This book let me down. I love a good grumpy/sunshine boss/assistant romance, but this one did not work at all. I congratulate the author on writing a complete novel, but I feel as though an editor is needed.

I disliked all of the characters. Ivy was a victim of emotional abuse and neglect, but in the end she kind of brushes it off? Rob and Lily are horrible human beings who get off lightly. Ethan is boring and forgettable. At no point did it feel like I was reading a romance story. When did they fall in love? When did they get to know each other?

The plot felt like a bunch of trope stereotypes and dramatic speeches thrown together. The description was basic, the story flow was disjointed, and the dialogue was stilted and awkward.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and Eddy Twice for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am excited to be reading this book. Full review to follow.

I'd like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC. All reviews are my own.

I'm sorry, no, this is not a book for me.

It's all over the place, the characters make no sense. Their language it's like teenagers', with all those, let'g go out girlfriend, not like the real age of these protagonists, who are in their 30s.

The chapters move from one thing to the other. You expect a chapter to follow up the end of the previous one but it goes somewhere else instead. They skip days or event that might have been interesting to read about.

It's listed like erotica but it has very little spice in it and it's quite mild. Last but not least, it should come with a couple of TW. I ran blind into one that could be triggering.

The only positive thing is that it's short.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing, this is my honest review.

This book just wasn’t for me. I had trouble connecting to the writing style. It took a little while to get into the book and to like the main characters. Although it was an easy and fast read that was also entertaining.

A short spicy book that was great for an in between books read. I enjoyed the characters and relationships between them. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was such a good book! I really enjoyed sinus story and though I was a bit hesitant at forest I loved the story and also the look into the beauty industry! Very well written and highly enjoyable

Quite a lot happens as soon as I start reading. Oh, my gosh. Ethan's a workaholic, is having second thoughts about his fiancée because of the constant fights. He pours his heart and soul into work and comes home to a gloomy house.

Ivy, on the other hand, is also having problems with her boyfriend of eight years. After years of depending on him financially and emotionally, cooking and cleaning for him, he abandons her. Just like that.

My heart breaks for her! He left her in such a precarious state (you'll see what I mean when you read it yourself.) She pulls through and manages to get herself a personal assistant's job with nothing to her name and bills to pay for.

Oh, guess who her new boss is? Yep. Ethan, working for a makeup company, and now he's got to train her. She knows nothing about makeup and never worn it, she's never felt the need to. He teaches her about colour themes, cool and warm tones, which hues and shades she should go for, etc, etc. Gradually she improves in the makeup world and creates her first ever copy as a copywriter, which gets approved and accepted. She doesn't want her heart broken again, she tries her best to focus on herself, her job...can she though? Especially when her boss keeps turning up wherever she is? Doesn't help when her ex keeps harassing her to take him back...

~At what store did he purchase so much audacity from?~
I want this on a t-shirt.

Ethan gives me grumpy boss vibes in comparison to her sweet, endearing personality. When he is too strict on her she doesn't back down and stands up to him, which he's not used to. He admires that secretly. The bickering and bantering to start and I am giggling and kicking my feet at my big age. Shush, Ethan! I'm blushing. Don't you love it when the stoic/grumpy guy finally smiles a little? Because I do.

Something happens that brings them closer before pushing them away and I'M TRYING SO HARD TO NOT GIVE SPOILERS! Let me just tell you about the spicy scenes? F**K OFF. So hawt. Just the way the kissing scenes and prolonging eye contact makes me blush! So good!

Now, I wouldn't say that for ME this is a full blown erotica, it's very spicy and full of slow-burn heat, however, for those readers who're just dipping their toes in spicy content it can definitely be more of an erotica - I guess it just depends. Again, for ME, this is kind of a slow-burn simply because I've been reading "insta-loves" back to back, so this has a slow-medium pace, which I actually very much like.

This book was so refreshing from my usual horror and dark romances and I'm glad I gave it a chance! If you love close proximity office romances, with strong banter and snappy comebacks, secret glances and stolen kisses, humour and heartbreak and more, all in one delicious goodness? This one's for you. Plus, there's Ethan, your new hot book boyfriend. Grab him on the 30 Sep 2024 (Pub Date!)

(A quick one! There is a content warning I want to give; there is a mention of blood and miscarriage. So proceed with caution.)

🌸 Cover: ✨✨✨✨
🌸 Heat: ️‍🔥🔥🔥🔥
🌸 Passion: 💋💋💋💋💋
🌸 Yearning: 🥺🥺🥺🥺
🌸 Romance: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
🌸 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
🌸 Slow-Burn: 🎯🎯🎯🎯
🌸 FMC: 💕💕💕💕💕
🌸 MMC: 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋.
🌸 Character Development: 👍👍👍👍👍
🌸 World Building: 🌍🌏🌍🌏🌏
🌸 Would I recommend? Yep!
🌸 Overall Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a quick and easy spicy novella. A perfect pallet cleanser inbetween heavier books. Ivy does have a bad “woe is me” attitude and Ethan gives mega push over vibes. I can’t say too much about this book without giving it away but Rob is an absolute douche bag and I wish Ivy let him know that.
Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review this book.