Not to be Trusted

by Jessica Ayre

Her own heart betrayed her...

Lynda Harrow was the very first on-staff interior designer at Dunlop Associates, an architectural firm. And she enjoyed being involved in an assignment from its inception... usually.

But Paul Overton, the firm's top architect, was managing the new Stately Homes hotel project--and he seemed intent on proving she couldn't handle it.

The only thing Lynda couldn't handle was Paul Overton! And falling in love with him didn't improve matters.

Genres: Harlequin Romance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

aka Lisa Appignanesi

Elżbieta Borensztejn was born on 4 January 1946 in Łódź, Poland, the daughter of Hena and Aaron Borensztejn with Jewish origin. Following her birth, her parents moved to Paris, France, and in 1951 they emigrating to Canada. She grew up in the province of Quebec - first in a small Laurentian town, subsequently in Montreal.

She graduated from McGill University with a B.A. degree in 1966 and her M.A. the following year. During 1970-71 she was a staff writer for the Centre for Community Research in New York City and is a former University of Essex lecturer in European Studies. She was a founding member and editorial director of the Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative. Through the eighties she was a Deputy Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, UK, for whom she also edited the seminal Documents Series and established ICA television and the video Writers in Conversation series.

She produced several made for television films and had written a number of books before devoting herself to writing fulltime in 1990. In recognition of her contribution to literature, Lisa Appignanesi has been honoured with a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. In 2004, she became Deputy President of English PEN and has run its highly successful 'Free Expression is No Offence Campaign' against the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. In 2008 she became President of English PEN. She writes for The Guardian, The Independent and has made several series for BBC Radio 4, as well as frequently appearing as a cultural commentator.

In 1967, she married Richard Appignanesi, another writer, with whom she had one son in 1975, Josh Appignanesi, a film director. They divorced in 1984. With her life partner John Forrester, she had a daugther, Katrina Forrester, a Research Fellow in the history of modern political thought at St John's College, Cambridge. She lives in London.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp courtesy of the usually reliable Mills & Boon. Mainly this caught my eye 'cause the protagonists are creatives. Or rather, interior designer and architect. Not a common partnership, eh? (I live for the day of a passionate union between a graphic designer and say, an engineer...)

This was a hit with me as while the heroine typically swoons at gruff silent brooding hero's feet, she has a passionate and resilient streak about her, not taking the man's shit when it suits him. Goodness knows he needs a set square stuck up his arse at times.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This couple argues a lot. So many misunderstandings because they just don’t communicate well. But I still enjoyed myself. It was fun.

[Live2Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think we have a silent, brooding smitten hero and a false heroine. How? Well, first thing first, it’s a slow-burn romance and possibly angsty, but I have super mix feelings about the heroine’s character. Naturally, I want to like Lynda but I secretly don’t. A rant +spoilers+ whatever. It may or may not benefit future readers.


Basically, Lynda is strict, career-oriented and independent (as it seems) but also appears like she needed to be coddle and validated by many men. You see, she’s kind of a stuck up or just confident in her shoes, consistently sticking her nose in the air and swinging her purse around giving men the cold shoulder. Obviously, she has a chip on her shoulder, as mama have told her since forever that no men can be trusted, hence the title.

And truly I don’t know when the heroine starts to fall for the hero. Though, it’s clear that she has to feel enormously for the man all along to be that defensive all the time. She’s like a child at time, seemingly whining and complaining about nothing, throwing a tantrum and sulking in the corner. All because he wasn’t showering her with good attention or praising her work, so she actively went to defense mode!

As we see there are plenty of OM. Again, strange, for the heroine who doesn’t seem to trust a single man but desires their attention. Honestly, she only save all the nonsense for the hero! First, there is Robert, an ogling man the heroine already dismissed in the opening scene, but once Tricia, her roommate, introduced Robert to Lynda she starts to date him. Tricia was then surprised and confessed that she indeed has a crush on Robert. They have unfinished business, she told Lynda. And what does Lynda say? What she should have said, she didn’t. She merely murmured “I see.” Then, “If you want me to stop seeing him then I will.” Ok, Lynda! What happened to girl-code? Is Tricia not your friend? Does the woman need to spell it out for you? But that’s not all, eventually Tricia said Robert and herself might work things out and Lynda faked that she was glad. But deep down she admitted that she didn’t feel that way. There was a pang of hurt somewhere...well, well, well, men-stealing Lynda is hurt! and that doesn’t stop Lynda from ending things with Robert right away, because later we see that she has an upcoming dinner date planned with him, only canceling it last minute because she must attend out of town business with the hero. Good call, good call, hero-dude! But at this business joint, we see the heroine attached to a new man——one who then kissed her and she also returned the smooch. Wth? Trust no man but a complete stranger, why don’t ya! I bet mama is stoked! At this point I was over Lynda. It’s super cringe, that it took that same stranger to tell her that she’s hung up on Paul to open her eyes. And my eyes are rolling, in the meantime the unreliable Lynda may or may not trust the stranger’s statement. But she is obsessed with the hero, as she been blowing hot and cold since he has been matched with another female at the premise. Feeling like dog in the manger, aren’t ya! She went from Robert and now to Paul. She only want a man when she knows other women are involved. Not to mention, there’s a David somewhere too, who I have yet to see in the story since I DNF. Lynda has known David forever and he’s like a brother to her. Tricia once mentioned early on that David sounds likes a wonderful guy, so maybe Lynda has more than brotherly affections for him? Lynda then wondered swayingly what if she does indeed have some feelings for David…oh, Lynda! Please, Lynda, listen! No man can be trusted! I bet her mama is just turning in her grave trying to make Lynda listen. Seriously, this indecisive dog in the manger needed a man so badly, she drew no lines when it comes to men! Actually, I don’t think she was as confident as the author wanted us to believe. She surely needed a harem to boost her ego and her affections wavered for all. That pretty much sum Lynda about right! Read at your own preference! I like my heroine to be exclusive and decisive to a certain of degree, not breaking the girl-code nor giving free favors to random men she just met. I just couldn’t take her seriously.

[Lianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute.

[Melinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't like it when a book leaves loose ends, also the dude was a horse's rear.