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lezreviewbooks's review
4.0
This is a compilation of three novellas under the common theme of boss/employee romantic liaisons by three seasoned Bold Strokes Books authors.
In 'Lead counsel' by Aurora Rey, Attorney Elisa Gonzalez finds herself having to work a major case alongside her former law school crush and now hotshot litigator Parker Jones who has possibly forgotten all about their quick tryst in college. Or has she?
'For your eyes only' by Julie Cannon. CFO Riley Stephenson's all work no play life is turned upside down by a gorgeous stripper who eventually ends up as her new employee.
'Opportunity of a lifetime' by M. Ullrich. VP Stephanie Austin likes to work solo but when her boss assigns her an assistant she finds out that maybe there's something to be said about working as a team as Luca Gardner is efficient, hardworking and incredibly beautiful.
Unlike other compilations where the quality of the works varies, in this book all the novellas are at the same level of writing standards. However, there are some issues like, for example, in 'For your eyes only' the end is a bit abrupt, 'Lead counsel' introduces too many secondary characters that are hard to follow, and 'Opportunity of a lifetime' drags the conflict between the main characters a bit unrealistically. Additionally, I think that in all three novellas, the powerplay and sexual tension between boss/employee isn't maximised to its full potential like in, for example, 'I remember' by Julie Cannon or 'Too close to touch' by Georgia Beers which are very good lesfic books of corporate romance. Having said that, this is an enjoyable compilation for those readers who enjoy this type of romance.
Overall, an entertaining and enjoyable read despite some minor issues. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
In 'Lead counsel' by Aurora Rey, Attorney Elisa Gonzalez finds herself having to work a major case alongside her former law school crush and now hotshot litigator Parker Jones who has possibly forgotten all about their quick tryst in college. Or has she?
'For your eyes only' by Julie Cannon. CFO Riley Stephenson's all work no play life is turned upside down by a gorgeous stripper who eventually ends up as her new employee.
'Opportunity of a lifetime' by M. Ullrich. VP Stephanie Austin likes to work solo but when her boss assigns her an assistant she finds out that maybe there's something to be said about working as a team as Luca Gardner is efficient, hardworking and incredibly beautiful.
Unlike other compilations where the quality of the works varies, in this book all the novellas are at the same level of writing standards. However, there are some issues like, for example, in 'For your eyes only' the end is a bit abrupt, 'Lead counsel' introduces too many secondary characters that are hard to follow, and 'Opportunity of a lifetime' drags the conflict between the main characters a bit unrealistically. Additionally, I think that in all three novellas, the powerplay and sexual tension between boss/employee isn't maximised to its full potential like in, for example, 'I remember' by Julie Cannon or 'Too close to touch' by Georgia Beers which are very good lesfic books of corporate romance. Having said that, this is an enjoyable compilation for those readers who enjoy this type of romance.
Overall, an entertaining and enjoyable read despite some minor issues. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
corrie's review
4.0
The Boss of Her is an anthology of three stories by three different authors with the boss/employee relationship as the common theme.
Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey - Attorney Elisa Gonzalez has to work a major case with her former law school crush, now New York hotshot litigator Parker Jones. Can Jones adjust to living in Hotlanta again? Does she even remember Elisa and their drunken fumble?
For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon - CFO Riley Stephenson is all work and no play until she meets this gorgeous stripper who – as it turns out later – happens to be in her employ. Oops.
Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich - snarky VP Stephanie Austin likes to do everything herself, but has no choice when her boss appoints Luca Gardner as her new assistant. A battle of wills begins as Luca is on a mission to slowly thaw the ice queen.
Of all three I preferred Julie Cannon’s story. It was the most entertaining and brought the sizzle the other two lacked. Aurora Rey was okay, a bit bland perhaps. M. Ullrich’s story was the least successful. The emotions of both characters where all over the place. Stephanie was a nasty bitch in the first part and had a personality transplant in the second. The drama at the 80% felt forced. I couldn’t really connect.
f/f one out of three was sexy
Themes: boss/employee romance
3.5 Stars
Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey - Attorney Elisa Gonzalez has to work a major case with her former law school crush, now New York hotshot litigator Parker Jones. Can Jones adjust to living in Hotlanta again? Does she even remember Elisa and their drunken fumble?
For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon - CFO Riley Stephenson is all work and no play until she meets this gorgeous stripper who – as it turns out later – happens to be in her employ. Oops.
Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich - snarky VP Stephanie Austin likes to do everything herself, but has no choice when her boss appoints Luca Gardner as her new assistant. A battle of wills begins as Luca is on a mission to slowly thaw the ice queen.
Of all three I preferred Julie Cannon’s story. It was the most entertaining and brought the sizzle the other two lacked. Aurora Rey was okay, a bit bland perhaps. M. Ullrich’s story was the least successful. The emotions of both characters where all over the place. Stephanie was a nasty bitch in the first part and had a personality transplant in the second. The drama at the 80% felt forced. I couldn’t really connect.
f/f one out of three was sexy
Themes: boss/employee romance
3.5 Stars
llamareads's review
4.0
I haven't read many f/f novellas, so when I saw this anthology, I jumped on it. These are all new-to-me authors as well, so I was excited to find some new favorites. While some of these are off-shoots of existing series, all the novellas can be read as standalone.
“Lead Counsel” – Aurora Rey ★★★
“It’s kind of humiliating to want someone who hooked up with you when they were drunk, but the next morning was, ‘eh, no thanks.’ And now she’s my boss. I’d be an absolute idiot to give her even a passing thought.”
