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A First Time for Everything
A little excitement was what she wanted
So Josslyn's sudden assignment to Egypt came as a delightful surprise. Pity she couldn't say the same about her new boss.
Thane Addison. An overbearing, domineering slave driver. And yet, sometimes, Joss got a glimpse of an entirely different sort of personality beneath his arrogant exterior. It was enough that Joss knew despite having to work for this brute of a man, she wanted to stay.
Not that Thane seemed to care at all what his temporary secretary thought about him
So Josslyn's sudden assignment to Egypt came as a delightful surprise. Pity she couldn't say the same about her new boss.
Thane Addison. An overbearing, domineering slave driver. And yet, sometimes, Joss got a glimpse of an entirely different sort of personality beneath his arrogant exterior. It was enough that Joss knew despite having to work for this brute of a man, she wanted to stay.
Not that Thane seemed to care at all what his temporary secretary thought about him
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Steele
337 books112 followersJessica Steele was born on May 9, 1933 in the elegant Warwickshire town of Royal Leamington Spa. She has two super brothers, Colin and George, and a lovely sister, Elizabeth. She was a delicate child and missed a lot of school. In fact, she left school at aged 14, when she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. At 16, she started work as a junior clerk. In 1967, Jessica married with her husband, Peter and within a very short space of time they had moved from her hometown to the lovely area where they now live. Their house is built into the side of a hill, and has beautiful views over more hills and valleys. Her brothers and her sister are very close and she has plenty of nephews and nieces to make up for the fact that she and her husband have no children of their own. Both she and her husband are more than a little dog-oriented, and their current dog is a Staffordshire bull terrier named Florence. Florence is gorgeous. She loves everybody but, since she is 40 pounds of dynamite and would hurl her boisterous self at everyone she meets - given half a chance - she has to be restrained (as much as possible). She is fun.
Her husband spurred Jessica on to her writing career, giving her every support while she did what she considers her five-year apprenticeship (the rejection years) while learning how to write. She published her first books in 1979. Jessica has tried using a typewriter, but it just doesn't work for her. She is much happier writing in longhand, and in actual fact has a dozen or so fountain pens filled and ready to go at the start of any one session. A friend has a secretarial agency and, after deciphering Jessica's writing, returns an immaculately typed manuscript. To gain authentic background for her books, she has travelled and researched in Greece, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Hong Kong, China and Japan.
Her husband spurred Jessica on to her writing career, giving her every support while she did what she considers her five-year apprenticeship (the rejection years) while learning how to write. She published her first books in 1979. Jessica has tried using a typewriter, but it just doesn't work for her. She is much happier writing in longhand, and in actual fact has a dozen or so fountain pens filled and ready to go at the start of any one session. A friend has a secretarial agency and, after deciphering Jessica's writing, returns an immaculately typed manuscript. To gain authentic background for her books, she has travelled and researched in Greece, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Hong Kong, China and Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 29, 2018
A fabulous romance novel set in Egypt, with the boorish but hunky blonde H and the feisty ( also blonde ) heroine who makes him become besotted against his every last will ! Lol. It's a storyline I always enjoy, because I love these old slow burn romances where love sneaks up on the H and he doesn't even know it. It's kinda like how this adorable pup's owner has to sneak in his daily quota of vegetables by pushing it his cute little mouth without the pup's knowledge:
(Aside: I have gone TWO whole book reviews without using a doggy gif, so you guys need to cut me some slack here...Lol )
The H is Thane Addison, chief international troubleshooter and board member of Beacon Oil Ltd.
This is the H, Thane:
This is the heroine, Joss:
Thane's just had to send Paula, his secretary, back to England because she had the audacity to confess her undying love for his many manly charms. Thane's one of Jessica Steele's fastidious, gentlemanly and hardworking H's; he's not a man whore and had not even known that Paula had been weaving romantic daydreams with him as her leading man. He's in Egypt to work, not to look for possible penis polishing candidates. After the annoying incident with Paula, Thane tells the London office to send a male secretary but there's a mix up and the heroine Joss ends up getting the job. Thane is not amused when a beautiful young woman turns up, so he is very curt, rude and annoying to her but Joss doesn't cower. Their initial encounter is filled with his rude, growly outbursts:
...he had quickly assessed who she was—fixing those piercing grey eyes on her wide brown ones, he was demanding coldly,
“Who the devil are you?”
It got worse:
“My name’s Josslyn Harding. I’m the replacement for the secretary who returned to England last...”
“The hell you are!” he cut rudely across what she was saying. And, while she stared at him and had the hardest work to remain outwardly unflappable, he snarled,
“You’re saying that they’ve disregarded my instructions entirely, and sent you as Paula Ingram’s replacement!”
After their rough start, he's forced to accept her as his secretary because he's got no other option in the short term. However, he doesn't apologize for being rude and, what's worse:
Thus begins the office romance, according to Jessica Steele's modus operandi of romance rules of course. Lol. Usually ( and I've actually read all of her office romances, pre-Goodreads ), the MC's have a ritual based on the following:
1. The H ( boss ) makes the heroine work her fingers to the bone, to prove that she's the worthiest of the worthy secretaries ever !
2. When he stares at her for long seconds without blinking, it means he's fighting hard to control his unseen boner in the office ! He is, after all, a gentleman. Of course, Jessica's a prim lady writer so we are never actually told outright about the boner, but it's always implied if you're perverted like me and read between the lines...
3. When he snaps at her, it because he's starting to feel some unwanted love...
4. When he scowls and growls at her because she goes on platonic dates with the OM, it means he's burning with gentlemanly, alpha male obsessive jealousy ! Jessica S's H's don't actually come out and portray their jealousy by saying their jealous; they actually show how jealous they are...
5. When he grabs her and kisses her passionately ( finally ! ) it's because he can't control his feelings any longer and that's a big deal since Jessica's H's are usually some of the most controlled men I've come across in HPlandia. The passionate kissing also means that the boner he's carrying around for her, is getting painful and he's doubly growly because blue balls are acting up too...
He also fights his attraction to her and becomes irritated whenever other men keep falling for her endearing charms and good looks. And, other men keep falling for her a lot so Thane's level of jealous irritation builds as the story line progresses ! I also laughed a lot at how he kept blaming Joss each time she acquired a new male admirer. That's also another trademark of a Jessica Steele H. There's an annoying, clingy wannabe OM called Khalil Rashwan ( who's the heir to an Egyptian tycoon ) and lots of enjoyable snippets and touristy information about Cairo and Alexandria. The romance builds slowly but intensely because the chemistry is strong between the MC's who keep fighting against their mutual attraction. The love-hate theme is very strong at first but things begin to change slowly when Thane realizes that Joss is committed to her job and isn't out to snare him. The story line revolves around an important business deal between Thane's oil company and the Rashwans. Khalil's obsession with Joss creates a lot of conflict for the MC's and makes it more difficult for the H to get his contract details ironed out and signed. There were the usual instances where Jessica Steele's fractured sentence construction created a bit of annoyance, but I managed to enjoy the story in spite of these issues.
The best part of the ending was that I got to enjoy seeing the cold, scowly and shut down tycoon H confess his undying love in a sweet, funny and romantic manner:
“I’ve just been telling you—for the lord knows how long—that I love you very much, Josslyn Harding. Are you now going to tell me that you, whom I’ve seen fully and quickly grasp the most complicated of issues, haven’t worked that out yet?”
“A woman—likes to have these things spelled out,” she told him modestly, if shakily, as her heart pounded away so loudly that she was sure he must hear it.
Yeah, she made him work for it ! And, after she finally told him she loved him, he was like a happy little kid:
" Oh, Thane, I do so love you! "
He gave an exultant cry of triumph, and suddenly she was back in his arms again and he was raining tender loving kisses all over her face. Many more long minutes ticked by as he held her close against his heart. Then gradually he pulled back from her again. His eyes were devouring her loving face.
“The torment you’ve caused me, dear love!” he whispered. “The jealousy I’ve known since you, ash-blonde and female, and not at all what I wanted, arrived in Cairo, and coolly told me you were the replacement secretary.”
Safety: No sex, no OW, a wannabe OM and the H's not a manwhore.
(Aside: I have gone TWO whole book reviews without using a doggy gif, so you guys need to cut me some slack here...Lol )
The H is Thane Addison, chief international troubleshooter and board member of Beacon Oil Ltd.
This is the H, Thane:
This is the heroine, Joss:
Thane's just had to send Paula, his secretary, back to England because she had the audacity to confess her undying love for his many manly charms. Thane's one of Jessica Steele's fastidious, gentlemanly and hardworking H's; he's not a man whore and had not even known that Paula had been weaving romantic daydreams with him as her leading man. He's in Egypt to work, not to look for possible penis polishing candidates. After the annoying incident with Paula, Thane tells the London office to send a male secretary but there's a mix up and the heroine Joss ends up getting the job. Thane is not amused when a beautiful young woman turns up, so he is very curt, rude and annoying to her but Joss doesn't cower. Their initial encounter is filled with his rude, growly outbursts:
...he had quickly assessed who she was—fixing those piercing grey eyes on her wide brown ones, he was demanding coldly,
“Who the devil are you?”
