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Long, Tall Texans #34
Fearless
As Gloryanne's bittersweet miracle and Rodrigo's double life collide, two people learning just what it means to trust must face the truth about each other, and decide if there's a chance for the future they both secretly desire.
315 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
287 people are currently reading
1425 people want to read
About the author
Diana Palmer
1,007books3,059followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
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January 12, 2021
I have been trying to write reviews for all of the Diana Pamer books I've read so I can make sure not to accidentally re-read them. I almost did that with Rodrigo, which is the new name of Fearless. However, the review I wrote for Rodrigo replaced the healing epilogue I wrote for Fearless, so now I must redo it. DAMN YOU, GOODREADS!
This H is one of the two worst Diana Palmer heroes of all time, alongside the dreamboat who is the H of Heartbreaker. Without further ado, I shall proceed to the HE (healing epilogue, NOT happy ending).
Our story begins when the h, who is married to the H, is in the hospital having a miscarriage along with other health problems. The H is loudly trying to get into the h's room so he can taunt her about the divorce and serve papers. Everyone is outraged, and the story is overheard by a local society gossip columnist who has come to visit a friend in the same ward as the h. The columnist is horrified by the H's cruelty and writes a thinly-veiled blind item about the H demanding a divorce while his wife hovered near death. The column does everything but provide a map to the the H's house.
Now exposed, the H is no longer effective as a secret agent and is forced to retire. He devotes himself to petulant womanizing and tries to engineer confrontations with the h so she can see that he has moved on. He is unsuccessful because she heads to a meditative retreat and doesn't tell anyone in town where she is, because she has observed that no one is able to keep a woman's location secret when confronted by an abusive man looking for his traumatized partner. After a month recovering, she files a lawsuit against the H for his role in her miscarriage.
In a precedent-setting move that strikes absolute terror into the hearts of all of the town's H's, it is ruled that depraved and calculated cruelty that results indirectly in physical or profound psychological damage to the recipient is a form of aggravated assault. The H is found guilty and sent to jail for 18 months. The h writes a bestselling book on recovering from toxic relationships, which the H reads in prison and is disappointed he isn't identifiable in the book. This is because the h is truly healed and doesn't feel the need to give this sadist any head- or book- space. The h also wins a large financial settlement, which she uses to fund a local branch of the Institute for Realistic Interpretation of Romantic Interactions, an organization that educates women who have been victimized by brutal men who "love" them.
After the trial, she is approached by the OW, who wants to be friends. The h gently observes that the OW doesn't understand what being a friend to another woman and suggests that the OW spend some time there. The OW ends up leaving her husband, who had been abusive to her in their book.
Now independently wealthy and with the poisonous H out of her way, the h retires from the law and decides to address her physical conditions, and by finding competent non-local surgeons and doctors, she's able to manage and significantly diminish their impact. As the final part of the process, she signs up for physical therapy, where her trainer is a former Olympic decathlete, a brawny 6' 5" paragon of physical perfection. He is initially intimidating to her, but she realizes soon that he is a gentle giant (except in bed, where he is a beast, because seriously), and they fall in love. They marry and eventually go on to have several biological children and adopt several special needs children, all of whom they love equally and treat fairly.
The H finally reappears as a guest at a banquet in honor of the h and her husband, who together have done a lot of philanthropic work. He brings a date, the woman he taunted the h with (aka paella woman) prior to her miscarriage. He tries to get the h to talk to him, but she is too busy talking to people who legitimately matter to her. She does run into paella woman, who is a shell of her former self, in the restroom and gently gives her a card entitling her to a free brainwashing at the Institute.
For the rest of the evening, the sulky H sits at a table far from the guests of honor. While he is at the table, he overhears two of the other guests, dear friends of the h, joking about how the h and Olympic Hubby are still at the honeymoon phase even after years together, and how the h mentioned that she had never truly known what love and pleasure were until she married her husband. One of them also says that during a girls' night out, she persuaded a very tipsy h to admit that her hulking Olympic Hubby is perfectly proportional in all ways. This destroys the last of the H's false confidence and he stomps out, dragging his date with him. Two weeks later he is dead. The h comes out of retirement to defend paella woman, who is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
This H is one of the two worst Diana Palmer heroes of all time, alongside the dreamboat who is the H of Heartbreaker. Without further ado, I shall proceed to the HE (healing epilogue, NOT happy ending).
Our story begins when the h, who is married to the H, is in the hospital having a miscarriage along with other health problems. The H is loudly trying to get into the h's room so he can taunt her about the divorce and serve papers. Everyone is outraged, and the story is overheard by a local society gossip columnist who has come to visit a friend in the same ward as the h. The columnist is horrified by the H's cruelty and writes a thinly-veiled blind item about the H demanding a divorce while his wife hovered near death. The column does everything but provide a map to the the H's house.
Now exposed, the H is no longer effective as a secret agent and is forced to retire. He devotes himself to petulant womanizing and tries to engineer confrontations with the h so she can see that he has moved on. He is unsuccessful because she heads to a meditative retreat and doesn't tell anyone in town where she is, because she has observed that no one is able to keep a woman's location secret when confronted by an abusive man looking for his traumatized partner. After a month recovering, she files a lawsuit against the H for his role in her miscarriage.
In a precedent-setting move that strikes absolute terror into the hearts of all of the town's H's, it is ruled that depraved and calculated cruelty that results indirectly in physical or profound psychological damage to the recipient is a form of aggravated assault. The H is found guilty and sent to jail for 18 months. The h writes a bestselling book on recovering from toxic relationships, which the H reads in prison and is disappointed he isn't identifiable in the book. This is because the h is truly healed and doesn't feel the need to give this sadist any head- or book- space. The h also wins a large financial settlement, which she uses to fund a local branch of the Institute for Realistic Interpretation of Romantic Interactions, an organization that educates women who have been victimized by brutal men who "love" them.
After the trial, she is approached by the OW, who wants to be friends. The h gently observes that the OW doesn't understand what being a friend to another woman and suggests that the OW spend some time there. The OW ends up leaving her husband, who had been abusive to her in their book.
Now independently wealthy and with the poisonous H out of her way, the h retires from the law and decides to address her physical conditions, and by finding competent non-local surgeons and doctors, she's able to manage and significantly diminish their impact. As the final part of the process, she signs up for physical therapy, where her trainer is a former Olympic decathlete, a brawny 6' 5" paragon of physical perfection. He is initially intimidating to her, but she realizes soon that he is a gentle giant (except in bed, where he is a beast, because seriously), and they fall in love. They marry and eventually go on to have several biological children and adopt several special needs children, all of whom they love equally and treat fairly.
The H finally reappears as a guest at a banquet in honor of the h and her husband, who together have done a lot of philanthropic work. He brings a date, the woman he taunted the h with (aka paella woman) prior to her miscarriage. He tries to get the h to talk to him, but she is too busy talking to people who legitimately matter to her. She does run into paella woman, who is a shell of her former self, in the restroom and gently gives her a card entitling her to a free brainwashing at the Institute.
