The Christmas He Claimed the Secretary

To avoid an arranged marriage, billionaire Tiziano fakes a relationship with employee Annie. I loved Annie's tough, no-nonsense attitude. Tiziano starts out as a bit of an alphahole, but she soon puts him in his place. The emotion and sensual tension are strong, and the ending satisfying. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A sweet Cinderella story Tiziano comes from ancient family money, the second son without all the responsibilities of the heir, a playboy who has become accustomed to his very privileged life. But when his older brother wants to arrange his marriage, and he runs into a feisty secretary in the stairwell who is the first woman not to fall at his feet, he figures that he can use her to convince his brother he's not marriage material. Annie, for her part, quickly agrees to accept the huge financial incentive to play along, and soon is swept into a world of exclusive restaurants, charity galas, paparazzi, and designer fashion. What could possibly go wrong? What Tiziano never saw coming is how Annie, unencumbered by the public adoration of billionaires, immediately sees through his public persona and treats him as the ordinary human that he is. Refreshing as that may be, it's also quite jarring and he at first doesn't know what to do with her. I enjoyed the push-pull as he fights his attraction to her honesty and simple values, while she strives to make sure this experience doesn't change who she is at her core. It wouldn't be a Harlequin if it didn't have a splendid HEA, but I didn't really feel Tiziano falling in love as much as I'd wished. I did love the way Annie took charge at the end, forcing him to meet her on her terms, breaking down any remaining walls between them. Caitlin Crews is always an author worth reading, and this book is no exception. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

The Christmas He Claimed the Secretary by Caitlin Crews, book one in The Outrageous Accardi Brothers series, is a classic rags to riches story with a familiar theme of a billionaire and fake mistress but it becomes so much more. Annie has had to drop out of her History of Art degree and work as a secretary to pay off credit card debt racked up by her sister stealing and using her credit card before fleeing to Australia. Tizanio has helped build a family empire but his reputation as a womanizer h