His Secret Temptation [Kindle Edition]

Cat Schield (Author)

Book Description

Who's the sexy blonde stranger sleeping in Simon Holcroft's bed? The workaholic returns from a business trip to find someone stretched out on his sheets. Between the laundry basket at her side and the smell of orange cleaner, he deduces that the young woman is his maid—and resists the urge to kiss her awake.

But when his brother's fiancé—his own ex—bursts in and strips down to her panties, Simon has to get her dressed and back where she belongs. So he introduces the maid as his fiancée. But his little white lie gets bigger, because now he has to bring his supposed bride-to-be to meet the whole family. One offer-she-can't-refuse later, Simon has bought himself a temporary fiancée.

In debt up to her eyeballs and all alone for the holidays, how could struggling grad student Caroline Sampson not accept her gorgeous client's fantasy proposal? But acting like she's in love comes more easily than she ever expected.

60,000 words

Product Details

• File Size: 355 KB
• Print Length: 160 pages
• Publisher: Carina Press (April 16, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0070XZZPA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,487 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A sweet and simple story November 2, 2012

By Mary Catherine

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sometimes, all a girl wants is a sweet romance without too much heartache before the big finale - and that's exactly what Cat Schield gives readers in HIS SECRET TEMPTATION. Billionaire Simon Holcroft comes home from a business trip and all he wants to do is crash on his bed, maybe sleep for hours on end. The only problem is that, in true Goldilocks form, there's already someone there - a young, beautiful blonde. It takes a few minutes but Simon realizes the girl is his maid, Caroline Sampson, who actually looks like she may need the sleep more than him. Caroline, who takes her job seriously, is appalled to realize she's fallen asleep in her employer's bed but she's run down and tired from working and finishing up law school. Amidst of flurry of apologies and explanations, the pair is interrupted by a knock on the door. Francine, Simon's ex-girlfriend and his brother's current fiance, arrives to say she's chosen the wrong brother and she's Simon's present. Annoyed and flustered, Simon blurts out that Caroline is his fiance.

What happens next is a formula seen a few times - in exchange for a fake engagement over the holidays, Simon will pay for the rest of Caroline's law school, something she's a bit desperate for since she's already past due the current semester and she's so close to finishing. Despite her better judgment, she agrees, and goes to Savannah for the holidays with the Holcroft family.

The characters in HIS SECRET TEMPTATION are highly likable. There's no sense of "perfection" in them, which makes each of them easy to relate to. Caroline has somewhat of a wish to be able to have money in order to make life a little easier but she's strong in her ways. Her upbringing plays a bit part of her life and she's learned to live with what she has, but that doesn't mean she won't appreciate the finer things of life. She's also an honest girl and it's a constant struggle for her to keep up the charade which made her more endearing to read. In the same vein, though Simon is the one to come up with the fake scenario of an engagement, it's easy to see his mind is in the right place. He makes his decisions, most of the time, to try and ease the way for others, to help others, and how can anyone be against that? A smattering of secondary characters round out the story and, like its main characters, have more than one side to his or her personality. The only exception would be Francine but aside from the opening scene, she is seen only through conversations and thoughts.

With a sweet story such as this one, it's hard not to smile and laugh and nod along with the characters. It's not always easy for the characters but there isn't a moment of full-on angst and it never gives the sense of hopelessness. It's not 100% clear sailing but it's pretty close. Caroline and Simon's attraction to each other is present from the beginning but learning their true emotions is adorable, if sometimes a bit cliche. There were a few moments where the language was a bit too saccharine or bordered on "a little too much" in terms of being a cliche, but they were easily overlooked for the whole of this novel.

A quick read, fans of fluff and happiness with just a touch of drama (especially in the beginning!) will enjoy this latest piece from Schield.

-- originally reviewed on Ordinary People, Extraordinary Works --

3.0 out of 5 stars His Secret Temptation August 10, 2012

By M. Whitmore VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

His Secret Temptation is a sweet, romantic read with a common premise that has a unique twist. Simon returns home from a business trip to find his maid sleeping in his bed. Simon and Caroline have been exchanging flirty notes ever since she started working for him. They've never run into each other in person so Simon was surprised to see that his maid was so sexy. Caroline is a law student who is juggling school and work. When she wakes up to find her employer staring down at her, she is mortified to be caught sleeping in his bed. Then Simon's ex-girlfriend shows up and Caroline finds herself agreeing to pretend to be Simon's fiancee for the holidays.

I enjoyed His Secret Temptation a lot; more than I thought it would. Simon and Caroline's romance was sweet and I loved Simon's meddling family. Simon isn't the only one with a secret. Everyone in the family is hiding something in order to avoid ruining the holidays for his mother. Because this isn't a full-length novel, the romance moved at a fast pace but it didn't feel fake. A semi-relationship was already established between Simon and Caroline thanks to the flirty notes they left each other. Even though Simon and Caroline are clearly physically attracted to each other, I was happy to see that they showed some restraint before hopping into bed.

If you're looking for a sweet, romantic story, I definitely recommend this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Christmas romance April 30, 2012

By R. Laney

Format:Kindle Edition

His Secret Temptation was fun to read. Thier were a few love scenes that I skipped over.
Simon Holcroft comes home from a business trip and fines a strange beautiful women asleep is his bed. He was feeling refreshed just looking at her. He realized it was his house cleaner that they have been exchanging funny notes with for the past 6 months.
Caroline Sampsen did not mean to fall asleep but she had been up studing for her law class. She is one semester away from finishing but she owes money and till she pays can't finsh the final semester. Simon realizes that when while they were flirting he picked up her law book and the letter with amount due fell out.
Thier is a knock on the door and his brothers fiance Francine and his old girl friend comes in and tells Simon that she is his christmas gift and starts taking off her clothes. Simon tries to tell her to leave and when she barges into the bedroom and finds Caroline she is upset. Simon introduces Caroline as his fiance that has not told his parents yet of.
After Francine leaves Simon offers to pay what she owes on her law school and pay the last semester tution if she will come to his parents home in Savannah with him. The last time they fought over Francine the brothers did not speak for 3 years and his mom just finshed cancer treatments.
Simon has his own company and doing really well. His parents have a big old mansion and money to go with it. So Simon buys her all new clothes and hair makeover buys her jewelery for the part.
Caroline lost her mom to cancer right after she finshed high school and was the only family that she had. So Caroline agrees to go and have a family christmas.
Turns out that all the family is hiding secrets till after Christmas. Caroline gets told all of them. She falls for Simon and his family even for his home town.
I really liked Caroline & Simon. Seeing them grow closer and having a very merry Christmas.
I look forward for reading more books from Cat in the future.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley.
4/16/2012 PUB Carina Press

More About the Author

Cat Schield lives in Minnesota with her daughter and their Burmese cats. Winner of the Romance Writers of America 2010 Golden Heart® for series contemporary romance, when she's not writing sexy, romantic stories for Harlequin Desire, she can be found sailing with friends on the St. Croix River or more exotic locales like the Caribbean and Europe. Contact her at www.catschield.com.