His Girl Monday to Friday

by Linda Miles

The tycoon…

All Charles Mallory wants is a secretary who won't burst into tears at the first sign of trouble—and who won't make the mistake of falling in love with him. Unfortunately, the good-looking tycoon does seem to have a strange effect on his female staff. He needs an assistant who's Mallory-proof!

…and the temp!

His childhood friend Barbara seems perfect. Barbara knows him too well to ever make the mistake of falling for him. Only, working closely with Barbara is having a strange effect on Charles. Could it be that Charles is in danger of falling for the one secretary who's immune to his charms?

Genres: Romance, Harlequin Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Melindam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that it would never have crossed my mind to read this book if it wasn't for Georgie's excellent review which got me intrigued.

Once again, NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER and all that!

Georgie was totally right and I found this book refreshingly entertaining and original despite the usual romance tropes. The MC Barbara (actually having brains and not afraid to use 'em) was delightful and it was good to see how well she and her "hero" complemented & challenged each other and made each other to develop.

[Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I'm giving 5 stars to a twenty-year old category romance. It's good. I first found it in a shop years ago and had only time to flick through it before my companion dragged me away. But the impression it made remained with me so strongly that I appealed to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books who ID'd it for me.

The plot's a wonderfully snarky Beatrice and Benedick against a strongly realised business background. This is a world where we're not just told the h (Barbara) has a job, we're shown the detail of her doing it, and being brilliant at it. Some of the best scenes in the book show Barbara's development from dilettante student to startlingly innovative marketing genius. Her reluctant Svengali is Charles, on whom she's had a crush for years. At the start of the book, Charles is a commitment-phobe serial one-nighter, with an appallingly dismissive attitude to his girl-friends. After he's just cancelled on one, in order to take Barbara out for a business dinner:-

'Anyway, it was only a casual arrangement with Julia. I didn’t realise I needed to clear cancelling with you or I’d have explained.’ His eyes were speculative again.
‘You say it was casual,’ Barbara protested. ‘As far as I can see, all that means is you felt you could change plans at the last moment. How do you know she looked at it that way?’
He shrugged. ‘Because it’s a game for grown-ups, darling. I know you don’t play it. You’ll just have to take my word for it that people who do know the rules.’
‘Which you make up as you go along,’ said Barbara. ‘What do they do—ask to be put on the mailing list for updates?’

At the same time, he's the only person who sees Barbara's worth:-

'You’re still hiding behind the scenes, as if your work can’t stand on its own if people think you did it. You can’t do something interesting unless you can pretend it’s by someone people take seriously. You’re not twelve any more, Barbara.’ He shrugged. ‘Don’t you think it’s time you grew up?’

Part of the charm of the book is Charles slowly realising what he's unleashed.

Charles watched, bemused, while his protégée ran rings around someone who’d apparently been head-hunted by one of the most competitive investment banks in the country.
‘Well, obviously it would be good to meet before you go to New York,’ said Barbara. She named a time and restaurant and hung up with a shrug.
‘You don’t mind, do you?’ she asked, glancing at Charles. ‘I know we were going to have dinner tomorrow night, but Peter’s off to New York in a few days and I thought I should strike while the iron is hot.’
‘Sure,’ said Charles. It made perfect sense; he just couldn’t remember any woman he’d ever known doing anything like it. Well, none of them had dreamed up a deal this size over the space of a morning. He waited for Barbara to suggest they meet the next night instead, the way any other woman would have if she’d cancelled a dinner date with him. The suggestion didn’t come.

It's also hugely refreshing to see a heroine manage to lead a normal life even if she is suffering from unrequited love. Even to the extent of deciding that, yes, she will kiss Charles because, why not?

‘I’m not just a secretary, I’m a shareholder,’ Barbara said pertly. ‘And there’s no rule against sleeping with shareholders. On the other hand, I am only a five per cent shareholder, and I do so much overtime I must be a hundred and fifty per cent secretary, so maybe we’d better not go all the way.’

Even when it looks as if Charles, having slept with her, has moved on, she's still got backbone:-

Barbara frowned. She’d had a taste of interesting work for the first time, and this was a chance that wouldn’t come again. She should try to make the most of it. So what if Charles had lost interest? Couldn’t she come up with something herself? What she should do was look for some other deal. Maybe if she found some other deal that made millions he would stop wondering if he should start avoiding her... No, she told herself sternly. Charles was neither here nor there.

