Photo Credits: Bryan Minear
Edited by Vaishali
Title: 'Trading Hearts: Steamy Office Romance'
Author: Katrina Liss Series: Standalone Genre/Themes: Adult Fiction, Contemporary, New Adult, Erotica, Office Romance Publisher: Romance Junkie Year of Publication: 2019 Version: Ebook - ARC provided by Booksirens Review
‘There were thorns on this rose and they hurt more than he wanted to admit.’
‘Not only was it a pain of lost love, but also a pain of injustice.’
Felicity Hamilton is a British trader, assigned to the Big Apple for a year to work in the city’s trading district. Fliss’s worry of travelling numerous miles from home is nothing compared to the exciting prospect of a new start in the active city of New York, and the budding optimism for her high-stakes career. Fliss is a savvy, directly driven woman - as one would have to be in this high-balling industry, where focus is pivotal and distractions are not helpful, and though that is exactly what this savvy-minded woman doesn’t need, it’s something she gets in spades.
‘A chance to become the successful trader she knew she could be. No man was going to get in the way of that.
Fond of her new settlement, Fliss walks in on her first day of work at one of Wall Street’s investment banks, and is introduced to her new co-workers, but most notably charmed and taken by her boss and Desk Manager Jason Sawyer . Beyond attractive, and much hotter than the sweltering heat New York has to offer, Fliss can’t help but pander Jay’s flirty nature with her own; even though he is a risk, threatening the positive change in Fliss’s life.
‘She raised her eyebrows at him. “Finished the once over yet?”
“Twice over you mean?” He grinned at her cheekily’
27-year-old Jay is the office playboy , a financial heartthrob who wants Fliss as much as she finds herself wanting him. But Fliss doesn’t want to complicate the office dynamic by crossing professional lines with Jay, only the philanderer himself doesn’t seem to have that problem as he has morethan just a professional relationship with his own boss Rebecca, sleeping with the conniving cougar and businesswoman herself. Not at all inclined to humour a man like Jay and his revolving door of women, Fliss can’t help feeling like a hypocrite when she wants to sleep with a man who should be off-limits.
“You look like little red riding hood afraid she’s about to be eaten alive by the big bad wolf…”
“Aren’t I?” “Yeah, but in a nice way, maybe…” He chuckled softly.’
Fliss didn’t arrive here with the intention to kindle anything except her favourable future as a trader, but Jay and Fliss have strong chemistry from the start, enough chemistry to pass a chemistry exam with flying colours and rampant hormones. Not being able to part without disappointment they can’t keep away from each other, drawn to the other like the sun to the New York skyline.
‘Had his hazel eyes heated up? They seemed to burn.
This guy was lethal.’
Fliss as a protagonist was appealing to read about, and I felt inadvertent eagerness and anticipation trailing her as she left her home to find another. I knew that Jay would be the kind of character who wouldn’t be appealing to begin with what with his lecherous habits, but one I would come to like – just the kind of character I’m committed to read about! Jay is not absolutelyokay with his role as life’s boy toy , but he has never been committed enough to do something about it, and we soon see through that when his own life turns awry forcing him to question and prioritise.
‘He was finding this unusual English girl more and more interesting with every passing minute.’
‘There was something of the yuppie bad boy about him that she recognised as a formula for heart-break.’
By the end I loved Jay and was unable to refuse his irresistible appeal, and I love it when an author makes me change my mind about a character from start to finish. Fliss brought out something in him that was always there. They have many searing liaisons, and even though the attraction was present from the start, and the desire was substantial enough, I liked how the element of sex and that the act itself was led up to rather than being initiated foremost. It gave us something to look forward to.
“I hate clever women sometimes.”
“And I hate clever men all the time.”
Not used to the evanescence of particularly short stories, I was undecidedly speculating whether this short novel would have adequate matter with a beginning, middle and actual end, which it did! I felt that the story was active enough within it’s short span of 187 pages - the story centred mainly on romance with minor consequential side-plots to keep the story involving and on-going.
‘Being female, she couldn’t afford to show weakness whatsoever.’
‘This was going to be a challenge to remember, one way or another.’
On the other hand, the trade talk skimmed over my head at integral points, making me wonder what was specifically going on plot-wise within the office, so I didn’t actually understand the specifics of the trade deals when it mattered the most. Apart from that (and apart from quite a few spelling and punctuation errors) I liked this romantic tale, and I liked that there was no unhealthy competition between Fliss and her teammates, always working as a team and supporting each other’s decisions.
‘If push came to shove, no one was ever going to accuse Fliss of being sugar tongued. She might look like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but appearances could be very deceptive.’
‘Trading Hearts’ by Katrina Liss is a spectacle of office drama and heated romance set in New York, following the story of a woman who changes the life of a quintessential heartbreaker. Family matters, sexual politics in the workplace, bribery and a good fiery love affair, this book is a fast-paced, pleasant tale about two people risking their careers for what matters to them. After a period of requiring much needed lightness, light reads have been an obligatory addition to my reading list. Fluff, smut, frenzied tension, flirting and a measure of conflict, this story is told in a third person narrative, pacing back and forth between Fliss’s and Jay’s keen lives
“…I love your English accent, by the way. Very Keira Knightley.”
“I love yours too. Very Channing Tatum.”
‘Trading Hearts’ is a story centred on a relationship that starts out as hot lustbut spirals into hot love.
‘With a quick grin, she shook off her nerves and concerns and focussed on the excitement of the unknown.’
I gave this book 3.8 stars -
Notes: A lot of spelling errors and misplaced punctuation.
Trigger Warning: Adult content, steam, a sex scene, themes of sexual harassment and swearing.
I received an ARC of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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
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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