The Kept Woman

by Susan Donovan

WHEN A GOOD-GIRL DIVORCEE
Playing by the rules has left Samantha Monroe with an AWOL ex-husband, maxed out credit cards, and the task of raising three children on a hairstylist's salary. It's time for a new game plan. When Sam learns that politician Jack Tolliver needs someone to play the part of his fiancee for six months in return for a generous paycheck, she's ready to sign up on the spot.

MEETS A BAD-BOY POLITICIAN
Jack needs Sam and her kids to help tone down his image from womanizing cad to dependable dad. But he was expecting Sam to be a frumpy single mom, not a wickedly smart, sexy redhead. Keeping nosey newshounds from discovering that his engagement is a charade is going to be a tough job, but one mind-blowing kiss from Sam and suddenly Jack is ready to put in all the overtime necessary...

LOVE WINS IN A LANDSLIDE...
Now, with scheming opponents itching to bring Jack down, Sam's ex returning to stir up trouble, one stubborn pre-schooler, two squabbling teenagers, a crazy dog, and some out-of-this-world sex, Jack and Sam are discovering that playing make-believe can be complicated--but not nearly as much as falling in love...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Fiction, Adult, Humor

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

SUSAN DONOVAN's novels have won accolades for being witty, sexy, and entertaining. A former newspaper reporter with journalism degrees from Northwestern University, Susan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose novels have been translated into dozens of languages. Susan is a two-time RITA Award finalist, and her novel TAKE A CHANCE ON ME was named Best Contemporary Romance of 2003 by RT Book Reviews magazine. She lives in New Mexico with her family and dogs.

Reviews

[Mo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Granted the premise was a bit silly but sometimes silly works for me. Not this time. Was quite bored and ended up skimming to the end. I sometimes look for lists that state "authors you will like if you like SEP" - more often than not, they are not correct ... I know, nobody can top SEP but I will keep trying to find some authors like her. Sorry I couldn't love it more ...

[Exina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kept Woman is a light, predictable, humorous contemporary romance. I don’t read books like this anymore, but I remember I quite enjoyed it at the time.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, sexy and just plain wonderful. I really needed a feel good book this week and this one was just perfect. Both the hero, Jack Tolliver, and the heroine, Samantha Monroe, were great together as they found their way from a contract farce to true love.

When Sam tells her best friends after one to many margaritas that she would love to be a "Kept Woman" her life changes forever. Friend Kara is looking for a way to humanize her soon to be candidate for the US Senate, womanizer, rich, bad boy, former football player, Jack Tolliver. It's a tall order and Kara thinks that Sam may just be the answer she is looking for. A divorced mother of three, hairstylist Sam is swimming in a mountain of debt and responsibilities. Jack and Sam enter into a contract where she will be his fiancée until the primary and then she will fade from the scene. In exchange Sam walks away with enough to keep her and her children well for years to come. What can possibly go wrong?

[Mareli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and fun but well written. The story is a bit unreal, you know the heirstylist with three children and the ex-football player, a bit of bad boy and womanizer, it seems strange ;)

But really it was a good story, full of good characters. I liked it very much.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I may have found a new favorite in Ms. Donovan. She manages to weave a great tale around characters that, as a reader I feel I could like in real life.
Sam is a divorced mother of three just trying to keep her head above water. She has bills to pay, a 60 hour a week job, two tweens, a toddler, and very little time for herself. You can feel her pain.

Jack is your typical pretty boy former athlete politician. He goes through women like most go through under ware. He has really never had to work for anything, at least it seems that way on the outside.

Jack needs to get elected to the senate for the state of Indiana. His current image of a playboy is not conducive to getting him to DC. Sam on the other hand feels like if she could just find someone to foot the bill for her, her life would be better for her and her children. Jack’s campaign manager con-cocks a plan to get Jack the senate seat while helping out a friend in need. This is where the fun begins.
The premise of the story requires the reader to suspend reality a bit, but that’s okay because we read these books to escape reality for a while, right?
When these two finally met, Jack realizes the Sam is real and maybe what he has needed all this time. Sam gets to see a side of Jack that is a lot deeper than she first thought. For me I like both Sam and Jack and the goofy cast of characters right of the bat. I was hard for me to put this book down. Very enjoyable read. Some compare Donovan to Jennifer Crusie, but I don’t think so. I like Donovan much better.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kept Woman
Susan Donovan
Contempory Romance
372 pages
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 0-312-939507

WHEN A GOOD-GIRL DIVORCÉE Playing by the rules has left Samantha Monroe with an AWOL ex-husband, maxed out credit cards, and the task of raising three children on a hairstylist’s salary. It’s time for a new game plan. When Sam learns that politician Jack Tolliver needs someone to play the part of his fiancÉe for six months in return for a generous paycheck, she’s ready to sign up on the spot.

