Photo credits: Nietjuh - pixabay Edited by Vaishali Title: Sexy Filthy Boss (White Collar Brothers #1) Author/s: Piper Rayne Genre/Themes: Contemporary NA Romance, Adult Fiction, Publisher: Self Published Year of Publication: 2019. Format: E-book - kindle app. R E V I E W ... “Could we play rock, paper, scissors for it?” His arm falls off his face, and he props himself up on his elbows to give me the look of death. Like he legit wants me to fall to the floor and die in his presence.’ ‘The man I thought was a grade-A a****** is turning into a grade-A piece of goodness.’ Aspiring ad executive, Annie Stewart is assigned to shift duties and work for the biggest dictator in the office, Lorenzo Mancini. He’s a high maintenance lord of the office, and Annie is soon to be pushed right into his professional vicinity when she’s assigned to work with him to secure Jacobson and Earl’s biggest client yet. Which is when ‘Enzo’ realises that Annie is more than just a passing face in the office, she’s a woman with undercover talent and worth her merit in work. Why didn’t he notice it? That’s right, he’s too busy egotistically barreling through incompetent assistant after assistant in his own single-minded aim to secure a partner position at the agency he has given his best years to. For Mr. Mancini, this is a time of opening blind eyes and closing office doors. First in the series and a first for me, ‘Sexy Filthy Boss’ by this romance-writing duo is a slow-simmering office rom-com. Light, lively and lovely with an underlying vulnerability that resonates. For the most part, Enzo and Annie’s story was a delightful one to read. Both career driven and career preoccupied, it was great to see them maintaining resistance but surreptitiously wanting to cave. I was after all keen to keep reading just to keep in time and line with the development. While I give this book points for everything that worked, not everything did for me, so it was both a likeable and an apprehensive affair. At first, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to like Enzo. After breezing through the mill of romance novels, I’ve wisely realised that not all alphas are capable of being redeemable. Not the case here, let me forewarn you. I was worried that he was a low-key misogynist, without the equal sight to see women as unprejudiced parallels in the workplace, and this feeling was spurred on by the scheme he and his brothers cooked up about their sister. Alongside this, there’s his misguided reception towards the assistants that came before Annie. These bits and pieces added up, leading me to think that he and I might gel as well as the incompatible sliding of oil and water. Misogyny and female inequality are lightweight, simmering themes in this book, but you’ll be happy to know that Enzo is not the crime-worthy culprit. His blind behaviour however is very much bound to his character development and is brought to light when his eyes open to workplace inequality and the company’s non-female-friendly values, all because Annie allows his eye to see what they might not have seen before. Just as he surprised Annie at every turn, he did the same for me and I loved watching him morph from bossy bachelor to a more reachable man. But Enzo wasn’t the only protagonist I worried about. Enter Annie. Early on, there is a scene where she’s given the stamp of being ‘easy’ to work with because she’s so agreeable. She is after all an assistant, one very good at her responsibilities. I was however hoping this wasn’t the well-placed foreshadowing of a woman without the zest and spine of a professional, working woman in this office rom com. What with my Enzo compass already malfunctioning, I was wary In thinking that Annie might be the doormat that dashing Enzo might just gladly wipe his larger boss-man feet on. Again, my Annie compass is not to be trusted because I made another pre-emptive error in bookish judgment. Not a hard feat when many romance reads as of late have built a wall of intolerance and predictability. Not an easy wall to crash down either. Annie is actually portrayed as a person who would act accordingly in the position she’s in. She’s dedicated to her profession and worked for it. She’s in a learning curve phase of her professional career so her uncertainty was reasonable and reassuring. No. It wasn’t this at all. My issue with Annie was that she was rather flat as a character for me. I like a slow-burn romance as much as every reader, but for me, the sequential flow and time frame was off-kilter. The second half of the book more directionless than the first and the widespread romance was lacking some stretch and development. There was chemistry but there was little emotional resonance/bonding to be shown between the main couple. If this is a rom-com that’s going to indulge a slow stride while being a 300+ page novel, I think it could deeply benefit from some firsthand fleshing. To offer more day-to-day details and descriptions because surprisingly, very little happened. For the sake of world building, people building and reader intrigue, I prefer my reads with more stretch and story description; of people, places and context. Explore the characters, just as Enzo says he wants to ‘explore’ this thing with Annie, but never properly does. Even though Annie and Enzo are boyfriend/girlfriend and in a relationship, the portrayal didn’t quite come off that way. I think I wanted a bit more of everything. More fun, more joy, more romance, more story, more progression, and more from the supporting characters etc. Still, I’m happy to read the few Piper/Rayne novels currently sitting unread on my tablet, so don’t think this is a one and final deployment! As my second from this author partnership, I definitely think this addition is a huge step up from my first Piper/Rayne foray. Consider it a hopeful spree to explore. This is a first in a standalone series of Mancini bachelors. Go grab your fill, but you might want to play a cheeky game of rock, paper, scissors to decide which Mancini is for you (read the book and the reference will glow with amusing clarity). I gave this book 3.5 stars - Potential content warning: Swearing sprinkled throughout and minimal bedroom scenes (most of them off-page). I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers and hearing about reader opinion, so get in touch and comment below! --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- SHARE ON FACEBOOK L E A V E A C O M M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T |
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February 2024
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