For the rest of the evening, the sulky H sits at a table far from the guests of honor. While he is at the table, he overhears two of the other guests, dear friends of the h, joking about how the h and Olympic Hubby are still at the honeymoon phase even after years together, and how the h mentioned that she had never truly known what love and pleasure were until she married her husband. One of them also says that during a girls' night out, she persuaded a very tipsy h to admit that her hulking Olympic Hubby is perfectly proportional in all ways. This destroys the last of the H's false confidence and he stomps out, dragging his date with him. Two weeks later he is dead. The h comes out of retirement to defend paella woman, who is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2019
I have to get this out of the way first: This H/h are *perfect * for each other!
DP had so much fun with the dramatic irony of the hero with his secrets and the heroine with her secrets both coming to the same conclusion:
While enjoyable in bed, the other was too uneducated/stupid/peasant-like to be his/her long term partner.
HA! Irony is on them. Turns out they’re both so damaged that they are a matching set.
It’s too bad DP didn’t take the time to subtly set this up and really explore it. Instead there were pages and pages of references to other characters from other books and other incidents. For instance:
Last year, there was a shootout in Jacobsville with drug dealers who moved hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the city limits and kidnapped a child. Two years before that, drug lord Manuel Lopez’s men were stormed on his property in Jacobsville in a gun battle where his henchmen had stockpiled bales of marijuana.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
But you can tell DP is eager to tell this heroine’s story. We get an info-dump about her in chapter one. There is no subtle layering in of back story or characters finding out this info the same time the reader does.
It’s like DP grabbed you by the lapels and breathlessly implored: you need to know this about this heroine: OMG! Crippled, child abuse, foster care, high blood pressure, injustice, step brother rescuer, heart attack, sodomy, stress, in danger, omg!
It’s the real meal deal of backstory. Heroine got to endure everything as a child and it gets better because our torture-addicted heroine falls in love with a hero who:
*Is in love with an OW who is married and has a child
*Uses the heroine as a substitute for OW
*Tells many people, many times that the heroine is too plain, crippled, boring, stupid and unworthy of him
*Rejects her in front of others many times
*Claims to have another women (paella lady) while they are still married
*Causes her miscarriage
*Serves her divorce papers while she is in the hospital after her miscarriage
*Never bothers to find out who she really was until he sees her in court as an assistant DA months after their divorce.
The heroine adds to her own torture by
*Not telling the hero she’s pregnant.
*Marrying him when she thinks he’s a criminal and she’ll probably have to put him in jail. *Forgetting to take her meds, etc. . .
*Going back to a high stress job when it’s bad for her health
*Pretending to be with an OM
And the cherry on the top of the OTT sundae was the sociopath cook whom the heroine was helping can fruit. She turned from friend to burn-it-all-down in 30 seconds flat.
*happy sigh*
Notice I haven’t mentioned the plot? Does it matter? I read this to revel in cruel hero antics and I got them.
But here’s the premise. Assistant DA heroine from San Antonio is sent to Jacobsville for her own protection. She witnessed a crime that could put a drug lord in jail for a long time. She pretends to be poor and uneducated and takes a job canning fruit for the touristy farm stand. Hero is an undercover DEA agent going after the same drug lord. He pretends to be running the fruit farm (LOL I just got that) as his cover.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest not fetishized, alas
Breast Description large
Cigarettes no
Alcohol no
Town Descriptions pharmacy, café, hardware store, feed store, clothing boutique, Jacobsville General Hospital, florist shop, anti-terrorism school (LOL) .
Gardenia Scent no
LOL detail How many of her heroes speak Apache?
Cutesy detail Heroine’s poor shot, cop humor, “I can can�
DP hobbyhorse Immigrants are people, too.
DP is trolling us “We’re fairly blessed with ex-military around here.� This takes place on a fruit farm.
DP had so much fun with the dramatic irony of the hero with his secrets and the heroine with her secrets both coming to the same conclusion:
While enjoyable in bed, the other was too uneducated/stupid/peasant-like to be his/her long term partner.
HA! Irony is on them. Turns out they’re both so damaged that they are a matching set.
It’s too bad DP didn’t take the time to subtly set this up and really explore it. Instead there were pages and pages of references to other characters from other books and other incidents. For instance:
Last year, there was a shootout in Jacobsville with drug dealers who moved hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the city limits and kidnapped a child. Two years before that, drug lord Manuel Lopez’s men were stormed on his property in Jacobsville in a gun battle where his henchmen had stockpiled bales of marijuana.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
But you can tell DP is eager to tell this heroine’s story. We get an info-dump about her in chapter one. There is no subtle layering in of back story or characters finding out this info the same time the reader does.
It’s like DP grabbed you by the lapels and breathlessly implored: you need to know this about this heroine: OMG! Crippled, child abuse, foster care, high blood pressure, injustice, step brother rescuer, heart attack, sodomy, stress, in danger, omg!
It’s the real meal deal of backstory. Heroine got to endure everything as a child and it gets better because our torture-addicted heroine falls in love with a hero who:
*Is in love with an OW who is married and has a child
*Uses the heroine as a substitute for OW
*Tells many people, many times that the heroine is too plain, crippled, boring, stupid and unworthy of him
*Rejects her in front of others many times
*Claims to have another women (paella lady) while they are still married
*Causes her miscarriage
*Serves her divorce papers while she is in the hospital after her miscarriage
*Never bothers to find out who she really was until he sees her in court as an assistant DA months after their divorce.
The heroine adds to her own torture by
*Not telling the hero she’s pregnant.
*Marrying him when she thinks he’s a criminal and she’ll probably have to put him in jail. *Forgetting to take her meds, etc. . .
*Going back to a high stress job when it’s bad for her health
*Pretending to be with an OM
And the cherry on the top of the OTT sundae was the sociopath cook whom the heroine was helping can fruit. She turned from friend to burn-it-all-down in 30 seconds flat.
*happy sigh*
Notice I haven’t mentioned the plot? Does it matter? I read this to revel in cruel hero antics and I got them.
But here’s the premise. Assistant DA heroine from San Antonio is sent to Jacobsville for her own protection. She witnessed a crime that could put a drug lord in jail for a long time. She pretends to be poor and uneducated and takes a job canning fruit for the touristy farm stand. Hero is an undercover DEA agent going after the same drug lord. He pretends to be running the fruit farm (LOL I just got that) as his cover.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest not fetishized, alas
Breast Description large
Cigarettes no
Alcohol no
Town Descriptions pharmacy, café, hardware store, feed store, clothing boutique, Jacobsville General Hospital, florist shop, anti-terrorism school (LOL) .
Gardenia Scent no
LOL detail How many of her heroes speak Apache?
Cutesy detail Heroine’s poor shot, cop humor, “I can can�
DP hobbyhorse Immigrants are people, too.
DP is trolling us “We’re fairly blessed with ex-military around here.� This takes place on a fruit farm.
