Books › An Old Passion
An Old Passion
First published 1982 · 272 pages
A tempestuous, high-angst journey through the bitter ashes of a past betrayal toward a fiercely passionate reconciliation.
What it feels like
Reading this vintage romance feels like stepping into a storm of unresolved tension and lingering heartbreak. The atmosphere is thick with brooding angst and the heavy weight of a shared, painful past, making every interaction crackle with defensive hostility and suppressed desire. It moves at a brisk, emotionally propulsive pace, sweeping the reader through explosive confrontations and deeply felt internal monologues. The prose is unapologetically dramatic, leaning into the heightened emotional stakes of a second-chance romance where both lovers are deeply scarred by betrayal. It is a perfect, nostalgic indulgence for readers who crave the intense, unapologetic melodrama of 1980s category romance, delivering a deeply satisfying emotional resurrection as bitter walls finally crumble into passionate surrender.
- Mood
- brooding
- tense
- emotionally charged
- nostalgic
- Tone
- angsty
- melodramatic
- earnest
- intense
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- second chances · lingering resentment · emotional resurrection · the pain of lost love · forced proximity
- The writing
- Dramatic and emotionally heightened, characterized by intense internal monologues and sharp, charged dialogue typical of vintage category romance.
- The arc
- Moves from a state of guarded, bitter isolation through explosive, emotionally fraught confrontations to a fiercely passionate reconciliation.
- Who it's for
- Readers who devour vintage 1980s romances featuring high angst, brooding alpha heroes, and the explosive tension of lovers reunited by fate.
Content notes
- grief
- death of a spouse (off-page)
- toxic relationship dynamics
About the book
A dream of love - lost and betrayed. Merrin Sinclair had vowed she would shed no more tears for Blase Stanhope or for the life they might have had together. Six years ago his distrust had driven her into an empty marriage on the rebound that had ended tragically. Since then, she had lived a widow's lonely life, burying herself in her job as assistant to a famous author. Now her work had made meeting Blase inevitable, and even though she thought she couldn't face the cruelty of his loveless eyes, Merrin knew she would never fully live again until she did...
Description from Open Library.
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