His Mistress by Arrangement by Natalie Anderson (HP 2737)
Emma Delaney is an accountant for a hotel in Wellington, NZ. She's always been driven, primarily by her father who used his love and approval as bait to drive his daughters to performing at school, etc., and now Emma puts all her energy into her job performance. She's got no social life and knows it but when she overhears some other girls from work talking about her and calling her "hard as" one night, it really gets to her. Which is why when she realizes the hot guy at the pool table is Jake Rendel, her neighbor growing up (when she wasn't at boarding school), she acts a little bolder than normal, flirting with him and sharing a kiss in the bar. When Jake realizes Emma's a bit distracted by her coworkers, he proposes they fake an affair for the 5 weeks he's in town (his firm is doing the renovations on her hotel) and is surprised to realize that he wants her to want him back just for himself...
This book was amazing – Emma and Jake were both great characters and I really appreciated how Emma's teenaged crush was kept in perspective (no cringe-inducing flashbacks! :) Emma and Jake were both down to earth people and their self doubts really made their chemistry even more exciting. Add the whole flowers thing into it, and the scene were Jake tells Emma he loves her was one of the best. Will definitely reread soon!
I enjoyed this one too!
I blogged it earlier this week. I was very impressed with it - it was nice to have a break from blackmail & revenge.
~ ElleJay - Team member of Novel Obsession
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the pleasure is having lots to do and not doing it!