What a delightful surprise!

After being in somewhat of a romance novel slump lately with some mediocre novels, I went into this with low expectations and was blown away.

I LOVED how this romance reversed the typical stereotype of the CEO being the male character in the romance. I don't know if I've read a romance novel where the female is the boss and I really liked it.

With that being said, I absolutely loved the character of Ryan though. I felt like my heart broke over and over for him throughout this story. He was such a strong character with a solid heart for good.

The chemistry between Ryan and Sam was perfect and they balanced each other out so well. I really enjoyed each of their characters individually but also as a couple.

This was a fun, cute, and steamy romance but it also did have its own emotional punch whether it be from the events in Ryan's life or the internal struggles that both Ryan and Sam had.

I will be highly recommending this contemporary romance to others.

***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I enjoyed The New Guy. It was fun for the most part, with some realism tossed in. Sam and Ryan meet, hook up and go about their business, only to discover that Ryan is Sam's new employee. One of the best things about The New Guy is that Sam has the "power position", she's the financially stable boss in charge. I really appreciated this, over the often used male boss, female underling. Understandably Sam is not interested in starting a relationship with an employee at work, but still can't help herself from falling for him.

Ryan is starting a new job, there were times he annoyed me a bit, but overall I liked him a lot. I especially liked that the fact that Sam made a lot more money than him never once was an issue. He handled that quite well.

Sam and Ryan were cute together and I'm glad they got their happily ever after!

Thanks Net Galley for the preview!

This story 100% made me swoon and left me with a happy conclusion. I loved the premise of a one night stand showing up as your new employee! It is a fresh idea that I had not seen before. They both clearly had a lot of baggage and needed to work through so much to finally reach happiness. I loved the company retreat and when Sam gets to see Ryan with his family! I already recommended this book calling it saucy and sweet!

Great story with endearing and memorable characters. Just when you think you finish the love story another turn comes and you are along for more of an exciting ride.

If typical romance books aren’t your thing because you don’t love a good love scene, then this book might be for you. Any romantic moments are fade to black in this book.

I think we all want the next Hating Game, and this book isn’t it. It was a cute story though, I really did like Sam and Ryan. I felt like the author repeated a little too much the reasons why they were both scared to be in a relationship. We get it, lets move on. What did work for me, was the app development company/IT guy. I also really liked that Sam was the strong female CEO, Ryan the “underling.”

Bottom Line: This was a cute read. It passed the time just fine.

**I received a copy of The New Guy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Unfortunately, I could not get into this book at all. I love a good office romance, and throw in a little love to hate, and usually, that's a home run for me. This just fell flat. I found myself bored while reading and not caring at all about the characters. Their chemistry was seriously lacking.

Favorite Quotes:

Then he peeked at him over his shades. ‘Admit it, big man. You’ve got a soft spot for me.’ ‘It’s soft all right,’ Ryan muttered, causing Lucas to burst into laughter.

I’ve got a bit of heartburn, that’s all. Probably the sausage sandwich I had for lunch from that mobile greasy spoon on the market. Haute cuisine it isn’t. More like haute coli.


My Review:

This is my fourth time reading the clever arrangements of words of Kathryn Freeman and each time I pick one up, I aspire to read her entire backlist, I am enamored with her smooth and engaging writing style, wry humor, and perceptive insights. Her unique and quirky characters tend to be hard-working and admirable yet flawed, struggling, and more than a bit short-sighted at times while still more enjoyable than most people I know. I adored this couple as they traversed the challenging minefield of working together during the day while secretly doing the slap and tickle after-hours. They smoothed and soothed each other’s damaged psyches.

In addition to providing me with an entertaining diversion, Ms. Freeman also added to my Brit Word and Phrases list with lampin - Midlands-speak for a beating, sussed – UK slang for understood or figured out, and bobby dazzler - a person who is considered remarkable or excellent in some way. As such, I’ve astutely sussed Ms. Freeman to be a complete bobby dazzler and will hand out a serious lampin to anyone who dares dis my gal.

So Sam Huxton, successful bubbly CEO has had a bad day, and she meets a brooding tall dark and handsome stranger and they proceed to have her first and only one-night stand. What could possibly go wrong? She walks into work and the New Guy, hired while she was away for a few days, is waiting to start his first day- he’s Ryan Black: tall dark and handsome...not a stranger anymore!

The rest of the story moves through their mutual attraction told from both perspectives. They basically are both really into the other yet they don’t let on their feelings. They work on developing Sam’s company’s new app, with a cast of coworkers/ friends and a bit of family drama spliced in. It’s a simple plot and very sweet at times. My general opinion is that it just went on a bit too long , and basically knowing each character’s thoughts (and a lot of stomach fluttering!) throughout left little to the imagination and there wasn’t much conflict to overcome. I did like Sam and Ryan’s characters a lot though, learning about their motivations and their difficulties made for a good relationship to be illustrated.

