Yvonne Whittal

This was a nice ward/guardian story. It had some different elements having to do with the heroine's heritage. It had the requisite evil OW. Makes you wonder why the heroes can never hook up with a decent woman before he meets the heroine. The heroine was quite the innocent having been raised in a convent. The hero was 16 years older than her and falls pretty hard for her. This was a no nooky having oldie although there were some hot kisses and a bit of feeling up. The middle of the story concentrated on her growing up and so while they did see each other constantly throughout that time they were not together nor were they in any way hooked up. Although you could tell he was waiting for her to grow up. There were several well done and interesting secondary characters. It did take me half way through the book to realize that it took place in South Africa. All in all I enjoyed this one.… (mere)

My three stars are for the old skoolness of it all. I would have rated it higher on old skoolness had I felt that he truly loved her. Even though at the end he says that he fell in love with her near the beginning, there was no evidence of this in the actual writing. I can really enjoy some crazy by the hero if his words and actions show me he loves the heroine down inside. Here that wasn't the case. He was just cruel to her and monofocused on his revenge. The I Love Yous at the end weren't quite believable.… (mere)

Really a one star read but I gave it the extra star for the crazy old skoolness of it all. This hero was a misogynist. He totally hated and distrusted all women and the author never said why. Every love scene, and I use the term loosely, was dubious or flat out non consensual. He was nasty and sneering and you never saw him falling in love with the heroine, not even in that way old Harley's have where you catch glimpses of him being jealous or momentarily tender or what have you. At the end of the book, for the first time I totally believe the man will turn into a wife beater after the last page. And why are the heroines always so ready to pay off their dead father's gambling debts? The author even says the heroine proudly didn't let the debts die with him but insisted on paying. Who does that? Takes place somewhere in Africa and you really only know that because the evil stepmother comes over from Namibia. So the writing is not stellar just ordinary for the times it was written.… (mere)

Pretty good old school romance. Written in 1979 and the book is a bit dated in spots. There's a slam or two against women's lib. And really the hero had no concept of "no means no." But we're just talking punishing kisses here. This book is totally clean as is usual for HRs of this period.

I liked the characters. The heroine, Lisa, is dainty, quite and self contained but she and the hero strike sparks from each other. The hero, Adam, is big and harsh and nasty to her at times especially in the beginning. The conflict revolves around a Big Misunderstanding perpetrated by the Other Woman, Willa. You could see the progression as the hero fell for the heroine even without his POV. That was pretty well done. The writing was good and flowing.

Might not like a steady diet of these old Harleys but they're fun to read every once in a while.… (mere)