One Way to Succeed

Amy's career aspirations have been put on hold by her TV-anchor boyfriend, who has been moving from town to town, up the network ladder. In Palm Springs, they finally break up. Now Amy wants to leave waitressing jobs behind and find a career path she can be proud of. Meanwhile, Rick is looking for a new administrative assistant and a chief operating officer at his real estate company, Casas de Buen Dia, which creates boutique hotels in this trendy desert city. They meet at Amy's café, and soon he offers her the open admin job. Although it's not the job she wanted, it's better than waiting on tables. Amy finds she loves the hotel development business and starts to do the COO's job. Rick, however, doesn't want to give a woman power, believing his mother stole the family construction company from his father. As Amy plots a promotion, Rick tries to figure out how he can lay her off to dodge obvious conflicts in the workplace-and still keep her as a lover. When Amy pulls off the real estate coup of the decade for him, he sees it as subterfuge instead of the true gift it is. Then, an elderly Mexican woman shows up to set things straight.
A romance for smart girls, One Way to Succeed is the first in a series about the loves and lives of the people at the Casas de Buen Dia.