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Undercover Affair
First she was Max MacKenzie's temporary assistant on his promotional tour of New Zealand; now she was volunteering to be his temporary fiancee! But Sally was happy to go along with Max's plans for her because they fell in so neatly with her own ambitions for her future. Not that she had romance in mind, however attractive she found her employer. For, if Max ever found out the secret she was hiding, he would never forgive her. In any case, wasn't Max far too interested in his ex-fiancee to care about Sally?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Lilian Peake
132 books69 followersLilian Margaret Peake was born on 25 May 1924 in London, England, UK. During the World War II, she moved to the countryside.
Her early ambition was to be a journalist, and she ended up working at various newspapers and magazines around England. She also married and started a family, and eventually she decided start to writing romance novels. She wrote over 65 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1971 to 1996 as Lilian Peake.
Lilian passed away in 27 May 1997.
Her early ambition was to be a journalist, and she ended up working at various newspapers and magazines around England. She also married and started a family, and eventually she decided start to writing romance novels. She wrote over 65 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1971 to 1996 as Lilian Peake.
Lilian passed away in 27 May 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 11, 2017
Re Undercover Affair - Lilian Peake makes one of her four remaining HP outings with this h, tweely named Sally Dearlove, which gives rise to endless comments about her name and the H, a noted crime fiction author who seems to be more popular and chased after than Stephen King.
The two of them meet when the h, who chucked her job as a teacher to travel to New Zealand, trips over a rampaging toddler and dumps her juice all over the H. As the h has struggled financially for years to support her seriously ill father and her mother who just fell apart, this is the h's big chance to have the youthful gadabout fling that finances and family responsibilities denied her up to now.
We also learn that the h wants to be a bona-fide newspaper reporter, and her uncle is the Chairman of a big daily newspaper. She got an interview based on nepotism, but the editor refused to hire her - even tho she claimed she could get an interview with the famous but supposedly elusive H.
When the h first trips over the H, she doesn't recognize him as the famous author, not until he goes with her to help her find her lost carry-on bag and a fan club member recognizes him. He tells the fangirl that the h is his fiance and then a reporter shows up, so the H continues telling everyone that the h is soon to be his new bride.
The h goes along with it cause she feels sorry the poor H is being hounded by endless lovely women, just waiting to smother him with their womanly charms. Then she finds that all her money was taken by whomever turned her lost bag in. The h has a little weepy moment all over the H, and he offers her a paying job in New Zealand as his assistant. He is traveling to NZ too, doing a promotional book tour.
The h thinks this is her big chance to be a reporter, so she calls up the editor she interviewed with and tells him about the H. The editor refuses to give her a shot still, so the h accepts the H's offer of employment while she is gadding about NZ with him.
Once they get to NZ, another reporter shows up to interview the H and gets a picture of the H kissing the h - so now it is all over England and NZ and probably Australia that the h and H are engaged to marry. The difficulty for the h is that once her 'engagement' news hit the British tabloids, the editor who told her she couldn't have job tracked her down to her hotel and offered her one.
The h is mighty tempted by the job offer and the H wants to continue the engagement sham because the local press is also making a big to do about a previous broken engagement the H had going with a model type. The h tries writing a few puff pieces on how wonderful the H is, but his roofie kisses are seriously affecting her inner core of steel and turning it into a warm, melty puddle.
She offers to just leave and let the H make a big joke out of things, but she is now in love with the H, so she hopes he will keep the fiancee/assistant sham going. The H thinks about it and because he kinda feels bad for her poverty and deprived life, he agrees to carry on with the h and takes her out to buy a price engagement ring "prop".
The h foolishly turns her little puff pieces into the editor in England and so now the h is having torrents of guilt that she is spying on her employer and fantasizing that she will be his wife. Since this h prides herself on her logic and proper behavior, it is kinda funny to see her trying to justify things. Then the H has a melt down and tries to break a press photographer's camera when he follows the H and h around. The H really hates gossip journalists and the h is starting to have even more doubts about her little spying articles.
Then the H finds one of the articles and the h lies and says it was teaching exercise. She hurriedly sends off a fax to England, telling the editor that she will no longer be sending or writing anything about the H as she is massively in love with him. The H is furious over the h's writing at first, but he seems to buy her explanation about it being an intellectual exercise and things carry on with the tour, NZ travelogue and going to visit the H's NZ relatives.
The H wants to keep the engagement pretense going even around his grandfather and aunt, they seem to compare the h to the H's last fiancee and seem to find her a better fit. The H meanwhile, is getting more and more amorous and just a touch violent with his roofie kisses, he tells the h that if she ever betrays him, he will strangle her and enforces that with a punishing kiss.
The h thrills to the manly Alpha authority of the H, and participates in his punishing roofie kisses whole-heartedly, leading to a boudoir bouncing moment of lurve club mojo passion and the H determines that the h has only been grooming unicorns up until now. He is very proud of himself.
Then the h's seekrit writings for the British paper come to light and the H is furious. He insists that the h is a tarty using golddigger and the h tries to explain that she wrote and told the editor she was not doing any more articles, but the H is intent on his punishing revenge and we get violent kissing and rough handling that the h cheerfully responds to.
(I must admit, when Sandra Marton or Susan Napier did their little HP S/m contribution, I got really squicked out as the h's seem to be being tortured. But when LP does it, her h's are so cheerfully happy and excited about the violence and the bruises that they would flaunt all over if it wouldn't be publicly indecent - her h's are really getting their grove on.
You just know if LP was writing today she would totally specialize in the happy bratty sub trope and her h's always seem to have such a great time with it. It is when LP leaves out the S/m vibe that you have to worry about the HEA - cause that means her H just isn't that into the h.)
So now we have the h revealed as a little spying stinker and the H is determined to punish her for her transgressions and the h is having a great time receiving her punishments. Then the H brings the daughter of his former fiancee for the h to watch over and while the former fiance is the typical catty LP OW who just has to make nasty remarks. - the h is jealous but still lurving the punishing kisses and the little plot moppet is cute.
The OW leaves the daughter with the H and h for a bit and wanders off and the H and h continue to torment each other and the H continues to leave the h's treasured bruises. Eventually the OW comes back while the H is off on research and kicks the h out. The h goes and tries to get a copy of her letter of resignation from the editor, but he lies and says he never got it.
The h mopes around after taking over the lease of her former sorta but not really boyfriend's apartment and she notices the H is doing a book signing nearby. The h goes to her Chairman of the paper Uncle and asks him to make the editor give the resignation letter to her - the Editor had been writing made up stories about the H but using the h's name to do it. The h writes the H a note and slips it into a book for the H to sign at the book event. He reads the note, notices the h and chases off after her.
He manhandles her into taxi and takes her home to her flat where they have a big battle and some punishments before declaring true love forever. The h explains about her Chairman Uncle and the ex boyfriend and shows the H her official resignation letter dated all those weeks ago. The H explains that he had been trying to find her ever since she left. He claims that no matter what the OW implied, the plot moppet isn't his. In fact the OW cheated on him and got preggers with the plot moppet and then dumped the H when he wouldn't marry her anyway.
The H offered to watch the plot moppet while the OW tried a relationship with the plot moppet's real father, but in typical LP style he never explains why the OW felt she had to run the h off and tell the h that the girl was his or that they were back together- we only get a vague reference to jealousy. The h doesn't really care anyways, cause the H is leaving bruises and promising to dedicate his next novel to her for the big, smack happy HEA.
This one is funny in a very perverse sort of way. I laughed myself silly at the sheer whacktastic and cheerful demeanor of the punished h. Overall this isn't the best HPlandia outing ever, but if you have a bit of a weird streak, there is quite a bit to laugh at in it.
The two of them meet when the h, who chucked her job as a teacher to travel to New Zealand, trips over a rampaging toddler and dumps her juice all over the H. As the h has struggled financially for years to support her seriously ill father and her mother who just fell apart, this is the h's big chance to have the youthful gadabout fling that finances and family responsibilities denied her up to now.
We also learn that the h wants to be a bona-fide newspaper reporter, and her uncle is the Chairman of a big daily newspaper. She got an interview based on nepotism, but the editor refused to hire her - even tho she claimed she could get an interview with the famous but supposedly elusive H.
When the h first trips over the H, she doesn't recognize him as the famous author, not until he goes with her to help her find her lost carry-on bag and a fan club member recognizes him. He tells the fangirl that the h is his fiance and then a reporter shows up, so the H continues telling everyone that the h is soon to be his new bride.
The h goes along with it cause she feels sorry the poor H is being hounded by endless lovely women, just waiting to smother him with their womanly charms. Then she finds that all her money was taken by whomever turned her lost bag in. The h has a little weepy moment all over the H, and he offers her a paying job in New Zealand as his assistant. He is traveling to NZ too, doing a promotional book tour.
The h thinks this is her big chance to be a reporter, so she calls up the editor she interviewed with and tells him about the H. The editor refuses to give her a shot still, so the h accepts the H's offer of employment while she is gadding about NZ with him.
Once they get to NZ, another reporter shows up to interview the H and gets a picture of the H kissing the h - so now it is all over England and NZ and probably Australia that the h and H are engaged to marry. The difficulty for the h is that once her 'engagement' news hit the British tabloids, the editor who told her she couldn't have job tracked her down to her hotel and offered her one.
The h is mighty tempted by the job offer and the H wants to continue the engagement sham because the local press is also making a big to do about a previous broken engagement the H had going with a model type. The h tries writing a few puff pieces on how wonderful the H is, but his roofie kisses are seriously affecting her inner core of steel and turning it into a warm, melty puddle.
She offers to just leave and let the H make a big joke out of things, but she is now in love with the H, so she hopes he will keep the fiancee/assistant sham going. The H thinks about it and because he kinda feels bad for her poverty and deprived life, he agrees to carry on with the h and takes her out to buy a price engagement ring "prop".
The h foolishly turns her little puff pieces into the editor in England and so now the h is having torrents of guilt that she is spying on her employer and fantasizing that she will be his wife. Since this h prides herself on her logic and proper behavior, it is kinda funny to see her trying to justify things. Then the H has a melt down and tries to break a press photographer's camera when he follows the H and h around. The H really hates gossip journalists and the h is starting to have even more doubts about her little spying articles.
Then the H finds one of the articles and the h lies and says it was teaching exercise. She hurriedly sends off a fax to England, telling the editor that she will no longer be sending or writing anything about the H as she is massively in love with him. The H is furious over the h's writing at first, but he seems to buy her explanation about it being an intellectual exercise and things carry on with the tour, NZ travelogue and going to visit the H's NZ relatives.
The H wants to keep the engagement pretense going even around his grandfather and aunt, they seem to compare the h to the H's last fiancee and seem to find her a better fit. The H meanwhile, is getting more and more amorous and just a touch violent with his roofie kisses, he tells the h that if she ever betrays him, he will strangle her and enforces that with a punishing kiss.
The h thrills to the manly Alpha authority of the H, and participates in his punishing roofie kisses whole-heartedly, leading to a boudoir bouncing moment of lurve club mojo passion and the H determines that the h has only been grooming unicorns up until now. He is very proud of himself.
Then the h's seekrit writings for the British paper come to light and the H is furious. He insists that the h is a tarty using golddigger and the h tries to explain that she wrote and told the editor she was not doing any more articles, but the H is intent on his punishing revenge and we get violent kissing and rough handling that the h cheerfully responds to.
(I must admit, when Sandra Marton or Susan Napier did their little HP S/m contribution, I got really squicked out as the h's seem to be being tortured. But when LP does it, her h's are so cheerfully happy and excited about the violence and the bruises that they would flaunt all over if it wouldn't be publicly indecent - her h's are really getting their grove on.
You just know if LP was writing today she would totally specialize in the happy bratty sub trope and her h's always seem to have such a great time with it. It is when LP leaves out the S/m vibe that you have to worry about the HEA - cause that means her H just isn't that into the h.)
So now we have the h revealed as a little spying stinker and the H is determined to punish her for her transgressions and the h is having a great time receiving her punishments. Then the H brings the daughter of his former fiancee for the h to watch over and while the former fiance is the typical catty LP OW who just has to make nasty remarks. - the h is jealous but still lurving the punishing kisses and the little plot moppet is cute.
The OW leaves the daughter with the H and h for a bit and wanders off and the H and h continue to torment each other and the H continues to leave the h's treasured bruises. Eventually the OW comes back while the H is off on research and kicks the h out. The h goes and tries to get a copy of her letter of resignation from the editor, but he lies and says he never got it.
The h mopes around after taking over the lease of her former sorta but not really boyfriend's apartment and she notices the H is doing a book signing nearby. The h goes to her Chairman of the paper Uncle and asks him to make the editor give the resignation letter to her - the Editor had been writing made up stories about the H but using the h's name to do it. The h writes the H a note and slips it into a book for the H to sign at the book event. He reads the note, notices the h and chases off after her.
He manhandles her into taxi and takes her home to her flat where they have a big battle and some punishments before declaring true love forever. The h explains about her Chairman Uncle and the ex boyfriend and shows the H her official resignation letter dated all those weeks ago. The H explains that he had been trying to find her ever since she left. He claims that no matter what the OW implied, the plot moppet isn't his. In fact the OW cheated on him and got preggers with the plot moppet and then dumped the H when he wouldn't marry her anyway.
The H offered to watch the plot moppet while the OW tried a relationship with the plot moppet's real father, but in typical LP style he never explains why the OW felt she had to run the h off and tell the h that the girl was his or that they were back together- we only get a vague reference to jealousy. The h doesn't really care anyways, cause the H is leaving bruises and promising to dedicate his next novel to her for the big, smack happy HEA.
This one is funny in a very perverse sort of way. I laughed myself silly at the sheer whacktastic and cheerful demeanor of the punished h. Overall this isn't the best HPlandia outing ever, but if you have a bit of a weird streak, there is quite a bit to laugh at in it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 31, 2025So, I'm still reading, but had to make a quick midway review (also to remind me to come back bc this one has only 4 reviews and not a lot of ratings).
Impressions so far:
1. This is a fun book overall.
2. LOVE the hero/MMC. He's just a sweet, compassionate guy regardless of his reputation as angry; he's also not entirely free from naivete, because really, their meetcute seemed SO engineered. It speaks to his true cinnamon roll personality that he believed the FMC that it wasn't a setup, even though it's super obvious that this is going to play into their Big Bad Conflict at a later point.
3. Heroine/FMC? She's cute and sweet and everything, BUT. I have zero sympathy for her, because there is absolutely zero excuse for her agreeing at any point after meeting the MMC, to betraying his privacy and trust. She deserves everything that's coming, and all her angst and anxiety she's having right now that MMC's going to find out.
4. Also, h/FMC is sooooo not cut out for a journalism career. Or at least not the kind of journalism career she's going after in the book. She's way too soft and principled. (not to say all journalists are UNprincipled, at ALL, but just, nope that is so not the career for her.)
5. She's also giving TSTL at this point by A. writing her article about MMC WHILE typing up his notes, and B. Not allowing her anxiety to make her extra careful to not only NOT leave her articles lying around the room, but, you know, to not leave them mixed in with the MMC's notes and then give them to him, and then break into his hotel room and then get caught red-handed trying to steal them back!!!!!
6. Negative one point for the MMC threatening to throttle her if she ever betrays or cheats on him.
7. But really though, she deserves some retribution for what she did, and for not even at this point coming clean.
To be continued...
Impressions so far:
1. This is a fun book overall.
2. LOVE the hero/MMC. He's just a sweet, compassionate guy regardless of his reputation as angry; he's also not entirely free from naivete, because really, their meetcute seemed SO engineered. It speaks to his true cinnamon roll personality that he believed the FMC that it wasn't a setup, even though it's super obvious that this is going to play into their Big Bad Conflict at a later point.
3. Heroine/FMC? She's cute and sweet and everything, BUT. I have zero sympathy for her, because there is absolutely zero excuse for her agreeing at any point after meeting the MMC, to betraying his privacy and trust. She deserves everything that's coming, and all her angst and anxiety she's having right now that MMC's going to find out.
4. Also, h/FMC is sooooo not cut out for a journalism career. Or at least not the kind of journalism career she's going after in the book. She's way too soft and principled. (not to say all journalists are UNprincipled, at ALL, but just, nope that is so not the career for her.)
5. She's also giving TSTL at this point by A. writing her article about MMC WHILE typing up his notes, and B. Not allowing her anxiety to make her extra careful to not only NOT leave her articles lying around the room, but, you know, to not leave them mixed in with the MMC's notes and then give them to him, and then break into his hotel room and then get caught red-handed trying to steal them back!!!!!
6. Negative one point for the MMC threatening to throttle her if she ever betrays or cheats on him.
7. But really though, she deserves some retribution for what she did, and for not even at this point coming clean.
To be continued...
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
November 12, 2022First she was Max MacKenzie's temporary assistant on his promotional tour of New Zealand; now she was volunteering to be his temporary fiancee! But Sally was happy to go along with Max's plans for her because they fell in so neatly with her own ambitions for her future. Not that she had romance in mind, however attractive she found her employer. For, if Max ever found out the secret she was hiding, he would never forgive her. In any case, wasn't Max far too interested in his ex-fiancee to care about Sally?
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June 30, 2013-كذبـة اسمـها الحب :
ليليان بيك
عندما عرض ديريك وينترتون الكاتب الشهير على سالي ان تصبح خطيبته مؤقتا بهدف ابعاد الصحافه والمعجبات لم يكن يعلم انه ادخل حية إلى جنته ! فقد كانت هذه فرصه سالي الذهبيه كي تسرق اسراره وتبيعها للصحيفه التي تعمل فيها على كل حال ما هم سالي ان تصبح جاسوسه مادام هذا سيوصلها الى النجاح والشهرة ولكن عقبه وقفت في طريقها : قلبها فقد احبت ديريك واكتشفت ذلك بعد فوات الاوان بعد ان فضح ديريك خيانتها له!.
ليليان بيك
عندما عرض ديريك وينترتون الكاتب الشهير على سالي ان تصبح خطيبته مؤقتا بهدف ابعاد الصحافه والمعجبات لم يكن يعلم انه ادخل حية إلى جنته ! فقد كانت هذه فرصه سالي الذهبيه كي تسرق اسراره وتبيعها للصحيفه التي تعمل فيها على كل حال ما هم سالي ان تصبح جاسوسه مادام هذا سيوصلها الى النجاح والشهرة ولكن عقبه وقفت في طريقها : قلبها فقد احبت ديريك واكتشفت ذلك بعد فوات الاوان بعد ان فضح ديريك خيانتها له!.
December 17, 2017
203- كذبـة اسمـها الحب :
روايات احلام
عندما عرض ديريك وينترتون الكاتب الشهير على سالي ان تصبح خطيبته مؤقتا بهدف ابعاد الصحافه والمعجبات لم يكن يعلم انه ادخل حية إلى جنته ! فقد كانت هذه فرصه سالي الذهبيه كي تسرق اسراره وتبيعها للصحيفه التي تعمل فيها على كل حال ما هم سالي ان تصبح جاسوسه مادام هذا سيوصلها الى النجاح والشهرة ولكن عقبه وقفت في طريقها : قلبها فقد احبت ديريك واكتشفت ذلك بعد فوات الاوان بعد ان فضح ديريك خيانتها له!.
روايات احلام
عندما عرض ديريك وينترتون الكاتب الشهير على سالي ان تصبح خطيبته مؤقتا بهدف ابعاد الصحافه والمعجبات لم يكن يعلم انه ادخل حية إلى جنته ! فقد كانت هذه فرصه سالي الذهبيه كي تسرق اسراره وتبيعها للصحيفه التي تعمل فيها على كل حال ما هم سالي ان تصبح جاسوسه مادام هذا سيوصلها الى النجاح والشهرة ولكن عقبه وقفت في طريقها : قلبها فقد احبت ديريك واكتشفت ذلك بعد فوات الاوان بعد ان فضح ديريك خيانتها له!.
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