Fire with Fire

by Penny Jordan

It occurred to him that he could use her

Emma had always played the role of dependable older sister, so it was not surprising that after smashing up Drake Harwood's brand-new Ferrari, Camilla, unable to pay, expected Emma to bail her out.

But the shrewd and attractive entrepreneur saw a way of capitalizing on her predicament. He exacted a highly unusual, and very personal payment that cost Emma her career as a London TV newscaster--to say nothing of her pride.

Emma was prepared to fight fire with fire--never thinking that, for her, Drake Harwood was as lethal as dynamite!

Genres: Harlequin Presents, Harlequin, Enemies To Lovers, Romance, M F Romance, Harlequin Romance

189 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 9, 1985

About the author

Penelope 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.

Reviews

[Vintage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shoot me the hell now. No, better yet, shoot fricking Camilla and put lovely, sensible Emma out of her misery. I hate the helpless little sisters of HP. HATE THEM!

PLOT:
This heroine manages to survive her succubus little sister who, I hope, dies a thousand social deaths when her husband divorces if all is right with the universe. What the h does not survive is the unrepentant H who:

1) Blackmails her into nude pictures to pay for her idiot little sister’s errant ways. His reasoning is she is about to become a big network news star so nude picture will save his nudie magazine. She scarpers his plans by RESIGNING from her dream job. Thank you ungrateful little sister. Let me reiterate the point that she resigns from the job she's been working toward for years and that's it. No thank you from the little bitchy sister. Nothing.

2) The Hblackmails the h AGAIN to be his pretend fiancee in order to hold off the uber-bitch ex who wants him back despite her too nice older husband. Older husband should have woo'd the heroine. He deserves a HEA after this bitch he's married to.

3. Big arrogant H takes her virginity while she’s in an amnesiac state.....That’s it. Do I need to say more? Amnesia. Virgin. Sex.

4. He throws her attraction to him in her face after said virginity theft as he pontificates on the evils of fidelity and marriage.

Don't know what else to say, but...Penny Jordan, what the hell is wrong with you?

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as compelling the second time I've read this. The H/h meet because of the h's venial little sister who stole and crashed the H's car when she woke up in his house after a wild party. She's engaged to the neighborhood prig and didn't think he'd understand her predicament. She asks older sis to bail her out.

Hero has just bought a publishing company with a ailing "skin magazine" that he doesn't want to shut down because of jobs. He thinks nudes of the prim and proper news anchor heroine would generate a lot of publicity. Heroine grimly goes through with the photo shoot (with a female photographer) but doesn't sign the contract for an anchor position. She knows the photos will be published, but she doesn't want to drag down the news station.

Hero is impressed with her ethics and doesn't publish the photos. But he's still in hot pursuit of the heroine, so he blackmails her with the photos into an engagement of convenience. She will accompany him to NYC so he can sell the skin magazine to a tycoon who is married to an OW of his.

And so it goes. The heroine has a spine of steel in this one. She does not listen to her traitorous body and that is wonderful to behold. The hero again shows his ruthlessness when he takes advantage of amnesia to achieve his goals - but it backfires spectacularly on him.

The hero throws everything he's got at the heroine until he finally waves the white flag of surrender. He says those three words - I love you - coupled with marriage and finally he has his HEA.

This is an intense read with lots of twists and turns. Be prepared to be outraged by the hero. Be prepared to hate the little sister and admire the heroine, while wondering why she puts up with these people.

[boogenhagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re Fire With Fire - Every once in a while PJ strays from her usual retiring, shy, insecurely neurotic h's and writes one that actually has a backbone and stands up for themselves. While the H in this one is just about an average HP Alphadude, the h is truly one of PJ's best.

The story starts with the h, who is on the verge of a big television presenter contract, getting a call from her utterly spoiled and horrible little sister. The sister is due to be married to a conservative, rich upper-class man and she is calling because she went to a party, got drunk, passed out and then stole the homeowner's Ferrari and wrecked it and the man is understandably upset and wants the damages paid for.

The sister wants the h to talk to the man and "fix" everything for her. The h is not happy about this and starts to refuse, but then the sister's fiance would dump her and her elderly father really doesn't need the aggravation. If they can't get the sister married off, they will be stuck with her and her drama, probably forever. The opportunity to marry horrible sis off is too good to miss.

So the h goes to the man's office. It turns out he has a big conglomerate and one of the new sections is the dubious girly magazines he just bought. He knows who the h is and that she is going to be a big TV personality. He will waive the repair bill if she will pose nude for his magazine. The h argues with him, but she doesn't have the money to fix the car and I guess a bank loan was out of the question.

She winds up agreeing to the photo shoot, with a female photographer and after she brushes off the man's pass in a fury of indignation, she realizes that the potential embarrassment to her employer's after she starts her show is going to be a problem. The H will wait until her popularity is high and then publish the photos and create a huge scandal.

