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Long, Tall Texans #29
Heartbreaker
J. B. Hammock played by his own rules, and rule number one was never settle down. He treated his women well, but with a no-strings detachment they all accepted. But sweet Tellie Maddox hovered about like a gossamer butterfly, always trying to take care of him, always caring about him. It was enough to make a confirmed bachelor take drastic measures.
Then Tellie lost part of her memory. She believed she was J.B.'s faithful sidekick. Even he couldn't be so heartless as to push Tellie aside, and so he played the role of frienduntil friendship turned to something else, something so much deeper than a heartbreaker like J.B. ever intended. He was hooked.
Then Tellie's memory returned.
"
Then Tellie lost part of her memory. She believed she was J.B.'s faithful sidekick. Even he couldn't be so heartless as to push Tellie aside, and so he played the role of frienduntil friendship turned to something else, something so much deeper than a heartbreaker like J.B. ever intended. He was hooked.
Then Tellie's memory returned.
"
174 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
About the author
Diana Palmer
918 books3,016 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
April 28, 2019
The rating requires romance novel math:
5 stars for angst and drama
+ 1 star for a cruel hero and doormat heroine
= 6
divide by 2
= 3 stars.
Now that the math is out of the way, a review: This is your typical DP heroine who has imprinted on the emotionally stunted hero at a young age. Hero likes/needs the heroine’s adoration but feels he doesn’t deserve it since his first love killed herself over him. (It was actually his father who drove the young woman to suicide after blackmailing her to leave the hero alone. He did it by threatening to turn in her younger brother for gang-related activities. Hero only finds this out after his father dies. So he had double guilt and anger at his father.)
The story opens with the heroine feeling bad that the hero didn’t attend her college graduation. His sister and her children did, though. Heroine is going to live with them for the summer until she returns to university for her master’s degree.
Hero lies and says he was in the stadium. Then he gives her a gift his secretary bought – a Mickey Mouse watch. Hero is angry his lies and petty behavior are exposed so he lashes out at the heroine and begins flaunting his blonde bimbo in her face.
Heroine is starting to understand this hero isn’t such a great guy, so she starts dating the OM – who is the bad-boy-gone-Green-Beret brother of the hero’s former fiancée. And they date a lot. There are as many scenes with the OM as there are with the hero.
Shenanigans ensue as the sister has a heart attack. Hero doesn’t answer his phone, so heroine drives to his house only to find him with the OW. Hero is angry at being interrupted and calls her ugly and a bunch of other names. Heroine leaves with tears blinding her, wrecks her car and is injured. Lucky for the hero, heroine has amnesia, so she willingly stays with the guilty hero to recover.
When the heroine regains her memories, she returns to the hero’s sister’s house. A tornado finally knocks some sense into the hero. Heroine makes sure he’s okay and then returns to university. Hero, meanwhile, dumps the bimbo (whom he never had sex with), buys a diamond and proposes to the heroine on her college campus for a dubious HEA.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest check – but no waxing (pun alert) lyrical about his furry mat
Breast Description heroine’s are small compared to the bimbo’s
Cigarettes no, but a “funny” story is told about a nicotine-addicted cowboy
Alcohol no
Town Descriptions Jacobsville offers all kinds of innocent dating experiences
Fine Dining: “Chinese and Mexican restaurants, and the pizza place. But Barbara’s had a sort of Texas atmosphere that appealed even to tourists.”
The Theater: “local community theater presentation of Arsenic and Old Lace “
The Movies: They see a science fiction film
And finally, my favorite: bowling
I guess they didn’t have time for miniature golf
Gardenia Scent Bimbo wears heavy perfume that the hero reeks of.
LOL detail heroine wears “jeans with pink embroidered roses and a pink tank top that matched” for her first date with the OM.
Cutesy detail DP is so cringey. After hero proposes: “In front of the car were three students with quickly printed squares of poster paper. One said “9,” and two said “10.” They were grading J.B. on his technique. He followed her amused gaze and burst out laughing.”
DP hobbyhorse The usual about heroine’s chastity going against cultural norms because she’s not a “cigarette to be passed from man to man.”
DP is trolling us "He’s in good company in Jacobsville, then, isn’t he?” she replied. “I mean, we’re like a resort for ex-mercs and ex-military, not to mention the number of ex-federal law enforcement people…”
5 stars for angst and drama
+ 1 star for a cruel hero and doormat heroine
= 6
divide by 2
= 3 stars.
Now that the math is out of the way, a review: This is your typical DP heroine who has imprinted on the emotionally stunted hero at a young age. Hero likes/needs the heroine’s adoration but feels he doesn’t deserve it since his first love killed herself over him. (It was actually his father who drove the young woman to suicide after blackmailing her to leave the hero alone. He did it by threatening to turn in her younger brother for gang-related activities. Hero only finds this out after his father dies. So he had double guilt and anger at his father.)
The story opens with the heroine feeling bad that the hero didn’t attend her college graduation. His sister and her children did, though. Heroine is going to live with them for the summer until she returns to university for her master’s degree.
Hero lies and says he was in the stadium. Then he gives her a gift his secretary bought – a Mickey Mouse watch. Hero is angry his lies and petty behavior are exposed so he lashes out at the heroine and begins flaunting his blonde bimbo in her face.
Heroine is starting to understand this hero isn’t such a great guy, so she starts dating the OM – who is the bad-boy-gone-Green-Beret brother of the hero’s former fiancée. And they date a lot. There are as many scenes with the OM as there are with the hero.
Shenanigans ensue as the sister has a heart attack. Hero doesn’t answer his phone, so heroine drives to his house only to find him with the OW. Hero is angry at being interrupted and calls her ugly and a bunch of other names. Heroine leaves with tears blinding her, wrecks her car and is injured. Lucky for the hero, heroine has amnesia, so she willingly stays with the guilty hero to recover.
When the heroine regains her memories, she returns to the hero’s sister’s house. A tornado finally knocks some sense into the hero. Heroine makes sure he’s okay and then returns to university. Hero, meanwhile, dumps the bimbo (whom he never had sex with), buys a diamond and proposes to the heroine on her college campus for a dubious HEA.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest check – but no waxing (pun alert) lyrical about his furry mat
Breast Description heroine’s are small compared to the bimbo’s
Cigarettes no, but a “funny” story is told about a nicotine-addicted cowboy
Alcohol no
Town Descriptions Jacobsville offers all kinds of innocent dating experiences
Fine Dining: “Chinese and Mexican restaurants, and the pizza place. But Barbara’s had a sort of Texas atmosphere that appealed even to tourists.”
The Theater: “local community theater presentation of Arsenic and Old Lace “
The Movies: They see a science fiction film
And finally, my favorite: bowling
I guess they didn’t have time for miniature golf
Gardenia Scent Bimbo wears heavy perfume that the hero reeks of.
LOL detail heroine wears “jeans with pink embroidered roses and a pink tank top that matched” for her first date with the OM.
Cutesy detail DP is so cringey. After hero proposes: “In front of the car were three students with quickly printed squares of poster paper. One said “9,” and two said “10.” They were grading J.B. on his technique. He followed her amused gaze and burst out laughing.”
DP hobbyhorse The usual about heroine’s chastity going against cultural norms because she’s not a “cigarette to be passed from man to man.”
DP is trolling us "He’s in good company in Jacobsville, then, isn’t he?” she replied. “I mean, we’re like a resort for ex-mercs and ex-military, not to mention the number of ex-federal law enforcement people…”
October 22, 2019
I am sure the DP hero would love this cover as would they all since this is how they picture themselves: rugged, hairy and handsome.
I wouldn't have read this one, but our brand new puppy decided to announce his presence with authority from 3:00 am until about 3:45. Granted part of that time was spent in doing what he was supposed to do outside rather than inside, but we blew it when we played with him for a few minutes. Lungs he has!
So, add sleep deprivation to the already existing irritation with a Big Fat Idiot in a Stetson that throws cruel, CRUEL words at the besotted and spineless heroine because he's afraid she may never respond to him sexually. That was scraping the bottom of the rain barrel. His response to the h's question that he never slept with the OW was more than dubious as well since he had already lied to her once about going to her graduation. I can usually fool myself into a HEA, but just didn't buy it. No prenup so there is that.
It also has a dead sweetheart, temporary amnesia, and a nice OM who will be horrible sometime soon to some poor little plain thang.
I wouldn't have read this one, but our brand new puppy decided to announce his presence with authority from 3:00 am until about 3:45. Granted part of that time was spent in doing what he was supposed to do outside rather than inside, but we blew it when we played with him for a few minutes. Lungs he has!
So, add sleep deprivation to the already existing irritation with a Big Fat Idiot in a Stetson that throws cruel, CRUEL words at the besotted and spineless heroine because he's afraid she may never respond to him sexually. That was scraping the bottom of the rain barrel. His response to the h's question that he never slept with the OW was more than dubious as well since he had already lied to her once about going to her graduation. I can usually fool myself into a HEA, but just didn't buy it. No prenup so there is that.
It also has a dead sweetheart, temporary amnesia, and a nice OM who will be horrible sometime soon to some poor little plain thang.
January 25, 2019
Rating is based on classic HPlandia maths, 5 for angsty read and 1 for horrible H. And that’s not a contradiction; the more cruel the H, the better for me but only when I buy his love.
July 29, 2018
This "hero" ties with the "hero" of Fearless as the Worst Diana Palmer alpha male of all time. His behavior was so cruel and sadistic that he was akin to someone who repeatedly tortures kittens in his spare time.
I am overwhelmed with the idea of writing a (is it fanfiction?) follow up where she pushes him down a well, or gaslights him until he needs to be institutionalized. AWFUL.
UPDATE: When I first wrote this review, I hadn't discovered the healing power of the corrective epilogue, so I am adding one now.
Corrective epilogue below:
.
I am overwhelmed with the idea of writing a (is it fanfiction?) follow up where she pushes him down a well, or gaslights him until he needs to be institutionalized. AWFUL.
UPDATE: When I first wrote this review, I hadn't discovered the healing power of the corrective epilogue, so I am adding one now.
Corrective epilogue below:
.
March 13, 2012
It started out good but the H spoiled the book for me,it was intense emotional and full of angst which i enjoyed but H was very very cruel and i just cannot forgive him:(
These issues were brought out by Alexis-Morgan Roark,these are same things that i have problem over-looking it so i am copy-pasting here
* If he was so darned IN LOVE with Tellie then WHY THE HEL& did he KEEP SEEING Bella AFTER Tellie's accident?
* If he was so congnizant of the fact that she was "unawakened" then why did he FREAK THE HE* out each and every FREAKING time they were intimate and basically scare her with her budding sexuality? He could have done some serious damage to her (Fine! He could have done MORE damage!) emotionally.