October 19, 2016
Why did I read this??? I hate cheaters and cruel heroes but did I still put myself through this? Yes I did. I kept hoping that the woman at his place was the housekeeper and that the H was going to say he had to say those things because of a sting operation but no! He gives no e excuses and doesn't explain the woman at his house and she says I love him. Omg. I forgot about Diane Palmer loving cheaters. And the emotional cheating was way worse and then to deliver the divorce papers to her when she was in the hospital after losing their baby. Nothing about this book made it worthwhile. Horrible horrible story. I wish I could bleach my mind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2012
Gloryanne Barnes has overcome a traumatic childhood to become an assistant prosecutor. When she is the only witness to hear a drug lord threaten someone, he sends a hit after her and it’s decided that she should lie low for a bit, until the case goes to trial. Her stepbrother’s truck farm in Jacobsville Texas seems like the perfect place. Glory can use her canning skills to work on the farm, preparing the summer fruits for preserving and hopefully make it to trial.
Rodrigo Ramirez is the farm manager and he’s a difficult, bitter sort of man who is suffering from a recent disappointment. He often disappears mysteriously with another farm worker who appears tattooed and marked up with gang insignia’s and Glory is beginning to wonder if Rodrigo might be involved in the drug smuggling trade. There’s definitely more to him than meets the eye.
Rodrigo has secrets alright � he’s DEA, deep undercover to bust wide open a drug ring. He doesn’t need the distraction of the new employee Glory, who isn’t his type but yet stirs an unexpected response in him. But he can’t afford to get involved with the sort of person who doesn’t know what his life involves. He and Glory are as different as two people could be.
Rodrigo and Glory are both keeping secrets about their identity from each other, neither believing that they can trust the other with the truth. They have no way of knowing that they are both working for the same side, helping to break up these drug smuggling gangs and put them away for as long as possible. When the truth comes out, will they be able to pick up the shattered pieces of their relationship?
Okay so I’m on holidays, as I’ve mentioned and I only bought my Kindle with me. My nan is an avid reader and I often raid her stash of books when I’m visiting. I picked a few out of the pile and read this one from start to finish even though quite honestly, I should’ve abandoned it halfway through.
Rodrigo Ramirez is honestly one of the worst heroes I’ve ever had the displeasure to read in a novel with romantic elements, ever. And I do believe I’ve read many in my life. He’s arrogant, he’s still in love with his former partner and grieving over her going back to her ex-husband. He sees Glory, who is sort of dressed down in disguise to appear far from her normal prosecutor persona, as dowdy and embarrassing � and here are a few things he actually says about her (after they’ve slept together a couple of times):
He should be flattered that she cared so much about him, but he was a little embarrassed by the way she looked. She hadn’t even brushed her hair. She looked like a farm worker, plain and uninteresting. He’d always had attractive women around him, women who dressed well and drew men’s eyes. This little frump wouldn’t have attracted a near-sighted pencil-pusher, much less himself
Now this is after Glory hears that he’s been injured and she rushes to the hospital to see if he’s okay, I think in the night. She’s concerned about his welfare but he only cares about how it looks in front of his hotshot federal colleagues � she’s plain, dressed down in jeans a flannel shirt or something and he thinks she’s backward and uneducated. The condescension is infuriating. It gets better � his former partner, the one who he was in love with comes to visit him when Glory is preparing to leave. She overhears him say this:
“…but you’re married,� Sarina was saying.
“To a little country hick who dresses like a bag lady and has no social graces, or education to speak of,� he said coldly. “I was ashamed to have my colleagues even see me with her last night! She’s crippled and Fuentes wants to kill her because she’s a witness to something illegal that he did. I only married her out of pity. It was the worst reason in the world.�
“What are you going to do, then?�
“Whatever I have to, in order to get out of this mess.�
Wow, what a man is DEA Rodrigo Ramirez. He liked her enough to sleep with her a couple of times despite the fact that she didn’t dress in pretty clothes or he didn’t have any idea that she actually graduated magna cum laude with a law degree and is a respected prosecutor.
There are some ***SPOILERS*** ahead:
Later on, Glory goes to tell Rodrigo that she is pregnant. He accuses her of now knowing that he’s rich and wanting to give their sham of a marriage another go simply because of that. He berates her, bullies her and then tells her the new, pretty woman he’s seeing is amazing in bed. Glory as well as having hip problems, also suffers from a congenital heart defect and high blood pressure. On the way back from attempting to tell him she was pregnant, she becomes extremely ill and is hospitalised. Rodrigo then turns up at the hospital and berates her again even though the woman is clearly in physical distress. She almost has a suspected heart attack because of his shouting and is physically manhandled out of her room by an officer who then begins to list her various medical problems. Then Rodrigo feels bad � well really? So it’s okay to bully, threaten, harass and intimidate women if they’re not ill in hospital? But it’s bad when they’re sick. You’re a douche, Ramirez. A huge, huge douche and even the prospect of knowing that I was nearly at the end of the book and you were going to have to grovel on your knees for being a douche wasn’t going to redeem this book.
I’ve read a lot of heroes doing a lot of stupid things that hurt the heroines many times. Most of the time they’re redeemable by the fact that deep down, you can tell they love the heroine and are tortured or looking out for her welfare in some round-a-bout way. This is never evident with Ramirez at all, even once in the story. He’s a jerk who takes her virginity and basically ditches her, then sleeps with her again and treats her appallingly until someone decides to let him in on a few things. But ultimately, those things shouldn’t matter. Whether she has a law degree or not, whether she was abused as a child or not, whether she was physically handicapped or not, Glory was a person who deserved much better treatment than she got. I’ve no idea how she fell in love with him, I could in no way believe that anyone would fall in love with this tosser.
I can’t even rate this.
Rodrigo Ramirez is the farm manager and he’s a difficult, bitter sort of man who is suffering from a recent disappointment. He often disappears mysteriously with another farm worker who appears tattooed and marked up with gang insignia’s and Glory is beginning to wonder if Rodrigo might be involved in the drug smuggling trade. There’s definitely more to him than meets the eye.
Rodrigo has secrets alright � he’s DEA, deep undercover to bust wide open a drug ring. He doesn’t need the distraction of the new employee Glory, who isn’t his type but yet stirs an unexpected response in him. But he can’t afford to get involved with the sort of person who doesn’t know what his life involves. He and Glory are as different as two people could be.
Rodrigo and Glory are both keeping secrets about their identity from each other, neither believing that they can trust the other with the truth. They have no way of knowing that they are both working for the same side, helping to break up these drug smuggling gangs and put them away for as long as possible. When the truth comes out, will they be able to pick up the shattered pieces of their relationship?
Okay so I’m on holidays, as I’ve mentioned and I only bought my Kindle with me. My nan is an avid reader and I often raid her stash of books when I’m visiting. I picked a few out of the pile and read this one from start to finish even though quite honestly, I should’ve abandoned it halfway through.
Rodrigo Ramirez is honestly one of the worst heroes I’ve ever had the displeasure to read in a novel with romantic elements, ever. And I do believe I’ve read many in my life. He’s arrogant, he’s still in love with his former partner and grieving over her going back to her ex-husband. He sees Glory, who is sort of dressed down in disguise to appear far from her normal prosecutor persona, as dowdy and embarrassing � and here are a few things he actually says about her (after they’ve slept together a couple of times):
He should be flattered that she cared so much about him, but he was a little embarrassed by the way she looked. She hadn’t even brushed her hair. She looked like a farm worker, plain and uninteresting. He’d always had attractive women around him, women who dressed well and drew men’s eyes. This little frump wouldn’t have attracted a near-sighted pencil-pusher, much less himself
Now this is after Glory hears that he’s been injured and she rushes to the hospital to see if he’s okay, I think in the night. She’s concerned about his welfare but he only cares about how it looks in front of his hotshot federal colleagues � she’s plain, dressed down in jeans a flannel shirt or something and he thinks she’s backward and uneducated. The condescension is infuriating. It gets better � his former partner, the one who he was in love with comes to visit him when Glory is preparing to leave. She overhears him say this:
“…but you’re married,� Sarina was saying.
“To a little country hick who dresses like a bag lady and has no social graces, or education to speak of,� he said coldly. “I was ashamed to have my colleagues even see me with her last night! She’s crippled and Fuentes wants to kill her because she’s a witness to something illegal that he did. I only married her out of pity. It was the worst reason in the world.�
“What are you going to do, then?�
“Whatever I have to, in order to get out of this mess.�
Wow, what a man is DEA Rodrigo Ramirez. He liked her enough to sleep with her a couple of times despite the fact that she didn’t dress in pretty clothes or he didn’t have any idea that she actually graduated magna cum laude with a law degree and is a respected prosecutor.
There are some ***SPOILERS*** ahead:
Later on, Glory goes to tell Rodrigo that she is pregnant. He accuses her of now knowing that he’s rich and wanting to give their sham of a marriage another go simply because of that. He berates her, bullies her and then tells her the new, pretty woman he’s seeing is amazing in bed. Glory as well as having hip problems, also suffers from a congenital heart defect and high blood pressure. On the way back from attempting to tell him she was pregnant, she becomes extremely ill and is hospitalised. Rodrigo then turns up at the hospital and berates her again even though the woman is clearly in physical distress. She almost has a suspected heart attack because of his shouting and is physically manhandled out of her room by an officer who then begins to list her various medical problems. Then Rodrigo feels bad � well really? So it’s okay to bully, threaten, harass and intimidate women if they’re not ill in hospital? But it’s bad when they’re sick. You’re a douche, Ramirez. A huge, huge douche and even the prospect of knowing that I was nearly at the end of the book and you were going to have to grovel on your knees for being a douche wasn’t going to redeem this book.
I’ve read a lot of heroes doing a lot of stupid things that hurt the heroines many times. Most of the time they’re redeemable by the fact that deep down, you can tell they love the heroine and are tortured or looking out for her welfare in some round-a-bout way. This is never evident with Ramirez at all, even once in the story. He’s a jerk who takes her virginity and basically ditches her, then sleeps with her again and treats her appallingly until someone decides to let him in on a few things. But ultimately, those things shouldn’t matter. Whether she has a law degree or not, whether she was abused as a child or not, whether she was physically handicapped or not, Glory was a person who deserved much better treatment than she got. I’ve no idea how she fell in love with him, I could in no way believe that anyone would fall in love with this tosser.
I can’t even rate this.
November 3, 2021
Wow, what an absolute hatefuck from DP. Have we touched bottom in her well of cruelty towards her heroines with this one? Or is it another false bottom? I can’t even imagine sinking lower than our PRINCE (he’s related to minor royalty!) of a zhero. Warning: lots of profanity ahead.
I have an almost inexhaustible tolerance for vintage asshats. I take the “plain heroine� nonsense in stride (I read a LOT of Betty Neels, so trust me, I'm inured). I love trainwrecks and mega-angst and cruel heroes. But maaaan, I don’t even know how to rate this? As a romance? All the zeroes! As an OTT fucked-up wreckidrama? So many 10s (even though we only go to 5s). So I guess I’ll go with a 3, because I can’t say it wasn’t compelling and I seriously couldn’t stop reading it to see how horrible he could possibly get.
I can’t say I wasn’t warned. Vintage was right to advise skipping the drinks and going straight for the bottle when reading DP. I will have to go read Margo’s “healing revisionist epilogue� again now, and take like 18 showers to wash off this shit show. Wow.
I have an almost inexhaustible tolerance for vintage asshats. I take the “plain heroine� nonsense in stride (I read a LOT of Betty Neels, so trust me, I'm inured). I love trainwrecks and mega-angst and cruel heroes. But maaaan, I don’t even know how to rate this? As a romance? All the zeroes! As an OTT fucked-up wreckidrama? So many 10s (even though we only go to 5s). So I guess I’ll go with a 3, because I can’t say it wasn’t compelling and I seriously couldn’t stop reading it to see how horrible he could possibly get.
I can’t say I wasn’t warned. Vintage was right to advise skipping the drinks and going straight for the bottle when reading DP. I will have to go read Margo’s “healing revisionist epilogue� again now, and take like 18 showers to wash off this shit show. Wow.
January 16, 2015
One of the worst male reads I have ever read! Glory was stupid for loving this guy and I had no respect for her because of it!
May 9, 2019
2.5 eye-rolling and had me laughing stars
I needed this from all the heavy stuff I've just read lately - you can count on Palmer to deliver a soapy mush of jerky, snobby, clueless H's and stiff-upper lip h's who fall hook line and sinker for the H's in a contrived plot with a suspense element that puts them square in fbi/cia/special ops central and yet the bad guys keep committing crimes in this area. I was entertained to say the least.
Also, Palmer does air some of her views on immigration issues. I've highlighted some of the quotes.
I needed this from all the heavy stuff I've just read lately - you can count on Palmer to deliver a soapy mush of jerky, snobby, clueless H's and stiff-upper lip h's who fall hook line and sinker for the H's in a contrived plot with a suspense element that puts them square in fbi/cia/special ops central and yet the bad guys keep committing crimes in this area. I was entertained to say the least.
Also, Palmer does air some of her views on immigration issues. I've highlighted some of the quotes.
July 4, 2008
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Whenever I read a Diana Palmer book, I can usually be guaranteed three things: the heroine will be a virgin, the hero will be broody and troubled, and the hero will treat the heroine horribly at some point in the book. Fearless was no exception to that. But I did like the fact that for once the heroine wasn't super naive. Glory was a little more worldly than a typical Palmer heroine.
I'm not really sure what to say about this book. Because I didn't find it to be a difficult read. I finished it in one night and didn't think it was bad, exactly. But I was really bothered by the class prejudice of the hero and heroine, the hero in particular, that was rampant through book.
Both characters are hiding their real identities, portraying themselves as common laborers and both have thoughts about how the other wouldn't fit in their real world. But it wasn't done in a sense where the character is conflicted about how their worlds would mesh if they stayed together. It was done in this rather nasty way that made me dislike Rodrigo a number of times. He would think things about how he didn't want a frumpy cripple to be the mother of his children, how she embarrassed him by coming to the hospital in work clothes, and the like. It was just a real put-off. Who wants to root for a character that is that biased? Rodrigo wasn't exactly a likable character most of the time.
Glory wasn't much better. Her decision making skills left something to be desired. She's an ADA with strong beliefs yet she marries Rodrigo truly believing he is a drug runner. Not the smartest thing to do.
Aside from the characters, I wish Palmer would get off the drug runner kick she's been on with her books. It makes them all blend together to the point where I can't really differentiate them. The storylines are so similar they don't stand out. They've become part of the formula she rarely, if ever, strays from.
All in all, this is a pretty typical Palmer book. If you are a Palmer reader and like her books, then you'll probably not mind this one. But her style isn't for everyone.
Whenever I read a Diana Palmer book, I can usually be guaranteed three things: the heroine will be a virgin, the hero will be broody and troubled, and the hero will treat the heroine horribly at some point in the book. Fearless was no exception to that. But I did like the fact that for once the heroine wasn't super naive. Glory was a little more worldly than a typical Palmer heroine.
I'm not really sure what to say about this book. Because I didn't find it to be a difficult read. I finished it in one night and didn't think it was bad, exactly. But I was really bothered by the class prejudice of the hero and heroine, the hero in particular, that was rampant through book.
Both characters are hiding their real identities, portraying themselves as common laborers and both have thoughts about how the other wouldn't fit in their real world. But it wasn't done in a sense where the character is conflicted about how their worlds would mesh if they stayed together. It was done in this rather nasty way that made me dislike Rodrigo a number of times. He would think things about how he didn't want a frumpy cripple to be the mother of his children, how she embarrassed him by coming to the hospital in work clothes, and the like. It was just a real put-off. Who wants to root for a character that is that biased? Rodrigo wasn't exactly a likable character most of the time.
Glory wasn't much better. Her decision making skills left something to be desired. She's an ADA with strong beliefs yet she marries Rodrigo truly believing he is a drug runner. Not the smartest thing to do.
Aside from the characters, I wish Palmer would get off the drug runner kick she's been on with her books. It makes them all blend together to the point where I can't really differentiate them. The storylines are so similar they don't stand out. They've become part of the formula she rarely, if ever, strays from.
All in all, this is a pretty typical Palmer book. If you are a Palmer reader and like her books, then you'll probably not mind this one. But her style isn't for everyone.
March 30, 2018
UPDATE: Re-read in March 2018 (Add comment and highlights)
Update: Re-read in January 2015
*emotional cheating*
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Update: Re-read in January 2015
*emotional cheating*
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Read
September 3, 2018Did Palmer hate the heroine? Geez.
March 19, 2016
I love alpha cruel males so thank you Diana Palmer for Rodrigo Ramirez! Damn what a sexy bastard he was. I thought it was hilarious how he thought Glory was an uneducated plain nobody when in reality she was a hotshot super fierce lawyer. Poor Glory had a horrible past, lots of emotional and physical scars. My heart broke for her especially after her miscarriage but I admired her so much for her courage, her strength and her loving nature. Diana Palmer writes the best heroines ever! Great marriage of convenience story and adorable epilogue.
February 5, 2009
This book was hard to rate. Did I like it: NO!!!! I gave it a high rating because I will never ever forget it. He is the absolutely WORSE hero (more like a vilian!) that Diana has ever written. He tells the chick she's ugly, makes fun of her, goes to her hospital room where she is recuperating from a miscarriage and gives her friggin divorce papers! This guy Ricardo was scum of the friggin earth! It is the worse book ever written! I hated this guy so much and I really hated her for putting up with him. I'm a romantic -- love conquers all but please gice me a break. Really, he was just yucky. It is the one time my fingers itched to throw a Palmer book away. To make matters worse, I brought the HARDCOVER!!!!
I will buy anything she writes (except historical) There is a 50 - 50 chance I'll finish it. So for the Palmer
books I will rate them as follows:
1) Hero: Over the top on the moon number one Jerk of the year
2) Read entire book: Yes just because I had to get my money's worth! The jerk just got more and more obnoxious. I could not believe this was the same sweet Ricardo from The Outsider. Talk about first impression being wrong. He sucked!!!!!!!
3) Intriguing: Uh...NO
4) Do I still have the book or did I give it away to the goodwill: Yes but I cannot trash a Palmer book EVER!!!
5) Did she jump the shark on this one: God no! I love Diana Palmer and this was just another Diana Palmer book with a nastier hero than expected. I knew the chances of hating the hero was like 80% when I brought it. Never dreamed that 80% would turn out to be 100%
6) Recommend: Only to Diana Palmer fans and readers who like the pathetically asshole alpha male. Never to a woman libber or male basher. He is the type of Guy that would make a bra burner set fire to Victoria Secret.
7) Why say I like it: I'm not sure except I am a loyal devout Palmer fan
I will buy anything she writes (except historical) There is a 50 - 50 chance I'll finish it. So for the Palmer
books I will rate them as follows:
1) Hero: Over the top on the moon number one Jerk of the year
2) Read entire book: Yes just because I had to get my money's worth! The jerk just got more and more obnoxious. I could not believe this was the same sweet Ricardo from The Outsider. Talk about first impression being wrong. He sucked!!!!!!!
3) Intriguing: Uh...NO
4) Do I still have the book or did I give it away to the goodwill: Yes but I cannot trash a Palmer book EVER!!!
5) Did she jump the shark on this one: God no! I love Diana Palmer and this was just another Diana Palmer book with a nastier hero than expected. I knew the chances of hating the hero was like 80% when I brought it. Never dreamed that 80% would turn out to be 100%
6) Recommend: Only to Diana Palmer fans and readers who like the pathetically asshole alpha male. Never to a woman libber or male basher. He is the type of Guy that would make a bra burner set fire to Victoria Secret.
7) Why say I like it: I'm not sure except I am a loyal devout Palmer fan
February 14, 2022
No words.
The heroine is brave, smart and had a shi**y childhood.
She’s worth a million heroes like this loser here.
He’s the most hateful character in dp history and believe me, she had some!
I think murder after slow torture is too light for his faults.
One star because enough is enough and dp really passed the limit here.
There’s nothing that is too low for this hero but more than everything the heroine, that had a miserable childhood and several traumas who made a cripple of her, and anyway managed to build a happy life, a career and many friends, didn’t deserve to go through all those other traumas in this book.
After she lost her child and the horrible hero went to hospital to give her divorce paper and insult her a ill bit more, I gave up feeling angst.
I don’t really know what the writer wanted to accomplish with this book, but she missed the exact limit she didn’t have to cross. Too much abuse is not redeemable.
The heroine had already been scorned by the hero with the woman he loved, he already told her some awful thing, he already wanted to divorce her.
She already had seen him with his new mistress, he already had taunted her with it.
The loss of her baby and all the rest was unnecessary.
Other abuses from his were unnecessary.
And the mystery spy story and all was really boring and unnecessary.
The book was like a bad trip.
The heroine is brave, smart and had a shi**y childhood.
She’s worth a million heroes like this loser here.
He’s the most hateful character in dp history and believe me, she had some!
I think murder after slow torture is too light for his faults.
One star because enough is enough and dp really passed the limit here.
There’s nothing that is too low for this hero but more than everything the heroine, that had a miserable childhood and several traumas who made a cripple of her, and anyway managed to build a happy life, a career and many friends, didn’t deserve to go through all those other traumas in this book.
After she lost her child and the horrible hero went to hospital to give her divorce paper and insult her a ill bit more, I gave up feeling angst.
I don’t really know what the writer wanted to accomplish with this book, but she missed the exact limit she didn’t have to cross. Too much abuse is not redeemable.
