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The Italian's Ruthless Baby Bargain
Nanny Penny Keeling knows working for strong-but-silent Santo De Luca will be a challenge, but she's determined to do it for his little girl's sake. And she's equally determined not to fall for her dangerously attractive boss—she's been burned before….Penny is pretty, charming and utterly beddable—and under the fiery Italian sun Santo seduces her….It was meant to be only an affair. Now Penny has announced she's pregnant….
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Margaret Mayo
348 books46 followersThere is more than one author with this name
For Children's writer see Margaret Mayo
Jessica R. Mayo was born on February 7, 1936 in Staffordshire, England, and has remained within the county all of her life. It was never her ambition to become a writer, although she always loved reading, even to the extent of reading comics out loud to her twin brother when she was eight years old. In fact her only writing experience was in letters to various pen pals around the world. She unfortunately lost touch with them now and often wonders whether any of them have ever discovered that her chatty letters were the forerunner to her writing career.
She left school to become a secretary, taking a break to have her two children, Adrian and Tina. Once they were at school she started back to work and planned to further her career by becoming a bi-lingual secretary. Unfortunately she couldn't speak any languages other than her native English, so she began evening classes. It was at this time that she got the idea for a romantic short story - to this day she doesn't know where the idea came from or why, but she thanks her lucky stars because it kick-started her career. Margaret, and her mother before her, had always read Mills & Boon romances, and to actually be writing one excited her beyond measure.
'My life began at forty' is another one of her favourite sayings - because that is when her first book was published - two and a half years after she first set pen to paper (that first book was written long before she felt confident enough to send it off).Having those books accepted was the happiest and most exciting day of her life. She waltzed her husband around the room and their two children thought they'd gone mad, until they were told the good news.
Her first two submitted novels were accepted simultaneously, and now she has over sixty-five to her credit. When she looks at them lined up on her bookshelf she wonders how she has managed to write all those millions of words. She is a hopeless romantic who loves writing. She falls in love with every one of her heroes and likes to boast about how many 'love affairs' she's had.
Margaret gets so immersed in her writing that one day - before she made writing her full-time career and did most of her writing at the office (!!) - her daughter phoned to ask whether she could come and meet her out of work. Margaret told her not to be silly because it was foggy. Her daughter said 'But it's sunny here.' And when Margaret looked out of the window the sun was shining. Her hero and heroine were lost out in a sea of fog!
Before she became a successful author Margaret was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to strangers. For research purposes she forced herself to speak to people from all walks of life and now says her shyness has gone forever - to a certain degree. She is still happier pouring her thoughts out on paper.
Copied from Fantastic Fiction
For Children's writer see Margaret Mayo
Jessica R. Mayo was born on February 7, 1936 in Staffordshire, England, and has remained within the county all of her life. It was never her ambition to become a writer, although she always loved reading, even to the extent of reading comics out loud to her twin brother when she was eight years old. In fact her only writing experience was in letters to various pen pals around the world. She unfortunately lost touch with them now and often wonders whether any of them have ever discovered that her chatty letters were the forerunner to her writing career.
She left school to become a secretary, taking a break to have her two children, Adrian and Tina. Once they were at school she started back to work and planned to further her career by becoming a bi-lingual secretary. Unfortunately she couldn't speak any languages other than her native English, so she began evening classes. It was at this time that she got the idea for a romantic short story - to this day she doesn't know where the idea came from or why, but she thanks her lucky stars because it kick-started her career. Margaret, and her mother before her, had always read Mills & Boon romances, and to actually be writing one excited her beyond measure.
'My life began at forty' is another one of her favourite sayings - because that is when her first book was published - two and a half years after she first set pen to paper (that first book was written long before she felt confident enough to send it off).Having those books accepted was the happiest and most exciting day of her life. She waltzed her husband around the room and their two children thought they'd gone mad, until they were told the good news.
Her first two submitted novels were accepted simultaneously, and now she has over sixty-five to her credit. When she looks at them lined up on her bookshelf she wonders how she has managed to write all those millions of words. She is a hopeless romantic who loves writing. She falls in love with every one of her heroes and likes to boast about how many 'love affairs' she's had.
Margaret gets so immersed in her writing that one day - before she made writing her full-time career and did most of her writing at the office (!!) - her daughter phoned to ask whether she could come and meet her out of work. Margaret told her not to be silly because it was foggy. Her daughter said 'But it's sunny here.' And when Margaret looked out of the window the sun was shining. Her hero and heroine were lost out in a sea of fog!
Before she became a successful author Margaret was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to strangers. For research purposes she forced herself to speak to people from all walks of life and now says her shyness has gone forever - to a certain degree. She is still happier pouring her thoughts out on paper.
Copied from Fantastic Fiction
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Did Not Finish
September 29, 2012Should be on a writer-can't-be-arsed-to-think-of-an-ending-so-heroine-gets-pregnant shelf, but that's too long.
January 14, 2019
This book would have been much better if it had been about a ruthless baby who put the H through the ringer during negotiations for stuffed animals and increased access to Dora the Explorer. But alas, it was not.
September 5, 2019
Μια φορά και έναν καιρό θυμάμαι μου άρεσαν όσα Άρλεκιν μυθιστορήματα διάβαζα. Τώρα όμως παρατηρώ ότι όσο μεγαλώνω τόσο πιο πολύ απογοητεύομαι από αυτά και μου αρέσουν όλο και λιγότερα. Συνήθως τα προβλήματα υπάρχουν είτε στους ήρωες (συνήθως αυτοί φταίνε), είτε στη πλοκή (ή κάποιο κομμάτι της) και δυστυχώς για αυτό εδώ υπήρχαν και τα δυο.
Ας αρχίσουμε από τους κύριους χαρακτήρες:
~Α****ι κεντρικός ήρωας που νοιάζεται κυρίως για τη δουλειά του και για να ικανοποιήσει τις σεξουαλικές του ορέξεις με την γκουβερνάντα της κόρης του ,δεν σκέφτεται τους άλλους, μια ψυχρός μια ζεστός. Αν δεν του άνοιγε τα μάτια η ηρωίδα πιθανότατα το παιδί του θα είχε μεγαλώσει με ψυχολογικά προβλήματα.
~Ηρωίδα που ναι μεν ηθικό στοιχείο με αρχές μπλα μπλα αλλά δεν της ήταν εύκολο να παραμείνει σταθερή στις αποφάσεις της και πάντα μα πάντα θεοποιούσε τον ήρωα.
Όσον αφορά την υπόθεση:
~Όλα ξεκίνησαν από ένα infatuation της ηρωίδας και την καύλα του ήρωα και με κάποιο μαγικό τρόπο κατέληξαν στο τέλος να λένε ότι αγαπιούνται Δεν με έπεισαν. Ήταν ένα τέλος ψεκάστε- σκουπίστε- τελειώσατε.
Κανονικά ούτε το ένα αστέρι δεν άξιζε. Για το μόνο λόγο που το παίρνει είναι τα ωραία τοπία της Ιταλίας και οι περιγραφές αυτών.
April 8, 2012
This was just blah to me.. Goodnight I was thinking he was gonna be a butt but honestly I liked him more than I did her. I hated how she still didnt acknowledge she loved him for so long. I didnt feel the love either of them had for each other. Also I think this book was mis-titled because the pregnancy doesnt even come into the book until 89%..
October 12, 2009
This one was a miss for me. Kept picking it up and putting it back down. Penny was quite irritating at times and it was difficult to relate to or feel for her.
April 14, 2019
Meh. Didn't really like this one...It was missing some sort of spark I guess. Good news it was a quick read.
August 27, 2011
I dunno what to say about this book. I mean, it was alright I guess... Nothing special but nothing really bad either. I mean sure, the storyline was cliche, with the employer-employee lust thing going on? Then later falling in love? I dunno, its fine I guess. I mean this could have been a good book, I actually enjoy reading about employers and employees falling in love. But for some reason, this just didn't do it for me. For one, I couldn't feel their love at all. Secondly, the fact that she was pregnant didn't help the storyline at all. It just seemed casually thrown in to me. And I cannot agree with the title. How was it a ruthless baby bargain? To me, he didn't even force her to marry him, he told her he loved her and wanted her to marry him. I don't see how is it ruthless. And though yeah he admitted his love for her only after she was pregnant, he didn't have to coerce her into marrying him or strike any sort of bargain. So how does the title fit in?
Ugh, I was really disappointed actually. I mean, at the beginning it was alright, about a 3.5 stars book! Then later it just deteriorated into a really bad book. I know I shouldn't criticise but I really didn't like the plot. I felt that many events were just thrown in randomly and it didn't really make sense nor did it really affect the book. For example, them going to his father's house. I mean, it doesn't really affect anything. Later on he reveals he went there to tell his father that they were gonna be married but he hadn't even proposed? I dunno, I was just like, huh? At least come up with a more convincing thing or stick to the original story of bringing his daughter to see her grandfather.
All in all, I felt that this was a read that could be passed by. Certainly nothing special and quite honestly, now that I look back, rather a waste of time. The ending was dismal at best and I couldn't even believe they were in love, let alone going to get married. The guy was just PMS-ing at the end, his behavior didn't even make sense half the time and that wasn't really cleared up, just brushed over so lightly, I don't even know if I truly read it. As for her, she was alright I guess but nothing really stood out about her. I'm sorry I forgot their names, believe it was something like Penny and S----? I seriously can't remember his name and I'm too lazy to check...
Anw, that's all I have to say about what could have been a good book but turned out to be honestly, quite bad.
Ugh, I was really disappointed actually. I mean, at the beginning it was alright, about a 3.5 stars book! Then later it just deteriorated into a really bad book. I know I shouldn't criticise but I really didn't like the plot. I felt that many events were just thrown in randomly and it didn't really make sense nor did it really affect the book. For example, them going to his father's house. I mean, it doesn't really affect anything. Later on he reveals he went there to tell his father that they were gonna be married but he hadn't even proposed? I dunno, I was just like, huh? At least come up with a more convincing thing or stick to the original story of bringing his daughter to see her grandfather.
All in all, I felt that this was a read that could be passed by. Certainly nothing special and quite honestly, now that I look back, rather a waste of time. The ending was dismal at best and I couldn't even believe they were in love, let alone going to get married. The guy was just PMS-ing at the end, his behavior didn't even make sense half the time and that wasn't really cleared up, just brushed over so lightly, I don't even know if I truly read it. As for her, she was alright I guess but nothing really stood out about her. I'm sorry I forgot their names, believe it was something like Penny and S----? I seriously can't remember his name and I'm too lazy to check...
Anw, that's all I have to say about what could have been a good book but turned out to be honestly, quite bad.
April 22, 2012
The story overall was pretty horrible. It wasn't well thought out or planned, seemed like a rush job to me. There was little to no emotions present and when there tried to be, it was just wrong. The hero was mean, selfish, inconsiderate and a bunch more words I will not say. I didn't like him at all. The heroine was alright but it lowered my opinion of her when she gave in to the hero. The ending was pure sloppiness. It was too quick and seemed very forced.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews