It’s another Top Ten Tuesday. In honor of 50 years of Harlequin Presents, we’re posting our top ten Charlotte Lamb books with one-word titles.
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It’s Top Ten Tuesday, where we post a list of 10 of our best/favorite/most important book-ish-related items, depending on the theme of the week. Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for providing us with this feature and creative ideas.
“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.”
Charlotte Lamb Romances With One Word Titles
Last week’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday included Books with one-word titles (submitted by Angela @Reading Frenzy Book Blog). However, since Sweet Savage Flame was on hiatus, we didn’t get a chance to post this. So we’re doing it this week instead.
In honor of 50 years of Harlequin Presents, we decided to make this a Charlotte Lamb list. Lamb was one of our all-time favorite authors. Not just of the Presents line but retro-romance books in general. She wrote at least 25 romances for Mills & Boon/Harlequin with one-word titles, so this was a logical choice.
Top 10 Tuesday List
Crescendo, 1980
Crescendo is a riveting romance, which we’ve already reviewed on this site. This book features the tropes of an innocent, sheltered virgin heroine and a much older, womanizing hero. Mix in amnesia and Lamb’s excellent understanding of human psychology, and the result is a 5-star read.
One awful moment shattered her life
Basslea was a haven, and Marina was totally content there. She had her music and her innocent childlike fantasies. Nothing seemed capable of changing her world–until Gideon Firth arrived.
He was everything she was not: sophisticated, urbane, powerful. And she found herself responding to his magnetism the way no unawakened girl should. . . .
He seemed to wield a power she didn’t understand, until he forced her to recognize the truth for herself. Then Marina realized what was happening to her–and what had happened!
Seduction, 1980
We’ve reviewed this book and discussed it many times before here at Sweet Savage Flame. Seduction is a dark captor-captive romance, and we love it! (5 stars)
Clea felt insulted–by both men!
Clea’s stepfather, Kerasteri, had followed Greek custom in choosing a man for her to marry. Defying him meant arousing his violent temper.
Ben Winter was the man who desired her and was determined to have her. I know what you want more than you do, he kept insisting. But he saw only the betraying signs of her body; he didn’t listen to her reasons for refusal.
Clea had little choice. But she was sure of one thing: she would not be owned or used by anyone. She was her own person!
Obsession, 1980
The boss-secretary dynamic is excellent here in Obsession, but unfortunately, this book loses points due to the man slut hero. The low point is when the heroine walks in on the hero, making out on the couch with her topless sister! (3 stars)
He wanted his fun–with no commitments
Nicola knew all the reasons why she should remain nothing more than Lang Hyland’s secretary. That was all she ever intended to be
Lang was a womanizer. He preferred big-eyed blondes, but his interest waned after three months. Nicola had watched enough women tearing their hearts out over him to feel immune.
Then why, she asked herself, should she feel so upset when he again made his position clear? “I’ve absolutely no intention of getting married,” Lang said, “and I know you wouldn’t consider anything else.”
Abduction, 1981
No, it’s not the heroine who’s getting abducted in Abduction. That would be a little too “on the nose.” In one-word thriller by Charlotte Lamb, separated spouses are brought together after their child is kidnapped. (4 stars)
She needed time–and that was running out
After two years’ of separation from Gabriel, her husband, Marisa still didn’t think she was ready to cope with being his wife. His wealthy life-style had intimidated her. His snobbish friends had made her feel like a poor little nobody.
But some things had changed in two years. Marisa had had to raise Jamie, their baby, by herself, and that had given her new confidence and shown her the meaning of true love.
Then Jamie was abducted, and she thought she would die. Especially since it brought Gabriel back into her life….
Frustration, 1979
Frustration is another emotional Harlequin Presents by Lamb. Natalie, a grieving widow, drowns her sorrows in hard liquor at a party. This leads to a reckless one-night stand with a man who looks identical to her dead husband. Later, Natalie gets a new job and is stunned to meet her new boss, Jake Long.
Jake is just shocked to see her! He hasn’t been able to get Natalie out of his mind since their passionate night together. (5 stars)
Would the past ruin her future?
In the chaotic world of a London television network, Natalie struggled to rebuild her life–and grieved privately over the death of her beloved husband, Angus.
When she was promoted to Jake Lang’s production team, the whole network buzzed. Jake had hated Natalie ever since an unspeakably humiliating night she’d tried to forget.
But Natalie knew that if she was to have any kind of a future, she somehow had to make Jake believe that he was more than just a substitute for Angus. It wouldn’t be easy!
Possession, 1979
Possession (3.5 stars)
Laura should have realized earlier . . . .
Why had it never entered her head? Her grandfather and Dan Harland planning her marriage–to Dan Harland!
All her moments of suspicion gelled into the ghastly realization. It was their answer to everything. Keep the firm in the family, and give control to Dan Harland.
Laura felt trapped. Her grandfather meant the world to her, yet could she give up her life in order to prolong his? But it took only a few days in Greece with Dan for Laura to see how easily he could manipulate her mind–and her senses!
Sensation, 1979
(4 stars)
Why had Drew shown up in Paris now?
Helen had managed to avoid Drew for the past six years, ensuring that if he was in one country she’d be in another.
After all, theirs wasn’t a real marriage anyway—Drew had wanted the business connection with her father and Helen had merely wanted to escape her parents. It was a bizarre but comfortable arrangement.
But now Drew meant to claim his rights as her husband, and she had nowhere to turn. His sudden demands were frightening and confusing—as were her own surprising responses…
Illusion, 1981
(4 stars)
They were caught in a storm of publicity
Deborah could have wept at the cruel insanity of it all! She’d come to Venice to get over a broken love affair quietly and had landed on the front page with a playboy tycoon. In a most incriminating photograph!
What was worse, Matthew Tyrell believed she’d planned the whole fiasco! True, she was a journalist, but not the scandalmonger he thought. She was as innocent as he in the sordid affair.
But the affair wouldn’t remain innocent if the hotheaded Matthew got the revenge he desired. . .
Temptation, 1979
(5 stars)
Nothing would ever be the same again!
Linden had only been seventeen when Joss crashed into her life. Naively, she offered him her friendship and trust. In return, he had aroused emotions in her she was too young to handle, wrenching her from childhood to womanhood in a few startling days.
When he left her, Linden realized that she had been ruthlessly used. Her love for Joss had been almost worshipful. His love had been a savage devouring; taking, never giving. His love had destroyed her–just as she would now destroy him!
Fever, 1979
(3.5 stars)
Their worlds were light-years apart…
Sara Nichols was proud to be a painter Her landscapes were catching on, and though she wasn’t making a fortune, she had enough to get by.
Nick Rawdon, on the other hand, had more money than he bothered to count. Owner of a prestigious bank, he moved in glittering circles far beyond those Sara was used to.
They seemed to have nothing in common—except a gripping physical attraction. But even that was based on Nick’s totally wrong idea of the kind of girl that Sara really was.
Other Charlotte Lamb Books with One-Word Titles
- Heartbreaker
- Lovestruck
- Dangerous
- Betrayal
- Spellbinding
- Retribution
- Scandalous
- Dreaming
- Besieged
- Surrender
- Desperation
- Compulsion
- Infatuation
- Whirlwind
- Haunted
Your Opinion
What do you think of our picks for the top ten list? Have you read any of these Charlotte Lamb romances? What one-word titled books stand out in your memorable reads?
As always, please drop a comment, and let’s talk romance!