* I think HE threw out more mixed signals than Tellie, and he was supposed to be the experienced one. Idiot!
* Where the HECK were the women in this book, and why didn't they step up and smack this guy upside the head and tell him what he was DOING TO HER as a woman? They could NOT know the HEL* he was putting her through, but they said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Well, until she ALMOST DIED in a ditch!
*Also he told her, just before making love to her at practically the end of the book, that all those other women were practice and now he's gonna show her what he learned-really felt like puking:(
*The whole Bella thing was just confusing. They never slept together? So, the whole thing on the couch that drove her out in the rain and wound her up in a hospital was just what? Blowing off steam? He was practically undressed. I still think he would have done the deed if she hadn't shown up(Totally agree with you Alexi he would have went ahead and done it-also i don't trust him when he says he-Bella never slept i have my doubts)
Giving it 2 stars cause other characters were well developed,adored all other characters,Marge-Tellie's bonding,Grange-Tellie's friendship.
Would have loved to see Grange-Tellie together,she ends up with that meanie jerk spoiled it completely:(
Overall okay read for me
These issues were brought out by Alexis-Morgan Roark,these are same things that i have problem over-looking it so i am copy-pasting here
* If he was so darned IN LOVE with Tellie then WHY THE HEL& did he KEEP SEEING Bella AFTER Tellie's accident?
* If he was so congnizant of the fact that she was "unawakened" then why did he FREAK THE HE* out each and every FREAKING time they were intimate and basically scare her with her budding sexuality? He could have done some serious damage to her (Fine! He could have done MORE damage!) emotionally.
* I think HE threw out more mixed signals than Tellie, and he was supposed to be the experienced one. Idiot!
* Where the HECK were the women in this book, and why didn't they step up and smack this guy upside the head and tell him what he was DOING TO HER as a woman? They could NOT know the HEL* he was putting her through, but they said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Well, until she ALMOST DIED in a ditch!
*Also he told her, just before making love to her at practically the end of the book, that all those other women were practice and now he's gonna show her what he learned-really felt like puking:(
*The whole Bella thing was just confusing. They never slept together? So, the whole thing on the couch that drove her out in the rain and wound her up in a hospital was just what? Blowing off steam? He was practically undressed. I still think he would have done the deed if she hadn't shown up(Totally agree with you Alexi he would have went ahead and done it-also i don't trust him when he says he-Bella never slept i have my doubts)
Giving it 2 stars cause other characters were well developed,adored all other characters,Marge-Tellie's bonding,Grange-Tellie's friendship.
Would have loved to see Grange-Tellie together,she ends up with that meanie jerk spoiled it completely:(
Overall okay read for me
December 18, 2016
I really did not expect to like this one as much as I did but even if he did all those rotten things and treated her like crap, it made some weird kind of sense to me because how else was he going to behave when he wanted her so badly!
Totally realistic given his personality. He respected her and did not push her into a physical relationship.
I totally loved that.
This is one of DP better book for me.
Totally realistic given his personality. He respected her and did not push her into a physical relationship.
I totally loved that.
This is one of DP better book for me.
February 16, 2014
I'm a sucker for unrequited love, a cruel hero and a sweet innocent heroine who is hopelessly in love with him. Diana Palmer is the best author for us sentimental dreamers!
March 24, 2018
UPDATE: Re-read in March 2018 (added highlights)
Update: Re-read in January 2015
---------------
This hero is one of the most hated. He has no redemption in my opinion and our heroine is a complete fool and stupid. She should have kicked him to the curb and fell in love with Granger.
I did not believe that he did not had sex with his girlfriend. I did not buy it.
---------------
Update: Re-read in January 2015
---------------
This hero is one of the most hated. He has no redemption in my opinion and our heroine is a complete fool and stupid. She should have kicked him to the curb and fell in love with Granger.
I did not believe that he did not had sex with his girlfriend. I did not buy it.
---------------
Tellie had gone to a foster home, despite Marge‘s objections, because J.B. said that a widow with two children to raise didn‘t need the complication of a teenager.
Even at the age of fourteen, she‘d taken charge of the kitchen and Dawn and Brandi.
She was a born baby-sitter.
He kept to himself, except for the numerous gorgeous women he squired around in his private jet.
She was miserable because J.B. had missed her graduation, and nothing was going to make up for that.
―It was a Mickey Mouse watch with a big face and a gaudy red band. She knew what it meant, too. It meant that his secretary, Miss Jarrett, who hated being delegated to buy presents for him, had finally lost her cool.
It hurt Tellie, who knew that J.B. shopped for Marge and the girls himself. He never delegated that chore to underlings. But, then, Tellie wasn‘t family.
She‘d have loved a dead rat in a box if it had come from J.B., because she had no pride.
Marge lifted Tellie‘s wrist and glared at the watch. ―That was just mean, she said under her breath.
―He‘d already done that by not showing up for my graduation
LIAR==>―He told us all to remember he‘d been fighting a fire in case it came up. He had a meeting with an out-of-town cattle buyer and his daughter. He forgot all about the...
She‘d finally realized that she meant nothing to him.
MANWHORE==>―Uncle J.B. isn‘t conventional, Dawn reminded her mother. ―He had that football team cheerleader staying at his house for almost a month. And his new girlfriend was a runner-up Miss Texas, and she spends weekends with him...
We don‘t even rate a handpicked present. You just send out the secretary to buy it, and to lie for you when you avoid events you‘d rather not be forced to attend.
―No, he doesn‘t get headaches, but he certainly gives them.
―I don‘t think J.B. really likes intelligent women much.
―You don‘t put yourself out for anybody. You make gestures, but somebody else has to do the dirty work.
HIRED HELP==>―But nobody can say that I haven‘t pulled my weight. I‘ve cleaned and cooked for Marge and the girls, been a live-in baby-sitter, helped keep her books—I haven‘t just parked myself here and taken advantage of the situation.
Mooning over you while you indulged yourself with starlet after debutante after Miss Beauty Contest winner! Oh, excuse me, Miss Runner-up Beauty Contest winner,...
―I‘m not going to pass myself around like a cigarette to any man who wants me, just to prove how liberated I am! And when I marry, I won‘t want some oversexed libertine who jumps into bed with any woman who wants him!
You can‘t fight a ghost, Tellie. She‘s perfect in his mind, like a living, breathing photograph that never ages, never has faults, never creates problems. No living woman will ever top her in J.B.‘s mind.
For all intents and purposes, she had become the invisible woman. He was paying her back for dating Grange.
GIRLFRIEND==>He gave her a diamond dinner ring last week for her birthday.
Bella didn‘t answer her. She beamed up at J.B. ―Didn‘t we come to take your sister and your nieces out to eat? she asked brightly. ―I‘m sure the kitchen help doesn‘t need an audience.
―What would you know about honest work, lady, unless you call lying on your back, work...!
GIRLFRIEND―I‘d rather be pretty than smart, the blonde said carelessly. ―Who‘d want to give you diamonds? she scoffed.
I can feel your heart beating. You‘re waking up. I could do anything I liked to you, whenever I pleased, and we both know it, Tellie.
JERK==>He laughed. He pulled away from her, arrogance in his whole bearing. He smiled, and it wasn‘t a nice smile at all. ―She likes to kiss me, too, Tellie, he said deliberately. ―But she‘s no prude.
―Next time I bring her over to see Marge, you‘d better be more polite, Tellie, he warned softly, and the deep edge of anger glittered in his green eyes. ―Or I‘ll do this in front of her.
He‘d brought his latest lover here deliberately.
He wanted Tellie to see how beautiful the woman was, how devoted she was to J.B. He was angry that he couldn‘t stop her from seeing Grange, not even by snubbing her. This was low, even for J.B.
He brought his newest girlfriend over to show me. She thought I was the hired help and treated me accordingly.
I don‘t like treating you like the enemy, but I also don‘t like the way you spoke to Bella. When you apologize, to her, we‘ll go from there.
His face hardened. ―You took too much for granted. You aren‘t part of my family, and you aren‘t a lover. You can‘t treat my women like trespassers in my own sister‘s house.
―She belongs with me. You don‘t. His eyes were hard. ―I need more from a woman than a handshake at the end of the evening. That‘s as much as you‘re able to give, Tellie. You‘re completely unawakened.
She threw open the door and stopped dead in the doorway. J.B. looked up, over Bella‘s bare white shoulders, his face flushed, his mouth swollen, his shirt off.
No wonder J.B. couldn‘t be bothered to answer the phone. He and his beautiful girlfriend were half-naked. Apparently J.B. wasn‘t much on beds for his sensual adventures.
―Get out! J.B. threw at her.
―You skinny, ugly little tomboy, he raged, white-hot with fury. ―Who‘d want something like you for keeps? Get out, I said!
J.B. had said terrible things to her.
She was hearing J.B. yell at her that she was an ugly stray he‘d taken in, that he didn‘t want her. Tears...
I quit! See if your harpy girlfriend in there can cook your meals and clean your house while she spends you into the poorhouse!
―And if you‘d given her a lift to the hospital, she wouldn‘t need one, would she?
―You said something to her, something that hurt, didn‘t you? he asked, nodding when J.B.‘s high cheekbones took on a ruddy color. ―She‘s hiding in the past, when you were less resentful of her. She‘ll get her memory back, but it‘s going to be dangerous to rush it.
He felt guilty. Her wreck was certainly his fault.
―It was raining, she recalled hesitantly. ―I don‘t understand why I was driving in the rain. I‘m afraid of it, you know.
GIRLFRIEND==>He was taking Bella out, and here was Tellie, badly injured on his account and hurting.
It disturbed him that he couldn‘t make Tellie want him. God knew, most other women did.
he took advantage of her vulnerability and innocence==>...without warning, he drew the tip of his forefinger right over one distended nipple with the faintest soft brushing motion.
He should have been ashamed of himself. He wasn‘t. His eyes slid over her body in the pajamas as...
I‘ve ever had a bouquet of flowers in my life, she added, confused. ―You haven‘t, Nell replied for her. She sounded irritated. ―Nice of Grange to remember that sick people usually like flowers.
JERK=>dreturning from a date with his girlfriend==>he was dressed up and a faint hint of perfume clung to his shirt as he sat down in the chair beside Tellie‘s bed.
He bent to her mouth again.
―It‘s about time, he murmured, and his mouth grew insistent.
―Kiss me, Tellie, he breathed, and his hand suddenly moved up and cupped her soft, firm breast.
His mouth increased its pressure, until he broke open her mouth and his tongue moved inside, in slow, insistent thrusts that made her moan loudly. She‘d never been kissed in such an intimate way.
―He didn‘t take his girlfriend with him, either, Nell said. ―That‘s so strange. He takes her everywhere else.
Bella travels with him, mostly, and she spends the occasional weekend in the guest room.
J.B. was intimate with the beauty contestant, if she was spending weekends with him.
CHEATER==>He was involved with another woman, and making passes at Tellie. What was wrong with him?
GIRLFRIEND==>The woman sensed Tellie‘s discomfort and smiled coldly. ―Don‘t tell me you‘ve forgotten me? she drawled. ―Not after you walked right in and interrupted me and J.B. on that very sofa?
J.B. had called her ugly. A stray. He could never love her. He didn‘t want her. He‘d said that!
He‘d missed her graduation from college and lied about it. He‘d had his secretary buy Tellie a graduation present —he hadn‘t even cared enough to do it himself. He‘d accused Tellie of panting after him like a pet dog. He‘d said he was sick of her...pawing him...trying to touch him.
―She and J.B. were on the sofa together, half-naked. He yelled at me.
―He felt guilty, Nell said gently. ―It was his fault that you wrecked the car. You would have died, if Grange hadn‘t found you.
That beautiful blonde was J.B.‘s woman. She‘d come to Marge‘s house with J.B., and she‘d insulted Tellie. They‘d argued, and J.B. had shown Tellie what a hold he had over her, using her weakness for him as a punishment.
GIRLFRIEND==>Bella was stretched out on the sofa wearing a pink gown and negligee and a come-hither smile. ―Welcome home, darling, she purred. ―I knew you wouldn‘t mind if I moved into my old room.
Bella came up behind him and slid her arms around him. ―I‘ll check on the TV dinners, she whispered. ―Then we can have some fun...
You don‘t have friends, J.B., you have hot dates,...
Everyone knows you don‘t want marriage or children, you just want a good time. Bella‘s your sort of woman. You couldn‘t hurt her if you hit her in the head with a brickbat, she‘s so thick. Just enjoy what you‘ve got, J.B., and let Tellie heal.
―It was cruel, Marge agreed. ―Throwing Bella up to her, parading the woman here in Tellie‘s home, taunting her for wanting to take care of you.
He‘d denigrated those tender feelings and made her look like a lovesick fool.
GIRLFRIEND==>Bella, in tears, sobbing, as she clung to J.B.‘s bare chest mumbling how happy she was that he wasn‘t badly hurt.
Then he remembered that when Marge and the girls came in, he had Bella in his arms.
IT WAS ONLY THE HERO OFFERING A COFFEE SO THAT OUR DOORMAT HEROINE EASILY FORGIVEN THE ASSHOLE==>―Finish your cappuccino, he said gently. ―I want to talk to you.
SEX WITH OTHER WOMEN==>―I was practicing, while I waited for you.
November 1, 2021
In this installment of DP's ongoing series, Doormats and Asshats: Boy gets a puppy. Puppy is a big-eyed cute little mongrel who is utterly besotted with the boy. But he dumps puppy on his sister because he isn’t a committing kind of boy and doesn’t want puppy underfoot all the time. He’s sometimes casually kind, and lets the puppy follow him around sometimes, but every so often, when he’s in a mean mood, he’ll give her a good kick. Puppy learns to be wary, but dogs are loyal and loving creatures, and puppy is helpless to hide her feelings for her unpredictable master. He has a liking for pure-bred pretty Golden Retrievers, too, although he’ll only foster them; he doesn’t want to let anything into his life for good, because when he was young he had another puppy, and his father secretly caused her death. Boy has lived with the guilt ever since and it just makes him meaner to the new puppy because he both wants her wide-eyed devotion and licks and yet doesn’t want to let her too close to him. The meaner he is, the more the puppy loves him (although she will occasionally piddle on his boots when he's too mean).
Puppy goes off to obedience school, and is sad when the boy doesn’t even come to see her graduate. She’s excited when he comes by afterward with a gift bone, but it’s a rubber bone and she knows he didn’t even buy it for her himself; he had his secretary pick it up, and she got the jokey bone because the secretary is sick of him always sending her out for puppy food and toys for his revolving-door foster Goldies and doesn’t realize it’s for the mongrel puppy (who everyone likes).
Puppy finds out that the boy LIED about going to her doggy-daycare “graduation” too. Puppy has also met another boy who is kind to her and gives her real bones and doesn’t ask much of her except that she go on occasional walks with him and have innocent undemanding puppy fun. Puppy doesn’t like the new guy in “that way” that she loves the mean boy (don't worry, new guy--no doubt DP will give you your own puppy to torment), but she’s coming to realize that the mean boy is not good to her and tries to keep her distance. He plays mean games with her, though, mocking her puppy devotion even as he uses it to keep her in line.
Puppy’s forever-home mama, the boy’s sister, gets sick, and puppy runs over barking to get the boy’s help. She sees him petting his latest Goldie (he has only petted our puppy once or twice, and mostly as a kind of punishment), and when he sees the puppy, he yells at her, tells her to stop panting after him, and calls her an ugly little stray that he never wanted and never will want. Puppy runs away into a rainstorm anddrives into a ditch gets hit by a car.
Afterward, the boy realizes that his cruelty to the puppy almost caused her death, and he’s tormented by guilt that a second puppy has almost died because of him. He claims that he always has had feelings for the puppy but that he needs a good ranching dog who’s ready to serve him, not just an undisciplined underfoot puppy who has no idea how to meet the needs that the Goldies always have been able to meet. He takes the puppy home when she's released from the vets (with amnesia! yay DP vintage tropes!) and pets the puppy into a state of slavering devotion, but his soon-to-be-ex housekeeper, who has quit because of his cruelty to the puppy, interrupts them, and puppy is left confused and whining. Soon afterward, the boy’s latest Goldie bitch shows up and pisses around the house to claim her territory, and, remembering the boy’s earlier cruelty to her (the memory of which was muddied by the accident) the puppy runs back home (the kindly housekeeper goes with her).
There’s a tornado, and after the storm, the puppy and her forever-home people find out the mean boy has been taken to the hospital. She forgets that she has resolved not to see the mean boy anymore and rushes off with them to make sure he’s okay. He’s hugging and petting the Goldie when she gets there, so she hides and doesn’t go in to see him with his family. The boy is HURT (that’s right! Pfffttt!) that she would not care enough to come and see him and knows he has fucked up and finally kicked the puppy once too often. He only misses her slavering devotion when it’s gone I guess. He is reassured when the Goldie lets slip that she saw the puppy crying in the waiting room, and he realizes puppy saw him petting the Goldie and was jealous and sad.
Still, he’s taken by surprise when he learns puppy has gone back to school months early, to take summer classes and work on her graduate degree. Er, I mean, has gone back to Advanced Puppy Training School. But he knows that if he makes any effort at all, the puppy will quickly come to heel because she is helpless against her feelings for him (he claims that he is equally helpless but I don’t really believe him). He shows up at the school with a jewelled collar and claims that (1) he only ever lightly petted the Goldie, he never SERIOUSLY petted her (yeah right) and (2) he has been waiting for the puppy to grow up so that she can be a good, loyal, and SERVICEABLE companion to him and was only mean because he was frustrated that she wasn’t learning all the responses as quickly as he would have liked. OK. I don’t buy it, but…
Puppy buys it! She is happy to leave Advanced Puppy School so that she can wear his leash permanently and follow him around and have more puppies for him. Pfffttt! She might go back to Advanced Puppy School later in life, but he’s all important to our puppy, so fuck her dreams, she decides. They’re not important. The boy immediately brushes her in ways he never has before, and she loves it and rolls right over for him and allows him to touch all her vulnerable belly areas and just basically lies down for him at his command. He takes full advantage, and before long, we have a cloying epilogue in which the puppy is expecting puppies and the housekeeper goes home to take care of them all and HEA for our puppy or so we are supposed to believe…
But I don’t believe it. Goodbye, puppy and mean boy. Good luck. You’ll need it.
Puppy goes off to obedience school, and is sad when the boy doesn’t even come to see her graduate. She’s excited when he comes by afterward with a gift bone, but it’s a rubber bone and she knows he didn’t even buy it for her himself; he had his secretary pick it up, and she got the jokey bone because the secretary is sick of him always sending her out for puppy food and toys for his revolving-door foster Goldies and doesn’t realize it’s for the mongrel puppy (who everyone likes).
Puppy finds out that the boy LIED about going to her doggy-daycare “graduation” too. Puppy has also met another boy who is kind to her and gives her real bones and doesn’t ask much of her except that she go on occasional walks with him and have innocent undemanding puppy fun. Puppy doesn’t like the new guy in “that way” that she loves the mean boy (don't worry, new guy--no doubt DP will give you your own puppy to torment), but she’s coming to realize that the mean boy is not good to her and tries to keep her distance. He plays mean games with her, though, mocking her puppy devotion even as he uses it to keep her in line.
Puppy’s forever-home mama, the boy’s sister, gets sick, and puppy runs over barking to get the boy’s help. She sees him petting his latest Goldie (he has only petted our puppy once or twice, and mostly as a kind of punishment), and when he sees the puppy, he yells at her, tells her to stop panting after him, and calls her an ugly little stray that he never wanted and never will want. Puppy runs away into a rainstorm and
Afterward, the boy realizes that his cruelty to the puppy almost caused her death, and he’s tormented by guilt that a second puppy has almost died because of him. He claims that he always has had feelings for the puppy but that he needs a good ranching dog who’s ready to serve him, not just an undisciplined underfoot puppy who has no idea how to meet the needs that the Goldies always have been able to meet. He takes the puppy home when she's released from the vets (with amnesia! yay DP vintage tropes!) and pets the puppy into a state of slavering devotion, but his soon-to-be-ex housekeeper, who has quit because of his cruelty to the puppy, interrupts them, and puppy is left confused and whining. Soon afterward, the boy’s latest Goldie bitch shows up and pisses around the house to claim her territory, and, remembering the boy’s earlier cruelty to her (the memory of which was muddied by the accident) the puppy runs back home (the kindly housekeeper goes with her).
There’s a tornado, and after the storm, the puppy and her forever-home people find out the mean boy has been taken to the hospital. She forgets that she has resolved not to see the mean boy anymore and rushes off with them to make sure he’s okay. He’s hugging and petting the Goldie when she gets there, so she hides and doesn’t go in to see him with his family. The boy is HURT (that’s right! Pfffttt!) that she would not care enough to come and see him and knows he has fucked up and finally kicked the puppy once too often. He only misses her slavering devotion when it’s gone I guess. He is reassured when the Goldie lets slip that she saw the puppy crying in the waiting room, and he realizes puppy saw him petting the Goldie and was jealous and sad.
Still, he’s taken by surprise when he learns puppy has gone back to school months early, to take summer classes and work on her graduate degree. Er, I mean, has gone back to Advanced Puppy Training School. But he knows that if he makes any effort at all, the puppy will quickly come to heel because she is helpless against her feelings for him (he claims that he is equally helpless but I don’t really believe him). He shows up at the school with a jewelled collar and claims that (1) he only ever lightly petted the Goldie, he never SERIOUSLY petted her (yeah right) and (2) he has been waiting for the puppy to grow up so that she can be a good, loyal, and SERVICEABLE companion to him and was only mean because he was frustrated that she wasn’t learning all the responses as quickly as he would have liked. OK. I don’t buy it, but…
Puppy buys it! She is happy to leave Advanced Puppy School so that she can wear his leash permanently and follow him around and have more puppies for him. Pfffttt! She might go back to Advanced Puppy School later in life, but he’s all important to our puppy, so fuck her dreams, she decides. They’re not important. The boy immediately brushes her in ways he never has before, and she loves it and rolls right over for him and allows him to touch all her vulnerable belly areas and just basically lies down for him at his command. He takes full advantage, and before long, we have a cloying epilogue in which the puppy is expecting puppies and the housekeeper goes home to take care of them all and HEA for our puppy or so we are supposed to believe…
But I don’t believe it. Goodbye, puppy and mean boy. Good luck. You’ll need it.
November 8, 2018
Sheesh! I'm listening to the audiobook read by Lauren Davis.
...REALLY weird having a reader with a voice like a 10-year-old girl reading a Diana Palmer book to me. Not really helping the story...
Well heck, that was one of the worst readers ever. I often couldn't tell who was talking because she didn't bother to change her voice from character to character. Just sounded like a little girl the whole time.
I MIGHT have given the story another star if I had read it instead of listening to it as an audiobook... not really sure though. The H was such a schizophrenic, even for DP.
She is an orphan. He takes her in as a teenager to be his a baby sitter for his sister's kids.
She gets to see a revolving door of tall brainless bimbos.
He never treats her like family. She's second class (or third... after the bimbos).
The story starts when she has graduated with her Bachelors in History and she wants to get her Masters to teach. He misses her graduation because he forgot but tells everyone to tell her he had an emergency. Then gifts her with a mickey mouse watch that his secretary bought for her.
Be still my beating heart...
More douche moments and flash backs and a pretty cool OM, (and another bimbo OW) till about half way, when it gets interesting. A moment of weakness? terminal idiocy? certainly a lot less than devotion, leads to her running off and getting amnesia.
Now's his chance to make reparation.
But the reasons DP throws at the reader for his shitty behavior were such an unconvincing jumble that I was underwhelmed.
Still the second half was more interesting.
I wouldn't call the h a doormat, but I felt like she was settling a bit for his sorry ass.
I also still felt like she was overshadowed by the OW who broke his 22 year old heart.
Safety is OK I guess
Basically, this one felt like lazy writing and unconvincing.
...REALLY weird having a reader with a voice like a 10-year-old girl reading a Diana Palmer book to me. Not really helping the story...
Well heck, that was one of the worst readers ever. I often couldn't tell who was talking because she didn't bother to change her voice from character to character. Just sounded like a little girl the whole time.
I MIGHT have given the story another star if I had read it instead of listening to it as an audiobook... not really sure though. The H was such a schizophrenic, even for DP.
She is an orphan. He takes her in as a teenager to be his a baby sitter for his sister's kids.
She gets to see a revolving door of tall brainless bimbos.
He never treats her like family. She's second class (or third... after the bimbos).
The story starts when she has graduated with her Bachelors in History and she wants to get her Masters to teach. He misses her graduation because he forgot but tells everyone to tell her he had an emergency. Then gifts her with a mickey mouse watch that his secretary bought for her.
Be still my beating heart...
More douche moments and flash backs and a pretty cool OM, (and another bimbo OW) till about half way, when it gets interesting. A moment of weakness? terminal idiocy? certainly a lot less than devotion, leads to her running off and getting amnesia.
Now's his chance to make reparation.
But the reasons DP throws at the reader for his shitty behavior were such an unconvincing jumble that I was underwhelmed.
Still the second half was more interesting.
I wouldn't call the h a doormat, but I felt like she was settling a bit for his sorry ass.
I also still felt like she was overshadowed by the OW who broke his 22 year old heart.
Safety is OK I guess
Basically, this one felt like lazy writing and unconvincing.
August 18, 2009
JB is another meanie from Diana Palmer's stable of heroes. I thought this was a good book otherwise, but JB is definitely near the top of the list for Diana Palmer jerks.
I find I spend a lot of time defending why I love this author so much. Why do I love her books so much? Very emotional, angsty and involving. What can I say? I think she tells a good story. She makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry, but her stories always touch me and I don't end a book feeling unmoved, even if the storyline isn't something novel. She's not preachy, but you see people in her books that are good and decent. If you're an old fashioned person, you don't feel so alone in the world when you read Diana Palmer's books.
What do I think about Diana Palmer heroes? They don't get the 'Get Out of Jail Free pass.' I do hold them accountable for their actions. That doesn't mean I can't forgive them, though. I can usually understand why most of them are being jerks. Understanding helps me to forgive them. Normally her heroes are very prickly and can be verbally abusive because they don't want to fall in love. I don't excuse that behavior. But I understand that the person who loves you the most has the power to hurt you the most. Also I understand that to these men, they are in the fight of their lives not to fall in love. The thing I like about her books is that the hero will usually see the error of his ways and repent most thoroughly and go on to be devoted, loving husbands. Most of the time the repentance is enough that I will forgive them. JB is one of those borderline heroes that I didn't feel repented quite enough in relation to how cruel he was to Tellie.
Do I think that Tellie and other Diana Palmer heroines are doormats? Not necessarily. I think they are long-suffering and somewhat passive (though not all of them). Mainly, I think that they have very forgiving hearts. I think they tend to be gentle (maybe too gentle for the uber-alpha hero they are paired with). Usually Diana Palmer heroines can be fairly sassy. However, Tellie probably needed to take lessons from one of the sassy heroes. She definitely didn't tell JB off enough. What I really like about her heroines is they have usually been through some very tough situations, and are survivors. Instead of letting life turn them bitter, they have sweet, gentle, kind, and loving hearts despite the bad things that have happened to them.
I know people like to pick on Diana Palmer heroes, but the truth is there are other writers with meaner heroes, who are also cruel and domineering in the bedroom, which has an ick factor for me. I can handle a little bit of dominance in the the love scenes but not cruel dominance in a love scene in a romance novel. I don't like to feel like the heroine has been forced into doing something she doesn't want to do. Although it's all a matter of perspective, I don't feel that way when I read Diana Palmer's love scenes. I guess that's why I tolerate Diana Palmer heroes being jerky (within reason). While they may say mean things and sometimes shove other women in the heroines faces (but don't sleep with them), they are not physically cruel or abusive, and are very tender, respectful lovers. And usually they do feel like dirt when they realize how mean they were to the heroine (except for a couple of notable jive turkeys such as cough* Clint from Sweet Enemey *cough). I feel that because the heroines are usually so sweet, it makes the heroes look extra-jerky. I believe that Diana Palmer really seems to subscribe to the bible verse from Proverbs, "A soft answer turns aside wrath." I just wish that her heroes would remember the other bible verse from James, "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." I wish their conscience would tell them ahead of time, "Hey buddy, don't say that. It's mean." I'd give them the advice: It's okay to love her, big scared fellow. She won't hurt you. She's really sweet. Much sweeter than your other mean girlfriends and your evil mother. Love is a good thing, with the right person. And she's the right person.
Anyway this turned into a Diana Palmer essay, which was not my intention. Where was I? Oh. I would not rank this as a favorite because of JB's jerkiness. But it was a good story, so it gets three stars.
I find I spend a lot of time defending why I love this author so much. Why do I love her books so much? Very emotional, angsty and involving. What can I say? I think she tells a good story. She makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry, but her stories always touch me and I don't end a book feeling unmoved, even if the storyline isn't something novel. She's not preachy, but you see people in her books that are good and decent. If you're an old fashioned person, you don't feel so alone in the world when you read Diana Palmer's books.
What do I think about Diana Palmer heroes? They don't get the 'Get Out of Jail Free pass.' I do hold them accountable for their actions. That doesn't mean I can't forgive them, though. I can usually understand why most of them are being jerks. Understanding helps me to forgive them. Normally her heroes are very prickly and can be verbally abusive because they don't want to fall in love. I don't excuse that behavior. But I understand that the person who loves you the most has the power to hurt you the most. Also I understand that to these men, they are in the fight of their lives not to fall in love. The thing I like about her books is that the hero will usually see the error of his ways and repent most thoroughly and go on to be devoted, loving husbands. Most of the time the repentance is enough that I will forgive them. JB is one of those borderline heroes that I didn't feel repented quite enough in relation to how cruel he was to Tellie.
Do I think that Tellie and other Diana Palmer heroines are doormats? Not necessarily. I think they are long-suffering and somewhat passive (though not all of them). Mainly, I think that they have very forgiving hearts. I think they tend to be gentle (maybe too gentle for the uber-alpha hero they are paired with). Usually Diana Palmer heroines can be fairly sassy. However, Tellie probably needed to take lessons from one of the sassy heroes. She definitely didn't tell JB off enough. What I really like about her heroines is they have usually been through some very tough situations, and are survivors. Instead of letting life turn them bitter, they have sweet, gentle, kind, and loving hearts despite the bad things that have happened to them.
I know people like to pick on Diana Palmer heroes, but the truth is there are other writers with meaner heroes, who are also cruel and domineering in the bedroom, which has an ick factor for me. I can handle a little bit of dominance in the the love scenes but not cruel dominance in a love scene in a romance novel. I don't like to feel like the heroine has been forced into doing something she doesn't want to do. Although it's all a matter of perspective, I don't feel that way when I read Diana Palmer's love scenes. I guess that's why I tolerate Diana Palmer heroes being jerky (within reason). While they may say mean things and sometimes shove other women in the heroines faces (but don't sleep with them), they are not physically cruel or abusive, and are very tender, respectful lovers. And usually they do feel like dirt when they realize how mean they were to the heroine (except for a couple of notable jive turkeys such as cough* Clint from Sweet Enemey *cough). I feel that because the heroines are usually so sweet, it makes the heroes look extra-jerky. I believe that Diana Palmer really seems to subscribe to the bible verse from Proverbs, "A soft answer turns aside wrath." I just wish that her heroes would remember the other bible verse from James, "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." I wish their conscience would tell them ahead of time, "Hey buddy, don't say that. It's mean." I'd give them the advice: It's okay to love her, big scared fellow. She won't hurt you. She's really sweet. Much sweeter than your other mean girlfriends and your evil mother. Love is a good thing, with the right person. And she's the right person.
Anyway this turned into a Diana Palmer essay, which was not my intention. Where was I? Oh. I would not rank this as a favorite because of JB's jerkiness. But it was a good story, so it gets three stars.
August 11, 2014
I disliked this for different reasons than others perhaps. I went in knowing that the hero was going to be a prize d-bag (he was). That's partially why I read it, that and the amnesia trope. Cheesy and overdone yes, but I enjoy it.
It's weird. I've always played it rather safe in my personal love life. I have a good instinct as to who will be a safe bet and who will likely cause trouble of varying sorts. I'm not saying I've never had to deal with jerky behavior, but NEVER to such an extent as you see in these books. In real life, I could never emotionally deal with all the drama. I like things to be peaceful, quiet, stable... I'm an introvert, people wear me out and these volatile heroes would make me homicidal. However, I've found I love to vicariously and safely live some drama through media.
First of all, thumbs up to the shout out to Serenity/Firefly. They weren't mentioned by name, but if you were a fan there was no mistaking the reference.
The hero was a dbag of massive proportions and I still can't buy his reasoning. He was OTT in the verbal abuse category, which isn't my dramatic cuppa. I prefer the more ruthless type of dbag who resorts to blackmail, trickery, and perhaps some cruel accusations in jealous rage - but never someone who is so heavy handed on the belittling. He was just plain mean and hurtful to a young woman 10+ years his junior for no good reason.
Anyway, the heroine is in an accident on rainy roads after an argument with the hero which shouldn't have been an argument at all. Tellie was only there to inform him of his sister's illness, but he blew up at her when she accidentally caught him with his latest bimbo, called her ugly and basically a pathetic loser and she never even gets to tell him about his sister. So, she gets amnesia as a result of the wreck. J.B. sees this as his opportunity to make nice before she remembers. Okay, I'm game. Problem is
Final note: Stay away from the audio. That narrator needs to stick to YA/teen books. She sounded about 13 and there was zero attempt at a Texas accent (which was probably for the best). She also did not attempt to give different voices to different characters. Therefore, unless there were dialogue tags, it was often difficult to tell who was speaking. However, any attempt at a male voice may have been intolerable, so that may have been for the best as well.
It's weird. I've always played it rather safe in my personal love life. I have a good instinct as to who will be a safe bet and who will likely cause trouble of varying sorts. I'm not saying I've never had to deal with jerky behavior, but NEVER to such an extent as you see in these books. In real life, I could never emotionally deal with all the drama. I like things to be peaceful, quiet, stable... I'm an introvert, people wear me out and these volatile heroes would make me homicidal. However, I've found I love to vicariously and safely live some drama through media.
First of all, thumbs up to the shout out to Serenity/Firefly. They weren't mentioned by name, but if you were a fan there was no mistaking the reference.
The hero was a dbag of massive proportions and I still can't buy his reasoning. He was OTT in the verbal abuse category, which isn't my dramatic cuppa. I prefer the more ruthless type of dbag who resorts to blackmail, trickery, and perhaps some cruel accusations in jealous rage - but never someone who is so heavy handed on the belittling. He was just plain mean and hurtful to a young woman 10+ years his junior for no good reason.
Anyway, the heroine is in an accident on rainy roads after an argument with the hero which shouldn't have been an argument at all. Tellie was only there to inform him of his sister's illness, but he blew up at her when she accidentally caught him with his latest bimbo, called her ugly and basically a pathetic loser and she never even gets to tell him about his sister. So, she gets amnesia as a result of the wreck. J.B. sees this as his opportunity to make nice before she remembers. Okay, I'm game. Problem is
Final note: Stay away from the audio. That narrator needs to stick to YA/teen books. She sounded about 13 and there was zero attempt at a Texas accent (which was probably for the best). She also did not attempt to give different voices to different characters. Therefore, unless there were dialogue tags, it was often difficult to tell who was speaking. However, any attempt at a male voice may have been intolerable, so that may have been for the best as well.
July 3, 2021
I’m really upset. I don’t how to start this review. This book is full of contradictions.
-the plot is usual good old DP: younger inexperienced heroine has a huge crush on older hero. She’s something of a ward, because she lives with his widow sister and her daughters since she’s 13, so she’s fat too young for the hero who obviously sees her as a little sister (thank god)
- she grows up and when she’s 18 he kisses her passionately, but she’s inexperienced and when he grows more insistent she is scared and pushes him away.
- he ridicules her but he decides to wait for her to grow up
- in the meantime he behaves like a jerk and treats her like she’s not family, then he goes on with his manwhoring ways
- she graduates and is back to his sister’s, he keeps on behaving like an a**
- she knows a man who reveals hero’s secret past with a lost love. This man is a hunk and he and heroine dates but only as friends
- hero is crazy and doesn’t want the heroine to see this Man from the Past. Why? Because he’s an a** and he’s jealous. She can’t date while he goes around with his bimbo and makes out with her in front of the heroine. Ok, we are in Texas and he’s no lord but my, there’s a limit.
- usual breaking point where hero sends her away with angry nasty words, thinking she’s chasing him while she wants to tell him his sister had a heart attack
- this is the usual pattern of many DP books, but here we have a twist:
- heroine has an accident and amnesia: she’s back to her 17, before the first kiss.
- the hero keeps her home because he is afraid of her remembering what he said to her ( and what she saw: him having sex with his bimbo)
- they have some kisses and some pawing. He understands she’s ready for an adult relationship (meaning: sex)
- she remembers and leaves him
- he wants her back, follows her and proposes and explains her everything.
Ok, things I didn’t like:
- the scene where he almost has sex with the bimbo: if she didn’t interrupt them by accident he would have bedded her
- inconsistencies: he lost his fiancée that committed suicide and swears he would never marry or get engaged to anyone anymore. But he tells the heroine he was in love with her since she was a teenager and waited for her for years. Waited for what Since he didn’t want commitment? And then he tells her he was frustrated because she seemed not to be sexually awakened (????) so he was going to tup the bimbo???? What did he expect? She was 21 and a virgin, he should be the experienced one. He didn’t want her to date anyone, but he wanted her sexually available. I don’t understand what he expected. He makes it sound as if he was celibate since their first kiss but it’s not clear. Suppose he were and he was frustrated for his celibacy, why don’t go after the heroine and choose the bimbo instead?
Whatever.
Another Texas loser with his period starting. You know, pre-menstrual syndrome and all.
It’s always the heroine’s fault.
And that body shaming, slut shaming, male chauvinism.
And a woman is as good as another.
I think that if a woman doesn’t stand up to these abuses she really deserve to be treated this way.
-the plot is usual good old DP: younger inexperienced heroine has a huge crush on older hero. She’s something of a ward, because she lives with his widow sister and her daughters since she’s 13, so she’s fat too young for the hero who obviously sees her as a little sister (thank god)
- she grows up and when she’s 18 he kisses her passionately, but she’s inexperienced and when he grows more insistent she is scared and pushes him away.
- he ridicules her but he decides to wait for her to grow up
- in the meantime he behaves like a jerk and treats her like she’s not family, then he goes on with his manwhoring ways
- she graduates and is back to his sister’s, he keeps on behaving like an a**
- she knows a man who reveals hero’s secret past with a lost love. This man is a hunk and he and heroine dates but only as friends
- hero is crazy and doesn’t want the heroine to see this Man from the Past. Why? Because he’s an a** and he’s jealous. She can’t date while he goes around with his bimbo and makes out with her in front of the heroine. Ok, we are in Texas and he’s no lord but my, there’s a limit.
- usual breaking point where hero sends her away with angry nasty words, thinking she’s chasing him while she wants to tell him his sister had a heart attack
- this is the usual pattern of many DP books, but here we have a twist:
- heroine has an accident and amnesia: she’s back to her 17, before the first kiss.
- the hero keeps her home because he is afraid of her remembering what he said to her ( and what she saw: him having sex with his bimbo)
- they have some kisses and some pawing. He understands she’s ready for an adult relationship (meaning: sex)
- she remembers and leaves him
- he wants her back, follows her and proposes and explains her everything.
Ok, things I didn’t like:
- the scene where he almost has sex with the bimbo: if she didn’t interrupt them by accident he would have bedded her
- inconsistencies: he lost his fiancée that committed suicide and swears he would never marry or get engaged to anyone anymore. But he tells the heroine he was in love with her since she was a teenager and waited for her for years. Waited for what Since he didn’t want commitment? And then he tells her he was frustrated because she seemed not to be sexually awakened (????) so he was going to tup the bimbo???? What did he expect? She was 21 and a virgin, he should be the experienced one. He didn’t want her to date anyone, but he wanted her sexually available. I don’t understand what he expected. He makes it sound as if he was celibate since their first kiss but it’s not clear. Suppose he were and he was frustrated for his celibacy, why don’t go after the heroine and choose the bimbo instead?
Whatever.
Another Texas loser with his period starting. You know, pre-menstrual syndrome and all.
It’s always the heroine’s fault.
And that body shaming, slut shaming, male chauvinism.
And a woman is as good as another.
I think that if a woman doesn’t stand up to these abuses she really deserve to be treated this way.
September 7, 2012
I don't mind a asshatty hero as long as he's got some basis to stand on and he redeems himself at the end. This hero just seemed to be a spoiled 14 year old boy. His actions were totally irrational and not what a grown and emotionally adult person would do. The heroine was a lovelorn wimp. No real redeeming features. I marginally liked the other man and suspect he might have his own book. I'm not going to look for it though because I'm sure he would turn out to be an irredeemable ass in his own book.
Writing style was EXTREMELY telly not showy. It was practically of the "gentle reader" variety. You were forced away from immediate and deep involvement with the characters. The end was a recitation of facts telling us what happened rather than any actual scenes of action. And the fact that she was buying maternity clothes when she was 2 weeks pregnant was just plain ludicrous.
Writing style was EXTREMELY telly not showy. It was practically of the "gentle reader" variety. You were forced away from immediate and deep involvement with the characters. The end was a recitation of facts telling us what happened rather than any actual scenes of action. And the fact that she was buying maternity clothes when she was 2 weeks pregnant was just plain ludicrous.
March 6, 2013
4.5 stars rounded up
Well, Palmer was full of the WTFery with this one! I'm still buzzing from the high. This "hero" was one of biggest d*cks I've read about in a spell. Though, I kinda liked the description of him as big, tall, with big ears and big feet. Don't ask me why but I did love my mental image of him...and damn glad I don't have someone like him in my life (other than the filthy rich part ;D). But this dude was down-right cruel to our little Mary Sue. Called her names, said mean things to her and royally rubbed his hot blonde OW in her face. Supposedly . Psssshhhh!!!! I don't believe that for a second. If he had all along with others before, and there was no argument there, he did this time. No reason to say he hadn't, especially seeing as . Don't let Palmer fool ya.
After torturing and taunting the h all through the book, he up and decides out of the blue that he's madly in love and goes after her after she finally throws in the towel. I was so looking forward to the begging scene...until there wasn't one. That's where that half star went. Just waltzed right in and she promptly jumped in the sack with him. I guess if she'd been his whipping dog since the age of 14, he wouldn't have to work very hard to get her when he snapped his fingers. A little groveling would've been nice though.
So I just loved this one, because the guy was incorrible and I stayed peod through much of it. But if you can't stand that and insist that the alphahole H gets his comeuppance, then this one will dissapoint. Just saying.
Well, Palmer was full of the WTFery with this one! I'm still buzzing from the high. This "hero" was one of biggest d*cks I've read about in a spell. Though, I kinda liked the description of him as big, tall, with big ears and big feet. Don't ask me why but I did love my mental image of him...and damn glad I don't have someone like him in my life (other than the filthy rich part ;D). But this dude was down-right cruel to our little Mary Sue. Called her names, said mean things to her and royally rubbed his hot blonde OW in her face. Supposedly . Psssshhhh!!!! I don't believe that for a second. If he had all along with others before, and there was no argument there, he did this time. No reason to say he hadn't, especially seeing as . Don't let Palmer fool ya.
After torturing and taunting the h all through the book, he up and decides out of the blue that he's madly in love and goes after her after she finally throws in the towel. I was so looking forward to the begging scene...until there wasn't one. That's where that half star went. Just waltzed right in and she promptly jumped in the sack with him. I guess if she'd been his whipping dog since the age of 14, he wouldn't have to work very hard to get her when he snapped his fingers. A little groveling would've been nice though.
So I just loved this one, because the guy was incorrible and I stayed peod through much of it. But if you can't stand that and insist that the alphahole H gets his comeuppance, then this one will dissapoint. Just saying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2011
Updated review from 14 August 2011: I dropped it down to two stars on account of because:
* If he was so darned IN LOVE with Tellie then WHY THE HEL& did he KEEP SEEING Bella AFTER Tellie's accident?
* If he was so congnizant of the fact that she was "unawakened" then why did he FREAK THE HE* out each and every FREAKING time they were intimate and basically scare her with her budding sexuality? He could have done some serious damage to her (Fine! He could have done MORE damage!) emotionally.
* I think HE threw out more mixed signals than Tellie, and he was supposed to be the experienced one. Idiot!
* Where the HECK were the women in this book, and why didn't they step up and smack this guy upside the head and tell him what he was DOING TO HER as a woman? They could NOT know the HEL* he was putting her through, but they said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Well, until she ALMOST DIED in a ditch!
Maybe I'll make it one star? No, I can't. I enjoyed the angst, but these issues really bothered me. I think it's a consistency issue? I don't know. Lady Danielle and Boogenhagen would be way more eloquent.
Original review from 29 July 2011:
Why do I do this to myself? Someone handed me this DP book that was collecting dust on her bookshelf. Oh, poor me. I considered buying the audiobook, but the sample sounds like a 10 year old. I KID YOU NOT. Listen for yourself...Heartbreaker on Audible. You gotta hear it to believe it.
Are you serious? I CAN NOT BELIEVE he told her, just before making love to her at practically the end of the book, that all those other women were practice and now he's gonna show her what he learned.
Skillet meet head.
She earned this guy's love, literally, with blood, sweat, and tears. The whole time, of course, he was loving her but she was too young. Blah. Blah.
Get some therapy.
Also, the whole Bella thing was just confusing. They never slept together? So, the whole thing on the couch that drove her out in the rain and wound her up in a hospital was just what? Blowing off steam? He was practically undressed. I still think he would have done the deed if she hadn't shown up...but that's just me.
Positive note ending: We find out she's pregnant TWO WEEKS after they married. Oh, did I mention the "proposal" that wasn't? I'm done.
* If he was so darned IN LOVE with Tellie then WHY THE HEL& did he KEEP SEEING Bella AFTER Tellie's accident?
* If he was so congnizant of the fact that she was "unawakened" then why did he FREAK THE HE* out each and every FREAKING time they were intimate and basically scare her with her budding sexuality? He could have done some serious damage to her (Fine! He could have done MORE damage!) emotionally.
* I think HE threw out more mixed signals than Tellie, and he was supposed to be the experienced one. Idiot!
* Where the HECK were the women in this book, and why didn't they step up and smack this guy upside the head and tell him what he was DOING TO HER as a woman? They could NOT know the HEL* he was putting her through, but they said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Well, until she ALMOST DIED in a ditch!
Maybe I'll make it one star? No, I can't. I enjoyed the angst, but these issues really bothered me. I think it's a consistency issue? I don't know. Lady Danielle and Boogenhagen would be way more eloquent.
Original review from 29 July 2011:
Why do I do this to myself? Someone handed me this DP book that was collecting dust on her bookshelf. Oh, poor me. I considered buying the audiobook, but the sample sounds like a 10 year old. I KID YOU NOT. Listen for yourself...Heartbreaker on Audible. You gotta hear it to believe it.
Are you serious? I CAN NOT BELIEVE he told her, just before making love to her at practically the end of the book, that all those other women were practice and now he's gonna show her what he learned.
Skillet meet head.
She earned this guy's love, literally, with blood, sweat, and tears. The whole time, of course, he was loving her but she was too young. Blah. Blah.
Get some therapy.
Also, the whole Bella thing was just confusing. They never slept together? So, the whole thing on the couch that drove her out in the rain and wound her up in a hospital was just what? Blowing off steam? He was practically undressed. I still think he would have done the deed if she hadn't shown up...but that's just me.
Positive note ending: We find out she's pregnant TWO WEEKS after they married. Oh, did I mention the "proposal" that wasn't? I'm done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2020
Nope, nah, nu uh! This shit does not fly. I am well aware Diana Palmer is known for certain criteria in her stories, and seems to be old school in her approach to her alpha asshole heroes. But seeing as this was written in 2006 and not forty years ago, this does not wash! Times have changed people now do not find it acceptable for hero’s to treat heroine’s like shite constantly! Emotional and mental abuse are not acceptable and toxic relationships are in the sin bin. I have read some of her dickhead hero’s, but this was one of her most horrific! The heroine was weak as water. The hero here saved the heroine from foster care as a teenager. He said in the beginning she is family, but then later tells her she is not family, she is nothing. He misses her graduation, sends his assistant to buy her a present, he tries to make her jealous with his lady friends and lets them insult her! Then when the heroine dares to stand up for herself he screams at her and insults her! The real kicker came when the hero took the phone off the hook to get busy with his current beau. The heroine unable to get through to him, to let him know his sister is in the hospital after suffering from a heart attack, goes to his house to tell him! She walks in on him getting hot and heavy with OW, he is so flustered and embarrassed he manages to obliterate her! He tells her she is unwanted, desperate, ugly, no one could ever want a thing like her etc, ya know the usual courting talk! She then leaves in agony and crashes her car, leading to amnesia, and the rest I am sure you can guess. The heroes always seem to only want the heroine for sex. The hero does not want this heroine as she is inexperienced and not likely to go all the way? But we are meant to believe in the end he loved her? Also, why do the heroine’s always flee and make life changes to get away from the hero, to melt as soon as he finds them and says hello? Pathetic. This pattern of abusive heroes and wilful heroine’s needs to die, it romanticises toxic relationships! Apparently the message is of a fella treats ya like crap he is really into you 😉 Devil be gone!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2011
J.B. was an extra special jerk. Wow, was he an asshat to Tellie in the beginning. He did get better after he finally admitted he did want to be with her but too little too late.
Really, I didn't feel much for either character. I thought Tellie had too little pride when it came to J.B.
No connection to either character and I was glad when the book ended. Although, the ending was quite cute with the "proposal" and the baby but it just didn't work for me. Oh, and I have quite the pet peeve in all of these category romances, whether it is HP or Silhouette Desire, what is with them finding out they are pregnant two weeks after date of conception. I guess, once you're pregnant, at day one, you are pregnant at two weeks but seriously? How about a month at least? :) Sorry, just a peeve of mine.
I will continue to read Diana Palmer, keeping my fingers crossed I'll come across one that is like the earlier ones of hers I used to love.
Really, I didn't feel much for either character. I thought Tellie had too little pride when it came to J.B.
No connection to either character and I was glad when the book ended. Although, the ending was quite cute with the "proposal" and the baby but it just didn't work for me. Oh, and I have quite the pet peeve in all of these category romances, whether it is HP or Silhouette Desire, what is with them finding out they are pregnant two weeks after date of conception. I guess, once you're pregnant, at day one, you are pregnant at two weeks but seriously? How about a month at least? :) Sorry, just a peeve of mine.
I will continue to read Diana Palmer, keeping my fingers crossed I'll come across one that is like the earlier ones of hers I used to love.
August 12, 2015
Okay, lemme cry first before I write this review..
Okay, so right off the bat, my first impression of our hero JB was that he was a JERK , and throughout the first few chapters he become an even bigger jerk. Oh poor poor Tellie. I don't know how many times I've cried for you! JB put Tellie through so much and he didn't grovel enough. Heck I wanted to slap him throughout the whole book!
He was always hot and cold throughout the whole book, with the exception of the last chapter. Make up your God damn mind! Do you want her or not?!
I wish he could've grovelled even more. Hell, if I lived in DP's world (side note: its my paradise world), I wouldn't hesitate to kick JB in the balls and bury him alive. JB's arseholeness makes me always want more though, weird? Ah huh, I sure am! I've reread this book far too many times to count and every single time my heart aches and I cry.
Okay, so right off the bat, my first impression of our hero JB was that he was a JERK , and throughout the first few chapters he become an even bigger jerk. Oh poor poor Tellie. I don't know how many times I've cried for you! JB put Tellie through so much and he didn't grovel enough. Heck I wanted to slap him throughout the whole book!
He was always hot and cold throughout the whole book, with the exception of the last chapter. Make up your God damn mind! Do you want her or not?!
I wish he could've grovelled even more. Hell, if I lived in DP's world (side note: its my paradise world), I wouldn't hesitate to kick JB in the balls and bury him alive. JB's arseholeness makes me always want more though, weird? Ah huh, I sure am! I've reread this book far too many times to count and every single time my heart aches and I cry.
April 15, 2012
I am really in turmoil with rating this one.
I loved the angst it was amazing and can see why Diana Palmer is the master. When you read a Harlequin angst the Hero is usually a jerk which I can deal with and in a weird way I suppose I like. What I really struggled with is the Heroine....I understand her behaviour and naivety when she was in her teenage years but still naive and quite frankly as stupid when she was 22!
I am not berating her for being a virgin because there are some out there but not having any sexual knowledge what so ever...I am sorry but I really cannot see that and the more I read the more I got annoyed and the only reason I kept going is because I wanted her to finally turn on him and give him his comeuppance for everything he had said and done to her over the years, but no, instead she just walked away with her tail between her legs and when he came running after her she fell into his arms instead of giving him even a little bit of payback. Yes I loved the heartbreak and angst but did DP have to make the heroine so naive and a complete and utter doormat!
This is only the second DP book I have read. The first I loved so now I am in a position on trying to decide if I should give her another try or just steer away from them.
It is difficult for me to rate as I would give it a high rating for the angst, heartbreak and other characters but I hated the Heroine which obviously pulls the rating done considerably.
I loved the angst it was amazing and can see why Diana Palmer is the master. When you read a Harlequin angst the Hero is usually a jerk which I can deal with and in a weird way I suppose I like. What I really struggled with is the Heroine....I understand her behaviour and naivety when she was in her teenage years but still naive and quite frankly as stupid when she was 22!
I am not berating her for being a virgin because there are some out there but not having any sexual knowledge what so ever...I am sorry but I really cannot see that and the more I read the more I got annoyed and the only reason I kept going is because I wanted her to finally turn on him and give him his comeuppance for everything he had said and done to her over the years, but no, instead she just walked away with her tail between her legs and when he came running after her she fell into his arms instead of giving him even a little bit of payback. Yes I loved the heartbreak and angst but did DP have to make the heroine so naive and a complete and utter doormat!
This is only the second DP book I have read. The first I loved so now I am in a position on trying to decide if I should give her another try or just steer away from them.
It is difficult for me to rate as I would give it a high rating for the angst, heartbreak and other characters but I hated the Heroine which obviously pulls the rating done considerably.
June 28, 2011
jujur aja, setengah dari buku Diana Palmer mengusung tema yang sama (dengan jalan cerita yang praktis hampir sama). istilahnya same script different cast-lah...
tapi kenapa oh kenapa tiap dia ngeluarin buku aku selalu berada diurutan terdepan untuk beli???
walaupun tiap habis baca pasti ngomel sendiri, ini kan hampir sama dengan cerita si itu dengan si itu, atau si itu dengan si itu. hmmm... ga ngerti deh..
padahal tipe cowoknya juga tipe yang rasanya pengen ditabok deh saking ga sensitifnya. terus tipe ceweknya juga rasanya yang ga punya backbone kalu udah berhadapan dengan si cowok (apalagi kalu udah mulai dipeluk dan dicium, Wuihhh lupa deh ama segalanya!). ntar ngomelnya paling kalu si cowok ga dihadapan dia!
yang lebih anehnya lagi, selalu aja tiap baca buku yang dia karang (yang sekali lagi hampir sama satu sama lain) selalu saja ada bagian yang bisa bikin aku ketawa, meringis sedih atau marah-marah (biasanya bagian si cowok ngeluarin kata2 kasar).
jadi apa artinya ini?
aku ga tau, juga ga ngerti. yang jelas i'm a sucker for her books!!!
hahahahahaha...
tapi kenapa oh kenapa tiap dia ngeluarin buku aku selalu berada diurutan terdepan untuk beli???
walaupun tiap habis baca pasti ngomel sendiri, ini kan hampir sama dengan cerita si itu dengan si itu, atau si itu dengan si itu. hmmm... ga ngerti deh..
padahal tipe cowoknya juga tipe yang rasanya pengen ditabok deh saking ga sensitifnya. terus tipe ceweknya juga rasanya yang ga punya backbone kalu udah berhadapan dengan si cowok (apalagi kalu udah mulai dipeluk dan dicium, Wuihhh lupa deh ama segalanya!). ntar ngomelnya paling kalu si cowok ga dihadapan dia!
yang lebih anehnya lagi, selalu aja tiap baca buku yang dia karang (yang sekali lagi hampir sama satu sama lain) selalu saja ada bagian yang bisa bikin aku ketawa, meringis sedih atau marah-marah (biasanya bagian si cowok ngeluarin kata2 kasar).
jadi apa artinya ini?
aku ga tau, juga ga ngerti. yang jelas i'm a sucker for her books!!!
hahahahahaha...
July 23, 2016
A douchebag H to top DP's particular brand of douchebag Hs'. I, like others, give a fair bit of leeway to the H in DP's romances becuase she does the angst and the lurve pretty well and I know what to expect when I pick up a DP novel...I was mistaken. In this case, all the reasons in the world wouldn't make up for the way the H was cruel to the h over so many years. He just came across as petty, small minded and mean. The h, she was pretty likeable with a back bone but she STILL didn't hold out for a good grovel or indeed any grovel.
DP obviously treads a fine line in ensuring some slighty out of whack part of our brain view the H's as HERO material but in this case my out of whack isn't quite as out of whack.
DP obviously treads a fine line in ensuring some slighty out of whack part of our brain view the H's as HERO material but in this case my out of whack isn't quite as out of whack.
February 1, 2021
Pues si que hace honor a su nombre "El Rompecorazones", pero lo único que hizo fue romper una y otra vez un corazón, que lo único que quería es ser amado. Esta historia es de aquellas historias que te dejan un mal sabor de boca, porque al terminar de leerlo terminas diciéndote que esos hombres debieron sufrir muchísimo para reparar y enmendar sus acciones crueles, y no merecían que se les pusiera las cosas fáciles...
October 28, 2019
So the H needs regular doses of the skillet ... surprisingly the h is not such a doormat; she is smart and recognizes her poor behavior where the H is concerned although I felt she could have held out a bit longer when he came to propose ... all in a days work where DP is concerned ...
January 12, 2014
1 star.
Why did I pick this up?
I've already read two other Diane Palmer books and hated them why would I think this would be any different. The three stories I've read by DP I can't remember completely what happened in each book because something similar happens in every book I've read. Hero's are a-holes, and heroine's are doormats or idiots. Add a little danger and a nice guy friend and you've got a DP novel.
I admittedly haven't read this book in about 4 years but I only just realized that this was one I actually read. I remember that I hated the "hero", he was such a jackass, I don't mind some jerky behavior by either the hero or heroine and then some grovelling (by either the hero or herione) but this was ridiculous.
Is this the only kind of hero DP knows hows to write? Whether it is or isn't I won't be finding out because I am officially done with this author. I honestly don't know why she has been popular, it boggles the mind.
However I do admit that I wanted to like what DP writes because she does write well but I just can't get passed the relationship between the hero and heroine. It drives me crazy how much of a push over her heroines are and how jackassy and abusive her heroes are.
Avoid this author (and this story) like the plague.
Why did I pick this up?
I've already read two other Diane Palmer books and hated them why would I think this would be any different. The three stories I've read by DP I can't remember completely what happened in each book because something similar happens in every book I've read. Hero's are a-holes, and heroine's are doormats or idiots. Add a little danger and a nice guy friend and you've got a DP novel.
I admittedly haven't read this book in about 4 years but I only just realized that this was one I actually read. I remember that I hated the "hero", he was such a jackass, I don't mind some jerky behavior by either the hero or heroine and then some grovelling (by either the hero or herione) but this was ridiculous.
Is this the only kind of hero DP knows hows to write? Whether it is or isn't I won't be finding out because I am officially done with this author. I honestly don't know why she has been popular, it boggles the mind.
However I do admit that I wanted to like what DP writes because she does write well but I just can't get passed the relationship between the hero and heroine. It drives me crazy how much of a push over her heroines are and how jackassy and abusive her heroes are.
Avoid this author (and this story) like the plague.
April 18, 2012
This book reminded me of the brainless arm candy the "hero" was dating throughout most of the story. Just not as superficially pretty. It's more like that woman suddenly developed a horrible rash and her hair fell out, but she still tried to be seductive.
Basically, the guy was a jerk and the girl didn't have a life outside °f her attraction for him. But I can handle stereotypes falling in love (more or less). They do that very often in romance. The trouble came when Darren suddenly became Daryl. Or Darwin. Or Dingbat. Or...well, basically, the original "hero" of the story was apparently no longer available to play his role in the book, so he stepped out and in came a similar man who, nevertheless, was not the original. Or at least, that's what I assume happened when, in the last part of the book, we suddenly get a recap of the hero's reasons for resisting the relationship that contrasted sharply to the reasons cited in the first part of the book.
Basically, the guy was a jerk and the girl didn't have a life outside °f her attraction for him. But I can handle stereotypes falling in love (more or less). They do that very often in romance. The trouble came when Darren suddenly became Daryl. Or Darwin. Or Dingbat. Or...well, basically, the original "hero" of the story was apparently no longer available to play his role in the book, so he stepped out and in came a similar man who, nevertheless, was not the original. Or at least, that's what I assume happened when, in the last part of the book, we suddenly get a recap of the hero's reasons for resisting the relationship that contrasted sharply to the reasons cited in the first part of the book.
May 15, 2024
He’s a really cruel a**hole and I don’t feel his love for her. She made everything too easy for him. And I didn’t like that another woman was his first true love.
But the story kept me engaged - maybe because of all his shocking cruelty towards her - and I didn’t skip pages like I often do with other books. So therefore 4 stars.
But the story kept me engaged - maybe because of all his shocking cruelty towards her - and I didn’t skip pages like I often do with other books. So therefore 4 stars.
January 24, 2021
3 🤠🤠🐮 Stars
I’ve heard grumblings about this one for years. Specifically, what a ginormous ass J.B. was, and that there’s cheating, which I can't recall DP doing, which piqued my interest. I read a lot of books with assholes (fictional nice guys get boring) so I could/am probably skewed…and he’s certainly a jerk…but I didn’t find him overly cruel. (like King from Amelia) They aren’t ever a couple. She's infatuated; they share a kiss at 18, and another I believe 4 years later while he’s dating OW, Bella, so I was feeling the “cheating” vibe. (unless it maybe was a cheating kiss on Bella??) Regardless, I didn't find this one "unique" or overly offensive... but that's just me. I actually think Tellie’s little puppy begging for scraps make him seem worse than he is.
Here are the players…
J.B. Hammock is a 34 yr old Yale educated former rodeo champion playboy that raises prized Santa Gertrudis cattle. He’s tall and lean, with jet- black hair and dark green eyes, and rubs elbows with the rich and famous including famous politicians, movie stars, and foreign royalty. He has impeccable manners, a legacy from his Spanish grandmother, and wealth from his British grandfather. He’s known locally for chasing a disorderly drunk wielding a replica fantasy sword from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. He’s got a sharp tongue and lashes out when he feels threatened ... typically directed at the h.
Tellie is a 22 yr old orphan that’s been raised by J.B.’s sis (Marge) since she was a tween. She’s got a history degree from university; can whip up French pastries from scratch, and slaps when offended. She enjoys wearing flower embroidered clothing, and has a collection of mantillas. She’s pretty immature, has small breasts, and likes to gift J.B. ugly ties. She’s also thinks of him as her property/ her private male, and gets SUPER jelly, which typically ends with her insulting the current blond bimbo. She LOVES 😍😍 J.B. so, so, sooooo much, and will take any tiny crumb he’ll offer.
Bella Dean is tall, blonde and stacked. She’s a former beauty queen, and the current Miss Texas runner-up. She’s got a model- perfect face and teeth with hair to her waist. She can’t cook or clean and might be dumb...but she looks pretty.
Grange is a 27 yr old ex- Green Beret. He’s got the dark and dangerous vibe going on, and the shady past to match. He was a juvenile delinquent before the military gave him purpose. He’s not really worldly, but I think his broody/dangerous side will make up for it. His book is Courageous #43.
DP only has about five plot types, and this is the older grumpy, rude H who treats the h terribly because he can’t handle his “feelings” for her. She off course imprinted on him as a child, and doesn’t recognize that he has the emotional maturity of a 12-yr-old. Throw in some OW/OM drama, unrequited love with a hint of amnesia...and you get Heartbreaker.
Bottom Line- DP fans should like this one… or DP fans that are ok with jerky H’s that are jerky for stupid reasons, and desperate h’s that give endless chances. If that doesn’t sound like your cuppa… then I’d pass.
She followed him around like a puppy when she first went to live with Marge,” he told the other man. “You couldn’t talk to J.B. without tripping over Tellie. J.B. was her security blanket after she lost her mother.” “She was the same way with Marge,” J.B. muttered. “Not to that extent, she wasn’t,” Coltrain argued. “She thought the sun rose and set on you...”
She was possessive of J.B., she idolized him, but she’d never really considered anything physical between them. Now, her body seemed to know things her mind didn’t.
I’ve heard grumblings about this one for years. Specifically, what a ginormous ass J.B. was, and that there’s cheating, which I can't recall DP doing, which piqued my interest. I read a lot of books with assholes (fictional nice guys get boring) so I could/am probably skewed…and he’s certainly a jerk…but I didn’t find him overly cruel. (like King from Amelia) They aren’t ever a couple. She's infatuated; they share a kiss at 18, and another I believe 4 years later while he’s dating OW, Bella, so I was feeling the “cheating” vibe. (unless it maybe was a cheating kiss on Bella??) Regardless, I didn't find this one "unique" or overly offensive... but that's just me. I actually think Tellie’s little puppy begging for scraps make him seem worse than he is.
Here are the players…
J.B. Hammock is a 34 yr old Yale educated former rodeo champion playboy that raises prized Santa Gertrudis cattle. He’s tall and lean, with jet- black hair and dark green eyes, and rubs elbows with the rich and famous including famous politicians, movie stars, and foreign royalty. He has impeccable manners, a legacy from his Spanish grandmother, and wealth from his British grandfather. He’s known locally for chasing a disorderly drunk wielding a replica fantasy sword from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. He’s got a sharp tongue and lashes out when he feels threatened ... typically directed at the h.
Tellie is a 22 yr old orphan that’s been raised by J.B.’s sis (Marge) since she was a tween. She’s got a history degree from university; can whip up French pastries from scratch, and slaps when offended. She enjoys wearing flower embroidered clothing, and has a collection of mantillas. She’s pretty immature, has small breasts, and likes to gift J.B. ugly ties. She’s also thinks of him as her property/ her private male, and gets SUPER jelly, which typically ends with her insulting the current blond bimbo. She LOVES 😍😍 J.B. so, so, sooooo much, and will take any tiny crumb he’ll offer.
Bella Dean is tall, blonde and stacked. She’s a former beauty queen, and the current Miss Texas runner-up. She’s got a model- perfect face and teeth with hair to her waist. She can’t cook or clean and might be dumb...but she looks pretty.
Grange is a 27 yr old ex- Green Beret. He’s got the dark and dangerous vibe going on, and the shady past to match. He was a juvenile delinquent before the military gave him purpose. He’s not really worldly, but I think his broody/dangerous side will make up for it. His book is Courageous #43.
DP only has about five plot types, and this is the older grumpy, rude H who treats the h terribly because he can’t handle his “feelings” for her. She off course imprinted on him as a child, and doesn’t recognize that he has the emotional maturity of a 12-yr-old. Throw in some OW/OM drama, unrequited love with a hint of amnesia...and you get Heartbreaker.
Bottom Line- DP fans should like this one… or DP fans that are ok with jerky H’s that are jerky for stupid reasons, and desperate h’s that give endless chances. If that doesn’t sound like your cuppa… then I’d pass.
She followed him around like a puppy when she first went to live with Marge,” he told the other man. “You couldn’t talk to J.B. without tripping over Tellie. J.B. was her security blanket after she lost her mother.” “She was the same way with Marge,” J.B. muttered. “Not to that extent, she wasn’t,” Coltrain argued. “She thought the sun rose and set on you...”
She was possessive of J.B., she idolized him, but she’d never really considered anything physical between them. Now, her body seemed to know things her mind didn’t.
May 8, 2017
It's DP. It's Long Tall Texans. You know the plot. This one doesn't have drug runners or law enforcement. Thank the lord.
JB is definitely one of the most vile heroes DP has written. I don't think he ever really got his comeuppance. There was nowhere near enough groveling.
Here's something that irks me. Why must DP describe something from pop culture but not actually name it. She does this ALL THE TIME and it's annoying as all get out. Here it's the movie Serenity. Why can't she just say they went to see Serenity? No. No. She has to write a one paragraph synopsis of the science fiction movie and then force to come here to Goodreads to see when this was published to verify it jives with Serenity's release date. Not to mention she has the heroine (whose name already escapes me and I just finished he damn book) go on about how she'll have to buy the DVDs of the tv show the movie was based on. Just say FIREFLY! For Pete's sake. Joss Whedon is not going to sue you for mentioning it.
Rant over.
No. Wait. It's not. Because later in this book DP has JB go to Starbucks and she actually calls it Starbucks. Not JB goes to a coffee shop with a green logo and free wifi for a venti soy latte with an extra shot. Not that JB would have ordered such a beverage. But you get the idea.
One more little thing that bugged me. Gosh I'm on a tear here. Heroine's supposed to be getting a MA in history. Why then is she taking a literature course? If you're going to write a paragraph about Serenity instead of saying Serenity; you could certainly make up a more plausible course requirement. And why is she taking the same anthro course as her buddy who's getting his MA in anthro? And he's missing a grad level lecture? Methinks not.
And where on earth can you teach community college with just a BA?
And breathe.
I think I have this one a half star to bring it up to two specifically because of the Serenity/Firefly reference. I loved that show and movie. Like a leaf on the wind....
JB is definitely one of the most vile heroes DP has written. I don't think he ever really got his comeuppance. There was nowhere near enough groveling.
Here's something that irks me. Why must DP describe something from pop culture but not actually name it. She does this ALL THE TIME and it's annoying as all get out. Here it's the movie Serenity. Why can't she just say they went to see Serenity? No. No. She has to write a one paragraph synopsis of the science fiction movie and then force to come here to Goodreads to see when this was published to verify it jives with Serenity's release date. Not to mention she has the heroine (whose name already escapes me and I just finished he damn book) go on about how she'll have to buy the DVDs of the tv show the movie was based on. Just say FIREFLY! For Pete's sake. Joss Whedon is not going to sue you for mentioning it.
Rant over.
No. Wait. It's not. Because later in this book DP has JB go to Starbucks and she actually calls it Starbucks. Not JB goes to a coffee shop with a green logo and free wifi for a venti soy latte with an extra shot. Not that JB would have ordered such a beverage. But you get the idea.
One more little thing that bugged me. Gosh I'm on a tear here. Heroine's supposed to be getting a MA in history. Why then is she taking a literature course? If you're going to write a paragraph about Serenity instead of saying Serenity; you could certainly make up a more plausible course requirement. And why is she taking the same anthro course as her buddy who's getting his MA in anthro? And he's missing a grad level lecture? Methinks not.
And where on earth can you teach community college with just a BA?
And breathe.
I think I have this one a half star to bring it up to two specifically because of the Serenity/Firefly reference. I loved that show and movie. Like a leaf on the wind....
October 10, 2012
Why is it that romance novels feel the need to glorify assholes? Srsly, anyone who acted like this in real life would not set the heart to beating faster-- unless it was due to the speed at which any sane woman would run from this dumbass.
Why is it that they so proudly espouse the lie that 1) anyone you are physically attracted to must be THE ONE 2) that there IS a THE ONE 3) all one need do to secure the psychologically damaging and potentially life-threatening affections of said belligerent asshole is to be sweet, demure, and unassuming ?
Why do I keep reading them?
I admit it-- I quite liked this brainless bit of fluff. For a nonsensical romance cliche grabbag, this one had it all:
an obscenely wealthy "cowboy" (who decorates his house with Persian rugs and is never seen Actually Cow-boying),
a buxom blonde rival bimbo,
an unassuming not-love-interest who for some reason sparks no interest despite being 10X more interesting than the hero (and who clearly will be getting his own book)
an act of nature (tornado) that brings them closer together
AND a pointless amnesiac episode.
All these things make it true Harlequin. And for all these reasons, I cannot bring myself to give it three stars, despite finding it a likeable, breezy read. That I will never touch again, unless I decide to write a romance parody.
Note: Scaled down to 1 star because the wrap-up chapters made me gag.
Why is it that they so proudly espouse the lie that 1) anyone you are physically attracted to must be THE ONE 2) that there IS a THE ONE 3) all one need do to secure the psychologically damaging and potentially life-threatening affections of said belligerent asshole is to be sweet, demure, and unassuming ?
Why do I keep reading them?
I admit it-- I quite liked this brainless bit of fluff. For a nonsensical romance cliche grabbag, this one had it all:
an obscenely wealthy "cowboy" (who decorates his house with Persian rugs and is never seen Actually Cow-boying),
a buxom blonde rival bimbo,
an unassuming not-love-interest who for some reason sparks no interest despite being 10X more interesting than the hero (and who clearly will be getting his own book)
an act of nature (tornado) that brings them closer together
AND a pointless amnesiac episode.
All these things make it true Harlequin. And for all these reasons, I cannot bring myself to give it three stars, despite finding it a likeable, breezy read. That I will never touch again, unless I decide to write a romance parody.
Note: Scaled down to 1 star because the wrap-up chapters made me gag.
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