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Bennett Family #4
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She’d stuck it out for five years.
She'd worked hard and long for her boss, Dominic Reynolds. Their relationship was in many ways closer than most marriages.
The real man below the dynamic, supercool exterior, however, still eluded Cathy however much she tried to reach him. "You don't give a damn for anyone's feeling but your own," she told him.
So perhaps it was time to accept that he just wasn't interested in her as a woman and to make a clean break from him. But Dominic's reaction to the news of her leaving was a complete surprise....
She'd worked hard and long for her boss, Dominic Reynolds. Their relationship was in many ways closer than most marriages.
The real man below the dynamic, supercool exterior, however, still eluded Cathy however much she tried to reach him. "You don't give a damn for anyone's feeling but your own," she told him.
So perhaps it was time to accept that he just wasn't interested in her as a woman and to make a clean break from him. But Dominic's reaction to the news of her leaving was a complete surprise....
Unknown Binding
First published July 1, 1990
57 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Carole Mortimer
1,296 books907 followersI have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
December 31, 2020
Heroine Cathy has been in love with her boss (hero Dominic) for years, but she thinks he barely notices her. So, she realizes it is time to move on with her life and hands in her resignation. Dominic is not pleased with this at all. But when they get stranded in a blizzard Cathy finds out some things she didn’t know about Dominic...
This was an enjoyable read. Dominic was a workaholic with some secrets in his past. Cathy was a good heroine who wasn’t afraid to stand up to Dominic. I liked the part when Dominic brought Cathy the little tree from outside when they were stranded in the cottage on Christmas Eve. The story takes place at Christmastime. Another lovely romantic read by Carole Mortimer.
This was an enjoyable read. Dominic was a workaholic with some secrets in his past. Cathy was a good heroine who wasn’t afraid to stand up to Dominic. I liked the part when Dominic brought Cathy the little tree from outside when they were stranded in the cottage on Christmas Eve. The story takes place at Christmastime. Another lovely romantic read by Carole Mortimer.
May 25, 2017
Re A Christmas Affair - Carole Mortimer finishes off her Bennett Family series with this one. The h is the BFF and former roommate of the h in The Loving Gift which was CM's 1989 HP Christmas offering. This one is a Christmas romance too, with the Personal Assistant h finally deciding that five years of unrequited love and longing for the Grumpy McScroogiepants H just isn't getting her anywhere and she needs a new job.
So she resigns and Mr. McScroogiepants has a wobbly. But she does it anyway, cause really all Mr. McScroogie does is work, he isn't even sampling the HP lurvely lady buffet, and the h realizes that there is more to life than making money. The h packs up her office and her office plants and plans her drive back to her brother's house in Devon in the snow.
The H shows up and demands to drive her himself, her brother has invited the H to partake in the family Christmas too, so we are off to Devon in the storm. We have a roadside service stop along the way and a mistletoe kiss that makes the h's knees crumble to bits. Then it is the h's turn to drive, and after a near miss accident, she puts them right into a ditch.
Not to worry tho, it is Christmas in HPlandia, so there is a convenient unoccupied temporary rental cottage to break into close by. The h and H even have a movable feast when they raid the h's brother's Christmas gift food hamper. Of course all that wintery, cozy cottage closeness leads to a huge lurve club moment and the h is convinced she has finally won her man. But when the morning after chases away the wintery night, the H is nowhere to be found and the h panics a bit.
The H soon returns, but he has a woman with him. The woman is obviously in a bad state and had spent the night in her car, so when the H found her he brought her back to warm up and wait for rescue. The h is very concerned, cause the lady is very upset and claims to be running away from her husband and children. Her statement makes the H very angry and we finally get the reason the H is such a Grumpy McScroogiepants who only wants to make money.
The H's parents died when he was a child. His mum took off right before Christmas, his dad chased after her and they got into a wreck and died on Christmas day. The H's very mean and miserly aunt raised him - and she wasn't nice about it at all. The H carries mummy leaving baggage and he has been a McScroogie ever since. The h is horrified that anything so awful could happen to the H. After a small amount of h sympathy, but before she can give him a good talking to about the value of not judging others and letting love into your life, rescue arrives.