MEETS A BAD-BOY POLITICIAN
Jack needs Sam and her kids to help tone down his image from womanizing cad to dependable dad. But he was expecting Sam to be a frumpy single mom, not a wickedly smart, sexy redhead. Keeping nosey newshounds from discovering that his engagement is a charade is going to be a tough job, but one mind-blowing kiss from Sam and suddenly Jack is ready to put in all the overtime necessary…

LOVE WINS IN A LANDSLIDE…
Now, with scheming opponents itching to bring Jack down, Sam’s ex returning to stir up trouble, one stubborn pre-schooler, two squabbling teenagers, a crazy dog, and some out-of-this-world sex, Jack and Sam are discovering that playing make-believe can be complicated—but not nearly as much as falling in love…

[Crista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read Take a Chance On Me by this author and LOVED it, so I was very excited to read this book. I expected the same stuff that I got from TACOM...humor, emotionally tormented characters, and a decent plot line. This story gave me only 1 out of the 3. It was funny.

I laughed out loud at several of the scenes in this book....whether it was Sam's little toddler who was having difficulty potty training or her hilarious best friend, this book certainly had the humor. What it didn't have was likeable characters. Jack seemed like a overendulged playboy for much of the book, and I was never very sympathetic to Sam. Their romance was much more about sex and attraction than it was about emotional commitment...a big turn off for me personally.

I've recommended Take A Chance On Me to many, but I can't say the same for this one.

[Shannon C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars: Humorous romantic comedy--light beach read

I deduct some stars due to the predictability of the storyline and I wasn't a fan of the lead guy (cheater/womanizer and coniving politician). However romance left you feeling good after reading it and the hero was sexy/hot, bad points aside. I also liked the interactions with the kids and friends.

This book was similar in style (but not quite as good) to books by Julie James, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, and Erin McCarthy.

[Rita · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew this novel would be somewhat silly, but I expected it to be silly in a romantic, humorous, and uplifting way, not this cliché-ridden, unrealistic, and predictable tale of a supposedly strong, independent woman who falls for a guy and promptly loses all her autonomy and sense of self (giving off way too many Jane Austen-esque vibes).

[Lisa Lanay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read! Sort of a Cinderella fairy tale, only Cinderella is a hairdresser with 3 kids, credit card debit and a deadbeat ex-husband. Entertaining story line in a beach chair escape kind of way that will make you laugh while grabbing for that glass of wine during the"romantic" a hem... scenes. Enjoy this well written contemporary romance - it's a few years old but then again, we all are!

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining, easy, typical

[Lynn Winkelmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good comedic romance book.

[Hal Evergreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just didn't do it for me. I knew from the back cover blurb that the premise (playboy politician gets a fake fiance to clean up his image) was silly, but I know of several authors who could have pulled it off with clever writing, endearing characters, and playful humor. Susan Donovan just wasn't up to the task.

The writing in this novel was passable, but far from perfect. Donavan did a lot of telling rather than showing, and I got tired of her fondness of exclamation points. The pacing of the love story was also a little wonky: Sam and Jack met, they were instantly attracted to each other, they hit it off, they had fun on their fake dates, they did the nookie, and BAMB! they were both in love. Very little conflict, no real development, and no satisfying romance. Some of their interactions were sweet, but I had trouble believing in their undying love for each other.

The characters in The Kept Woman were either somewhat lacking in personality (as was the case with Sam and Jack) or they were 2-dimensional stereotypes: the black single mother, the bitchy blonde newscaster, the overbearing, snotty aristocratic mother, and the greasy, overweight lobbyist. They were all caricatures rather than characters. As for Sam's irresponsible, child-support-dodging, cocaine-addicted, homosexual ex-husband, he just made me uncomfortable. I don't know what Donovan was trying to say with this character, but my guess is that the message wasn't gay-friendly.

Over all, The Kept Woman left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't find the romance story line swoon-worthy, and a few of the characters and plot points offended me. I might be willing to give Susan Donovan another try, but my first sampling of her works didn't impress me.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I consider one of my "comfort reads", a book I read just because I love it so much and one that I pull out anytime nothing else would seem to do.

The story is excellent with just a touch of "pop-corn" read to it. The characters are well developed and they grow even in the short time this book allows us.

The premise may not be a new one, but it is handled perfectly, giving us laughter and even some tears.

When a comment is made in passing (and jokingly) in front of her friends about becoming a "kept woman", the comment is soon passed on to a womanizing politician who could use a ready made girlfriend/fiance with a family in tow.

Of course because this is a romance it doesn't hurt that they are both gorgeous and sexually attracted to each other! While fighting off Jacks overbearing mother, the paparazzo and various others who would like to be in Jack's bed both figuratively and literally and while trying to keep this relationship to a business deal...things change, feelings change, people change. And thankfully they all change for the better.

While the idea that a woman could become kept in the loosest non-sexual sense of the word, may rankle a few readers, I would go for it anyway since things all even out in the end and truth and justice will prevail.

Ms Donovan is one of my very favorite contemporary romance authors. She consistently write good comedy, lovely romantic scenes, excellent characters that you could just see yourself being friends with and she always keeps you on your toes with her plots.

[ElaineY · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the two Susan Donovans I brought with me on holiday to Thailand. The other was an older title, Take A Chance On Me. I liked both though I think most Contemp Romance fans are likely to rate the older book higher. It's just that I'm a sucker for Cinderella-type stories and this is what The Kept Woman is even if the heroine gets her prince by agreeing to be "kept" by him temporarily.

I found this a fun book and just right for a holiday read. Donovan reminds me of Susan Andersen's and Rachel Gibson's romances. For some reason, I had the impression before that Susan Donovan wrote semi-erotic romances but I haven't the faintest idea where I got that from. Anyway, TKW is light and has that contemporary tone I enjoy. I've read some contemporary romances where the author still sounds like she's writing a historical romance.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha Monroe has had to fight tooth and nail for everything in life, with three children and a dead beat ex-husband in her wake, she can't resist when an offer to pretend she if the fiancee' of political candidate Jack Tolliver drops in her lap.

Jack has the reputation of being a bit of a playboy, which is not winning favors with the voters. Trying to clean up his image, he is willing to go along with the pretend romance to Samantha, but as he gets to know her and her children it becomes apparant that he wants more than pretend, he is looking for happily ever after.

Very fun read, it thought it was paced well and couldn't put it down.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Susan Donovan. It took a little bit for this book to get going for me, but once it did, I really enjoyed it. Initially I was not a fan of Jack's but then he grew on me especially when he interacted with Sam's kids. He never knew what he was looking for until it was standing right in front of him and then he embraced it all, Samantha, her kids and her friends. A lot of feel good moments, and a sweet HEA.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would really give this one 4.5 stars. I liked this book so much better than Take a Chance on Me. Jack and Sam are great together and you will find yourself energized as their love story unfolds. It's a fairy tale come true!

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei imenso do livro. Foi uma leitura leve e divertida, com os seus pontos mais sérios mas, em geral, um romance tranquilo. Apesar disso, valeu a pena como leitura mais leve e aconselho para quem está à procura deste tipo de livros.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars – Contemporary Romance

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Good!!!

