How To: Hide a Baby

Salvatore Brothers #1

by Day Leclaire

If you have purchased Who’s Holding the Baby? Please do not purchase this book. It is the same story, just retitled.

Six sexy Italian-American brothers, ready to win their soul mates. The Salvatore Brothers will charm, tempt, seduce … or even wed and bed. They’ll do whatever it takes to find their bride. And when they say whatever it takes, they mean absolutely anything!

You might need a scorecard…!

Grace Barnes is pretending to be ugly so her gorgeous boss, Luc Salvatore, won't fall in love with her—or she with him. She's even pretending to be engaged to the nonexistent Will-William. It's worked for almost a year, which is how long she needs to work in order to fund her own business. Maybe Grace would have succeeded if unwed mother Carina Donati hadn't dumped her son on Luc and taken off for Italy. Not that Tony is Luc's. No, Tony belongs to Luc's youngest brother, Brand, who takes off after Carina.

When the police arrive, Luc tells them he and Grace are engaged and babysitting his nephew for a few hours. A bit of a fib since Tony's parents aren't married and, oops, the baby is really a girl ... Toni, short for Antonia. Who knew, considering the Salvatores haven't fathered a daughter in more generations than Toni has toes? That would have been fine if the police hadn't returned and discovered Toni is a girl, and that it isn't a few hours they'll be babysitting, but a few days, and that Brand and Carina aren't really married. They take Toni and turn her over to CPS. When CPS shows up, Luc charms the woman, telling her that he and Grace are married.

Got all that? They're boss and assistant at work, engaged for the police, married for CPS, and just good friends in front of Luc's irrepressible family.

Then Luc's father, Dom, returns from a nine-month sojourn in Italy. He knows they're not married and assumes Toni is Grace and Luc's. Maybe they’d have skated by that if they hadn't allowed nature to take its course. Or if Grace's father hadn't interrupted them. Did I mention that Grace's father is a minister? No? Well, as you can imagine that didn't go down well. So now Luc insists they marry for real. And Grace would ... if only Luc loved her. There's only way to convince her and that is to say the three little words he's never said to any other woman: I love you.

Join the madness that is How To: Hide a Baby , a passionate, contemporary romance, guaranteed to make you a believer in happily-ever-after. Click to purchase your copy today!


Note to Readers: How To: Hide a Baby is Book #1 in The Salvatore Brothers Series, a contemporary romance series by USA Today bestselling author and eleven-time RITA© (Romance Writers of America) finalist, Day Leclaire. This story features a hot take-charge, alpha hero and the perfect woman for him, and a sizzling romance between soul mates.

This book includes a preview of Book #2 in The Salvatore Brothers Series, How To: Bare Your Bride.

Genres: Romance, Harlequin Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Chick Lit, Category Romance

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1994

About the author

I love family first and foremost, which is why writing family sagas and stories that involve family is so much fun. Maybe you can tell that from my books since they always feature the warmth and joy and ridiculousness that comes from having a close-knit family.

I also love animals and have taken in rescue dogs and cats and fostered dogs for the local animal shelter.

And of course, I love writing. All I need is a functioning brain (batteries not included), a pen, and paper, and I can write anywhere. Please don’t let a conversation with me lag because my imagination takes over and I. Am. Checked. Out!

USA Today bestselling author, Day Leclaire is the author of more than 60 novels and has received an impressive eleven nominations for the romance industry's most prestigious award, Romance Writers of America RITA© Award. Day lives in Charlotte, NC and spends her days obsessively writing while vaguely remembering to pay attention to her adorable husband, busy son and daughter-in-law, two tiny grandchildren, and two even tinier Teddy Bear dogs. Not to mention a whole lot of dust!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my books. If you'd leave a review, I'd very much appreciate it. Authors are dependent on reviews in order to obtain ads and garner new readers. I love hearing from my readers. For a personal response, please contact me at Day@DayLeclaire.com.

And be sure to visit my website (www.DayLeclaire.com). Sign up for my newsletter for my latest releases and to receive a FREE book!

You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.

Reviews

[karen]

okay, so i am finally reviewing this for real. sorry for the delay, karly - this is no way to handle a buddy read! this review will have spoilers for sure. read at your own risk.

here are some things i have learned from this book.

1) there is no crime in san francisco. i mean, this is what i am inferring anyway, because there's no other reason for the police to be so interested here in, well, "who's holding the baby." since the synopsis up there does nothing to tell you the plot, i will:

basically, an italian-american gentleman impregnates an italian foreign-exchange student (a 20-year-old college foreign-exchange student - this isn't that kind of book), who never tells him she has borne his child because she broke off the relationship and "vanished" when she thought he had been hooking up with some other woman, although he had not. her mother back in the old country becomes dangerously ill, and she wants to go see her, but since she is scandalously unmarried and does not want to be breaking her mother's failing heart, she swoops in to leave the infant with its father, mere hours before her flight. stereotypical italian hysterics ensue as the man is overwhelmed with the knowledge that he has a kid, and the demand that he take care of it while this woman he still loves goes away and as he tries to win her back all at once. the baby is dumped in the arms of its uncle who dumps it in the arms of his assistant, the police are called because of the spectacle, and the parents of the kid flee the building after she clocks him in the head with a vase, and he ends up following her to the airport, and eventually all the way to italy, leaving the baby behind and begging his brother to take care of it. the police try to take the baby into custody, claiming it has been abandoned, but the uncle tells them he is babysitting it, and that the parents are married (which matters for some reason), and it's all good and that his assistant is actually his fiancée, so there's no problem here, officers. the police spend the rest of the book trying to catch him in his lie and get the baby back into protective services.

what i have learned from this:

a) it is illegal to babysit. unless you have the birth certificate on hand.

b) it is doubly illegal to babysit if you are an unmarried man, even if you are related to the baby in question, as the police only back off (temporarily) when he lies about his relationship to his assistant.

c) in san francisco, the police have nothing better to do than check up on a man who is babysitting his brother's child. repeatedly.

