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Her Husband's Christmas Bargain
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192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2007
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About the author
Margaret Mayo
351 books46 followersThere is more than one author with this name
For Children's writer see Margaret Mayo
Jessica R. Mayo was born on February 7, 1936 in Staffordshire, England, and has remained within the county all of her life. It was never her ambition to become a writer, although she always loved reading, even to the extent of reading comics out loud to her twin brother when she was eight years old. In fact her only writing experience was in letters to various pen pals around the world. She unfortunately lost touch with them now and often wonders whether any of them have ever discovered that her chatty letters were the forerunner to her writing career.
She left school to become a secretary, taking a break to have her two children, Adrian and Tina. Once they were at school she started back to work and planned to further her career by becoming a bi-lingual secretary. Unfortunately she couldn't speak any languages other than her native English, so she began evening classes. It was at this time that she got the idea for a romantic short story - to this day she doesn't know where the idea came from or why, but she thanks her lucky stars because it kick-started her career. Margaret, and her mother before her, had always read Mills & Boon romances, and to actually be writing one excited her beyond measure.
'My life began at forty' is another one of her favourite sayings - because that is when her first book was published - two and a half years after she first set pen to paper (that first book was written long before she felt confident enough to send it off).Having those books accepted was the happiest and most exciting day of her life. She waltzed her husband around the room and their two children thought they'd gone mad, until they were told the good news.
Her first two submitted novels were accepted simultaneously, and now she has over sixty-five to her credit. When she looks at them lined up on her bookshelf she wonders how she has managed to write all those millions of words. She is a hopeless romantic who loves writing. She falls in love with every one of her heroes and likes to boast about how many 'love affairs' she's had.
Margaret gets so immersed in her writing that one day - before she made writing her full-time career and did most of her writing at the office (!!) - her daughter phoned to ask whether she could come and meet her out of work. Margaret told her not to be silly because it was foggy. Her daughter said 'But it's sunny here.' And when Margaret looked out of the window the sun was shining. Her hero and heroine were lost out in a sea of fog!
Before she became a successful author Margaret was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to strangers. For research purposes she forced herself to speak to people from all walks of life and now says her shyness has gone forever - to a certain degree. She is still happier pouring her thoughts out on paper.
Copied from Fantastic Fiction
For Children's writer see Margaret Mayo
Jessica R. Mayo was born on February 7, 1936 in Staffordshire, England, and has remained within the county all of her life. It was never her ambition to become a writer, although she always loved reading, even to the extent of reading comics out loud to her twin brother when she was eight years old. In fact her only writing experience was in letters to various pen pals around the world. She unfortunately lost touch with them now and often wonders whether any of them have ever discovered that her chatty letters were the forerunner to her writing career.
She left school to become a secretary, taking a break to have her two children, Adrian and Tina. Once they were at school she started back to work and planned to further her career by becoming a bi-lingual secretary. Unfortunately she couldn't speak any languages other than her native English, so she began evening classes. It was at this time that she got the idea for a romantic short story - to this day she doesn't know where the idea came from or why, but she thanks her lucky stars because it kick-started her career. Margaret, and her mother before her, had always read Mills & Boon romances, and to actually be writing one excited her beyond measure.
'My life began at forty' is another one of her favourite sayings - because that is when her first book was published - two and a half years after she first set pen to paper (that first book was written long before she felt confident enough to send it off).Having those books accepted was the happiest and most exciting day of her life. She waltzed her husband around the room and their two children thought they'd gone mad, until they were told the good news.
Her first two submitted novels were accepted simultaneously, and now she has over sixty-five to her credit. When she looks at them lined up on her bookshelf she wonders how she has managed to write all those millions of words. She is a hopeless romantic who loves writing. She falls in love with every one of her heroes and likes to boast about how many 'love affairs' she's had.
Margaret gets so immersed in her writing that one day - before she made writing her full-time career and did most of her writing at the office (!!) - her daughter phoned to ask whether she could come and meet her out of work. Margaret told her not to be silly because it was foggy. Her daughter said 'But it's sunny here.' And when Margaret looked out of the window the sun was shining. Her hero and heroine were lost out in a sea of fog!
