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The Only One
While this isn't the worst romance I've ever read (that would be Charlotte Lamb's The Marriage War), it isn't nearly the caliber of book that I have come to expect from Penny Jordan. Adam is an unpleasant, arrogant man who sleeps around, and Brooke is the beautiful, kind heiress who seems to fall in love with him despite there being no indication of anything being in him that is worth loving. I wouldn't recommend this at all. Try some of Penny's other novels, like The Ultimate Surrender or A Savage Adoration - in these you will find men of values who are worth the heroine's time.
186 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 2012
17 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Penny Jordan
1,122 books660 followersPenelope Jones Halsall
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
aka Caroline Courtney, Annie Groves, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
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November 12, 2021
A Harlequin Romantic tale as old as time, The Only One reminds me of another few PJ titles where hero-meets-heroine,finds himself instantly smitten but are too much of a cynic to contemplate commitment but plays the old mouse & cat game to get to her. Brooke and Adam were destined to meet each other and both brought out the worst and best from each other.They both were too prideful to ever admit to loving each other.Brooke should have seen it as soon as when he proposed marriage to her.She should have seen it,but was so blind to everything but her own love for him. This was a enjoyable read anyway,nothing much new but still enjoyable.
December 4, 2015
Re The Only One - this one has a lot of mixed reviews, all the way from two to four both on Amzn and on goodreads. I can see why, at this time period PJ was writing a lot of books, literally one a month between her PJ and Caroline Courtney titles. While the overall story line is coherent in this PJ era, she tends to lose focus on some of the sub plots, they peter out from lack of development or simply dangle like a frayed thread.
One of the things that I don't like about most of PJ's books in the early 80's is that she tends to skip the requisite explanations at the end before the final HEA. She makes up for the lack by tossing in a big love scene where the h is so enthralled by the H's mad lurve skillz she is practically incoherent anyway, but I do tend to prefer the H's explain what possessed them to do some of the irkalating things they did over the preceding pages. A lot of the PJ's in this run are believable HEA's - I just usually feel like the H still had some 'splainin to do to make me REALLY believe the HEA.
This one starts with the 5'10" redheaded earth goddess h at a party she did not want to be at, sipping a drink she did not want and getting lewd stares from various assorted males she did not want to meet. So why was she there at all? Well the house where the party was held used to be her aristocratic family's for 5 or 6 hundred years, but as times change, so did the family's fortunes and when her uncle (whom she had given up her secretarial job to nurse for a few years) finally died, she had to sell the house.
She isn't particularly bitter about it, she kept one of the small houses on the estate for her own use and sold the rest. She paid off the family debts and donated the rest to a children's clinic she volunteers at. Her family solicitor told her she should be at the party so as to not antagonize the corporation that bought it. ( I sorta wondered how her not going would antagonize a bunch of people she did not know and had never met, but it was in the book, so I went with it.) Of course the solicitor thinks she should be married to some wealthy guy, so basically he is trying to pimp her out - the problem is she just isn't interested.
Then she notices this predatory male staring at her, she decides to leave, gets waylaid, and while dumping her drink into a potted palm, the predator approaches and offers her a significant amount of money if he can wander down to her cottage and sleep with her. She is very angry about this and decides to teach the man a lesson.
He shows up at the appointed time and she sorta sics her dog on him, until the H puts the dog in the kitchen and it looks like a bad situation for the h, cause he is very angry she isn't interested after all, and he is thinking about forcing the situation until he realizes she is a virgin. Then he can't leave fast enough but later on in the week she gets a job offer, she goes to the interview and then accepts the position.
All is well with her dog and her job is next door to her house, the only kicker is the boss is the H who wanted to write her a cheque for services rendered. She takes the job anyway, but has this niggling attraction to him that seems to be growing. He is always making smart remarks and sarcastic comments about women of her background and social status, but she tends to dismiss his comments until she finds out what is really behind them. She is a bit more concerned and jealous about all the women that keep calling him.
Turns out the H came from a lot of poverty as a child, but he was starting out in business and rising fast. He was obsessed with a local landowner's daughter who lived in the house where his mum was a maid at, and one night he went to a party at their house after his big rise and asked the OW to dance. She cut him dead, saying she could never sully herself by dancing with the maid's son and the H became very bitter over the rejection.
