Throwback Thursday - Blithe Images by Nora Roberts

 
Author: Nora Roberts
First Published in 1982 by Silhouette

Hillary Baxter had been only twenty-one when she left rural Kansas to pursue a New York modeling career. When Bret Bardoff, owner and publisher of fashionable Mode Magazine, offered her a prestigious six-month contract, the sky was the limit.

There was only one problem. Hillary fell in love with Brett. But he appeared to be interested only in her glamorous image. Could he learn to love the woman whose face had haunted him from the first instant that he had seen her photograph?

 
I'm not really sure I can say that I loved this one by Nora.  I'm a big fan and normally love her books, but this early work by her wasn't for me. I didn't get the connection between Hillary and Brett.  I thought he was a chauvinist and kind of a jerk. I felt he definitely lead Hillary on in the beginning and gave her very mixed signals.   Hillary just seemed weak to me.  She was supposed to be a confident, successful woman, yet she let Brett walk all over her.  Instead of confronting him about his maybe ex-girlfriend who constantly seemed to be around, she chose to wallow in self pity and be depressed.  That just seemed contradictory to me.  I couldn't understand how a few steamy kisses turned into love for her. The HEA wasn't believable to me.  

One thing that it did have going for it was that despite the references to typewriters and smoking, this one didn't feel totally dated to me.  I think that it would still be relevant to today.  Blithe Images is also one of the cleanest romances by Ms. Roberts that I have read. There was really no sex in it, other than some kisses and a few gropes. I listened to the audio version and the narrator did a good job.  It is a quick listen, only 4.5 hours so pick it up and decide for yourself.