"For the salary you're offering I'd work for the devil himself", Kate Sherwood had told Nicholas Blake when she took the job as his secretary. She had left her previous job because she had made the mistake of falling in love with her boss, Jeremy Edwards, with unhappy results. But her words to Nicholas turned out to be rash ones - because she soon found herself in deep waters - in love with her new boss and with no prospect of ever having her feelings returned. And then Jeremy turned up again to complicate things still further...
An office romance. Heroine is a secretary who left her job after the boss she thought she was engaged to married the daughter of a tycoon. She's on her way to her aunt's bed and breakfast in the Cotswolds to lick her wounds when her slow driving causes the hero to crash his car into a tree. Harsh, sexist words are exchanged. Heroine leaves him at the garage to sort out his mess. Hero shows up on the doorstep of her aunt's b&b an hour later. He is still in a temper and cools off by kissing the heroine, who melts in his arms.
The next morning more sexist words are exchanged. He offers her a job. She tears up his card. He gives her more punishing kisses. She runs away to her room to cry for two hours. *sigh* You can see what we're dealing with here.
Heroine has a holiday and then returns to London to look for work. Since she won't ask for a reference from her former boss/fiance, she can't get a job. She finally swallows her pride and calls the hero. He gives her a job as his secretary. Hero has an OW, but that doesn't stop him from kissing his secretary when she steps out of line.
Heroine was impulsive, stubborn and childish. Hero was sexist, hot-tempered, and entitled. About right for a 1980 HR.
Not worth the time. If it's possible to earn a title that goes beyond TSTL, this heroine would certainly get it. She had no commonsense and purposely went out of her way to enrage the hero. The hero was one mean, obnoxious SOB that should have ended up in jail for sexual harassment. He was a sneaky, slimy snake.
I can't even recommend this for those that love a train wreck. Both H/h were pitiful people not worth reading about.
Writing: 4 Stars; Characters: 2 Stars; Good characterisation, but appalling people. Plot: 2 Stars; Entertaining: 2 Stars; Read Again? No.
Total: 2 Stars.
I’ve read a translation of this book as a teenager and thought it was amusing. However, it is clear that I remembered the amusing conflict bits, but forgot the substance. As an adult, I’m appalled that this is considered romance. The hero is an overbearing brute, who should be in jail for sexual harassment. The heroine is suppose to be this smart, young woman, but she is a ninny who puts up with assault and keeps coming back for more. Rape is not a joke, and I do not understand how another woman can think that it is.
All I can say is, THANK YOU to the women who fought and who keep fighting fo gender equality. If this is what the world was like only a few decades ago, I’m glad I was not in it. This is not a romance, and if there are women who encounter this type of “hero” and think he may be a good partner in life: wake up and run!
Also, the heroine has chestnut hair, while on the cover she is a blond. (Sigh.)