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Sins #5
Dark Fever
Bianca was enjoying her first holiday since the death of her beloved husband, three years ago....Until she met Gil Marquez, the owner of the hotel where she was staying. Gil opened up such intense feelings of desire in Bianca, which she hadn't known she possessed. How could she want this man with such dark intensity, yet be certain that she was falling in love...?
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 8, 1995
About the author
Charlotte Lamb
263 books321 followersSheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 23, 2018
Re Dark Fever - Charlotte Lamb continues on with book five of her Sins series.
This one deals with the Deadly Sin of Lust. Both CL and Dante take the classic definition in this one. Unlike more refined compilers of the list of moral sins, they equate Lust with ' the disordered love for individuals, thus possessing at least the redeeming feature of mutuality, unlike the graver sins.'
In other words, lusting after a person isn't as grave a sin as the others on our list because Lust requires interaction with another person. Tho one of the English Cardinals proclaimed Lust was the outward expression of Gluttony and transforms one into a slave of the profane, which eventually forces one to focus inward and again cut oneself off from Divine Love.
CL has a specific focus for this exploration of Lust as a deadly vice, she tells us in her author's note:
We start this one the just turned forty year old widowed h. She is having a very intense and passionate dream that turns into a nightmare when the h realizes that the amorous male she is dreaming about is some faceless entity and not her beloved husband of 20 years that was sadly taken from her life three years earlier.
The h is also the mother of a 19 yr old girl and a 15 yr old football mad son. Since there is nothing like teenagers to make you feel ancient, the h is soon awash in a mopey moment that she has arrived at middle age and maybe the best part of her life is over.
She misses her husband and she looks in the mirror and she sees the advance of time. She wonders what is left for her in the future, outside of getting her chicks launched into the world and running her half of a small boutique for women.
Even tho her boutique partner tells her that her life is just starting to perk up and she needs to get involved again, it takes the gift of a vial of French perfume from her son and a new set of Chanel eye shadows from her daughter to get her thinking that maybe she needs a revamp of her image.
She isn't sure she will ever want another man in her life, her older husband was her world for years and they were deeply devoted. But the winter snow and ice is making her long for sunnier climes, so the h decides to take herself off to a resort in Spain - to the utter shock of her children.
(Tho the cheeky little devils are filled with suppressed glee when they realize that if mum's off on a vacation, they can sneak in that massive kegger they have been wanting to do for ages.)
So the h takes herself off to Spain and shortly after her arrival, she espies a VERY handsome Spaniard, whose skin tight and nearly transparent black speedos make her mouth water. The h is highly embarrassed by her ogling of the local eye candy and soon hurries off for a night of Tapas Bar tastings with a larger group.
The h is the lone female amidst a group of couples. One German Lady is very nice, but her husband wants to go back to the hotel early, so the h finds herself alone again. She is warned by the group's tapas bar guide that there are purse snatchers out and about and looking for victims. It is recommended that the ladies don't venture out on their own.
The h drinks a lot of very rich red wine and CL does a veritable orgy of tapas food porn, the wild flamenco music is making the h's pulses and her head pound and she steps outside to get some fresh air.
The h gets distracted by a red flamenco dress across the street and forgets the warning about being out by herself. Inevitably a skeezy guy dressed in black leather on a motor bike tries to steal her handbag.
The h uses some self defense moves and then becomes petrified when the black leather skeezy guy pulls out a knife. It looks like the h is in a very dangerous situation, when all of the sudden headlights appear and the Speedo Man hops out of his very nice sports car.
He rescues the h and insists she report the attack to the police . He also helps her back to her resort and treats her for shock. We find out Mr. Speedo is actually the Manager and Owner of the resort and we get lots and lots of Spanish HP travelogue as the H escorts the h about.
He manages to get lots of gropey handling and roofie kisses in too, but the h is still trying to shake off her feelings of betraying her deceased husband and the H being in his early thirties is rattling her composure. CL is pretty much content to let the Lurve Force Mojo simmer, so while the tension is fierce, the Purple Passion Mojo Explosion never happens.
Mainly because the skeevy black leather guy gets out of jail and starts stalking the h. He manages to sneak onto the resort grounds one night and the h opens the door to her room to him, thinking that he is the H.
There is a vicious almost rape scene, where the h is beaten and doing her best to fight the skeevy criminal off, before the H and his security guards manage to break open the h's door and save her.
This really unnerves the h and she wants to go home, but her face is really bruised and she doesn't want to scare her children witless. She figures they will never let her leave her home ever again if they see her all beaten up.
So she hides and rests in her room for a few days and the H tries to talk to her and get her to go out with him once more. The h just can't tolerate a relationship at this point, but it is more PTSD from her attack than any objection to the H.
The h also worries that the divorced H, whose ex wife was the nice German Lady's sister in law and very incompatible with the H, will want a younger woman eventually and will also probably want children that she may be too old to have.
The h decides to sneak back home to England after a few more days of healing, without telling the H. But when she gets there, the H shows up in his exotic sports car three days later.
The h's kids are gobsmacked. The son is leery of any bloke who is hitting on his mum and the h's daughter is wondering what a rich, hot guy like the H is seeing in her mother.
The h manages to ride herd on her kids, but she too is wondering what the H is up to. For the H it is pretty simple, he wants the h badly and to him, she is the epitome of hot sexy passion and charm. But he also really likes her and during the time they spent together, they really had a lot in common and his feelings are running very deep.
The H makes a big declaration of his love for her and the h acknowledges that she is feeling the love too, so we leave the two of them ready to embark on the exploration of a new relationship. One that may lead to a new lifetime of love for the big HEA.
This one isn't much of a romance really, more like an h who overcomes her midlife, soon to be empty-nester crisis. The h and H did have a decent amount of chemistry and the potential for the future was there, but CL belayed that in favor of the h needing time to recover from her attack.
Which nicely shelved the myriad of questions that this potential relationship raises in terms of who lives where and with whom and how and where exactly these two can go together as a couple in the future.
Unfortunately that means that this book is more a HFN ending and not a true HPlandia HEA - which can be a big disappointment when you want a more substantial romance in your HP outing.
Next up - the sin of Anger - a good shout about things can clear the air, but what happens when a long suppressed rage explodes and who or what will be caught in the fallout?
This one deals with the Deadly Sin of Lust. Both CL and Dante take the classic definition in this one. Unlike more refined compilers of the list of moral sins, they equate Lust with ' the disordered love for individuals, thus possessing at least the redeeming feature of mutuality, unlike the graver sins.'
In other words, lusting after a person isn't as grave a sin as the others on our list because Lust requires interaction with another person. Tho one of the English Cardinals proclaimed Lust was the outward expression of Gluttony and transforms one into a slave of the profane, which eventually forces one to focus inward and again cut oneself off from Divine Love.
CL has a specific focus for this exploration of Lust as a deadly vice, she tells us in her author's note:
Dear Reader,
The Seven Deadly Sins are those sins which most of us are in danger of committing every day: very ordinary failings, very human weaknesses, but which can sometimes cause pain to both ourselves and others. Over the ages they have been defined as: Anger, Covetousness, Envy, Greed, Lust, Pride and Sloth.
In this book I deal with the sin of Lust. We can all become driven by desire, especially when we fall in love; it is a natural human instinct, and can be beautiful—but lust can also have an ugly face and express the very opposite of love. Sometimes lust is born of hatred and a desire to destroy.
We start this one the just turned forty year old widowed h. She is having a very intense and passionate dream that turns into a nightmare when the h realizes that the amorous male she is dreaming about is some faceless entity and not her beloved husband of 20 years that was sadly taken from her life three years earlier.
The h is also the mother of a 19 yr old girl and a 15 yr old football mad son. Since there is nothing like teenagers to make you feel ancient, the h is soon awash in a mopey moment that she has arrived at middle age and maybe the best part of her life is over.
She misses her husband and she looks in the mirror and she sees the advance of time. She wonders what is left for her in the future, outside of getting her chicks launched into the world and running her half of a small boutique for women.
Even tho her boutique partner tells her that her life is just starting to perk up and she needs to get involved again, it takes the gift of a vial of French perfume from her son and a new set of Chanel eye shadows from her daughter to get her thinking that maybe she needs a revamp of her image.
She isn't sure she will ever want another man in her life, her older husband was her world for years and they were deeply devoted. But the winter snow and ice is making her long for sunnier climes, so the h decides to take herself off to a resort in Spain - to the utter shock of her children.
(Tho the cheeky little devils are filled with suppressed glee when they realize that if mum's off on a vacation, they can sneak in that massive kegger they have been wanting to do for ages.)
So the h takes herself off to Spain and shortly after her arrival, she espies a VERY handsome Spaniard, whose skin tight and nearly transparent black speedos make her mouth water. The h is highly embarrassed by her ogling of the local eye candy and soon hurries off for a night of Tapas Bar tastings with a larger group.
The h is the lone female amidst a group of couples. One German Lady is very nice, but her husband wants to go back to the hotel early, so the h finds herself alone again. She is warned by the group's tapas bar guide that there are purse snatchers out and about and looking for victims. It is recommended that the ladies don't venture out on their own.
The h drinks a lot of very rich red wine and CL does a veritable orgy of tapas food porn, the wild flamenco music is making the h's pulses and her head pound and she steps outside to get some fresh air.
The h gets distracted by a red flamenco dress across the street and forgets the warning about being out by herself. Inevitably a skeezy guy dressed in black leather on a motor bike tries to steal her handbag.
The h uses some self defense moves and then becomes petrified when the black leather skeezy guy pulls out a knife. It looks like the h is in a very dangerous situation, when all of the sudden headlights appear and the Speedo Man hops out of his very nice sports car.
He rescues the h and insists she report the attack to the police . He also helps her back to her resort and treats her for shock. We find out Mr. Speedo is actually the Manager and Owner of the resort and we get lots and lots of Spanish HP travelogue as the H escorts the h about.
He manages to get lots of gropey handling and roofie kisses in too, but the h is still trying to shake off her feelings of betraying her deceased husband and the H being in his early thirties is rattling her composure. CL is pretty much content to let the Lurve Force Mojo simmer, so while the tension is fierce, the Purple Passion Mojo Explosion never happens.
Mainly because the skeevy black leather guy gets out of jail and starts stalking the h. He manages to sneak onto the resort grounds one night and the h opens the door to her room to him, thinking that he is the H.
There is a vicious almost rape scene, where the h is beaten and doing her best to fight the skeevy criminal off, before the H and his security guards manage to break open the h's door and save her.
This really unnerves the h and she wants to go home, but her face is really bruised and she doesn't want to scare her children witless. She figures they will never let her leave her home ever again if they see her all beaten up.
So she hides and rests in her room for a few days and the H tries to talk to her and get her to go out with him once more. The h just can't tolerate a relationship at this point, but it is more PTSD from her attack than any objection to the H.
The h also worries that the divorced H, whose ex wife was the nice German Lady's sister in law and very incompatible with the H, will want a younger woman eventually and will also probably want children that she may be too old to have.
The h decides to sneak back home to England after a few more days of healing, without telling the H. But when she gets there, the H shows up in his exotic sports car three days later.
The h's kids are gobsmacked. The son is leery of any bloke who is hitting on his mum and the h's daughter is wondering what a rich, hot guy like the H is seeing in her mother.
The h manages to ride herd on her kids, but she too is wondering what the H is up to. For the H it is pretty simple, he wants the h badly and to him, she is the epitome of hot sexy passion and charm. But he also really likes her and during the time they spent together, they really had a lot in common and his feelings are running very deep.
The H makes a big declaration of his love for her and the h acknowledges that she is feeling the love too, so we leave the two of them ready to embark on the exploration of a new relationship. One that may lead to a new lifetime of love for the big HEA.
This one isn't much of a romance really, more like an h who overcomes her midlife, soon to be empty-nester crisis. The h and H did have a decent amount of chemistry and the potential for the future was there, but CL belayed that in favor of the h needing time to recover from her attack.
Which nicely shelved the myriad of questions that this potential relationship raises in terms of who lives where and with whom and how and where exactly these two can go together as a couple in the future.
Unfortunately that means that this book is more a HFN ending and not a true HPlandia HEA - which can be a big disappointment when you want a more substantial romance in your HP outing.
Next up - the sin of Anger - a good shout about things can clear the air, but what happens when a long suppressed rage explodes and who or what will be caught in the fallout?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2020
"Dark Fever" is the story Bianca and Gil.
A nice romance with a 40 year old widow and mother of two kids, who finally decides to take a vacation after being alone for a long time. She soon encounters a chiseled Spanish god, our gorgeous hunk of a hero, who is a 38 year old hotelier. Sizzling attraction blooms, dramatized by some miscreants and the heroine's remembrance of her dead ex. There is an almost assault by evil OM, but the hero is protective and stands by the heroine, while she continuously runs away from him afraid of her feelings. Her grown up kids are annoying, we don't get any sex scenes, and the book ends abruptly.
Oh well.
Safe
2.5/5
A nice romance with a 40 year old widow and mother of two kids, who finally decides to take a vacation after being alone for a long time. She soon encounters a chiseled Spanish god, our gorgeous hunk of a hero, who is a 38 year old hotelier. Sizzling attraction blooms, dramatized by some miscreants and the heroine's remembrance of her dead ex. There is an almost assault by evil OM, but the hero is protective and stands by the heroine, while she continuously runs away from him afraid of her feelings. Her grown up kids are annoying, we don't get any sex scenes, and the book ends abruptly.
Oh well.
Safe
2.5/5
April 19, 2021
I’ve said this before about a Charlotte Lamb book, but now I really mean it: this is the worst Charlotte Lamb I’ve ever read! I don’t think I’ve ever hated an HP as much as this one. No it wasn’t boring… but it was bizarre and awful and left me with a horrible feeling.
“Dark Fever” was part of a series of books based on the Seven Deadly Sins. The theme of “Dark Fever” was lust, although there’s no consummation. Personally, I thought this book’s sin was Gluttony because all the talk of food. It was set in Spain, after all.
Bianca has just turned 40, and is a widow of 3 years, still in mourning for her husband. She has two teenagers, and feels down in the dumps so she goes on a trip to Spain. At her hotel, she sees a handsome man swimming in a pool, and falls in lust. The man, Gil, is much younger than her and deeply attracted to her, and he cares for her as well. They flirt; she teases him, but ultimately her feelings for her dead husband create an overwhelming sense of guilt over this lust for another man.
Then some tragedy occurs: Bianca get gets brutally beaten and almost raped. She becomes disgusted at the idea of sex. This is what most of the book entails: nothing the relationship with Gil, but Bianca’s recovery from her ordeal, which she never truly recovers from.
She says goodbye to Gil and goes home. But Gil feels far more for Bianca than she does for him so he follows her and declares his love.
And the end is the insulting coup de grace.
Gil says: “...I’m not even asking you to marry me, Bianca, I’m only saying I want to get to know you better.”
She met his eyes. “You want to sleep with me—isn’t that what you’re saying?”
“You know I do,” he said huskily. “I won’t lie about that—I want you, I said so, but not until you’re ready.”
“And if I never am?”
He grimaced. “I’ll have to live with that won’t I?”
“Yes,” she said her gaze defiant.
Bianca stares at herself in the mirror as she prepares for their first date, thinking that she’s too old (at 40!) for romance and may just be in it for a short term fling. Who knows what will happen, it’s a mystery…
This is a romance novel? What the hell?
I understand some modern romances don’t end with a HEA, but “happy enough for now,” but that is not what I expect when I read a Harlequin Presents! This was woman’s fiction published as a romance, and I hated it!
Uggh!
0 stars if possible/ F
“Dark Fever” was part of a series of books based on the Seven Deadly Sins. The theme of “Dark Fever” was lust, although there’s no consummation. Personally, I thought this book’s sin was Gluttony because all the talk of food. It was set in Spain, after all.
Bianca has just turned 40, and is a widow of 3 years, still in mourning for her husband. She has two teenagers, and feels down in the dumps so she goes on a trip to Spain. At her hotel, she sees a handsome man swimming in a pool, and falls in lust. The man, Gil, is much younger than her and deeply attracted to her, and he cares for her as well. They flirt; she teases him, but ultimately her feelings for her dead husband create an overwhelming sense of guilt over this lust for another man.
Then some tragedy occurs: Bianca get gets brutally beaten and almost raped. She becomes disgusted at the idea of sex. This is what most of the book entails: nothing the relationship with Gil, but Bianca’s recovery from her ordeal, which she never truly recovers from.
She says goodbye to Gil and goes home. But Gil feels far more for Bianca than she does for him so he follows her and declares his love.
And the end is the insulting coup de grace.
Gil says: “...I’m not even asking you to marry me, Bianca, I’m only saying I want to get to know you better.”
She met his eyes. “You want to sleep with me—isn’t that what you’re saying?”
“You know I do,” he said huskily. “I won’t lie about that—I want you, I said so, but not until you’re ready.”
“And if I never am?”
He grimaced. “I’ll have to live with that won’t I?”
“Yes,” she said her gaze defiant.
Bianca stares at herself in the mirror as she prepares for their first date, thinking that she’s too old (at 40!) for romance and may just be in it for a short term fling. Who knows what will happen, it’s a mystery…
This is a romance novel? What the hell?
I understand some modern romances don’t end with a HEA, but “happy enough for now,” but that is not what I expect when I read a Harlequin Presents! This was woman’s fiction published as a romance, and I hated it!
Uggh!
0 stars if possible/ F
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2021
This book needs at least 50 more pages to convince me of the attraction between the H&h. Also, how many times a woman need to complain about her age in one book 😑 just chill honey and take your panties off I want some s*x scenes in here not a woman who can't decide if she wants some or she should be ashamed for wanting it. And the ending was awful.
The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is because of Gil who was not a jerk which in itself is an achievement when it comes to Harlequin's books.
The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is because of Gil who was not a jerk which in itself is an achievement when it comes to Harlequin's books.
July 2, 2013
Read a bit too much like women's fiction for my tastes. This was the start of a relationship and by the end we had arrived at "we're attracted to each other, let's see where this might go" I wanted to tell the heroine to pull up her big girl panties a time or two. She's all "OMG I lust after this guy! I'm 40 years old. Much too old for sex!"
Meh.
Meh.
September 4, 2016
Dark Fever is another example of a heroine and unromantic ending ruining a book. *Contains some unhidden spoilers.*
Bianca's whineyness and TSTL actions grated on my nerves, with the latter trait seriously endangering her life. Bianca also had a serious crutch about turning 40. She thought she was too old for love, harping about it incessantly. Sorry, 40 is young! One could live to be 100 and still never be too old for love.
Let's discuss the shaky HEA that could be toppled by Bianca's 41st birthday. The ending that was really not a happy one, just an open ended, let's-see-where-this-thing-takes-us nonsense. Bianca acted as if she was doing Gil a big favor, grudgingly accepting his offer. Even after Gil declared his love, Bianca still didn't tell him she loved him. The reader is led to think she does and so does Gil but the words are left unsaid. I loved Gil, by the way. Bianca was lucky to find such a kind, sexy and successful man who also happened to be very smitten with her.
Sometimes when the author pushed boundaries, it worked. Other times, it fell flat just like it did in this book.
Bianca's whineyness and TSTL actions grated on my nerves, with the latter trait seriously endangering her life. Bianca also had a serious crutch about turning 40. She thought she was too old for love, harping about it incessantly. Sorry, 40 is young! One could live to be 100 and still never be too old for love.
Let's discuss the shaky HEA that could be toppled by Bianca's 41st birthday. The ending that was really not a happy one, just an open ended, let's-see-where-this-thing-takes-us nonsense. Bianca acted as if she was doing Gil a big favor, grudgingly accepting his offer. Even after Gil declared his love, Bianca still didn't tell him she loved him. The reader is led to think she does and so does Gil but the words are left unsaid. I loved Gil, by the way. Bianca was lucky to find such a kind, sexy and successful man who also happened to be very smitten with her.
Sometimes when the author pushed boundaries, it worked. Other times, it fell flat just like it did in this book.
July 28, 2014
Wait, is it just my copy or did this book not have a proper ending?
Edit: Nope, my book was all there. The story sucked at the end and ended abruptly. Goes from 3 stars to 2 stars.
Edit: Nope, my book was all there. The story sucked at the end and ended abruptly. Goes from 3 stars to 2 stars.
May 29, 2014
A good read. The sexy hero makes you feel faint and you feel for the heroine which makes for a great story but there is just something missing.....not as good as her other books. Still a good interesting read.
March 1, 2016
Good read
I enjoyed it but two stars because the end left it incomplete. I like a lot of the old books because the story were good. This book did not end right for me.
I enjoyed it but two stars because the end left it incomplete. I like a lot of the old books because the story were good. This book did not end right for me.
June 19, 2023
3.5 Stars.
The title should be violence or nightmare and not lust. There are less lust in this book than most of the books from HP.
I like the hero in this book, he didn't insult he heroine or called her a bitch like many of Charlotte Lamb Hs. He tried to help her. the heroine is very vulnerable and frightened after the nightmare that she went through. She reminds me of some of the heroines from Penny Jordan. I think the violence on this book don't belong in HP.
There are not much romance in this book, the violence took all most of the book.
I didn't like that the H fell so easily with the OW, the reason that he loved her is shallow like all shallow Hs that fell for the OWs, just simply that they are beautiful, and he didn't care that she was spoilt, he knew she was spoilt and shallow before he married her, all he care it was her beauty. If the OW didn't left him, he would still be married to her and loving her until now. And where it would leave the heroine? He said that he fell in love/lust the first time he saw the heroine, did he fell in love at first sight with the OW too? I don't doubt if he met both the h and the OW he still would feel lust for the heroine but he would feel love for her and not the OW? I hope that he would choose the heroine if what he said about his love for the heroine were true. I did not like the ending, there are an open ending like some of her books. He said that he did not need to marry her just knowing her for now, I hope that he said this because he didn't want pressure her unless she wanted it in the future. And I think her daughter was a prejudiced girl just because her mother was 40 years, she didn't know why a hunk would want her . It's a nasty thing to say about your own mother. And she didn't look 40, with money and care some people would appear at least 10 years younger.
The title should be violence or nightmare and not lust. There are less lust in this book than most of the books from HP.
I like the hero in this book, he didn't insult he heroine or called her a bitch like many of Charlotte Lamb Hs. He tried to help her. the heroine is very vulnerable and frightened after the nightmare that she went through. She reminds me of some of the heroines from Penny Jordan. I think the violence on this book don't belong in HP.
There are not much romance in this book, the violence took all most of the book.
I didn't like that the H fell so easily with the OW, the reason that he loved her is shallow like all shallow Hs that fell for the OWs, just simply that they are beautiful, and he didn't care that she was spoilt, he knew she was spoilt and shallow before he married her, all he care it was her beauty. If the OW didn't left him, he would still be married to her and loving her until now. And where it would leave the heroine? He said that he fell in love/lust the first time he saw the heroine, did he fell in love at first sight with the OW too? I don't doubt if he met both the h and the OW he still would feel lust for the heroine but he would feel love for her and not the OW? I hope that he would choose the heroine if what he said about his love for the heroine were true. I did not like the ending, there are an open ending like some of her books. He said that he did not need to marry her just knowing her for now, I hope that he said this because he didn't want pressure her unless she wanted it in the future. And I think her daughter was a prejudiced girl just because her mother was 40 years, she didn't know why a hunk would want her . It's a nasty thing to say about your own mother. And she didn't look 40, with money and care some people would appear at least 10 years younger.
October 22, 2019
This one was interesting because the heroine Bianca has reached the impossibly old age of forty, is still mourning her late husband three years after his unexpected death, and spends a large portion of the book dealing with her realistically obnoxious teenage children. That said, there is also Anyway, the book essentially ends where I feel like many other books would be in the middle, with a HFN rather than a HEA, which is unexpected.
May 26, 2024
DNF pretty early in. I find these travelogue/holiday fling romances to be really tedious, throw in insta-lust and betraying-body-syndrome and it's hitting all the tropes I hate. Don't see the point of enduring something I know I'll find a boring, annoying read.
December 5, 2010
Really like it!
February 20, 2012
Cared too little to consider adding these bad spirits to my new word list. Plus the sex was almost scary.
September 12, 2016
Not something I could personally get into. It was just too.. well.. I don't exactly know...
Read
December 31, 2017I want him, she thought, and that, in itself, was shattering...
Bianca was enjoying her first holiday since the death of her beloved husband, three years ago... Until she met Gil Marquez, the owner of the hotel where she was staying.
Gil opened up such intense feelings of desire in Bianca, which she hadn't known she possessed. How could she want this man with such dark intensity, yet be certain that she was falling in love?
Love can conquer the deadliest of Sins.
Bianca was enjoying her first holiday since the death of her beloved husband, three years ago... Until she met Gil Marquez, the owner of the hotel where she was staying.
Gil opened up such intense feelings of desire in Bianca, which she hadn't known she possessed. How could she want this man with such dark intensity, yet be certain that she was falling in love?
Love can conquer the deadliest of Sins.
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