By a Thread by Lucy Score. This book took me awhile to get into but once I did I really started to like the storyline and dialogue. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Read if you like:
- Mature Aged Characters
- Petty Behavior
- Romances
- Tension
- Slow-Burn
- Enemies to Lovers
-Grumpy Sunshine
- Workplace Romances
- Lots of Banter

The two main characters are a bit immature, but honestly I was living for it because of the TENSION, the BANTER, and the PETTINESS! It was all perfection for me once combined the way Lucy was able to blend it all together.

Enemies to Lovers is one of my favorite tropes, so I truly loved this one! I also loved the Grumpy-Sunshine vibes as well cause it just worked so freaking well!

~4.5 stars~

Lucy Score is an outstanding author, and her stories never fail to exceed my expectations. While the beginning of this book was a bit slow, the majority of the novel was perfectly paced with some pretty surprising twists. Score does a superb job of balancing humor with dramatic scenes, and this story was a great example of her ability to create deeply emotional and thoughtful stories that are also light and funny. Furthermore, there was a very heartwarming focus on the importance of family and friendship.

The romance between Ally and Dominic was positively scorching. Their relationship wasn’t quite a slow burn. However, it did take them a while to fully come together as a couple, and I enjoyed the anticipation and Dominic’s alpha nature. Dominic had a fascinating character arc, and it was lovely to see how Ally brought out the best in him. They complemented each other so well, and though they were obviously very physically attracted to one another, their relationship was much deeper than that. The epilogue was utterly satisfying, and I was so glad that we were able to see a glimpse into Ally and Dominic’s future.

Overall, this was an excellent romantic comedy full of heart and emotional depth. I highly recommend it.

*I received an ARC of this novel. This is my complete and honest review.*

This is the second book I've read by Lucy Score before and I totally understand the hype around her work! Her books are super fun and over-the-top and I found myself laughing multiple times throughout this book at how ridiculous some of the scenarios and dialogues in the novel were. While I adored the workplace romance between Ally and Dom, I also found the subplot of Ally's dealing with her father's dementia super touching and it definitely had me shedding many tears! It was written really well and definitely grounded the romance by balancing the comedic moments with more serious tones. I'm excited to read more of Lucy Score's works next!

Dominic gets Ally fired from her job at a Pizza place when he takes his anger out on her and she retaliates. Ally is working 4 jobs to make ends meet and take care of her dad in a facility for dementia patients. Dominic’s mom takes pity on her and offers her a job at their company as an admin assistant. When Ally shows up for her first day, Dominic is shocked to see her there and is instantly annoyed by her but also extremely attracted to her.

She is the only employee who works there who is willing to push back against what he says or joke with him. Dominic is torn because his father took advantage and numerous young employees and he does not want to be like that. He grows to care about her and wants to help her even when she refuses to accept that help.

Their banter back and forth is adorable and how they finally trust each other and share their insecurities is touching. You can tell that Dominic struggles with his dads problems and trying to make sure that he does not follow in that path, but he also wants to follow his heart. Ally does not want to feel like she owes people so she tries to not accept anything from Dominic until she realizes that he really just wants to love and support her. As always, Tessa Bailey’s books are not lacking in the spice department.

By A Thread by Lucy Score
I give this book 4.5 stars

Dominic
I got her fired. Okay, so I’d had a bad day and took it out on a bystander in a pizza shop. But there’s nothing innocent about Ally Morales. She proves that her first day of her new job… in my office… after being hired by my mother.
Ally
Dominic was staring at me like he couldn’t decide whether to chop me into pieces or pull my hair and French kiss me.
Ha. Hold my beer, Grumpy Grump Face.

This is my first book by this author and it definitely won’t be my last!
I fell in love with Ally and Dom more and more as their story progresses and was there for them every step of the way.lt was a breath of fresh air to have main characters slightly older,and the supporting cast are absolutely brilliant to.. A fabulous storyline with a slow burn office romance,filled full of humour,emotion,family tensions, banter,dogs,chemistry,emails and monologues.
Rom Com at its best l absolutely loved it❤️
With thanks to Netgalley,Lucy Score and Source Books,Bloom Books for my chance to read and review this book

This is one of my favorites from Lucy Score. It is filled with witty banter and Sarcasm. It is one of my enemy meet cute favorites.

If you are looking for something funny and sweet then this is a must read!

I think it must be a sign of getting old when you think, 'this would have been a much better book if the author didn't insist on filling it with sex every five minutes'.

And OMG the angst!

Ally was a solvent, happy, thirty-nine year old until her father got sick. Then a bad situation got worse and worse (just catastrophe after catastrophe) and now she's working four part-time jobs and trying to repair his house in her (limited) spare time. It is in one of these jobs, waitressing at a pizza place, where she meets Dominic.

Dominic is fashion editor of his mother's print and online fashion magazine, brought in from his investing job a year ago after his father was 'exited' from the business for highly inappropriate behaviour. Dominic feels totally out of his depth, convinced the staff hate/fear him, knowing others are better qualified for the job, and wishing desperately for his old career. Against this backdrop, when an uppity waitress tells him off for using his phone in the restaurant despite the no phones sign and makes some totally inappropriate comments when he ignores her, he is gunning for a fight. When said waitress spells out a rude message in pepperoni on his pizza Dominic goes ballistic and gets her fired. Now leaving aside the improbability of the owner of a fashion magazine (think Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada) and her billionaire son eating in a questionable pizza joint, what kind of asshat gets a minimum wage employee fired? I get that this is supposed to be a grumpy boss romance but that's not grumpy, its abuse of power.

In fact, there seems to be a lot of rewriting of history in this book. At first the reader is led to believe that all the staff at the magazine fear Dominic because he never smiles, and they all call him Mr Russo, never Dominic, and I'm sure they all seem to shake with fear when he speaks to them. This is later refocused as everyone finding him so attractive that they can't even look him in the eye?

Anyway, the woman Dominic is dining with is his mother, and she chases after Ally and offers her an admin job at the magazine as compensation for her son getting Ally fired. She also has an ulterior motive, she wants to find out what staff morale is like after the departure of her husband and a number of the senior management.

Despite her monetary issues, Ally is incapable of keeping her mouth shut, and bolstered by Dominic's mother saying that he can't fire her, she is rude to him whenever they meet. He calls her Maleficent and she calls him Charming (because Prince Charming he ain't). Soon their 'banter' is the talk of the office, but because of his father's transgressions Dominic will never cross the line with an employee (which frankly leads to more disturbing scenes where he masturbates in his office bathroom every night). Similarly, Ally desperately needs this job to keep her father in the nursing home which looks after him, so she can't quit. But they are wildly attracted to each other. It's push-me, pull-me. Ally gets upset because she doesn't LISTEN to what Dominic says, he doesn't say he doesn't want her, he says he can't cross that line. Dominic gets upset because Ally won't divulge all her financial issues and secrets to HER BOSS.

Then there is the ludicrous scene where Ally resorts to amateur night at her BFF's strip club to earn money because there was a snafu with her pay and the payroll team just shrugged their shoulders and did nothing. Of course Dominic overhears and follows her to the stripclub where he pays for a private lap dance - sleazy much?

Overall, as others have said. This is supposed to be a romance about a thirty-nine year old FMC who has grit and determination and skills and her forty-four year old MMC boss, whereas it reads more often like a pair of high school teens. The snark and plot were really enjoyable and stopped me downgrading this to a two and a half star review but the rest was so cliched and angst-filled that it made me laugh more than anything.

Free on my Kindle Unlimited subscription and I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

Grumpy/sunshine, slow burn, workplace romance in post-#MeToo environment, with lots of angst, pining, and chemistry. Female MC Ally is 39 and grappling with major personal issues related to her father’s dementia diagnosis. Male MC Dominic buries his soft heart beneath an icy exterior and steely determination not to be anything like his scummy father.

This is long, and very emotional, and frustrating that it takes so long for the characters to see the light. I also didn’t love the third act breakup, because Dom said said really unforgivable things. That said, I stayed up WAY too late reading this and it was un-put-downable, despite the aforementioned flaws.

Another great one by Lucy Score.
If you like this kind of trope you will not be disappointed. Fun read!!!

In By a Thread expect to find
-enemies to lovers
-grumpy/sunshine
-boss/employee workplace romance
-jealous when she dates
-🔥🔥🔥

Ally is trying to make ends meet and she has a few jobs that are helping her in a tough situation she finds herself in. She's not particular happy about working at the pizza place, but when high and mighty hotshot Dominic Russo gets Ally fired she doesn't how she'll make ends meet. Ally can't exactly be picky when an offer that seems to good to be true lands in her lap. The only string attached - that offer just so happens to be working at the same company as the one and only Dominic Russo.

I loved this book so much! Dominic and Ally had such great chemistry and I wanted them to end up together as soon as they were on the same page. Both Dominic and Ally were so confident and had such strong personalities and yet they were so sweet to one another. Always looking out for each other.

The secondary characters in By a Thread were all so wonderful. While this book is a thick one, I never felt like it was overly too long. Overall I would give By a Thread 4.5 stars!

I love Lucy Score, I love a good workplace romance and most importantly, I love the cast of characters and spice we always receive with a Lucy Score title. I always laugh out loud during a book by Lucy and this was no different. Dominic and Ally were the perfect grumpy/sunshine mashup. I loved watching them fight but I loved watching them fall in love even more, not to mention the banter was up to par with anything else you can expect from Lucy. (If you couldn't tell, this author has quickly become one of my all time favorites.)

Thank you #netgalley for a copy of #byathread in exchange for my honest review

This was an exceptional story filled with heart, humor, and heat that had me laughing and smiling my way through! A seriously scorching hot and hilarious page-turner! I loved the characters, the animosity and bickering, the tension and angst, the emotion and drama, and the building love between two stubborn and determined characters. This checked every box of things I love about romance!

This story kicked things off with a seriously hilarious start and I was all in, rooting for Dominic and Ally. They had fun, antagonistic banter, and bickering happening that had me laughing. Ally was awesome. I loved her determination and fierceness as she worked to improve things in her life. She was strong, beautiful, and smart, and I loved that she stood up for herself. Mr. Grumpy Face Dominic is my new favorite. I adore characters like this, full of attitude but there’s so much more going on with them and I love learning the why behind it. There was an excellent build to their developing relationship with off-the-charts sexual tension happening. I loved Dominic and Ally’s vulnerable moments and when they open up and share as well. I loved their struggle and conflict as they get closer and more emotion comes into play. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to get together. These two are scorching hot!

This was incredibly entertaining to read and the writing was exceptional. A laugh-out-loud story that filled me up. There were so many wonderful secondary characters in the mix that made it feel rich and full. Those characters helped to create so many fun and meaningful scenes. There was great attention to detail throughout and I loved how some things came back around at the end making it that much more significant.

This is one of those books I started reading and everything immediately clicked for me. Humor and heart with a fantastic amount of sexiness mixed in. I just had a blast reading this and losing myself in Dominic and Ally’s lives. By a Thread is officially a new favorite!

This book is delightful. The snappy dialog made this book - I highlighted so many funny portions of this book but there is also a deep well of heartwarming moments.

Allie is a strong character throughout the book and I appreciated the nuance of not just pushing Dominik to solve all her problems by throwing money at them. It gave an interesting dimension as well as the #metoo plotline. I also loved that the main characters are older (39 and 45).

There is a third act break and so so much groveling which I aren't my thing and I could have done without the epilogues, but that's a personal preference (I don't love when a HEA can't exist without showing don't worry they had kids!).

Overall this is a great grumpy/sunshine book and I devoured it in a day.

***I did receive By a Thread as an ARC through Net galley.*** I love Lucy Score and i loved By a Thread!!! Such a cute contemporary office romance with constant steamy banter between the grumpy male lead, Dominic, and the sunny, stubborn female lead, Ally. I enjoyed their journey as they worked through past baggage as they tried to navigate through their feelings towards each other. Dom is my type of male lead and the steamy scenes were fantastic!! I also enjoyed the 2 epilogues that show a year and 9 year time jump! I would 10/10 recommend By a Thread to anyone who likes spicy, contemporary romances, enemies to lovers tropes, and office romances!!

Overall: 9/10
Spice: 3.5/5

I've been loving Lucy Score's books recently, but I just don't think this one was for me. I just didn't connect with either of the characters. I'll definitely still try out anything else she writes though.

There were definitely some choices made… I wasn’t here for all of them, but overall it was fine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC.

Loved this book! I enjoyed the back and forth between Ally and Dominic. The story was funny, charming, and heartwarming. Plus the chemistry between these too was fantastic!!

From the pizza shop scene to the very end, this book had me in a hold. I could not get enough of Ally and Dominic. It had me thinking about it when I wasn't reading and loving every second of getting through it. Ally was so funny, strong, and witty. Dominic was everything we love in a grumpy hero. I loved reading a story where the characters are not in their 20's. 5 stars for By a Thread!

I really enjoyed the story line: hard-working, independent woman struggling to care for herself and her family, runs into an obnoxious but good-at-heart corporate man who gets her fired. Author Lucy Score keeps the engagement full-on moving forward, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

The heart-warming romance stays largely on this side of the line from erotica/perversion, but it's close in a couple of spots. Half of the book seems to have the purpose of building sexual tension -- but graphic details are not needed to keep the great story moving forward.

Thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the chance to really enjoy this read.