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jbarr5's review
4.0
Flip Side of Yesterday by Billie Douglass Barbara Delinsky
Chloe and Russ meeting once again...he's moved into her beach house in Little Compton, RI (a town I'm familiar with and it's surroundings)
Fun to listen to where they go for lunch, mansion for dinner at night and all the descriptions of the sea and sand scenes.
She's an geologist consultant and plans for big communities that will not harm the land. He's into developing land with a bit of regard for the environment.
Hot steamy sex scenes add to this tale.
She doesn't want to take his business offer but she considers it...
Chloe and Russ meeting once again...he's moved into her beach house in Little Compton, RI (a town I'm familiar with and it's surroundings)
Fun to listen to where they go for lunch, mansion for dinner at night and all the descriptions of the sea and sand scenes.
She's an geologist consultant and plans for big communities that will not harm the land. He's into developing land with a bit of regard for the environment.
Hot steamy sex scenes add to this tale.
She doesn't want to take his business offer but she considers it...
pixieauthoress's review
2.0
I read this book in a reprint collection from 1998 called [b:Rekindled|593035|Rekindled|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1176096772s/593035.jpg|579770]. I grabbed it on BookMooch a couple of years ago, when I first got into Barbara Delinsky's writing, without realising it was a reprint of two of her early 80s romance novels. I've actually read a couple of her early novels, and I really enjoyed one of them ([b:Montana Man|896582|Montana Man (Harlequin Temptation)|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328007610s/896582.jpg|3239621]) while the other one was just average ([b:An Irresistible Impulse|842353|An Irresistible Impulse|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348917151s/842353.jpg|436297]). This one falls into the latter category.
If I'd realised this book had originally been published under Harlequin/Silhouette's Desire line, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. Which I do really enjoy some of Harlequin's lines, I prefer the longer, more family and romance focused Superromances or Special Editions, rather than the sex-fuelled Desire novels. This book isn't bad--in fact, the writing isn't bad at all. It's just the style of romance and type of hero that didn't work for me. If you like Desire novels, you might like this book.
I decided to plough through this book, even if I didn't particularly enjoy it, because it was pretty short. It came in at 165 pages in my edition, and those were relatively small pages with a large font, so it was a quick read. I liked the details about the heroine's work with geology and looking into environmental factors affecting new business developments. Her past in New Orleans intrigued me, but we never really learn a lot about that, although it's hinted at vaguely throughout the novel. Her co-workers were at least a little more than cardboard cut-outs, but I did wish we'd had the chance to see her interacting with someone other than men for the entire book. There's Ross, the hero, Lee, her business partner, and the Senator she's working with on a job. There's a female intern who pops up for a few lines, but that's about it. Maybe it's just a reflection on workplaces in the 80s?
It appears that some parts of the book were updated for the late 90s audience. For example, the heroine puts on a CD rather than a cassette--which given the 80s fashions, seemed really out of place. But then they appear to go for a motorcycle ride without helmets--was this an 80s thing? My dad was a biker in the 70s and 80s and I know that he was in some accidents that could have killed him if he didn't wear a helmet. Maybe it's just because I'm the daughter of a biker, but this scene really bugged me.
My biggest issue with this book? The hero. He reminded me a lot of the hero from [b:An Irresistible Impulse|842353|An Irresistible Impulse|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348917151s/842353.jpg|436297], so evidently this was a popular hero for 80s romance novels. He is such an alpha male, and I just don't like alpha males at all. He's very forceful and domineering with the heroine, to the point where it feels uncomfortable, not romantic. He cajoles her into going for dinner with him, working on business deals, etc, and I can see that it's meant to be romantic, but if a guy was ever that pushy with one of my girlfriends, I'd tell them to run away--FAST. He also insists on calling the heroine "princess" all the time, which isn't a term of endearment as much as it is a reference to her former life as a New Orleans débutante. Chloe makes it clear several times that she's moved on from who she was back then, but he still pushes the "princess" label on her. It's like he won't let her escape the past. I'm all for Chloe reconciling with her family, but that doesn't mean she has to return to being the spoiled, rich girl she used to be.
And of course, as happens in most 80s romance novels, the heroine has never slept with another guy since she was with the hero ten years ago. Of course, he is a man of the world and has been with many women. Although they only had one night together when she was 18, he's the only man for her, and they instantly fall in love again, and he's the one man who can teach her how to make love like a real woman, etc, etc. SNORE. I like my heroines to have a bit more backbone and not get hung up one guy forever, and my heroes to not be pushy jerks. This romance just didn't work for me.
I love romance novels, don't get me wrong. But this story needed a bit more realism, and the hero was more annoying than romantic. If you want to try one of Barbara Delinsky's early novels, I'd recommend [b:Montana Man|896582|Montana Man (Harlequin Temptation)|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328007610s/896582.jpg|3239621] over this one. The hero is still a bit of an alpha male, but the snowbound-in-a-cabin plot makes the quick romance more believable, and there's a cute baby to add to the mix. This just wasn't my kind of romance. 2*
If I'd realised this book had originally been published under Harlequin/Silhouette's Desire line, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. Which I do really enjoy some of Harlequin's lines, I prefer the longer, more family and romance focused Superromances or Special Editions, rather than the sex-fuelled Desire novels. This book isn't bad--in fact, the writing isn't bad at all. It's just the style of romance and type of hero that didn't work for me. If you like Desire novels, you might like this book.
I decided to plough through this book, even if I didn't particularly enjoy it, because it was pretty short. It came in at 165 pages in my edition, and those were relatively small pages with a large font, so it was a quick read. I liked the details about the heroine's work with geology and looking into environmental factors affecting new business developments. Her past in New Orleans intrigued me, but we never really learn a lot about that, although it's hinted at vaguely throughout the novel. Her co-workers were at least a little more than cardboard cut-outs, but I did wish we'd had the chance to see her interacting with someone other than men for the entire book. There's Ross, the hero, Lee, her business partner, and the Senator she's working with on a job. There's a female intern who pops up for a few lines, but that's about it. Maybe it's just a reflection on workplaces in the 80s?
It appears that some parts of the book were updated for the late 90s audience. For example, the heroine puts on a CD rather than a cassette--which given the 80s fashions, seemed really out of place. But then they appear to go for a motorcycle ride without helmets--was this an 80s thing? My dad was a biker in the 70s and 80s and I know that he was in some accidents that could have killed him if he didn't wear a helmet. Maybe it's just because I'm the daughter of a biker, but this scene really bugged me.
My biggest issue with this book? The hero. He reminded me a lot of the hero from [b:An Irresistible Impulse|842353|An Irresistible Impulse|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348917151s/842353.jpg|436297], so evidently this was a popular hero for 80s romance novels. He is such an alpha male, and I just don't like alpha males at all. He's very forceful and domineering with the heroine, to the point where it feels uncomfortable, not romantic. He cajoles her into going for dinner with him, working on business deals, etc, and I can see that it's meant to be romantic, but if a guy was ever that pushy with one of my girlfriends, I'd tell them to run away--FAST. He also insists on calling the heroine "princess" all the time, which isn't a term of endearment as much as it is a reference to her former life as a New Orleans débutante. Chloe makes it clear several times that she's moved on from who she was back then, but he still pushes the "princess" label on her. It's like he won't let her escape the past. I'm all for Chloe reconciling with her family, but that doesn't mean she has to return to being the spoiled, rich girl she used to be.
And of course, as happens in most 80s romance novels, the heroine has never slept with another guy since she was with the hero ten years ago. Of course, he is a man of the world and has been with many women. Although they only had one night together when she was 18, he's the only man for her, and they instantly fall in love again, and he's the one man who can teach her how to make love like a real woman, etc, etc. SNORE. I like my heroines to have a bit more backbone and not get hung up one guy forever, and my heroes to not be pushy jerks. This romance just didn't work for me.
I love romance novels, don't get me wrong. But this story needed a bit more realism, and the hero was more annoying than romantic. If you want to try one of Barbara Delinsky's early novels, I'd recommend [b:Montana Man|896582|Montana Man (Harlequin Temptation)|Barbara Delinsky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328007610s/896582.jpg|3239621] over this one. The hero is still a bit of an alpha male, but the snowbound-in-a-cabin plot makes the quick romance more believable, and there's a cute baby to add to the mix. This just wasn't my kind of romance. 2*
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