Ari James has moved back home and is ready to be a girl boss with an amazing new project at a new architecture firm. She had to leave her last workplace under bad circumstances and is ready to be professional and fix her reputation. Porter Harrison has worked at the first for many years and is partnered with Ari for a big project. On her first day Porter walks in on her in a less than ideal moment, and they are both instantly attracted to each other. They are determined to be professional, but chemistry may interfere in their plans.

I was very excited to read about a plus sized, elder millennial, independent woman get everything she deserves in life and be loved for who she is, but the execution on this story was lacking. The writing needs work, a lot of the dialogue felt forced and the prose did not flow as well. It all felt very clunky but there is so much promise in this novel.

4 stars!!! what a wonderful debut for tati richardson!

i enjoyed this one so much and loved following ari and porter. they were such a sweet fit and what a joy to read about a fat woman!

ari was such a strong character with such a wonderful head in her shoulders. i loved the way porter was able to soften her up. porter was truly just the warmest and swooniest hero ever! he was so reassuring and sweet and i couldn’t get enough of him! need my own porter fr…

although i loved porter, i wish it was clear that he wasn’t wholeheartedly into his job. it was implied but it felt like a space in his character by not making it a main flaw. ari was a great character with great development though. i loved reading about how she was able to grow and how she was appreciated and get her flowers in the end.

ari and porter are also in their early 40’s which is young in the grand scheme but isn’t an age you read about often in romance books and i think this was just delightful for it.

this really was such a fun and reasy read and a great sebut for richardson! i’m so excited to see what she’ll write in the future!

thank you netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review!

New book from debut author Tati Richardson.
I LOVED this book! This is a rom-com for folks who love rom-coms. I’m just letting you know this a rec for folks who like rom-coms with a little spice and don’t mind maybe a little cheesiness. 🥰🥰
A fun and FUNNY slow burn romance (he falls first, he falls harder… which we love to see. **chef’s kiss**) with a couple in their 40s.
Excellent plus size representation. I love a big girl getting railed book. Probably my favorite genre of book.
Ari and Porter are two architects who get partnered together to work on a big new stadium coming to Atlanta. There is instant mutual attraction, but because they are co-workers they resist acting on their feelings.
This book is so cute it had me tee-heeing, giggling and kicking my feet in the air when they got to their first kiss.
There are two and a half spicy scenes… which the half makes sense if you read the book.
I genuinely found this funny. And this was one of the most likable couples I’ve read in a while. Porter is awkward, shy, kinda a dork, and completely sincere. I absolutely LOVED him. One of my top 5 favorite Male Main Characters in romance and the exact kind of guy Ari deserves.
Excellent mature romance!!

Tw: none are so crazy that I’d deter anyone cuz of them or were a damper on the story; but there is some fat shaming, colorism, and alcohol abuse.

THANK YOU to Tati Richardson, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for a review. The Build Up came out March 28, 2023!

The Build Up was an enjoyable read, and it was so lovely how quickly I fell in love with both the characters Ari, and Porter. AND SO MUCH SIZE INCLUSIVITY!! AND A BOOK ABOUT BLACK LOVE?! YES YES YESSSSS.

"A truly unfortunate first day of work leads to unexpected love in this sparkling debut from Romance in Colour podcast cohost Tati Richardson. Rumpled and ragged was not how architect Ari James envisioned kicking off her first day at a new firm. And few things can top the horror of her new—and extremely hot—colleague walking in on her at the worst moment ever. Learning that she’ll be working with him on the project that’s supposed to get her career back on top makes it harder than ever to focus on her big comeback."

This book was full of romance! Would Porter or Ari ever tell one another how much they liked each-other? Could Ari successfully be in a relationship with her coworker? ESPECIALLY after that whirwind of a first-day!

This book gave us a twist ending that I did feel like was coming BUT was still interesting. I loved the growth that Porter made as well when it came to his affection, love and care for Ari.

Definitely a romance that I'd recommend!

3.5 stars but rounding up!

Instant connection. The spice was WHEW! The ending/second half really saved the book. Ari’s body was more of a focal point than I hoped. Sometimes I felt like the author was trying to convince us her body/identity was just fine. The story had more drama than expected and some, like the brother’s story line seemed a little unnecessary/very heavy. I liked the writing style and dual POV. I kinda wish their connection had more build up - more scenes like the burger joint to build over time would’ve been nice. Overall a good read and I will be recommending!

I did enjoy this debut from Tati Richardson. Loved the fact that our heroine was a black architect! Porter and Ari also had the chemistry like whoa! The heat was brought.

BUT i must say there were times I felt Ari was being pretty unreasonable like closer to the end of the book where she overhears a thing being said about her...and instead of communicating what was wrong to Porter she just took it out on him. How you gonna get upset at him for something he didn't even do??? Like, no meh girl get it together please.

Inspite of that I think the author was able to wrap everything up nicely cuz I was seriously side eyeing Ari for how she was acting >.>

side note: Greer can choke that guy was the wooorst!