It got worse:
“My name’s Josslyn Harding. I’m the replacement for the secretary who returned to England last...”
“The hell you are!” he cut rudely across what she was saying. And, while she stared at him and had the hardest work to remain outwardly unflappable, he snarled,
“You’re saying that they’ve disregarded my instructions entirely, and sent you as Paula Ingram’s replacement!”
After their rough start, he's forced to accept her as his secretary because he's got no other option in the short term. However, he doesn't apologize for being rude and, what's worse:
Thus begins the office romance, according to Jessica Steele's modus operandi of romance rules of course. Lol. Usually ( and I've actually read all of her office romances, pre-Goodreads ), the MC's have a ritual based on the following:
1. The H ( boss ) makes the heroine work her fingers to the bone, to prove that she's the worthiest of the worthy secretaries ever !
2. When he stares at her for long seconds without blinking, it means he's fighting hard to control his unseen boner in the office ! He is, after all, a gentleman. Of course, Jessica's a prim lady writer so we are never actually told outright about the boner, but it's always implied if you're perverted like me and read between the lines...
3. When he snaps at her, it because he's starting to feel some unwanted love...
4. When he scowls and growls at her because she goes on platonic dates with the OM, it means he's burning with gentlemanly, alpha male obsessive jealousy ! Jessica S's H's don't actually come out and portray their jealousy by saying their jealous; they actually show how jealous they are...
5. When he grabs her and kisses her passionately ( finally ! ) it's because he can't control his feelings any longer and that's a big deal since Jessica's H's are usually some of the most controlled men I've come across in HPlandia. The passionate kissing also means that the boner he's carrying around for her, is getting painful and he's doubly growly because blue balls are acting up too...
He also fights his attraction to her and becomes irritated whenever other men keep falling for her endearing charms and good looks. And, other men keep falling for her a lot so Thane's level of jealous irritation builds as the story line progresses ! I also laughed a lot at how he kept blaming Joss each time she acquired a new male admirer. That's also another trademark of a Jessica Steele H. There's an annoying, clingy wannabe OM called Khalil Rashwan ( who's the heir to an Egyptian tycoon ) and lots of enjoyable snippets and touristy information about Cairo and Alexandria. The romance builds slowly but intensely because the chemistry is strong between the MC's who keep fighting against their mutual attraction. The love-hate theme is very strong at first but things begin to change slowly when Thane realizes that Joss is committed to her job and isn't out to snare him. The story line revolves around an important business deal between Thane's oil company and the Rashwans. Khalil's obsession with Joss creates a lot of conflict for the MC's and makes it more difficult for the H to get his contract details ironed out and signed. There were the usual instances where Jessica Steele's fractured sentence construction created a bit of annoyance, but I managed to enjoy the story in spite of these issues.
The best part of the ending was that I got to enjoy seeing the cold, scowly and shut down tycoon H confess his undying love in a sweet, funny and romantic manner:
“I’ve just been telling you—for the lord knows how long—that I love you very much, Josslyn Harding. Are you now going to tell me that you, whom I’ve seen fully and quickly grasp the most complicated of issues, haven’t worked that out yet?”
“A woman—likes to have these things spelled out,” she told him modestly, if shakily, as her heart pounded away so loudly that she was sure he must hear it.
Yeah, she made him work for it ! And, after she finally told him she loved him, he was like a happy little kid:
" Oh, Thane, I do so love you! "
He gave an exultant cry of triumph, and suddenly she was back in his arms again and he was raining tender loving kisses all over her face. Many more long minutes ticked by as he held her close against his heart. Then gradually he pulled back from her again. His eyes were devouring her loving face.
“The torment you’ve caused me, dear love!” he whispered. “The jealousy I’ve known since you, ash-blonde and female, and not at all what I wanted, arrived in Cairo, and coolly told me you were the replacement secretary.”
Safety: No sex, no OW, a wannabe OM and the H's not a manwhore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2020
.
I quite enjoyed this less angsty read. And the ILYs and grovel at the end was lengthy. Thane basically grovels for every instance of his asshat behavior (but in a sweet way).
Joss is thrilled to go to Egypt for a month to fill in for another employee that had the bad taste to fall in love with the H.
So right from the get go Thane has his back up about Joss being his assistant. She's too young, too pretty and well... female.
But then on the other hand, he gets super jerky because it seems like every guy she meets is smitten with her, including the son of the man they are there to do business with.
