Anne Mather (1) (1946–)

The fact that the lady was SIXTEEN at the time she was seduced by the TWENTY-FIVE (or twenty-six) year-old "hero" was just too much to gloss over. The fact that her at least FORTY year-old GUARDIAN married her with such swinish motivation on his part (despite being impotent for *reasons*) was incredibly creepy (especially since his motivation for even becoming her guardian was the same). Later on it is revealed just how much of a turd the guardian was, but because the "hero" loved the heroine, it seemed as if his behavior was excused. I do think that part of the reason for the lady to have been so young was to leave her with virtually no options once she discovered the pregnancy, but still, the whole sitch was gu-ross.

Given today's climate re: sexual assault, I could not just leave a plain rating on this. A GROWN ASS PERSON macking on a TEENAGER is screwed up, even if they end up getting married or whatever.

Also, did people in the 70's just leave their little kids to wander around (near the ocean!) with no supervision at all? Like, the lady in this just left her 11yo alone for most of the day while she cared for someone else's kids. She had absolutely no concern that her 4yo charge had just wandered out of the house after feeding and dressing himself. I mean, I grew up in the 80's in NY and my parents def didn't keep us on leading strings, but this seems kind of callous, because, you know, THE OCEAN.… (més)

How wonderful to find this old favorite again. I originally read this back when it first came out and never really forgot it. I just couldn't remember which one it was. Well written, well plotted. It definitely keeps your interest. A good motivation for the secret baby. The motivation is one of the main parts I had never forgotten. Both the hero and the heroine remained in love even though separated for 12 years and not knowing that the other still loved them. Some of the oldies don't hold up well but I think this one really does.

I will say however that I don't think she was as well written as a mother as books are nowadays. She didn't handle her son with the maturity that she should have shown.… (més)

What is it with authors dropping the ball on the ending of books?

This is another in my quest to read the first 100 HPs. This one is numbered 54. It was published in 1972 and is the 42nd one I have read so far. It takes place in the Camargue region of France. It mostly dealt with miscommunication. I'm going to blame the hero just a little bit more here. Seriously she asked him 4 or 5 times when he was going to marry the other woman and he never told her he wasn't. And even though she (the OW) was crippled and lived with his family, he clearly had broken up with her years ago. He kinda deserved all the angst he went through. I liked the descriptions of the local area. I liked the heroine generally. I felt that she had a fairly decent reason for the secret baby although not a whole lot of reason to continue the secret. She had come to France to ask for money to take her child to a warmer climate for his health and she managed to bring an oddly extensive wardrobe with her.

So I liked it but the author totally failed on the ending. The OW brought them together. Going out of her way to go to another country and tell the heroine that the hero had been injured nearly unto death by a bull. Sort of I don't want him and now you can't have him because he's dying, ha ha. So the heroine goes running to his side. The second in a row I've read where the heroine makes the final running. There were a couple of things left hanging that I would have liked some clarity on.

Still on the whole worth the read.… (més)