Wow! I loved EVERYTHING about this book! First of all thank you to Netgalley and Carina press for allowing me to read this awesome book. I fell in love with Ari and Porter from the very begginging. Tati's writing style made it hard not too. From the elements of jazz, they're classy style and the hot steamy chemistry between them this book was impossible to put down! I'm already waiting for her next book!

I love black love! Ari James is having a bad first day, she needs and wants to make a good impression at the new architecture firm. Porter knew something was different with Ari and wanted to get to know her more.

Ari and Porter became fast friends while working on a major project together. I loved that Ari was a plus-sized woman who is confident and not afraid of her sexuality.

Porter is a nerd with a beautiful face and we love a nerd - I also love a romance where the man is crushing hard before the women

I was so in love with the relationship development between Ari and Porter. The supporting actors were also super fun and an important part of the story.

I didn't love that Porter didn't realize he needed to run after Ari until after the big moment - I wish that had worked out slightly different

but all in all this book was amazing and I would recommend

A big thank you to Tati Richardson, Carina Press & Carina Adores, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Build Up comes out March 28, 2023!

When Ari moves back home to Atlanta to start at a new architect firm, she is ready for a new start after leaving Chicago due to a bad situation at her old job. Too bad her first day isn't shaping up to be her best, including her car breaking down and a large cup of coffee spilled on her white blouse. She can't decide if a good or bad thing that her new project partner is hot as hell and extremely nice to boot. While working on their stadium design the two start to connect over food, music and humor. They will have to decide if dating coworkers and working towards a beautiful future is worth the possible consequences.

The Build Up was such an enjoyable read, it was full of romance, humor and so mush warmth. Ari was plus-sized, confident and knew her worth, even though she went through a tough time in Chicago she always knew that she was talented. The only thing she was unsure of at the start was if it was okay not only to be in a relationship but also a relationship with a coworker. You can tell that she went through a lot of personal and emotional growth. Porter honestly was such a cinnamon roll of a MMC, he was sweet when he was perusing Ari without it being creepy. I was expecting a version of the ending that happened, but I still felt like there was enough of a twist that it was interesting. I loved that growth that it took for Porter to get to the ending. Honestly I felt like this was such a heartwarming romance that I highly recommend The Build Up.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5148071322

Honestly, truly in my very biased but correct opinion, I ate this book up.

One thing about me - I will never shut up about Hampton and I am a HBCU stan, through and through.

This BOOK? Baby. I ate it UP. The alumni love, the tension, the will they won’t they- had me on the floor.
Porter could get the big piece of chicken and I want y’all to hear me when I say that.

This is a 4.75 - the -2.5 is that I wished they had boom boomed earlier. I am impatient I fear 🫠

Anyways, this is a Porter stan account. I will be sending this to all the Hampton girlies I know. Immediately.

This book was super cute!
Representation always matters & seeing a plus-sized FMC be a confident & strong boss chick was lovely to explore. I love how Porter loves Ari! ❤️
Workplace romance is not my favorite trope but this was funny & had me hooked from the first day of work 😂

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝑅𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙 𝟚 𝟠, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Ari James is an amazing design architect who is forced to leave her previous job due to a really unfortunate circumstance. She is ready to rebuild her career and get back on top as the only female architect at a different firm. Shit hits the fan on her first day at her new job and she shows up with a broken shoe, coffee stains on her shirt, and holes up and down her stockings. In comes her super hot coworker, Porter Harrison. He makes her swoon right off the bat. Their work chemistry is undeniably amazing as they kill it on a new design project they are working on together. Will this work chemistry translate in to something more, or is Ari too mistrusting of her past situation to give Porter a true shot at what they both deserve? A story about family, friends, and food and staying true to who you really are.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
There was so much I loved about this book! Ari and Porters chemistry could be felt through the pages of this book. I absolutely loved that Ari is unapologetically herself and had the confidence that every person should have. I really appreciate that Ari and Porter were grown adults and it was refreshing to read a romance that didn’t center around 20 something year olds. I loved the family dynamic of both their families and I enjoyed all the food talk. There were some character storylines, like Porter’s brothers that I felt were a little underdeveloped. But overall a great story that includes a strong, smart, and beautiful black female character who stands up for herself every step of the way.

📚Read if you like:
💫 Work place romance
💫 Slow burn romance
💫Grown adult romance
💫Spicy reads 🌶 🌶🌶
💫 Curvy female representation

💜𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾💜
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E S: “ The way you treat people is what matters. You treat people like they matter, Ari. I love that about you.”

🙏Thank you NetGalley, Carina Press (Harlequin), and Tati Richardson for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

This book was everything I expected and so much more!

First of all, the romance aspect, was absolutely great. There wasn't too much angst just Ari had to finally admit and get over her fears. The author did such an amazing job at letting the readers now the background information of all of these characters and we saw them grow throughout the story. There was so much going on than just their love story and that is what I call a well-rounded story. I'm trying so hard not to give anything away, but I just want to gush about how perfect everything was.

Tati Richardson also did such a great job at depicting how it REALLY is in this world as a fat woman. She told the true story and didn't sugar coat it which I loved. This will not be my last Tati Richardson novel; I really enjoyed her writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley/Carina Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

The radical joy that this book brought me has been unmatched thus far, a great read alike for fans of Alexa Martin & Jasmine Guillory

The Build Up is Tati Richardson's debut romance book. And what a great debut it was!

Ari is a woman that is starting over at a new architect firm in her hometown. It's a "man's world", but she is confident and knows her worth and talent, even if she's had some crappy things come her way. She wants to prove she is more than her past. Porter is a senior architect at the same firm looking to make partner, but he needs to wow the partners with this latest project that he now has to work with the new hire on. But what happens when Porter sees Ari and is immediately smitten with her?

I love a good workplace romance and Ms Richardson gave us a good, slow burn romance with 2 well developed characters that were genuine and knew how to work together well. I loved Porter and the way he treated Ari from day one. Even if he tried to hide his want of Ari, he was just a great all around guy. Great manners, good conversation and always building Ari up. That man wanted to give Ari the world and I couldn't love him more because of it. Meanwhile, Ari is more timid and does not want to step over any line and wants to make a good impression on the people at the firm. She's been burned before, so it's all about the job for her. I did get a little frustrated with how often she called Porter a friend when he was obviously so much more than that. How can you 'friend zone' a guy that will drop everything for you to get whatever you need because he "knows a guy" that can help with that. ;)

The Build Up is so much more than just a slow burn, workplace romance. I really commend Tati Richardson for dealing with real life situations while also giving us 2 Black main characters that were successful and also from a HBCU. She had us dealing with different classes and colorism with Ari and Porter as well as gender inequality in the workplace. Not only that, but she made Ari a larger woman that dealt with fat shaming, but was a Big, Beautiful, Successful and Confident Black Woman. Unfortunately, she had to constantly prove herself when she had more talent in her little finger than the men she worked for.

Overall, this was a solid debut book. I liked the fact that the main characters were ADULTS. They were established in life, but just hadn't settled down. It's nice to see diverse and older characters in romance books and that they can still bring the steam. Because there was definitely some spice between Ari and Porter. That man could bring it! The last 10-15% or so wasn't my favorite, but I do love a good HEA and we definitely got that.
I'm excited to see what Tati Richardson will write next.

✨Book Review ✨

“Actually, it was twenty dozen. I was going to send you thirty-five dozen. For every day you’ve been here. For every day I’ve been lucky enough to know you.”

I received this debut novel from Tati Robinson as an ARC, and it had me hooked from the beginning. This book is a slow-burn workplace romance that doesn’t have your typical main characters, and it was so refreshing. Ari is a confident, smart, beautiful, plus size black woman who doesn’t need a man to swoop in and make her feel good about herself. Porter is a doppelgänger for Jesse Williams but not as confident as you would assume him to be.

“The Build Up” focuses on realistic themes that not only happen in the workplace but also real life like fat phobia, colorism, gender inequality, and etc. Tati’s love for music and HBCUs was apparent throughout the whole book, and it definitely added some excitement for me. Being a Hampton grad who also lived in McGrew Towers, I was beside myself when the main characters were alum and Ari lived in my dorm. I felt a special connection to her.

I didn’t care for the third act in this book simply because I’m not a fan of miscommunication tropes, and it felt a tad bit rushed. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I can’t wait to see what the author writes next. Make sure you pick up your copy of “The Build Up” when it releases on March 28, 2023!

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Ari starts a new job at an architectural firm in her hometown of Atlanta. While there, she meets one for her coworkers, Porter. Ari and Porter are immediately attracted to each other, but they decide not to pursue anything. They each have their reasons: Ari was involved with a coworker at her last job, and things ended poorly. Porter is trying to make partner and he doesn’t want a workplace romance to get in his way.

They begin to work on designing a new soccer stadium, and they realize how well they get along. It starts to become more difficult to fight their growing feelings for each other.

I love how the book used 90s and early ‘00s r&b because it set the mood and tone. I could hear the music and lyrics as I read, and it helped to create a more engaging reading experience. The book created its own playlist!

‘The Build Up’ also had some steamy scenes! Their chemistry jumped off of the page. I appreciated that the characters were over 40. It felt like these were two grown adults, and they knew what they wanted and what they deserved.

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for an ARC of this book.

4.75/5 stars! This book is for fans of Jasmine Guillory. I adored this book. The characters are both 3-dimensional and fully developed and I appreciated that there wasn't some huge blow-up. It was more about the characters growing and making the choice to take a chance on one another. The BIPOC representation in this book was perfect. This book felt really realistic; like it could happen in real life to any one of us, which sometimes is needed. Will be watching for more books by this author.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

A really great book from a debut author! I thoroughly enjoyed my experience reading The Build Up. The internal and external conflicts felt completely genuine and relatable. There were actual stakes to them and not just something random thrown in there to move the story forward.

Ari and Porter had sooo much chemistry. I loved seeing a heavier/bigger woman being pursued and viewed as desirable. Ari was confident and loved herself, as she should.

Porter was such a great love interest. He was a breath of fresh air, and I loved reading his POV.

I really enjoyed this book! It was wonderful for a debut novel.

Things I loved:
Slow burn
Friends to lovers
Man falls first
Over 40

Things I hated:
Greer

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

What a fun debut novel! We really enjoyed this romance between two Black architects in Atlanta. Tati Richardson takes on colorism, sexism, sizeism, and more, and still manages to make the book fun, funny, and super sexy. Our favorite parts? We absolutely loved how gone Porter was on Ari, from beginning to end. We also really appreciated the sense of place - we may never have been to Atlanta but we understood why Ari and Porter loved it. The workplace setting was also really well-done: even though Porter has been at the firm longer, the relationship between them never felt unequal or problematic. Also, that ending?! Absolutely loved it.

We can't wait to read what Richardson comes up with next!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

“Porter, you don’t date coworkers. You don’t date coworkers”
“Idris Elba is out of town. So, I’ll hang out with you”
“My foodie heart had found its soul mate”
“He really knew how to make a woman feel like she had his undivided attention”
I absolutely loved this book!!!! A contemporary romance with a strangers to friends to lovers dynamic to make your toes curl. So sweet and so funny I couldn’t put the book down for the life of me!!!
Porter is perfect and Ari is absolutely amazing !!!
Trigger warnings at the beginning of the book are always a great sign in my opinion and I deeply respect that. Considering how well the representations was handled in this book I am not surprised I was hooked from moment one!!
Plus you give me pool scenes, unexpected jealousy, a plus size female main character and Adonis male main character and a deliciously spicy romance with Porter that made me weak in the knees … this book was perfect !!!
I’m so glad I had the chance to read it and I honestly can’t wait for it to be out !!!!
“Because despite vowing to be on my best behaviour, kissing you again is all I can think about”
“I’ll wait for you forever if you’ll allow it, but I am not going anywhere”
“Being a big woman is difficult. Being a big black woman is ridiculously challenging”

I enjoyed this debut for Tati Richardson. I really hope that we can end this strike so that I can really talk about this book and the other reviewers can as well.

Fun and sweet! I loved this book from beginning to end. The chemistry of Porter and Ari felt so real. I felt the tension between them two and I thought it was hilarious that they thought they were keeping their wants for each other hidden, but everyone around them saw it.
Porter knew what he wanted and went for it and I love that this book portrayed a full sized woman confident in herself.

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC
Great debut!

Genre: contemporary romance
Atlanta

Ari James is a 40-something Black woman, starting a new job at a prestigious Atlanta architecture firm. A seasoned architect, she left her firm in Chicago to relocate to Atlanta when her father died, but also in the wake of a scandal. On her first day, she meets Porter Harrison, a charming, handsome senior associate and the grandson of a famous Black senator. They are assigned to work as a team designing a new soccer stadium. Design meetings turn into something more, and even though Ari is hesitant to get into a relationship with a coworker, there’s a clear connection with Porter.

This novel hits really close to home for me, having worked in architecture for the last thirteen years, currently in the capacity of Director of Operations, overseeing, among other things, human resources. Ari and Porter’s firm couldn’t be more different than my own, and yet there are things that rang very true to my experience. Architecture as an industry has spent recent years reckoning with its misogyny and racism, and in older first-generation firms (i.e. longstanding firms that have not yet had an ownership transition) these attitudes are often pervasive. That said, I found it nearly impossible to turn off my work-brain while reading this. I kept analyzing their design process and collaboration, and was unable to suspend disbelief when plot points hinged on their design process. I will be in the minority for this experience, though, and it shouldn’t turn you off from reading this book!

I’d hire Ari in a heartbeat. She’s a dedicated worker who takes commitment to design, and her career, seriously. There’s something very refreshing about reading FMCs over the age of 40. Nothing felt blown out of proportion from either a romantic or professional standpoint. She’s comfortable in her own skin as a plus-sized Black woman, and she’s comfortable letting people know that. In many ways, Porter is the opposite. He’s wealthy (not from architecture, I assure you) and handsome, and he’s a very hard worker, but even at 40-something, he’s still a little unsure of himself. Porter is one of the lowest angst and steadiest MMCs I’ve read recently.

One of the things that works really well for the book is that the conflict is largely external to the relationship, and the parts that are internal to each character are very believable. Especially in a contemporary romance with older main characters, this felt realistic and comfortable.

This is an exciting debut from Tati Richardson, and I look forward to reading more of her work!

What a fun book this debut by Tati Richardson was! I really enjoy workplace romances, and this one did not disappoint. What worked:

-references to 90's r&b (the best decade in music)
-grown folks acting like grown folks (no characters acting like they were in high school)
-the fact that our main characters, Ari and Porter, were a team. Sure, rivals in the workplace is fun, but I just love when our love interests are on the same side.
-the sweet slow burn. There was instant attraction, but I like that they attempted to remain professional as it made for great tension.

All in all, this is a very strong and entertaining love story that pulls you in right away with real characters and keeps you rooting for their HEA. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from Tati!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!