Well the h isn't one to take things on the chin, and she has a conscience and she is also a very nice person. She doesn't accept the TV offer, she resigns instead, and sets out to find a quiet secretarial job. The H has the pictures, but they are practically worthless cause she won't ever be famous. He likes the pictures tho and he wants to feast on that vision in real life.

So he decides that he wants an affair with her, but she loathes him and he knows it - she isn't shy about hiding it and does a good job on the icy disdain. Since the photo's are worthless, he blackmails the h into a fake engagement to hold off the wife of an older man who he wants to sell his magazines to. The h will go to the U.S. with him, stay with him at the other guy's home and distract his former lover from spoiling the deal when she makes passes at the H in front of her husband.

The h goes and fun times are had where the H tries to seduce her, the OW clings to the H like a leech, and is absolutely comic in her attempts to snub the h and snag the H and the h feels the tingle when he kisses her-- but sternly asserts that while physically he is attractive, in every other way he is a slimy slug.

The H has his feelings and his ego wrecked a lot by the h's assertive refusals, and he never says anything really mean, but the H frustrated surliness moments and earie faces complete with white tension lines around the mouth are numerous and pretty funny. This h is holding her own in fine style.

Until she hits her head and gets temporary amnesia. ( I love amnesia, it is such a great HP staple and hardly anyone uses it anymore. :/ But since everyone now is eager to rip their clothes off and jump into bed or use the wall, I guess temporary amnesia as a seduction tool is really not needed so much.) The h now thinks their engagement is real and that she and the H have an actual relationship.

The Best Ever sex happens and then the OW ruins the rosy afterglow the next morning by helping the h remember the real circumstances of the situation and the H is not amused. He is even less amused when the h tells him off again. After getting home from the successful conclusion of the business deal, she dumps him like a bag of used manure and takes a quiet job in Oxford.

Extreme H manipulation tactics are required now. This time the hideous sister has to pretend she is going to abort her fictitious pregnancy to get the h to show up with the H for dinner. The H takes the opportunity to bully the h into an affair, but she is not going there, and the H gets his ego smashed a bit more.

Until the h drinks too much at dinner, and winds up in bed with the H again. She has an out this time too tho - she was pretty hammered when the physical occurred. The H can see where this is going, so he does the patented PJ sorta-but-not-really-HP-H-begging-that-is-really-an-imperative-order. He loves the h and she WILL marry him. The h is stunned, cause she is unwillingly loving him back, but this a sorta rotten person that she really doesn't approve of.

So the H does some really fast talking, he loves the h for her morals and her principles and for turning the TV job down and she is great in bed and she is really nice and he has been missing her horribly and he had to blackmail her sister to get her to see him and he really, really loves her.

He made up the engagement thingy to start their relationship afresh, (cause blackmail is sooo the HP approved method of getting to an HEA,) but she wouldn't even LIKE him and that made him sad - after he got over his rage for having a woman actually NOT LIKE him.

Which he thought maybe she was ill, or had a brain tumor or something, cause women ALWAYS fall all over themselves for him. However, the h did not-- so maybe there was something wrong with her, but then he figured out she just had class and morals and now he loves her forever.

The h is okay with that, and since she loves him back and the sex is good, she will marry him and HEA. A nice little day excursion to HPlandia and maybe one of the best PJ h's ever - tho the H needed a little work, he did a good sorta grovel/beg, even if it was a bit arrogant and the word sorry was never mentioned.

[Grrrrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent sister truly is rarer than hen’s teeth in Harleyland. This 1985 outing from Penny Jordan has our heroine thrown to the wolf, our hero, to save her horrible sister’s bacon. When will Harley heroines learn to just let their slimy relatives sink into the mud and murk in which they live? Alas, never, I suppose. Just once, I’d like to see a heroine tell her supposedly prettier, selfish, OW-in-training sister where to get off, but it will never happen I suppose.

Emma is a 26 year old up and coming news anchor, working on a local broadcast but with a shot at a national spot that has opened up. She is saddled with an absolute bitch of a younger sister, Camilla, whose “fairy prettiness” masks selfishness, stupid impetuosity, and a bitter jealousy of her older sister. Camilla is engaged to a rich local squire-type whose managing mama is reluctantly going along with the engagement. So when Camilla gets drunk at a party, wakes up (alone) in a bedroom at the hero's house, and wrecks his Ferrari while making her getaway, she is panicked that the demands for damages will ruin her chance at marriage to her rich fiancé. Long suffering Emma, who has more or less raised Camilla since their mother died when Emma was 10 and Camilla 6, agrees to talk to the hero to see if they can come to some kind of payment arrangement (Note to Harley heroines: stop enabling your shitty relatives! Cut them off! Let them hang!).