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book. I liked the awareness of workplace power dynamics, I liked the backstory that was given to the characters, and I liked the writing. Sometimes in novels that utilize these tropes have very unsympathetic characters, but in this book I felt that the history made the actions I may not have agreed with understandable. All in all, great book

I cringed, I laughed, I blushed, I swooned and all in one book. I definitely enjoyed reading the new guys, good to see that the women can also be the boss in a romantic comedy. I absolutely love Ryan as a character and all his traits even the frustrating ones, and Sam was good, sometimes a little flip/flop for me, but Ryan kept me turning the pages. A fun read, an enjoyable read and a book that I would recommend to friends who wanted a light hearted read.
Thankyou for me ARC NetGalley & Harper Collins

This book tells the story of Sam and Ryan and I have to say they had an awesome story. From the very first word of this story I found myself stuck like glue to this book and the story that was unfolding. The chemistry between the two main characters was clear from the get go and really sizzled throughout the entire book.
What was amazing is that Kathryn put as much thought into the relationships between the main characters as she did with whoever they interacted with. This is evident in the book when you read about Sam and her friends as well as anyone Sam or Ryan interact with.
Something that was refreshing about this book is that Sam our female lead is the strong CEO character that has typically been played by a male. Now don't get me wrong Ryan was still very manly and lovable but I loved the strength that Sam has in this book. It was also nice to see that when you were inside Ryan's head, with his point of view he would think and worry about stuff that typically you only saw a women worry about.
Overall I really loved this book and to find out that actually it is part of a series just makes me so happy. This story was easy to get stuck into and you will find yourself quickly making your way through this story. I for one will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for the next book and will be picking more by Kathryn Freeman in the future.

What would you do if you had a one night stand with a man you thought you’d never see again, but ends up working for you? This is the premise of this book. Sam runs a successful app which needs some new tweaks to compete with a competitor who is launching in a few weeks. The competing app happens to be owned by not only her ex boyfriend but also her ex co founder. They need a genius software developer to fix issues in the app and also make theirs better. In walks in Ryan, the one night stand.

I thought this was an easy, cute read however it felt very long to me. The pacing was a little off as I started to lose interest in the middle. It came together ok in the end. A cute, light read during quarantine.

The New Guy by Kathryn Freeman is filled with a lot of drama. It's funny, charming, angsty, and romantic. A woman CEO, Sam, goes to a bar, gets drunk, and hits on the hot brooding guy next to her. At first, I didn't like either character in this first meeting. Afterwards, I liked them both better. Meeting the sober, Sam and the brooding code writer, Ryan, it was interesting. Never a dull moment. Their chemistry is instant. It explodes every time they're in a room together. However, Sam is the boss and she's trying to ignore their chemistry and memories of their hot one night stand. Ryan cannot forget about that night either. Each day, he is more interested in the gorgeous red head for a boss. But after one disastrous work relationship, Sam is scared. This writer's style works. Each page was entertaining, the story was action-packed enough to keep my attention.

A brilliant, funny read, perfect distraction for now, or any time, as an easy and feel good read.
Sam and Ryan have a one night stand. They think that will be the last they see of each other until the very next morning when Ryan starts work as a software developer at a new company where Sam is the CEO.
How will Sam and Ryan get past the awkwardness of their one night stand to establish a working relationship? Will they be able to keep a professional distance or will there be a repeat of what was to be just a one-off interaction?
Such a great read, highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good palette cleanser between heavier reads. Office romance sort of frienimies to lovers.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think my favorite thing about this story was the characters. They were just so relatable and likeable. Overall very well written. I wish there had been a where they are now type of section where we could see where the characters were after all they had been through.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

Chemistry that burns off the page. A thoroughly enjoyable read that is sexy, fun and current! The New Guy is so entertaining and had me grinning from ear to ear

I had high hopes of this book but it was a disappointment from the beginning. Sam and Ryan meet in a pub and end up having above night stand. There is not even a hint of chemistry as Sam rambles on about her recently deceased grandfather and Ryan pretends to listen to her. She is bland and he is rude. That's it. I hoped the characters would develop into more interesting and empathetic individuals but it was not to be. This book is mediocre, at best.

A fun and easy to read romcom that will take your mind off everything that’s going on right now.
Featured in episode 2 of my IGTV series.

This was a cute read. I enjoyed the relationship between Sam and Ryan, though I found both of the characters annoying at points. An epilogue would have been nice...showing how they were making the relationship work once they had admitted their feelings and told people about the relationship.