This sweet romantic comedy had all the small-town summer vibes I love—beachfront views, summer storms, and a whole lot of sizzling chemistry (with a totally safe, closed-door romance 👏).⁣
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Olivia is determined to keep things professional—especially since Hudson, the man who once rejected her, just landed her dream job. But when a summer storm strands them together, all bets are off. Add in forced proximity, a comforting hug (swoon!), and a charming found-family vibe, and I was completely hooked.⁣
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The audio, narrated by Andy Harrington and Amanda Friday, was pure perfection—like music to my ears. And best of all, I didn’t have to worry about awkward headphone moments with my kids nearby!⁣
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If you love clean romcoms with all the chemistry and none of the blush factor, this one’s for you. Olivia and Hudson totally stole my heart! 💕

Julie Christianson delivers a charming and witty romantic comedy with That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss. The story follows a relatable twenty-something heroine who finds herself unemployed and reluctantly working under Hudson Blaine—the very man who once rejected her. Forced to put aside her bruised pride, she teams up with Hudson to save The Beachfront Inn’s reputation, sparking plenty of tension, laughter, and undeniable chemistry.

The audiobook brings the playful banter and emotional beats to life, making it easy to get swept up in the heroine’s journey of self-discovery, resilience, and unexpected romance. It’s a lighthearted, feel-good escape perfect for fans of workplace romance with a splash of beachside charm.

I appreciate the closed door romance!

This is sunshine in book form! If you are looking for the perfect summer read, this is it.

This book is full of Julie Christianson's trademark heart and humor. The romance between Olivia and Hudson is sweet and slow burn. I loved all of the cameos and the sibling text thread.

This book was absolutely delightful from beginning to end!

After reading I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook and the dual narration by Amanda Friday and Andy Harrington was the cherry on top of the sundae. They were engaging and emotive and really delivered on the romantic tension/chemistry.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the ALC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a wonderful, light romance.

The story opened with a flashback: Olivia’s sisters dare her to kiss Hudson at a wedding. Olivia accepts the dare, kisses him, and he replies with “no thank you.” She walks away, humiliated by the rejection, to learn that her dress was stuck in her underwear. She flashed everyone at the wedding!

Years later, she quits her job at a luxury resort and moves to a small town where her mom, grandmother, and cousins live. Olivia is desperate for a job so she goes to speak with the owners of The Beachfront. The inn is getting renovated and is about to be reopened after a few years of being closed. It turns out that the owners already hired a manager - Hudson! Hudson does not know anything about marketing so he offers Olivia a temporary job as the marketing manager until the inn opens. Over the next few weeks, they work closely together and fall in love.

Olivia is unemployed and returns home to her family. When she tries for the manager’s job at the Beachfront, she finds that Hudson Blaine has already secured the position, but he convinces the owners to hire her for a couple months to do the marketing for the grand reopening. As they work together, they discover they have feelings for each other. A touching workplace relationship, story about making life decisions, and small town life.

I listened to the audiobook of this and I loved it! I was busy working and cleaning at home and listened to it all in one day. It was adorable and fantastic!

The opening gives us an idea of who Olivia is. She's a triplet and she considers herself to be the least of the three because of how amazing her sisters are, and because of her failed attempts at dating and life in general. There's a pretty silly meet-cute moment...and quite a bit awkward as well. But Olivia holds her head high with dignity and moves on. Then a year later she's met with a hard decision. Stay doing what she's doing or make a change. She opts for making a change, but it ends up to kind of backfire. Until she gets back home and living with her grandma and mom and finds herself in that awkward meet-cute moment take 2! Hahaha! Poor Olivia. But this girl has some serious heart and spunk and I just loved her character. She's creative and thoughtful and has a very big heart. You're going to love her and her adventures.

This is a perfect summer time read, beach read, just because read...all the types of happy ever after, comedy and fun reads! Pick it up anytime and enjoy!

Content: Clean. Some kissing but nothing further.

I purchased my own copy of the ebook and I received an audiobook copy from Dreamscape Select via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading & Listening!!!

Julie Christianson delivers a charming and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy in That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss. With a delightful blend of wit, heart, and just the right touch of chaos, this story pulls readers into a world where chemistry sizzles and supporting characters shine just as brightly as the leads. The setup is irresistible, and the emotional stakes are high enough to keep you invested until the final page. At times, the protagonists’ choices may provoke a strong reaction—proof of Christianson’s ability to create engaging, authentic characters. Breezy, heartfelt, and thoroughly entertaining, this rom-com is as refreshing as a beachside escape.

A cute, breezy summer read with a ton of summer beach romance tropes, but not so many that they detract from the sweet story. Grab a copy and hit the beach!

This was a cute, fun audiobook. The narration was very good. At first, I was a little annoyed by the female main character, but she grew on me pretty quickly. I was entertained the entire time. I will likely check out the other Abieville Love Stories books, because this one was so enjoyable! This is a closed door romance.

I was able to listen to this thanks to NetGalley as an Advanced Listener Copy. This is my honest review.

I had the joy of listening to this one and the duet narration between Amanda Friday and Andy Harrington is the chef’s kiss to a perfect story and Julie Christianson delivers such a satisfying book.

Olivia goes back home after her life falls apart and of course, she encounters the guy she kissed on an embarrassing dare…and now Hudson’s got her dream job. Working together ignites all kinds of magical chemistry that had me swooning for days.

My heart went out to Olivia–as one of a set of triplets–and I adored the text exchanges between the siblings, especially her brother. Hudson is the sweetest guy ever–even reading Bronte!--and while they each had their reasons for resisting a relationship, they are solid characters and it was a thrill to devour their story.

Full of laughs and romance, there are plenty of heart and tender moments and delightful characters galore.

Content: mild romance

*I received a complimentary story. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given*

I really enjoyed this cute rom com. It was clean, kisses only. Workplace, forced proximity. I was not aware until I had started it that this book was part of a series, but it can definitely be read as a standalone. I loved the dual narration and loved how when it was a chapter being read by the female narrator and the male had a speaking part that the male narrator did the part!

“…the back of your underwear is tucked into your dress.” 🤣
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You can never go wrong when you grab a Julie Christianson novel!
“I dare you!” I listened to this audiobook and it was awesome having male/female narrators…bravo Amanda Friday & Andy Harrington!
This is book three of the Abieville Love Stories series but is totally a standalone (although you will want them all, just saying)!
Two years ago, Olivia was dared to go kiss Hudson…she did and he wasn’t interested, dang right! Now they are faced working together at the Beachfront Inn. Will he become interested now? Pick up the book to find out!:). There’s so many laughs between the siblings text threads, Big Mama comments…heartwarming moments (cupcakes, library)…even a heart pounding scary moment that made me literally sit and take deep breaths! Always a delight to read a Julie book and I have some homework reads from books mentioned within the story!:)

Book to be published June 4, 2025. Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Select for the complimentary ARC. Review is based on my thoughts and opinions.

The audiobook for That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss has released just in time because this is perfect, light summer reading! Olivia needs a professional win, and Hudson needs her help resuscitating the inn he is running. Amidst their professional relationship, they have a smidge of history that feels ever present as they navigate new and growing feelings. The duet narration was so good, and this audiobook was such fun to listen to! I recommend this book for a sweet beach-set beach read.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select for gifting me with an ALC to review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 out of 5 stars! Thank you to Thomas Nelson Audio and NetGalley for a copy of this ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I really enjoyed this one! I believe this is my first Julie Christianson and it definitely won't be my last. I had a blast with this one from the forced proximity to the small town aspects. I totally understand where our FMC is coming from because we are close to the same age and have experienced similar struggles. I appreciate that the FMC's insecurities were discussed and not ignored. I also appreciate that she put her pride aside to do what needed to be done for herself. I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series and the rest of the books by this author. Hudson was also very swoony and I really liked him and his thought processes.

Narration: I LOVE duet narration! I think it adds so much to the story. I'm glad this book had it because I could really feel the chemistry building between the characters. I would love to read other books narrated by these narrators in the future.

I didn't love it, but i definitely didn't dislike it. Falling in love with your boss troupes are always fun. Although I wasn't really into the characters it was a fun romance vibe for summer.

If you are looking for a light, summertime, beach read this one is pretty cute. Note that this is a clean romance so if you are looking for something with a bit of spice, you can skip this one. I listened to this one on audio and it was easy to listen to while I was doing household chores but had I chose to read this one in physical format I don't know that I would have chosen it over other books. Ultimately this was an ok read but forgettable.

I enjoyed the narrators: Andy Harrington and Amanda Friday.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Olivia and Hudson so much!! I adored this book when I read it originally. It was fun to hear their story come to life. It took me a little bit to get used to hearing their story being read to me. In the end, Amanda and Andy did a great job telling this sweet love story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Julie for allowing me access to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

This was actually my first time listening to a romance on audiobook, so it was a unique experience!! I will first discuss the audio performance, then move on to content. I listened at 1.5x speed because my brain moves fast, and it was dragging at normal speed for me, personally. But I really liked the voices of both the FMC and MMC, and thought they did a great job. I really appreciated that Amanda voiced all female characters and Andy voiced all male characters, even if the chapter was told from the other POV. Great job! I will say that I personally like reading romance directly as opposed to reading through listening. This was my first romance audiobook, so I felt the loss of some of the steam and tension that I normally imagine or envision in my head while reading when it was being read for me. But this is totally my personal preference.

As far as content, I loved this story. I really enjoyed how Olivia and Hudson continued to “dare” each other throughout their relationship, even into the epilogue. It felt full-circle and unique. And I thought Olivia’s relationship with her mom was beautiful. Truly, my favorite scene was her conversation with her mom in the hospital. Overall a fun and fulfilling story with a great ending.

I will also be reading on Kindle Unlimited to see if I like it even more in print!

Olivia has been working at a hotel for years and giving it her all. When there was a position opening for a manager, Olivia immediately applied because this is the next step she was hoping for. Sadly she doesn’t get the job because she doesn’t have any experience managing. So Olivia decides to quit this job and find another job where she can get experience managing.

Olivia goes back to live with her mother and grandmother. Her mother tells her about an open position at the Beachfront Inn, so she goes there immediately. When she gets there she’s told that they already have filled the position. Then she comes face to face with the manager Hudson, who is also the guy who rejected her.

After she doesn’t get the job she plans on fleeing again but then Hudson comes and asks her to stay and help him open the Beachfront Inn. She gets offered the position of assistant manager and would be in charge of marketing. Olivia doesn’t know if she can take this job with Hudson.

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny and sweet. The book is fast-paced and there is always something happening.
I liked all the characters but I especially liked the main characters. The character development was great and the way the relationship between Olivia and Hudson developed too.
This is the perfect beach read for this summer.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this sweet and clean romance. I liked Olivia and Hudson's stories and the narrators did a great job of narrating the male and female lead's points of view. I didn't realize this was book 3 in a series and feel this can be read as a standalone romance. This book makes me think of a Hallmark movie and I could see it made into one. For readers that like Hallmark type books, this one set at a resort on a lake in the Adirondacks will be one they'll want to pick up. It's not a book I'd likely read over again but I enjoyed it for what it was and know many other fans of closed door romances will like this one too.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select and Netgalley for an opportunity to listen to an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.