Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Bad for the Boss

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The book is absolutely stellar.

These characters are remarkable well developed. At some points in the story the plot was weak for me, but the sheer vibrancy of every character on the page makes me want to entirely ignore that. Plot drawbacks that stand out are; not knowing why Theo felt comfortable pursuing Jen despite being so worried about her experience with workplace sexual harassment, Jen never meeting the sister Theo talks about constantly, information about Jen history with a panic disorder, and more backstory for everything surrounding the stalker situation. These are mostly small concerns and entirely overshadowed by the amazing cast.

This is primarily a duel POV romance, with POV from the love interests. There are also three partial chapters from the perspectives of different side characters. I think I would normally find a break from story flow like that off putting, but I loved them. The first is Jen’s best friend Aria in over protective friend mode. When I read the section in her POV it felt like both a glimpse into Jen’s life that she would rather keep hidden and a potential way to introduce the POV of the next character in the series. When I got to the next side character POV though I got that these sections were designed to bring depth to the story and show the differences in human experience. The second side characters POV was Jen’s grandmother, who is suffering dementia like memory problems. The writing in the section made me cry as the familial love shown through earnest confusion and doubts. The third side characters POV was a lesser villain in the book. While hinted at earlier in the book, her internal monologue reveals her to be incredibly racist, which was jarring given the diversity of the book’s cast. The writing was artful, in all three cases, but especially with the racists perspective. The section made her both more distasteful and villainous while simultaneously a human with human worries, concerns, and feelings. There was so much marvelously more depth to the book that I was expecting from a romance. I’ve loved Talia’s more current romcom-y romance, but I adored how this book hit me in all the feels.

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jzthecatlady's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was definitely a fun read, as Talia Hibbert’s books always are. Not sure how I felt about the boss/employee dynamic, but I think that’s just because it’s not my favorite trope, rather than the execution. I wish there had been slightly more plot, as I really enjoyed the story, and it was mostly spice. Theo was such an interesting character and I wish we’d gotten to learn more about him. I really enjoyed all the side characters, and I actually gasped at the plot twist! I just wish the plot elements had been a little further developed.

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the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The plot felt rushed with a lot of things happening without a lot of build up to support it. I also didn't get to know any of the characters very well, especially Jennifer and Theo.

There were also a lot of elements of the book that were very confusing and/or unresolved.

Why were Jen's parents murdered? Why did Simon do weird stalker things instead of just murdering Jen in the home he had ample access to? How is Theo so OBSCENELY wealthy? How did Theo even get into advertising?

I'm a big fan of Talia Hibbert in general, but this was not one of my favourite stories by her.

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ne3ne3tea's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

There is crack in these pages, babe…

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sugardustedbooks's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

When a wrong email lands Jennifer in Theo’s office the attraction is instant for them both. Jennifer tells herself there is no way he’d be interested plus this is her job. Theo makes a futile attempt to squash his feelings because duh… but we all know how that works out don’t we?

“But then her common sense returned, loud, demanding, and sounding frighteningly like her Grandma’s voice.

Jennifer Johnson, you are not about to shit where you eat!

Yep. Definitely Grandma.”

As the title suggests Bad for the Boss is an office romance and does contain a power imbalance which TH states at the start of the book. Although Theo is still technically everyones boss and obviously in a position of power I’m glad he wasn’t directly involved in her everyday work tasks/supervision and as always I am thankful that Hibbert always writes dual points of view so you always know what both Theo and Jennifer are thinking/feeling. That being said, the amount of times I did a face palm and said “oh my god” out loud were many. For someone who built & runs a business Theo does not think before he speaks/acts and I really wanted to tell him to just chill for a second buddy. It got intense fast and I felt like everything was moving at lightening speed but once I reminded myself it was a 200 page quick read I was able to set that aside and just enjoy.

On top of navigating how messy this could make her job Jen also has a stalker. The girl can’t catch a break. I think it’s pretty easy to piece together but I don’t trust anyone so honestly everyone was a suspect. I liked the addition of a suspenseful storyline. It added some balance and intrigue throughout.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

This book is evidence that practice makes perfect. I see the spirit of Talia Hibbert’s later books in this, but it’s not as good as those. The main thing that kept taking me out of the narrative was Theodore. I felt like his actions didn’t make a ton of sense. He’s 40+ and a partner at a notable company yet he seems to never have any work to do. I know CEO types do not work anywhere near as much as those under them, but I’d imagine that someone would reprimand him for the way he was acting.

Like others have said, the power imbalance is pretty uncomfortable, especially since Theodore is so controlling and doesn’t listen to what Jennifer wants, even about basic things, like not calling her Jenny. I just kept thinking about how easily an abusive person could and would take these same actions. I get that Theodore is supposed to be hot or whatever,

but the fact that he was THAT obsessed with Jennifer after only a few days after they met made me feel like he was fetishizing the idea of her more than anything else. This was giving me “shiny human syndrome” vibes. As great as Jennifer might be, he didn’t really know her yet.

I wasn’t expecting the stalker plotline. It felt like more of a distraction than anything else, especially since

plot lines like that of Lilliana didn’t really get resolved.

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