Ari is tainted by the past and afraid to love again especially in her male dominated work industry.
Porter is up for partnership and is betting it all on the newest project.

I liked this book. But it definitely has frustrating moments. The 'we're just friends' line was tiresome
At times I wanted to shake Ari to force her to open her eyes.
I loved the way Porter didn't play about her.

Favorite line
I’m passionate about you, Ari. About the possibility of an us.

Overall this was a good read.

I enjoyed this book so much. The premise itself is of Ari, who is an architect, arrives at a new job, and the person she needs to work with happens to be Porter. Ari wants to make a good impression at her new job while Porter is trying to become partner at the firm. Very quickly and attraction forms between both Ari and Porter.

But I really enjoyed is that both characters are very career oriented and have goals that they do not want to be taken away from at any time the complex itself comes from how do you make your work goals and relationship work at the same time ? I enjoyed the progression of the story, and Ari importer were a couple that I ruined it for from start to finish.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, steamy and held my interest. I wanted to find out what was going to happen. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Amazing story! I really enjoyed the characters were both architects for it was a different lense on that work industry. The humor was great, the spice made sense & was steamy. It was an adorable love story & amazing debut novel.

If you're looking for a contemporary romance between two grown people, pick up Tati Richardson's debut, The Build Up. I loved this workplace romance between Ari and Porter, two architects at a Black-owned firm in Atlanta. Getting involved with someone at work is a non-starter for Ari, but when they're paired on a soccer stadium project, Porter is hard to ignore.

Richardson serves up the on-page sizzle (it's steamier than its cover lets on) along with a cast of memorable characters you want to spend more time with (well, most of them). And it’s an absolute delight to read a confident woman who knows she’s good at her job and mostly has her act together.

While this *is* a contemporary, it’s the rom-com-ish flourishes that put an extra big smile on my face. Perfect for fans of Farrah Rochon's Boyfriend Project series.

CW: alcoholism, workplace sexism, fat phobia, colorism, death of a parent, epilogue kids

This was such a great debut novel!
I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE glamorous female leads. This FMC loves fashion, makeup, shoes, all of it and STILL manages to kill it at work as well.
That is usually so rare in romance books. She is either really good at her job and dresses sloppy, or if she dresses well, she is usually a diva and most likely the villian in a book.
But the readability of this book made it a fresh and breezy read. The chemistry and attraction of the two MC's is what kept me captivated the whole time.
The ONLY thing keeping me from giving it a full 5 stars, I think Tati Richardson could have taken the fat rep further by not pointing it out as much. I think that half of the the self hate talk(which she would empower herself out of a negative state and that was awesome!) or half of the insults from others in the book like the other coworker, restaurant staff, etc could be cut out and the reader would still get the extra layer of fight plus size FMCs go through.
BUT it was not so bad to take away from her self confidence as I stated already, I think it enhanced the sexy scenes which were AMAZING!
I will most def be recommending this book to everyone!

OMG this was such a good debut novel! I loved both of our protagonists. Their romance (although technically a workplace romance ) was so good and the majority of their time spent together was outside of work. The fat representation was great and the body confidence was the best. Although I absolutely adored their romance and the characters the stakes of the plot did feel a bit underwhelming but that never made me feel bored or like the story was lacking, just something to note especially if you like a good busy plot.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story follows Ari James and Porter Harrison. Ari has a rough day on the start at her new job. Broken heel and spilled coffee on her shirt bad. From the moment she saw porter she was attracted and so was he. He was in love with her body type infatuated with her curves. The two end up as friends and progress into a friends with benefits situationship. Ari hasn’t properly gotten over her last failed relationship. She had some hang ups that made her hesitant with Porter.
I like that the story started out fast but it does have lulls in which I had to put down and come back to it. As a debut novel the story has a lot of promise and I liked the characters. I just wish pacing of the story was better.

Thank you to Carina Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars.

I really wanted to like this book more. I did but the pacing was off and the characters, well...they were okay. Also, this read more like women's fiction with romance elements not a full on romance. The author does touch upon some good topics but they didn't feel very well fleshed out.

Woah, holy insta lust batman! Ari and Porter are immediately on fire, although they put up a valiant attempt to fight it. I love Ari so much. She is beautiful and brilliant and so lovely! And the sheer amount of NONSENSE she has to put up with in this male dominated architecture world is infuriating! In addition to sexism, this book also touches on colorism and sizeism...whew, it touches on a lot! But it was a wonderful read!

Thank you to the Netgalley and the publisher, Carina Press, and Harlequin , for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience reading this eARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

When I heard there was going to be a book with plus sized, POC, female architect lead, I was sold. That’s literally all I needed to know to want to request this ARC.

I wanted to love this book I really did, and I tried hard. Unfortunately this book fell flat to me more than not. It had some really great elements, that got bogged down by a lot of other not so great elements.


I’ll start with the things I think could have used some more work.

- the pacing, it felt both all over the place and dragging at a snails pace.
- overall the writing TELLS me more than actually SHOWS me. By telling me you’re forced to repeat yourself and that gets into the repetition in this story.
- Ari and Porter’s relationship was basically insta-love to friends to friends with benefits
- While Ari has a very valid reason to not date Porter because of previous instances, I think she had not fully healed from the previous instances and her choosing to get into a casual relationship with Porter knowing he wanted more than casual was a selfish and irresponsible of her.
- there aren’t many tropes going on for Ari and Porter other than they’re coworkers and they’re friends. And the hint of we shouldn’t date because we are coworkers but the dynamic of not dating differs in severity. And by that I mean Ari is risking much more than just her reputation by getting into a relationship with a coworker by the sheer fact she’s a woman in a very male dominated field. Especially since she’s the only female architect in that office. The amount of misogyny that is in male dominated fields, if she was to date a coworker her reputation, respect, and overall professionalism is at risk. Porter has much less to risk.
- the way she treats the people around her, (especially her best friend Bella, and Porter) when she’s angry she lashes out to those nearest her and we do not see any accountability for her actions. Her best friend brushes it off as Ari being mad and taking it out on her.
- I am not a fan of how she treats Porter at all. I am very happy that Porter does bring it up but nothing seems to get resolved because the same issue keeps arising several times.
- Some of the intimate moments they have read a bit like rehearsed and clinical, it definitely takes you out of the story.
- While this book feels both character and plot driven it also feels like it’s going nowhere either way. The plot is driving the characters but the characters don’t seem to be having any sort of substancial development. From the beginning to right before the conflict the only thing that has changed is that they’re in love.
- I haven’t read many romances with main characters that are both 40+ years old, but weirdly until their ages are dropped on page I would have believed you of you told me they were in their twenties or in their forties which I imagine isn’t what one would hope to go for.
- they fall victims of the “we talk a lot but we cannot communicate”, unless there’s a problem then we have the “will ignore to avoid confrontation” vs “we are adults who need to talk about things so we are on the same page”. This is more frustrating when they are “mature grown adults” this doesn’t work so much after the characters are in their early thirties.
- Maybe it’s just me but this is marketed as a romance but it reads much more of like women’s fiction with a pretty heavy emphasis on the romance but it also doesn’t read like that’s the main point. Ari is dealing with a lot, the loss of a parent, previous circumstances that I am keeping vague to avoid spoilers, and other things. Her career and how she manages being a double minority (POC and a woman) in a field that is male dominated (specifically white) is an example.
- Following the previous point, I think the addition to some heavy topics (check content warnings and the note at the beginning of the book for more info) made this read more like women’s fiction than only romance. This is not a complaint about the use of heavy themes it’s more of a comment on the marketing of this book, could be potentially misleading.
- While they both kept saying that they had their eyes on the prize (the design of the soccer stadium) they definitely let it take the back seat very many times. Which goes back to the telling and not showing point but it’s frustrating when a character keeps saying on thing but does the opposite.


Now on to the things I did enjoy:
-the representation: the POC rep, the plus size rep, the woman in a male dominated field rep all of it.
-Porter’s character definitely had some complexity and depth into it.
-Dual POV was CRUCIAL here.
-the foundation of the romance. The forced proximity, the coworkers, partners on the same project.

Overall, I believe this had the potential but unfortunately the execution just wasn’t there for me. This was not my cup of tea but it will be someone else’s. This review is not meant to be taken as negative, it’s constructive criticism.

Tati Richardson you really did THAT!! I really enjoyed this book. Ari and Porter had an instant connection and I fell for their love so quickly. I thought this book was so funny and had great character development! I love how good Ari was at her job. Her hard work and perseverance was inspiring. The big girl representation was amazing and I think it was handled well and it was very relatable. Overall, I had a great time reading this.

After a previous relationship disaster, Ari has convinced herself not to date a work colleague ever again. But Porter, her new partner on a project at work, is such a nice fine guy. And when the two of them get together, they work so well. Should Ari keep holding out? Or will Porter turn out to be like her ex?

I read a lot of romcoms so take my word for it when I say this is an amazing debut! You would never guess that this author has not written a previous book. The writing flows so well that I read the majority of this book in one sitting. Both our main characters were so likable - I just wanted them to get their act together and get it on! And when they did, boy was it steamy! Highly recommend this book. I am already hanging out to read more by this author - hope it's not a long wait.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this review copy.
2.5 stars, rounded up
I think there are many things people will enjoy in this book: the couple, for the most part. I enjoyed a lot of their moments because they did have strong chemistry.
However, I do not think this book is for me.
Ari, our main girl, is a FMC that I adore, but her character's back-and-forth was definitely tiring after a point.
Other than that, I did not really connect to the plot and felt myself wanting more regarding most of the secondary plotlines.