Thane is mid to late 30's and Joss is 23. So she's young but she's pretty unflappable most of the time. She certainly doesn't take any of his guff!
Safety is fine
I quite enjoyed this less angsty read. And the ILYs and grovel at the end was lengthy. Thane basically grovels for every instance of his asshat behavior (but in a sweet way).
Joss is thrilled to go to Egypt for a month to fill in for another employee that had the bad taste to fall in love with the H.
So right from the get go Thane has his back up about Joss being his assistant. She's too young, too pretty and well... female.
But then on the other hand, he gets super jerky because it seems like every guy she meets is smitten with her, including the son of the man they are there to do business with.
Thane is mid to late 30's and Joss is 23. So she's young but she's pretty unflappable most of the time. She certainly doesn't take any of his guff!
Safety is fine
October 5, 2020
Surprisingly, I finished reading "A First Time For Everything" in just over 3 hours without any pause,and having much homework to do i will write a short and quick review.
A fun office romance in the midst of Egypt where the tough heroine Joss Warding stays on toe in front of her boss insults and dictating,the volatile hero Thane Addison.I just love how these two bicker and fight to hide their explosive love for each other.There were different OM´s to make Thane insanely jealous!
By the way,i have still NOT got used to Steele`s writing,i dare say its rather painful when she uselessly makes her sentences longer with strange phrases.I adore the romance plot,but can`t make myself rate this more than 4 stars.
A fun office romance in the midst of Egypt where the tough heroine Joss Warding stays on toe in front of her boss insults and dictating,the volatile hero Thane Addison.I just love how these two bicker and fight to hide their explosive love for each other.There were different OM´s to make Thane insanely jealous!
By the way,i have still NOT got used to Steele`s writing,i dare say its rather painful when she uselessly makes her sentences longer with strange phrases.I adore the romance plot,but can`t make myself rate this more than 4 stars.
October 18, 2022
"A First Time for Everything" is the story of Joss and Thane.
Well, this was different. In a good way!
Our h is a secretary in a private firm, who is appointed to go an assist Mr. Thane Addison, incharge of another of their associates, in Egypt. She is very excited, that is until she meets Mr Thane, and realizes he certainly isn't. He had explicitly asked for a male PA, but the h stands her ground and fights for her position. He soon agrees to keep her, but definitely tests her to the max. The h succeeds in every single way, impressing every one, and soon the hero too. But when the son of their biggest dealers, as well as a fellow employee starts pursuing the h, the H is extremely unhappy and thus begins a silent war between them.
A very old school brooding and silent hero who speaks with his eyes, growling and hmmfs. A very vivacious, beautiful and efficient heroine who is extremely professional, does not make stupid mistakes that could cost her company, puts her ethics before her feelings and does not back down.
But why the high rating? The whole story comes together at the 3/4th mark, where the hero goes on a detailed confession and groveling rant which lasts for pages. It is also then that we realize every single incidence where he acted a certain way and why, and how smart he was when it came to the h. It was very refreshing to it. An overall sweet story with a smart heroine, and a non dbag hero.
Enjoyed it.
Safe
3.5/5
Well, this was different. In a good way!
Our h is a secretary in a private firm, who is appointed to go an assist Mr. Thane Addison, incharge of another of their associates, in Egypt. She is very excited, that is until she meets Mr Thane, and realizes he certainly isn't. He had explicitly asked for a male PA, but the h stands her ground and fights for her position. He soon agrees to keep her, but definitely tests her to the max. The h succeeds in every single way, impressing every one, and soon the hero too. But when the son of their biggest dealers, as well as a fellow employee starts pursuing the h, the H is extremely unhappy and thus begins a silent war between them.
A very old school brooding and silent hero who speaks with his eyes, growling and hmmfs. A very vivacious, beautiful and efficient heroine who is extremely professional, does not make stupid mistakes that could cost her company, puts her ethics before her feelings and does not back down.
But why the high rating? The whole story comes together at the 3/4th mark, where the hero goes on a detailed confession and groveling rant which lasts for pages. It is also then that we realize every single incidence where he acted a certain way and why, and how smart he was when it came to the h. It was very refreshing to it. An overall sweet story with a smart heroine, and a non dbag hero.
Enjoyed it.
Safe
3.5/5
February 20, 2018
Jessica Steele writes (wrote?) Harlequin Romances and some Hqn Presents. A Brit, she is now about 86 years old, sad to say. Steele is one of the old-school crowd. Her sentence construction is ... unusual. But IMO, she is among the best at Hqn in terms of storytelling and sexual tension. Her heroines are virgins, and the wanting drives the heroes nuts. Plus, there's usually a big grovel scene, when the hero realizes how badly he misjudged the girl. Lol!
March 21, 2020
A little excitement was what she wanted
So Josslyn's sudden assignment to Egypt came as a delightful surprise. Pity she couldn't say the same about her new boss.
Thane Addison. An overbearing, domineering slave driver. And yet, sometimes, Joss got a glimpse of an entirely different sort of personality beneath his arrogant exterior. It was enough that Joss knew despite having to work for this brute of a man, she wanted to stay.
Not that Thane seemed to care at all what his temporary secretary thought about him (less)
So Josslyn's sudden assignment to Egypt came as a delightful surprise. Pity she couldn't say the same about her new boss.
Thane Addison. An overbearing, domineering slave driver. And yet, sometimes, Joss got a glimpse of an entirely different sort of personality beneath his arrogant exterior. It was enough that Joss knew despite having to work for this brute of a man, she wanted to stay.
Not that Thane seemed to care at all what his temporary secretary thought about him (less)
May 10, 2020
2.5 stars
OK one-time reading. Office romance between a chauvinist-career-driven H and a beautiful-but-incredibly-innocent-naive h.
He mocks her, treats her bad but with an undertone of "unwanted" attraction -only the readers perceive it of course; the h thinks he hates her....
OM gets in the way and our H becomes a raging bull and a real a**hole with our Joss, who happens to fall in love with the "monster".
Misunderstanding - a few stolen kisses - new misunderstanding and a long final explanation of all the stupid actions both of them did to hide their love.
That's it...
OK one-time reading. Office romance between a chauvinist-career-driven H and a beautiful-but-incredibly-innocent-naive h.
He mocks her, treats her bad but with an undertone of "unwanted" attraction -only the readers perceive it of course; the h thinks he hates her....
OM gets in the way and our H becomes a raging bull and a real a**hole with our Joss, who happens to fall in love with the "monster".
Misunderstanding - a few stolen kisses - new misunderstanding and a long final explanation of all the stupid actions both of them did to hide their love.
That's it...
March 26, 2025
Sullen, arrogant hero (37ish) makes sarcastic and aggressive remarks to dull heroine (23) in Egypt.
This was a miss for me. 2 1/2 stars.
This was a miss for me. 2 1/2 stars.
March 6, 2022
Jessica Steele takes us to Egypt this time for some office hi-jinks.
Heroine: Joss, 23, Virgin …Currently working as a secretary in England. She is feeling a little bored and would like a challenge. A male friend of hers comes across a need for a temporary secretary in Egypt for the same company, so she accepts it and off she goes…..No one meets her at the airport(hmm) So she travels to the main office. She is greeted by 2 of the men there, they are friendly but a little surprised at her being there…In walks the hero….
Hero: Thane, 37, alpha extraordinaire…Takes one look at the heroine and is very displeased…he didn’t want another hormonal female secretary, he sent the last one packing because she decided she was in love with the hero with no encouragement from him. He quickly tells the h that she better not get any of those ideas in her own head, which of course gets her sputtering.
What we have here is another JS heroine that has a great personality and looks so all the men are salivating after her, but she seems a little unaware of the attention…but the hero is well aware and gets hit with the green eye of jealousy(but is in denial). He projects his jealousy onto the h accusing her of encouraging others….
There is a huge oil deal in the works. The H has her go to the business luncheon with him(so she can’t go with a coworker who asked her out) and the man (Yazid)he was meeting brought along his son(Khalil, om). The om took one look at the heroine and deemed she was the one for him. She had to walk a fine line as she didn’t want to offend the om and jeaopardize the deal with the father, but she found the om to be a little immature and not really her type. However, much to the hero’s distress, the Khalil pursues the h with constant phone calls to her work, then to her hotel(because she told him she can’t talk at work), he takes her out, and is very “needy”.
.
And her dinner with Khalil went much better than she had anticipated. True, she would have preferred that he had not attempted to take possession of her left hand while she was trying to eat her rice, fish and jacket potato, but he'd soon got the message when she looked at him solemnly and quietly told him, 'I need that hand, Khalil.'.
😂😂😂
Eventually, the H not happy with the situation sets the h up in her own apartment(with no phone). Of course, Khalil is not to be thwarted and just starts calling her at work again. She finally gets a break from Khalil when he has to leave out of town for business. Our h proves to be a competent secretary, and of course falls in love with the H. However, she has pride and knows that if the H knew she loved him, that he would be appalled that yet another female is after him. However, he could hardly say he didn’t encourage it when he did things like this:
.
'Though to prove a point,' and the next she knew was that Thane Addison was hauling her into his arms. Shock kept her motionless for about two seconds. That was all it took for him to have her close up against his body, and to place his lips over hers.
The H and h have their moments as the story continues, but then comes THE MOMENT….
The h and H go to Luxor to Yazid’s house for dinner to finalize the contracts. Of course, Khalil is there and making overtures. The h and H return to their hotel. The next day, the h is worried Khalil is going to seek her out so she plans to go sight seeing and the H goes with her(at first he thought she had plans with the om and was unpleased). When they get back to the hotel there is a message waiting for her that Khalil left and he wanted her to contact him. She ignored it and started to get ready for dinner. The knock at the door was not the H, but Khalil who is hot that she ignored him. He gets handsy with her(she fights back), the H hears the commotion, hits the om who leaves. The H turns on the h for encouraging the om, she denies it and he says:
..
“ You've been giving me the green light all day, for one!' he told her thunderously, and as Joss gasped and just had to defend herself against that—even if she hed herself silly—he came up close to her, his jaw jutting at a furious angle.
'I've done nothing of the sort!' she retorted. She had backed away from Khalil, but she stood her ground as she told Thane heatedly, 'If you've imagined for a moment that I've been giving you so much as a pale green light, then do you have one heck of an imagination!'
Then JS does what she likes to do best and has the hero and heroine groping each other, different states of undress, bare breasts against bare chests, only to have the H push the h away confusing the hell out of her. Then the H really messes it up:
.. Thanks to you and your wanton behaviour you've ruined what has taken me months to achieve!' he berated her arctically………..
'No—you were satisfied to lead him on— right up to your bedroom door!' Thane scorched her ears. And while she was swallowing that, 'Well, I've news for you. Miss Harding,' he told her acidly. 'Beacon Oil doesn't do business that way.' Shaken rigid by what he had just said, Joss momentarily lost her grip on her housecoat. She saw a pulse beat in his temple as her robe parted at her breast, but she was totally unprepared for the fresh shock of his curt, 'Consider yourself no longer in the company's employ!'
Our h has pride and a spine, so JS employs another one of her strategies and has the h pack her things and leave without a word while the H is sorting himself out somewhere. She decides she is going back to England, but plans to stop at Giza because there is no way in hell she is going to miss out on the pyramids.
Our besotted H tracks her down, and we have the last of a JS scenario where the next 30 pages is one long HEA where the H confesses all, and the h is shocked, but then shocks the H back with her own avowals of love. I actually, like this part of the book, I know for others it gets a little droning for them. But basically, since JS doesn’t give us the H’s point of view during the story, this is his 20 -30 pages to tell the h “Yeah, so when I did this it was because….Oh and then when I did that it was also because….
Overall, it was enjoyable….maybe not a re-read enjoyable, just because there are 1000’s of these books I have yet to read!
Heroine: Joss, 23, Virgin …Currently working as a secretary in England. She is feeling a little bored and would like a challenge. A male friend of hers comes across a need for a temporary secretary in Egypt for the same company, so she accepts it and off she goes…..No one meets her at the airport(hmm) So she travels to the main office. She is greeted by 2 of the men there, they are friendly but a little surprised at her being there…In walks the hero….
Hero: Thane, 37, alpha extraordinaire…Takes one look at the heroine and is very displeased…he didn’t want another hormonal female secretary, he sent the last one packing because she decided she was in love with the hero with no encouragement from him. He quickly tells the h that she better not get any of those ideas in her own head, which of course gets her sputtering.
What we have here is another JS heroine that has a great personality and looks so all the men are salivating after her, but she seems a little unaware of the attention…but the hero is well aware and gets hit with the green eye of jealousy(but is in denial). He projects his jealousy onto the h accusing her of encouraging others….
There is a huge oil deal in the works. The H has her go to the business luncheon with him(so she can’t go with a coworker who asked her out) and the man (Yazid)he was meeting brought along his son(Khalil, om). The om took one look at the heroine and deemed she was the one for him. She had to walk a fine line as she didn’t want to offend the om and jeaopardize the deal with the father, but she found the om to be a little immature and not really her type. However, much to the hero’s distress, the Khalil pursues the h with constant phone calls to her work, then to her hotel(because she told him she can’t talk at work), he takes her out, and is very “needy”.
.
And her dinner with Khalil went much better than she had anticipated. True, she would have preferred that he had not attempted to take possession of her left hand while she was trying to eat her rice, fish and jacket potato, but he'd soon got the message when she looked at him solemnly and quietly told him, 'I need that hand, Khalil.'.
😂😂😂
Eventually, the H not happy with the situation sets the h up in her own apartment(with no phone). Of course, Khalil is not to be thwarted and just starts calling her at work again. She finally gets a break from Khalil when he has to leave out of town for business. Our h proves to be a competent secretary, and of course falls in love with the H. However, she has pride and knows that if the H knew she loved him, that he would be appalled that yet another female is after him. However, he could hardly say he didn’t encourage it when he did things like this:
.
'Though to prove a point,' and the next she knew was that Thane Addison was hauling her into his arms. Shock kept her motionless for about two seconds. That was all it took for him to have her close up against his body, and to place his lips over hers.
The H and h have their moments as the story continues, but then comes THE MOMENT….
The h and H go to Luxor to Yazid’s house for dinner to finalize the contracts. Of course, Khalil is there and making overtures. The h and H return to their hotel. The next day, the h is worried Khalil is going to seek her out so she plans to go sight seeing and the H goes with her(at first he thought she had plans with the om and was unpleased). When they get back to the hotel there is a message waiting for her that Khalil left and he wanted her to contact him. She ignored it and started to get ready for dinner. The knock at the door was not the H, but Khalil who is hot that she ignored him. He gets handsy with her(she fights back), the H hears the commotion, hits the om who leaves. The H turns on the h for encouraging the om, she denies it and he says:
..
“ You've been giving me the green light all day, for one!' he told her thunderously, and as Joss gasped and just had to defend herself against that—even if she hed herself silly—he came up close to her, his jaw jutting at a furious angle.
'I've done nothing of the sort!' she retorted. She had backed away from Khalil, but she stood her ground as she told Thane heatedly, 'If you've imagined for a moment that I've been giving you so much as a pale green light, then do you have one heck of an imagination!'
Then JS does what she likes to do best and has the hero and heroine groping each other, different states of undress, bare breasts against bare chests, only to have the H push the h away confusing the hell out of her. Then the H really messes it up:
.. Thanks to you and your wanton behaviour you've ruined what has taken me months to achieve!' he berated her arctically………..
'No—you were satisfied to lead him on— right up to your bedroom door!' Thane scorched her ears. And while she was swallowing that, 'Well, I've news for you. Miss Harding,' he told her acidly. 'Beacon Oil doesn't do business that way.' Shaken rigid by what he had just said, Joss momentarily lost her grip on her housecoat. She saw a pulse beat in his temple as her robe parted at her breast, but she was totally unprepared for the fresh shock of his curt, 'Consider yourself no longer in the company's employ!'
Our h has pride and a spine, so JS employs another one of her strategies and has the h pack her things and leave without a word while the H is sorting himself out somewhere. She decides she is going back to England, but plans to stop at Giza because there is no way in hell she is going to miss out on the pyramids.
Our besotted H tracks her down, and we have the last of a JS scenario where the next 30 pages is one long HEA where the H confesses all, and the h is shocked, but then shocks the H back with her own avowals of love. I actually, like this part of the book, I know for others it gets a little droning for them. But basically, since JS doesn’t give us the H’s point of view during the story, this is his 20 -30 pages to tell the h “Yeah, so when I did this it was because….Oh and then when I did that it was also because….
Overall, it was enjoyable….maybe not a re-read enjoyable, just because there are 1000’s of these books I have yet to read!
January 4, 2018
113- قيد الرمال:
روايات احلام
إنها ذاهبة إلي مصر ! إنها ذاهبة لرؤية الأهرامات ! و تغلب شعور بالبهجة على سيليا فلم تفكر في ما عدا هذا و لكن كل ما راته فعلا في مصر هو موري بروكس و ممنوع عليها ان ترى شيئا اخر او تفكر في شيء آخر. هل تستطيع أن تحتج؟ أن تطالب بحقوقها؟ هذا مستحيل. فموري يريدها أداة عمل فقط و حذار يا سيليا أن تقرري أن تكوني أنثي أمامه ! حذار أن تخونك عواطفك !
روايات احلام
إنها ذاهبة إلي مصر ! إنها ذاهبة لرؤية الأهرامات ! و تغلب شعور بالبهجة على سيليا فلم تفكر في ما عدا هذا و لكن كل ما راته فعلا في مصر هو موري بروكس و ممنوع عليها ان ترى شيئا اخر او تفكر في شيء آخر. هل تستطيع أن تحتج؟ أن تطالب بحقوقها؟ هذا مستحيل. فموري يريدها أداة عمل فقط و حذار يا سيليا أن تقرري أن تكوني أنثي أمامه ! حذار أن تخونك عواطفك !
July 6, 2024
An ambitious, young, English secretary is overjoyed to be sent to Egypt on a one month contract to work at the Cairo branch of her multinational company. Her number one motivation is to visit the Great Pyramids but she also is looking forward to break the monotony of her day-to-day English job. She gets more than she bargained for when she meets her new boss, a woman-hating, sarcastic, rude pig who tells her from the outset not to make the mistake of falling in love with him like his last secretary, who he had to send packing back to England. Follows a long bickerfest as the hero and heroine butt heads at the office, though somehow they eventually manage to form a productive professional relationship. When the son of the Egyptian CEO who is negotiating a contract with heroine's boss starts making goo goo eyes at her and following her around like a puppy, hero becomes extremely grumpy. He even forces her to switch from her hotel into a furnished apartment because there is no working phone there, so the OM won't be able to phone heroine for dates lol. The eventual ILY declaration is made with the pyramids of Giza as backdrop wherein our protagonists clear up all their Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings and avow their love for each other (and a marriage proposal to boot). It was a cute romance invoking many of the usual tropes of the category romances of the era, nothing special, but pleasant overall.
December 22, 2021
2+
Not a standout JS for me.
Joss is a capable heroine and has some spine, but for that she doesn't do much. She's just dragged along by circumstance and literally by the hero, Thane.
Thane is -too- too much a JS hero with his sharp tongue and rapping tones and cutting temper -- it's all hiding roiling, awakening emotions, like confusion and want, love and jealousy -- but there's not shown well or even much teased to see that unless you really know JS going in. Which means it's well below enough to make it work well or truly zing.
This one has a good Last Chapter Grovel. Long and detailed and both are given equal billing in their feelings. Thane is disarmed, cuddly and in need of cuddles, warm and gobsmacked he's in love but definitely in love and shows it. Joss gets all her answers and all her reassurances. After this you think okay, what a nice HEA they'll have -- recall how Joss simply -knew- Thane wasn't married for if he was, he'd insist his wife be with him on all his travels, and so she will be, and she'll be up to the task and see the world and how wonderful for them -- but it doesn't quite redress the balance of all the rest.
Not a standout JS for me.
Joss is a capable heroine and has some spine, but for that she doesn't do much. She's just dragged along by circumstance and literally by the hero, Thane.
Thane is -too- too much a JS hero with his sharp tongue and rapping tones and cutting temper -- it's all hiding roiling, awakening emotions, like confusion and want, love and jealousy -- but there's not shown well or even much teased to see that unless you really know JS going in. Which means it's well below enough to make it work well or truly zing.
This one has a good Last Chapter Grovel. Long and detailed and both are given equal billing in their feelings. Thane is disarmed, cuddly and in need of cuddles, warm and gobsmacked he's in love but definitely in love and shows it. Joss gets all her answers and all her reassurances. After this you think okay, what a nice HEA they'll have -- recall how Joss simply -knew- Thane wasn't married for if he was, he'd insist his wife be with him on all his travels, and so she will be, and she'll be up to the task and see the world and how wonderful for them -- but it doesn't quite redress the balance of all the rest.
March 15, 2017
The heroine readily fell into the hero's arms the moment that he chased after her and declared his love for her even though he acted like an ass and was verbally and physically abusive. Right.
November 20, 2014
I liked that the heroine had a smart mouth when it came to the hero. She was always muttering about him under her breath, not caring if he heard her. The hero was pissy throughout most of the book and the poor heroine never knew when he would snap at her. The Egypt setting was different and interesting.
August 2, 2014
Don't know what to say... Ugh
August 6, 2025
2.5 Star
The h and H with their constant arguments and fights not sure why and when did they fall in love.
Kinda ok
The h and H with their constant arguments and fights not sure why and when did they fall in love.
Kinda ok
April 22, 2017
Like all Jessica Steele books, this had a long dialog at the end where the H and h talk things through. This time though, it was something like 20 pages long. That’s to much! Don’t get me wrong, when a book only have one characters POV there's a need for explanations at the end. But 20 pages..
I wish the author trusted her readers to think for them self and not let the characters hash through the entire plot one more time at the end.
Other than that, this book wasn’t much to talk about. Gave it an extra star for how the way the H kept slamming the phone down all the time and the h calling him a swine under her breath every couple of pages, made me giggle.
I wish the author trusted her readers to think for them self and not let the characters hash through the entire plot one more time at the end.
Other than that, this book wasn’t much to talk about. Gave it an extra star for how the way the H kept slamming the phone down all the time and the h calling him a swine under her breath every couple of pages, made me giggle.
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