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His Secretary's Nine-Month Notice
There’s a billionaire on her doorstep…
Ready to secure his legacy!
As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!
Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!
Ready to secure his legacy!
As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!
Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2020
195 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Cathy Williams
1,343 books203 followersCathy Williams, born in Trinidad and Tobago, is a British author who has written romance novels for Mills & Boon since 1990. She lives in Chiswick, London, with her three daughters and continues to craft engaging, heartfelt love stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 27, 2020
ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.
Rating 3.5
Review to come.
Rating 3.5
Review to come.
August 30, 2024
So the pregnancy doesn't happen until the 50% mark. What happens prior to that? The heroine hands in her resignation and the hero shows up on her doorstep, a whiny man baby because she has the audacity to resign and she never told him anything about her personal life and he's shocked that she's the daughter of a famous rock star. Insert eye roll here. It's pretty boring and flat and did I mention the hero is a whiny man baby? And of course she's a virgin with a magic who-ha.
It's readable. I mean, I inhaled this book while sitting on an airplane and I kept turning the pages, but it's oddly flat. All the relationship building takes place off page, along with any insight into the heroine's relationship with her father. And don't get me started on the hero finally noticing the heroine once she's out of her prim office attire and dressed like a rock star up on stage with her dad. Insert another eye roll.
I mean, she was fine - even if she was a virgin with magic who-ha. But he was a whiny man baby and with no meaningful relationship building on page, I just didn't care all that much about what happened to these two characters.
It's readable. I mean, I inhaled this book while sitting on an airplane and I kept turning the pages, but it's oddly flat. All the relationship building takes place off page, along with any insight into the heroine's relationship with her father. And don't get me started on the hero finally noticing the heroine once she's out of her prim office attire and dressed like a rock star up on stage with her dad. Insert another eye roll.
I mean, she was fine - even if she was a virgin with magic who-ha. But he was a whiny man baby and with no meaningful relationship building on page, I just didn't care all that much about what happened to these two characters.
May 23, 2020
I liked this one!!! It was definitely a slow burn harlequin presents that did a different approach from all the shot gun weddings we see in other surprise pregnancy harlequins.
April 5, 2020
The pregnancy didn't happen until later in the book. It was kind of boring. Safety: virgin heroine, playboy hero.
Read
September 26, 2020-10 sterren
April 10, 2020
So so.
February 4, 2020
Matt is a force of nature, ‘well, at least we’ve dropped the sir. That’s a start. Let me in. I need something strong to drink.’ The man doesn't waste any time, 'Matt smiled, a slow, curling smile that made her pulse race. ‘I’ll let them know that we’ll only need one room, shall I?’ I liked this book, I liked Matt.
November 13, 2020
2.5 stars
Just OK - a bit boring and “stretched” - I appreciated the H’s character, that had bits of realism in his reaction
Just OK - a bit boring and “stretched” - I appreciated the H’s character, that had bits of realism in his reaction
Read
March 27, 2022Heat Factor: She’s a virgin with a magic vagina, folks
Character Chemistry: I’m not at all convinced because I had no insight into their relationship
Plot: Not what you’d expect
Overall: I was bored.
Please look at the title of this book. Please look at the cover of this book. Please look at the description I had when I requested this book:
"Description
"There’s a billionaire on her doorstep…
"Ready to secure his legacy!
"As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!
"Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!"
It looks like a secret baby book, right? RIGHT?!
It. Is. Not.
At best, it is an accidental pregnancy book. But the protagonists don’t even have sex until the 50% mark, so for the first half of the story I was wondering what exactly it was that I’d gotten myself into. If I’m honest…. I was bored.
The whole “marketing this book as a secret baby story” was only one of the interesting decisions about the composition of this novel. It’s written in a remarkably detached 3rd person that bypassed all of the relationship development in a matter of paragraphs, focusing instead on a series of conversations associated with Resignation, Sex, Pregnancy Announcement, Marriage Proposal, Resolution. I’m sure length had a bit to do with the development choices, but in that case I’d say just scrap the whole first half of the book, because it was not interesting at all, and skip to the part that is being marketed, which was much more emotionally interesting. But I didn’t get to decide, so here we are.
Here’s the low down:
Violet is the single, friendless, virgin assistant to a...man (we’ll deal with him separately). She thinks this man is outrageously hot and sexy, but he’s her boss and she is supremely professional. She resigns from her job not because she is pregnant from a scandalous night of illicit lovemaking with her boss, but because her widowed father in Australia is ill and she needs to fly halfway around the world to take care of him. Six months later, she’s living her musician dream life, wearing sexy rocker clothes instead of suits, and she ends up in bed with her former boss and so on.