The heroine has an interview for a national news anchor job in London, so sets up an appointment with the hero for the same day. The hero, Drake, is a rich and ruthless businessman, who by age 34 has built up an empire from a hardscrabble beginning. He has recently acquired a media enterprise, which includes a girlie magazine called Macho. The heroine, being smart and in the news business, knows this background information about him, as well as the fact that he is reputed to be both shrewd and dangerous.

She has her interview and gets the job. She’s warned that viewers expect their female newsreaders to be “morally sound,” which pisses her off because double standard, but she, like we, must just go with it. On the way out, she is openly ogled by a “tall and broad” jade-eyed man who “exuded an air of power and vitality.” Yes, it is our hero, come to check her out. Her hackles are up immediately.

She goes to her appointment with Drake Harwood, and he is, of course, the ogler. He tells her that he wants full payment for the Ferrari’s damages unless she will pose for his girly mag. WTF, hero, that’s slimy! He thinks that the publicity of a new, cool-but-sexy national news anchor posing nude in the failing magazine will help to get its circulation up. The heroine is furious but she reluctantly agrees. She’ll do the photo session but NOT take her dream job, thereby making the pictures pointless (no one will care that some nobody posed in a girly mag, so if she’s not a news anchor, he can’t use the pics). Basically, she is ruining her life to save her sister’s doubtful pending marriage with a rich stuffed shirt. Ugh, spare me martyr heroines, although Emma at least has a temper and a stubbornness that let her go toe to toe with Drake.

She does the (nudie? Lingerie? Not clear) photo session, relieved when it’s a female photographer but still finds it humiliating. She gets Drake’s written agreement to write off the Ferrari damages in return for the photos. She informs her new employers that she won’t be taking the job and quits her current job.

The hero turns up at her sister’s wedding and asks Emma why she didn’t take the job. She refuses to answer, so he starts kissing her and she succumbs to treacherous body syndrome. He tells her she’s surprised him, most women would have taken the job anyway and just let the news organization deal with the photo fallout. (Really, hero? They probably have some kind of “moral” clause in her contract, since it’s so important to them, so not only would she have been publicly humiliated by the coerced nudie pics, she still would have lost her job and good luck finding another one).

The hero needs a “beard” to stave off an old mistress—he is negotiating the sale of the girlie mag to her husband and he needs to keep the OW at bay because she is still obsessed with him He wants the heroine to travel to New York with him and pretend to be his fiancée. He knows that she won’t try to use the fake engagement to try to force him into marriage. He won’t publish the nudie proofs if she goes along with it—he admits it’s blackmail YET AGAIN but is ruthless about it. Emma realizes she has no choice and bitterly agrees.

Emma has a mock engagement and a big shiny diamond! The hero tells her she’ll need new clothes and a visit to the salon (the patented Harley makeover!) and when she protests that she is just fine with how she looks, tells her that his preference would be to see her naked with her chestnut locks spread across his pillow. That gets her thinking of the nudie pics, embarrassed, but he reads her mind and tells her he hasn’t looked at them, he just locked them in his safe. I guess I believe it? Maybe? (Oh hell no, I don't believe that for a second.)

We take the Concorde from London to New York, just 3 hours (where’s my supersonic travel in 2020?)! The hero likes that the heroine is openly and genuinely excited by the experience, unlike his usual world-weary ladies. They are staying outside of NYC at his business colleague (and OW’s) estate. OW Bianca is a sucking black hole of such magnitude as to make the heroine’s sister look like a nonstarter. She is instantly all over the hero; dismissive of his “little fiancée”; and very cruel to her long-suffering older husband. She is as evil as you want an OW to be, in fact!

Thus begins two weeks of hell, in which the OW is the WORST HOSTESS EVER, constantly macking on the hero; bitchy to the heroine, her guest; and very mean to her own hubby. At this point, even as a fake fiancée, I would have pitched a fit and refused to stay to be abused, but Emma is used to her bitchy sister and shrugs it off mostly. It does give the hero an excuse to make out with her frequently, and she has a really bad case of treacherous body syndrome.

She is worried about the hero’s effect on her, though, especially when he tells her that they will be lovers before it’s all over, they won’t be able to help themselves. She’s also worried because there seems to be an emotional, not just physical, impact on her and she’s afraid she’s going to get hurt before it’s all over.

She admits she is attracted to him, but it’s not enough, and he mocks her for holding out for love, which he doesn’t believe in. Odd, because he clearly is in love with her and all this subterfuge is to get her into his clutches, but there’s no self-deluding fool like a Harley alpha fool, so OK hero. He tells her that her so-called morals are just cowardice because she won’t come down to earth and just enjoy life for what it is—there’s nothing wrong, morally or otherwise, with enjoying sex. But Emma knows it’s not right for Emma, and she’s in love with him anyway, she realizes, and wants no part of the emotional wreckage that would result from jumping into bed with him.

Emma and Drake are either making out or bickering about whether sex without love is just dandy or not. The business negotiations take weeks. The hostess OW is unrelentingly awful to everyone. Her husband blames her depression meds. Heroine is bored and decides to go to NYC for the day. In 1985, this was dicey. Heroine gets mugged and wakes up in the hospital with, YASS!!!, amnesia! She thinks she is really engaged and in love. She also thinks they have been lovers. The hero, who has done many horrible ruthless things by now (the nudie pics and the blackmail 2x), goes along with it! Wow, hero, even for an 80s asshat alpha, that really goes beyond the pale. He plunders, she willingly and passionately participates, despite some faint misgivings and first-timer pain. But she’s really perturbed when he gets off before she does, leaving her unsatisfied and thinking there’s something wrong with her. This guy is just failing on all fronts, and I always found it interesting (and a bit amusing) when vintage authors punished their asshat macho dudes with sexual failure; I think St. Margarets pointed out recently that Kay Thorpe loved to torture her heroes with impotence, for example. But Round 2, the next morning, serves to reassure Emma that she is not, in some way, lacking (and what's with the self-disapprobation on that front, when he's the one with the quick-trigger issue?).

The next day, he’s wrapping up the sale of the magazine, and tells Emma they need to talk later. She is flustered by the night before and her continuing amnesia, but is confident her memory will return at some point. Then Bianca comes into her bedroom, and Emma’s memory comes back with a vengeance. Bianca taunts her that Drake is using her to hide the fact that Bianca and Drake were lovers, and it’s too much, and Emma responds in time-honored PJ heroine fashion by fainting.

Drake comes back later and is all “don’t I get a kiss?” and she tells him her memory is back. He taunts her that her moral code wasn't quite as inviolable as she’d believed (umm, she thought she was in a mutually loving engagement, which was perfectly fine under her moral code of “sex-with-love is fine,” dude), and she bitterly tells him she hates herself for giving into him. He looks bitter, too, when she says it.

She is stuck there, in the OWs home (wtf, INSIST ON A HOTEL, WOMAN), for another hellish week. Drake is “controlled but wary” around her, and she is curt in private but goes on with the pretend engagement. She rightfully can’t forgive the fact that he knew she was a virgin by choice but callously ignored it and “tricked” her. He tries to talk to her a few times about what happened, but she shuts him down in true *I will not clear things up through conversation* fashion, as any good PJ heroine will (rather than, you know, kicking him in the balls? LEAVING, perhaps?). Love is stupid, though, so mostly she’s just sad that she’s fallen in love with a cad who will never love her back.

They fly home, and he wants to talk it out, but she refuses. He is angry and says she is deceiving herself; she wanted to have sex with him and enjoyed it, and why was it so easy for her to convince herself she was in love with him? She tells him that on a scale from one to 10, the experience was a 100 in terms of worst experiences ever.

They get back late, and she scathingly refuses to stay at his place and takes a taxi home. She tells her father the engagement is off the next morning and he’s disappointed because he thinks she needs a man who will “occasionally overrule her,” being so strong willed herself. Thanks Dad. She visits her horrible sister, who’s smugly satisfied that Emma couldn’t keep a high flyer like Drake, and who brings her husband’s jealous attention to herself, when he questions how well Camilla knows Drake.

Camilla calls her shortly thereafter; her husband David is asking questions about Drake, and she might be pregnant to boot and David might not think it’s his and she has even thought of abortion. Emma is horrified by her crazy sister. (Please don’t breed, Camilla.) Camilla wants Emma to bring Drake to a dinner party to allay David’s jealousy. Emma, who is a pushover when it comes to her horrible sister--well, no pretty much in life really--resignedly agrees.

Drake agrees to come. Emma is surprised that her sister seems resentful that they’re at the dinner party, and her husband seems to like Drake just fine, no signs of jealousy. Meanwhile, Drake gets to espouse his views on working wives (he’s for them—doesn’t think female brains should atrophy just because there are kids and thinks balancing work and family life is possible, even necessary, for the modern 1985 woman—so go Drake! Who'da thought?). Emma is even more in love now with this enlightened version of her asshat alpha. She’s on her third glass of wine, too, and gets pissy when her stuffy brother in law points it out and suggests she forego a brandy, so she has a double and falls asleep in the car on the way home.

Only Drake abducts her to his “rambling Tudor farmhouse” (a house that shows up in certain other PJ books). He wants to talk. He goes up to change and she hears a crash and a cry and goes to check on him. He’s broken a bottle of cologne but is fine (and shirtless). He makes moves on her and she instantly succumbs to TBS, falling into bed with him, but isn’t too happy about it the next morning. He’s frustrated that she is still rejecting him, and starts all over, making her admit she wants him but she says not without love, it’s not worth it. He admits that he should never have made love to her when she had amnesia but said he couldn’t help himself, and that the whole engagement was just a way to keep her close and build a relationship (as opposed to, you know, dating and building a relationship). She reminds him he’s not into long-term, and he tells her he is in love with her. She admits she’s in love with him too. It’s marriage for life, he tells her and confesses that he made Camilla pretend that she needed Emma to bring Drake to the party. He also broke the cologne on purpose, to get her to come upstairs, so he could catch her offguard and break down her barriers. So he’s still a ruthless, manipulative bastard, but he’s her ruthless manipulative bastard, aaaand HEA?

So, this one seemed a bit unusual for PJ based on a few I've read recently—a really strong heroine with no neurotic hangups (her virginity was not the result of past trauma, it was simply a choice); a really ruthless, besotted hero who reminded me of Charlotte Lamb’s hero in Pagan Encounter; NO SPONGING; no dithering heroine, for once; and while Emma definitely was too accommodating of her sister, not quite a doormat. I'm not sure I can get behind the hero’s truly OTT blackmailing tactics and manipulative ways, but a good one from PJ—if you overlook the fact that the heroine seems to have forgotten all about the nudie pics by the end, and they’re still locked in the hero’s safe….

[Naksed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, Penny Jordan sure packed a wallop in this one: Everything from (conveniently selective and temporary) amnesia to blackmail, to nudie pictures, to fake fiances, to psychotic OW, to slimy, parasitic sisters, to quaint English vicarages, to New York muggings....oooommmppphhh...I am losing my breath just enumerating all the tropes in this fantastically campy, hilarious, deliciously trashy adventure. It was a really fun read, nothing deep or angsty, just a light and engaging farce. Not sure I will remember it next week but it sure was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours in the morning :)

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a dirty mind which automatically added a "d" after the "r" to the hero's surname of Harwood. LOL

Anyway, one way in which the hero was truly, er, hard was in his ruthless determination to win the heroine. Drake played dirty but I loved his manipulations and blackmail. They had me cracking up, especially near the end because I knew it was all done in the name of true luv for Emma and in order to get close to her. In spite of his ethically questionable behavior, I could tell Drake possessed a high opinion of Emma through the statements he made and through his other actions. Emma, in turn, grew to like, respect, and love Drake as well. It was easy to see how a marriage and professional relationship between these two had a good chance of succeeding.

I honestly didn't expect much based on the summary, but was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable this book turned out to be.

[Aou · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Well I’m telling you now Emma, that a man like Drake Harwood wouldn’t look twice at you, if you weren’t my sister. He wants me all right. I’m sure of it, and he’s come down here today to let me know it. He doesn’t want to get married, everyone knows that, and I expect he thinks that now that I’m married…’
What a sister!
‘The two of you can indulge in an affair without anyone being the wiser… You might have a pretty face Camilla,’ she told her sister shortly, ‘but you’ve got an empty brain and a cold heart. I don’t envy you… I feel sorry for you.”
What a great slap down!

Heroine was great and because of the selfish sister, she submitted his manipulation and went with him to NY in order to save him from equally selfish and cruel ex and wanna be OW. She resisted the H’s seduction barely, then she appropriately had amnesia.

“Why are you looking at me like that?’
His question caught her off guard, and she answered it honestly. ‘Because I want to touch you and yet part of me says I mustn’t.’
‘Ignore it.’ His breath fanned her skin as he bent over her, tracing the line of her jaw with tiny teasing kisses. ‘Ignore it Emma,’ he muttered hoarsely against her skin. ‘Ignore it and make love with me.”
H is soo Machiavellian that could taught new things to Machiavelli, he benefited from her amnesia and made love to her pre-ejaculately(!) No morals at all. If he gave her an orgasm, I may have loved him, lol. Second time of course she also climaxed. Then gaining her memory, some break-up time and angst and more sex and finally confessing their love to each other, HEA. :)

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sometimes struggle with Penny Jordan and the heroines that she creates. But this was a truly enjoyable read. I thought the heroine had great integrity and class...and I actually really ended up liking the hero. The author gave you glimpses to his feelings so that you knew he was in the 'I'll do anything I have to, to get my babe" mode. For that reason, I could forgive him all his uber alpha moments.

I liked the chemistry, and though the sister sent me over the edge of few times, I could deal with it given it was her actions that moved the story along.

I highly recommend..if you are looking for an entertaining read.

[Jasbell76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

First read
May 2/2022
Frustrating reading 🥴😖😵 why Penny Jordan's heroines are so weak 🙉 their inner thoughts and actions can drive you MAD 💢😡 I hope to add more details later, thanks God I finished it, I'm feeling overwhelmed right now, I can't process words to write a proper review 😪
I expected more from this story. Today I could confirm that I'm not a fan of fake engaments plots 😒

[Romance_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the h here, she was strong willed and independent and someone I could totally relate to. The problem for me was the H though. He was selfish/sneaky/sleazy/manipulative and somehow I couldn't really see him as romance novel protagonist. He first blackmails the h into posing nude for his newly acquired 'girlie mag', only to be frustrated when she refuses a job offer from his television company (he was hoping she'd take up the job and become a public figure of sorts so that people would take more of an interest when her pictures are finally published.) Then he crashes her sister's wedding party and blackmails her into posing as his fiancée in a bid to discourage a super bitchy and much married ex-lover while winning her husband over and getting him to buy the wretched aforementioned magazine.

Together they go to New York, where the h is continuously subjected to the verbal insults of her hostess (the ex lover) and finally ends up getting temporary amnesia as a result of a mugging incident. The H further takes advantage of this situation and uses the fact that she's forgotten that he's only her make believe fiancé, to make love to her. And finally, after the h has returned to the UK and has no option but to invite the H for a dinner party at her sister's behest; he goes right ahead and kidnaps her and takes her back to his home in London to force-seduce her.

After all this, when he finally professes his love for her, I have a hard time believing it. Throughout the story, I didn't get the impression that the H was truly in love with the h. But he definitely lusted after her and probably tried to give that lust a respectable spin by calling it love. So while there was chemistry and angst, emotions were sorely lacking in this story. As far as PJ reads go, this one was quite entertaining but somehow didn't really satisfy me. Not a good romance.

[Mtve41 · Rating 4 out of 5]

PJ almost never lets me down. A book of hot pursuit and unusual dreamy circumstances and that’s exactly what I come here for.

Emma is forever saving her trifling little sister from whatever trouble she gets into. This time it’s smashing someone’s car and saving her reputation before her impending marriage. This little sister is also insensitive and brainless.

Emma meets Drake, the owner of said car. Drake sees beauty and brains and he can’t resist to own her body and soul. What follows are some really unexpected traps that the ruthless Drake sets out for Emma if she really wants to save her little sister who isn’t as saintly as she pretends to be.

I liked Emma who had a strong spine and met Drake head on with everything he put to her. Emma wasn’t a wilting miss and she wouldn’t take any bullying from him. Their relationship is passionate and Drake truly can’t resist Emma who for once can seemingly resist him.

I liked the unexpected ending. For once Camilla- the little sister- is up to some good and the h and H get the HEA. Despite them having a go at it and unprotected at that, there is no epilogue and no children. Sadness. Also there’s a really snarky venomous OW. I felt bad for the nice man the OW was married to. Great read that I couldn’t put down!

Also have to say their verbal sparring was spot on. Just how I like it to keep the temp rising..

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this heroine was too feisty for my tastes but the story was so angsty and well written I couldn't stop reading!

[Chantal ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I am missing a few pages for sure. I will have to try to find another copy of it. So far it was really good. Hope the end is good also.

[JillyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure how this happened but I have read two stories in a row by different authors where the H’s beloved Ferrari gets destroyed and he uses the destruction of the Ferrari to blackmail the h of the story.

The hero, Drake, in this story decides to blackmail the h, Emma, after her spoiled sister Camilla, ends up taking his Ferrari (without permission) and then gets in a wreck with it. So basically she steals it then destroys it. The H wants monetary/legal satisfaction, but little Cam Cam is engaged to be married and if her betrothal finds out about the crash and the fact that she spent a night at the H’s house(not with the H) he or his mumsy will make sure the engagement is off. Big sis Emma(all of 26, and only 4 years older) has been a substitute mommy to Cammy and she has always gotten little Cam out of her scrapes. So when Cammy beseeches her sister to seek out the rogue Drake and get him to drop the charges, Emma being her sister’s personal punching bag decides to help out. She decides she can appeal to Drake’s charitable side.



EVENTS IN A NUTSHELL 🥜:
Basically, the H blackmails the h. She ends up undermining his blackmail(but in the process loses a promising career). He is impressed by that, gives her false sense of security and lays low for a couple of weeks. Then he reenters her life and tells everyone that the h is his fiancée. He blackmails her…again(since she got out of the first one). She has to pretend to be his fiancée to thwart one of the H’s previous lovers who is now married but would like to resume relations with the H. The h puts up with the bitchy ow, then gets temporary amnesia(like 24 hours), and the H takes advantage of this time. She regains memory, then leaves the hero. Hero uses the h’s sister to reenter her life for an HEA and his avowal of love!


Lots of great reviews on this one with spoilers: Boogenhagen, Grrrrace, Lilyrosa, Aou….then there are some without spoilers that give some insight: Naksed, Stmargarets, ….

So without going into details I will mention a few of the things I hated? Loved? It is all so confusing:
❤️- The h in this story is strong. She thwarts the hero for most of the book. (Honestly, she wasn’t really herself when she gave in to the H)
❤️-The h, although it cost her, was able to stun the H with her ability to mess up his first blackmail plans.
😤-The h’s sister was a spoiled, lazy brat. I am not sure what a good comeuppance would be for her, but hopefully the h and the H will have little to do with her in the future.
😤-The ow, Bianca(I think I have only come across one character named Bianca in these romances, that is not an ow) She is a true blue, through and through bitch. She would insult her older husband right in front of him to the h and H. I really hope her husband takes up with his PA, divorces Bianca after finding proof of her infidelities, and has an iron clad prenup that leaves her nothing.
😤 ❤️-The hero- I like him, he is an alpha, but he does some truly despicable things. He fell in love with the h early on, once he realized she wasn’t like the usual he dated(case in point-Bianca). Of course instead of a traditional route of wooing and flowers, he keeps employing blackmail.
❤️-Some good angst, and lots of delicious drama. The women in the story aside from the h, were rotten.

Finally, my, “What was the reason for this?” Thought: We are told that the h finds her boss somewhat attractive but he is married and loves his nice wife. She has a moral compass and wouldn’t think of breaking up a marriage even though she knows the boss is attracted to her. This is brought up about 3x in the first couple of chapters, and I just don’t understand the purpose of it. Instead of me thinking well about the h, I started to think that eventually she may have succumbed to an affair as it seemed to weigh heavily on her mind. It just seemed like an unnecessary thought to me.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. The H is a monster and unashamed of it. He is a blackmailer, liar, and cad. The h is a martyr many times, but extremely stubborn with a strong moral code. Neither of them will concede anything but physical attraction.

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Blackmailed by the Vengeful Tycoon/ Fire with Fire" is the story of Emma and Drake.

This was a mess. I loved it.

The story is of a martyr older sister (Emma). Their father has always been busy, and she has always pampered the younger one (Camille)- who is bitchy, spoiled, condescending, promiscuous etc.
Camille is about to marry a super rich dude with a strict mother. When she goes off to attend a party, wakes up in a stranger's bed and runs away with his red Ferrari, she never expects to crash it and hence runs away. Now the stranger wants revenge, and Ms Whine decides to run to our older heroine for her.
Ms Martyr initially hesitates to her sister's demands, later concedes. She works as a model and goes for a job, only to find a strange man "leering" at her. Later, she has the meeting with stranger, and its the leering dude, our hero, the multimillionaire Drake!
So Mr Drake, aka Mr Obsessed decides to make our heroine do a nude photoshoot. "Helpless", and because she can't say no or her shitty sister's wedding will be affected, she agrees. She humiliatingly goes through that, along with a semi-forced kiss.
Thinking her career will now be over, she resigns from her modelling assignments, and tries to find a new career- only for Mr Obsessed to come back to her life. He needs to go on a business trip, but his ex is the owner's wife- the ex who wants him back at any costs. He wants Ms Martyr to be his pretend fiance. She agrees.
Then there's a lot of crazy ex drama, realization of sexuality, heavy lust and kisses, sweet coitus, OW/OM jealousy, some pushing and running away, ending in a HEA.

When I slept last night, this was a 3 star. I was so involved that I dreamt of this book. Hence now 1/2 stars more.
Safe
3.5/5

P.S. I really, really wanted the sister to be smacked. Just once. Right handed punch. In the gut. Gah.

[sbf20112011 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good, keeping in mind that it's an older Penny Jordan. I liked the characters, and PJ does a good job of giving you subtle glimpses of the hero's state of mind so that he doesn't come across as a 100% jerk. The two main sex scenes are questionably consensual, and IMO make the hero look pretty bad (especially the first one) -- he takes her virginity while she has amnesia (and a concussion still?) and believes that they are in love and engaged, and then the second time they have sex, she's pretty tipsy. But, leaving that aside, a decent read if you like older Penny Jordans in general.

[Debby · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the most annoying books I have ever read. The heroine gets manipulated and blackmailed over and over again. The hero blackmails her into naked pictures. What kind of guy would do that to a woman to let her body be public. Only a very nasty, miserable guy. Okay, the pictures were never published, but still he humiliated and trapped her.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely hated the heroine's sister. She annoyed me to no end. I wanted the heroine to leave her to pick up the pieces and take responsibility for once. The hero was passionate but arrogant. I liked the blend the hero and heroine offered in the book. I'd read it again.

[MissKitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just ok.

I liked that the heroine was feisty and stood up for herself, but I also could not stand how she was such a doormat to her nasty sister. Obviously she didn’t raise her well and the younger sister got used to walking all over her.

I also didn’t like the Hero at all. He was manipulative and nasty. He never let up on the heroine. I also didn’t like how he deceived the heroine and slept with her when she had amnesia. That was just so dishonourable of him.

