âWhen you pick up a romance novel by Kate Hardy, you know that youâre going to be reading a spellbinding novel which you will want to devour in a single sitting.â
âwww.cataromance.com
âSo full of passion it sizzles off the pages and has such delightful warmth.â âmarilyns-romance-reviews.blogspot.com on TEMPORARY BOSS, PERMANENT MISTRESS
âRefreshing, captivating and feel-good ⦠another winner from a fabulous writer whose name alone is sure-fire guarantee of high-quality romantic fiction.â
âwww.cataromance.com on GOOD GIRL OR GOLD DIGGER?
KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two children, one bouncy spaniel, and too many books to count! When sheâs not busy writing romance or researching local history, she also loves cookingâsee if you can spot the recipes sneaked into her books. (Theyâre also on her website, along with excerpts and the stories behind the books.)
Writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon has been a dream come true for Kateâsomething she wanted to do ever since she was twelve. Sheâs been writing Medical Romances since 2001, and also writes for RIVA; her novel BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNIâS won the Romantic Novelistsâ Associationâs Romance Prize in 2008. She says she loves what she does because she gets to learn lots of new things when sheâs researching the background to a book: add warmth, heart and passion, plus a new gorgeous hero every time, and itâs the perfect job!
Kateâs always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com
IT WAS her shoes that gave her away.
Her business suit was fine. Professional. Like her pristine leather briefcase, barely there make-up and the way she wore her long hair in a simple yet elegant twist. But the heels of her shoes were much too high and much too delicate. They werenât office shoes: they were do-me heels. And Dante Romano had known enough princessy types in his time to recognise that these were expensive do-me heels. The kind that only a rich, spoiled woman could afford.
Closing this deal was obviously going to be much less time-consuming than heâd feared. So much for his sources telling him that Carenza Tonielli was serious about taking over the family business.
âThank you for coming to see me, Signorina Tonielli,â he said, standing up. âMay I offer you some coffee? Water?â He indicated the bottle and glasses on his desk.
âWater would be lovely, thank you.â
âPlease, have a seat.â He gestured to the chair on the far side of his desk and waited until sheâd sat down before pouring them both a glass of water and sitting down again himself.
She picked up her glass and took a sip of water.
Beautiful hands, he thought. And shook himself mentally as a picture flashed through his head. Oh, for pityâs sake. Yes, Carenza Tonielli was beautiful. Probably the most beautiful woman heâd ever met. But she was also very aware of it, and he wasnât interested in doing anything other than business with a spoiled princess.
Liar, his libido corrected. You were thinking about what those hands would feel like against your skin. And that mouth.
That beautiful mouth. A perfect rosebud. Well, he might be thinking about it, but he certainly wasnât going to act on his thoughts. He didnât have the time. Not if he was going to hit the targets for his business plan. Until the franchise was off the ground, his social life was taking a definite back seat. And he wasnât about to indulge his libido.
âSo why did you want to see me?â she asked.
Was she really that clueless? Poor Gino. Heâd made a huge mistake, handing over the business to his wayward granddaughter in the hope that sheâd come good. The girl whoâd left Naples to party her way round the worldâand it had taken her ten years to come home. Was she really going to exchange la dolce vita for one of sheer hard work to turn the business around?
From what his sources in London had said, Dante was pretty sure that all Carenza Tonielli was interested in was having enough money to buy herself a new designer outfit for every party she attended, drink the very best champagne, and drive the very latest sports car.
None of which sheâd be able to do, given the state Tonielliâs was in right now.
Well, he wouldnât cheat her. Heâd give her a fair price, the same as heâd offered her grandfather. Sheâd get the cash she needed to finance her lifestyle, and heâd get a brand name that would help make his business grow. It was the perfect win-win situation for both of them. And hopefully sheâd see that, too.
âI was negotiating a deal with your grandfather. To buy out Tonielliâs,â he said.