The stranded lady passes out in the kitchen and so we all go off to the hospital for a check up. There we meet the stranded lady's husband, who is very anxious about his wife. Then we find out that stranded lady had a run-away panic moment cause she is preggers and her hubby is out of work and they already have two little girls. The lady's hubby doesn't care tho, cause everyone is safe and they love each other - they are a family and will make it together some how.
Everyone checks out fine, but the H has a big lump on his head from when the h crashed the car. The h's brother and sister show up and we go off to their house for the belated family celebration. We see the H and h from the previous book all lurved up and happy and the H is shocked when he finds out the H from the last book is engaged to someone not the h. For some reason he thought the h was in love with what is technically her brother in law. (The last book's H is the brother of this h's brother's wife.)
Now that he knows that isn't the case, and now that he also knows the h loves him - cause she just told him in an exuberance of belated Clubby Christmas Cheer, the H has to run off and have a mopey think about things. The h has to have her own mopey moment and then she has to go back to London and start looking for a new job. She goes to the extended family New Years Eve party and all the prior couples are lurved up and happy.
The H from the last book tells her to go find the H and ring in the New Year with him, because he is sure the H loves her. Armed with a bottle of champagne, the h tracks the H down at his penthouse and the H explains that he has to bid Mr. McScroogiepants sayonara forever. Because he really doesn't know what happened with his mum and dad and to keep being bitter about it is futile. He also explains that the happiest he has ever been in his life has been the last five years working with the h. In fact he was so happy with her, he hasn't even thought about another woman since they met. The h figures five years of H celibacy is true love enough and so they both declare their love for the big Happy Christmas HEA.
This one was simple, fluffy and fast. Not a whole lot happened. The story line has a very little drama but it is a decent little time filler or if you really need an HP Christmas read for a tame, non wrecky adventure in HPlandia.
So she resigns and Mr. McScroogiepants has a wobbly. But she does it anyway, cause really all Mr. McScroogie does is work, he isn't even sampling the HP lurvely lady buffet, and the h realizes that there is more to life than making money. The h packs up her office and her office plants and plans her drive back to her brother's house in Devon in the snow.
The H shows up and demands to drive her himself, her brother has invited the H to partake in the family Christmas too, so we are off to Devon in the storm. We have a roadside service stop along the way and a mistletoe kiss that makes the h's knees crumble to bits. Then it is the h's turn to drive, and after a near miss accident, she puts them right into a ditch.
Not to worry tho, it is Christmas in HPlandia, so there is a convenient unoccupied temporary rental cottage to break into close by. The h and H even have a movable feast when they raid the h's brother's Christmas gift food hamper. Of course all that wintery, cozy cottage closeness leads to a huge lurve club moment and the h is convinced she has finally won her man. But when the morning after chases away the wintery night, the H is nowhere to be found and the h panics a bit.
The H soon returns, but he has a woman with him. The woman is obviously in a bad state and had spent the night in her car, so when the H found her he brought her back to warm up and wait for rescue. The h is very concerned, cause the lady is very upset and claims to be running away from her husband and children. Her statement makes the H very angry and we finally get the reason the H is such a Grumpy McScroogiepants who only wants to make money.
The H's parents died when he was a child. His mum took off right before Christmas, his dad chased after her and they got into a wreck and died on Christmas day. The H's very mean and miserly aunt raised him - and she wasn't nice about it at all. The H carries mummy leaving baggage and he has been a McScroogie ever since. The h is horrified that anything so awful could happen to the H. After a small amount of h sympathy, but before she can give him a good talking to about the value of not judging others and letting love into your life, rescue arrives.
The stranded lady passes out in the kitchen and so we all go off to the hospital for a check up. There we meet the stranded lady's husband, who is very anxious about his wife. Then we find out that stranded lady had a run-away panic moment cause she is preggers and her hubby is out of work and they already have two little girls. The lady's hubby doesn't care tho, cause everyone is safe and they love each other - they are a family and will make it together some how.
Everyone checks out fine, but the H has a big lump on his head from when the h crashed the car. The h's brother and sister show up and we go off to their house for the belated family celebration. We see the H and h from the previous book all lurved up and happy and the H is shocked when he finds out the H from the last book is engaged to someone not the h. For some reason he thought the h was in love with what is technically her brother in law. (The last book's H is the brother of this h's brother's wife.)
Now that he knows that isn't the case, and now that he also knows the h loves him - cause she just told him in an exuberance of belated Clubby Christmas Cheer, the H has to run off and have a mopey think about things. The h has to have her own mopey moment and then she has to go back to London and start looking for a new job. She goes to the extended family New Years Eve party and all the prior couples are lurved up and happy.
The H from the last book tells her to go find the H and ring in the New Year with him, because he is sure the H loves her. Armed with a bottle of champagne, the h tracks the H down at his penthouse and the H explains that he has to bid Mr. McScroogiepants sayonara forever. Because he really doesn't know what happened with his mum and dad and to keep being bitter about it is futile. He also explains that the happiest he has ever been in his life has been the last five years working with the h. In fact he was so happy with her, he hasn't even thought about another woman since they met. The h figures five years of H celibacy is true love enough and so they both declare their love for the big Happy Christmas HEA.
This one was simple, fluffy and fast. Not a whole lot happened. The story line has a very little drama but it is a decent little time filler or if you really need an HP Christmas read for a tame, non wrecky adventure in HPlandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2019
"A Christmas Affair" is the story of Cathy and Dominic.
A sweet Christmas novella, in which a secretary who has been in love with her boss forever decides to resign, but realizes he is not ready to let her go- because apparently he is not as indifferent to her as she thinks she is. They behave like a married couple most of the time- but deeper feelings have never been explored- until they get stranded due to snow in a cottage, do sweet lovemaking, meet a frozen stranger, go off to meet her family and find their HEA.
Low on angst, but high on sugary holiday cheer.
Leaves you feeling warm in your dead, scroogish heart.
Safe
3/5
A sweet Christmas novella, in which a secretary who has been in love with her boss forever decides to resign, but realizes he is not ready to let her go- because apparently he is not as indifferent to her as she thinks she is. They behave like a married couple most of the time- but deeper feelings have never been explored- until they get stranded due to snow in a cottage, do sweet lovemaking, meet a frozen stranger, go off to meet her family and find their HEA.
Low on angst, but high on sugary holiday cheer.
Leaves you feeling warm in your dead, scroogish heart.
Safe
3/5
October 8, 2025
Very nice but a little blah. The hero is not an alpha but I liked him. They both have loved each other in secret and it is really cute. They get stuck in a snowstorm after she gives her notice and heading to spend Christmas with her family. He drives, then she drives and gets the car trapped. They find an empty cabin and have sex and she thinks its a one and done but we find out later he loves her too. His mom wasn't a good mommy and he has issues and it just kind of meandered along. Nothing exciting here folks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2012
Bland and nothing terribly exciting. Readable enough if you have nothing else to read, but definitely not memorable and not a page-turner.
December 26, 2022
Typical 80s/90s Carole Mortimer book with arrogant boss H and feisty secretary h. Instead of instalove, Mortimer was going for 'friends to lovers' but she didn't pull it off quite as well as she could have. There was just something lacking. Chemistry between the leads? I'm not sure... It's pretty clean. The sex scenes all faded to black. The Christmas setting gives Mortimer the opportunity to include a snow storm and the forced proximity trope which, in 2022, seemed unbelievable.
Okay quick read, I guess. 2 1/2
Okay quick read, I guess. 2 1/2
March 11, 2017
I didn't understand why the h&H didn't just legalize their relationship since they already acted like a married couple. That argument after the car accident - me and my DH.
This book was about a PA and her former boss getting stranded in a blizzard, and finding that while they have been working together for five years, they actually may have personal feelings for each other! Well yeah! You acted that way from the beginning of the book.
A pretty mediocre story. Sweet, but not at all memorable. But since it part of the series, I read it - although I jumped ahead with this one. An ok read... if you aren't looking for anything exciting.
This book was about a PA and her former boss getting stranded in a blizzard, and finding that while they have been working together for five years, they actually may have personal feelings for each other! Well yeah! You acted that way from the beginning of the book.
A pretty mediocre story. Sweet, but not at all memorable. But since it part of the series, I read it - although I jumped ahead with this one. An ok read... if you aren't looking for anything exciting.
April 20, 2021
They know each other for 5 (!) years because she is his secretary and he doesn’t see her as the woman she is. Then she quits and suddenly he sees more in her. I don’t find that believable.
