Ames’ review of Case for Seduction by Ann Christopher.
Law Number 1: Never Fall For Your Boss! Too late, since Charlotte Evans has been secretly head over heels for Jake Hamilton ever since she started working at his family’s renowned Philadelphia law firm. She’s too smart to expect the die-hard bachelor to suddenly turn into Mr. Right, until he starts putting the moves—on her!
Jake’s prowess is legendary—in and out of the courtroom. He’s never met a woman he couldn’t seduce, except Charlotte Evans. Jake’s lovely assistant may be the only female on the planet who sees past his playboy facade. And now Jake wants forever with the one woman he can’t have. Because when it comes to love, some laws are made to be broken.
The blurb is a bit misleading. Charlotte has worked for years at Jake Hamilton’s law firm in the admin pool. She’s a single mother working on her law degree part-time. But one day her and Jake run into each other a coffee shop, outside of work hours. She’s dressed casually and he’s just come from the gym. He’s immediately taken and tries to engage her in conversation. She eventually thaws a bit in her stand-offish attitude and they have a lively conversation. Until one of his former friends with benefits sees him and confronts him about why he hasn’t called. Charlotte leaves…and Jake never realizes that she works for him.
Until the following Monday when her ex-boyfriends drops off their young boy because he’s called into surgery. Charlotte is mad because she’s working and it’s not that easy for her to take off to find a babysitter at the last minute. Jake steps in and helps out. And once he gets over the shock of his mystery being an employee of his, he promptly gives her a promotion to his assistant.
Jake hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all weekend. But knowing she’s his employee, that definitely puts a kink in his seduction plans. With her as his employee, he considers her hands off and this forces him to get to know her as a person and they develop a friendship. One that Jake wants to take further into a relationship. But Charlotte is constantly faced with his former hook ups and she’s not sure she can trust him. But Jake isn’t one to give up easily.
There were a few things I liked about the set up of this book. Jake’s playboy past comes to bite him on the ass. LOL It’s refreshing to see a hero have to work to overcome his past in the pursuit of the heroine. I also liked Charlotte’s character and how she made the best out of her circumstances. She’s a single mother and is also helping to take care of an ailing parent. The set up – employer and employee, I enjoyed that too. And even though certain aspects of Jake’s woo-ing felt a bit desperate (I felt like he went a bit overboard with Charlotte’s son at time) I did like his efforts overall. I felt there could have been a bit more resolution at the end especially in regards to their working together.
Overall, I thought Case for Seduction was an enjoyable read. If you’re the mood for a quick contemporary romance, I recommend this one. 3.5 out of 5.
This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
You can read more from ~ames~ at Bookish Ames.
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