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Sinclair Sisters #1
Can't Tie Me Down!
There aren't many jobs available in the tiny village of Arness, Scotland, which is why Mairi Sinclair works online — as a virtual girlfriend. For a weekly fee, she emails, messages and sends photos to desk-bound geeks around the world. Nothing dodgy, mind you, she keeps her clothes on! Mairi loves her job, because the last thing she wants is to be tied down to one man forever. Life is so much simpler when you can keep men at a distance.
And that's why she's upset when her virtual boyfriends start turning up in town. Someone has hacked her online presence and given out her real life address. To make matters worse, they've told the world that she's looking for a husband and the first virtual boyfriend to romance her properly will win the role in real life. Mairi needs help to fend off the hordes. She needs help to hide and find out who sold out her details. Fortunately, local mechanic and one time boyfriend, Keir McKenzie, is more than willing to help her—for a price. He too wants a chance to win Mairi's heart and tie her down forever.
***This is a 60,000 word standalone novel with an HEA***
Older cover edition found here.
And that's why she's upset when her virtual boyfriends start turning up in town. Someone has hacked her online presence and given out her real life address. To make matters worse, they've told the world that she's looking for a husband and the first virtual boyfriend to romance her properly will win the role in real life. Mairi needs help to fend off the hordes. She needs help to hide and find out who sold out her details. Fortunately, local mechanic and one time boyfriend, Keir McKenzie, is more than willing to help her—for a price. He too wants a chance to win Mairi's heart and tie her down forever.
***This is a 60,000 word standalone novel with an HEA***
Older cover edition found here.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2018
660 people are currently reading
986 people want to read
About the author
Janet Elizabeth Henderson
51 books713 followersJanet grew up in Scotland but now lives in New Zealand. Among other things, she’s been an artist, a teacher, a security guard at a castle, a magazine editor, and a cleaner in a drop in center for drug addicts (NOT the best job!). When she isn’t living in her head and writing about the people she finds there, she raises two kids, one husband, and several random animals. She survives on chocolate and caffeine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
April 11, 2019
I've read and enjoyed this author's book before, and I do believe the trick with books with humor is to leave your mind behind and just enjoy which I couldn't fully do (possibly because I am slightly under the weather). Our heroine is a fake online girlfriend to geeks (it is all circumspect and not sleazy like online sex etc). However, she wakes up one morning to a nightmare someone posted on her board that she wants to get married and be wooed and now her fake boyfriends are on her doorstep wooing her. The hero Keir and her used to be involved six years back and made plans for the future, however right after taking her virginity the hero left her and got arrested and jailed for a year (for stealing a car) and the young heroine walked away. Apparently the hero was covering for his troubled bro. But one thing that did bother me was for all the hero's saying the heroine was it for him and he loved her. When he got out for 4 years he tried to lead a normal life, build his business, see other women, but apparently he realised the heroine was it for him, so two years back he moved to heroine's town hoping for a second-chance with her. He has hung around despite the heroine ignoring him constantly. Seeing this is a comedy I guess I wasn't supposed to take anything seriously and I did like how puppy dog pathetic the hero was for the heroine but I wish the heroine had had another lover besides the hero for the sake of fairness. The heroine did realise she was acting immature stemming from childhood issues. All in all not too shabby but not that great either.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2019
This is a new author for me, and I absolutely loved this book! Thankfully I didn’t let the prologue dissuade me from the rest of the story, because what this author did with the characters in this book was nothing short of incredible. It has it all, a unique storyline, hysterical characters, a sassy Scottish woman, and a hot ex boyfriend that makes you swoon just by imagining his biceps! I literally laughed my way throughout this book, something I wasn’t expecting, but so glad it did. Mairi is a hotheaded redhead that speaks her mind and you just can’t imagine her being anything else. Keir is the gorgeous ex boyfriend who is trying to get back in Mairi’s good graces after an unfortunate mistake years earlier, something he intends to fix. The secondary characters in this story really added a lot to it, truly an enjoyable experience from start to finish.
I reviewed this story for the RWNZ Koru Contest.
I reviewed this story for the RWNZ Koru Contest.
January 19, 2020
DNF at 32% overly silly book. After felling over a cliff edge and landing on a narrow ledge you would be worried about your hair. I don’t think so. Heroine is totally unrealistic and fudging annoying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2023
Hilarious. I loved it!