Matt is a billionaire tech CEO with no patience and a history with busty blonde women that’s miles long. He’s finally found a no-nonsense assistant who’s smart enough to follow his business and patient enough to deal with his nonsense. Then she quits on him and shows him a side that he never expected to see, so naturally when he has to go Down Under for business, he has to see her. And he pursues her. And sleeps with her. And goes back to London to live as he’s always done. Of course, love will never be a part of his life plan because his parents married as an alliance of wealth and estate, and he grew up with no love in his life.
Aside from the bizarre decision to brush over all of the actual relationship development (seriously, it’s like, “they went on walks together, ate dinner together, she helped him whip the Australian businesses into shape…”), I couldn’t figure out why Williams opted to give Violet the background she did. Ostensibly, Violet is reserved and prim and proper because after her mother died she was responsible for taking care of her irresponsible rocker dad. As the adult in the relationship, she didn’t do the wild things that other young people would do. Okay but...she’s on tour with her rocker dad. Even if she did feel like she needed to be the adult in the relationship, I don’t see how she didn’t do some wild stuff simply by virtue of the environment she grew up in. Or make some weird friendships with the adults she was constantly surrounded by.
Instead, she’s independently wealthy but she becomes a personal assistant at the age of 20, going through three separate bosses by the time she resigns Matt’s employ at 26.
And then she goes to Australia to take care of her dad and make a go of it with her music, and she’s wearing a crop top and motorcycle boots with tights and cutoff shorts. People can have multiple sides and not show them all the time but that is a serious 180, especially considering how shy and reserved she is in her own head.
But that’s just the “what did I even get myself into?” first half of the book. Then Violet gets back to London to tell Matt she’s pregnant, at which point Matt is the one who appears to have the personality transplant. As we would expect (generic verisimilitude, y’all), he wants to be in the baby’s life, and he wants to be married to his baby momma.
And Violet really likes to be taken care of and maybe Matt is more reliable than he at first appeared and, and, and…
If the book had started at the 50% point and there had been, like, any emotional relationship development in the story, I would have been pleasantly surprised by this book. But there wasn’t, so it wasn’t particularly interesting. Between magical virgin vaginas and personality transplants, the story was filled with predictable twaddle. And the sex writing ventured into old school purple prose territory, but with eyebrow-raising results I’m not sure Williams intended.
“...he pushed apart her legs and gently inserted his bigness, nudging his entry gradually.”
His bigness, folks.
WUT.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.
This review is also available at The Smut Report.
Character Chemistry: I’m not at all convinced because I had no insight into their relationship
Plot: Not what you’d expect
Overall: I was bored.
Please look at the title of this book. Please look at the cover of this book. Please look at the description I had when I requested this book:
"Description
"There’s a billionaire on her doorstep…
"Ready to secure his legacy!
"As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!
"Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!"
It looks like a secret baby book, right? RIGHT?!
It. Is. Not.
At best, it is an accidental pregnancy book. But the protagonists don’t even have sex until the 50% mark, so for the first half of the story I was wondering what exactly it was that I’d gotten myself into. If I’m honest…. I was bored.
The whole “marketing this book as a secret baby story” was only one of the interesting decisions about the composition of this novel. It’s written in a remarkably detached 3rd person that bypassed all of the relationship development in a matter of paragraphs, focusing instead on a series of conversations associated with Resignation, Sex, Pregnancy Announcement, Marriage Proposal, Resolution. I’m sure length had a bit to do with the development choices, but in that case I’d say just scrap the whole first half of the book, because it was not interesting at all, and skip to the part that is being marketed, which was much more emotionally interesting. But I didn’t get to decide, so here we are.
Here’s the low down:
Violet is the single, friendless, virgin assistant to a...man (we’ll deal with him separately). She thinks this man is outrageously hot and sexy, but he’s her boss and she is supremely professional. She resigns from her job not because she is pregnant from a scandalous night of illicit lovemaking with her boss, but because her widowed father in Australia is ill and she needs to fly halfway around the world to take care of him. Six months later, she’s living her musician dream life, wearing sexy rocker clothes instead of suits, and she ends up in bed with her former boss and so on.
Matt is a billionaire tech CEO with no patience and a history with busty blonde women that’s miles long. He’s finally found a no-nonsense assistant who’s smart enough to follow his business and patient enough to deal with his nonsense. Then she quits on him and shows him a side that he never expected to see, so naturally when he has to go Down Under for business, he has to see her. And he pursues her. And sleeps with her. And goes back to London to live as he’s always done. Of course, love will never be a part of his life plan because his parents married as an alliance of wealth and estate, and he grew up with no love in his life.
