Cold. Callous. Cocky.
A total playboy with abs for days, a panty-melting smirk, and a face the gods themselves would be jealous of.
And he’s my new boss.
None of that matters, because as a single mom, men like Alexander Harding are the last thing I need. What I do need is this job, so I’m going to keep my head down, work hard, and avoid that asshole as much as humanly possible.
But then he gives me an offer I can’t refuse, even though everything inside of me is warning me to run away and never look back. It’s just one weekend. One weekend to convince a bunch of stuffy investors that Alexander has changed from the player who spent more time in the bedroom than the boardroom into a family man they’d be happy to go into business with.
But the more time I spend with him, the more I realize that there might be a beating heart buried under his designer shirts and spectacular pecs after all…which is bad news for me.
Because the only thing worse than hating your boss is falling in love with him.
Romance | Contemporary | Adult Fiction
***Received an Advanced Readers Copy through Author ARC Group in exchange for honest review***
I say I need more Office Romances in my life and behold my furry friends, Emily Goodwin delivers to me this gem, whew, I am beyond excited for this new Hard to Love series and Hard Place set the bar pretty high for me. As a huge fan of the Love is Messy series and the Dawson Family Series, it is definitely Emily’s contemporary romances that tug at my heart every darn time, she is my top auto-buy author. So here we are, want to know what I loved?
I was beyond obsessed with Harper. For starters, I loved her name. Let me just put that out there for you right now, the name Harper is amazing. And surprise surprise, I fell hard for her personality. Crazy I know, how many times do I actually fawn over the heroine in these things? True stories. But she did, Harper had me hooked the second she opened her mouth. She was sassy, honest, hard working and beyond perfect. I loved every flaw that was her character, every awkward mannerism, and I felt as if I was idolizing her with every page turned. Not only was she fun and quirky, she was a single mother from the start and I enjoyed immensely with how her daughters were. It humanized her, made her situation so believable.
Then we have Alex. Oh my stars, where to start. Okay, I loved his jerk complex because yeah, he was a jerk, he was snide and rude, and quite frankly he had this attitude about himself where he seemed as if he carried himself above others yet he had a really interesting soft side. Its always the alpha jerk offs who have the bigger hearts – well at least in my dreams. And yes, Alex is my dream fictional boyfriend. I liked how he carried himself, especially when dealing with his father, though he was working to prove himself worthy of the legacy that was his father, he was also quite to separate himself from the man he absolutely does not look up to, and with good reason. Not to mention there is a complete one-eighty difference on how he treats his father verses his sister, brother-in-law and nephew. It is almost as it that is his family and he honestly cherishes it, I liked the brotherly sister vibe between him and Nicole (granted they were the siblings) but it felt natural, fun and very causal with so much emotional baggage still left to touch between them. It honestly speaks volumes to why he is the way he is, I loved watching Harper crash everything to shambles with her personality and his attraction towards her…
Now for the part you want to know about, right? The romance. I gotta say, this was one of the most delicious slow burn romances, the build up was enticing. Harper and Alex went from a complete hatred towards one another, though be it attracted tension filled hatred, to basically trying to tolerate the other then to wanting to rip clothes off one another. It was great. These are the office romances I like! The tension is hot, fiery passion, keeping one another at a distance to try to stay professional but we all know that won’t last, and when it crosses the line – fire works comrades. They had an intsa-chemistry factor from the second Harper is introduced as Alex’s new secretary, everything about their connection sent me in overdrive.
And that cliffhanger! Like, how can you do this to me Emily, I thought we had something, I thought we were close – but nope, now I have to wait what, until October until I get my hands on Hard Truth? You are killing me smalls. I also can’t help but wonder, is this a book one and two duet? And if so, who comes next? I cannot figure this out.
Bottom line, I thoroughly enjoyed Hard Place. It was the right amount of hatred tension in a lot of Office Romance to send my heart into a tizzy. Slow burn in the most deliciously tortuous ways, fun, entertaining and beyond adorable. I enjoyed everything about the characters, their personalities, their personal struggles, it was believable – dare I say relatable. Hard Place was definitely entertaining, every aspect literally had me either chuckling or swooning. Basically everything I would expect from Emily Goodwin at this point.
Suey Library 