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The Warrender Saga #3
When Love is Blind
Antoinette Burney, a more than promising music student, is disappointed and furious when the famous concert pianist Lewis Freemont fails her in an exam. To make matters worse, he tells her forthrightly that she will never make the grade as a professional pianist. Her hopes and dreams of success and notoriety are all destroyed in a single blow. She doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to forgive him.
But it would seem that fate has other ideas and the tables are quickly turned, making Antoinette the innocent cause of the accident that, in destroying Lewis Freemont’s sight, destroys his career as well. Subdued by his debilitating condition and the knowledge that he will never play the piano again, Lewis quickly becomes a shell of his former self. Horrified and remorseful, when Antoinette gets a chance to make some sort of amends — by becoming Lewis’s secretary — she seizes it with both hands.
Just when she thought life couldn’t get any more complicated, Antoinette soon finds herself falling in love with the man that only a few weeks ago, she despised. But what will Lewis do when, as inevitably he must, he discovers who she really is?
Full of hope and broken dreams, When Love is Blind is a heartfelt tale about never giving up.
But it would seem that fate has other ideas and the tables are quickly turned, making Antoinette the innocent cause of the accident that, in destroying Lewis Freemont’s sight, destroys his career as well. Subdued by his debilitating condition and the knowledge that he will never play the piano again, Lewis quickly becomes a shell of his former self. Horrified and remorseful, when Antoinette gets a chance to make some sort of amends — by becoming Lewis’s secretary — she seizes it with both hands.
Just when she thought life couldn’t get any more complicated, Antoinette soon finds herself falling in love with the man that only a few weeks ago, she despised. But what will Lewis do when, as inevitably he must, he discovers who she really is?
Full of hope and broken dreams, When Love is Blind is a heartfelt tale about never giving up.
Paperback
First published January 15, 1967
About the author
Mary Burchell
163 books79 followersIda Cook was born on 1904 at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland, England. With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook (1901), she attending the Duchess' School in Alnwick. Later the sisters took civil service jobs in London, and developed a passionate interest in opera. The sisters helped 29 jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida's writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.
As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.
As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
July 9, 2016
3.3 stars
This was recommended to me by Minesha , thank you so much!
First off, I want to say, for being first published in 1967, the lack of sexist or racist remarks I girded my loins for, was amazingly absent. So, bravo!
But he's inclined to be mocking and a little sardonic about any display of feeling.
Moving on, if this hasn't been made into a Lifetime movie, I'm willing to bet it's been the inspiration for one or two. A very quick rundown, heroine is aspiring to be a professional concert pianist but hero fails her at her college final and says some soul shattering comments to her.
Hero is a master pianist who heroine loved going to listen to but starts to sort of stalk him after his comments continue to eat at her.
In a serendipitous way, she learns where he lives and while walking the road by his house, he almost hits her with his car and crashes. The crash makes him blind and he now needs a secretary with musical knowledge.
"Don't be quite so reverential," he protested amusedly. "I'm afraid you only know me in a somewhat chastened condition. When I'm under the nervous tension of a professional career I'm quite insufferable, according to many of my acquaintances. I'm afraid it's going to be a shock for anyone as good and civilized as you."
"I'm not good!" protested Antoinette. "I'm perfectly horrible sometimes. And---and I've done some things I'm ashamed of."
"What, for instance?" he enquired with teasing interest.
"I couldn't possibly tell you," she exclaimed agitatedly.
"As bad as that? You excite my wildest curiosity," he said, laughing. If ever I recover my sight, the first thing I shall do is dig into your interesting past.
Our heroine became a secretary after having her dreams crushed by him so she takes the job. They grow closer as she pushes back against his arrogant attitude (all that artistic passion, don't you know!) and tries to hide her identity as the girl who caused his accident. So the girl he blames for his accident is also the one bringing him back to life.
"Play!" he shouted at her once. "Play! You've got it in you to make music, haven't you? And all you do is push down the keys. You drive me crazy"
"You drive me crazy too!" She was surprised to find that she too was almost shouting. "I'm not the soloist. I'm just the useful hack pretending to be an orchestra. And stop shouting at me anyway!"
"I'm sorry," he said stiffly.
"No---I'm sorry too!" And then suddenly she laughed at the sheer absurdity of the scene and, as the tension relaxed, she impulsively put her hand over his.
The pov is all from the heroine and as usual I missed the hero's perspective but his thoughts and personality were still represented. He's a master at his craft and with that comes arrogance and an artist's temperament, I'm saying he can get a bit harsh and sassy. It never crossed a line for me and the heroine had a tendency to nip it in the butt.
The heroine's adoration was a bit hero worship (she's twenty and the hero is 36) but as she worked with him more, they began to develop more of a balanced relationship. Love is declared by the hero around the 50% but again, written in 1967, can't have too much more than some scandalous kissing without declaring yourself.
There was a neighbor lady (anyone else think it was alluded to that maybe she had taken care of her husband by nefarious methods and he didn't just skip town? I have a diabolical mind) who obviously wanted the hero, I think they had a previous relationship. The neighbor lady and heroine engaged in some truly inspired classy, subtle, not so subtle, cat fighting.
And frankly, because I can't help myself,
Nothing remotely like that happens in the book, but Dynasty, y'all.
She told herself this was the prerogative of anyone under great nerve-strain and remained unshakably calm and good-tempered, which earned her no more, however, than an irritable,
"Do you have to be so insufferably sweet and spineless?"
"No, not really. Were you spoiling for a fight?"
There was a moment of astonished silence. Then he laughed suddenly and asked, "Is that a smile that I hear in your voice?"
"Yes, of course. You're being rather funny, you know."
He drew a long, rather odd sigh of something like relief at that and simply said, "I'm glad you're here. You'll be backstage all the time tonight, won't you?"
I'm not sure how much of a spoiler this is, I did mention the Lifetime movie thing, but the hero has another accident that gives him his sight back.