I especially didn’t like the ending when it’s the heroine who has to call the Hero and once more ask a favour from him, and AGAIN for the little sister.

Why couldn’t the Hero have gone looking for the heroine, maybe make amends, do a good grovel, court her...but no. He was still an a** till the end.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is great with strong ethics, he’s the usual PJ jerk who will use blackmail and take advantage of her temporary amnesia but the prize for brazen gall, emotional manipulation and complete selfishness goes to little sister. LS is a perfect match for the OW.

[cagla tastemur · Rating 4 out of 5]

değişik bir kitaptı.Türkiye'de kitabın ismi ne saçma?! Kitabın adının türkçe versiyonu yazmazlar kitaptan kendilerine göre isim çıkartana türk denir resmen.

[Live2Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, the beginning has potential. That’s about it. The rest was just tactless writing. Borderline cringey, I must say. Everyone was so odd. The dialogues was just bad. The OW was the most tactless villain among all. Like wth! Who goes around openly saying stuff like that? Who does stuff like that? Absolutely thick-face!!! No wonder why she couldn’t get the guy aka hero.

Heroine is weird. Heroine’s sister, too, was weird. First, the heroine gave in too easily posing for the nudes. It requires internal conflict, considering she’s prudish & all. But why was she was only thinking about looking out for baby sister & beating the hero at his game. Why not consider that the whole world will see her bare? The chemistry between MC was little to begin with & it went out quick. Don’t know why it felt that way, it just did. This hero wasn’t cutting it. I really didn’t like that most of the engagement scenes took place in one setting, under the OW’s roof, as there was business to be discussed. Nevertheless, the whole time in that hospitality MC were basically trying to get it on & eventually got it on but I can’t recalled if it was under OW’s roof or not. Yuck! FYI, the amnesia part was bad, too. There was no chemistry leading up the intimate scene. No bueno!

[Andi · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say? The plot is far fetched, as is to be expected from a HP, but it’s relatively low angst. The h starts off great (I loved how she first outsmarts the H), but becomes less interesting once she has sex on the brain. The H is your typical HP alpha jerk; his most defining trait is wanting to jump the h’s bones. He also espouses a quasi-progressive opinion about married women in the workforce (shocker). There’s an OW, but nothing remarkable. My strongest feelings were towards the h’s sister who is beyond insufferable, and I fail to understand why an otherwise intelligent h would keep enabling her. Overall, standard if forgettable HP fare.

[Márcia L · Rating 3 out of 5]

He is a slimy bastard. He want to use her, making nudes for everybody to see, clearly there are no jealousy and possessiveness, I don't care that they are in the beginning, he is a worthless piece of shit, not only want her nude pictures, he will use after the started her new job creating a scandal, and humiliating her. Wby don't he do this horrible things to his OWs? Then he just want an affair because he has lust. Fuck Off, your slime.
I have no more patient with 905 of the Hs, I guess I am much more selective to see the trashs that I didn't see when I was younger.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I respected the hell out of h for her actions with the H. She was all 'I'll let you blackmail me because I feel I owe it to sis but we'll do it on my terms'. She was confident and cool in all her interactions and didn't have any major BBS (body betraying syndrome) moments that PJ/harlequins are usually known for.

H was OTT manipulative and obsessed with the h and it made it all the more entertaining by how much harder he fell. And just for funsies there's a mini amnesia trope thrown in there!

[Fizzydrinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Outrageous behavior by the sister, who is the ultimate selfish vapid little blonde, and the H, whom I can't entirely forgive for subjecting the h to sexual innuendos and brushing up against her when they first meet, plus basically forcing her to POSE FOR NUDE PHOTOS OMG WHO DOES THAT . I liked seeing the H lose weight and get all white lines and haggard lol. Gimme some more groveling. HEA.

[LilyRosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow that was jaw-dropping and hilariously awful. Loved the heroine with her steel back-bone, except when it came to her disgusting sister. I wanted the sister to die horribly (normally I am not a violent person - but this would be a textbook case of justifiable homicide). I dropped a star because the sister got no comeuppance.

But woah that hero was.... no words. I'm speechless with how manipulative and sleazy he was. He was a Hugh Hefner wannabe.

Who blackmails a woman to do nude pictures? And he never apologised for that. Or for ruining her promising tv anchor career. No sorry, nada.

There was a hilarious moment at the end, at a dinner party where he has transformed from paleolithic man to modern man by saying he would want his wife to have a career. Wait a minute - this is the same dude who ruined the heroine's career through blackmailing her into doing nude photos he could publish....?

I need a psychiatric dictionary to figure out what is wrong with him.

But if you don't take it seriously but think of this as a parody it is entertaining.

[Mish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Up

[Alyssa Acula · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rating is for the FL. I love her characterization. She's so interesting to read.