Denise Williams is an auto-buy author for me and I've been eagerly awaiting her latest release, Technically Yours. Let me just say, it did not disappoint. Pearl has few rules, but they are practically written in stone for her; or rather, written in tattoo ink to remind her to protect her heart. She's loved and lost before and now her past is back and Pearl's rules are put to the test. Pearl's determined to keep her nonprofit for youth to code, OurCode, up and running. What she didn't anticipate was Cord Matthews joining the board. Forced into each other's orbits again, these two have chemistry that jumps off the page.

A huge thank you to PRH Audio and Berkley Romance for granting me access to this title. I listened to it via audiobook and loved the narration. I also appreciated Williams' representation in this novel. I see authors writing non-binary characters into their novels with increased frequency, but few do it well. Denise Williams wrote a character that felt authentic and seamless.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
I like the tech aspect and all of the representation in the book. What kinda started to grind my gears was pearl basically just dragging cord along. Hell she was still doing it in the epilogue ! He deserves better😔 he deserves me. Also how was pearl pulling all these millionaire/billionaires?

Short synopsis: Pearl is trying to forget a fling from 6 years ago, when she runs into him while trying to save her foundation to get kids into coding.

My thoughts: I love Denise Williams and she can do no wrong, but something just didn’t quite click with me on the chemistry between Pearl and Cord. It took me a hot minute to get invested in the story and that might be part of my problem.

I did love Pearl and her headstrong willingness to fight for the foundation she set up. There was some great moments in an elevator, and a tent… and I did love how they finally learned to communicate with each other and figure out their own wants and needs.

Also, my cute friend Gallane is mentioned in the Acknowledgments which is just oh so fun to see!

Read if you love:
- STEM
- Interracial romance
- Second chance at love
- Workplace romance
- Tents and elevators
- Alternating timelines

Love a second chance romance with a dual point of view. The diversity and STEM were added bonuses.
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Pearl is career focused. She’s been burned in her love life and has decided to go into things head before heart.
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She and Cord have a history. Their paths cross through her employer and sparks fly. A recent scandal at her job has her hesitant to get involved. But they struggle to fight their attraction. I was rooting for them to work things out.
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Besides the romance, I adored Pearl’s family and the relationship she had with all of them.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an Arc and allowing me to be a part of this Berkley Buddy Read!

I’m never going to turn down a Denise Williams book, so I was hella excited to see this show up on the app. I think I downloaded it and started listening to it within a few days of seeing it appear. And I was not disappointed in the least. This was a fun sexy little book that held some scandals and secrets I don’t think I was ready for.

The way Cord was so gone for her was so cute to me. Loved to see Pearl being loved on like that. Even with the amount of strife she was causing me lol I hate seeing people who seem to think they don’t deserve to be loved. And Pearl was that person. She fought him so hard saying that she didn’t need him to save her, but I didn’t see that he meant it that way? Maybe it was me because I’m the reader and had access to his thoughts, but to me he was blinded by love and he saw that opportunity to be with her and got excited. Obviously she should have had the last say, but Idk I would have been worried if he didn’t get excited over the idea. But that’s just me. I know others may not feel this way.

Besides my annoyance at them as characters, the rest of the romance was so sweet. But definitely at the wrong time. I remember I kept yelling “HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING?!” Like seriously, y’all doing the exact same thing? lol But I get it. The heart wants what the heart wants. And to say that they’d had each other before, that was the icing on the cake. I knew they wouldn’t be able to stop seeing each other. And the way the story was told in non-chronological order, it really helped show the progression of their relationship and how deep they were from the get go. I knew they loved each other from the moment they each had their first thought about the other lol

The smexy times in this tho?! I don’t think I was expecting it. But this one definitely has some spice to it. I wasn’t at all surprised when there was the thing that happened lol They were acting like they had nothing to worry about and I was glad there was some realistic consequences that came up, whether it was just a plot device or not.

