You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
Welcome to Tuesday, better known here as HaBO Day! HaBO, or “Help a Bitch Out,” is our attempt to reunite readers with romances that they can remember parts of, but not the important parts like the author’s name or the title. This HaBO request is from Lynette, who wants to track down a contemporary romance:
I am looking for a contemporary Harlequin romance. I think the cover was an image within one of those red-bordered circles. It must have come out between it came out before 2009 and after the 80s, I think. It was one of the first digital books I read.
The heroine is a CEO of a big company and is known as something of an ice princess. She goes to a charity date auction at some point in the story. (Aside: Has anyone ever really done those things? And why are they my catnip?) At the fancy date auction, she, surprise surprise, she is the last person to be auctioned! She’s wearing her blue gown and is nervously oblivious of her beauty. The hero bids on her and starts a bidding war with another dude. The hero wins the bidding war for quite a bit of money.
There’s another scene, that I remember of a date auction, where the heroine is bidding on the hero. The heroine is having a bidding war with a woman who is described as something of a predatory cougar. The heroine wins by bidding an exorbitant amount.
The side story line is about how someone is trying to usurp her position of power in the company; there might be a short scene where there are nefarious plans being made in an office about trying to dethrone her as CEO.
I know it’s not a lot to go on, but I would appreciate any suggestions!
What a coincidence that they both bid on and win one another. I’m wondering if these are two separate auctions. Who is hosting all of these date auctions? And how can I get invited?!
Could it be Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly. Heroine is CEO who goes to an auction to bid on a man who she thinks her stepmother is going to win and have an affair with. Hero is a Paramedic. Turns out it was a trick to get Heroine to start dating again and a plot twist at the end.
Remember When by Judith McNaught. I LOVE that book.
@Tina YES YES YES! It is Slow Hands! Thank you so much!
@Leslie I will definitely check this one out too! Thank you!
wow, that was quick
Wow, that was impressively quick. I read Slow Hands several years ago and vaguely remember the book. Of course I suffer from “reading amnesia” because most books I have read I don’t remember reading (with a few exceptions). It is a blessing and a curse. 😉 If it wasn’t for Goodreads, I would probably be reading the same hundred books over and over again, lol.
@KellyM I saw the cover and read an excerpt that described the blue dress and knew it was the right book. I also suffer from reading amnesia! This HaBO was an exception because it’s hard to forget your first (romance novel ;D). Goodreads is a blessing.
Yay,l HaBO success! This is the first time I actually recognized the book and could have tracked it down. I believe there’s be another book with a simultaneous timeline–there’s a mixup of the bachelor photos. This post suggests it’s called HEATED RUSH. http://goodbadandunread.com/2010/09/26/review-slow-hands-by-leslie-kelly-2/
…sorry about all the typos, sigh.
“Reading amnesia” is definitely a thing. I’m glad I’m not the only one. (I also have “food amnesia” so don’t ask me what I had for breakfast).
Has Judith McNaught died? I looked up Remember When on Amazon and all of her books seem to be out of print.
Love the book Slow Hands–it’s loosely related to another book or two, as well. Because you can’t buy just one.
HaBO is my favorite thing to read each week. I just happened to pop in while stuck in an on hold black hole with BCBS. I may have actually squeed out loud when I realized I knew this book. And now I’m off to purchase Heated Touch.
This is a favorite. It’s old skool, but I really, really love this book.
The hero and heroine were friends in their youth, but the hero had to leave town because he was accused of impregnating a girl and it was the word of a poor stable hand against a rich debutante. Everyone thought he was just this ambitious money-grabber who slept with the girl to make a cash cow out of her, but in reality, he actually never touched her and was stand-offish. He knew he was being the target practice of silly, teenage girls’ flirtations and was constantly trying to brush them off.
The heroine later on realizes that the hero was being used as a scapegoat because she and her group of friends (which that pregnant girl was part of) had a bet on who could get the hero to kiss them first and nobody ever won (she was designated to be the safe-keeper of the pot money because she was the only heiress who they thought didn’t have a crush on him).
The plot was a marriage of convenience. Years later when they once again met, she was running a magazine about home and domestic living, and he was a rich, corporate fella. She was jilted by her fiance and it was bad publicity, especially since her magazine was supposed to be about family and stuff.
The hero offered to marry her to make everyone think that it was actually her who did the jilting. And also because the hero’s uncle was a stubborn bastard who told him that if he wasn’t going to get married and have kids, the company was going to be inherited by his cousin.
Later on, he got involved in a huge scandal and he told her to divorce him so that her company will be spared. After all, that was the reason why they married in the first place. But she and her family (who were terribly suspicious of the hero but they were incredibly loyal to the heroine) stuck by him. He later went on to win the case.
And then they had babies, and they were reminiscing the past, and they were all, “Hey, remember when…?” And that is why that is the title of this book.
Sorry for writing a lot, but yeah…
Anyway, trigger warnings: (1) the first time the hero and the heroine had sex, she was terribly drunk. Hero tried to brush her off at first, but eventually gave in. (2) Hero’s pet dog was killed for fun. His father and brothers weren’t good people.
@ KellyM
It must be the curse of women named Kelly because I suffer from/with the same thing. 😉