Unbelievable - but so funny.
[4-4.5 stars]
Unbelievable - but so funny.
[4-4.5 stars]
October 27, 2022
Did not finish less than 1 star
The premise and the characters were difficult to like or even believe. All these men after the heroine? She was mad at the hero for 6 years and he still was trying for her? He went to jail for a year to save his brother?
This was not funny but ridiculous and not well developed at all. In the first several chapters it hopped from one crazy situation to another and the characters were so passive, trying, I guess, to show they were kind? The heroine was just not a nice person to the hero. A comedy of errors but not comedic.
The premise and the characters were difficult to like or even believe. All these men after the heroine? She was mad at the hero for 6 years and he still was trying for her? He went to jail for a year to save his brother?
This was not funny but ridiculous and not well developed at all. In the first several chapters it hopped from one crazy situation to another and the characters were so passive, trying, I guess, to show they were kind? The heroine was just not a nice person to the hero. A comedy of errors but not comedic.
January 5, 2022
This is a perfect example of why I don't read many straight contemporary romances. Silly and not in a fun way.
September 5, 2020
I really liked this book. The premise was fun and new. Great characters , and such a sweet overall story.
July 4, 2018
Hi-la-ri-ous! Loved it!
4/5 stars
4/5 stars
March 30, 2019
Janet Elizabeth Henderson is an excellent storyteller!! I love her witty, sexy, well written stories!! I turn to these books to put a smile on my face and in my heart!! THANK YOU!!
January 11, 2020
Cute fluffy romance (spin-off from the Benson Security books).
February 19, 2019
Actual Rating 4.5 Stars
Janet Elizabeth Henderson is an author I have recently started re – discovering (having read the Inventary series about a couple of years back!) when I was searching for new books to read – discovered her spin off series from Benson Security Series/b> – The Sinclair Sisters from Rage (you don’t need to read this one to understand this spin – off; but it might give you a finer understanding of the sisters and their relationships.)
I promptly fell in love with Ms. Henderson’s writing style all over again – her hilariously written romances are in perfectly blended with emotional connections that make reading them purely a joyous experience.
Can't Tie Me Down! is the journey of Mairi; the youngest of the Sinclair Sisters & the one who is considered to be the flighty one – but she is also the one who has the most interesting job; she works as a virtual online girlfriend to the socially awkward men (read: geeks and nerds). But when her job spills on to her real life; when all 30 of her virtual boyfriends come to court her for real, is when things turn an interesting and a hilarious turns.
Keir McKenzie is now back to Arness, Scotland and only for the only woman he has ever loved. One night with the woman, and he has been lost to her ever since. He made the decision that first night he spent with Mairi that made sure she cut him off for the next 6 years. He takes this new and hilarious turn of events in Mairi’s life to actually ingrate himself back into her good graces.
Not only did the author make sure she made for some hilarious instances but the connection between Keir and Mairi was emotional interspaced with some sarcastic and sassy banters – and while I definitely enjoyed the book; somehow the forgiveness (and the confrontation) that the author geared us up for throughout the book, wasn’t as explosive as I had expected considering volatile nature of Keir’s and McKenzie’s relationship.
For more reviews visit For The Love of Fictional Worlds :)
Do come join us at For The Fictional Worlds Facebook Page | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon |
Janet Elizabeth Henderson is an author I have recently started re – discovering (having read the Inventary series about a couple of years back!) when I was searching for new books to read – discovered her spin off series from Benson Security Series/b> – The Sinclair Sisters from Rage (you don’t need to read this one to understand this spin – off; but it might give you a finer understanding of the sisters and their relationships.)
I promptly fell in love with Ms. Henderson’s writing style all over again – her hilariously written romances are in perfectly blended with emotional connections that make reading them purely a joyous experience.
Can't Tie Me Down! is the journey of Mairi; the youngest of the Sinclair Sisters & the one who is considered to be the flighty one – but she is also the one who has the most interesting job; she works as a virtual online girlfriend to the socially awkward men (read: geeks and nerds). But when her job spills on to her real life; when all 30 of her virtual boyfriends come to court her for real, is when things turn an interesting and a hilarious turns.
Keir McKenzie is now back to Arness, Scotland and only for the only woman he has ever loved. One night with the woman, and he has been lost to her ever since. He made the decision that first night he spent with Mairi that made sure she cut him off for the next 6 years. He takes this new and hilarious turn of events in Mairi’s life to actually ingrate himself back into her good graces.
Not only did the author make sure she made for some hilarious instances but the connection between Keir and Mairi was emotional interspaced with some sarcastic and sassy banters – and while I definitely enjoyed the book; somehow the forgiveness (and the confrontation) that the author geared us up for throughout the book, wasn’t as explosive as I had expected considering volatile nature of Keir’s and McKenzie’s relationship.
For more reviews visit For The Love of Fictional Worlds :)
Do come join us at For The Fictional Worlds Facebook Page | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon |
October 11, 2018
LOVED IT
I read this one before the 4th benson book simply because I was truly annoyed at the fact that it was sideline characters who I didn’t much care about so I struggled to get into the story line. I skipped it and went straight for Mairi who has this amazing story and I definitely loved the characters and hope to see it branch into the geek World Series
I read this one before the 4th benson book simply because I was truly annoyed at the fact that it was sideline characters who I didn’t much care about so I struggled to get into the story line. I skipped it and went straight for Mairi who has this amazing story and I definitely loved the characters and hope to see it branch into the geek World Series
April 26, 2018
Fun, fun, fun!
I love romance books that have a different twist and this author manages that every time. The characters here are enjoyable to get to know, not TOO predictable and there are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. And...there’s humor and fun throughout.
I love romance books that have a different twist and this author manages that every time. The characters here are enjoyable to get to know, not TOO predictable and there are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. And...there’s humor and fun throughout.
August 24, 2021
As always, JEH delivers a rollicking good rom com! Can't wait to read the next Sinclair sisters book.
September 28, 2020
A funny book from start to finish! Some books start out funny and then wind down, but not this one! Kept me laughing and rooting for the happy ending!
September 15, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed the humour in the story line, made me smile and laugh out loud at times! Just what I needed!
September 2, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and made me laugh out loud! :)
June 9, 2021
Just too sappy and easy to figure out for me. Two major sex scenes - if those weren't in the book, it'd be perfect for teens.
August 3, 2021
The geek aspect of this romance was the element which caught my attention, but without undue spoilers, it didn't live up to my geeky expectations. I suppose it was for non-geeks because the references were few and mostly mainstream popculture as opposed to card-carrying sci-fi fan. Although the writer tried to rally her stereotypical and degrading opinion of geek culture by the end, this romance was aimed at harlequin fans who always expect the leads to have toothpaste-commercial smiles and fashion magazine looks. The plot contained hints that the main characters were more than surface attraction and the conflict was more than the initial seed of doubt, but the writing never fully developed either character or plotting. If you like porn, then you'll enjoy the play-by-play sex scenes. I don't need to read about other people's fantasy sex in graphic detail. And as with most romance of this style, the love interests were both totally objectified. It's one thing to appreciate someone's physicality, it's another to hate their guts, to use them for your own means (even if you confess it ahead of time), and to think of them only in terms of a sexual object for your attractions. I find that distasteful, neanderthal, and backward. If I had known, I wouldn't have downloaded this book.
April 18, 2020
A lighthearted, comedic, romantic page turning story. I have read it over and over. Janet has created four sisters as characters who are absolutely hysterical. If you need cheering up, this is the book to do it, and it is the first in a series of three (you can read about Isobel, the fourth sister and her humorous hijinks in Rage, one of Janet’s Benson Security books). There is so much going on in Can’t Tie Me Down that you just have to keep the page is turning to see what’s going to happen next. Everyone thinks Mairi is just an airhead, but boy are they surprised. Janet Elizabeth Henderson does not disappoint. Her new series about the Sinclair sisters carries on with the quirky characters we met and loved in The Benson Boys series book Rage. In Can’t Tie Me Down, Mairi goes on a wild ride in more ways than one, drawing the reader into the lives of her friends and family into hilarity, tears and a heartwarming ending.
A must read, even as a stand-alone. If you haven’t read this book yet, why not? You’ll be glad you did.
A must read, even as a stand-alone. If you haven’t read this book yet, why not? You’ll be glad you did.
May 29, 2021
A cute, steamy story about a woman who fake-dates a bunch of geeky guys online until someone hacks her website and declares she wants to get married. They all turn up in her small town of Scotland to woo her. Her former love Keir offers to help her out by marrying her but she's still mad at him for leaving her after their first time together and then getting thrown in prison for a year.
The premise and story were enjoyable though I didn't care for the author's use of "girl bits" for female anatomy.
The premise and story were enjoyable though I didn't care for the author's use of "girl bits" for female anatomy.
November 3, 2018
I liked Mairi the least in “Rage”, because I don’t usually like dumb characters. In this book, she seems a bit nutty in a fun way, but not dumb.
Keir takes everything she stirs up in stride, and is doing his best to make up for hurting her when they were together years before.
When a hacker taps into her fake girlfriend site and posts for her that she wants to get married, all her geeky fake beaus show up to woo her. Keir becomes her protector, and they go about their days with 30 potential grooms in tow. It takes s lot to resolve things, but everything is put to rights.
It’s silly, funny, sweet, and strange, a great read.
Keir takes everything she stirs up in stride, and is doing his best to make up for hurting her when they were together years before.
When a hacker taps into her fake girlfriend site and posts for her that she wants to get married, all her geeky fake beaus show up to woo her. Keir becomes her protector, and they go about their days with 30 potential grooms in tow. It takes s lot to resolve things, but everything is put to rights.
It’s silly, funny, sweet, and strange, a great read.
March 8, 2019
Rating: 2.5
Mairi first appeared in Rage, a truly delightful book, and I was so looking forward to her story, especially since she has quite an unusual job. She also had some zingy one-liners in that book.
This book started out all right, but then something happened quite early on which made me dislike Mairi.
After the brilliant Rage, I guess this story was a bit of a letdown.
May 12, 2018
This story has everything I love about Janet Elizabeth Henderson's books: a brilliant cast of quirky small-town characters (stubborn Scots included), witty dialogue, all the feels, ensuing hilarity, all wrapped up in an over-the-top-but-making-way-too-much-sense story arc.
Plus adorkable geeks aplenty.
When does the next book in the series come out???
6/5 Wookiee stars
Plus adorkable geeks aplenty.
When does the next book in the series come out???
6/5 Wookiee stars
July 5, 2018
Janet always does it for me!
When I'm in the mood to read some seriously funny rom-coms, I read one of her amazing books. Seriously, Janet is one of my "can shit on paper and i'd still read it" authors!
When I'm in the mood to read some seriously funny rom-coms, I read one of her amazing books. Seriously, Janet is one of my "can shit on paper and i'd still read it" authors!
March 11, 2019
An original premise - fake online girlfriend - gets hacked and the small Scottish town of Arness is invaded by her online boyfriends. I did not find this quite as LOL funny as the Invertary or Benson Security books, but it had me grinning nearly throughout. Some moving scenes.
May 1, 2019
Rating =0. After embarking on a implausible plot line which I really tried, but failed to enjoy, the author spins into too many pages of an unnecessarily explicit sexual encounter. It was a bookbub selection which I dearly hope was a freebie!
December 19, 2020
Honestly the book is amazing, it’s the kind of romance I’m always looking for, is sweet but not too much, it’s a little realistic without taking away the “romantic comedy” vibe to it. And I loved the characters, this book did it for me.
June 24, 2022
I picked this up for free on Amazon a while ago, or else I'm not quite sure that I would have. It said "romantic comedy", although I found it neither romantic nor particularly funny.
The main premise of the book read like an episode of Law & Order: SVU. A woman whose main source of income is being a "fake girlfriend" for men online, has her accounts hacked with a message telling everybody that she's looking for a husband, so please come woo me. They start showing up on her doorstep in droves... and cosplay.
This isn't funny; it's psychotic and creepy. The main character, Mairi, says that she would guide the men in proper social etiquette, but she apparently forgot lesson number one: "No" is a complete sentence. Literally not one single man who showed up on her doorstep seemed to have any respect for her boundaries, and kept offering her more and more unhinged presents the longer the book went on. At one point, one of the guys physically carried her away from the main love interest, in something that reads like a textbook definition of kidnapping to me. The narration never addressed this, and that ticks me off more than the actual kidnapping scene.