Before she became a successful author Margaret was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to strangers. For research purposes she forced herself to speak to people from all walks of life and now says her shyness has gone forever - to a certain degree. She is still happier pouring her thoughts out on paper.
Copied from Fantastic Fiction
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 3, 2011
Actions speak louder than words. And it was never more obvious then this book.
Workaholic hero overhears a little girl asking Santa for a daddy. He's shocked to find out the little girl's mother is his estranged wife.
Back in the day when he married her, he swore he'd make a million by the time he was 30. To realize his ambition he worked every day except Christmas day, he got home after his wife was already asleep, but didn't mind waking her up for some sex, and he went back to work before she woke up. In essence, he saw her at night when he wanted sex, and on Christmas Day, when he forced himself to not work.
Unsurprising, she left him, but what is surprising is she hid herself away.
The only reason I could think of is that she wanted to convince herself that he'd actually try to find her. If she didn't hide away and he never came for her then she'd have to face that he just didn't care at all about her. But if she hid away and he never came it was only because he couldn't find her, not that he didn't want to.
Unfortunately we get his thoughts on many subjects. Like when he wonders why he never searched very hard to find his wife. The hero's PA keeps telling the heroine that they've got a thing going on. Everytime the heroine confronts him with that, he denies it, but in his thoughts thinks how all those dinner dates and weekend getaways that he indulged with the PA didn't really mean anything because that was just a reward for a job well done.
For a guy who never had any time for the supposed love of his life, I think him taking any time away from work to indulge with a woman means a heck of a lot.
The hero supposedly wants his daughter, but because she's getting in his way, he hires a nanny to take care of her.
One day the daughter almost drowns in the lake. The hero decides that night to take the heroine away, just the two of them for a vacation, and that's where they go the next morning.
And when the heroine finally confronts the hero that the PA has been lying and telling her that he's been sleeping with the PA, he tells her that he'll talk to the PA and tell her to behave.
So a workaholic who never had any time for his wife manages to take his PA away on some weekend getaways and have a ton of dinner dates with her. Supposedly all innocent but whenever confronted with a relationship angle with the PA, those innocent all about work getaways and dinners suddenly spring to mind and he has convince himself that those meant nothing.
And when he finds out that the same PA with all those innocent weekends and dinners was spreading lies to his wife about an ongoing affair, he's not going to fire her, he'll keep her around but warn her to behave.
Behave how? He's going to keep those odd weekends and dinner dates going because wife-y knows what a workaholic he is, and assure PA that he's still going to be with her too?
There were words of what he wanted, but all his actions pointed to exactly the opposite. Did he really love his wife? He was never actually tested to find out. It's great that he has time to indulge now, but he's already realized his ambition so it's not driving him anymore. What if he lost all his money? Would he go back to ignoring her until he got himself back where he wanted to be?
There was no confrontation, no realizations, no epiphanies. They just get back together and everything goes on.
Workaholic hero overhears a little girl asking Santa for a daddy. He's shocked to find out the little girl's mother is his estranged wife.
Back in the day when he married her, he swore he'd make a million by the time he was 30. To realize his ambition he worked every day except Christmas day, he got home after his wife was already asleep, but didn't mind waking her up for some sex, and he went back to work before she woke up. In essence, he saw her at night when he wanted sex, and on Christmas Day, when he forced himself to not work.
Unsurprising, she left him, but what is surprising is she hid herself away.
The only reason I could think of is that she wanted to convince herself that he'd actually try to find her. If she didn't hide away and he never came for her then she'd have to face that he just didn't care at all about her. But if she hid away and he never came it was only because he couldn't find her, not that he didn't want to.
Unfortunately we get his thoughts on many subjects. Like when he wonders why he never searched very hard to find his wife. The hero's PA keeps telling the heroine that they've got a thing going on. Everytime the heroine confronts him with that, he denies it, but in his thoughts thinks how all those dinner dates and weekend getaways that he indulged with the PA didn't really mean anything because that was just a reward for a job well done.
For a guy who never had any time for the supposed love of his life, I think him taking any time away from work to indulge with a woman means a heck of a lot.
The hero supposedly wants his daughter, but because she's getting in his way, he hires a nanny to take care of her.
One day the daughter almost drowns in the lake. The hero decides that night to take the heroine away, just the two of them for a vacation, and that's where they go the next morning.
And when the heroine finally confronts the hero that the PA has been lying and telling her that he's been sleeping with the PA, he tells her that he'll talk to the PA and tell her to behave.
So a workaholic who never had any time for his wife manages to take his PA away on some weekend getaways and have a ton of dinner dates with her. Supposedly all innocent but whenever confronted with a relationship angle with the PA, those innocent all about work getaways and dinners suddenly spring to mind and he has convince himself that those meant nothing.
And when he finds out that the same PA with all those innocent weekends and dinners was spreading lies to his wife about an ongoing affair, he's not going to fire her, he'll keep her around but warn her to behave.
Behave how? He's going to keep those odd weekends and dinner dates going because wife-y knows what a workaholic he is, and assure PA that he's still going to be with her too?
There were words of what he wanted, but all his actions pointed to exactly the opposite. Did he really love his wife? He was never actually tested to find out. It's great that he has time to indulge now, but he's already realized his ambition so it's not driving him anymore. What if he lost all his money? Would he go back to ignoring her until he got himself back where he wanted to be?
There was no confrontation, no realizations, no epiphanies. They just get back together and everything goes on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2009
3.5 stars.
Hero finds his long-lost wife & surprise daughter per chance. He overhears a li’l gal telling Santa Claus that all she wants for Xmas is a daddy, @ an upscale Dept. store he recently acquired. He’s flabbergasted that the kid’s mom is none other his estranged wife. He finds out where she lives & demands that they spend Xmas w/ him, ‘cuz she’s deprived him & his child the chance of knowing each other’s existence. He blackmails her, if she doesn’t dance to his tune, he’ll take the kid away from her (the usual theme in HP). What follows is a tug-of-war as they both struggle to come to terms that - despite 4 yrs of separation - their chemistry is still dynamite. What had triggered the collapse of their marriage ? What makes her so resistant to his attempt @ reconciliation ?. He works his @$$ off to convince her that he’s a reformed hubby now. He’s not a monk, he’s been w/ others during their separation ‘cuz he’s a red-blooded male w/ needs, yet he gets pissy w/ her when he learns of her potential BF. He thinks she’s barking up the wrong tree, dismissing her accusations that he’s been boinking his luvly P.A. On the other hand, she feels that he only needed her as a bedmate & housekeeper during their disastrous marriage. She tries to make him see from her POV, that money is not the “be all & end all” of marriage. He took her for granted before & she drums it on his head now, that he gotta change his attitude, by not putting his career as 1st priority & his family in the backseat anymore. He owns up to his past mistakes. He doesn’t grovel / get down on his knees, but he redeems himself by trying to spend time w/ her & their baby, to make his marriage work. I had several minor hurdles to overcome in reading this book (I really luved both H/H’s POVs, just like the previous MM I’ve read – ‘Bought for marriage’. Got 4 more MM in my TBR) :
1st of all, the hero’s name – Luigi. It’s a legit Italian’s name, but in my mind, I’ve always had to replace it w/ another, whenever I read a book w/ this name, ‘cuz it reminded of me of the plumber Mario’s green-clad, bulbous-nosed, cute-as-a-button twin bro cum sidekick / nemesis, from 1 of my all-time fav Nintendo games, Super Mario bros. It’s silly, I know =)~
2nd, the secret baby. Yeah it’s prevalent in HPlandia, but the reason the young preggers heroine walked outta her marriage & kept her 3 y/o li’l daughter a secret from the hero, was not credible to me. If her hubby had been an abusive @$$hole like the infamous pig Sean Culhane, I woulda empathized & understood her reasoning. Nope, in this case, only ‘cuz the hero is emotionally vacant, due to his deprived, difficult upbringing. Well, @ least he’s a rebel w/ a cause LOL... Per heroine, she didn’t wish her kid to grow up w/ a workaholic, money-driven daddy. For Luigi, public display of affection is a foreign concept, having been neglected by his parents, being taken away & tossed around between foster homes since he’s 8 y/o. He’s 1 of those uber-alpha, rags-to-riches heroes who are incapable of expressing his feelings verbally & his belief - that the more money he earns, the more security he provides his wife – backfires on his marriage (they got hitched when she’s only 18 y/o). He’s determined that he’ll have earned $ 1 mil by the time he’s 30 y/o. Alas, his breath-taking mansion doesn’t impress his wife. They can’t see eye to eye when it comes to the meaning of luv & marriage. 1 day she decided she’s had enuff of his absence & lack of affection, just up & left w/out telling him & her parents.
3rd, the excuse heroine gives hero for disappearing from her hubby’s & her parents’ lives (who adore hero), that if she’d given him advance warning, he woulda tried to stop her from deserting him. So here we have the usual non-existent communication between H/H. He had no telltale signs that there was trouble in paradise. The self-made hero thought she understood his drive & ambition (he’s a wunderkind in Information Technology world).
4th, the obtuse hero. He’s admitted that he’s aware of the fact that his gorgeous, red-haired P.A. has the hots for him but the feeling isn’t mutual. He’s adamant that there’s no hanky panky whatsoever going on between ‘em, their relationship is purely professional, yet we’re told from his POV, that he treats her to dinners & weekend getaways, as just rewards, ‘cuz he’s a slave-driver. Even in the end, after heroine tells him that the reason she had a hard time believing his repetitive claims of innocence, & that the P.A. herself has blatantly made a bold-faced lie that they’ve been having an affair, he still finds it v. hard to believe that his P.A. would spin a web of lies. Now, I’m not a man, but if I were one & found out from my own luv of my life & mother of my child that my P.A. was a fork-tongued viper who tried her darndest to wreck my marriage, I’d sack her w/ no recommendations. Instead, all he does promise the heroine, is to have a serious talk & give the P.A. an ultimatum to behave or else, leave. Even if she’s the most valuable P.A. in the universe, every worker’s replaceable. There’s gotta be 1 potential P.A. out there who can be re-trained & trusted in & outside the office. Knowing the real colors of the P.A. would be sufficient to dismiss her for good. Once a liar, always a liar. U just use your common sense that sometime down the road, the P.A. might try to cause trouble in his marriage again. Typical of men, hero doesn’t seem to grasp that 3’s a crowd. U’d think that the hero’d realize, removing the thorn on his side would be more conducive to the longevity of his holy matrimony.
Having said all that, I thought it was well-written & I still luved MM’s writing style. I also liked that the hero had compunctions, that he had to blackmail his wife spend Xmas w/ him & sort out their marriage problems. He’s confident that they can make another go @ it if they can lay it out in the open. Even tho’ it’s a bitter pill to swallow & he says more than once that he’ll never forgive her for denying him the 1st 3 yrs of his child’s life, he doesn’t punish heroine for it. He’s all for confrontation, if it means saving his marriage. He learns that sometimes words speak louder than action.
Hero finds his long-lost wife & surprise daughter per chance. He overhears a li’l gal telling Santa Claus that all she wants for Xmas is a daddy, @ an upscale Dept. store he recently acquired. He’s flabbergasted that the kid’s mom is none other his estranged wife. He finds out where she lives & demands that they spend Xmas w/ him, ‘cuz she’s deprived him & his child the chance of knowing each other’s existence. He blackmails her, if she doesn’t dance to his tune, he’ll take the kid away from her (the usual theme in HP). What follows is a tug-of-war as they both struggle to come to terms that - despite 4 yrs of separation - their chemistry is still dynamite. What had triggered the collapse of their marriage ? What makes her so resistant to his attempt @ reconciliation ?. He works his @$$ off to convince her that he’s a reformed hubby now. He’s not a monk, he’s been w/ others during their separation ‘cuz he’s a red-blooded male w/ needs, yet he gets pissy w/ her when he learns of her potential BF. He thinks she’s barking up the wrong tree, dismissing her accusations that he’s been boinking his luvly P.A. On the other hand, she feels that he only needed her as a bedmate & housekeeper during their disastrous marriage. She tries to make him see from her POV, that money is not the “be all & end all” of marriage. He took her for granted before & she drums it on his head now, that he gotta change his attitude, by not putting his career as 1st priority & his family in the backseat anymore. He owns up to his past mistakes. He doesn’t grovel / get down on his knees, but he redeems himself by trying to spend time w/ her & their baby, to make his marriage work. I had several minor hurdles to overcome in reading this book (I really luved both H/H’s POVs, just like the previous MM I’ve read – ‘Bought for marriage’. Got 4 more MM in my TBR) :
1st of all, the hero’s name – Luigi. It’s a legit Italian’s name, but in my mind, I’ve always had to replace it w/ another, whenever I read a book w/ this name, ‘cuz it reminded of me of the plumber Mario’s green-clad, bulbous-nosed, cute-as-a-button twin bro cum sidekick / nemesis, from 1 of my all-time fav Nintendo games, Super Mario bros. It’s silly, I know =)~
2nd, the secret baby. Yeah it’s prevalent in HPlandia, but the reason the young preggers heroine walked outta her marriage & kept her 3 y/o li’l daughter a secret from the hero, was not credible to me. If her hubby had been an abusive @$$hole like the infamous pig Sean Culhane, I woulda empathized & understood her reasoning. Nope, in this case, only ‘cuz the hero is emotionally vacant, due to his deprived, difficult upbringing. Well, @ least he’s a rebel w/ a cause LOL... Per heroine, she didn’t wish her kid to grow up w/ a workaholic, money-driven daddy. For Luigi, public display of affection is a foreign concept, having been neglected by his parents, being taken away & tossed around between foster homes since he’s 8 y/o. He’s 1 of those uber-alpha, rags-to-riches heroes who are incapable of expressing his feelings verbally & his belief - that the more money he earns, the more security he provides his wife – backfires on his marriage (they got hitched when she’s only 18 y/o). He’s determined that he’ll have earned $ 1 mil by the time he’s 30 y/o. Alas, his breath-taking mansion doesn’t impress his wife. They can’t see eye to eye when it comes to the meaning of luv & marriage. 1 day she decided she’s had enuff of his absence & lack of affection, just up & left w/out telling him & her parents.
3rd, the excuse heroine gives hero for disappearing from her hubby’s & her parents’ lives (who adore hero), that if she’d given him advance warning, he woulda tried to stop her from deserting him. So here we have the usual non-existent communication between H/H. He had no telltale signs that there was trouble in paradise. The self-made hero thought she understood his drive & ambition (he’s a wunderkind in Information Technology world).
4th, the obtuse hero. He’s admitted that he’s aware of the fact that his gorgeous, red-haired P.A. has the hots for him but the feeling isn’t mutual. He’s adamant that there’s no hanky panky whatsoever going on between ‘em, their relationship is purely professional, yet we’re told from his POV, that he treats her to dinners & weekend getaways, as just rewards, ‘cuz he’s a slave-driver. Even in the end, after heroine tells him that the reason she had a hard time believing his repetitive claims of innocence, & that the P.A. herself has blatantly made a bold-faced lie that they’ve been having an affair, he still finds it v. hard to believe that his P.A. would spin a web of lies. Now, I’m not a man, but if I were one & found out from my own luv of my life & mother of my child that my P.A. was a fork-tongued viper who tried her darndest to wreck my marriage, I’d sack her w/ no recommendations. Instead, all he does promise the heroine, is to have a serious talk & give the P.A. an ultimatum to behave or else, leave. Even if she’s the most valuable P.A. in the universe, every worker’s replaceable. There’s gotta be 1 potential P.A. out there who can be re-trained & trusted in & outside the office. Knowing the real colors of the P.A. would be sufficient to dismiss her for good. Once a liar, always a liar. U just use your common sense that sometime down the road, the P.A. might try to cause trouble in his marriage again. Typical of men, hero doesn’t seem to grasp that 3’s a crowd. U’d think that the hero’d realize, removing the thorn on his side would be more conducive to the longevity of his holy matrimony.
Having said all that, I thought it was well-written & I still luved MM’s writing style. I also liked that the hero had compunctions, that he had to blackmail his wife spend Xmas w/ him & sort out their marriage problems. He’s confident that they can make another go @ it if they can lay it out in the open. Even tho’ it’s a bitter pill to swallow & he says more than once that he’ll never forgive her for denying him the 1st 3 yrs of his child’s life, he doesn’t punish heroine for it. He’s all for confrontation, if it means saving his marriage. He learns that sometimes words speak louder than action.
February 27, 2019
Leído en Mayo 2013
August 11, 2016
Originally posted at: A Girl that Likes Books
This is a 2 in 1 review along with Un bouleversant Noël Azur French Edition
Why did I read these books?
I received these books a double blind gift exchange for Christmas at the lab. Sure I could've just put the books in back of my library and act like there weren't even there, but they are very small books and I decided to just finish them.
What are these books about?
Both books can be summarized like follows: Woman is put in a situation "that she cannot get out of" and is then forced to face her "feelings" for her Husband/ Boss both of them happen to be blonde, well muscled and rich men...oh and this cannot be a spoiler, but if it is sorry: They end up together at the end! Shocker, I know.
What about the characters?
The women are helpless, they cannot say no, they are not aware of their beauty...I'm rolling my eyes here people. They cannot be more flat as characters. The case is not better with the men; they are selfish...oh but not really, is just that they are misunderstood. I have nothing else to say about the characters.
Final thoughts
So what can I say about this books? Well, apparently some people actually found something to salvage in these books, since 50% of the reviews gave 3/5 to both of them. I thought the dialogues were poor and laughable; the women were borderline pathetic in their "oh poor me, I have to sleep with this guy, I have no choice, I hate him, oh no, I love him, right" constant attitude. These women were written by other women and that's the best they could make for their attitude? Are all women in the erotica genre the same?.
And the "erotic" part? I'm not going to judge you people who actually gave the books 5/5 but seriously? You liked the sex scenes? They were very poorly written, completely predictable and then...would lost climax in 2 more sentences.
I was entertained, sure, I had to laugh at some of the situations but that doesn't make these good books on my opinion.
This is a 2 in 1 review along with Un bouleversant Noël Azur French Edition
Why did I read these books?
I received these books a double blind gift exchange for Christmas at the lab. Sure I could've just put the books in back of my library and act like there weren't even there, but they are very small books and I decided to just finish them.
What are these books about?
Both books can be summarized like follows: Woman is put in a situation "that she cannot get out of" and is then forced to face her "feelings" for her Husband/ Boss both of them happen to be blonde, well muscled and rich men...oh and this cannot be a spoiler, but if it is sorry: They end up together at the end! Shocker, I know.
What about the characters?
The women are helpless, they cannot say no, they are not aware of their beauty...I'm rolling my eyes here people. They cannot be more flat as characters. The case is not better with the men; they are selfish...oh but not really, is just that they are misunderstood. I have nothing else to say about the characters.
Final thoughts
So what can I say about this books? Well, apparently some people actually found something to salvage in these books, since 50% of the reviews gave 3/5 to both of them. I thought the dialogues were poor and laughable; the women were borderline pathetic in their "oh poor me, I have to sleep with this guy, I have no choice, I hate him, oh no, I love him, right" constant attitude. These women were written by other women and that's the best they could make for their attitude? Are all women in the erotica genre the same?.
And the "erotic" part? I'm not going to judge you people who actually gave the books 5/5 but seriously? You liked the sex scenes? They were very poorly written, completely predictable and then...would lost climax in 2 more sentences.
I was entertained, sure, I had to laugh at some of the situations but that doesn't make these good books on my opinion.
February 8, 2008
this is a awsome book it's vearry romantic
March 11, 2014
I don't think the hero made up for anything. By the time the novel ended, it was almost a waste to read because there was really no solution. He should of told the villain to get the eff out.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews