Level With Me by Claire Wilder

★★★★★

◆ Enemies to lovers
◆ Romance
◆ HEA

Level with Me follows the story of Cassandra and Blake.

Cassandra is the CEO of her family's struggling resort. After losing her mother, Cassandra's father deals with the loss by going AWOL, emotionally and physically, across the world, leaving Cass and her siblings to deal with everything on their own.

Blake is the Mr. Shark to Lila's Mrs. Shark, however their marriage is not what it seems.

After hiring Blake and Lila to help bring the resort back from the brink it becomes obvious that Cass and Blake have major chemistry.

Truth comes to light but it also comes with great conflict. Should we? Shouldn't we? As the book progresses we watch as our HEA couple get intimate (🔥🔥) and struggle with the reality of what they must hide and why. (Side note: Did I find it funny that the first sex scene ended at 69% of the book? Absolutely. IYKYK.)

Thankfully, Blake and Lila come to terms with their respective situations, resolve them and move onto the next journey of their lives - Lila starting her business with her partner Brynn and Blake dealing with childhood emotional damage from his father and as he comes to terms with his mother's state of mind.

Blake and Cass' first reunion after Lila and Blake resolve things was lovely to read.

I found this book to be well written and I enjoyed seeing the different POVs

The ending epilogue was an extra bonus because now I absolutely need to get the next book to follow our next couple on their journey.


Book received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book kept me engaged in its charming back and forth views between the main characters- it was refreshing to see both the man and woman’s side of interactions which made it more whole and less one sided than most stories. I appreciated the love story and the work up to it which is also refreshing. Yes they had immediate chemistry but they also built a foundation for their love interest so it wasn’t just another superficial love story. Well done and well thought out, leaving the readers with a conclusion yet setting up for additional tales at the same time, can’t wait to read the next!

After falling into the water during a jog along the shore, Cassandra Kelly is rescued by a fisherman and the two share a heated moment. When she discovers the fisherman is actually Blake Harrington, part of the husband and wife team of consultants she and her siblings have hired to review the family owned Rolling Hills resort in an effort to keep it afloat, she rejects the idea of cheating with a married man, particularly one she has hired to save the resort. But things aren't what they seem as Blake's is a marriage of convenience, an arrangement that gives his business an edge while protecting a friend. No cheating appears in this book despite first impressions.

Cassandra and Blake share an instant attraction with a slow burn ultimately igniting like fire. Their relationship evolves from enemies to lovers but both are holding back from going all in. Cassandra has been hurt in the past, keeping her from trusting another man. Meanwhile, Blake sacrifices his own happiness for the sake of his fake marriage, precluding him from finding love and starting a family of his own.

A great start to a new series, Level With Me reflects upon self worth, deserving love unconditionally, forgiveness and learning to trust. Beautiful moments of sweetness combine with intense sexual tension and I couldn't wait for Cassandra and Blake to realize they could no longer fight their feelings for one another. The sex is super steamy with elements of power and control along with tender moments and an underlying deep level of emotional intimacy. But there's also anger and pain, and a sadness lying underneath the surface, adding to the obstacles on the journey towards a HEA.

I loved how the characters are more complex than they initially appear, each with a story of his or her own worth telling. Both Cassandra and Blake are smart and successful yet they learn more about themselves as they discover their own strengths and weaknesses, helping them overcome past hurts. Family dynamics also play a large role as they shed some light on the motivations behind the thoughts and actions of the characters, shaping the people they have become.

I also need to point out that the sexy eye candy on the cover is the epitome of absolutely everything I envision Blake Harrington to be. And my heart breaks for the feelings Blake needed to work through in order to open himself up to the possibility of love and true happiness.

Claire Wilder hits all the right buttons with this little romance novel. The protagonist, Cassandra, recently took over as CEO of her family's hotel, alongside her four siblings, and they're desperate to save the place.

Enter Blake and Lila Harrington of Harrington Consulting--a husband and wife team who specialize in taking a failing business and revitalizing it, making it better than it ever was. They're smart, talented, and gain a lot of their business because they're married.

Except for the fact that they're not. Married, that is. At least not to each other. Lila is happily married to her wife, Brynn, but has kept her sexuality a secret from her parents since she and Blake were in college. And after a decade of living in a marriage of convenience, and after fishing Cassandra out of a river, Blake finally found a reason to risk it all.

Overall, this book was well-written, the characters were realistic, and the emotional turmoil of what they were going through was evident throughout. I look forward to seeing more from Wilder as this new series progresses!

I’m so excited for the rest of this series after reading this book. Siblings take over their family businesses after their mother passes away. This first book follows Cassandra, who becomes the CEO after her mothers passing.
She meets with Blake after falling into muddy water and he rescues her. They have chemistry right off the bat. She comes to find out that Blake and his “wife” are the couple she is meeting later to help turn their by business around. Blake is only married in name/business purposes only and it never bothered him until he met Cassandra. Their push and pull relationship was all Throughout the book. The tension and steam between the two of them kept me sucked in and not wanting to put this book down. Cannot wait for the next book, which we get a little snippet at the end of this book! Very much enjoyed this book.
I received an Arc copy from the author through NetGalley for an honest review.

- I had a really good time reading this book 😊 I enjoyed getting to know Blake and Cassandra’s personal lives so much that I didn’t even realize that I was already 50% in it. The tension between the two lead characters 🔥 was great because you have no idea when “that scene” will happen. It just kept me at the edge of my seat!
- Even though it’s technically a workplace romance, I felt like I was on vacation while reading it. I loved the small town and resort vibes. I wish we got to see more of their town and the different amenities of the resort
- I really enjoyed getting to know the Kelly siblings 💖 I didn’t expect to be invested in their lives but they all grew on me! I want Eli to find his person. Jude is soo funny. We love the single dad trope. And Griff is still a mystery to me. I hope the author writes a story about each sibling ❤️ I’ll admit it was odd that the epilogue is not about Blake and Cassandra but I can’t believe it ended like that 😮 What a cliffhanger! I can’t wait to read more about Chelsea and Seamus in Fall For Me! Release date is June 27, 2022.

Building a successful wife and husband company together with his old friend Lila, Blake is seeking revenge on his ever dominating father. Lila on the other hand is hiding who she really is, putting her energy into making a successful business with the help of Brynn, the third person in the company.
Everything comes to a head when they are called in to try to rescue the struggling family business of Cassandra and her siblings. Blake and Cass meet by chance before the assignment starts and the chemistry is off the charts. Cass is horrified when she learns that Blake is their very married turn-around consultant.

This is the first book in the series and Wilder has created a great structure to build future books on. Little do we know now, which of the many clues mentioned in passing will form the key tenants for her future instalments in the saga about the Kelly family. There definitely are enough characters and personalities to make this an intriguing and exciting series to look forward to!

- Workplace romance
- Forbidden love
- Dual POV
- Spice

What I loved:

It is sort of a workplace romance with a relationship forming between consultant and his client with some forbidden love due to the arrangement that Blake has with his business partner.

I really loved that the FMC was tall. It’s not a body type that is frequently represented in romance books.

What I didn’t like:

This is an enemies to lovers book, however I felt that the trope was really mild in this book. It seemed that they were only enemies for a blip and even then, I wouldn’t describe them as enemies.

Overall:

I really enjoyed the book and I’m really looking forward to the next in the series!

I really enjoyed this book by Claire Wilder. It was very well done and would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

is a STEAMY read with a fun meet cute at the top. Cassandra is the CEO of her family’s resort business. Her mom died and her dad unraveled a bit and spends his time traveling. Claire and her siblings are left to run the resort. She is taking a morning run by a river on the resort property and stumbles in the water. She’s a swimmer, athletic, doesn’t need saving. Blake is fishing nearby, sees it happen and goes in for the rescue. While Cassandra is at first completely turned off by the whole thing and embarrassed, she comes around and realizes that she did in fact need some saving.

The plot twist for Cassandra is that she later finds out that guy who rescued her also the husband of the husband/wife consulting team she just hired to help audit and turnaround the resort. Yet, despite being married, she knows he was most definitely attracted to her. She’s disgusted and wants to fire him ASAP. She’s also admittedly attracted to him, too. What to do?

This is where I tell you that there is no cheating and all things are not what they seem. I liked the book. I liked it more when Cassandra and Blake weren’t together and were dancing around each other. It is most definitely spicy when they do get together! The family dynamics are interesting and there are more books coming in this series. Worth a read, check it out!

What a great story this is. It is an enemy to lovers storyline but it’s not really a love-hate relationship between Cassandra (heroine) and Blake (hero). Blake is truly everyone’s hero. He is a hero to Lila and Brynn in so many ways. I just love him. He goes way beyond any friend I have or know. I also love him for his relationship with his father. I can relate and maybe forgiving my own is the way to go. Doesn’t mean I have to have a relationship with him. This story made me really think and I love that. Cassandra is a strong heroine. She doesn’t want to step over the boundaries of a work partnership with Blake until she learns the truth about him and Lila. This story was fresh and a different take on an enemies to lovers trope. I really liked it and can’t wait for the second book in this series to come out in June 2022.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. I enjoyed the romance in this book. The characters are enjoyable. It has good LGBTQIA representation. This book is set in New York. I would definitely highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. This ebook is in stores for $4.99 (USD). This book is well written enemies to lovers romance.

I read the majority of this book on a flight, and polished off the rest in the first few minutes of the flight home! It's hilarious and heartfelt in equal measure, the perfect start to a series. By the time I landed, I was ready to purchase the next book, even before it had been released, just because i was that eager to spend a few more minutes in Quince Valley. I loved all of the characters, how they play together despite being so incredibly different from one another, and it was so refreshing to read a no-cheating love story that starts out with a married couple other than the HEA. More of this, please!