This was a Dynasty meets A Long Hot Summer southern romance revenge story. On a scale of one to ten for a cruel H where the typical Maya Alden ranks aThis was a Dynasty meets A Long Hot Summer southern romance revenge story. On a scale of one to ten for a cruel H where the typical Maya Alden ranks around 100, this H was a good 7. I think he only calls her bitch and slut a couple of times.
Part of a trilogy and more drama than you can shake a hot and humid stick since this is set in New Orleans or as Alden insists on writing it N'awlins. I think I'm going to stroke out as she does it in the next book too. Even when characters aren't talking in their Cajun accents but just thinking about the city, she spells it N'Awlins. Foghorn Leghorn says STOP!!!!!
Problematic book for me as it's listed as a romance.
A revenge plot gone very, very bad as the usual with a romance hero/villain, the true victim is cProblematic book for me as it's listed as a romance.
A revenge plot gone very, very bad as the usual with a romance hero/villain, the true victim is collateral damage aka the heroine. After a several month seduction, the hero films the heroine having sex. No, he doesn't film them having sex because he's very careful to make sure he isn't identifiable as the heroine points out later. He shows the tape to her father who immediately strikes out...at the heroine. The hero gets his deal, the father gets the tape while the heroine loses everything: her rotten family, her partnership, the house she renovated, the garden she created and nourished her soul, and her trust in people. She devolves.
If the hero hated the heroine or thought she was remotely involved it might have been more understandable, but the hero knows how horrible he's being, in fact vomits at the thought of it, but hands the video over anyway. The video itself isn't just sex, but a graphic scene with the heroine calling herself "his whore" and "his slut". It made any subsequent sex scenes stomach churning when she calls herself that again.
Again and again, the heroine is betrayed, humiliated and debased while more than one evil doer gets away with no retribution. (view spoiler)[ The evil OW gets her hands on it and publishes the video and gets off scot free although distributing porn as well as revenge porn is a felony. Heroine's half brother who tipped off the OW doesn't get a full acceptance on his apology for being mean and throwing her under the bus all their lives, the hero wallows in self-pity and gets frustrated the heroine can't see how bad he feels, boo hoo. (hide spoiler)]
The heroine devolves into a shadow of herself, but does finally get a backbone of sorts when she gets cranky but it's not enough when her life is destroyed and the man who destroyed her life puts her life back together the way he wants it, not what she wants. The portrayal of her slow decline was well done and gets the extra star. And the ending is incredibly abrupt, boom.
I signed up for the epilogue but haven't received it, but from what I've read on FB it just confirms that the evil OW and the equally awful father get off without any real consequences. In real life, revenge porn can result in prison. Also makes me question what kind of an idiot the hero is. He pats himself in the back about being a great big business man but can't protect the heroine? I know, I know, if the video wasn't released we would have no book, but let's call a spade a spade.
Once a tape is out there, it's out. Out there for colleagues, friends, family, acquaintances, her future children to see. No coming back from the damage the H caused.
There are plenty of readers who will love the angst of the debasement of a pathetic heroine who loses control of her life through no fault of her own, but by the love of her life, but I have a stomach ache because of it....more
A little leery to read this as past JS reads delved a little too much into the breeder deal and I can only handle so much sperm. This is more a revengA little leery to read this as past JS reads delved a little too much into the breeder deal and I can only handle so much sperm. This is more a revenge story....let me clarify, this IS a revenge story. It was much more fun than the others I've read.
Alyssa aka Psycho-heroine finds her fiancé having sex with her best friend's little sister and doesn't pass go or collect her $200 on her quest to take revenge on the world. For starters, she burns her mattress the proceeds from there.
It was a lot of fun at first, but after a while the ongoing revenge was just exhausting. Along the way she marries a billionaire who is quite indulgent of her insanity revenge plans. She gets a new closet of clothes, heirloom jewelry and a Grace Kelly inspired wedding dress. I need a billionaire.
The plot goes a little wonky at times, and several characters are introduced in the epilogue I had no idea who they were but apparently belong in the Lyon series.
I do mention one issue that I consider triggering. Yes, there is cheating and cheating is discussed incessantly, but the trigger issue is that one of the characters slaps her baby. Its not detailed but the fact that it happened was disturbing to me at least....more
A heartless betrayal from a mindless hero. Another brain trust that decides to get revenge on some collateral damage chick because he's too lazy or stA heartless betrayal from a mindless hero. Another brain trust that decides to get revenge on some collateral damage chick because he's too lazy or stupid to go after the one he thinks is really guilty. She isn't really that guilty either.
The realization that he may have gotten the scenario all wrong is so instantaneous it makes him look even worse. If one statement and a look of scorn can smash your need for revenge, have you really thought it through?
Dim bulb as the heroine hides out under her mother's maiden name 'cause no investigator will ever figure that out. If I ever have to flee from a vengeful Greek/Italian/Spanish or even British tycoon, I have a much better name picked out.
When he finally finds the heroine again (accidentally of course), Mr. Entitlement wants her to marry him and she agrees despite reservations. He has an evil OW on his heels that is a take no prisoners OW. She was pretty bad and about a thousand times smarter and more relentless than the H. He's 6 foot whatever and can't seem to stop her from kissing him, oh dear what should he do?
This made me very cranky as the H gets away with it and shows little remorse....more
Not quite the revenge plot the blurb describes. Yes, she breaks up with her jerk BF, younger brother to the H, but does everything to hide the new "reNot quite the revenge plot the blurb describes. Yes, she breaks up with her jerk BF, younger brother to the H, but does everything to hide the new "relationship" in order not to hurt his feelings.
Turn offs were: sibling to sibling sex, unlikeable characters, and a hero who is supposedly infatuated but still plays games.
From what I've read, it seems very Catharina Maura in tone....more
Lots of interesThis is Yellowstone meets Norma Rae plus just about any Tennessee Williams or Eugene O'Neill you want to toss in the mix.
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Lots of interesting stock Southern Gothic bad family tree characters: overbearing and ruthless Big Daddy, handsome and ruthless elder son, weak and moral wannabe younger son, firebrand daughter that hates some/all of her family, weak lawman to hide the bodies, married floozy for the elder son to have sex with, and the handsome and charming outsider and more. I would say these are just ridiculously fictional characters, but sadly that's not the case if you read the news or study history. The world is littered with real life Hoyles like the Kennedy's, Murdaughs and who knows else.
The suspense and mystery are the stars of the show. There's a romance of sort between the rebellious daughter and the family flunky lawyer, but it's secondary to the strutting arrogance of the pretty horrible father of the clan and his equally horrible possibly worse oldest son. Their disregard for rules would be entertaining if it didn't have such a ring of truth. Victor Slezak does an excellent job narrating with a southern accent especially the male voices.
The oddest part of the book is the issue of the factory and its dangerous practices and OSHA violations. Given the outrageousness (is that spelled correctly) of the work conditions I wonder if Sandra Brown wrote this much earlier, or maybe I'm being naive and there are places of work that have this level of disregard for the safety of their employees.
I read this back in the 80s and was hoping I wouldn't remember the murderer. I didn't remember one single, solitary thing which is a whole other distuI read this back in the 80s and was hoping I wouldn't remember the murderer. I didn't remember one single, solitary thing which is a whole other disturbing issue.
Anyhoo, Forsythe is a semi-disgraced, retired barrister. He's still fairly young so the law has lost a force to be reckoned with. His grey haired assistant is snappy, loves a cocktail and is a perfect Girl Friday. Giroux channels Agatha Christie as the amateur sleuth contacts all those involved in a twenty-five year old murder that happened in 1944. The convicted murderer's daughter asks Forsythe to find out if her father was actually guilty as she is on love, but is afraid she may have inherited his homicidal or his mental weakness or both. The plot is straight out Christie's Five Little Pigs.
The victim was a beautiful boy toy model and found in the artist's arms having been eviscerated. Classic English house party character include the so called murder's maiden sister, a troubled young female cousin, his evil woman seductress wife, her doting cousin/companion, an angry young soldier in lust with the seductress and writing bad poetry, the murderer's best friend who's also in love with the evil wife. Lightning keg ready to blow.
I like/love these kind of armchair mysteries although it's less armchair as Forsythe has to track down the witnesses.
Alert: this was written in the 70s or 80s and the views regarding homosexuality were very, very different from today. Surprisingly no one in the book is overtly hostile or awful regarding the characters, but the terminology and the POV will startling to some....more
I really liked the heroine at times. She likes pink. I like pink. She wants revenge on a boyfriend that wants to change her and doesn’t think she’s evI really liked the heroine at times. She likes pink. I like pink. She wants revenge on a boyfriend that wants to change her and doesn’t think she’s even GF material. I wanted revenge on an old boyfriend but for slightly different reasons. She’s blonde; I’m …well, used to be blonde.
She has some pretty cute ways to get back at the old BF of four years: glitter in his car AC, mass pizza orders at work, and because she was a doormat of fairly epic proportions can mess with his tailor and food orders among other things. And then there is her quest for epic comeuppance, all of which I was on board with.
Except, I didn’t like how she wanted to use his sex-on-wheels, nicest fictional guy in the universe EVER boss to get back at him.
She goes from [image] To [image]
So our sweet abused and slightly stupid heroine essentially turns into a vengeful Greek tycoon and our sex-on-wheels H is now the chick.
I’m an equal opportunity reader and like for my heroes and heroines to be basically good guys. Using someone as a tool for revenge on someone else ranks low especially when it results in a publicly humiliating experience and a mere, “Oops, sorry,” gets you out of it.
Hero deserved a much better heroine. Plus, fine they have sex, but even the sexy times got a little old and OTT. It’s too bad as I was totally there for her revenge plot until she knowingly decided to use the H like a Kleenex and never stopped. Her dithering guilt trip only made it worse....more
Not sure how I feel about this. Enemies to lovers story with the hero being a mean SOB to the heroine as she thinks she could have warned his family aNot sure how I feel about this. Enemies to lovers story with the hero being a mean SOB to the heroine as she thinks she could have warned his family about the bungled family business. She was 17 or 18 at the time so I don't know how realistic that is. H is now a great big tycoon and quite the hypocrite given his own business strategies and startup.
Despite this implausible plot point, there is a minimal of stupid KU behavior. But the hero is mean, mean, mean until suddenly not.
Welp, not sure what to say. Reviewing suspense/thrillers is always hard due to the nature of the book and any potential twists and turns.
Four stars foWelp, not sure what to say. Reviewing suspense/thrillers is always hard due to the nature of the book and any potential twists and turns.
Four stars for me for keeping me on the edge of my seat, occasionally glancing over my shoulder when I got creeped out, and for writing a KU that is not filled with crappy grammar and idiotic people. The forensic accounting business dragged a little, but I could appreciate the author has actually thought this through although I'm skeptical on a couple of issues.
Keep this one for when you're tired of doormats and the H's that are forgiven at the drop of a hat....more
Goodread Friend's recommendations or Facebook recommendations What should I doooooo?
I've seen Julie Garwood's n[image] Yippee, Romance with a capital R!
Goodread Friend's recommendations or Facebook recommendations What should I doooooo?
I've seen Julie Garwood's name on many lists and have ignored it and put off reading her books just like I held off reading Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold at one time. Boy, was I wrong with both!
Christina and Lyon are both wonderful characters and their romance is all a romance should be. Rather than creating dwama for drama's sake and saddling the reader with a naval gazing hero that hurts the heroine in order not to hurt (cheating, OW, mean and other emo-actions) he simply stamps and shouts and chases her around the castle for a little loving. Not really but he's too arrogant to chase her around the kitchen. If he were the kind of hero to cheat which he isn't, it would be amusing to see Christina hone her knife and take a page from Dolly P, and our hero would be walking funny for an eternity. [image]
So many other reviews do justice so I'll just finish off and say I only wish we had seen more of her upbringing with Merry and Black Eagle. I would love the stare off between Lyon and Black Eagle.
This is for readers who want... - an intelligent heroine with a spine of steel - a smitten alpha hero - external drama and angst - an evil OW comeuppance in the form of running in fear from her life from the dainty heroine with a knife on her stocking...more
In the blurb…Warning, this book contains bad language and some violence.
For starters, this disclaimer is horribly inadequate, and a million negative sIn the blurb…Warning, this book contains bad language and some violence.
For starters, this disclaimer is horribly inadequate, and a million negative stars for that. DO NOT READ THIS if you have triggers for rape, pedophilia or graphic violence. All occur and it’s horrific. (view spoiler)[ The heroine is raped as a child. We’re spared specific details over that, but later she is gang raped and there are a lot of very graphic details. (hide spoiler)]
I persevered, and, wow, there is fiction then there is FICTION. Kudos to the author for letting her imagination run wild and not letting the boundaries of reality remotely interfere. The 16 year old heroine transforms herself into a SuperNinja bounty huntress extradonnaire with a posse of protective badasses and a Zen Master who missed the class on pacifism. Let me say that the bad guys don’t just get a comeuppance, but are eviscerated at the same level of her attack and once again it’s pretty gross. Skimming was necessary.
The hero is another one that is lucky he’s good looking and in a nurturing MC gang, as he’s not the brightest.
Goodread review math at work comes to two stars....more
Read for one of the most epic comeuppances for a smug cheater.
The husband, NOT the H, tells his wife he will being taking a year's sabbatical as he puRead for one of the most epic comeuppances for a smug cheater.
The husband, NOT the H, tells his wife he will being taking a year's sabbatical as he pursues being a TV personality. It's his Christmas gift to her so she can explore what it means to be more than a boring housewife. That's not exactly how he says it, but close. What he forgets to tell her is he's moving in with his co-anchor, his very young, very ambitious co-anchor.
The h is a good little wife and does as he asks. She gets a makeover, starts a business that he doesn't approve of, ices out her evil MIL, gets a handsome lover, and "expands her horizons".
After a year, the husband wants to come back just as it was.
Retribution falls under the category if Be very careful what you ask for as the h ends up very nicely settling scores with her smug bastard of a husband, her MIL and her awful, awful daughter (the h's daughter not the MIL).
One thing I noted is it had a very dated vibe in terms of how she evolved, how she dressed etc. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning....more
Elle Kennedy is one of the few contemporary romance writers that doesn't make me want to throw my computer at the wall especially when she's writing iElle Kennedy is one of the few contemporary romance writers that doesn't make me want to throw my computer at the wall especially when she's writing in subgenera that's not my normal deal: college romances. The Deal series is so much better.
This one left me a little cold as one, the hero and his reverse snob band of friends (townies) have it out for the rich snobs (clones...???? I can't remember what they call her). He gets fired because of one of the snot hounds and decides for second degree revenge. He is going to humiliate the guy by snagging his girlfriend then dumping her in front of the jerk. I don't like second hand revenge when Green tycoons do it, and I don't like it here either. Kind of gross when your friends are egging you on just so you can humiliate a girl.
Of course, the big idjit forgets about the plan eventually, but gets caught.
The heroine was cool as as a cucumber about everything from her Richie Rich bf and how they and their lifestyles fit fit. Shame on me for wanting smarter, less hysterical heroines and not appreciating one when I get her.
Very Catherine Coulter. Heroine falls in love and chases the hero shamelessly and throws herself and her dowry at him. He’s like, “Okay”. A very bad wVery Catherine Coulter. Heroine falls in love and chases the hero shamelessly and throws herself and her dowry at him. He’s like, “Okay”. A very bad wedding night for the heroine who never wants to have sex again then the H leaves for Edinburgh to do stuff.
Lots of bad relatives including a mean and crazy Aunt who hates everybody, a fey and crazy SIL that may or may not lust after the hero, his mean and scornful plot moppets who fail to drive their new stepmother away, and two ghosts- one from each family.
The most memorable part is the H and h’s reactions of “Oh dear!” when the secondary bad guy kills a couple of crofters in revenge for a murder he thinks the hero has done. Poor crofters.
CC goes Diana Palmer on the heroes from the previous two books and turns them into charming doting husbands....more
Mixed emotions about this as the hero is more besotted with the heroine than he realizes, but his revenge plan is faulty. Not faulty in its success beMixed emotions about this as the hero is more besotted with the heroine than he realizes, but his revenge plan is faulty. Not faulty in its success because it is very successful. He destroys the family that scarred him. The fault lies in the fact that the one person that is innocent in all this suffers the most while the evil doers just die off. You would think I never read a revenge plot before. Of course, the h suffers the most.
The heroine has a pretty wonky moral compass as well, but I guess that is what abandonment, bad parenting and extreme poverty will do to a woman in the Victorian era. She’s pretty entertaining as she another heroine a million times smarter than her hero. No sex for you buddy until the ring is on her finger, and she’s not talking about an engagement ring. The h holds the hero’s feet to the fire regarding bad hero behavior which is a rarity, and he’s never quite sure if she’s in love with him or just marrying him for security and a good time in bed.
I was going to wimp out with a 3 star, but the heroine raises the level....more
This is like the x-rated, porny version of Dangerous Liaisons., and that’s not a compliment.
The H, Valmont, is basically prostituting himself with theThis is like the x-rated, porny version of Dangerous Liaisons., and that’s not a compliment.
The H, Valmont, is basically prostituting himself with the much older and even nastier OW, Marquise de Mertuil. Then there’s the heroine whose personality is changed from the poor seduced dove in the movie to a seduced feminist, social warrior that is sex on wheels. Historical accuracy is not a thing in this book.
Minus a million stars for H and the OW's very graphic sexapades that go on for over a third of the book, and they ain’t pretty. The heroine gets her time too as the the H is a stallion an Arabian one just like his stallion. Most romantic encounter? Hmmm, their sex in the the brothel right after the h sees him trying to prove his love by protecting her by ogling (and more) a prostitute. There’s more wrong with that sentence than just being a run-on sentence.
The evil, evil OW gets slapped, but that’s a mere drop in the bucket to what should have happened. Honest to Pete, when will authors realize that appropriate comeuppance is almost as important as a good HEA.
I’ve been binging Ted Lasso so I am going to let the adorable &!#*$ Roy Kent take this one…. [image]...more
When I started this I was more than a little dismayed to read the same old tycoon, Sicilian this time, stuck on his awesome self and oozing STD levelsWhen I started this I was more than a little dismayed to read the same old tycoon, Sicilian this time, stuck on his awesome self and oozing STD levels of sexual arrogance. Then there was the heroine who agrees to a MOC to make her father happy and because it worked for him. A father named Archibald Christie which happens to be Agatha Christie’s cheating cad of a first husband’s name and an interesting choice. Then there was the ho-hum, same ole revenge plot with a supercilious class conscious mother just waiting in the wings and way too blue blood to pass the Grey Poupon.
The H taunts the heroine that he will have sex with her and it will be so awesome because he’s so awesome she will beg for his touch forever more and he will laugh at her desire and that’s his revenge. Oh yeah, and they are basically out on a rock in the sea. Okey dokey.
And then the worm turns and we have now have an amnesiac CinderFella that the heroine has convinced that he loves cleaning the bathroom grout and hustling up one Sicilian delicacy after another. This part was so much fun as the heroine gets a visible kick out of it without being mean as he decides he should put the moves on the married and, should be off limits, heroine because he just can’t help himself.
It was all fun until he got his memory back. Turns out arrogant, supercilious Sicilians out for revenge don’t appreciate the concept What goes around comes around” or have much of a sense of humor.
The evil Mommy does get a comeuppance and there’s a HEA....more
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