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Something About Cecily
When Cecily Scatterton literally falls into Chas Buchanan's lap,he thinks his problems are over -- or have they just begun? He desperately needs someone to fill in for his vacationing secretary, Cecy's as good at causing chaos in his well-ordered life as she is typing. Yet there's just something about her that pulls at his heart. Is it her surprising sweetness, or her stubborn pride? Or maybe the non-stop fantasies that make it so hard to keep his mind on business...Though Chas Buchanan is tall dark, and handsome, he's also much too bossy and buttoned-down. Cecy doesn't need his help getting back on her feet -- wellmaybe just a little -- but he clearly does need hers. Why, he even organizes his"spontaneous" time! Something about him just gives her an uncontrollable urge to shake up his life -- and if she can't do it, no one can!
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2001
43 people want to read
About the author
Karen Kendall
44 books36 followersKaren Kendall is the author of many disasters and nine romantic comedies. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and credits her early interest in writing to several teachers and her mother, a professor of comparative literature.
A graduate of Smith College, Karen studied the mysteries of modern and contemporary art before enrolling in a masters program in Museum Education, with the aim of teaching children about art. She worked for several museums and galleries before following her lifelong dream and completing a novel.
Karen is still a big fan of children's art, but she now writes full time and lives in Florida with her husband, Don, and attack-cat Boo, who turns up her nose at chicken and fish but adores asparagus and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream.
A graduate of Smith College, Karen studied the mysteries of modern and contemporary art before enrolling in a masters program in Museum Education, with the aim of teaching children about art. She worked for several museums and galleries before following her lifelong dream and completing a novel.
Karen is still a big fan of children's art, but she now writes full time and lives in Florida with her husband, Don, and attack-cat Boo, who turns up her nose at chicken and fish but adores asparagus and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 1, 2010
I loved this book! I had jury duty and grabbed this book from my pile to read while waiting to be called. I burst out laughing several times reading about the antics of Cecily. I really recommend this book as a must read!
September 30, 2023
SPOILERS! don't read. Writing this out so I can remember what happened in the future.
read in sept 2023
Well, it's been a long while since I read this book. Since 2009 & it's interesting. This poor girl Cecily is in a bit of a pickle. Face planted over her cat, bloody nose, $210 hospital bill to tell her it's not broken, just brushed, & sexy samaritan offering to help. She's broke, he pays her bill for her & offers her an on the spot sec job. Which to me would be a dream come true. But to make money faster than she could wait for said paycheck, she ends up trying to sell son odd knickknacks at a car wash, which if she stands a certain way & shows some good leg to said owner, she can do. But chas jas a prob w/skeevy pervy men taking advantage, sees her across the way, & agian helps her by paying for said junk. After some haggling, they've agreed upojb$700 bucks. Then another circumstance befalls her. She has no place to live so she ends up sleeping in the office under the guise of a "hot" date. Add that to the kiss between her & Chas, his life gas turned upside down so far. And that's just the 1st 100pgs or so...
Next 5 chaps. She's homeless, quit her job w/Chas, paid him back, bursting still using his office as a place to stay at night when he's not there. He checks the salon for her, they tell him she's very sweet but sometimes a bit behind. He gets an alert that there's a burger at the office. Ceicly hits him over the head w/an abacus plant. H wakes up, they have sex, they head to hospital for concussion. Hospital gives them grief. Chas passes put on floor. She's his fiance till otherwise. She's trying to pay for his bill.
Pg200 (last few chaps) time lapses. His friend Tom Barry caught ceicly naked at his office after taking a shower in his sink. Assumed she was some naughty nun for hire. Pretty boring in gen. She works for home & lives with him right now
Pg 309 last few Chap recap) more happy, happy fun times. He's afraid she's falling in love. Next day, he ignores her, treats her like a maid if anything. Then tries to set her up w/his rich friend instead. They have a dinner party, his rich friend turns out to be gaym she knows what's going on. She turns the tables on him. She then flings his offer back in his face to show just how disgusting his offer was to her. She leaves. He follows. Officer pulls him over, gives him a ticket for poor car, but not for harassing her. Officer takes her to the park. She does not want to he w/him right then.
Last round. She moves out, finds some friends, plays a trick on chas w/the guy he set up for her by telling him that chas has dreams about him. Once that tomfoolery is accomplished, she meets w/Christian, the guy that was used against them both & apologizes. Her cat barney needs medical care, something about a tumor that cost $1800.00, which chas pays for. They fall in love. Oh yeah, before she moves out he tries convincing her to move back in & basically admits to wanting a convenient boinking buddy instead. She tells him he's not over his divorce so there's no reason to really move back in, till she's appreciated & well he's over his crap
read in sept 2023
Well, it's been a long while since I read this book. Since 2009 & it's interesting. This poor girl Cecily is in a bit of a pickle. Face planted over her cat, bloody nose, $210 hospital bill to tell her it's not broken, just brushed, & sexy samaritan offering to help. She's broke, he pays her bill for her & offers her an on the spot sec job. Which to me would be a dream come true. But to make money faster than she could wait for said paycheck, she ends up trying to sell son odd knickknacks at a car wash, which if she stands a certain way & shows some good leg to said owner, she can do. But chas jas a prob w/skeevy pervy men taking advantage, sees her across the way, & agian helps her by paying for said junk. After some haggling, they've agreed upojb$700 bucks. Then another circumstance befalls her. She has no place to live so she ends up sleeping in the office under the guise of a "hot" date. Add that to the kiss between her & Chas, his life gas turned upside down so far. And that's just the 1st 100pgs or so...
