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Title: Casada Con Su Enemigo
Harlequin Enterprises
Item Number: 9780373333783
Publication Date: September 1996
Number: 1
Product Description: Casada Con Su Enemigo
Universal Product Code (UPC): 9780373333783
WonderClub Stock Keeping Unit (WSKU): 9780373333783
Rating: 2/5 based on 2 Reviews
Image Location: https://wonderclub.com/images/covers/37/83/9780373333783.jpg
Weight: 0.200 kg (0.44 lbs)
Width: 0.000 cm (0.00 inches)
Heigh : 0.000 cm (0.00 inches)
Depth: 0.000 cm (0.00 inches)
Date Added: August 25, 2020, Added By: Ross
Date Last Edited: August 25, 2020, Edited By: Ross
Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
$99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub (9296 total ratings) |
Dennis Bell
reviewed Casada Con Su Enemigo on January 30, 2019Re When Enemies Marry - Lindsay Armstrong cuddles up to her favorite tropes and throws them ALL into this one.
LA takes a MOC, May/December romance, then adds the ever hated H is in love with another woman trope and mashes it into a very interesting day at the HP office.
Just to make things even more sticky and probably upping the tacky factor by an order of magnitude of twenty, LA also gives us the H's former True Love female BFF as not only the H's super duper, highly efficient horse breeding assistant, but the wanna be OW who hates that she couldn't slip into the H's arms as a consolation prize after his big first love loss.
Those HP voyagers who are familiar with LA's backlist of tropes are gonna have a field day with this one, which will probably determine if you love this or hate it.
The book starts with the 20 yr old convent raised, recently orphaned, unicorn grooming h taunting her brand-new, 10 yrs older, patronizing MOC husband H and his patronizing, wildly envious, horsey looking wanna be OW assistant with a subterfuge that she forgot a local reporter was coming to do a story on the family homestead, after the H had vehemently discouraged it.
This irritates the H to no end because the h is very exotically beautiful, but also very naive, very flippantly charming and very, very furious at being married to the H.
In front of both the local reporter, who is swept off his feet by the h's charm, and his OW assistant, the H berates the h for her set up attempt and then goes on to slyly insult and berate her, while he insists that she is a manipulative femme fatale of the worst sort.
When the h protests this treatment later on, roofie kisses and threats of rape ensue and we soon figure out that these two might be married, but the h sure isn't happy about it and the H is that worst kind of patronizing chauvinist, overly paternal in many respects and then overly dominate in his threats of lurve clubbing the h into submission.
Which will make an HP voyager wonder why these two are even married, so LA tells that the h's father and the H's father were BFF's and partners. When the Australian sheep business went bad, the H's father gave the h's dad a loan and in return he got half of the h's family homestead.
The h's father died, the h was left with massive amounts of debt and the H, having known the h since childhood and very aware that she is a born exotic sex kitten goddess in looks, decides he can do worse than to marry her and at least he will be getting some great bloodlines for his future heirs and some interesting arm candy.
The h isn't exactly feeling the love about that and she really isn't feeling the love that the H and his OW assistant seem to go out their way to belittle her attempts to be a serious partner to the H. Partly it is the h's age and her convent education, but it is also her looks that seem to hinder them from actually treating her as an adult.
However after a big weekend of house guests who have come to view the H's prized race horse breeding stables, where the h had to get an emergency staff replacement who came with a very mischievous ten year old son who managed to flood the bathroom and other assorted pranks, the H does seem to soften up on the bullying and patronizing - tho he makes it clear he fiercely resents that the h won't sleep with him.
There are endless discussions that have more than a spattering of the truth when the h remarks that the H only married her because of her owning part of the property and because he wants someone he considers pliable enough to train into his ideal wife.
The H tries to refute that with some clever word play, but this a big foreshadowing moment that the H really IS an insensitive selfish slime swilling nematode with a grudge and a past and very determined that things are going to be his way or the highway and the h is going to sleep with him whether she wants it or not.
Tho to be fair when the H comes in on the wanna be OW trying to belittle the h, he does attempt to insist that the OW assistant treat the h with some respect - tho unfortunately he doesn't do it in front of the h- who stormed out when the H began berating her behavior first.
(It is the standard LA conflict of the H insisting that since the h looks like a tart, she must really be one, when in fact the h is the furthest thing from it.
The H is also on a full blown rampage to revenge himself against beautiful women, tho LA hasn't shared that with us yet, and the adding of the supercilious, catty wanna be OW assistant is more of LA's stirring of the pot.
The wanna be OW would have been the H's mistress if she had been better looking, and LA doesn't really let us forget that as she builds up the characters.)