2) it is impossible for a woman to excuse herself from a weird-ass situation, particularly if she is already involved in a weird-ass situation. more plot will be necessary here. the assistant in the above paragraph is our heroine grace. her boss/fake fiancé is luc salvatore. she got the job through luc's father dom, who owns the company, and who desperately wants to retire, but he is concerned about luc, who is such a lady-killer that every assistant they have hired for him has fallen under his spell and been useless at the job. dom needs to go away for a year, and rather than hire a male assistant, by whom luc would not be tempted, dom instead commissions grace, a gorgeous woman with small-business ambitions, to be luc's assistant for the year, and if she can keep things platonic - keep luc at arm's length - dom will finance her dream of opening a children's toy store. so - grace makes herself all ugly by dying her blonde hair brown and putting on some oversized tinted glasses to hide her green eyes.



UGGO!

she also wears baggy clothes and a fake engagement ring. little does she know that luc does not just like pretty girls, he likes ALLLLLLL girls, even uggoes like in that picture above, and he comes at her pretty strong from day one, "fixing" her collar and touching her face and making with all the italian endearments. however, he does respect the engagement ring and never takes his flirtations too far (i mean, in the world of a romance novel - most women in the real world would not suffer that much cheek-cupping from their boss) but he takes every opportunity to denigrate her imaginary fiancé.

but grace has resisted luc's advances for 337 whole days, even though she is wildly attracted to him, because she really really wants to start her own business and fulfill the dream she and her mother had planned before her tragic death. this ruse is for you, mom!

SO - when luc tells the police that grace is his fiancée, she is all OH NO!! what if dom hears??? but she can't turn her back on a helpless little baby, and she doesn't want it to be sent away with social services, so she goes along with the ruse, panicking the whole time. at first, it is only for a few hours, then a few days, but as the situation in italy seems to take longer and longer to resolve, she eventually goes so far as to move in with luc, sleeping in the other room, and has to do some fast-talking to convince him yes she really has a fiancé named william and he's totally cool with her living with another man for now while all the time her hair dye is washing out and she is getting attractive again and luc is getting increasingly suspicious and plucking off her glasses and picking out more form-fitting clothing for her to wear around his place and his (many, many) brothers are hooting and hollering all over her and making assumptions about their relationship but still getting gropier with her than most women would tolerate.

Noticing his brothers' reactions, Luc explained, "Will-William, her fiancé, has her in disguise. For some reason, he wants her to look like a bag lady. I haven't quite figured out why. I will, though. I will."

"A disguise?" Stef laughed, intrigued. "Like in the movies?"

Rocco approached. "You mean all I have to do is…"

Before she could protest, he whipped off her glasses. From behind, Alessandro slipped the pins from her hair, fluffing the wayward curls around her face and shoulders. "This isn't fair," she protested. "Stop it!" Marc advanced next, and she knew from his mischievous grim that he intended to investigate what lay beneath her bulky wool suit.

Apparently, so did Luc. Sweeping her clear of his brothers' clutches, he gave her a gentle push towards the door. "Put on the green dress," he said.

And by the remorseless gleam in his golden eyes, she knew it wasn't a request.

but no hard feelings, despite that reading super-predatory; she just goes and puts on the pretty green dress and returns to eat dinner with them while they get all moony over the fact that she is suddenly somehow less hideous and luc checks out her tits.



so, all of this to say - what is it with women in romance novels and bets? or dares? or other similar arrangements where there is no ironclad legal force binding them into keeping their ridiculous promises but for some reason, they are helpless to just walk the fuck away?? so many needless hijinks. and while this one is less disturbing than Fifty Shades of Grey or Beautiful Disaster, and it's more of a slapstick situation, it's a real headscratcher as to why she doesn't just say - "you know - i don't think this plot makes much sense. i know i heard the social worker said that unless there was a woman here, the baby would be taken away, but that doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?? i mean - this is the 90's, right?? and plenty of single men have raised children, and all you are doing is watching it for a while, right?? i feel like it would be totally okay for me to not get involved in this silly circus and go back to my own apartment and leave you to this since i am already kind of enmeshed in a ridiculous arrangement with your pops that it's better you never find out about. so, grace out."

3) here are some additional complications, because this book isn't complicated enough

a) i keep calling the baby "it." this is because the mother calls it "toni" when she thrusts it at its father, and everyone hears that name as "tony," and since the salvatore family has not produced female offspring in like a billion, luc tells the cops that he is babysitting his nephew. but oh no, the baby turns out to be a girl!!! which lie eventually causes problems for luc and his babysitting arrangement.

b) dom is totally not okay with children being born out of wedlock. so luc has to hide the existence of pietro's baby from dom, lest pietro be disowned, and when dom arrives back in the usa unexpectedly for thanksgiving, luc claims that it is his own, from the secret elopement of himself and grace. which compromises grace's arrangement with dom, of which luc still knows nothing, and makes it look that she hooked up with luc on like day one, even though she is totally blameless. (ish)

c) grace brought all this shit from her apartment to make social services believe she was living there with luc. yet somehow, when dom arrives and she is hiding in the closet with the baby (where social services eventually finds her and is totally not cool with), he notices none of the girly things and is not suspicious in the least.

d) luc has a very nosy neighbor across the hall who keeps on calling those police on him, because - again - it is illegal to babysit. meanwhile, with those officers distracted, people are probably being eviscerated all over san francisco. she also scolds luc for using profanity in the hallway.

