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Bittersweet Marriage
He offered a future, all right!
Manon Lucas, out of work for six months, with a young brother to support, was desperate. Why else would she have gone to an interview set up by powerful Stephen Vestris? Stephen Vestris! Their love affair three years ago had been idyllic -- at first. Now she learned that Stephen, still angry at her walking out, had actually manipulated her into her present state of need. His marriage proposal, just like a job, had to be accepted. She could be hurt again, Manon knew. That was the worst part of loving a man like Stephen. It turned life upside down!
Manon Lucas, out of work for six months, with a young brother to support, was desperate. Why else would she have gone to an interview set up by powerful Stephen Vestris? Stephen Vestris! Their love affair three years ago had been idyllic -- at first. Now she learned that Stephen, still angry at her walking out, had actually manipulated her into her present state of need. His marriage proposal, just like a job, had to be accepted. She could be hurt again, Manon knew. That was the worst part of loving a man like Stephen. It turned life upside down!
187 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 26, 2016
Re Bittersweet Marriage - the h in this one is a 23 yr old actress faced with a vengeful H from her past. Three years earlier she met the H while doing a provincial acting tour and fell in love. She spent a month on his boat with him, until he had to leave for business and his wife showed up and kicked her out.
The h took herself off to resume her acting career and later on found out she was pregnant, since the H was a married man and the wife was very uncomplimentary about both the h and the H, (she said he had a habit of using and then discarding sweet young things like the h,) she did not tell the H about her pregnancy.
It turned out to be a moot point in the end, cause there was an accident backstage and the h lost her much wanted child. So three years on, the h has just been told she isn't getting the lead role or even a bit part for the London version of a play she has been doing in the backwaters. She does get a note from the H offering her an alternative position, but she has to meet with him to discuss it.
When the story opens, the h is pretty desperate and on her way to meet with the H. She hasn't had any theatrical work offers in 6 months and she has a younger brother (they are both orphans,) and she can't afford to pay his next term school fees. She is poor enough that she can barely pay her rent, let alone eat and so she is doing her best into pep talking herself into being agreeable to the H.
Even though she only looks back on the affair with a ton of guilt and shame, she did love him and was sorry when she lost the baby. She doesn't like the thought of being with a married man and she doesn't excuse herself for being involved even tho he was never told her he was married.
She meets the H and he seems very angry with her and it is obvious he is out for vengeance. She pretty much resigns herself to putting up with his revenge if it means her brother can stay in school. Her intuition tells her the H is behind her recent misfortunes and it turns out she is correct. She is pragmatic about it and then gets the shock of her life when he tells her she has to marry him - she was prepared for the mistress situation instead.
She now feels guilty for breaking up his marriage, at least that is what she assumes, but she agrees to marry him - tho she has a lot of snarky remarks interspersed with Shakespearean quotes, so the H isn't getting his own way with no consequences. Actually most of her remarks are pretty funny, JM has a talent for snarky h's and this one is one of her most memorable, right up there with the h from Daughter of Night.
So with a certain amount of pragmatism and a secret hope, cause she is still in love with the H, she sets out to marry him and also become a step mum to his eight year old daughter. The wedding is big registry affair and the h has a huge engagement ring - which she doesn't want and has plenty of comments about, but the H insists as he is very wealthy and people expect it.
The H's daughter is excited about the wedding cause she wants to be a bridesmaid. The h's brother is invited too, and he is disposed to think well of the H cause the H has a Rolls Royce and that beats a Ford Grenada any day. (Boarding school is very competitive in the relative's car stakes apparently.)
So the h and H marry, they find that they are still wildly compatible in the lurve club department, but the h is pretty resentful of the way the H maneuvered her and she isn't shy about telling him so. She has a good rant about his being married to another woman when he had an affair with her and another good rant when he tries to blame her for losing the baby.
The h is very sharp when she takes him to task for his assumption that she should have called him. After finding out he was married and his failure to mention he wasn't available, why did he think she would believe he would want anything to do with an extra-marital child? His wife was pretty explicit about how low his character was and the h had enough self-recrimination, she did not need to compound it and maybe be the cause of a divorce.
The H doesn't respond to the h set-down, he just takes her on his boat for a honeymoon cruise. They have several days on the boat which comes to an abrupt end when the h gets food poisoning in France and the H has a business crisis. The H is very nice while the h is so ill and the h decides to just make the best of things while she still has the H. He has previously indicated that the marriage wouldn't be permanent, it is going to last "for as long as it takes". However, he declines to answer just what needs to be taken or what exactly he means by that.
The H and h get back to his English estate and the h is bit unnerved by all the extra security systems, she also isn't delighted that she can't go about unaccompanied by the H's ex-military butler/bodyguard. She does manage to settle in though and starts building a relationship with the H's daughter.
The daughter is a child prodigy but also a little girl so things go pretty smoothly there. There is a bit of tension when the h manages to steal the butler's car and take off to London for the day, but that is worked out too and the H doesn't lock her up or anything.
The h is happy, but wondering when it will all end, and she decides having another baby is okay, but she will be taking the baby with her if the H kicks her out. Things are ticking along nicely and the h isn't even that upset when she has to go with the H to see the play that she had been playing the lead in. The actress chosen for the h's part is excellent and the h realizes that she wasn't nearly hardened enough to pursue theatrical stardom, she is happier being a wife and mum - for however long that lasts.
There is some drama when the H's ex wife comes to call, ostensibly to see her daughter. The h isn't really thrilled to see her and the whole thing degenerates into a very funny farce as the h and the butler conspire to run the ex-wife off.
They don't mention the visit to the H, and things take a serious turn when the daughter goes for her scheduled riding lesson at a local stable and it starts to rain. The h decides to go for a walk and expects that the daughter will be coming home soon as riding lessons aren't given in rainstorms, when she comes across the butler knocked out on the ground and the car and daughter missing.
She finds the car pushed off the road and then runs into the ex-wife and a male accomplice. They knock her out and kick her but it seems they can't find the daughter either. The h wakes up safe with the H and it is explanation time. The daughter got a ride home with another riding student and the H had gone to pick the h's brother up as his school was closed due to a measles outbreak.
The h has a little mini rant about how ashamed of herself she is for breaking up a marriage and the implication is that the H should be abashed too. She figures if they hadn't had an affair, the H wouldn't have divorced his wife and the ex wouldn't have tried to kidnap their daughter.
The H decides to tell the truth, he was already divorced when he met the h, but because she wrinkled her nose when he mentioned divorce once, he thought she disapproved of divorced people and he had planned on marrying her before he told her.
When he got back from his business in London three years earlier, he had a wedding license and was planning a ceremony, but the h was gone. The h had left a note, but the ex-wife took it. So the H went a bit mad, cause he was wildly in love and tho it took three years and a ton of devious plotting, he finally got the h back.
He had married his ex-wife cause she was the daughter of his father's business partner and it seemed the thing to do at the time, but it turns out the ex wife wasn't really into marriage and motherhood and filed for divorce, happy to give custody of the daughter to the H. Then her father died and left the daughter most of his money.
The ex likes money a lot apparently and spent a great deal of time trying to set the H up as an unfit parent, so she could get custody and control of the money. That did not work, so she decided to try kidnapping and the H is now going to threaten to ruin her socially, plus explain that the daughter's money is pretty much inaccessible for the next ten years.
He also tells the h that he loves her just as much as she loves him and that the marriage is very real. The h tells him it isn't love, they are just sex maniacs and the H refutes that by saying they are lovers and now need to work on being friends.
The h gets a few more snarky remarks and a pretty decent accusatory rant in when the H pulls out the lurve club and the h is finally convinced when he tells her that he loves her and will be happy to say it all the time until she gets sick of hearing it. They both succumb to a very happy HEA after the h tells him she will have his kids even if it means super security all the time and the H finally confesses that "for as long as it takes" means "til death do us part" and he changed that on their wedding night.
This one is a good one, while not a lot happens and most of it is household domesticity, the h is hilarious in her pithy comments and her thinking. The H is suitably enigmatic and elusive, but there really isn't any doubt he loves her and she just can't see it.
This a highly entertaining book and while it has been mentioned that the h is remarkably accepting of his terms at the beginning, she really loved him and she was REALLY broke, so it made sense that she wasn't going to fight about marrying him too much. She does get a lot of verbal zingers in, and while we get no H pov, it is clear that they are affecting him.
The one drawback is that it takes til the last chapter to get a lot of input from the H, but as he says he is honourable and uxorious, so having to wait for his big declaration was pretty much worth it and the h was sooo entertaining in the meantime. This one is definitely worth the time spent and also has a permanent rotation on my re-read shelf.
The h took herself off to resume her acting career and later on found out she was pregnant, since the H was a married man and the wife was very uncomplimentary about both the h and the H, (she said he had a habit of using and then discarding sweet young things like the h,) she did not tell the H about her pregnancy.
It turned out to be a moot point in the end, cause there was an accident backstage and the h lost her much wanted child. So three years on, the h has just been told she isn't getting the lead role or even a bit part for the London version of a play she has been doing in the backwaters. She does get a note from the H offering her an alternative position, but she has to meet with him to discuss it.
When the story opens, the h is pretty desperate and on her way to meet with the H. She hasn't had any theatrical work offers in 6 months and she has a younger brother (they are both orphans,) and she can't afford to pay his next term school fees. She is poor enough that she can barely pay her rent, let alone eat and so she is doing her best into pep talking herself into being agreeable to the H.
Even though she only looks back on the affair with a ton of guilt and shame, she did love him and was sorry when she lost the baby. She doesn't like the thought of being with a married man and she doesn't excuse herself for being involved even tho he was never told her he was married.
She meets the H and he seems very angry with her and it is obvious he is out for vengeance. She pretty much resigns herself to putting up with his revenge if it means her brother can stay in school. Her intuition tells her the H is behind her recent misfortunes and it turns out she is correct. She is pragmatic about it and then gets the shock of her life when he tells her she has to marry him - she was prepared for the mistress situation instead.
She now feels guilty for breaking up his marriage, at least that is what she assumes, but she agrees to marry him - tho she has a lot of snarky remarks interspersed with Shakespearean quotes, so the H isn't getting his own way with no consequences. Actually most of her remarks are pretty funny, JM has a talent for snarky h's and this one is one of her most memorable, right up there with the h from Daughter of Night.
So with a certain amount of pragmatism and a secret hope, cause she is still in love with the H, she sets out to marry him and also become a step mum to his eight year old daughter. The wedding is big registry affair and the h has a huge engagement ring - which she doesn't want and has plenty of comments about, but the H insists as he is very wealthy and people expect it.
The H's daughter is excited about the wedding cause she wants to be a bridesmaid. The h's brother is invited too, and he is disposed to think well of the H cause the H has a Rolls Royce and that beats a Ford Grenada any day. (Boarding school is very competitive in the relative's car stakes apparently.)
So the h and H marry, they find that they are still wildly compatible in the lurve club department, but the h is pretty resentful of the way the H maneuvered her and she isn't shy about telling him so. She has a good rant about his being married to another woman when he had an affair with her and another good rant when he tries to blame her for losing the baby.
The h is very sharp when she takes him to task for his assumption that she should have called him. After finding out he was married and his failure to mention he wasn't available, why did he think she would believe he would want anything to do with an extra-marital child? His wife was pretty explicit about how low his character was and the h had enough self-recrimination, she did not need to compound it and maybe be the cause of a divorce.
The H doesn't respond to the h set-down, he just takes her on his boat for a honeymoon cruise. They have several days on the boat which comes to an abrupt end when the h gets food poisoning in France and the H has a business crisis. The H is very nice while the h is so ill and the h decides to just make the best of things while she still has the H. He has previously indicated that the marriage wouldn't be permanent, it is going to last "for as long as it takes". However, he declines to answer just what needs to be taken or what exactly he means by that.
The H and h get back to his English estate and the h is bit unnerved by all the extra security systems, she also isn't delighted that she can't go about unaccompanied by the H's ex-military butler/bodyguard. She does manage to settle in though and starts building a relationship with the H's daughter.
The daughter is a child prodigy but also a little girl so things go pretty smoothly there. There is a bit of tension when the h manages to steal the butler's car and take off to London for the day, but that is worked out too and the H doesn't lock her up or anything.
The h is happy, but wondering when it will all end, and she decides having another baby is okay, but she will be taking the baby with her if the H kicks her out. Things are ticking along nicely and the h isn't even that upset when she has to go with the H to see the play that she had been playing the lead in. The actress chosen for the h's part is excellent and the h realizes that she wasn't nearly hardened enough to pursue theatrical stardom, she is happier being a wife and mum - for however long that lasts.
There is some drama when the H's ex wife comes to call, ostensibly to see her daughter. The h isn't really thrilled to see her and the whole thing degenerates into a very funny farce as the h and the butler conspire to run the ex-wife off.
They don't mention the visit to the H, and things take a serious turn when the daughter goes for her scheduled riding lesson at a local stable and it starts to rain. The h decides to go for a walk and expects that the daughter will be coming home soon as riding lessons aren't given in rainstorms, when she comes across the butler knocked out on the ground and the car and daughter missing.
She finds the car pushed off the road and then runs into the ex-wife and a male accomplice. They knock her out and kick her but it seems they can't find the daughter either. The h wakes up safe with the H and it is explanation time. The daughter got a ride home with another riding student and the H had gone to pick the h's brother up as his school was closed due to a measles outbreak.
The h has a little mini rant about how ashamed of herself she is for breaking up a marriage and the implication is that the H should be abashed too. She figures if they hadn't had an affair, the H wouldn't have divorced his wife and the ex wouldn't have tried to kidnap their daughter.
The H decides to tell the truth, he was already divorced when he met the h, but because she wrinkled her nose when he mentioned divorce once, he thought she disapproved of divorced people and he had planned on marrying her before he told her.
When he got back from his business in London three years earlier, he had a wedding license and was planning a ceremony, but the h was gone. The h had left a note, but the ex-wife took it. So the H went a bit mad, cause he was wildly in love and tho it took three years and a ton of devious plotting, he finally got the h back.
He had married his ex-wife cause she was the daughter of his father's business partner and it seemed the thing to do at the time, but it turns out the ex wife wasn't really into marriage and motherhood and filed for divorce, happy to give custody of the daughter to the H. Then her father died and left the daughter most of his money.
The ex likes money a lot apparently and spent a great deal of time trying to set the H up as an unfit parent, so she could get custody and control of the money. That did not work, so she decided to try kidnapping and the H is now going to threaten to ruin her socially, plus explain that the daughter's money is pretty much inaccessible for the next ten years.
He also tells the h that he loves her just as much as she loves him and that the marriage is very real. The h tells him it isn't love, they are just sex maniacs and the H refutes that by saying they are lovers and now need to work on being friends.
The h gets a few more snarky remarks and a pretty decent accusatory rant in when the H pulls out the lurve club and the h is finally convinced when he tells her that he loves her and will be happy to say it all the time until she gets sick of hearing it. They both succumb to a very happy HEA after the h tells him she will have his kids even if it means super security all the time and the H finally confesses that "for as long as it takes" means "til death do us part" and he changed that on their wedding night.
This one is a good one, while not a lot happens and most of it is household domesticity, the h is hilarious in her pithy comments and her thinking. The H is suitably enigmatic and elusive, but there really isn't any doubt he loves her and she just can't see it.
This a highly entertaining book and while it has been mentioned that the h is remarkably accepting of his terms at the beginning, she really loved him and she was REALLY broke, so it made sense that she wasn't going to fight about marrying him too much. She does get a lot of verbal zingers in, and while we get no H pov, it is clear that they are affecting him.
The one drawback is that it takes til the last chapter to get a lot of input from the H, but as he says he is honourable and uxorious, so having to wait for his big declaration was pretty much worth it and the h was sooo entertaining in the meantime. This one is definitely worth the time spent and also has a permanent rotation on my re-read shelf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2018
It was one of those books you that leave you feeling dazed and dispirited. The story and its writing felt completely off and emotionally flat. Or perhaps it's just me because many other reviewers have rated it highly. I wasn’t quite sure if the H’s unfeeling actions and uncaring words were supposed to be taken as drollery or actual cruelty, and things go on in the very same tone till the ‘bittersweet’ end with no chinks in his robotic armor. Even his revenge was served cold and detached. Vengeance should be all about hot burning anger and passion.
The h was a complete puppet in his hands despite her rebellious bickering. Her life, her future, her decisions, her emotions, her thoughts were manipulated by him or at least were in reaction to him. She rants and raves and he never gives a sign that he even hears or sees her pain and frustration. His response is always a firm rebuke or a calm smile or even complete indifference. He treated his 8 years old daughter with more parity than the h.
I am not a huge feminist, but I hate the way the hs just give up their jobs and careers in theses HPs. It may make situational sense in the storyline, but it irritates me no end. Giving it all up on one's own conviction is one thing, but being manipulated out of it, is another.
This h is a theater actor and the H diabolically steals her career from her, making sure she doesn’t get a job. In fact he drives her to borderline poverty, so that she has to agree to marry him. The h rants and chaffs about her lost life, but slowly and surely comes to a viewpoint that maybe she was never really a good enough actor, dint have enough passion/killer instinct and yes, all she always really wanted was to get married and have kids! Always? . . You are only 23, girl! Talk of a brainwash!!
The h was a complete puppet in his hands despite her rebellious bickering. Her life, her future, her decisions, her emotions, her thoughts were manipulated by him or at least were in reaction to him. She rants and raves and he never gives a sign that he even hears or sees her pain and frustration. His response is always a firm rebuke or a calm smile or even complete indifference. He treated his 8 years old daughter with more parity than the h.
I am not a huge feminist, but I hate the way the hs just give up their jobs and careers in theses HPs. It may make situational sense in the storyline, but it irritates me no end. Giving it all up on one's own conviction is one thing, but being manipulated out of it, is another.
This h is a theater actor and the H diabolically steals her career from her, making sure she doesn’t get a job. In fact he drives her to borderline poverty, so that she has to agree to marry him. The h rants and chaffs about her lost life, but slowly and surely comes to a viewpoint that maybe she was never really a good enough actor, dint have enough passion/killer instinct and yes, all she always really wanted was to get married and have kids! Always? . . You are only 23, girl! Talk of a brainwash!!
July 4, 2016
Oh, this was fun. I do enjoy Jeneth Murrey's snarky heroines and this one was no exception. The hero kept the banter going, even though he was having his "revenge" for being jilted three years before by forcing the heroine into marriage.
The secondary characters were delightful - including the "computer genius" daughter. (The heroine couldn't operate a calculator, apparently). While the reader could see the hero was smitten, the heroine was sufficiently unsure and hostile until the last minute which kept the tension simmering nicely.
This is definitely one that needs to be re-read to really enjoy all the nuances of the snarky conversations and situations.
The secondary characters were delightful - including the "computer genius" daughter. (The heroine couldn't operate a calculator, apparently). While the reader could see the hero was smitten, the heroine was sufficiently unsure and hostile until the last minute which kept the tension simmering nicely.
This is definitely one that needs to be re-read to really enjoy all the nuances of the snarky conversations and situations.
April 19, 2017
Let's make one thing clear.
He wasn't a cheater.
He was well and truly divorced when he pursued heroine.
And by the sound of it he was celibate for three years since he was too busy planning elaborate revenge to have roll in the sack.
What beats me is that the whole book could have been closed off within 50 pages and 3 years earlier if he decided to find her earlier and demanded she explain her walking out on him rather than plotting petty revenge. How does that prove love is beyond me.
However what disturbed me most.
This hero destroyed her character and forced her to be a a housewife and stay home mum.
She might have liked it in the end but that is besides the point.
She wasn't given a choice.
Everything has been forced upon her because she dared to act differently to what the hero has planned.
He has not only given her dream role to someone else, he made her go to the premiere and watch it. That was cruel beyond imagination.
I didn't even understand what he was punishing her for at that point!
He also used his kid to bring her to submission as well.
And all this while he claimed he loved her.
Well no. This is not love.
This is just another form of mental violence and this guy basically destroyed her connection to outer world and isolated her so that she doesn't have anywhere else to turn to.
I mean she was at verge of starving if he didn't marry him. Says a lot about a hero if the had to buy off the affections of the heroine!
The two stars simply because she was not a pushover despite her submission. She has pointed out how his love was not really worth it at all.
He wasn't a cheater.
He was well and truly divorced when he pursued heroine.
And by the sound of it he was celibate for three years since he was too busy planning elaborate revenge to have roll in the sack.
What beats me is that the whole book could have been closed off within 50 pages and 3 years earlier if he decided to find her earlier and demanded she explain her walking out on him rather than plotting petty revenge. How does that prove love is beyond me.
However what disturbed me most.
This hero destroyed her character and forced her to be a a housewife and stay home mum.
She might have liked it in the end but that is besides the point.
She wasn't given a choice.
Everything has been forced upon her because she dared to act differently to what the hero has planned.
He has not only given her dream role to someone else, he made her go to the premiere and watch it. That was cruel beyond imagination.
I didn't even understand what he was punishing her for at that point!
He also used his kid to bring her to submission as well.
And all this while he claimed he loved her.
Well no. This is not love.
This is just another form of mental violence and this guy basically destroyed her connection to outer world and isolated her so that she doesn't have anywhere else to turn to.
I mean she was at verge of starving if he didn't marry him. Says a lot about a hero if the had to buy off the affections of the heroine!
The two stars simply because she was not a pushover despite her submission. She has pointed out how his love was not really worth it at all.
August 8, 2021
Downgrading this book to one star. This author likes to use "witty" heroines and comedic bantering as a mechanism to drive her plots along. The only problem is that the impediments she creates - infidelity, blackmail, miscarriages - aren't the type of topics that allow for bantering. In fact, it is actually tasteless. I am done with this author.
_________________________
Though, second chances is one of my favorite plots, add in blackmail and revenge and you think you would have a winner, but the author just didn't deliver.
1) the heroine just didn't make sense..she caves at the very onset of his emotional blackmail and agrees to a marriage without any sort of angst or bitterness
2) there didn't seem to be any real tension..so the story just kind of plods along
3) I really had trouble following their banter...and the logic behind it. I put that down to the story being from an English point of view, but then again most HP authors are, and I have never had that problem before.
Disappointing read...I would recommend passing on it.
_________________________
Though, second chances is one of my favorite plots, add in blackmail and revenge and you think you would have a winner, but the author just didn't deliver.
1) the heroine just didn't make sense..she caves at the very onset of his emotional blackmail and agrees to a marriage without any sort of angst or bitterness
2) there didn't seem to be any real tension..so the story just kind of plods along
3) I really had trouble following their banter...and the logic behind it. I put that down to the story being from an English point of view, but then again most HP authors are, and I have never had that problem before.
Disappointing read...I would recommend passing on it.
October 29, 2018
“Tell the truth, woman, it won't hurt anything but your pride. What you have is what you want, what you need. Me!”
That’s the summary of the book.
That’s the summary of the book.
July 13, 2016
I liked it well enough. There was a lot going on. This is a second chance romance plus blackmail, kidnapping, vengeance, assault, .... and a malicious ex-wife.
April 28, 2024
There was a slight strangeness to the vibe of this book. Manon is a young actress who had a blazing month long affair with Stephan (on his cruiser moored in Chichester harbour), an older rich guy who she is subsequently told is married. Horrified, as you would be, she flees and then finds her career and circumstances spiralling down for the next 3 years. Re enter Stephan and a revenge marriage for abandonment. She is a dry, sparky h, which I liked, although she crumbled a bit too easily on her career, which I wasn't so keen on. Anyhow, the stepchild Fennie was precocious and appealing and the H made quite a self contained and aloof daddy who, it transpired, had been divorced at the time of their earlier affair. So, a bit daft but some nice bits.
October 11, 2025
3.5? I enjoyed it but it was missing something. At some point I felt like the heroine was getting from standing up for herself territory into petulant territory. She was snapping too much -to safeguard her heart and all that- but she got a bit tiring.
I did enjoy reading it though :) Thought it was worth it. Just needed a little something more. A bit more of a spark maybe? :)
First book from this author. Her writing is easy to read, moves at a good pace, I didn't put it down. Will check out more of her books.
I did enjoy reading it though :) Thought it was worth it. Just needed a little something more. A bit more of a spark maybe? :)
First book from this author. Her writing is easy to read, moves at a good pace, I didn't put it down. Will check out more of her books.
July 24, 2020
Three years ago, Manon Lucus, a raising actress, had a short love affair with Stephen Vestris, but she fled the moment she discovered he was married and she was ruining his marriage!! Three years of struggling to make ends meet for herself and her little half-brother made her desperate for any chance to have a good role in a play at the theater. Yet, she faced only rejection. Then, Stephen sent her a letter offering her a job. Because of share desperation, she went to meet him and then she was shocked to know he wanted her to marry him in order to give him a child and to secure her half-brother's education. And she accepted!
The words that came to my mind after reading this novel are: melancholic, depressing, frustrating, ... etc. All of which are negative and unimpressive! Both the hero and the heroine are demented. The hero could have gone after the heroine and tried to know why she left him directly after she did! Yet, he stayed away plotting her downfall! What a vengeful sadist lover! The heroine is no better! She's pathetic! She continued keeping all her pain inside and never tried to open up in order to release some of it even thought she had endless opportunities to vent her frustration and agony on the hero. She thought she ruined the heroes marriage even though he didn't tell her he was married when they started the affair! She always blames herself for everything and - thought she might think herself defying the hero all the time - she eventually does as he says and surrenders! Wooooow! A horrible read.
The words that came to my mind after reading this novel are: melancholic, depressing, frustrating, ... etc. All of which are negative and unimpressive! Both the hero and the heroine are demented. The hero could have gone after the heroine and tried to know why she left him directly after she did! Yet, he stayed away plotting her downfall! What a vengeful sadist lover! The heroine is no better! She's pathetic! She continued keeping all her pain inside and never tried to open up in order to release some of it even thought she had endless opportunities to vent her frustration and agony on the hero. She thought she ruined the heroes marriage even though he didn't tell her he was married when they started the affair! She always blames herself for everything and - thought she might think herself defying the hero all the time - she eventually does as he says and surrenders! Wooooow! A horrible read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2011
This was a good read. The h is strong, intelligent and goodhearted. I liked the H but occasionally wanted to box his ears.
The h was 20 years old when they had a month long affair. While the H was gone for the day the H's ex-wife appeared and told h that they were still married, called the h foul names and told her that she always had to clean up the H's messes. The h ran. She was humiliated and ashamed and felt that the H had betrayed her. She was also pregnant. She struggled to work and keep her little brother and herself going but had an accident which led to a miscarriage.
Three years later the H has boxed her into a corner. He's managed to keep her from finding work as an actress and in order to take care of her brother she has no choice but to accede to his demand that she marry him and provide an heir to replace the one she had "carelessly" lost. He also wants her to be mother to his daughter from his marriage.
This book has a wicked OW (ex-wife), plenty of misunderstandings and a good HEA. What more could you ask for?
The h was 20 years old when they had a month long affair. While the H was gone for the day the H's ex-wife appeared and told h that they were still married, called the h foul names and told her that she always had to clean up the H's messes. The h ran. She was humiliated and ashamed and felt that the H had betrayed her. She was also pregnant. She struggled to work and keep her little brother and herself going but had an accident which led to a miscarriage.
Three years later the H has boxed her into a corner. He's managed to keep her from finding work as an actress and in order to take care of her brother she has no choice but to accede to his demand that she marry him and provide an heir to replace the one she had "carelessly" lost. He also wants her to be mother to his daughter from his marriage.
This book has a wicked OW (ex-wife), plenty of misunderstandings and a good HEA. What more could you ask for?
November 26, 2013
This is a reunion romance and it looks like they were faithful so of course I loved it. It probably wasn't the most exciting story. The hero is all vengeful and blackmailing the heroine and she's all, I'm so ashamed I broke up a marriage and I still can't resist the cruel evil lecher even though his ex-wife told me what a sleaze he was.
That sounds like she was a bit TSTL but really she was just soppy in love and I can live with that because underneath she suspects that maybe he's not as bad as he was painted. Of course bad things happened as a result of the breakup and the hero acknowledges they have a lot to forgive each other for.
Of course he has a save the cat moment when he meets the heroine's young brother and also his daughter adores him so we know he is a good guy in spite of driving the heroine into desperate poverty to force her into marrying him. He only really did it because he was in love with her. Something that is painfully obvious to everyone except the heroine. Okay maybe she was a little TSTL.
All the same I enjoyed the story and it left me smiling.
That sounds like she was a bit TSTL but really she was just soppy in love and I can live with that because underneath she suspects that maybe he's not as bad as he was painted. Of course bad things happened as a result of the breakup and the hero acknowledges they have a lot to forgive each other for.
Of course he has a save the cat moment when he meets the heroine's young brother and also his daughter adores him so we know he is a good guy in spite of driving the heroine into desperate poverty to force her into marrying him. He only really did it because he was in love with her. Something that is painfully obvious to everyone except the heroine. Okay maybe she was a little TSTL.
All the same I enjoyed the story and it left me smiling.
July 1, 2020
Super cute, with a fiesty, mouthy heroine; an impenetrable but besotted hero; great secondary characters (yay Battle!); and a truly evil OW who doesn't get the comeuppance she deserves but you can't have everything I guess. With another heroine, this might have beeen angsty, but she keeps swinging wildly and her high spirits and refusal to give way to self pity really keep this on the lighter side despite some dark occurrences. For me, this could have done with more heat (everything is fade to black, would rate this on the "Betty Neels" side of heat), but the sparkling dialogue and fast pace reminded me of screwball comedies. It dragged a little in the middle but overall the plot kept moving along briskly, and the hero and heroine were both clearly in love from the start, it just took a while to sort things out. Looking forward to more of Jeneth Murray's books--she has a distinctive style and voice and is, for me, a really fun new vintage Harley discovery.