It wasn’t love at first sight and he wasn’t burning with love and desire for her. That’s just why I read HP’s: I want the H to be mad for the h. That’s not in this book.
They have sex for the first time. Immediately after the sex he apologizes, gets dressed and he leaves right away. Wtf?
It wasn’t love at first sight and he wasn’t burning with love and desire for her. That’s just why I read HP’s: I want the H to be mad for the h. That’s not in this book.
They have sex for the first time. Immediately after the sex he apologizes, gets dressed and he leaves right away. Wtf?
August 22, 2015
I agree with the reviewer that said that this is a bland read.
November 17, 2020
4 Stars ~ This was a fun read balanced with some moments of angst.
Cathy has been Dominic's PA for five years. To Cathy he was "Impossible. Infuriating. More often than not unappreciative. But she loved him anyway." And after five years of loving him and not a single indication from him that he even noticed she was a woman, she realized the futility of her love was destroying her. So she hands in her notice of immediate resignation.
Dominic is a driven self-made man. His success as a business man holds him in high regard with his peers. Early in the book he comments that he's known as a business man, few see the man. How lonely that sounds. And with the catalyst of Cathy's resignation and a trip with her to the Devon countryside in a snowstorm, he comes to realize just how messed up his life has been.
I love their angsty arguments which finally allow them to see all they've kept hidden from each other. Dominic's journey back to a world of love and needing others, is filled with poignant moments that make their HEA a well deserved one.
Cathy has been Dominic's PA for five years. To Cathy he was "Impossible. Infuriating. More often than not unappreciative. But she loved him anyway." And after five years of loving him and not a single indication from him that he even noticed she was a woman, she realized the futility of her love was destroying her. So she hands in her notice of immediate resignation.
Dominic is a driven self-made man. His success as a business man holds him in high regard with his peers. Early in the book he comments that he's known as a business man, few see the man. How lonely that sounds. And with the catalyst of Cathy's resignation and a trip with her to the Devon countryside in a snowstorm, he comes to realize just how messed up his life has been.
I love their angsty arguments which finally allow them to see all they've kept hidden from each other. Dominic's journey back to a world of love and needing others, is filled with poignant moments that make their HEA a well deserved one.
November 16, 2012
I found this book pretty fun and readable. The hero was pretty much an enigma and that didn't really change. She leaves her workaholic oblivious boss and he discovers he doesn't want to let her go. I wanted to find out that he had loved her all along but I don't think that was really the case so it wasn't as emotionally fulfilling as it could have been.
July 17, 2013
Easy reading and fun.
March 15, 2024
I thought this could have had more love/loving. For a Christmas affair, is was not a very sexy one.(published in 2015). 3☆
July 27, 2025
Ho scoperto che faceva parte di una serie di cui avevo letto due libri su 4 .
Adoro quando le trame mi dicono qualcosa e quando no m esisteva i canali per sapere guarda e' una serie .
Adoro quando le trame mi dicono qualcosa e quando no m esisteva i canali per sapere guarda e' una serie .
hq-to-read
November 13, 2019Hot festive nights with the boss!
Cathy Gilbert has worked hard for her dynamic boss, international tycoon Dominic Reynolds, for five long years—and she’s been in love with him for most of that time! But enough is enough. Cathy’s realised that if Dominic, with his supercool exterior, hasn’t noticed her by now, he never will. And it’s time to move on…
But Dominic’s reaction to the news of her leaving is a complete surprise. And soon Cathy finds herself being swept away in a hot, passionate Christmas affair…
Cathy Gilbert has worked hard for her dynamic boss, international tycoon Dominic Reynolds, for five long years—and she’s been in love with him for most of that time! But enough is enough. Cathy’s realised that if Dominic, with his supercool exterior, hasn’t noticed her by now, he never will. And it’s time to move on…
But Dominic’s reaction to the news of her leaving is a complete surprise. And soon Cathy finds herself being swept away in a hot, passionate Christmas affair…
Read
November 13, 2022somtime we can't understand the hemun behave..in love ..funny way.that the same person can't understand himself.
May 23, 2025
Cathy loved her boss, Dominic Reynolds for five long years, but since she is now 26 years old and wanted a real life of her own away from Dominic who showed her not the slightest sign that he saw her more than his personal "man" assistant, she decided to resign. She didn't imagine that Dominic would take her resignation calmly, yet she was surprised he would go as far as bribe her with shares in his company to keep her! He even insisted on driving her to her family's home for Christmas which he never personally celebrated before! In their way, however, they had an accident and had to stay in a vacation house and wait for rescue and it was there the Cathy's and Dominic's emotions got all loose!
It's not a bad story, but the fact that it was built on a two-days events and that the hero never really saw the heroine a woman for 5 years really gave it away. It was also annoying when the heroine went in search of the hero at the end when he never once opened up to her. He was the wrong party!
It's not a bad story, but the fact that it was built on a two-days events and that the hero never really saw the heroine a woman for 5 years really gave it away. It was also annoying when the heroine went in search of the hero at the end when he never once opened up to her. He was the wrong party!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2025
Heroine has been in love with her boss for five years. On Christmas Eve she quits her job because she realizes it's hopeless. Clueless boss is frantic about losing her and offers to drive her to her family Christmas gathering in a snowstorm.
They crash and end up snowbound in a holiday cottage. They have sex the first night and then the hero rescues a woman who had run away from her family and they have her (and hero's smoldering temper) in the cottage for the second night.
Heroine realizes hero has a backstory (his mother also left the family at Christmas - but his parents died while returning). He and the author never really show why the heroine is the key to filling the hole in his heart.
By New Year's H/h are together, but we (and heroine) never really get to know the hero.
Kind of a strange tone to the whole thing, although it does move along.
They crash and end up snowbound in a holiday cottage. They have sex the first night and then the hero rescues a woman who had run away from her family and they have her (and hero's smoldering temper) in the cottage for the second night.
Heroine realizes hero has a backstory (his mother also left the family at Christmas - but his parents died while returning). He and the author never really show why the heroine is the key to filling the hole in his heart.
By New Year's H/h are together, but we (and heroine) never really get to know the hero.
Kind of a strange tone to the whole thing, although it does move along.
Want to read
March 7, 2021Ευσεβείς πόθοι - Carole Mortimer, Συλλογή , 1167
June 1, 2025
My biggest concern with the storyline is the heorine was in love with the hero but constantly talks how they don’t know each other because he’s so closed off.
February 27, 2020
Lovely
December 8, 2018
This is the first book I've read where the hero isn't a man whore that his secretary has fallen hopelessly in love with. Instead he's a bit of a money hoarder who doesn't really have any friends and would never hit on his EA. And that my friends is the problem. How dare he just treat her like a person who works for him instead of a woman seething with passion and ready to jump his bones?!?!? The rest of the book is standard HQN winter book tropes including driving in a wintee storm despite the forecast, driving the car into a snow bank, finding shelter in an abandoned house, and finally giving way to their emotions and bodies.
I'm rating it 3 stars mainly because I love the winter tropes. The heroine in this story is classic Mortimer with all the insecurities and paranoia is a major turnoff for me.
I'm rating it 3 stars mainly because I love the winter tropes. The heroine in this story is classic Mortimer with all the insecurities and paranoia is a major turnoff for me.
June 9, 2019
It is a sweet story but not overly so. Cathy quits her job after five years of loving her boss, Dominic, from afar. However when it appears she given up, Dominic isn't. They are stranded on the way to Cathy's family and seem to get closer but then another stranded traveller brings all of Dominic's bad memories to the front. When he is confronted with other reality than what he believed to be true, Dominic is lost. He tries to explain to Cathy before leaving her at her family's but is not very clear as he tells her he is confused but will see her again. A week later with David's encouragement, Cathy goes to Dominic. Dominic reveals his past to her and asks her to marry him. Cathy eagerly agrees having already confessed her love. Their marriage is successful and happy as shown in the epilogue.
September 10, 2016
Scrooge falls in love! Predictable but easy reading
December 6, 2019
Cathy has worked as Dominic's PA for five years and loved him for everyone of those years. Now it is Christmas Eve and she realizes he will never love her back.
January 6, 2015
Otra que había leído hace mucho tiempo y que me había gustado mucho; sigue haciéndolo.
January 14, 2016
Emotionally damaged hero finds love at Christmas. Heroine is his PA and has loved him since she first met him five years earlier.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews