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The Spaniard's Virgin Housekeeper
Izzy Makepeace's only option is to take a housekeeping job with the powerful Garcia family.
Spanish billionaire Cayo Garcia thinks he's seen Izzy's type out for all she can get! But then her innocence surprises him; sweet Isabel is ripe for seduction. Cayo is used to having his demands met—and Izzy's position as housekeeper puts her directly at his beck and call!
Spanish billionaire Cayo Garcia thinks he's seen Izzy's type out for all she can get! But then her innocence surprises him; sweet Isabel is ripe for seduction. Cayo is used to having his demands met—and Izzy's position as housekeeper puts her directly at his beck and call!
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2008
About the author
Diana Hamilton
316 books77 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Diana Hamilton was born in a English town. Wanting to be a country child, her imagination came into play at an early age, transforming a neighbor’s tree into a forest, a hole in a stone wall into a gingerbread house, a gas puddle into a fairyland, complete with mountains, lakes and flower meadows. She loathed housework but made to do her share, to lessen the boredom, she told herself stories, in a very loud voice, featuring princesses and flower gardens, discovering that telling herself stories was almost as good as reading them in a book.
She loathed school with an equal passion and got through it by pretending to be somewhere else. Even so she left grammar school with respectable grades... And was sent to art college when she wanted to study to be a vet. This was nowhere as bad as it had seemed because it was there, at age 18, she first saw Peter. He had returned from two years’ active service in Korea to resume his studies, and Diana immediately fell in love with him.
Gaining a degree in advertising copywriting, Diana worked as a copywriter and married Peter. They moved to a remote part of Wales after the birth of their second child, Paul, when their daughter, Rebecca, was three years old. There, Diana enjoyed pony trekking and walking in the mountains; and her third child, Andrew, was born. Itchy feet brought them back to England to the beautiful county of Shropshire four years later and they have been there ever since, gradually restoring the rambling Elizabethan manor that Diana gave her heart to on sight, creating a garden out of a wilderness of nettles, brambles and old bedsteads.
In the mid-'70s Diana took up her pen again to write stories to read to her three children at bedtime. These were never offered for publication but the bug had bitten. Over the next 10 years she combined writing over 30 novels, published by Robert Hale of London, with bringing up her children, gardening and cooking for the restaurant of a local inn—a wonderful excuse to avoid the dreaded housework! In 1987 Diana realized her dearest ambition—the publication of her first Mills & Boon romance, Song in a Strange Land. She had come home. And that feeling persists to this day as, around 30 Harlequin/Mills & Boon romantic novels late, she was still in love with the genre.
Sadly, Diana Hamilton passed away on May 3, 2009, at her home in Shropshire, surrounded by her family. She will be sorely missed by her fans and everyone at Mills & Boon/Harlequin
Diana Hamilton was born in a English town. Wanting to be a country child, her imagination came into play at an early age, transforming a neighbor’s tree into a forest, a hole in a stone wall into a gingerbread house, a gas puddle into a fairyland, complete with mountains, lakes and flower meadows. She loathed housework but made to do her share, to lessen the boredom, she told herself stories, in a very loud voice, featuring princesses and flower gardens, discovering that telling herself stories was almost as good as reading them in a book.
She loathed school with an equal passion and got through it by pretending to be somewhere else. Even so she left grammar school with respectable grades... And was sent to art college when she wanted to study to be a vet. This was nowhere as bad as it had seemed because it was there, at age 18, she first saw Peter. He had returned from two years’ active service in Korea to resume his studies, and Diana immediately fell in love with him.
Gaining a degree in advertising copywriting, Diana worked as a copywriter and married Peter. They moved to a remote part of Wales after the birth of their second child, Paul, when their daughter, Rebecca, was three years old. There, Diana enjoyed pony trekking and walking in the mountains; and her third child, Andrew, was born. Itchy feet brought them back to England to the beautiful county of Shropshire four years later and they have been there ever since, gradually restoring the rambling Elizabethan manor that Diana gave her heart to on sight, creating a garden out of a wilderness of nettles, brambles and old bedsteads.
In the mid-'70s Diana took up her pen again to write stories to read to her three children at bedtime. These were never offered for publication but the bug had bitten. Over the next 10 years she combined writing over 30 novels, published by Robert Hale of London, with bringing up her children, gardening and cooking for the restaurant of a local inn—a wonderful excuse to avoid the dreaded housework! In 1987 Diana realized her dearest ambition—the publication of her first Mills & Boon romance, Song in a Strange Land. She had come home. And that feeling persists to this day as, around 30 Harlequin/Mills & Boon romantic novels late, she was still in love with the genre.
Sadly, Diana Hamilton passed away on May 3, 2009, at her home in Shropshire, surrounded by her family. She will be sorely missed by her fans and everyone at Mills & Boon/Harlequin
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 23, 2015
Dammn! the reason I read HP. The hero's wedding gift to heroine was her very own private island. Gotta love these alpha tycoons! Heroine was a sweetheart but the book needed more plot.
December 15, 2015
Tiny Izzy has big assets and bad luck. She’s a disappointment to her high achieving family, and has left the job her father arranged for her because the guy at work she thought she was falling in love with was using her for unpaid domestic work. Now she’s had to leave her most recent horrible job with a wealthy Spanish family because the husband got all grabby.
‘You will rue the day my husband slobbered all over you!’ Senora Millionaire promises. Lady, she already rues it. She’s been sexually harassed in the workplace, she’s now jobless, and she’s about to become another dinner party story of how innocent middle-aged slobs are simply hounded by lush little packages. Rich people are so disgusting.
Izzy wonders the streets of Cadiz looking for a job. An old man collapses in front of her. Score! She now has a housekeeping job!
Cayo’s only remaining family is his sweet old uncle, who insists on living the grotty life of an impoverished scholar, even though he is super wealthy and could live in a castle. Cayo has recently dinner partied with Senor and Senora Millionaire, and discovered that their lush little package is now working for his uncle. Cayo is enraged, and immediately sets out to destroy Izzy.
She won’t be bought off, the clever hussy. And she is so wicked evil that Cayo must formulate a complicated plan to get her and his uncle to his castle, so that he can pretend to seduce her, thereby showing his uncle that she’s bad news. Cayo is so noble in his reluctance to undertake this plan that disgusts him. Poor thing.
Izzy is a sympathetic character, if at times a little too cutesy. I liked her high heels because she refused to be five foot nothing. What she wanted most in the world was to get married and have babies. I don’t even think it was that she wanted a man to take care of her, she seemed like the type of person who would have been perfectly happy doing the dual income thing. She just wasn’t really into having a career as the focus of her life. Unfortunately for her, she had an older brother who was a surgeon and parents whose idea of motivation was to tell her she was a disappointment. While Izzy did stand up for herself in confrontations with Cayo, she was often defeated by Cayo’s attitude. Fighting it was a losing battle. For most of the book, she simply wanted not to suffer the humiliation of having him know how attractive she found him.
There’s to be a ball at the castle, and to make up for underpaying her significantly during her stint as his housekeeper, the sweet old uncle insists that she must go, and have a pretty new dress. Cayo must take her shopping in Madrid, she’ll like that. Izzy does the usual heroine thing of being outraged over the offer of a brand spanking new wardrobe, and Cayo does the usual hero thing of being completely puzzled over why. A visit to the swanky clothes shop is interrupted by the discovery of a stray puppy. I like puppies, but this was exceedingly blatant manipulation, and I refuse to like someone more just because she prefers dogs over dresses.
Cayo is only mildly horrible. He’s all puzzled by how Izzy doesn’t fit his nice picture of her as a gold-digging ho. Oh she’s good, the schemer! Always three steps ahead! She’d be a worthy foe if this whole thing wasn’t so squalid and beneath him. Then he finally gets someone else to tell him that she’s not a ho, so he can sleep with her without feeling sullied. His main charm is that he keeps most of his nastier opinions to himself and makes do with a series of fulminating glares to express his disapproval.
I don’t usually pay much attention to writing style, but Diana Hamilton has a voice I found a little unusual and engaging. Izzy used a lot of (what seemed to me) old-fashioned colloquialisms, both in her speech and her way of thinking, and I liked how this worked to demonstrate the language and background differences between the characters.
Hamilton also likes a fade to black. She uses it on the first kiss, and again on the first bedtime (although maybe I faded to black on that one, while everyone seemed to be having a good time, it did get a bit vague).
This all seemed somewhat sweeter in tone than usual for a Harlequin Presents/Mills & Boon Sexy, but still pretty enjoyable.
‘You will rue the day my husband slobbered all over you!’ Senora Millionaire promises. Lady, she already rues it. She’s been sexually harassed in the workplace, she’s now jobless, and she’s about to become another dinner party story of how innocent middle-aged slobs are simply hounded by lush little packages. Rich people are so disgusting.
Izzy wonders the streets of Cadiz looking for a job. An old man collapses in front of her. Score! She now has a housekeeping job!
Cayo’s only remaining family is his sweet old uncle, who insists on living the grotty life of an impoverished scholar, even though he is super wealthy and could live in a castle. Cayo has recently dinner partied with Senor and Senora Millionaire, and discovered that their lush little package is now working for his uncle. Cayo is enraged, and immediately sets out to destroy Izzy.
She won’t be bought off, the clever hussy. And she is so wicked evil that Cayo must formulate a complicated plan to get her and his uncle to his castle, so that he can pretend to seduce her, thereby showing his uncle that she’s bad news. Cayo is so noble in his reluctance to undertake this plan that disgusts him. Poor thing.
Izzy is a sympathetic character, if at times a little too cutesy. I liked her high heels because she refused to be five foot nothing. What she wanted most in the world was to get married and have babies. I don’t even think it was that she wanted a man to take care of her, she seemed like the type of person who would have been perfectly happy doing the dual income thing. She just wasn’t really into having a career as the focus of her life. Unfortunately for her, she had an older brother who was a surgeon and parents whose idea of motivation was to tell her she was a disappointment. While Izzy did stand up for herself in confrontations with Cayo, she was often defeated by Cayo’s attitude. Fighting it was a losing battle. For most of the book, she simply wanted not to suffer the humiliation of having him know how attractive she found him.
There’s to be a ball at the castle, and to make up for underpaying her significantly during her stint as his housekeeper, the sweet old uncle insists that she must go, and have a pretty new dress. Cayo must take her shopping in Madrid, she’ll like that. Izzy does the usual heroine thing of being outraged over the offer of a brand spanking new wardrobe, and Cayo does the usual hero thing of being completely puzzled over why. A visit to the swanky clothes shop is interrupted by the discovery of a stray puppy. I like puppies, but this was exceedingly blatant manipulation, and I refuse to like someone more just because she prefers dogs over dresses.
Cayo is only mildly horrible. He’s all puzzled by how Izzy doesn’t fit his nice picture of her as a gold-digging ho. Oh she’s good, the schemer! Always three steps ahead! She’d be a worthy foe if this whole thing wasn’t so squalid and beneath him. Then he finally gets someone else to tell him that she’s not a ho, so he can sleep with her without feeling sullied. His main charm is that he keeps most of his nastier opinions to himself and makes do with a series of fulminating glares to express his disapproval.
I don’t usually pay much attention to writing style, but Diana Hamilton has a voice I found a little unusual and engaging. Izzy used a lot of (what seemed to me) old-fashioned colloquialisms, both in her speech and her way of thinking, and I liked how this worked to demonstrate the language and background differences between the characters.
Hamilton also likes a fade to black. She uses it on the first kiss, and again on the first bedtime (although maybe I faded to black on that one, while everyone seemed to be having a good time, it did get a bit vague).
This all seemed somewhat sweeter in tone than usual for a Harlequin Presents/Mills & Boon Sexy, but still pretty enjoyable.
September 9, 2018
Izzy the h was too damned ditzy and sacchariney sweet. She is the epitome of sweet, innocent, helplessness. It’s nauseating!
Cayo is overbearing and jaded. That the author wants you to believe that he fell in love with Izzy - Inconceivable! (Just watched “The Princess Bride” for the zillionth time)
An entertaining read but so far into the realms of fantasy that it’s unbelievable.
Cayo is overbearing and jaded. That the author wants you to believe that he fell in love with Izzy - Inconceivable! (Just watched “The Princess Bride” for the zillionth time)
An entertaining read but so far into the realms of fantasy that it’s unbelievable.
December 19, 2021
This writer isn’t for me tbh. I’ve tried to go in and out in this book but there wasn’t anything there to keep me in for beyond a few minutes.
There’s a bit much of theatre for a convincing story. Izzy comes from a well to do family of physicians and some money but with her lacking interest in it she’s constantly put down by her family. She packs up and leaves to find work on her own without having to need her families pennies.
Which is okay but poor Izzy with her expensive education can only find work as a cleaner. Next she’s a cleaner/ part time nanny to a wealthy family where she’s harassed and then sent out packing once she complains.
Her next theatre job is when she saves a stinkin rich poor man who falls down on the street. His house is in shambles with barely a coin to spare for anything. And turns out this man is beyond rich but didn’t have time to take note of his apparent poverty.
Izzy decides to work for poor man for free in exchange of boarding and food that she has to scrape herself. Enters poor rich man’s nephew who accuses Izzy of being a gold digger (quite rightfully).
Now izzy is carted off in a private jet to mansions and islands owned between the nephew and uncle.
Tbh Izzy was beyond my radar of bearable female histrionics. She was ill mannered and spoke her mind like a street urchin if you will. Didn’t want to be anyone’s charity case but didn’t have the decency to not barge in without knocking doors.
Rather boring and over loaded with monologues. Tbh there wasn’t one housekeeping bone inside Izzy. I don’t recall one instant where Izzy is scrubbing floors and working her way thru her employment for the wealthy uncle. I got miserable reading on Izzy’s little miseries. A huge pass.
There’s a bit much of theatre for a convincing story. Izzy comes from a well to do family of physicians and some money but with her lacking interest in it she’s constantly put down by her family. She packs up and leaves to find work on her own without having to need her families pennies.
Which is okay but poor Izzy with her expensive education can only find work as a cleaner. Next she’s a cleaner/ part time nanny to a wealthy family where she’s harassed and then sent out packing once she complains.
Her next theatre job is when she saves a stinkin rich poor man who falls down on the street. His house is in shambles with barely a coin to spare for anything. And turns out this man is beyond rich but didn’t have time to take note of his apparent poverty.
Izzy decides to work for poor man for free in exchange of boarding and food that she has to scrape herself. Enters poor rich man’s nephew who accuses Izzy of being a gold digger (quite rightfully).
Now izzy is carted off in a private jet to mansions and islands owned between the nephew and uncle.
Tbh Izzy was beyond my radar of bearable female histrionics. She was ill mannered and spoke her mind like a street urchin if you will. Didn’t want to be anyone’s charity case but didn’t have the decency to not barge in without knocking doors.
Rather boring and over loaded with monologues. Tbh there wasn’t one housekeeping bone inside Izzy. I don’t recall one instant where Izzy is scrubbing floors and working her way thru her employment for the wealthy uncle. I got miserable reading on Izzy’s little miseries. A huge pass.
May 27, 2020
Because of Benji the puppy, 3.5 stars 😊
June 5, 2025
Naive young British woman becomes a poorly paid housekeeper for an old eccentric Spaniard. The nephew of the Spaniard believes the heroine is a good digger and acts accordingly.
The romance was sudden and not very believable.
The romance was sudden and not very believable.
January 12, 2012
The heroine Izzy finds herself alone in Spain and out of a job, her previous boss fired her after she refused his advances. Not willing to admit her predicaments to her family fearing their reaction she hopes to find another job. Izzy comes across an elderly man who looks in need of help, he eventually offers her a job as his housekeeper. Izzy enjoys her work, even though she gets paid very little, she also likes her new found independence and confidence, and she and her employer have become good friends. The hero Cayo is the grandson of Izzy's employer and he is not pleased when he hears about Izzy's employment. He immediately thinks she is a good digger taking advantage of his lonely grandfather. When he meets Izzy, Cayo is surprised by how much he likes her and wants to protect her as well as keeping her by his side.
Urgh, this is a bad book, really bad. The heroine and her actions are written as though she is some silly girl, she is totally juvenile in her actions and mannerisms and so frustratingly, er how to say this, dim! The way the heroine is portrayed I find a little insulting towards women. And the hero, groan, simply put he is an arrogant jerk. I couldn't warm to him at all.
I have no idea how the hero and heroine actually managed to fall for one another, as they barely spent any time together.
The writing is also a little difficult to like; it is quite unflattering towards the heroine and the pace feels very jumpy.
No sorry, I didn't like it. YMMV. Awful title too!
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
Urgh, this is a bad book, really bad. The heroine and her actions are written as though she is some silly girl, she is totally juvenile in her actions and mannerisms and so frustratingly, er how to say this, dim! The way the heroine is portrayed I find a little insulting towards women. And the hero, groan, simply put he is an arrogant jerk. I couldn't warm to him at all.
I have no idea how the hero and heroine actually managed to fall for one another, as they barely spent any time together.
The writing is also a little difficult to like; it is quite unflattering towards the heroine and the pace feels very jumpy.
No sorry, I didn't like it. YMMV. Awful title too!
