Long-Distance Marriage (Mills & Boon Vintage 90s Modern)
At the end of the month, any unsold copies in the shops are withdrawn and pulped. Again, any remaining books are disposed of. Fans looking for particular books after this time must find them second-hand. Sales swiftly increased, doubling over the period. This was marked by a number of events and exhibitions. As of , it now releases over e-books per month, more than in print, and sells more e-books than physical books.
According to Tim Cooper , digital and marketing director for the publisher, "digital lends itself to the habitual nature of our content. Our readers finish reading one and they can download the next. People read four to five in a few days so that's a lot of books to carry around. Another factor in favour of electronic publishing is the lack of a visible cover. Cooper notes that "part of the appeal of digital reading is that nobody necessarily knows what you're reading.
If you've got a Kindle then no one knows what you're reading. It's not about embarrassment, really—it's more that you don't want to be judged, and we are often judged by what we read. The more sexually explicit Spice imprint sells particularly well in electronic format, compared to the Modern imprint which is the most successful in print.
The company has been criticised for repeating plots, the inevitability of their happy endings, and a simple writing style, whereas fans cite predictability as a key reason for reading. The publisher was falsely accused of providing authors with templates for their stories. There is no template or standard outline and authors are allowed full artistic freedom. There are, however, genre conventions that need to be met to be successful. One critic claimed that the genre promotes misogyny and the sexual submission of women to men.
Julie Bindel writes "I would go so far as to say it is misogynistic hate speech. This was often true in older novels but changed over the years; modern novels feature more active protagonists. Even later, when other aspects are influenced by feminism and the shifting attitudes outside the novel, the men are masterful and stern.
It is a type I loathe and detest. I imagine in all women, deep down inside us, is a primitive desire to be arrogantly bullied. They must be the sort of men who are capable of rape". In modern novels, popular hero archetypes are Arab sheikhs, Italian billionaires, Greek tycoons, and princes. He will be more outrageous to the heroine, and harder on her. He realises he is beginning to feel, he has to resolve that conflict. She made the claim in her paper "'He seized her in his manly arms and bent his lips to hers…'.
She suggests that a romance reader may "not [use] protection with a new man because she wants to be swept up by the moment as a heroine would. Relationships of romance readers are more likely to break down because they are likely to think that "rather than working at her relationship she should be hitching her star to a new romance. The books are highly branded and are often in a separate section of bookshops and libraries from the other paperback fiction and romance novels.
Common themes are rich, ennobled and initially unattainable males often of Mediterranean—especially Greek—origin , the desire of a character to have a baby with this being thwarted by infertility or an unsympathetic husband , and the breakup and mending of a relationship. Several titles are published monthly in most imprints.
These are all identifiable by a series title and sometimes sub-series title as well as a colour border which differs depending on the country in which the title is published:. Neither the hero nor the previous wanna-be ow thought this was a bad thing? He LET her kiss him? I don't care if she's happily married now and over her "infatuation" with him That alone knocked off a whole star in my rating for this book. This pretty much sums up the book: How could you think I would ever do anything to hurt you? I adore you, my sweet kitten. He should have gone after her View all 5 comments.
The h, Leigh, is a rather melodramatic and insecure twit, while her French husband, Raoul, is a passionate and long-suffering sort. Leigh is supposed to be independent and self-accomplished. Instead, she comes off as stubborn, irritating and self-righteous. I just could not grasp what Raoul saw in her. I dislike heroines who go on and on about their looks being inferior--especially to other women and their partner's looks--it discredits the storyline for me and the h comes off as pathetic and in The h, Leigh, is a rather melodramatic and insecure twit, while her French husband, Raoul, is a passionate and long-suffering sort.
I dislike heroines who go on and on about their looks being inferior--especially to other women and their partner's looks--it discredits the storyline for me and the h comes off as pathetic and insecure. I prefer strong women who pride themselves on being true to who they are in every sense and let the rest sort it out.
Plus, she married a guy as gorgeous outside as he was on the inside! Her estranged husband's attempts to calmly talk to Leigh about what damaged their marriage, along with her lack of insight and distrust, made me dislike her. She was mature enough to get married at 19 but not smart enough to understand what she was seeking to discard like trash.
For someone always going on about hard work being honest, she didn't seem to apply her work ethic and diligence to managing her relationship with her husband. Her most positive qualities were her honesty and loyalty. She had a massive selfish streak, leading on an OM while still pining for Raoul. Raoul was honest about it all, he did not skulk in the shadows, as he put it! Raoul was a no-nonsense sort of guy. He laid into Leigh a few times and read her the riot act over her foolish antics and unwillingness to communicate like an adult. His very Latin approach to wooing his wife, coupled with a fierce, alpha dominant moodiness worked in this story.
I honestly don't know what he saw in her. She seemed unable to get past his astonishingly perfect looks, dismissing the loving, earnest, generous hardworking man who adored her, warts and all. Ah well, this is fiction after all. In the real world, Raoul would have lost his patience and moved on, of course, with a woman that valued him and trusted him. Aug 09, Megzy rated it liked it. This was five years ago. He was gorgeous, she was full figure and very judgemental about her weight and her looks.
She had severe self confidence issues. I have read few books with similar plot. There were some differences in this book. Her father, als 2. Her father, also an Adonis, was a serial cheater and he finally left his plump wife and daughter for good when she was only few years old. Her mother reminded in love with her scumbag of husband until her death; She believed handsome husbands were not made to fall in-love and remain faithful to one person. What bothered me more than anything else in this book was the length of time they were separated. In my opinion 5 years equals to much more as life and the brain change so much across when one is in their twenties.
Twenties are the defining decade of adulthood. So to me it was unacceptable to hear he was giving her room for so many years so she could experience life. Leigh remained immature throughout the book. I expected to see character growth but it didn't happen.
Raoul was just a big idiot. Who was more important, The wife or his so called friend whom by the way accused him of seducing his wife? He out did his previous act after he allowed the woman who causes the breakup in his marriage back to his house 5 years later without his wife being present. He saw her in his study with closed doors instead of asking the maid to show her to the drawing room while he waited for his wife which by the way was what we were told the woman in question was there to see and confess what has taken place 5 years ago.
Then he held her, looked adoringly into her eyes and kissed her while once again the wife was standing in the doorway. Aug 27, Julz rated it it was ok Shelves: Ok, I jumped from the first quarter of the book to the last ten percent or so. Somewhere in there, they moved to France and got a cat named Oscar who likes fish. This was relatively predictable, but the ending had some angsty twists that weren't totally unoriginal but mostly.
This is a angsty cheater type story to read when you don't have anything else and you haven't already read this story line a million times. Just middle of the road. Now, I have recently been on a Helen Brooks binge, and she has definitely entered the league of my favorite HQN authors- with the amazing way the emotions of characters and love is portrayed, as well as for her super devoted obsessive heroes.
Raoul was no exception! Even though Leigh leaves him after "catching" him with OW, he never gives up o "A Heartless Marriage" is the story of Raoul and Leigh, and is a second chance romance between a married couple, who are separated due to misunderstandings.
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Leigh's angst is well written too, and we feel bad for these star crossed lovers. I really liked that the couple still cared for each other despite their separation. The big fat misunderstanding was really silly in the end, but it gave the story some much needed angst- and the couple learned the truths about one another-so I didnt mind it. Ending was really stupid and dramatic, but ends in an implied HEA.
Overall, really enjoyed it. Sep 15, Mo rated it it was ok. This is a weird one. However, there are still some definite WTF things going on. On the one hand, I think the h was ridiculously unfair to just witness what she witnessed and then bugger off for 5 years! At least let him plead innocence, even if you then choose not to believe him! So for most of the book, I'm on the side of the dev This is a weird one.
So for most of the book, I'm on the side of the devoted, patient in the extreme! Bu then the H does something so monumentally stupid at the tail-end of the book, it's almost enough for me to switch sides. I mean, he cannot be that dumb.
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The smart thing to do is to belittle said woman - call her nasty names, imply she smells bad, say you'd rather shag a sheep etc etc. What you should not do is engage in a little friendly oh-it's-ok-we're-just-really-French tonsil hockey the morning after your wife finally forgives you. Her for being an immature little drama-queen, and him for being the dumbest son of a bitch this side of George Bush. Jul 23, Cecilia rated it it was ok. I really liked the premise of this book, but the heroine was so shrilly childish in her resistance to listening to any explanation that it was hard to feel anything but impatience for her.
It was hard to see her as an adult, and not someone in her early teens.
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The hero likewise was a disappointment. He was so perfect in his role of patient pining true love, not to mention so beautifully exotic and rich that he was like a parody of a romance hero, rather than seeming like a real person.
Jul 30, Leona rated it it was ok Shelves: I truly love Helen Brooks' romances.. She usually writes such wonderful heroines, but this one just came off very immature. I struggled with her thought process and felt she was not really deserving of the heroes love and devotion. Frankly, I was surprised that the hero was still committed to her after all the stupidity.
Surprising result from Helen Brooks. Apr 21, thadine rated it it was ok. Leigh Wilson left her husband Raoul de Chevnair five years ago after walking into her bedroom and finding a naked woman on the bed and Raoul coming out of the bathroom similarly unclothed. Now he's back and has coerced her into agreeing to spend the next three months with him before granting her a divorce. It's immediately obvious to the reader that Raoul was innocent; Leigh did not find him in bed, but coming out of the bathroom after a shower.
The naked woman happened to be Miranda, a guest sta Leigh Wilson left her husband Raoul de Chevnair five years ago after walking into her bedroom and finding a naked woman on the bed and Raoul coming out of the bathroom similarly unclothed.
The naked woman happened to be Miranda, a guest staying with them with her husband. That's right, with the full knowledge that both couples were in the house, Miranda decided to seduce her host. She is either incredibly stupid, or secretly wanted to be caught, but this is never addressed. The question I asked, which Leigh never did, was if Raoul really was cheating on her, why would he be dumb enough to do it in his own home where he'd obviously be caught?
Anyway, Leigh never gave him the opportunity to explain, and just screamed and ranted at him before setting fire to all her clothes and running off. Raoul's excuse for the past five years is that among the things Leigh had yelled at him, was the accusation that he was stifling her and making her feel trapped. He decided magnanimously to let her go and spread her wings, knowing that her love for him would act as a chastity belt please note I'm being sarcastic here. Too bad he never told her what really happened with Miranda or how he actually felt about her.
It wasn't possible to give her freedom without breaking her heart? It wasn't possible to love her without stifling her? It wasn't possible to force her to listen to him tell her he was never unfaithful? As for Leigh, she's pretty determined to believe the worst about Raoul because he's attractive and she's plain.
Her father was attractive and repeatedly cheated on her mother until finally leaving them a few weeks after her birth. I understand this was unpleasant, but considering she never knew her father I can't see how this excuses her skewed view of Raoul. She jumps to the assumption that he has been cheating on her all along with multiple partners and that the many times she has seen him turn down women in fact he always turns down women who try to make moves on him is just a front to fool her. She doesn't even remember saying that she felt stifled and needed freedom.
So all this stuff just came bursting out of her from nowhere? It just doesn't gel. Finally, after hearing strangers at a party discussing Raoul's lack of interest in women, Leigh decided to give him a hearing. He explains what happened with Miranda and she believes him. Unfortunately the next day she sees him kissing Miranda. Where do I start? The fact that Leigh wouldn't listen to Raoul until she heard strangers gossiping about him is simply ludicrous. It really doesn't say much about her, and doesn't give me any confidence in their relationship working out later.
Raoul tells Leigh that he hadn't seen Miranda since that fateful night. She showed up that morning to apologise and offer to explain the truth to Leigh, and Raoul was kissing her in thanks. Why isn't he angry with Miranda? Even if he and Leigh are back together, even if he decided to allow Miranda through the front door and listen to what she has to say after what she did, I can't believe that he'd feel friendly enough to kiss her after her apology. Forgiving her and being friends with her again are totally different things. I found this book very mediocre. It got great reviews at Amazon, I guess primarily because Raoul was faithful to Leigh all along and during their five year separation , which is very rare among category romance heros.
I complain every time we have heros who aren't faithful, and though I appreciate Raoul's fidelity, it doesn't save the book. His decision to leave Leigh alone for five years for her own good seems pretty high-handed and dumb to me. Let's not even get into how stupid Leigh is. I finished off agreeing with all the other women in the book who felt that Leigh didn't deserve Raoul, but I didn't like Raoul enough to care whether or not he got a happily ever after.
Nov 06, Linda Sims rated it liked it. The heroine had been but a teenager when they married, while he was older more confident, A man of the world feted by women. When the heroine discovers something she runs. He waits for five years before making a reappearance in her life. Coercing her to spend some time with him. But it seems he didn't learn his lesson the first time round. An okay read from this author, I enjoyed it even though there were aspects of this story that just didn't gel.
The ending felt a bit too rushed. Oct 11, Missy rated it really liked it. Sep 17, Mudpie rated it really liked it. This is my second Helen Brooks book and I like it! It has the angsty style of Michelle Reid. Blink and you'll miss the sexy times, they were euphemistically described in few words, but you cannot miss the passion and tenderness he felt for her.
The hero Raoul might come across as assholey initially, but he's an alpha totally devoted to heroine Leigh. She was terribly young and immature, when she thought he was unfaithful she just upped and left without giving him a chance to explain. Even a This is my second Helen Brooks book and I like it!
Even after five years, whenever he tried to clear the air, in her mind she already determined he just wanted her to accept his infidelity and she just wasn't strong enough to hear that. I could understand the pain she'd felt, and kudos to her for growing up into the strong woman she wanted to be, an artist. Yet emotionally she was still stuck at age not quite twenty, when she left him. It wasn't simply her misunderstanding of the situation she'd witnessed, but her insecurities regarding the rich and eligible Raoul choosing to marry her.
Being abandoned by a philandering father at birth added to her emotional baggage, so Raoul did what he felt he should do: Oh he kept watch over her, and the only reason he made the move to reclaim his wife was because he thought finally there's a man who could be getting too close to his wife!
Raoul was a really yummy hero. The things he kept saying to Leigh, gestures, actions the past five years, all showed how totally in love he was with Leigh. I wondered why too haha! Because Leigh was really immature and Raoul cherished her because she loved the man, not just his wealth and good looks!
- Observing Vessel: Observations, thoughts and general incoherent ramblings of a nutter.!
- Long-Distance Marriage (Mills & Boon Vintage 90s Modern) - Sharon Kendrick - Google Книги?
- A Heartless Marriage.
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The last final misunderstanding was stupid as hell but it added more drama to the end. I'm definitely seeking out more Helen Brooks books! Marion was a real bitch! So she wanted to apologise but not without causing more problems! Raoul, did you really have to kiss Marion even as a friend?! He's better off without such friends like Paul and Marion! They needed to be punished for the anguish they'd caused Raoul and Leigh!
Caught kissing the same woman found naked in his room 5 years ago. So what does Leigh Do? A bit silly and annoying. A little dated but still an entertaining read. Sep 12, Grace rated it liked it. Heartless Marriage was published in paperback in but it was recently made available via Kindle. Raoul de Chevnair loved and married the heroine, Leigh Wilson. They were married for eighteen months before Leigh left Raoul after she walked in on him with another woman in their bedroom. As flimsy as the premise sounds, the author did a good job of telling the story.
I liked the rationale Raoul had for letting Leigh leave and for staying away for five years. He obviously suffered a lot, pinning a Heartless Marriage was published in paperback in but it was recently made available via Kindle.
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He obviously suffered a lot, pinning away for his wife, keeping tabs on her, and staying true to their marriage vows. I find it interesting that in this case, it was the heroine who sort of strayed as she had a boyfriend. It was not a serious relationship, at least on her side, but Raoul had a feeling that Leigh's boyfriend wanted more so he decides to see Leigh again to force a reconciliation. As wonderful and empathetic as the hero was, I found the heroine immature and sometimes shrill.
It became exhausting after awhile, and very frustrating. I could not figure out what the hero found in her that was worth making the sacrifices he made for 5 years. Leigh refused to listen to Raoul's explanations, and when she finally did, it took very little for her to run away again. She was deeply distrustful of the her husband, and expected the worse of him.
I almost wished he would just walk away from the entire relationship. But of course, this is a Harlequin novel so it was a happy ending.