Entries Tagged 'Secretary' ↓
March 14th, 2010 — 2.5 Stars, Blind, Book Review, Business, Category, Children, Contemporary, Divorced, G-I, Housekeeper/Maid, Marriage of Convenience, Older Woman/Younger Man, Secretary, Tycoon, United States of America, Virgin Heroine
Philomena Peabody made a promise to her mother. She took care of her three younger sisters and when the last one got married, her youth had slipped away. Now at 27, Phil has a lot of thinking to do.
Penn Wilderman is in a custody battle with his ex-wife for Robbie, their adopted son, his nephew. In the midst of all this he’s recovering from snow blindness. (Hurray for an original blindness idea!) When he hears Phil for the first time he thinks she sounds like someone’s mother.
This makes him think she’s much older than him. She’s actually about 10 to 12 years younger (something that gets confused later when he asks his family servant what people would think of him marrying her.) Phil tries to correct him a few times, especially when he calls her “sweet little old lady.” Every time though, he always cuts in and ignores her protests.
Penn convinces Phil first to move into his mansion to help him watch over Robbie, then later to a marriage of convenience in order to help him win at the custody hearing. The plan however nearly backfires on him… because it wasn’t for Robbie’s sake Penn wanted Phil. It was for his own.
It was pretty insulting at the end when he sees her (for the second time, because he couldn’t place her the first time) and tells her he thought he was going crazy imagining himself in love with an old woman. Talk about double standards.
The writing is pretty confusing in parts and some things aren’t as well explained as they could be. Which is too bad because another category romance of hers I really really like and doesn’t have this problem.
The ending resolution could have been dragged out a little. Phil was clever when she ran – she went to work first and deleted her employment history so he couldn’t track her down. He was clever and got to her quickly. Phil begs his forgiveness when he shows up and it’s all HEA in two seconds.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Buy: If Love Be Blind
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March 11th, 2010 — 4 Stars, Blackmail, Book Review, Dukes and Earls, G-I, Georgian, Great Britain, Mistress or Courtesan, Scarred Hero, Secretary, Virgin Heroine, Widow or Widower, Writer
I have wanted to read this book for a while. I can't tell you how happy I am that I finally did read this book! As I closed the book, I was gushing. There were so many aspects of this story that I liked, it's hard to find any to point out as negatives, but there are two side plot arcs that could have been left well enough alone and the story would have been tighter focused and undiminished.
As both arcs together make the bigger blackmail arc in the story, I'll just detail them really quickly. One was the woman who slept with Anna's late husband, and wanted that information hidden. The other was the lover of the woman who wanted his pockets lined. Of the two, the male lover blackmail arc was completely superfluous and unnecessary.
What I liked:
- Anna working as Edward's secretary.
- Edward's internal monologues.
- Anna masquerading herself and claiming Edward at a "luxury" brothel.
- Edward's proposals.
- The sex. Hot stuff, I tell you.
Anna is a respectable widow. Her late husband a complete scoundrel and adulterer. She can't have kids, or so she thinks (as is the way with most romance novels - the heroes just have mightier seed - it's a fact!).
Edward's late wife died in childbirth. He found out after he married her just how much he disgusted her. He won't make that mistake twice. He's currently wooing a baron of an old family line for his daughter, and reassuring himself more than once that the daughter wants to be wed to him. This side arc makes sense for the time period, but it was just another unneeded obstacle in the story.
Meanwhile, Anna has gone to work for him. From the moment he meets her officially, he can't take his mind off of Anna. She's invaded his senses so much, he runs to London to seek release in a high end brothel so he won't ruin her respectability. Little does he know... evil grin.
In parting I want to add just how much I loved the wren and raven symbolism and it's correlation to the fairytale posted at the beginning of every chapter.
Review: 4 Stars
Buy: The Raven Prince
Originally posted 2009-06-08 03:05:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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October 28th, 2009 — 4 Stars, Australia/New Zealand, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Executive, M-O, Secretary, Virgin Heroine
This romance takes place in New Zealand. Our young 20 year old heroine is striking out on her own in the Queen City far away from the one horse town she grew up in Manawatu. She’s looking for adventure and excitement and finds more than she bargains for in Stuart Newman.
Their first meeting is a chance encounter when he whips by her on the street drenching her in ice cold puddle water. In apology he takes her to his place to freshen up before dropping her home. Using information he learned that night about her he manages to place an ad in the paper and lures her to his office. She becomes his secretary despite the plethora of warnings about Stuart Newman.
Stuart Newman is drawn into a bet by his friend Paul to make Cindy fall head over heels in love with him within a month. He accepts. His only saving grace is that he warned Cindy twice in conversation about “his own personal interest and a bet” when it came to them. She was simply too naive to put two and two together.
Stuart is a hard man, jaded, cynical, and above all scornful of women, love, and finer emotions. He simple doesn’t believe in them. His issues arise from his mother and from one crash and burn relationship, the last time he’d ever open himself willingly to a woman.
It’s a jazzy little category. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The ending has a tangy bittersweet feel to it. I wish though that it had another ten pages to really tie it off. It felt a tad rushed, and a bit jerky, but oh well.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
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June 27th, 2009 — 4 Stars, Book Review, Crime and Protection, Foster/Orphan, Gentry, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Housekeeper/Maid, Lisa Kleypas, Revenge, Secretary, Widow or Widower
Have you ever picked up a novel and about halfway through feel like there's something you should know about it because it seems familiar? I thought I was going insane! I couldn't remember the book, but I remembered the characters. I was certain I hadn't read it before but how could I explain my knowledge of the main characters and the two of the side characters? Thank heavens I finally figured it out! Lady Sophia's Lover is the second of the Bow Street Trilogy. The first is Someone to Watch Over Me
. Where I recognized the characters was from the third Worth Any Price which follows the brother of the heroine in LSL. Nothing like solving a mystery to start off my day!
Sophia Sydney is out for revenge. She wants to destroy the man who sent her brother off to his death. Sophia is certain of her facts and equally certain of Sir Ross Cannon's cruelty and guilt. It seems fortuitous when an ad to be his secretary appears in the papers. Taking it as a sign, Sophia appears in Cannon's offices on Bow Street determined not to take no for an answer.
Ross is completely stunned by Sophia. Her very presence shatters his carefully constructed walls. He tries to regulate her into a housekeeping position instead of the secretary position. Her argument that he didn't specify gender completely flummoxes him and before he knows it, Sophia is both his secretary and his housekeeper.
Sophia is equally dazzled. The fat, old, wig wearing man she expected is not there. The man she sees is not the man she pictured. Ross is distinguished, virile, and devastating. While Sophia is trying to gather evidence against Ross and his runners, she finds herself hopelessly drawn to him. Will love win out over vengeance?
Rating: 4 Stars
Buy: Lady Sophia's Lover
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