The Playboy’s Protegee
The Playboy’s Protegee (2003)
HarperCollins Publishing
Cats And Dogs, Oil And Water… Harry And Megan
Tricked! This time Harry Sanders’s matchmaking grandfather had gone too far. Assigning Harry to be a mentor in the family company was bad enough–but the old coot had paired Harry with his nemesis, the one woman guaranteed to blow the cagey playboy’s cool. Megan MacGregor’s know-itall attitude made him see red even as the hint of white lace beneath her boring blazer drove him wild. Megan was smug, starchy…and sexy enough to steal a man’s soul.
Harry had to play up his bad-boy bachelor image. Because nothing seemed to annoy Megan more. And if they ever stopped arguing and started kissing, Harry just might propose a merger of the most dangerous, permanent kind…
Returning soon…
- ASIN: B00M6G1TOC
- Publisher: Harlequin American Romance Classic
- Publication date: September 15, 2014
- Language: English
- File size: 1196 KB
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Screen Reader: Supported
- Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
- X-Ray: Not Enabled
- Word Wise: Enabled
- Print length: 180 pages
Check Out What are Readers Saying:
Awesome read
From the very first page, Michele proves that she is a wonderful storyteller and has her own strong unique voice. She begins the story with what we are all familiar with – e-mail.
I was immediately drawn into the story by getting a glimpse of the beloved Grandpa Joe and his loving, yet meddling ways. He is a true “character” that you can’t help but shake your head at and love. Stubborn to a fault, he’s determined to keep his family in line and always knows best – even if his children and grandchildren don’t agree.
The heroine, Megan MacGregor, is a wonderful, witty and ambitious woman who is given a golden opportunity to rise in the company, headed by of course dear Grandpa Joe. Of course, the gold quickly tarnished when she realizes that she’ll be reporting to Joe’s grandson, Harry Sanders. The same man whom she’s undermined in several meetings and loathes the sight of her.
Michele does a great job of keeping the tension going and the plot moving quickly. The conflict between the hero and heroine is real, believable and makes you care. You are drawn in by the wonderful secondary characters, which include Harry’s rich, but very down to earth sister, Darci.
As always, the ending is a Happily Ever After, with one exception. I didn’t want the story to end… I’ll have to be patient, as I’m sure we’ll see Grandpa Joe and his matchmaking ways return soon.
Matchmaking and business – Very highly recommended
Joe Jacobsen uses his company’s mentoring program to play matchmaker for his grandson Harry Sander. While Harry and Megan MacGregor have relegated the sparks they throw to animosity, Joe sees things differently. Certainly his previous matchmaking successes prove his ability.
Harry wants a vice-presidency in the family business, and if his participation in the Jacobsen enterprises program to recruit and retain upper-level management will pave the way then so be it. That is, until he learns that he will be mentoring Megan, a woman who has gone out of her way to make him look bad since her arrival in the company.
Megan believes that Harry has not liked her since a year ago when she was hired and questioned the validity and rationale of his ideas. He has made it perfectly clear that he would fire her if he could, and now he is to be her mentor. Megan believes that he only has his job because he is the grandson of the CEO. Further, Megan needs this career opportunity if she is to continue to care for her mother who has multiple sclerosis.
Despite their mutual animosity, Megan and Harry discover that are a surprisingly effective team in THE PLAYBOY’S PROTEGEE. Harry’s playboy reputation and Megan’s outspoken ways quickly reveal surprising depth of character. As they fight their mutual attraction, however, they also discover that their vulnerabilities threaten to destroy that which they hold most dear. Once again author Michele Dunaway displays her consummate skill for combining tenderness and passion in a read impossible to put down. An endearing read with a delightfully meddlesome grandfather, THE PLAYBOY’S PROTEGEE comes very highly recommended.
Another Winner
I admit–I’m a fan of Michele Dunaway’s works. This one, though, is one of her best.
Take one matchmaking grandfather, two business people with career aspirations who are in each other’s way, and you have a romance that sizzles. The dialogue is fast and witty, and Megan is the perfect match for Harry Sanders, the CEO’s grandson.
As a reader, I was delighted to see Darci and Cameron O’Brien back for a few scenes as they help Harry and Megan along the stormy, but satisifying road to love. A keeper.
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
Even though it was a Monday, it had all the makings of a wonderful day. As the only person in the executive elevator, Harry Sanders whistled the entire journey to his office on the twenty-second floor of the Jacobsen Enterprises world headquarters.
“You’re chipper this morning,” Peggy, his secretary for the past five years, commented as he strode over the plush carpet. Ten minutes before 9:00 a.m., she had already sorted his memos and mail.
“Absolutely,” Harry said taking the stack of papers without stopping to look through them as he usually did.
He registered Peggy’s words as he entered his office, “There’s one from your grandfather.”
There had better be. Harry smiled as he entered his corner office, and he took a minute to look out the window. Even though it was a beautiful May day, his office faced west and south, giving him a boring view of Highway 40 as it wound toward Jefferson Avenue.
The eastern-facing offices of the Jacobsen Building looked down Market Street, the view encompassing Memorial Plaza, Union Station, the Mississippi riverfront, the Old Courthouse and the Gateway Arch.
No, his office view was not quite the best, or even on the top floor, that was the twenty-fifth floor, but all that was about to change.
And it was about time.
He pushed a strand of blond hair off his face. He’d been waiting for the past two years, and with Darci happily out of the way, it was finally Harry’s time to shine.
He took a minute to think about that. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his academically brilliant sister with the Harvard MBA. However, three years his junior, Darci had held a higher title and position in Jacobsen Enterprises before her resignation and subsequent move to New York City to be with Cameron O’Brien, her now-husband of one year.
Darci’s fast rise through the company still rankled Harry, that and the fact that after she’d resigned, he hadn’t been promoted into her spot. But given his grandfather’s eccentricities and obvious favoritism toward his granddaughters, no one had been too surprised to see Darci’s job left unfilled. The vice president of development position she’d held had just sort of faded away.
“Good, you’re here early.” Speaking of the devil. The voice that startled Harry from his reverie belonged to none other than Joe Jacobsen, and Harry turned to see his grandfather standing in the office doorway.
“I’m always on time,” Harry replied. It was the truth. One thing Harry managed was timeliness.
Standing there looking like a thin version of Santa Claus, Grandpa Joe didn’t even blink at Harry’s answer. Even though the blue-eyed gene was recessive, every Jacobsen grandchild, including Harry, had the same blue eyes with a rim of dark blue that their grandfather had.
“Didn’t say you were late. I know your schedule,” Grandpa Joe said in the tone that meant no excuses, boy. “Did you read my memo yet?”
“No,” Harry said.
So much for it looking to be a good day with a promotion on the horizon. A sense of foreboding filled Harry. He knew his eccentric if not business-brilliant grandfather too well. And although at six foot two Harry often towered over other men, the dynamic Grandpa Joe still made Harry occasionally feel like a small wayward child.
Harry began to sort through the papers Peggy had given him. As he found the memo, he said, “Here it is.”
Grandpa Joe nodded, his thin white beard bobbing slightly. “Why don’t you take a minute to read it.”
As Harry scanned the memo he read the words aloud. “I just wanted to give you a heads up on the newest Jacobsen Enterprises program to recruit and retain upper-level management.”
He looked up at Grandpa Joe, who was staring out the window. Harry’s gaze flew over the rest of the memo outlining the new Jacobsen Stars program. A worried thought started in the pit of his stomach as he looked over at the spiral-bound presentation folder that was with the other mail on his desk. The sinking feeling quickly spread through the rest of his body.
“You want me to be a mentor?”
Grandpa Joe slowly turned around, his face a neutral mask. He gave a curt nod. “Absolutely.”
Harry stared as his grandfather continued. “I quite like my idea, and given your position in the company, it will be a good way to expand your horizons and help out the Jacobsen team. I think it will be a good experience for you.”
“A good experience for me?” Incredulity filled Harry’s voice. “From the way you were talking two days ago, I thought you were going to fill the vice president of development position.”
Grandpa Joe rolled his shoulders. “I’m still not sure about that yet.”
At that moment, business relationship be darned. This was personal, this was family. Whatever his grandfather had up his sleeve a few days ago, it hadn’t been this. “You’re going to promote someone else over my head, aren’t you? How is that a good experience for me?”
The neutral expression on his grandfather’s face never changed. “No one said anything about promoting people. Stop putting words into my mouth. This program is all about keeping top talent in the company. We don’t want them lured away by any of our competitors, especially after we’ve put so much investment into training them.”
“What about me? Where do I fit into all this?”
Grandpa Joe blinked. “That’s obvious, Harry, my boy, you’re going to be a mentor. In fact, that’s why I’m here. I’ve got the perfect person picked out just for you. She’s a recent hire. Well, I guess a year ago isn’t too recent. We hired her after Darci left. You know Megan MacGregor. She’s in Mergers and Acquisitions. An absolute gem that girl is, and I want to make sure she stays with us. She has raw talent, and I think you can help develop it.”
Megan MacGregor. Harry bit back the bile that immediately came to his throat upon hearing her name. He certainly did not want to mentor her. “I develop business opportunities and future growth,” he said. “I do not develop talent in females.”
“Your playboy reputation tells me that you at least try to develop something with females,” Grandpa Joe said. There was hard steel underlining his voice. “And let me remind you that Working Mother named this company one of the best places to work in America. At Jacobsen Enterprises we take pride in knocking down the glass ceiling. But don’t worry. You don’t have to participate, Harry. After all, you are family, and you will always have a place in the company. I made that promise to your mother when you graduated high school and went off to Vanderbilt.”
Wonderful, Harry thought. Grandpa Joe had wanted Harry, his oldest grandson, to go to Princeton. Accepted at both colleges, Harry had wanted to stay closer to Saint Louis. So he’d chosen Vanderbilt in Tennessee instead of the Ivy League Princeton in New Jersey, much to Grandpa Joe’s disappointment. Grandpa Joe had graduated from Princeton.
And by his grandfather bringing up Harry’s choice of alma mater, Harry knew that once again he’d displeased Grandpa Joe.
Which probably meant that Harry was about to be passed over again for a better spot in the company. In reality, being family didn’t even mean that much. Everyone knew that Grandpa Joe favored his granddaughters over his grandsons. Look at poor Shane, the youngest of all the grandchildren.
