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Destiny #3
Threads of Destiny
Threads Of Destiny by Sara Wood released on Jan 25, 1996 is available now for purchase.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Sara Wood
258 books35 followersSara Wood was born in England. She has wonderful memories of her childhood. Her parents were desperately poor but their devotion to family life gave her a feeling of great security. Sara's father was one of four fostered children and never knew his parents, hence his joy with his own family. Birthday parties were sensational her father would perform brilliantly as a Chinese magician or a clown or invent hilarious games and treasure hunts. From him she learnt that working hard brought many rewards, especially self-respect. During her degree course she met her husband, a kind, thoughtful, attentive man who is her friend and soulmate. At 21, she married and had her first son at 22. Now she has another three children. She loved teaching in Sussex which she did for twelve years.
Her switch into writing came about in a peculiar way. Richie, her elder son, had always been nuts about natural history and had a huge collection of animal skulls. At the age of fifteen he decided he'd write an information book about collecting. Heinemann and Pan, prestigious publishers, eagerly fell on the book and when it was published it won the famous Times Information Book award. Interviews, TV and magazine articles followed. Encouraged by his success, she thought she could write too and had several information books for children published. Then she saw Charlotte Lamb being wined and dined by Mills & Boon on a television programme and decided she could do Charlotte's job! But she'd rarely read fiction before, so she bought twenty books and analysed them carefully, then wrote one of her own. Amazingly it was accepted and she began writing full time.
Sara and her husband moved to a small country estate in Cornwall which was a paradise. Her sons visited often; Richie being married to Heidi and with two daughters; Simon rushing in after some danger- filled action in Alaska or Hawaii etc, protecting the environment with Greenpeace. Sara qualified as a homeopath, caring for the health of her family and friends. But Paradise is always fleeting. Sara's husband became seriously ill and it was clear that they had to move somewhere less demanding on time and effort. After a nightmare year of worrying about him, nursing and watching him like a hawk, she was relieved when they'd sold up and moved back to Sussex. Their current house is large and thatched and sits in the pretty rolling downs with wonderful walks and views all around. They live nearer to the boys (men!) and see them often. Richie and Heidi are expecting another baby, Simon has a baby son and a new, dangerous, passion flinging himself off mountains (paragliding). The three hills nearby frequently entice him down. She adores seeing her family (mother, mother-in-law too) around the table at Christmas. Sara feels fortunate that although she's had tough times and has sometimes been desperately unhappy, she is now surrounded by love and feels she can weather any storm to come.
Her switch into writing came about in a peculiar way. Richie, her elder son, had always been nuts about natural history and had a huge collection of animal skulls. At the age of fifteen he decided he'd write an information book about collecting. Heinemann and Pan, prestigious publishers, eagerly fell on the book and when it was published it won the famous Times Information Book award. Interviews, TV and magazine articles followed. Encouraged by his success, she thought she could write too and had several information books for children published. Then she saw Charlotte Lamb being wined and dined by Mills & Boon on a television programme and decided she could do Charlotte's job! But she'd rarely read fiction before, so she bought twenty books and analysed them carefully, then wrote one of her own. Amazingly it was accepted and she began writing full time.
Sara and her husband moved to a small country estate in Cornwall which was a paradise. Her sons visited often; Richie being married to Heidi and with two daughters; Simon rushing in after some danger- filled action in Alaska or Hawaii etc, protecting the environment with Greenpeace. Sara qualified as a homeopath, caring for the health of her family and friends. But Paradise is always fleeting. Sara's husband became seriously ill and it was clear that they had to move somewhere less demanding on time and effort. After a nightmare year of worrying about him, nursing and watching him like a hawk, she was relieved when they'd sold up and moved back to Sussex. Their current house is large and thatched and sits in the pretty rolling downs with wonderful walks and views all around. They live nearer to the boys (men!) and see them often. Richie and Heidi are expecting another baby, Simon has a baby son and a new, dangerous, passion flinging himself off mountains (paragliding). The three hills nearby frequently entice him down. She adores seeing her family (mother, mother-in-law too) around the table at Christmas. Sara feels fortunate that although she's had tough times and has sometimes been desperately unhappy, she is now surrounded by love and feels she can weather any storm to come.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 15, 2018
Re Threads of Destiny - Because friends don't let friends read Sara Wood without adequate spoilerizations, I drank the kool-aid and dragged myself through this.
(I was in INESTIMABLE PAIN here! But a very timely gift of chocolate from Reader in NJ saved my HP sanity. So HUGE THANKS to a very lovely lady!)
But honestly, I would have rather had multiple skilletings without the benefit of a Captain consult than read this. So keep that in mind as we get on with final book (thank the HP gods,) of Sara Wood's Destiny series
If SW had been writing this in a notebook, it would be written in purple and pink bubblegum smelling ink with all the i's dotted with smiley hearts and multiple exclamations points inserted every other sentence.
The h is the youngest sibling of the prior two book's h's and she is around 21 or so. Think Pollyanna on steroids who only speaks in exclamatory utterances.
The H is more than twice her age, with grown children and a grandchild. Picture him with the looks and intensity of an aging Frank Langella Dracula, but he has the mannerisms and all the sleaziness of Jerry Lundegaard of the movie Fargo.
These two meet when the H gatecrashes the wedding of the h and H from the first book. He stalks the naive and TSTL h relentlessly around the wedding and then threatens her with rape and blackmail while simultaneously offering her an introduction to Hungarian fabric and sewing notions designers.
There is pretty much eight chapters of the H's threats, physical manhandling, arguments and attempts to mentally hypnotize the h into compliance with his wishes, while the h has OTT bewailings and moanings and excited utterances.
It is eight chapters that feels like fifty of unadulterated manufactured drama with the usual SW manic/depressive intensity.
(I kinda feel bad for being so disparaging, but seriously SW writes these like she is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks making her high class society debut and she is trying way, way too hard.)
The basic plot is as follows.
The H shows up at the wedding, stalks the h and then tells her that she either cooperates with him or he will destroy the H from the first book. How is this H going to do that?
It turns out that the H from the first book's mother, the Countess who married a Stalinist Communist to save her heritage, is this H's mother too.
The H's father took him back to Russian and told the H that his mother rejected him. The H believes that makes him the true heir to the former aristocratic estate now turned upscale hotel and he has the ancient scion heredity seals of the house to prove it.
(It seems the Countess's familial Official Aristocratic Seals were taken by her Communist husband and she bitterly regrets the loss of her heritage. )
So if this unicorn petting h doesn't do exactly as the H tells her, he will reveal himself and mess everybody's lives up by claiming the estate.
(Which I did not see how, because Hungary isn't England and there is no primogeniture laws and the Countess isn't dead, so technically what is he going to do, stand around a make angry faces that he wants the hotel?)
The h is horrified that her beloved older sister might have her happiness disrupted, so she agrees to the H's demands and we all go off to look at buttons, zippers and fabrics and display the h like a tart for hire.
We meet the H's daughters and his grandkid, learn about his dead wife and how he loved her and also learn that the H is furious cause his dad died when he was 10.
The H lost all his perks from being included in the Politboro elite class and he had to go live with his grandparents and be ordinary. He resented that fiercely, so he ran away with Gypsy's and then went to America and made a huge fortune.
In between attempted H forced seduction of the h followed by h hysterical appeals for leniency while battling treacherous body syndrome excitation, we eventually find out that isn't what the H REALLY wants.
His real mission, after he lies and tells the h his children's safety is at risk, (Which is why the H has to harass, blackmail and abduct the h while parading her around future suppliers for her clothing business. Thus ruining any chance she might have had to make a good impression because the potential suppliers all think she is the H's tart and treat her accordingly,) is that her OTHER sister's H, the publisher who likes high class call girls from the second book, is publishing a book he doesn't like.
The second book's H, along with the sister who really IS a Tart, gave a book contract to the H's former partner. The H's former partner was sent to jail by the H for being a criminal. The book he is writing implicates the H in his nefarious activities and names the H as the mastermind behind it all.
The H insists that he really isn't a criminal. Just disregard the fact that he blackmailed and tried to extort sex from the h, then threatened her with rape and grievous bodily harm when she managed to resist the treacherous body syndrome, or that he doles out bribes to the h's potential suppliers as he parades her around as his tart, all while trying to force her future brother in laws to bow to his demands by telling them that he will do horrible things to the h.
The h is, of course, in love with him. So she eventually stops resisting the treacherous body syndrome, doesn't care if she never gets her clothing business going, or if she loses the good reputation for quality clothing designs she had, her love will conquer all.
Which in SW's deus ex HP machina ending, kinda works out.
The Countess who married the Communist intervenes on this H's behalf because she convinces the publisher H that our now uncertain unicorn grooming status h has great judgement and the H has donated a ton of money to various charities, so he can't possibly be a very bad man extortionist or blackmailer or thug enforcer.
Then there is the big revelation that that the H is her first born son and in two sentences the H's grand plan o'vengance is utterly swept away and they can all be one big happy family for the HEA.
What were those two sentences you ask? Her Communist husband took her baby from her, saying because she was Hungarian she wasn't fit to raise her child. Then the baby died without knowing how much the Countess who married a Communist loved him.
Cue the H to admit that he is the not-dead-baby all grown up, who now adores his mother and big hugs all around as we toast the permanence of a devoted mother's love.
So with a last minute Hail Mary! pass and an excessive amount of over indulged emotional drama with extra exclamation points, everybody gets somebody. We can call that a win. Mostly cause I can finally dump this series and work hard to forget I ever read any part of this entire HP outing.
(I was in INESTIMABLE PAIN here! But a very timely gift of chocolate from Reader in NJ saved my HP sanity. So HUGE THANKS to a very lovely lady!)
But honestly, I would have rather had multiple skilletings without the benefit of a Captain consult than read this. So keep that in mind as we get on with final book (thank the HP gods,) of Sara Wood's Destiny series
If SW had been writing this in a notebook, it would be written in purple and pink bubblegum smelling ink with all the i's dotted with smiley hearts and multiple exclamations points inserted every other sentence.
The h is the youngest sibling of the prior two book's h's and she is around 21 or so. Think Pollyanna on steroids who only speaks in exclamatory utterances.
The H is more than twice her age, with grown children and a grandchild. Picture him with the looks and intensity of an aging Frank Langella Dracula, but he has the mannerisms and all the sleaziness of Jerry Lundegaard of the movie Fargo.
These two meet when the H gatecrashes the wedding of the h and H from the first book. He stalks the naive and TSTL h relentlessly around the wedding and then threatens her with rape and blackmail while simultaneously offering her an introduction to Hungarian fabric and sewing notions designers.
There is pretty much eight chapters of the H's threats, physical manhandling, arguments and attempts to mentally hypnotize the h into compliance with his wishes, while the h has OTT bewailings and moanings and excited utterances.
It is eight chapters that feels like fifty of unadulterated manufactured drama with the usual SW manic/depressive intensity.
(I kinda feel bad for being so disparaging, but seriously SW writes these like she is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks making her high class society debut and she is trying way, way too hard.)
The basic plot is as follows.
The H shows up at the wedding, stalks the h and then tells her that she either cooperates with him or he will destroy the H from the first book. How is this H going to do that?
It turns out that the H from the first book's mother, the Countess who married a Stalinist Communist to save her heritage, is this H's mother too.
The H's father took him back to Russian and told the H that his mother rejected him. The H believes that makes him the true heir to the former aristocratic estate now turned upscale hotel and he has the ancient scion heredity seals of the house to prove it.
(It seems the Countess's familial Official Aristocratic Seals were taken by her Communist husband and she bitterly regrets the loss of her heritage. )
So if this unicorn petting h doesn't do exactly as the H tells her, he will reveal himself and mess everybody's lives up by claiming the estate.
(Which I did not see how, because Hungary isn't England and there is no primogeniture laws and the Countess isn't dead, so technically what is he going to do, stand around a make angry faces that he wants the hotel?)
The h is horrified that her beloved older sister might have her happiness disrupted, so she agrees to the H's demands and we all go off to look at buttons, zippers and fabrics and display the h like a tart for hire.
We meet the H's daughters and his grandkid, learn about his dead wife and how he loved her and also learn that the H is furious cause his dad died when he was 10.
The H lost all his perks from being included in the Politboro elite class and he had to go live with his grandparents and be ordinary. He resented that fiercely, so he ran away with Gypsy's and then went to America and made a huge fortune.
In between attempted H forced seduction of the h followed by h hysterical appeals for leniency while battling treacherous body syndrome excitation, we eventually find out that isn't what the H REALLY wants.
His real mission, after he lies and tells the h his children's safety is at risk, (Which is why the H has to harass, blackmail and abduct the h while parading her around future suppliers for her clothing business. Thus ruining any chance she might have had to make a good impression because the potential suppliers all think she is the H's tart and treat her accordingly,) is that her OTHER sister's H, the publisher who likes high class call girls from the second book, is publishing a book he doesn't like.
The second book's H, along with the sister who really IS a Tart, gave a book contract to the H's former partner. The H's former partner was sent to jail by the H for being a criminal. The book he is writing implicates the H in his nefarious activities and names the H as the mastermind behind it all.
The H insists that he really isn't a criminal. Just disregard the fact that he blackmailed and tried to extort sex from the h, then threatened her with rape and grievous bodily harm when she managed to resist the treacherous body syndrome, or that he doles out bribes to the h's potential suppliers as he parades her around as his tart, all while trying to force her future brother in laws to bow to his demands by telling them that he will do horrible things to the h.
The h is, of course, in love with him. So she eventually stops resisting the treacherous body syndrome, doesn't care if she never gets her clothing business going, or if she loses the good reputation for quality clothing designs she had, her love will conquer all.
Which in SW's deus ex HP machina ending, kinda works out.
The Countess who married the Communist intervenes on this H's behalf because she convinces the publisher H that our now uncertain unicorn grooming status h has great judgement and the H has donated a ton of money to various charities, so he can't possibly be a very bad man extortionist or blackmailer or thug enforcer.
Then there is the big revelation that that the H is her first born son and in two sentences the H's grand plan o'vengance is utterly swept away and they can all be one big happy family for the HEA.
What were those two sentences you ask? Her Communist husband took her baby from her, saying because she was Hungarian she wasn't fit to raise her child. Then the baby died without knowing how much the Countess who married a Communist loved him.
Cue the H to admit that he is the not-dead-baby all grown up, who now adores his mother and big hugs all around as we toast the permanence of a devoted mother's love.
So with a last minute Hail Mary! pass and an excessive amount of over indulged emotional drama with extra exclamation points, everybody gets somebody. We can call that a win. Mostly cause I can finally dump this series and work hard to forget I ever read any part of this entire HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 27, 2018Ugh! Not a "hero" I want to get the woman.
March 16, 2012
I didn't mind the antagonist of the book, but the protagonist annoyed me to no end. I didn't think that the author did a good job building up the love story between the two. It seemed very rushed.
April 16, 2021
DESTINY
"You made the mistake of trusting me...and now you're even more in my power than before!"
He'd appeared without warning, out of the mysterious beauty of a moonlit Hungarian night. Suzanne was spellbound, unable to resist the potent charisma of this elusive stranger. But Laszlo Huszar had more in mind than idle flirtation--his goal was revenge, using Suzanne as a pawn in his passionate vendetta. Suddenly Suzanne found herself locked in a circle of blackmail and hatred...the cruel legacy of her family's dark past. Could she break the threads that bound her destiny to Laszlo's?
"You made the mistake of trusting me...and now you're even more in my power than before!"
He'd appeared without warning, out of the mysterious beauty of a moonlit Hungarian night. Suzanne was spellbound, unable to resist the potent charisma of this elusive stranger. But Laszlo Huszar had more in mind than idle flirtation--his goal was revenge, using Suzanne as a pawn in his passionate vendetta. Suddenly Suzanne found herself locked in a circle of blackmail and hatred...the cruel legacy of her family's dark past. Could she break the threads that bound her destiny to Laszlo's?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews