The Case of the Missing Secretary by Diana Palmer.
THE PINING PRIVATE EYE.
Kit Morris would simply quit and let financial wizard Logan Deverell see for himself just how far his Midas touch took him ... without a secretary! For three years she'd kept his books, losing her head over one singularly stubborn financial figure--Logan himself! If he was too proud to sense the sparks, Kit had a mind to make him sense their absence!
How was a respectable businessman supposed to react when his missing secretary turned up working for a private eye? Sure, Logan was miserable. But he couldn't ask Kit to come back to work when every inch of him wanted her--for play!
MOST WANTED: Diana Palmer's exciting series continues. Whatever you want--they've got!
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
Secretary is not missing. She quit after her boss hero didn’t stand up for her when his gold-digging fiancée spilled coffee on her. Heroine has had a mysterious crush on her chain-smoking, womanizing, rude boss for three years.
The heroine is now working as a “detective” in the office featured in The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss. The hero often uses this agency to find his mother who goes on adventures when she gets bored. Hero needs his secretary back because it’s taken three women to replace her.
Heroine is done with the hero treating her like crap and she gets in several digs at the OW as well.
So far so good. This heroine seems to have a backbone.
He’s a horrible father and human being. And in this story he and his trio of delinquent children are used as comedy and as a foil to the hero.
Since both Emmett and this hero are tools, I didn’t see a lot of contrast, to be honest. And I hated seeing the heroine of Emmett’s book being a sniveling doormat *again.* These are horrible, horrible characters.
But back to our H/h.
Heroine had a backbone until the hero saw her topless and did some breast magic while she was trying to get coffee stains out her blouse. Hero barges in on her in the bathroom. (Romantic – yes?) And let me make this clear: he’s sucking on her nipples while he’s engaged to the OW.
Because some dim part of his mind knows that he’s cheating, he makes himself feel better by being cruel:
He tells the heroine the OW is better looking then her. That he knows she has a crush on him. That he could take her virginity anytime.
He continues to put the moves on the heroine while he’s engaged. He won’t break the engagement because he can’t admit he’s wrong.
Once the OW gives him back his ring, then he seduces the heroine (no condom) and offers marriage since she might be pregnant.
His mother goes missing again and heroine finds her in the hospital having tests for cancer. Heroine promises not to tell hero until the results are known. Hero finds out and breaks their engagement because heroine was loyal to his mother and not to him. Heroine mopes around for awhile until hero finally realizes he loves the heroine and takes her back.
Gross.
He was a cheater and hypocrite and his family was full of psychos. The bathroom seduction was tacky. Telling heroine she was not pretty was cruel. There wasn’t one redeeming thing about this hero. Run away heroine. Run away.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest check Breast Description up tilted nipples (!?) Cigarettes hero has gone from cigarettes to cigarillos Alcohol no Town Descriptions Takes place in Houston. There are other characters who will get their own stories (Emmett – gag) Gardenia Scent No. Who could smell anything over all that smoke? LOL detail Heroine advises the new secretary to find the “smokeless ashtrays” Cutesy detail So many, cringey attempts at humor. (a) the three horrible children of Emmett’s (b) Emmett’s many marriage proposals (c) three secretaries to replace the heroine (d) the hero’s runaway mother who has been arrested as well as placed in a mental institution during her adventures. Hilarious! DP hobbyhorse Society has no values because art and culture are disappearing. Kids play with plastic toys, have VHS tapes and video games. (Diana Palmer, let me introduce you to the internet)
Another plain secretary who falls hard for her blind ruthless and engaged to a gold-digger boss. I'm a sucker for unrequited love stories and this one was super romantic and passionate!
This was the last of the series and by far the worst of it. I can't even say it was good cause only the sex was ok. First time I ever read about them using a condom was in this book. It can't really get on board with his attitude towards her. He calls her ugly and treats her like a doormat and she takes it all in like some kind of virgin sacrifice. His only concern was for himself and that's not what love is about. He is arrogant and vain and I did not believe him when after he keeps blaming her for everything that he loved her. Not really buddy!! You just want her worshiping you unconditionally. Sorry but I did not feel it. Just the sex was ok.
Lettura amatoriale, carina la storia, collegata sempre alla ben nota LTT, perché qui si conoscono e hanno un ampio spazio i protagonisti di "Una fidanzata per papà". Emmett e i suoi bambini, sono uno spasso, e si ride, si ride davvero e fanno un bel contorno ai protagonisti! La mia perplessità rimane sempre la stessa, perché pubblicare alcuni libri e non altri di questa autrice che pur avendo bene o male uno stereotipo di uomo, riesce a creare delle storie sempre emozionanti, ma in questo caso ha saputo creare dei personaggi come questi bambini... davvero esuberanti ed esplosivi!!!
Meski jalan ceritanya biasa standar, untunglah bukan love at first sight, sex at first week, then wedding at first month (or less) yang jadi ciri khas novel harlequin. Dari beberapa novelnya yang kubaca belakangan ini, Diana Palmer tampaknya lebih suka versi "cinta yang sudah lama terpendam dan akhirnya tergapai jua".
Overall, aku kurang suka tokoh cowoknya, kurang suka "petunjuk buku berikutnya" yang maksa nyelip sebelum cerita tamat, dan jelas kurang suka pasangannya. Ow, plis deh... bos cowok dan sekretaris cewek gitu... bosan ah! Kalau saja ada mau iseng survei berapa persen cerita roman yang diawali hubungan bos-sekretaris begini. Lebih seru kalau perannya dibalik kayak "The Proposal"-nya Sandra Bullock!
terjemahannya jayus, banyak kata2 yg aneh gt. Bacanya capek, hero sama heroinenya dr awal sering saling teriak. Apalagi heronya si logan itu, pengen q jedotin ke tembok berkali-kali
I have a love/hate relationship with Diana Palmer. This one falls under the "meh" category.
Kit was Logan's secretary for 3 years and has loved him just as long. Logan never noticed her "that way" and got engaged to a gold digger because he wanted to get into the gold digger's pants. Kit quits. Logan's beside himself. Kit has a bit of backbone in her new career as girl-detective. She goes after bail jumpers (shades of Stephanie Plum minus the car trouble) and stands up for herself to Logan.
Things happen to be include safe pre-marital sex. It'd be something if one day a Diana Palmer heroine gets schooled in ways to have mutual fun that don't involve penetration or suckling breasts (holy cow, did I just write that?). At least this one acknowledges that people can and do have sex without getting pregnant or catching a social disease.
There's the most minor of misunderstandings which happens and is resolved in a matter of about 3 pages.
At some point when I'm in the mood for more patented DP shenanigans I'll read Emmett's story. Which shouldn't be confused with Ethan's story. Or Evan's story.
I didn't like it. Logan was a jerk and I don't understand what Kit saw in him if he was always yelling at her and never showed her kindness in the 3 years they worked together. He never noticed her at all and thought she was ugly (in anger he said she was just jealous of his fiancee because she was pretty and Kit was not). He slept with tons of other woman over the years they worked together.
Logan was engaged to an awful woman for over half the book and Kit even walked in on them kissing passionately in his office. He still wanted the other woman after kissing Kit and was still planning to marry her. They only broke up because the other woman was waiting in his apartment about to seduce him for first time and Kit and Logan came in together. He never actually chose Kit over the other woman. I fully believe had Kit not been with him he would have succumbed and fallen into her pregnancy trap plan.
It didn't feel like Logan actually loved Kit, it felt like he loved that she loved him. Np.
Logan Deverall has been blind to the fact that his secretary Kit has had a huge crush on him for three years. He is bad tempered, successful, relentless, but loves his mother who drives him crazy with her antics.
Logan fires Kit due to a woman. Kit is hired by the Lassiter detective agency and well thinks go wonky from there. She is sent out to find Logan's mom who has disappeared again. Kit finds her on Logan's cousin's ranch. Emmett has three very undisciplined children who provide comic relief. They are obnoxious and have no discipline, they even call their father Emmett. He tries to marry Kit but Kit only has eyes for Logan.
Will Logan wake up in time before he loses her?
This is a quick fast read and follows Ms. Palmer's typical format. I will say that I didn't find Logan to be as much of a jerk as her other heroes. Kit has spunk but she is very green. She can handle Logan in a temper and doesn't back down from him.
Oh my GOD those fucking kids again! We had to endure so much of Emmett and his rancid, disgusting, pervert kids AGAIN. I could barely suffer through that lot when I read Emmett in the Long Tall Texans series. Imagine by HORROR when they show up here, and seriously take up a good 50% of the entire damn book.
The H in this one as well was a gross pig, skeezy, skuzzy, slimy, generally a complete bell-end. The h was a wet mop, a completely pathetic, lame, spineless, sorry excuse for a woman.
Overall I really didn't enjoy. 2 stars because DP can still write some hot spice.
I am a big fan of Diana Palmer but I must say this book is not one of her best work. This is another story about unrequired love but the H was quite brutal towards the h and treats her super bad and she just takes it. This could have been more accepted years ago ( this is a old book) but it doesn't fly well this days. We need and demand stronger women that won't take that kind of thing any more.
Prediksi saya sebelum baca ini adalah akan menemukan cerita yang langka, selangka bukunya tapi ternyata biasa aja. Karakter Logan disini sangat arogan sekali dan saya baru menemukan tipe tokoh utama yang luar biasa menyebalkan sepanjang pengalaman saya membaca buku selama ini plus buku ini terbit sekitar tahun 2000 dimana dimasa itu penerjemahan buku banyak didominasi bahasa jayus aka alay kalau kata anak zaman sekarang. Mungkin saat itu, penggunaan kata-kata tersebut biasa saja tapi bila dibaca pada masa kini, maka akan sangat mengganggu karena sudah tidak relevan. Cukup mengecewakan saat membacanya karena ternyata buku ini tidak seperti yang saya bayangkan.
This should be called Kit’s story because 75% of it is all about her life. Logan is too busy with his fiancée to be part of this book until the end chapter. It’s a strange book with hellion kids taking up a lot of it! Romance? Not really.
Logan and Kit hit sparks off each other as she worked as his assistant for three years. He had a terrible temper and she did too. Loving him as she did made her vulnerable as she tried to warn him about his gold digging fiancee. So he fired her and then kept kidnapping her to try to get her to work for him again. Passion and love won the day.