New Year At The Boss's Bidding

by Rachael Thomas

Moretti's by midnight! Jilted bride Tilly Rogers hopes her luck is changing when she's offered a prestigious catering contract for billionaire businessman Xavier Moretti's New Year's Eve party...until she ends up snowbound and alone at her boss's bidding! It's the end of the year and the end of Tilly's contract - which leaves Xavier free to seduce her at his will! Hardly shy of a challenge, this notorious playboy makes it his resolution to have virgin Tilly crumbling under his experienced touch. Before the snow settles Xavier is determined to have Tilly under a brand-new set of tantalising terms!

Genres: Harlequin Presents, Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2015

About the author

I grew up in the Midlands, but when I moved to Wales, over twenty years ago, I found a place to finally put down roots. I married into a farming family and embarked on a massive learning curve which also saw me learning Welsh when my two children were small.
Writing is something I have always wanted to do and I can still remember the thrill of one of my short stories being held up as an example to the class when I was about nine. It wasn’t until my own children were in school that I seriously started to pursue my dream. I joined a local writing group which met every Monday afternoon and being with like-minded people was the boost I needed.

Reading romance had always been my first love, and just about every short story I wrote was romance, so I decided to write my first book. During that process I also attended my first weekend writing course with Kate Walker and joined the RNA’s fabulous New Writers’ Scheme. A short time later I joined Romance Writers of Australia and learnt a lot from entering their competitions. I sought out courses and you can imagine my joy when I discovered Sharon Kendrick’s course in beautiful Tuscany.

Behind the Scandalous Façade, my So You Think You Can Write entry, is my thirteenth book and although only eight have those magic words ‘the end’ written on them the others are definitely part of the learning process I have enjoyed over the last six years.

I love escaping to distant shores with my characters, entering their glamorous world and feeling all the emotions they experience as they discover their love for one another. A love so strong it will overcome all obstacles eventually, leading to that promised happy ever after.

Reviews

[Flor ❁ (HIATUS) · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring, slow and flat.

[Jess☺️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Year At The Boss's Bidding by Rachael Thomas is a sweet easy romance to finish the holiday season off with.
It's your typical Mills and Boon romance rich Italian man with a tragic past, a sweet plain Jane with a broken heart,secluded manor house and plenty of snow to be snowed in 🙄 (some women get all the luck)
If you need something easy , sweet and with a lovely happy ever after then this is for you a nice read to start ending the year with.

[Esther · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was uninspiring and flat.

[Fanniny Moreno Zavaleta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I opened and closed this book three times before I started reading it because the plot wasn't interesting to me. But then as I read the first couple of chapters I grew interested in both main characters.
Xavier's guilt for the accident that caused his friend's death has he living celibate for 3 years till he meets Tilly who's never know passion in her life and is trying to mend her broken heart (she was jilted an hour before her wedding because her groom wanted more).

Everything was going smoothly but then the h started lying to "save face" in case the H didn't feel the same for her. I mean, she was telling the guy that theirs was just an affaire, what did she expect? The he was going to answer that with a declaration of undying love?!?!?!?! Of course not, the only option so he could save face too was to agree with her.
Yes, the H was cold because of his physical and emotional scars but he was never mean towards the h so she had no real reason to be so cautious and dismissive.
I'll leave this here to prove my point.

“No, Xavier. We agreed. Those nights meant nothing.’ Was she really dismissing what they’d shared as nothing?
Now that spell was no longer. The harsh glitter in her eyes didn’t hold any softness, any love. If anything, they held contempt.
‘It doesn’t have to stay that way.’ He moved towards her but she stepped back.
‘It does, Xavier. You are not the type of man I need. You would never make me happy. We have to say goodbye.’
He frowned, trying to process her words. ‘Goodbye?’
‘Yes, goodbye.’ She stood firmly in the middle of her living room, glaring angrily at him. What had changed in such a short time? ‘So, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave.”

TILLY’S HEART BROKE as she stood there, knee deep in deception. She had to be strong, had to keep her emotions under control, anything that would stop her going to him, throwing her arms around his neck and herself at the mercy of the love she had for him. Love that had overshadowed every other emotion she’d experienced in those few days at the manor.”

I just wanted to slap and throttle her until she saw reason!

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

sweet love story but kind of slow and static

[Rgreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Underwhelming

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

חביב יותר נוטה ל 2.5 כוכבים.
שמתי לב שבכל הספרים שקראתי של ההוצאה מככבים גברים אירופאים. בשני הספרים האחרונים מדובר בגברים איטלקים, למרות שבספר האחרון הדמות הגברית נקראת חבייר, לכן ציפיתי שהוא יהיה ספרדי. אבל לא, הוא איטלקי, אופנוען בדימוס לאחר תאונת דרכים קשה שחיסלה לו את הקריירה.

אבל אל דאגה הוא עדין עשיר ומסוקס לאללה, כובש נשים ולבבות.

היו מספר קטעים של חוסר אמינות בעלילה, אבל אני לא מצפה לשייקספיר מהספרים בז'אנר והאורך של הספרים האלה מאפשר לי בשעה לנקות את הראש (אני די מרגישה ג'אנקית בקשר לאובססיה הזו). הכי מתסכל אותי שבתוך שלושה ימים של היכרות הם מרגישים אהבה לעולם ועד. אני יכולה להבין משיכה, תשוקה אבל אהבה?

חביב, אבל אל תצפו לגדולות ונצורות.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

From the very beginning I just couldn't get into the story or the characters. I don't know why, but I felt bored and found myself skimming through a majority of the book. I even found myself falling asleep and very hard to get through. Again I don't exactly know why since the storyline had a good set up. Snowed in for a few days with a person a character is extremely attracted to and no one in the near vicinity. Sounds like a winning combination, right? But it just didn't.

I think my problem with the beginning was that there was such intense focus on their attraction. Almost too intense and too overwhelming that it felt forced and almost unbelievable. It just didn't feel natural therefore the story didn't flow as well as it could have because of it. It just was jammed in my throat that they were attracted to one another that it got tedious and repetitive. It was the same cycle over and over again with stating that they were attracted to one another then deny the attraction of why the couldn't be together then it stated the attraction then the denial then stated again and on and on it went until they gave in to it. It was just the same over and over again. It just made the story drag.

Plus partially I was told they had an attraction then felt it. In fact I didn't feel a lot while reading the story. It was just told what was happening. I felt no emotions really come off either one until the last third and that was debatable. Where was the slow build up of developing feelings? Where was the delicious angst? And even though there was tension between them that even felt forced. I just felt nothing going on emotional for the couple nor did I feel it while reading therefore not making it satisfying at least to me.

When they finally give into said attraction, it got better, but at the same time was disappointing as well. Because when the good part was about to happen then then the scene faded to black. Really? After for most of the book that was all that was talked about. Obsessed about then it just is barely blip on the explosive moment. This was the moment I was waiting for just like the characters. This was supposed to big payoff and I got nothing. This was supposed to make all that overwhelming attraction stated worthwhile. And it didn't deliver. Okay, partly it did because there was a lot of hot foreplay going before the fade to black. So that was really good but then it petered out. So that was really disappointing. And then there really wasn't a proper love scene after that. Just more fade to black. Not good.

The whole romance aspect just felt really contrived. There wasn't a lot emotion going on. And nothing really complex going on. I didn't feel like they were falling in love. I just thought they were in lust for the entire book. I could see where Thomas was going but I just didn't feel it. Nothing really interested me about the couple or the romance. It was kind of boring when it didn't have to be. The pieces were there, they just didn't fit together for me to make the pretty picture. I just didn't like them together or apart. I just didn't click with them or the story.

Overall I was a little disappointed in this story. Actually a lot. It was a shame because the elements were there but it just didn't click with me from the very beginning in fact I was bored. I just couldn't get into the story. I needed more complexity. More emotional. More angst. Just more of something that would have made me more invested in the story and the characters. I just wasn't and that's a huge deal when discussing my enjoyment of a book thereby reflected by my review from above. This story could've been really good but I just didn't care for it.

[Biggaletta Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read of a standard classic old school romance. No surprising reveals and fairly linear plot but good enough to give my Harlequin fix. The story is about dumped Tilly Rogers who gets snowed in with the rich Xaiver Moretti. He has a tormenting secret which keeps him from happiness. However his overwhelming lust for Tilly overrides the torment and he seduces Tilly.

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"New Year at the Boss's Bidding" by Rachael Thomas is a quick, classic romance. Xavier Moretti hires Tilley Rogers to cater his family New Year's Eve party but a snowstorm cancels the party and strands them together. Even though it's cold outside it is HOT inside. I'd love to tell you more but it gives too much of the story away, and the relationship between these two are worth reading.

[Hina Tabassum Khatri · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Year's Eve being not far away from Christmas, every New Year's Eve has the added warmth of Christmas. The same is true for this sexy story.

Snowbound in a manor that oozes of times gone by, Natalie and Xavier come together emotionally and physically. Both of them have a past that they must learn to move on from. Wounds of a past that need healing and the way to that is for them to be there for each other. The salve for their wounds is the love they have now developed for themselves.

Even though it is a Presents story, I find it a very sweet Romance. A book that when I once began, I could not keep it down until I read the last word.

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was super excited to read this book because I loved the idea of being snowed in with a really hot man but this book just fell short to me because it lacked the grit I needed for it to be plausible. They've been snowed in for a couple of days, less than a week for sure, and they're already claiming their love for each other. It was a classic case of instant love.

[Mattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked it til the last 3 or 4 chapters. I so want to give a high rating just for the fact hero didn't have sex for 3 years (scars and guilt) however I just could not stand the heroine for last part of book. Heroine was ok for first part of book but by the end she was awful, she was rude and snappy to hero when they were first snowbound (he doesn't control the weather lady) but she softened and came close to being likeable. Then the morning after they hooked up she is mean to him again (yes he was somewhat cold after facing what he's avoided for years, sex and a woman seeing his scars plus his guilt at doing any of it when he feels he killed his friend), she preemptively gives him the blow off of this means nothing and that he was a check off her list, they do have sex once more after that. Then it's 2 chapters of them both wanting more but not communicating that to one another (hero does in end Chase after her). Np.

[Lulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

both leads are boring

[Anita Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly am a romance at heart and this book reached out and grabbed me. I enjoyed the storyline

[Jebe · Rating 1 out of 5]

A serious snoozefest. Could not get into it in any way.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

e

[Karen West · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of dragging the same sentence around. I felt as if the story was stuttering. Just get to it.

[Klynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and flat. It took up to chapter 5 to move the story forward a few hours.

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Omg...so much repetitive inner dialogue that I got a headache. It's so bad that I can't take anymore!

[Victoria Taveras · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was so angsty that it was annoying. Both main characters were just to boring . It was so slow I skipped a couple of chapters and didn't feel like I missed anything

[Dorothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story was slow and repetitive.

[Shayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Kaycee Nave]

Good book, couldn't put it down

[Eeeps :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't buy the characters had fell in love. They had only known each other for a few days. The over reliance on telling instead of showing their developing relationship did not help either.

[Cheryl Steckling · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Year at the Boss's Bidding by Rachael Thomas
Xavier Moretti’s New Year’s Eve party is a good way to build the verily recent business for Tilly Rogers’s new catering company, Tilly’s Table. Landing it was a much needed boost to her new business and he wants an Italian theme which is perfect for Tilly. She used to cook alongside her grandma.
As Tilly drives out to the Wimble Manor which is set on the edge of Exmoor it is snowing. She finally finds the Manor and finds also that the snow is accumulated a bit more. As she gets out unloading her business van she encounters none other than Xavier.
Xavier is a billionaire business owner and has the motorcycle track. He is a former motorcycle racing and now mentors the young riders. He for sure is the most high-profile client to date for her catering company.
Tilly was very pleased to be out of London for New Year’s Eve considering that last year on the morning of what was to be her wedding day when her fiancé, Jason called off the wedding.
Tilly felt Xavier’s eyes on her as she unloaded the van. He offered to help her and touched her as he grabbed boxes out of her arms. This sent sparks flying between them. She had never been affected by a man like this before, not even her ex-fiancé.
As she set to prepare for the party she was not really looking out the windows and when she did she could not believe how the flakes were so large and coming down at a fast pace. She began to worry would her 2 assistance make it out there to help her.
After her broken engagement she started a bucket list of things she wanted to accomplish. Her catering business was on the list and so was a romantic fling. There was something between her and Xavier and yet she told herself and later him that she could not do anything since Xavier was her boss for this party.
Do the 2 assistants make it to the Manor? Does Xavier’s family make it there? Will Xavier and Tilly be alone in the Manor for New Year’s Eve and after due to a major snow storm? To find these answers and more you will have to read the book. It will show how Tilly had been hurt and how Xavier’s cycle accident that left his best friend dead and Xavier with major scars and what the future now holds for them. Enjoy!

[TashNz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romantic winter read with a beautiful setting at New Years Eve.

Tilly has landed a fantastic opportunity to cater for a New Years Eve party. Xavier Moretti hates Christmas and Tilly is a jilted bride so both aren't the happiest of campers at such a time of year where most are happy and full of joy. Both Tilly and Xavier note the sparks flying and not just from the log fire. Crazy snow storm blocks the road and neither the party Tilly is catering for can get through and she can't leave.

Snowbound!

Brilliant set up for two people who need to face their demons and the distraction of each other proves to start the New Year off with a bang. Once the snow settles and they have to face the real world, will the warmth in the manor continue outside in reality to melt their past away and heal broken wounds???

Tilly and Xavier are two fab characters to read about and I enjoyed their story from the start. I found it hard to put down and I enjoyed the set up of the beautiful manor which was described with perfect detail, the believable back stories and really warmed to the characters of Tilly and Xavier. They deserved their happy ever after together.

Imagine sitting in front of a warm log fire all tucked up with a nice glass of red! This is how I felt reading New Year at the Boss's Bidding.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story that will have you turning the pages as two people that have issues to get over come together in a sizzling sensual story in such a beautiful setting with lots of snow.

Tilly Rogers was jilted a year ago and has thrown herself into a new business and hid behind that but she has made a list of things that she is determined to get done she is quiet and determined and a little afraid of loving which stems from her parents but when she takes on a job for New Years Eve and then gets snowed in her life will change for the better.

Xavier Moretti had a great life as a motor bike racer but when that part of his life ends in tragedy he continues to punish himself he works hard to promote safety in the industry but shuns Christmas, but when he meets Tilly things will change.

I loved this story truly the instant sizzling attraction when Tilly and Xavier meet could set the pages on fire the sensuality is amazing and to see a tortured hero meet a heroin who has issues to overcome and then Xavier to be so determined to get the girl he loves, this one will have you smiling throughout I highly recommend this story grab a beverage curl up and enjoy I did very much.

[Nas Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

NEW YEAR AT THE BOSS’S BIDDING by author Rachael Thomas is a January 2016 release by Harlequin Presents series.

Natalie Rogers is snowbound with Xavier Moretti and passions run high. But she wouldn’t sleep with her boss. Yet by midnight, her contract is up and Xavier is no longer her boss. Would she give in to their fiery passion and raging chemistry?

After an accident, Xavier is scarred both physically and mentally. He doesn’t see himself a fit suitor for Tilly. Yet he couldn’t ignore the longing he has for her love. Could they have a happy ever after?

NEW YEAR AT THE BOSS’S BIDDING is a mesmerizing romance filled with emotional intensity and sensuality. Author Rachael Thomas once again astounds her readers with her heart-warming story telling style.

Highly recommended for all readers of romance.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tilly Rogers is thrilled to cater for Xavier Moretti’s New Year’s Eve party. What she hadn’t catered for was getting holed up with her boss for a few days. However, being in close proximity to each other ignites a fire between them and it is not before long that Tilly and Xavier act upon their sizzling attraction. But with their broken past hanging over their heads, Tilly and Xavier give each other comfort in trying times by helping each other recuperate. Overall, New Year at the Boss’s Bidding by Rachael Thomas is a good solid book that keeps you reading until the end. Ms. Thomas creates a convincing story where her unique writing style and her well-developed characters take readers on an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Recommended
4 Stars