Once Upon A Mattress (The Wrong Bed) [Mass Market Paperback]

Kathleen O'Reilly (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harlequin Temptation | Publication Date: May 1, 2003

If there's one thing Hilary Sinclair knows, it's how to make a bed. Well, okay, a mattress. As an executive at MacAllister Beds, she's new to the company, but she can manufacture with the best of them. Besides, it's a fresh start in a fresh city. The last thing she needs is trouble, and when her Victorian fixer-upper is anything but, she camps out at the factory looking for a dry place to crash. Trouble strikes, though, when she winds up with a strange bedfellow!

Ben MacAllister has rushed back to Dallas to help at the family's mattress company. But he can't believe the bed he makes for himself once he gets there! To start with, he can't figure out Hilary Sinclair -- she's as uptight and as sexy as they come. Hilary has made it clear that she's not interested. Fine with him -- he doesn't want to get distracted now. As director of security, Ben has to find out who's been sleeping in the test center -- he figures the best way is to sleep there himself!

THE WRONG BED

Harlequin Temptation #927, May, 2003.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373691270
• ISBN-13: 978-0373691272
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,980,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

It's such a strange twist of fate that I ended up as a writer. I swore up and down that I would never write, but everyone always shook their head and said, "Kathleen, you're going to be a writer." As fate would have it, they were right, and I wasn't (don't you hate that?)

My favorite part of writing is creating my characters. I fall in love with everyone in each book, and it's pure magic when it all comes to life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 *s Enjoyable story of two people trying to start over, May 19, 2003

By 

baltimore0502 "Hon!" (BALTIMORE, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon A Mattress (The Wrong Bed) (Mass Market Paperback)

This second contemporary from Ms O'Reilly is not quite as good as her first, "Just Kiss Me". The characters could have been a bit better developed, as they came across a bit one-dimensional, but all in all, this is still a pretty good read.

Hilary Sinclair has recently moved to Dallas and a new job at McAllister Beds desperately needing a fresh start. She left Atlanta and her old life behind when her fiance of 7 years dumps her leaving her hurt, confused and wondering if she was really that stupid or that needy. But her new life is not exactly off to a great start when the roof of her fixer-up-er cracks and leaks during a rainstorm. Needing a place to sleep until she can get her roof fixed, she decides on the mattress test center at work - it's full of beds and who'll ever know?

Ben McAllister has spent the last several years working his way through his "list of things to do before I die". He's been a ski instructor in the Alps, spent a summer working construction in the Carribean even been to the Galapagos. Next is a stint on a ranch in Colorado to play cowboy for awhile. But for now, he's come back home to Dallas and the family business to help out. His parents are divorcing and Ben figures they must need him, but when his father gives him the token job as Director of Security, he's disappointed to say the least. Determined to prove himself useful, he sets out to discover who has been sleeping in the test center. He decides to spend the night himself and catch the culprit in the act.

Morning finds still half-asleep Hilary and Ben in the same bed and engaged in some fuzzy close contact. Though they seem ill-suited, there is a definite attraction. Ben offers to fix her roof if she will teach him about the mattress biz in exchange. Friendship grows and they begin to share personal histories. Much as he is attracted to her, Ben unhappily decides that, with all her recent heartache, he's not the guy for her. He's not Mr. Reliable and they both know it. Besides, he's off to Colorado in a few months anyway - isn't he? But then Ben's dad drops a bombshell that will affect all of their lives and Ben has some serious thinking to do about what really should be on that list of his and what's really important to him. And when the going gets tough will Hilary stay and fight for what she wants or just run away again?

An enjoyable read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, sexy contemporary romance, May 15, 2003

By 

C. Penn "WordWeaving" (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon A Mattress (The Wrong Bed) (Mass Market Paperback)

Word of his parents' impending divorce sends fun loving Ben MacAllister home. Assuming he will finally be able to prove his worth, Ben prepares for responsibility for the family business and to be a pillar of strength to the family. But his mother's margarita parties and his father's travel trailer leave him feeling unneeded, not to mention disillusioned. Apparently MacAllister mattresses out last MacAllister marriages. Worse, his father plans to sell the family business just as Ben seems to be carving his nitch.

A new house and a new beginning scarcely seem the promising beginning Heather Sinclair needs when a portion of her roof collapses from heavy rain. Her already damaged bank account cannot afford repairmen and hotel rooms, so Heather temporarily borrows one of the test rooms in the mattress factory, hoping for a few hours respite. She does not expect to awaken with the sexy Ben in her bed! Nor did he expect his sensual dream to be based in reality!

I admit that Temptation's Wrong Bed series heads my favorite long term series, and author Kathleen O'Reilly lives up to me expectations with pizzazz. Heather and Ben seem to say all the wrong things, come together in the wrong places, and get the sensuality exactly right! With witty dialogue and amusing plot to provide an absolutely memorable read, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS comes very highly recommended.