Aside from the bizarre decision to brush over all of the actual relationship development (seriously, it’s like, “they went on walks together, ate dinner together, she helped him whip the Australian businesses into shape…”), I couldn’t figure out why Williams opted to give Violet the background she did. Ostensibly, Violet is reserved and prim and proper because after her mother died she was responsible for taking care of her irresponsible rocker dad. As the adult in the relationship, she didn’t do the wild things that other young people would do. Okay but...she’s on tour with her rocker dad. Even if she did feel like she needed to be the adult in the relationship, I don’t see how she didn’t do some wild stuff simply by virtue of the environment she grew up in. Or make some weird friendships with the adults she was constantly surrounded by.
Instead, she’s independently wealthy but she becomes a personal assistant at the age of 20, going through three separate bosses by the time she resigns Matt’s employ at 26.
And then she goes to Australia to take care of her dad and make a go of it with her music, and she’s wearing a crop top and motorcycle boots with tights and cutoff shorts. People can have multiple sides and not show them all the time but that is a serious 180, especially considering how shy and reserved she is in her own head.
But that’s just the “what did I even get myself into?” first half of the book. Then Violet gets back to London to tell Matt she’s pregnant, at which point Matt is the one who appears to have the personality transplant. As we would expect (generic verisimilitude, y’all), he wants to be in the baby’s life, and he wants to be married to his baby momma.
And Violet really likes to be taken care of and maybe Matt is more reliable than he at first appeared and, and, and…
If the book had started at the 50% point and there had been, like, any emotional relationship development in the story, I would have been pleasantly surprised by this book. But there wasn’t, so it wasn’t particularly interesting. Between magical virgin vaginas and personality transplants, the story was filled with predictable twaddle. And the sex writing ventured into old school purple prose territory, but with eyebrow-raising results I’m not sure Williams intended.
“...he pushed apart her legs and gently inserted his bigness, nudging his entry gradually.”
His bigness, folks.
WUT.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.
This review is also available at The Smut Report.
September 30, 2020
While Matt is only slightly more entertaining than the usual block of wood with commitment issues masquerading as a Harlequin Presents billionaire, Violet has an actual personality and the two of them have an actual plausible working relationship and actual plausible issues to work through. The ending is rushed and as such ridiculous but the book itself is quite pleasant.
March 24, 2020
I usually really enjoy this trope of pregnant secretary, but for some reason, I couldn't at all connect to the characters as much. I like both strong and independent heroines as well as shy heroines. In this case, it seemed as if the author couldn't decide between what type of character she wanted Matt and Violet to have which led to a lot of confusion and contradictions. In the beginning, we see that Violet has feelings for her boss but there's never an explanation of why. She's very composed and private about everything but immediately tells him about her background as a rock star's daughter when pushed. As far as Matt is concerned, one minute he is a ruthless CEO the next he's acting like a diva ranting and angry because Violet didn't confide her personal life to him...even though he never did the same for her either? As much as I tried I couldn't see the basis of their relationship. I did enjoy the love scenes and Matt's love confession which was nice.
March 19, 2022
Had to DNF at the first sex scene (47% in). The language was just too weird. I'd struggled through the first half any way, finding it pretty slow & boring. Maybe I'll try it another time.
Update
I finished it & wish I hadn't. It really didn't improve & I skimmed more than I read.
Update
I finished it & wish I hadn't. It really didn't improve & I skimmed more than I read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2025
It was ok, but I wouldn't want to re-read it.
Their connection was ok, but I doubt that they would have ended up together if she wasn't pregnant. He may have felt differently about her than other women he had been with, but from his thoughts when she reappeared (to tell him about pregnancy) he wasn't about to pursue anything with her and was wary about her showing up and nervous about her wanting a relationship. It wasn't even clear if he had been celibate since he started being attracted to her.
I didn't love that they spent 2 and half years working together and he never really noticed her until he saw her dressed up like a Rockstar. He slept with countless other women during the 2 and half years she worked for him and she had to send all those women breakup flowers, all while pining after him.
Hero was a good guy and was never cruel or unreasonable, just messed up a bit from his childhood. Heroine was nice as well, she wasn't annoying, bitchy and didn't start unnecessary fights with hero. P.
Their connection was ok, but I doubt that they would have ended up together if she wasn't pregnant. He may have felt differently about her than other women he had been with, but from his thoughts when she reappeared (to tell him about pregnancy) he wasn't about to pursue anything with her and was wary about her showing up and nervous about her wanting a relationship. It wasn't even clear if he had been celibate since he started being attracted to her.
I didn't love that they spent 2 and half years working together and he never really noticed her until he saw her dressed up like a Rockstar. He slept with countless other women during the 2 and half years she worked for him and she had to send all those women breakup flowers, all while pining after him.
Hero was a good guy and was never cruel or unreasonable, just messed up a bit from his childhood. Heroine was nice as well, she wasn't annoying, bitchy and didn't start unnecessary fights with hero. P.
May 2, 2020
Who are Violet and Matt? What do they each do for a living? What happens after Violet sends on email to Matt on a Sunday? What happens the next day at work? Why does Violet go from England to Australia? What do we learn about Violet's past? What happens when Matt surprises her with a visit to Australia? Why is he there? What happens that night at the venue? How does that change things? What is agreed upon? When Violet returns for a visit to London, what happens? Read and see!
RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT from Netgalley FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.
RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT from Netgalley FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.
April 14, 2020
This is yet another cliched book about a virginal secretary who falls pregnant by her ex-boss. For once the h quits and leaves to take care of her father in Australia and they meet up for a week and have a fling. There is a discussion of marriage once she informs him of her pregnancy and they end up living together before jumping to marriage. There is a super minor misunderstanding about flowers (as the h used to order flowers for ex girlfriends as a parting gift) and then they reconcile and marry. Not a lot of chemistry, plot, character growth or interesting plot twists.
hq-to-read
June 6, 2020There’s a billionaire on her doorstep…
Ready to secure his legacy!
As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!
Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!
Ready to secure his legacy!
As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!
Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!
November 5, 2020
The title sounded cute, the book didn't match. Plain Jane secretary , Violet gives her notice to Matt, her billionaire boss because she has to leave the country to care for her father. The plain Jane's father is a rock star and once she leaves Matt's company she turns into a wild child. His business reunites them, he's taken with her transformation.
That leads to the bedroom, a surprise pregnancy, a tie to nobility and happily ever after. I have to say they've built a whole genre using millionaires.I wish there were that many around.
That leads to the bedroom, a surprise pregnancy, a tie to nobility and happily ever after. I have to say they've built a whole genre using millionaires.I wish there were that many around.
August 4, 2020
Violet Dunn turns in notice to her boss, Matt Falconer. Matt is not ready for her to leave, but finds he has little choice and she departs the country to care for her famous father.
Matt drops in on Violet, to find her looking nothing like the prim and proper PA. Helping her while her father falls ill, they have a one night fling that brings an unexpected surprise.
Slow. Plodding. Difficult to read and make sense of it all.
Matt drops in on Violet, to find her looking nothing like the prim and proper PA. Helping her while her father falls ill, they have a one night fling that brings an unexpected surprise.
Slow. Plodding. Difficult to read and make sense of it all.
August 15, 2022
It was fine, but the heroes turnaround from 'I'll never love you' to 'I love you' was out of the blue, last moment and based upon nothing, which left me feeling super unsatisfied. I always feel like these authors are so close, if only they cut out half and introspection and paragraphs about what clothes people have on they could dedicate a bit more of their word count to giving some depth to the character's emotional development.
February 14, 2026
short and surface level
This book ends at 90%; if you’re hoping for some good, angsty 3A drama… It’s not there.
Tbh a little unbelievable that someone with the MMCs childhood would so immediately default to marriage. And a little naive of the FMC to just immediately trust this man who’s never had a relationship past 3 months the AND was going to give her the brush off when she showed back up.
This book ends at 90%; if you’re hoping for some good, angsty 3A drama… It’s not there.
Tbh a little unbelievable that someone with the MMCs childhood would so immediately default to marriage. And a little naive of the FMC to just immediately trust this man who’s never had a relationship past 3 months the AND was going to give her the brush off when she showed back up.
May 4, 2020
ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin in exchange for an honest review. I liked this book, I liked Matt. It was well written, easy to follow and you get caught up into the characters. I would enjoy reading another book by this author.
October 15, 2020
Couldn’t put the book down
I read this book half of the night. I just couldn’t put it down. The story is unique though the theme of the book is common: secretary got pregnant by the boss. But the way it was written is unique. I enjoyed it so much.
I read this book half of the night. I just couldn’t put it down. The story is unique though the theme of the book is common: secretary got pregnant by the boss. But the way it was written is unique. I enjoyed it so much.
May 9, 2020
I really enjoyed this story
July 22, 2020
Great book
October 7, 2020
This was an ok story. The plot was fairly basic. The characters were ok. I hadn’t read this author before, so there weren’t any expectations.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book
October 14, 2020
It was ok.
December 7, 2020
Not great. The synopsis and the story seemed like two different things. I got about 75% through and DNF’d.
Read
February 4, 2021Un Legado Sorprendente (Versión)
March 31, 2024
Very good story. First book I’ve read by this author and it was very good. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews