Working It is the first book in Christine d'Abo's Ringside Romance and the first book I've read by this author. The first 50% of this book was a solid four star read for me. It was engaging and I really enjoyed both the characters but somewhere around the 50% mark it started to fall a little flat and didn't pick back up again until the very end.

This book centers around Nolan who was in a horrible car accident that left him with not only physical scars but anxiety attacks. He's managed to start putting his life back together but he hasn't reached the point yet where he feels like he's able to stand on his own. He takes the next step by applying for a job as an executive assistant. He's hired by Zack who is the CTO for a company and has zero people skills. Zack is smart, aggressive and very successful but he hasn't been able to hang on to a executive assistant for more than two weeks. He struggles with anger management but underneath it all he actually has a good side that comes out when you see him talk about helping other people and when he sees Nolan struggling with his anxiety.

Zack see's Nolan's courage and the strength it's taken to get through his accident but he also sees his vulnerability and that brings out the best in Zack. I loved the way that the two men bonded and really brought out the best in each other. Zack helped Nolan with his courage and his self confidence and Nolan brought out Zack's softer side. Right up until the point where they had sex and then thing fell apart for me. I expected to see some more growth especially from Zack and to learn why he had such anger management issues. Instead the book delved into the office politics and the relationship aspects were lost. I didn't buy the "plot device" at the end since I think the CTO would have more sway then apparently Zack did and I didn't like the way Nolan reacted. However, I did like that both characters were flawed and they owned up to their mistakes and flaws. The HEA was a little lacking but maybe we will see more of them in the next book.

Overall and enjoyable book but I wish the second half was as strong as the first half of the book.

Zack and Nolan.
Nolan still recovering from an accident has anxiety attacks. When he tries to gets his nerves together in the bathroom of the company where he has an application appointment he sees a man he can't gets his eyes of. After explaining to him what is wrong with him he leaves him behind to his appointment. While he is at this conversation the man from the bathroom storms in and tells he has the job.

Zack, the CTO of the company, can't get his mind straight why he hired the man as his PA. No one stays longer than a few days. Because Zack is an asshole.. he has also anger problems....
What he didn't expected was the fact that Nolan has the right working skills and he just gets Zack.

There is so much more Zack then he shows to the work floor. And there is so much more Nolan then his accident and anxiety.

They like each other and when they get to know each other more and more there is something growing. They like each other and have fun together.
After showing Nolan his plans for re-opening Ringside Gym Nolan wants to help him in every way.

Their employer has other plans for their future.

My feelings were up and down with this read. I really liked the story there is nothing not to like. But there could be just more....more attraction...more heat between the man. It was restrained. I would have loved it when they were going wild and out of their mind. They were constant reserved. What worked was they were flawed
Their personalities are reserved...I get it......only in my opinion their relationship could be more deepen....more elaborated.
Despite of this.....the way it was written was really good and steady, I really enjoyed it.

In other words....a good read and certainly worth reading!!

Another new author for me, and I can't wait to read more!

Nolan has been struggling for two years since an accident left him physically and emotionally scarred. He hasn't been able to work, has basically stopped having a social life, and is a shell of the man he once was. Large crows tend to cause panic attacks, as does stress. So will he be able to work at a job where he has to dedicate long hours and work for the company asshole?

Zach is a man who works himself to hard, is an ass to most he meets, and has no time for relationships. He can't keep an assistant, and no one at works seems to like him. So, when he meets Nolan, why is he drawn to this man and why does he hire him to be his assistant?

Nolan and Zach start working together, and become friends. Zach turns out to be the best assistant Zach has ever had. These two are also attracted to each other, so when their relationship turns sexual, Zach has to wonder if in the end he will only hurt Nolan.

I found this story to be well written. I enjoyed both Nolan and Zach's characters. This one is written in dual POV so you get equal parts of both men's lives. Nolan's backstory was heart breaking and I am glad Zach was able to comfort and care for Nolan the way he needed to be.

I think I'm gonna like this series. Anyone surprised?

The only other book I've read by Christine d'abo was a holiday novella, Rebound Remedy, which I really enjoyed. I almost passed this one up, but then a couple of trusted reviewers/readers read it and liked it so much I decided to pick it up. Needless to say, I'm glad that I did.

I loved Nolan from the start... Zack, not so much. The description should clue you in to the reasons why. On the surface, pairing these two should equal disaster. The more readers got to know Zack though, the easier it was to really hope that Nolan could see through the gruff exterior and know the true Zack. The one who deserved Nolan's trust and more importantly, needed him.

My heart broke for both of these men when things inevitably imploded. This was one of those books where I wanted to jump in and beg the characters to slow down and just talk... *sigh* There were supporting characters that I loved and those that I loathed, which kept things more than interesting.

The next book in the series features Max and I can't wait. He was one of my favorite supporting characters in Working It and from the sounds of it, I'm going to adore him in Faking It. :)

3.5 stars

This started out really great for me. Nolan suffers from severe anxiety due to a horrible car accident and he's not been able to go back to his job as a result. He's decided to try something new and ends up interviewing for an assistant position at Zack's company.

