5 Smooches!
Synopsis
He’s the boss. But she’s ready to take charge.
In this provocative and sexy* office romance, a cheeky new hire tempts a hotshot sports agent to mix business with pleasure.
Jenny: Job interviews are a bitch under the best of circumstances, but when your potential boss is the world’s biggest prick, that’s when you should simply walk away. It’s just that I need this job so badly—and I’m mesmerized by Ethan Mason’s piercing gaze. Men like him aren’t supposed to exist in real life. But under the tailored suits and GQ looks, Ethan simmers with barely restrained ambition. And no matter how hard I work to fight the attraction, I’m going to get burned.
Ethan: You don’t become a top agent without learning how to close a deal. I always get what—or who—I want, by staying cool and in command. Then Jenny Jackson walks into my office with her lush curves and “screw you” attitude and blows away my intentions of keeping things professional. All I can think about is exploring the perfect body hidden beneath those conservative clothes or shutting her saucy mouth with one hot kiss. Jenny’s worth breaking the rules over—if I can convince her to break the rules for me.
*By sexy, we mean sexy. Like, 18+ sexy.
Review
This was my first time reading Sloane Howell’s work, and he can call me a fan now. Going into Bossed, I was prepared for an office romance, but beyond that, I really had no other expectations, except for the hope that there’d be a healthy dose of Mr. Howell’s notorious sense of humor. Once I started this story, though, I quickly realized it was going to be more than just a simple workplace romance. Part romcom, part sports romance, part office romance, I was quite surprised by the depth of emotion in this book. Howell’s writing was very engaging. His style was energetic and crisp, giving him a unique voice that resulted in Bossed being a well-developed, smartly paced and feeling-packed romance.
The back-and-forth banter between Ethan and Jenny was spot-on and what I loved most about this book. A top sports agent, Ethan was self-made, cocky and arrogant and ran his business tyrannically, expecting nothing less than perfection from his employees and didn’t hesitate to verbally eviscerate them for the smallest of mistakes. No one ever dared to challenge him, until Jenny crashed into his life. From their first encounter, she gave it right back to him, but the thing was that she was whip-smart, especially when it came to their shared passion: baseball. Both had serious trust issues to overcome before this budding relationship could get any real traction. Ethan’s walls were high and practically impenetrable, and with everything that was going on in Jenny’s life, she struggled to let him in as well.
Bossed had all the makings for a great contemporary romance. Laugh-out-loud humor and off-the-chart sexiness. A story with just enough angst to keep it interesting without weighing it down. Great supporting characters who rounded out this story into something special. But it was Howell’s obvious talent as a writer that really shined in the way he took those ingredients and blended them into an outstanding story that left me with a smile on my face and a happy heart. There was just so much here to enjoy, and I absolutely devoured this book! Sloane Howell’s Bossed gets five smooches from me!
~ Danielle Palumbo