[TSN ☮ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read February 2018

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was both predictable yet unpredictable. It doesn’t follow the same template if you will with the other contemporary romance of Susan Donovan peers – mainly Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Now before we go any further, please not that I mentioned SEP name in this review. If you need a good book, an exceptional extraordinary contemporary novel that will have you sighing, crying, laughing and a story that will be with you for life, then read one of her books. Any of them really, they’re all individually amazing though Call Me Irresistible, Breathing Room and Dream A Little Dreams are some of my favorites ones; don’t tell the others though, I heard it’s a sin to have favorites since yes, I treat these books as if they’re my children. But I’m getting off track now.
Okay, about this book. This is a political contemporary novel which unfortunately doesn’t really focus all that much on the political side of things, which honestly would be far more interesting than having Christy, Brandon and that good-for-nothing Mitchell storyline. Meet Jack Tolliver – someone please get me someone like him pronto – who was once a NFL quarterback, lost a senate election once due to a scandal about a sexist remark and was now planning on running again. The trouble was, his image needs a severe makeover to convince the general Indianapolis population to vote for him for the job. The ladies in the population might dig the womanizing bad boy but they’d need a majority votes to win the race.
Meet Samantha Monroe, a widow with two sully teenagers that she didn’t realize have suddenly grown up and who she almost knew nothing about and a three year old who wasn’t properly potty-trained, causing him to be kicked out of Wee Ones Academy – I’m not shitting you, that’s really what’s it called. Sam has a client turned friend Kara, who was involved in running Jack’s campaign. She came out with the idea to hire Sam as Jack’s pretend fiancée and in turn, Sam could pay her bills, make sure her kids have trust funds and basically get to live well off. Now there’s so many troubling things happening here that truly I’m appalled. And please don’t say I know what I’m getting into when I most probably have read the excerpt but I didn’t realize how much of an opportunist Sam is. She literally milked as much pay out as she could out of this arrangement, I don’t even understand or could comprehend why Jack would go along with this. It’s too much money just to be someone’s pretend fiancée for six months.
I don’t want to spoil too much of things, but there’s something about Samantha Monroe that just rubbed me the wrong way. I get that she’s desperate, but this is not the kind of heroine I can support or get behind. Now let’s talk about what I mentioned in the beginning. The formula of contemporary novels usually follows as: they meet, they get on each other nerves, as the dislike grows so does the sexual tension, they become friends with benefit, one of them falls in love yet the other didn’t want to commit, angst ensued before the one who didn’t want commitment come to the realization that they’re wrong and chase after their one true love. This story doesn’t go like this though we could very well tell how the plot of the whole fake fiancée thing will be found out and how Christy will ultimately get the news out. On the other hand, the hero and heroine fall in love half way through the book before they face challenges, have to go on their separate ways being miserable before finding their way back.
Anyway, the story has so much potential I was a bit disappointed how it turned out. It wasn’t bad but I expected so much more from someone who was compared to the great SEP. Granted, maybe my expectation was a tad too high but hey, I didn’t make the recommendation.
Three and a half stars for me.

[Zeljka Kovacevic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can I have one Jack please?

From the start I had hots for Jack. Handsome, successful, determined…..and single?? Yes please! As we who read this story, we all know that Sam got him first so I will have to wait for a Jack of mine. The guy, no, the man who is hot in tuxedo and in well, whatever he wears (on not). Coming from the family in politics, he is following his dad`s footsteps even his real passion was football where he was badly injured and his football career was over.
Jack always missed his mom, still well alive. When he was a young boy she lost twin girls and she closed herself in (we all deal with grief in different ways). He missed caresses from his mom, his dad was busy politician who passed away.
Now, Jack`s love life? He loves women. He loves their looks, their bodies and he had a bunch of them. It worked for him, he did not want to commit.
That is, until he met Samantha Monroe a redhead beauty with three kids and an ex-husband who got out of a closet after their third child. I must mention that he is one of those, how do we call them – deadbeat fathers. (Not a part of the book, but I happen to know one myself).
Sam is a respected hairdresser with many bills to pay and three kids to raise. She was doing a darn good job but we all now and then get to “let it all out”. That is what Sam did. Sipping tasty cocktails with her girlfriends one night she said she would not mind a rich man to be her way out of stressful way of living. After all, she was a mom and we all know it is not easy to raise a child, let alone three and all alone. Of course, there is a dog too.
That is when Kara comes in. She is a political consultant and a friend of Jack and she happens to know Sam. Kara has an idea. To connect Sam`s financial needs to Jack`s campaign ones.
Contract was made that Sam and kids (and dog) move to one of Jack`s residencies and pose as his fiance for next six months. Sam could not say no to an offer that will settle her and her children`s lives for many years to come.
Starts a bit crazy, with all these new people that Jack needs to be around and Sam and her family to adjust to a new way of living.
Sam is into Jack (me too, wink-wink), and he is into her big time. They share a wonderful times together and their attraction is to die for.
Not only he changed his opinion about relationships, he got close to the children. He even got a little Dakota to get out of diapers by showing him “how men do it”. Awesome part of the story.
Now comes the other part of the story. There are always bad guys (or galls), trying to sabotage a perfect love story and get in the way of the happiness.
One reporter who likes Jack and Sam`s ex who decides to show up only after he was offered a lot of money to dig some dirt on Sam. Oh did he get it at the end!
As always, truth comes out and public knows that Sam and Jack`s relationship was a fake. Yes, it was a contract deal at the start but oh boy, did it turn into a spicy and hot for each other relationship. Jack speaks publicly, proposing Sam for real and putting it straight to everyone that family does and will always come first. Do you think he got elected? Yes he was elected and he was a happy man. Even his mother came around and her happiness was obvious when she was told that they were expecting twins.
This book is funny, realistic, and sad at some points and is an easy, feel good read.
I must add that it does something to a woman when in this story…..it makes you want a red, sexy lingerie under that stunning red dress and go out and look for her Jack . :)

[Tin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

While i do appreciate a good story, one that’s more than just sex and with well-rounded characters, i pretty much have a preference for single POV books, and dual only if it’s from the two main leads. The Kept Woman is properly paced, with endearing characters, but the multiple POVs put me off lots of times.

Also, multiple POVs work better if they involve characters you actually care for. In this case, for example, i would have preferred to know more what’s on Kara and/or Monte’s mind, instead of Brandon or Christy’s. Heck, somewhere in the middle, i’m supposed to know what Mitch the ex-husband is thinking now too?

Granted, the premise is something that can probably only happen in fiction, but i like that they added the element of an almost middle-aged divorcee with kids, not someone who’s young and perky and fabulous. It made for a more compelling story, because Samantha Monroe was quite a character that you can both sympathize and root for. And that Jack was almost in his 40s, not a clueless guy still in his prime who thinks he could do no wrong.

I really wanted to love this book, but given that it took me a while to finish it because i keep putting i down, i can only say i have lukewarm feelings for it. I have gotten used to reading single or dual points of view novels, that The Kept Woman clearly isn’t, that i just couldn’t enjoy this as much.

[Abigail Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book and looking forward to reading more of this author.

The main guy was a fantastic, sweet, reformed rogue type of character and she was a sweet and sassy. What’s not to like?

Loved the political aspect of the plot and how their relationship played out.

I loved the kids and the friends, all the support, all of it was pretty phenomenal.

A great book.
An interesting author and writing style, that I am interested in reading more of.
And a great read.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. I found this one when searching for another book I wanted to read with the same title at the library and the synopsis sounded interesting. It started off good, even if the premise was a bit out there for the setup to the fake dating/fiancé trope. And then the ending went a bit off the rails, like the author was trying to wrap it up quickly. Anyway, it was a fun getaway from reality and may check out this author's other books sometime.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighthearted, easy read- somewhat predictable store but still fun. Young mother asked to pose as fiancé of playboy politician to give him a better image for election. What was supposed to be a job turns into a real relationship when said bad boy falls for cute girl and she with him. Havoc occurs when the press gets wind of their “arrangement”!

[Sherbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t even know how I fully felt about this book. The weird mum *orn in the middle really annoyed me and I had to keep checking who the author was. There is also a few parts that just made no sense to me. I somewhat enjoyed the last couple of chapters, which is why I’ve given it as high as 2 stars. Overall, I think I wouldn’t recommend it -Sorry

[Wanderer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the idea of pairing light chic reads with complex classics but oh my... a beautiful romance is becoming rarer and rarer... the plots are so unbelievable, the characters have no depth, there is simply nothing to induce one to keep in reading ..., I need to find another category of light reads...wonder what it will be... tsk tsk

I disliked everyone in this novel... the jock politician, the naive princessy mum, the rude kids, the nosey friend, the ill-trained dog, the ex with the persona of a female dog.... and the list goes on and on. The author simply reproduced prevailing stereotypes and left nothing to the imagination... what a bore!