Next 5 chaps. She's homeless, quit her job w/Chas, paid him back, bursting still using his office as a place to stay at night when he's not there. He checks the salon for her, they tell him she's very sweet but sometimes a bit behind. He gets an alert that there's a burger at the office. Ceicly hits him over the head w/an abacus plant. H wakes up, they have sex, they head to hospital for concussion. Hospital gives them grief. Chas passes put on floor. She's his fiance till otherwise. She's trying to pay for his bill.
Pg200 (last few chaps) time lapses. His friend Tom Barry caught ceicly naked at his office after taking a shower in his sink. Assumed she was some naughty nun for hire. Pretty boring in gen. She works for home & lives with him right now
Pg 309 last few Chap recap) more happy, happy fun times. He's afraid she's falling in love. Next day, he ignores her, treats her like a maid if anything. Then tries to set her up w/his rich friend instead. They have a dinner party, his rich friend turns out to be gaym she knows what's going on. She turns the tables on him. She then flings his offer back in his face to show just how disgusting his offer was to her. She leaves. He follows. Officer pulls him over, gives him a ticket for poor car, but not for harassing her. Officer takes her to the park. She does not want to he w/him right then.
Last round. She moves out, finds some friends, plays a trick on chas w/the guy he set up for her by telling him that chas has dreams about him. Once that tomfoolery is accomplished, she meets w/Christian, the guy that was used against them both & apologizes. Her cat barney needs medical care, something about a tumor that cost $1800.00, which chas pays for. They fall in love. Oh yeah, before she moves out he tries convincing her to move back in & basically admits to wanting a convenient boinking buddy instead. She tells him he's not over his divorce so there's no reason to really move back in, till she's appreciated & well he's over his crap
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2012
More like 3.75 stars. I had such a hard time rating this book because my feelings on it and the characters were all over the place. It started off amazing with great humor and pacing. I read almost the first half of the book in one sitting. Which is super rare for me. But then the middle started to drag and get kind of boring. Very unfortunate. Even the humorous stuff hit a lull and it just seemed overly forced and awkward.
It was during the middle that the characters—who started out wonderfully—began to get rather annoying. Cecy became immature and childish and naive and irrational/unstable/irresponsible. Then we have Chas who is constantly referring to Cecy as a fluffball or bimbo. And implying that she is dimwitted. (Which in my opinion she sort of is.) Plus he's a Gamma Hero with a feminine streak, which I'm not much a fan of. And, even at the end, I just never got the "love vibes" from their romance. Lust I'll believe, but they could barely stand each other. The animosity was more prevalent than the romance. That's not to say the smexy times weren't explosive, because they were pretty darn hot!
The ending was a ton better though. Pacing picked back up, the hilarity returned and there was the added bonus of one or two tear-jerker moments. Overall, it was a cute story. I enjoyed it a lot despite the issues I had with it, and I was thoroughly entertained. This would make for a great lighthearted and fun beach/vacation/snuggled-under-the-blankets-on-a-cold-night read. I'd recommend it.
It was during the middle that the characters—who started out wonderfully—began to get rather annoying. Cecy became immature and childish and naive and irrational/unstable/irresponsible. Then we have Chas who is constantly referring to Cecy as a fluffball or bimbo. And implying that she is dimwitted. (Which in my opinion she sort of is.) Plus he's a Gamma Hero with a feminine streak, which I'm not much a fan of. And, even at the end, I just never got the "love vibes" from their romance. Lust I'll believe, but they could barely stand each other. The animosity was more prevalent than the romance. That's not to say the smexy times weren't explosive, because they were pretty darn hot!
The ending was a ton better though. Pacing picked back up, the hilarity returned and there was the added bonus of one or two tear-jerker moments. Overall, it was a cute story. I enjoyed it a lot despite the issues I had with it, and I was thoroughly entertained. This would make for a great lighthearted and fun beach/vacation/snuggled-under-the-blankets-on-a-cold-night read. I'd recommend it.
June 4, 2015
I read this after reading "To Catch A Kiss" which is totally what one would expect and hope for in romantic comedy. This book . . . just seemed to be trying too hard to be humorous. I'm not sure if this was the author's first published book. I read somewhere that intimated that is the case. At any rate the humor (for the most part) wasn't all that humorous nor the romance all that romantic nor the plot all that believable. Obviously a romance by its very nature will have elements that are less than realistic and rightly so.
I found the characters to be less than heroic. There plight unacceptable due to requiring traits leaving them a lack of self-awareness which might have given them insight on how to improve their lot in life.
I'm sure others will enjoy the book. I'm likely to picky about the books I read.
I found the characters to be less than heroic. There plight unacceptable due to requiring traits leaving them a lack of self-awareness which might have given them insight on how to improve their lot in life.
I'm sure others will enjoy the book. I'm likely to picky about the books I read.
July 16, 2010
"I absolutely loved this book. It reminded me of the old time comedy classic movies. I giggled and laughed out loud with these two characters. It's a keeper."
September 15, 2016
This was a reread. Still love it!
March 4, 2012
I needed a quick, light read between my Rebus books.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews