The story - Alice Cabot, a journalist who called a congressman “a douchebag” has been demoted from her job of writing about science, which she loves, to writing about style, which she absolutely detests. Her punishment includes being sent to Beverly Hills, California, to write about Simply the Best, a company founded by Helene Jolie, a charismatic and calculating woman who sells products to “empower” women. Many of the products have questionable value, but this doesn’t deter the company’s wealthy clientele. Pepper Addington is a low-paid intern at the company who suddenly becomes an assistant to Helene. Pepper is a hard worker, and in awe of Helene. She becomes the liaison between Alice and Helene. The dynamics between these three women propel the story.

I think the author had fun skewering a real-life Hollywood actress’ company and products. I laughed every time I read “rocks for women to put up their hoo-hoos”! The humor aside, there were some serious issues about the beauty industry - the disparity in wages between management and their employees, the manipulation of staff by management, and the questionable practices of some women-led “empowerment” companies.
The romance between Alice and Pepper was lovely. Despite the age difference, there was enough connection to make them believable as a couple.

I highly recommend this book.

Karin Kallmaker has been writing f/f fiction for over thirty years. I've read a few of her books from the early 2000's and was surprised at how current and relevant this story felt in comparison. Alice Cabot (40) is a NY journalist specializing in science. Her publisher tasks her write a series of articles about Simply The Best a company that specializes in selling products to women to help them feel confident and empowered. (Think Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop.) Alice sees it as a punishment but takes her task seriously. She is a little lost, jaded and angry as seeing her beloved journalism industry dying. She is also saddened by those colleagues lost to the pandemic.

Pepper Addington (27) works for Simply The Best. She has been virtually an unpaid intern for a year but catches the eye of the founder and is hired full time as one of her assistants. Pepper is smart, driven and doesn't mind paying her dues to get the job she wants. She becomes Alice's contact during the few weeks of research and interviews. Pepper has her own challenges. The boss she admires might want more than a working relationship.

This is an age gap romance that works for me because Pepper is bright and intellectually an equal to Alice. (I don't like age gap when the younger wants to be taken care of or shown how to love.) One of my favorite scenes have both women dancing to the song Staying Alive. Alice knows it from the Bee Gees and Pepper from Lizzo. But both can enjoy it and share the moment together. A lot of topics are up for discussion in this book, climate change, science, workplace compensation, #me too etc. This is a romance with a lot of heft and I'm glad to have gotten an early read. Thank you to NetGalley and Bella Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.