WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER SPOILERS.
ANNE HAMPSON
Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin Books, 1982.
How acquired: Do not remember.
First line: Snow lay thick on the hills, glittering like a myriad diamonds under the light of a full moon floating in a purple sky.
(Goodreads synopsis below.)
My thoughts: When I started this book, I was already reading a hardback that did not fit easily in my purse, so I pulled this one off the shelf to leave in my desk at work, for reading on my lunch break. But I got so caught up in it, that two days later I took it back home with me, and then sat up until 1 in the morning to finish it.
Two years after the death of her younger brother, Dominie inherits some money, and still grieving and not wishing to spend the Christmas holiday with her well meaning friends, she takes a Caribbean cruise. On the cruise she meets Jake and his two young children, Susie and Geoffrey. Jake and his wife had been separated when she passed away, and he was taking the children to his home on St. Thomas.
Fifteen pages in I was laughing out loud, while cringing slightly at the same time, over the first night’s dinner conversation. Susie mentioned “Uncle Rohan”, and Jake was explaining to Dominie that Rohan was their neighbor and close friend who adored the children.
‘He like little girls best,’ interrupted Susie. ‘He likes boys too!’ Geoffrey glared at his sister across the table. ‘Yes, he does – a bit. But he told me he likes little girls – not big ones. Only little ones.’
Not a conversation you’re likely to come across in a book in this day and age! It turns out that women have caused Rohan some pain and unhappiness, first the young strumpet who stole his dad away from his mother and then inherited his father’s fortune, then by a fiance who jilted him, and later still by a drunk woman driver who caused the accident that killed his younger sister.
Dominie enjoys spending time with Jake and the kids, and exploring the various islands together. When the ship reaches St. Thomas, Jake persuades her to come home with them for the day rather than take the excursion with the other cruise ship passengers, telling her he’ll bring her back to the ship that evening. But as luck with have it, car trouble causes them to arrive at the dock too late, and the ship has left without her. So Jake arranges a flight for her to meet up with the ship at it’s next destination, and then for some reason ship changes destinations, and he is unable to get her another flight, and convinces her to just spend the rest of her holiday with them. And then when her holiday is over, he offers her a position as the children’s nanny, and she settles in to her new happy life on St. Thomas.
In these older category romance books, the heroes are generally arrogant, dominant, demanding men, sometimes even downright cruel, and I love them. (On paper. I suspect I would not love any of them in real life.) Anyway, I did not feel that way about Rohan once Dominie met him. In fact, I disliked him very much. I very much did like Jake, on the other hand, and I found myself wishing he would be the one Dominie ended up with, despite his being considerably older and treating her in a fatherly manner. When talking to her about his marriage falling apart, he speculates over whose fault it was, saying “Perhaps it was mine. I believe women like a masterful man and I’m not that sort. I’m always afraid of hurting people. I suppose I’m not manly enough.” Dominie indignantly tells him of course he is, but, well, we know they aren’t meant to be. Not once she meets Rohan. Fortunately she later meets Erica, who loved Jake once upon a time before he married his wife, and Dominie determinedly sets out to get them together.
Like me, she dislikes Rohan very much. At first. And like me, she warmed up to him, although I never loved him as much as she came to. Maybe because of all the times he called her a silly child, or threatened to shake her, or beat her. I do believe he truly loved her though, and don’t think he would ever carry out those threats, but still.
Anyway. The course of true love never did run smooth as they say, so there were obstacles and an other woman determined to marry Rohan, and then the biggest obstacle loomed up that sent Dominie running back to England, but of course Rohan chased her down and cleared things up and they all lived happily ever after.
Synopsis from Goodreads: Dominie was delighted when an unexpected legacy enabled her to enjoy a Caribbean cruise--her first real holiday in years. But she certainly hadn't bargained on missing the boat halfway and finding herself the sudden guest of a fellow traveler. Nor had she expected the island's most eligible bachelor, Rohan de Arden, to fall in love with her. Their plans to marry were shattered when Dominie realized that an episode from her past would surely turn Rohan's love to hate.
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