You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Becca. Content warning for the description below:
I’ve been looking for a book for several years. It was probably published in the 80s or 90s.
All I remember of the book was that there was a prologue where the rich teenage heroine was in love with this boy who lived and worked in the stables. All her friends were into him, and they had a pool going on who would have sex with him first. Then he leaves under a cloud of suspicion because it was believed he raped a member of the group.
Fast forward many years, and now he’s a rich corporate raider type gunning for the heroine’s business. Eventually, the whole story comes out about how he really slept with the mother of the person that claimed raped her (her mother put her up to claiming it to remove suspicion from herself), and the heroine realized he didn’t rape her friend because no one ever collected on the betting pool they had going on.
I really thought it was a Judith McNaught novel, but a search on GoodReads didn’t turn anything up that remotely was close.
I’m unsure if this is contemporary or historical. Also, yikes.
Remember When
by Judith McNaught
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Remember When by Judith McNaught!
Holy crap, I’ve read this!!! Doesn’t help at all as I don’t remember the title or author, but I definitely read it.
Second vote for Remember When! I have a serious soft spot for this book.
Another vote for Remember When.
I remember participating in a chat on CompuServe with Judith McNaught about this book ages ago!
Same as DonnaMarie – I’ve read this one! It definitely sounds like a Judith McNaught, but I can’t remember which one … Remember When sounds right though.
Definitely Remember When with Cole Harrison and Diana Foster.
Yup… Remember When.
You guys are amazing! I thought I was going crazy thinking it was Judith McNaught and not finding it on Goodreads! Mark this baby as solved! Thanks so much! I just bought it and can’t wait to read it again.
My favorite Judith McNaught contemporary
She realized he didn’t rape her friend because no one collected on the betting pool? How does that work? Was the raped friend supposed to claim victory?
How old was he and how old was the mother? My mandated reported spidey senses are tingling.
I read ‘stable boy’ and I immediately thought of
The Princess Bride.
Obviously, none of the rest of this HABO matched (like at all). 🙂
I don’t know how to respond directly, but he doesn’t sleep with the mother OR the daughter. The mom makes a pass at him, then when her husband sees her leaving the stable she makes her daughter swap clothes with her and say she slept with Cole.
Wasn’t there another, similar Judith McNaught contemporary where the H/h had a relationship as teens and she got pregnant, and then winds up losing the baby and when she’s in the hospital her father tells him she ran away, and tells her the H abandoned her?
Yep, that one is Paradise. McNaught did several of those “poor fellow makes good”/uptown girl type books.
I knew this one. I have all Judith McNaught’s books!