Fun and sweet! I loved this book from beginning to end. The chemistry of Porter and Ari felt so real. I felt the tension between them two and I thought it was hilarious that they thought they were keeping their wants for each other hidden, but everyone around them saw it.
Porter knew what he wanted and went for it and I love that this book portrayed a full sized woman confident in herself.

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC
Great debut!

Genre: contemporary romance
Atlanta

Ari James is a 40-something Black woman, starting a new job at a prestigious Atlanta architecture firm. A seasoned architect, she left her firm in Chicago to relocate to Atlanta when her father died, but also in the wake of a scandal. On her first day, she meets Porter Harrison, a charming, handsome senior associate and the grandson of a famous Black senator. They are assigned to work as a team designing a new soccer stadium. Design meetings turn into something more, and even though Ari is hesitant to get into a relationship with a coworker, there’s a clear connection with Porter.

This novel hits really close to home for me, having worked in architecture for the last thirteen years, currently in the capacity of Director of Operations, overseeing, among other things, human resources. Ari and Porter’s firm couldn’t be more different than my own, and yet there are things that rang very true to my experience. Architecture as an industry has spent recent years reckoning with its misogyny and racism, and in older first-generation firms (i.e. longstanding firms that have not yet had an ownership transition) these attitudes are often pervasive. That said, I found it nearly impossible to turn off my work-brain while reading this. I kept analyzing their design process and collaboration, and was unable to suspend disbelief when plot points hinged on their design process. I will be in the minority for this experience, though, and it shouldn’t turn you off from reading this book!

I’d hire Ari in a heartbeat. She’s a dedicated worker who takes commitment to design, and her career, seriously. There’s something very refreshing about reading FMCs over the age of 40. Nothing felt blown out of proportion from either a romantic or professional standpoint. She’s comfortable in her own skin as a plus-sized Black woman, and she’s comfortable letting people know that. In many ways, Porter is the opposite. He’s wealthy (not from architecture, I assure you) and handsome, and he’s a very hard worker, but even at 40-something, he’s still a little unsure of himself. Porter is one of the lowest angst and steadiest MMCs I’ve read recently.

One of the things that works really well for the book is that the conflict is largely external to the relationship, and the parts that are internal to each character are very believable. Especially in a contemporary romance with older main characters, this felt realistic and comfortable.

This is an exciting debut from Tati Richardson, and I look forward to reading more of her work!

What a fun book this debut by Tati Richardson was! I really enjoy workplace romances, and this one did not disappoint. What worked:

-references to 90's r&b (the best decade in music)
-grown folks acting like grown folks (no characters acting like they were in high school)
-the fact that our main characters, Ari and Porter, were a team. Sure, rivals in the workplace is fun, but I just love when our love interests are on the same side.
-the sweet slow burn. There was instant attraction, but I like that they attempted to remain professional as it made for great tension.

All in all, this is a very strong and entertaining love story that pulls you in right away with real characters and keeps you rooting for their HEA. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from Tati!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

The Build Up 🤎😍

This debut book by Tati Richardson had me in my feels from beginning to end. This story of Black Love flowed like a scene from the 90’s. A story for hopeless romantics, a reader’s dream.🖤

Ari James’ encounter with Porter Harrison was more than she bargained for. Both alumni of Hampton University, these two find interesting common ground inside and outside of architectural projects despite the embarrassing first impressions. Can these two work side by side peacefully or will drama arise in the corporate sphere?

This book made me squeal and giggle, the attraction between Ari and Porter was palpable and I couldn’t get enough of their journey from page to page. Lessons of workplace discrimination, overcoming insecurity, and finding friendship in love surrounded The Build Up. A must read!!!
#thebuildup #netgalley

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

3.5 ⭐️

Do you want a romance where the guy falls first, that’s a slow burn, is a workplace romance, has wonderful sexual tension, AND has gripping romantic chemistry between the main characters? Then this book is for you. Also, did I mention that the spice is next level? I loved it 🥵🔥

This book was a roller coaster experience for me. There were some points where I was so deeply in love with the story, and some parts where I was indifferent. I do think it started to lull a bit for me past the 75% mark, but honestly I pushed through because I wanted to see how Richardson rounded out the story. Overall, however, I can say I had a pleasant experience.

If this book shows up on your radar and you enjoy a good, spicy, contemporary romance, I recommend picking it up.

TW: fatphobia, colorism, sexual harassment, alcoholism, and death of a parent (off-page).

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed this debut from Tati Richardson, featuring two super likeable protagonists whose relationship is actually fairly low-angst (which I love!). They're clearly into each other, and as much as this is a workplace romance, they do spend the majority of their time together and mostly away from work. Black love, great fat rep (that digs into the swings in confidence that come with being in a fat body), and Atlanta vibes are all highlights of the story. However, I think the stakes felt underwhelming--there's a lot of push-pull on Ari's side because of the stakes, but they do jump into a relationship despite them, and the consequences aren't felt until the very end. The stakes don't hang over them enough. Also wasn't sure what the point of Porter's brother's issues were in relation to Ari and Porter's relationship, unless it's for a future book? But I'm looking forward to reading more from Tati Richardson in the future. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Carina Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5⭐️
3🌶


The title aptly fits the plot. Written from a dual point of view, this book sucks you right in. I did not want it to end.

Ari is every black woman ( I do not say this lightly or derogatorily) trying to make her mark in the world, break the misogynist ceiling and not having to prove herself at every turn.

As much as this is a romantic comedy, there are certain themes which run through and highlights the plights of women, especially black women who have to work twice as hard for recognition in corporate America.

On the lighter side, I enjoyed the love story between Ari and PJ. It was sizzling, hot and fun to read about. I love PJ for being brave and confident enough to go after what he wants. He has moved in the ranks of my book boyfriends.

I love Ari for her confidence, work ethics, brain and standing up for herself. Like a cat with nine lives, she keeps bouncing back from everything life throws at her. I love her assertiveness. She is who she is and very comfortable in her skin.

The setting was amazing. From the portrayal of the office culture to the descriptions of Atlanta and the suburbs. It felt like I was in the story with the characters.

All of the supporting characters did exactly what was asked of them. They all delivered and contributed to the richness of the story.

The author made this very real. You can tell from the accuracy of everything in the book that a lot of work and research has gone into this. Imagine the double spandex scene!! I couldn’t get over that.

I would have loved for the author to take some literary liberty and meted some punishment to the villains. They deserved it and more for all the pain and heartache caused. Nobody should mess with a woman.

As the author puts in the book, ‘everyone could use a little bit of romance in their lives’. I recommend this book to office and contemporary romance lovers. I can’t wait to read more works from the author.

I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving my review.

Wonderful read! Very cute scenes throughout the book that made giggle. I enjoyed the characters dynamic and their individual stories were well written. I also enjoyed the inclusion of HBCUs in this book, as well as black excellence.

This book is beautifully, exquisitely Black. Ari is so relatable that you can't help but to cheer for her. And while Porter may be the "perfect man" that we're used to seeing in the rom-com genre, his imperfections and layers make him believable.

Wow.
I’m not sure where to start.
The Build Up is a beautiful depiction of “for the culture”. The Black rep. The fat rep. The age rep. A strong debut and I can’t wait to read more from Tati!!

I am a sucker for a book with a workplace romances. This fell right up that alley and I adored it. I truly felt the chemistry because the main characters and loved reading about their love.

I can't believe this is the author's debut novel! Ari is a brilliant, talented, and beautiful plus sized woman. Porter is drop dead gorgeous, successful, and in a little bit of a rut. Despite a kind of disastrous meet-cute on Ari's first day as Porter's new coworker in a prestigious Atlanta architecture firm, they have instant chemistry. The author portrays fatphobia and misogyny in a very realistic way, and and does a great job balancing those heavier themes with the swoon worthy sweet and sexy stuff.

Overall I rate this 9 out of 10

So in love with this book! Im obsessed with Ari and I love how in this book it’s Ari changing Porter rather than the other way around. I feel like the writing for this book was great! This book was so lighthearted and cute that I did not want to ever put it down. I like how this book shines light on all the issues that Ari has to go through instead of just ignoring it. That helped make the book so much more realistic and definitely had me feeling a bunch of emotions. One thing I did not like though, was the amount of miscommunication between Ari and Porter. I just found very frustrating sometimes. Overall, I still really enjoyed this book!

I was going between 3.5 and 4 stars and landed on four. This is a sweet romance with a pining hero and I love that. Just a pinch of drama which was nice and two grown people who talked about their feelings. Even when I didn’t agree with Ari, it was understandable where she was coming from. This was a great time.

💙 𝗦 𝗢 𝗨 𝗧 𝗧 𝗘 𝗥 𝗟 𝗬 𝗦 𝗪 𝗘 𝗘 𝗧 &
𝗦 𝗪 𝗢 𝗢 𝗡 𝗪 𝗢 𝗥 𝗧 𝗛 𝗬 💙

⭐️: 𝟱|𝟱 🌶️: 𝟮.𝟱|𝟱

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘀:

🖋️ 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
❤️‍🔥 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 🤏🏽
👌🏽 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗩𝗬 𝗥𝗲𝗽
♾️ 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗲


💙𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗦 𝗣 𝗢 𝗜 𝗟 𝗘 𝗥 𝗙 𝗥 𝗘 𝗘💙

I’ve been anticipating this book. Had a Pinterest board for it before I even knew the tropes. It 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧!! I enjoyed reading this 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 novel and I’m so anxious for more from this amazing author.

Page to page I became even 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 enthralled and 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗬 giddy at each interaction between the MCs. This story was beautifully written, funny, so warm & lighthearted (though some may by sensitive to certain topics)…. I 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 fell for this couple.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗨𝗽….. We meet two career driving, 40 something BLACK architects (𝗔𝗿𝗶 (𝗙𝗠𝗖) 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗘 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 (𝗠𝗠𝗖) 𝟭𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 & 𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸) who happen to be partnered on a major project. Ari’s first day starts out with a spilled coffee and ruined pantyhose….Focused solely on claiming back her first day, she didn’t notice her 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗘 behind her on the train. When Porter and Ari come face to face in an encounter she’d rather forget…. A beautifully 𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗖 friendship forms, quickly blossoming into love. But of course fairytales aren’t perfect.

There’s body shaming, office politics, backstabbing co-workers. Conniving boss’s with underhanded intentions. Not to mention Ari and Porter main distraction…. 𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥

𝗔𝗿𝗶:

𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗩𝗬 CONFIDENT RESERVED BEAUTIFUL RESILIENT…. She seeking absolute closure on her past. Home renovations and her new position at the top Architectural Firm in Atlanta are her only focus. Enter her new partner for the foreseeable future to throw EVERYTHING off course…. OR maybe aligned them.

💙

💙

💙

💙

𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿:

At first glance you’d think PLAYBOY, it’s those eyes and smile that makes you ponder…. You’d be mistaken though. This man is sunshine and rain and sweetness. ALL of your favorite things, masterfully crafted into a tall chiseled body and SEXY nerdy mind. When he SPEAKS, your blush is reflex…. Untamed, uncontrolled. He’s charming, but isn’t cocky. It’s endearing. If I had to pick a single love language for Porter, it would be “Words Of Affirmation”. Porter is attentive and genuinely kind. Although he has other passions the direction of his career is important…. At least until one train blurs the lines between success & love.

I DARE NOT TO FALL FOR THIS MAN!!

I’m an 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗥 romance written this way. 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡 & 𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗬, **𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱** 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗨𝗟, 𝗦𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗬, 𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟, 𝗦𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗬 & 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚.

𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑻 add this one to your tbr!!


‼️ 18+ | 𝘼𝙇𝙒𝘼𝙔𝙎 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 | 𝙏𝙒

Review of "The Build Up" by Tati Ricardson:

First, let me say this debut by Tati is a "build up" of a hot romance, much tenderness between the main characters and very relatable issues such as the "old boys' club, sibling rivalries, self-love and family drama to name a few.

A quick blur, Ari James starts her new job in the worst way: spilling coffee on her crisp work outfit and getting a run in her pantyhose. Potential love interest and senior firm associate, Porter Harrison, meets Ari in a not-so-subtle way. So begins the tug-and-pull between work partners and eventual friends (or are they?) of Ari and Porter as they navigate their cutthroat world of architecture as the firm they both work lands an important account with foreign investors. And, while a happy ending does exist for these two, the journey there is the true build-up for these two as they learn that they have much tearing down to do before anything of substance.

In a refreshing change, Ari is not the stereotypical "sad fat black girl" whose life is magically changed when Porter pops up in it. It is Porter whose life is changed by Ari so much more than Ari's by him as we learn what makes Porter the worthy hero. Ari is a confident and quirky architect who is ample in size and sexuality whereas the typically handsome Porter is unsure of himself and his life's direction.

Tati masterfully tackles possible trigger subjects for Ari and Porter with the balance of a great roux: not too heavy on the seriousness, but not lacking in the realness that is a believable life for reading. The tropes highlighted in Tati's work give it the charm and excitement that you find in both of our characters. Plus, the 90s R&B references and clear HBCU love gives this dish of a book all the more beauty.

A couple things I will say about "The Build Up:"
If you are not a fan of coarse language and descriptive love making, this may not be the comfort read for you. Porter embodies what I would describe as "a respectful man that has disrespectful sex." In the third act, I did find myself turned off slightly by some noncommuncation over an issue between Ari and Porter, but I understand how that can mirror real-life relationships.

The Build Up by Tati Richardson contained every element I love in a romance story: a slow burn, two protagonists falling for one another with the odds stacked against them, a focus on family and community, and a great cast of strong supporting characters as friends. What a stellar, powerhouse of a debut!

First of all, Porter is gentlemanly in every way. When Ari is hired at the firm to help him build the city's new stadium he does his best to not stare but he cannot deny his attraction. He conducts himself with dignity every step along the way of trying to convince her that he is the one for her. Then there is Ari. My girl, Ari! Ari is a high-achieving Black woman who is great at what she does and she knows it. Like many Black and Brown women in our professional fields, she has had to earn everything accolade she has and has overcome some pretty harrowing situations in the workplace that would make most of us want to minimize our gifts and hide. But not her. Ari is serious about her career and as a result serious about giving this project her all. She's attracted to Porter, too, and surprised when he makes the first move. I enjoyed the back and forth tension between Ari and Porter as they navigated the risks associated with their office romance. There was such great witty banter in this story and so many laugh out loud moments especially between Ari and Porter and especially when one highly unlikeable co-worker, Greer, gets what's coming to him!

The ending was a pleasant twist and revealed so much about who Porter is as a man and who he wanted to be for Ari. In the end, I'm so glad she allowed it. A truly fun-loving, sexy, and tantalizing story about falling in love and making a commitment in life to go after the things we say we want!

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!