A Calculated Seduction

Dulcy Menendez becomes infatuated by her boss Ethan MacMillan more and more every day she sees him. She’s can’t help the attraction she feels towards him. All would be well if she didn’t work for him, but as it is, she doesn’t believe in fraternizing with her fellow employees. Her rule goes double for her boss. Unfortunately, she loves working at MacMillan Boots way too much to even think about giving up her job, besides the fact that she couldn’t afford to in the first place. Dulcy doesn’t get her trust fund money until she is 25, so unless the next eleven months fly by, she’s going to have a hard time resisting her attraction to her boss.

Ethan MacMillan has never been so attracted to a woman in his entire life. Dulcy Menendez is different from any woman he has ever known. She’s smart, she’s witty, and though she is a bit plain, she’s oh so attractive to him. Unfortunately, she’s also being accused of embezzling from MacMillan Boots by the owner himself, her former boss, Bill MacMillan. Now Ethan has to prove that she is stealing from the company while trying to resist his increasing attraction to her. It wouldn’t be so hard if he wasn’t aware of how much she was attracted to him, but since he knows the feeling is mutual, he can’t help becoming increasingly frustrated. He’s jealous too as it seems Dulcy has more than her fair share of admirers. Could one of them be her accomplice? Despite his gut feeling that Dulcy isn’t the embezzler, he has to try to prove that she is in fact a criminal. What will happen though when he learns the truth about not only Dulcy but also the embezzlement?

Melissa Schroeder astounds the reader once again with her compelling characters and her well-paced love story. From the very first page, Ethan and Dulcy are two characters that the reader feels an immediate connection to. Their personalities leap off the page as they clash wits and steal smoldering glances at each other. Not only was this book humorous and very romantic, but Melissa Schroeder avoided many of the clichés that could have developed regarding the characters and plot: the wicked stepmother and evil stepsisters that were Dulcy’s family, the embezzlement scheme itself, even playboy Ethan. I’ve read just about everything Ms. Schroeder has written and I have to say, she keeps getting better and better, A Calculated Seduction being the perfect story to show off her incredible talent as a writer. This is one story you won’t want miss.

Reviewed by: Sarah