Wanted: willing apprentice to handle indecently arrogant (but incredibly sexy) tycoon


With her family business in crisis, Polly Prince does her best to keep calm and carry on. But hard work alone can't save her London company from a takeover by the infamously ruthless Damon Doukakis…or her traitorous body from the lethal sensuality of her boss!

As his new apprentice, Polly accompanies Damon to Paris to negotiate the most challenging business deal of her life! Worse still, Polly must at all costs resist Damon in the most dangerously romantic city in the world…

Title: DOUKAKIS’S APPRENTICE
Author: Sarah Morgan
Series: 21st Century Bosses
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Books, Harlequin Presents line
Year of release: 2011, September 27
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Source: Received an ARC from the author for review

First line:
"He's here. He's arrived. Damon Doukakis just strode into the building."

Memorable Scenes:
- all the arguments between Polly and Damon > sizzling foreplay, every one of 'em


Polly Prince (not wowed by the name but what’s in a name? The character certainly wowed me) is the executive assistant at her father’s ad agency. She’s a proficient, driven, defiant and very creative workaholic. She’s used to taking care of herself because of an absent father who'd rather chase women half his age then take care of his daughter. When her father’s latest conquest leads to the ad agency taken over by Damon Doukakis, Polly grabs the chance to show what’s she’s worth to the company.

Damon Doukakis is the billionaire media-tycoon who takes over Prince Advertising and his reasons aren’t solely business driven. He has a score to settle with the CEO, Polly’s father. Damon is quiet, calculating and protective of the people he holds dear. He’s volatile under a veneer of calm coolness and he’s ruthless both in the boardroom and outside of it.

After reading and loving A NIGHT OF SCANDAL I was thrilled that Sarah offered me another book of hers to read and my expectations were definitely met with DOUKAKIS'S APPRENTICE.

The twist created by family stuff and something too spoiler-y for me to reveal here as it would take away from the tension between Polly and Damon and the enjoyment of the story offered the base for smoldering chemistry and lots of verbal sparring between them and I loved it. I also loved you see both Damon and Polly fall under each other’s spell, despite their fight against it.

From the first page to the last I was drawn into Sarah Morgan's fast-paced and attention-grabbing writing style and the intriguing premise. This is Harlequin Presents at its best! The tension, the daughter of the enemy-trope, the setting and the emotional back-stories, it all helped turning this book into an awesome read. And the way Sarah Morgan writes kisses? Who needs a full-on sex scene when you're treated to make-out scenes of this caliber! Oh and the full-on sex scenes…they weren't too shabby either ;)

DOUKAKIS’S APPRENTICE was another awesome read! When I read a book in one sitting that says enough. I just couldn't stop reading until I was finished. Sarah Morgan has a knack for great, emotionally layered Harlequin Presents with well-rounded characters that jump off the pages.

Favorite Quotes:
Hauling his gaze away from the seductive curve of her bottom, Damon slammed the lid on that part of him that wanted to flatten her to the boardroom table and indulge in raw, mindless sex.

(Damon wonders when Polly learned to speak French)
Polly flushed. “Just kidding. I promised myself that if a gorgeous Frenchman ever whispered sweet nothings in my ear I wanted to be able to understand him.”
“If he’s whispering nothing it would probably be better not to understand him.” Damon said dryly and his words made her laugh.

The sudden darkening of his beautiful eyes told her he felt it too and rejected the unwanted chemistry as completely as she did. Perversely, that rejection didn’t hurt as much as aggravate. Her emotions spun and suddenly she wanted to press her mouth to his and kiss away the sarcasm and cynicism that flowed from him.

Caught off guard, Polly tumbled headlong into the addictive heat of his kiss, her mouth colliding with his in a fusion of intimacy that was shocking in its intensity. The exploding heat was fierce enough to fuel a nuclear reactor, the hunger so all-consuming it devoured her preconceptions about just how a kiss could feel because this kiss was like no other.

Her sweet mouth seduced his with a slow, sure gentleness that ripped away his defences and sent fire tearing through every part of him.
Balancing on the dangerous knife-edge of a new addiction, he felt his power to control his emotions and actions drain at a frightening rate. The part of his brain warning him to stop this madness right now was eclipsed by the part that reached out greedily for the fulfillment of pleasure.

