I loved this book and I was hooked from the very first page. This is the first book that I have read by Katerina and I will be reading more of her work in the future this was a entertaining quick read and I couldn't put my kindle down while reading this book and when I was not reading this book I was thinking about what was going to happen next to Tara and Richard and I also loved the writing. This was a quick read. and I also loved the connection and the chemistry between Tara and Richard

Tara is a driven business women who loves her job so much, she often stays in the office over night. She worries about her mother and tries to make time for her in her busy schedule. She sticks to the rules, until that day when she doesn't and her (love) life get's an interesting new spin.

Let me tell you, I don't like Tara. She is too full of clichés, there is too much going on in her head, trying to be the tough business women who isn't bothered by anything and can handle her own shit.

Apart from my not liking the heroine, I also didn't like the development of her relationships throughout the book.

Then there are several inconsitencies in this ARC that interrupted my reading stride.

Tara Johnson has always kept her end goal in sight, she's never really allowed herself to deviate from her career aspirations for multiple reasons. And she's not about to be derailed from a big promotion because of her coworker Richard Boyd, who is her direct competition for that advancement. Tara was interesting to me because she's incredibly intelligent and ambitious, she's also got a deeply caring side to her that doesn't really manifest at work, but it shows at home with her mother. Her coworkers don't view her as the fun and free spirited type, she seems cold and business oriented. At the same time, Tara isn't perfect because it's obvious that she sees things from a tainted perspective, especially with regards to Richard, and she refuses to ask anyone for help.

When Aidan, Tara's newest subordinate, comes along and seduces Tara, I could see how Tara was tempted and did everything she could to back away before putting herself in an irreversible and risky situation. With her current situation, I understood how she needed to be admired and appreciated and to take a break from the cutthroat environment, but still, I wanted her to put the brakes on. In the office, there are always secrets and rumors, the kind that can jeopardize one's entire career if there's any truth behind it. What I could appreciate about this story was how things aren't what they seem and that people on the outside are not always the same as on the inside. This could apply to Tara, Aidan and Richard. I enjoyed the story and the character development in Tara, as well as the work relationship dynamics with Richard. I wish there had been a little more at the end once Tara realized what her priorities in life were and whom she belonged with.

ARC kindly provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

----SPOILERS AHEAD----

This book should not have been catalogued under romance. It belongs under women's fiction alone, and if one has to narrow it down to another genre, then to chic lit at best.

I suppose I was disappointed coming in thinking it would have a wonderful office romance (I was on "The Hating Game" high) and then came to the quick realisation that the dialogue between the h and H was few and far between, and the backbone of this book had its roots stemming more from feminism and girl power - particularly breaking all the glass ceilings in one's career. It depicted the h's struggle in a male-dominated, patriarchal work environment, and a one-night stand with a colleague that quite quickly - too quickly in my opinion - built up to sexual harassment and stalking. As in, why is that if a female sleeps with someone, she needs to proclaim that she is in it for the long-haul, and if not then she's a tease/bitch/slut what-say-you? Why can't a woman, just like her male counterpart, satisfy a sexual urge after meeting an attractive "potential" without having to promise anything? So many males don't, and it's an acceptable norm in society. However, there was no slow, thriller-mired build up to this stalking element. It just came along, like 2 comes after 1, and 3 after 2. So yes, a lot of focus on the h and her stalker but not enough between h and her ultimate H.

The other major focus of the book was how the h was a motivational speaker for the women staff in her company and when trying to address the age old dilemma of work versus marriage and motherhood, the h herself kept facing fears and doubts in regards to this - she is human after all.

I came in looking for romance and had to struggle to finish the book when I realised it wasn't.

This gets a 3 star for me. The author clearly cares about women's issues, but her writing was just not tight and gripping enough for me. Elements were introduced in a rather untidy manner that left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

In the Corner Office we follow Tara, a hard-working woman in the run for a well-deserved promotion. In her way stands a man who’s not afraid to throw her under the bus if he needs to. The two of them have been fighting for over fifteen years and Tara can’t wait to put him in his place and get the promotion they both want. But an unexpected love-affair with a new coworker turns into something more sinister and changes everything.

The Corner Office is marketed as a contemporary romance, and I suppose that’s when I usually turn away and choose to read something else. I’m not a fan of contemporary, and especially romance novels tend to make me want to roll my eyes and hide somewhere. But I liked the premise of this novel despite it all, and I am truly happy that I took the chance to read it. Underneath the romance is an exciting plot that made me eager to turn the page, and before I knew it the book was finished.

The writing is solid and the pacing is fast and constantly intriguing. I love the fact that it’s written in first person, this makes me feel closer to Tara and I immediately connected with her. She’s strong and determined, but inside there’s a different side to her that doesn’t necessarily show at work. Perhaps she ends up being a bit naïve when it comes to her love-affair with Aidan (and times I want to slap her in the face and tell her she’s an idiot), but I’m not sure one can blame her for it when she’s been alone and solely focused on work for so long.

For the most part I find that the relationship between the characters are genuine, but I do struggle a little bit with how Tara sees Richard. From the start, I thought their bickering sort of was a mutual love/hate thing that they shared. But at the same time, she constantly said she truly hated him and couldn’t even see him as a real person. Her actions towards him didn’t really reflect the things she claimed to feel about him. When it comes to their relationship I also believe that perhaps Richard changed a bit too fast to feel believable. He hadn’t exactly been kind before, so why the sudden change. I do have to add that it might perhaps be that Tara always initiated their quarrels and he just went along with her, and then his change isn’t as sudden as I think. But I’d have to go back and check the story to know if this is the case.

Aidan is another character that perhaps escalated and changed a bit too fast for my liking, it became violent very sudden. There were warning signs there, but perhaps some more signs would have been a good idea before it all “went to hell” so to speak.

But overall, The Corner Office is a very good book with lots of suspense, interesting characters, a theme that fits our current time, and lots of steamy sex. I do have to admit to skipping most of the steamy parts myself though, turns out I’m more of a prude that I thought I’d be.

A solid 4 stars out of 5 from me, and I highly recommend this book. You won’t regret reading it.

I requested THE CORNER OFFICE because it came across as a dark, sexy, edgy and thriller-esque version of THE HATING GAME and was super excited to read something kinda familiar but also new and fresh. But unfortunately it didn't live up to any of my expectations and also I'd like to point out that the synopsis is rather misleading in regards to a few points of the actual plot.

The hating game played between Tara and Richard felt really awkward. We're thrown into their lives with a brief bit of backstory, more of which follows as the story goes on, and honestly.. if not for the fact that we know the other man becomes the issue (as per summary, not a spoiler) I would've pegged Richard for the creep. He comes off vulgar and offensive and not remotely charming. So when the tables are turned and their relationship changes before the eventual happily ever after and Tara is looking back at their fifteen year saga of one-ups and competitions and "flirting" with nostalgia, even after only getting a glimpse of their history and the interactions that take place during the story itself, it's a lot to swallow. Because if someone had been treating me that way for even one year, to say nothing of nearly two decades, I would not be simpering with hearts in my eyes. His behaviour did improve by the end and we got to see a different side of Richard but good gravy, no. Too little too late.

Tara, herself, I found very hard to like, too. She is working in a man's world, putting her career first at the expense of a personal life, chairing and speaking at these Women's Network seminars at her company, and.. I don't know. That plus the relationship that she gets into against her better judgment.. I just found she was a hot mess of contradictions.

The bare bones of Baker's story have the makings of something interesting, exciting and sexy, but a lack of chemistry and a lot of filler about their jobs -- which, if you asked me to explain, I couldn't for the life of me sum it up despite how time was spent talking about it -- a secondary plot involving a mother with dementia, and said aforementioned grown woman constantly fleeing from rooms, tripping on floors and basically acting nothing like a successful thirty-something year old, especially with her epic throwdowns and shouting matches with her love interest in their professional environment, made it.. not interesting, exciting or sexy.

This was made worse by two leads whose relationship is unconvincing, especially with how quickly all that hate and disdain turns to.. more after <b>fifteen years</b> of war being waged between them; a gaggle of weak or uninteresting supporting characters (their boss and the random weepy women who turn to Tara); inconsistencies in detail (is Aidan a VP or an accountant or an intern? all three were referenced); a modern woman who is all !!!! shocked about a grown up man having a motorcycle and a tattoo and how that isn't what proper accountants should do; a quick escalation of violence near the end; and after having to endure a constant litany of gasping every time Tara was in another man's presence.. I'm sorry to say this just wasn't a good time for me.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish! Smart and sassy, sexy and fun!

Loved the book

Tara is an thirty five year old senior executive, who has spent her fifteen years at her firm, she has been so dedicated to her job that she doesn't really have a life!!

Richard is also a senior executive who has had the same goals as Tara, they have been pitted against each other since the first day of work.

Tara finds out that the rumours are she is a cold fish and only interested in herself, does this mean that all she has been told about Richard is a lie??

Have they been pitted against each other on purpose, if so why??

Great storyline with mixture of humour, suspense and romance a well rounded story.

The Corner Office wasn't what I expected. It turned out better than I thought. I love a good romance book and yes, this had all the makings - hot sex, humor, great characters, and it was also pretty funny too. But aside from that, it kept me guessing, kept me on my toes, wondering what was going to happen. The suspense was so great. There were so many twists and I went from laughter to anxiousness with every page I read. Tara was such a great character, and above all, she was someone who women aspire to be like. She's confident, humorous, loving, albeit a bit cold hearted when it came to her nemesis, Richard. Richard was so funny and I loved the banter between him and Tara. The chemistry was great, until Aiden was introduced. When he popped up on the pages as someone more than just someone Tara had pride in hiring and training, I was happy for her. The tension between them was good, but also alarming because I thought it was going into a different direction. And it did. It so did and I went from being elated for Tara to downright worried for her. There were times I wanted to shake her and ask her what on earth she was doing, let her know asking for help isn't a bad thing. But the thing with Tara, is that she is strong willed to a fault. The twists that came with that relationship was insane. Overall, The Corner Office is a great book. A really great romantic suspense read and I highly recommend it to everyone.

The Corner Office by Katerina Baker earns a solid 4 stars from me for good writing and a fast moving plot. I love a good enemies to lovers story.

A few caveats: While it can't be considered cheating, the heroine, Tara, does "hook up" with someone other than Richard, our hero. For me this doesn't usually work, but it set the tone for the book, as something darker comes out of this first relationship. Based on the blurb, I kept expecting Richard to ride in on a white horse and save Tara. Instead I found that the stalker aspect of the story went from zero to one hundred rather quickly. I think this could have been fleshed out more. Tara doesn't seem to fear her new stalker at all though, which didn't work for me.

There is a side story involving Tara's mother, who suffers from dementia. This part is well written and provides Tara's personality with new dimensions. Otherwise she would have been work 15 hours a day with absolutely no life outside of that.

Good book; I would read more of Katerina Baker's work based on this title.

WOW! I Loved this book. I loved Richard and Tara! I can't wait to read more by Katerina! She's one to watch!!!!