The Boss's Unconventional Assistant (Jennie Adams)****

I have read the odd Mills & Boon and found it amusing but up until I read this book the funniest bits were the sentences that didn’t quite make sense, like ‘putting her shoes on, she ran after him’. I loved the image of the heroine kind of hopping and hanging onto the banister as she literally tried to run and put her shoes on at the same time. Yes, I do know the authors didn’t mean for me to imagine this but that is what they’re saying.

Then there are some other sentences that sound very grand and sensual on first reading but when you think about them, they’re actually a bit mad. The one my mum (who has only read about one Mills & Boon) likes to quote is: ‘Standing in front of her, he was unmistakeably male’. Well considering the guy was naked at the time I would hope it was unmistakeable! What’s the alternative? ‘Standing in front of her, it was difficult to tell whether he was male or not’????? If that’s the case, the heroine’s got a problem!

Then I read The Boss’s Unconventional Assistant and I found out that Mills & Boons could not only be intentionally funny, they could actually be rather hilarious. Soph might be my favourite Mills & Boon character ever and not just because she shares my name. It actually took me a while to get used to the fact Jennie Adams calls her Soph – that is really the only criticism I can make. My friends call me Soph all the time and they might even talk about me as Soph but I would never introduce myself by that name. Some names like Jo and Sue are short forms but I can accept them as proper names. Soph however is more of a nickname.

In fact she herself introduces herself as Sophia first and then asks people to call her Soph. She says that everyone calls her Soph but that’s not always true – when Soph goes to visit her sisters, they call her Sophia. I didn’t keep a tally, but I’m sure they called her Sophia more often than they called her Soph. And I was a bit surprised to read that she went a bit mushy inside when the hero, Grey, called her Soph for the first time. That sounds more like friendliness than romance to me – a change from Sophia to Sophie would have seemed more convincing. And yes, my boyfriend does call me Soph. But not usually when he’s being romantic. It’s always Sophie or cariad. If he says ‘I love you Soph’ it usually means I’ve done something a bit silly like getting canopy and canapé mixed up. Or boudoir and abattoir.

And while we’re on the subject of names, isn’t Grey a short form of Graham? Maybe it is his actual name and Adams has given him an unusual name to make him seem sexy but for a boss to ask his assistant to call him Grey and for him to insist on calling her Sophia seems a bit odd.

But never mind, Soph does suit her. She’s not only an unconventional assistant, she’s an unconventional Mills & Boon heroine too. Most of them are fairly quiet an unassuming and make no attempt to wear the trousers. You do get the odd one who answers back but that’s usually part of the sexual undercurrents. It’s not unknown for the heroine to be taking care of the hero when he’s injured – that happened in the last Mills & Boon I read, The Italian Playboy’s Secret Son - but the hero is always pretty much in charge even when she’s pushing him along in a wheelchair (Grey isn’t in a wheelchair but Cesar in The Italian Playboy’s Secret Son is). Most heroines have a nurturing side to their personality but they tend not to do it with aromatherapy candles and massage oils. And they definitely don’t have crimson or green hair. Crimson lips and green eyes, possibly. But not hair.

I absolutely loved Soph. She is bubbly and fun and capable of getting into awkward situations but not because she’s lacking in intelligence. The first time we see her she is wondering how to smuggle a rabbit into Grey’s house without him knowing. I’m not even sure if I’ve read about a heroine who has a pet before, certainly not one whom she rescues one on the way to her new job and decides to take with her.

She’s cheerful and determined but she comes over as sweet rather than overbearing. She can be bossy, she has no trouble making sure Grey does his physiotherapy but there’s something so charming about it and it isn’t because she wants to overpower him. It’s not even because her job is to look after Grey while he recovers from a broken arm and sprained ankle. She’s just genuinely worried about him. And not just because she fancies the pants off him. She’s practical and self-sufficient – even when she does fail to understand how to set up a visual link on the computer, she knows exactly who to phone and has it sorted by the time Grey has come back into the room. But she’s also very vulnerable, even before she starts falling in love with Grey.

Grey isn’t so vivid a character but who could be? He starts off quite growly and grumpy – he’s been told to take some time off work but he really doesn’t want to do that. Soph isn’t the type to get in an argument but she certainly doesn’t agree with his decision and she’s not afraid to let him know that. But then you gradually see him realising that there’s more to life than work. At first it’s just little signs, small reactions to Soph, and slowly you realise that he’s actually a really nice guy – probably as close to being worthy of Soph as anyone can get. And you really want it to work out for them. (Yes, I know, it’s Mills & Boon, of course it’s going to work out for them. But there’s nothing wrong with hoping.)

Jennie Adams’ writing has all the requisite (but not always present) romance but it is also full of humour. The part where Grey discovers the presence of Alfie (Soph’s rabbit) is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read – and I’ve read a lot of books. The scenes that take place in Grey’s office are also nicely done. Adams doesn’t get boringly technical about his work and if she does describe something there is a point to it – either it’s an opportunity for humour or something that shows you how Soph and Grey’s relationship is developing. It’s still Mills & Boon in that Adams follows the conventional structure but it’s full of originality.