The plot itself was fun tho. Seeing the drama unfold in this huge corporation felt a lot like I was watching tv. I was riveted to see what was going to happen with ol girl and the other person. In fact, I really wished we knew more of what was going on there. I know it would be like introducing more characters, but I’m nosey lol I just think it would have benefitted from giving us a bit more indepth into the companies and STEM to completely envelope us into this world. (But who am I to say anything? Maybe she wanted us to feel like we’d been dropped into this cluster, like Pearl did? But at the very least, she could have cleaned it up after the intro……)

This was so much fun. I really enjoyed this, minus the sad (to me) parts of the main character and the way they completely disregarded everything the people before them did. The ending was the saving grace for me because we had seen them together and then apart so much that the third act break up didn’t even seem that bad. I knew they were going to get back together because they literally already had. And like Idk how she didn’t see his grand gesture coming, but I thought it was obvious. What he did would have solved all their problems, so I don’t know why she didn’t bring that up in the first place? I think she said she couldn’t ask him to do it and I’m like what? He thought of it on his own and did it and that didn’t feel like saving to you because it was still something that he did to take care of the situation. But I digress. And the ending was weird. I loved her sister’s kid too. They were absolutely adorable and ironically the smartest one of all of them lol Their sarcastic remarks are what got them to get their ish together lol

This book was really good. It had it’s flaws, but overall I did enjoy this. Denise will continue to be an auto-buy author for me. I’ll always find a way to get lost in her words!

While not listed as such by the publisher or author, Technically Yours is the second story taking place in the author’s FitMi Corporation universe. The hero and heroine from the first novel – The Fastest Way to Fall – make appearances here, and the hero and heroine from this book were strong secondary characters in the previous one.

While the back blurb states that “Cord Matthews fell for Pearl when they met in an elevator eight years ago”, the truth is that he was interested in her from that moment, but they went on to work closely together for two years. It was over the course of those years that he fell – and fell hard -for her. However, Pearl was in that elevator to interview for a job at FitMi, where Cord is the founder/CEO. He kept the professional line strictly drawn and was only friends with his crush the whole time she was with FitMi as an employee. When she spoke of leaving, he asked her to give him a chance, to follow her heart and trust him. She responded, “It doesn’t matter what my heart would say because my heart is unreliable… I should listen to my head.” Then, she left for California to pursue what she thought was a great career move.

Cord, of course, reacted with utter maturity (not) to being rejected by his crush and swore off commitment for life. “It was freeing not to be consumed by someone else.” “Settled and committed, something I didn’t plan to be” “ I needed to cut… off before things got serious.” He repeats this numerous times in the early chapters, reminding us that he has never really recovered from his hurt. As the tale goes on, we learn he tried four whole relationships after Pearl (with whom he never acrually had a relationship) before realizing he was like his father and unlucky in love. He is with his current friend with benefits at a charity event when Pearl walks into his life once more.

Pearl’s job in California turned out to be the wrong move, but she thinks her latest career choice is the right one. OurCode is a non-profit program “designed to encourage kids with traditionally marginalized identities to take an interest in coding and careers in tech” and Pearl feels lucky to be a part of it. It has the advantage of being located in Chicago, which has brought her home to family and friends. She’s enjoying reconnecting with everyone until she runs into Cord. On the surface, the encounter is amicable and casual. Both of their hearts take a leap at the sight of each other, but Pearl forces herself to put her head before her heart once more. OurCode is involved in a scandal that is about to go public, and she can’t afford to focus on anything but work, especially since Cord has just joined OurCode’s board as part of the fix to their soon-to-be reputation mishap.

Naturally, with Pearl stepping up as interim director to help the company past the crisis and Cord being on the board, they will have to work closely together. And, of course, as they do so, they discover the spark between them has never gone away.

I have a question: Is not listing a book as a sequel a new thing? This is the second time in the past week where I read a story that was clearly part of a series but was not listed as such. Maybe I’ve just been unlucky, but if this going to be a pattern, I’d like my objection on the official record. Rant over.

Middling grade books are perhaps the hardest to review. They are neither so good you can gush endlessly on all you love nor so bad you can take a certain level of satisfaction in warning others away. That’s certainly true for this volume. The plus in the grade comes from its positive representation aspect. The author occasionally veers toward lecturing in this area but it was mostly nicely done and flows well in the story, Beyond that, there’s not much to recommend. I liked Cord and Pearl fine, but I certainly didn’t love them. They’re pretty basic career professionals who suddenly discover that they want more out of life than just a job (really?). Their endless angst over the past and the fact that they behave as though being unlucky in love is unique to them could be grating (we are all unlucky in love until we’re not, that’s just how it works.) I also disliked that this is Pearl’s second time (the first was in CA) having an affair with a person she works for, not just with. Cord is a romancelandia CEO with endless amounts of free time. Those would be flaws if they didn’t appear in half the books I read, so I guess we’ll call them annoying tropes.

The secondary characters here aren’t very memorable. Both leads have family and friends but they are background noise. The most prominent of them is Tye, Pearl’s sister’s child, who is adorable and precocious and helps play matchmaker for Cord and Pearl. Ellie, Pearl’s rival for the position of director, and Kevin, another board member, are the only significant co-workers. It seemed unrealistic that Ellie and Pearl were vying for the job of director as both are recent hires, and neither has the experience to steer a company through a crisis. It was much more likely that someone new would have been tapped for that honor, but I digress.

I had a few issues with the writing. One is that the book is a dual-time narrative, showing us Cord and Pearl in the past and juxtaposing that with them in the present. The scenes from the past are unnecessary – readers of The Fastest Way to Fall already know they like each other, and for newcomers, telling rather than showing would have worked better – the alternating timelines don’t flow smoothly. More than once, during a scene in which memories are brought up, I thought, ‘When did this happen? Recent past or five years ago?’ The author is also very heavy-handed with whatever point she is making. A good example is the endless conversation surrounding Cord swearing off love at the start of the book. In the first several pages alone, it is mentioned at least five times and then sprinkled throughout the first three-fourths of the novel fairly frequently. Pearl’s putting her head above her heart is another issue that feels beaten into the ground, especially since she never seems to follow through on that aside from at the start, when she leaves Cord for California.

I loved Ms. Williams’ first book, How to Fail at Flirting, with its adorable meet cute, and charming characters, and enjoyed The Fastest Way to Fall enough to give this one a try. To be fair, Technically Yours isn’t technically a bad book. I never felt like throwing it against a wall, but I was reluctant to pick it back up once I put it down. I would recommend it only if you are a huge fan of the author. Otherwise, give it a miss.

Every time I pick up a Denise Williams book, I know I'm going to love it. The characters, the story and the romance are always so perfect. Technically Yours was delightful from the first page. I loved how the book went back in time and shared Cord and Pearl's original love story. It's just such a sweet and heartfelt story from beginning to end and left me really loving Cord and Pearl. I definitely see myself re-reading this one in the future. I can't wait for whatever Denise Williams releases next!

I liked this second chance between coworkers/friends Cord and Pearl. Cord is the ultimate sweetest guy to have in your corner. I get a little why Pearl kept him at arms length for so long but in a way I walked to share her and say "you KNOW Cord is different from all those other guys that did you wrong. Be with him!"

I really liked Cord and Tye's mentor/mentee relationship. Cord was such a great influence for Tye even though they were already a great kid. Cord just helped give them an ultimate boost to pursue their dreams.

I liked the many texts exchanges sprinkled throughout. I love the STEM rep. But, I ALMOST had to throw my Kindle across the room because there was a lead in to a trope I absolutely HATE but it didn't actually go there but the hint of it was enough to make me tense up for a bit.

This was a cute rom-com in the tech space. The main characters story goes beyond the second Chance set up and has so many layers that makes it a beautiful love story.

Cord met Pearl 7 years ago and hasn't forgotten her since. Now, the girl he fell in love with is back in his life. Pearls career is taking off as a newly appointed acting director for a coding non-profit inspiring highschoolers to code. The catch is, there is a scandal threatening her career and you guessed it, Cord is on the board. If anyone finds out, this could put careers at risk.

I loved the dual POV and the alternating timelines of the chapters. I liked the past chapters to really dive deep into how they met and the feelings they had for each other without the scandal in the way.

Miscommunication trope to me is a miss and it does get frustrating when you start to not understand the MC reasonings.

If you like miscommunication, second chance romance and women in STEM rep I would recommend this book.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Five years ago Pearl left Chord and Chicago behind to pursue her professional dreams and now that she is back in town and the opportunity to work alongside her is presented to Chord, he is determined to have her back in his life.

One thing that I love about Denise Williams’ writing is that her female main characters are always strong-willed and ambitious. Pearl is a Black woman in tech and she pushes herself to be the best that she can be not only for herself but because she wholeheartedly believes in the mission of OurCode and the people they serve.

Chord has been in love with Pearl for years and he does everything in his power to prove to her that she can have romantic love in her life without it getting in the way of her ambition, that he can be that person for her if and when she is ready.

Seeing the progression of their relationship from when they first met 7 years ago to the present timeline was truly a delight!

And I can’t forget to mention Tye!! I love them with all my heart and their speech at the end of the book had me teary-eyed!!

This book was cute, but it wasn't as engaging as some of her other stories I've read previously. I liked that characters okay but some of the plot felt like I'd read it before. It was a cute read but it wasn't my favorite read of Denise Williams books.