So our heroine decides to disappear forever so he doesn't learn that she is in fact the girl he has been loathing and searching for. With help from a main couple from a previous book in the series, they have their big climatic "But why?!" "I love you anyway!".
Again, for being written in 1967, this aged magnificently well. If you're looking for a change of pace that centers around music, talented arrogant hero, a heroine that feels like she is 20yrs (a mash of naive, sweetness, needing emotional growth, and obliviousness) then this would be an out of the box pick up. I liked their little interactions and how the heroine and hero communicated, even if their relationship felt a little rushed but at 192pgs, that is to be expected. I've never read a Mary Burchell before, but her writing style will have me on the lookout for more of her books from here on out.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!
This was recommended to me by Minesha , thank you so much!
First off, I want to say, for being first published in 1967, the lack of sexist or racist remarks I girded my loins for, was amazingly absent. So, bravo!
But he's inclined to be mocking and a little sardonic about any display of feeling.
Moving on, if this hasn't been made into a Lifetime movie, I'm willing to bet it's been the inspiration for one or two. A very quick rundown, heroine is aspiring to be a professional concert pianist but hero fails her at her college final and says some soul shattering comments to her.
Hero is a master pianist who heroine loved going to listen to but starts to sort of stalk him after his comments continue to eat at her.
In a serendipitous way, she learns where he lives and while walking the road by his house, he almost hits her with his car and crashes. The crash makes him blind and he now needs a secretary with musical knowledge.
"Don't be quite so reverential," he protested amusedly. "I'm afraid you only know me in a somewhat chastened condition. When I'm under the nervous tension of a professional career I'm quite insufferable, according to many of my acquaintances. I'm afraid it's going to be a shock for anyone as good and civilized as you."
"I'm not good!" protested Antoinette. "I'm perfectly horrible sometimes. And---and I've done some things I'm ashamed of."
"What, for instance?" he enquired with teasing interest.
"I couldn't possibly tell you," she exclaimed agitatedly.
"As bad as that? You excite my wildest curiosity," he said, laughing. If ever I recover my sight, the first thing I shall do is dig into your interesting past.
Our heroine became a secretary after having her dreams crushed by him so she takes the job. They grow closer as she pushes back against his arrogant attitude (all that artistic passion, don't you know!) and tries to hide her identity as the girl who caused his accident. So the girl he blames for his accident is also the one bringing him back to life.
"Play!" he shouted at her once. "Play! You've got it in you to make music, haven't you? And all you do is push down the keys. You drive me crazy"
"You drive me crazy too!" She was surprised to find that she too was almost shouting. "I'm not the soloist. I'm just the useful hack pretending to be an orchestra. And stop shouting at me anyway!"
"I'm sorry," he said stiffly.
"No---I'm sorry too!" And then suddenly she laughed at the sheer absurdity of the scene and, as the tension relaxed, she impulsively put her hand over his.
The pov is all from the heroine and as usual I missed the hero's perspective but his thoughts and personality were still represented. He's a master at his craft and with that comes arrogance and an artist's temperament, I'm saying he can get a bit harsh and sassy. It never crossed a line for me and the heroine had a tendency to nip it in the butt.
The heroine's adoration was a bit hero worship (she's twenty and the hero is 36) but as she worked with him more, they began to develop more of a balanced relationship. Love is declared by the hero around the 50% but again, written in 1967, can't have too much more than some scandalous kissing without declaring yourself.
There was a neighbor lady (anyone else think it was alluded to that maybe she had taken care of her husband by nefarious methods and he didn't just skip town? I have a diabolical mind) who obviously wanted the hero, I think they had a previous relationship. The neighbor lady and heroine engaged in some truly inspired classy, subtle, not so subtle, cat fighting.
And frankly, because I can't help myself,
Nothing remotely like that happens in the book, but Dynasty, y'all.
She told herself this was the prerogative of anyone under great nerve-strain and remained unshakably calm and good-tempered, which earned her no more, however, than an irritable,
"Do you have to be so insufferably sweet and spineless?"
"No, not really. Were you spoiling for a fight?"
There was a moment of astonished silence. Then he laughed suddenly and asked, "Is that a smile that I hear in your voice?"
"Yes, of course. You're being rather funny, you know."
He drew a long, rather odd sigh of something like relief at that and simply said, "I'm glad you're here. You'll be backstage all the time tonight, won't you?"
I'm not sure how much of a spoiler this is, I did mention the Lifetime movie thing, but the hero has another accident that gives him his sight back.
So our heroine decides to disappear forever so he doesn't learn that she is in fact the girl he has been loathing and searching for. With help from a main couple from a previous book in the series, they have their big climatic "But why?!" "I love you anyway!".
Again, for being written in 1967, this aged magnificently well. If you're looking for a change of pace that centers around music, talented arrogant hero, a heroine that feels like she is 20yrs (a mash of naive, sweetness, needing emotional growth, and obliviousness) then this would be an out of the box pick up. I liked their little interactions and how the heroine and hero communicated, even if their relationship felt a little rushed but at 192pgs, that is to be expected. I've never read a Mary Burchell before, but her writing style will have me on the lookout for more of her books from here on out.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!
December 18, 2014
Old school romances have such a delightful wit and charm to it.
Such sophistication and maturity to the characters. Ah! When Hero realizes who the Heroine really is, Reading such love stories are so much more fun than the 'hair pulling-shoulder grabbing - oh how dare you do such a thing to me' type response to hidden identities.
Need I say more?
It's filled with a delicious tension that keeps you on your toes.
Go enjoy.
February 18, 2016
This is the third in the Warrender series and not a re-read for me. I don't ever remember reading this one. It's a tale of the heroine's lies causing her more harm than good. Since I really have a hard time with lies, I was nervous throughout the whole story, which took away my enjoyment of the budding romance. Still, it's an intriguing set up and one I won't forget.
Heroine is a pianist who is told quite brutally by the master pianist hero at her school examination that she played like an "automation" and she would never make it on stage. Heroine is crushed and throws herself into a secretarial course. About six months after quitting music, the heroine starts to go to concerts and she finds herself seeking out the hero's concerts. She quietly stalks him and eventually goes to his manor house out in the country. It's while she is crossing the road that the accident happens. Hero's distinctive white car comes down the lane. She freezes. He swerves to avoid her, skids on a patch of oil, and hits a tree. He is blinded by the impact. Heroine runs for help and then runs away, full of guilt. When her secretarial agency says that the hero will need a secretary who knows about music to help him, she nervously goes to him.
It's kind of an opera plot, all told. There are so many coincidences and the great man Oscar Warrender is driven to comment that those love/hate opera scenes of passion aren't as fantastic as real life. I wasn't as sold on it, and I cringed every time the heroine told a lie, but it was still an intriguing read.
Heroine is a pianist who is told quite brutally by the master pianist hero at her school examination that she played like an "automation" and she would never make it on stage. Heroine is crushed and throws herself into a secretarial course. About six months after quitting music, the heroine starts to go to concerts and she finds herself seeking out the hero's concerts. She quietly stalks him and eventually goes to his manor house out in the country. It's while she is crossing the road that the accident happens. Hero's distinctive white car comes down the lane. She freezes. He swerves to avoid her, skids on a patch of oil, and hits a tree. He is blinded by the impact. Heroine runs for help and then runs away, full of guilt. When her secretarial agency says that the hero will need a secretary who knows about music to help him, she nervously goes to him.
It's kind of an opera plot, all told. There are so many coincidences and the great man Oscar Warrender is driven to comment that those love/hate opera scenes of passion aren't as fantastic as real life. I wasn't as sold on it, and I cringed every time the heroine told a lie, but it was still an intriguing read.
January 4, 2012
Mary Burchell is almost always a good read. Her heroines are always capable, talented and worthy. Altho often as in this case they give in to an impulse to deceive the H for a very worthy cause and then have to deal with the guilt and consequences. Which of course provides the obstacle to the HEA and a reason for the story. This is a great romance. It has just enough angst, it has a marginally evil OW, and has a tender love story with a major obstacle to overcome (her deception).
January 31, 2019
ARRGHH. Read this:
The hero, Lewis Freeman, got blinded in this accident. And to whom is he telling this weird and disturbing tale?
To Antoinette Burney, the very girl in question, who is currently posing as his nurse/secretary as he can't recognise her now he's blind.
Sounds like a stalker horror flick, right? Wrong. This unbelievably sick and ghastly scenario is in fact a romance. If you're not unnerved enough by the above, he later asks her:
Yes. That's exactly what she is, Lewis, and you should run. RUN FOR THE HILLS. Except you can't, can you? Because you're blind and your freaky stalker is worming her way into your life, lying and dissembling, forging documents, and you can't escape. You can't ever escape.
Because you and she and this plot are all so fucked up that even when you get your sight back, you decide you "love" her.
"That's the strangest and most macabre thing.... It started—oh, months ago, when I adjudicated at a big music exam... Among the candidates was a girl.... her technique was quite outstanding, but beyond that there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. She had no real music in her... I told her so frankly and advised her not to flatter herself that she would ever be a concert performer in a million years."
"Anyway, I forgot all about her after that... And then one evening she turned up at a concert... I didn't recognize her at first. I mean I couldn't think who she was. I just knew that I knew her. I think I smiled at her. Anyway, she smiled at me. Then she began to haunt me. She was at every concert at which I appeared, sometimes in the front, sometimes on the platform."
"...And then I was driving home—perhaps a little too fast for country roads. There's a crossroads near here—I came round the bend full tilt and—you'll hardly believe it—she was standing there, bang in the middle of the road. I avoided her by a miracle, but the car went into a spin. And then I crashed into a tree, and that was it. She'd had her revenge all right!"
The hero, Lewis Freeman, got blinded in this accident. And to whom is he telling this weird and disturbing tale?
To Antoinette Burney, the very girl in question, who is currently posing as his nurse/secretary as he can't recognise her now he's blind.
Sounds like a stalker horror flick, right? Wrong. This unbelievably sick and ghastly scenario is in fact a romance. If you're not unnerved enough by the above, he later asks her:
"You aren't just a persistent fan pretending to be a good secretary in order to push your way into my private life and make a nuisance of yourself, are you?"
Yes. That's exactly what she is, Lewis, and you should run. RUN FOR THE HILLS. Except you can't, can you? Because you're blind and your freaky stalker is worming her way into your life, lying and dissembling, forging documents, and you can't escape. You can't ever escape.
Because you and she and this plot are all so fucked up that even when you get your sight back, you decide you "love" her.
October 28, 2013
This is a good addition to the Warrender series. Anthea and Oscar play a more prevalent role here than in other books in the series. (Except of course, for their very own story in A Song Begins) Their chemistry is always electric. Every time I get a glimpse of them together, I can't help but smile.
Though this is a very compelling read that had me on tenterhooks for most of the book, I only gave it 3 stars. I just couldn't forgive the hero
Though this is a very compelling read that had me on tenterhooks for most of the book, I only gave it 3 stars. I just couldn't forgive the hero
November 3, 2011
What can I say? I fell in love with the story as well as with the author. I can't believe that I was lucky enough to find this book. I was looking for another authors' book when I typed in the wrong title and found myself staring at the cover. "Hmm...something new I guess" I had thought to myself and decided it would not hurt to give it a go. The short summary sold me and I found myself endlessly looking for a copy of the book. I will say it was one of the best romance story that I have ever read.
Toni, short for Antoinette, has always admire Lewis Freemont from far as a fan of his musical talent as she herself plays the piano. Upon meeting him the for the very first time in person, Lewis fails Toni in her music exam, telling her she has no emotion whatsoever in her music, but that does not stop Toni from idolizing Lewis as one of the best pianist, although she decides to give up on her music career. As luck would have it the table are turned when Toni somewhat caused Lewis to lose his eyesite and Toni ends up with an offer to become his secretary, for Toni felt it was only right for her to make amends even though she was not to blame for the accident that caused Lewis to lose his eyesite. Slowly Toni and Lewis finds themselves drawn together in more way than just their love for music.
Although Toni knew that Lewis blames her for the accident, which he does not know that she is his secretary, she falls in love with him while trying to bring him back from the depth of despair. Lewis who has lost his eyesite relys heavely on his sense of hearing and feeling to decide who is truly cares for him and for whom he cares for most.
I did not cry nor laughed out loud but I found myself falling in love and when a story is able to make me fall in love in such subtle way...well it is a story worth keeping forever.
Mary Burchell did a beautiful job with this story by touching upon what Toni felt and how such love can come from a something as delicate as a small touch to the voices of a person.
This is a beautiful story and I have no objection to giving it 5 stars.
My favoirte line in the story from Lewis to Toni
"...it's a poor day when I don't have you somewhere around me."
Toni, short for Antoinette, has always admire Lewis Freemont from far as a fan of his musical talent as she herself plays the piano. Upon meeting him the for the very first time in person, Lewis fails Toni in her music exam, telling her she has no emotion whatsoever in her music, but that does not stop Toni from idolizing Lewis as one of the best pianist, although she decides to give up on her music career. As luck would have it the table are turned when Toni somewhat caused Lewis to lose his eyesite and Toni ends up with an offer to become his secretary, for Toni felt it was only right for her to make amends even though she was not to blame for the accident that caused Lewis to lose his eyesite. Slowly Toni and Lewis finds themselves drawn together in more way than just their love for music.
Although Toni knew that Lewis blames her for the accident, which he does not know that she is his secretary, she falls in love with him while trying to bring him back from the depth of despair. Lewis who has lost his eyesite relys heavely on his sense of hearing and feeling to decide who is truly cares for him and for whom he cares for most.
I did not cry nor laughed out loud but I found myself falling in love and when a story is able to make me fall in love in such subtle way...well it is a story worth keeping forever.
Mary Burchell did a beautiful job with this story by touching upon what Toni felt and how such love can come from a something as delicate as a small touch to the voices of a person.
This is a beautiful story and I have no objection to giving it 5 stars.
My favoirte line in the story from Lewis to Toni
"...it's a poor day when I don't have you somewhere around me."
March 25, 2023
This features my least favorite kind of deception but the BIG FEELINGS are top notch.
January 20, 2016
It's a beautiful love story.
For all Lewis's fault, he's a fair man. And it showed in the way he handled Toni's truth. Too bad we didn't get to read his point of view. Maybe he's always been fascinated by her, and his love for her was stronger than any grudges he had.
I like how strong Toni was. Yes, she made mistakes and her spiralling down her own web of lies was saddening, but she trudged on first because of her guilt then because of her love.
I really like them as a couple.
For all Lewis's fault, he's a fair man. And it showed in the way he handled Toni's truth. Too bad we didn't get to read his point of view. Maybe he's always been fascinated by her, and his love for her was stronger than any grudges he had.
I like how strong Toni was. Yes, she made mistakes and her spiralling down her own web of lies was saddening, but she trudged on first because of her guilt then because of her love.
I really like them as a couple.
January 23, 2015
3.5 stars
It has a bit more angst and drama than other books in this series. Still, an enjoyable read.
I wondered about his obsession with the girl who caused his accident and if he was attracted to her like a moth to the light as it seems she was. He was seeking her in all his concerts unconsciously afterall!
It has a bit more angst and drama than other books in this series. Still, an enjoyable read.
I wondered about his obsession with the girl who caused his accident and if he was attracted to her like a moth to the light as it seems she was. He was seeking her in all his concerts unconsciously afterall!
December 27, 2023
THIS ONE ATEEE THE DRAMA THE SLOW BURN YES
November 16, 2022
3.5 stars/B-
Read for the "Lies" prompt in the 2022 TBR Challenge
I’ve read a couple of the books in Mary Burchell’s Warrender Saga for the TBR Challenge, and picked up another one – the third – for this month’s prompt – “Lies”. The thing that keeps me coming back to this series is the way the author writes about music, musicians and the world of the professional performer, but the romances are tame by today’s standards, and, as I’ve remarked before, the heroes can feel like secondary characters because the stories are all about the heroine’s journey and are written from her PoV. And even though some of the language and attitudes are outdated now, reading them is oddly comforting; they play out in my head like old black-and-white films from the 1940s or 1950s, with their stiff-upper-lips and portrayals of glamourous lifestyles (okay, so this book dates from 1967, but it could easily have been set a decade or two earlier; there’s no real sign it’s the “swinging sixties”!)
The heroine of When Love is Blind is twenty-year-old aspiring concert pianist Antoinette Burnley. Having shown a prodgious talent at a young age, she’s spent pretty much all her young life making music, but all her dreams come crashing down around her ears when her idol (and long-time crush), Lewis Fremont, fails her in an exam, saying her performance is akin to that of “a clever automaton without glimmer of the divine spark.”
Deep down, Antoinette knows he’s right – somewhere along the line, she lost her connection to the heart and soul of the music and focused entirely on developing an outstanding technique – but even so, she’s deeply hurt and can’t now conceive of making a musical career. She decides to make a drastic change, and enrolls on a secretarial course.
Several months later on a day out, Antoinette finds herself in Lewis Fremont’s neck of the woods; she’s crossing the road opposite his hose when a car comes racing around the bend towards her, swerves to avoid her and spins out of control. She’d already recognised the car as that belonging to Fremont – rushing over to see if she can help, finds him alive, but unable to see and then goes to get help. Feeling scared, guilty and completely overwhelmed, she watches from afar as Fremont is carried from the wreckage, but doesn’t return to the wreckage
A few days later, Antoinette’s is offered a job as Lewis Fremont’s secretary. Her immediate response is to refuse – but then she thinks that perhaps working for Fremont and helping him in whatever way she can will atone, in some small way, for the accident, which she regards as her fault.
On her first day, Antoinette is shaken to find Fremont so subdued, so miserable and helpless, although perhaps it’s not surprising considering his life has been completely turned upside-down. He’s adamant that he doesn’t want to play for an audience ever again, his pride stinging at the idea of having to be led to the piano, “fumbling” to find his place at the keyboard. Antoinette shocks herself by immediately tells him not to be so arrogant and self-pitying – and to her surprise, Fremont actually takes her rebuke in (mostly) good part. Later, Fremont’s manager Gordon Everleigh suggests to Antoinette that she should do whatever she can to encourage him to remain positive, to excite his interest and participation – they’re united in their aim to get him back on to the concert platform
The turning point comes when Antoinette finally agrees to play for Fremont. She’d turned him down the first time he asked, but this time, she sees a way that might provide exactly the encouragement Everleigh was talking about; she agrees to play the slow movement of a Beethoven sonata but then says he’ll have to play the third, because she isn’t up to it. And sure enough, playing for her brings everything back and sets Fremont on the path back to re-entering the musical world.
The book fits the prompt because, of course, Fremont has no idea that his “Toni” as she asks him to call her, is the same girl who inadvertently caused his accident. He recalls her vaguely – he’d seen her standing in the road – and recognised her then as the student he’d failed and who had subsequently appeared at the front of the audience at several of his concerts. He believes her to have been stalking him and planning some kind of revenge, and is absolulely determined to find her, so of course, and as all liars do, Antoinette finds herself having to propogate more falsehoods in order to keep her identity a secret.
I enjoyed the story and, as I’ve said, the focus on music and the way the author writes about it work really well for me, so the main reason for the middling grade on this one is that the romance is very rushed. The growing friendship between Antoinette and Fremont has a solid foundation in their mutual love of music, and of his appreciation for her good sense and willingness to challenge him and stand her ground, but the declaration (his) comes out of the blue around half way through and was one of those ‘wait – what?’ moments where I had to backtrack and check I hadn’t missed a couple of chapters.
Speaking of the things that didn’t work for me, the ending is also rushed, and the writing during the ‘accident’ scene at the beginning is really clunky; I get that it’s exposition, but it was hard to take it seriously. The same is true of the scene near the end in which and from then on it’s a mad rush to the end.
I did like the two leads, though. Antoinette is a believable twenty, with all the uncertainty, self-consciousness and self-absorption that come with being young, and I was really rooting for her as she re-discovers the inner musicality she’d lost sight of, the ability to play from the heart rather from the head, and how her finding her way back to it mirrors her growth as a character. Fremont is your musical genius in the Warrender mould, a true artist at the top of his profession with the arrogance and artistic temperment to go with it – and yet he’s a fair man (he could have phrased his comment in Antoinette’s exam better, but what he said was the truth) he’s fairly down-to-earth and while he can be a but snappish at times, he’s not intentionally cruel – and I liked that Antoinette doesn’t take any crap from him. She may have started out as Fremont’s secretary, but she slowly becomes his support and his beacon of hope as he works to get back to performing.
I can’t say When Love is Blind was a resounding success, but it was worth reading.
Read for the "Lies" prompt in the 2022 TBR Challenge
I’ve read a couple of the books in Mary Burchell’s Warrender Saga for the TBR Challenge, and picked up another one – the third – for this month’s prompt – “Lies”. The thing that keeps me coming back to this series is the way the author writes about music, musicians and the world of the professional performer, but the romances are tame by today’s standards, and, as I’ve remarked before, the heroes can feel like secondary characters because the stories are all about the heroine’s journey and are written from her PoV. And even though some of the language and attitudes are outdated now, reading them is oddly comforting; they play out in my head like old black-and-white films from the 1940s or 1950s, with their stiff-upper-lips and portrayals of glamourous lifestyles (okay, so this book dates from 1967, but it could easily have been set a decade or two earlier; there’s no real sign it’s the “swinging sixties”!)
The heroine of When Love is Blind is twenty-year-old aspiring concert pianist Antoinette Burnley. Having shown a prodgious talent at a young age, she’s spent pretty much all her young life making music, but all her dreams come crashing down around her ears when her idol (and long-time crush), Lewis Fremont, fails her in an exam, saying her performance is akin to that of “a clever automaton without glimmer of the divine spark.”
Deep down, Antoinette knows he’s right – somewhere along the line, she lost her connection to the heart and soul of the music and focused entirely on developing an outstanding technique – but even so, she’s deeply hurt and can’t now conceive of making a musical career. She decides to make a drastic change, and enrolls on a secretarial course.
Several months later on a day out, Antoinette finds herself in Lewis Fremont’s neck of the woods; she’s crossing the road opposite his hose when a car comes racing around the bend towards her, swerves to avoid her and spins out of control. She’d already recognised the car as that belonging to Fremont – rushing over to see if she can help, finds him alive, but unable to see and then goes to get help. Feeling scared, guilty and completely overwhelmed, she watches from afar as Fremont is carried from the wreckage, but doesn’t return to the wreckage
A few days later, Antoinette’s is offered a job as Lewis Fremont’s secretary. Her immediate response is to refuse – but then she thinks that perhaps working for Fremont and helping him in whatever way she can will atone, in some small way, for the accident, which she regards as her fault.
On her first day, Antoinette is shaken to find Fremont so subdued, so miserable and helpless, although perhaps it’s not surprising considering his life has been completely turned upside-down. He’s adamant that he doesn’t want to play for an audience ever again, his pride stinging at the idea of having to be led to the piano, “fumbling” to find his place at the keyboard. Antoinette shocks herself by immediately tells him not to be so arrogant and self-pitying – and to her surprise, Fremont actually takes her rebuke in (mostly) good part. Later, Fremont’s manager Gordon Everleigh suggests to Antoinette that she should do whatever she can to encourage him to remain positive, to excite his interest and participation – they’re united in their aim to get him back on to the concert platform
The turning point comes when Antoinette finally agrees to play for Fremont. She’d turned him down the first time he asked, but this time, she sees a way that might provide exactly the encouragement Everleigh was talking about; she agrees to play the slow movement of a Beethoven sonata but then says he’ll have to play the third, because she isn’t up to it. And sure enough, playing for her brings everything back and sets Fremont on the path back to re-entering the musical world.
The book fits the prompt because, of course, Fremont has no idea that his “Toni” as she asks him to call her, is the same girl who inadvertently caused his accident. He recalls her vaguely – he’d seen her standing in the road – and recognised her then as the student he’d failed and who had subsequently appeared at the front of the audience at several of his concerts. He believes her to have been stalking him and planning some kind of revenge, and is absolulely determined to find her, so of course, and as all liars do, Antoinette finds herself having to propogate more falsehoods in order to keep her identity a secret.
I enjoyed the story and, as I’ve said, the focus on music and the way the author writes about it work really well for me, so the main reason for the middling grade on this one is that the romance is very rushed. The growing friendship between Antoinette and Fremont has a solid foundation in their mutual love of music, and of his appreciation for her good sense and willingness to challenge him and stand her ground, but the declaration (his) comes out of the blue around half way through and was one of those ‘wait – what?’ moments where I had to backtrack and check I hadn’t missed a couple of chapters.
Speaking of the things that didn’t work for me, the ending is also rushed, and the writing during the ‘accident’ scene at the beginning is really clunky; I get that it’s exposition, but it was hard to take it seriously. The same is true of the scene near the end in which and from then on it’s a mad rush to the end.
I did like the two leads, though. Antoinette is a believable twenty, with all the uncertainty, self-consciousness and self-absorption that come with being young, and I was really rooting for her as she re-discovers the inner musicality she’d lost sight of, the ability to play from the heart rather from the head, and how her finding her way back to it mirrors her growth as a character. Fremont is your musical genius in the Warrender mould, a true artist at the top of his profession with the arrogance and artistic temperment to go with it – and yet he’s a fair man (he could have phrased his comment in Antoinette’s exam better, but what he said was the truth) he’s fairly down-to-earth and while he can be a but snappish at times, he’s not intentionally cruel – and I liked that Antoinette doesn’t take any crap from him. She may have started out as Fremont’s secretary, but she slowly becomes his support and his beacon of hope as he works to get back to performing.
I can’t say When Love is Blind was a resounding success, but it was worth reading.
November 8, 2010
I quite enjoyed this one, even if the hero was (at one point) a little rougher than I would like -- quite mild compared to the some of the later (by later, I of course mean 1975-1983 -- I make it a general rule to never read any Harlequin originally published after 1983) books. I think he was grabbing at the heroine's wrists to prevent her from leaving the room or something, that's all. Such scenes always make me raise my eyebrows a bit -- but not too much, in this case. In any event, after all these months of spice, I find that I'm in the mood for some sugar (and that I generally like a little spice with my sugar, not a little sugar with my spice). So, after going off of bodice-rippers, I am now going off more sex-oriented Harlequins. I am in the mood for a few more books like this one -- books so clean you could eat off them (secular books, that is), and trying to discover some of the older books as well. No doubt I'll being dutifully diving into FORBIDDEN FIRE within the next week or so, however (I can't get enough of jealous heroes).
April 15, 2023
3.5 stars
Ok, tbh I didn't like Antoinette at the start. She had some serious stalker level vibes going on. That is to say, she was totally stalking Lewis and kept giving herself lame excuses for her behavior culminating in his accident.
Lewis himself was a carbon copy of Wallender down to his dialogue which was copy paste the exact same things that Wallender said in his book.
Only due to his accident and the fact that Toni was less likeable was a far more sympathetic character.
That being said I liked this because Toni does manage to redeem herself and while I'd have appreciated more grovelling on her end it worked well enough.
As in the first 2 books there is a similar pattern followed in this one where the H declares himself first, the forgiveness is immediate and the romance is clean.
Like if this review was helpful please.
Ok, tbh I didn't like Antoinette at the start. She had some serious stalker level vibes going on. That is to say, she was totally stalking Lewis and kept giving herself lame excuses for her behavior culminating in his accident.
Lewis himself was a carbon copy of Wallender down to his dialogue which was copy paste the exact same things that Wallender said in his book.
Only due to his accident and the fact that Toni was less likeable was a far more sympathetic character.
That being said I liked this because Toni does manage to redeem herself and while I'd have appreciated more grovelling on her end it worked well enough.
As in the first 2 books there is a similar pattern followed in this one where the H declares himself first, the forgiveness is immediate and the romance is clean.
Like if this review was helpful please.
September 7, 2020
3.5 stars would be a more accurate rating.
The story setting is absolutely fantastic. Original, very promising, guaranteed to catch the reader's interest. I only have some qualms about some technical aspects of the story. Will come to that.
Toni, a cocky young pianist fails her piano exam. The hero is the examiner, a renowned pianist. He finds her performance too focused on technique, not enough soul. She is gutted, loses confidence, finds a secretarial job instead of pursuing music.
She however continues to attend the hero'es concerts. And he spots her in one too. Then by chance, she lands up in front the hero'es house one day. And due to a mix up, his car swerves upon finding her in the middle of the road and he crashes. Becomes blind, quite instantaneously!
She comes back to him when he is blind, out of intense guilt. And helps him out as his secretary, while hiding her identity. First with official matters, then as a musical partner, helping him get back on stage. She becomes his sole bearer of hope. A few kisses add to the path of recovery charmingly ;))))
The story is intriguing in its dichotomy of perception from both leads. He fails her at the start, she learns more about life and failure and becomes a more feeling person in the subsequent months she spends as his secretary. Now he admires her piano playing when she starts to work for him, without knowing its the same girl. He is still haunted by the accident causing girl, but loves the same girl as his angelic secretary.
She hates him when he was an ruthless examiner. But loves him madly when she sees him vulnerable, human and deeply dependent on her.
How both of them reconcile to the two contrasting images they carry of each other, and find love and acceptance is the story. Helped by a trouble monger OW to add spice and drama, because the bitchy neighbor OW keeps blackmailing the heroine about her subterfuge.
However, the way he loses sight and the way he regains it at the end of the story, are both scenes that are almost juvenile in writing. The author should have invested a little more time in researching a few medical terms to both the accidents. It cant just be - I get hit on my head. And then I just cry out "I cant see" !!!!@!@ The same thing happens on the regaining scene. Hit my head, and "Oh, you are wearing a green dress" !!!!!#@# And all the months of blindness, without mention of a single hospital or doctor visit !
The girl just piles up on her lies and deception to keep her identity hidden. But just declaring that she is married after a passionate kissing session with the hero !@?!@?@!?! That's just a preposterous excuse. The poor guy is left floundering , speechless !
Mary Burchell is a pleasure to read on any given day. So this one is not an exception. But with a little deft handling the story could have gone on to become an all time great romantic drama!
The story setting is absolutely fantastic. Original, very promising, guaranteed to catch the reader's interest. I only have some qualms about some technical aspects of the story. Will come to that.
Toni, a cocky young pianist fails her piano exam. The hero is the examiner, a renowned pianist. He finds her performance too focused on technique, not enough soul. She is gutted, loses confidence, finds a secretarial job instead of pursuing music.
She however continues to attend the hero'es concerts. And he spots her in one too. Then by chance, she lands up in front the hero'es house one day. And due to a mix up, his car swerves upon finding her in the middle of the road and he crashes. Becomes blind, quite instantaneously!
She comes back to him when he is blind, out of intense guilt. And helps him out as his secretary, while hiding her identity. First with official matters, then as a musical partner, helping him get back on stage. She becomes his sole bearer of hope. A few kisses add to the path of recovery charmingly ;))))
The story is intriguing in its dichotomy of perception from both leads. He fails her at the start, she learns more about life and failure and becomes a more feeling person in the subsequent months she spends as his secretary. Now he admires her piano playing when she starts to work for him, without knowing its the same girl. He is still haunted by the accident causing girl, but loves the same girl as his angelic secretary.
She hates him when he was an ruthless examiner. But loves him madly when she sees him vulnerable, human and deeply dependent on her.
How both of them reconcile to the two contrasting images they carry of each other, and find love and acceptance is the story. Helped by a trouble monger OW to add spice and drama, because the bitchy neighbor OW keeps blackmailing the heroine about her subterfuge.
However, the way he loses sight and the way he regains it at the end of the story, are both scenes that are almost juvenile in writing. The author should have invested a little more time in researching a few medical terms to both the accidents. It cant just be - I get hit on my head. And then I just cry out "I cant see" !!!!@!@ The same thing happens on the regaining scene. Hit my head, and "Oh, you are wearing a green dress" !!!!!#@# And all the months of blindness, without mention of a single hospital or doctor visit !
The girl just piles up on her lies and deception to keep her identity hidden. But just declaring that she is married after a passionate kissing session with the hero !@?!@?@!?! That's just a preposterous excuse. The poor guy is left floundering , speechless !
Mary Burchell is a pleasure to read on any given day. So this one is not an exception. But with a little deft handling the story could have gone on to become an all time great romantic drama!
Read
April 14, 2023Another great read!
October 22, 2020
I liked how this story started out, with the heroine, dedicated piano student, reeling from a setback (a slap-down, really) to her dream of becoming a concert pianist. Naturally, it's the hero, a gifted pianist himself, who delivers the blow to her hopes, which made for an interesting beginning with potential for all kinds of romantic conflict. But then we descend into absurdity with truly one of the most ridiculous scenes I can ever remember reading in a romance (and that's saying something). The heroine becomes somewhat obsessed with the hero after he destroys her career hopes, attending all his performances and indulging in a certain amount of stalking—fairly harmless stuff, until she decides to go see his home outside London. That's when the story departs reality and heads into Mills & Boon's version of reality. The heroine is crossing the road to get a better look at the house, when the hero sweeps around the bend in his fancy sports car. She freezes in his path, he swerves, hits a patch of oil and loses control of the car, which crashes into a tree. Plausible so far. But then we're meant to believe that the impact—violent enough to eject him from the car—leaves not a mark on him (that the author mentions anyway), causes him only a momentary loss of consciousness, does not in any way impair his memory (he remembers that she was standing in the road), but somehow renders him completely blind. Um...what? There's obviously no severe concussion or he wouldn't regain consciousness so quickly much less remember exactly what happened. There's no cut mentioned that might conceivably have impacted his optic nerve. Not even a mention of some impact to his head that might cause problems. Instead, it's just boom...instant blindness. Even for Harlequin land, this seems beyond silly. (But no sillier than the way he regains his sight which is by—in the best recovery-from-amnesia tradition—a blow to the head that suddenly restores his sight. There's some vague mention of a surgery that he undergoes after his sight begins to return (and why didn't they try the surgery before...?!) but none of those pesky details to explain what caused all this trouble. The plot needed him to be blind. That's all the explanation we need.)
Aside from that, I liked the heroine much better than the hero, who comes across as unreasonable and borderline petulant. He insists on blaming the heroine (who he doesn't know is now his private secretary) for everything that's happened to him, because she was at all his concerts and was standing in the road when he had his accident. I can certainly understand being bitter about his blindness, but I can't understand why no one else pointed out to him that believing she came to his house to stand in the road with the express purpose of making him swerve, hit a tree and lose his sight—like some sort of eyesight assassin—was not exactly reasonable. Oh well, I don't suppose I read them for their resemblance to reality...
Aside from that, I liked the heroine much better than the hero, who comes across as unreasonable and borderline petulant. He insists on blaming the heroine (who he doesn't know is now his private secretary) for everything that's happened to him, because she was at all his concerts and was standing in the road when he had his accident. I can certainly understand being bitter about his blindness, but I can't understand why no one else pointed out to him that believing she came to his house to stand in the road with the express purpose of making him swerve, hit a tree and lose his sight—like some sort of eyesight assassin—was not exactly reasonable. Oh well, I don't suppose I read them for their resemblance to reality...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2017
Definitely brought me back to my Mills & Boon reading days! The plot is sweet, the language made me feel I'm in England, the characters were both lovable and hateful at appropriate times. I am awed with the musical descriptions, bringing me to heights of intense emotions as though I was inside the concert hall myself, hearing such heart-moving performances. The story started out as a bit dragging but like a piano performance, it was built up until it ascended into a crescendo, that my heart went out to Toni at the last pages of the book. Separating paragraphs could help in further building up story development and reader's responsiveness, though. A story that teaches anew that failures and disappointments in life can make us better persons -- if we but allow it.
March 1, 2014
I enjoy reading older romances from time to time and Mary Burchell seldom disappoints. This was a sweet story about a woman who gets a chance to right a wrong and finds love along the way.
March 26, 2016
Ah, ye olde category romances.
November 10, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyable read. Calming and absorbing. Can shut out the world.
July 16, 2017
If you are a fan of the classical romance then When Love is Blind is the book for you. Originally written in 1968, Mary Burchell delivers a story of love. Part Beauty and the Beast part Cyrano de Bergerac, the story focuses on Antoinette Burney; once music student whose career was cruelly ended by Lewis Freemont a concert pianist with too sharp a tongue. Overcoming the animosity due to Lewis Freemont’s sudden blindness, the course of love doesn’t run smoothly.
This is only a short novel but it one that has stood the test of time. It has aged beautifully. When Love is Blind is a classic story of love overcoming diversity and I really enjoyed reading it.
When Love is Blind by Mary Burchell is available now.
For more information regarding Endeavour Press (@EndeavourPress) please visit www.endeaourpress.com.
This is only a short novel but it one that has stood the test of time. It has aged beautifully. When Love is Blind is a classic story of love overcoming diversity and I really enjoyed reading it.
When Love is Blind by Mary Burchell is available now.
For more information regarding Endeavour Press (@EndeavourPress) please visit www.endeaourpress.com.
February 2, 2023
A cotton-candy book, precisely what one expects from Mary Burchell. Sometimes it's hard to swallow all the tropes and unlikely characters and plots, but they're certainly easy to read. In this one, Antoinette, a talented young pianist with lofty career goals, is on the receiving end of some harsh words from the professional musician who's judging her at an exam. She immediately gives up all musical aspirations and decides to just do secretarial work, but she can't quite forget or forgive the man who ruined her dreams. When walking near his house one day, she sees him suddenly drive around the corner and she freezes, causing him to wreck his car to avoid hitting her. The accident leaves him blind. Antoinette's secretarial agency suggests that she should go become his new assistant, which is ok with her as long as he doesn't figure out who she is...
September 14, 2017
3.5 stars
One of the things I'm enjoying most about my new Kindle Unlimited subscription is reading my way through Mary Burchell's Warrender series. These books are vintage-goodies, surprisingly interesting, well written (in a way that makes modern stuff look pathetic), and just long enough to last me a day. I'm very grateful to Dear Author's reviews, (I think) for first pointing me out to the wonders of this mostly forgotten author.
Now, on to the next...
One of the things I'm enjoying most about my new Kindle Unlimited subscription is reading my way through Mary Burchell's Warrender series. These books are vintage-goodies, surprisingly interesting, well written (in a way that makes modern stuff look pathetic), and just long enough to last me a day. I'm very grateful to Dear Author's reviews, (I think) for first pointing me out to the wonders of this mostly forgotten author.
Now, on to the next...
January 19, 2023
I really enjoyed this book and I couldn’t stop reading until the very last page! I loved the characters and felt so sad for our main heroine and honestly was in tears quite a lot. There is so much tension that you can’t help think how is this going to end? But I liked how this book concluded and felt happy that there was a happily ever after :)
March 22, 2020
Unforgettable
The more I read this series, the more I believe in their love and devotion. I fall in love with the characters all over again. I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about having the physical books falling apart ever again.
The more I read this series, the more I believe in their love and devotion. I fall in love with the characters all over again. I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about having the physical books falling apart ever again.
July 29, 2023
This series is dated yes but enormously readable. I love the way it combines absolutely classic tropes--handsome arrogant pianist blinded in an accident!--with real knowledge of music and the music business.
July 30, 2024
Enthralling!
What a beautiful tale of immense disappointment, disaster, deception, courage to make amends, second chances, and the seemingly miraculous connection between two souls.
Without reservation, I highly recommend this book!
What a beautiful tale of immense disappointment, disaster, deception, courage to make amends, second chances, and the seemingly miraculous connection between two souls.
Without reservation, I highly recommend this book!
August 17, 2021
Loved loved this book! I didn't realize how old it was, I just thought the writer's style was very unique and sweet.
So no sex scenes, just pure beautiful longing.
So no sex scenes, just pure beautiful longing.
November 27, 2022
Defaulting to three stars. A terrible lot of deceit in this one and
But can't stop, won't stop.
But can't stop, won't stop.
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