Life's a Beach and Name that Book
There's trouble here in paradise. My Dad has decided to marry his girlfriend. You know the one that's my age and that he met in a bar? Yeah, that one.
My sibs and I are in a bit of whirl. We get that he wants companionship and is lonely, but it would be nice if he wanted to spend time with us or our children. He has 8 living children and 25 grandchildren. Throw in spouses, great grandchildren...that's a lot of people. After 50 years with our Mom it's a bit much to take in that your 76-year old Dad is going to marry a 54-year old woman in Las Vegas. Feels weird I tells ya...weird. Oh did I mention we got to meet the
When I tell you that my brothers, who are all about Dad bagging a babe, didn't like her that's saying something because they have a very generous grading curve. I swear my Dad's love life has more drama than Shmoo's.
Enough already about Dad. On to books.
Over at Reader' Gab at Access Romance CindyS commented on my column this week and made note of a book she thought was by Judith McNaught. The hero had to joust all of his wife's family who were all trying to kill him. The wife doesn't realize or believe her family means her husband harm. Not only does the hero have to protect himself from being killed but he's got to make sure not to hurt her relatives in the process. Okay? Got it?
Now I read all of McNaught's early historicals and really liked them, but it's been years. Do any of you bright lights out there know which book this is? I'm all kinds of curious now and would like to read it. Because you know, I only have about 200 other books to read so I NEED to go get this one. Tell me. Can you name that book?
Labels: Access Romance, Darth Vader, Family, Judith McNaught
Posted by Rosie at 6:02 PM
14 Comments:
I *think* it might be A Kingdom of Dreams. Now I need to go and find it on the bookshelf and see. With my luck it will be by Jude Devereaux or someone else like that. Although Royce rings a bell.
And maybe it was just a tournament - jousting and swordfights.
CindyS
Geez, I'm sorry about your dad. The only thing I can think of is that being alone is a scary kind of prospect. Sure you have kids and grandkids but who is there with you day to day. I think men have a harder time with it.
CindyS
Yes, it's stupid A Kingdom of Dreams. STUPID book. HATED JENNY. She needs to DIE so Royce can be happy with someone who DESERVES HIM!
Ehem.
I believe Cindy is correct. :)
Sorry about your dad, babe. That's gotta be rough..although..where does he live? Just curious, because I just met this woman (in her 50's) who's planning to marry a man (in his 70's or 80's)....
BIG FAT HUGS! If you need anything, cement shoes, voodoo doll, a hug, you just let me know.
Sheesh, it must be the only McNaught I haven't read.
I'm sorry about your dad. Maybe, just maybe they love each other and it will all really work out? Can you start going to the Caribbean for Christmas?
yup yup, everyone has it right, A Kingdom of Dreams. It wasn't her greatest book.
and yeah, I'm sorry as well for your dad. It sounds harsh and difficult for the whole family... the only thing I can say though, is that it reminds me of some book storyline.
I feel for you with your Dad. My mother passed away and my sisters and I knew my dad was lonely. So when he met someone we were happy for him. What a nightmare it turned out to be. He married her rather quickly and it turned out she was a drunk. Then only a few months after that he had to have heart bypass surgery and he didn't make it. That's when The Black Widow really made her appearance. She would call us - drunk out of her mind and just ring a peal over us about what rotten children we were and how she loved our dad and we didn't. It was so far from the truth - we kept our opinions to ourselves on what we thought of her - and we had been more than gracious to her.
In addition - my dad was the old fashioned sort who wanted to take care of his wife. He left her two thirds of all his money and a third of a third to each of us. It wouldn't have bothered us if they had been married for a while - or if she had made him happy.
Then she bad mouthed us to all of my parents friends - some believed her, some didn't. Mind you these were friends of my parents we had know for YEARS. It hurt - the ones who believed her.
It turned out that he was her third husband. Less than a year after my dad died she married another lonely widower. He saw the light about her and divorced her very quickly and she took him for half of all that he had. He had to re-mortgage the house he and his wife had lived in all their lives to give The Black Widow half of it. Then she went on to marry another guy after that and we lost track of her.
But almost all the money my parents had worked hard for for years went to this woman.
Yikes about your dad! I can't imagine I'd be very thrilled about the same situation, either.
Cindy, I read the McNaught book forever ago and have not a scintilla of a memory of it. As for Dad. Ugh. Just ugh!
Holly, Dad comes down to SoCal (High Desert) for weeks at a time mostly in winter. He spends the rest of the year in Montana. He's a lot easier to love when he's in another state. :) BTW, voodoo doll sounds good. I'll take one of each please. :)
Lori, nah, no love. I know how cynical that sounds but he's desperate and lonely and she's desperate and poor. They are both alcoholics. It's sad and pathetic actually. You know I often feel I'd be handling it better if only it was someone else's Dad. I look at him and wonder how we can be related because our values are sooooo different.
Nath, I think my Dad's situation sounds like a storyline from a soap opera. :-P
Kristie, good God that sounds like this situation. Dad keeps saying we just need to get to know her better. After the three occasions I've had to be around her for lenghty periods of time I don't want to be around her any more. I'm not saying it would be easy to see her get my Dad's two homes and assets, but he's no dream boat and if she can put up with him she might deserve some sort of payment. Thank God, none of us (seem) to care about that aspect. We just don't want to have to invite her for Christmas dinner.
Jen, yeah, I keep telling people it's much easier to be compassionate when it's not your own Dad in the situation. Not to mention seeing someone flout all the moral values they brought you up with. That part's really weird.
Not to mention seeing someone flout all the moral values they brought you up with. That part's really weird.
Yeah. I'm thinking that would totally freak me out.
I can be a bit shallow at times, but i'm just wondering -- what was your 76 year old dad doing at a bar anyway?? Picking up chicks, no less!! That's yucky. I'm just saying...
Jen, I'm trying to keep his antics in perspective and go on about living my life, but it ain't easy.
Jodi, well yeah my 76-year old alky Dad hanging out at a bar most of the day every day is waaaaay "yucky".
Dating/picking up women that he meets there is just beyond yucky. TMI?
That's a tough one, Rosie. Is it just because you're dad is lonely?
And speaking of Montana, when are you heading up this way?
Oh. My. Word...I'd feel the same way, especially with all you hear about predatory 'black widow' types out there. Sheesh.
It's one thing if they're genuinely in love, but it IS hard to get past the whole barfly thing. (It was hard enough thinking about my 88 year old grandfather getting remarried a few months back, and he'd met his 'younger woman'(75) at his church!)
I hope that your dad has at least given some thought to getting his assets legally protected beforehand (like maybe a prenup) so that if she has ulterior motives, he won't lose all he's worked his entire life for.
Is it too much to hope that she is truly in love with your dad for the 'steady' kind of man he is, having been married so long to your mom?
Dev, no question that Dad is lonely. Bars are his fave hangout because he's an alcoholic. There's no sugar coating what's going on.
Becky, we have a family trust but in CA that flies out the window as soon as he marries. He won't discuss anything like assets, or what happens to the trust or even where he wants to be buried. It's messy and ugly. All we can do is endure. As the song says, "What's love got to do with it?"
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