Zack is the horrible boss that no one can work with and he was truly an asshat in the beginning of the book. I was loving this part of the book. It had a enemies to lovers vibe and the two men had a bunch of UST and some hate kissing and it all looked very promising. Then around the middle mark the vibe changed and it became almost a sweet story. I found Zack's total 180 hard to believe. I'm not sure why or how this all happened. It was a super fast turn around and no reason was given.

I think my biggest issue with the book though was much of the romance and them falling in love took place off page. We see things that are happening at their work and at the gym Zack owns but we didn't see a lot of their on page romance time and I felt cheated. I would have been fine with what we saw if the book would have been longer and had contained more of them together. By the end they're all in love and I wasn't really sure why. It didn't feel believable.

Overall this was pretty good but had the ability to be great and I'm kind of bummed that it tapered off like it did. But.....I had never read this author before and I will definitely read the next book in this series and I will take a look at her other work.


**ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

5 Stars!!!

Nolan is ready—or about as ready as he’s going to be—to tackle working again. After a very bad accident that left him with physical sequels and anxiety attacks that forced him to leave his previous job, he is determined to get back into the saddle, even if he has to take a position for which he is overqualified. His interview is hijacked by the company’s CTO, Zack Anderson, and soon he finds himself as Zack’s new executive assistant and slowly regaining some of his confidence back as Nolan becomes indispensable due to his organizational skills, even if his new boss has a well-earned reputation of being difficult, to the point that none of his assistants have lasted longer than 3 weeks. Soon, Nolan and Zack forge a tentative friendship as Nolan volunteers to help Zack with his side project of re-opening the Ringside Gym and the longer they spend together, the more difficult it is to resist the attraction growing between them.

My heart broke for Nolan I don’t know how many times with what he went through after the accident and his anxiety attacks. He was so strong, determined and really showed a lot of growth throughout the book. It was amazing to see how he regained some of his confidence as he learned to deal with Zack and did so well at his new job. I liked Zack, he had a lot of anger management issues and he wasn’t all that nice at first, but he actually made a conscious effort to treat Nolan better than he’d treated his past assistants. I also liked to see how Nolan’s presence in his life, affected him for the good, making him laugh and open himself to others, who viewed him as a dragon. The sexual tension between the two was electric and the sex—when they finally couldn’t resist any longer and to be honest, neither could I—was very hot. Zack and Nolan worked well together, both in the office and as friends and later, as lovers and I loved the pacing as their relationship morphed into more.

This book was very enjoyable, well-written, perfectly paced, with an amazing array of characters and while I wasn’t too fond of the office politics arc in the second part of the book, I feel that it served its purpose and it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story, which I couldn’t put down until I finished it.

Working It is the first book in the Ringside Romance series and while it didn’t focus all that much on the Ringside Gym part of the story, it was a great foundation to what I’m sure will be a fantastic series.

Highly recommendable!!!

*** Copy provided to the reviewer via NetGalley and Riptide Publishing for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. ***

3.5 stars

I'm rounding up half a star because the first 60-70% of this book was so good.

A couple of years ago Nolan Carmichael was in a horrible car accident that left him physically and psychologically damaged. But he's a strong man, and with the help of doctors, therapists and his loving sister, he's finally at a point where he wants to take back charge of his life.

Nolan applies, interviews and lands a job as a personal assistant.

Zack Anderson hasn't kept a personal assistant on the payroll for more than two weeks at a time. When he doesn't fire them, they quit. Although Zack is smart, driven and successful in his career, he does not posses an ounce of people skills. In fact, he has struggled with anger management issues his whole life. But that doesn't mean he's a bad person. In fact, he has a big heart and a big helping of compassion for other people. It's just hard to see beyond his rough exterior.

Nolan's unique mix of courage and vulnerability brings out the best in Zack.

I loved their bonding. It was great to see how they brought the best out in each other. I was totally invested in their story until shortly after their first kiss.

Unfortunately, their romantic relationship didn't work for me. I didn't feel it and couldn't connect with their feelings for each other. The few sex scenes were eye-rolling skimmable. The one in-depth scene went on for so many pages that I kept turning and turning looking for the place where I could pick the story back up.

The last 20% of the book was pretty good. I liked the plot twist and how the story resolved. But I needed more from this part too. More on-page angst and more details of feelings and self-growth from both characters.

Overall, a great plot that needed more character development.

Working It by Christine d’Abo is an office romance with a whole lot of emotion to go along with the developing relationship. The beginning started out strong with a bit of an enemies to friends thing developing. Once they moved on past the hostility, there was some tender hurt/comfort tendrils thrown in for good measure. I lost a bit of interest at the end when the relationship seemed to take a back seat to the business talk but overall this was a decent read.

Zac is not particularly nice but hidden inside of him is actually a very decent soul. He comes off as angry and belligerent but he is also determined and has a goal that will give back to so many other people. He has dreams he wants to fulfill and is determined to do what he has to in order to achieve them. He really does have some serious anger management issues but Nolan seems to bring out his more ‘human’ side.

Nolan is struggling to recover after a horrible accident. The last two years he has had to overcome physical and emotional problems that still haunt him. He is determined to move on. He has an independent streak and stands up to Zach when no one else will. They seem to develop a camaraderie. There is friendship blooming along with the passion. I really liked Nolan’s character. He was complex and really touched my heart.

These two characters have some nice chemistry with a slow buildup that I appreciated. I enjoyed how Zac’s character developed as Nolan tried to unravel him a bit. I got bogged down at the end with office politics that I think got in the way of the final relationship development. The characters don’t get a happily ever after so much as a happy for now kindof ending but it was still satisfying.

I am impressed with the author’s writing style and the story flowed fairly smoothly other than the ending. The characters were unique and offered just the right push and pull to the relationship to keep you interested in following their story. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author in the future.

Sweet, passionate and emotional!

This is a contemporary romance story full of commitments, responsibilities, stress, pressure, sexual tension, steamy chemistry and love.

The writing is clear and precise. The characters are a mix of an arrogant, angry, handsome alpha and a charming, efficient, troubled cutie. And the plot, narrated from alternate points of view, starts off nicely with strong character development, gets a little bogged down half way through, but then finishes pleasingly with an engaging, satisfying ending.

I have to say that overall this is an easy, enjoyable read that will definitely have you believing that opposites attract.

This is the first novel in the new “Ringside Romance” series and I look forward to reading the next novel in the series when it is published.

Thank you to NetGalley, especially Riptide Publishing, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the concept of the book and was immediately drawn into the characters. I also enjoyed most of it but it started to fall apart for me 1/2 way through reading it.
The connection between Zack and Nolan seemed forced at times. I didn't feel any sparks between this couple.
They were fighting for a cause but couldn't connect.

Nolan is getting a new start at a new job and new life, the only problem, he was perfectly happy in his old life, until a freak accident cost him his job.

Zack has scared away his administrative assistants one to many times, when he decides to hire Nolan on a whim, he expects him to be gone within the week, like his last four assistants. What he doesn't expect is Nolan to make himself indispensable within two weeks.


This was a fairly light and angst free book, which is always nice, while there was some angst it wasn't heavy or permeate the whole book. Zack had some anger issues that I thought he needed to work out a bit more but overall I liked both Zack and Nolan.

3.5 Stars

Nolan Carmichael is restarting his life with a new career after two years struggling to come back physically and emotionally from a horrific car wreck. Nolan suffers from anxiety, at times, as well as panic attacks.

Zack Anderson has had trouble with anger management issues since childhood, though they were mitigated once he found Ringside Gym as a surly teenager, and it quickly became his retreat with his two best friends.

Zack is an uber-demanding boss, who's gone through several assistants over the years - some not even lasting a week, but there's something about Nolan that brings out protective instincts in Zack. Zack comforts Nolan, and appreciates him, especially Nolan's efforts to become indispensable in the office, and his help in getting Zack's beloved Ringside Gym back to re-open.

I enjoyed the dual POV, the pace, and the hurt/comfort of the story. I will admit I would have preferred to skip the office politics of the latter half in favor of more relationship development, but overall I enjoyed the story.

This was my first Christine D’Abo title, but with her smooth writing style, I can guarantee it won't be my last, and I'm looking forward to this becoming a series!

4.5* Great tale, great writing, and an ogre of a character to who morphed into someone better, but still realistic. It just ended a little too quickly and open-ended-ly. A new trend in MM?

This is one of the most believable tales I've read in which an ogre-type of character meets his match, admits his issues and ends up respecting the person who taught him how to be better, how to stand up for the right things and made him want to be a better person. I liked that the tale didn't even have the faintest hint of cliché and that the leads came together so believably.

Nolan was such a great character - he'd overcome physical injuries and PTSD and was trying to rebuild his life and not rely on his big sister for support. He had strength of character, incredible energy and was a really decent person, and at the same time, the author 'drew' him realistically in making him break down under certain pressures. At times, I did hate Zach for being one of those pressures, but respected the author for not suddenly doing an about-face and making him a changed man.

I loved how they worked together, how their attraction grew, how they then had to un-link themselves from what they were building, but that they were both grown-up enough and mature enough to calm down, think things out realistically and see the bigger picture and both decide to be pragmatic and work towards a very worthy common goal.

The sex in this was the perfect combo of sweet-sexy-forbidden and I loved that it was what they both needed and that sex actually showed the gentler, more caring side of the hard-butt (the a-word would likely get this review pulled!) of Zach and that is when Nolan realised that there was a very decent person under the hard shell the world got presented with.

The tale ended at the start of what I hope and think is a HEA for the leads, and this is where it loses marks for me. I'm unsure if there's a new trend emerging in MM romance where leads are given a sort-of ending, where readers can choose to make it a HFN or a HEA, depending on their personal likes/preferences. To me, this was the only fail in this tale, because after what Nolan went through and overcame, he needed a guy who'd be there for him permanently and he needed that unquestioning, unending emotional support. I hope that he'll be getting the latter from Zach, but the tale ended without discussion and without things being cemented. Of course, that's my personal issues on it, but the tale is incredibly worth the read.

ARC courtesy of Riptide Publishing for my reading pleasure.