10 most hated HPs of all time

This discussion at Amazon caught my eye a few weeks ago, and it’s still going strong. But what got me was that the original poster named two HPs (Harlequin Presents) that are on my own list … books that I’ve kept on my shelves simply because they made me SO mad. And out of all the HPs that have ever been published, I just had to laugh that her list matched two of mine (I’ve read some of the others on her list, and although I didn’t like some of them, I didn’t hate them quite as much as these two.)

#4 Shattered Dreams by Sally Wentworth–Can anybody say Stockholm Syndrome here? I mean the H physically tortures the h and this is okay with her, “forget about it, because I already have” and the H’s response “I just did it because I love you!” That is not love.

#3 Dark Summer Dawn by Sara Craven–The h in this is another please track mud all over me kinda girl and the H is so brutish it is not even funny. This book is the picture of a codependent abusive relationship and should be read as a warning manual for all young girls.

Yeah, the hero rapes her during the titular moment … as a dark summer dawn approaches. Gotta love that. :-/

The funny thing is, I have other books by the same authors that are on my keeper shelves for the right reasons. But these particular two? No. (There’s actually another Sara Craven that has almost exactly the same plot and setup as Dark Summer Dawn, but no rape. It’s not very good either.) There’s a line between arrogance and abuse, and these two heroes jump right over it.

Anyway, it’s an interesting discussion, particularly if you are a HP fanatic. Or, you know, just a fan.

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cover images taken from fictiondb