The h gets another shock when the H's ex lover, that he broke up with two years earlier after she found she couldn't have children and went off and married an older wealthy man, shows up with her husband to take a look at the H's most expensive racing colt.
The h did not know the whole story of why the H's ex and he broke up, but she is sharp enough to connect the dots and realize that there must be a whole lot of passion over the affair still residing in the H and that she is getting backlash from it.
The H tries to deny this of course and push the focus back on the h's resistance to his charms, but this h, for all her flightiness and her chattery ways is actually really sharp. She is overwhelmingly honest about where is at mentally and very astute at reading people.
When the H starts going on about how she had so many marriage proposals, (even one where a guy flew a banner off a plane around Sydney harbor proposing to the h,) that she turned down because she is a heartless flirt, the h tries very hard to explain AGAIN that just because she looks one way, it doesn't mean that is how she really is.
The h also adds that the H is really not her ideal since he is still caught up in his emotions over his ex - which the h is spot on about.
The H doesn't want to hear that, but he has to take off on business for a few days, so the h has a mopey moment and decides to settle for second best. When the H returns, there is more discussion about making the best of things and the H admits that he knows she really isn't a heartless tart.
The H lies and claims it was his way of building up her confidence, but in reality all the garbage the H goes on about is to manipulate the h in doing things as he wants them to be. There is a big unicorn grooming license revocation and the h admits that she is in love with the H.
The smarmy git accepts that as his due and then decides that he and h will soon move to his family home, which his ex lover decorated and left her mark upon all over the place. There is a dramatic crisis with the H's most expensive colt and the h manages to get stuck behind a flood while the H is gone.
There are some more battles when the H returns and finds the h missing, but gradually these two seem to come to an accommodation of sorts that is only marred by the wanna be OW assistant's snide remarks.
Then the H's famous colt is ready to be sold and the ex lover and her husband appear. The H and the husband have some kind of subtle non-verbal mano a mano battle over buying the colt, but after the husband puts in an astronomical winning bid, there is a very uncomfortable scene with both the OW and the ex lover that ends with the h barely keeping her dignity in place, but she does it.
The wanna be OW knows her battle is lost and announces she is resigning and finding another job - she gives the h a half hearted apology too-but her parting blow is to summon the H to the ex lover's side when that woman's husband has a heart attack.
The now defeated wanna be OW insists that the ex-lover needs the H's help and support, knowing that she had already planted the irrevocability of the H's love and longing for the ex lover OW in the mind of the h.
The ex lover is apparently all alone with her husband's very hostile family and the H rushes off to give her whatever aid he can. The h is unhappy, but resigned and things take a decided turn for the worst when the H and the ex lover are photographed as the main couple of a huge gossip page.
The h takes herself off to see her Mother Superior from her old convent school, convinced that she is nothing more than a second best sloppy second and the Mother Superior gives the h the dubious advice to fight for her man.
Then the H shows up and the Mother Superior verbally flays him, with the h inadvertently listening in. The H and h reunite and he insists that both he and the ex are over each other and that the ex lover now loves her husband.
The H also does a fairly decent " I wasn't in love with you when I married you, but you grew on me in the end" speech and as a special bonus, he hires a plane to fly a banner around Sydney Harbor declaring his love for the h.
The h finally believes that his words are true and we leave them trying various bikini's on the h while getting ready to go on a world cruise honeymoon for the mostly believable short term HEA.
This one is difficult, because LA crams a lot of tropes in there and while it works, it is a LOT of drama to wade through. Yet the writing is very sluggish in getting thru all of the processes of uniting the h and H.
( It is kind of like riding around with your eyes closed, it doesn't seem like you are making any progress and then you realize you have gone several miles.)
This book will not be for everyone, the h's statements are blunt and honest and yet so revealing of how young she really is that it makes the H seem way older than ten years in comparison. A lot of this book feels like the H is seriously cradle robbing and it gives off a creepy vibe.
It isn't until the h dumps the H's hiney that he loses the aging, cynical and world-weary roué attitude stance and actually comes across as a viable, mentally youthful enough partner for the h. Unfortunately the H's character revision comes about ten pages from the end of the book and it detracts a lot from the viability of a long term HEA.
So while I don't think these two will make it long term, the H's big declaration was well done and I had enough faith in the h that she would grow and be able to overcome any roadblocks that a failed relationship with the H would put in her way.
It isn't LA's best by any means, but it is VERY indicative of her style. It is definitely not the worst time ever spent with an HP outing, but you will need to have a certain LA specialized palate to tolerate it.
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