Yvonne Whittal

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

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

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

Might not like a steady diet of these old Harleys but they're fun to read every once in a while. show less

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

Roxana "Roxy" Cunningham is visiting her father at his office and accidentally bumps into a man, Marcus Fleming. Roxy has been blind for ten years--she was in a car accident when she was twelve (a hand grenade was thrown at the car she was in and it also killed her mother.) Roxy and Marcus talk briefly and then go their separate ways. Two weeks later she meets Marcus again--her father is having guests over for dinner and Marcus is a client of her father. Marcus asks Roxy out and she accepts. show more But their growing relationship becomes strained--Roxy is hesitant to have a relationship because, since she is blind, she feels that she would be a burden to the man she got involved with. But Marcus is very persistent.

This was a very enjoyable romance. I liked Roxy. She was a sweet and thoughtful heroine. She visited patients at the eye clinic who had lost their sight. I liked how she helped the eight-year-old boy, Chris, who was partially blind and very depressed. She went out of her way for him, bringing her dog in to visit him, and that really cheered him up! I also liked Marcus, though, in the first half of the book, he was a bit cranky and arrogant, but I really grew to like him in the second half. There was also some added drama, with amnesia, operations, etc. This was a pretty good book by Yvonne Whittal. show less