This HaBO comes from A Traveller, who is looking for an older Mills & Boon romance. Content warning for the description below:
Long time reader, first time HABO asker here! I ran through a gazillion Harlequins/Mills & Boons during the early 2000s (a lot of them were published in the 80s and 90s), and every so often I think of one and then go crazy trying to remember the name/author.
This one starts with the female protagonist working as a waitress in a hotel bar, and her ex walks in with his new girlfriend – turns out he’s the new owner of the hotel. They had met when she was very young – I think it ended badly due to unexpected pregnancy, a miscarriage, and her father telling him it was deliberate for… money reasons?
Back in the present, he’s being judgmental, but then slowly learns she actually studied to be a teacher, and is working this job only till school reopens. She lives with an old grumpy guy she met randomly and who is now like a pseudo father figure to her (he maybe had dementia?), and who she lets the ex think is her current lover. And there was a scene where he comes into the changing room at the hotel to yell at her about something while she’s peeling an apple for herself, and she ends up slicing her hand badly, so he takes her to the hospital. And someone (maybe the ex’s girlfriend?) ordered a pink squirrel at some point, which I think I remember only because this was the first time I had heard of this drink and had no idea what it was (not sure I still do).
Would love to find this or at least remember the name if possible, because all these weirdly specific details are driving me crazy.
God, he better grovel so hard.
Alright, I kinda take back my praise for the conflict resolution in Heavy, because the author then called on the adorable moppet to say something wise and prod the heroine into seeking out the hero. Gag.
@Lauren @Deborah @Kareni the lobster from When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare DOES escape, so I assume that that is the book being referred to. Unless there are other books with escaping lobsters, where the hero shows he cares by caring about the escaped lobster…?
@Levana Taylor: I just read HEAVY last week (and I’ll be writing about it in the next WAYR). I didn’t think the little girl was a “plot muppet,” but she does, in her quiet way, nudge the heroine to reconsider her feelings for the hero. The little girl is the heroine’s niece and, like the heroine, is neuro-diverse. The two of them have a very strong connection (which is more fleshed-out in HITTING THE WALL). I think that scene is more a case of two people with similar sensory perceptions sharing a connection than a “you have to go back to him” moment.
The kids I volunteer with give eachother standing ovations when a classmate manages to get the teacher way off track. This thread hitting 2 pages is giving me that thrill.
Also, I should have said romance’s female friendship representation is *often* terrible. Because of course there are wonderful exceptions. It’s basically a given that any time a romance reader claims a trope they *hate* they can also pull out 10 of their all time favorite books that happen to have that trope.
There could be a whole Rec League that’s just: name the thing you can’t stand in romance, then name all the books you love that do that exact thing.
@DDD: Yeah, I was a little harsh. But I still do think it came off a little contrived and sappy, though I’ve read worse wise-moppet reconciliation catalysts by far. The book was a mixed bag for me but on the whole I thought highly of it: on the downside, at the start Heavy was kept considering the idea of killing Dina far longer than it made sense for him to which struck me as artificial drama; on the upside, well, lots of details, lots of characters, mix of angst and humor. Heavy and Dina have definite chemistry — I don’t mean just physical — they share a sense of humor. It was a good depiction of two people who get each other’s jokes when no one else does! A couple of amusing moments, too, when Heavy would say something a bit macho and he’d be aware that he doesn’t entirely mean it and doesn’t take his own machismo too seriously (what ever else he takes all to seriously).
@CourtneyM @Deborah @Kareni I was indeed thinking of When a Scot Ties the Knot – I have fuzzy recollections of the hero tromping across the fields searching for the escaped lobster – and the heroine missing the long awaited mating of the said lobsters to nurse him later. I thought I wasn’t big on Acts of Service as a love language but THAT is peak romance right there