Five stars is probably a bit generous, but a realistic setting, a witty resilient heroine and a hero who appreciates & balances her? - that doesn't come along every day.

[LLC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this book at the start. I like books with strong heroines. I like books with banter and I even like books with the h/H fighting with each aas they fight their attraction for each other. However, this book starts with the bantering, arguing and it seems to be too much. The heroine, 26 year old Barbara, has known the Hero , Charles, since she was 11 years old. He's like the older brother she never had except she fell in love with him. Unfortunately she fell in love with him when she was 11 years old and he's the last man in the world she wanted to fall in love with. She knows he's arrogant, egotistical, spoiled and fickle. He also is drop dead gorgeous and women fall all over him, "yes Charles, Whatever you say Charles, You're wonderful Charles."
Feisty, redheaded, brilliant Barbara feels it's her duty to point out his character defects to him as often as possible.
Barbara is over qualified as a secretary. She speaks several foreign languages which she's taught herself. Working as a secretary as a temp suits her well. She gets bored after a few weeks and then goes to the next generally just long enough to finance her next vacation to a nice foreign location. Charles goes thru secretaries at lightening speed. Some only last an hour. The record is one week. Now he desperately needs a secretary with linguistic skills and thinks of Barbara. She turns him down but he finally browbeats and bribes her into it.
Suddenly, Charles sees Barbara differently. She's under his skin and it's driving him crazy. He wants to take her to bed just once and get it out of his system. Barbara wants to be with him but has mixed feelings. She knows this will be her only chance to experience the kisses and intimacies she's dreamed of for years but knows that generally once Charles sleeps with a woman he gets bored and doesn't want to know them any more.
This was a fun book with a sweet HEA. It has little character development, has no real angst but it's a fun, fast light read.

[niteskycs · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars, honestly the best way to describe the relationship of the mains is crazy brilliant. it's two very well matched people who've known each other their whole life and communicate through insults and sarcasm. there was no cheesiness or ott romance in this one, it was simply super fun.

[GorgeousN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read even for 2019

This is a very well written story. The H and h have known each other since they were 17 and 11 respectively. The H is now a multimillionaire running his own software business, and a playboy to boot. The h who is now 27 and remains chaste as she has never met anyone else interesting, is as brilliant as the H - and he knows it. I liked how straightforward the romance was here, there were no silly games or misunderstandings (except for a small one at the end). The epilogue is one of the most romantic I have read in a while. Amazingly undated considering it was published in 1999. Highly recommended.

[Bea Tea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't do pathetic heroines. The leading lady in this one had been obsessed with the H since she was like 12. She is now an adult, and skulks after him like a half-starved bitch in heat, gobbling up the thoughtless crumbs of affections he tosses over his shoulder as he's out the door to sleep with other women. We the reader are subjected to her mewling, cringing thoughts that amount to 'I'm grateful just to stand near him' and 'I know he's going to use me and discard me, but oh, oh, I get to cherish this one moment when I get to be woman number 3765 in his life'.

The rest of the book amounts to these two having emotionless, loveless, businesslike, 'adult' discussions about sex in which we are repeatedly treated to that most ghastly phase 'get him out of my system'. There is no heart in this story, no tender feelings, no romance... it's just lust, robotic, numb, lifeless lust, no more than flesh rubbing on flesh before they get dressed and have some more business chat. Fuck this, I really really hate this type of 'romance'. It's devoid of any finer feeling, and leaves me feeling cold.

[Kimberly Bizzanelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I'll read this one again. I laughed. Not much angst. I hope they find the guy a battleaxe of a secretary. Seriously.

[Diedre · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your love language is "words," then you cannot miss this story. It is absolutely delightful. It took a chapter or two to sing with it, but then it soared. The banter was to die for. The hero met his match with the heroine. She gave as good she got. The humor was so spontaneous within their conversations and their individual personalities were refreshing. It kind of reminded me of an old Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn movie. Loved it!

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great novel. The hero got foxed by the heroine. She always had last word, I loved her! The books characters did a one eighty, especially the hero and his views. Overall I have to say that I was pretty damn impressed.