Cliffhanger ending. Not safe (detailed rape by OM).
***SPOILERS*** Writing was smoother & easier to follow than book1. Back & forth from the past & preCliffhanger ending. Not safe (detailed rape by OM).
***SPOILERS*** Writing was smoother & easier to follow than book1. Back & forth from the past & present with dual POVs. h's POV was revenge-filled & conflicted for her new-boss 25yo H, who just took over his recently-deceased father's company. She doesn't trust his desperate obsession to make things right for her & his “mine” claims 7 years after she left, after hearing his confession to publicly humiliate her with his 3 friends (OM, OM's sidekick, & H's ex-GF) by leaking the almost-sex video of him & her making out that 1 night. She accepts H's help to bring down OM, who raped her & whose company she was forced to work for the last few years. H's POV has more angsty as we get more info of his suicidal past, after h left him 7 years ago. And his trying to win her back & keep her with him this time. But he's treading with caution as he realizes that h was raped by OM & her mom's sickness is tied to OM somehow. Hot foreplay scenes between H&h but still no actual sex. Didn't like quick flashback-type details of h being raped by OM.
Cliffhanger ending with H killing OM's sidekick as a way to draw out OM & for revenge for sidekick's part in hurting h 7 years ago.
Cliffhanger ending. Book 2 is a short novella & focused mainly on H&h's 1st meeting after being apart for 7 years. Not safe (rape of h by OM).
WritingCliffhanger ending. Book 2 is a short novella & focused mainly on H&h's 1st meeting after being apart for 7 years. Not safe (rape of h by OM).
Writing smoother & plot more intriguing than book1. Lots of tidbits dropped here & there from dual POVs about what happened to each of them in the last 7 years. Good S chem & emotional tension between H&h. Detailed foreplay scenes but no actual sex scene between H&h. Info drop about h being raped by OM but fortunately not detailed. Characterization still loose & iffy due to short novella & alternating timeline from past & current.
Cliffhanger ending with h beginning to realize that she likely misjudged H 7 years ago & H beginning to clue in to h may have been raped by OM.
Cliffhanger ending. 1st book of 5. I recommend skipping the next 3 books & just reading the last one (Mortal Siege) to get the full-story. Bks2-4 are Cliffhanger ending. 1st book of 5. I recommend skipping the next 3 books & just reading the last one (Mortal Siege) to get the full-story. Bks2-4 are more like teasers.
1.5-stars
Worst book of all 5 books in this series. Only 25yo H's POV about 7yrs ago & the present. It's meandering & obsessive/repetitive (i.e., “mine” claims of h, wants to kill his father). H's “mine” claims of h felt superficial. Lacked a good grasp of why he fell obsessively in love with her, especially after being friends with her since she was 10yo with her father working for his ruthless company-owner father. Lots of plotline gaps (i.e., why/when H dated his GF if he was so into h from childhood, timeline/reason H&h's relationship changed from good childhood friends to mere acquaintances by their senior high-school year). Meh S chem/foreplay S scenes mostly because lacked romance/relationship background. So, their love for each other read more like mutual lust or teenage attraction. Especially with virgin h's cavalier attitude to kissing H, despite him having a GF. So cheating. No angst/emotional resistance on h's part about it. H did expressedly resist h with his “I have a GF” info but soon succumbed to h's sexual easiness. I did like that he broke things off with his GF via text right before he oralled h.
Cliffhanger ending with H seeing h again for the 1st time in 7 years & she's his newest employee.
Cliffhanger ending. Not safe (detailed rape scenes by OM and a new rapist, OM2)!!!
2.5-stars
***SPOILERS*** Dual POVs. Better plot development & better cCliffhanger ending. Not safe (detailed rape scenes by OM and a new rapist, OM2)!!!
2.5-stars
***SPOILERS*** Dual POVs. Better plot development & better characterization. Smoother writing too. More exciting as more tidbits exposed of what both H&h went through in the last 7 years. Like a puzzle whose image is becoming more identifiable as bigger pieces form together. H&h still haven't had sex but more foreplay (i.e., oral, kissing, touching). 2-stars off for ending it with h getting raped (again!!!!) by another man (OM2), who used to work for OM's company & who H was beginning to work with to get info about OM. H witnessed the rape (OM2 sexually-penetrated h once) before he killed OM2 by choking him with h's help.
Cliffhanger ending with H just killedOM2 with h's help, after he pulls off OM2 from raping h in the bathroom during a party....more
Cliffhanger ending. This boxset only contains 1-3 out of 5 & are basically just teasers. I recommend reading book1 & then skipping to the last book (bCliffhanger ending. This boxset only contains 1-3 out of 5 & are basically just teasers. I recommend reading book1 & then skipping to the last book (book5 Mortal Siege) to get H&h's full story.
2.5-star overall
Book1 (1.5-star) is meandering with only H's POV about that 1 night he & h got intimate (kissing, touching, oralling) and the next day, when a secretly-recorded video of the 2 of them from the night before was blasted all over their high school. Lots of back & forth from present & 7 years ago. More lust-filled than love. Lots of plotline gaps so hard to engage with their romance
Books 2 & 3 (3-stars each) are better-written. Many teasers of what happened 7 years ago but still no clear story. We know more about what H went through (i.e., alcohol/drug use, rehab, suicide attempts) than h. h was raped by OM but not much more about that. Good sexual & emotional tension. Hot foreplay scenes between H&h but they still haven't had sex yet.
Cliffhanger ending with H killing OM's sidekick as a way to draw out OM & for revenge for sidekick's part in hurting h 7 years ago....more
Better-developed & more likable main characters than book2's(Breaking You).
The GOOD: ***SPOILERS*** Good combo of 18yo virgin college-student h's goodBetter-developed & more likable main characters than book2's(Breaking You).
The GOOD: ***SPOILERS*** Good combo of 18yo virgin college-student h's goodness & innocence with grit & sass & what made 18/19yo popular college-student H's cruelty to her more bearable because she often fought back even with sarcasm when she didn't have much of a choice with H. Loved that h didn't just passively take the hits & fought back (i.e., @ 18%, she kicked H in the balls right after she made him think that she was going to BJ him after whipped it out & demanded a BJ). Yet she knew her limits & didn't push too much so she wouldn't jeopardize her beloved older-sister's mental rehab treatment per her agreement with their cold-hearted social-climbing father. Loved that she accepted the sacrifices she had to make for her suicidal rape-victim sister but clear that she hated it and wanted to move past her current martyr role to complete independence from her dad once her sister was safely-established in her treatment facility. Liked that H's cruel vengefulness was tempered with some guilt over hurting h & his long-time obsession with her so he'd had to force himself to remember his brother she & her sister sent to prison 2 years ago for raping her sister. Loved H's alpha-dominance & stalkery obssesion with h.
Good romance & emotional development, esp in last 30% when H's feelings for h was overtaking his revenge feelings. And then the angst from both H&h learning the truth re: who was involved in the rape of her older sister (***it was H's bro after all plus their mutual friend who tried to rape h later too but H's bro didn't wear a condom unlike his friend so his DNA evidence landed him in prison 2 years ago while the friend left free***). Good character development, with h becoming stronger & more open and esp H becoming more protective-possessive & caring of h as he had to make a clear choice for her over his family. Good S chem/hot S scenes.
Sexual History: Not much info on virgin h's dating life. But H was the 1st to see her naked & touch her privates. H had been crushing on h for years as they grew up in same rich community but no exact timeline. He had casual lovers who he'd smex while fantasizing about h. The 1st time H touched h sexually & made her orgasm was in the presence of his 2 friends (his BFF & the other guy who raped h's sister) while touching her through her clothes. They heard but didn't see. After it happened, H didn't like that his friends even heard her so he didn't do it again. Same thing happened later, when he forced her to wear a hooker-type dress to a family function & didn't like that other men saw her so undressed....more
Lowered to 2-stars from my original 3-/2.5-star rating, after reading book1 (Hating You).
MEH or the BAD: ***SPOILERS*** H&h not as less likable & romaLowered to 2-stars from my original 3-/2.5-star rating, after reading book1 (Hating You).
MEH or the BAD: ***SPOILERS*** H&h not as less likable & romance less healthy than book1's H&h, despite their many similarities (i.e, H cruel revenge against h for something she supposedly did in the past that she's not aware deeply hurt H who used to like her, H forces BJ on h, H blackmails h to live with him). 19yo virgin college-studenth too doormat-y & 19yo popular college-student manhoH too cruel/controlling/vengeful without enough remorse. Biggest problem is that h easily submitted to H's demands without holding him accountable (weakly resisting & then quickly forgiving H for the physical & verbal abuse he heaped on her (i.e., he forced her to BJ him, he called her a whore & a liar, he controlled who she could talk to & where she could go). She didn't give H much incentive to change his impulsive & over-controlling ways. And H himself just lacked the inner fortitude to change. Book1-H's view of this H was very accurate:
"It’s obvious (Warner) wants to say something, but like the pussy he is, he tucks his tail between his legs and nods, once again reminding me why my family name is more powerful than his. It’s not always about the money, but about the bite behind the bark."
This H reads like book1-H's sidekick in many ways. Not quite as alpha, not quite as obssessed, not quite as protective-possessive, not quite as mature.
Lacked enough character growth. So by the end, both H&h were only slightly changed. She got a little more sassy but very quick to revert back to her passive silent-martyr mode, silently taking the cruelty H dished her. H became faithful to h & slightly less controlling of her. Yet by the end, H was still too quick to judge h & dismissing her without giving her a chance to explain. Three years before, H immediately believed his dad's accusation (that then-16yo h was cheating on H & got an abortion with medical document that showed h's name as the abortion patient) & dropped h without confronting her about it. He did the same 3 years later, when h told him that she was pregnant from all their unprotected sex. I wished that h at least had the guts to ask him why he (her loving & considerate BF at age 16) suddenly hated her & made no contact after his dad got her maid-mom fired & their whole family evicted from H's family's estate 3 years ago. No mention of her trying to contact him via phone/text/email/letter/personal visit 3 years ago to ask why he just dropped her/her mom fired/their family evicted.
The GOOD: Some angst towards the end, when H told h to get an abortion & get lost after she told him that she thought she may be pregnant. When he realized he was misjudged her, he did apologize. But not enough groveling, mostly because h took him back quickly after he showed up at her parents' house. H needed to feel the pain of guilt & regret for his misjudgment/mistreatment of h longer to make his character growth better & more believable. ok S chemistry. Good-enough detailed sex scenes but didn't like that H forced h to BJ him the night they saw each other again even if h did get some pleasure out of it later.
Sexual History: virgin h dated & kissed other guys but nothing past the 1st kiss because no OM made her feel like H did. H was a known manho who smexxed many girls in their college campus. After he dismissed h 3 years ago, he became a bitter & vengeful person hate-smexxing lots of women over the 3 years to forget h. Once he saw he again though, he didn't want any other. Didn't like that neither acknowledged that h was a virgin before/during/or after their 1st time smexxing. Maybe her sex-toy collection made her feel less virginal since she didn't bleed or had much discomfort. H wasn't sure beforehand if h was still a virgin & their was no admission by either one after....more
GOOD NEWS is that I can confidently say that Cage book I 1-starred yesterday was not written by this same Nikki Wild.
Other GOOD: Writing style of thisGOOD NEWS is that I can confidently say that Cage book I 1-starred yesterday was not written by this same Nikki Wild.
Other GOOD: Writing style of this book (compared to Cage) was much more straightforward, smoother, and well-paced. No weird language issues or POV-to-speech issues like in Cage. The best part about this book was the hot sex scenes. Even though the romance & characters needed work, the sex scenes took me to Sexy-smexxy-landia.
MEH or the BAD: ***SPOILERS*** Characters were ok. Both just really needed to grow up. Lacked character development so 22yo successful London-matchmaker h was still a doormat from beginning to end, when it came to 22yo British Lord's bastard son & playboy British-military H. Either excusing his bad choices or quick to save him or easily forgiving him without accountability on his part. She did kick him out 2-3x for his asinine remarks & actions but she quickly took him back the next time he approached her. H acted & thought like a hormonal privileged teen. It was too bad that he was pampered even during his British army stint the last 4 years, being a royalty's son. It was also too bad that he didn't aspire to any goals/ambitions since he seemed content being a trust-fund baby & hoping to reap his father's Lordship inheritance, when his father dies. He did start aspiring to become a better man for h after 60%. But too bad she kept nipping it in the bud by always coming to his rescue.
Didn't like that h was the main chaser in their romance. h was more into H, as she'd been crushing on him for years since her her social-climbing manipulative mom married his social-conscious British Lord father. H only began his attraction to h when they were both 18yo & he realized that she looked attractive now and wanted him in her shy way. He tried to take advantage of her the night before his 1st military tour but virgin h said “no”, when he made it clear that he didn't want anything long-term & that she was ridiculous to want something romantic with him. He did make some promising strides towards their romance & his overall character after the middle half. He made serious plans to re-enlist in the British army after a nasty scandal broke that was tarnishing h's matchmaking business. And was about to step into the Army office to re-enlist. But, here comes h once again! She stopped him from doing what would've been good for his maturity and their romance and told him that they'll both just move to France. So, they did and lived together there, with h financing both of their lives by being a silent partner to her matchmaking business. At the end, H didn't have a job & his father likely went through his threat of cutting him off his trust fund since both their parents now had a baby son together.
Ok emotionality. Bit of angst would end from h's attempts to rescue H & their romance.
Sexual History: 22yo h not a virgin. During their 4-year separation, h had boyfriends & lovers but no one special because no one topped her fantasies & feels with H. 22yo H a known manho. He laughed at 18yo virgin h's romanticism of him, during their 1 time fooling around the day before he left for the military. He was attracted to her that day but didn't think she was anyone special, except that she was the only woman hot for him that actually turned him down for sex. Four years later, seeing her again & his need to marry for his inheritance seemed to make her more appealing in his eyes. No condoms/safe sex talk when or before they 1st smexxed. Only his question to her in the middle of smexxing if he could come in her & she said "ok". Stupid....more
DNF at 25%. Then, skipped til the end. See my NOTE below re: the 3 versions of this same book.
MEH or the BAD: Awful writing overall with inconsistent cDNF at 25%. Then, skipped til the end. See my NOTE below re: the 3 versions of this same book.
MEH or the BAD: Awful writing overall with inconsistent characterization & timeline. Awkward wording (i.e., not sure what "hilting" is but this word was used to describe a sex move h was doing to H). H&h's POVs don't match their actual talking language. Their POV is much more sophisticatedly worded albeit strangely-worded so maybe author doesn't speak American English while main characters are written as Americans living in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, & Florida. Dates are all over the place (some parts say H was gone for 7 years while others say only 5 years). H&h's characters are inconsistent &/or very off in their description (i.e., H considered h at their 1st meeting as very shy while book showed h openly mocking H & her mom and directly checking out his body, H also viewed h as having “insurmountable compassion and adoration” of life while she actually quite entitled & bratty and responds bitterly when she doesn't get what she wants from her mom & stepdad like her dream trip to Paris).
Unlikable characters. Both 21(23?)yo college-student h & 21(23?)yo underground cage-fighter H were both spoiled & bratty. 18yo H left his rich life with his nice & indulgent father & new stepmom-of-2yrs and new stepsister h of 2 years because he wanted to experience the world on his own and didn't bother contacting them until 5 years later after he was told by his mentor-uncle that his dad wanted him back home because h's life was threatened. Skipped to the end where last few pages revealed that his dad & h's mom actually made up the threat to h's life to get H&h reunited and even went as far as getting a divorce in order to remove the scandal of step-siblings H&h being together. Like I said spoiled.
Sexual History: Didn't read enough to find out if h was a virgin or not. She did date and had various boyfriends who treated her either as a hook-up, put her up on a pedestal, etc. So, h very likely wasn't a virgin with H. H was a known man-ho who screwed half the girls in their high-school and was known by H's parents & h herself as bringing home "non-stop" girls to his room in high school. He likely was not celibate during their 5- (or -7) year apart.
NOTE: This is the 2018 version of the original 2015 book (entitled PULSE: A Stepbrother Romance) by Sarah Sparrows. This book (I got it from Amazon Kindle) only has Nikki Wild as the author. There's an identical 2017 version of this book (also titled Pulse) but is the 1st book of a 6-book set (the latter 5 books are by Nikki Wild) but has both Nikki Wild & Sara Sparrows as the authors. There may be other differences but the I only found timeline as the difference (8 years vs 7 years of H&h having known each other) among the 3 book versions, based on some whole chapters & random paragraphs I compared....more
NOTE: This is the 2015 original version. There's also a 2017 version (also titled Pulse) but part of a 6 set ofDNF at 25%. Then, skipped til the end.
NOTE: This is the 2015 original version. There's also a 2017 version (also titled Pulse) but part of a 6 set of Nikki Wild's books & has both Nikki Wild & Sara Sparrows as the authors. Then, there's a 2018 version (titled PULSE: A Stepbrother Romance on Amazon Kindle store) but only has Nikki Wild as the author.
In the 2015 version, the 1st timeline is 8 years later. In both the 2017 & 2018 versions, it's 7 years later. I compared several paragraphs and whole chapters and, aside from the timeline difference, everything else looked identical.
DNF at 25%. Then, skipped til the end. Contrived, cheesy, and awkwardly-worded writing.
NOTE: This is 2017 version of the original PULSE: A StepbrotherDNF at 25%. Then, skipped til the end. Contrived, cheesy, and awkwardly-worded writing.
NOTE: This is 2017 version of the original PULSE: A Stepbrother Romance (2015) by Sarah Sparrows. This is the 1st book of a 6 set of Nikki Wild's books & has both Nikki Wild & Sara Sparrows as the authors. There's a 2018 version (titled Pulse on Amazon Kindle store) but only has Nikki Wild as the author.
In the 2015 version, the 1st timeline is 8 years later. In both the 2017 & 2018 versions, it's 7 years later. I compared several paragraphs and whole chapters and, aside from the timeline difference, everything else looked identical.
The GOOD: Funny yet sweet & sexy romance with the strange matchup of klutzy & awkwardly chatty 20s virgn PA h with grim & serious assassin (30s?) H's wThe GOOD: Funny yet sweet & sexy romance with the strange matchup of klutzy & awkwardly chatty 20s virgn PA h with grim & serious assassin (30s?) H's who rescued her from the contract hit put on her instead of killing her himself as the usual main contract-killer of his boss who happens to be her office-boss too (because her boss found out that h was able to access the file with the list of people her boss hired H & other assassins to kill). So, romance/pacing/sexual chemistry & detailed sex scenes were good. Love the whole quirky & OTT plot & characters. H&h's character were opposites but they actually balanced each other well with h's positive chattiness working well with H's serious & quiet demeanor/h's cutesy & awkward innocence balancing with H's grim frankness & cold-blooded self-control (i.e., he was a part-time alcoholic who indulged only when he wasn't on assignment). Both had secretly been crushing on the other for months, when they'd see each other in passing at their workplace. But neither have ever talked & thought their attraction was unrequited. Loved H's OTT protective-possessiveness claimy “mine” quiet obsession with h. And that his soft & impulsive side was brought out because of his devoted love for h. H did little things that were sweet & considerate for h's feelings. For example, h didn't mind H killing the bad guys but gets grossed when seeing blood. So, H would shoot the offender & quickly turn h around before she could see any blood.
Good enough emotionality. Loved the quirky humor, which was mostly due to h's character (i.e., she accidentally killed 1 of the contract killers due to wrong timing, she accidentally killed another assassin another time by throwing her stuffed animal to another assassin to ward him off but ended up causing a string of accidental crashes that killed the other assassins too). A little bit of angst towards the end, when h thought that H was shot dead by her boss. She showed her vengeful rage to her boss by physically assaulting him. So, h's character definitely toughened up & showed her blood-thirsty character that was tinged with kindness (just the bad ones) and limited by no-blood showing. He also showed character development by becoming more open & vulnerable to h & eventually smiling & laughing with h. Liked the epilogue 5 yrs later with H&h married & living in the Bahamas near his cousin & they have a blood-thirsty toddler daughter who has a penchance for blood & guts even in play (she wants to become a surgeon).
Sexual History: h had never been kissed until H. She was perceived as annoying, too chatty, & strange by others, which likely included men. Dating didn't seem to be a priority for her since she was happy with her family & her hobbies (i.e., stuffed animals). She also knew what she wanted and, upon seeing H, she knew she wanted him. No info on H's dating life or sexual history. Possible that H may have been a virgin or not very experienced by the way the author wrote part of their 1st sex scene. H did admit to never been BJ-ed before....more
The GOOD: Good sweet & sexy romance. Liked that both H&h secretly desired each other since they 1st met 5 years ago when then-13yo h's mafia m3.5-stars
The GOOD: Good sweet & sexy romance. Liked that both H&h secretly desired each other since they 1st met 5 years ago when then-13yo h's mafia mom married then-18yo H's mafia dad and were secretly devoted to each other. She didn't know that her love was returned but H did & deliberately distanced himself from h both in manner and physically (H left home to go to college) since she was too young & their parents wouldn't have approved of their romance. Loved that H secretly stalked h at home when he came back home as an attorney for his family now 5yrs later @ 23yo (i.e., watching her sleep & shower), despite him still acting distant from her like he'd always had to keep his desire for her a secret. The sex scenes were hot when H finally kissed & touched & soon devirginized 18yo h by 33% of the book.
Good characterization/character development. She became stronger as she got challenged by her arranged-engagement to a rival Irish mafia's son (OM) in order to prevent war with their Italian mafia group. Liked the mix of h's sweetness & innocence with her sexiness, unfolding assertiveness & grit so H killing for her actually turned her on. h was alot like her cool mafia mom. Liked H's mix of cold calculation & aggression to defend their mafia family with his softness & love for h & their parents. Loved H's OTT alpha-dominant possessive-protectiveness claimy “mine” attitude with h. Action-suspense scenes were exciting and not too much to distract from the romance. Nice epilogue 2 years later, with H&h married with a toddler son & h preggo with their 2nd.
MEH or the BAD: Their sexual chemistry was ok but would've been better & more exciting if shown more non-verbally than just told. 1-star off because the 1st 25% seemed more tell than show & there wasn't much of a challenge to their romance at that point. Lacked angst. The drama with OM was predictable. Emotionally, this book was even-keeled.
Sexual History: 18yo virgin h didn't date anyone since she'd only wanted H since meeting him at age 13 and had planned on marrying him since. H told h that he'd fallen for her since meeting her when he was 18 and he hadn't wanted any other woman since then. Quite sure he was celibate but not exactly mentioned. Her mom did notice that H didn't go to the whorehouses the other mafia men did nor did he date anyone in the 5 years since she married H's dad. So, H was very likely celibate since meeting h...more
The GOOD: ***SPOILERS*** Good romance-focused writing/pacing/S chemistry/emotional chemistry. Tension-filled kisWhy I still read Anne Mather's books...
The GOOD: ***SPOILERS*** Good romance-focused writing/pacing/S chemistry/emotional chemistry. Tension-filled kisses but no sex scenes. Good emotionality with mostly non-verbalized tension between H&h, with both knowing the other's mutual attraction without words. I could feel the tension! Good angst from 20+yo nurse h's heartache at being misjudged by late-30s+ wealthy French businessman H/finding out he was still married & his wife wasn't dead as she was led to believe by H's jealous & malicious sister-in-law(SIL)/realizing that her male doctor friend OM (who she went out with only 1x but became friends-only with after) is actually H's son when OM brought her to meet his family/& seeing H again with his looks of cold dislike aimed towards her/watching her attractive private-nurse friend flirt with H.
Good writing to put H&h's forbidden romance in place. So, by 40%, h leaves H after she told him she can't be with him as they both wanted because she just found out that he's still married & she never would've put herself in that state if H's disabled SIL(h's rich private patient) didn't deliberately lie to H about h's wife being dead. By 50%, it's 3 years later and H&h accidentally reunites when h's new good friend OM (H's son who's 6 years younger than h) brings her to his family's estate 1 weekend. It was encouraged by the malicious plotting of H's SIL & h's nurse-friend to mess with them now that H's cheating wife has been dead for 18 months and H's son OM has been pursuing h (even though h had been telling OM she just wants to be friends). Likable h who was strong inside to say “no” to her huge attraction to H(even before she found out his wife was still alive) and to stay away from him, knowing the danger of their mutual attraction. Also liked how firm & honest she was with others but not unkind about it.
MEH or the BAD: H was an anguished attractive alpha-male who would've cheated on his wife with h. Doesn't matter that his wife had been cheating on him and that they had a marriage in name-only by that point (H said he "hated" his wife). H would've gone on kissing h & eventually smexxing her, if h didn't put a stop to their intimacy & asked him to clarify his marital state. Also didn't like how quick H was to judge h and didn't try to talk to her about uncharacteristic things said about h by his known-liar SIL.
Sexual History: h still a virgin but had dated other men before & after H. She was attracted to her nurse-friend's old BF & that's why she took the job with H's disabled SIL in Fiji to stay away from her friend's BF. She realized in her 2 years in Fiji that she really wasn't that attracted to her friend's BF. H married his wife but hated her because she cheated on him with various men & was too materialistic. Not sure if he cheated with other women too, while still married. Only that he was willing to have an extra-marital with h but felt anguished about it....more
I can't believe Anne Mather wrote this drivel. Reads more like a travelogue than a romance novel. I'm going to excuse it as Mather testing out her wriI can't believe Anne Mather wrote this drivel. Reads more like a travelogue than a romance novel. I'm going to excuse it as Mather testing out her writing style as a still-new author in 1972. She did write 160 more books since. Some I really liked.
MEH or the BAD: Dull & boring with stupid h. Read to DNF this from the 1st 2 pages but kept on because I'm stubborn that way. Until 38%, when I started skipping pages just to get to H&h's romantic interactions. It was apparent that this book was not going to get better. This book is focused on 37yo oil-engineer H & 24yo secretary h's interactions with other people & non-romance details like location, meals, & the oil business. Reads more like a travelogue than a romance novel. Lacked romantic content, even with H&h's personal interactions. They lit & smoked a lot of cigarettes and ate their meals in silence (lots of breakfast food details). When either would actually talk about h's motives for being in the Middle East or H's past romance with h's sister, h frequently evaded, avoided, and deflected when the topic could've gotten deeper. She would start something and then quickly back-off. What a loser! Don't know why she even spent 1 year planning out her revenge against H and even deliberately getting a job with H's boss just to get closer to H, when she couldn't even ask him simple questions about her relationship with her sister.
Unlikeable h who was hardened & manipulative & made lots of stupid decisions. She was passive-aggressive. She was resentful of H for indirectly causing the breakup of her engagement. She blamed H because her fiance (her sister's bro-in-law) ended their engagement because he was distraught that his own brother separated from h's cheating older sister. So instead of being mad at her older sister for cheating on her husband & causing her fiance to break up with her, what does this h do? Devise a long-range plot to get revenge against a distant 3rd party instead. So, she'll seduce H for supposedly seducing her married sister. But, when h is finally in H's personal space, she antagonizes him more than she tries to seduce him. He viewed her as a hard & callous woman from their 1st meeting, with her glaring at him with hate. Not the best seductive moves!
At 38%, H quickly figured out that h was the sister of his married ex-GF from 1 yr ago (because h looked like her older sis & H remembered h's name since her sister mentioned it) & asked h about it & her motives. Passive-aggressive h somewhat denied having non-work motives & then, plotted another revenge plot on H since obviously now H was on to her fake identity. Liked H better than h because he was smarter, more mature, & calmer but he still was no prize. He was too cold & didn't seem to be all that in love or super-attracted to h. She was available but playing hard-to-get and he was bored in the desert, when not working.
They did kiss once but it was an angry kiss H placed on her to stop her dumb moves to entangle the Sheikh that would've jeopardized the oil dealings H had been working on. That kiss was enough to make h fall in love with H later. h didn't seem bothered at all that she was attracted to her sister's ex-boyfriend/lover(?) & H wasn't bothered either. This book lacked sexual & emotional chemistry. Unromantic. Poor characterization. No character development. The book ended with H&h acting & being the same as before they met. Except at the end, they're "I Love You"-ing each other. Don't believe in their HEA.
Stupid resolution with h back in London finding out that her sister is now reunited with her husband, who didn't seem to know the extent of her sister's affair with H. And that pretty much the end of all of h's 1-year planning & scheming. All for nothing. She just went back to work with H's boss, who later proposed marriage to her. Then, H came back to "fight" for h. Lame-o.
Sexual History: No info who else h dated aside from her ex-fiance who broke up with her after his older bro separated from h's sister. No info if h still a virgin. No info on H's dating or sexual life since he deflected h's questions. He did admit to dating her married older sister though he seemed to not know that she was married until after they were already dating. No info re: what broke up H & her sister's relationship. Or if H finding out that she was married made him stop dating her....more
MEH or the BAD: Romance was slow to develop. Book was mostly from h's POV & the rest is 3rd person. So, we see 26yo secretary h's changing perc3.5-star
MEH or the BAD: Romance was slow to develop. Book was mostly from h's POV & the rest is 3rd person. So, we see 26yo secretary h's changing perception of her boss of 2 yrs (34yo tall/geeky-dressing & forgetful computer-analyst H) as a sexless & forgetful yet smart & nice man to an attractive & decisive husband in the following weeks, after agreeing to marry him MOC-style to give his niece & nephew full-time care (since H's job meant constant travel & nannies he hired tended to quit). Didn't like that h's insecurites about her looks made her easily duped by her charming but abusive ex-BF, although understandable given that her socially-conscious mother had been haranguing her about her looks for years. Liked that h did try to move past her ex-BF's insults by dating other men in the next few years. But her self-consciousness only made intimacy attempts with them more awkward and, thus, re-confirming her view of herself as sexually frigid. Didn't like that H waited 2 years to make his move on h and that he deceived her that long about his true character. It made him seem not that interested in her.
The GOOD: Overall romance development & character development. Some angst from h's developing awareness of her changing feelings for H. Good sexual chemistry made so from their un-verbalized emotional tension as h became more aware of H as a man & H's awareness of her new attraction to him. Liked H's patient love for h to endure her unflattering regard of him as a sexless man in the 2 years he'd wanted her and that he turned down women who pursued him. Good generalized S scenes with some foreplay details.
Good writing to turn h's bad choice with her ex-BF & her attempts to not be frigid into a major dramatic point in her romance with H & her changing view of herself, as H shows her how desirable she is to him & her awareness of her own sexual arousal to H. Good ploy to make H pretend to be a dowdy geeky man with his loose wool clothes & thick glasses to cover up his good masculine looks to ward off women.
Sexual History: h was devirginized by her ex-BF & slept with him only that 1 painful time (he bit her breast & did other painful things to h that was not detailed. Later we find out that ex-BF physically abused his current wife.). After her ex-BF, she dated & tried to get intimate with other men but she'd freeze up, confirming her ex-BF's accusations of her being sexually frigid. She eventually gave up dating. H is her 2nd lover. H was a manho in early college until a friend's drug-overdose & his failing college grades shook him up to become serious with his studies. It didn't stop the girls from pursuing him though so he started wearing thick glasses & then later paired them with loose & dowdy clothes, which seem to work in waring off unwanted female attention. Not sure how long he was celibate before h though. But a couple women complained to h a out H not falling into bed with them no matter their pursuit....more
The GOOD: ***SPOILERS*** Good romance/pacing/S chemistry/emotionality/characters/character development. For a 1983-published book, good-enough handlingThe GOOD: ***SPOILERS*** Good romance/pacing/S chemistry/emotionality/characters/character development. For a 1983-published book, good-enough handling of h's psychological issues from her creepy stepDad's sexual molestation of her (from when her mom married him when she was 13yo to his rape attempt of her @ age 15) with her concerned school-authorities stepping in to report the bruises they saw on her/taking her out of her home to foster home & later a convent/getting her psychological treatment & criminal charges for her stepfather that put them in a public courtroom trial. Liked that the main romance centered on how now-33yo H was helping now-21yo virgin h through her trauma (i.e., fear of men, fear of being touched, intermingled nightmares of her stepdad & H), when he accidentally found her again after 6 years of searching for her & she's now working as his secretary for his new book.
Angsty from the pain & anguish she'd see in H's face now & then and his genuine apologies for his part in increasing her trauma 6 years ago (due to his not believing her side of the story [due to a beloved cousin who recently committed suicide after an ex-GF falsely accused him of raping her] & portraying h in his published newspaper report as the seductress who tempted her stepdad to sexually molest her per her stepdad's report until H saw her stepdad again months later when he drunkenly admitted to lying to him & the court about her part & that he in fact molested h without her consent). Also angsty from h's experience of her mom not believing her & believing her stepdad instead even when she walked in on him almost-raping her in the bathroom floor with h naked from her shower & struggling against her clothed stepdad. And from 27yo investigative-reporter H betraying her trust as a 15yo teen, when she thought he was being a sympathetic stranger who kindly gave her a ride back to her foster home & who listened to her story with patience. Yet to turn it around by writing his damning article about how she was like a Lolita temptress-of-men who easily took rides with strange men & enraptured them with her presence.
Liked how h tried to get some power back with her controlled & ordered prim & proper life as an accountant secretary & to pretend to want to be H's typist so she can get revenge on him by getting some private info about him to destroy his successful writing career. Liked that h left H after she realized she loved him & thinking he only wanted to experiment with her to use her personal info for his new book and moved on by taking temporary jobs abroad for the next 6+ months.
Loved how H obsessed about h since he 1st met her when he was 27 & her 15. And even more so, when he realized how much he wronged her with the article he published after meeting her then & that he actively searched for her (i.e., placed ads out looking for her) the next 6 years and again during the 6+ months apart when she left him. Good sexual chemistry and some sexual foreplay. No sex scenes but hinted at that they were about to smex at the very end while already planning to get married ASAP.
MEH or the BAD: He tried to atone for the wrongs he'd done towards h but didn't care for the guilt-trip he'd sometimes lay on her due to his sexual frustration. Or when he'd be overcome with passion and kiss and touch her, when she still wasn't psychologically ready. Until he'd get a rough reality-check when she would freak out in a PTSD-way when he'd get too physically close. Then, he'd feel guilty and be gentle & patient with her again.
Sexual History: h didn't date anyone due to her sexual trauma at 15 until she left H. During the 6+ months after she left H, she went out on dates with several men & even kissed some of them to see if what she felt for H physically & emotionally was real or just a product of her healing. No significant relationship came out of it. H was celibate after h since he was in love with her & was intent on finding her again and finishing writing his autobiographical book based on his experience with h....more
The GOOD: Good pacing/S chem/hot explicit S. Lots of intense & in-your-face sex scenes between virgin 19yo h & her dad's BFF & their next-door neighborThe GOOD: Good pacing/S chem/hot explicit S. Lots of intense & in-your-face sex scenes between virgin 19yo h & her dad's BFF & their next-door neighbor 39yo H. Mostly from the forbidden aspect of their secret desire /affair. h had been wanting for years while H began secretly wanting her since she turned 18 & while he was still married to his arranged-marriage wife OW. Liked that H&h didn't start flirting & smexxing until H was divorced from his cheating ex-wife OW, who H found out was preggo with OM's child. H was made to think at 1st that it was his for a few months so disappointed it wasn't his mostly because he'd always wanted to have kids & not necessarily with OW. H was never in love with his ex-wife but married her in an MOC of sorts for his job position.
Good emotional chemistry between H&h esp since most of their time together was secretive. Quick, & done by non-verbal communication (i.e., looks, touch) and from a distance (i.e., phone, text, video). Some angst from when H became distant from h & then didn't call her for the next 4 days & then she found out from her mom that H's ex-wife may be back in H's life again.
Likable chars with 19yo h a mix of some maturity & typical late-teen/young-adult impulsiveness/recklessness & acting without thinking as much of the repercussions so it was 39yo H who really carried the romance of this book with his level-headedness mixed with his alpha-dominance & sense of adventure. Loved their bareback cum-so-you-can-breed-me sex talk & their plan to have many babies. So the epilogue 1yr later with 1 baby & more bareback-breeding S was fitting & hot.
MEH or the BAD: 1-star off because didn't care for h's witnessing H & his cold wife smexxing in their backyard but she got turned-on by watching H smexxing & not so much that he was smexxing OW. Their reconciliation was a little too quick, with h only putting up a little fight & easily succumbing to H's sexual ministrations. Would've been better angst & made h look more mature if she put more of a resistance & talked to H like “Don't ever keep secret about OW from me again!” or “You really hurt me when you didn't contact me for 4 straight days because you were too busy trying to get rid of OW & didn't tell me about it.”. Writing was good as far as flow/dialogue/etc but lots of typos, which interfered with my reading flow a bit.
Sexual History: h dated various boys in high school & college and even had some "heavy" makeout sessions. But none tempted her to give up her de-virginizing plan with H. H had many lovers before marrying his ex-wife. And then just h....more
Read this after a harrowing dark Jordan Silver book. Not the best Lynne Graham HP but it did it's job in calming my emotions down. And get me back to Read this after a harrowing dark Jordan Silver book. Not the best Lynne Graham HP but it did it's job in calming my emotions down. And get me back to a more even romance-novel reading keel.
The GOOD: Sexual chemistry & the detailed sex scenes. Overall writing.
MEH or the BAD: Meh romance mostly because of wishy-washiness & game-playing of both H&h who had many Big Misunderstandings & were quick to misread the other. So, h left a lot & H threatened h a lot when either she'd come back or he'd find her again. Meh characters & dysfunctional relationship overall. H who was too quick to judge h & retaliate. While h was too insecure re: her lower social status & people's perception of her as a bimbo. She didn't believe in her worth so she easily let H go 5 years prior without a fight or talking to H about their relationship, since she didn't think he could love somebody dumb & lower class as her. Lacked character growth since both H&h played the same kind of games but more of an adult version this time around so 29yo businessman H blackmailed ditzy 23yo virgin h to be his mistress, when she came back to beg 5 years later to beg H to not charge her 16yo bro for vandalizing H's family estate from a wild party h's bro threw without permissionafter (she left him 5 years ago coz H's father threatened to fire h's alcoholic grieving father from his live-in gardener job soon after her mom just died if she doesn't leave H & offered her a $5K check as recompense).
ok emotionality with some funny moments because of h's ditzy POV. Angst could've been better if h wasn't so wishy-washy & such a doormat to easily to forget & forget H's maltreatment of her. Her quickness to forget (especially when he'd start smexxing her) added to her bimbo-ness. Kinda funny & kinda annoying.
Sexual History: h still a virgin at 23yo since couldn't find another man who excited her like H did during their 6 weeks together 5 years ago, She dated quite a few men during their separation but didn't succumb to their seductions or sexual pressures. H had lovers before h & after h left, including his Corfu neighbor's daughter who he had a fling with & who showed up when h arrived to H's house to start her mistress life with him....more
WARNING: rape, dubious consent, non-consensual acts while sleeping/unconscious/drugged-out, OTT sex scenes
RECOMMENDATION: Take a break 3-stars overall
WARNING: rape, dubious consent, non-consensual acts while sleeping/unconscious/drugged-out, OTT sex scenes
RECOMMENDATION: Take a break in between books. Preferably a sweet romantic book in between. Or else, it'll feel like too much (roughness, sex, OTT characters).
I finally took a break after reading just the 1st few pages of the last book because I started hating the book & this whole series overall. After a good break, I was able to appreciate the overall story & character/relationship dynamics as it was written.
Lowest rating among these 4 novellas. Could be due to having only H's POV the entire book. Mostly because H's revenge against h's dad was not only fueled by his grief over losing his beloved wife & their unborn baby (she was 8mos preggo) from hit-&-run accident but also fueled by his love for his deceased wife. Didn't like that he'd been planning his revenge for 1.5 years since their death. And that he'd lured h to like him by his fake-identity online, where they'd chat for weeks/months until h was ready to meet H in person. Didn't like that his plan to get h pregnant was a mix form of getting back the baby that he lost and as a revenge mark against h's dad. And that this went on until about 70% of the book. By that point, he finally had a revelation about how he'd badly mistreated h all this time and that he should've directed his anger towards her dad instead of her.
Highest rating of the 4. About 60% H POV & 40% h's. Compared to book#1's H, this H was more patient/gentler/kinder & was careful about not hurting h sexually. Yet he still retained that Silver non-apologetic-OTT-Hero attitude. Didn't care for H anal-smexxing her that 1st day while she was drugged out & asleep but at least he didn't tear into her butt like book#1's H did. A more romantic & gentle book overall. H's psychologically-conditioning of her wasn't just from good sex but also from teaching her about his land & living off of there & generosity & general loving kindness. Liked that h didn't quickly fall in love with H. She acknowledged being scared of him at 1st, which then later turned to friendship and then to love. By the last epilogue 6 years later (5 kids & 1 on the way), their mutual love for each other was believable.
No rape in this 1, unlike the other 3 books. Instead, wealthy mountain-recluse 30s H psychologically-conditioned her to desire him by seducing her body via kissing/fingering/oraling her to orgasm & with non-stop porn viewing. So,by the 4th day of her capitivity, h was asking H to smex her already & he did but with considerate preparation so it was pleasurable for her & gave her time to heal from her 1st time before he let them smex again.
I thought this was going to be the best of the 4. Until the whole Daddy-Little Girl role play began and continued for about 8 chapters to its end, with spankings & D-LG talk even when they already had a bunch of kids. So, this novella was great for the 1st 6-7 chapters. I found the last 8 chapters unnecessary to portray their HEA. H also turned kinda sappy too. I got bored & started skipping & skimming until the end.
Hate to love. I HATED the H from the very 1st page to about chapter 5 (which is about 30%), when we finally get h's POV. I had to stop & take a break from reading this book because it was just too much brutality, cold-heartedness, and hate from H's POV. I read another novella & talked to my hubby about it and then resumed reading this last night.
Getting h's POV and knowing that she actually enjoyed all that rough smexxing, including the 13-inch of anal smexxing made a difference for me. Then, H's POV content also shifted after 30% and more so by 50%, so I started liking H. And even laughed at his uncontrollable thoughts & feelings towards h. He was freaking out at how soft he was feeling himself go with h, emotionally & physically! He had to acknowledge that he was in love with h. I also thought it was funny when he was reunited with H & he was now afraid of touching her. And didn't know how to smex her now that she was pregnant. She became the chaser (demanding rough sex & the use of his BDSM playroom) & he was now the 1 who was saying "no". Until she'd seduce him to give in to her. I was especially laughing during the epilogue, when he was again freaking out at having a daughter who he realized he'd need to protect from men who'd abduct females like he did with h. Hilarious! And such a fitting comeuppance....more
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