Customer Reviews

Circle Of Gold (SR)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Twenty-two-year-old Kasie Mayfield applies for a job as John Callister's secretary at the Double C Ranch right out of secretarial school, however it's John's older brother Gil that requires most of her attention as he only has a part time secretary named Pauline. Pauline is wealthy in her own right and only took her job with Gil because she wants him for a husband. Unfortunately for Gil, she knows nothing about her job, so Kasie winds up doing it as well as handling her regular work.

Gil has two children, five-year-old Bess and four-year-old Jenny and they adore Kasie. This bothers Gil, who is a widower, because he's not looking for a mother for his girls and he tells Kasie to stay away from them. This is hard for her as she loves the children and she needs their love as she's getting over the tragic death of her twin brother and his wife and daughter, who were killed when their small plane was shot down by rebels in Africa.

Gil finally sees the light and changes Kasie's job from secretary to governess and takes her along on a trip to Nassau to watch the girls, while he and Pauline enjoy a vacation. Pauline is determined to get ride of Kasie at any cost, but Kasie is determined not to let that happen.

And that's about as far as I'm going to go with this synopsis of a special book that Ms. Palmer wrote as an exclusive for [...]. If you can get this delightful little romance, you certainly won't be disappointed. The characters of Kasie and Gil seem as real as someone in your family, very true to life. And Pauline is a perfect villain, the kind of woman you love to hate.

Back of the book; Sparks flew the moment Kasie Mayfield arrived at Gil Callister's sprawling Montana ranch to temporarily care for his to adorable daughters.

Yet never in her wildest dreams did the innocent young woman imagine that her formidable new boss would sweep her off her feet with his potent charm. Before long she was in love so deeply that it made her heart ache. But how did he feel? The enigmatic rancher was so difficult to read. Still she couldn't imagine spending her days-or nights-with anyone else, but Gil. Could Kasie convince the hard-edged widower that a circle of gold ...belonged on her finger?

John Callister needed a secretary. In steps Kasie Mayfield. But it was his older brother, Gil Callister, doing the interviewing. Even though there was something he didn't like about her, Gil chose her right away by the conservative way she dressed. Trying to keep her separate from his family was difficult as his little girls fell in love with her. And so was he.

Being a Diana Palmer romance, there are some themes that readers have come to expect. The heroine was an innocent, who dressed like a prude even in this day and age. But I did like Kasie Mayfield, despite her lack of style. In comparison to most of Palmer's heroines, she was educated with a pretty feisty attitude, tempered by patience. Despite the adversarial attitude of Gil's current secretary and the hero himself, she handled the situations with aplomb and dignity. On the other hand, Gil was your typical Diana Palmer' hero: contradictory. He was always thinking worse of the heroine and never understood why everyone else seemed to loved her. Pretty narrow minded and not always aware of what's going on in his own home. And when it came time for the groveling scene, this was not Palmer's best. I would not have gone back to him even for his children's sake. The man did not deserve sympathy for believing second-hand information. He never even taken the time to actually talk to the heroine in the first place, before passing judgment. He was his own worst enemy.

Despite the less than stellar hero, I found this story a breeze to get through. The story was well-paced with events to keep it appealing. The dialogue was pretty witty in parts. I love all the side characters. All in all, it was a decent read in comparison to her latest writings. This is a pretty clean romance. However, if you missed this book the first time around like I did, it was worth getting it. But if you are looking for something different from Palmer's usual, please skip this reprint.

Circle of Gold by Diana Palmer

Silhouette Romance - 2000 eHarlequin special release

Men from Medicine Ridge #2

It's only been three months since Kasie's twin brother, his wife and daughter died in a horrific plane crash. Kasie needs to move on, and having recently graduated with her secretarial diploma, she's anxious to put her new skills to work. Gil's hiring a secretary for his brother John. The two run a huge cattle ranch in Medicine Ridge. John's on the road most of the time promoting the bulls they raise; while Gil is busy with the ranch and raising his motherless daughters. From the moment he meets Kasie, he disapproves of her, but her skills are top notch and he hires her. No matter what Kasie does, she can't seem to please Gil and his two adorable daughters keep running to her for comfort. Gil's not sure what it is about Kasie that irks him. All he needs to do is keep her at arms length, but that proves more difficult than he expected.

This is another sweet story from Medicine Ridge about powerful men and how they lose their hearts to innocent but fiesty women. Kasie gives Gil a run for his money. He can't fault her work, but he distrusts her motives. Kasie may be an innocent 22 year old, but she sure has alot of fire and doesn't hold her tongue. This was another great story by Ms. Palmer.

Men from Medicine Ridge series

The Wedding in White ~ SD-Promo ~ 2000

Circle of Gold ~ SR-Promo ~ 2000

Diamond in the Rough ~ HR-4087 ~ April 2009

Will of Steel ~ SD-2054 ~ December 2010

i so love this book i have looked everywhere for it but i finally found it and im glad i did this is one book i will not get rid if

Conservative & efficient office assistant can't help but be drawn to the cute & motherless young daughters of her boss' domineering brother. Hero forbids her from playing nanny to them even though his daughters often seek her out. He's suspicious of any attractive woman getting close to use daughters due to a recent nanny who used his daughters to try to get him to marry her. He prefers that heroine strictly stick to her busy office work including teaching his own beautiful but disorganized secretary how to use the computer. Yet he makes several passes at heroine & confuses her about his intentions towards her. She continues to work for him & eventually takes charge of caring for his daughters until his secretary blames an incident with his daughters on her. Will Hero learn to trust her?

I try to stay away from Palmer books but I gave this one a try & was I disappointed. Again. It wasn't awful but it was just a step above it. This heroine is like most of Palmer's heroine: young & a doormat. Hero on this one is also a standard Palmer Hero: domineering/cruel/more than 10 years older than heroine. Overall emotional tone was tepid. I was a bit bored while reading it & I didn't care for the characters. There was some drama with heroine being unsure if Hero's still in love with his dead wife or if his secretary will win his affections. Yet it wasn't poignant or touching. It felt heartless & abusive probably b/c of how the characters acted. Sexual chemistry was inconsistent. I wasn't sure if Hero's sexual play with her was b/c he was truly attracted to her of if he was playing mind games with her. Sex scenes were generalized & occurred only at the end.

Minimally recommended.

The previous reviewer did a wonderful job in describing the book so I will only add that I really enjoyed this very sweet romance. It's a very easy read and you won't be sorry you took the time. If you can't find this book itself...it now is in her book entitled "The Men of Medicine Ridge" which has this story and also "The wedding in White". Trust me...this is a keeper. You will enjoy the characters and walk away light hearted.

I'm a die-hard Diana Palmer fan, but this one is so full of so many details that just don't add up(like the hero who was introduced as a marketing genious near the beginning of the story turnning out to be a totally stupid man business-wise throughout the rest of the story -- like not even having had a website for his cattle business for years & having hired his physical admirer as his secretary even though he had known full well that she had never had any sorts of secretarial training/experience what-so-ever)!

Anyone with an ounce of sense can't possibly give this one more than a 1 star!