For whatever reason, this first story didn’t really work for me. I liked Elisa and Parker, and I liked the backstory of a hookup gone wrong in college and an unrequited crush, but I didn’t feel the chemistry between them. I kept checking to see how many pages were left in this one while reading it.
“I’ve seen the way Parker looks at you.”
So much for being subtle. “How’s that?”
“Like she’s the hero in a Nicholas Sparks movie and you’re the heroine.”
Elisa narrowed her eyes. “Is that a compliment? I can’t tell.”
“For Your Eyes Only” – Julie Cannon. ★★★★
This one has a really interesting POV. It starts out with Riley’s POV. Riley is a CFO who’s, well, she’s been described as “frigid,” and while I don’t think that fits, she is rather introverted and rigid in her ways – for instance, she likes having her shirts tucked in all the time. She’s having a not-so-great time at her best friend’s birthday party until Jess, the stripper, arrives. Something between Riley and Jess clicks right away, and after a bit of deliberation, Riley calls and schedules a private dance with Jess, then another, then another. This being a work-related anthology, I think you can figure out where this is going. The second half of the story rewinds and retells the same events from Jess’s POV, until the big reveal, when it switches to a dual third-person POV. There’s so much chemistry between Riley and Jess, though it does end a bit suddenly, but on a HFN. I really wished this was longer – I wanted to know how they would overcome their issues.
“Opportunity of a Lifetime” – M. Ullrich. ★★★★
“Sometimes we all need a moment of weakness to remind us of how strong we really are.”
I think this was my favorite, and the one that had the most angsty work-related dilemmas. Stephanie is one of LGR Financial’s top hot-shot forensic accountants, and the last thing she needs is an assistant – she works best alone. Luca is surprised to be assigned to Stephanie, who has a bit of a reputation at the office, and then frustrated when it’s obvious that Stephanie wants nothing to do with her. The author, however, manages to straddle the line with making the reader frustrated for Luca without paining Stephanie as a complete bitch. This was my favorite of the three novellas, and it felt almost like a full-length book. There’s a lot of character development, and a ton of intensely delightful sexual tension. I finished out the novella feeling like they had a solid chance at a HEA.
Overall, this was a fun anthology, with mostly strong stories. I’d give it 4 stars overall.
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
“Lead Counsel” – Aurora Rey ★★★
“It’s kind of humiliating to want someone who hooked up with you when they were drunk, but the next morning was, ‘eh, no thanks.’ And now she’s my boss. I’d be an absolute idiot to give her even a passing thought.”
For whatever reason, this first story didn’t really work for me. I liked Elisa and Parker, and I liked the backstory of a hookup gone wrong in college and an unrequited crush, but I didn’t feel the chemistry between them. I kept checking to see how many pages were left in this one while reading it.
“I’ve seen the way Parker looks at you.”
So much for being subtle. “How’s that?”
“Like she’s the hero in a Nicholas Sparks movie and you’re the heroine.”
Elisa narrowed her eyes. “Is that a compliment? I can’t tell.”
“For Your Eyes Only” – Julie Cannon. ★★★★
This one has a really interesting POV. It starts out with Riley’s POV. Riley is a CFO who’s, well, she’s been described as “frigid,” and while I don’t think that fits, she is rather introverted and rigid in her ways – for instance, she likes having her shirts tucked in all the time. She’s having a not-so-great time at her best friend’s birthday party until Jess, the stripper, arrives. Something between Riley and Jess clicks right away, and after a bit of deliberation, Riley calls and schedules a private dance with Jess, then another, then another. This being a work-related anthology, I think you can figure out where this is going. The second half of the story rewinds and retells the same events from Jess’s POV, until the big reveal, when it switches to a dual third-person POV. There’s so much chemistry between Riley and Jess, though it does end a bit suddenly, but on a HFN. I really wished this was longer – I wanted to know how they would overcome their issues.
“Opportunity of a Lifetime” – M. Ullrich. ★★★★
“Sometimes we all need a moment of weakness to remind us of how strong we really are.”
I think this was my favorite, and the one that had the most angsty work-related dilemmas. Stephanie is one of LGR Financial’s top hot-shot forensic accountants, and the last thing she needs is an assistant – she works best alone. Luca is surprised to be assigned to Stephanie, who has a bit of a reputation at the office, and then frustrated when it’s obvious that Stephanie wants nothing to do with her. The author, however, manages to straddle the line with making the reader frustrated for Luca without paining Stephanie as a complete bitch. This was my favorite of the three novellas, and it felt almost like a full-length book. There’s a lot of character development, and a ton of intensely delightful sexual tension. I finished out the novella feeling like they had a solid chance at a HEA.
Overall, this was a fun anthology, with mostly strong stories. I’d give it 4 stars overall.
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
simonlorden's review
4.0
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sex on page: Yes
Overall, I enjoyed this collection more than I expected given some of my previous experience with contemporary adult romances.
Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey: 3/5 stars
For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon: 4.5/5 stars
Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich: 4/5 stars
Read my full review on my blog, The Golden Library.
Sex on page: Yes
Overall, I enjoyed this collection more than I expected given some of my previous experience with contemporary adult romances.
Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey: 3/5 stars
For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon: 4.5/5 stars
Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich: 4/5 stars
Read my full review on my blog, The Golden Library.
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