I picked out Crazy About Her Impossible Boss by Ally Blake as my next "eyeball reading" book over a month ago and after that? It sat. This isn't the fault of the book, the same thing would have happened regardless of the title I unearthed from the depths of my Kindle. Most of my reading slumps post-dumpster fire 2020 take the form of not wanting to read...at all. I just won't have the spoons. And the only way I can ever get out of these slumps is either by 1) listening to something amazing on audiobook (which hasn't been happening lately) or 2) biting the bullet and just forcing myself to read. Category romance is great for this "forced reading" slump breaking method because when good, they're quick, snappy reads that hit the beats and carry me through. For the most part that's what this book did, because I did finish it in a day.
I don't refer to my romance reading, in general, as my "guilty pleasure" for "reasons" (I've never really cared for the term because it implies we should feel "guilty" about reading romance, like it's some dirty secret to keep hidden...). However, if I did have a "guilty pleasure" in romance it would definitely be the Boss/Secretary Trope. In real life it's an HR disaster with very messy power dynamics, but what can I say? There's something about it that flips the escapist switch in my brain. I blame all the soap operas I watched as a kid.

Lucinda Starling is a single mom with a problem: she's caught feelings for her boss. Truth be told though, she loves working for Angus Wolfe, a marketing whiz who specializes in branding (and rebranding for businesses in need of a makeover). However, he's firmly commitment-phobic - having been raised by a single mom who chased after a series of boyfriends in a desperate bid to escape poverty and find some stability. Lucinda realizes though that pining for her boss, putting herself on the shelf, is robbing her of any hope of finding some genuine happiness. She's currently dating a very successful doctor (a surgeon!) and this weekend they have plans to get away. Just the two of them. If the weekend goes well, if the spark is truly there, Lucinda is ready to take the next big step, introducing the doctor to her son.

Angus also has feelings for Lucinda but he's not admitting that to himself, despite an "almost kiss" at last year's office Christmas party, because....well, he's a romance hero. Then he finds out that Lucinda is planning a weekend away with some guy that he didn't know she was seeing and he subconsciously turns devious. They're working on a big campaign at the moment to rebrand and revitalize a legendary cosmetics firm. And wouldn't you know it? There's a cosmetics/beauty convention going on at the resort Lucinda and Dr. What's-His-Name will be at that very weekend. Angus lowers the boom, tells Lucinda he needs her for work, and Dr. What's-His-Name easily tells her "no problem, we'll do it some other time."

At this point Lucinda's pride is smarting. Her son's father all too easily just up and left her (and their kid!) and now the guy she was thinking could be someone to build a life with is all too happy to hand wave away their weekend getaway. She knows there's no future with Angus, even if he adores her kid and makes her go all gooey inside. She needs to move on, wants to move on, and here's our "hero" standing in her way.

That's ultimately my issue with this story. Angus is too much of a coward to admit he has feelings for his assistant and instead sabotages her life. There's also this really uncomfortable undercurrent of him wanting to "protect" Lucinda's kid - when, in fact, Lucinda is nothing (at all!) like his mother. It's presumptuous in the extreme.

There's a fair amount of emotional backstory info-dumping in the early chapters, but there's plenty of tension and banter to keep the story humming along. However, after a while, I was exhausted by the couple's inability to man up and just admit their feelings for each other. Even after they do the fade-to-black mattress mambo, both of them just keep assuming with neither of them being brave enough to just lay their cards out on the table. Eventually, of course, they get there and cue the requisite syrupy epilogue of once commitment-phobe Angus coaching his stepson's soccer team.

In the end this was a sometimes pleasant, sometimes frustrating read. However it did move quickly and I inhaled it in 24 hours after a solid month of not eyeball-reading anything. So on that score? A success.

Final Grade = C+

Lucinda’s fingers hovered over the keyboard keys right as the voice stopped, their ends tingling from typing ninety plus words a minute. She couldn’t figure out where the voice had come from. At her desk AKA the Guard Tower Blocking All From Entrance Into Her Boss's Sacred Space. But there was noone nearby. She went back to typing again she heard Pick Up Lucinda Pick Up Licinda. Than she realized it was coming from her phone. Someone had added a new ringtone. She had been working for Big Picture Group for six and a half years. When she picked up the phone Dahlia- Executive Assistant of the Head Of Advertising at the Melbourne Ballet Company. Was on the phone. Angus Wolfe was the top branding specia;ist in town if not the country and her boss. He sat on the opposite side of the wall of diffused smoky glass. Than she went into his office. This man’s ability to read a room was legendary. He noticed changes in temperature, pulse, breathing, and tone of voice. She took a selfish moment to drink him in before she let him know she was there. Angus might be able to read a room but if anyone dared claim that Lucinda - his long time executive , his right hand woman, his not so- secret weapon- was a tiny bit in love with him , he’d had laughed until he split a kidney. Either she kept her cards closer to her chest than she realized he had a blind spot when it came to her. The fact he had no clue was a gift and she wanted to keep it that way. For the sake of her job, her self respect. Her mental health. At work they fit like custom made kid gloves but their paths divided the moment they left the office. Hre boss was a dedicated bachelor, hold out when it came to romantic entanglements. Lucinda liked entanglement. She yearned for constants. Catromia/Cat was Lucinda’s big sister, house mayte and godsend. Lucinda did have Sonny. Her beautiful boy. He was eight year year old. Sonny was the sweetest most good natured kid in the world, and he was the least racially kid ever. He made better choices than she would. Angus had taken overSonny to his office when Sonny didn’t go to school and went to work with Lucinda. He told Angus about the ordeal at school and having no dad. Since than Angus and Sonny were very close. He became Sonny’s hero. Lucinda’s husband Joe had left deciding marriage and parenthood was to hard. The very next day Cat had moved in, more than filling the spot Joe had left behind. She told Angus she was going off with a man friend- a heart surgeon -Dr Jameson Banecroft -Smythe and going to a fancy resort ….
A greta read. I loved It was a fun, easy, and quick read. A very slow burning romance but once went lose it blazed. I loved the ending. I loved Lucinda and Angus together. I loved the pace and plot. I didn’t want to put this down and didn't I read it in one setting. I couldn’t find anything to criticize- happily. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

This was a cute workplace romance featuring single mother executive assistant, Lucinda, her high-powered marketing boss, Angus, and the burning tension between them. This was sort of friends to lovers slow burn but the friendship between the main couple was filled with witty one-liners. I’m not sure how realistic this was on the balance for a work place romance but it was breezy and entertaining to read. Even though the dynamic was boss-executive assistant, it never felt grimy or like the power dynamic was abusive. Angus deferred to Lucinda and let her lead in their relationship, even to the detriment of said relationship. The heat level can best be described as lots of bubbling under sexual tension, slow burn, fade to black. So this isn’t a book you need to be shy sharing with a more conservative romance fan. I recommend this book if you like the workplace romance done in a light and cute way without any dark romance or awkward power dynamics.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Harlequin Books through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

All in all pretty decent, but the book just didn't capture me the way it should have. I'll be honest, I miss the old feel of Harlequin, and seems like the more time that passes, the less it feels like the Harlequin I grew up reading and has become something entirely different.