In order to give Mairi an out, an ex-boyfriend of hers offered to temporarily marry her, if only to get those men off her back. Keir was painted as the actual love interest straight from the get-go, but in my opinion, he should have been camped outside with the guys in Star Trek and Star Wars costumes. He also had no respect for Mairi's boundaries, and constantly pushed her into a romantic relationship with him.
The only consolation was that after Mairi had been worn down and she accepted his proposal of a temporary marriage, Keir said that he couldn't do it because he'd randomly found his respect for her. (Better late than never, I suppose.)
No spoilers, but the ending was stupid and one of those "crash endings". By the time that it came out who had hacked the website and her personal accounts, I was only reading simply to have some closure to this miserable story.
The main premise of the book read like an episode of Law & Order: SVU. A woman whose main source of income is being a "fake girlfriend" for men online, has her accounts hacked with a message telling everybody that she's looking for a husband, so please come woo me. They start showing up on her doorstep in droves... and cosplay.
This isn't funny; it's psychotic and creepy. The main character, Mairi, says that she would guide the men in proper social etiquette, but she apparently forgot lesson number one: "No" is a complete sentence. Literally not one single man who showed up on her doorstep seemed to have any respect for her boundaries, and kept offering her more and more unhinged presents the longer the book went on. At one point, one of the guys physically carried her away from the main love interest, in something that reads like a textbook definition of kidnapping to me. The narration never addressed this, and that ticks me off more than the actual kidnapping scene.
In order to give Mairi an out, an ex-boyfriend of hers offered to temporarily marry her, if only to get those men off her back. Keir was painted as the actual love interest straight from the get-go, but in my opinion, he should have been camped outside with the guys in Star Trek and Star Wars costumes. He also had no respect for Mairi's boundaries, and constantly pushed her into a romantic relationship with him.
The only consolation was that after Mairi had been worn down and she accepted his proposal of a temporary marriage, Keir said that he couldn't do it because he'd randomly found his respect for her. (Better late than never, I suppose.)
No spoilers, but the ending was stupid and one of those "crash endings". By the time that it came out who had hacked the website and her personal accounts, I was only reading simply to have some closure to this miserable story.
May 14, 2022
Mairi and Keir were young and in love. During their first night together after months of dating, Keir received a phone call, left Mairi in bed and disappeared. He never came back. He was arrested later that night for reckless driving and sent to jail.
It's been 5 years, and still Mairi hasn't forgiven Keir for sleeping with her then leaving without a word. But Keir won't give up on her. He's done his time and now runs a successful mechanic business, and is biding his time to win Mairi back.
Mairi runs an online business being a "fake girlfriend " for geeky guys to practice their social skills with. Someone hacked her website and convinced her 2 dozen or so online boyfriends that she wanted to marry one of them.
The geek horde has descended on Mairi's little Scottish village intent to win fair maiden. Too bad she doesn't want to be won.
Keir steps in to keep Mairi safe and Keir tries to use the situation to his advantage to win her back.
A fun read with quirky characters, but was a bit too far fetched at times. Keir was acting like a besotted fool, when Mairi clearly wouldn't give him the time of day. Mairi held a grudge waaaaaay too long. She seemed bossy and snippy, but was redeemed by being kind to her friends in the end.
This book contains descriptive love scenes.
It's been 5 years, and still Mairi hasn't forgiven Keir for sleeping with her then leaving without a word. But Keir won't give up on her. He's done his time and now runs a successful mechanic business, and is biding his time to win Mairi back.
Mairi runs an online business being a "fake girlfriend " for geeky guys to practice their social skills with. Someone hacked her website and convinced her 2 dozen or so online boyfriends that she wanted to marry one of them.
The geek horde has descended on Mairi's little Scottish village intent to win fair maiden. Too bad she doesn't want to be won.
Keir steps in to keep Mairi safe and Keir tries to use the situation to his advantage to win her back.
A fun read with quirky characters, but was a bit too far fetched at times. Keir was acting like a besotted fool, when Mairi clearly wouldn't give him the time of day. Mairi held a grudge waaaaaay too long. She seemed bossy and snippy, but was redeemed by being kind to her friends in the end.
This book contains descriptive love scenes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews