL, both of them did to be fair, in their blind insistence in ensuring the other one doesn't figure out they're in lurv.
The OM/Rory was a bit too over the top for me to truly believe him, I think best case scenario he had a personality disorder if I'm supposed to believe he is actually that weird - sociopath minimum.
I think the story ended abruptly - would have liked closure on the poor, future-candidates-for-therapy kids.
October 3, 2020
Good story I would have liked to hear that they got to keep the twins living with them tho and maybe Helen and Peter hugging her at the end accepting her? They made a big impact of the story then just got lost at the end.(and I don't even like kids but they should get a happier ending or at least be mentioned)
Loved the ending with the eavesdropping and hearing her confess all.
I'm agreement with others the close to family relationship (being second cousin) is a bit icky.
Loved the ending with the eavesdropping and hearing her confess all.
I'm agreement with others the close to family relationship (being second cousin) is a bit icky.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2020
Just not my cup of tea.
September 1, 2022
I read this two months ago, yet I have already forgotten almost all of it, except for the stupidity of the main characters...
May 25, 2020
Dumb plot but enjoyable story with characters we grow to care about. Longer review is here: https://www.morebooksthantime.com/hir...
May 9, 2010
Would you want to marry someone who believed the worst of you? Desperate doormat Rebecca does.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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