This was alright; I liked the mentoring relationship between Cord and Tye, and I liked that it took place in a setting of computer programming & business. (A refreshing change from a bookshop/cupcake shop/coffee shop....)

However, I really didn't get along with the central plot/relationship on a few big points:

In the 'past' relationship -- the flashback chapters, when Pearl and Cord first met and worked together -- we saw the relationship first develop and take off while Cord was Pearl's boss. The author tries to temper this with saying he wasn't her DIRECT boss - there was one layer of management between them. Sorry, still no - He ran the company, he was her boss. I found this just -- not really cool, in retrospect.

In the 'current day' relationship, Pearl has returned to town and is taking over as interim director for a kids' coding organization (because the previous director mishandled money but also had a romantic relationship with a board member). Pearl and Cord quickly reunite and though the spark is still there, say 'oh no, we can't possibly get together because Pearl is now the director and Cord has just joined the Board.' This quickly slides into, 'oh what the heck, we'll still get together, but NO ONE can find out!!! ' They then, while 1. on a camping trip with the entire board membership and 2. in her office: have sex, discuss their personal relationship a lot, demonstrably act 'together', throw a pile of pregnancy tests on Pearl's desk at work, Tye walks in on them etc etc. And gosh, huh, people find out.

I like a good romance, and don't mind a spicy one -- I just found these plot points cringey and it made the main characters Too Stupid.

Lastly, I didn't really like how the two women vying for the Directorship were essentially pitted against each other. I guess, sigh, that often is reality... but it'd be nice if in the fantasy-romanceland we could have women helping each other up.

Seven years ago, Cord fell in love with Pearl, but he couldn’t have her. Now she’s back in his life and Pearl’s not in the position to be able to fall in love.

Pearl was just appointed acting director of OurCode, a nonprofit aimed at inspiring high schoolers to code. With a scandal threatening her position, seeing Cord suddenly on the board further threatens things for her.

Cord fell for Pearl hard all those years ago and he’s never recovered. He wants Pearl, but outing their relationship might derails Pearls career.

They’re both nervous to put their feelings on the line and take some risks.

I really enjoyed the characters, but above all I am a sucker for a great cat. And Cord’s cat was the best side character. I am a true sucker for a man who loves cats, so I immediately liked Cord. Writing good side characters, human and non human alike, can be tricky, and the author did a fantastic job.

I loved the flashback chapters because we got glimpses into how they originally fell for each other. This was made even better with the dual point of view chapters. Dual POV is my favorite way to enjoy romance books, so I was smitten with this. The chemistry between Cord and Pearl was amazing and sizzled off the page. While there weren’t many spicy scenes, the ones that were present were wonderful.

The miscommunication trope is a hard one for me at times, but in this case, it worked as both characters really wanted to work things out. I think that it only works well for me when the miscommunication is believable, which it was.

Second chance romance is also another one that can be a miss for me, but again it worked in this case. This author just did a fantastic job writing some difficult tropes.

I also enjoyed the women in STEM rep. I feel that even today it is hard to get this representation, so when I come across a book where it is done well, I fall in love. It’s a topic that is close to my heart because I work in STEM and it can be difficult, so it’s nice to see it being brought to life.

This was my first book by this author, but I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more. If you are looking for a wonderful second chance romance and a miscommunication trope that just worked, then I recommend you check this one out.

Thank you to the publisher Berkley Publishing, @berkleypub, and Berkley Romance @Berkleyromance and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review was featured on my blog: speedreadstagram.com

Denise Williams is so good at banter. This second chance romance was full of it! The story felt a little heavier than her other books, but it fit with the characters. I loved the women in tech rep and the dual timeline format.

I was really looking forward to this book but I felt there just wasn't any spark in it for me both with the romance or the characters. It's nice to see characters pop up from previous books by Williams but this one just felt kinda.... messy. There wasn't enough tension to hold my interest and I was just kinda getting through this one if I'm being honest. I have really enjoyed other books by Willams so I will continue to read her books but I think I'm ready for some fresh characters or settings.

I think I missed an inside joke or something for this. I think we needed more back story up front because it felt confusing and discombobulated while reading. I appreciated the concept but thought that the execution was lacking

Second-chance romances always give me hope. We don’t have the luxury of going back in time (nor do I think I want to), but knowing that we can go back and find love where we once thought we lost it makes me hopeful. So that’s why I rooted for Pearl and Cord, the main characters of Technically Yours by Denise Williams.

Five years ago, Pearl Harris and Cord Matthews were almost a thing. That is until Pearl decided to uphold her rule about leading with her head and not her heart. Instead of pursuing things with her then boss Cord, she decides to take her newly-earned degree to a new job halfway across the country in California.

But now newly-single Pearl’s come back to Chicago after those five years to work at OurCode, a non-profit organization helping marginalized kids who want to work in STEM get experience and a good footing. After only three weeks there, Pearl is thrust into the top spot after former CEO Kendra was forced to resign due to, among other things, having an affair with a member of the company’s Board of Directors.

Cord is CEO of Fitme, now that his best friend and Fitme co-founder Wes has moved on to other career endeavors. But at heart, Cord is a coder. After months of begging by another friend Kevin, Cord decides to be on the Board of Directors at OurCode. Is it possible because Pearl’s the interim CEO, and he might catch the “one who got away”?

Characters That Will Melt Your Heart
This romantic comedy is the third installment in Ms. Williams’ unnamed standalone series. Pearl and Cord appear in her second book, The Fastest Way to Fall. From the minute I read Pearl’s first scene in that novel, I admired her sassiness as well as her work ethic. In Technically Yours, we see those are strong personality traits because she’s grown up to be self-sufficient, and she’s guarding her heart. She knows Cord’s not good for her head (or her career for that matter), but her heart can’t stay away from him.

Cord is lovesick in the best way, with puppy dog appeal and unwavering tenacity. This dude’s got it bad for Pearl. He knows it violates every HR fraternization rule to date her when he was her boss, but he’s head over heels for this woman, and he can’t will it away no matter how much he tries. Now, he refuses to hold back his feelings and wants to be with her – in whatever way she’ll let him.

Their chemistry on the page is so amazing, you’ll keep turning pages just for more of them.

Dual Timelines Are Like an Onion
Did I just say that? Well, it’s true here. Usually, romances are always “hold the onions,” but I love how with each chapter we get more of the story we’re missing. What happened five years ago that kept Pearl and Cord from getting together? And who was the guy in California that she left? Ms. Williams tells this story not only from Pearl and Cord’s point of view, but it alternates from moments in the past to moments in the present. And with each moment, the reader “peels back” a layer to reveal something new about the complicated bond between Pearl and Cord, and it makes us root for them even more. After all of this time, and all of these obstacles, we must see them get together, because they are definitely meant to be!

As someone who read the previous book The Fastest Way to Fall I was tempted to orient myself to Pearl and Cord’s timeline in that story to match up with what I was reading here. It was almost like a bonus puzzle that I enjoyed solving. But that wasn’t the only element that made my nerdy little heart dance for joy.

The Nerdiness We Love
Of course, my personal love for this book is the whole nerdy romantic novelties here. From the lines of binary code on the cover a la The Matrix movie franchise to Cord and his mentee Tye video gaming, this one has the nerdy geeky bent someone with a podcast called Nerdy Romantics Podcast (um, me) would love.

Whether you’re new to Denise Williams’ work or a diehard fan of her heartfelt romantic comedies with a nice helping of spice, splurge a little on yourself this holiday season and get Technically Yours. This enjoyable layered read is sure to make your holidays that much brighter, and give you a boost of hope.

Denise Williams has done it again. Every time I think I cannot fall in love with her characters and the beautiful love stories she writes she does it again and leaves me reeling. In the best possible way! I ADORE Pearl and Cord! They compliment each other so well and their love and attraction is palpable in every interaction. When I say I love the man obsessed trope the new standard to beat is Cord Matthews and I don’t know if that’ll be possible. Pearl and Cord meet while she’s finishing school and is working at Wes’ and Cord’s fitness company. They’re mutual attraction begins but because they work together and Cord is technically her boss she’s not willing to engage in a relationship. She gets a new job that leads her all the to CA and Cord is devastated and swears off serious relationships and love. Eight years later they meet again and they both realize they are not over the other. We watch them struggle to maintain their distance considering they work together once again. This book made me so happy, it made me smile, and giggle. It brought so much joy to my life and it’s definitely MY favorite Denise Williams novel. I love the way she writes romance and love and it’s very specific to me. I cannot help but fall in love every single time I read one of her books. 5⭐️ Do yourself a favor and read Technically Yours!

One of the best 2nd chance romances I have ever read, which is saying a lot because it's probably my least favorite trope. I enjoyed the alternating timelines, always my favorite and both MCs were fantastic. The female MC, Pearl also had fantastic sisters and I'd love to see more of them.