For some inexplicable reason, I became obsessed with housekeeper romance novels.
(Actually, it's because I read this thread on the Amazon romance message boards).
I read about housekeepers all over the world. I read historicals, westerns, contemporaries, and erotica.
General observations about housekeepers in romance: Sometimes they are mousy and submissive, sometimes they are plain before having a transformation and turning into a sex goddess, sometimes they are efficient and well-organized, but they're all good at polishing the furniture and cooking a hearty home-cooked meal. (Also, virgins or not, they all manage to have earth-shattering sex with their domineering bosses).
These were not great...
The Italian Millionaire's Virgin Wife (Harlequin Presents)...ugh!
The Australian's Housekeeper Bride (Harlequin Presents)...meh.
This one was short but sexy...The Sheriff and the Innocent Housekeeper I liked it!
I also enjoyed Barbara Wallace's The Courage To Say Yes. It was a touching, tender story with a sexy photographer hero and an abused woman struggling to survive.
And finally...The Tenderfoot Bride (Harlequin Historical). This is an oldie (2007) by Cheryl St. John, and I loved it soooooooo much that I actually bought a print copy after reading the ebook. And I NEVER do that.
This has a gruff hero with a heart of gold (which he tries to deny), a battered, determined woman who is desperate to make a new life for herself, a traditional western setting, and a slow, simmering, satisfying romance with a divine HEA. I loved the determination and strength of the heroine, I loved the cranky, conflicted nature of the rancher-hero, and the ending was so romantic and wonderful, I swooned. It even included the quintessential "running into each other's arms" scene, and instead of snickering, I cried. I cried! *sniff, sniff*
This book will definitely be on my BEST OF 2013 list. I highly recommend this one if you are looking for a good old-fashioned traditional western romance.
And now I am off to clean my house, having been duly inspired by these housekeepers.
Scrubbing and sweeping,
Penelope
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