The editing and writing made it difficult to understand the novel. I had a hard time reading this novel.

Can’t get into books told in first person. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I really enjoyed this book. Very easy read. It was fun and super sexy. Off Limits keep me engaged from the first page to the last. The characters were well developed. Gemma and Jack had explosive chemistry. This is my first book I read by Clare Connelly but won't be my last. I would recommend this book.

This was a steamy roller-coaster ride of a romance. Left me so many feels it's unbelievable. The relationship was so realistic and the emotional issues were so heartbreaking. Phenomenal writing.

Jack is the boss most people dread...cocky, annoying -- a grade A douche. However, underneath his hard exterior is a man with a lot of hurt and pain. Jack was amazing too me. Though there were moments when I wanted to slap him, I adored him for learning more about himself. He has such a big heart and really cares for those that he love.

Gemma is the right hand "man" to Jack and finds herself attracted to him, but for two years she's stayed clear of him because she knew what would happen if they crossed that line...or so she thought. Though she's insanely rich, she's the type of woman that wants to work for her own and not depend on her money or a man. I admired her. She was hardworking and open with herself.

The romance was beautiful. It starts off as this forbidden office romance between a boss and his employee, but as feelings start to surface they both begin to realize them and battle. I loved seeing them talk outside of sex and work. They were able to get intimate on a friendship level that I thought was inspiring. The sex of course was written beautifully, but for me the whole emotional baggage with Jack and Gemma breaking down his walls made this stand out for me.

Though this book was beautiful, that ending could have been ten times better. I wish there was a sequel for this book! Awesome and emotional read! Go read it.

First, I liked this book overall. The characters showed growth, it wasn’t insta-love. Insta-lust, yes, although it wasn’t acted on immediately in their lives.
I had trouble liking Jack, even at the end, as he was working through his issues. I did like that he realized that he had issues that he needed to address. I admired Gemma and really like her relationship with her grandmother.
Now to address what distracted me. In the prologue, Lucy’s sister is introduced as being hired to manage the foundation. Several pages later we are told who Lucy is. We are never told anything significant about the foundation. It gets talked about in general, but no details. That really bugged me, like it was a box to be checked off-“rich guy with dead wife must establish a foundation”. Also, Gemma mentions Jack’s large tattoo, and then, nothing, no tracing it idly, etc, that stuck in my mind. Again, like it was a box to be checked off-“rich troubled hottie must have a cool tattoo”. Last major annoyance was in Chapter 3, Gemma has to reschedule a meeting, supposedly to the next day, with a friend looking for work, and nothing is mentioned of her until toward the end, when it seems like Chapter 4 is the next day when the meeting should have occurred.
It seems that Gemma never talks to Cassie about Jack. She is otherwise written as fairly well rounded for a workaholic, and is friendly with the people around her, so it’s a little strange for her not to talk to who would seem to be a good friend.
A minor annoyance may have been just due to the formatting of the file. Some scenes/chapters ended somewhat abruptly and didn’t transition well, to me, to the next scene/chapter. I found myself going back and trying to figure out what I had missed. I do read fast, but I can usually process these changes easily.
So, a decent read, but not one I couldn’t put down to do other stuff.

I'm on the fence as to whether or not I want to rate this 3 or 4 stars, but after giving it some thought, I think it's deserving of 4 stars, as long as you can overlook the fact that Jack is a complete jerk for half the book.

Jack Grant is a billionaire widow who is a 'love them and leave them' type of guy. He doesn't want to move on from the love he had with his wife and so he just uses women. He specializes in one night stands and isn't afraid of showing off his naked body to his right-hand lady ("assistant" as he liked to call her) when she comes to wake him up in the mornings. Gemma has worked for Jack for 2 years and she lasted a lot longer than any of the other people he hired. She's officially his legal counsel, but pretty much does what needs to be done to make sure Jack's day runs smoothly and things get taken care of. She's also in lust with Jack, but views him as off-limits since he's her boss and she knows his 'one night' reputation.

They managed to avoid jumping into bed for 2 years, but one day Jack makes a go at Gemma and she lets him - but then views it as a mistake since Jack pretty much leaves her there and treats her like all the other women. This doesn't just happen once, it happens again and that's when I really began to dislike Jack. Now, I understand why Jack kept himself emotionally distant - he was still grieving his wife. But he took the coldness to the extreme and really treated Gemma poorly. Of course, he doesn't just want one night with her and they continue their trysts, but then Gemma's emotions get involved and Jack isn't having any of that, so he leaves. In my opinion, he didn't do enough to gravel after his big screw up, but they do get their HEA and it was very sweet.

I really liked Gemma. She was highly intelligent and had a great business mind, was not willing to conform to her high society parents' standards and she was great friends with her grandmother, which was too cute. I'm glad everything worked out for her and Jack, but for a while there, I thought she deserved more.

Overall, a pretty good read - the sex is hot and the ending is sweet. I look forward to reading more from the Harlequin Dare series of books.

A quick, sexy read perfect for beach or bathtub reading.

Boss and administrative assistant story with no real divergence from that stereotype. To help with this, the author has created memorable characters and a memorable backstory.

Off Limits was a well-rounded hot romance. Hot and good

This is my first book by Clare Connolly and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I felt so much for Jack because he clearly was in pain after the loss of his wife, Their sex scenes together were especially steamy and I loved how the two both possessed such strong personalities! I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it!

MY RATING : 4/5 STARS

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first harlequin dare novel or mills and boon so I'm pretty excited. Once Goodreads or the publisher gets their act together, you'll probably fall in love with the cover as much as I did. I was attracted to the cover as much as the synopsis because hello who doesn't love an office romance involving a super rich boss and his assistant?

OFF LIMITS was definitely a darker toned novel. There were hardly any light heart moments you might expect. Jack is going through a long grieving process after his wife passed away from cancer and Gemma, his assistant, is there to watch him waste his life by having sex with as many females as possible to forget his grief.

Obviously, things get heated and suddenly Gemma and Jack are getting hot and heavy basically anywhere they go. The sex scenes were spectacular and you can really feel the chemistry and intensity of each scene. If you're not a fan of fifty shades of grey, I'm sorry to quote this but this book had a lot of fifty vibes. Not a stalker or abusive boyfriend but just dark past, moody hero, Bondage, and submissive vibes.

In terms of why it wasn't a perfect 5/5 for me is probably because it didn't leave a big impact on me. I enjoyed the read and got through it but it's not something I would pump my first in the air for.

MY RECOMMENDATION
Definitely worth the buy and read!

It's my first book by this author and I have nothing but good comments for the novel.
Gemma and Jack's story was scorching and tender, I cried at the end because I just knew how strong Gemma is to make the decision she made, which in the end paid off for both of them.
Jack is this intelligent, sexy than sin billionaire who is broken and damaged after losing his wife to cancer. The sexy billionaire goes through woman to fill that void (Don't you love this stereotype already) because he knows he won't ever forget his Lucy. And Brilliant, confident Gemma working two years for Jack knows all about his issues. She fights like hell the attraction they have together and it's spectacular to watch. The best tease for a reader. She doesn't just want to heal him but help me believe in something better again. You can see the struggle each characters has from the beginning and when they finally collide it's 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
I found myself laughing at their quirky banter and eager to see more of them. I'm so sad the book ended ughhhh. Can't wait for the next one!

I've often wondered if the pain is worth the end result when it comes to falling in love. Gemma's pain is so real, throughout the book she knows that she needs to keep her heart out of what they're doing. But come on, Jack is so hot and sensual. Off Limits, is an awesome work place romance.

This storyline was a little cliche, but still a good read.
Pros-
*Once they got started, the sex was not lacking in occurrence, however there were some things that just weren't to my taste which I will list in the "cons" section.
*Enjoyed the writing style and the ability of the author to input the background of the characters without having it be spelled out in a pages-long slow down, like many do.
*The sex scenes were realistic and I like that both characters tend to have a dominant side. NO whiny, weak lead characters here.
*As I am always hesitant to read an author new to me, due to some terrible narrative during romance scenes, this author did a good job of language use that didn't seem juvenile or have any one-word scene killers, as some do.
Cons-
*I did feel like the sex scenes were lacking lead-in or build up, which I enjoy but doesn't matter to some. The characters go from the thought of "off limits" to "I need you now" in the course of a sentence or two, no matter where they were at the time; and although there was some descriptive time spent on the foreplay, the actual sex itself, felt rushed and lacking narrative for me.
*I also felt that the ending was rushed. Instead of a realistic time apart to work out conflict, it was a matter of a couple of days. It does have an HEA, and I am not a fan of months long separation between in-love characters to build story, but felt the a little more length of separation would have made a more believable ending.

Because of what I felt lacked in some scenes, which again, is my preference, I didn't give this book 5 stars. That being said, I would definitely read more by this author and will say this book is truly worth a read!

Wow. I have been looking forward to the new Harlequin Dare series. Off limits was everything I expected from Harlequin. Jack is Gemma's boss and he tried hard not to get involved with her. He was still mourning the death of his wife. So they decided to just have a fling. But Gemma feelings for him emerged. A must read if you are Harlequin junkie.

Jack is a very dominant man, ‘no, you didn’t. Shame… Because if you weren’t wearing underwear I could take you right now. Here against the door. Would you like that, Gemma?’ I loved this book, Jack's personality was one that demanded attention.