5 Smooches!

Synopsis

The sexual tension is palpable; the erotic path they’re on is inevitable.

Haylee Holloway has experienced more grief than a twenty-two year old should have to endure. When she moves to LA for a fresh start and takes a job as an assistant for an advertising company the last thing she expects is to have to step in last minute during a photo shoot as the model. Her bikini line and weight are suddenly open topics of discussion, and a client’s million dollar campaign is hanging in the balance. To cap it off, the multi-millionaire, gorgeous owner of the company shows up and takes charge.

Josh Singer, the owner of Gamble Advertising is private, intense, and hard to read. His voice is sexy, his eyes are smoldering and when he learns of Haylee’s goal to save money for law school, he makes her an offer she can’t refuse: To move to New York City and work for him directly as his assistant. Haylee’s dilemma: how does she travel the world with a hot boss whose voice alone conjures up an erotic fantasy and not completely make a fool of herself? Frustrated with Josh’s mixed signals, Haylee finally puts it all on the line. Blurring both their professional and personal lives can they keep things temporary as planned or will they both realize some things weren’t meant to end?

Full Length Standalone book with no cliffhanger.
First book of the “Something Series” This book is for mature audiences only

Review

“Josh Singer was attracted to me. And I’d just agreed to move to New York to work for him.”

Following the deaths of both of her parents, twenty-two-year-old Stanford graduate Haylee Holloway was starting over in LA as an assistant in an advertising agency while she saved money to attend law school. Still grieving the loss of her father five years earlier followed by her mother just a year before, this is a young woman very much immersed in grief; she’s functioning and coping, but she’s really only going through the motions of life. During an important client’s photo shoot thrown into disarray by a temperamental supermodel in full-on diva mode, Haylee steps in and unwittingly saves the day. In the process she catches the attention of not only the photographer, but her boss’s boss, Josh Singer. Impressed by her loyalty to her jerk of a boss, her pitch-in-and-get-it-done spirit and her quietly unassuming beauty, he offers her a position as his assistant including a relocation to New York.

“…the way she looked at me, like she could never get enough, was a powerful thing.”

An introvert forced to be an extrovert, thirty-three-year-old Josh Singer’s intense brooding masks his discomfort in social situations. An extremely private man, the wealthy owner of Gamble Enterprises doesn’t trust easily, and he’s got good reasons. Captivated immediately by Haylee during the ill-fated photo shoot, he knows he shouldn’t go there with her, but he just cannot stop himself. Parameters are set, an understanding is reached, and because of Haylee’s law school plans, an expiration date is inevitable.

“After the death of my parents, I haven’t trusted happiness. I don’t know how to.”

Traveling the world dealing with Josh’s many business ventures gives them plenty of time alone together. Sizzling attraction crackles between the two of them, and the more time they spend together, the closer they become. But between Haylee’s unwillingness to embrace happiness for fear of being hurt and Josh’s trust issues – issues he hasn’t trusted Haylee with yet – both of them are holding back. Add to that the fact that Josh does not want marriage or children and regardless of their explosive chemistry, in the end, they wouldn’t be a match because Haylee does want those things. And the clock continues to tick down on their time together before she leaves for school…

“You said you wanted more, and I’m showing you I can give you that.”

It takes the realization that Haylee is really leaving to wake Josh up, and he immediately launches an attempt to get her to realize they could continue their time together, it doesn’t have to end. But that wasn’t what Haylee agreed to, and regardless of the fact that she knows she loves him, she believes it will hurt more to deepen her attachment only to have it end further down the line. In the aftermath of a health related incident and a startling revelation, the advice from two of her newly acquired friends finally sinks in, and Haylee begins the process of peeling back the layers of her grief and dealing with it.

“Whether it was one day, one year or a lifetime, I knew I needed to grab onto happiness with both hands.”

They both take huge steps to deal with their issues both individually and as a couple. Will it be enough? Can Josh overcome his issues and allow himself to fully trust Haylee? Will Haylee let go of her belief that no one will ever be there for her long-term?

“I think you’ve given me the world.”

These two people were damaged and hurt and lonely. Meeting each other was a jolt to both of their systems, and the force between them was magnetic – they just couldn’t stay away from each other. They had real and difficult issues to deal with, both individually and as a couple. There were serious stumbling blocks in the way of their happily-ever-after, and the way in which the author had them dealt with felt genuine, authentic and was never forced. The author did a fantastic job of conveying the many emotions that churned through the main characters; my heart was breaking right along with both of theirs when they realized just how soon she was leaving. Josh and Haylee were ravenous for each other and that chemistry leapt off the pages of this seriously steamy novel. I really enjoyed Tell Me Something, I loved Aubrey Bondurant’s writing style, and I’m very much looking forward to more in this series!

Five smooches from me for Tell Me Something by Aubrey Bondurant!

~ Danielle Palumbo

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