March 28, 2012
3.5 stars. This was a decent older story. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't exactly following what was supposed to be witty or sarcastic banter. The story was also kind of emotionally flat -- not that there was no emotion to it, but more that there weren't really highs and lows and so the ending wasn't that thrilling. This has to be the easiest acceptance of a forced marriage I've read yet -- the heroine had had a month-long affair with the hero 3 years' prior, and she hardly bats an eye when out of the blue he says he'll bail her out of financial trouble if she marries him. Decent read though with fairly likable characters.
November 3, 2018
The Hero was a true risk taker. The h was sharp, lovable and witty! The story was a game for the H. All that was missing was angst from the H....good read though
October 5, 2021
This is a pretty terrible story. I hate the trope where women prostitute themselves to a lost lover because they've fallen on hard times. Get a job! Even actual prostitution is better- you get to determine your hours and your partner (unless you've been trafficked I guess).
The fact that I hate this trope is not why I hate this story. I can handle a cray-cray H like a champ but there was nothing here to redeem the guy. The guy's a narcissistic jerk in the " I would eventually murder you" kind of way. It's NOT romantic that he made her lose her livelihood in order to get her to marry him. I believe they call that financial abuse. He yells. He squeezes. He threatens. The only thing that's good between them is sex (there's a scientific reason for why sex with abusers is often great).
Add to that "romantic suspense" [insert eye roll and puking emoji here], little kid who is actually 40, and really poor writing that makes the story drag on. I stuck with it because I hoped it would get better. Nope. He didn't even grovel. Boo all around.
This is exploitative to the reader. It reads like our author phoned this one in while drunk thinking "Hmm.... what do the people want? I'm behind schedule. Let's throw in some random tropes and a kid... tease them with a dog. How about a houseboat? Yea.. they'll love that". Nope. Double boo! This story sucks.
The fact that I hate this trope is not why I hate this story. I can handle a cray-cray H like a champ but there was nothing here to redeem the guy. The guy's a narcissistic jerk in the " I would eventually murder you" kind of way. It's NOT romantic that he made her lose her livelihood in order to get her to marry him. I believe they call that financial abuse. He yells. He squeezes. He threatens. The only thing that's good between them is sex (there's a scientific reason for why sex with abusers is often great).
Add to that "romantic suspense" [insert eye roll and puking emoji here], little kid who is actually 40, and really poor writing that makes the story drag on. I stuck with it because I hoped it would get better. Nope. He didn't even grovel. Boo all around.
This is exploitative to the reader. It reads like our author phoned this one in while drunk thinking "Hmm.... what do the people want? I'm behind schedule. Let's throw in some random tropes and a kid... tease them with a dog. How about a houseboat? Yea.. they'll love that". Nope. Double boo! This story sucks.
February 23, 2019
He offered a future, all right!
Manon Lucas, out of work for six months, with a young brother to support, was desperate. Why else would she have gone to an interview set up by powerful Stephen Vestris?
Stephen Vestris! Their love affair three years ago had been idyllic -- at first. Now she learned that Stephen, still angry at her walking out, had actually manipulated her into her present state of need.
His marriage proposal, just like a job, had to be accepted. She could be hurt again, Manon knew. That was the worst part of loving a man like Stephen. It turned life upside down!
Manon Lucas, out of work for six months, with a young brother to support, was desperate. Why else would she have gone to an interview set up by powerful Stephen Vestris?
Stephen Vestris! Their love affair three years ago had been idyllic -- at first. Now she learned that Stephen, still angry at her walking out, had actually manipulated her into her present state of need.
His marriage proposal, just like a job, had to be accepted. She could be hurt again, Manon knew. That was the worst part of loving a man like Stephen. It turned life upside down!
January 10, 2017
I didn't feel the connection at all unfortunately. and I found the fade to black intimate moments weird quite frankly ....
March 18, 2024
Bizarre how the heroine never seems to be upset or angry. She’s quite poised and self confident. The hero had an affair with her some years before, then his wife turned up and she left without a word. The hero manages until she has no job, no money nothing and a lil brother to provide for. He proposes marriage. Because he thinks she has had a termination. If the heroine is calm and poised the hero is a cold fish. He never apologizes and never seems upset, not even when she tells him she lost her child in an accident that could have cost her life. Not even when she’s kidnapped and beaten by his ex wife and another thug and she’s out cold and concussed. He doesn’t apologizes, he doesn’t get upset, he’s only angry because his pride was hurt. Oh, ex wife was already ex when she met her and told her she was the hero’s wife.
September 10, 2024
I was looking forward to reading this book and it was okay, but the writing seems disjointed, the communication between characters more like sound bites instead of dialogue. The story was good but with the dialogue issues it made it a bit difficult and took away from the story.
It has an HEA but ends so abruptly that you shake your head wondering what happens.
It has an HEA but ends so abruptly that you shake your head wondering what happens.
March 10, 2025
She was a bit melodramatic but all would have been well without his lying. And these men who marry for business ties and then don't like the wife are not a believable trope for me. Or at least I don't care for the h that does this.
July 16, 2025
There were too many flaws in this one, which should have had more substance. This is especially true of a major issue in the story, that was only touched upon and, considering it was a motivating factor in the marriage of the MC, needed to be addressed. The H thought the h had left him for no reason, then callously aborted their baby because it interfered with her acting career. Meanwhile, she had a good reason (a confrontation with his ex-wife, whom she didn't know about and thought there was no "ex"), finding out later she was pregnant, she wanted the baby very much and only kept working because she needed money, and was heartbroken when an accident onstage caused her to miscarry. Something this significant needed to be talked out, not just have him state what he thought was the truth, then her deny it and say what really happened, with neither telling the full story of what they thought, how they felt, etc. They kept too many feelings secret due to pride, not to mention the H's insistence that the h owed him a baby to make up for the other one, hence his sabotaging her career and giving her little choice but to marry him, so her brother can afford to stay in military school. (At only 12, he's so determined to be an officer??? A bit silly, to me.)
The h was also a real flip flop when it came to her career. One minute she regrets not acting anymore, the next she couldn't care less. One minute she resents losing a chance to be the lead in a play, claiming she would have been perfect for the part, the next she says she really wasn't talented enough to do the part justice. First, she says she could have gotten somewhere, then she says she lacked the necessary ambition and drive. Does she know her own mind???
Even with the H, she wavers, as she at first makes it sound like she was a victim of deceit, yet she moved in with the H almost as soon as they met and never bothered to get to know him or find out if there was another woman in his life. And with her parents dead, she was responsible for her younger brother, so does living with an older, sophisticated man without knowing him well sound like a responsible guardian?
As for the H, he should have told her about his ex-wife (a very one-dimensional mercenary, heartless bitch) and that he had a daughter, instead of keeping so much to himself.
As for that daughter, I don't know why the author decided to make her a child prodigy, but this 7-year-old computer/architectural/calculus wiz got to be annoying real fast! It made you want to lock her in her attic bedroom suite and say, "Don't come out until you're a dumbbell!!"
And for a couple who became focused on having a baby, how come the author didn't make the h pregnant at the end, as they sure tried enough to plant that seed! Had that been the case, then a description of the h getting violently sick after eating a fancy lobster dish (too much detail there) would have made sense, if it turned out to be really pregnancy upset. But it wasn't, so why the hell waste our time???
And if you don't want to waste your time reading this, I don't blame you.
The h was also a real flip flop when it came to her career. One minute she regrets not acting anymore, the next she couldn't care less. One minute she resents losing a chance to be the lead in a play, claiming she would have been perfect for the part, the next she says she really wasn't talented enough to do the part justice. First, she says she could have gotten somewhere, then she says she lacked the necessary ambition and drive. Does she know her own mind???
Even with the H, she wavers, as she at first makes it sound like she was a victim of deceit, yet she moved in with the H almost as soon as they met and never bothered to get to know him or find out if there was another woman in his life. And with her parents dead, she was responsible for her younger brother, so does living with an older, sophisticated man without knowing him well sound like a responsible guardian?
As for the H, he should have told her about his ex-wife (a very one-dimensional mercenary, heartless bitch) and that he had a daughter, instead of keeping so much to himself.
As for that daughter, I don't know why the author decided to make her a child prodigy, but this 7-year-old computer/architectural/calculus wiz got to be annoying real fast! It made you want to lock her in her attic bedroom suite and say, "Don't come out until you're a dumbbell!!"
And for a couple who became focused on having a baby, how come the author didn't make the h pregnant at the end, as they sure tried enough to plant that seed! Had that been the case, then a description of the h getting violently sick after eating a fancy lobster dish (too much detail there) would have made sense, if it turned out to be really pregnancy upset. But it wasn't, so why the hell waste our time???
And if you don't want to waste your time reading this, I don't blame you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2025
All I can say is I wish I had passed on this one. The heroine, Manon, had a blazing month long "affair" with this hero, Stephen, only to find out he's married so she bolts. Manon returned to her theatrical acting career only to have it destroyed by Stephen who pushes Manon into a revenge marriage, yep she caved in. Throughout the horrid marriage they of course fall in love and all is well....yea I think not
June 1, 2022
This was good with a decent cast of people but not up to author’s best. She was a bit too distant and tried to argue too much.
Reread to prepare a blog review and upped rating from 3 stars. It’s not truly 4 stars for me but I like it better second time.
Re-re-read and upping to 5 stars. It's funny and the h is superb.
Reread to prepare a blog review and upped rating from 3 stars. It’s not truly 4 stars for me but I like it better second time.
Re-re-read and upping to 5 stars. It's funny and the h is superb.
August 18, 2021
I really enjoyed this one the H was clearly smitten and the h was feisty even in her defeat. I liked her morals.
I deducted a star as the OW ex wife did not get her come uppance for what she did to the h an the bodyguard.
Boogenhagen has the full low down on this one its a good read i reckon.
I deducted a star as the OW ex wife did not get her come uppance for what she did to the h an the bodyguard.
Boogenhagen has the full low down on this one its a good read i reckon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2023
Wow, I liked this so much better on a second read...
Couldn't warm up to the hero in this one, he manipulated her bigly, and never felt any remorse.
Couldn't warm up to the hero in this one, he manipulated her bigly, and never felt any remorse.
August 5, 2025
He treated his kid far more maturely than he ever did his wife. So weird.
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