ROMANCE - MODERN
by CAROLE NELSON DOUGLAS
(click on a book to see larger image)
These stories are not like what you expect in a romance, that is, boy meets girl and falls madly in love and they get married, or boy meets girl and they hate each other and gradually fall in love and get married. Rather these books start out with a woman who is already married and is having problems with her husband. Someone else comes along and eases her pain. Divorces are in order. The results still may be surprising, Douglas normally doesn't write about the expected.
Written in the early 80s, these books are out of print and hard to find, I searched for months to find a copy of THE BEST MAN, which finally showed up on e-bay. There are a lot of good things about these books, but I don't think they are her best, the Midnight Louie series has these easily beat. In all fairness to CND, they were probably heavily edited and probably not exactly what she would have liked if given a choice. The marital problems in these books are things that could easily happen in marriages today.
HER OWN PERSON
The attractive woman in this book has a strong minded husband who feels things should be done a certain way and is not willing to budge. They have one son, Jason. Her husband has a successful contracting career. She has a job advertising, and desires this job to make her feel useful and fulfilled rather than just a housecleaner for her thoughtless husband. Her husband doesn't want to hire a housecleaner, even though they could easily afford one. Things get interesting when Jason has an accident and she has to contact her husband.
IN HER PRIME
This book is about a successful woman who's career has put her husband's on hold. He becomes an alcoholic. They have no children, and she never will, she's having a hysterectomy. It's time for a life change for her. At the end of the book she is still single but more in control of her life. It's surprising who she discovers she has feelings for.
THE BEST MAN
An intelligent, pretty woman marries a political candidate. This get interesting when he has a problem that requires hospitalization. Apparently her husband is more (or less) than he seems. His political adviser helps her through this hard time. But she's still going to vote for him.
AZURE DAYS, QUICKSILVER NIGHTS
This story takes on the Mediterranean, the Cote D'Azure. The woman here
is widowed and inherits a large estate. She is afraid the man is going to try
and take it from her. There are some other added complications, and this
story also adds the element of mystery and suspense. I think it's the best
of the stories on this page.