e) grace's father is a minister, and is also against the idea of babies being born out of wedlock. he walks into luc's apartment along with the new case worker in the middle of their nude, near-intercourse, (yeah, that happens) and he is super confused about why grace never told him she married luc and where this baby came from and grace tells him everything and her father agrees to marry them for real right there and grace agrees to it because it's just easier that way, telling luc they will get it annulled as soon as pietro gets back, and the ceremony is underway in luc's apartment when luc's other brothers walk in in the middle and are all loud and rowdy, and then the baby poos so they have to pause the ceremony AGAIN, and then dom, who was told they were ALREADY married and that toni is their baby walks in, and then shortly after that the new-new case worker comes in and it just happens to be luc's ex with a grudge, and then pietro and carina walk in and they have been married in italy so it's totally okay for them to have toni back and all the lies start colliding and are so very hard to keep track of and WHO'S HOLDING THE BABY?

but it all gets resolved and luc and grace get married for real and live happily ever after the end.

phew.

what a long, strange trip it's been

old, pre-read review:

upon reading the title, i wasn't sure if this was a book about distracted parents, or about a kidnapping. so, i looked a little more closely. and i saw that dude's sweater. and then i looked still more closely.

"Toni isn't your nephew - she's your niece!"

"You're kidding!" Luc grinned in amazement. "That's wonderful!"

Grace struggled to control her temper. "You're missing the point. If the police had discovered we'd lied, they'd have thrown us both into jail. Darn it, Luc, how dare you involve me in your family problems?"

"Our problems," he reminded her in a soft, deliberate voice. "We're engaged. You told the police that, remember?"

"But it's all a lie," she protested. "Every bit of it. I'm not engaged to you...and the baby isn't even a boy!"

"You have a choice. You can stay with me - posing as my fiancee - until my brother returns. Or you can turn your back on a helpless baby."

"You don't play fair!" she complained.

"No," he agreed. Then he smiled, a charming, dangerous smile. "I play to win."

and then i wet myself.

and you thought that was going to be the end of it. BUT NO!!!

buddy read is going to happen!!!

karly



and me!



sitting in a tree!

come to my blog!

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 1 out of 5]

May 2015 buddy read with Tadiana. Read her review here. Yes, we know we are not totally sane. Nothing new here.

Warning: this book is a lethal combination of utter boredom and total stupidity.

I've read a lot of very very VERY bad books this year. There was this. And this. And this. And obviously this. But this one right here? It tops them all. And it's not even because of the absolutely cheesiness oozing from every page. Nope. It's because of the sheer stupidity of it all. I deserve a medal for reading this to the very last page. And the author definitely deserves a lifetime achievement award.





I don't usually do story recaps in my reviews but here the story is everything. Everything stupid that is. To be honest, I have to say that the plot is kind of complex in its absolute absurdity. Kudos to Day Leclaire for coming up with such a far-fetched, ludicrous premise. Please bear with me here, the story is such a mess I'm not even sure I'll be able to make you understand what it's about. Oh, and this should take a while. So grab a drink and a snack. And some aspirin. Please don't forget the aspirin. Ready? Here we go.

① Meet Grace
Grace is gorgeous. A gorgeous blonde of course. Because only blondes are gorgeous. Grace is hiding her utter gorgeousness. She wears glasses (ooooh, UGLY!), she dies her hair brown (ooooh, HIDEOUS!) and she wears baggy clothes in earth shades (ooooh, SCARY!). Why is Grace hiding her utter gorgeousness you ask? Why is she pretending to be engaged when she doesn't even have a boyfriend? Isn't the suspense killing you right now?

② Meet Dom Salvatore
Dom owns a family business. Dom wants to retire. Dom has to go away for a year. And Dom wants to leave the company in the hands of his eldest son, Luc. Problem: the guy is a total Casanova (he is, after all, Italian. And it is a well-known fact that all Italian males are total Casanovas) and can't be relied upon. All his secretaries fall for him and never get any work done. Silly women! So Dom's brilliant idea is (this is where a light bulb goes off in Dom's little head): "I'll hire a gorgeous girl who will disguise herself as an ugly girl and tada! Luc won't be distracted while I'm away. Such a simple solution to the problem at hand! Why didn't I think of that before?!" ← this makes no sense to you? It shouldn't. Anyone else would have hired a male secretary. But no, not Dom. He's clever like that.



③ Dom hires Grace
The deal is: if dear Gorgeous-Turned-Ugly Grace manages to not fall for Luc for a year, Dom-The-Ever-Generous-Philanthropist will finance the toy store she wants to open (it was her mom's dream but her mom died blah blah blah sob sob sob) ← Now that's a perfectly realistic agreement right there. This kind of thing happens every day.

►► We pretty much learn all this in the prologue. And then boom! Chapter 1: fast forward 11 months! My my my, how time passes by! Isn't Day Leclaire clever? So for 11 months, nothing (apparently) happens. Luc and Grace are definitely not attracted to each other. They have a very strict business relationship. So strict platonic doesn't even begin to cover it. Well. Almost. Grace is kind of falling for Luc ← Ooops. Not good. Falling for him=no dream business, remember that Grace? I'm afraid this is not going to go well. Isn't the suspense killing you again?



④ Luc flirts with Grace shamelessly
Because, you know, he's Italian. And that's what Italians do. And it makes it perfectly alright for him to come on to Grace. And touch her. And tell her sweet things in Italian (in case you didn't know, everything said in Italian sounds sweet) ← Is this sexual harassment? Absolutely not. It's called flirting shamelessly, you silly.

►► Still with me at this point? Good. It probably won't last.

⑤ Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student incoming!
Just another day at the office. In barges said Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student, holding a baby in her arms (so far we know who's holding the baby, it gets pretty confusing after this scene). It turns out the baby is Luc's brother's. But he doesn't know it. His brother I mean. His brother doesn't know he has a son. Well Luc doesn't either actually. I mean Luc doesn't know his brother has a son he doesn't know about ← How's the headache going? Not too good? Sorry about that. And just you wait, it's about to get worse.



⑥ Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student outgoing
So. Dear Catarina (that's the Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student's name by the way) here disappears as quickly as she appeared. Because back in good old Italy her mommy is pretty much on her deathbed. She needs to go see her! Now! So what does she do? She leaves the baby in Newfound Daddy's arms (hey! Look who's holding the baby now!) and goes poof! ← Do you seriously think she'd take him to Italy with her? To see his granny? Are you joking? She doesn't want to give dear mommy a heart attack. We're talking about real, die-hard Italians here. No kids out of wedlock. No marriage = immediate doom and destruction.

⑦ Newfound Daddy outgoing as well
Because he obviously has to go after his Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student. So who's holding the baby now? Last time I checked it was Luc. No, wait. I think Grace has him now ← Told you this would be confusing.

⑧ Chaos ensues
Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student hits Newfound Daddy on the head with a vase (damn Italians, they can never control their temper can they?) in the company lobby while Luc & Grace watch the scene on TV monitors. I think someone is still holding the baby at this point but I'm really not sure as to who it might be. The police are called. The Responsible Parents flee. The police want to take the baby in custody. No need to, really, Casanova Brother is babysitting him officially. Besides, "my secretary here is actually my fiancée," says he to the dumbfounded cops. To which he adds, "my dear brother and his Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student are married anyway, which makes everything alright. Please move along gentlemen, I've got this covered." ← At this point you might think none of this makes any sense. At this point you might be right.

►► Mind if I take a break here? This really is proving exhausting. I need a drink. Be right back.



⑨ Police. Social services. Lots and lots of cheese
That's pretty much the rest of the book in a nutshell. Crime must be really low in San Francisco. Why else would the police check repeatedly on a Casanova man who happens to be babysitting his dear niece? Because yes! It turns out the nephew is actually a niece! Dear Grace finds this out while changing her diapers in front of a police officer. Or was it someone from social services? Can't remember. I know someone was asking for a birth certificate at some point. And that Grace obviously had to move in with Luc (who might or might not have been holding the baby at the time so she could move all her stuff in his apartment). Even though they're not married and no marriage = immediate doom and destruction. But they're engaged, which seems good enough for everyone ← well if you remember correctly they really aren't engaged. They're only pretending to be. So that the dumbfounded cops and bewildered social services people won't take Luc's nephew niece away because he doesn't have his her birth certificate and no no no you can't babysit in San Francisco if you don't have your nephew's niece's birth certificate even if you are pretending to be engaged to your secretary who is pretending to be engaged to her imaginary boyfriend while hiding her utter gorgeousness. So how's the headache going now?



►► At this point you might be asking yourself what the hell is going on here. To be honest, I have no idea. We have this stupid girl, who is supposed to be engaged to an imaginary guy, living with her boss, pretending to be engaged to him (yes, I know I keep repeating this. Just trying to do the book justice here) and babysitting his nephew niece, while his unmarried (shame on you) brother is frolicking in Italy with his Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student. Not to mention the fact that neither Grace nor Luc bother to go to the office anymore (that's because they're on babysitting duty). Not to mention the fact that Grace is supposed to stay the hell away from Luc if she wants to open her toy "this was mommy's dream" store. But they have a very platonic relationship so everything is under control. And they have a pretty boring routine: get up, change diapers, prepare the baby bottles (very important sub-plot right there), let the police in, let the social services in, have Luc grope Grace repeatedly but very platonically. Just your basic everyday stuff.



⑩ Suspension of disbelief to the power of 10
Now throw in: 4 or 5 Salvatore brothers (I stopped counting after a while) who keep visiting the engaged-yet-not-engaged babysitting non-couple and might or might not hold the baby at some point, a no longer Ugly Grace (never fooled Luc anyway), a nosy neighbour, the Luc Macho Man Show (it's okay, he's Italian), Grace's Minister Father (don't ask), Dom (remember who he was or are you completely lost at this point?) returning unexpectedly and finding out he has a grandson granddaughter who is Luc's Newfound Daddy's baby, said baby's mother being Grace Catarina and oh my god doom and destruction are near my son had a child out of wedlock! Let's see, what am I forgetting here? Oh yes. Grace will probably never open her toy "this was mommy's dream" store because she fell for Luc and Dom won't allow it but wait all is not lost because Luc wanted to promote her anyway and does he really want to marry me or will this be just a sordid affair I'm not that kind of girl well I guess we'll just have to wait and see oh look Minister Daddy is here he can marry us right away well hello there officer what can we do for you we were just about to get married but weren't you married already I don't understand shhh shhh it's going to be alright let's get married well hello there Lovely Lady from Social Services what can we do for you we were just about to get married but weren't you married already I don't understand shhh shhh it's going to be alright let's get married well hello there Salvatore Brothers what are you doing here well we heard you were getting married so we thought we'd join the party okay let's get married already well hello there Newfound Daddy and Hysterical College Foreign Exchange Student what are you doing here well we just came back from frolicking in Italy and we thought we'd stop by to pick up our son daughter thank you so much for babysitting we're very sorry to interrupt by the way were you getting married oh good for you it looks like you are no longer doomed as we are.

SO WHO'S HOLDING THE FREAKING BABY NOW????

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

It has arrived..... this is going to happen.....



Review Time!!!

staring into eyes that made her think of hot, liquid gold



And it begins....
Grace came in third place in a contest. Instead of winning money or any such thing she's approached by Dom Salvatore and told if she can work as his son's assistant for one year he'll sponsor her financial dream, to open her own baby toy store! The trick is, she has to not fall in love with her boss, Luc, and no assistants before have accomplished this feat...... RUN!!!!!!!!!! But no, she accepts.

So Grace alters her entire appearance.

Let me just throw some one-size-too-big clothes on, a pair of glasses and some mousy brown hair-colour and BAM! I will never be viewed as attractive...



But whatever, so she meets Luc....

Okay NO!!! No way am I working for a man who 1.) I am obviously already attracted to within 5 minutes AND 2.) invades my personal space to do up a button on my blouse, back the FUCK OFF, buddy... Sexual harassment, thy name is Luc Salvatore. Also do NOT call me Italian terms of endearment I.e. “my beloved” the first day I meet you, CREEPER!!

Why do women in romance novels ALWAYS seem to be unaware of what sexual harassment is?! It is not okay for your employer to continuously fondle your face or site opinions on your love life!

And then this happens (oooops, I forgot to tell you that Grace has donned a ring and is claiming to be engaged),

And whether you believe it or not, everything about you is my affair.



No, Mr. creepy-face, it most certainly is NOT!

And then some young attractive girl comes into the office with a baby, uh oh, and craziness happens. Much yelling, such passionate fights and flying objects.... the child is Luc's brother's son errrm.... daughter, Toni. Police happen, lying to police happens, no biggie..... ummm, what?!

So Grace moves in with Luc, temporarily, because he needs her to help with Toni and the children's services agents who deem him unfit unless a woman is present in his life..... HELLO!? Sexism much!!



Sexism is sexism, ladies and gentlemen!!!

Anyways moving on..... there is so much sexual harassment in this book.

Dear, Day Leclaire, sexual harassment is NOT fucking sexy!!! NO!

Also, having someone watch you sleep is not "uncomfortable" it's CREEPY!!! Especially when the one doing the watching is your boss!!

Side note: What is this way that you can pin your hair up in a TIGHT knot at your neck and just have it softly brushed out?!You know what hurts.... THAT!

Also, what kind of monster buys a child a clown night light?! Is this a horror or a romance O.o

Also-also, I don't understand how all these virginal women in romances are so in the know about heartbreak, the first time I realised it was such a painful experience was when I was going through it, not before!

And "I want you" happens, why does this always have to be said in romances? It's so trite.

I will end this review with a delightful quote that, to borrow a phrase, made me wet myself...:

You don't get it, do you? I want to kiss every inch of your body, starting with that luscious mouth of yours. I want to strip off your clothes and make long, sweet love to you.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will never again rag on Regency romances for being contrived. . . . Well, okay, maybe I will, but at least I'll do it knowing that they don't have a monopoly on such silliness. This one was every bit as bad. Grace, a virginal 20-something year old, wants to start her own business; old Italian man offers to finance her startup business if she can work a year as an assistant for his hot son Lucian without falling in love or starting a relationship with him. So she hides her gorgeousness behind tinted glasses and bad makeup, wears baggy, shapeless clothes, and rinses her lovely blonde hair a muddy brown color and sticks it in a tight bun (feel free to roll your eyes here). Oh, yes, she also wears her mother's engagement ring and pretends to have a fiancé.

Luc still manages to sexually harass flirt with Grace, from the first day, but somehow she gets through eleven months safely, when suddenly Luc gets his baby niece dumped in his lap while his brother goes chasing off to Italy to try to fix things with the baby's mother. Of course Luc needs help with the baby and, of course, only Grace will do. And he needs her to live in his apartment to do it. And pretend to be engaged and then married to him so as to allay the concerns of the authorities about an abandoned baby. Throw in a little more employee sexual harassment, some purple prose romantic moments, a few diapering scenes and a truly bizarre amount of police and social services interest in this baby, and we're good to go! It tries to be slapstick humor, but the idiocy of the plot twists and the attempts at serious sexual tension cut against it.

Sarah can't believe I'm not going 1 star with this, but this book, as silly as it is, doesn't quite wallow in the pit of awfulness to the extent that I demand of my 1-star books. I've got standards here, people! ;) But I will say that it was a close call.

*************
Previous post:
Sarah sucked me in to a buddy read, after Karly suggested it. I have such great GR friends! The question is, which will provide the better laughs/ranty review material, this one or Shattered Dreams?

Bottoms up!

[Dalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is more like a farce than a romantic comedy. It's more about Luc trying his best to keep his niece in his care till his brother comes & gets his daughter. Grace is his PA, she has her own agenda, disguising her beauty &pretending to be engaged to keep Luc at arms length. their interaction with police officers & social workers are funny, Luc always trying to charm his way out of any bad situation, & at the same time trying to keep the baby secret from his father till his brother sorts things out. The romance element is not eminent in this book, but It s quiet entertaining read.

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 stars
Such a mad caper!Filled with mass confusion and lies. The heroine disguises herself when she goes to work with the hero, she has a deal with his father, be dowdy for a year and get the financing for her own business. Things go well then the last four weeks, things blow up. The hero is left with his newly discovered niece and ropes in the heroine for help, drama ensues, with lies, social services etc The heroine's disguise also starts unraveling. The book was cute & fun.

[Paula (in & out) · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT!

Grace made a secret deal with Luc’s Father, Dom, to work for Luc as his assistant for one year in exchange of him helping her fund her own toy store. The deal was that she had to make herself unattractive & unavailable so that his son would concentrate on the business and not be distracted by his assistant. In the past, he had a habit of losing assistants who fell for him, even though he never did anything (aka never made a move or slept with them). He was just too charming & handsome that every woman around him fell for him! 🙄 So Grace made herself as unattractive as possible and even made up a fake fiancée by the name of Will – William so that they can have a professional relationship and at the end of the year she would get her dream Toy Store!

Well, even though it worked for 11 months, she apparently didn’t count on was baby Toni coming into their lives and Luc pulling all the stops to win her!

Now Luc, our Hero, was a hoot at times. He saw through Grace’s camouflage and made many innuendoes at the beginning to get her flustered. I enjoyed their give & take comebacks but I would have liked more info of the 11 months prior. It wasn’t mentioned if he was attracted to her from the beginning and if he flirted with her through all those months. All he briefly said was that he didn’t poach and so she was off limits to him. And that made it a head scratch for me because she was still supposedly engaged for majority of the story but it didn’t stop him from flirting & pursuing her and by the time we come to the end & the truth, it didn’t feel as if they had time to know and fall in love with each other.

But anyway, they had a problem - mainly baby Toni who was Luc’s baby niece and left to him temporarily to babysit while his brother chased his baby Momma. The rest of the plot is a series of things going haywire for Luc and Grace (in a fun way!) from fake engagements to fake marriages, overworked security guy, cops, social workers, sneaky brothers, Priests & Fathers.

The blurb states the entire plot so I won’t go into the story, but I will say that it is a great way to pass two hours. Both characters are awesome and their chemistry is HOT. Baby Toni was adorable and poor Edward the security guard gets a high five from me. He was a hoot!

There is also no OW/OM or intimate scenes with others which I much appreciated. Heroine is a virgin and Hero’s past was a bit confusing and that is why it became a 4 star instead of 5 for me. Initially Hero did not come off as a Manho and to be honest, I didn’t get that vibe at all from him throughout the story, however, Author went one way in the first half of the story with him and then another at the other half.

In the beginning, he is described as a charming handsome devil who is kind & thoughtful towards others. He said that he loves all women and that he is respectful and kind in his relationships with his ex’s. That made him seem that he dated & had relationships with women – not ONS. And while that may have been true in terms of his character, at 80% or so, his Father made him seem as if he was a Player without really going into details. There was 2 instances for example in which it was mentioned that he was able to always charm any woman but there was one, Cynthia, who didn’t buy into his charm. Later on, she comes back into the picture as a Case Worker and is described as very beautiful and a “friend” of his. Nothing else was said and it left me wondering if he had been in love & pursuing her and she rejected him? Then there was a mention in which his Father said that he once walked into his apartment & bedroom and found the Maid naked and making his bed! Apparently he & this “Maid” had just done the deed and his Father never walked in on him again. So that scene was what took a star away from loving it. It was so unnecessary and came from left field because as I said, he was made in the beginning seem as if he had relationships – not ONS and this “maid” scene was not explained if she had been his GF or a fling. He also wanted a fling with heroine at the start so that made me think he was after all a Manho.

Anyway, it was also not mentioned if he was sleeping around with others from the time that heroine came into the picture, so I assume he was. Also, this was mostly a PG read with only groping & one sex scene at the end that ends in HEA.

Luc?”
“Yes, Grace?”
“We need diapers.”
He shook his head. “I don’t need diapers. I do need something, and I need it very badly. But let me assure you, it’s not diapers.”
Hot color flooded her face. “I mean, the baby needs diapers. Toni. She needs them. Not you. I know that you don’t.”
“Very observant. Though if you keep rubbing my chest like that, you’ll find out precisely what it is I do need.”
--------------
He strode from the office and headed for the elevators. After a momentary hesitation, she followed. Within five seconds, he’d collected a swarm of oohing and ahhing secretaries. To Grace’s disgust, they darted around him like bees desperate for pollen. He took it as his due, beaming proudly, as if he, and he alone, were responsible for Toni’s adorable perfection. The elevator arrived and he excused himself from the chattering horde. Snagging Grace’s elbow, he ushered her into the car and pushed the button for the basement.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her tone sharper than she’d intended. Great. Just great. Give him something else to comment on. Just what she needed.
“We’re going to the mail room,” he answered in a suspiciously bland tone of voice.
“Why are we going to the mail room?”
“Wait and see. But be prepared to be impressed.”
“I can hardly contain myself.”
“Try,” he suggested dryly.
Exiting the elevator, he led the way through the carpeted hallways to the enormous mail room. All work ceased the moment he walked into the place, but Luc didn’t even seem to notice. He crossed to one of the huge wooden tables and gently placed his precious bundle in the middle of an electronic postage scale.
“Twelve pounds, eleven-and-one-half ounces,” he announced with satisfaction. “Grace, order the diapers.”
“Okay. I admit. I’m impressed.”
He leveled her with an intense gaze. “Not yet, you aren’t. But give it time. Because before long I intend to impress the hell out of you.”
-------------------
Luc, this is crazy. We’ve known each other for almost a year and this has never happened. Think about it. We’re under a lot of stress. We’re forced to live together in very difficult circumstances. It’s an involuntary reaction or something.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “An involuntary reaction? You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m serious,” she insisted. “It’s the situation we’re in, it’s not because we really want . . . You know.”
He laughed, the sound harsh and taunting. “Believe me when I say that I really want . . . you know. I ache for . . . you know. If I don’t experience .. . you know soon, I might do something drastic, like bite the damned buttons right off your blouse.”
“Luc!”
“You don’t get it, do you? I want to kiss every inch of your body, starting with that luscious mouth of yours and finishing with your adorable toes. I want to strip off your clothes and make long, sweet love to you. And I want to do it in every room of this apartment, starting right here and now. And once we’ve made love in every conceivable place and position, I want to do it all over again. Does that give you some idea of how much I want . . . you know?”
--------------------
“I want you four to shut up or you’re out of here!” He took a deep breath, then said, “Please continue, Reverend Barnes. I’m sorry for the interruption.”
“Go ahead, Dad,” Grace urged.
The minister glanced uncertainly at the four Salvatore brothers. “All right. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here today to join this man and woman in the state of holy matrimony, a state not to be entered into lightly.” He focused a stern gaze on Luc and Grace, then his brow wrinkled in concern. “I’m sorry, but . . . Why didn’t you invite your brothers?”
Luc gritted his teeth. “Because they don’t know how to behave in public. Proceed. Please.”
Toni let out a loud wail. “Uh-oh,” Matteo interrupted. “Can we take five for a diaper change?”
“No!”
“Luc, be reasonable,” Grace murmured. “Go ahead, Matteo. Dante, mix up a bottle, just in case.”
Luc turned on her. “You know full well that if you fill up the one end it comes out the other. Dante, no bottle.”
“Never mind, Dante,” Grace said, exasperated. “I’ll get the bottle.”
Five minutes later, they gathered once again in the living room. Soren now cradled Toni in his arms, cooing happily. Dante held the bottle, ready to insert it at the first squawk. Luc’s face had settled into grim lines.
“Are we set?” he asked the room at large. “Any other comments, criticisms, or concerns?” No one said a word. He nodded in satisfaction. “Then, we can begin.”
Reverend Barnes cleared his throat. “Let’s see . . . Dearly beloved—”
“We did that part already,” Luc bit out. “We’re currently in a state we shouldn’t enter into lightly.”
“Amen to that,” Reverend Barnes muttered.
Grace tightened her hold on Luc’s arms. “Dad. Please!”
“Perhaps if we skipped to the crucial bits?” Luc suggested.
Reverend Barnes glanced uncertainly at Grace. “You don’t object?”
“No, Dad. I don’t.”
“Very well. I must say, this is highly unusual, but if you both agree, I guess it’s all right. Let me think . . . Oh, right. Do you, Luciano Salvatore, promise to love, honor, and cherish this woman?”
“I do.”
“And do you, Grace Barnes, promise to love, honor, and obey—”
“Dad!”
“Don’t interrupt your father, Grace.”
She turned on Luc. “I will not promise to obey. It’s archaic. If you get to cherish, so do I.”

[Mariya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a funny and sweet story!

[Chloe Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can say is that it was so bad it was good... I really liked it!!! An easy by the beach read!!!

[JillyB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Location: San Francisco(which is funny as I have read two different books/authors in 36 hours both set here)

I read the older version of this story but it has since been rereleased as: How To: Hide a Baby

A great beginning to the Salvatore brothers. (Low on angst and sex, but sweet and funny)!
I am new to DL’s books, although I have nice little stack of them from my shopping jaunts. Sometimes a paperback is more useful then technology to read when out and about! There is no ow or om drama in this story(they get enough drama elsewhere!) This is not a story for angst junkies, but it is a sweet escape.

Luc-30 something hero who has a hard time keeping assistants. They keep falling in love with him. Now he doesn’t believe in dipping his pen in the company ink, but he has a habit of charming the pants off of everywomen who comes within proximity of him. His charm doesn’t seem to be working on his latest assistant who was hired by his father. Of course, he doesn’t stop trying.

Grace-20 something heroine who dreams of opening a toy business in her late mom’s honor. She enters a young entrepreneur contest…doesn’t win. However, she catches the eye of Dom Salvatore. He is the Patriarch of the Salvatore family. He agrees to fund her start up business if she will work as his son’s assistant for a year. The catch is she needs to down play her appearance, pretend to be engaged to someone else, and definitely not fall in love with the hero. She is a minister’s daughter who is averse to lying normally. However, she really wants her mom’s dream to come to fruition so she agrees to the subterfuge.

Anyhoo, Grace becomes a great assistant and the H and her work well together. She finds him very attractive but she keeps her eye on the prize and is 1 month short of year when problems arise and she ends up being “engaged” to the hero to avoid his niece going to foster care. Well, our hero already suspects that our h is not all that she pretends to be. Now being together in close proximity he will be able to unwrap her boxy clothing, tinted glasses, and washed out blonde hair to uncover the true beauty that lies beneath.

He gets confirmation of her fake fiancée in a very revealing voicemail. Add to this story a boisterous bunch of Italian brothers, a traditional Italian father, a reserved minister father, a Mrs. Kravitz neighbor, the law, and child services and it ends up being a rollicking, fun story. There are some moments of sexy times and an almost bedroom episode that is interrupted by the h’s minister father. Unfortunately, we never see our virgin h and experienced H consummate their relationship. I would have liked an epilogue, although it does end with a wedding.

A note on our H: He is unapologetically a lover of women. He states his love of women clearly. He likes their smell, their sizes, their voices, mannerisms….etc……Now written a different way, he would have come off as a manwhore. DL doesn’t delve too much into his sexual history only to state that he doesn’t go after workmates and once a a Salvatore falls for a lady it is for life with no straying. However, I am sure our smooth H will always be a bit of a charmer. Yet he will love his h so much that she will need never worry about being displaced in his affections. He will never set her up to be embarrassed or disparaged by other women or even the occasional wannabe ow that may set her sights on the H.

I am looking forward to more Salvatore brothers and according to DL there will be 2 more stories released in the next or so year about the brothers(it is on her website!)

[Big Fat Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ridiculous premise, very abrupt end but hey, I found myself chuckling over the absurdity of it all, so 3.5 stars it is..

[ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0/5

I really enjoyed the parts where the two main characters interact with each other and with the baby. However, I can’t understand the meaning of the drama or the whole mess at the end. It feels so chaotic, and I can’t relate to it.

The male lead’s brother, Brand, definitely seems like someone who will have his own book. But I don’t understand how they can just leave the baby right away. Him chasing after her might sound attractive, but only when you’re not leaving a whole mess behind for other people to clean up. Both of them seem to not care about their child—so how can they suddenly act like they love the baby so much after returning from a two-week make-up time?

And I’m honestly sad that nowadays, a full-package, experienced male character—who has been with many women—is considered hot, while the female character is expected to be a virgin (as always), even though she’s cute, pretty, gorgeous, and has just finished college. I know that as long as I keep reading this type of book, I can’t really expect more—but I still want to say that I do see good chemistry at the beginning, i saw that potential.

For example, when the female main character acts a little sassy while checking the shopping list, when she’s working, or when she reminds the male lead about the birth certificate—I find that very attractive. We don’t need the stereotypical “virgin x playboy” dynamic to make the love feel more real or more destined.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this doesn’t really stand the test of time-something I tend to forget will be an issue with most older romance novels. I had a tendency to skim even when originally reading back in the decades in which they were written…but I don’t remember being quite so appalled at the inappropriateness of the interactions of the men. Anyway, I liked Day LeClair. She’s one of the very few whose name I remember. I liked her because she could write screwball romance stories with the most improbable plots and still get me to suspend disbelief enough to engage and then root for the main characters. I don’t remember reading too many of her books-only whatever I could find in the library. But I did read one of this series and actually remembered one part of it well enough to grab the omnibus Kindle edition since it’s free on Unlimited. And even if I skip and skim most of the entire series the way I did this book I figure I’ll have some fun and enjoyment and the price is certainly right.

This first one features a very inappropriate office relationship and a lot of lies.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I write except this was fun just an enjoyable easy read. Grace and Luc are likeable energetic characters, the book reminds me of an old 1930/40s farce where the main protagonists become entangled in an ever growing web of lies.

The pace of the book does not let up. Grace is a strong character and helps Luc keep his family together, she is the one who makes the decision to go along with Luc’s plan growing ever more disastrous . Luc is genuinely a nice person who tried to do the right thing by everyone.

The book merrily skips along at a good pace and is never boring.

This is part of the Salvatore brothers books and makes a welcome entry. The others in see series such as Bridegroom on approval all have a different feel because the story lines are so varied.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I vaguely remembered reading this book, which is always a crapshoot as to whether I desperately tried to forgot it because it was horrifically terrible and some vague residue of it still lingers like a ghost in my thoughts or that it's still bouncing around in my brain all these years later because it was so absolutely amazing that I couldn't forget it even if I tried. This wasn't amazing, but I may have enjoyed Who's Holding the Baby? in my teen years because it's more of a farce than a romance and I loved a good giggle. Still do, but this was too illogical for me to enjoy it as an adult.

[Christine Biesheuvel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whose Baby?
Grace has a deal with Luc’s father to work for Luc for a year without getting emotionally involved. And that time is almost there. She would have made it, but circumstances (fate?) change everything and make it impossible for her to ignore her growing feelings for Luc. And when he finds out that she is hiding behind an ugly appearance and a fake engagement, all bets are off.
A strong woman, a honorable man and a complex situation involving Child Services and their sometimes nasty regulations. Add interfering brothers and an old fashioned father and help yourself to a mixed up world that leads to a HEA. Enjoyable read!

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grace Barnes makes herself dowdy to be assistant to Luc Salvatore. If she gets through one year, his father will set her up in business. It goes well for 11 months until his brother's girlfriend shows up with a baby she dumps on Luc. Grace agrees to help care for the baby in the ensuing mess.

[carol a broaders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dante inferno

How to hide a baby well worth reading I can recommend this book and can't wait to read the other books I've bought them all very good and I couldn't put the book down

[lubor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A page turner

This book is a page turner with different twists and turns, a lot of funny moments and charming and lovely main characters. I definitely recommend it to romance readers.

[Marionela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Поредица от големи и опашати лъжи и въртележка от лоша комуникация, довели до сладникавия край. Еднократно четиво.

[M. Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Sweet and Twisty

I loved the little twists along the way. This was so cute and fun to read. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (4/14/2026)! 🎁

[Pravana · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a riot this book was.
Alessandro who is Luc's brother sums up the situation while clarifying his other brother's query
"Look...." He ticked off on his fingers. "They're boss and assistant at work, engaged for the police, married for the baby people and just good friends in front of us."
"You guys ever consider scorecards? This is getting confusing" Stef complained.

All this fibbing comes back to bite them when -
"You're married?" The Reverend gasped.
The minister's gaze seemed drawn to Toni like a magnet. "You have a baby?" He whispered in disbelief.
"No!" Grace shouted.
"Maybe!" Luc shouted louder."It depends on who you are." He looked at Grace."Where's Stefano's scorecard? I'm getting confused. Which story do we tell the minister?"
"There isn't a minister on our damned scorecard!" she practically shrieked.

I'd read it years ago while in college and was pleasantly surprised to get hold of this book after so many years. Great read.

[Booked · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Toni isn't your nephew--she's your niece!"

"You're kidding!" Luc grinned in amazement. "That's wonderful!"

Grace struggled to control her temper. "You're missing the point. If the police had discovered we'd lied, they'd have thrown us both into jail. Darn it, Luc, how dare you involve me in your family problems?"

"Our problems," he reminded her in a soft, deliberate voice. "We're engaged. You told the police that, remember?"

"But it's all a lie," she protested. "Every bit of it. I'm not engaged to you...and the baby isn't even a boy!"

"You have a choice. You can stay with me--posing as my fiancee--until my brother returns. Or you can turn your back on a helpless baby."

"You don't play fair!" she complained.

"No," he agreed. Then he smiled, a charming, dangerous smile. "I play to win."

[Lorna Rennicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I see that a book has been penned by Day Leclaire, I automatically buy it without reading any details or information on it. Why is that?. Because I am never disappointed with her books and 'Who's Holding The Baby?' is no exception. This is Book 1 of the Salvatore Brothers(there are six of them), and I absolutely loved it. It has it all. The love, the romance, the passion, the strong hero, the cute,sexy heroine, the gorgeous baby, the wit, the humour and the laugh out loud moments. This book is Day Leclaire at her best. Can't wait for Matteo's story which is coming soon. Simply the best.

[Lisa Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read this book, I was hoping for another "Dante Legacy" type of series. Grace and Luciano are perfect. I also read "The Bride's Proposition" (which isn't listed on GR except as a Harlequin comic and a foreign language version). Penelope and Stefano are equally as engaging. Unfortunately, Harlequin did not complete the series, leaving us readers dangling.

[Alarna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. :)

[Quinn Fforde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny

[Kačka (Čtení s Katie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was fifteen, I really liked it =)