I love this book

This is my first novel by this author and I believe it might be my last. I did not get a chance to finish this novel. Based on the description, I was intrigued to say the least. But upon reading the novel (which I never finished) I didn't feel like the characters were mature enough and that the writing style was kind of all over the place and not very organized or well-written. I don't think I will be recommending this novel or author.

Feeling all kinds of mixed signals in Cora Brent's latest release.

I love the humour laced through this story and I really enjoyed the fresh take on the o'l sleeping with the boss storyline. It definitely has Cora's stamp on it. The plot was pretty decent and it's written well with a good mixture of emotions and a smoking hot slow burning build up of sexual tension.

Melanie starts the book in a bit of a pickle. Having been fired from her job through no fault of her own, doing a job she wasn't even employed for.. my heart went out for her. I enjoyed her as a character, I liked that she had her crazy melt downs because it made her super relatable. She was funny and sweet and a all round pretty likeable character.

Dominic is your typical brooding alpha asshole. Short tempered, he had that love to hate attitude that has you wanting to kiss and throttle him all at the same time. A wall build a mile high around him and so many regrets and skeletons in the closet he can't see what's standing right in front of him. Running himself into the ground trying to finish the second restaurant on time for the opening, a distraction was definitely not what he needed nor wanted when Melanie strutted in the door.

Now my issue with this story is that I didn't connect to them as a couple therefore the romance was at a blank for me. The foreplay went on so long!. I felt like they didn't really know if they wanted eachother and it made it hard for me to be excited when the did eventually get together. I've never had this issue with any of the previous stories I have read by this author so it shocked me. I also wasn't a fan of Dom's brother. He came across a whiny tool who didn't even give Dom the chance but instead always expected the worse acting like the disappointed parent instead of his brother.

I love all of Cora's previous books that I have read, I don't dislike this it just didn't click for me is all.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy a lot of the story... there's a lot of well placed funny entertaining moments. I enjoyed it ok it just wasn't my favourite of hers so far.

I kindly received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to be published online in mid October.

When Melanie gets fired from her job, she manages to land a position as the assistant manager at the pizzeria belonging to the Esposito brothers. Dominic Esposito is working to get the brothers new restaurant off the ground; but he still finds the time to noticed Melanie, and they are immediately attracted to each other. Unfortunately, Dominic’s brother Gio has made him promise to stay away from the restaurant employees.

Melanie is intrigued by not only Dominic; but by the close and loving dynamic relationships of his family. She has only her sister, so she’s never experience that kind of a close-knit family. As for Dominic, he’s more than willing to give her a taste of what she’s been missing.

FIRED is a cute story, well written and a fun read. No great amounts of angst, and suitably romantic; just a nice story of love and family. Very enjoyable read.

I struggled with this book. I didn't feel the connection between Dominic and Melanie, especially in the beginning. We're to believe that from the moment he lays eyes on Melanie, that Dominic is completely taken by her. I just didn't feel this. His avoidance of her didn't make sense because I didn't feel that he was so taken by her. Eventually you feel the attraction, but it's in such a way that you still don't feel get his actions.

The huge "scandal" is really not that huge and really isn't that much of a scandal. I mean yeah it was a sucky thing to do, but the kid was 18 at the time. He was young and stupid. They made a huge deal out of this one small incident that when it was finally revealed was disappointing.

The beginning of this book is so funny. I guess if you have to get fired, then it's best to have a story like this to share from the experience.
Dom is all about family. They have a small family, but that doesn't matter. I think that's one of the things that drew Melanie to him. She has her sister and her two cats, so a larger family would be nice.
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what's next.

After getting fired from her job after an unfortunate incident which was not even her fault, Melanie Cruz is happy to find a job as assistant manager at the pizza-restaurants of the Esposito brothers.

Dominic Esposito is working hard on the second restaurant and he and Melanie are both immediately attracted to each other. But Dominic promised his brother Gio to stay away from employees, so Melanie and Dominic suffer a bit from afar. Until... yes ofcourse :-)

I really liked this story about - in essence - family. Melanie has lost her parents and has only one sister. Dominic has been raised by his grandparents and the restaurant for him stands for family values. His family plays a big part in his life and especially his grandmother Donna.

The writing style is flowing and pleasant and I read the whole book in a couple of hours. So it definitely kept my attention. No overdramatics. Just a romantic story of love and family. I give it 5 stars as I enjoyed the storyline and really want to read the next one in the series.

I've read and absolutely loved previous books from Cora Brent so I was beyond excited to be able to read and review this book. This book turned out to be an okay read for me. I liked the characters and the storyline. However, as much as I liked the characters I couldn't really connect with them the way I had hoped. Also, the flow of the story was slower than I expected. There were moments that seemed to drag. I expected so much from this book from having read previous books and it didn't captivate me the way I thought it would. There were definitely sweet, crazy and steamy moments, but I just felt as if something was missing for me besides the story being slow. It wasn't a bad read, it was just an okay read for me.

One things for sure. This book should come with a warning.

*Reading this book will make you crave pizza.*

Seriously!!!

A botched (and hilarious!) wedding and Mel finds herself unemployed. So she does what any self respecting woman would do, she finds another job in the form of assitant manager of the new Espositos pizzaria. Cue Dominic Esposito. Cue sexual tension.

This book had me smiling, I mean look: 'I was rolling out dough, trying to will my boner away by thinking about highway roadkill.'

Loved Mel
Loved Dominic
Loved the sexual tension
Loved the sexy bits
Loved the family values
Loved the heartwarming story
Loved the pizza!

And there was even a guest appearance from one of my faves...keep a look out!