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Review
3.5 stars!
I’m a huge fan of Christina Lauren and was really excited to dive into my first standalone by them. I have to admit that I had certain expectations going into this book which I’m sure impacted my enjoyment of the story, because it wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, but it’s a good book that is really well written with great characters and a solid storyline, and I enjoyed it.
Evie and Carter meet at a costume party held by mutual friends. They are soon cringing at the realisation that they have been set up, but they’re both feeling the attraction, so they go along with it and I loved the flirting and banter as they get to know each other.
“I’m notoriously married to my job.”
“That’s super convenient because so am I. It’ll be like we’re cheating on our jobs with each other.”
They both work as talent agents in the film industry, with Evie well established and Carter just having moved to LA and still proving himself. It works for them because they understand each other’s careers and the impact it has on your personal life, but everything changes when their two companies merge and they find themselves fighting for the one job.
It’s a confusing time for the two of them, with some anxiety and mixed messages as they both begin the battle to keep their jobs, and as tensions rise, pranks and work shenanigans ensue, and their budding romance soon becomes all-out war – while their attraction continues to sizzle. The shifting dynamic of their relationship was really well done. A back-and-forth kind of relationship can sometimes be annoying, but this one wasn’t. Their feelings and miscommunications make sense, there was no stupid drama, and the whole time it was happening, you can feel the chemistry between them, you know what’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of sitting back and watching it all unfold as it will.
“Simply put, Evelyn Abbey is my former almost-girlfriend-turned-archnemesis-turned-tentative-ally whom I would now very much like to permanently seduce.”
The story is written in dual POVs, and I loved their individual voices. With so many conflicting emotions going on, I loved knowing exactly where both of them were at as the situation between them swung back and forth.
“You look like you’re cycling through a lot of things right now.”
“Like what?”
“Like whether you should kiss me or punch me.”
“It’s a daily struggle.”Screw him and his perfect forearms and cute crooked smile and diva brother.
I’m so tired of wanting to shove him into the wall and then shove my hand down his pants.
It’s a really fun set up, and I thought that the love story between Evie and Carter was natural, sweet, fun and (ultimately) passionate.
“You’re wound so tight,” he whispers before bending to kiss my neck. “How do I make you unravel?”
The thing with the romance though – I wanted more of it. I wanted more build-up, and I wanted to feel the love story developing, but that didn’t happen for me. This book felt more like a chick-lit book with a few steamy scenes rather than all-out romance, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but having read and loved these authors’ previous work, I was hoping for a particular kind of story, and it just wasn’t there.
There’s a whole heap of drama going on in the office with a strong focus on their jobs, the different personalities in their office, and the way that Carter and Evie navigate that, and to me that overwhelmed the love story, which I would have preferred to be a lot stronger. There was so much potential for awesomeness between Carter and Evie, and I didn’t feel that it quite got there.
But the story does end well. It’s predictable, but all of the loose ends are tied up really nicely, and I was happy with how it finished.
There’s a great cast of side characters who add a lot to the story, and I loved their hilarious group of friends. This book is an true standalone, but I can see potential for more stories with this group, and I would definitely be interested in reading more.
I like this one, but didn’t love it as much as I have the other work by these authors. Still a good, solid read though.
3.5 stars.