If it’s advertising, then it’s an ephemeral, intangible product and a lot depends on the “talent.” If they’re not happy, then they can’t work to their full capabilities, and there’s a loss in productivity. They are at loggerheads from the start.Ī lot of management style is concerned with the nature of the business, but improving productivity is sometimes closely linked with what you want to produce. Her aged father has run off with his much younger sister. He moves them to corporate headquarters, and gives Polly a chance, despite the fact that he knew her years before and he has an understandable grudge against her. On paper the agency is a very poor investment, but Damon improves that when he fires everyone on the board of directors, who have been milking the profits without concern to the workers. It’s true that this is an exaggeration of what happens in business, but threading through the story of Polly and Damon is the story of the reconciliation of two diametrically opposed management styles. Damon is driven, hard, and he practices the “hot desk” system, where an employee doesn’t have a permanent workstation, but uses the first available empty desk. Polly Prince is the lynchpin of a small but successful advertising agency when her company is taken over by businessman Damon Doukakis. This one is no different and I had fun with this book. Although she uses the usual Harlequin/Mills and Boon tropes, she uses them intelligently, to illuminate the characters, rather than by rote, to get through a story.

Sarah Morgan writes books about poor but feisty heroines and rich but unjerky heroes.

LynneC’s review of Doukakis’s Apprenticeby Sarah MorganĬontemporary Romance published by Harlequin Presents 20 Sept 11

Doukakis's Apprentice by Sarah Morgan