Avail Yourself For One Night Composed By Penny Jordan Displayed As Copy

marking that I read and enjoyed this one but it was awhile ago, A one night stand between two hurting strangers leads to a whole lot more, Only coincidence brought them back together, I really felt for the hero in this one and I'm glad he got his HEA Other shelves: richfarmerhero, stubbornheroine The story dragged a bit.
I had no idea why the heroine continued with her lie for so much of the book, This was just a soso book for me, I read it some time ago and forgot to review, To sum it up, it dragged, The pacing was slow and that irritates me, The heroine was frustrating with all her deceit and I wasn't sure she deserved the hero whom I liked a lot.
If she had been a bit more honest with him it wouldn't have been so bad, Every man, unless a criminal or abuser, deserves a chance to be a father to their child and when there is secretkeeping off and on throughout it turns me off the story.


Do I recommend Let me just say that it is not a book I liked well enough to reread.
Once was more than enough, Hero was a gem. Heroine was a deceitful bitch, Her commitment phobia drove me crazy! Tried to read this a few times but couldn't get into it.
No connection to the h or H, Nostalgic reading trip.

For anyone who cut their romance teeth on Harlequins, it will give you warm fuzzies to reread fave from the past, but, it will also make you appreciate today's authors more for their bolder style of writing.
Back in the day, I subscribed to Harlequins and got them monthly, I couldn't wait to open the box to see if there were any of Penny Jordan's and Carole Mortimer 's in there.
I used to think they were so spicy!As I read this old favorite, I noticed a dearth of verbal exchange between the main characters.
There were tentative forays into his thoughts even though that was practically unheard of during that time period with these types of books.
I guess you could say that this story was spicy for it's time period, but still conservative, I eventually found Silhouette Desire and moved on to historical romance when someone introduced me to Kathleen Woodiwiss' books.
I have remained a fan of Penny Jordan's and Carole Mortimer's and their stories will always have a place in my heart.
This was a fun read because it had been a favorite in my past, A short read of a couple who had one night stand she overcoming death of a friend and him needing companionship.
"For One Night" is the story of Diana and Marcus,

In this tale of dealing with grief, our h loses a beloved friend to leukemia and decides to drown her sorrows in a night of drugs and alcohol.
Waking up in a stranger's bed, they have a passionate ONS, after which the H disappears, .

The book then begins a few months later, where a pregnant h moves into a small town to give a fresh start to her unborn baby.
Masquerading as a widow, she never expects her new neighbor would be the H!

She expects him to leave her alone, and does everything in her power to push him away, but the H is hooked and continuously pursues her.
But as the paternity truth reveals itself, will the h and H be able to work things out

Good book which dealt with some dark and deep truths, and losing a loved one.
I could understand the h's love for her best friend and baby, and the grief she faced was heartbreaking.
However, I believe her feelings for the H could have been much better developed, He was likable, but very beta, I don't think it was right for her to lie to him, especially as he was being uber sweet and helpful.
The ending was really sweet,

Safe
./BEAUTIFUL is the word for this book, Beautiful with its sensual plot,intruging hero and heroine and hot delicious romance,

One night between the farmowner Marcus Simmons totally fell in love with this hero and the grieving heroine Diana Johnson result in a secretbaby,and one growing love that will turn to everlasting love.
. .

PJ wrote with care in this one and the story held my attention throughout the book.
The misunderstanding,the mild angsty and the bessotted love the hero and heroine felt towards each other was so sweet and i just love the passion in both of them.
They were strangers, but each had a need

The loss of her dearest friend left Diana with a profound need to be close to someone.
One night of passion in a stranger's arms, unplanned and unexpected, answered that need and moreshe became pregnant!

Yet Diana felt no regret about her baby's conception.
She would put the man and the night behind her and start a new life elsewhere,

But fate followed, The very town Diana chose to settle in was home to Marcus Simons, her hitherto nameless lover, And, clearly, once was not enough for Marcus, RE For One Night or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way From the Funeral PJ is back and this time with an entirely new and groundbreaking trope for HPlandia The seekrit baby from the one night stand.


In general one night stands are NOT encouraged at this point and time in HPlandia, Yes the real world is several decades ahead of HP values, but in HPlandia the lady who finds herself in an interesting condition after a night of anonymous lurve is not considered to be HP h material.
There is something a bit dubious about them that precludes investing them with the traditional HP h values of kindness, selfsacrifice and shinning purity.