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
June 8, 2021
Izzy Makepeace's only option is to take a housekeeping job with the powerful Garcia family.Spanish billionaire Cayo Garcia thinks he's seen Izzy's type before: out for all she can get! But then her innocence surprises him; sweet Isabel is ripe for seduction. Cayo is used to having his demands met--and Izzy's position as housekeeper puts her directly at his beck and call!
October 1, 2013
This one started out good but fell apart at the end. Heroine was sweet, hero kinda bland. Horrible title. Cute dog
July 2, 2016
A sweet light read; loved both characters.
March 6, 2018
I don't understand why so many people dislike this book. It has one of my favourite themes - ditzy girl, befriends an elderly gent, and hero thinks she is after his money. Best of all, they are always funny. It may not be quite as good as Leonetti's Housekeeper Bride or The Spanish Groom, but is pretty close.
August 21, 2020
The couple rarely spent time together. It was like the heroine was wandering through this book alone. wish she could have found her passion, just to stick it to her shitty family. But the hero was SO aloof I don't believe they fell in love at all! Really liked the uncle, he was so cool and smart. Read I suppose but it's not that great.
January 23, 2021
I did not like it at all. I disliked Heroine, she comes across as falling in love with any guy that shows her attention and just got lucky that hero fell in love with her this time (and that he was very rich). I didn't like hero either, he was a jerk and then because she took in a stray puppy he was nice to her. The book just was not good in my opinion the plot or the characters. P.
December 28, 2018
They completely skipped the deed. If a book is titled with the expectation that the heroine is giving away her V-card...don't skip her first sexual experience! Jeez.
June 29, 2020
Good read, even had me in tears for a bit
Good read, even had me in tears for a bit. A bit short, but nice and sweet, though the hero didn't do nearly enough grovelling.
Good read, even had me in tears for a bit. A bit short, but nice and sweet, though the hero didn't do nearly enough grovelling.
September 16, 2025
The palpable tension is good but if there had been a story behind the build up it would have been better....
August 6, 2013
Near the beginning of this book, the hero, Cayo, thinks about whether his plan to seduce the heroine, Izzy, to prove that she's a gold digger is cruel or not when he doesn't have all the facts. He decides that it is, but then plots to go ahead with it anyway. This whole scenario is the reason why although I enjoyed the writing and pace of this Mills & Boon romance, I didn't empathise with any of the character. When the man your lead character is supposed to be in love with can be cruel deliberately, and even acknowledge that he's being cruel, maybe he's not such a catch after all. I wanted to like the character of Izzy too, but the relationship between her and Cayo is less romantic and more combative, and while the chemistry between the two might be apparent when they're arguing, I still didn't believe their love story.
The story is written well by Hamilton, but I don't think that the writing is helped in any way by the plot of this one. Two stars.
The story is written well by Hamilton, but I don't think that the writing is helped in any way by the plot of this one. Two stars.
December 11, 2012
Izzy Makepeace has make WAR on the mind of Cayo Garcia. Izzy has had a lifeime of being the stupid one in the family. Never able to measure up in her family's eye to her brilliant brother, James. In her bid to get out on her own, and away from a mistaken love, she takes on the disasterous job of being a live-in helper and tutor to two little girls. Her brief experience had her doing lots of manual labor, as well as avoiding the pawing of her boss. Out on her ear, she ends up with the job of housekeeper and companion to the elderly Miguel Garcia.
Cayo Garcia believes the new housekeeper is looking to be the new wife of his beloved Tio Miguel. He beleives the image painted by her former boss. He vows to stop her from taking advantage of his uncle. But time begins to show there is more to Izzy than just a blonde bimbo, and her does his best to try and win her love.
Overall, OK.
Cayo Garcia believes the new housekeeper is looking to be the new wife of his beloved Tio Miguel. He beleives the image painted by her former boss. He vows to stop her from taking advantage of his uncle. But time begins to show there is more to Izzy than just a blonde bimbo, and her does his best to try and win her love.
Overall, OK.
July 8, 2016
OK. Let me say that I thought the plot was ideal for the '70s, but seems a little out of place for the 2000s. The plot was weak and I felt like I was reading the story over and over again.
Recommended, if you like mushy and slow-moving tales.
Recommended, if you like mushy and slow-moving tales.
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May 22, 2012 so how do i read this book what is the purpose of giving feedback when I cannot evend ownload this. The site says free to download? no such thing can be done. I guess goodreads is a seeling tool is it?
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