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A Casual Affair
At thirty-one and at the top of her profession, TV presenter Rachel Haston thought she knew what she wanted next: a husband and family. But London golden-boy-made-good Nick Farlowe wasn't about to be tied down. Oh, he kissed her in a way she'd never been kissed before, and showed her good times, but Rachel knew that permanence wasn't a word in Nick's vocabulary. The question was, though, could she ever settle for the simple contentment of being a wife and mother, when loving Nick showed her the choice of throwing a lifetime's caution - and dreams - to the wind?
186 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1991
About the author
Susanne McCarthy
102 books74 followersI'm a Londoner, though now I live in Devon, a twenty-minute walk from the sea. I love nothing more than walking my pretty Cavapoo on the beach in the rain (well, OK, I don't object to the sun, but when it's raining we usually have the whole beach to ourselves.)
Back in the day I had 25 novels published by Mills&Boon. After a long gap doing other things I found my love of writing again, and self-published three new novels.
But I knew that to reach more readers I needed an established publisher. Step in Joffe Books. They were top of my list so I was delighted when they accepted the first novel I sent them.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Back in the day I had 25 novels published by Mills&Boon. After a long gap doing other things I found my love of writing again, and self-published three new novels.
But I knew that to reach more readers I needed an established publisher. Step in Joffe Books. They were top of my list so I was delighted when they accepted the first novel I sent them.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 15, 2017
Re A Casual Affair - Susanne McCarthy is back with a book that features a 31 yr old unicorn petting h who is slated to be wed in three weeks and then finds out her fiance cheated on her. Throw in a younger man tycoon whom the h first thinks is an electrician, but actually lives in the penthouse above her, and we get an interesting look at the choices a woman makes when she finds time is ticking and she wants to marry to start a family.
The h in this one is obviously under the gun of her biological clock. She wants marriage and kids and there is also her mother, who is a snobby social pecking order kind of woman who has every thing regimented on a time table and is pushing the h to settle down. However SMc never brings up the bio clock aspect, so it is hard to tell if the h wants to marry cause her mother has her on a schedule or if it is because she hears the tread of time and is ready to build her nest.
The h is a successful TV art show presenter and her fiance who cheated is one of the executive producers at her station. The story opens with the h giving him his ring back, obviously if he can't wait for the wedding to indulge in a little lurve mojo, he isn't the man for her.
Then she meets the upstairs neighbor at her new flat when her electricity goes on the blitz and she thinks he is an electrician. He mends it for her and gives her a bit of a flirt and the h is startled to find herself very attracted. The H is rather pushy in the HP approved Alpha H way, and the h is leery. The H is a well known playboy, or at least his love life was frequently in the gossip columns two years earlier and to the h's standards, he is definitely the wrong kind of man.
Except she was engaged to the 'right kind of man' and he cheated and he treated her as a brainless object and it takes spending time with the H and riding around on his motorbike and just doing simple, enjoyable things for her to see that the 'right kind of man' she was engaged to is all wrong for her.
The frustrating part of the majority of the book is that the ex muck gulper fiance keeps trying to insinuate himself back into the engagement. The h is a weak Nelly and can't seem to just tell him to shove off and mean it. When he comes up with these little outings like Wimbledon and jaunts the h likes to do, the h keeps stupidly accepting. All the while she is also dating the H and having more and more passionate roofie kissing moments.
The h claims that she is only trying to keep on a good footing with her ex, but it smacked of deception and not just testing the waters to see what is out there. For one, the h seriously considers taking the muck gulper back, thinking that it was her fault he cheated cause she did not sleep with him. I wanted to smack her with a skillet multiple times.
The other thing that is irksome is that the H is a playboy, he likes the lady buffet, he makes no bones about it and he has a thing for ice cool blondes he perceives as being upper class. It smacks of Lady Chatterley HPlandia style. Tho as the H's character develops, his actions show that he is really a nice man.
So the crux of the book is that the h enjoys spending time with and being around the H. She wants marriage and a family, she thinks he wants a buffet sample and maybe a course or two and the h has to decide what she really wants out of life. Finally the h makes the decision to tell the muck gulper to jump and she decides to take a chance with the H, cause by now she is completely in love.
Eventually the H and h lurve it up without the benefit of clergy and after a while the h throws down the ultimatum of marriage or bust. The H chooses the bust option and the h goes home to face down her snobby mother.
She does tell mummy dearest off. Surprisingly her dad, a Ancoat Mancunian (he is from Manchester,) complete with burr, tells her mum to lay off it, who cares what her gossipy hens think and he did not like the guy anyways.
( I got a little giggle when I realized that for all the h's mum's carping, she essentially married and is still wildly in love with the 'wrong kind of man' too. It did make me feel a bit better about her.)
So the h talks to her very sensible dad, and he tells her that if you love, you just have to love and follow your heart and respectability isn't everything - but don't tell her mother that he said that.
The h realizes that she loves the H with all her heart and she can't turn her back on that, so she runs off to pack and return to London. Then a motorbike pulls up and her mum is horrified and her dad is laughing, cause it is the H. The h jumps into his arms avowing true love and no marriage demands and the H proposes, cause he loves her back and does want to marry her, but he did not want to be blackmailed into it.
Then the h finds out via the newspaper that her vindictive muck gulper ex axed her TV show, so now she is jobless. The H asks her if she wants him to buy the TV studio for her, but she decides she has enough funds to start her own production company and will do that and marry the H as he wants to have a full football team of babies, while the h suggests maybe only five a side instead.
The latter half was better than the first on this one. Mainly tho that was me, cause I was getting frustrated that she didn't completely dump the muck gulper. I did not like the back and forth between the H and the ex either, I got very impatient for the h to make up her mind.
I did like the way the h had to choose between her 'easy' relationship that made her happy and the demands of her nesting instinct. It was just nebulous enough that I could really feel for her dilemma. What choice do you make when you want a family but your lover isn't ready to commit and may never be? This book makes you think about that.
The h's dad was great too, it was nice to see a h father in a supportive, nurturing role for once in HPlandia and I was really glad he put a stop to her mum's trying to pimp her out. Overall this an interesting book and if you have more patience than I did, a pretty nice little HPlandia outing.
The h in this one is obviously under the gun of her biological clock. She wants marriage and kids and there is also her mother, who is a snobby social pecking order kind of woman who has every thing regimented on a time table and is pushing the h to settle down. However SMc never brings up the bio clock aspect, so it is hard to tell if the h wants to marry cause her mother has her on a schedule or if it is because she hears the tread of time and is ready to build her nest.
The h is a successful TV art show presenter and her fiance who cheated is one of the executive producers at her station. The story opens with the h giving him his ring back, obviously if he can't wait for the wedding to indulge in a little lurve mojo, he isn't the man for her.
Then she meets the upstairs neighbor at her new flat when her electricity goes on the blitz and she thinks he is an electrician. He mends it for her and gives her a bit of a flirt and the h is startled to find herself very attracted. The H is rather pushy in the HP approved Alpha H way, and the h is leery. The H is a well known playboy, or at least his love life was frequently in the gossip columns two years earlier and to the h's standards, he is definitely the wrong kind of man.
Except she was engaged to the 'right kind of man' and he cheated and he treated her as a brainless object and it takes spending time with the H and riding around on his motorbike and just doing simple, enjoyable things for her to see that the 'right kind of man' she was engaged to is all wrong for her.
The frustrating part of the majority of the book is that the ex muck gulper fiance keeps trying to insinuate himself back into the engagement. The h is a weak Nelly and can't seem to just tell him to shove off and mean it. When he comes up with these little outings like Wimbledon and jaunts the h likes to do, the h keeps stupidly accepting. All the while she is also dating the H and having more and more passionate roofie kissing moments.
The h claims that she is only trying to keep on a good footing with her ex, but it smacked of deception and not just testing the waters to see what is out there. For one, the h seriously considers taking the muck gulper back, thinking that it was her fault he cheated cause she did not sleep with him. I wanted to smack her with a skillet multiple times.
The other thing that is irksome is that the H is a playboy, he likes the lady buffet, he makes no bones about it and he has a thing for ice cool blondes he perceives as being upper class. It smacks of Lady Chatterley HPlandia style. Tho as the H's character develops, his actions show that he is really a nice man.
So the crux of the book is that the h enjoys spending time with and being around the H. She wants marriage and a family, she thinks he wants a buffet sample and maybe a course or two and the h has to decide what she really wants out of life. Finally the h makes the decision to tell the muck gulper to jump and she decides to take a chance with the H, cause by now she is completely in love.
Eventually the H and h lurve it up without the benefit of clergy and after a while the h throws down the ultimatum of marriage or bust. The H chooses the bust option and the h goes home to face down her snobby mother.
She does tell mummy dearest off. Surprisingly her dad, a Ancoat Mancunian (he is from Manchester,) complete with burr, tells her mum to lay off it, who cares what her gossipy hens think and he did not like the guy anyways.
( I got a little giggle when I realized that for all the h's mum's carping, she essentially married and is still wildly in love with the 'wrong kind of man' too. It did make me feel a bit better about her.)
So the h talks to her very sensible dad, and he tells her that if you love, you just have to love and follow your heart and respectability isn't everything - but don't tell her mother that he said that.
The h realizes that she loves the H with all her heart and she can't turn her back on that, so she runs off to pack and return to London. Then a motorbike pulls up and her mum is horrified and her dad is laughing, cause it is the H. The h jumps into his arms avowing true love and no marriage demands and the H proposes, cause he loves her back and does want to marry her, but he did not want to be blackmailed into it.
Then the h finds out via the newspaper that her vindictive muck gulper ex axed her TV show, so now she is jobless. The H asks her if she wants him to buy the TV studio for her, but she decides she has enough funds to start her own production company and will do that and marry the H as he wants to have a full football team of babies, while the h suggests maybe only five a side instead.
The latter half was better than the first on this one. Mainly tho that was me, cause I was getting frustrated that she didn't completely dump the muck gulper. I did not like the back and forth between the H and the ex either, I got very impatient for the h to make up her mind.
I did like the way the h had to choose between her 'easy' relationship that made her happy and the demands of her nesting instinct. It was just nebulous enough that I could really feel for her dilemma. What choice do you make when you want a family but your lover isn't ready to commit and may never be? This book makes you think about that.
The h's dad was great too, it was nice to see a h father in a supportive, nurturing role for once in HPlandia and I was really glad he put a stop to her mum's trying to pimp her out. Overall this an interesting book and if you have more patience than I did, a pretty nice little HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2020
At thirty-one and at the top of her profession, TV presenter Rachel Haston thought she knew what she wanted next: a husband and family. But London golden-boy-made-good Nick Farlowe wasn't about to be tied down. Oh, he kissed her in a way she'd never been kissed before, and showed her good times, but Rachel knew that permanence wasn't a word in Nick's vocabulary. The question was, though, could she ever settle for the simple contentment of being a wife and mother, when loving Nick showed her the choice of throwing a lifetime's caution - and dreams - to the wind?
November 9, 2019
A Casual Affair is correct title.
Rachel knew what she wanted next
Now at the top of her profession as a TV host, she was ready for a husband and family.
Unfortunately, self-made London golden boy Nick Farlowe wasn't about to be tied down. Oh, his kisses were excitingly different and he showed her good times--but permanence wasn't a word in his vocabulary.
O
So the choice was Rachel's. The simple contentment of being a wife and mother--or loving Nick. And that meant throwing a lifetime's caution--and dreams--to the wind. (less)
Rachel knew what she wanted next
Now at the top of her profession as a TV host, she was ready for a husband and family.
Unfortunately, self-made London golden boy Nick Farlowe wasn't about to be tied down. Oh, his kisses were excitingly different and he showed her good times--but permanence wasn't a word in his vocabulary.
O
So the choice was Rachel's. The simple contentment of being a wife and mother--or loving Nick. And that meant throwing a lifetime's caution--and dreams--to the wind. (less)
October 19, 2013
good story, about choosing the right man.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews