I did enjoy the stepmother and her skewed view of marriage and mistresses. The second half - where they are learning to be married to each other - kept the tension simmering (just not on a high boil).

She wanted to *stay* a 'bitch,' but it really wasn't her character. I think that was her armor, because when they did finally go to bed together the heroine started to care and then she falters when dealing with the hero. I liked how they were both strong characters and how the heroine didn't care what the hero thought of her for the longest time. It was a stroke of genius for her to propose marriage - and the hero was unconsciously smitten enough to take her up on it. It was just another day at the office dealing with a gold digger - until the hero got tangled up with the heroine and the dead sister's baby. The heroine was magnificent in her anger and her grief over her sister's death. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child.

Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. Lynne Graham was born on Jof Irish-Scottish parentage. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Bond of Hatred by Lynne Graham