Worth the Scandal by Karen Erickson is the 1st novel in her Worth It series of f/m contemporary office workplace business romance set in a family-run corporation, this installment starring a secretary who has an unexpected yet mutually passionate fling with her company's CEO during a business trip, only to find the nascent relationship running into barriers with accusations of corporate espionage, and unintended consequences that are mentioned in the Samhain store listing's tags, if that happens to be the sort of plot point that you particularly dislike reading, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Samhain.
This has a mild 2 out of 5 flames on the heat index over at ARE, and has previously been offered free in 2013.
Currently free @
B&N,
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the
UK),
Kobo &
iTunes &
Google Play (all available to Canadians), as well as
All Romance eBooks &
AllRomance eBooks (DRM-free choice of formats available worldwide).
Description
Strictly business? Try telling that to her heart…
Alexander Worth, President and CEO of Worth Luxury Goods, is a man never to be crossed. His unwavering sense of responsibility to the family business requires him to always be in complete and utter control. Until it comes to Tessa Crawford.
She’s quietly professional, shy, voluptuous…and she works for him. Which means she is the one woman he must never touch, no matter how hard his gut twists with need for her.
After rising above her disadvantaged childhood, Tessa knows the last thing she should do is risk throwing it all away by falling into bed with her sexy boss. But on an extended European business trip, all self-imposed barriers burn away in the heat of their sizzling chemistry.
Once back home, though, whispers of corporate espionage turn into full-blown scandal—and Tessa finds out the hard way where Alex’s loyalties lie. Determined to soldier on, she picks herself up and carries on with a secret, yet welcomed burden. Never guessing that Alex will make a reappearance in her life, ready to show her once and for all that family does, indeed, come first.
Warning: Contains a sweet-yet-strong woman, and a bossy alpha male brought to his knees by the woman he desperately loves. Involves enough begging and groveling that the reader may be tempted to “accidentally” leave it for her significant other to “find”. For instructional purposes only, of course!