The heroine had already been scorned by the hero with the woman he loved, he already told her some awful thing, he already wanted to divorce her.
She already had seen him with his new mistress, he already had taunted her with it.
The loss of her baby and all the rest was unnecessary.
Other abuses from his were unnecessary.
And the mystery spy story and all was really boring and unnecessary.
The book was like a bad trip.
March 19, 2016
Oh my god
WHY?!
I know DP likes her heroes to hurt the heroines verbally- but dearest Rodrigo was one of the worst of them all. He wasn't attracted to her 70% of the time
Until suddenly he had an epiphany and he was- and he literally lusted after a married woman most of the time. Such an a$$.
The heroine on the other hand- poor creature. He did NOT deserve her. I was rooting for her to end up with Killraven or Rick just so she could kick his sorry ass. Not happy.
WHY?!
I know DP likes her heroes to hurt the heroines verbally- but dearest Rodrigo was one of the worst of them all. He wasn't attracted to her 70% of the time
Until suddenly he had an epiphany and he was- and he literally lusted after a married woman most of the time. Such an a$$.
The heroine on the other hand- poor creature. He did NOT deserve her. I was rooting for her to end up with Killraven or Rick just so she could kick his sorry ass. Not happy.
May 1, 2020
What else did I expect,
Palmer only really writes scumbag heroes (although this guy took the crown), and consolation prize heroine’s. Even the ow the hero pines for in this book was second best in her book! It’s like the author hates her heroine’s! It also didn’t add up as the hero in this book was actually a decent catch in a previous book when he was after that heroine.
Palmer only really writes scumbag heroes (although this guy took the crown), and consolation prize heroine’s. Even the ow the hero pines for in this book was second best in her book! It’s like the author hates her heroine’s! It also didn’t add up as the hero in this book was actually a decent catch in a previous book when he was after that heroine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2021
2.5 stars
DP books are the soap opera of romance novels. They're not for everyone, and a lot of readers will be annoyed by the recirculated broody older hero being an ass to the naïve damsel heroine. As a fan, this one wasn't my favorite...I'm can't put my finger on it, but it was just missing something for me.
Rodrigo is another international man of mystery hero. He's a 36 year old former mercenary turned DEA agent who has dual citizenship, and speaks 7 languages. He's uber rich, comes from Spanish and Danish aristocracy, and spends his free time flying, and salsa dancing. He HATES frumpy people, and likes to surround himself with educated, well dressed individuals. He's a bit of a man child; he says nasty things behind others back when he gets his feelings hurt, and is pining over a woman that kept him in the friend zone for 3 years.
Glory is a 26 year old high powered Assistant Prosecutor, who drives a super fast car. She was abused by her mom, and has a limp requiring a cane....but don't mess with her cause her grandpappy oiled it to make it heavy and kill rattlesnakes, and she will not hesitate to smack a bitch. She has hypertension, and lots of heart/angina attacks, complicated by her stressful job, constantly forgetting to take meds, and later a congenital heart defect.
Both MC's are hiding their real identities, acting as common laborers. They both have thoughts about how the other won't fit in their world. I didn't like either MC. I thought Rodrigo was a whiny prick, and she was a martyr. Glory was presented as this tough survivor, but I just couldn't get on board. There's such a deal made how private she is, but shares her story with Cash, Rick, Rick's mom, Kilraven, Sarina, Dr. Coltrain...pretty much everyone except her husband. Rodrigo was pathetic with his "Sarina" issues...and what's up with her? If you know the dude likes you, why are you constantly going to see him, and showing up for a dance? I thought they both sucked:)
There is some action with the drug dealer trying to kill Glory, and Rodrigo's case, but I found it all anticlimactic, and kind of boring.
DP books are the soap opera of romance novels. They're not for everyone, and a lot of readers will be annoyed by the recirculated broody older hero being an ass to the naïve damsel heroine. As a fan, this one wasn't my favorite...I'm can't put my finger on it, but it was just missing something for me.
Rodrigo is another international man of mystery hero. He's a 36 year old former mercenary turned DEA agent who has dual citizenship, and speaks 7 languages. He's uber rich, comes from Spanish and Danish aristocracy, and spends his free time flying, and salsa dancing. He HATES frumpy people, and likes to surround himself with educated, well dressed individuals. He's a bit of a man child; he says nasty things behind others back when he gets his feelings hurt, and is pining over a woman that kept him in the friend zone for 3 years.
Glory is a 26 year old high powered Assistant Prosecutor, who drives a super fast car. She was abused by her mom, and has a limp requiring a cane....but don't mess with her cause her grandpappy oiled it to make it heavy and kill rattlesnakes, and she will not hesitate to smack a bitch. She has hypertension, and lots of heart/angina attacks, complicated by her stressful job, constantly forgetting to take meds, and later a congenital heart defect.
Both MC's are hiding their real identities, acting as common laborers. They both have thoughts about how the other won't fit in their world. I didn't like either MC. I thought Rodrigo was a whiny prick, and she was a martyr. Glory was presented as this tough survivor, but I just couldn't get on board. There's such a deal made how private she is, but shares her story with Cash, Rick, Rick's mom, Kilraven, Sarina, Dr. Coltrain...pretty much everyone except her husband. Rodrigo was pathetic with his "Sarina" issues...and what's up with her? If you know the dude likes you, why are you constantly going to see him, and showing up for a dance? I thought they both sucked:)
There is some action with the drug dealer trying to kill Glory, and Rodrigo's case, but I found it all anticlimactic, and kind of boring.
July 22, 2013
One of the good Diana Palmer!
Gloryann, with her limp, is making her way in Rodrigo's heart without him realize it. Until he lost everything. Having a one night full of lust and secretly wishing that she's pregnant, Rodrigo marry Glory. But he thought he still in love with his ex-partner, Sarina. That's when Glory, who madly in love, hear him say that Rodrigo marry her out of pity..
It's been a while since I read one good Diana Palmer's book. This one is good enough to make me stay up all night.
But one thing that holding me from giving 5 stars, that Rodrigo's effort to win Glory isn't enough. As a girl, I need more. It's like Glory's way too forgiving and meekly gone for him. I don't really fond of it.
Overall, this one is good. The angst is enough and I liked it. I love Diana Palmer!
Gloryann, with her limp, is making her way in Rodrigo's heart without him realize it. Until he lost everything. Having a one night full of lust and secretly wishing that she's pregnant, Rodrigo marry Glory. But he thought he still in love with his ex-partner, Sarina. That's when Glory, who madly in love, hear him say that Rodrigo marry her out of pity..
It's been a while since I read one good Diana Palmer's book. This one is good enough to make me stay up all night.
But one thing that holding me from giving 5 stars, that Rodrigo's effort to win Glory isn't enough. As a girl, I need more. It's like Glory's way too forgiving and meekly gone for him. I don't really fond of it.
Overall, this one is good. The angst is enough and I liked it. I love Diana Palmer!
May 4, 2009
With Diana Palmer you always get a troubled hero, but this one was a real as*hole. Rodrigo was absolutely horrible to Glory throughout the entire book. He called her stupid and crippled and was ashamed to be seen with her. But somehow Glory gets past all these things he says and feels about her and marries him. I enjoy the troubled, brooding hero but this one was so far beyond that. He was just completely unlikeable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2022
The angst in this is absolutely delicious and this book would have been a 5 star favorite read if not for one major issue.
The hypocritical, shallow, judgmental, arrogant ass hat that was the H simply needed to grovel more after everything he put the h through.
I'm talking seducing her as a placeholder for the woman he actually loved. Marrying her for the same reason. Calling her a cripple (Yea I shit you not). Talking shit about her to everyone, which the h happens to overhear everytime. Talking shit about her to her face. Thinking shit about her. Rubbing the other women in her face. Contributing to her losing their baby. Accepting her only because he realized she's smart and looks good with make up on, because an uneducated, hardworking, housewife isn't good enough for him. Being dismissive of her in front of mutual friends and colleagues. Attacking the fact that she was a virgin before he happened after they've slept together. Gaslighting her.
Yeah. On second thought I actually dislike him immensely and no amount of grovelling would make him worthy enough of the h, who is an abuse survivor, smart, capable, kind and loving. Literally every other man in this book was better than him. Especially the h's stepbrother and also Kilraven.
Eff Rodrigo.
I'm leaving this at 3 stars anyway because damn that shit hurt, even though Glory deserves better.
The hypocritical, shallow, judgmental, arrogant ass hat that was the H simply needed to grovel more after everything he put the h through.
I'm talking seducing her as a placeholder for the woman he actually loved. Marrying her for the same reason. Calling her a cripple (Yea I shit you not). Talking shit about her to everyone, which the h happens to overhear everytime. Talking shit about her to her face. Thinking shit about her. Rubbing the other women in her face. Contributing to her losing their baby. Accepting her only because he realized she's smart and looks good with make up on, because an uneducated, hardworking, housewife isn't good enough for him. Being dismissive of her in front of mutual friends and colleagues. Attacking the fact that she was a virgin before he happened after they've slept together. Gaslighting her.
Yeah. On second thought I actually dislike him immensely and no amount of grovelling would make him worthy enough of the h, who is an abuse survivor, smart, capable, kind and loving. Literally every other man in this book was better than him. Especially the h's stepbrother and also Kilraven.
Eff Rodrigo.
I'm leaving this at 3 stars anyway because damn that shit hurt, even though Glory deserves better.
December 9, 2024
Meh. He wasn’t redeemed and only seemed to find his “love� after she’d “earned� it. He’s beyond shallow and never has to dig deeper.
June 30, 2017
This book could be seen as a follow on from Outsider, with the OM getting his story here and it really ticked me off. It wasn't about the much discussed cruel hero, or how each time his cruelty is explained away by 'I didn't mean it', even when we see he REALLY did mean it since we're given his POV. He's certainly thought those things before he was called on them. And promptly forgiven by the doormat that passed as an h. Probably the first book I've ever read that I just didn't buy any kind of happy ending. Even with the epilogue. No. What ticked me off is how this book assumes that we as the reader will buy into every little twist and turn without thought, regardless of how stupid these actions are. So the baddies know where she is, they send Marcus as a 'dry run' BUT still she persists with her persona as a farm hand. What? just to deceive the good guys?? The bad guys have already found her. This nonsensical decisions are there just to continue with the fact that he thinks her below him and to milk it to the max. Mostly I love romances and usually will swallow the experience of being treated like a reader with no intelligence, but when its taken to such extremes. No, I just can't.
March 27, 2020
It started up nicely (not nicely, but you know, angsty) and then the horrible horrible hero entered and started backstabbing the stupid heroine. Two, three, more scenes with the horrible horrible hero complaining about the crippled, plain, uneducated heroine who is soo beneath him and the stupid (and well educated, unbeknownst to hero) heroine eavesdropping to the backstabbing behind the door and just doing nothing. Especially NOT taking her lifesaving medicine which she needs, especially as she’s pregnant (unbeknownst to hero). NOT taking the medication in the morning, getting very sick and then NOT taking it in the evening??!
A story about horrible horrible hero and very stupid heroine. They deserve each other. The end.
A story about horrible horrible hero and very stupid heroine. They deserve each other. The end.
July 6, 2012
If i could i would just make this book disappear from all shelfs/stores out there. I don't know what DP was thinking writing it. Wasn't there anyone to point out what a horrible storyline it was before publishing it?! Absolutely horrible, the hero not worth calling him one.
May 6, 2024
Sometimes you just need some cheesy, OTT soap opera DP!
NOTES FROM
Fearless
Diana Palmer
May 5, 2024
“The truth is that she’s attracted to me and I find her unappealing. I grow weary of the heartsick looks she sends my way. She’s hardly the type of woman I would choose
May 5, 2024
She looked dreamy, happy. He felt guilty because he was using her, in a way, to escape the pain of rejection. But she’d never have to know
May 5, 2024
He’d made a terrible mistake when he’d married her. It had been a spur of the moment thing, to spite Sarina for throwing him over. But all it had done was make him aware of how miserable he was. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life tied to this prehistoric woman. He was going to have to approach the subject of a divorce.
May 5, 2024
but he was a little embarrassed by the way she looked. She hadn’t even brushed her hair. She looked like a farm worker, plain and uninteresting. He’d always had attractive women around him, women who dressed well and drew men’s eyes. This little frump wouldn’t have attracted a nearsighted pencil-pusher, much less himself
May 5, 2024
Marry me,� he coaxed. “I’ll love you until the dark washes over me and carries me away, and the last word I whisper will be your name,� he whispered
All Excerpts From
Palmer, Diana. “Fearless.� Harlequin Books, 2009-04-30T23:00:00+00:00. Apple Books.
This material may be protected by copyright.
NOTES FROM
Fearless
Diana Palmer
May 5, 2024
“The truth is that she’s attracted to me and I find her unappealing. I grow weary of the heartsick looks she sends my way. She’s hardly the type of woman I would choose
May 5, 2024
She looked dreamy, happy. He felt guilty because he was using her, in a way, to escape the pain of rejection. But she’d never have to know
May 5, 2024
He’d made a terrible mistake when he’d married her. It had been a spur of the moment thing, to spite Sarina for throwing him over. But all it had done was make him aware of how miserable he was. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life tied to this prehistoric woman. He was going to have to approach the subject of a divorce.
May 5, 2024
but he was a little embarrassed by the way she looked. She hadn’t even brushed her hair. She looked like a farm worker, plain and uninteresting. He’d always had attractive women around him, women who dressed well and drew men’s eyes. This little frump wouldn’t have attracted a nearsighted pencil-pusher, much less himself
May 5, 2024
Marry me,� he coaxed. “I’ll love you until the dark washes over me and carries me away, and the last word I whisper will be your name,� he whispered
All Excerpts From
Palmer, Diana. “Fearless.� Harlequin Books, 2009-04-30T23:00:00+00:00. Apple Books.
This material may be protected by copyright.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2021
Unpopular opinion: I liked this book *because made me feel something*. I was angry and sad and again angry and it made me hate the stupid as**le Hero. The one that could have everything but was pinning for someone who gave him nothing, the one that was selfish and was blind to see that the h would have done everything for him.
The plot: she is an assistant prosecutor but has to lay low after she witnesses something. He is a DEA agent undercover. He thinks she is stupid, without money or education, she thinks he may be involved in something illegal. She wants him and she would give everything to have him. He feels sorry for her because she is uneducated and has a health problem.. until he realizes what he lost. He grovels, but not enough.
The plot: she is an assistant prosecutor but has to lay low after she witnesses something. He is a DEA agent undercover. He thinks she is stupid, without money or education, she thinks he may be involved in something illegal. She wants him and she would give everything to have him. He feels sorry for her because she is uneducated and has a health problem.. until he realizes what he lost. He grovels, but not enough.
June 29, 2017
This is my second book from this author and I'm starting to love her.
February 20, 2021
Gloryannne is a high-powered Assistant Prosecutor, and her job has once again put her - in harm's way. A well-known drug lord threatens her life. To stay alive until the trial, Glory agreed to hide in her stepbrother's farm in their hometown of Jacobsville, working as a canner. There she met the handsome and taciturn Rodrigo Ramirez, her stepbrother's farm manager. Rodrigo is working undercover to bust a drug cartel that is running drugs. And he doesn't need the distraction of the new employee, who isn't his type buy yet he desires her. She stirs an unexpected response in him that no other woman can. Not even the woman he wanted to marry. Both Rodrigo and Glory were keeping secrets that apparently they weren't willing to share. But when the truth comes out, will they be able to continue where they left off? Or will it shatter the fragile relationship they have?
Rodrigo Ramirez
He's honestly one of the worst heroes I've ever had the displeasure to read ever. He came off as a smug, callous, selfish, and inconsiderate snob who considered Glory beneath his station, always insulting her and honestly thought she was stupid, uneducated, and disabled plain hick country girl. And his verbal cruelty scraped on my nerves!
Rodrigo Ramirez was the true epitome of a scum/asshole.
Gloryanne Barnes had a difficult life. She was abused by her mother, which cause her a broken hip and a pronounced limp that no physical therapy could erase. And her father was wrongfully accused and convicted of abusing Glory. She was put in foster care, where she was continuously harassed and assaulted. That's why she didn't trust men. Until she met Rodrigo Ramirez, she had fallen in love with him and blindly married the man even though he might be involved with a drug lord. Glory was such a strong heroine. Her past could have easily characterized her, and yet, to me, she wasn't. She pulled on my heartstrings in some scenes and had me actually laughing out loud in others.
I honestly would give Fearless a one-star. But the subsequent grovel, the way Rodrigo redeemed himself and won Glory's love, worked for me. Rodrigo owned his mistakes and tried everything in his power to make it up for her.
Rodrigo Ramirez
He's honestly one of the worst heroes I've ever had the displeasure to read ever. He came off as a smug, callous, selfish, and inconsiderate snob who considered Glory beneath his station, always insulting her and honestly thought she was stupid, uneducated, and disabled plain hick country girl. And his verbal cruelty scraped on my nerves!
He should be flattered that she cared too much about him, but he was a little embarrassed by the way she looked. She hadn't even brushed her hair. She looked like a farmworker, plain and uninteresting. He's always had attractive women around him, women who dressed well and drew men's eyes. This little frump wouldn't have attracted a near-sighted pencil-pusher, much less himself.And yet he can't stop having unprotected sex with her! And just when I thought the hero didn't have any more jerk left in him, something new would sneak in there and made me want to strike him!
Rodrigo Ramirez was the true epitome of a scum/asshole.
Gloryanne Barnes had a difficult life. She was abused by her mother, which cause her a broken hip and a pronounced limp that no physical therapy could erase. And her father was wrongfully accused and convicted of abusing Glory. She was put in foster care, where she was continuously harassed and assaulted. That's why she didn't trust men. Until she met Rodrigo Ramirez, she had fallen in love with him and blindly married the man even though he might be involved with a drug lord. Glory was such a strong heroine. Her past could have easily characterized her, and yet, to me, she wasn't. She pulled on my heartstrings in some scenes and had me actually laughing out loud in others.
"Well, if you're planning to sue me for seduction, I have to tell you that I'll swear in court that you threw yourself at me, and I couldn't help myself."Nothing made me happier when she stood up for herself.
I honestly would give Fearless a one-star. But the subsequent grovel, the way Rodrigo redeemed himself and won Glory's love, worked for me. Rodrigo owned his mistakes and tried everything in his power to make it up for her.
October 14, 2010
Rodrigo was a complete *expletive* *expletive*. He spent the entire book treating Glory like *expletive*, and even after she overheard him telling other people not once, but twice, about how plain, unappealing, crippled, embarrasing and pathetic she was, Glory still chased after him. Puhlease. Hands down the worst 'hero' I've ever read. And for someone who's supposed to be a ballsy DA, Glory was pathetically naive and lacking. 2 stars because it was readable for the most part.
February 25, 2011
The hero treated the heroine so terribly, that by the end of the book I hated him. When she forgave him and ran back into his arms, I just thought she was weak and stupid. Lame book.
August 18, 2020
I’d say overall it was a 3 star book and I’d give an extra star for Glory. Or I can say it would ideally be a 5 star book but Rodrigo was really such a sick bastard that this book could never redeem itself with him as the main lead.
Rodrigo truly has to be one of the cruelest alpha H you could read of. Said the most vile things to the h so much that he’d lose his own respect in the process. I viewed him as an alpha H but I hated that he never saved Glory. Both times when she had a hit, she had to be her own hero cuz Rodrigo was always MIA. He always came late to save the day and half the time he was embarrassed by the after effects anyways.
Many great reviews out there so here I’m just putting out my feelings. I disliked that he projected his fear of meeting needy women who judged him based on his wealth. He was abominably cruel to the h and judged her on the same principles, the (apparent) lack of her wealth.
There were more than enough chances that Glory gave him as a survivor and each time this hateful man said the most patronizing selfish things to the h. I couldn’t fathom that all his wealth and royalty connections couldn’t buy him basic courtesy of a gentleman.
The ending is beyond sweet and I couldn’t put the book down. If he didn’t repeatedly say those things to Glory I might just have secretly liked him a lot more. But. I still liked that sexy cruel bastard.
Rodrigo truly has to be one of the cruelest alpha H you could read of. Said the most vile things to the h so much that he’d lose his own respect in the process. I viewed him as an alpha H but I hated that he never saved Glory. Both times when she had a hit, she had to be her own hero cuz Rodrigo was always MIA. He always came late to save the day and half the time he was embarrassed by the after effects anyways.
Many great reviews out there so here I’m just putting out my feelings. I disliked that he projected his fear of meeting needy women who judged him based on his wealth. He was abominably cruel to the h and judged her on the same principles, the (apparent) lack of her wealth.
There were more than enough chances that Glory gave him as a survivor and each time this hateful man said the most patronizing selfish things to the h. I couldn’t fathom that all his wealth and royalty connections couldn’t buy him basic courtesy of a gentleman.
The ending is beyond sweet and I couldn’t put the book down. If he didn’t repeatedly say those things to Glory I might just have secretly liked him a lot more. But. I still liked that sexy cruel bastard.
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