Payback had fueled him for more than a decade. Yet now that his goal was within reach, Josh Tremont found himself wanting something even more. His new assistant, Callie Lee, was beautiful, sensual…and appeared to be totally innocent. Though he’d won her away from the enemy… dare he trust her completely? Being bedded by a millionaire had not been on Callie’s agenda…Josh Tremont was simply … simply too impossible to resist. But she had to stop him from seeking vengeance. She’d gone into this knowing she’d betray her boss; she hadn’t expected to deceive the man she’d come to love.
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Moral of this story: Evil triumphs.
Big time Written in the wrong genre.
SPOILERS
A one star for romance, but a three to four star for the intrigue, double-crossing, subterfuge, and out and out espionage by the major characters.
The heroine is the protege of a philanthropic woman that rescued her from the streets and possible prostitution when she was a teen and has groomed and educated her to be a top professional PA. She asks the heroine to go undercover to the evil genius that is trying to dismantle their family owned company. Her espionage is to be a full bore, no holds barred attempt to get any information by any means…if you know what I mean.
Don’t be crazy, she told herself sternly. You’re not supposed to fall for the guy. You’re supposed to be gathering information—and what had she discovered? Nothing other than the fact that he worked hard and expected the same in return from his people.
The hero wants to dismantle the company and bring the owner to his knees out of sheer, unadulterated revenge. BIG SPOILER: The philanthropist’s husband seduced then abandoned the H’s mother with a paltry payout. The mother raised her son as best she could, and despite their poverty made a wonderful life for her son. The H has the love letters and the uncashed check as proof and has been waiting to use it to destroy his biological father. Mwa ha ha.
The heroine is hired, sparks fly, and quivering knees and lusting loins later the H and h have cataclysmic sex. Great. That means that the H trusts her which is when she copies files, hands them to her mentor which allows their company to sweep a deal from under the H’s nose. He’s outraged as there are only two people with access to the info so he sets a trap with more info…which the heroine once again hands off to her mentor.
Above all else, what could she now tell Irene?
If she could give the Palmers one more strength, one more piece of armour in this battle between Josh and them, she’d darn well do it.
This time her double-crossing has a different effect. It sets up her mentor’s company for bankruptcy. Her mentor tosses her cavalierly to the wolves, and she’s let go. She hightails back to the H where she decides in her infinite wisdom to burn the H’s father’s letters. The H catches her with a WTF? and confronts her with her evil-doing, and she leaves with her tail between her legs, but not before boo-hooing how he betrayed her with his double cross and telling him she was doing this for his own good. She LOVES him. This logic was mouth-dropping and awe-inspiring. Way to go evil h. Your betrayal of the hero is nothing to the hero’s need to find out the truth about the one he loves.
She also leaves with a head-shake for me that she is the victim in the scenario. She was only trying to help everyone. Okey dokey.
The initial evil-doer of the offensive payoff check is revealed, and somehow, someway the heroine gaslights the hero into APOLOGIZING to her for setting her up on the double-cross that proved she was the spy that sold him out.
Well done little h and little h’s mentor. You are such masters of the craft of subterfuge and deflection that you have convinced the hero and everyone that your manipulations were necessary to protect the people you want to devour love.
Minor and unsatisfying romance, slightly stilted writing, but two Teflon coated evil female characters that rival any of the machinations of Lady Macbeth or Margaret Way’s mother jump it up a star.