The New Guy was a fun and sexy read! It had all the great elements of a rom-com, and executed them well! I really felt the steam in this one, and I was hooked from the start. I didn't always love the main character, but the I loved the side characters, and the whole plot carried well. All in all, a really great, entertaining read!

Such a fun (and hot) read. I was pulled in by the cover (super cute) and the storyline. Sam is at a pub, drinking champagne, celebrating the life of her Grumps, when she decides to talk up the dark, broody man sitting at the bar, drinking a beer. One thing leads to another and she ends up having a one night stand (her first ever!) with him. Next day she wakes up, hungover, the stranger gone - she didn’t even get his name. Her company is hiring a new software developer and low and behold who walks in but her one night stand. Awkward! The story rolls on from there....can the two work together? ignore their growing attraction? end up friends? Read to find out. I read it in a day. It was a fun light read. A fun rom com! Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks #netgalley for the ARC.
#thenewguy

I finished The New Guy this morning and I have mixed thoughts on it.

Sam has a one night stand with a guy. The next day she finds out the same man is the new employee at her business. Of which she is the CEO. Cue the questions - Was it just a one night stand? How will they manage an office romance? How will it work with her being his boss?

This book moved a bit slowly for me. And I didn’t much like the hero Ryan, especially at the start of the book. I loved the character of Sam though and all her friends.

Yikes. This was so promising and just completely fell flat for me. I love the premise. I love the broody hero. But the pacing lagged, the characters were under-developed and not likable, and it needed A TON of editing. Really wanted to love this one but it didn’t work for me.

BOOK REVIEW: The New Guy by Kathryn Freeman 2.5 stars

Thank you to netgalley for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The new guy is about Sam, the young, smart and bubbly female CEO of a tech business and Ryan, the new hire who just happened to have an unknown one night stand with his boss before he starts work.
I have struggled on what to rate this as I did enjoy it but there seemed to be alot of repetition and at some points I just wanted to shake Sam and tell her to wake up. Ryan and a colleague called Lucas were my favourite characters but even their funny relationship got a bit samey and repetitive.
This book is basically about sex. The one night stand and then the leading up to, talking about or thinking about sex. Yet there wasn't one sex scene. It was all fade to black. I don't need smut in a romance to love it but because it was such a large part of the story, to leave it out seemed really odd and didn't hit the right balance unlike other contemporary romance authors.
Also I hate it when the artwork on the front cover doesn't depict the actual characters. Sam has red hair, why on earth does the female on the front cover not?! It was a nice read but sadly nothing special for me and I would recommend many other romances over this.

I wanted to love this book, the premise sounded fun and lighthearted and the role reversal of the strong female boss should have been a great hook. But... I found it incredibly difficult to engage with, the story felt clunky and I actively disliked the hero of the story Ryan - there’s a fine line between a man in touch with his emotions and a giant wuss, for me he fell on the wrong side. Sadly disappointed.

Wow. What an amazing read. I loved the characters and the writing really surprised me.I highly recommend this one.

I read the first few chapters of this book before work one morning, which was definitely a mistake, as I then spent several distracted hours trying to resist ducking to the bathroom to read more!

The New Guy is one of those brilliant reads that gets in your head without you realising, and it doesn't let go! The lead characters are fantasticly crafted and their baggage and insecurities just make them both even more real and relatable.

This fun twist on an old trope - where the woman is the boss instead of the man - was really well done, and the result was a sweet, funny and addictive rom com.

However, even though overall I loved it, the story was a touch too long and began to drag towards the end, getting repetitive and rehashing the same issues over and over again. Besides that though, I completely loved the story and already want to read it again!

This review has been posted to Goodreads and will be posted to Amazon and other retailers after release.

In this book the main character Sam is having a really rough day, She had just left her grandfathers funerals and plans to drown her sorrows at the nearest bar. Here she strikes up a conversation with a rather unruly and grumpy stranger. Drunken shenanigans occur and after some fun but definitely a one-night stand Sam is in for surprise when Ryan turns out to be her new employee the next day.

Due to this new dynamic at work there are lots of interesting and awkward moment between Ryan and Sam, and the power dynamic definitely comes into play. This book does a really good job of showing how it is when the roles are reversed. This was a quick and engaging sorry and I loved how well flushed out the characters were.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with and ARC for an honest review.

I wish I hadn’t read any reviews before reading this book because it completely ruined the initial surprise for me. I feel as if I may have been more interested in the book had I not known this. It took me a very long time to get into the book. I feel as if there’s a lot of unnecessary events that could have been completely left out, enter the old, unreliable car - it was not needed and didn’t add anything except pages to the book, in my opinion. I also would have never known this is categorized as a “romance” novel, I don’t recall any particularly crazy, steamy, romantic parts, those were just quickly glossed over. I had a hard time with the constant back and forth between Sam and Ryan, it wasn’t the on-the-edge-of-my-seat anticipation like I had hoped for.

The format of this book was a little different than most. The point of views switched constantly, at times mid-paragraph, and got a little confusing. I’m used to every chapter the character changes and it’s clearly labeled.

This book seems to have very mixed reviews, I think this one all depends on the reader, so don’t count it out.

* I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review *

Story was not interesting and did not hold my interest. It seems the author felt that rehashing what was in the last chapter , in each chapter, was necessary! That is why it took me so long to finish, I though it would never end.

This has all the bones of a good romance novel, but unfortunately there were more things that I disliked than things I liked. Let's start with the good - I actually really grew to like the hero, who starts out being a real jerk but develops such deep feelings for our heroine that I couldn't help but like him. I also thought the premise was interesting - an office romance where things have already taken a turn for the sexual before they start working together. The relationship evolves over time and I could definitely see the changes.

Essentially, the story follows Sam (female) and Ryan, two people who meet in a bar. Sam's had a rough day, and finds herself drawn to the grumpy, rude guy next to her. Inexplicably, she finds herself having a steamy night with him... only to discover that he's the new employee working for her company. As Ryan's new boss, it would be completely inappropriate to start a relationship - especially considering he is anything but her normal type - but spending time together leads to a deeper attraction, and that leads to all sorts of trouble.

So we talked about all the things that I liked... and now it's time to get to the reason why I'm rating this 2 stars. The writing had a clunky feel that made it difficult to get into the story, focusing more on events that occur rather than the actual connection between the characters. I didn't really feel the chemistry here; normally when you read a romance novel that starts with a one night stand, the book either picks up after the event has taken place, or spends more time on developing the attraction and setting the scene. Here were see Sam and Ryan meet, him be a total jerk, and her (drunkenly) fall into bed with him for no apparent reason - all within the first few pages. Then when they start working together, the power dynamic was extremely off-putting. I appreciated the gender swap (her being his boss), but there were just so many comments about him being her underling and job performance, etc. that it became a problem. I also didn't love how far into the book Ryan had self esteem issues - he was just grateful for anything that he could get, and that rubbed me the wrong way. As you can see, my list of complaints is much longer than my list of compliments, so while there were definitely things I enjoyed, I can't say this really worked for me. I appreciated receiving an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review of this office romance.

Sam Huxton has just come back from her grandpa’s funeral and finds herself in a bar, drowning her sorrows and chatting up a surly, yet good looking bloke who’s sat next to her. She ends up taking him home but they both agree that it’s just one night of anonymous sex! However, when she walks into the company that she runs the next morning to meet her newest employee, Ryan, she’s horrified to find it’s the guy who she has just spent the night with! Not one for mixing business with pleasure, Sam tries her best to keep their relationship on a purely business level, but finds it really difficult when it’s obvious Ryan wants more!

I really enjoyed this book! The cover was bright, vibrant and eye-catching and the blurb sounded fun! The attraction initially between Sam and Ryan seemed to be fuelled by the amount of alcohol they’d had, obviously both drowning their sorrows for one reason or another. The term opposites attract couldn’t be more suited for both of them though – Sam ran her own company, lived in a nice apartment and was a most definitely a people person whereas Ryan was trying his best to keep hold of his job, living in a flat with mould and mice and preferred his own company! They did have one thing in common though and that was the difficult relationships with people in their lives – Sam and her previous partner and Ryan with his mum and his sister.

The story moved along at a good pace and it was fun watching Sam and Ryan’s relationship develop. There are lots of “will they-won’t they’s” throughout the book and Sam certainly has more than her fair share of attacks of conscience over whether she should be getting into a relationship with her employee! I did love both the main characters though and whilst everyone moaned about how grumpy and miserable Ryan was, I’m certainly not opposed to a dark, brooding man, especially when he’s as good looking at Ryan appeared to be! The supporting characters added plenty of extra humour to the story and I absolutely bloody loved Lucas, particularly his dress sense!!

The book was a fun, light-hearted romantic read, with some real-life issues thrown in for good measure. It caught my attention from the very beginning and held it there right to the end. There aren’t any major plot twists and it was fairly obvious from the beginning where the story was heading…but who cares! It was a great book with lively, entertaining characters that kept me amused, and I have to admit once I was a few chapters in I found it really difficult to put down!! Would definitely recommend!

The New Guy by Kathryn Freeman
Rating: 2 stars

I really was hoping this story would of been more to my liking. I liked the concept of the role reversal where it is the woman who is the boss and falls in love with the hot, brooding employee.
Sam and Ryan both had great chemistry, but their insecurities got in the way throughout the entire book. They really didn't trust each other with their feelings or thoughts causing a lot of drama and constant apologizing.
I did like Ryan the most. He had a troubled past and was trying to do his best to help his mom and sister. One of his best qualities was his honesty and I really felt bad for him when Sam wanted to keep their relationship a secret.
Sam was holding on to some issues that was creating a lack of trust and confidence in herself. Her previous boyfriend did a number on her and her company and I really hated how she allowed for him to step back in to fix a glitch on her new app. She sometimes made bad comments about Ryan, who has done nothing but help her with her new app, yet her ex waltz's into her business like nothing and she is even nice and courteous to him. What?!?
I did like her parents and how his mom easily accepted Ryan. Sam's friend, Lucas, was a fun character and I like how he befriended Ryan and even stood up for him.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for an honest review.

This book was not for me. I love office romances, but there was very little steaminess. It was only angst and sex (the actual scenes of which were glossed over - boring). My biggest problem was Ryan. I’m totally “for” men being emotionally available and being allowed to express their feelings, but Ryan was an unbearable manbaby. Sam should not have felt at all responsible for making sure he felt secure in their relationship; his jealousy and irrational behavior was HIS problem to deal with, and I felt that his overwhelming immaturity in those areas did not improve.

I tend to like workplace romance novels, so I was excited when I received a copy of this book. For me, there were things I liked and other things I didn't like as much. The characters seemed to be all over the place. A had a little bit of a hard time following the transitions from character to character, but that might have been do to the arc. I liked the ending and would definitely read another book by this author.
Thank you to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the arc. I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Oh my god you have yourself a page turning story, that you don’t want it to end. A gorgeously sweet romance that has laugh out loud moments, with heart wrenching moments too and all with the feel good factor to make this a spectacular first book I’ve ever read by this author. It was a very sexy and very sweet story that warmed my heart, made me smile and giggle the whole way through and just read like a movie you would watch which made me love this book move. Well done Kathryn Freeman and I’ve just found a new author to read as well. Definitely glad I give this book ago. Happy reading!!

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a fun read and I couldn’t put it down.⠀
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We first meet Sam and Ryan, two complete strangers, drowning their sorrows in a pub. One thing leads to another and they end up having a one night stand.....no harm done right?!⠀
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Wrong!! The next day, Ryan starts his new job, only to discover his boss is the hot woman from last night!! The sexual chemistry between them certainly cranks up a notch or two.⠀
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The story sees them trying to adjust to this new piece of information, and trying to figure out how to deal with it.⠀
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I found this book brilliantly frustrating because as readers, we know how perfect they are for one another, despite their working roles and relationship, and you so desperately want them to see it themselves. ⠀
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I love a book that can make me laugh out loud and tear up all at the same time. A thoroughly enjoyable read, worthy of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This is my first read from Kathryn Freeman. It was a fun and easy read. I enjoyed the characters and storyline. You have your tough, protective but sweet Alpha. Who doesn’t love an Alpha man :-) Even though, it’s not what I usually read, I did enjoy the book! I wouldn’t mind reading more of Kathryn’s books. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Predictable romantic comedy with excellent main character chemistry. I would have preferred more....