PJ in her own indomitable but exceedingly gentle and compassionate way, manages to change that bedrock HPlandia assumption and she does it with one book.
Which puts FON on the HP required reading list, cause PJ just took a huge leap into the twentieth century and reset the boundaries for endless meet a stranger and have a baby and marry them tropes in the twenty first.
As a bonus, future Lynne Grahams and Jacqueline Bairds, as well as other HP writers will have a great new reason for the H's to blackmail their chosen h into all kinds of sticky situations, not that they ever really needed a reason really, but it does add some spice to the variety of HP blackmail life.
But all that is in the future for us HP voyagers, in the meantime we have a PJ story to discuss.


The story opens with theyr old h in a very deep grief over the death of her very good friend and roommate.
The lady died after a bout with leukemia and the h devotedly nursed her very BFF until the bitter end.
She can't stand to go back to the flat they shared and so she checks into a nice hotel for the night.
One drink and a sleeping pill later, she wakes to find a very handsome man sharing her room with her.
It seems there was a mixup at the front desk and both the H and h are booked into the same room.
To be fair, the H tries to get the h to leave, but she just can't stand the thought of the lonely flat that awaits her and we get H pov describing how long it has been since he has cuddled with a warm female body, so the two come together in fiery blaze that PJ assures us is meant to reaffirm life.


In fact PJ goes out of her way to assign almost mystical powers and divine intervention into this one night event.
The h truly believes that a higher power was benevolently extending a hand in providing a handy and warmly comforting male body to console her in her deep grief and depression.
When the h awakens the next morning the H is gone like an angel in the mist and the h soon finds herself preggers a few weeks later.
It has to be Divine Providence to help fill the hole in her life,

Since her late friend was a successful novelist and had no other family, the h is her sole inheritor.
This financial cushion and the bequeathment of the friend's old fashioned and courteous country London solicitor leads the h to the decision to buy a listed building bookshop and flat in the Herefordshire area where the inherited solicitor has family connections.


The h is from the Yorkshire dales herself, but she isn't close to her family and her parents immigrated to Australia to be closer to the siblings they adore anyways.
The h feels a powerful need to make a new start and get out of the tv media world with it's smarmy and licentious male population who completely repulse her.
A small, friendly English village will be just the place to raise a baby and settle into small village life.


Therefore it is a hugely discomfited h who goes to a local farm to buy some weathered Tudor beams for the refurbishment of her listed building and runs smack bang into the H.
He instantly accuses her of tracking him down for nefarious reasons, and the h is quick to deny that and also that he was in any way meaningful or memorable to her in her outpouring of grief and devastation.


The h then lets the H and everyone in the village believe that she is a new widow, she figures this will keep the H off the scent when her pregnancy starts to show.
The H for his part, can't seem to get the h off his mind, She really was the epitome of womanly lurve and comfort and he is anxious to pursue a relationship.
He thinks he understands her hesitance, because he thinks she is newly widowed, but this man is determined and even gets his sister and mother in on matchmaking with the h.


The h wants nothing to do with the H, When she went to the farm, the housekeeper referred to an invalid Mrs, and so the h is under the impression that the H is a married man and playing away while his wife suffers from some confining illness.
She is soon put to rights by the H's sister, who also does her best to involve the h in local village events, such as the annual fete that is held on the H's land.
The H inherited the farm from his uncle, and tho he was engaged at the time and his fiancee wanted him to sell up and move to the bright lights of London, the H did not do so.
He decided to kiss the mercenary fiancee goodbye and make a go of the farm, as it had been his invalid mum's home for all of her life and she is now confined to a wheelchair and doesn't get much joy now.


The story progresses with the h hiring some young local punk style teens to clear out her garden and an old greenhouse, these two would be punk rockers happen to be the son of the H's sister and his friend.
The h is busy with plans for her listed building decoration and refurbishment and getting her new bookshop up and running as well as organizing the village fete.
The usual PJ decoration process is thoroughly discussed and developed throughout the story, no rag rolling tho, as the h assures us it isn't in keeping with her home's antique style and the h really wants to be authentic.


The H wanders by several times and the h firmly rejects him, he finally discovers her pregnancy when he saves her from falling glass in the old greenhouse.
The h flat out tells him that the baby isn't his, she implies that her friend who died was her late husband and since the friend's name was Leslie, the H assumes the pregnancy was the last ditch attempt of a dying man to leave a legacy.
The h doesn't disillusion him and also lets the village believe that her little bundle of joy is her nonexistent husband's as well.


The H finally backs off and the h's refurbishment projects continue, The h is starting to feel some guilt over her lies, as the H is all things helpful and kind and caring about his fellow man and the h begins to learn she was mistaken about his pump and dump ways.
The h also has a strange spot of possessive jealousy when the H's sister ropes her into joining a dinner party.

The H shows up with a twenty one year old bombshell as his date for the evening when he comes to pick the h up at his sister's behest.
The OW is terribly catty to the h and the h is paired off with another widower, naturally this doesn't exactly engender a lot of warmth for either the H or the sister on the h's part, she makes her escape early and is more determined than ever to avoid the H, even tho his mother is urging the two together.


Once again fate takes a hand when the h has to go to the H's farm to drop off a prescription for the H's mum and finds the mum on the floor unconscious from a fall and the housekeeper hysterical.
The H arrives and goes to hospital with his mum and the h eventually goes home after order is restored.
The H shows up at the h's home in the middle of the night when he sees the h's light on and another lurve club moment ensues.


Then disaster strikes, the H finds the pictures of the h's friend that the h had been crying over and sees the solicitor documents that state the friend's name.
The H is now furious because he knows the h has been lying to him and he insists on marriage, which the h doesn't want and firmly rejects, and the h falls down the steps during the confrontation.
The h has to go to hospital now and in her panic over her baby she vows to marry the H if things are ok with the pregnancy as penance for her lies.


Except when the baby proves to be fine and the h tells the H she will marry him because of her bargain with the higher powers, the H just walks away.
The h has several long weeks of mopey moments and finally the big grand opening of the bookshop day arrives.
The h is eagerly awaiting the H to show up, Now that she is over her reluctance to get involved with anyone because she is afraid that she will lose them permanently, she finds she is in love with the H and really wants to be his wife.


The H fails to show tho, his family comes, but he is supposedly busy with a farm emergency.
Later after everyone leaves, the h decides to paint her green house, The H finally arrives in time to drag her off the ladder and another big row ensues, The H is furious that the h may be trying to hurt herself and the h is too scared to mention that she loves him when he rails at her rather deservedly for all of her deceits.
The H storms off and the h takes herself off to London to visit her friend's graveside,

The H finds her there crying and they finally declare their mutual love and decide to marry.
There is a nice little epilogue where the h and H are blissfully married, the H's mum is happy to get a grandchild and living with them on the farm, and the h manages to have her little girl at home on the farm rather than in the hospital where the H wanted to be.
The H is ecstatic when his daughter is finally delivered and everyone is happily in love and content for the big HEA.


This one is a ground breaker because of the one night stand and the compassion and delicacy with which PJ introduces this trope.
HPlandia has had it share of single mums in the past, but it was always the result of widowhood, divorce from a really evil man or from rape.
Never before has any HP h willingly participated in a single night only event with interesting results and then attempted the single parent route.


PJ goes out of her way to explain the whole thing as interference from the higher dimensions and of course she sanitizes it as having the prospective mum and dad portrayed as fated lovers brought together by the mystical hand of fate.
Tho the h has one moment of worrying about old fashioned callous lust, PJ works very hard

to disperse any notion that this h isn't all that is good and wholesome about an HP h, and for the most part she succeeds.
Only PJ could have had the h partaking in a night of anonymous love and make it work out so that the h is still a pure and virtuous girl and simply lost in overwhelming grief and despair when she rejects the father as unsuitable.


Not only that, but PJ also goes out of her way to give us H pov and reassure us that this H is a very good man.
He just had a momentary bout of loneliness, but he is eager and avid to step up and take his responsibilities in hand and be in love with the h madly while doing it.


Generations of HP writers owe a huge to debt to PJ with this story, she brings a very socially relevant topic to the forefront of HPlandia and she makes it all seem okay and right, thus giving future HP authors ever increasing boundaries to work with.
This is required HP reading and the love story itself is pretty good, if a bit sweet but then it would have to be to fly in HPlandia at this time.


Give this one a go and realize that you are reading HP history in the making, and then give thanks cause we wouldn't have half the variety or a great reason for blackmail in the HP 'verse today if not for PJ and her sensitive treatment of a difficult for the time period subject.
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