pretend engagement

Back Cover:

Romantic involvement was definitely out.

So Georgina welcomed the platonic friendship she shared with Desmond Warner. He didn't distract her from her job.

But when Georgina's new boss, Tallis York, became convinced she was Desmond's mistress and threatened to dismiss her, she was panic-stricken. Her family needed her monthly paycheck.

Tallis's own family included Lara Warner-Desmond's wife. Georgina could see no way out of the complex situation; Tallis provided the solution…
 

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers to some degree 

Favourite Scene: (love the cold war she's giving him)

"Thank you," said Georgina coolly. She wasn't going to yield an inch if he was all set to make friendly overtures this morning.

"Still mad with me?"

"Mad with you?" she queried in her best mystified manner, her tones remaining coolly polite. "I'm sure I haven't any idea what…'

Back Cover:

Simon Townsend's cool rejection of Jenna's teenage adoration had left her smarting, and determined to get her own back one day. Then, at long last, the time came for her to wreak her swift and effective revenge... She didn't realise that her little scheme was playing right into Simon's hands. He had told himself that Jenna was too young for love all those years ago. But he had decided to be patient. And now he was going to teach her that grown-up games were dangerous, and they were played for keeps! 

Favourite Scene:

It wasn't… Out of the cottage's four bedrooms, only one remained damp free.

It would, of course, have to be Simon's, although his single bed had gone and in its place was the double bed that had once been in his parents' room.

'Well, Jenna,' Simon announced when they had both surveyed the room in silence, 'it looks that at long last all your girlish dreams are going to come true and you get to spend the night with me… I take it that you will… er… behave like a lady?'

Jenna could have hit him.
  

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Everyone is talking about the surprise engagement between Matthew Landis and Ashley Carson. Seems the oldest son of one of South Carolina's most powerful families is engaged to someone…ordinary. Could this announcement—conveniently leaked to the press—have to do with Matthew's quick exit from Ms. Carson's home very early in the morning? One wonders what chance such a match made in media heaven could have.... 

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers     

Favourite Scene:

Ashley Carson tensed under her down comforter. Through the veil of her eyelashes, she watched her new lover quietly zip his custom-fit pants. She’d taken a bold step—unusual for her—by falling into bed with Matthew Landis the night before. Her still-tingly sated body cheered the risk. Her good sense, however, told her she’d made a whopper mistake with none other than South Carolina’s most high-profile senatorial candidate.  

Patricia Peel has had a crush on her boss Sam Wainwright for 6 months – in fact that's the reason she took the job in human resources at the Barrington Corporation.

Favourite Scene:

'You little hellcat!' he said fiercely. 'If you have to hate me I might as well give you a damn good reason for!'
He pulled her roughly against him, bending his head to loom over her for several long seconds. Brooke watched him as if in a dream, watching as he slowly lowered his head, his lips claiming hers in a kiss that was totally savage. He forced her lips apart

Another Fav Scene: (I love how she says "happily")

'God, you're naked underneath this top!' he groaned against her lips.
'I know,' she answered happily.

4 unrelated stories...

Just Curious by Jude Deveraux

Back Cover:

When Count Guillermo de la Cruz announced his engagement to plain-Jane heiress Kara deMontaine just minutes after meeting her, the jet-set gaped in shock. But none was more stunned than Kara. The man of her dreams had just offered marriage—as an act of revenge against his former lover.
She should have said no. But something in Gui's primal stare showed her he was far from indifferent to her. Could Kara tame this royal playboy and show Gui they could find happily ever after…with each other?
 

Favourite Scene:

"You sighed."

"I did."

"So…"

"Gui?"

"Yes, Kara."

"Stop being charming."

Another Fav Scene: (aw, I love that all of a sudden he's SURE) 

"Are you sure, Gui?"

"Incredibly sure," he said, realizing he wasn't just talking about making love to her. He was also one hundred percent positive that he'd found the woman that he would marry.

Back Cover:

Incident #1 - The Deception.  Kristin Blake is horrified when she realizes that her potential new boss, Matthew Lingard, is the same man she publicly humiliated ten years before.  So she has to keep her true identity a secret! 

Incident #2 - The Bedroom. Forced to share a bedroom one night, Kristin and Matthew struggle to keep the arrangement strictly business - but it proves impossible! 

Incident #3 - The Engagement. And the morning after, their night of passion is discovered.  There's only one solution to avoid a scandal: pretend to be engaged! 

My Review:

Ha!  I love the banter and dynamic between the hero/heroine.  They fight and they are both intelligent enough to be equals and not be overwhelmed by the other person's strong personality.  This is a very realistic romance, you can picture these people existing in real life.  The hero is not an alpha, and I kind of liked that, he was a cuddly kind of guy

Hannah Althorp realizes that her boss, Jack Marshall,'s fiancée can never make him happy, and when she sees Felicia jerking off her lover at the engagement party(!), she resolves to make sure he knows it too.  Only before she can Jack gets his on the head by a falling tile at work and loses consciousness and 6 weeks of his memory!  Conveniently enough this includes the entire romance with Felicia so Hannah resolves to keep him away from his engagement until he can be reasoned with - somewhat less conveniently the hospital finds out that he has a fiancée so to keep them from calling her Hannah pretends that she's it!