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gamz's review against another edition
4.0
A classic Harlequin with an overly macho alpha male who believes that he is God's gift to the "lucky little woman" he decided to make his.
The hero, Benedict, comes off as being a total ass throughout most of the book. He blames the heroine, Rebecca, for a family tragedy and has decided to get his revenge. He makes her fall in love with him and then crushes her. But only after taking her to bed.
Rebecca's experience with Benedict changes her life in more ways than she expected. Now, after walking away from him five years earlier, he's back in her life and turning it upside down again. This time around she is older, wiser, and has so much more to lose.
I love these classic Harlequin Presents with their over-the-top alphas. They make for a much more interesting characters. My only problem with this book was Benedict's aggressive attitude toward sex. It was not sexy at all! In today's society his treatment of Rebecca would be called date rape. And when you take into account that Rebecca's tiny size versus his 6 foot size, the fact that he is significantly older and much more experienced. It became a bit uncomfortable at times.
I still enjoyed the story and would recommend it to classic Harlequin fans. All in all, a darn good read.
The hero, Benedict, comes off as being a total ass throughout most of the book. He blames the heroine, Rebecca, for a family tragedy and has decided to get his revenge. He makes her fall in love with him and then crushes her. But only after taking her to bed.
Rebecca's experience with Benedict changes her life in more ways than she expected. Now, after walking away from him five years earlier, he's back in her life and turning it upside down again. This time around she is older, wiser, and has so much more to lose.
I love these classic Harlequin Presents with their over-the-top alphas. They make for a much more interesting characters. My only problem with this book was Benedict's aggressive attitude toward sex. It was not sexy at all! In today's society his treatment of Rebecca would be called date rape. And when you take into account that Rebecca's tiny size versus his 6 foot size, the fact that he is significantly older and much more experienced. It became a bit uncomfortable at times.
I still enjoyed the story and would recommend it to classic Harlequin fans. All in all, a darn good read.
katiev's review
4.0
What can I say to defend myself? I love this ridiculous trope (seduction-o-revenge). It makes NO sense unless you are an HP tycoon, but I'm determined to read them all.
There's definitely a few similarities and a nod to Penny Jordan's infamous seduction-o-revenge book [b:Response|3202714|Response|Penny Jordan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1255396894s/3202714.jpg|3235954], particularly when the H came down with a recurring tropical disease that seemed a lot like malaria.
The gist:
Hero's younger 1/2 brother falls in love with the h when she is 18. He dies in an accident after writing in his diary about how he'll never get to have his wonderful Rebecca and his life is over. Turns out, he has discovered he has an inoperable brain tumor which means he can't ask Rebecca to marry him as he wanted to do. It also caused him to stroke out at the wheel and die shortly after making his last diary entry. Obviously a tragic accident to any normal person.
The H, Benedict, is in Brazil at the time doing anthropology work, which is his kick when he's not being an electronics tycoon. Apparently he's so deep in the jungle that he's assumed dead himself and doesn't even know that his step father and then his brother have both died until some time later because Rebecca was 22 by the time the book started.
HP tycoons don't do guilt, so he needs someone else to blame since he wasn't there for Mum who went a bit nuts when her husband died and then she believed she'd lost *both* her sons for a time. Benedict therefore latches on to her take on the situation, based solely on the diary entry and her extreme grief/emotionally fragile state.
Quite obviously, the younger brother was cruelly rejected by this hussy, Rebecca, and killed himself. Rebecca must pay and like any sensible tycoon he decides he'll seduce her and then break her heart. Not sure what a straight tycoon does when it's a man he wants revenge on... oh, wait, never mind - obviously he digs up a virginal (and attractive) sister, cousin, female childhood friend of the offending male and the plot continues without a hitch (what was I thinking? *hangs head in shame*).
Anyway... Benedict has a different last name from his 1/2 bro, so Rebecca will never know he's connected to the man she so cruelly pushed over the edge until it's too late (insert evil laughter).
Oops, she's a virgin.
So, the H says extremely cruel things to assuage his own guilt and cover the fact that he's fallen in love with her - the maybe-not-such-a-hussy his brother had loved.
The next day he immediately flip-flops and wants the h back. She pretty much tells him to 'go to hell' and goes her own way and becomes a teacher. Of course, she's pregnant from their one night together and in her hurt and anger she doesn't tell him.
5 years later, the h accidentally runs into the H again. Turns out he'd found out the truth about his brother and had written to beg her forgiveness years ago, but she never got the letter. When she didn't reply to his letter, he stayed away from her. This was odd and unprecedented since only a reasonable, non-HP tycoon would respect the h's wishes. But, don't worry, it was a momentary slip and the guy's not the ultra Greek HP tycoon. He's a mere English/French hybrid, so we have to give him a mulligan on that one. He'll definitely do better in the future and be getting extremely ruthless since he obviously wants Rebecca.
Rebecca, for her part, still doesn't quite trust him and knows he'll be PO'd about secret baby in any event. So she tries to avoid him as much as he'll allow.
Of course, he finds out about seekret bb(tm) and forces her to marry him. Lots of punishing kisses, crushing grips, and sardonic glances galore before the HEA.
Good old school fun, if you like this plot.
There's definitely a few similarities and a nod to Penny Jordan's infamous seduction-o-revenge book [b:Response|3202714|Response|Penny Jordan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1255396894s/3202714.jpg|3235954], particularly when the H came down with a recurring tropical disease that seemed a lot like malaria.
The gist:
Hero's younger 1/2 brother falls in love with the h when she is 18. He dies in an accident after writing in his diary about how he'll never get to have his wonderful Rebecca and his life is over. Turns out, he has discovered he has an inoperable brain tumor which means he can't ask Rebecca to marry him as he wanted to do. It also caused him to stroke out at the wheel and die shortly after making his last diary entry. Obviously a tragic accident to any normal person.
The H, Benedict, is in Brazil at the time doing anthropology work, which is his kick when he's not being an electronics tycoon. Apparently he's so deep in the jungle that he's assumed dead himself and doesn't even know that his step father and then his brother have both died until some time later because Rebecca was 22 by the time the book started.
HP tycoons don't do guilt, so he needs someone else to blame since he wasn't there for Mum who went a bit nuts when her husband died and then she believed she'd lost *both* her sons for a time. Benedict therefore latches on to her take on the situation, based solely on the diary entry and her extreme grief/emotionally fragile state.
Quite obviously, the younger brother was cruelly rejected by this hussy, Rebecca, and killed himself. Rebecca must pay and like any sensible tycoon he decides he'll seduce her and then break her heart. Not sure what a straight tycoon does when it's a man he wants revenge on... oh, wait, never mind - obviously he digs up a virginal (and attractive) sister, cousin, female childhood friend of the offending male and the plot continues without a hitch (what was I thinking? *hangs head in shame*).
Anyway... Benedict has a different last name from his 1/2 bro, so Rebecca will never know he's connected to the man she so cruelly pushed over the edge until it's too late (insert evil laughter).
Oops, she's a virgin.
So, the H says extremely cruel things to assuage his own guilt and cover the fact that he's fallen in love with her - the maybe-not-such-a-hussy his brother had loved.
The next day he immediately flip-flops and wants the h back. She pretty much tells him to 'go to hell' and goes her own way and becomes a teacher. Of course, she's pregnant from their one night together and in her hurt and anger she doesn't tell him.
5 years later, the h accidentally runs into the H again. Turns out he'd found out the truth about his brother and had written to beg her forgiveness years ago, but she never got the letter. When she didn't reply to his letter, he stayed away from her. This was odd and unprecedented since only a reasonable, non-HP tycoon would respect the h's wishes. But, don't worry, it was a momentary slip and the guy's not the ultra Greek HP tycoon. He's a mere English/French hybrid, so we have to give him a mulligan on that one. He'll definitely do better in the future and be getting extremely ruthless since he obviously wants Rebecca.
Rebecca, for her part, still doesn't quite trust him and knows he'll be PO'd about secret baby in any event. So she tries to avoid him as much as he'll allow.
Of course, he finds out about seekret bb(tm) and forces her to marry him. Lots of punishing kisses, crushing grips, and sardonic glances galore before the HEA.
Good old school fun, if you like this plot.
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