He swore he would find a woman of higher social status to flaunt in the OW's face and it looks like the h is it. He does make a lot of comments about "women of her class" but the kicker comes when her dog escapes and winds up at the H's during a dinner party where the OW is at (the H and her dad are doing business together). The OW is looking for wealthy hubby #2 and has no problems warning the h off - but the H makes sure the OW knows just how far up the social scale the h is compared to her.
The H is pretty irate about the dog and the h has been out for hours in a bad storm looking for him, but she goes and gets the dog and winds up spending even more time in the bad weather, as both the H and the OW were really evil and the H wouldn't drop her home.
She winds up being ill on a business trip to London and the H cares for her for a week. When she recovers the H and she have passionate moment that is interrupted by the OW calling him to hook up. The h is in lurve by now and this really causes her angst. The H has decided he won't let her return to her job, he sends her to his house in France to recuperate over Christmas.
Fortunately the h's dad was French, so the language and customs are no problem for her. She is there for almost a month and decides to volunteer at another children's clinic during Christmas as otherwise she would be all alone for the holiday. She barely returns from her junket when the H shows up. They wind up in a passionate consummation. When the h awakens the next day, the H hands her a ring and tells her they are getting married.
Now the h has a bad feeling about all of this, but she is enthralled with the power of the H's mighty lurve club and just can't help but say yes. They marry and the H throws this big huge party again filled with people she doesn't know and really doesn't want to.
The OW is there with an even bigger rock than the h is wearing and tells the h that the H proposed prior to Christmas, but the OW turned him down because the H just wants a lady listed in the social register. The OW found a more socially acceptable hubby but she will be continuing with the H for stud services.
The H doesn't help matters any by continuing his anti aristocracy and class comments and the h is totally appalled. She is also a bit concerned cause even though she has the social status, she doesn't really mix with the rest of her class and she can't help him. She is more than heartbroken, cause her big dream was to have an H who lurved her for her mind and not just wanting her body. After the reception she tells the H she doesn't want to be married to him.
He sorta hits the roof, as you do in that situation, and decides he will just seduce the h. In one of the best scenes in the book, the H is doing his best to wrap her in the chains of his fiery passion and the h calmly tells him that if he keeps touching her, she is going to throw up on him. Well that dowsed the fires of passion all right, and the H takes off for London.
Ten days later the H's bff shows up, tells the h that the H is falling apart from lurve sickness, verifies that the h is lurvesick too, and hauls her off to London. He drops the h off at the H's apartment, but when the h walks in, she finds the H in the arms of the OW and lipstick is all over his face.
She doesn't pass go or collect £200, she turns right around and goes home to her dog. They are making a pitiful pair when the H sneaks in the back door of her cottage and carries her off to bed. After a big application of the mighty lurve club, the H tells the h he loves her and that the OW was kissing him but he wasn't really kissing back and that he would never have married her. The h is still in MLC haze, so she just smiles and HEA.
I realize that HP's have some limitations, the page count of the books are low and so when you read them, well sometimes you have to use a bit of wall spackle and a putty knife to make the story work - I still debate on the number of gallons it would take to fill the holes in this one AND the holes in my wall where I banged this book against it. Maybe a gallon or so will work, but probably more like five.
To be fair the H does really seem to the hate the OW, and he says he loathes her at end, (after he banged his club with the h,) and wouldn't have ever married her after how she treated him when he was younger.
He NEVER says he wouldn't go at her with his club, tho - and I could actually picture him doing that to get some of his own back. So the debate can go either way with this one.
I just don't know really, but I am really hoping he washed that lipstick off his face before his final club incursion on the h, then again she was probably to banged up too notice it.
One of the things that I don't like about most of PJ's books in the early 80's is that she tends to skip the requisite explanations at the end before the final HEA. She makes up for the lack by tossing in a big love scene where the h is so enthralled by the H's mad lurve skillz she is practically incoherent anyway, but I do tend to prefer the H's explain what possessed them to do some of the irkalating things they did over the preceding pages. A lot of the PJ's in this run are believable HEA's - I just usually feel like the H still had some 'splainin to do to make me REALLY believe the HEA.
This one starts with the 5'10" redheaded earth goddess h at a party she did not want to be at, sipping a drink she did not want and getting lewd stares from various assorted males she did not want to meet. So why was she there at all? Well the house where the party was held used to be her aristocratic family's for 5 or 6 hundred years, but as times change, so did the family's fortunes and when her uncle (whom she had given up her secretarial job to nurse for a few years) finally died, she had to sell the house.
She isn't particularly bitter about it, she kept one of the small houses on the estate for her own use and sold the rest. She paid off the family debts and donated the rest to a children's clinic she volunteers at. Her family solicitor told her she should be at the party so as to not antagonize the corporation that bought it. ( I sorta wondered how her not going would antagonize a bunch of people she did not know and had never met, but it was in the book, so I went with it.) Of course the solicitor thinks she should be married to some wealthy guy, so basically he is trying to pimp her out - the problem is she just isn't interested.
Then she notices this predatory male staring at her, she decides to leave, gets waylaid, and while dumping her drink into a potted palm, the predator approaches and offers her a significant amount of money if he can wander down to her cottage and sleep with her. She is very angry about this and decides to teach the man a lesson.
He shows up at the appointed time and she sorta sics her dog on him, until the H puts the dog in the kitchen and it looks like a bad situation for the h, cause he is very angry she isn't interested after all, and he is thinking about forcing the situation until he realizes she is a virgin. Then he can't leave fast enough but later on in the week she gets a job offer, she goes to the interview and then accepts the position.
All is well with her dog and her job is next door to her house, the only kicker is the boss is the H who wanted to write her a cheque for services rendered. She takes the job anyway, but has this niggling attraction to him that seems to be growing. He is always making smart remarks and sarcastic comments about women of her background and social status, but she tends to dismiss his comments until she finds out what is really behind them. She is a bit more concerned and jealous about all the women that keep calling him.
Turns out the H came from a lot of poverty as a child, but he was starting out in business and rising fast. He was obsessed with a local landowner's daughter who lived in the house where his mum was a maid at, and one night he went to a party at their house after his big rise and asked the OW to dance. She cut him dead, saying she could never sully herself by dancing with the maid's son and the H became very bitter over the rejection.
He swore he would find a woman of higher social status to flaunt in the OW's face and it looks like the h is it. He does make a lot of comments about "women of her class" but the kicker comes when her dog escapes and winds up at the H's during a dinner party where the OW is at (the H and her dad are doing business together). The OW is looking for wealthy hubby #2 and has no problems warning the h off - but the H makes sure the OW knows just how far up the social scale the h is compared to her.
The H is pretty irate about the dog and the h has been out for hours in a bad storm looking for him, but she goes and gets the dog and winds up spending even more time in the bad weather, as both the H and the OW were really evil and the H wouldn't drop her home.
She winds up being ill on a business trip to London and the H cares for her for a week. When she recovers the H and she have passionate moment that is interrupted by the OW calling him to hook up. The h is in lurve by now and this really causes her angst. The H has decided he won't let her return to her job, he sends her to his house in France to recuperate over Christmas.
Fortunately the h's dad was French, so the language and customs are no problem for her. She is there for almost a month and decides to volunteer at another children's clinic during Christmas as otherwise she would be all alone for the holiday. She barely returns from her junket when the H shows up. They wind up in a passionate consummation. When the h awakens the next day, the H hands her a ring and tells her they are getting married.
Now the h has a bad feeling about all of this, but she is enthralled with the power of the H's mighty lurve club and just can't help but say yes. They marry and the H throws this big huge party again filled with people she doesn't know and really doesn't want to.
The OW is there with an even bigger rock than the h is wearing and tells the h that the H proposed prior to Christmas, but the OW turned him down because the H just wants a lady listed in the social register. The OW found a more socially acceptable hubby but she will be continuing with the H for stud services.
The H doesn't help matters any by continuing his anti aristocracy and class comments and the h is totally appalled. She is also a bit concerned cause even though she has the social status, she doesn't really mix with the rest of her class and she can't help him. She is more than heartbroken, cause her big dream was to have an H who lurved her for her mind and not just wanting her body. After the reception she tells the H she doesn't want to be married to him.
He sorta hits the roof, as you do in that situation, and decides he will just seduce the h. In one of the best scenes in the book, the H is doing his best to wrap her in the chains of his fiery passion and the h calmly tells him that if he keeps touching her, she is going to throw up on him. Well that dowsed the fires of passion all right, and the H takes off for London.
Ten days later the H's bff shows up, tells the h that the H is falling apart from lurve sickness, verifies that the h is lurvesick too, and hauls her off to London. He drops the h off at the H's apartment, but when the h walks in, she finds the H in the arms of the OW and lipstick is all over his face.
She doesn't pass go or collect £200, she turns right around and goes home to her dog. They are making a pitiful pair when the H sneaks in the back door of her cottage and carries her off to bed. After a big application of the mighty lurve club, the H tells the h he loves her and that the OW was kissing him but he wasn't really kissing back and that he would never have married her. The h is still in MLC haze, so she just smiles and HEA.
I realize that HP's have some limitations, the page count of the books are low and so when you read them, well sometimes you have to use a bit of wall spackle and a putty knife to make the story work - I still debate on the number of gallons it would take to fill the holes in this one AND the holes in my wall where I banged this book against it. Maybe a gallon or so will work, but probably more like five.
To be fair the H does really seem to the hate the OW, and he says he loathes her at end, (after he banged his club with the h,) and wouldn't have ever married her after how she treated him when he was younger.
He NEVER says he wouldn't go at her with his club, tho - and I could actually picture him doing that to get some of his own back. So the debate can go either way with this one.
I just don't know really, but I am really hoping he washed that lipstick off his face before his final club incursion on the h, then again she was probably to banged up too notice it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2013
1.5 stars
The synopsis is inaccurate and misleading so this is the real story. Don't read it if you are planning on reading the book since it is basically the book summary.
Brooke, a stunning, compassionate, intelligent virgin born to one of the elitist families in all England was looking for one man to share her mind and body with, one man who would feel the same way as she did. Adam, an arrogant, selfish, megagazillionare, born to a housekeeper was looking to share his body with as many woman as he could possibly can without ever sharing his mind and getting married to a woman as high in the upper echelons as he could possibly find. He succeeded in his task: Brooke, in my opinion, did not succeed in hers.
Adam met Brooke at a party in her old home when she was forced to sell the family estate because she could not afford paying the inheritance tax. Adam's company had bought the 15 century mansion and ground. Upon meeting Adam offers Brooke a million dollar for sleeping with him. Brooke, the owner of a big dog who hates all males decide to teach him a lesson and agrees to allow him in her cottage after the party. Anyway, things do not go as either wanted and Adam finds out that Brooke is not only a virgin but that this beautiful socialite woman actually has some moral.
So, what does he do? He hires her as his PA, treats her like the dirt under his shoe while parading other woman in front of her and are you ready for this, yes! Brooke falls madly in love with this diamond of a man because in my opinion she is just plain mad (or the author does not want to make the effort of coming up with a reasonable plot). Anyway, we find out the reason Adam acts like this is because he was rejected after making his first million by the girl who his mother used to do the house keeping for. She would not go out with the help's son. Enters the same girl 10 years later, now divorcee and looking for a bigger fish. Within a night Adam is all over her, going out for weekends, inviting her to stay for the weekend, inviting her parents at the dower house, to his house where is his new home at the estate, wining and dinning her and treating Brooke like a nasty gum under his shoe when the two woman meet for the first time in front of the woman when Brooke on a very cold, stormy, rainy night is looking for her dog. Brooke had to walk all the way back to the gate house, walking miles in that weather condition in late November. The next day Adam insist Brooke to accompany him to London but to stay at his place while in town for business. Why? I think it because he is a cheapskates. Anyway, upon entering his apartment, Brooke passes out. Brooke ends up in semi coma for three weeks during which I started having some hope for Adam's character since he was taking care of Brooke but he did not take her to the hospital when according to the doctor Brooke was in a touch and go situation. Well, Brooke is so overwhelmed by Adam's compassion for her that she offers herself and her virginity to him on a golden platter. Adam refuses. He basically fires her and then sends her to his house in France due to the advise of the doctor that she needs a month in sun and calm to gain her very fragile health back.
Adam shows up a month later on Christmas day afternoon out of nowhere after a month of no contact, he has sex with Brooke, and then kindly informs her they are getting married in two weeks in the biggest reception in London and puts a megagizzilion stone ring on her finger.
As Adam and Brooke enter the reception, Adam whole body stiffens upon seeing the other woman with a ring even bigger than the one in Brooke's finger. He ignores Brooke during the reception unless he is introducing her to others while making sure everyone knows about Brooke's lineage which higher than most people attending and certainly higher than the other woman. When Brooke goes to the bathroom she gets informed by the other woman that Adam has asked the other woman for her hand in marriage on Christmas Eve and was turned down since the other woman has found someone even richer than Adam and in high society but she has not refused her bed to him, since her husband to be is kind of old. Brooke also learns from Adam's best man that Adam has made a vow of getting married to a woman of higher in the ladder than the other woman. Since Adam is too busy to take Brooke on a honeymoon, they are going back to the dower's home and Brooke confronts Adam and make him leave. He goes to London.
Two weeks later, Adam's best man shows up at Brooke's. He tells her how miserable Adam is without her, how he can't live without her... He convinces her to go to London. He drops her off in front of Adam's apartment since there was no parking. Brooke enters the apartment just to find Adam and the other woman both half naked with swollen lips all over one another. She runs back home. Adam shows up later that night saying he was drunk and the other woman was taking advantage of him, that he never proposed to the other woman... He also for the first time says he loves Brooke and of course since this is a HQ book, Brooks believes him.
Well, I did not believe a word coming out of Adam's mouth but I certainly believed the other woman. She had no reason to lie. Adam's reaction after entering the reception, his swollen lips... all indicated lies. You don't get swollen lips by pushing someone, you get it with prolonged kissing, he didn't run after Brooke, he showed up hours later.
The reason I give this book a 1.5 is because I could not believe what the author wanted me to believe, she couldn't convince me that Adam was telling the truth at the end.
I actually reviewed this book on my iPad about a month ago but when I went to submit the app refreshed the page and my very long review was gone. It has been happening a lot lately and it really discourages me from reviewing.
The synopsis is inaccurate and misleading so this is the real story. Don't read it if you are planning on reading the book since it is basically the book summary.
Brooke, a stunning, compassionate, intelligent virgin born to one of the elitist families in all England was looking for one man to share her mind and body with, one man who would feel the same way as she did. Adam, an arrogant, selfish, megagazillionare, born to a housekeeper was looking to share his body with as many woman as he could possibly can without ever sharing his mind and getting married to a woman as high in the upper echelons as he could possibly find. He succeeded in his task: Brooke, in my opinion, did not succeed in hers.
Adam met Brooke at a party in her old home when she was forced to sell the family estate because she could not afford paying the inheritance tax. Adam's company had bought the 15 century mansion and ground. Upon meeting Adam offers Brooke a million dollar for sleeping with him. Brooke, the owner of a big dog who hates all males decide to teach him a lesson and agrees to allow him in her cottage after the party. Anyway, things do not go as either wanted and Adam finds out that Brooke is not only a virgin but that this beautiful socialite woman actually has some moral.
So, what does he do? He hires her as his PA, treats her like the dirt under his shoe while parading other woman in front of her and are you ready for this, yes! Brooke falls madly in love with this diamond of a man because in my opinion she is just plain mad (or the author does not want to make the effort of coming up with a reasonable plot). Anyway, we find out the reason Adam acts like this is because he was rejected after making his first million by the girl who his mother used to do the house keeping for. She would not go out with the help's son. Enters the same girl 10 years later, now divorcee and looking for a bigger fish. Within a night Adam is all over her, going out for weekends, inviting her to stay for the weekend, inviting her parents at the dower house, to his house where is his new home at the estate, wining and dinning her and treating Brooke like a nasty gum under his shoe when the two woman meet for the first time in front of the woman when Brooke on a very cold, stormy, rainy night is looking for her dog. Brooke had to walk all the way back to the gate house, walking miles in that weather condition in late November. The next day Adam insist Brooke to accompany him to London but to stay at his place while in town for business. Why? I think it because he is a cheapskates. Anyway, upon entering his apartment, Brooke passes out. Brooke ends up in semi coma for three weeks during which I started having some hope for Adam's character since he was taking care of Brooke but he did not take her to the hospital when according to the doctor Brooke was in a touch and go situation. Well, Brooke is so overwhelmed by Adam's compassion for her that she offers herself and her virginity to him on a golden platter. Adam refuses. He basically fires her and then sends her to his house in France due to the advise of the doctor that she needs a month in sun and calm to gain her very fragile health back.
Adam shows up a month later on Christmas day afternoon out of nowhere after a month of no contact, he has sex with Brooke, and then kindly informs her they are getting married in two weeks in the biggest reception in London and puts a megagizzilion stone ring on her finger.
As Adam and Brooke enter the reception, Adam whole body stiffens upon seeing the other woman with a ring even bigger than the one in Brooke's finger. He ignores Brooke during the reception unless he is introducing her to others while making sure everyone knows about Brooke's lineage which higher than most people attending and certainly higher than the other woman. When Brooke goes to the bathroom she gets informed by the other woman that Adam has asked the other woman for her hand in marriage on Christmas Eve and was turned down since the other woman has found someone even richer than Adam and in high society but she has not refused her bed to him, since her husband to be is kind of old. Brooke also learns from Adam's best man that Adam has made a vow of getting married to a woman of higher in the ladder than the other woman. Since Adam is too busy to take Brooke on a honeymoon, they are going back to the dower's home and Brooke confronts Adam and make him leave. He goes to London.
Two weeks later, Adam's best man shows up at Brooke's. He tells her how miserable Adam is without her, how he can't live without her... He convinces her to go to London. He drops her off in front of Adam's apartment since there was no parking. Brooke enters the apartment just to find Adam and the other woman both half naked with swollen lips all over one another. She runs back home. Adam shows up later that night saying he was drunk and the other woman was taking advantage of him, that he never proposed to the other woman... He also for the first time says he loves Brooke and of course since this is a HQ book, Brooks believes him.
Well, I did not believe a word coming out of Adam's mouth but I certainly believed the other woman. She had no reason to lie. Adam's reaction after entering the reception, his swollen lips... all indicated lies. You don't get swollen lips by pushing someone, you get it with prolonged kissing, he didn't run after Brooke, he showed up hours later.
The reason I give this book a 1.5 is because I could not believe what the author wanted me to believe, she couldn't convince me that Adam was telling the truth at the end.
I actually reviewed this book on my iPad about a month ago but when I went to submit the app refreshed the page and my very long review was gone. It has been happening a lot lately and it really discourages me from reviewing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2021
"The Only One" is the story of Brooke and Adam.
Sooo.. heroine meets hero at a party, where she's selling an ancestral home and he is buying it. He is instantly smitten and propositions her, she tries to lead him on and fails. He soon manipulates her into being his PA. His ex- whom he never got over- makes an appearance, there's loads of back and forth between them, leading to sensual kisses, misunderstandings, drama, sex and somehow a HEA.
Apart from there being inconsistencies in the characters' behavior, there's this cute dog who is the highlight of the first half but DISAPPEARS suddenly and is never seen again. The hero hates rich people but the plot is suddenly not there? Does he sleep with someone else as he smells of perfume when he comes to meet the heroine? Like what was the point in marrying him if he didnt even say he loved her?
Nah.
SWE
2/5
Sooo.. heroine meets hero at a party, where she's selling an ancestral home and he is buying it. He is instantly smitten and propositions her, she tries to lead him on and fails. He soon manipulates her into being his PA. His ex- whom he never got over- makes an appearance, there's loads of back and forth between them, leading to sensual kisses, misunderstandings, drama, sex and somehow a HEA.
Apart from there being inconsistencies in the characters' behavior, there's this cute dog who is the highlight of the first half but DISAPPEARS suddenly and is never seen again. The hero hates rich people but the plot is suddenly not there? Does he sleep with someone else as he smells of perfume when he comes to meet the heroine? Like what was the point in marrying him if he didnt even say he loved her?
Nah.
SWE
2/5
April 3, 2017
Bad boy millionaire (it's the 80's - billionaire would be better alliteration, but not accurate). Falls in lust with society heiress heroine who has just sold the family manor to his company, but isn't bitter about it. She's independent and hard-working and very beautiful. She's tired of men treating her like a sex object, so she pretends to go along with the hero's proposition to have sex for money (that would be prostitution - but this is PJ - so it's just an audition for mistress), thinking her dog will protect her.
Dog ends up liking the hero and isn't any protection at all. Hero does get it through his thick head that the heroine does not want a sexual encounter and finally leaves.
The heroine ends up taking a job with his company and becoming his secretary. Hero is pretty mean to the heroine until she's sick on a trip to London and he cares for her for a week. (No sponging is mentioned - but it's implied). The hero sends her off to his villa in France to recover. Heroine is sad that she's away from the H at Christmas, but he shows up that evening with an engagement ring.
There's an OW that seems implausible since the hero has hated her for years. She was a rich society girl who publicly rejected him and is now telling the heroine that the hero has the hots for her?
The H/h have jealousy issues after they are married and are separated for a couple of weeks where they both lose weight and moon around. The hero's assistant and best friend from childhood finally brings them together.
The opening is the most memorable part - the rest plays out in the typical PJ manner.
Dog ends up liking the hero and isn't any protection at all. Hero does get it through his thick head that the heroine does not want a sexual encounter and finally leaves.
The heroine ends up taking a job with his company and becoming his secretary. Hero is pretty mean to the heroine until she's sick on a trip to London and he cares for her for a week. (No sponging is mentioned - but it's implied). The hero sends her off to his villa in France to recover. Heroine is sad that she's away from the H at Christmas, but he shows up that evening with an engagement ring.
There's an OW that seems implausible since the hero has hated her for years. She was a rich society girl who publicly rejected him and is now telling the heroine that the hero has the hots for her?
The H/h have jealousy issues after they are married and are separated for a couple of weeks where they both lose weight and moon around. The hero's assistant and best friend from childhood finally brings them together.
The opening is the most memorable part - the rest plays out in the typical PJ manner.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2012
I just haven't been able to get my asshat hero/suffering matryr heroine fix lately! I tried a Diana Palmer book and astonishingly, the heroine was sharp and confident and everyone in the story was pretty much sane. I tried a Sharon Kendrick and it was realistic, instead of over the top. In desperation I turned to Penny Jordan, and even she let me down a bit. Brooke is pretty sensible, and aside from trying to buy her at the beginning of the book, I don't think Adam accuses her of being a whore once. But at least every word he says to her is spoken either tauntingly or bitterly.
This is a workplace romance, so heavy on the inappropriate sexual harassment. The class issues could have been interesting: Adam is a self-made tycoon, and he's extremely sensitive about his roots. Brooke, an impoverished member of the upper classes, thinks Adam is living in the dark ages and of course nobody is bothered by such things anymore. (Easy for her to say.) Unfortunately, the story doesn't explore anything beyond Adam being bitter and mistrustful of upper class women, and nothing really notable happens: he pursues, she retreats, she gives in, he backs off, etc. There was lots of repressed longing and burning passion that was fun to read, though.
A note for readers who hate "cheating": the hero is apparently getting it on with other women throughout the book. There's no particular reason he shouldn't be, since he and Brooke don't get actually together til about three-fouths of the way into the story, but it made me a little uncomfortable.
This is a workplace romance, so heavy on the inappropriate sexual harassment. The class issues could have been interesting: Adam is a self-made tycoon, and he's extremely sensitive about his roots. Brooke, an impoverished member of the upper classes, thinks Adam is living in the dark ages and of course nobody is bothered by such things anymore. (Easy for her to say.) Unfortunately, the story doesn't explore anything beyond Adam being bitter and mistrustful of upper class women, and nothing really notable happens: he pursues, she retreats, she gives in, he backs off, etc. There was lots of repressed longing and burning passion that was fun to read, though.
A note for readers who hate "cheating": the hero is apparently getting it on with other women throughout the book. There's no particular reason he shouldn't be, since he and Brooke don't get actually together til about three-fouths of the way into the story, but it made me a little uncomfortable.
November 7, 2021
I didn't like when he was with OWs after meeting h!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2018
This was greeeaat! A keeper for me.
March 14, 2022
Amazing how she starts off strong in the first chapter, but the more contemptuous and condescending and hurtful and sexist he is, the more of a doormat she becomes.
September 13, 2023
Was alright. Some things I didn’t care too much for .. the h was taller than most men in the office except the H. She’s also pretty straight forward and has an independent streak. I was excited for a work play setting but it didn’t play out that way because the h was always arguing with him or strutting her way around in an obnoxious way. Wasn’t anything memorable.
The HEA is there and rather suddenly at Xmas. Lots of trust issues but again they’re older and wiser and know exactly what they want or don’t! Have read better ones from PJ.
The HEA is there and rather suddenly at Xmas. Lots of trust issues but again they’re older and wiser and know exactly what they want or don’t! Have read better ones from PJ.
May 18, 2016
Not a keeper but I enjoyed reading it, January 21, 2015
This review is from: The Only One (Mass Market Paperback)
Alrighty, I read this myself and yeah the hero is detestable - sleeping around (initially) and before the "serious" get together with our heroine, extremely arrogant cynical and has a major cool chip on his shoulder. And yes as the previous reviewer mentioned the heroine is an angel in regards to her generous spirit and super beauty and pure (!) but I don't think it was a bad book. It definitely kept me interested in reading and the hero does get to suffer later lol so there's that. My only wish was that I wish there was a love triangle - I kinda thought that the author would let the hero's friend or that other Co worker make a play for her and make the hero extremely jealous but I guess I was wrong. It was an enjoyable read but I wouldn't say this book was a keeper though. The happy ending was also rather fast and I wish they prolonged it a bit or there was an epilogue.
This review is from: The Only One (Mass Market Paperback)
Alrighty, I read this myself and yeah the hero is detestable - sleeping around (initially) and before the "serious" get together with our heroine, extremely arrogant cynical and has a major cool chip on his shoulder. And yes as the previous reviewer mentioned the heroine is an angel in regards to her generous spirit and super beauty and pure (!) but I don't think it was a bad book. It definitely kept me interested in reading and the hero does get to suffer later lol so there's that. My only wish was that I wish there was a love triangle - I kinda thought that the author would let the hero's friend or that other Co worker make a play for her and make the hero extremely jealous but I guess I was wrong. It was an enjoyable read but I wouldn't say this book was a keeper though. The happy ending was also rather fast and I wish they prolonged it a bit or there was an epilogue.
August 3, 2021
Innocent Brooke Beauclere knows that to Adam Henderson she's just an object of fleeting desire -- the perfect conquest for an alpha male with a fortune at his disposal. But how dare he assume that she could be bought for his pleasure!
He's clearly no better than the high-society snobs who taunted him for his working-class roots. Against all reason, Brooke is attracted to him, but can she reveal her love and risk losing Adam completely?
He's clearly no better than the high-society snobs who taunted him for his working-class roots. Against all reason, Brooke is attracted to him, but can she reveal her love and risk losing Adam completely?
December 27, 2013
Classic Penny Jordan old school Harlequin. Love it!!!!
January 16, 2025
This was pretty entertaining, especially with that dog! (I knew when the h wanted to use him for a guard dog that he would end up being man's best friend to the H, instead!) There was also some over-the-top stuff, like the h's cold turning to pneumonia, where her life ended up in danger, that was a bit much. So was the H having that long term grudge against the OW for insulting him back when they were college age. True, she was a snarky snob but turning him down at a dance was a far cry from leaving him at the altar, or stringing him along then and dumping him, or something along those lines. To make him so bitter about their class difference and have that "I'll show you!" attitude, as well as having him think all people with a blue blood background were the same (including the h) was a bit too much.
It was also silly for the h (at the start of the story) to plan to lead the H on (because he seemed determined to get her in bed, like so many other guys she had to deal with because of her fashion model looks) and then tell him "Sorry, but no thanks" to deflate his ego a bit, when she just met this guy and had no idea what kind of man he was, despite sexy alpha looks and business rep. Inviting him over at night after the party was just plain DUMB!
It was also dumb for the h to take the OW seriously, about the H asking her to marry him first, getting turned down, and then turning to the h because any woman with an upper-class background would do for a status symbol wife. She's such a reliable source of info, after all!
And when the h finds the H and OW together, apparently kissing, and he later claims she "attacked" him, somehow it just didn't ring true.
The best part of the story was when the H and h worked together, as she discovers the man at the party is now her boss! The whole book wasn't bad, but it sure could have been better.
It was also silly for the h (at the start of the story) to plan to lead the H on (because he seemed determined to get her in bed, like so many other guys she had to deal with because of her fashion model looks) and then tell him "Sorry, but no thanks" to deflate his ego a bit, when she just met this guy and had no idea what kind of man he was, despite sexy alpha looks and business rep. Inviting him over at night after the party was just plain DUMB!
It was also dumb for the h to take the OW seriously, about the H asking her to marry him first, getting turned down, and then turning to the h because any woman with an upper-class background would do for a status symbol wife. She's such a reliable source of info, after all!
And when the h finds the H and OW together, apparently kissing, and he later claims she "attacked" him, somehow it just didn't ring true.
The best part of the story was when the H and h worked together, as she discovers the man at the party is now her boss! The whole book wasn't bad, but it sure could have been better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2025
i read this for a popular romance module at uni - it was easy to read because of how fast everything happened but idk i’ve read wattpad books with better love interests than this. The bar was in hell for Brooke.
November 27, 2017
Nopity-Nope-Nope!
I didn’t buy it at all. Not for a single second. The H is a lying liar of lies and I stand by that no matter what the author wants me to think at the end.
I didn’t buy it at all. Not for a single second. The H is a lying liar of lies and I stand by that no matter what the author wants me to think at the end.
September 15, 2018
Not one of my favorite Penny Jordan books.
October 21, 2018
I thought I would have enjoyed this, but I didn’t.
Just like a weird reading experience.
Just like a weird reading experience.
March 1, 2024
Não perca seu tempo. PJ e suas cafonices.
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