Customer Reviews

The Lonely Season (Harlequin Presents, No 940)

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When I was in 11th grade, The Lonely Season was released and I read it. It was one of the most magnificent books I'd read because it didn't follow the usual archaic romance formula. This was a story with a twist and one of the first with a book within a book (Gina, the main character, is writing a book).

The interesting thing about The Lonely Season is that it remains my very favorite romance book. And, by now, I've ready nearly thousands of them.

Basic plot (purely from memory) is about a wonderful little girl who suffers a tragic accident which not only harms her, but helps her, too. It's a "silver lining on the storm cloud" situation where without this accident which robbed her of her confidence, her flair, and her voice, Gina would have become the same self-centered, pampered and materialistic Barbie's that her mother and sisters have become. Instead, Gina is forced to endure operation after operation, learn sign language, and develop a personality sans voice. All of this assists her in reaching other children with disabilities through touch, sign language, art and love.

Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad in the form of Nevin, the man whom she thinks loves her and SEES her despite her handicap. While she gives her young heart in gratitude to Nevin, he is secretly using her to escape a wife and her demanding brother, Leo (A Publisher). The encounter of all these characters culminates in an incredibly humiliating experience for Gina and immediate hatred for her by Leo.

So, years later, Gina takes solace in writing a novel under a psuedonym and is given use of a cabin on an island where she can really concentrate. She meets a little boy she assumes is a Native and befriends him; discovering that he is hearing impaired. As they grow closer, a hurricane rips apart her cabin and her stability when she is forced to move to the main house on the island owned by Nick's father -- LEO!!

Again, if you have been reading romance novels for ever, or are a beginner, The Lonely Season is one of the absolute BEST!!!

I love this book, because when I was 11 years old I had asthma pretty bad and this book gave me hope that despite a handicap, love isn't just a fantasy. The way she united with the child and touch him when he couldn't be, was fantastic. The redemption of love is beyond all disadvantage, reason and despair. Great book- don't dismiss this one because it's short and a romance. Sometimes, romance is short and sweet.

Back Cover description: Self-control was only a mask she wore. Gina Bennett, victim of a freak accident, had suffered plenty. She wasn't about to let her publisher, Leo Sterne, open old wounds--especially the memory of her disastrous first infatuation. It was bad enough that Leo thought she'd ruined his sister's marriage....Now he wanted much more than an admission of her guilt. He needed her to help his deaf young son. And against his will, he wanted her. All Gina wanted was to forget--forget the past, her loneliness and her need for love. But Leo and the boy made that impossible.

Gina had an accident at 16; she lost the use of her voice. She finally has it back, and runs into Leo on his island. Leo is dragging his own emotional baggage around and to top it off he finally gets custody of his son. Lots of different plot threads here and an unusual storyline. Fans of Ms. Napier should give this a try.

The Lonely Season by Susan Napier
Harlequin Presents # 940 - December 1986

Gina Bennett was recovering from surgery to her larynx and desperately needed a quiet place to complete the illustrations on a children's book, and to work on the edits of her autobiography that had sparked an editor's interest. The bungalow on the private south sea island belonged to her soon-to-be publisher; whom she was dismayed to discover was Leo Sterne and that the deaf boy who visited her at her bungalow was Leo's son Dominic. Leo couldn't believe his eyes. The woman on the beach playing with abandon with his seven-year-old son was the woman who'd broken his sister's marriage. Somehow, this home-wrecker was getting through to the deaf boy in ways Leo only dreamed of. Though he couldn't hide his righteous outrage and his bitter loathing, he was forced to admit that he needed Gina to help him break through the barriers Nic had built. But he also wanted Gina to pay for her reckless behaviour with a married man. All Gina wanted was a quiet place to find her voice again, and to forget her past, a past she skillfully hid behind her mask of self-control, and a past that would smash all of Leo's assumptions.

Oh what an amazing story! There's a tremendously powerful scene in the middle of the book, where Gina finally has the voice to lash out at Leo for his complete misjudgment of her. And I loved how Ms. Napier resolved that issue in the middle of the book, for to carry on with that conflict until near the end would have made Gina a martyr. This allowed the story to concentrate of Leo and Gina's incredible chemistry. Leo's not a man to apologize though he admits that he'd been a bastard towards her and demands a chance to make amends. He's a strong hero with a heart and the smarts to recognize the true gem he has in Gina. This is Ms. Napier's 5th book of her 34 books published; it shows her remarkable talent for creating characters with tremendous depth and scenes filled with heartfelt emotion. Bravo!

I thought Ms Napier had created THE most wonderful romance hero in Leo Sterne until page 169 when, oops, his wife turns up! Yes, its an 'adulterous affair' romance. Quite unusual for HR. And told entirely from the POV of the miscreant couple. The only purpose in Cynthia's appearance is to cause pain to her hearing impaired child and in the love between Leo and the talented, rich, young, reluctant sexpot Gina who has all the skank instincts of the sisters she so pretends to despise. By the end of the story on page 188, Cynthia's long been divorced. A lovely, emotional romance in which the hero and heroine spend a lot of time in each other's company sorting out their feelings for one another. In the end Leo comes out with feet of clay but the story is set in Australasia so what can you expect. Thoroughly recommended if you enjoy romances imbued with lightweight social issues.