Betty Neels was unusual Harlequin romance author.  None of her books has any smut, profanity, blasphemy, vulgarity or even innuendo; all of her novels feature youngish ladies who are kind, warm hearted, sensible, resourceful, self-reliant and who range from plain to gorgeous.

All the novels have a Cinderella feel to them although all of the heroines are capable and willing to go it alone – even against hardships, uncaring family, bad luck, and even against their own heart.  I enjoy them and am glad that Hoopla digital now offers most of her 134 published novels.

Making Sure of Sarah

Making Sure of Sarah, published in 1998, has a lovely digital cover showing a house set on a hillside in gently rolling country marked with the colors of fall.  Most of the action takes place in London or in the Dutch city of Arnhem.

Sarah lives in London with her ineffectual mother and nasty stepfather and the three get into an accident when her stepfather drives their car into a ditch in the Dutch countryside.  She meets Litrik ter Breukel when he operates on her stepfather’s badly broken leg.  Litrik falls in love with Sarah, gives her a place to stay until her stepfather is able to travel, then pulls strings to help her get a job when they return to England and her parents vacation for several months.

The main conflicts are emotional:  Sarah falls for Litrik too and is reluctant to marry him when she doesn’t think he loves her; he thinks she is involved with a young English doctor and Sarah isn’t sure how to tell him that she is not.  There are no ex-girlfriends.

Story ends with Sarah marrying Litrik and moving to Holland.

Waiting for Deborah

Waiting for Deborah starts with redhead Deborah needing a job.  She took care of her stepfather until he died, now her stepbrother and stepsister tell her they inherited everything, she gets nothing, but she can stay rent-free (and income free) in their father’s house until they sell it.

Deborah says phooey to this and gets a job caring for an older lady recovering from a stroke and where she meets Sir James, consulting doctor.  After the lady’s niece fires Deborah, she gets temporary work in a hotel – about 14 hours a day – until Sir James takes her away to care for a friend’s elderly uncle for a few weeks, followed by a week at Sir James’ old nurse, followed by a stint as a mother’s help.

Eventually Deborah moves to London to learn typing and shorthand, fails at both, her landlady dies and again Sir James shows up, this time to take her back to his nurse’s home and ask her to marry him.

Neels wrote lovely characters in Waiting for Deborah, especially Uncle Oscar, the crochety elderly uncle with the tastes of a lively kid.  He spots the budding romance between Deborah and Sir James before James completely realizes it himself, and he comments just enough to get the ball rolling.

The conflict here is whether Deborah and Sir James will realize they love each other and whether Deborah can make a go of supporting herself.  No ex-girlfriends make trouble, the selfish step siblings make little inroads and all action takes place in England.

A Suitable Match

A Suitable Match is one of Neels’ more complicated novels, where the hero and heroine marry before one of them realizes they love each other.  Eustacia takes a job as bottle washer and errand-runner at the local hospital’s pathology lab to help her and her grandfather survive in London.  Eustacia runs into Sir Colin who is caring for his two young nephews and going slightly crazy with the responsibility.  Sir Colin offers Eustacia a job caring for his nephews, and both she and her grandfather can live in his country home.

Sir Colin becomes the boys’ guardian when their parents die in a plane crash and he asks Eustacia to marry him to strengthen his guardianship against the claims of his brother’s unpleasant in laws.  Of course they have the usual misunderstandings as both love the other without realizing the other loves them.

The main conflicts are misunderstandings as to true feelings.  One scene in the novel disturbs me.  The younger boy acts up and his grandmother punishes him, at which the older boy smacks her.  Eustacia is angry at the grandmother and does not agree that the boy should be punished for hitting her.  This is wrong.  Obviously the grandmother doesn’t remember how to care for youngsters but no child should strike his grandparent.

The Right Kind of Girl

Emma lives at home in a small country town with her mother and works as a companion where she meets Dr. Paul Wyatt.  Her mother has a stroke and Dr. Wyatt takes her to the hospital and cares for her.  Emma has to leave her job to care for her mom, who dies after a few weeks.  Paul falls in love with her while caring for her mother and asks her to marry him.   They marry after a couple minor contretemps.

Sadly Emma runs afoul of Diana, who either wants to marry Paul or just likes to make trouble.  A few scenes in the book are a bit hard to take; for example Paul believes Diana’s lies about Emma helping some tinkers without even trying to ask Emma about the situation.  He also tells her that Diana is worth a dozen of her.   Needless to say events work themselves out and both end up happy.

All Else Confusion

Here is another Neels novels where the two marry without realizing they both love each other.  In my mind this is by far the weakest of the five described here because there is no reason for Jake to rush Annis into marriage.  There is no crisis, no poverty trap, no lack of family and no real good reason for such a fast wedding.

Here the conflict is mostly one of misunderstanding, both of oneself and one’s spouse.

Overall

I enjoy clean stories with happy endings, and I’ve no problem with a touch of Cinderella – provided that the girl doesn’t just sit in the ashes and whine but actively seeks to better her life on her own.  All of Neels’ heroines try to handle life’s ups and downs as best they can.  Deborah for instance takes several menial jobs to support herself; Sarah is reluctant to marry a man who doesn’t love here and abhors pity.

On the other hand a couple of the heroes tread close to being mean, and the hero is actually quite nasty in The Right Kind of Girl.  Some of the girls allow their men to push them around just a little while others accept guidance but don’t accept manipulation or bossiness.

I recommend these if you want an easy to read novel, perfect for a cold evening by the fire.  I didn’t care for All Else Confusion but the others are lovely light romance reads.