Watching Damon dance was a sensual feast. Every movement made her think of sex, every glance he sent in her direction was a promise of what was to come.

“I love you.” He spoke the words softly but his eyes were full of passion and heat. “I’ve spent my whole life making sure I didn’t fall in love. Then I met you again and suddenly I didn’t have a choice.”

Underneath the movie star’s good looks is a man battling with the demons of his past. No one knows the real Nathaniel, they only see the pin-up, the man he pretends to be.

Until one night he is forced to rely on Katie Field, an ordinary young woman from a very different world to Nathaniel’s. She may be starstruck but she isn’t blinded by the bright lights of fame. Can Nathaniel trust her enough to reveal the man behind the mask?

Let the seduction begin…

Title: A NIGHT OF SCANDAL
Author: Sarah Morgan
Series: The Notorious Wolfes, book 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Publishing, Harlequin Presents line
Year of release: 2011, June 21
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Source: Received an advanced copy for review from author

First line:
They were waiting for him to fail.

Memorable Scenes:
- Nathaniel opening up to Katie about his family > throat lump moment
- The days in Rio > with its high point: the sexy scene in the lift *fans self*

Nathaniel Wolfe is a big Hollywood actor. He’s broody, sarcastic and guarded, hiding a vulnerable man beneath his outward bluster. He also lives up to his bad boy reputation with his naughty, bold remarks towards Katie.

Katie Field is a costume designer. She’s down-to-earth, realistic and says what she thinks. She’s a real chatterbox, especially when nerves hit her and I really liked her self-deprecating sense of humor.

A NIGHT OF SCANDAL is the first in a multi-authored series brought by HP: The Notorious Wolfes. The series covers the stories of the 8 siblings born from different mothers and all fathered by the horrible William Wolfe. This first book tells the story of Hollywood star Nathaniel Wolfe and costume designer Katie Field. Circumstances force them to spend the night together, in a very platonic way, but once the press gets wind of it, they’re forced to flee to a private island resort and there the platonic side of their relationship is soon forgotten.

The opening paragraphs hooked me like no book has hooked me in a while. The chemistry, banter and the battle of wits between Nathaniel and Katie were a joy to read. The attraction is undeniably there but both try to not give into it. However when they do give in, the sparks fly off the pages. Ms Morgan definitely delivers on the sensual tension she creates.

I really like Sarah Morgan's voice. Her characters have depth to them and she incorporates humor in her writing, always a plus with me. In less than 200 pages she took me on an entertaining, thrilling and emotional rollercoaster ride. From amusement to anger to tears to sizzling sensuality...they all claimed my state of mind at one moment or another while reading. My first encounter with Ms. Morgan's writing has been an awesome reading experience and an unexpected pleasure.

This first installment has most definitely whetted my appetite for all other 7 stories in this series. I need the to read the other Wolfe siblings' stories and if they're half as good as ANOS was I'll be in romance reading heaven. (Meanwhile I’ve read the second book and it was just as good as this one!)

Favorite Quotes:
It was immediately obvious that she’d renewed her make-up and then scrubbed it off, afraid it would look as if she were trying too hard. Nathaniel gave a humourless laugh. She didn’t need to try. Make-up or no make-up, her mouth was still the same full tempting curve that made a man want to dive straight in and sample the flavour.

“If I leave you here they’ll feed on you like sharks attacking raw meat.”
“If I’m the raw meat in that analogy, then it isn’t a very flattering description. No woman wants to think her thighs would provide sufficient food for one shark, let alone sharks in the plural.

“Where are you planning to go?”
“A journalist-free zone. I need to lie low until the Sapphire ceremony. A deserted island. Sun, sea and se–“
“I am not having sex with you.”
A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. “I was going to say seclusion, but sex sounds good to me. You talk when you’re awake and you talk in your sleep. It remains to be seen whether you talk during sex.”

Katie hurried down the steps. Like Cinderella, she thought, running from the ball. Except that she hadn’t lost a shoe. Both shoes were on her feet, but her heart was in pieces.