13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fabulous, July 27, 2006
This review is from: The Secret Wife (Presents, No 1961) (Paperback)
One of the best romances ever. Funny, lighthearted, intelligent, memorable. Definitely one of Graham's best, i rank it on par with Bond of Hatred and the Spanish Groom.
Rosie's a total tomboy predisposed to running away, Constantine is the hot-blooded, protective Greek billionaire. They marry because that was the dying wish of her dad (who's also Constantine's adoptive father). They're hilarious, here's a bit (Rosie takes off from Constantine's mansion in Athens):
"An hour later, weighed down only by her backpack, Rosie was lowering herself off the balcony outside her room. She made a slight detour onto a drainpipe to reach the sturdy climber covering the wall and then descended as sure-footed as a cat down onto the paved terrace below. Somewhere too close for comfort, a dog barked. Rosie took off at speed across the landscaped gardens, dodging and weaving like a professional. There was more than one dog barking now and her adrenalin hit an all-time high. As she got near the perimeter wall, some sort of siren screamed and suddenly a man appeared out of the darkness.
Rosie made a rush at the wall. The man got in the way. On the brink of her kicking him, he coughed and she recognised him. '*Taki*...?' [Taki is one of Constatine's bodyguards; Rosie nursed him when he had a cold]
He froze in astonishment.
'Taki, *please*,' she pleaded as the dogs got closer.
He gave her a leg-up over the ten-foot wall. By then another alarm was screeching in tune with the siren. Rosie dropped down onto the road and then scudded across it into the cover of some bushes. A police car with a flashing light wheeled to a screeching halt as the electronic gates sprang open. Rosie set off up the road. Eat your heart out, Rambo, she thought smugly. But Constantine really ought to employ Taki elsewhere. Taki was too impressionable for Constantine's safety."
:-) Some of the best dialogue and action Graham has ever written.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
disturbing, August 9, 2011
ok I don't get the reviews of this book. To be fair, it was well written like all of Lynn Grahms books. The heroine and her story were terrifically interesting. She was witty, confident and stood up to the male love interest, till she didn't. What I could not stand: the male lead was physically abusive in a few parts, frequently threatened physical abuse in no joking or vauge way and of course was verbally abusive. He was so offensive, and it was great when the heroine fought back. once she started cowing to his abuse and owing his destructive view of herself the story turned tragic. This story went from romantic to a study on how abuse can tear down a strong character and lead her to become a doormat. Unlike other "misunderstanding /treat you like crap/eat crow" romances, the male lead does not apologize for his gross mistreatment. He actually blames the heroine for his bad behavior and she accepts the blame. In the final love scene, he realizes the truth about the heroine and gets mad at her because she did not force him to belive her. He never accepts responsibility for his actions. He is angry that she caused him to treat her badly. The once confident heroine gravels and agrees and is so depressed that this all looks like love to her. One other thing, the stepmom knew that the heroine was growing up in abusive and poor conditions. She nevers tells the husband to help the girl. She is heralded as so gracious at the end because she doesnt hold a grudge against the heroine. She never apologies for leaving Rosie to suffer and Rosie doesnt acknowledge the cruelty. In the end she is grateful to be tolerated by people who allow her abuse and act abusively with no apologies.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mama Mia!, March 31, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Secret Wife (Presents, No 1961) (Paperback)
Lynne Graham does it again! The Secret Wife has conflict, passion, romance, everything Lynne Graham is known for in the romance world. Rosie, the heroine, goes up against an arrogant Greek tycoon in an attempt to make him believe a long-buried secret and, in the process, also get out of her life. Her love interest gets swept off his feet trying to foil her constant attempts to run away from him. There could only be one ending in this tug-of-war: a passion neither ever thought imaginable.
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